Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental evolution in fluctuating environments: tolerance measurements at constant temperatures incorrectly predict the ability to tolerate fluctuating temperatures

The ability to predict the consequences of fluctuating environments on species distribution and extinction often relies on determining the tolerances of species or genotypes in different constant environments (i.e. determining tolerance curves). However, very little is known about the suitability of measurements made in constant environments to predict the level of adaptation to rapidly fluctuating environments. To explore this question, we used bacterial clones adapted to constant or fluctuating temperatures and found that measurements across a range of constant temperatures did not indicate any adaptation to fluctuating temperatures. However, adaptation to fluctuating temperatures was only apparent if growth was measured during thermal fluctuation. Thus, tolerance curves based on measurements in constant environments can be misleading in predicting the ability to tolerate fast environmental fluctuations. Such complications could lead to false estimates of the genetic merits of genotypes and extinction risks of species due to climate change‐induced thermal fluctuations.
Town Hall Meetings: Implementing The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has twice used a nationwide network of community-focused town hall meetings (THMs) as part of a health communications strategy to promote behavior change in individuals, organizations, communities, and society at large around the issue of underage drinking (UAD). SAMHSA sponsors the initiative on behalf of the federal Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking. In spring 2008, SAMHSA engaged members of the National Prevention Network to identify community-based organizations (CBOs) to host THMs. The result was a coordinated national effort to further the goals set forth in The Surgeon General's Call to Action To Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking (2007). More than 1,600 CBOs conducted over 1,800 THMs, resulting in a 30% increase in participation over the 2006 initiative. CBOs reported high levels of satisfaction with their efforts to mobilize communities. The majority planned to conduct additional UAD prevention efforts, including more THMs.
On the potential strength and consequences for nonrandom gene flow caused by local adaptation in flowering time

Gene flow is generally considered a random process, that is the loci under consideration have no effect on dispersal success. Edelaar and Bolnick (Trends Ecol Evol, 27, 2012 659) recently argued that nonrandom gene flow could exert a significant evolutionary force. It can, for instance, ameliorate the maladaptive effects of immigration into locally adapted populations. I examined the potential strength for nonrandom gene flow for flowering time genes, a trait frequently found to be locally adapted. The idea is that plants that successfully export pollen into a locally adapted resident population will be a genetically biased subset of their natal population – they will have resident‐like flowering times. Reciprocally, recipients will be more migrant‐like than the resident population average. I quantified the potential for biased pollen exchange among three populations along a flowering time cline in Brassica rapa from southern California. A two‐generation line cross experiment demonstrated genetic variance in flowering time, both within and among populations. Calculations based on the variation in individual flowering schedules showed that resident plants with the most migrant‐like flowering times could expect to have up to 10 times more of the their flowers pollinated by immigrant pollen than the least migrant‐like. Further, the mean flowering time of the pollen exporters that have access to resident mates differs by up to 4 weeks from the mean in the exporters’ natal population. The data from these three populations suggest that the bias in gene flow for flowering time cuts the impact on the resident population by as much as half. This implies that when selection is divergent between populations, migrants with the highest mating success tend to be resident‐like in their flowering times, and so, fewer maladaptive alleles will be introduced into the locally adapting gene pool.
Significance of an Epidemic of Dengue.

Dengue, "breakbone fever" or "dandy fever" is an acute, febrile disease due to a filtrable virus which is constant in the peripheral circulation during the febrile stage. The disease is endemic in many tropical countries, and many explosive epidemics have occurred in subtropical and temperate climates. Dengue is transmitted naturally by only one species of mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, in the United States (so far as now known), while in the Philippines, in addition to Aedes aegypti, another species of Aedes, albopictus, has been shown to be infectable. Ashburn and Craig 1 demonstrated in 1907 that a virus in the circulating blood was the causative agent, although they apparently were in error in ascribing transmission of the disease to Culex quinquefasciatus, as was later proved by the studies made by Cleland, Bradley and McDonald 2 in 1916, Chandler and Rice in 1923 and Siler, Hall and Hitchens 3 in 1925. Simmons,
Fibromyalgic Syndrome: Depression and Abnormal Illness Behavior

This study reports psychological symptoms assessed in 327 patients with fibromyalgia (FS) in a multicenter investigation. Two self-report scales, in their validated Italian translations, were used for screening: the CES-D (the Center of Epidemiologic Studies-Depression) developed at the NIMH for measuring depression and the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ) developed by Pilowsky and Spence. The cutoff point of 23 in the CES-D scores revealed about 49% of the fibromyalgic patients as depressed. In analyzing patterns of illness behavior patients with FS showed a high score on IBQ scales of disease conviction, psychological versus somatic focusing and denial. CES-D scores showed significant correlations with illness behavior scales. These results and their implications for the treatment of fibromyalgic patients are discussed.
No evidence for a trade‐off between sperm length and male premating weaponry

Male ornaments and armaments that mediate success in mate acquisition and ejaculate traits influencing competitive fertilization success are under intense sexual selection. However, relative investment in these pre‐ and post‐copulatory traits depends on the relative importance of either selection episode and on the energetic costs and fitness gains of investing in these traits. Theoretical and empirical work has improved our understanding of how precopulatory sexual traits and investments in sperm production covary in this context. It has recently also been suggested that male weapon size may trade off with sperm length as another post‐copulatory sexual trait, but the theoretical framework for this suggestion remains unclear. We evaluated the relationship between precopulatory armaments and sperm length, previously reported in ungulates, in five taxa as well as meta‐analytically. Within and between taxa, we found no evidence for a negative or positive relationship between sperm length and male traits that are important in male–male contest competition. It is important to consider pre‐ and post‐copulatory sexual selection together to understand fitness, and to study investments in different reproductive traits jointly rather than separately. A trade‐off between pre‐ and post‐copulatory sexual traits may not manifest itself in sperm length but rather in sperm number or function. Particularly in large‐bodied taxa such as ungulates, sperm number is more variable interspecifically and likely to be under more intense selection than sperm length. We discuss our and the previous results in this context.
Metal oxide nanocluster-modified TiO2 as solar activated photocatalyst materials

In this review we describe our work on new TiO2 based photocatalysts. The key concept in our work is to form new composite structures by the modification of rutile and anatase TiO2 with nanoclusters of metal oxides and our density functional theory (DFT) level simulations are validated by experimental work synthesizing and characterizing surface-modified TiO2. We use DFT to show that nanoclusters of different metal oxides, TiO2, SnO/SnO2, PbO/PbO2, NiO and CuO can be adsorbed at rutile and anatase surfaces and can induce red shifts in the absorption edge to enable visible light absorption which is the first key requirement for a practical photocatalyst. We furthermore determine the origin of the red shift and discuss the factors influencing this shift and the fate of excited electrons and holes. For p-block metal oxides we show how the oxidation state of Sn and Pb can be used to tune both the magnitude of the red shift and also its mechanism. Finally, aiming to make our models more realistic, we present some new results on the stability of water at rutile and anatase surfaces and the effect of water on oxygen vacancy formation and on nanocluster modification. These nanocluster-modified TiO2 structures form the basis of a new class of photocatalysts which will be useful in oxidation reactions and with the suitable choice of nanocluster modifier can be applied to CO2 reduction.
Unicompartmental Knee Prosthesis Implantation With a Non-Image-Based Navigation System With Either Conventional or Mini-Invasive Approach: Rationale, Technique, Case-Control Comparative Study With a Conventional Instrumented Implantation

Summary The accuracy of implantation is an accepted prognostic factor for the long-term survival of unicompartmental knee prostheses (UKP). We developed a non-image-guided navigation system for UKP implantation, suitable for either a conventional or a mini-invasive approach. Twenty patients operated with the conventional navigation system (group A), 20 patients operated with the mini-invasive navigated technique (group B), and 40 patients operated with the conventional manual technique (group C) were matched using age, gender, body mass index, preoperative coronal mechanical femorotibial angle, and severity of the preoperative degenerative changes. All patients had a complete radiologic examination in the first 3 months after the index procedure, with anterior–posterior (AP) and lateral plain knee x-rays and AP and lateral long leg x-rays. There was a significant increase of the rate of prostheses implanted in the desired angular range for all criteria except the coronal mechanical femorotibial angle in groups A and B. An optimal implantation with all optimal items was obtained in 13 of 20 cases in groups A and B and 12 of 40 cases in group C. There were no relevant differences between groups A and B. Navigated implantation of a UKP with the used, non-image-based system allowed us to improve the accuracy of the radiologic implantation without any significant inconvenience and with little change in the conventional operative technique. The mini-invasive technique was possible with the same precision. This improvement might be related to a longer survival of such implanted prostheses with faster recovery.
Evidence for Abnormal Nociception in Fibromyalgia and Repetitive Strain Injury

Objectives: To study psychophysical changes in fibromyalgia and "repetitive strain injury," respectively diffuse and regional cervicobrachial musculoskeletal pain syndromes. The clinical phenomena of tenderness [hyperalgesia] in particular but also dysesthesia, paresthesia and motor dysfunction occuring in the absence of tissue damage or disease suggest that altered nociception may be relevant to the pathogenesis of these disorders. Methods: Non-noxious electrocutaneous stimulation in the upper limbs of patients with these syndromes was used as a psychophysican tool. Results: No difference in the threshold for sensory perception but marked reduction in pain threshold and pain tolerance were found in patients compared with control subjects. Furthermore, the electrocutaneous stimulation was accompanied by the spread and persistence of dysesthesia, in painful limbs only. Conclusion: These upper limbs were thus defined psychophysically as well as clinically as regions of secondary hyperalgesia, which may impl.
MAPK pathway activation and the origins of pediatric low‐grade astrocytomas

Low‐grade astrocytomas (LGAs) are the most common type of brain tumor in children. Until recently, very little was known about the underlying biology and molecular genetics of these tumors. However, within the past year a number of studies have shown that the MAPK pathway is constitutively activated in a high proportion of LGAs. Several genetic aberrations which generate this deregulation of the MAPK pathway have been identified, most notably gene fusions between KIAA1549 and BRAF. In this review we summarize these findings, discuss how these gene fusions may arise and consider possible implications for diagnosis and treatment. J. Cell. Physiol. 222: 509–514, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evolutionary divergence of reaction norms in ecological context: a commentary

*Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA †Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA ‡Department of Biology, West Chester University, West Chester, PA, USA §Department of Biological Sciences, Rensselaer Polytech Institute, Troy, NY, USA ¶Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Max-Planck Odense Center, Odense, Denmark **Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Comparison between a rigid and flexible border irrigation scheduling: a pilot case study in Northern Italy

Border irrigation is one of the most common methods for watering row crops worldwide. Traditionally, this method requires large quantities of fresh water to be poured onto the fields following a rigid rotation planned by the irrigation consortia. Consequently, border irrigation practice is often affected by inefficiency due to over-irrigation in respect to the seasonal crop water need. In this work, the results of an experimental campaign aimed to compare the effects of a rigid and a flexible irrigation scheduling on the seasonal water consumptions and crop production were discussed. The results show that a water saving of at least 10% could be reached (without loss in crop yield) if on-demand irrigation is implemented. This finding provides useful information for improving the management of border irrigation in practice, and, more specifically, to understand what margin of improvement can be obtained in terms of water saving, both under current conditions and in view of future increasing freshwater scarcity.
Evolutionary associations between host traits and parasite load: insights from Lake Tanganyika cichlids

Parasite diversity and abundance (parasite load) vary greatly among host species. However, the influence of host traits on variation in parasitism remains poorly understood. Comparative studies of parasite load have largely examined measures of parasite species richness and are predominantly based on records obtained from published data. Consequently, little is known about the relationships between host traits and other aspects of parasite load, such as parasite abundance, prevalence and aggregation. Meanwhile, understanding of parasite species richness may be clouded by limitations associated with data collation from multiple independent sources. We conducted a field study of Lake Tanganyika cichlid fishes and their helminth parasites. Using a Bayesian phylogenetic comparative framework, we tested evolutionary associations between five key host traits (body size, gut length, diet breadth, habitat complexity and number of sympatric hosts) predicted to influence parasitism, together with multiple measures of parasite load. We find that the number of host species that a particular host may encounter due to its habitat preferences emerges as a factor of general importance for parasite diversity, abundance and prevalence, but not parasite aggregation. In contrast, body size and gut size are positively related to aspects of parasite load within, but not between species. The influence of host phylogeny varies considerably among measures of parasite load, with the greatest influence exerted on parasite diversity. These results reveal that both host morphology and biotic interactions are key determinants of host–parasite associations and that consideration of multiple aspects of parasite load is required to fully understand patterns in parasitism.
Is bigger better? The relationship between size and reproduction in female Asian elephants

The limited availability of resources is predicted to impose trade‐offs between growth, reproduction and self‐maintenance in animals. However, although some studies have shown that early reproduction suppresses growth, reproduction positively correlates with size in others. We use detailed records from a large population of semi‐captive elephants in Myanmar to assess the relationships between size (height and weight), reproduction and survival in female Asian elephants, a species characterized by slow, costly life history. Although female height gain during the growth period overlapped little with reproductive onset in the population, there was large variation in age at first reproduction and only 81% of final weight had been reached by peak age of reproduction at the population level (19 years). Those females beginning reproduction early tended to be taller and lighter later in life, although these trends were not significant. We found that taller females were more likely to have reproduced by a given age, but such effects diminished with age, suggesting there may be a size threshold to reproduction which is especially important in young females. Because size was not linked with female survival during reproductive ages, the diminishing effect of height on reproduction with age is unlikely to be due to biased survival of larger females. We conclude that although reproduction may not always impose significant costs on growth, height may be a limiting factor to reproduction in young female Asian elephants, which could have important implications considering their birth rates are low and peak reproduction is young – 19 years in this population.
NiO nanorings and their unexpected catalytic property for CO oxidation

Nickel oxide (NiO) nanorings were synthesized by controllable thermal decomposition of precursor Ni(OH)2 nanoplates obtained via the reaction between Ni(NO3)·6H2O and NaOH under hydrothermal conditions. The process of their formation was investigated and an unexpected catalytic property of this novel-shaped material is reported for CO oxidation.
Do Patient Preferences Contribute to Racial Differences in Cardiovascular Procedure Use?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patient preferences for the use of coronary revascularization procedures differ between white and black Americans. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Tertiary care Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. PATIENTS: Outpatients with and without known coronary artery disease were interviewed while awaiting appointments (n = 272). Inpatients awaiting catheterization were approached the day before the scheduled procedure (n = 80). Overall, 118 blacks and 234 whites were included in the study. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patient responses to questions regarding (1) willingness to undergo angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery if recommended by their physician and (2) whether they would elect bypass surgery if they were in either of two hypothetical scenarios, one in which bypass surgery would improve symptoms but not survival and one in which it would improve both symptoms and survival. Blacks were less likely to say they would undergo revascularization procedures than whites. However, questions dealing with familiarity with the procedure were much stronger predictors of a positive attitude toward procedure use. Patients who were not working or over 65 years of age were also less interested in procedure use. In multivariable analysis race was not a significant predictor of attitudes toward revascularization except for angioplasty recommended by their physician. CONCLUSIONS: Racial differences in revascularization rates may be due in part to differences in patient preferences. However, preferences were more closely related to questions assessing various aspects of familiarity with the procedure. Patients of all races may benefit from improved communication regarding proposed revascularization. Further research should address this issue in patients contemplating actual revascularization.
Conserved roles of Osiris genes in insect development, polymorphism and protection

Much of the variation among insects is derived from the different ways that chitin has been moulded to form rigid structures, both internal and external. In this study, we identify a highly conserved expression pattern in an insect‐only gene family, the Osiris genes, that is essential for development, but also plays a significant role in phenotypic plasticity and in immunity/toxicity responses. The majority of Osiris genes exist in a highly syntenic cluster, and the cluster itself appears to have arisen very early in the evolution of insects. We used developmental gene expression in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, the bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, and the wood ant, Formica exsecta, to compare patterns of Osiris gene expression both during development and between alternate caste phenotypes in the polymorphic social insects. Developmental gene expression of Osiris genes is highly conserved across species and correlated with gene location and evolutionary history. The social insect castes are highly divergent in pupal Osiris gene expression. Sets of co‐expressed genes that include Osiris genes are enriched in gene ontology terms related to chitin/cuticle and peptidase activity. Osiris genes are essential for cuticle formation in both embryos and pupae, and genes co‐expressed with Osiris genes affect wing development. Additionally, Osiris genes and those co‐expressed seem to play a conserved role in insect toxicology defences and digestion. Given their role in development, plasticity, and protection, we propose that the Osiris genes play a central role in insect adaptive evolution.
Artefactual effects of oxygen on cell culture models of cellular senescence and stem cell biology

In life sciences, modelling of the in vivo conditions using in vitro models is an important tool to generate knowledge. Although aerobic organisms including mammals depend on accurate oxygen tension, mimicking physiological conditions in cell culture experiments is not very common. Due to the need for simple technical and experimental design, the requirement for simulating the in vivo oxygen tension parameters has been neglected over long time. Fortunately, due to increasing knowledge in recent years the attention has shifted towards this scientific demand. In this short review, we summarize data substantiating the necessity to adequately mimic physiological oxygen tension using cell culture models in life science research. J. Cell. Physiol. 226: 315–321, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.