Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Increases in the Number of SNARE Genes Parallels the Rise of Multicellularity among the Green Plants1[W][OA]

The green plant lineage is the second major multicellular expansion among the eukaryotes, arising from unicellular ancestors to produce the incredible diversity of morphologies and habitats observed today. In the unicellular ancestors, secretion of material through the endomembrane system was the major mechanism for interacting and shaping the external environment. In a multicellular organism, the external environment can be made of other cells, some of which may have vastly different developmental fates, or be part of different tissues or organs. In this context, a given cell must find ways to organize its secretory pathway at a level beyond that of the unicellular ancestor. Recently, sequence information from many green plants have become available, allowing an examination of the genomes for the machinery involved in the secretory pathway. In this work, the SNARE proteins of several green plants have been identified. While little increase in gene number was seen in the SNAREs of the early secretory system, many new SNARE genes and gene families have appeared in the multicellular green plants with respect to the unicellular plants, suggesting that this increase in the number of SNARE genes may have some relation to the rise of multicellularity in green plants.
A reevaluation of coastal embayment rotation: The dominance of cross-shore versus alongshore sediment transport processes, Collaroy-Narrabeen Beach, southeast Australia

[1] Over 30 years of wave and beach survey data at Collaroy-Narrabeen Beach in southeast Australia are analyzed to investigate the extent to which shoreline variability within this coastal embayment is dominated by shoreline oscillations due to cross-shore sediment exchange or shoreline rotations due to alongshore exchange between the beach's extremities. Offshore wave data are derived from both buoy measurements and ERA-40 reanalysis data. EOF analysis of the monthly shoreline data suggests that the dominant mode of shoreline variability (60% of variability) is an onshore-offshore sediment exchange that is greater at the more exposed northern end of the beach than at the predominantly sheltered southern end. This mode is primarily associated with variability in wave energy/storms, which by the nature of the wave climate of this region chiefly occurs from the south-southeast. The secondary mode of shoreline variability (26% of variability) is a rotational signal between either end of the beach, which coincides with 24% of the offshore wave climate shifting between the south-southeast and east as well as changes in the wave period and wave energy/storms. A distinct annual cycle is identified in this rotation signal. It is concluded that alongshore sediment transport processes associated with embayment rotation is more subtle than previously thought and a refined conceptual model of coastal embayment variability in this region is presented highlighting the dominance of cross-shore sediment exchange processes.
Exploring adaptive capacity in mangrove social- ecological systems of rural Vietnam

Households highly dependent on mangroves for their livelihoods may face disproportionate burdens from mangrove loss and degradation, reducing their capacity respond to other changes. Livelihoods and social networks are vital components of adaptive capacity, and are shaped by institutional structures and processes at multiple governance levels. This research explores the distribution, recognition and procedural components of environmental justice in relation to adaptive capacity in mangrove social-ecological systems. Integrating livelihood, social network and institutional approaches, it draws on quantitative household surveys, and qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus groups, from three sites in northern Vietnam. Livelihood analysis reveals that high aquaculture activity is associated with uneven distribution of adaptive capacity. Female-headed households with high livelihood diversity, low income and less secure tenure rights face increasingly restricted access to mangrove goods and services. Social network analysis indicates that high levels of aquaculture are associated with lower adaptive capacity through the fragmentation of mangrove dependent communities, demonstrating that female-headed households are less recognised within mangrove management and decision making. Institutional and policy analysis illustrate that procedures reinforce the concentration of power and wealth among local elites, reducing mangrove entitlements and communities’ capabilities to participate in mangrove management. Multiple uses of mangroves in community livelihoods must be recognised in policies and projects, alongside the impacts of aquaculture on the most disadvantaged. The balance of network ties in mangrove governance network structures should be supported, allowing recognition of all groups in mangrove management and decision making. Finally, local governments should be more downwardly accountable to the communities they represent, through more transparent and democratic processes. Mangrove governance requires careful consideration of: the definition of community, gender issues, power relations, and the ability of communities to reorganise in response to change, if the already vulnerable, who contribute least to degradation, are not to be unduly burdened.
Antidiarrheal and Antispasmodic Activities of Buddleja polystachya are Mediated Through Dual Inhibition of Ca++ Influx and Phosphodiesterase Enzyme

This study describes the antidiarrheal and antispasmodic activities of the hydro‐alcoholic extract of Buddleja polystachya (Bp.Cr) with possible mode of action explored along with activity‐directed fractionation. Bp.Cr and its aqueous (Bp.Aq) and organic fractions, petroleum ether (Bp.Pet), dichloromethane (Bp.DCM), ethylacetate (Bp.EtAc) and butanol (Bp.But), were tested using the in‐vivo and in‐vitro assays. The crude extract (100–300 mg/kg) showed 20 and 60% protection of castor oil‐induced diarrhea in mice. In isolated rabbit jejunum, Bp.Cr like papaverine inhibited spontaneous and high K+ (80 mM)‐induced contractions equi‐potently. In guinea‐pig ileum, Bp.Cr showed a moderate spasmogenic effect. The activity‐directed fractionation revealed that the spasmolytic activity was concentrated in the organic fractions and spasmogenic component in the aqueous fraction. Amongst the organic fractions, BP.DCM and Bp.Pet inhibited spontaneous and high K+‐induced contractions equi‐potently, while Bp.But, like verapamil was more potent against high K+. The crude extract and its organic fractions caused rightward shift in the Ca++‐concentration response curves (CRCs), similar to verapamil, and all except Bp.But potentiated the isoprenaline‐inhibitory CRCs to the left, similar to papaverine. The results of this study indicate that the crude extract of B. polystachya possesses antidiarrheal and antispasmodic activities, mediated possibly through dual inhibition of Ca++ influx and phospodiesterase enzyme. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dissociation between Decoding and Reasoning about Mental States in Patients with Theory of Mind Reasoning Impairments

Theory of mind (ToM) reasoning may involve a multiplicity of processes, including an initial stage, where cues relevant for social processes are detected and decoded, and a mentalizing stage, where the decoded information is used to reason about mental states. Here we report that the processing of lower-order facial cues relevant to social judgments can be relatively spared in patients with impaired ToM reasoning. We discuss the implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying social judgments in brain-lesioned patients.
"Connecting" and "Disconnecting" With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital

This article explores the relationship between Internet use and the individual-level production of social capital. To do so, the authors adopt a motivational perspective to distinguish among types of Internet use when examining the factors predicting civic engagement, interpersonal trust, and life contentment. The predictive power of new media use is then analyzed relative to key demographic, contextual, and traditional media use variables using the 1999 DDB Life Style Study. Although the size of associations is generally small, the data suggest that informational uses of the Internet are positively related to individual differences in the production of social capital, whereas social-recreational uses are negatively related to these civic indicators. Analyses within subsamples defined by generational age breaks further suggest that social capital production is related to Internet use among Generation X, while it is tied to television use among Baby Boomers and newspaper use among members of the Civic Generation. The possibility of life cycle and cohort effects is discussed.
10 IDENTIFYING COMPONENT DISCOURSE PROCESSING FROM THEIR fMRI TIME COURSE SIGNATURES

Identifying Component Discourse Processes Reading—from words to multiple texts (pp. 147-159). Reading is a complex task and it is accomplished by several interactive levels of skills, starting from phonological, lexical and syntactic analyses and extending to propositionalization (Perfetti & Britt, 1995) and intra-sentence integration/discourse-levels (Mason & Just 2004), which involve cognitive processing at higher/different levels such as memory and inference generation (e. among others. We suggest that there is evidence to support the characterization of the discourse-level processes in which a reader constructs an understanding of the meaning of larger units of text using the products of lexical and syntactic processing by utilizing regions across the cortex. We will refer to this set of processes as discourse comprehension Network theories of discourse comprehension (e.g., Ferstl et al., 2008; Schmalhofer & Perfetti, 2007) typically specify functional roles for different brain regions by identifying which regions activate during high level comprehension tasks such as reading passages that require inferences (Jung-The general conclusion from these studies is that there are many regions that interact to support discourse comprehension. In fact, Perfetti and Frishkoff (2008, p. 172) specify in their review of the neuroimaging literature that "Of course, there should be no surprise to learn that the components of text processing are distributed rather than localized. They depend fundamentally on processes of information encoding, memory, and retrieval, along with basic left hemisphere language processes. " Occasionally, a meta-analysis across data sets (Ferstl et al., 2008) will provide insight as to which regions are generalizable beyond task-specific experimental designs. Both of these techniques are excellent ways of specifying the network(s), yet as suggested here, both can leave some things unspecified. This chapter is an attempt to revisit our initial characterization of discourse networks (Mason & Just, 2006) and suggest that there is evidence to support the characterization of cognitive processes which utilize multiple regions across discourse networks. What is presented here is a data mining technique (factor analysis of the time course of activated cortical regions) that offers a novel way of determining network makeup and function. Using the traditional approach, we (Mason & Just, 2006) put forward an integrative conceptual framework for understanding brain function specifically during discourse processing. This framework proposed that discourse comprehension involved, in addition to lexical and syntactic processing, five specialized networks: (1) a coarse semantic processing network (right middle and superior temporal); (2) a coherence monitoring network (bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal); …
Association of residential magnetic fields with contact voltage

The US National Electrical Code's (NEC) requirement to ground a home's electrical service to the residential water line results in a voltage between the water line and earth, VW–E. The voltage may result from ground return current that flows into the earth via the water line or from inductive effects from other sources of magnetic fields, such as transmission lines. This voltage can, in turn, serve as a source for Vbath, the voltage between the water fixtures and conductive drain pipes sunk into the earth beneath a residence. Vbath can be a source of contact current exposure to a child touching a water fixture while bathing. Previous research has suggested that exposure to these currents could be the basis for the association between power‐frequency magnetic fields and childhood leukemia. In this study, we assessed the association between measured Vbath and VW–E with the average spot‐measured magnetic field, Bavg, in a sample of 191 single‐family residences in the Denver metropolitan area. This area was the source of cases and controls for previous studies of electric and magnetic field (EMF) and childhood cancer. The association of both Vbath and VW–E with Bavg had upward trends across magnetic field strata (<0.1 μT (reference); 0.1–<0.3 μT; and ≥0.3 μT). In addition, VW–E was associated with Vbath. Without further study, these results cannot be applied to multi‐dwelling residences or to electrical systems prevalent in other nations. Nonetheless, when combined with the finding that contact current is a far more plausible candidate than the residential magnetic field for mediating biological effects on the basis of comparative dose to bone marrow, these associations indicate that contact current exposure deserves further study. Bioelectromagnetics 25:530–536, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
2D waveform tomography applied to long-streamer MCS data from the Scotian Slope

Detailed velocity models of the earth’s subsurface can be obtained through waveform tomography. The accuracy of the long-wavelength component of such velocity models, which is the background velocity field, is particularly sensitive to modeling low-frequency refracted waves that have long paths through target structures. Thus, field examples primarily have focused on the analysis of long-offset wide-angle data sets collected using autonomous receivers, in which refractions arrive at significantly earlier times than reflections. Modern marine acquisition with long streamers now offers the ability to record refracted waves with high spatial density and uniform source, both in shallow and deep water. We used 2D multichannel seismic (MCS) data acquired with a 9-km-long streamer over the Scotian Slope in water depths of ∼1600 m. The refracted arrivals, although mostly restricted to far-offset receivers, provided sufficient information to successfully invert for a high-resolution background velocity field. Usin.
Ion Parameters After Forced Extinguishing of the Diffuse Vacuum Arc

Results of ion parameters measurement during the counterpulse arc interruption in a vacuum are presented in this paper. The experiments were performed in a laboratory arrangement with a demountable vacuum chamber equipped with a Cu-contact system representative for the low-voltage vacuum switches. The applied vacuum arc current with values of 400 and 600 A was interrupted at falling rates from 2 up to 90 A/mus. The following ion parameters were examined: the decay time of ions after the current zero, ion energy, and residual charge. The mean values of the ion decay time varied from about 35 mus at a falling rate of 2 A/mus to about 20 mus at 90 A/mus and diminished with the increasing falling rate of the arc current. The ion energy grew with the growing of the forced falling rate of the vacuum arc current, and its mean values varied from 54 to 99 eV. The residual charge diminished with the increasing of the arc current falling rate, and its values varied from about 9 to about 31 muC in the tested conditions. The presented results can be useful in modeling and design.
The role of Human papilloma virus (HPV) genotyping in recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in Rasoul Akram Hospital

Background The most common laryngeal mass in children is recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP). Studies have attempted to correlate viral typing and its aggressiveness. Method 29 patients with histologically confirmed RRP enrolled in adjuvant therapies. Patients underwent several surgical interventions. Results HPV genotyping demonstrated 45% HPV-6 and 55% HPV-11. The mean age at the first surgical intervention was 52.39 months (SD=102.28) (range from 4 months to 426 months). The mean number of surgical intervention was 10.39 (SD=7.76) (range from 2 to 30). The mean time of surgical intervals was 4.63 months (SD=4.02) (range from 2 to 24 months). In fourteen patients (48%) tracheotomy was done. All patients who had tracheotomy received alpha-interferon. One of our cases was a male who had pulmonary extension with HPV-6. Conclusion A review of patients with RRP was regarding to HPV genotyping and need for adjuvant therapy and tracheostomy. Mean number of surgical procedure was 10/40 and nearly fourteen patients (48%) need to tracheotomy. The clinical differences between HPV6 and HPV11 disease may not be accurately predictable. Patients with less age and with HPV-11 seemed to have more severe problems, but these differences were not statistically significant which needs much more investigations for reasonable starting point of evaluation for these differences.
Does the type of treatment have an influence on utility values in a glaucoma population?

Purpose To assess the impact of glaucoma therapy on utility values in a glaucoma population. Methods A cross-sectional study of consecutive glaucoma patients was conducted. Utility values were obtained using the time trade-off method. Visual function variables (visual acuity and mean deviation in the better eye) and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics (age, sex, race, educational level, type of glaucoma, current and past glaucoma treatments, and comorbidities) were also obtained for statistical analysis. We divided the patients into three groups: medical treatment (group 1), surgical treatment (group 2), and mixed surgical and medical treatment (group 3). Results Mean age of the study population (n=225) was 65.7 years. After controlling for glaucoma stage (early, moderate, and advanced), the difference among the groups in mean utility values was not statistically significant. Number of medications per patient, type of medication, or type of surgical technique did not have an impact on the utility values. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the type of therapy did not affect the utility values in a glaucoma population.
Effect of semibrittle deformation on transport properties of calcite rocks

We investigated the effect of mechanical deformation on transport properties by deforming synthetic calcite/quartz aggregates to strains (e) up to 5% at confining pressures (Pe) up to 300 MPa, and at temperatures (T) from 300 K to 873 K. Subsequently, we measured permeability (k) using a wide-range permeameter at effective pressures (Pc) of 15–155 MPa and room temperature. We then measured electrical conductivity (σ) in an impedance-measuring assembly over the same pressure range at room temperature. The values of permeability and conductivity of the undeformed material at Pe=100 MPa were 4×10−18 m2 and 0.07 S/m. Samples deformed at 673 K and Pc=200 MPa, or at room temperature and Pc = 50–300 MPa, show small variations in permeability and conductivity: k changed only by up to a factor of 3 and σ increased by up to 10%. But, when a sample was deformed at 873 K and Pc=200 MPa, electrical conductivity dropped by 1 order of magnitude and permeability dropped by 2 orders of magnitude. To assess whether changes in length scales of the pore structure owing to deformation may account for large variation in transport properties, we counted cracks and pores, measured their lengths and widths, defined a damage parameter (ξ), and computed effective hydraulic and electrical conductivity using renormalization group methods. The undeformed rocks and the samples deformed at low confining pressure have severe damage, appear to be close to failure, and hence have high transport coefficients. Materials deformed at high pressures and temperatures have lower flaw densities, connectivities, and transport coefficients after deformation. We found that renormalization methods are suitable to model connectivity loss and large changes in transport properties owing to changes in flaw density and length scales. Pore connectivity and transport properties vary strongly during semibrittle deformation.
Towards energy-fairness in asynchronous duty-cycling sensor networks

In this paper, we investigate the problem of controlling node sleep intervals so as to achieve the min-max energy fairness in asynchronous duty-cycling sensor networks. We propose a mathematical model to describe the energy efficiency of such networks and observe that traditional sleep interval setting strategy, i.e., operating sensor nodes with identical sleep intervals, or intuitive control heuristics, i.e., greedily increasing sleep intervals of sensor nodes with high energy consumption rates, hardly perform well in practice. There is an urgent need to develop an efficient sleep interval control strategy for achieving fair and high energy efficiency. To this end, we theoretically formulate the Sleep Interval Control (SIC) problem and find it a convex optimization problem. By utilizing the convex property, we decompose the original problem and propose a distributed algorithm, called GDSIC. In GDSIC, sensor nodes can tune sleep intervals through a local information exchange such that the maximum energy consumption rate in the network approaches to be minimized. The algorithm is self-adjustable to the traffic load variance and is able to serve as a unified framework for a variety of asynchronous duty-cycling MAC protocols. We implement our approach in a prototype system and test its feasibility and applicability on a 50-node testbed. We further conduct extensive trace-driven simulations to examine the efficiency and scalability of our algorithm with various settings.
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase-2 Controls Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cell Cycle Progression and Is Downregulated in Adult Oligodendrocyte Progenitors

Proliferation of oligodendrocyte progenitor (OP) cells is a crucial process controlling myelination in the CNS. Previous studies demonstrated a correlation between OP proliferation rate and cyclin E/cyclin-dependent kinase-2 (cdk2) activity. To establish a causal link between cyclin E/cdk2 activity and OP proliferation, we selectively modulated cdk2 activity in vitro by transfection of cultured OP cells. Dominant-negative (Dn)-cdk2 overexpression inhibited mitogen-induced OP cell proliferation, whereas wild-type (wt)-cdk2 prevented cell cycle arrest caused by anti-mitotic signals. Dn-cdk2- or wt-cdk2-mediated regulation of G1/S transition, per se, did not influence initiation of OP differentiation. To study the function of cyclin E/cdk2 in OP cells during development in vivo, we analyzed cdk2 and cyclin E expression in cells acutely isolated from transgenic mice expressing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the 2′-3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphodiesterase gene promoter. Both cyclin E/cdk2 protein levels and activity were decreased in GFP+oligodendrocyte lineage cells between postnatal days 4 and 30. Immunostaining of NG2+/GFP+ OP cells in brain tissue sections showed a 90% decrease in overall cell proliferation and cdk2 expression between perinatal and adult cells. However, cdk2 expression within the proliferating (i.e., expressing the proliferating cell nuclear antigen) OP cell population was maintained throughout development. Our data indicate that: (1) cyclin E/cdk2 activity plays a pivotal function in OP cell cycle decisions occurring at G1/S checkpoint; (2) initiation of OP differentiation is independent of cyclinE/cdk2 checkpoint, and (3) intrinsic differences in cyclin E/cdk2 expression and activity may underlie the slowly proliferative state that characterizes so-called “quiescent” adult OP cells in vivo.