Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Controllable texture synthesis for runtime simulation of large-scale vegetation

The simulation of large-scale vegetation has always been important to computer graphics, as well as to virtual plantation in ecology. Although we can employ texture synthesis technique to produce large-scale vegetation from a small input sample, the synthesized result lacks physical accuracy which only focuses on visual appearance. On the other hand, the model developed in bio-physical area to simulate vegetation evolution provides meaningful distribution result of vegetation. However, the visualization of these meaning results is simple and preliminary. In this paper, we propose a new controllable texture synthesis method to generate visually-pleasing large-scale vegetation of physical meaning under the guidance of the control map. The control map is computed by the vegetation evolution model as well as considering the convenience to guide synthesis. Furthermore, we adapt our method on GPU to realize real-time simulation of large-scale vegetation. The experimental results demonstrate that our method is effective and efficient.
Collegiality: leading us into fantasy – the paradoxical resilience of collegiality in academic leadership

It has been argued that leadership in higher education differs from leadership in other organisational contexts, in part because of the culture of collegiality and autonomy underpinning academic work. Collegiality, however, is a complex and somewhat ‘slippery’ idea that features in academic leadership literature in a variety of, sometimes contradictory, ways. We argue for the need to unpack and explore the notion of collegiality to understand what makes it such an enduring idea in academic leadership. We start by examining the multiple meanings of collegiality circulating in scholarly writing on leadership to reveal the complexity and tensions it raises for academic leaders. We then turn to Lacanian theory and explore collegiality as a subliminal fantasy that represents an important interface between ‘leaders’ and those who are ‘led’, and one which influences our understanding of academic work and leadership. From the perspective offered by our Lacanian exploration, we propose that in order to traverse the nostalgic fantasy of the collegial past, instead of looking for closure, it might be more useful to put indeterminacy, absence and lack at the centre of the academic leadership project.
Identification of Novel Mutations in RBM20 in Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy

The genetic basis of most of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) cases remains unknown. A recent study indicated that mutations in a highly localized five amino acid hotspot in exon 9 of RBM20, a gene encoding a ribonucleic acid‐binding protein, caused aggressive DCM. We undertook this study to confi rm and extend the nature of RBM20 mutations in another DCM cohort. Clinical cardiovascular data, family histories, and blood samples were collected from patients with idiopathic DCM. DNA from 312 DCM probands was sequenced for nucleotide alterations in exons 6 through 9 of RBM20, and additional family members as possible. We found six unique RBM20 rare variants in six unrelated probands (1.9%). Four mutations, two of which were novel (R634W and R636C) and two previously identified (R634Q and R636H), were identified in a five amino acid hotspot in exon 6. Two other novel variants (V535I in exon 6 and R716Q in exon 9) were outside of this hotspot. Age of onset and severity of heart failure were variable, as were arrhythmias and conduction system defects, but many subjects suffered severe heart failure resulting in early death or cardiac transplantation. This article concludes that DCM in patients with RBM20 mutations is associated with advanced disease. Clin Trans Sci 2010; Volume 3: 90–97
Best evidence topic - Aortic and aneurysmal Aortic valve-sparing operations in aortic root aneurysms: remodeling or reimplantation?

Summary A best evidence topic was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether the reimplantation (David) technique or the remodeling (Yacoub) technique provides the optimum event free survival in patients with an aortic root aneurysm suitable for an aortic valve-sparing operation. In total, 392 papers were found using the reported search criteria, of which 14 papers provided the best evidence to answer the clinical question. A total of 1338 patients (Yacoub technique in 606 and David technique in 732) from 13 centres were included. In most series, cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross-clamp time were longer for the David technique compared to the Yacoub technique. Early mortality was comparable between the two techniques (0–6.9% for the Yacoub technique and 0– 6% for the David technique). There is a tendency for a higher freedom from significant long-term aortic insufficiency in the David group than the Yacoub group, which does not necessarily result in a higher reoperation rate in the Yacoub group. In the largest series reported, freedom from a moderate-to-severe aortic insufficiency at 12 years was 82.6 ± 6.2% in the Yacoub and 91.0 ± 3.8% in the David group (P = 0.035). Freedom from reoperation at the same time point was 90.4 ± 4.7% in the Yacoub group and 97.4 ± 2.2% in the David group (P = 0.09). In another series, freedom from reoperation at a follow-up time of about four years was 89 ± 4% in the Yacoub group and 98 ± 2% in the David group. Although some authors merely preferred the Yacoub technique for a bicuspid aortic valve, the accumulated evidence in the current review indicates comparable results for both techniques in a bicuspid aortic valve. Current evidence is in favour of the David rather than the Yacoub technique in pathologies such as Marfan syndrome, acute type A aortic dissection, and excessive annular dilatation that may impair aortic root integrity. Careful selection of patients for each technique and successful restoration of normal cusp geometry are the keys to success in aortic valve-sparing operations.  2011 Published by European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.
The vagal control of the pyloric motor function: a physiological and immunohistochemical study in cat and man.

In acute experiments in anesthetized cats (n = 75), with ligated adrenals the influence on the pyloric sphincter of afferent and efferent electrical stimulation of the cervical vagi was studied with a flow recording technique. Gastric motility was recorded simultaneously with a volume recording technique. Efferent stimulation using high threshold parameters (8 V; 5 ms; 8 Hz) resulted in a prompt gastric contraction and a delayed pyloric contraction (23 +/- 17 s). In one third of the cats biphasic pyloric motor response, consisting of a short period of increased flow preceding a longlasting cessation of the flow, was observed. When the transpyloric flow was reduced by splanchnic nerve stimulation or noradrenalin infusion, efferent vagal nerve stimulation induced an increased flow supporting the assumption of relaxatory fibres to the pylorus within the vagus as well. Unilateral afferent stimulation resulted in a decreased flow within 5 +/- 3 s and a prompt gastric relaxation, which were both abolished at transection of the intact contralateral vagus indicating vago-vagal reflexes. After atropine (0.2 mg/kg i.v. b.w.) efferent stimulation resulted in a gastric relaxation, while the biphasic pyloric motor response was even more pronounced with a long (60 s) latency of the contractile phase. Addition of guanethidine (2 mg/kg i.v. b.w.) did not affect these responses. After hexamethonium (25 mg i.v. + 50 mg +/- 10 mg i.a./h) the stimulation procedure resulted in a gastric relaxation, while the pyloric contraction was blocked. The relaxatory phase required the addition of atropine for blockade, indicating separate transmission mechanisms for the two components of the pyloric motor response at such stimulation. Hexamethonium effectively antagonized the pyloric contraction at afferent stimulation. Immunohistochemical studies revealed a rich enkephalinergic innervation of the pylorus and the presence of enkephalin-like material within vagal axons. VIP-like material was demonstrated within the same tissues with a similar distribution. The hypothesis of a transmission via non-classical receptors was corroborated in experiments, where the pyloric contraction at vagal efferent stimulation was blocked dose-dependently by the opiate receptor antagonist, naloxone i.a. Furthermore, micromolar doses i.a. of enkephalins mimicked the vagal motor effects, i.e. pyloric contraction and gastric relaxation, which were reversed by equimolar doses of naloxone in favour of a pyloric enkephalinergic contraction. Intraarterial injection of nanomolar doses of this VIP resulted in both a gastric and pyloric relaxation. Specimens of the human vagus from the thoracic and abdominal levels were investigated with immunohistochemistry. Substance P and enkephalin containing fibres and a low number of VIP fibres were seen at all levels indicating the presence of an axonal transport of these peptides in the human vagus.
Public Health Care in the Balance: Exploring Popular Support for Health Care Systems in the European Union

Which factors explain intra- and inter-country variations in levels of public support for national health care systems within the European Union, and why? We propose that public opinion towards public health care is dependent on (1) the type of welfare state regime to which the various European welfare states belong, (2) typical features of the national care system and (3) individual social and demographic characteristics, which are related to self-interest or morality oriented motives. To assess the explanatory power of these factors, data from the Eurobarometer survey series are analysed. Support for public health care appears to be particularly positively related to social-democratic attributes of welfare states, whereas support drops with increasing degrees of liberalism and conservatism. Further, support for public health care proves to be associated with wider coverage and public funding of national care services. We also find higher levels of support in countries with scarce social services for children and the elderly, and larger proportions of female (part-time) employment. Lastly, with respect to individual characteristics, we find remarkably little evidence for self-interest oriented motives affecting the preference for solidary health care arrangements.
Different Modulation of Ptpn22 in Effector and Regulatory T Cells Leads to Attenuation of Autoimmune Diabetes in Transgenic Nonobese Diabetic Mice

Ptpn22 encodes PEST domain–enriched tyrosine phosphatase (Pep), which negatively regulates TCR proximal signaling and is strongly associated with a variety of autoimmune diseases in humans. The net effect of Pep on the balance of immunity and tolerance is uncertain because of the simultaneous inhibition of TCR-mediated signaling of effector and regulatory T cells (Tregs). In this study, we generated transgenic NOD mice that overexpressed Pep in T cells. The transgenic mice had a significantly lower incidence of spontaneous autoimmune diabetes, which was accompanied by fewer IFN-γ–producing T cells, and an increased ratio of CD4+Foxp3+ Tregs to CD4+IFN-γ+ or to CD8+IFN-γ+ T cells, respectively, in pancreatic islets. Transgenic T cells showed markedly decreased TCR-mediated effector cell responses such as proliferation and Th1 differentiation. By contrast, the inhibitory effect of transgenic Pep on TCR signaling did not affect the differentiation of Tregs or their suppressive activity. Adoptive transfer experiments showed that transgenic splenocytes exhibited attenuated diabetogenic ability. To examine further the pathogenic features of transgenic T cells, we generated Ptpn22/BDC2.5 doubly transgenic mice and found reduced proliferation and Th1 differentiation in CD4+ T lymphocytes with additional Pep in pancreatic lymph nodes but not in inguinal lymph nodes of NOD/SCID recipients. This finding indicates that transgenic Pep attenuates T cell functions in an islet Ag–driven manner. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Pep overexpression in T cells attenuates autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice by preferentially modulating TCR signaling–mediated functions in diabetogenic T cells but not in Tregs.
Site-specific recombination in Schizosaccharomyces pombe and systematic assembly of a 400kb transgene array in mammalian cells using the integrase of Streptomyces phage fBT1

We have established the integrase of the Streptomyces phage fBT1 as a tool for eukaryotic genome manipulation. We show that the fBT1 integrase promotes efficient reciprocal and conservative site-specific recombination in vertebrate cells and in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, thus establishing the utility of this protein for genome manipulation in a wide range of eukaryotes. We show that the fBT1 integrase can be used in conjunction with Cre recombinase to promote the iterative integration of transgenic DNA. We describe five cycles of iterative integration of a candidate mouse centromeric sequence 80kb in length into a human minichromosome within a human-Chinese hamster hybrid cell line. These results establish the generality of the iterative site-specific integration technique.
Three-Dimensional Stratification of Bacterial Biofilm Populations in a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor for Nitritation-Anammox

Moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBRs) are increasingly used for nitrogen removal with nitritation-anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) processes in wastewater treatment. Carriers provide protected surfaces where ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anammox bacteria form complex biofilms. However, the knowledge about the organization of microbial communities in MBBR biofilms is sparse. We used new cryosectioning and imaging methods for fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to study the structure of biofilms retrieved from carriers in a nitritation-anammox MBBR. The dimensions of the carrier compartments and the biofilm cryosections after FISH showed good correlation, indicating little disturbance of biofilm samples by the treatment. FISH showed that Nitrosomonas europaea/eutropha-related cells dominated the AOB and Candidatus Brocadia fulgida-related cells dominated the anammox guild. New carriers were initially colonized by AOB, followed by anammox bacteria proliferating in the deeper biofilm layers, probably in anaerobic microhabitats created by AOB activity. Mature biofilms showed a pronounced three-dimensional stratification where AOB dominated closer to the biofilm-water interface, whereas anammox were dominant deeper into the carrier space and towards the walls. Our results suggest that current mathematical models may be oversimplifying these three-dimensional systems and unless the multidimensionality of these systems is considered, models may result in suboptimal design of MBBR carriers.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 alkaline nuclease is required for efficient processing of viral DNA replication intermediates

Mutations in the alkaline nuclease gene of herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) (nuc mutations) induce almost wild-type levels of viral DNA; however, mutant viral yields are 0.1 to 1% of wild-type yields (L. Shao, L. Rapp, and S. Weller, Virology 195:146-162, 1993; R. Martinez, L. Shao, J.C. Bronstein, P.C. Weber, and S. Weller, Virology 215:152-164, 1996). nuc mutants are defective in one or more stages of genome maturation and appear to package DNA into aberrant or defective capsids which fail to egress from the nucleus of infected cells. In this study, we used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to test the hypothesis that the defects in nuc mutants are due to the failure of the newly replicated viral DNA to be processed properly during DNA replication and/or recombination. Replicative intermediates of HSV-1 DNA from both wild-type- and mutant-infected cells remain in the wells of pulsed-field gels, while free linear monomers are readily resolved. Digestion of this well DNA with restriction enzymes that cleave once in the viral genome releases discrete monomer DNA from wild-type virus-infected cells but not from nuc mutant-infected cells. We conclude that both wild-type and mutant DNAs exist in a complex, nonlinear form (possibly branched) during replication. The fact that discrete monomer-length DNA cannot be released from nuc DNA by a single-cutting enzyme suggests that this DNA is more branched than DNA which accumulates in cells infected with wild-type virus. The well DNA from cells infected with wild-type and nuc mutants contains XbaI fragments which result from genomic inversions, indicating that alkaline nuclease is not required for mediating recombination events within HSV DNA. Furthermore, nuc mutants are able to carry out DNA replication-mediated homologous recombination events between inverted repeats on plasmids as evaluated by using a quantitative transient recombination assay. Well DNA from both wild-type- and mutant-infected cells contains free U(L) termini but not free U(S) termini. Various models to explain the structure of replicating DNA are considered.
Reciprocity, culture and human cooperation: previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment

Understanding the proximate and ultimate sources of human cooperation is a fundamental issue in all behavioural sciences. In this paper, we review the experimental evidence on how people solve cooperation problems. Existing studies show without doubt that direct and indirect reciprocity are important determinants of successful cooperation. We also discuss the insights from a large literature on the role of peer punishment in sustaining cooperation. The experiments demonstrate that many people are ‘strong reciprocators’ who are willing to cooperate and punish others even if there are no gains from future cooperation or any other reputational gains. We document this in new one-shot experiments, which we conducted in four cities in Russia and Switzerland. Our cross-cultural approach allows us furthermore to investigate how the cultural background influences strong reciprocity. Our results show that culture has a strong influence on positive and in especially strong negative reciprocity. In particular, we find large cross-cultural differences in ‘antisocial punishment’ of pro-social cooperators. Further cross-cultural research and experiments involving different socio-demographic groups document that the antisocial punishment is much more widespread than previously assumed. Understanding antisocial punishment is an important task for future research because antisocial punishment is a strong inhibitor of cooperation.
Straightest geodesics on polyhedral surfaces

Geodesic curves are the fundamental concept in geometry to generalize the idea of straight lines to curved surfaces and arbitrary manifolds. On polyhedral surfaces we introduce the notion of discrete geodesic curvature of curves and define straightest geodesics. This allows a unique solution of the initial value problem for geodesics, and therefore a unique movement in a given tangential direction, a property not available in the well-known concept of locally shortest geodesics.An immediate application is the definition of parallel translation of vectors and a discrete Runge-Kutta method for the integration of vector fields on polyhedral surfaces. Our definitions only use intrinsic geometric properties of the polyhedral surface without reference to the underlying discrete triangulation of the surface or to an ambient space.
Adolescent beliefs about AIDS prevention

Abstract Four hundred and ten school children, aged between 13 and 16 years, were administered a questionnaire to investigate (a) their perceptions of AIDS and implications of the disease for the victim; (b) beliefs about how best to prevent the spread of disease; (c) sources of information and (d) AIDS relevant topics they would like to learn in school. The results suggested that there were few differences in knowledge or attitude as a function of age, but some significant differences due to sex. Boys were more likely to derogate the AIDS victim compared with girls. In terms of different strategies for prevention, boys were more in favour of “scare” approaches, and girls of information-giving. The success of any AIDS education package may be at least partly determined by individual beliefs about the disease, and preferences for different educational strategies.
Development of a Three-Tier Test to Assess Misconceptions About Simple Electric Circuits

ABSTRACT The authors aimed to propose a valid and reliable diagnostic instrument by developing a three-tier test on simple electric circuits. Based on findings from the interviews, open-ended questions, and the related literature, the test was developed and administered to 124 high school students. In addition to some qualitative techniques for establishing the validity, some quantitative techniques were also used. Consequently, Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was estimated for the test as . 69, and results revealed that the test scores could be a valid and reliable measure of students’ qualitative understanding of simple electric circuits.
Interpreters and Ideology: From 'Between' to 'Within'

Ideology was not an issue in the literature on interpreting until very recently. When the subject of ideology emerged in translation studies in the late 1990s, interpreting researchers were only just beginning to move beyond the traditional concern with (conference) interpreters' psycholinguistic processing skills and cognitive functions to include problems of cross-cultural interaction in their purview. This exploratory paper therefore reviews the development of the interpreting profession from the conceptual vantage point of 'ideology', focusing on the common pejorative, political sense of the term. The positionality of interpreters as agents 'between' ideologies will be traced through the profession's development before some examples will be given of how interpreters, their professional organizations and training institutions have become 'involved' in and with ideology, and to what extent such involvement has been acknowledged. As will be seen, closer examination of the relationship between interpreter.
The X-ray spectrum of NGC 7213 and the Seyfert-LINER connection

We present an XMM‐Newton observation of the Seyfert‐LINER (low-ionization nuclear emission-line region) galaxy NGC 7213. The RGS soft X-ray spectrum is well fitted with ap o wer law plus soft X-ray collisionally ionized thermal plasma (kT = 0.18 +0.03 keV). We confirm the presence of Fe I ,F eXXV and Fe XXVI Kα emission in the EPIC spectrum and set tighter constraints on their equivalent widths of 82 +10 ,2 4 +9 and 24 +10 eV, respectively. We compare the observed properties together with the inferred mass accretion rate of NGC 7213 with those of other Seyfert and LINER galaxies. We find that NGC 7213 has intermediate X-ray spectral properties lying between those of the weak active galactic nucleus found in the LINER M81 and higher-luminosity Seyfert galaxies. There appears to be a continuous sequence of X-ray properties from the Galactic Centre through LINER galaxies to Seyferts, probably determined by the amount of material available for accretion in the central regions. Ke yw ords: galaxies: active ‐ galaxies: individual: NGC 7213 ‐ galaxies: Seyfert ‐ X-rays: galaxies.