Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Truly False Consensus Effect: An Ineradicable and Egocentric Bias in Social Perception

Consensus bias is the overuse of self-related knowledge in estimating the prevalence of attributes in a population. The bias seems statistically appropriate (Dawes, 1989), but according to the egocentrism hypothesis, it merely mimics normative inductive reasoning. In Experiment 1, Ss made population estimates for agreement with each of 40 personality inventory statements. Even Ss who had been educated about the consensus bias, or had received feedback about actual consensus.or both showed the bias. In Experiment 2, Ss attributed bias to another person, but their own consensus estimates were more affected by their own response to the item than by the other person's response. In Experiment 3, there was bias even in the presence of unanimous information from 20 randomly chosen others. In all 3 experiments, Ss continued to show consensus bias despite the availability of other statistical information. In a study on student attitudes, Katz and Allport (1931) noticed that the more students admitted they had cheated on an exam, the more they expected that other students cheated too. Since then, more than a hundred studies have documented a systematic relationship between people's perceptions of their own characteristics and their estimates of the percentage of people in the population who share those characteristics. Early investigators assumed that the cause of this relationship is that people irrationally project their own characteristics onto others. Much research effort was dedicated to the examination of the psychological causes of projection (Holmes, 1968). Ross, Greene, and House (1977) considered projection to be a consensus bias (i.e., the "false-consensus effect") and introduced it to the attribution and decision-making literature. These authors reinforced the idea that consensus bias is irrational. This argument has two parts. First, a person's own response to a judgment item is a single-case sample. To the extent that other social information is available, the self-related single-case sample provides little information and should be ignored in the inference process. Second, if consensus estimates vary with the person's own response, at least some of the estimates must be incorrect. If raters ignored their own responses, there would be no differences between the mean estimates of people with different responses.
Trophic Relationships of Hake (Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus) and Sharks (Centrophorus squamosus, Deania calcea and D. profundorum) in the Northern (Namibia) Benguela Current region

The trophic relationships of two hake species (Merluccius capensis and M. paradoxus) and three shark species (Centrophorus squamosus, Deania calcea and D. profundorum) were investigated using nitrogen and carbon stable isotope signatures (δ15N and δ13C) of their muscle tissues. The sharks were more enriched in 15N than the hake, an indication of the apex predator status of sharks. Among the sharks considered, C. squamosus occupied the highest trophic level and fed primarily on benthic prey. The two species of shark from the genus Deania were not different based on δ15N or δ13C, so they had similar diets. The δ13C signatures indicated that M. capensis and sharks fed on prey derived from similar basal resources. However, there was a significant difference in δ13C between M. paradoxus and all other species examined, suggesting that they occupied different feeding niches. Isotope-based population metrics showed narrower trophic ranges in sharks than M. capensis. Carbon and nitrogen ranges indicated that hake fed on a more diverse pool of carbon sources and had generally more enhanced trophic diversity in their feeding patterns than sharks. Among the species considered, C. squamosus occupied a unique isotopic space. Our results supported the hypothesis there are trophic overlaps among these species, but some interesting differentiation was revealed.
Utilization of the Yeast Torulaspora pretoriensis as a Baking Strain.

パ ンは,小 麦粉,水,酵 母お よび砂糖を混捏 してで き た生地 を発酵後,焼 成 して作 られ る. こ の とき,酵 母が パ ン生地 を膨張 させ て特有 の香ば しい風 味を与 えるの は,小 麦粉 中 に存 在す る糖 を発酵 して炭酸 ガスとエ タ ノールに分解 するためで あ り,そ の メカニズムは基本的 にアルコール発酵 のそれ と同一で ある. し か し,製 パ ン とビール,ワ イ ン,清 酒 などの醸造における発酵過程を 比較す ると,様 々な相違点があ り,そ れぞれの用途 に適 した酵母が使 用されているのがわか る1). 著者 は,製 パ ン用酵母Saccharomyces cerevisiaeに 必 要とされ る様 々な形質を遺伝子 レベルまで掘 り下 げて解 析 し,得 られ た知 見 を もと に新 規 な 菌 株 を造 成 し た2)~12). その後,現 在の大学に移 ったのを機会 に,別 の 角度か らパ ン酵 母 に 関す る研 究 を継 続 す る ことに し た13). こ こでは,酵 母Torulaspora pretoriensisの 性質 と製パ ン用菌株 と しての利用の可能性 につ いて述べ る. なお,本 総説 はパ ン酵母の機能解 析とその応用 に関す る 研究の一部 をまとめ たものであ り,そ の他 の部分につい ては既発表 の総説を参照 していただきたい14).
Studying the Effect of Echinacea Purpurea Root on Hematological, Biochemical and Histopathological Alterations in Cyclophosphamide Treated Rats -

The present work was held to assay the protective effect of Echinacea purpurea root extract against the negative impact of Cyclophosphamide (Cy). Sixty rats were divided into six equal groups, first group (control) take only normal saline, second one treated with Cyclophosphamide (50 mg/kg B.W once every week IM), third (E1) and fourth (E2) groups treated with Echinacea purpurea root extract (100 or 500 mg/kg B.W orally daily) respectively, fifth (E1+Cy) and sixth (E2+Cy) groups treated with Echinacea purpurea root (100 and 500 mg/kg B.W orally daily) with Cyclophosphamide (50mg/kg B.W once every week IM) respectively. At the end of 6th week whole blood and serum were collected to evaluate hematological and biochemical parameters as well as liver and kidney specimens for histopathological examination. The Cy treatment induced a significant decrease in erythrocyte count (RBCs), hemoglobin concentration (Hb), Packed cell volume (PCV %) and platelet counts. Meanwhile the liver enzymes (ALT, AST, ALP & LDH), total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, A/G ratio, triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, urea and creatinine were significantly increased. Otherwise total protein, albumin and globulin levels were decreased. Upon the Cy treatment liver microscopically showed necrosis and hemorrhage additionally the kidney has congestion and lymphohistiocytic exudate in the interstitial tissue. The Echinacea purpurea treatment markedly ameliorated the altered hematological, biochemical and histopathological features and did not have any side effects. In conclusion the data from our study revealed that both doses of Echinacea purpurea root extract have a protective effect against Cy induced damage.
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We thank Rammohan et cols for the comment on our paper entitled "The Role of Liver Transplantation in Propionic Acidemia". As the authors highlight, the reported rates of Hepatic Arterial Thrombosis (HAT) in Propionic Acidemia (PA) patients that undergo Liver Transplantation (LT) are higher than in other indications of LT (1). As described in the paper, the rate of HAT in our series is 33% (2/6) similar to those reported by other groups (1-2). The overall incidence of HAT in the last 10 years in our centre for non-PA indications was 3.5% (4/113) (3.7% in whole liver graft transplantation (3/81) and 3.1% in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) (1/32)). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Optimization of AFLP System for Hot Pepper Induced by Space

In order to establish a suitable AFLP reaction system of pepper induced by space,taking 3~4 leaf stage of pepper leaves as test materials,several significant influencing factors,including the dosage of template DNA,enzyme digestion and ligation,pre-amplification and the dilute of pre-amplification products were optimized,and a suitable AFLP reaction system for hot pepper induced by space was constructed.The results showed that by this optimized system,a clear and credible AFLP fingerprint could be obtained.
Maternal and larval niche construction interact to shape development, survival, and population divergence in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus

Through niche construction, organisms modify their environments in ways that can alter how selection acts on themselves and their offspring. However, the role of niche construction in shaping developmental and evolutionary trajectories, and its importance for population divergences and local adaptation, remains largely unclear. In this study, we manipulated both maternal and larval niche construction and measured the effects on fitness‐relevant traits in two rapidly diverging populations of the bull‐headed dung beetle, Onthophagus taurus. We find that both types of niche construction enhance adult size, peak larval mass, and pupal mass, which when compromised lead to a synergistic decrease in survival. Furthermore, for one measure, duration of larval development, we find that the two populations have diverged in their reliance on niche construction: larval niche construction appears to buffer against compromised maternal niche construction only in beetles from Western Australia, but not in beetles from the Eastern United States. We discuss our results in the context of rapid adaptation to novel conditions and the role of niche construction therein.
Estimating null allele frequencies at a microsatellite locus in the oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

A significant heterozygote deficiency was found for microsatellite locus 20H7 among adult breeding birds in four populations of the oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus). Genotype frequencies at seven other loci were according to Hardy–Weinberg equilibria. Deviations between observed and expected genotype numbers decreased substantially when the data were corrected based on the estimated frequency of a putative null allele at locus 20H7. However, no null homozygotes were observed in the total sample of 378 individuals. The probability that, because of chance effects, null homozygotes were not represented in the sample (n=230) from the most intensively studied population (Schiermonnikoog) was estimated to be less than 1%. Parent–offspring comparisons from Schiermonnikoog showed that observed genotype numbers in the offspring were in accordance with expected values based on the estimated frequency of the putative null allele in the population. Moreover, a null homozygote was observed among the nestlings. The combined results indicated that a null allele is present at locus 20H7 in oystercatchers and that the inheritance is according to normal Mendelian segregation. If the absence of null homozygotes among adult animals cannot be ascribed to statistical effects, null homozygotes may suffer a selective disadvantage during the juvenile stage.
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Thank you to Dr. Kumar (1) for his interest in our recent publication on the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with cirrhosis admitted into hospital (2). It is indeed true that most efforts on assessing renal function in cirrhosis have been concentrated on studying acute kidney injury (AKI), as this condition has an immediate negative impact on the prognosis of these patients. It is for this reason that we wanted to report on the emerging problems that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is going to pose to the cirrhotic population, especially in sick cirrhotic patients with decompensation admitted into hospital. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Ecosystems carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential of two main tree species for the Grain for Green Project on China′s hilly Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau covers 640000 square kilometers in Northwest China,and much of the Plateau′s terrain is hilly.Though the Plateau was a cradle of early civilization,its primary vegetation has been severely degraded in modern times.In response,beginning in the 1970s,several National Ecology Restoration Projects have focused on restoring the region′s ecological health.Among them are the Three-North Shelterbelt Project,the Grain for Green Project,and the Natural Forest Protection Project.These projects have played an important role in soil and water conservation,in some cases,reversing ecological destruction.In the future,these and other projects will play an important role in the carbon cycle.In this paper,we assessed the carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential of Chinese pine(Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.) and Black locust(Robinia pseudoacacia L.) planted forest on the hilly Loess Plateau.For our study,we established 28 plots and collected 516 soil samples to measure biomass carbon density of trees,shrubs,and herbaceous plants,as well as carbon storage in litter and soil.The plots contained 6 types of Chinese pine forests planted between the 1940s and 1990s,4 types of black locust forests planted between the 1950s and the 2000s,and 4 farmland plots,which served for comparison.The results showed that,following the afforestation,carbon storage increased gradually in vegetation,leaf litter,and soil for Chinese pine and black locust ecosystems,in the absence of human disturbance.The carbon storage was 70.76,143.43,167.30 and 271.23—332.26 Mg/hm2 for the 19-,27-,36-and 86-year-old Chinese pine ecosystems,and 80.37,94.08 and 140.77 Mg/hm2 for the 8-,17-and 39-year-old black locust ecosystems,respectively.Compared with the forest that in the absence of human disturbance,the 45-and 52-year-old Chinese pine ecosystems,which are recovering from thinning,had carbon storage of 136.42 and 168.56 Mg/hm2,pose significant decline of vegetation carbon storage and the soil organic carbon storage keep stable or even increased,and the 71-year-old Chinese pine ecosystem and the 56-year-old black locust ecosystem,which had suffered significant timber poaching,had carbon storage of 118.87 and 76.99 Mg/hm2,pose significant decline both of vegetation carbon and soil organic carbon.We take the carbon stock of cropland as the baseline,and take the forest plantation ecosystem,which in the absence of human disturbance,as the potential carbon storage.The carbon sequestration potential is 211.61—272.64 Mg/hm2 for planting Chinese pine on farmland in 86 years,and 81.15 Mg/hm2 for planting black locust in 39 years.Thus,planting Chinese pine and black locust,and weaken the human disturbance could both increase ecosystem carbon sequestration.With such an approach,the Loess Plateau will act as a significant carbon sink in the coming decades.
Development of the recombinant aequorin method and its evaluation for calcium measurement in filamentous fungi

The aim of this work was to express the Ca 2+ sensitive photoprotein, apoaequorin, in filamentous fungi to a high level in order to allow routine and simple measurement of changes in cytosolic Ca 2+ ([Ca24 ]) concentration in living hyphae. Analysis of the codon bias of the available apoaequorin genes showed a large discrepancy with the codon usage of the target fungi, Neurospora crassa, Aspergillus niger and A. awamori. To overcome this discrepancy, a synthetic apoaequorin gene with optimal codon usage for Neuropora and Aspergi'lus was designed and synthesised. An expression vector was generated for the production of apoaequorin from the synthetic gene using a constitutive Aspergillus promoter and suitable selectable markers for transformation. An expression vector was also produced for use in N. crassa to allow comparison of the aequorin levels obtained between the synthetic gene and the native gene. Strains of A. niger and A. awamori were transformed with the Aspergillus apoaequorin expression vector, and transformants expressing large amounts of active aequorin were selected and purified. Transformants of N. crassa were also produced using the Neurospora expression vector, and the highest expression transformants isolated and purified. Comparisons of the aequorin expression levels obtained in these transformants showed a 200-fold higher level of expression in A. awamori compared with that obtained in N. crassa. Also, the comparison between native and synthetic aequorin production showed a 280-fold higher level in the synthetic aequorin transformant. One high expression transformant from each Aspergillus species was chosen for investigation of [Ca 2+], responses to a variety of external stimuli. A successful method of growing cultures in small volume, still liquid culture in 96well microtitre plates was developed which allowed efficient analysis of [Ca 21 in
A Hierarchical Model of Lotic Ecosystems

This paper presents the structure and properties of a total stream model that simulates the dynamics of small, flowing—water ecosystems in the northwestern United States. Conceptually, the model is hierarchically structured, consisting of 7 basic processes: periphyton dynamics, grazing, shredding, collecting, invertebrate predation, vertebrate predation, and detrital conditioning. These processes are subprocesses of 3 echelons of higher level processes: detritivory; herbivory; primary consumption; predation; and the total ecosystem. The model has 14 state variables in the 7 basic processes, and is conceptualized in discrete time with a basic time step corresponding to 1 day. Behavior of the stream model relative to different schedules of energy inputs and to the practice of clear—cut logging was investigated and related to contemporary theory of lotic ecosystems. In general, model behavior indicated that the regulation of biological processes in streams is complex, the mechanisms of which vary seasonally and from process to process. If a process is regulated by food supply, its annual production tends to increase as predation increases, while mean biomass may or may not be affected appreciably. In contrast, an increase in predation tends to decrease both mean biomass and annual production in processes regulated primarily by predation and such life history phenomena as insects emergence. The stream model provided the stimulus that led to a mathematical expression for the rate of production at the level of the entire ecosystem, and model behavior suggests that this rate tends to remain constant along a continuum from small, first—order streams with no tributaries to larger rivers which eventually drain into the sea.
Ketamine disrupts synaptic transmission by interacting at AMPA/Kainate receptor channels in neocortical neurons

The dissociative anaesthetic, ketamine, is commonly known as a NMDA receptor channel blocker. However, additional mechanisms of action probably contribute to its various clinical effects. We asked if ketamine influences transmission via AMPA/kainate glutamate receptor channels. Using whole cell patch clamp techniques in brain slices we recorded excitatory postsynaptic potentials, evoked by electrical stimulation of axons in white matter, from pyramidal neurons in the auditory cortex of gerbils. The neurons were layer IU. -V large pyramidal neurons identified morphologically under an infrared differential interference contrast microscope, and electrophysiologically by virtue of their firing patterns. After blockade of the slow, NMDA receptor mediated EPSP component with APV, ketamine application produced a concentration-dependent reduction in amplitude of fast, CNQX-sensitive EPSPs. IC 5 0 values for ketamine were estimated to range from 7 to 35 pM. The reduction of subthreshold EPSP amplitudes was maintained for a long time following cessation of the ketamine application, but the amplitude recovered when firing was induced in the postsynaptic neuron during the washout period. At concentrations of 25 to 125 uM that led to a reduction of the fast EPSP amplitude ketamine caused an increase in input resistance. At higher concentrations, which ranged from 50 to 250 pM, resistance fell again towards control levels. Ketamine did not increase input resistance after CNQX blockade of AMPA and kainate receptor channels. Thus, ketamine appears to reduce synaptic excitation and membrane conductance by an incomplete blockade of AMPA and/or kainate receptor channels that are constitutively active at a low level in the slice preparation of auditory cortex. After blockade of both the NMDA and AMPA/kainate receptor channels, the membrane responded to application of 100 uM ketamine with an increase in resistance. Therefore, ketamine appears to produce an increase in resting resistance by partial blockade of AMPA/kainate receptor channels (as reported here) as well as NMDA receptor channels (as reported previously). Furthermore, complete blockade of NMDA and AMPA/kainate receptor
GENBIT COMPRESS - ALGORITHM FOR REPETITIVE AND NON-REPETITIVE DNA SEQUENCES.

The Deoxyribonucleic acid(DNA) constitutes the physical medium in which all properties of living organisms are encoded. Molecular sequence databases(e.g.,EMBL,Genbank, DDJB, Entrez, SwissProt, etc) currently collect hundreds of thousands of sequences of nucleotides and amino acids reaching to thousands of gigabytes and are under continuous expansion. Need for Compression arises because approximately 44,575,745,176 bases in 40,604,319 sequence records are there in the GenBank database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/). Efficient compression may also reveal some biological functions and helps in phylogenic tree reconstruction etc. We present a compression algorithm, “GenBit Compress” for DNA sequences based on a novel algorithm of assigning binary bits for smaller segments of DNA bases to compress both repetitive and non repetitive DNA sequence. our proposed algorithm achieves the best compression ratio for DNA sequences for larger genome. As long as 8 lakh characters can be given as input. Significantly better compression results show that GenBit Compress algorithm is the best among the remaining compression algorithms. While achieving the best compression ratios for DNA sequences(Genome),our new GenBit Compress algorithm significantly improves the running time of all previous DNA compression programs. We have also identified that it is a good idea to express the performance of an algorithm as a function of the input size. For the first time we have defined the Worst case, Average case and Best case for DNA compression using our proposed Algorithm. Assigning binary bits for fragments of DNA sequence is also a unique concept introduced in this algorithm for the first time in DNA compression.
Mating structure and nestmate relatedness in a communal bee, Andrena jacobi (Hymenoptera, Andrenidae), using microsatellites

Complex eusocial insect societies are generally matrifilial, suggesting kin selection has been of importance in their development. For simpler social systems, factors favouring their existence, in particular kin selection, have rarely been studied. Communal nesting is one of these simple social organizations, and is found in a diversity of insect species. To examine whether kin selection may play a role in the evolution and maintenance of communality, we estimated genetic relatedness of nestmate females of the facultatively communal bee, Andrena jacobi. Microsatellite loci were developed for this species and used to analyse individuals from two populations. Loci were variable, they were in heterozygote deficit and showed positive inbreeding coefficients. This may arise from nonrandom mating; previous observations (Paxton & Tengö 1996) indicate that a large proportion of females mate intranidally with nestmate males in their natal nests before first emerging. Nestmate relatedness was low, no different from zero for all loci in one population and for three of four loci in the other population. The large number of nestmates sharing a common nest (up to 594) may explain the low relatedness estimates, although relatedness was also independent of the number of females sharing a nest. Lack of inclusive fitness payoffs could constrain social evolution in this communal species.