Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visual Orientation and Navigation in Nocturnal Arthropods

With their highly sensitive visual systems, the arthropods have evolved a remarkable capacity to orient and navigate at night. Whereas some navigate under the open sky, and take full advantage of the celestial cues available there, others navigate in more difficult conditions, such as through the dense understory of a tropical rainforest. Four major classes of orientation are performed by arthropods at night, some of which involve true navigation (i.e. travel to a distant goal that lies beyond the range of direct sensory contact): (1) simple straight-line orientation, typically for escape purposes; (2) nightly short-distance movements relative to a shoreline, typically in the context of feeding; (3) long-distance nocturnal migration at high altitude in the quest to locate favorable feeding or breeding sites, and (4) nocturnal excursions to and from a fixed nest or food site (i.e. homing), a task that in most species involves path integration and/or the learning and recollection of visual landmarks. These four classes of orientation – and their visual basis – are reviewed here, with special emphasis given to the best-understood animal systems that are representative of each.
Electroencephalographic spiking activity, drug levels, and seizure occurence in epileptic patients

We investigated the relationship among the electroencephalographic spiking rate, drug levels, and seizure occurence in 44 patients with focal epilepsy. Seizure occurence was continuously monitored by personnel or videorecording and spiking rate quantified by an atuomatic detection method. Results indicate that drug levels do not influence spiking rate, and spiking rate does not change before seizures but increases markedly after them, particularly secondarily generalized seizures. This increase can last several days and is observed during wakefulness and sleep. High or low spiking rates do not influence the occurence of seizures. We suggest that interictal spikes may passively reflect damage to the brain, a damage which worsened by further seizures. Spikes may not be directly related to seizure generation.
Influences of aging on taste perception and oral somatic sensation.

BACKGROUND Many elderly persons report reduced taste perception of the foods they eat. Any disturbance of taste and oral somatic sensations can induce this phenomenon. To determine the cause of decreased taste perception in older persons, the authors investigated age-related changes in taste perception and somatic sensations in the anterior tongue. METHODS Thirty healthy young and elderly persons participated in this study. Recognition thresholds of four basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter) and the threshold of irritating sensation induced by capsaicin were measured by local stimulation using filter-paper disks. Two-point discrimination thresholds were measured to evaluate the spatial acuity of touch sensation. All measurements were carried out at the tip of the dorsal tongue. RESULTS The recognition thresholds of all four basic tastes of elderly participants were significantly higher than those of young participants. On the contrary, age-associated changes were not observed in 2-point discrimination and capsaicin sensation. CONCLUSIONS Significant age-associated deterioration was observed in taste but not somatic sensations such as touch and burning pain in the tongue, showing that aging affects taste perception and oral somatic sensations differently. This suggests that decreased taste perception of foods in elderly people may be caused primarily by perceptual loss of taste among oral sensations.
THE EVOLUTION OF EMBRYO SIZE IN ANGIOSPERMS AND OTHER SEED PLANTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE EVOLUTION OF SEED DORMANCY

Abstract Seed dormancy plays an important role in germination ecology and seed plant evolution. Morphological seed dormancy is caused by an underdeveloped embryo that must mature prior to germination. It has been suggested that the presence of an underdeveloped embryo is plesiomorphic among seed plants and that parallel directional change in embryo morphology has occurred separately in gymnosperms and in angiosperms. We test these hypotheses using original data on embryo morphology of key basal taxa, a published dataset, and the generalized least squares (GLS) method of ancestral character state reconstruction. Reconstructions for embryo to seed ratio (E:S) using family means for 179 families showed that E:S has increased between the ancestral angiosperm and almost all extant angiosperm taxa. Species in the rosid clade have particularly large embryos relative to the angiosperm ancestor. Results for the gymnosperms show a similar but smaller increase. There were no statistically significant differences in E:S between basal taxa and any derived group due to extremely large standard errors produced by GLS models. However, differences between reconstructed values for the angiosperm ancestor and more highly nested nodes are large and these results are robust to topological and branch-length manipulations. Our analysis supports the idea that the underdeveloped embryo is primitive among seed plants and that there has been a directional change in E:S within both angiosperms and gymnosperms. Our analysis suggests that dormancy enforced by an underdeveloped embryo is plesiomorphic among angiosperms and that nondormancy and other dormancy types probably evolved within the angiosperms. The shift in E:S was likely a heterochronic change, and has important implications for the life history of seed plants.
Overtreatment in a See-and-Treat Approach to Cervical Intraepithelial Lesions

OBJECTIVE: To determine the overtreatment rate at colposcopy in women who underwent a see-and-treat protocol. METHODS: We identified 3,192 patients (mean age 36 years, standard deviation 8.7) who underwent a see-and-treat protocol in Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center between January 1981 and December 2010. Overtreatment, defined as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 or less at final histopathology analysis, was investigated in relation to the age of the women, time of referral, cervical smear result, colposcopic impression, and histopathology result. RESULTS: A total of 579 women (18.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 16.7–19.5) were overtreated. The lowest overtreatment rate (4.5%, 95% CI 3.5–5.5) was seen in women with both a high-grade cervical smear result and a high-grade colposcopic impression. Women aged younger than 40 years were less likely to be overtreated (13.1%, 95% CI 11.7–14.5) than women aged 40–49 years (24.2% 95% CI 21.2–27.4, number needed to harm nine) and aged 50 years and older (42.2%, 95% CI 36.5–47.7, number needed to harm three). CONCLUSIONS: The overtreatment rate is low for patients with both a high-grade smear result and a high-grade colposcopic impression, justifying a see-and-treat approach for these patients. In women with either a high-grade smear result or a high-grade impression on colposcopy, a see-and-treat approach may still be preferable but has higher overtreatment rates. Given the side effects of cervical surgery on pregnancy outcome, young women, in particular those who have either a low-grade smear result or low-grade impression on colposcopy, are better served by a two-step approach. In older women, a see-and-treat policy may be preferable. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III
The Upgrading Strategy of Olive Oil Producers in Southern Spain: Origin, Development and Constraints

This article argues upgrading in buyer-driven commodity value chains in highly specialized olive grove territories illustrates farmers’ reaction to globalization. To avoid low prices, local producers are seeking new ways of running farms, organizational innovations and to introduce new products into new markets. Although challenges in global marketing remain insurmountable for some, a number of olive-producing areas are reacting through endogenous development strategies that involve new training, information and knowledge. This article presents findings from qualitative interviews conducted to offer first-hand knowledge of opinions, challenges, problems and results key agents involved in olive oil production in Jaen, Spain, are experiencing. Findings show that a strong knowledge-based vision, generational change in running farms and diversification are needed to adopt new practices to improve local income.
Isoniazid plasma concentrations in a cohort of South African children with tuberculosis: implications for international pediatric dosing guidelines.

BACKGROUND In most countries with a high burden of tuberculosis, children with tuberculosis are prescribed isoniazid at dosages of 4-6 mg/kg/day, as recommended by international authorities. METHODS We studied isoniazid concentrations in 56 hospitalized children (median age, 3.22 years; interquartile range [IQR], 1.58-5.38 years) who received isoniazid daily (median dosage, 5.01 mg/kg/day; range, 2.94-15.58 mg/kg/day) as part of antituberculosis treatment. At 1 and 4 months after initiation of treatment, isoniazid concentrations were measured in plasma samples at 0.75, 1.5, 3, 4, and 6 h after a treatment dose, to describe pharmacokinetic measures by using noncompartmental analysis. The effects of dose in milogram per kilogram, acetylator genotype, age, sex, and clinical diagnosis of kwashiorkor and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on isoniazid concentrations were evaluated. RESULTS Median peak concentrations of isoniazid in children prescribed a dose of 4-6 mg/kg were 58% lower than those in children prescribed a dose of 8-10 mg/kg (2.39 mg/L [IQR, 1.59-3.40] vs. 5.71 mg/L [IQR, 4.74-7.62]). Peak concentrations were <3 mg/L in 70% of children prescribed a dose of 4-6 mg/kg. In contrast, children prescribed a dose of 8-12 mg/kg achieved peak concentrations approximating those in adults treated with 300 mg of isoniazid daily. Intermediate or fast acetylator genotype independently predicted a 38% (95% confidence interval [CI], 21%-51%) reduction in peak concentrations, compared with the slow-acetylator genotype. Each 1-mg/kg increase in the dose and each year increase in age were associated with increases in peak concentrations of 21% (95% CI, 16%-25%) and 6% (95% CI, 3%-10%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Younger children require higher doses of isoniazid per kilogram of body weight to achieve isoniazid concentrations similar to those in adults. A daily isoniazid dose of 8-12 mg/kg should be recommended.
Spatial ambient noise inversion using a single hydrophone

We formulate a new approach to extract environmental information from a single omnidirectional hydrophone receiver that passively senses ambient noise. Recorded samples essentially hold information about the ocean itself as the pressure waveforms at the noise source and receiver are different due to distortions induced by the underwater acoustic channel. Our scenario of interest is warm shallow waters, where the ambient soundscape is dominated by snapping shrimp noise at medium-to-high frequencies. By taking only the direct arrival and surface reflection into account, we show that the hydrophone's depth can be deduced passively by using an autocorrelation function (ACF) derived from the ambient noise process. Moreover, the ACF can be exploited further to derive the snap distribution as a function of range from the hydrophone receiver, which in turn offers key advantages in environmental monitoring of warm shallow waters.
Complementation by wild-type p53 of interleukin-6 effects on M1 cells: induction of cell cycle exit and cooperativity with c-myc suppression

Stable transfection of M1 myeloid leukemia cells with a temperature-sensitive mutant of p53 results in two phenomena that are manifested exclusively at the permissive temperature. On one hand, activation of wild-type p53 by the temperature shift induced an apoptotic type of cell death which could be inhibited by interleukin-6 (IL-6) (E. Yonish-Rouach, D. Resnitzky, J. Lotem, L. Sachs, A. Kimchi, and M. Oren, Nature 352:345-347, 1991). On the other hand, as reported in this work, activated p53 complemented the antiproliferative effects of IL-6 in M1 cells. A shift to the permissive temperature concomitant with or early after IL-6 treatment imposed a novel pattern of cell cycle arrest in which about 95% of the cells were retained within a G0-like quiescent state. This phase was characterized by 2N DNA content and low RNA and protein content. On the molecular level, activation of wild-type p53 transrepressed the c-myc gene but not the cyclin A, D1, or D2 gene, which are all independently suppressed by IL-6 in M1 cells. To further analyze whether c-myc inhibition mediates or complements p53 effects, the p53-transfected M1 cells were infected with a retroviral vector expressing deregulated c-myc, refractory to p53 or IL-6 action. It was found that the process of cell death was not interrupted at all in these M1 c-myc-p53 double transfectants, suggesting that the transrepression of c-myc is not a major obligatory event mediating p53-induced cell death. In addition, some of the antiproliferative effects of activated p53, manifested in the presence of IL-6, could still be transmitted in the background of constitutive c-myc. Yet the context of deregulated c-myc interfered with the final accumulation of cells within a G0-like phase, suggesting complementary interactions between the outcome of p53 activation and of c-myc suppression in the control of cell cycle arrest.
Polymorphisms of interleukin-10 promoter are not associated with prognosis of advanced gastric cancer.

AIM To evaluate the association between of the interleukin-10 (IL-10) promoter polymorphisms and survival of advanced gastric cancer (GC) patients. METHODS The IL-10 (-1082, rs1800896; -819, rs1800871; and-592, rs1800896) genotypes in 234 patients with advanced gastric cancer and in 243 healthy controls were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by unconditional logistic regression for the associations between IL-10 genotypes and the risk of GC. The Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank testing was used to evaluate the association between genotype and survival of the patients. RESULTS The IL-10 -1082 G allele and GCC (-1082, -819 and -592) haplotype were associated with increased gastric cancer risks (OR 1.2, 95% CI 0.6-3.2, P = 0.007, for -1082 G allele, OR = 2.3, 95% CI, 1.2-4.1, P = 0.005, for GCC haplotype, respectively). However, none of the three IL-10 gene polymorphisms (-1082, -819 and -592) was correlated with gastric cancer survival (P > 0.05), and none of the genotypes of the three IL-10 sites was found as independent prognostic risk factors in the multivariate test. CONCLUSION IL-10 gene promoter polymorphisms may not be associated with the prognosis of advanced gastric cancer.
Introduction to theory meets crisis collection

This collection consists of five contributions presented as plenaries at a conference, ‘ Theory Meets Crisis ’ , held at the Robert Schuman Centre, European University Institute, in July 2016. The organizers of the conference asked leading scholars of varieties of capitalism, democracy, redistributional politics, European integration and political parties to engage the theoretical implications of Europe ’ s multiplex crisis. To what extent and how, we asked, has the European crisis confirmed, undermined or reshaped theoretically grounded expectations in these fields? Beyond the confirmation or disconfir-mation of particular hypotheses, does the crisis impel us to take a fresh look at comparative politics? between facts insights party systems . Theories of democratic party competition explore how political parties take positions on issues as a strategic response to voter preferences. Yet the response of political parties to the crisis suggests that their programmatic positioning is path dependent. This provides an opening for reassessing cleavage theory, which suggests that democratic responsiveness is an emergent phenomenon that operates at the level of the party system rather than its constituent political parties.
Retention and Reform in Japanese Capital Punishment

This Article focuses on the failure of abolition and of death penalty reform in Japan in order to illustrate contingencies in the trajectory of capital punishment in the modern world. Part I describes three facts about postwar Japan that help explain why it retains capital punishment today: a missed opportunity for abolition during the American occupation of the country after World War II; the long-term rule of a conservative political party; and economic and geopolitical power that has enabled the country to resist the influence of international norms. Part II describes a few ways in which Japanese capital punishment has changed in recent years— and many ways in which it has not. Part III focuses on four causes of continuity in capital punishment in Japan: the rarity of exonerations in Japanese criminal justice; a jurisprudence that does not treat death as a special form of criminal punishment requiring extra safeguards for criminal defendants in capital cases; a high degree of secrecy surrounding executions and capital sentencing; and a society in which race is not regarded as a salient factor in the administration of capital punishment. Part IV suggests how reform in Japanese capital punishment might be accomplished by challenging some of the causes of continuity. Part V concludes by observing that the road to death penalty reform is not merely a positive path requiring leadership from the front in the face of public support for the institution. It is also a negative path leading away from beliefs and practices that present obstacles to the institution’s diminution and abrogation.
The Rheb Switch 2 Segment Is Critical for Signaling to Target of Rapamycin Complex 1*

The small GTPase Rheb is a positive upstream regulator of the target of rapamycin (TOR) complex 1 in mammalian cells and can bind directly to TOR complex 1. To identify the regions of the Rheb surface most critical for signaling to TOR complex 1, we created a set of 26 mutants wherein clusters of 1-5 putative solvent-exposed residues were changed to alanine, ultimately changing 65 residues distributed over the entire Rheb surface. The signaling function of these mutants was assessed by their ability, in comparison to wild type Rheb, to restore the phosphorylation of S6K1(Thr389) when expressed transiently in amino acid-deprived 293T cells. The major finding is that two mutants situated in the Rheb switch 2 segment, Y67A/I69A and I76A/D77A, exhibit a near total loss of function, whereas extensive replacement of the switch 1 segment and other surface residues with alanines causes relatively little disturbance of Rheb rescue of S6K1 from amino acid withdrawal. This is surprising in view of the minimal impact of guanyl nucleotide on Rheb switch 2 configuration. The loss of function Rheb switch 2 mutants are well expressed and exhibit partial agonist function in amino acid-replete cells. They are unimpaired in their ability to bind GTP or mammalian (m)TOR in vivo or in vitro, and the mTOR polypeptides retrieved with these inactive Rheb mutants exhibit kinase activity in vitro comparable with mTOR bound to wild type Rheb. We conclude that Rheb signaling to mTOR in vivo requires a Rheb switch 2-dependent interaction with an element other than the three known polypeptide components of TOR complex 1.
The prevalence and characteristics of a subcortical cystic lesion at the subspinous region of the knee

Background Although we observed that subcortical cysts near the attachment of the meniscus or cruciate ligaments are frequently seen with a tear or degeneration of the adjacent meniscus and/or cruciate ligament, there is no large study describing the prevalence, distribution, and associated findings of these cysts. Purpose To evaluate the prevalence and distribution of subcortical cysts near the attachments of the meniscus or cruciate ligaments and evaluate pathologies of the meniscus or cruciate ligaments using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Material and Methods We reviewed 1009 knee MRIs for the presence of subcortical cysts near the meniscus or cruciate ligament attachments and evaluated their size, location, edema of the adjacent bone marrow, and integrities of the medial and lateral meniscus and anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments. Results The 110 cysts were found in either the middle (n = 56), posterior (n = 52), or anterior (n = 2) subspinous regions. Sixty-two were at meniscal root insertion, including seven at the lateral meniscus anterior horn, five at the lateral meniscus posterior horn, 48 at the medial meniscus posterior horn, and two at the medial meniscus anterior horn. All were associated with an adjacent meniscal pathology. Of the 34 cysts at the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) insertion, 28 had ACL pathology. Nine cysts had surrounding edema in the adjacent bone marrow. Conclusion Subcortical cysts at the subspinous region of the knee were seen in 9.6% of knee MRI examinations. Most were in close proximity to the meniscal or cruciate ligaments with associated pathologies, suggesting that abnormal stress on the bone induces cyst formation.
Influence of Pregnancy Weight Gain on the Size of Infants Born to Underweight Women

The influence of weight gain during pregnancy on duration of gestation and infant size at birth was examined among women beginning pregnancy underweight and at normal weight. Results of the review of 654 prenatal and delivery records revealed that 1) Prepregnancy weight status was not associated with the amount of weight gained during pregnancy; 2) underweight women who gained the same amount of weight as normal weight women delivered infants at a younger gestational age and of lower birth weight and length; 3) more than half the infants born to underweight women failing to gain more than 9 kg during pregnancy weighed less than 2501 g. These results suggest that recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy be based on prepregnancy weight status and that adequate weight gain is of critical importance to women beginning pregnancy underweight.
Hematologic Parameters and Angiographic Progression of Coronary Atherosclerosis

Hematologic parameters have prognostic importance in cardiovascular disease. However, the relation between atherosclerosis progression and hematologic parameters is not well defined. A total of 394 patients requiring repeat coronary angiography were included in the study. According to angiography, patients were divided into 2 groups, progressive (n = 196) and nonprogressive (n = 198) diseases. Hematologic parameters including mean platelet volume (MPV) and neutrophil/lymphocyte (N/L) ratio were measured. Glucose, creatinine, and cholesterol were significantly higher in the progressive group. Mean platelet volume count was similar in both groups. The N/L ratio was significantly higher in the progressive group (5.0 ± 5.1 vs 3.2 ± 3; P = .001). In multivariate analysis, the N/L ratio was significantly related with progression (relative risk [RR]: 2.267, 95% CI: 1.068-4.815, P = .03). Progression rate was significantly high in patients with high N/L ratio (39% vs 56%). Our results suggest that the N/L ratio is a predictor of progression of atherosclerosis.