Attentional bias modification for chocolate: Sham-n training as a new control group

Although attentional bias modification has been shown effective in several appetitive domains, results have been mixed. A major contributor seems to be the choice of control condition. The aim of the present study was to compare attentional bias modification for chocolate against a new control condition, sham-n (neutral or no-contingency) training. Using a modified dot probe protocol, participants (N = 192; 17–30 years) were randomly trained to attend to chocolate pictures, avoid chocolate pictures, or received sham-n training. In the attend and avoid conditions, stimulus pairs consisted of one chocolate and one non-chocolate picture, and probes replaced most often (90/10) chocolate or non-chocolate pictures, respectively. In the sham-n training condition, stimulus pairs consisted of two chocolate or two non-chocolate pictures, and probes replaced pictures within pairs with equal frequency (50/50). Attentional bias for chocolate increased following attend training, decreased following avoidance training, and did not change following sham-n training. The findings clearly demonstrate that both attend and avoidance training alter (in opposite direction) attentional bias for chocolate, whereas sham-n training is inert. This makes sham-n training particularly promising for use in clinical samples who tend to show strong initial biases.

SkewDB: A comprehensive database of GC and a 10 other skews for over 28,000 chromosomes and plasmids

ABSTRACTGC skew denotes the relative excess of G nucleotides over C nucleotides on the leading versus the lagging replication strand of eubacteria. While the effect is small, typically around 2.5%, it is robust and pervasive. GC skew and the analogous TA skew are a localized deviation from Chargaff’s second parity rule, which states that G and C, and T and A occur with (mostly) equal frequency even within a strand.Most bacteria also show the analogous TA skew. Different phyla show different kinds of skew and differing relations between TA and GC skew.This article introduces an open access database (https://skewdb.org) of GC and 10 other skews for over 28,000 chromosomes and plasmids. Further details like codon bias, strand bias, strand lengths and taxonomic data are also included. The SkewDB database can be used to generate or verify hypotheses. Since the origins of both the second parity rule, as well as GC skew itself, are not yet satisfactorily explained, such a database may enhance our understanding of microbial DNA.

TO STUDY THE INCIDENCE OF GALL STONE PANCREATITIS AND ALCOHOLIC PANCREATITIS OUR INSTITUTION

Background: The most important aetiological factors for acute pancreatitis are either biliary tract stone disease or alcohol, which account for approximately 75-80% of all cases of acute pancreatitis Methods: This study was conducted in the department of surgery, RNT Medical College and Maharana Bhupal Govt. Hospital, Udaipur. A total of 35 cases of acute pancreatitis were studied Results: In our study of 35 cases of acute pancreatitis, 14(40%) patient had alcoholic pancreatitis, and 13(37.2%) patient had gall stone pancreatitis. Conclusion: Prevalence of Alcohol abuse and gall stones were almost equal frequency. Keywords: Risk factor, Pancreatitis, Gall sone

TO STUDY THE RISK FACTORS ETIOLOGY OF ACUTE PANCREATITIS

Background: The most important aetiological factors for acute pancreatitis are either biliary tract stone disease or alcohol, which account for approximately 75-80% of all cases of acute pancreatitis Methods: This study was conducted in the department of surgery, RNT Medical College and Maharana Bhupal Govt. Hospital, Udaipur. A total of 35 cases of acute pancreatitis were studied Results: In our study of 35 cases of acute pancreatitis, 14(40%) patient had alcoholic pancreatitis, while 13(37.2%) patient had gall stone pancreatitis. In 8(22.8%) patient cause was undetected. Conclusion: Alcohol abuse and gall stones were main etiological factors with almost equal frequency. Keywords: Risk factor, Pancreatitis, Gall sone

Characteristics of labor resources by types of peasant (farm) households

The article presents the results of development and testing of methods for identifying types of peasant (farm) households using the method of equal-frequency grouping and analysis of labor resources based on them. The subject of the study is a system of statistical indicators of peasant (farm) households, the object is a set of peasant (farm) households of three Russian regions with different natural and climatic conditions (the Republic of Buryatia, the Lipetsk region, and the Stavropol region). The source of information was the form of departmental reporting 1-KFH “Information on the production activities of the heads of peasant (farm) households-individual entrepreneurs”. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the development of a methodology for the typification of peasant (farm) households using the method of equal-frequency grouping, in the justification of a system of indicators for the analysis of the labor resources of peasant (farm) households by the selected types, as well as in the assessment of the impact on the income level of the availability of labour force and of agricultural equipment peasant (farm) households on the basis of the construction of production functions.

Ultimate Spatial Resolution Realisation in Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry with Equal Frequency Resampling

A method based on equal frequency resampling is proposed to suppress laser nonlinear frequency sweeping for the ultimate spatial resolution in optical frequency domain reflectometry. Estimation inaccuracy of the sweeping frequency distribution caused by the finite sampling rate in the auxiliary interferometer can be efficiently compensated by the equal frequency resampling method. With the sweeping range of 130 nm, a 12.1 µm spatial resolution is experimentally obtained. In addition, the sampling limitation of the auxiliary interferometer-based correction is discussed. With a 200 m optical path delay in the auxiliary interferometer, a 21.3 µm spatial resolution is realised at the 191 m fibre end. By employing the proposed resampling and a drawing tower FBG array to enhance the Rayleigh backscattering, a distributed temperature sensing over a 105 m fibre with a sensing resolution of 1 cm is achieved. The measured temperature uncertainty is limited to ±0.15 °C.

Clinical Features and Outcomes of Community-Acquired Pneumonia Caused by Haemophilus Influenza

Background Long regarded as the second most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), Haemophilus influenzae has recently been identified with almost equal frequency as pneumococcus in patients hospitalized for CAP. The literature lacks a detailed description of the presentation, clinical features, laboratory and radiologic findings, and outcomes in Haemophilus pneumonia. Methods During 2 prospective studies of patients hospitalized for CAP, we identified 33 patients with Haemophilus pneumonia. In order to provide context, we compared clinical findings in these patients with findings in 36 patients with pneumococcal pneumonia identified during the same period. We included and analyzed separately data from patients with viral coinfection. Patients with coinfection by other bacteria were excluded. Results Haemophilus pneumonia occurred in older adults who had underlying chronic lung disease, cardiac conditions, and alcohol use disorder, the same population at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. However, in contrast to pneumococcal pneumonia, patients with Haemophilus pneumonia had less severe infection as shown by absence of septic shock on admission, less confusion, fewer cases of leukopenia or extreme leukocytosis, and no deaths at 30 days. Viral coinfection greatly increased the severity of Haemophilus, but not pneumococcal pneumonia. Conclusions We present the first thorough description of Haemophilus pneumonia, show that it is less severe than pneumococcal pneumonia, and document that viral coinfection greatly increases its severity. These distinctions are lost when the label CAP is liberally applied to all patients who come to the hospital from the community for pneumonia.

Differential-diagnostic criteria of active ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome

The authors conducted a comparative analysis of clinical, laboratory and endoscopic data of 80 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd degrees of activity and 82 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to determine the possible differential-diagnostic criteria of these diseases. It has been found that UC of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd degrees of activity develops with equal frequency among men and women, but IBS develops more often in women. The average age of patients with UC [the 1st degree of activity – (49.1±1.8) years, the 2nd degree of activity – (49.2±1.9) years, the 3rd degree of activity – (49.4±2.5) years] is higher compared to the average age of patients with IBS [(38.4±1.2) years]. UC of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd degrees of activity more often develops in patients after 40 years, while IBS in patients at the age of 18 till 40 years. Pain along the intestine occurs with equal frequency in patients with UC of the 2nd and 3rd degrees of activity. Stool disorders occur with equal frequency in patients with UC of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd degrees of activity and IBS. In a clinical blood test with the same frequency diagnose anemia and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate in patients with UC of the 2nd and 3rd degrees of activity. Increased level of fecal calprotectin is documented with equal frequency in patients with UC of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd degrees of activity. Bleeding in the large intestine is a characteristic endoscopic finding for patients with UC of the 3rd degree of activity. Erosive-ulcerative changes in the large intestine on endoscopic examination are found with equal frequency in patients with UC of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd degrees of activity. The comparative analysis of clinical, laboratory and endoscopic data in most cases did not allow to identify the clear differential-diagnostic criteria for different degrees of activity of UC, UC and IBS. The data obtained by the authors update the conduct of a comprehensive morphological study, which would identify the specific and clear differential-diagnostic criteria of UC and IBS, which will certainly improve the treatment and diagnostic process among this category of patients and also diseases prognosis. Keywords: differential-diagnostic criteria, active ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome.

Evolution and Functional Divergence of SUN Genes in Plants

SUN-domain containing proteins are crucial nuclear membrane proteins involved in a plethora of biological functions, including meiosis, nuclear morphology, and embryonic development, but their evolutionary history and functional divergence are obscure. In all, 216 SUN proteins from protists, fungi, and plants were divided into two monophyletic clades (Cter-SUN and Mid-SUN). We performed comprehensive evolutionary analyses, investigating the characteristics of different subfamilies in plants. Mid-SUNs further evolved into two subgroups, SUN3 and SUN5, before the emergence of the ancestor of angiosperms, while Cter-SUNs retained one subfamily of SUN1. The two clades were distinct from each other in the conserved residues of the SUN domain, the TM motif, and exon/intron structures. The gene losses occurred with equal frequency between these two clades, but duplication events of Mid-SUNs were more frequent. In cotton, SUN3 proteins are primarily expressed in petals and stamens and are moderately expressed in other tissues, whereas SUN5 proteins are specifically expressed in mature pollen. Virus-induced knock-down and the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout ofGbSUN5both showed higher ratios of aborted seeds, although pollen viability remained normal. Our results indicated divergence of biological function between SUN3 and SUN5, and that SUN5 plays an important role in reproductive development.

Discretization methods for Bayesian networks in the case of the earthquake

The Bayesian networks are a graphical probability model that represents interactions between variables. This model has been widely applied in various fields, including in the case of disaster. In applying field data, we often find a mixture of variable types, which is a combination of continuous variables and discrete variables. For data processing using hybrid and continuous Bayesian networks, all continuous variables must be normally distributed. If normal conditions unsatisfied, we offer a solution, is to discretize continuous variables. Next, we can continue the process with the discrete Bayesian networks. The discretization of a variable can be done in various ways, including equal-width, equal-frequency, and K-means. The combination of BN and k-means is a new contribution in this study called the k-means Bayesian networks (KMBN) model. In this study, we compared the three methods of discretization used a confusion matrix. Based on the earthquake damage data, the K-means clustering method produced the highest level of accuracy. This result indicates that K-means is the best method for discretizing the data that we use in this study.