Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inactivation of a Novel Neuropeptide Y/Peptide YY Receptor Gene in Primate Species*

Neuropeptide Y (NPY), peptide YY (PYY), and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) belong to a family of structurally related peptides which have numerous functions in both neural and endocrine signaling. By homology screening, we cloned a novel gene sharing the highest homology with the NPY Y1 receptor gene from humans, rabbits, and several other species. This novel gene of rabbit encodes a functional NPY/PYY receptor, designated Y2b, which prefers NPY13-36 rather than [Leu31,Pro34]NPY despite its higher identity with the Y1 receptor. Although, at low levels, mRNA was detected in the tissues and brain regions, including hypothalamus. Further, sequence data revealed that this gene is the orthologue of the recently cloned mouse novel NPY receptor, Y5. However, our study demonstrates that the receptor function of this gene has been inactivated in primates by a frameshift mutation occurring early in primate evolution. This novel NPY receptor represents the first neurotransmitter receptor identified that has universally lost its receptor function in primate species. Interestingly, despite its inactivation in humans, the transcripts were abundantly detected in the heart and skeletal muscle, suggesting a novel function of the human gene.
Residents' Responses to Medical Error: Coping, Learning, and Change

Purpose To explore the significant emotional challenges facing resident physicians in the setting of medical mishaps, as well as their approaches to coping with these difficult experiences. Method Twenty-six resident physicians were randomly selected from a single teaching hospital and participated in in-depth qualitative interviews. Transcripts were analyzed iteratively and themes identified. Results Residents expressed intense emotional responses to error events. Poor patient outcomes and greater perceived personal responsibility were associated with more intense reactions and greater personal anguish. For the great majority of residents, their ability to cope with these events was dependent on a combination of reassurance and opportunities for learning. Interactions with medical colleagues and supervisory physicians were critical to this coping process. Conclusions Medical mishaps have a profound impact on resident physicians by eliciting intense emotional responses. It is critical that resident training programs recognize the personal and professional significance of these experiences for young physicians. Moreover, resident education must support the development of constructive coping skills by facilitating candid discussion and learning subsequent to these events.
The possible role of respiratory syncytial virus and Pasteurella spp in calf respiratory disease

In a natural outbreak of respiratory disease during 1976, 31 of 43 calves showed moderately severe clinical signs which included pyrexia (maximum 42 degrees C) and tachypnoea. During the outbreak infection by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was demonstrated by isolation from nasopharyngeal swabs or by serology. Pasteurella haemolytica or P multocida were isolated from the blood of four and five calves respectively. In the month before disease 65 per cent of the calves showed significant antibody responses to P haemolytica. However a similar serological response to P haemolytica was demonstrated during 1975 in a comparable group of calves in which no disease and no infection with RSV was detected. No serological response to P multocida was demonstrated in either year. The temporal correlation of RSV infection with respiratory disease in the group of 43 calves was striking but the evidence neither reinforced nor discounted the possibility of interaction between RSV and P haemolytica infection in the pathogenesis of disease.
The workforce and productivity:people management is the key to closing the productivity gap

Segun los resultados obtenidos en nuestro estudio de ocho anos de duracion, la satisfaccion de los empleados con su trabajo y una vision positiva de la organizacion, combinadas con unas practicas de gestion del personal relativamente amplias y sofisticadas, son los indicadores mas importantes de la futura productividad de las empresas. Ademas, estos factores parecen mucho mas importantes a la hora de predecir la productividad futura que la estrategia competitiva, el enfasis de la direccion en la calidad, la sofisticacion tecnologica o el enfasis en la investigacion y el desarrollo. Lo de que "las personas son nuestro principal activo" es algo mas que un lugar comun de la direccion. Se trata de una cuestion urgente cuya omision por parte de los directivos redundara en costes para los accionistas y demas participantes. Nuestro estudio sugiere que para reducir el deficit de productividad, al menos en el sector fabricante del Reino Unido, los responsables politicos y los gestores deben centrar sus esfuerzos en la gestion del personal y estar atentos a las actitudes y la satisfaccion de los empleados
Finding Minimum Entropy Codes

To determine whether a particular sensory event is a reliable predictor of reward or punishment it is necessary to know the prior probability of that event. If the variables of a sensory representation normally occur independently of each other, then it is possible to derive the prior probability of any logical function of the variables from the prior probabilities of the individual variables, without any additional knowledge; hence such a representation enormously enlarges the scope of definable events that can be searched for reliable predictors. Finding a Minimum Entropy Code is a possible method of forming such a representation, and methods for doing this are explored in this paper. The main results are (1) to show how to find such a code when the probabilities of the input states form a geometric progression, as is shown to be nearly true for keyboard characters in normal text; (2) to show how a Minimum Entropy Code can be approximated by repeatedly recoding pairs, triples, etc. of an original 7-bit code for keyboard characters; (3) to prove that in some cases enlarging the capacity of the output channel can lower the entropy.
Nocturnal Prolactin Secretion in Depression

Prolactin (PRL) secretion in depression has been the focus ofmuch study. Sachar etal(l973), Horrobin et a! (1976), and Linkowski et a! (1983) described elevated prolactin levels, whereas Asnis et a! (1980) and Judd et a! (1982) found diminished or blunted PRL responses in depression. Carroll (1978) and Mendlewicz et a/(1980), using serial diurnal assays, found abnormal secretory patterns in some depressed subjects, but normal PRL levels were found by Arana et a! (1977), Halbreich et a! (1978) and Meltzer et a! (1982). A variety of techniques has been used to stimulate PRL secretion in these studies, and this may in part explain the contradictory nature of the findings, because of the complex factors which regulate the secretion of the hormone. Although pharmaco logical challenge methods have the great advantage of simplicity of administration, it seemed to us that any alteration in hypothalamic amine and anterior pituitary hormone function in depression would be easier to interpret, using a physiological rather than a pharmacological stimulus to PRL secretion. This is largely under the control of Prolactin Inhibitory Factor (PIF) from the hypothalamus (Leong et a! , 1983), and evidence suggests that PIF is similar or identical to dopamine. The present study was designed, therefore, to elucidate further the PRL secretory response in depressed and non-depressed subjects, using as criterion the increased secretion of this hormone which occurs during the early hours of sleep. Because of the presumed depletion of central amines in depression, it was hypothesised that the secretion of PRL would be increased in depressed subjects at this time. Method The experimental subjects consisted of 13 psychiatric in patients, nine female and four male, who were selected from patients in a 20-bed general hospital psychiatric unit over a 15-month period. Most subjects had been trans ferred to the psychiatric unit from another ward (usually medical) in the hospital; a few had been admitted to the unit following a suicide attempt or from the emergency department of the hospital. In each case, the diagnosis of primary depression was established independently by two psychiatrists (one a consultant and one a resident), using the Feighner et a! (1972) criteria. Patients were then admitted to the study if they satisfied the following criteria:
A new constraint handling method for differential evolution solving non-convex economic dispatch problems with valve loading effect

Economic dispatch problem (EDP) is an important optimization problem in modern power system. When involved with valve-point loading effect, this problem becomes a complex non-convex and non-linear optimization problem. In this case, many researchers adopt evolutionary algorithms to solve it. An equality constraint, the power balance constraint, exists in this problem. This constraint leads some common constraint handling methods, such as feasibility rules and ε constraint method, to failure. In this paper, we propose a new constraint handling method which converts the power balance constraint into two boundary inequality constraints, and apply differential evolution (DE) combined with feasibility rules and ε constraint method to solve this problem. In order to prove its effectiveness, three benchmarks are tested. The numerical results show that with the help of the new transforming method, feasibility rules and ε constraint method perform very well in the three benchmarks. Compared with other algorithms in literatures, the simplest DE combined with ε constraint method also demonstrates competitiveness.
Improvement of isolated rat pancreatic islets function by combination of cerium oxide nanoparticles/sodium selenite through reduction of oxidative stress

Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) is a disease with high incidence with no pure cure therapy yet. In most of cases, these patients need pancreatic islets transplantation that is not completely successful because of oxidative stress happening during isolation and transplantation procedures. In the present study, effective factors in transplantation procedure such as viability, insulin secretion, production of reactive oxygen molecules (ROM), and mitochondrial energy as ATP/ADP ratio were examined in the isolated islets exposed to sodium selenite (Na2SeO3; 0 30 nmol/L), metal form of cerium oxide (100 nm), cerium oxide nanoparticles (100 nm) and combination of Na2SeO3 (30 nmol/L)/cerium oxide nanoparticles (100 nm) in a time course (1, 2, 4 and 6 days posttreatment) manner. The results showed a significant increase of cells viability, secretion of insulin, and ATP/ADP ratio and a reduction in ROM by use of sodium selenite, cerium oxide nanoparticles, and especially combination of cerium oxide nanoparticles/sodium selenite. Interestingly, not only no improvement was found with metal form of cerium oxide but also deterioration occurred in tested markers. Results suggest that pretreatment with combination of cerium oxide nanoparticles/sodium selenite can improve transplantation outcome and graft function by control of oxidative stress damage.
A Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism in the Fetal Catechol-O-methyltransferase Gene is Associated With Spontaneous Preterm Birth in African Americans

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity has been reported to be higher in African Americans (AA) than Caucasians (Cau). COMT converts 2- and 4-hydroxy (OH) estrogens to 2- and 4-methoxyestrogens, respectively, and can increase estrogenic milieu locally in tissues. To assess whether the increased incidence of preterm birth (PTB) among AA women is associated with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the COMT gene, we examined variations in maternal and fetal COMT genes and their association with pregnancy outcomes (term vs preterm pregnancies) using 4 functional SNPs: rs4633, rs4680, rs4818, and rs6269 in both AA and Cau. We analyzed samples from 267 AA women (191 term and 76 preterm pregnancies) and 339 Cau (194 term and 145 preterm pregnancies) in this study. The results showed a significant difference (P < .05) in allele and genotype frequencies between term and preterm AA and Cau women in 3 SNPs in both maternal and fetal DNA. The analysis revealed that in AA fetal COMT genes, SNP rs4818 is associated with PTB at the allele (C; P < .001), genotype (C/C; P < .01), and 2- (P < .03) and 3 (P < .04)-window haplotype levels. Multidimensionality reduction analysis also showed a significant (P < .01) association between rs4818 and PTB. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that a synonymous polymorphism, rs4818 in the fetal COMT gene, is associated with PTB in AA.
Shared Learning : Enhancing Reinforcement in $Q$-Ensembles

Deep Reinforcement Learning has been able to achieve amazing successes in a variety of domains from video games to continuous control by trying to maximize the cumulative reward. However, most of these successes rely on algorithms that require a large amount of data to train in order to obtain results on par with human-level performance. This is not feasible if we are to deploy these systems on real world tasks and hence there has been an increased thrust in exploring data efficient algorithms. To this end, we propose the Shared Learning framework aimed at making $Q$-ensemble algorithms data-efficient. For achieving this, we look into some principles of transfer learning which aim to study the benefits of information exchange across tasks in reinforcement learning and adapt transfer to learning our value function estimates in a novel manner. In this paper, we consider the special case of transfer between the value function estimates in the $Q$-ensemble architecture of BootstrappedDQN. We further empirically demonstrate how our proposed framework can help in speeding up the learning process in $Q$-ensembles with minimum computational overhead on a suite of Atari 2600 Games.
Extracting geometric models of muscles from the visible human data

Muscle simulation should be an important component of human modelling, but to date there have been few attempts to demonstrate muscle structures in an anatomically-correct way. This paper proposes a feature-based approach to muscle modelling which attempts to provide models for human musculature based on the real anatomical structures. These models provide a good visual description and form a sound basis for further developments towards medically-accurate simulation of human bodies. To allow for the wide variety of muscle shapes encountered in the body, the geometric models are based on muscle features identified from radiological data. These results are realistic models with correct anatomical structures.
Minor depression in a cohort of young adults in Israel.

BACKGROUND A diagnosis of minor depression was considered for DSM-IV. Mild depression is thought to be common in primary care settings and the community, but studies of the validity of minor depression as a separate diagnostic category are few. METHODS Minor depression as defined by Research Diagnostic Criteria was assessed by psychiatrists using a modified Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime version in a cohort of 5200 young adults in Israel. Subjects with year-prevalent minor depression were compared with subjects with major depression or generalized anxiety disorder and with controls on aspects of psychopathologic condition, psychosocial functioning, help-seeking behaviors, and demographic correlates. RESULTS Symptomatically, minor depression appeared to be a mild version of major depression. Minor depression was associated with good teenage and general social functioning, but also with absence from work, separation or divorce, recent impairment in overall functioning, and help-seeking. CONCLUSIONS The results lend support for including minor depression or expanding severity modifiers in future classifications to better capture the phenomenon of subthreshold depression.
Effects on differentiation by the promyelocytic leukemia PML/RARalpha protein depend on the fusion of the PML protein dimerization and RARalpha DNA binding domains.

The block of terminal differentiation is a prominent feature of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and its release by retinoic acid correlates with disease remission. Expression of the APL‐specific PML/RARalpha fusion protein in hematopoietic precursor cell lines blocks terminal differentiation, suggesting that PML/ RARalpha may have the same activity in APL blasts. We expressed different PML/RARalpha mutants in U937 and TF‐1 cells and demonstrated that the integrity of the PML protein dimerization and RARalpha DNA binding domains is crucial for the differentiation block induced by PML/RARalpha, and that these domains exert their functions only within the context of the fusion protein. Analysis of the in vivo dimerization and cell localization properties of the PML/RARalpha mutants revealed that PML/RARalpha–PML and PML/RARalpha–RXR heterodimers are not necessary for PML/RARalpha activity on differentiation. We propose that a crucial mechanism underlying PML/RARalpha oncogenic activity is the deregulation of a transcription factor, RARalpha, through its fusion with the dimerization interface of another nuclear protein, PML.
Improving the input characteristics of a circularly polarized proximity-fed microstrip antenna with polarization switching ability

A technique to improve the input characteristics of a circularly polarized proximity-fed microstrip antenna (CP-PMA) that can be used in applications requiring polarization diversity is presented in this paper. This technique provides improved return loss without affecting other characteristics of the antenna such as axial ratios and radiation patterns. A good agreement between the simulated and measured results was obtained, thus confirming the effective performances of the proposed configurations
Body contact and sexual enticement.

BEING HELD or cuddled may reduce anxiety, promote relaxation and a feeling of security, and provide a distinctive type of gratification. Since women are usually held or cuddled before and after coitus, they can use sex as a means of obtaining this type of body contact. But how often do they do so? And is there a correlation between the intensity of their need for body contact and the frequency with which they use sex to obtain this satisfaction? The answers to these two questions, obtained as part of a larger study on the need for body contact, will be presented in this report. In the larger study, we found that the need to be held and cuddled, like other needs, varies in intensity from person to person and in the same person from time to time. For most women, body contact is pleasant but not indispensible. At
Prognostic analysis of transarterial chemoembolization combined with a traditional Chinese herbal medicine formula for treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the most widely used primary treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to its survival benefit, though its clinical effect is still far from satisfactory. Jiedufang (JDF) granule preparation is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine formula for HCC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combined therapy with TACE and JDF granule preparation in treatment of unresectable HCC on survival. METHODS A retrospective study of TACE was performed in 165 patients with unresectable HCC who were admitted between January 2002 and December 2007 in Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China. Of the 165 patients, 80 patients (study group) received combined therapy consisting of TACE and a long-term maintenance treatment with oral JDF granule preparation, and the remaining 85 patients (control group) received TACE alone. The survival rates of both groups were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Factors possibly affecting survival were assessed by multivariate analysis in the Cox proportional hazard model, such as maximum tumor size, number of lesions, portal vein invasion, and etc. RESULTS The median overall survival was 9.2 months (95% CI: 6.94 - 11.46) in the study group versus 5.87 months (95% CI: 4.21 - 7.52) in the control group. In the study group,survival rates of the 1-, 2- and 3-year follow-up were 41.2%, 18.4%, and 9.6%, respectively. Significant independent prognostic factors identified by the Cox regression analysis were as follows: serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (P = 0.014), maximum tumor size (P = 0.027), number of lesions (P < 0.001), portal vein invasion (P < 0.001), and the therapy model (P = 0.006). CONCLUSION Combination therapy of TACE and JDF granule preparation may significantly prolong survival of patients with unresectable HCC.
Evaluation of Two Commercial Kits and Arbitrarily Primed PCR for Identification and Differentiation ofActinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans,Haemophilus aphrophilus, and Haemophilus paraphrophilus

ABSTRACT The closely related species Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Haemophilus aphrophilus, andHaemophilus paraphrophilus are common findings in oral microbiota. The aims of this study were to evaluate the applicability of the Rapid NH and API ZYM kits and arbitrarily primed PCR (AP-PCR) in the identification and differentiation of the three species from each other. The material included 62 clinical isolates and three reference strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans representing the 5 serotypes and 18 AP-PCR genotypes. Haemophilus species included 12 clinical isolates and 11 reference strains of H. aphrophilus, H. paraphrophilus, and 5 other species. For the PCR amplification, the oligonucleotide 5′-CAGCACCCAC-3′ was used as a primer. Contrary to the consistent performance of API ZYM, the Rapid NH system was able to identify only 10 of 65 (15%) A. actinomycetemcomitans isolates, whereas allHaemophilus species were correctly identified. The API ZYM test differentiated A. actinomycetemcomitans from H. aphrophilus and H. paraphrophilus by negative β-galactosidase and α-glucosidase reactions and a positive esterase lipase reaction. However, the API ZYM test was unable to differentiateH. aphrophilus from H. paraphrophilus, it also could not differentiate A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes from each other. Among the H. aphrophilus isolates three AP-PCR genotypes and among H. paraphrophilus isolates only one AP-PCR genotype, distinct from those of A. actinomycetemcomitans, were found. The Rapid NH test showed poor ability to identify clinical isolates of all A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes. Moreover, AP-PCR genotyping proved to be a rapid method for the species differentiation of A. actinomycetemcomitans, H. aphrophilus, and H. paraphrophilus.
Explanatory Style among Elite Ice Hockey Athletes

‘Mentally tough’ athletes show resilience and an ability to compete during adverse conditions. The present study investigated mental toughness and assessed causal explanations for positive and negative reactions to imagined events using Seligman's Attributional Style Questionnaire Pessimistic Explanatory style on this scale is a risk factor for negative affect and behavior following negative events. 38 elite athletes in ice hockey were rated for mental toughness by the National Hockey League's scouts on consensually derived criteria. The comparison of players above and below the median split on mental toughness showed composite explanations for negative events that were more internal, stable and global for players above the median Contrary to predictions, these results suggest that a Pessimistic Explanatory style may benefit hockey performance.