Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Overlapping but asymmetrical relationships between schizophrenia and autism revealed by brain connectivity

Although the relationship between schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has long been debated, it has not yet been fully elucidated. To address this issue, we took advantage of dual (ASD and SSD) classifiers that discriminate patients from their controls based on resting state brain functional connectivity. An SSD classifier using sophisticated machine-learning algorithms that automatically selected SSD- specific functional connections was applied to Japanese datasets including adult patients with SSD in a chronic stage. We demonstrated good performance of the SSD classification for independent validation cohorts. The generalizability was tested by USA and European cohorts in a chronic stage, and one USA cohort including first episode schizophrenia. The specificity was tested by two adult Japanese cohorts of ASD and major depressive disorder, and one European cohort of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The weighted linear summation of the classifier’s functional connections constituted the biological dimensions representing neural liability to the disorders. Our previously developed robust ASD classifier constituted the ASD dimension. Distributions of individuals with SSD, ASD and healthy controls were examined on the SSD and ASD biological dimensions. The SSD and ASD populations exhibited overlapping but asymmetrical patterns on the two biological dimensions. That is, the SSD population showed increased liability on the ASD dimension, but not vice versa. Furthermore, the two dimensions were correlated within the ASD population but not the SSD population. Using the two biological dimensions based on resting-state functional connectivity enabled us to quantify and visualize the relationships between SSD and ASD.
Melatonin Enhances Cisplatin and Radiation Cytotoxicity in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Stimulating Mitochondrial ROS Generation, Apoptosis, and Autophagy

Head and neck cancer is the sixth leading cancer by incidence worldwide. Unfortunately, drug resistance and relapse are the principal limitations of clinical oncology for many patients, and the failure of conventional treatments is an extremely demoralizing experience. It is therefore crucial to find new therapeutic targets and drugs to enhance the cytotoxic effects of conventional treatments without potentiating or offsetting the adverse effects. Melatonin has oncostatic effects, although the mechanisms involved and doses required remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to determine the precise underlying mitochondrial mechanisms of melatonin, which increase the cytotoxicity of oncological treatments, and also to propose new melatonin treatments in order to alleviate and reverse radio- and chemoresistant processes. We analyzed the effects of melatonin on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines (Cal-27 and SCC-9), which were treated with 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 mM melatonin combined with 8 Gy irradiation or 10 μM cisplatin. Clonogenic and MTT assays, as well as autophagy and apoptosis, involving flow cytometry and western blot, were performed in order to determine the cytotoxic effects of the treatments. Mitochondrial function was evaluated by measuring mitochondrial respiration, mtDNA content (RT-PCR), and mitochondrial mass (NAO). ROS production, antioxidant enzyme activity, and GSH/GSSG levels were analyzed using a fluorometric method. We show that high concentrations of melatonin potentiate the cytotoxic effects of radiotherapy and CDDP in HNSCC, which are associated with increased mitochondrial function in these cells. In HNSCC, melatonin induces intracellular ROS, whose accumulation plays an upstream role in mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and autophagy. Our findings indicate that melatonin, at high concentrations, combined with cisplatin and radiotherapy to improve its effectiveness, is a potential adjuvant agent.
The Holistic Integrated Approach of Early Childhood Education and Development in Indonesia: Between Issues and Possibilities

Early Childhood Education (ECE) has important roles for young children and country's development. Hence, the Indonesian government has attempted to develop holistic integrated services from various sectors to optimize early childhood education which are able to fulfill a child’s rights. This paper aims to examine the implementation of the holistic integrated approach of Early Childhood Education and development (ECED) in Indonesia as known as PAUD HI or Holistic Integrated ECE (HI-ECE). It used document analysis and on-site visits that include interviews as well as focus group discussion with various stakeholders in three districts in Indonesia. It would figure out some issues and possibilities when the policy is being adopted. The findings suggested that there were three main issues regarding the implementation of the policy, namely understanding, integration and governance issues. Then, it also suggested some best practices of policy implementation such as the most implemented policy when there was a cooperation at countryside level. Moreover, it could be done optimally when there was a responsive approach to local and district needs. Thus, the policy could be relevant to them.
Effect of Salt Stress on Some Biochemical and Hormonal Parameters of Pregnant Shami Goats and Their Growing Kids under Semi-Arid Conditions

| This study aimed at investigating the effect of drinking saline water and feeding salt tolerant plant on some physiological parameters of pregnant Shami goats and their offspring. Forty late pregnant goats (at 4 th and 5 th months of pregnancy) were randomly divided into 2 groups (20 each). The 1 st group (control; C) was fed a diet consisted of concentrate feed mixture (CFM) plus berseem hay and drank fresh tap water (274 ppm TDS). The 2 nd group (S) was fed CFM plus Alfalfa and drank saline water (6000 ppm TDS). The treatment lasted to the weaning of their kids at 90 days of age. Body weight gain was significantly lower in females of S group than in control ones. Similar trend was observed in kids body weight gain from birth tell weaning. Total plasma proteins of pregnant Shami does were not affected by salt intake, but decreased with advancing pregnancy in females of the two experimental groups. Kids of S group had higher (P<0.05) levels of all plasma proteins than found in kids of C group. Total lipids and insulin decreased (P<0.05) by salt intake in pregnant goats and their kids. Leptin decreased (P<0.05) in pregnant does of S group but not in their kids. Liver and kidney functions indicators significantly increased in both does and their kids of group S. Blood electrolytes (Na and K) and plasma osmolality increased significantly in does drank saline water and their kids which have negative feedback on aldosterone. In conclusion, Shami goats can tolerate a high salt intake and living under harsh condition of marginal regions with minimum weight loss. Their offspring will be programmed to alter their adaptive response to grow well under these harsh conditions.
Stable knockout and complementation of receptor expression using in vitro cell line derived reticulocytes for dissection of host malaria invasion requirements

Invasion of and intracellular development within the red blood cell by malaria parasites requires interaction with a multitude of host proteins expressed at the surface of or inside the cell. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to dissection of specific functions of host proteins during invasion is the inability to manipulate protein expression in the genetically intractable anucleate red blood cell. Whilst genetic manipulation and subsequent in vitro differentiation of nucleated erythroid precursors have facilitated progress in this area, such approaches are limited by the finite proliferative capacity of primary hematopoietic stem cells, and a failure of erythroleukemic cell lines to enucleate, respectively. Here, we report that reticulocytes derived through in vitro differentiation of an enucleation competent immortalized erythroblast cell line (BEL-A) support both successful invasion and growth by Plasmodium falciparum. Using CRISPR-mediated gene knockout and lentiviral expression of open reading frames, we validate an essential role for the erythrocyte receptor basigin in P. falciparum invasion and, for the first time, demonstrate that this can be rescued by re-expression of the receptor or of a mutant thereof. Specifically, using sustainable edited clones derived from this line, we exclude a functional role for the cytoplasmic domain of basigin during invasion, and challenge the reported requirement of its associated receptor cyclophilin B. These data establish the use of reticulocytes derived from immortalized erythroblasts as a crucial model system to explore specific hypotheses regarding host receptor requirements and involvement in P. falciparum invasion.
Semiparametric Discrete Choice Models for Bundles

We propose new identi cation and estimation approaches to semiparametric discrete choice models for bundles in both cross-sectional and panel data settings. The random utility functions of these models take the usual parametric form, while no distributional assumption is imposed on the stochastic disturbances. Our proposed methods permit certain forms of heteroskedasticity and arbitrary correlation in the disturbances across choices. Our identi cation approach is matching-based; it matches observed covariates across agents for the cross-sectional case, and over time for the panel data case. For the cross-sectional model, we propose a kernel-weighted rank procedure and establish N-asymptotic normality of the resulting estimators. We show the validity of the nonparametric bootstrap for the inference. For the panel data model, we propose localized maximum score type estimators which have a non-standard asymptotic distribution. We show that the numerical bootstrap developed by Hong and Li (2020) is a valid inference method for our panel data estimators. Monte Carlo experiments demonstrate that our proposed estimation and inference procedures perform adequately in nite samples.
A review of the systematic biology of fossil and living bony-tongue fishes, Osteoglossomorpha (Actinopterygii: Teleostei)

ABSTRACT The bony-tongue fishes, Osteoglossomorpha, have been the focus of a great deal of morphological, systematic, and evolutionary study, due in part to their basal position among extant teleostean fishes. This group includes the mooneyes (Hiodontidae), knifefishes (Notopteridae), the abu (Gymnarchidae), elephantfishes (Mormyridae), arawanas and pirarucu (Osteoglossidae), and the African butterfly fish (Pantodontidae). This morphologically heterogeneous group also has a long and diverse fossil record, including taxa from all continents and both freshwater and marine deposits. The phylogenetic relationships among most extant osteoglossomorph families are widely agreed upon. However, there is still much to discover about the systematic biology of these fishes, particularly with regard to the phylogenetic affinities of several fossil taxa, within Mormyridae, and the position of Pantodon. In this paper we review the state of knowledge for osteoglossomorph fishes. We first provide an overview of the diversity of Osteoglossomorpha, and then discuss studies of the phylogeny of Osteoglossomorpha from both morphological and molecular perspectives, as well as biogeographic analyses of the group. Finally, we offer our perspectives on future needs for research on the systematic biology of Osteoglossomorpha.
Financialisation, profitability and the rise of household debt in the United Kingdom, 1971-2015

Over the last fifty year, the trajectory of household debt has undergone several transformations in some jurisdictions, especially in advanced capitalist countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, where household debt has risen to historically high levels. This phenomenon appeared in tandem with the end of Fordist salaries and the unresolved crisis of over-accumulation, leading to massive losses of profitability in manufacturing. The central argument put forth in this thesis is that the rise of household debt has not been a spontaneous balancing act of the markets in general, but a concrete political strategy of capital to restore the collapsing rate of profit in the real economy by way of financial speculation, especially household debt speculation. In this context, the study examines, in a historically and theoretically informed manner, the unequal relationship of capital-labour relations and how this has intensified since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971. This period saw the liberalisation of the exchange rate and credit was unleashed, empowering financial capital at the expense of labour, thereby placing financial services and banks at the centre of national and global political economies. The analysis provides both a concrete historical and contemporary perspective into underlying factors, causes and consequences that surround the growth of household debt in the United Kingdom and the fictitious levels of debt-led economic growth experienced, not just in the United Kingdom, but in many other countries in the world. Lastly, the empirical analysis into the rise of household debt reveals that the housing market and the financial market have often been identified to be the causal agents at the root of most financial crises. The ARDL method was employed to investigate the presence of cointegrating relationships between the individual regressor. The evidence confirms that declining rate of profit, end of high Fordist wages and house price movements contributed significantly to the rise of household debt in the United Kingdom. The operation of financial institutions to extract rent and profits from over-indebted households, especially in the 1990s and 2000s, eventually blew up during the global financial crisis of 2007-08, the consequences of which are felt to the present day.
Insect herbivory and avian insectivory in novel native oak forests: divergent effects of stand size and connectivity

The value of novel native broadleaf woodlands for biodiversity conservation is important to consider for adequate forest management in rural landscapes. Passive reforestation has been proposed as a cost-efficient tool for creating networks of novel native forest stands that would help restoring biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. Yet to date the ecological functioning of such stands remains strongly understudied compared to forest remnants resulting from longer-term fragmentation. We assessed how the size and connectivity of newly established Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) stands in rural landscapes of SW France affect rates of herbivory by different insect guilds as well as rates of avian insectivory and the abundance and richness of insectivorous birds. Comparing 18 novel forest stands along a gradient of size (0.04-1.15 ha) and cover of broadleaf forests in the surroundings (0-30% within a 500 radius), we found that even the smallest stands are colonised by leaf miners and chewers/skeletonizers, and that rates of herbivory are globally comparable to those reported from older and larger oak forests. The size of stands had a relatively minor effect on herbivory, whereas it increased the abundance of insectivorous bird. It also determined rates of avian insectivory as estimated by an experiment with plasticine caterpillars. These rates were however rather low and unrelated with the extent of herbivory in the stand. Overall, our study indicates that insect herbivores tend to react more rapidly to the establishment of novel native forests than their avian predators as the latter may depend on the development of larger patches of suitable habitat in the surrounding landscape. To favour a rapid build-up of diverse, and hence stable, trophic networks involving insect herbivores and their predators, woodland creation schemes should therefore primarily focus on habitat size and quality.
Critical Limb Ischemia Induces Remodeling of Skeletal Muscle Motor Unit and Myonuclear- and Mitochondrial-Domains

Critical limb ischemia, the most severe form of peripheral artery disease, leads to extensive damage and alterations in skeletal muscle homeostasis. Although recent developments towards revascularization therapies have been introduced, there has been limited research into treatments for ischemic myopathy. To elucidate the regenerative mechanism of the muscle stem cell and its niche components in response to ischemic insults, we explored interactions between the vasculature, motor neuron, muscle fiber, and the muscle stem cell. We first investigated changes in the neuromuscular junction and motor neuron innervation following a surgical hindlimb ischemia model of critical limb ischemia in mice. Along with previous findings that support remodeling of the neuromuscular junction, we report that ischemic injury also causes significant alterations to the myofiber through a muscle stem cell-mediated increase of myonuclei number per fiber, a concomitant decrease in myonuclear domain size, and an increase in relative mitochondrial content per myonucleus. These results indicate that as a regenerative response to critical limb ischemia, myofibers exhibit myonuclear expansion to allow enhanced transcriptional support and an increase in mitochondrial content for bioenergetic need of the energy-demanding tissue regeneration.
An Improved Global Model for Electronegative Discharge and Ignition Conditions for Peripheral Plasma Connected to a Capacitive Discharge

An improved volume-averaged global model is developed for a cylindrical electronegative (EN) plasma that is applicable over a wide range of electron densities, electronegativities, and pressures. It is applied to steady and pulsed-power oxygen discharges. The model incorporates effective volume and surface loss factors for positive ions, negative ions, and electrons combining three EN discharge regimes: a two-region regime with a parabolic EN core surrounded by an electropositive edge, a one-region parabolic EN plasma, and a one-region flat-topped EN plasma, spanning the plasma parameters and gas pressures of interest for low pressure. Pressure-dependent effective volume and surface loss factors for the neutral species, and an updated set of reaction rate coefficients for oxygen based on the latest results were incorporated. The model solutions yield important processing quantities as the neutral/ion flux ratio ΓO/Γi, with the discharge aspect ratio, pulsed-power period, and duty ratio as parameters. For steady discharges, increasing 2R/L from 1 to 6 leads to a factor of 0.45 reduction in ΓO/Γi. For pulsed discharges with a fixed duty ratio, ΓO/Γi is found to have a minimum with respect to pulse period. A 25% duty ratio pulse reduces ΓO/Γi by a factor of 0.75 compared to the steady-state case.
ANALYSIS OF GENETIC DIVERSITY IN NORTH INDIAN RICE (Oryza Sativa L.) GERMPLASM, USING SSR AND ISSR MARKERS

Genetic diversity among thirty two accessions of rice representing landraces, released varieties, cultivars and breeding lines was analysed using simple sequence repeat (SSR), inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and three dwarfing trait based markers. A total of 81 polymorphic bands were detected with 20 primer combinations. The genetic similarity among the accessions ranged from (0.60) to (0.97) with a mean of 0.737. All 32 accessions were clustered into 5 major groups. Of the 32 pair wise combinations generated by rice genotypes, the lowest coefficient of similarity 0.505 was observed between Sarbati-A and Sathi, Bagni and VB24 genotypes. The highest coefficient of similarity 0.964 was obtained between VD 62 and VLD86, which appear as the most similar and closely related accessions. Results illustrated the high-level polymorphism obtained by SSR and ISSR, especially trait-linked markers used in this study. These markers will applicable in discriminating different germplasm, and utility of these markers could be deployable in hybrid breeding programs, as well as in marker assisted selection (MAS).
Speaker-normalized vowel representations in the human auditory cortex

Humans identify speech sounds, the fundamental building blocks of spoken language, using the same cues, or acoustic dimensions, as those that differentiate the voices of different speakers. The correct interpretation of speech cues is hence uncertain, and requires normalizing to the specific speaker. Here we assess how the human brain uses speaker-related contextual information to constrain the processing of speech cues. Using high-density electrocorticography, we recorded local neural activity from the cortical surface of participants who were engaged in a speech sound identification task. The speech sounds were preceded by speech from different speakers whose voices differed along the same acoustic dimension that differentiated the target speech sounds (the first formant; the lowest resonance frequency of the vocal tract). We found that the same acoustic speech sound tokens were perceived differently, and evoked different neural responses in auditory cortex, when they were heard in the context of different speakers. Such normalization involved the rescaling of acoustic-phonetic representations of speech, demonstrating a form of recoding before the signal is mapped onto phonemes or higher level linguistic units. This process is the result of auditory cortex’ sensitivity to the contrast between the dominant frequencies in speech sounds and those in their just preceding context. These findings provide important insights into the mechanistic implementation of normalization in human listeners. Moreover, they provide the first direct evidence of speaker-normalized speech sound representations in human parabelt auditory cortex, highlighting its critical role in resolving variability in sensory signals.
Radio-Tracking Survey of Stray Cat Home Range in a Suburban Area: Non-Exclusive Use of Home Ranges in Stray Cats (Felis catus)

Abstract. The trap-neuter-release method, which has been used to control stray cat populations in many countries, is thought to be more efficient than the trap-removal method because neutered cats returning to their home ranges can prevent the influx of other cats, which would otherwise take advantage of the unoccupied areas. To test territory occupying patterns of stray cats, the present study used radio tracking to estimate the home ranges of the cats living in Mt. Dobong, Korea. Total six cats (three males, three females) were radio tracked for 3–6 months. The mean home range size of the cats was relatively small (17.9–37.9 ha), and the home range sizes of males (21.6–37.9 ha) and females (17.9– 20.9 ha) were not significantly different. The home ranges of both male and female cats overlapped substantially, so that home ranges were not used exclusively at least within a sex. Furthermore, the overlap areas were associated with food-rich locations, such as garbage boxes. Therefore the present study failed to support the hypothesis that the cats would use their home ranges exclusively, thereby suggesting that the efficacy of the trap-neuter-return method should be reconsidered.
Dynamic Equity Slope

The term structure of equity and its cyclicality are key to understand the risks driving equilibrium asset prices. We propose a general equilibrium model that jointly explains four important features of the term structure of equity: (i) a negative unconditional term premium, (ii) countercyclical term premia, (iii) procyclical equity yields, and (iv) premia to value and growth claims respectively increasing and decreasing with the horizon. The economic mechanism hinges on the interaction between heteroskedastic long-run growth – which helps price long-term cash flows and leads to countercyclical risk premia – and homoskedastic short-term shocks in the presence of limited market participation – which produce sizeable risk premia to short-term cash flows. The slope dynamics hold irrespective of the sign of its unconditional average. We provide empirical support to our model assumptions and predictions.