Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between local geomagnetic activity and psychic awareness

There is evidence that psychic experiences are related to geomagnetic activity (GMA). However, sometimes these are related with higher, and sometimes with lower, GMA. This anomaly may be clarified by studying local GMA. In order to explore this, a 4-year investigation was conducted. Unfortunately, solar activity and GMA were at their lowest for 100 years, so it was necessary to combine the preliminary and follow-up study data. Both studies used the same free-response design. The 26 participants, all of whom resided at, or near, Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, had practiced meditation for at least 10 years. Each participant completed a minimum of eight sessions each year. Three questionnaires and one psychological test were completed. Geomagnetic measurements were supplied by the British Geological Survey's observatory located near Samye Ling. There was no difference between sessions conducted during high or low band 1, or high or low band 3 GMA, but post-hoc analyses suggested a band 3 GMA effect. Overall, males' psi scores were significantly negative (p = .02, two-tailed), whereas females scored at chance; the difference was significant (p = .03). The participants with the highest temporal lobe questionnaire scores showed the strongest correlation of psi with GMA(p = .06).
Entrez Gene: gene-centered information at NCBI

Entrez Gene (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene) is National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)’s database for gene-specific information. Entrez Gene maintains records from genomes which have been completely sequenced, which have an active research community to submit gene-specific information, or which are scheduled for intense sequence analysis. The content represents the integration of curation and automated processing from NCBI’s Reference Sequence project (RefSeq), collaborating model organism databases, consortia such as Gene Ontology and other databases within NCBI. Records in Entrez Gene are assigned unique, stable and tracked integers as identifiers. The content (nomenclature, genomic location, gene products and their attributes, markers, phenotypes and links to citations, sequences, variation details, maps, expression, homologs, protein domains and external databases) is available via interactive browsing through NCBI’s Entrez system, via NCBI’s Entrez programming utilities (E-Utilities) and for bulk transfer by FTP.
The effect of one-electron reduced drugs on hepatic aconitase activity and triglycerides level

Abstract The redox cycle triggered by one electron reduction of doxorubicin and tirapazamine - both anticancer agents - leads to superoxide production. This superoxide production itself removes one iron atom from the [4Fe-4S] cluster, being an active center of aconitase. In addition, the incurred changes in cell redox equilibrium may affect lipid metabolism. The aim of the study was to evaluate a concomitant effect of both drugs on hepatic aconitase activity and triglycerides level. In our study, doxorubicin (1.8 mg/kg b.w.) was administered intraperitoneal (i.p.) six times, once a week, within male Wistar rats, to achieve a cumulative dose of 10.8 mg/kg b.w. Two hours before every doxorubicin administration, tirapazamine in the dose of either 5 or 10 mg/kg b.w. was also i.p. injected. A week after withdrawing drug administration, the liver was taken for biochemical analysis. Therein, an increase in aconitase activity and a decrease in triglycerides level was seen in all groups exposed to doxorubicin. Our work demonstrated that tirapazamine administration had no influence on both tested parameters, but its higher dose rate normalized aconitase activity affected by doxorubicin.
Korean clinical practice guideline for perioperative red blood cell transfusion from Korean Society of Anesthesiologists

Background Considering the functional role of red blood cells (RBC) in maintaining oxygen supply to tissues, RBC transfusion can be a life-saving intervention in situations of severe bleeding or anemia. RBC transfusion is often inevitable to address intraoperative massive bleeding; it is a key component in safe perioperative patient management. Unlike general medical resources, packed RBCs (pRBCs) have limited availability because their supply relies entirely on voluntary donations. Additionally, excessive utilization of pRBCs may aggravate prognosis or increase the risk of developing infectious diseases. Appropriate perioperative RBC transfusion is, therefore, crucial for the management of patient safety and medical resource conservation. These concerns motivated us to develop the present clinical practice guideline for evidence-based efficient and safe perioperative RBC transfusion management considering the current clinical landscape. Methods This guideline was obtained after the revision and refinement of exemplary clinical practice guidelines developed in advanced countries. This was followed by rigorous evidence-based reassessment considering the healthcare environment of the country. Results This guideline covers all important aspects of perioperative RBC transfusion, such as preoperative anemia management, appropriate RBC storage period, and leukoreduction (removal of white blood cells using filters), reversal of perioperative bleeding tendency, strategies for perioperative RBC transfusion, appropriate blood management protocols, efforts to reduce blood transfusion requirements, and patient monitoring during a perioperative transfusion. Conclusions This guideline will aid decisions related to RBC transfusion in healthcare settings and minimize patient risk associated with unnecessary pRBC transfusion.
Genetic Signature of Anthropogenic Population Collapse in Orang-utans

Great ape populations are undergoing a dramatic decline, which is predicted to result in their extinction in the wild from entire regions in the near future. Recent findings have particularly focused on African apes, and have implicated multiple factors contributing to this decline, such as deforestation, hunting, and disease. Less well-publicised, but equally dramatic, has been the decline in orang-utans, whose distribution is limited to parts of Sumatra and Borneo. Using the largest-ever genetic sample from wild orang-utan populations, we show strong evidence for a recent demographic collapse in North Eastern Borneo and demonstrate that this signature is independent of the mutation and demographic models used. This is the first demonstration that genetic data can detect and quantify the effect of recent, human-induced deforestation and habitat fragmentation on an endangered species. Because current demographic collapses are usually confounded by ancient events, this suggests a much more dramatic decline than demographic data alone and emphasises the need for major conservation efforts.
Consumer Buying Behaviour; A Factor of Compulsive Buying Prejudiced by Windowsill Placement

This empirical research investigates the impact of windowsill placement on the compulsive buying behavior of consumers on three different types of products i.e., convenience products, shopping products, and specialty products. Positive effect of windowsill placement on all three types of product categories has been hypothesized. The categorical regression (Optimal scaling) was used to test the hypotheses. The data was collected via self administered questionnaire from Pakistan through systematic random sampling, and the sample consisted of 500 respondents. The results of data analysis supported only the 1st hypothesis which highlighted that placement of products in shopping centers has an impact of unplanned buying of consumers for convenience products. While rest of the two hypotheses regarding shopping and convenience products were not supported by the data. This research is helpful for those companies which believe in classical conditioning. This is perhaps one of the first study in non-western (Pakistani) context.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Key Clinical PointsPolycystic Ovary Syndrome The polycystic ovary syndrome is diagnosed in women with at least two of the following otherwise unexplained abnormalities: hyperandrogenism (clinical, biochemical, or both), ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphologic features. Women with the polycystic ovary syndrome are at increased risk for infertility, endometrial hyperplasia and cancer, abnormal glucose metabolism, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, depression, and anxiety. Nonpharmacologic therapies play key roles in the treatment of the polycystic ovary syndrome. Lifestyle modification is important for patients who are (or are at risk for being) overweight or obese and in those with other coexisting metabolic conditions. Mechanical hair removal (e.g., shaving) is an important treatment strategy in patients with hirsutism. Combined (estrogen–progestin) oral contraceptives are considered to be the first-line pharmacologic therapy for the classic symptoms of the polycystic ovary syndrome.
The case for an emergentist approach

This paper sets out an argument in favour of emergentism as an alternative theoretical paradigm to nativism, arguing that it offers a coherent, evidence-based account of language structure, language acquisition, language evolution, and language change. A number of key tenets of the nativist approach are summarised first, including the nature of the presumed complexity of language, the poverty of the input argument against the learnability of language, the assumption of parsimony, the view of language as an innate, biological faculty, and the view of the primary function of language as cognitive representation rather than communication. This is followed by a presentation of the emergentist alternative, which hinges on the notion of the grammatical construction as the central unit in the emergentist approach. The properties of constructions, and how they can come into being with recourse to only domain-general cognitive processes, are presented, before the implications of this view for the structure, acquisition, evolution and change of language are discussed. Additional points of difference with the nativist position are highlighted, including the assumptions of non-parsimonious storage and the centrality of communicative interaction in the ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of language. Throughout the presentation, arguments are illustrated with reference to aspects of complementation in Germanic languages. The article concludes with a detailed case study of the wh-extraction construction, drawing on an analysis of corpus data from Afrikaans, to demonstrate how the construction-based, emergentist approach leads to an insightful analysis of a well-known construction, without having to make extensive assumptions about the underlying linguistic complexity and the need for innate mechanisms to enable the acquisition of such a complex construction.
Microbial Diversity Assessment by PCR-DGGE Analysis in National Sanctuary of Ampay in Perú

In the last years, culture-independent techniques had become the main tools for evaluation of taxonomic and functional structures of microbial communities. Either 16S rRNA amplicon-based metagenome sequencing or shotgun metagenome sequencing is largely used for the assessment of the microbial diversity. Recently, comparison of two nextgeneration sequencing techniques, amplicon and shotgun, in Brazilian river food plain systems showed that less than 50% of phyla identified via amplicon sequencing were recovered from shotgun sequencing [3]. Amplicon based metagenome sequencing are commonly performed by analyzing the prokaryotic 16S ribosomal RNA gene (16S rRNA), which is approximately 1,500 bp long and contains nine variable regions interspersed between conserved regions. Variable regions of 16S rRNA are frequently used in phylogenetic classification such as genus or species in diverse microbial populations. Improving on the amplicon sequencing techniques remain as challenge [4,5].
CoRoT light curves of RR Lyrae stars - CoRoT 101128793: long–term changes in the Blazhko effect and excitation of additional modes

Context. The CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) space mission provides a valuable opportunity to monitor stars with uninterrupted time sampling for up to 150 days at a time. The study of RR Lyrae stars, performed in the framework of the Additional Programmes belonging to the exoplanetary field, will particularly benefit from such dense, long-duration monitoring. Aims. The Blazhko effect in RR Lyrae stars is a long-standing, unsolved problem of stellar astrophysics. We used the CoRoT data of the new RR Lyrae variable CoRoT 101128793 (f0 = 2.119 d −1 , P = 0.4719296 d) to provide us with more detailed observational facts to understand the physical process behind the phenomenon. Methods. The CoRoT data were corrected for one jump and the long-term drift. We applied different period-finding techniques to the corrected timeseries to investigate amplitude and phase modulation. We detected 79 frequencies in the light curve of CoRoT 101128793. They have been identified as the main frequency f0 and its harmonics, two independent terms, the terms related to the Blazhko frequency fm, and to several combination terms. Results. A Blazhko frequency fm = 0.056 d −1 and a triplet structure around the fundamental radial mode and harmonics were detected, as were a long-term variability on the Blazhko modulation. Indeed, the amplitude of the main oscillation is decreasing along the CoRoT survey. The Blazhko modulation is one of the smallest observed in RR Lyrae stars. Moreover, the additional modes f1 = 3.630 and f2 = 3.159 d −1 are detected. Taking its ratio with the fundamental radial mode into account, the term f1 could be the identified as the second radial overtone. Detecting of these modes in horizontal branch stars is a new result obtained by CoRoT.
OKONKWO, CHINELO HENRIETTA (PG/M.PHARM/10/52905) EVALUATION OF THE ANTIPLASMODIAL ACTIVITY OF METHANOL LEAF EXTRACT AND FRACTIONS OF LANDOLPHIA OWARIENSIS P. BEAUV (APOCYNACEAE) IN MICE

Landolphia owariensis P. Beauv (Apocynaceae) is a woody liane commonly used in Africa for the treatment of gonorrhea, worm infestation and malaria. The methanol leaf extract (ME) of L. owariensis was obtained by cold maceration and then fractionated into nhexane (nHF), ethylacetate (EF) and methanol (MF) fractions. The methanol extract and fractions were tested against chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium berghei berghei in early, established and repository models of infection using Peter’s 4-day suppressive model, Rane’s curative model and Peters prophylactic model respectively. The antiplasmodial activity was evaluated by determining the parasitemia, body weight and survival time of each of the eighty-four mice comprising six mice per group. Groups 1-12 were given graded doses of 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg body weight of extract or fractions respectively while group 13 and 14 received 5 mg/kg/day of chloroquine and 3% Tween 80 respectively. All administration was orally. Acute toxicity was studied using modified Lorke’s method. Phytochemistry of extract and fractions as well as HPLC fingerprinting of ME, EF and MF were also carried out. The methanol extract and all the fractions exhibited significant (P<0.05) but varying levels of antiplasmodial activity comparable to the group treated with chloroquine. MF elicited the highest chemosuppression of 96.04% at 800 mg/kg with the prophylactic model while nHF elicited the least activity with chemosuppression of 29.38-58.75% at 200 -800 mg/kg respectively. The phytochemical screening of the extract and fractions revealed the presence of secondary metabolites. The LD50 was estimated to be greater than 5000 mg/kg p.o in mice. HPLC analysis of ME, EF and MF showed different peaks representing different components. The results of this study suggest that the leaf extract and fractions pose significant antiplasmodial activity.
EXPRESSION OF NONSTRUCTURAL GLYCOPROTEIN NSP4 OF SA11 SIMIIAN ROTA VIRUS IN ESCHERICHIA COLI AND PRODUCTION OF ANTIBODY AGAINST IT

Rotavirus nonstructural glycoprotein NSP4 can induce diarrhea in newborn mice. It has been suggested that NSP4 may be a key determinant for rotavirus pathogenesis and a target for vaccine development. In order to study the biologi­ cal and morphological role of NSP4 a large amount of the purified protein and antibody against it are required. Simian rotavirus SAIl was propagated in BSCl cell, purified on cesium chloride gradients, and its genomic RNA was extracted. A cDNA from RNA segment 10 was synthesized and amplified by RT-PCR. cDNA fragment was cloned into plasmid vectors. The recombinant plasmid was characterized by re­ striction enzyme and sequencing. Construction of expression plasmid containing nsp4 gene was performed and expression of NSP4 was demonstrated by SDS­ PAGE, Western blot, ELISA and IF using polyclonal antibody against NSP4 from SAIl infected BSCI cells. A polyclonal antiserum against purified recombinant NSP4 was raised in rabbit; which was reacted with NSP4 in BSCI cells infected with SAIl rotavirus. These results indicated successful expression of the full-length NSP4 in E.coli to produce antibody against it and to study its biological activities. MJIRI, Vol. 17, No.3, 217-224, 2003.
Biosorption of hexavalent chromium using tamarind (Tamarindus indica) fruit shell-a comparative study

The adsorption of chromium (VI) ions from aqueous solutions has been investigated on crude tamarind fruit shell, HCl treated and Oxalic acid treated shells at room temperatures. The biosorbents are characterized by FT-IR, EDXRF and porosimetry. The biosorption experiments are conducted through batch system. The influence of different experimental parameters such as pH, effect of initial metal ion concentration and effect of dosage of adsorbent on biosorption are evaluated. The adsorption followed first order kinetics. The data are fitted well to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. A comparison is drawn on the extent of biosorption between untreated and treated forms of the tamarind shells. Due to their outstanding adsorption capacities, tamarind shells are excellent sorbents for the removal of chromium ions.
A bootstrap test for symmetry based on quantiles

In this paper, we construct a nonparametric test for the symmetry assumption of an underling distribution based on the sample quantiles. Bootstrap re-sampling from a symmetric empirical distribution function is used to obtain the p-value of the test. The power of the new test statistic is compared with some well-known symmetry tests using a simulation study. The results show that the proposed test preserves its level and it has reasonable power properties on the family of distribution evaluated.
Xuefu zhuyu decoction improves cognitive impairment in experimental traumatic brain injury via synaptic regulation

An overarching consequence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the cognitive impairment. It may hinder individual performance of daily tasks and determine people's subjective well-being. The damage to synaptic plasticity, one of the key mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction, becomes the potential therapeutic strategy of TBI. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction (XFZYD), a traditional Chinese medicine, provided a synaptic regulation to improve cognitive disorder following TBI. Morris water maze and modified neurological severity scores were performed to assess the neurological and cognitive abilities. The PubChem Compound IDs of the major compounds of XFZYD were submitted into BATMAN-TCM, an online bioinformatics analysis tool, to predict the druggable targets related to synaptic function. Furthermore, we validated the prediction through immunohistochemical, RT-PCR and western blot analyses. We found that XFZYD enhanced neuroprotection, simultaneously improved learning and memory performances in controlled cortical impact rats. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the improvements of XFZYD implied the Long-term potentiation relative proteins including NMDAR1, CaMKII and GAP-43. The further confirmation of molecular biological studies confirmed that XFZYD upregulated the mRNA and protein levels of NMDAR1, CaMKII and GAP-43. Pharmacological synaptic regulation of XFZYD could provide a novel therapeutic strategy for cognitive impairment following TBI.
Clinical characteristics of children with cerebral palsy in Chengdu, China: A cross-sectional study

Objective: To describe the subtypes, motor function, and comorbidities of cerebral palsy (CP) in children in Chengdu, China. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of children with CP was performed in 2013 and participants were enrolled from the branches of China Disabled Persons’ Federation in Chengdu. Diagnosis, clinical subtypes, gross and fine motor function outcomes, and comorbidities of CP were determined through caregiver interviews, evaluation of medical records, and thorough physical examinations. Results: Four-hundred and twenty-two children were diagnosed with CP (mean age, 7.7 ± 3.8 years). Spastic diplegia was the predominating subtype (35%). Mild impairments in gross and fine motor function were present in 45% and 52% of the patients, respectively. Cognitive impairment (60%) was the most common comorbidity, and was followed by language disorder (41%) and microcephaly (35%). About 79% of children with cerebral palsy had at least one comorbidity, and the number of cumulative comorbidities was positively correlated with Gross Motor Function Classification System and Manual Ability Classification System scores. Preterm birth (52%) was the most common risk factor, and was followed by low birth weight (42%) and birth asphyxia (27%). Conclusion: Distributions of CP subtypes, motor functions, and comorbidities in a Chinese population were similar to those in developed countries, but different from those in other developing countries. The trend for decreased numbers of children with preterm CP since 2009 indicates an improvement in neonatal care. However, perinatal healthcare should still be improved to reduce the occurrence of birth asphyxia.
Does Collective Responsibility for Performance Alter Party Strategies? Policy-Seeking Parties in Proportional Systems

Abstract Adams and Merrill have developed a model of policy-seeking parties in a parliamentary democracy competing in a PR electoral system, in which party elites are uncertain about voters’ evaluations of the parties’ valence attributes such as competence, integrity and charisma. This article extends that model to situations where voters hold coalitions of parties collectively responsible for their valence-related performances, such as how voters evaluate governing parties’ competence in handling issues like the economy, crime and foreign policy crises. It may also be relevant to voters’ evaluations of proto-coalitions of opposition parties. Computations suggest the central substantive conclusions reported in Adams and Merrill extend to this generalized model, and that collective responsibility enhances coalition members’ incentives to converge to similar policy positions but depresses their prospects of achieving their policy objectives.