Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TEMPORAL VARIATION IN POPULATIONS OF THE MARINE ISOPOD EXCIROLANA: HOW STABLE ARE GENE FREQUENCIES AND MORPHOLOGY?

Excirolana braziliensis is a dioecious marine isopod that lives in the high intertidal zone on both sides of tropical America. It lacks a dispersal phase and displays a remarkable degree of genetic divergence even between localities less than 1 km apart. Nine populations of this nominal species from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama and one population of the closely allied species, Excirolana chamensis, from the eastern Pacific were studied for 2 yr for allozymic temporal variation in 13 loci and for 3 to 4 yr for morphological variation in nine characters. The genetic and morphological constitution of 9 out of 10 populations remained stable. Allele frequencies at two loci and overall morphology in a tenth beach occupied by E. braziliensis changed drastically and significantly between 1986 and 1988. The change in gene frequency is too great to explain by genetic drift occurring during a maximum of 14 generations regardless of assumed effective population size; drift is also unlikely to have caused observed changes in morphology. Selective survival of a previously rare genotype is more plausible but still not probable. The most credible explanation is that the resident population at this locality became extinct and that the beach was recolonized by immigrants from another locality. Such infrequent episodes of extinction and recolonization from a single source may account for the large amount of genetic divergence between local populations of E. braziliensis. However, the low probability of large temporal genetic change even in a species such as this, in which gene flow between local demes is limited and generation time is short, suggests that a single sample through time is usually adequate for reconstructing the genetic history of populations.
Coxiella burnetii in wildlife and ticks in an endemic area.

BACKGROUND Ticks are considered to be a natural reservoir of Coxiella burnetii and are responsible for the spread of infection in wild animals and for the transmission to domestic animals. More than 40 tick species are naturally infected with C. burnetii. In Cyprus, few studies have been carried out on the distribution and incidence of C. burnetii infection in wildlife and the threat that infected wild animals pose to humans and domestic animals remains uncertain. METHODS During 3 studies in Cyprus, lasting 7 years (2000-2006), ticks were collected from rats (98 Rattus norvegicus and 38 R. rattus), 74 mouflons (Ovis orientalis ophion), 32 foxes (Vulpes vulpes indutus), 247 hares (Lepus europaeus), 557 birds (endemic and migratory) and 10 different tick species. All samples were tested for the presence of Coxiella burnetii using molecular assays. RESULTS In total, 31% (23/74) of mouflons, 28% (9/32) of foxes, 48% (15/31) of hares and 31% (41/131) of birds were positive for C. burnetii. We tested 1315 ticks (195 pools) and C. burnetii was detected in 28.9% (56/195) of them. Forty percent (24/60) of ticks collected from hares and 25.2% (27/107) of tick pools collected from mouflons were positive for C. burnetii. However, C. burnetii was detected in only one tick from foxes and one from birds. Positive samples were prevalent all over the island and did not show a specific geographic distribution pattern. CONCLUSIONS Several animal and tick species collected from wildlife are potential sources of C. burnetii in Cyprus. These species are abundant in the area and may represent a risk for domestic livestock that share grazing environments.
Platelet‐specific hemophagocytosis in a patient with juvenile dermatomyositis

Juvenile dermatomyositis (DM) is an in ̄ammatory disease mainly characterized by erythematous rash and muscular weakness with vasculopathy (1). Although the prognosis of juvenile DM is fair in most cases, severe and rush cases have been reported. Interstitial pneumonia and gastrointestinal bleeding are established fatal complications in both adulthood and juvenile DM. However, reported cases with hematological complication including thrombocytopenia are limited (2). Here, we report a case of severe thrombocytopenia complicated with juvenile DM. Of interest was a ®nding that signi®cant platelet-speci®c hemophagocytosis was observed in the bone marrow.
The molecular basis of antibody-mediated neutralization of West Nile virus

The study of the interaction between the West Nile virus envelope protein and monoclonal antibodies has provided insight into the molecular mechanisms of neutralization. Structural studies have identified an epitope on the lateral ridge of domain III of the West Nile virus E protein that is recognized by antibodies with the strongest neutralizing activity in vitro and in vivo. Antibodies that bind to this epitope are particularly inhibitory because they block infection at a post-attachment step and at concentrations that result in a low occupancy of the available sites on the virion.
Effect of Nalbuphine as Adjuvant to Bupivacaine for Ultrasound-Guided Supraclavicular Brachial Plexus Block

Background: Nalbuphine is a derivative of 14-hydroxymorphine which is a strong analgesic with mixed k agonist and μ antagonist. Nalbuphine was studied several times as adjuvant to local anesthetics in spinal, epidural and local intravenous block. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nalbuphine as an adjuvant to local anesthetics in supraclavicular brachial plexus block. Patients and Methods: Fifty-six patients undergoing elective forearm and hand surgery under supraclavicular brachial plexus block were allocated randomly into one of two groups of 28 patients each to receive either 25 ml (0.5%) bupivacaine with 1 ml of NS or 25 ml (0.5%) bupivacaine with 1 ml (20 mg) nalbuphine. Onset time and duration of both sensory and motor block, and post-operative analgesia were observed. Result: Nalbuphine group showed significant increase in the duration of motor block (412.59 ± 18.63), when compared to control group (353.70 ± 29.019) p-value < 0.001, also, there was significant increase in sensory duration in nalbuphine group (718.14 ± 21.04) when compared to control group (610.18 ± 26.33) p-value < 0.001, without affecting the onset time of the blockade. And also, there was a significant increase in the duration of analgesic effect in nalbuphine group (835.18 ± 42.45) when compared to control group (708.14 ± 54.57) p-value < 0.001. Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that addition of 20 mg nalbuphine to bupivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus block is associated with significant increase in the duration of both sensory and motor block and also prolong the duration of analgesia.
DNA microarray analysis for the detection of mutations in hemophilia A

Summary. Background: Congenital deficiency of factor (F) VIII results in the inherited X‐linked bleeding disorder hemophilia A. More than 900 different mutations are reported in the hemophilia A mutation database with the largest number of mutations being single nucleotide substitutions distributed throughout the gene. Complicating the molecular characterization of this disease is the complexity of the F8 gene, the mutational heterogeneity, and technical limitations of the current mutation detection techniques. Objective: Development of a DNA oligonucleotide microarray‐based technique for F8 gene analysis to detect hemophilia A mutations. Methods: To construct the oligonucleotide DNA microarray system: a total of 720, one base pair overlapping, 25‐mer perfect match probes were designed from six exons of the F8 gene. Twenty‐two different F8 gene mutations previously identified by CSGE and DNA sequence analysis were tested by using a loss‐of‐signal analysis approach. Differentially labeled wild type and hemophilic samples were co‐hybridized to the array. Sequence alterations were detected by quantifying relative losses of test sample hybridization signals to the perfectly matched probes. Results: A total of 22 different F8 mutations were tested. To test the sensitivity of the system, a blinded study was performed on 16 of the samples. F8 gene mutations can be detected with 96% efficiency with this microarray system. Conclusion: This proof‐of‐principle study has demonstrated that a F8 DNA microarray platform is an alternative gene mutation analysis approach that has a high sensitivity, and reproducibility. The methodology is, however, expensive and time consuming, and with the reduction in sequencing costs, direct sequencing is now the most cost and time efficient strategy for hemophilia A mutation analysis.
Investigations of the structure of glutamine synthetase from pig brain.

Glutamine synthetase from pig brain was purified to complete homogeneity. The sedimentation behavior, direct electron optical evidence and tracing of the difference spectra during disaggregation and denaturation by urea and detergents at different pH values and different ionic strengths lead to the conclusion that the enzyme (s= 15 S, ƒ/ƒ0= 1.26, Mr= 370000) is a dihedral, cubic octamer which consists of two enzymatically inactive half molecules (s= 8.6 S, ƒ/ƒ0= 1.36, Mr= 185000). These tetrads are formed in 2 M urea and, by dialysis against buffer, reaggregate to the native enzyme. In the tetramer, the monomers (s= 2.8 S, Mr= 46000) are in one plane, narrowly and relatively strongly associated. The dissociation of the binding forces, which is irreversible, is only possible at high concentrations of denaturants. With low concentrations of dodecylsulfate, the enzyme forms a catalytically active complex which, below pH 6.5, stacks together and precipitates in the form of helical aggregates. On addition of more dodecylsulfate, inactive dissociates arise which bind a maximum of 130 molecules of detergent per subunit. Although pig brain and sheep brain glutamine synthetases are protein-chemically, biophysically and immunologically strikingly similar, hybridization of their tetrameric half molecules did not succeed.
The effects of rumination and distraction on over-general autobiographical memory retrieval during social problem solving.

OBJECTIVES We examined the effects of rumination and distraction on over-general autobiographical memory (AM) retrieval during social problem solving (SPS), as well as SPS performance in terms of means and effectiveness. DESIGN AND METHODS After undergoing a rumination or distraction manipulation, dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants performed a SPS task and reported the memories retrieved during SPS. RESULTS The dysphoric ruminators performed significantly less effectively on the SPS task than the other groups. However, the dysphoric ruminators did not differ from the dysphoric distracters on the numbers of categoric memories retrieved during SPS although they retrieved significantly more categoric memories than the non-dysphoric distracters and non-dysphoric ruminators. For all groups, the effectiveness score was significantly negatively correlated with categoric memories retrieved during SPS. CONCLUSION The results demonstrated that in a dysphoric sample, rumination impaired SPS performance but did not influence categoric AM retrieval during SPS. The results suggested that in a dysphoric sample, rumination might affect SPS performance by affecting processes like initiation and motivation rather than AM retrieval during SPS.
Taxonomic Relation Extraction using Wikipedia Distant Supervision

We present a relation extraction system that is specifically designed to extract taxonomic relations from Wikipedia. In contrast with previous related work, the proposed system does not rely on any external knowledge bases – its training examples and feature vector representations are derived exclusively from Wikipedia. Furthermore, the entire system is trained without any manually labeled examples – a diverse set of distantly labeled training examples for IS-A relation classification is extracted automatically from list pages and revision histories. We describe a rich set of feature representations that are derived from salient Wikipedia structures, as well as from syntactic and semantic processings of text. A bootstrapped version of the system is used to create additional features for itself, leading to improvements in extraction accuracy. The taxonomic relation extraction system is applied on the Wikipedia category graph and the results are stored in a graph database, with associated confidence levels that allow trading off recall vs. precision. Because it depends exclusively on Wikipedia and requires no manual labeling, the extraction system will be straightforward to update with newer versions of Wikipedia. 1 Distant Wikipedia Supervision The taxonomic relation extraction system is trained as a binary classifier on a dataset of training examples that are extracted automatically from Wikipedia itself. Positive and negative examples are created by exploiting two very different Wikipedia structures: list pages and revision history. 1.1 Distant Positive Examples We used list pages in Wikipedia as a source of positive examples of IS-A pairs. A list page has a title List of <X> and contains a set of links <Y> organized in a list or in a table. For example, the page List of cocktails contains a multi-level list of links to articles such as The Modernista or Black and Tan, whereas the page List of antibiotics contains a multi-heading table in which the first column contains links to titles such as Amoxicilin and Penicilin G. Given a List of <X> title and links <Y> contained in the list page, we create positive example pairs 〈P,C〉 as follows:
What a Disaster?! Assessing Utility of Simulated Disaster Exercise and Educational Process for Improving Hospital Preparedness

Abstract Introduction: Recent events have brought disaster medicine into the public focus. Both the government and communities expect hospitals to be prepared to cope with all types of emergencies. Disaster simulations are the traditional method of testing hospital disaster plans, but a recent, comprehensive, literature review failed to find any substantial scientific data proving the benefit of these resource and time-consuming exercises. Objectives: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that an audiovisual presentation of the hospital disaster plans followed by a simulated disaster exercise and debriefing improved staff knowledge, confidence, and hospital preparedness for disasters. Methods: A survey of 50 members of the medical, nursing, and administrative staff were chosen from a pool of approximately 170 people likely to be in a position of responsibility in the event of a disaster.The pre-intervention survey tested factual knowledge as well as perceptions about individual and departmental preparedness. Post-intervention, the same 50 staff members were asked to repeat the survey, which included additional questions establishing their involvement in the exercise. Results: There were 50 pre-intervention tests and 42 post-intervention tests. The intervention resulted in a significant improvement in test pass rate: preintervention pass rate 9/50 (18%, 95% confidence interval ((CI) = 16.1–19.9%) versus post-intervention pass rate 21/42 (50%, 95% CI = 42.4–57.6%; X2 test, p = 0.002). Emergency department (ED) staff had a stronger baseline knowledge than non-ED staff: ED pre-test mean value for scores = 12.1 versus nonED scores of 6.2 (difference 5.9, 95% CI = 3.3–8.4); t-test, p <0.001. Those that attended >1 component had a greater increase in mean scores: increase in mean attendees was 5.6, versus the scores of non-attendees of 2.7 (difference 2.9, 95% CI = 1.0–4.9); t-test, p = 0.004. There was no significant increase in the general perception of preparedness. However, the majority of those surveyed described the exercise of benefit to themselves (53.7%,95% CI = 45.5–61.8%) and their department (63.2%, 95% CI = 53.5–72.8%). Conclusions: The disaster exercise and educational process had the greatest benefit for individuals and departments involved directly. The intervention also prompted enterprise-wide review, and an upgrade of disaster plans at departmental levels. Pre-intervention knowledge scores were poor. Post-intervention knowledge base remained suboptimal, despite a statistically significant improvement. This study supports the widely held belief that disaster simulation is a worthwhile exercise, but more must be done. More time and resources must be dedicated to the increasingly important field of hospital disaster preparedness.
12‐month longitudinal cognitive functioning in patients recently diagnosed with bipolar disorder

Although cognitive deficits are observed in the early stages of bipolar disorder, the longitudinal course of neuropsychological functioning during this period is unknown. Such knowledge could provide etiologic clues into the cognitive deficits associated with the illness, and could inform early treatment interventions. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate cognitive change in bipolar disorder in the first year after the initial manic episode.
Robust and Efficient Designs for the Michaelis–Menten Model

For the Michaelis–Menten model, we determine designs that maximize the minimum of the D-efficiencies over a certain interval for the nonlinear parameter. The best two point designs can be found explicitly, and a characterization is given when these designs are optimal within the class of all designs. In most cases of practical interest, the determined designs are highly efficient and robust with respect to misspecification of the nonlinear parameter. The results are illustrated and applied in an example of a hormone receptor assay.
The von Willebrand factor antagonist (GPG-290) prevents coronary thrombosis without prolongation of bleeding time

Summary The interaction between von Willebrand factor (VWF) and platelet glycoprotein Ibα (GPIbα) is a critical step that allows platelet adhesion, activation and subsequent thrombus formation to the injured vessel wall under high-shear conditions. In this study, we sought to investigate 1) whether GPG-290, a recombinant human GPIbα chimeric protein, would prevent thrombosis in a canine model of coronary thrombosis by blocking VWFGPIbα interaction; and 2) whether desmopressin (DDAVP), a VWF release stimulant, could reduce the prolonged bleeding time caused by a 10x efficacious dose of GPG-290. The antithrombotic efficacy of GPG-290 was evaluated by the in-vivo ability to prevent cyclic flow reductions (CFRs) and ex-vivo inhibition of platelet adhesion/aggregation reflected by prolongation of Platelet Function Analyzer (PFA-100®) collagen /ADP closure time. The anti-hemostatic effect was assessed by template bleeding time. GPG-290 at doses of 25, 50 and 100 μg/kg abolished CFRs in 67%,100% and 100% of the treated dogs without bleeding time prolongation, respectively; GPG-290 dose-dependently prolonged the ex-vivo collagen/ADP-closure time, while it had no effects on plasma VWF antigen level (VWF:Ag) and VWF-collagen binding activity (VWF:CB); the prolonged template bleeding time caused by 500 μg/kg of GPG-290 was prevented by intravenous infusion of DDAVP (0.3 μg/kg). In conclusion, GPG-290 appears to be an effective agent for treating arterial thrombosis without bleeding time prolongation.
A new look at plant viruses and their potential beneficial roles in crops.

Twenty years ago most people (including many scientists) thought of bacteria solely as agents of disease, best treated with disinfectants and antibiotics. Today, most of us are aware that bacteria make up almost 90% of the cells in our bodies, and play a critical role in digestion and the immune response. In plants, bacteria also form important mutualistic relationships, providing nitrogen fixation, growth enhancement and defence against pathogens, and undoubtedly a host of other functions that have yet to be described. The stigma of bacteria has changed dramatically in recent decades, and most people are aware that we need our good microbes. Although there have been recent efforts to characterize the plant microbiome with a focus on finding beneficial microbes, viruses generally have not been included in the beneficial microbe lists (Berg et al., 2014, and references cited therein). Recent work has indicated that they can also play important and beneficial roles in plants, especially in extreme environments in which they are involved in conferring tolerance to drought, cold and hot soil temperatures (Roossinck, 2011). Beneficial viruses are defined for the purposes of this discussion as viruses that provide a trait to crop plants that increases their value or growth potential, or decreases the need for the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.
Research of Impedance Characteristics for Medium-Voltage Power Networks

The general method to investigate the impedance characteristics with a network analyzer is discussed. The common properties of the impedance are studied based on two-months observation of two 10-kV medium-voltage power networks. Meanwhile, the difference of the impedance measured at the headside and tailside of a feeder, the impedance characteristic impacted by the operating mode of the power system, the time variance of the impedance, and the characteristic obtained from a different coupling mode are also studied carefully. The results show that the characteristic impedance is in correlation with the power system structure and its configurations, and its value is about several tenths of ohms. The input impedance varies scarcely with the time. The capacitor group connected to the bus has no influence on the input impedance. And the input impedances in common mode and differential mode are both symmetric. The impedance value in differential-mode coupling is higher than that in common-mode coupling
Optimizing T-cell expansion: have we reached the limit?

In this issue of Cytotherapy, three papers describe methodologies that mark new advances in the isolation, generation and detection of antigen (Ag)-specifi c lymphocytes for adoptive T-cell therapy. Adoptive cell therapy has been with us ever since bone marrow was fi rst used for autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCT) [1]. With the realization that T cells in HSCT play an essential role in the eradication of malignancies and prevention of viral reactivation, much consideration has been given to targeting tumors and DNA viruses selectively by adoptive transfer of T cells. The need to deliver T cells with specifi c recognition potential (to avoid graft-versus-host disease in the allogeneic setting) has led to adoptive T-cell therapy (ATCT) with in vitro-manipulated T cells. Generally, this form of ATCT involves the transfer of in vivo- or in vitroprimed and in vitro-expanded tumor or virus Ag-specifi c T cells obtained from the patient or an HLA-identical donor, followed by infusion into the patient. Advances in basic and translational immunology have contributed to the success of ATCT. Landmark studies include the demonstration that HLA-identical donor-derived T cells in allogeneic HSCT can distinguish between healthy and malignant cells [2], the early use of unmanipulated donor leukocytes [3] and Ag-specifi c T cells in clinical trials [4,5], the fi nding that CD8 + T cells persist longer if helper T cells are present [4,6], that T cells cultured for a short period of time display improved effi cacy compared with long-term expanded, exhausted T cells [7] and, more recently, the realization that central memory-, but not