Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pika Population Density Is Associated with the Composition and Diversity of Gut Microbiota

Host population density is positively associated with the strength of social interactions or the frequency of physical contacts, and thus potentially influences microbial transmission among individuals. However, the relationship between host density and gut microbiota remains unknown. Here, we characterized the gut microbiota of plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) in wild experimental fields with different host population densities. The abundance of some gut microbes significantly correlated with host density, such as Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Staphylococcaceae. Intriguingly, host density was positively correlated with alpha diversity (Shannon diversity and observed species) of gut microbial communities. The inter-individual gut microbiota within high-density groups were more similar to each other than those of low-density groups. Host density significantly explained the variations in the gut microbiota, even after controlling sex, weight, diet and geographical locations. Based on the PICRUSt metagenome prediction, positive correlations were observed between host density and the relative abundances of 12 gene functions involved in cellular processes, environmental information processing and metabolism. These results indicate the importance of host density as a factor in shaping gut microbial composition and diversity in plateau pikas, and may further help us understand the social transmission of gut microbiota.
A single-center case series of eight patients with the rare plasma cell dyscrasia of acquired Fanconi syndrome secondary to monoclonal gammopathy

Acquired Fanconi syndrome (FS) is a rare presentation of monoclonal gammopathy. We retrospectively summarized the cases of eight patients with FS secondary to monoclonal gammopathy at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) from January 2007 to April 2014. All patients had generalized or partial impairment of proximal renal tubular function. Six patients were diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), and two were diagnosed with multiple myeloma (MM). Although chemotherapy was administered to the two patients with MM and to one patient with MGUS, decreased paraprotein levels did not lead to improvements in metabolic abnormalities. All patients received continuous supplementation with deficient nutrients, leading to marked remission of bone pain and improved quality of life. Although renal function in most patients gradually declined, none of the patients developed end-stage renal disease (ESRD) during an average follow-up time of 31 months, and no case of MGUS has yet transformed into MM.
Development of Spatial Mental Representations in an Embodied Artificial Neural Network Using Sequential and Egocentric Data

The current study investigated the development of spatial relations in an artificial neural network. Design constraints and requirements for the artificial neural network were formulated from literature, in an attempt to make the network psychologically and neurobiologically plausible. Egocentric route information was taught to a network using back propagation. The network was embodied in a Lego Mindstorms robot. The (embodied) network successfully managed to navigate a learned maze. Using principal component analysis to investigate the representations the network built, components for direction and location were found. They hinted at preparation effects and the basis for an emerging allocentric representation. No evidence for the ability to find novel routes was found.
The Structural Organization of Sperm Chromatin*

The packaging of the male haploid genome within the differentiating spermatid nucleus is facilitated by small basic nuclear proteins called protamines. Although the majority of the DNA in human sperm chromatin is bound by these proteins, a small percentage retains a nucleosomal-like component. These histone-enriched regions may possess enhanced nuclease sensitivity and have been postulated to designate certain genes involved in early embryogenesis. We have shown previously that the chromatin domain containing the two human protamines PRM1 and PRM2 and the transition protein TNP2 forms a DNase I-sensitive conformation in pachytene spermatocytes, a requisite event prior to the haploid expression of its members in round spermatids (Kramer, J. A, McCarrey, J., Djakiew, D., and Krawetz, S. A. (1998) Development 125, 4749–4755). Interestingly, this configuration persists in mature spermatozoa subsequent to the transcriptional silencing of the locus. It was therefore postulated that the retained, enhanced DNase I-sensitive conformation of the PRM1→PRM2→TNP2 domain in human sperm may be preferentially histone-enriched. To address this tenet, we examined the chromatin structure of the human PRM1→ PRM2→ TNP2 domain using a PCR-based assay. The results show that this retained, enhanced DNase I sensitive domain reflects an enrichment of histones at discrete regions across the locus. In addition, a similar examination of other genes and repetitive sequences suggests the non-random distribution of histones and protamines within the sperm nucleus. A discussion of these results and their functional significance is presented.
Repeatability and interobserver error of digit ratio (2D:4D) measurements made by experts

The second‐to‐fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is sexually differentiated (lower in men than in women), a likely biomarker for organizational (permanent) effects of prenatal testosterone, and a correlate of many sex‐dependent, hormonally influenced traits and phenotypes. The extent of 2D:4D measurement repeatability across different research groups is unknown. This study assessed the repeatability and interobserver error of 2D:4D measurements made by 17 experts (researchers who have contributed to the 2D:4D literature). Results indicate that 2D:4D, because it is a ratio variable, is notably less precisely measurable than finger length. Absolute‐agreement intraclass correlation coefficients for these traits are about 0.75 vs. about 0.95, respectively. Associations of 2D:4D with target traits were usually of small size; measurement unreliability attenuates effects. This may explain some null findings and replication failures encountered in 2D:4D research. However, agreement levels are still sufficient to permit conclusions about findings from different research groups. One implication of this is that the marked geographical and population differences in typical 2D:4D levels, as reported in the literature, are veridical, and not due to divergent measurement habits across research groups. Some practical recommendations for 2D:4D measurement are offered. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 19:142–146, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
PERTURBED SPECTRA OF DEFECTIVEMATRICESMihail

The paper is devoted to the perturbation theory for defective matrices. We consider the asymptotic expansions of the perturbed spectrum when a matrix A is changed to A+tE, where E 6 = 0 and t > 0 is a small parameter. In particular we analyse the rational exponents that may occur when the matrix E varies over the sphere kEk = > 0. We partially characterize the leading exponents noting that the description of the set of all leading exponents remains an open problem.
Cloning of ShIII (Shaw-like) cDNAs encoding a novel high-voltage-activating, TEA-sensitive, type-A K+ channel

Transient voltage-dependent potassium (K+) currents, also known as A currents, have been of great interest to neurophysiologists due to their special roles in neuronal excitability. Several cDNAs encoding transcripts expressing A currents have been characterized. Recently, a cDNA (K ShIIIC or Raw3) was isolated which expresses an unusual A current that is highly sensitive to TEA, and activates at potentials more positive than —20 mV. Channels containing this protein may have specialized roles in modulating the electrical behaviour of neurons. Here we report the isolation and characterization of two rat cDNAs corresponding to two alternatively spliced transcripts (KShlllD . 1 and KShIIID .2 ) from another gene (KShlllD ) of the same subfamily as KShlllC , the ShIll or Shaw-related gene subfamily. KShIIID . 1 also expresses an unusual high-voltage-activating, TEA-sensitive A-type channel. There are, however, significant differences between KShlllC and KShlllD channels which may have interesting functional consequences. The two most im portant differences are: (i) KShlllD channels conduct in the steady-state over a much broader window of potentials than KShlllC ; this reflects differences between the kinetic schemes of the two channels; and (ii) KShlllD inactivates with significantly slower kinetics than KShlllC . The identification of KShlllD transcripts contributes to our knowledge of the molecular components that may determine the functional diversity of A currents and provides exciting opportunities to increase our understanding of the structure and function of K + channels.
Implementation of the fuzzy ART neural network for fast clustering of radar pulses

A real time radar signal clustering problem is resolved by a dedicated hardware implementation of the fuzzy ART neural network. This novel architecture implements a reformulated algorithm for high speed clustering. The proposed dedicated digital VLSI system is composed of cascadable integrated circuits, each one containing several neural processors, comparators, a divider and blocks of RAM. This efficient solution was designed and will be implemented in the near future. The basic component requires 74 K gates and occupies an area of 52.5 mm/sup 2/ in a 0.8 /spl mu/m BiCMOS technology. Each chip process an input pattern for 32 neurons every 2 /spl mu/s.
Making Things Deliverable: The Origins of Index-Based Derivatives

Index-based derivatives: financial contracts that use financial market indices as their underlying ‘assets’ are currently amongst the most commonly traded financial contracts (BIS, 2006). Furthermore, the introduction of index-based derivatives is considered by many as the single most significant development in contemporary financial markets (Chance, 1995; Arditti, 1996; Kolb, 1997a, 1997b). The use of index-based futures has become a standard practice in the financial world and today banks, pension funds, insurance companies and governments hold portfolios that include index-based derivatives. In fact, indexbased contracts have become such an indispensable feature of the global financial system that it would be safe to say that there are many millions in the West who own, either directly or indirectly (even unknowingly), index-based derivatives. In spite of their ubiquity in the financial world, index-based derivatives represent a fundamental ambiguity. Derivative contracts, as their name implies, derive their prices from the prices of a variety of assets, such as agricultural commodities, precious metals, currencies and many others. The contract themselves, (eg, futures contracts), state the terms of future transaction: price to be paid and time for the delivery of assets. In contrast with physical and deliverable assets, market indices are the products of mathematical procedures applied to market data. Hence, index-based derivatives are contracts written for ‘strange assets’, assets that do not have straightforward physical characteristics, and therefore cannot be delivered, upon buying and selling, in a similar manner to physical assets. This fact raises an interesting historical and sociological question: how did it happen that these abstract mathematical entities became the basis for the most popular financial contract of our time? More specifically, how did the non-physical and non-deliverable nature of market indices change in such a way that allowed indices to serve as a basis for the popular derivative contract we know today? This is the question that this chapter discusses. Economic sociology has paid little attention so far to the evolution of indexbased contracts. Several sociologists refer to the role that index-based contracts
Handwritten Korean character image database PE92

The purpose of the current PE92 database project is two fold. One is to provide a comprehensive set of character image data to a developer of a recognition system so that the developer can concentrate on developing an algorithm. The other is to offer a means by which an evaluator can compare various algorithms objectively. The authors collected 100 sets of KS 2350 handwritten Korean character images. They tried to collect as many writing styles as possible. The first 70 sets were generated by more than 500 different writers, and each of the remaining 30 sets was written by the same person. Writers wrote down the characters in prespecified boxes and the database was created by scanning the data sheets by an image scanner. Each image is the size of 100/spl times/100 with 256 gray levels. Finally, the authors analyze the quality of the database created and calculated various statistics of the database PE92. <<ETX>>
Age and Severity of Mucosal Lesions Influence the Performance of Serologic Markers in Helicobacter pylori–Associated Gastroduodenal Pathologies

Objective: The course of Helicobacter pylori infection and antibody response to CagA in patients with preneoplastic lesions and gastric cancer has not been thoroughly studied. We aimed to study H. pylori infection and antibody response to CagA in patients with non–atrophic gastritis, preneoplastic lesions, and gastric cancer. Methods: We studied patients attending one Oncology Hospital and one General Hospital in Mexico City. Diagnosis was based on endoscopy and histopathology in biopsies from six stomach regions. H. pylori infection was assessed by histology and serology, and antibodies against CagA were measured with immunoassay. Results: We included 618 patients, 368 with non–atrophic gastritis, 126 with precancerous lesions, and 65 with gastric cancer; in addition, 59 patients with duodenal ulcer were studied. Detection of infection and IgG against CagA had a significant increase from non–atrophic gastritis to mild and up to advanced stages of metaplasia (P < 0.05), followed by decreased infection and IgG to CagA in patients with gastric cancer (P < 0.05). However, infection and CagA antibodies were associated with young gastric cancer cases. Duodenal ulcer showed a significant association with infection detected by histology and serology, particularly among women, and a trend to associate with IgG to CagA. Conclusions: This study shows that H. pylori infection and CagA are risk markers for intestinal metaplasia. The prevalence of these risk markers decreases in gastric cancer, probably reflecting that infection decreases after advanced atrophy and metaplasia in the gastric mucosa. State of the disease, age, and sex influence the association of H. pylori infection and IgG response to CagA with gastroduodenal diseases. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(9):2498–504)
From Yinglish to sado-mastication

In Shanghai in the mid-1930s, Lin Yu-tang was dubbed the ‘King of humour’. In Hong Kong in the 1980s, this title might well have been bestowed on Nury Vittachi, whose articles in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the ‘Lai See’ column of the South China Morning Post won him an enthusiastic reading public who relished his wry commentaries on the quirks of Hong Kong life as well as the revelations of scandal in government and business that accompanied them. Nury Vittachi is also a productive writer, and has thus far produced over a dozen comic books charting the highways and byways of Hong Kong, co-authored an expose´ of the local sex trade, and written a novel of cross-cultural encounters: Asian Values (1996). In addition, Vittachi has also played a leading role in setting up Dimsum, a new Hong-Kong-based journal for Asian writing in English. In the following article, Vittachi takes a humourous look at the idiosyncrasies of local English usage, not, it should be emphasised from the perspective of the linguist, but from that of the humourist.
CC Chemokine Ligand 25 Enhances Resistance to Apoptosis in CD4+ T Cells from Patients with T-Cell Lineage Acute and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia by Means of Livin Activation

We investigated CD4 and CD8 double-positive thymocytes, CD4+ T cells from typical patients with T-cell lineage acute lymphocytic leukemia (T-ALL) and T cell lineage chronic lymphocytic leukemia (T-CLL), and MOLT4 T cells in terms of CC chemokine ligand 25 (CCL25) functions of induction of resistance to tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)–mediated apoptosis. We found that CCL25 selectively enhanced resistance to TNF-α–mediated apoptosis in T-ALL and T-CLL CD4+ T cells as well as in MOLT4 T cells, but CD4 and CD8 double-positive thymocytes did not. One member protein of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, Livin, was selectively expressed in the malignant cells at higher levels, particularly in T-ALL CD4+ T cells, in comparison with the expression in CD4 and CD8 double-positive thymocytes. After stimulation with CCL25 and apoptotic induction with TNF-α, the expression levels of Livin in these malignant cells were significantly increased. CCL25/thymus-expressed chemokine (TECK), by means of CC chemokine receptor 9 (CCR9) ligation, selectively activated Livin to enhance resistance to TNF-α–mediated apoptosis in c-jun-NH2-kinase 1 (JNK1) kinase-dependent manner. These findings suggested differential functions of CCR9/CCL25 in distinct types of cells. CD4 and CD8 double-positive thymocytes used CCR9/CCL25 for migration, homing, development, maturation, selection, cell homeostasis, whereas malignant cells, particularly T-ALL CD4+ T cells, used CCR9/CCL25 for infiltration, resistance to apoptosis, and inappropriate proliferation.
Assignment of two isoforms of the AMP-activated protein kinase γ subunits, PRKAG1 and PRKAG2 to porcine chromosomes 5 and 18, respectively by radiation hybrid panel mapping

The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a heterotrimeric enzyme complex comprising catalytic ·-subunits and regulatory sand A-subunits (Hardie et al., 2003). Each subunit exists as different isoforms encoded by two or three genes (·1, ·2, s1, s2, A1, A2, A3). AMPK has a key role in the regulation of energy metabolism in eukaryotic cells. AMPK is regulated by phosphorylation on the ·-subunit and by AMP allosteric control thought to be mediated by both ·and A-subunits (Adams et al., 2004). A A1 mutation, R70Q, causes a loss of AMP dependence (Hamilton et al., 2001). Mutations in human A2 and pig A3 genes were previously identified to cause an unusual cardiac phenotype and a glycogen storage disease, respectively (Gollob et al., 2002; Milan et al., 2000a). The mapping of the porcine PRKAG1 and PRKAG2 genes is the first step for further investigations helping to understand the regulation of the AMP-activated protein kinase family, an enzyme family with relevance to type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. Materials and methods
Coadministration of oral cyclosporin A enables oral therapy with paclitaxel.

i.v. paclitaxel is inconvenient and associated with significant and poorly predictable side effects largely due to the pharmaceutical vehicle Cremophor EL. Oral administration may be attractive because it may circumvent the use of Cremophor EL. However, paclitaxel, as well as many other commonly applied drugs, has poor bioavailability caused by high affinity for the mdrl P-glycoprotein drug efflux pump, which is abundantly present in the gastrointestinal tract. Consequently, inhibition of P-glycoprotein by oral cyclosporin A (CsA) should increase systemic exposure of oral paclitaxel to therapeutic levels. A proof-of-concept study was carried out in 14 patients with solid tumors. Patients received one course of oral paclitaxel of 60 mg/m2 with or without 15 mg/kg CsA and with i.v. paclitaxel in subsequent courses. The pharmacokinetics of paclitaxel and its major metabolites were determined during the first two courses. In addition, levels of CsA, Cremophor EL, and ethanol were measured. Bioavailability of oral paclitaxel in combination with CsA was 8-fold higher than after oral paclitaxel alone (P<0.001). Therapeutic concentrations were achieved on average during 7.4 h, which is comparable with an equivalent i.v. dose. The oral combination was well tolerated and did not induce gastrointestinal toxicity or myelosuppression. Cremophor EL plasma levels after oral drug administration were undetectable. In conclusion, coadministration of oral CsA increased the systemic exposure of oral paclitaxel from negligible to therapeutic levels. The combination enables treatment with oral paclitaxel. Undetectable Cremophor EL levels after oral administration may have a very beneficial influence on the safety of the treatment with oral paclitaxel.
Detection of enteroviral RNA by polymerase chain reaction in endomyocardial tissue of patients with chronic cardiac diseases

Enteroviruses are suspected to be etiologic agents in myocarditis and cardiomyopathy. The prevalence of enteroviral (EV) heart infection in patients with chronic cardiomyopathy was determined through detection of specific EV genomic sequences using reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) followed by slot blotting. Endomyocardial biopsies from the explanted hearts of 19 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and 14 patients with chronic coronary disease (CCD) were examined. EV genome was detected in 11 of 19 patients with DCM and in 8 of 14 patients with CDD. Ventricular biopsies from the control group, which included 35 healthy heart patients and 33 patients with myocardial infarction, were negative by EV RT‐PCR. The percentage of patients showing presence of EV‐RNA was almost similar in the DCM (57.9%) and CCD (57.1%) groups. The present study demonstrates that enterovirus RNA sequences persist in the myocardium in a significant proportion of patients suffering from end‐stage ischaemic and dilated cardiac diseases and supports the hypothesis of a possible direct link between EV infection and the pathogenesis of chronic heart disease. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences Biosurfactants: Multifunctional Biomolecules of the 21st Century

In the era of global industrialisation, the exploration of natural resources has served as a source of experimentation for science and advanced technologies, giving rise to the manufacturing of products with high aggregate value in the world market, such as biosurfactants. Biosurfactants are amphiphilic microbial molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties that partition at liquid/liquid, liquid/gas or liquid/solid interfaces. Such characteristics allow these biomolecules to play a key role in emulsification, foam formation, detergency and dispersal, which are desirable qualities in different industries. Biosurfactant production is considered one of the key technologies for development in the 21st century. Besides exerting a strong positive impact on the main global problems, biosurfactant production has considerable importance to the implantation of sustainable industrial processes, such as the use of renewable resources and " green " products. Biodegradability and low toxicity have led to the intensification of scientific studies on a wide range of industrial applications for biosurfactants in the field of bioremediation as well as the petroleum, food processing, health, chemical, agricultural and cosmetic industries. In this paper, we offer an extensive review regarding knowledge accumulated over the years and advances achieved in the incorporation of biomolecules in different industries.