Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic diversity and differentiation in the swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus (Miers, 1876) (Decapoda, Brachyura) along the coast of China based on fluorescent AFLP markers: implications for conservation and genetic improvement

Using fluorescent AFLP-markers, the genetic diversity and structure of six geographical populations of the swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus (Miers, 1876), from the coast of China were analysed to assess their genetic resource state. Eight primer combinations generated 925 loci among 85 individuals, and revealed a high polymorphism within these populations that varied from 57.41% (Zhoushan population) to 76.86% (Dalian population). According to the combination of percentage of polymorphic loci (PPL) and Shannon’s information index (I), the populations from Zhangzhou, Dongying and Dalian showed more genetic variation than the Lianyungang, Zhanjiang and Zhoushan populations. The gene flow (Nm) and GST across all populations overall were 1.935 and 0.205, respectively, showing moderate genetic differentiation. Differentiation was highest in the Zhoushan and Zhanjiang populations, and the geographical distribution and UPGMA cluster tree were not fully accordant. Neutrality test results revealed that the Zhangzhou population faced a smaller selective pressure than the other five populations (P 0.25) of genetic differentiation has occurred between the Zhoushan population and the other populations. Therefore, these findings have the following implications for conservation and genetic improvement: (1) high diversity levels and good genetic resources, especially in the Zhangzhou population, which could lay the foundations for breeding research and genetic improvement; (2) the importance of preventing species escape and gene pool contamination in ex-situ conservation and species introduction programs in the Zhoushan population.
Foot and Mouth Disease Sero-prevalence in Cattle in Kenya

A cross sectional study was conducted on serum from 39 counties in Kenya in order to determine the prevalence of foot and mouth disease in bovine species. The study utilized serum samples at Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) laboratory including Somali Ecosystem Rinderpest Eradication Coordination Unit (SERECU) project collected in the year 2010. From the serology results, the national prevalence of foot and mouth disease in bovines was 52.5% (CI = 95). Of the 3709 samples subjected toNonstructural protein (NSP) enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening test, 1,947 of those were interpreted as positive representing 52.5% (1947/3709) while the other 1,762 samples turned negative representing 47.5% (n = 1,762). There was significant association between seropositivity and age groups (p = 0.002) and vaccination status (p = 0.048) but no association between the seropositivity and sex (p = 0.063). Key words: Cattle, foot and mouth disease (FMD), Kenya, seroprevalence.
THE RENAL LESION ASSOCIATED WITH HEMOGLOBINEMIA

A method is presented for the production of a reproducible and reversible renal lesion in the rat by the intravenous injection of a relatively small amount of homologous hemoglobin (40 mg/100 g body weight). Production of the lesion is dependent on prior water deprivation and its severity is related to the degree of dehydration. Ether anesthesia, at the time of hemoglobin injection, predisposes to a severe and reproducible functional defect in the dehydrated rat. In contrast, injection of hemoglobin during pentobarbital anesthesia results in a significant lesion only sporadically. The functional evolution of the lesion has been characterized by inulin clearance measurements. Functional impairment occurs abruptly, within 1 hr after hemoglobin injection, and persists unchanged over the ensuing several hours. Some increase in inulin clearance rate is usually observed at 24 hr after injection, but severe functional impairment persists. Between 24 and 72 hr, a considerable increase in inulin clearance rate occurs, so that only moderate restriction of excretory function is present at the latter time. A further moderate increase in inulin clearance rate is apparent at 7 days after hemoglobin injection, but some reduction in function. persisted in all rats studied at this time. Hemoglobinuria is slight or inapparent in animals manifesting the most marked depression of excretory function, indicating that a severe renal lesion may exist in the absence of visible urinary pigment. Hemoglobinemia is evanescent at the dosage used in this study. These observations suggest that clinical acute renal failure secondary to hemoglobinemia may readily go unrecognized and that this may be a more frequent association than is now appreciated.
Myocardial infarction and other comorbidities in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease : a Danish Nationwide Study of 7 . 4 million individuals

Aims Myocardial infarction is nominally the most important co-morbidity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the one with the greatest potential for treatment and prevention to improve the overall prognosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. We assessed the extent of myocardial infarction and other co-morbidities in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the general population.
APOE ε4 and cognitive function in early life: a meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION It is well established that the Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is associated with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease in old age. By contrast, several studies have demonstrated cognitive benefits in young ε4 carriers. It is therefore possible that the ε4 allele exhibits a pleiotropic association with cognition across the life span where ε4-related benefits in youth reverse to become risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia in later life. To date, though, there has been no broad quantitative review of work assessing APOE-cognition associations in children, adolescents and young adults. METHOD Based on 20 studies investigating cognitive performance in ε4-carrying young persons and their non-ε4 counterparts, a meta-analytic study was conducted to examine APOE ε4-related differences in cognitive performance. Additionally, we assessed whether the level of executive demands affected the strength of associations between the ε4 allele and cognitive measures. RESULTS In all analyses, estimated APOE ε4-related population effect sizes did not reliably differ from zero. Furthermore, the level of executive demands of the task did not affect this finding. CONCLUSION We found no APOE ε4-related cognitive benefits in young adults, adolescents and children, and findings were not moderated by the level of executive demands in a cognitive task. Given the current empirical evidence therefore, suggestions that APOE ε4 exhibits a pleiotropic association with cognition across the life span should be treated with caution.
Association of prepubertal body composition in healthy girls and boys with the timing of early and late pubertal markers.

BACKGROUND It is controversial whether prepubertal body composition is implicated in the timing of puberty onset. OBJECTIVE The objective was to investigate whether body composition in the 2 y preceding the start of the pubertal growth spurt -- a marker of puberty onset -- is associated with the attainment of early and late pubertal markers in healthy German boys and girls. DESIGN Multivariate-adjusted regression analyses were performed in 215 participants of the DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD) Study for whom body mass index (BMI) and its components fat mass/height(2) (FM/m(2)) and fat-free mass/height(2) (FFM/m(2)) 1 and 2 y before the onset of the pubertal growth spurt (age at takeoff; ATO) and information on early life exposures were available. In addition, age at peak height velocity (APHV) and menarche were examined. RESULTS Higher BMIs and FM/m(2) z scores 1 and 2 y before ATO showed modest associations with chronological age at ATO among girls only (girls: P for = trend 0.05-0.1, adjusted for early life factors; boys: P = 0.2-0.6). FFM/m(2) z scores were not related to age at ATO (P for trend = 0.5-0.8). Conversely, prepubertal BMI and FM/m(2) more clearly predicted APHV and puberty duration (APHV minus ATO) in both sexes and age at menarche in girls (girls: adjusted P for trend <0.0001-0.03; boys: P = 0.01-0.046). CONCLUSION This longitudinal study suggests that prepubertal body composition in healthy boys and girls may not be critical for the initiation of the pubertal growth spurt but instead affects the progression of pubertal development, which results in earlier attainment of later pubertal stages.
Free head motion eye gaze tracking without calibration

This paper introduces a novel technique for remote eye gaze tracking and detection of point of regard that is specially designed for wide use in HCI. It addresses and eliminates two of the major problems of commercial remote eye gaze tracking, namely the need for user calibration before each session and of accuracy degradation with head movement. The new technique uses a single calibrated camera, several light sources with known positions and a physical model of the eye to estimate the 3D position of the eye and its gaze direction. Simulation results using ray tracing are used to study the accuracy and robustness of the system, and demonstrate its operability.
Modeling the cosmic-ray-induced soft-error rate in integrated circuits: An overview

This paper is an overview of the concepts and methodologies used to predict soft-error rates (SER) due to cosmic and high-energy particle radiation in integrated circuit chips. The paper emphasizes the need for the SER simulation using the actual chip circuit model which includes device, process, and technology parameters as opposed to using either the discrete device simulation or generic circuit simulation that is commonly employed in SER modeling. Concepts such as funneling, event-by-event simulation, nuclear history files, critical charge, and charge sharing are examined. Also discussed are the relative importance of elastic and inelastic nuclear collisions, rare event statistics, and device vs. circuit simulations. The semi-empirical methodologies used in the aerospace community to arrive at SERs [also referred to as single-event upset (SEU) rates] in integrated circuit chips are reviewed. This paper is one of four in this special issue relating to SER modeling. Together, they provide a comprehensive account of this modeling effort, which has resulted in a unique modeling tool called the Soft-Error Monte Carlo Model, or SEMM.
Sparse Signal Recovery by Stepwise Subspace Pursuit in Compressed Sensing

In this paper, an algorithm named stepwise subspace pursuit (SSP) is proposed for sparse signal recovery. Unlike existing algorithms that select support set from candidate sets directly, our approach eliminates useless information from the candidate through threshold processing at first and then recovers the signal through the largest correlation coefficients. We demonstrate that SSP significantly outperforms conventional techniques in recovering sparse signals whose nonzero values have exponentially decaying magnitudes or distribution of N ( 0,1 ) . Experimental results of Lena show that SSP is better than CoSaMP, OMP, and SP in terms of peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) by 5.5 db, 4.1 db, and 4.2 db, respectively.
Clinical Effects of Probiotic Bifidobacterium breve Supplementation in Adult Patients with Atopic Dermatitis

Probiotics (live microbial food supplements) have been shown to be effective in allergic diseases, but the potential of probiotics for treatment of adult atopic dermatitis is not clear. The effect of probiotic Bifidobacterium breve (B. breve) for atopic dermatitis was assessed in this study. A total of 24 patients were given either B. breve strain YY or a placebo for 8 weeks. Clinical severity was evaluated by using the severity scoring of atopic dermatitis and quality of life was assessed by Skindex-29-J. In addition, blood and fecal samples were taken before and after the study. The objective severity scoring for atopic dermatitis significantly improved in the probiotic group compared with the placebo group. In the quality of life assessment, the total score showed significant improvement in the probiotic group. The proportion of B. breve in intestinal microflora was increased in the probiotic group. However, no significant change in thymus and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC/ CCL17), immunoglobulin E or the number of eosinophils was found. Our results suggest that B. breve may be beneficial for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. However, since the severity of disease symptoms in the placebo group at the beginning of the study was milder than those in the probiotic group because the number of patients in the present pilot study was relatively small, further study is needed to determine the clinical value of B. breve in adult patients with atopic dermatitis.
Longer Duration and Earlier Age of Onset of Paternal Betel Chewing and Smoking Increase Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Human Offspring, Independently, in a Community-Based Screening Program in Taiwan

Background: Transgenerational effects of paternal Areca catechu nut chewing on offspring metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk in humans, on obesity and diabetes mellitus experimentally, and of paternal smoking on offspring obesity, are reported, likely attributable to genetic and epigenetic effects previously reported in betel-associated disease. We aimed to determine the effects of paternal smoking, and betel chewing, on the risks of early MetS in human offspring. Methods: The 13 179 parent-child trios identified from 238 364 Taiwanese aged ≥20 years screened at 2 community-based integrated screening sessions were tested for the effects of paternal smoking, areca nut chewing, and their duration prefatherhood on age of detecting offspring MetS at screen by using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results: Offspring MetS risks increased with prefatherhood paternal areca nutusage (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23–2.53) versus nonchewing fathers (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.28; 95% CI, 1.67–6.43) with >10 years paternal betel chewing, 1.62 (95% CI, 0.88–2.96) for 5 to 9 years, and 1.42 (95% CI, 0.80–2.54) for <5 years betel usage prefatherhood (P trend=0.0002), with increased risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.26–3.04) for paternal areca nut usage from 20 to 29 years of age, versus from >30 years of age (adjusted hazard ratio,1.61; 95% CI, 0.22–11.69). MetS offspring risk for paternal smoking increased dosewise (P trend<0.0001) with earlier age of onset (P trend=0.0009), independently. Conclusions: Longer duration of paternal betel quid chewing and smoking, prefatherhood, independently predicted early occurrence of incident MetS in offspring, corroborating previously reported transgenerational effects of these habits, and supporting the need for habit-cessation program provision.
Evaluation of the cardiac function during Extra Corporeal Life Support

Extra corporeal Life Support (ECLS) is a system, based on the principles of the heartlung machine, that partially bypasses heart and lungs, temporarily, from several days up to weeks. This thesis focuses on the application of ECLS in postcardiotomy patients who, despite medical treatment, were not able to be weaned from the heart-lung machine, but whose recovery of the cardiac function is prospective. Because the ECLS unloads the heart and affects functional measurements, the assessment of the cardiac function is obscured. This hinders management of the ECLS and the decision making on when and how to stop ECLS. The hypothesis of this study was that the cardiac function could be revealed by studying the reaction of the heart on a sudden change in pumpflow. To investigate this hypothesis animal experiments were done. Nine sheep were instrumented with the ECLS, pressure, flow and volume sensors. Interventions in pump-flow were recorded and repeated after ischemia was induced upon the heart. Analysis of the experiments on two sheep shows that the reaction on a change in pumpflow differed between the two animals and between healthy and ischemic conditions. It was not possible to relate the results of the pump intervention to the cardiac function. This could be due to the fact that only two animals were analyzed. However the main problem is that the cardiac function depends on multiple factors, such as preload and afterload. A change in pumpflow effects both and should preferably be studied separately which in not possible with the results of the animal experiments alone. Therefore a mathematical model was developed in addition to the experiments, consisting of a ventricular module and a windkessel model to represent the arterial system. Parameters obtained from the experiments were used as input for the model and the experiments in the animals were simulated in order to analyze the effect of the ECLS. For one experiment the model predicted the effect of the pump intervention very well. For other experiments the predictions were less accurate. By adaptation of cardiac and arterial parameters in the model better agreement could be obtained. This gave more insight in the underlying mechanisms, i.e. what the isolated effect was of the pump intervention on preload, afterload and the arterial resistance. In this study the hypothesis is not confirmed, however the experimental study combined with a mathematical model revealed more than these methods would have done separately. Studying the data of more animals in combination with the model is necessary to be able to accept or reject the hypothesis. In future work the model can be adapted to simulate the pump-flow interventions more accurately, such that it could be used for prediction utilities.
LHON gene therapy vector prevents visual loss and optic neuropathy induced by G11778A mutant mitochondrial DNA: biodistribution and toxicology profile.

PURPOSE To demonstrate safety and efficacy of allotopic human ND4 for treatment of a Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) mouse model harboring the G11778A mitochondrial mutation. METHODS We induced LHON in mice by intravitreal injection of mutant (G11778A) human ND4 DNA, responsible for most cases of LHON, that was directed to mitochondria using an AAV2 vector to which we appended a mitochondrial targeting sequence to the VP2 capsid. We then attempted rescue of visual loss using our test article (ScAAV2-P1ND4v2) containing a synthetic nuclear encoded G11778G ND4 gene that was allotopically expressed. Control mice either were uninjected or received AAV2-GFP or AAV2-mCherry. We performed RT-PCR and confocal microscopy at 2 weeks post injection. Pattern electroretinograms (PERGs), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), histology, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were performed. For toxicology and biodistribution studies, the test article was administered intravitreally to rats and rhesus macaques at different doses. RESULTS Mutant and wild-type ND4 were efficiently expressed in the mitochondria of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Visual function assessed by serial PERGs and retinal structure by serial SD-OCT showed a significant rescue by the test article. Histology and ultrastructural analysis confirmed that loss of RGCs and demise of axons was prevented by ScAAV2-P1ND4v2. Rat and nonhuman primate biodistribution studies showed that vector spread outside the injected eye into spleen and lymph nodes was minimal. Histopathology of tissues and organs including the eyes was comparable to that of uninfected and saline-injected eyes. CONCLUSIONS Allotopically expressed wild-type ND4 prevents the phenotype induced by G11778A mitochondrial DNA with a toxicology profile acceptable for testing in a phase I clinical trial.
Variation within Species in Response to Caffeine Teratologic Effects *

Abstract The most recent work from our own laboratory and also the. very large studies carried out by the FDA have clearly shown that caffeine has teratogenic effects in animals only when given in very high single daily doses. The doses necessary to produce teratogenic effects are of the order of one‐third the oral LD50 and usually produce other signs of severe maternal toxicity. Much larger daily doses if administered in divided doses or spread throughout the day in the drinking water, do not produce teratogenic effects. The teratogenic activity is dependent on the production of high peak blood levels probably around 60μg/ml or greater. Since such levels are never approached in humans even with high caffeine intakes, and on the basis of the available epidemiological evidence it would not appear that caffeine presents a teratogenic hazard for humans.
Identification of Existing Drugs That Effectively Target NTRK1 and ROS1 Rearrangements in Lung Cancer

Purpose: Efforts to discover drugs that overcome resistance to targeted therapies in patients with rare oncogenic alterations, such as NTRK1 and ROS1 rearrangements, are complicated by the cost and protracted timeline of drug discovery. Experimental Design: In an effort to identify inhibitors of NTRK1 and ROS1, which are aberrantly activated in some patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we created and screened a library of existing targeted drugs against Ba/F3 cells transformed with these oncogenes. Results: This screen identified the FDA-approved drug cabozantinib as a potent inhibitor of CD74–ROS1-transformed Ba/F3, including the crizotinib-resistant mutants G2032R and L2026M (IC50 = 9, 26, and 11 nmol/L, respectively). Cabozantinib inhibited CD74–ROS1-transformed Ba/F3 cells more potently than brigatinib (wild-type/G2032R/L2026M IC50 = 30/170/200 nmol/L, respectively), entrectinib (IC50 = 6/2,200/3,500 nmol/L), and PF-06463922 (IC50 = 1/270/2 nmol/L). Cabozantinib inhibited ROS1 autophosphorylation and downstream ERK activation in transformed Ba/F3 cells and in patient-derived tumor cell lines. The IGF-1R inhibitor BMS-536924 potently inhibited CD74–NTRK1-transformed compared with parental Ba/F3 cells (IC50 = 19 nmol/L vs. > 470 nmol/L). A patient with metastatic ROS1-rearranged NSCLC with progression on crizotinib was treated with cabozantinib and experienced a partial response. Conclusions: While acquired resistance to targeted therapies is challenging, this study highlights that existing agents may be repurposed to overcome drug resistance and identifies cabozantinib as a promising treatment of ROS1-rearranged NSCLC after progression on crizotinib. Clin Cancer Res; 23(1); 204–13. ©2016 AACR.
Arthpyrones A-C, pyridone alkaloids from a sponge-derived fungus Arthrinium arundinis ZSDS1-F3.

Three new 4-hydroxy-2-pyridone alkaloids, arthpyrones A-C (1-3), were isolated from the sponge-derived fungus Arthrinium arundinis ZSDS1-F3. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, CD spectra, quantum chemical calculation, and X-ray single-crystal diffraction analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 possessed a 2-pyridone core featured with a decalin moiety linked via a carboxide bridge bearing a novel oxabicyclo[3.3. 1]nonane ring system rarely discovered in nature. A possible biosynthetic pathway for them was proposed.
A radiographic study of joint angles in standing dogs

Summary The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and repeatable radiographic protocol for the measurement of joint angles in the standing dog, and to use this protocol to determine all standing joint angles for dogs over a wide range of body weights. The radiographic technique and the method of joint angle measurements were found to be highly repeatable, suggesting that the technique is reliable. Most joint angles did not vary between dogs of different weights. In those few instances where significant differences (p<0.05) were found, certain trends were followed and represent differences in conformation. This paper presents a complete description of the angles defining the position of the joints in a standing dog. This information is important for biomechanical studies, for clinical assessment of dogs, and for the design of surgical procedures such as arthrodesis.