Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statins in stroke prevention

Beside blood pressure-lowering drugs and, in certain circumstances, antithrombotic agents, statins are among the most effective drugs in reducing the risk of stroke in populations of patients at high vascular risk, as well as reducing the risk of major coronary events. The meta-analysis of trials with intensive reduction of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels with high-dose statin compared with the usual dosage of statin, shows that stroke was reduced by 17% (95% CI: 4.0–28.0) and the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death by 20% (95% CI: 14.0–26.0%), with no heterogeneity between trials. In secondary prevention of stroke, statins clearly reduced the risk of major coronary events. In the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial, compared with placebo, the patients with a recent stroke or transient ischemic attack without coronary heart disease randomized to atorvastatin 80 mg/day had a significant 16% relative risk reduction of stroke, and a 35% red.
Analysis of SNP markers for chicken blue-shelled gene using PCR-SSCP

The oocyan ( O ) gene determines blue shell pigmentation of domesticated chicken. The O locus is closely linked to ALEV1 on chromosome 1 with a genetic distance of 2.3 cM. Blue eggshells contain a protoporphyrin, biliverdin and zinc biliverdin chelating complex, which belongs to the porphyrin metabolic pathway. A bio-informatic approach was first used to BLAST for the genes of the enzymes in the porphyrin pathway; no gene was detected to specify the O locus. Due to a limited number of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers around the O locus, polymerase chain reaction–single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) was then employed to search for candidate single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The sequence bearing a marker was found to consist of two transversions at Chr1:61754089T→A and Chr1:61754175A→T, respectively. Population screening showed that 81% of homozygous blue-shelled layers ( OO ) were classified as AA genotype at the SNP loci, while 89% of heterozygous blue-shelled layers ( Oo ) were AB genotype and 93% of tinted layers ( oo ) were BB genotype. The results indicated that there is a close association between O locus and SNP locus, suggesting that the marker locus could be used as a molecular marker in breeding for blue-shelled chickens.
Occurrence of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) and pompano dolphinfish (Coryphaena equiselis) in the Canary islands revealed by genetic analysis

Abstract Genetic analyses of samples of the genus Coryphaena caught in the Canary Islands clearly revealed the existence of two different species, C. hippurus, Linnaeus 1758 and C. equiselis, Linnaeus 1758. Each species was fixed for different alleles at 11 out of 30 loci and a large genetic distance (0.814) was found between the two species. Previously only C. hippurus has been reported in the Canary Islands fishery. The two Coryphaena species are similar in appearance, so C. equiselis can be confused with C. hippurus by fishers, especially small specimens <70 cm fork length. The 11 exclusive alleles that characterise each species could be used as genetic markers to identify specimens and fillets of C. hippurus and C. equiselis.
CANCER DEFINED BY AUTOLOGOUS TYPING

The two key questions of human cancer immunology remain unresolved. These relate to whether tumor-specific antigens exist in human cancer and, if so, whether there is immunological recognition of these antigens in humans. To date, candidate human tumor-specific antigens defined by heterologous sera have, on further analysis, turned out to belong to the category of differentiation antigens, antigens characterizing normal cells at some phase of differentiation, rather than antigens that are restricted to neoplastic cells. The tumor antigens that are detected by reactions with human sera fall into several categories, with alloantigens (particularly products of the HLA complex and ABO locus), antigens related to Epstein-Barr virus, and antigens related to the heterologous sera used in culturing human cancer cells representing the best studied examples. In general, however, most surveys of human populations for humoral or cell-mediated immunity to cell surface or intracellular antigens of human cancer cells have not provided the sort of evidence that would permit the distinction of tumor-specific reactions from reactions directed to other categories of antigens. To develop as direct an approach as possible to the question of whether patients
Independent learning approaches: overcoming multi-agent learning pathologies in team-games

Deep Neural Networks enable Reinforcement Learning (RL) agents to learn behaviour policies directly from high-dimensional observations. As a result, the field of Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) has seen a great number of successes. Recently the sub-field of Multi-Agent DRL (MADRL) has received an increased amount of attention. However, considerations are required when using RL in Multi-Agent Systems. For instance Independent Learners (ILs) lack the convergence guarantees of many single-agent RL approaches, even in domains that do not require a MADRL approach. Furthermore, ILs must often overcome a number of learning pathologies to converge upon an optimal joint-policy. Numerous IL approaches have been proposed to facilitate cooperation, including hysteretic Q-learning (Matignon et al., 2007) and leniency (Panait et al., 2006). Recently LMRL2, a variation of leniency, proved robust towards a number of pathologies in low-dimensional domains, including miscoordination, relative overgeneralization, stochasticity, the alter-exploration problem and the moving target problem (Wei and Luke, 2016). In contrast, the majority of work on ILs in MADRL focuses on an amplified moving target problem, caused by neural networks being trained with potentially obsolete samples drawn from experience replay memories. In this thesis we combine advances from research on ILs with DRL algorithms. However, first we evaluate the robustness of tabular approaches along each of the above pathology dimensions. Upon identifying a number of weaknesses that prevent LMRL2 from consistently converging upon optimal joint-policies we propose a new version of leniency, Distributed-Lenient Q-learning (DLQ). We find DLQ delivers state of the art performances in strategic-form and Markov games from Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning literature. We subsequently scale leniency to MADRL, introducing Lenient (Double) Deep Q-Network (LDDQN). We empirically evaluate LDDQN with extensions of the Cooperative Multi-Agent Object Transportation Problem (Bucsoniu et al., 2010), finding that LDDQN outperforms hysteretic deep Q-learners in domains with multiple dropzones yielding stochastic rewards. Finally, to evaluate deep ILs along each pathology dimension we introduce a new MADRL environment: the Apprentice Firemen Game (AFG). We find lenient and hysteretic approaches fail to consistently learn near optimal joint-policies in the AFG. To address these pathologies we introduce Negative Update Intervals-DDQN (NUI-DDQN), a MADRL algorithm which discards episodes yielding cumulative rewards outside the range of expanding intervals. NUI-DDQN consistently gravitates towards optimal joint-policies in deterministic and stochastic reward settings of the AFG, overcoming the outlined pathologies.
Endemic birds of the Fynbos biome: a conservation assessment and impacts of climate change

The South African Fynbos biome, a global biodiversity hotspot with high endemism and species richness, has six endemic bird species. These are important not only intrinsically, but also for ecological functioning and as flagships for South Africa’s economically valuable avitourism sector. Little is known about population sizes or realised distribution ranges of these six species, but projected range modelling based on occurrence from the South African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP) has suggested these species are vulnerable to climate change. We estimate global population sizes for these six endemics based on densities calculated from two intensive biome-wide point count surveys in 2012. We modelled regions of suitable climatic space, from which we established that mean annual temperature and the temperature of the warmest quarter of the year appear to limit Cape Rock-jumper Chaetops frenatus and Protea Canary Serinus leucopterus ranges. Both species have seen an apparent > 30% decrease in range and reporting rates (a proxy for abundance) in the twenty years between SABAP atlas periods (1987–1991 and 2007–ongoing). The Cape Rock-jumper result is unexpected: encounter rates are higher in shorter vegetation, dry slopes and habitats with more recent occurrence of fire – all proxies for proximate causes of climate change on the Fynbos. Although coastal plains are highly transformed, mountain Fynbos is the best protected of all the world’s Mediterranean-climate habitats, with relatively little anthropogenic land transformation. Long term weather datasets from the Fynbos demonstrate significant warming since 1960. We conclude from these lines of evidence that these decreases are consistent with the loss of suitable climate space and inability of these species to adjust physiologically to increasing temperatures.
Gene expression profiling in experimental models of cardiac load

Cardiac hypertrophy provides an adaptive mechanism to maintain cardiac output in response to increased workload, and although initially beneficial, hypertrophy eventually leads to heart failure, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western countries. The hypertrophic response in cardiac myocytes is accompanied by e.g. activation of signal transduction pathways, such as mitogenactivated protein kinases (MAPKs), and complex changes in gene programming. The purpose of this study was to characterize gene expression patterns in experimental models of cardiac load by using high-throughput DNA microarray technologies. In the present study, changes in gene expression were evaluated in response to acute pressure overload and prolonged hypertension as well as during the development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and the transition to diastolic heart failure in an animal model of genetic hypertension, the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Increased expression of several immediate early genes was seen in response to acute hemodynamic overload in vivo. The transition from LVH to diastolic hypertensive heart failure was almost exclusively associated with changes in genes encoding extracellular matrix proteins and their regulatory processes showing the importance of progressive extracellular matrix remodeling. The effect of p38 MAPK activation on gene expression patterns in vivo was elucidated. Cardiacspecific overexpression of p38 MAPK resulted in upregulation of genes controlling cell division and inflammation as well as cell signaling and adhesion. Accordingly, the functional role of p38 MAPK was related to myocardial cell proliferation, inflammation and fibrosis. Finally, temporal analysis of mechanical stretch induced gene expression changes in neonatal rat cardiomyocyte cultures in vitro indicated that mechanical stretch induced complex gene expression profiles, demonstrating that both positive and negative regulators are involved in the hypertrophic process. Many novel stretch responsive genes were identified, and a subset of them may be putative downstream targets of p38 MAPK. In conclusion, in the present study a number of well-established gene expression changes of cardiac hypertrophy were observed and novel modulators associated with increased cardiac load, such as thrombospondin-4, were identified. The study provides a better understanding of molecular mechanisms associated with increased cardiac load, and may indicate potential targets for novel therapeutic interventions.
Unique digestive system, trophic specialization, and diversification in the deep‐sea gastropod genus Scaphander

Dietary specialization is known to be important for the evolution of Cephalaspidea gastropods, but still little is known about the overall trophic interactions of the group and the putative role of trophic ecology on diversification. The genus Scaphander is a group of predominantly deep-sea, infaunal cephalaspids with about 40% of its species (eight) occurring on the Atlantic Ocean. They are carnivorous and have a unique digestive system with a large, strongly muscularized gizzard containing three sizable and heavily calcified plates. This work aims to describe the diet of Scaphander, to evaluate if there is a functional relation between the anatomy of the digestive tract and exploitation of novel food resources, and to assess if dietary specialization may have played a role in the diversification of the Atlantic species of Scaphander. Gut contents were studied from 31 specimens representing seven of the Atlantic species using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy. The chemical composition of the gizzard plates was analysed by X-ray microanalysis and X-ray powder diffraction. Foraminiferans, including agglutinating forms, were shown to be the most important food item for Scaphander; bivalves, gastropods, scaphopods, and polychaetes with calcareous tubes were also found to form part of the diet. The gizzard plates were shown to consist of a phosphate-rich amorphous component and a crystalline component identified as fluorite (hardness 4; Moh's scale). It is suggested that the ability of Scaphander gastropods to prey upon organisms with hard tests, particularly agglutinating foraminiferans, is not only due to the hardness of the gizzard plates but to the cumulative effect of shape and hardness of the gizzard plates and relative size of the gizzard and associated musculature. No interspecific differences were found in the diet and morphology of the digestive tract, indicating that dietary specialization probably has not played a significant role in the diversification of Atlantic species of Scaphander. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 109, 512–525.
Molecular characterization of oil palm Elaeis guineensis Jacq. of different origins for their utilization in breeding programmes

Sustainable development of a breeding programme depends on having sufficient genetic variability to achieve genetic gains in each selection cycle. The aim of this study was to molecularly characterize families of the oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq. , of different origins using microsatellite molecular markers. The value of the observed heterozygosity was higher than that of the expected heterozygosity in all of the progenies. The coefficients (G ST= 0.207 and F ST= 0.174) and AMOVA showed genotypic differences among the evaluated families. Likewise, this was reflected in the groups obtained by the dendrogram and principal coordinate analyses. This difference could have evolved due to the enrichment of some of the families with germplasm from different origins. Therefore, genetic relationships estimated from molecular data would be convenient to select families more distant from each group and palms more distant from each family selected to reserve genetic variability. This information will guide us in the decision-making process when planning breeding programmes focused on crosses to develop new populations with an acceptable broad genetic base and adaptability. In this way, sources of resistance to biotic and abiotic factors can be identified for the development of new varieties with competitive advantages for the sector.
PERSPECTIVES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF COSMETIC OILS BASED ON THE PLANT COMPIONENTS

The use of the natural plant components (fatty oils) and biologically active additives allows for balancing the formulation for cosmetic oils. When using biologically active supplements, the skin is rich in all the necessary nutrients that help to achieve the desired effect. When using biologically active additives, the skin is enriched with all the essential nutrients that help to achieve the desired effect. Research covered rosehip fruits wild-growing in western Georgia. To obtain extract from raw materials, we used the superfluid CO2 extraction method. We obtained oil with yield ranging from 8.12 to 10.17%, whose refractive index is 1,4782 units, and the extract rich in phenolic compounds, with total phenols -3032 mg/100 g and total flavonoids 1501 mg/100 g on dried basis.
Memories of Visual Events Can Be Formed Without Specific Spatial Coordinates

To what extent does specific spatiotopic location accompany the remembered representation of a visual event? Feature integration theory suggests that identifying a multi-feature object requires focusing on its spatial location to integrate those features. Moreover, single unit data from anterior ventral stream neurons that fire preferentially to complex objects indicates that they have retinotopic receptive fields. It can, therefore, be predicted that location information of features of a complex stimulus is inherent in the memory of a perceived visual stimulus’ representation. To evaluate this prediction, we presented participants with a brief array of characters with instructions to identify and locate the solitary letter among a set of digits. Surprisingly, analysis of trials in which the target identity was accurately reported indicated that in more than 15% of trials (i.e., in Experiments 2b & 2c) participants were almost completely uninformed about the location of the letter that they had just identified. Further analysis showed that there were two main sources of these location errors; misbinding the target to the distractors’ locations and extremely poor spatial representation of the target’s location to an extent that was indistinguishable from guessing. The latter finding indicates that consciously accessible representations of visual events can form despite being untethered to robust and spatially-specific representations, implying that the specific location was either not quite encoded into working memory, or was rapidly forgotten. However, when the target was marked by a single feature (color), there was no evidence of remembering the target identity without remembering its location even with strong masking.
Spurred Anoda (Anoda cristata) Competition in Narrow- and Wide-Row Soybean (Glycine max)1

The effect of spurred anoda competition in narrow- (35 cm) and wide-row (70 cm) soybean was studied in field experiments for 2 yr. Vigorous early soybean growth in narrow- compared with wide-row soybean resulted in lower radiation transmitted through the canopy, which can partially account for greater competitiveness of narrow-row than wide-row soybean. Soybean plant height was not significantly influenced by the row spacing. Relative yield total (RYT), which is the relationship between yield in mixtures and in monocultures of the crop or the weed and indicates resource complementarity, was equal to 1 with 12 spurred anoda/m2 in the year with less precipitation. Regardless of the row spacing, spurred anoda gave resource use complementarity with the crop (RYT > 1) in all other treatments; therefore, partial avoidance of competition in mixed species was evident. Soybean aggressivity, which takes into account the effect of competition on both the crop and the weed and indicates competitive ability, decreased with weed density in both row spacings. Soybean yield loss at harvest was linearly related to relative dry weight 40 d after planting. Weed-free narrow- and wide-row soybean produced similar yields. In the presence of the spurred anoda, soybean yield was greater in narrow-row compared with wide-row soybean only in the most humid year. A management system that uses quick canopy closure with narrow-row soybean can provide excellent soybean yield and suppression of low spurred anoda densities. Nomenclature: Soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr. ; spurred anoda, Anoda cristata (L.) Schlecht. #3 ANVCR. Additional index words: Aggressivity, competition, crop and weed biomass, row spacing, weed density. Abbreviations: DAP, days after planting; PPF, photosynthetic photon flux; RDW, relative dry weights; RYT, relative yield total.
Pain Management and Its Possible Implementation Research in North Ethiopia: A before and after Study

Background Though there is an effective intervention, pain after surgical intervention is undermanaged worldwide. A systematic implementation is required to increase the utilization of available evidence-based intervention to manage the inevitable pain after surgery. The aim of this research project is to develop a scalable model for managing pain after cesarean section by implementing the World Health Organization's (WHO) pain management guidelines through a combination of implementation research and quality improvement methods. Methods We implemented the World Health Organization (WHO) pain management guidelines using effective implementation strategies. First, we conducted a formative qualitative exploration to identify enablers and obstacles. In addition, we took base-line assessment on pain management implementation process and outcome using a checklist prepared from the guideline and an adapted American Pain Outcome assessment tool version 2010, respectively. Then, we integrated the guidelines into the existing practice by using collaborative iterative learning strategy. We analyzed the data by Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. We compared the before and after data using chi-squared and Fischer's exact test. A change in any measurement was considered as significant at p value 0.05. Result We collected data from 106 mothers before and 110 mothers after intervention implementation. We successfully integrated pain as a fifth vital sign in more than 87% (p value <0.001) of patient, and fidelity was approximately 59% (p value <0.001). In addition, we significantly improved pain outcome measures after the implementation of the intervention. Conclusion and Recommendations. A systematic approach to implement pain management guidelines was successful. We recommend the ward sustain these gains and that hospital, the region, and the nation to replicate the success.
Two Thalamic Regions Screened Using Laser Capture Microdissection with Whole Human Genome Microarray in Schizophrenia Postmortem Samples

We used whole human genome microarray screening of highly enriched neuronal populations from two thalamic regions in postmortem samples from subjects with schizophrenia and controls to identify brain region-specific gene expression changes and possible transcriptional targets. The thalamic anterior nucleus is reciprocally connected to anterior cingulate, a schizophrenia-affected cortical region, and is also thought to be schizophrenia affected; the other thalamic region is not. Using two regions in the same subject to identify disease-relevant gene expression differences was novel and reduced intersubject heterogeneity of findings. We found gene expression differences related to miRNA-137 and other SZ-associated microRNAs, ELAVL1, BDNF, DISC-1, MECP2 and YWHAG associated findings, synapses, and receptors. Manual curation of our data may support transcription repression.