Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Molecular-Cytogenetic Method for Locating Genes to Pericentromeric Regions Facilitates a Genomewide Comparison of Synteny Between the Centromeric Regions of Wheat and Rice

Centromeres, because of their repeat structure and lack of sequence conservation, are difficult to assemble and compare across organisms. It was recently discovered that rice centromeres often contain genes. This suggested a method for studying centromere homologies between wheat and rice chromosomes by mapping rice centromeric genes onto wheat aneuploid stocks. Three of the seven cDNA clones of centromeric genes from rice centromere 8 (Cen8), 6729.t09, 6729.t10, and 6730.t11 which lie in the Cen8 kinetochore region, and three wheat ESTs, BJ301191, BJ305475, and BJ280500, with similarity to sequences of rice centromeric genes, were mapped to the centromeric regions of the wheat group-7 (W7) chromosomes. A possible pericentric inversion in chromosome 7D was detected. Genomewide comparison of wheat ESTs that mapped to centromeric regions against rice genome sequences revealed high conservation and a one-to-one correspondence of centromeric regions between wheat and rice chromosome pairs W1-R5, W2-R7, W3-R1, W5-R12, W6-R2, and W7-R8. The W4 centromere may share homology with R3 only or with R3 + R11. Wheat ESTs that mapped to the pericentromeric region of the group-5 long arm anchored to the rice BACs located in the recently duplicated region at the distal ends of the short arms of rice chromosomes 11 and 12. A pericentric inversion specific to the rice lineage was detected. The depicted framework provides a working model for further studies on the structure and evolution of cereal chromosome centromeres.
Somatic hypermutation of IGVH genes and aberrant somatic hypermutation in follicular lymphoma without BCL-2 gene rearrangement and expression

The findings of this study suggest that follicular lymphoma with typical morphological and immunophenotypic features may develop even without the involvement of the BCL-2 gene. See related perspective article on page 1773. Background Follicular lymphoma is characterized by the t(14;18) translocation resulting in constitutive expression of BCL-2 protein; however approximately 10–15% of follicular lymphomas do not express BCL-2 protein, and a small fraction of these cases does not exhibit translocation of the BCL-2 gene either. It is highly debated whether cases of follicular lymphoma without BCL-2 gene rearrangement and expression represent a separate lymphoma entity with distinct biological characteristics, different from the BCL-2-positive cases. Design and Methods To further characterize follicular lymphomas without BCL-2 gene rearrangement and expression, we analyzed and compared the mutational status of IGVH genes as well as other genes (C-MYC, PAX-5 and RHOH) frequently involved in the specific type of genomic instability called aberrant somatic hypermutation in 11 cases of BCL-2-negative and 7 cases of BCL-2-positive follicular lymphomas. We also determined the levels of expression of activation-induced cytidine deaminase in these cases. Results The analyzed cases were grade 2 and grade 3A follicular lymphomas. Our findings demonstrate that follicular lymphomas without BCL-2 gene rearrangement and expression are associated with ongoing somatic hypermutation of the IGVH genes, low activity of aberrant somatic hypermutation and elevated activation-induced cytidine deaminase expression. These results were in concordance with the results found in the cases of BCL-2-positive follicular lymphoma. Conclusions Although, BCL-2 protein overexpression is considered to be a critical pathogenic event in the development of follicular lymphoma, our findings suggest that follicular lymphomas with the same morphology, immunophenotype, mutational pattern and activation-induced cytidine deaminase expression may develop without the involvement of BCL-2 gene. The present data support the hypothesis that BCL-2-positive and BCL-2-negative follicular lymphomas (grades 1-3A) represent a homogenous group with different initial but several common additional molecular pathways.
Nonexercise Activity Thermogenesis is Significantly Lower in Type 2 Diabetic Patients With Mental Disorders Than in Those Without Mental Disorders

AbstractPhysical activity improves health in patients with mental disorders. Nonexercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) represents energy expenditure due to daily physical activities other than volitional exercise. We aimed to evaluate NEAT in type 2 diabetic patients with and without accompanying mental disorders.Between September 2010 and September 2014, we studied 150 patients with type 2 diabetes, 50 of whom also had a diagnosis of mental disorder, such as schizophrenia or mood disorder. We evaluated their NEAT in structured interviews using a validated questionnaire, and investigated differences in NEAT score and metabolic parameters between patients with and without mental disorders.The NEAT score was significantly lower in patients with mental disorders than in those without (56.3 ± 9.9 vs 61.9 ± 12.1; P = 0.005). Patients with mental disorders had significantly higher triglyceride (184.5 ± 116.3 vs 146.4 ± 78.4 mg/dL; P = 0.02) and insulin levels (18.7 ± 20.1 vs 11.2 ± 8.5 &mgr;U/mL; P = 0.006), and significantly lower B-type natriuretic peptide (12.1 ± 13.3 vs 26.3 ± 24.8 pg/mL; P < 0.001) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity levels (1501 ± 371 vs 1699 ± 367 cm/s; P = 0.003) than patients without mental disorders. In patients with schizophrenia, specifically, NEAT showed a negative correlation with hemoglobin A1c levels (&bgr; = −0.493, P = 0.031), and a positive correlation with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (&bgr; = 0.519, P = 0.023) and B-type natriuretic peptide levels (&bgr; = 0.583, P = 0.02). Our results suggest that NEAT may be beneficial for the management of obesity, insulin sensitivity, and lipid profiles in patients with mental disorders. Incorporating NEAT into interventions for type 2 diabetes in patients with mental disorders, especially schizophrenia, shows promise and warrants further investigation.
Running speed increases plantar load more than per cent body weight on an AlterG® treadmill

ABSTRACT AlterG® treadmills allow for running at different speeds as well as at reduced bodyweight (BW), and are used during rehabilitation to reduce the impact load. The aim of this study was to quantify plantar loads borne by the athlete during rehabilitation. Twenty trained male participants ran on the AlterG® treadmill in 36 conditions: all combinations of indicated BW (50–100%) paired with different walking and running speeds (range 6–16 km · hr–1) in a random order. In-shoe maximum plantar force (Fmax) was recorded using the Pedar-X system. Fmax was lowest at the 6 km · hr–1 at 50% indicated BW condition at 1.02 ± 0.21BW and peaked at 2.31 ± 0.22BW for the 16 km · hr–1 at 100% BW condition. Greater increases in Fmax were seen when increasing running speed while holding per cent BW constant than the reverse (0.74BW–0.91BW increase compared to 0.19–0.31BW). A table is presented with each of the 36 combinations of BW and running speed to allow a more objective progression of plantar loading during rehabilitation. Increasing running speed rather than increasing indicated per cent BW was shown to have the strongest effect on the magnitude of Fmax across the ranges of speeds and indicated per cent BWs examined.
Radiation-Induced Meningioma following Prophylactic Radiotherapy for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Childhood

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood malignancy. Although it was considered to be a poor prognostic disease, modern treatment protocols (aggressive chemotherapy and prophylactic cranial irradiation) have resulted in dramatically improved survival rates. In a group of low-risk ALL patients, the 5-year survival rate is estimated to be 85%. However, ALL patients who undergo this treatment are at risk of developing secondary neoplasms related to treatment, which has become an increasingly recognized problem. Case Description: A 3-year-old boy with ALL was successfully treated with chemotherapy (vincristine, prednisolone, mercaptopurine and methotrexate) and prophylactic cranial irradiation (total 18 Gy). At the age of 23, he was admitted to our hospital for weakness in the right leg. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a parasagittal tumor of the left frontoparietal lobe with perifocal edema. The tumor was completely removed surgically and pathohistologically diagnosed as atypical meningioma. Conclusion: Long-term survivors who received radiotherapy for ALL in childhood are at risk for late complications, including radiation-induced meningioma. Therefore, careful follow-up neurological examinations, for example magnetic resonance imaging, are indicated in these patients. In addition, late complications should be taken into account during the initial planning of prophylactic radiotheraphy dosage, which has implications for informed consent of the patient.
Value of sensory examination in predicting bladder function in patients with T12-L1 fractures and spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether early sensory examination, voluntary anal sphincter contraction, or bulbocavernosus reflex (BCR) might predict bladder function in patients with a spinal fracture at the thoracolumbar level. DESIGN Longitudinal study of consecutive patients admitted to a spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation center. SETTING Primary care center, university facility in Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-five patients with thoracolumbar fractures. INTERVENTIONS Neurologic (American Spinal Injury Association [ASIA] protocol) and urodynamic examination during the first hospitalization and at follow-up. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Neurologic sensory scores and type of neurogenic bladder. RESULTS At first examination, there was no correlation between the sensory examination, voluntary anal sphincter contraction, BCR, and neurogenic bladder type. At follow-up (time since first examination: mean, 698+/-47.2d; median, 481d), the sensory examination remained of no value in distinguishing the neurogenic bladder type. However, voluntary anal sphincter contraction distinguished between complete and incomplete neurogenic bladders and BCR differentiated between complete bladder dysfunction of the lower motoneuron and upper motoneuron type. At follow-up, the bladder function (51 patients) remained unchanged in 44 cases and normalized in only 7 cases. Patients who improved their bladder function tended to have higher initial sensory ASIA scores (P<.05, Kruskal-Wallis test). Of the 7 patients who improved their bladder function, all but 1 (85%) had initial perineal pinprick sensation. Nevertheless, preservation of perineal pinprick sensation was of no positive predictive value, because 21 patients (48%) who initially had perineal pinprick sensation did not improve their voiding function, a finding similar to that of the 23 (52%) without initial perineal pinprick sensation whose bladder function also did not improve. CONCLUSIONS In SCI patients with thoracolumbar fractures, neurogenic voiding dysfunction cannot be predicted by the sensory evaluation. In patients with an SCI at the thoracolumbar level, pinprick sensation in the perineal area is of negative predictive value: absence of pinprick sensation predicts poor bladder recovery. Most patients with a spinal fracture at T12-L1 did not improve in voiding function.
Multi-kilobase homozygous targeted gene replacement in human induced pluripotent stem cells

Sequence-specific nucleases such as TALEN and the CRISPR/Cas9 system have so far been used to disrupt, correct or insert transgenes at precise locations in mammalian genomes. We demonstrate efficient ‘knock-in’ targeted replacement of multi-kilobase genes in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Using a model system replacing endogenous human genes with their mouse counterpart, we performed a comprehensive study of targeting vector design parameters for homologous recombination. A 2.7 kilobase (kb) homozygous gene replacement was achieved in up to 11% of iPSC without selection. The optimal homology arm length was around 2 kb, with homology length being especially critical on the arm not adjacent to the cut site. Homologous sequence inside the cut sites was detrimental to targeting efficiency, consistent with a synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA) mechanism. Using two nuclease sites, we observed a high degree of gene excisions and inversions, which sometimes occurred more frequently than indel mutations. While homozygous deletions of 86 kb were achieved with up to 8% frequency, deletion frequencies were not solely a function of nuclease activity and deletion size. Our results analyzing the optimal parameters for targeting vector design will inform future gene targeting efforts involving multi-kilobase gene segments, particularly in human iPSC.
Gender-based Grouping of Mobile Student Societies

The next frontier for sensor networks is sensing the human society. Several mobile societies are emerging, especially with wide deployment of wireless LANs (WLANs) on campuses. With the rapid increase in WLAN deployment come various research challenges. WLAN traces pertaining to network usage contain very useful information and can provide us with a lot of insight about mobile user behavior and network usage. Such insight may be used to design better future networks, and analyze the effect of social attributes on usage of mobile technology. The most extensive libraries of wireless traces are collected from university campuses. The traces are anonymized and do not provide affiliation or preference information explicitly. Hence, it becomes a challenge to perform social or group-based analysis with existing traces. In this paper we present a novel technique to group WLAN users based on gender. By mapping the traces into buildings (including sororities and fraternities), we then extract affiliation (and hence gender) information based on statistical network usage. Once such grouping is attained, we examine the commonalities and differences of usage patterns and preferences between male and female groups. Parameters analyzed in our study include on-line session durations, vendor preference, and user distribution on campus and across study majors. Our results clearly indicate the effect of gender on on-line behavior and vendor preference. We find such effect to be statistically significant and consistent across various semesters. Our findings provide great promise in utilizing WLAN traces for future mobile applications, yet raise privacy concerns that we plan to investigate in future work. Also, our method provides a framework for analyzing group behavior in mobile networks in further studies. KeywordsSocial grouping; group behavior; privacy;
Anti‐inflammatory activity of p‐coumaryl alcohol‐γ‐O‐methyl ether is mediated through modulation of interferon‐γ production in Th cells

Background and purpose: p‐Coumaryl alcohol‐γ‐O‐methyl ether (CAME) was isolated from Alpinia galanga and shown to contain a phenylpropanoid structure similar to p‐coumaryl diacetate (CDA). CDA is known to have antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activity, but the biochemical activities of CAME are unknown. Inflammation is mediated by inflammatory cytokine production, in particular, by CD4+ T helper cells (Th cells), but it is unclear whether phenylpropanoids affect cytokine production in Th cells. In this study, we decided to investigate the functions of CAME and CDA in CD4+ Th cells.
Implementation of Computationally Efficient Real-Time Voice Conversion

This paper presents an implementation of real-time processing of statistical voice conversion (VC) based on Gaussian mixture models (GMMs). To develop VC applications for enhancing our human-to-human speech communication, it is essential to implement real-time conversion processing. Moreover, it is useful to reduce computational complexity of the conversion processing for making VC applications available even in limited resources. In this paper, we propose a real-time VC method based on a low-delay conversion algorithm considering dynamic features and a global variance. Moreover, we also propose a computationally efﬁcient VC method based on rapid source feature extraction and diagonalization of full covariance matrices. Some experimental results are presented to show that the proposed methods work reasonably well.
Diagnosis of Hepatitis A Virus Infection: a Molecular Approach

SUMMARY Current serologic tests provide the foundation for diagnosis of hepatitis A and hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection. Recent advances in methods to identify and characterize nucleic acid markers of viral infections have provided the foundation for the field of molecular epidemiology and increased our knowledge of the molecular biology and epidemiology of HAV. Although HAV is primarily shed in feces, there is a strong viremic phase during infection which has allowed easy access to virus isolates and the use of molecular markers to determine their genetic relatedness. Molecular epidemiologic studies have provided new information on the types and extent of HAV infection and transmission in the United States. In addition, these new diagnostic methods have provided tools for the rapid detection of food-borne HAV transmission and identification of the potential source of the food contamination.
Optical Flow Refinement using Reliable Flow Propagation

This paper shows how to improve optical flow estimation by considering a neighborhood consensus strategy along with a reliable flow propagation method. Propagation takes advantages of reliability measures that are available from local low level image features. In this paper, we focus on color but our method could be easily generalized by considering also texture or gradient features. We investigate the conditions of estimating accurate optical flow and managing correctly flow discontinuities by proposing a variant of the well-known Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) approach. Starting from this classical approach, a consensual flow is estimated locally while two additional criteria are proposed to evaluate its reliability. Propagation of reliable flow throughout the image is then performed using a specific distance criterion based on color and proximity. Experiments are conducted within the Middlebury database and show better results than classic KLT and even global methods like the well known Horn and Schunck or Black and Anandan approaches.
The impact of complexity on the expertise reversal effect: experimental evidence from testing accounting students

Element interactivity is a central concept of cognitive load theory that defines the complexity of a learning task. The reduction of task complexity through a temporary segmentation or isolation of interacting elements was investigated with 104 students randomly assigned to an interacting elements group, where participants were required to deal with complex accounting problems in their entirety, or an isolated elements group, where the task was broken down into constituent components. The results provide strong support for the expertise reversal effect with isolated elements beneficial for novices, while interacting elements were appropriate for more knowledgeable learners. Critically, these results only were obtained for high rather than low element interactivity materials. It was concluded that segmentation or element isolation should consider the expertise of the learner in conjunction with the complexity of the learning material.
Tidal Heating of Earth-like Exoplanets around M Stars: Thermal, Magnetic, and Orbital Evolutions

Abstract The internal thermal and magnetic evolution of rocky exoplanets is critical to their habitability. We focus on the thermal-orbital evolution of Earth-mass planets around low-mass M stars whose radiative habitable zone overlaps with the “tidal zone,” where tidal dissipation is expected to be a significant heat source in the interior. We develop a thermal-orbital evolution model calibrated to Earth that couples tidal dissipation, with a temperature-dependent Maxwell rheology, to orbital circularization and migration. We illustrate thermal-orbital steady states where surface heat flow is balanced by tidal dissipation and cooling can be stalled for billions of years until circularization occurs. Orbital energy dissipated as tidal heat in the interior drives both inward migration and circularization, with a circularization time that is inversely proportional to the dissipation rate. We identify a peak in the internal dissipation rate as the mantle passes through a viscoelastic state at mantle temperatures near 1800 K. Planets orbiting a 0.1 solar-mass star within 0.07 AU circularize before 10 Gyr, independent of initial eccentricity. Once circular, these planets cool monotonically and maintain dynamos similar to that of Earth. Planets forced into eccentric orbits can experience a super-cooling of the core and rapid core solidification, inhibiting dynamo action for planets in the habitable zone. We find that tidal heating is insignificant in the habitable zone around 0.45 (or larger) solar-mass stars because tidal dissipation is a stronger function of orbital distance than stellar mass, and the habitable zone is farther from larger stars. Suppression of the planetary magnetic field exposes the atmosphere to stellar wind erosion and the surface to harmful radiation. In addition to weak magnetic fields, massive melt eruption rates and prolonged magma oceans may render eccentric planets in the habitable zone of low-mass stars inhospitable for life. Key Words: Tidal dissipation—Thermal history—Planetary interiors—Magnetic field. Astrobiology 15, 739–760.
The Effects of Associative Slogans on Tourists’ Attitudes and Travel Intention

The study tests a model that examines the influence of characteristics of associative slogans on tourists’ attitudes toward slogan, attitudes toward destination, and travel intentions as well as the moderating effects of the need for cognition and destination familiarity on these relationships. Findings reveal that extremity has negative effects on attitudes toward slogan, attitudes toward destination, and travel intention; specificity has a positive effect on attitudes toward slogan; and relevancy has positive effects on attitudes toward slogan, and attitudes toward destination. Need for cognition moderates the relationship between extremity and intention, relevancy and attitudes toward slogan and destination, and intention. Familiarity moderates the relationships between extremity and attitudes toward slogan, attitudes toward destination, and the relationship between relevancy and attitudes toward destination.
A combinatorial clustering method for sequential fraud detection

Telecommunications fraud, a new type of crime, is showing a rising trend in recent years. However, research from data mining perspectives to detect such frauds is scarce, especially with the behavioral sequences considered. Though the call detail records (CDRs) in telecommunication is generally a snapshot, the history of a caller/callee can be treated as sequences. Indeed, the historical calling sequences can better indicate the fraudulent behaviors. Thus, clustering the time sequences provides a new way to identify fraudulent groups, and therefore the problem of clustering the multidimensional sequences has to be addressed. To that end, in this paper, a combinatorial clustering method for sequential data is presented to identify fraudulent groups and reveal the underlying behavioral patterns. Specifically, the historical CDR data is divided into multiple sequences with the time interval of an hour. Then, several key features are chosen, and K-means in combination with Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) is performed on the time series data with each individual feature. Finally, the individual feature clustering results are ensembled into the final result. Experiments on real world data set demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.