Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A genetic association study of the IGF-1 gene and radiological osteoarthritis in a population-based cohort study (the Rotterdam study)

OBJECTIVE A genetic association study was performed to investigate whether radiographical osteoarthritis (ROA) was associated with specific genotypes of the insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) gene. METHODS Subjects aged 55–65 years were selected from a population-based study of which ROA at the knee, hip, spine, and hand was assessed. Genotypes were determined of a polymorphism in the promoter region of the IGF-1 gene. RESULTS The IGF-1 locus was significantly associated with the presence of ROA (overall adjusted OR for heterozygous subjects = 1.9, 95% CI 1.2, 3.1 and for homozygous subjects 3.6, 95% CI 0.8, 16.2). CONCLUSION These results suggest that variation at the IGF-1 locus is associated with ROA development and may play a part in ROA pathogenesis. To confirm these findings replication in another population-based sample is needed.
Comparative Analysis of Defense Responses in Chocolate Spot-Resistant and -Susceptible Faba Bean (Vicia faba) Cultivars Following Infection by the Necrotrophic Fungus Botrytis fabae

In this study, resistance responses were investigated during the interaction of Botrytis fabae with two faba bean cultivars expressing different levels of resistance against this pathogen, Nubaria (resistant) and Giza 40 (susceptible). Disease severity was assessed on leaves using a rating scale from 1 to 9. Accumulation levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase) were measured in leaf tissues at different times of infection. The expression profiles of two pathogenesis-related proteins (PRPs) encoded by the genes PR-1 and β-1,3-glucanase were also investigated using reverse transcription RT-PCR analysis. The accumulation of these defense responses was induced significantly in both cultivars upon infection with B. fabae compared with un-inoculated controls. The resistant cultivar showed weaker necrotic symptom expression, less ROS accumulation, a lower rate of lipid peroxidation and higher activity of the enzymatic ROS scavenging system compared with susceptible cultivar. Interestingly, ROS accumulated rapidly in the resistant leaf tissues and peaked during the early stages of infection, whereas accumulation was stronger and more intense in the susceptible tissues in later stages. Moreover, the response of the resistant cultivar to infection was earlier and stronger, exhibiting high transcript accumulation of the PR genes. These results indicated that the induction of oxidant/antioxidant responses and the accumulation of PRPs are part of the faba bean defense mechanism against the necrotrophic fungus B. fabae with a different intensity and timing of induction, depending on the resistance levels.
Antimalarial Activity of the Novel Quinoline/6‐Thiopurine Conjugate in Gallus gallus Linnaeus, Infected Experimentally by Plasmodium (Novyella) juxtanucleare

This study aimed to evaluate the 4‐(6′‐thiopurine)‐7‐chloroquinoline, a novel quinoline/6‐thiopurine conjugate, for the treatment of Gallus gallus experimentally infected with Plasmodium juxtanucleare, an avian malaria agent. The avian group treated with 4‐(6′‐thiopurine)‐7‐chloroquinoline showed a significative parasite clearance and maintained a low level of parasitaemia, when compared with the untreated control group and to the chloroquine treated avian group.
A 1.5 bit 5th order CT/DT delta sigma class D amplifier with power efficiency improvement

This paper describes the design and implementation of a 1.5 bit 5th order CT/DT delta sigma class D amplifier. This chip integrated a 1.5 bit delta sigma modulator and full bridge power stages with programmable dead time control circuits. With the proposed 1.5 bit delta sigma modulator and dead time calibration techniques, 0.02% THD+N ratio, 16 dB dynamic range and 8% power efficiency improvement are achieved in a 0.35 um polycide CMOS technology. This chip consumes 7.8 mA and works at 3 V to 5.5 V supply range. The die area is 6 mm2.
A simple, sensitive method of analyzing bacterial ribosomal DNA polymorphism

A rapid DNA extraction procedure and random primer labelling of Fscherichia coli ribosomal RNA with cloned reverse transcriptase have been used to establish a simple and highly sensitive method for studying ribosomal DNA polymorphism in bacteria. Examples of inter‐ and intraspecies differentiation of bacteria are given and potential applications in bacterial epidemiology and taxonomy are discussed.
Cross-lingual Learning of an Open-domain Semantic Parser

We propose a method for learning semantic CCG parsers by projecting annotations via a parallel corpus. The method opens an avenue towards cheaply creating multilingual semantic parsers mapping open-domain text to formal meaning representations. A first cross-lingually learned Dutch (from English) semantic parser obtains f-scores ranging from 42.99% to 69.22% depending on the level of label informativity taken into account, compared to 58.40% to 78.88% for the underlying source-language system. These are promising numbers compared to state-of-the-art semantic parsing in open domains.
Children's understanding of uncertainty

In seven experiments this thesis explored the processing responsible for children’s understanding of uncertainty. Through distinguishing between types of evidence and types of uncertainty a new framework was created in which to investigate the relationships between children’s varying metacognitive abilities. Experiments 1 to 3 focussed on 5-to-7-year-olds’ behavioural awareness of uncertainty, exploring the basis of children’s confidence judgements and their influence on strategic behaviour. Children demonstrated a dissociation between these two behaviours suggesting younger children’s metacognitive abilities are based on a two-system process. Experiments 4 to 6 investigated children’s behavioural sensitivity to uncertainty, exploring the relationship between children’s ease of imagining and their decision making. An interesting difference in response latencies was demonstrated across types of uncertainty, suggesting children’s strategic behaviours are based on the ease with which an answer comes to mind. In Experiment 7, 4-to-8-year-olds’ alternative sensitivity was explored, examining children’s appreciation of possibilities through a novel eye-tracking paradigm. Children demonstrated an acknowledgment of the multiple possibilities associated with partial ignorance suggesting a possible meta-representational basis to children’s metacognitive abilities. Taken together these findings offer new insights into the development of children’s metacognition and the processing systems behind their uncertainty understanding.
Linker molecules between laminins and dystroglycan ameliorate laminin-α2–deficient muscular dystrophy at all disease stages

Mutations in laminin-α2 cause a severe congenital muscular dystrophy, called MDC1A. The two main receptors that interact with laminin-α2 are dystroglycan and α7β1 integrin. We have previously shown in mouse models for MDC1A that muscle-specific overexpression of a miniaturized form of agrin (mini-agrin), which binds to dystroglycan but not to α7β1 integrin, substantially ameliorates the disease (Moll, J., P. Barzaghi, S. Lin, G. Bezakova, H. Lochmuller, E. Engvall, U. Muller, and M.A. Ruegg. 2001. Nature. 413:302–307; Bentzinger, C.F., P. Barzaghi, S. Lin, and M.A. Ruegg. 2005. Matrix Biol. 24:326–332.). Now we show that late-onset expression of mini-agrin still prolongs life span and improves overall health, although not to the same extent as early expression. Furthermore, a chimeric protein containing the dystroglycan-binding domain of perlecan has the same activities as mini-agrin in ameliorating the disease. Finally, expression of full-length agrin also slows down the disease. These experiments are conceptual proof that linking the basement membrane to dystroglycan by specifically designed molecules or by endogenous ligands, could be a means to counteract MDC1A at a progressed stage of the disease, and thus opens new possibilities for the development of treatment options for this muscular dystrophy.
Thymosin β10 Expression Driven by the Human TERT Promoter Induces Ovarian Cancer-Specific Apoptosis through ROS Production

Thymosin β10 (Tβ10) regulates actin dynamics as a cytoplasm G-actin sequestering protein. Previously, we have shown that Tβ10 diminishes tumor growth, angiogenesis, and proliferation by disrupting actin and by inhibiting Ras. However, little is known about its mechanism of action and biological function. In the present study, we establish a new gene therapy model using a genetically modified adenovirus, referred to as Ad.TERT. Tβ10, that can overexpress the Tβ10 gene in cancer cells. This was accomplished by replacing the native Tβ10 gene promoter with the human TERT promoter in Ad.TERT. Tβ10. We investigated the cancer suppression activity of Tβ10 and found that Ad.TERT. Tβ10 strikingly induced cancer-specific expression of Tβ10 as well as apoptosis in a co-culture model of human primary ovarian cancer cells and normal fibroblasts. Additionally, Ad.TERT. Tβ10 decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. These effects were amplified by co-treatment with anticancer drugs, such as paclitaxel and cisplatin. These findings indicate that the rise in ROS production due to actin disruption by Tβ10 overexpression increases apoptosis of human ovarian cancer cells. Indeed, the cancer-specific overexpression of Tβ10 by Ad.TERT. Tβ10 could be a valuable anti-cancer therapeutic for the treatment of ovarian cancer without toxicity to normal cells.
Structural and Biochemical Characterization of Cinnamoyl-CoA Reductases1

In-depth investigation for CCRs from Sorghum bicolor provides information about the critical residuesfor substrate preference among CCRs. Cinnamoyl-coenzyme A reductase (CCR) catalyzes the reduction of hydroxycinnamoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) esters using NADPH to produce hydroxycinnamyl aldehyde precursors in lignin synthesis. The catalytic mechanism and substrate specificity of cinnamoyl-CoA reductases from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), a strategic plant for bioenergy production, were deduced from crystal structures, site-directed mutagenesis, and kinetic and thermodynamic analyses. Although SbCCR1 displayed higher affinity for caffeoyl-CoA or p-coumaroyl-CoA than for feruloyl-CoA, the enzyme showed significantly higher activity for the latter substrate. Through molecular docking and comparisons between the crystal structures of the Vitis vinifera dihydroflavonol reductase and SbCCR1, residues threonine-154 and tyrosine-310 were pinpointed as being involved in binding CoA-conjugated phenylpropanoids. Threonine-154 of SbCCR1 and other CCRs likely confers strong substrate specificity for feruloyl-CoA over other cinnamoyl-CoA thioesters, and the T154Y mutation in SbCCR1 led to broader substrate specificity and faster turnover. Through data mining using our structural and biochemical information, four additional putative CCR genes were discovered from sorghum genomic data. One of these, SbCCR2, displayed greater activity toward p-coumaroyl-CoA than did SbCCR1, which could imply a role in the synthesis of defense-related lignin. Taken together, these findings provide knowledge about critical residues and substrate preference among CCRs and provide, to our knowledge, the first three-dimensional structure information for a CCR from a monocot species.
“From Oil Well to Farm”: Industrial Waste, Shell Oil, and the Petrochemical Turn (1927–1947)

This paper traces two stories of agriculture that merged in late autumn 1944 on a lettuce field in California’s Salinas Valley. On that field, two transmuted industrial waste products from California’s rudimentary petroleum economy were at once injected into the soil and into agricultural production, spurring a radical transformation of crop rotation and recasting the organizational possibilities of industrial agriculture. Taken together, these stories tell a tale of capital and chemistry overcoming an ecological contradiction of agro-industrialization. This paper considers an earlier history of petroleum-based agrochemicals, situating their development in the interwar years and within the context of California’s emerging petroleum complex. It argues that, in the late 1920s, agriculture began its transformation into a new and immensely productive agricultural regime organized around the oil industry and its waste byproducts. The petrochemicals and subterranean chemical warfare that were developed during this time became industrial agriculture’s chemical salvation, providing both the soil disinfection power and the soil nutrition that made the massive yield increases in agricultural production following World War II possible.
Analyzing worms and network traffic using compression

Internet worms have become a widespread threat to system and network operations. In order to fight them more efficiently, it is necessary to analyze newly discovered worms and attack patterns. This paper shows how techniques based on Kolmogorov Complexity can help in the analysis of internet worms and network traffic. Using compression, different species of worms can be clustered by type. This allows us to determine whether an unknown worm binary could in fact be a later version of an existing worm in an extremely simple, automated, manner. This may become a useful tool in the initial analysis of malicious binaries. Furthermore, compression can also be useful to distinguish different types of network traffic and can thus help to detect traffic anomalies: Certain anomalies may be detected by looking at the compressibility of a network session alone. We furthermore show how to use compression to detect malicious network sessions that are very similar to known intrusion attempts. This technique could become a useful tool to detect new variations of an attack and thus help to prevent IDS evasion. We provide two new plugins for Snort which demonstrate both approaches.
Why Do Family-controlled Firms Donate to Charity? The Role of Intrafamily Succession Intention, Social Status, and Religiosity

ABSTRACT Drawing on expectancy theory and the socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective, we propose that family owners with intrafamily succession intention are more motivated to accumulate or preserve SEW. As corporate philanthropy is a critical way for family-controlled firms to accumulate or maintain SEW, family owners with intrafamily succession intention are more likely to engage in corporate philanthropic activities. Data on a nationally representative sample of family-controlled firms in China support our prediction. We also find that the relationship between intrafamily succession intention and corporate philanthropy is moderated by family owners’ social status and religiosity. The findings contribute to our understanding about family businesses, in general, and those in China, in particular, as well as the SEW perspective.
Prediction based cognitive spectrum access

A prediction-based spectrum access for cognitive radio (CR) is considered. In a typical scenario, CR accesses the communication channels as a secondary user (SU), under the requirement for collisions avoidance with the primary users (PU). In order to meet this requirement, CR frequently senses the communication channels and estimates their availability. Generally, sensing and transmission processes are mutually exclusive, which turns the sensing time into an overhead. Therefore, CR has a strong incentive to predict the future availability of the channels. Consequently, by sensing less, CR is able to increase the proportion of time allocated for the transmissions. We propose a novel analytical model of CR which consists of communication processes and cognitive components. The communication processes include packet arrivals, queueing and transmissions, while the cognitive components include sensing, estimation, multi-step ahead prediction of the channels' states and a component of decision-making. The prediction based policies show a significant improvement in the performance measures of throughput and delay compared to the reactive behavior.
The mind-body nexus

Do you remember the movie 'Patch Adams' which starred Robin Williams? It was about a US doctor who overcame many obstacles to study medicine as a mature age student. He almost failed to graduate after struggling with the arrogant and cold manner of the doctors who taught him and who treated their patients in the same way. Regarded as crazy by his peers and mentors, he broke through this perception when people began to see that his revolutionary ideas on health and healing possessed the signal merit of therapeutic efficacy.
Drug policing in four Danish police districts

Abstract Results from a study of zero-tolerance drug policy in Denmark are presented. Database research shows that an increasing number of Danes are criminalized for possession of illicit drugs and that particular characteristics of offenders increase the chance of being criminalized. Qualitative case studies show ambiguous results. Criminal records do not indicate that particular people are singled out. Interviews with police officers indicate that appearance of persons and non-offending behavior can play a role in suspicion formation and legal action. The ambiguity of the results can be seen as a reflection of the differences in the data where some of the grounds for police intervention may be seen by police officers as not appropriate for official recording. To resolve these issues and provide better knowledge regarding drug policing in Denmark, further research is needed.
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T variant in Indian children with craniosynostosis: Its role in the pathogenesis, risk of craniosynostosis

BACKGROUND: 677C to T allele in the 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene has been implicated in the etiology of various syndromes and nonsyndromic diseases but till date no direct studies have been reported with craniosynostosis. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to study the family-based association of MTHFR polymorphism in different categories of craniosynostosis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study in which 30 patients classified as Apert syndrome, Pfeiffr syndrome and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis patients with their family were recruited. A sample of 3 ml intravenous blood was taken from patients and from their family members (father and mother) in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-anticoagulated vacutainer for the purpose of the study. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes by phenol chloroform extraction method. Primers for MTHFR gene were designed. The polymerase chain reaction was carried out. After successful amplification, a small aliquot (5 μl) of the MTHFR reaction mixture was treated with 1 units of Hinf I restriction enzyme (NEB). Results were obtained and compiled. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients/participants with craniosynostosis of Indian descent and their parents formed the study group. The genotyping did not confirm an association between the MTHFR 677C to T polymorphism and between different categories of craniosynostosis. When comparing the offspring of mothers statistically significant differences were found. CONCLUSION: C667T polymorphism of the MTHFR gene is unlikely to play a role in the pathogenesis of craniosynostosis though maternal MTHFR C677T polymorphism may be a genetic risk factor.
Efficacy of monopolar radiofrequency on skin collagen remodeling: a veterinary study

The aesthetic market offers various radiofrequency treatments for the reduction of wrinkles and rhytids. Even though this not an uncommon aesthetic therapy, there is considerable lack of clinical evidence on the various energy delivery systems available (unipolar, bipolar, tripolar, multipolar, etc.). The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of a monopolar radiofrequency device (Exilis Elite, BTL Industries Inc., Boston, MA, USA) on the skin collagen in an animal model. The study treatment was done on the abdominal area of the potbellied Vietnamese mini pigs in the Veterinary Research Institute facility. All pigs were treated once per week for 4 weeks. The treatment area was sized 20 × 10cm. The surface temperature was kept in the therapeutic interval from 39°C to 43°C and the therapy lasted for 10 minutes after reaching the therapeutic temperature. Biopsy samples were taken before the therapy and at the 3‐month follow‐up. The histology samples were stained and magnified (×400) before computer processing. The collagen volume was calculated using the stereological analysis and the data were statistically processed (using the nonparametric two‐sample t‐test). The collagen content tissue increased from average of 9.0% before the therapy up to 25.9% after the 3‐month follow‐up period. The statistical comparison of 54 samples taken before and after the treatment acknowledged the significant difference (p = 0.018). The stereological analysis proved large‐scale improvement of collagen in the treated area. We have observed that the monopolar radiofrequency therapy significantly increases collagen remodeling.
Failure to Maintain a Suppressed Level of Serum Testosterone during Long-Acting Depot Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Agonist Therapy in Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer

Objectives: It was the aim of this study to analyze the failure rates in achieving or maintaining castrate levels of serum testosterone in patients with advanced prostate cancer treated with the 3-month luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist (LH-RH) therapy. Methods:Total serum testosterone was determined in 234 patients with prostate cancer in a cross-sectional study. A subset of 90 patients submitted to radical prostatectomy was used as the control group (group 1), and 144 patients with advanced prostate cancer under androgen suppression therapy were included in the study group (groups 2 and 3). The study group was divided into 93 patients (group 2) treated with 50 mg daily bicalutamide and LH-RH agonist (maximal androgen blockade, MAB) and 51 patients treated with the LH-RH agonist alone (group 3). Median follow-up after androgen suppression was 42 months. The castrate testosterone level was defined below 50 ng/dl. Results: The mean serum testosterone level was 29.1 ng/dl in patients undergoing MAB (group 2) and 29.5 ng/dl in patients treated with the LH-RH agonist (group 3; p > 0.05). In group 1, the mean serum testosterone was 445.2 ng/dl (p < 0.0001). The rate of patients with a serum testosterone level higher than 50 ng/dl was 10.9% in patients undergoing androgen suppression, 10% in patients with MAB treatment and 12.5% in those with LH-RH agonist therapy (p > 0.05). In group 1, 98.9% of the patients had a serum testosterone level higher than 50 ng/dl. Conclusions: A small but clinically significant rate of patients under 3-month LH-RH agonist therapy fail to achieve or maintain castrate testosterone serum levels. This finding supports the need of monitoring testicular response during LH-RH agonist therapy.
Thorough GABAergic innervation of the entire axon initial segment revealed by an optogenetic ‘laserspritzer’

The laserspritzer we developed activates axo‐axonic synapses (AASs) with spatial resolutions of less than 40 μm. AASs innervate the entire length of the axon initial segment (AIS), as opposed to forming a highly concentrated cartridge. AAS‐mediated synaptic potentials are inhibitory, with reversal potentials similar to those of basket synapses. AAS inhibition impedes action potentials and epileptiform activity more robustly than perisomatic inhibitions. AAS activation alone is sufficient to inhibit action potential generation and epileptiform activities in vitro.