Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Likelihood of Extinction of Iconic and Dominant Herbivores and Detritivores of Coral Reefs: The Parrotfishes and Surgeonfishes

Parrotfishes and surgeonfishes perform important functional roles in the dynamics of coral reef systems. This is a consequence of their varied feeding behaviors ranging from targeted consumption of living plant material (primarily surgeonfishes) to feeding on detrital aggregates that are either scraped from the reef surface or excavated from the deeper reef substratum (primarily parrotfishes). Increased fishing pressure and widespread habitat destruction have led to population declines for several species of these two groups. Species-specific data on global distribution, population status, life history characteristics, and major threats were compiled for each of the 179 known species of parrotfishes and surgeonfishes to determine the likelihood of extinction of each species under the Categories and Criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Due in part to the extensive distributions of most species and the life history traits exhibited in these two families, only three (1.7%) of the species are listed at an elevated risk of global extinction. The majority of the parrotfishes and surgeonfishes (86%) are listed as Least Concern, 10% are listed as Data Deficient and 1% are listed as Near Threatened. The risk of localized extinction, however, is higher in some areas, particularly in the Coral Triangle region. The relatively low proportion of species globally listed in threatened Categories is highly encouraging, and some conservation successes are attributed to concentrated conservation efforts. However, with the growing realization of man's profound impact on the planet, conservation actions such as improved marine reserve networks, more stringent fishing regulations, and continued monitoring of the population status at the species and community levels are imperative for the prevention of species loss in these groups of important and iconic coral reef fishes.
Impact of Sulphurous Water Politzer Inhalation on Audiometric Parameters in Children with Otitis Media with Effusion

Objectives The positive effects of spa therapy on ear, nose, and throat pathology are known but robust literature in this field, is still lacking. The aim of this study was to assess through a retrospective analysis, the effects on otitis media with effusion of Politzer endotympanic inhalation of sulphurous waters in children aged 5-9 years. Methods A cohort of 95 patients was treated with Politzer insufflations of sulphurous water: 58 patients did a cycle consisting of a treatment of 12 days per year for three consecutive years; 37 patients followed the same procedure for 5 years consecutively. The control population was represented by untreated, age-matched children. A standard audiometric test was used before and after each cycle of treatment. Results One cycle of Politzer inhalation of sulphur-rich water improved the symptoms. Three cycles definitively stabilized the improvement of hearing function. Conclusion Our results show that otitis media with effusion in children can be resolved by an appropriate non-pharmacological treatment of middle ear with sulphur-rich water.
Structural design and analysis of a new semi-direct drive robot arm. Theory and experiment

This paper reports the mechanical design, structural analysis, and experimental verification of a new high performance semi-direct drive robot arm. A design optimization methodology employing finite element analysis (FEA) is reviewed, and a resulting arm design is reported. FEA simulations of the final design predict high structural vibration frequencies throughout the arm workspace. Extensive structural vibration experiments with the completed manipulator confirm the predicted structural vibration characteristics throughout the arm workspace.
Imaging surface nanobubbles at graphite–water interfaces with different atomic force microscopy modes

We have imaged nanobubbles on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces in pure water with different atomic force microscopy (AFM) modes, including the frequency-modulation, the tapping, and the PeakForce techniques. We have compared the performance of these modes in obtaining the surface profiles of nanobubbles. The frequency-modulation mode yields a larger height value than the other two modes and can provide more accurate measurement of the surface profiles of nanobubbles. Imaging with PeakForce mode shows that a nanobubble appears smaller and shorter with increasing peak force and disappears above a certain peak force, but the size returns to the original value when the peak force is reduced. This indicates that imaging with high peak forces does not cause gas removal from the nanobubbles. Based on the presented findings and previous AFM observations, the existing models for nanobubbles are reviewed and discussed. The model of gas aggregate inside nanobubbles provides a better explanation for the puzzles of the high stability and the contact angle of surface nanobubbles.
Cluster Headache: Combined Assessment with Pupillometry and Evaporimetry

Twenty-nine patients with cluster headache have been examined with the pupillometer and the evaporimeter. Pupils were dilated by sympathicomimetic drugs instilled into the conjunctival sacs, and responses of the two sides were compared. Forehead sweating was stimulated by body heating and by pilocarpine injection, and sweat evaporation on the two sides was compared. Most patients demonstrated the known patterns of hyposecretion on heating, of pilocarpine supersensitivity, and of deficient pupillary dilatation on OH-amphetamine stimulation on the symptomatic side and a supersensitivity of this pupil to phenylephrine. There were deviations from the rule for all methods of testing. Sixteen patients demonstrated a typical supersensitivity response of the pupil and of the sweat glands on the symptomatic side. Six patients had no such response, and seven patients had a discrepancy between the pupillary and the sweat gland response to stimulation, supersensitivity being present in one system only. There was a high degree of concordance between the results of the various methods of examination.
Community Ecology

Variable responses of old-field perennials to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and phosphorus source Abstract If arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) promote phosphorus partitioning of plant hosts, they could provide one mechanism for the maintenance of plant community diversity. We investigated whether AMF improved the ability of old field perennials to grow on a range of phosphorus sources and whether AMF facilitated differential performance of plant species on different phosphorus sources (phosphorus niche partitioning). We manipulated form of phosphorus (control versus different inorganic and organic sources) and AM fungal species (control versus four individual AMF species or an AMF community) for five old field perennials grown in a greenhouse in individual culture. Based on biomass after four months of growth, we found no evidence for phosphorus niche partitioning. Rather, we found that effects of AMF varied from parasitic to mutualistic depending on plant species, AMF species, and phosphorus source (significant Plant · Fungus · Phosphorus interaction). Our results suggest that the degree of AMF benefit to a plant host depends not only on AMF species, plant species, and soil phosphorus availability (as has also been found in other work), but can also depend on the form of soil phosphorus. Thus, the position of any AMF species along the mutualism to parasitism continuum may be a complex function of local conditions, and this has implications for understanding plant competitive balance in the field.
Nationwide trends in chemotherapy use and survival of elderly patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer

Despite an aging population and underrepresentation of elderly patients in clinical trials, studies on elderly patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer are scarce. This study investigated the use of chemotherapy and survival in elderly patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. From the Netherlands Cancer Registry, all 9407 patients diagnosed with primary metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma in 2005–2013 were selected to investigate chemotherapy use and overall survival (OS), using Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression analyses. Over time, chemotherapy use increased in all age groups (<70 years: from 26 to 43%, 70–74 years: 14 to 25%, 75–79 years: 5 to 13%, all P < 0.001, and ≥80 years: 2 to 3% P = 0.56). Median age of 2,180 patients who received chemotherapy was 63 years (range 21–86 years, 1.6% was ≥80 years). In chemotherapy‐treated patients, with rising age (<70, 70–74, 75–79, ≥80 years), microscopic tumor verification occurred less frequently (91‐88‐87‐77%, respectively, P = 0.009) and OS diminished (median 25‐26‐19‐16 weeks, P = 0.003). After adjustment for confounding factors, worse survival of treated patients ≥75 years persisted. Despite limited chemotherapy use in elderly age, suggestive of strong selection, elderly patients (≥75 years) who received chemotherapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer exhibited a worse survival compared to younger patients receiving chemotherapy.
Sleep duration and ischemic heart disease and all-cause mortality: prospective cohort study on effects of tranquilizers/hypnotics and perceived stress.

OBJECTIVES This prospective study aimed to examine if sleep duration is a risk indicator for ischemic heart disease (IHD) and all-cause mortality, and how perceived stress during work and leisure time and use of tranquilizers/hypnotics modifies the association. METHOD A 30-year follow-up study was carried out in the Copenhagen Male Study comprising 5249 men (40-59 years old). Confounders included lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol, and leisure-time physical activity), clinical and health-related factors (body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, and physical fitness) and social class. Men with a history of cardiovascular disease at baseline were excluded. RESULTS During follow-up, 587 men (11.9%) died from IHD and 2663 (53.9%) due to all-cause mortality. There were 276 short (<6 hours), 3837 medium (6-7 hours), and 828 long (≥8 hours) sleepers. Men who slept <6 hours had an increased risk of IHD mortality but not all-cause mortality, when referencing medium sleepers. Perceived psychological pressure during work and leisure was not a significant effect modifier for the association between sleep duration and IHD mortality. In contrast, among men using tranquilizers/hypnotics (rarely or regularly), short sleepers had a two-to-three fold increased risk of IHD mortality compared to medium sleepers. Among those never using tranquilizers/hypnotics, no association was observed between sleep duration and IHD mortality. CONCLUSION Short sleep duration is a risk factor for IHD mortality among middle-aged and elderly men, particularly those using tranquilizers/hypnotics on a regular or even a rare basis, but not among men not using tranquilizers/hypnotics.
Pharos: A Decentralized and Hierarchical Network Coordinate System for Internet Distance Prediction

Network coordinates (NC) system is an efficient mechanism for Internet distance prediction with limited measurements. In this paper, we identify the intrinsical cause for the inadequate accuracy of the simulation based NC algorithms. We then propose Pharos, a fully decentralized and hierarchical scheme, to remedy this problem. Pharos leverages multiple coordinate sets at different distance scales, with the right scale being chosen for prediction each time. We evaluate the performance of Pharos system with the King data set and latency data from PlanetLab, and compare it with the representative NC system, Vivaldi. The experimental results show that Pharos outperforms Vivaldi much without adding any significant overhead.
Xa21D Encodes a Receptor-like Molecule with a Leucine-Rich Repeat Domain That Determines Race-Specific Recognition and Is Subject to Adaptive Evolution

The rice Xa21 gene confers resistance to Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae in a race-specific manner. Analysis of the inheritance patterns and resistance spectra of transgenic plants carrying six Xa21 gene family members indicated that one member, designated Xa21D, displayed a resistance spectrum identical to that observed for Xa21 but conferred only partial resistance. Xa21D encodes a receptor-like protein carrying leucine-rich repeat (LRR) motifs in the presumed extracellular domain. The Xa21D transcript terminates shortly after the stop codon introduced by the retrotransposon Retrofit. Comparison of nucleotide substitutions in the LRR coding regions of Xa21 and Xa21D provided evidence of adaptive selection. Both functional and evolutionary evidence indicates that the Xa21D LRR domain controls race-specific pathogen recognition.
Live trace visualization for comprehending large software landscapes: The ExplorViz approach

The increasing code complexity in modern enterprise software systems exceeds the capabilities of most software engineers to understand the system's behavior by just looking at its program code. Large software landscapes, e.g., applications in a cloud infrastructure, further increase this complexity. A solution to these problems is visualizing the applications of the software landscape to ease program comprehension and to understand the respective communication. An established visualization concept is the 3D city metaphor. It utilizes the familiarity with navigating a city to improve program comprehension. Dynamic analysis, e.g., monitoring, can provide the required program traces of the communication. In this paper, we present our live visualization approach of monitoring traces for large software landscapes. It combines a landscape and a system level perspective. The landscape level perspective provides an overview of the software landscape utilizing the viewer's familiarity with UML. The system level perspective provides a visualization utilizing the city metaphor for each software system.
Tardos Fingerprinting is Better Than We Thought

Tardos has proposed a randomized fingerprinting code that is provably secure against collusion attacks. We revisit his scheme and show that it has significantly better performance than suggested in the original paper. First, we introduce variables in place of Tardos' hard-coded constants and we allow for an independent choice of the desired false positive (FP) and false negative (FN) error rates. Following through Tardos' proofs with these modifications, we show that the code length can be reduced by more than a factor of two in typical content distribution applications where high FN rates can be tolerated. Second, we study the statistical properties of the code. Under some reasonable assumptions, the accusation sums can be regarded as Gaussian-distributed stochastic variables. In this approximation, the desired error rates are achieved by a code length twice shorter than in the first approach. Overall, typical FP and FN error rates may be achieved with a code length approximately five times shorter than in the original construction.
Planar point location for large data sets: to seek or not to seek

We present an algorithm for external memory planar point location that is both effective and easy to implement. The base algorithm is an external memory variant of the bucket method by Edahiro, Kokubo and Asano that is combined with Lee and Yang's batched internal memory algorithm for planar point location. Although our algorithm is not optimal in terms of its worst-case behavior, we show its efficiency for both batched and single-shot queries by experiments with real-world data. The experiments show that the algorithm benefits from the mainly sequential disk access pattern and significantly outperforms the fastest algorithm for internal memory. Due to its simple concept, the algorithm can take advantage of multiple disks and processors in a rather straightforward yet efficient way.
RAGS: region-aided geometric snake

An enhanced, region-aided, geometric active contour that is more tolerant toward weak edges and noise in images is introduced. The proposed method integrates gradient flow forces with region constraints, composed of image region vector flow forces obtained through the diffusion of the region segmentation map. We refer to this as the region-aided geometric snake or RAGS. The diffused region forces can be generated from any reliable region segmentation technique, greylevel or color. This extra region force gives the snake a global complementary view of the boundary information within the image which, along with the local gradient flow, helps detect fuzzy boundaries and overcome noisy regions. The partial differential equation (PDE) resulting from this integration of image gradient flow and diffused region flow is implemented using a level set approach. We present various examples and also evaluate and compare the performance of RAGS on weak boundaries and noisy images.
Motor and cognitive development: the role of karate.

BACKGROUND regular physical activity has an effect on biological responses in both muscles and organs that, in turn, alter the structure and functions of the brain. Therefore, this study aims at comparing motor (sprint, coordination ability and explosive legs strength skills) and cognitive abilities (working memory, attention, executive functioning) in children. METHODS 39 children with average chronological age of 9 years were divided in: Karatekas (n=19) and Sedentary (n=20) groups. Their abilities were measured by motor and cognitive tests. Motor skills were assessed through a battery composed by the 20 mt Sprint test, the Agility test and the Standing board jump Test. Cognitive profile was assessed by a battery of tests derived from BVN 5-11, "Batteria di Valutazione Neuropsicologica per l'Et à Evolutiva": Visual discrimination test, Reaction time test, Forwards and Backwards Digit Span Tests, Corsi Block-Tapping test and Tower of London. RESULTS our results reveal significant differences between two groups (p < 0.05). Karate children show better speed times, explosive legs strength and coordination skills. They scored better on working memory, visual selective attention and executive functions. CONCLUSION karate exercise training shows global benefits resulting in physiological and psychological gains in children.
Sensitivity of soil moisture initialization for decadal predictions under different regional climatic conditions in Europe

The impact of soil initialization is investigated through perturbation simulations with the regional climate model Consortium for Small‐scale Modelling (COSMO) and the Climate Limited‐area Modelling (COSMO–CLM). The focus of the investigation is to assess the sensitivity of simulated extreme periods, dry and wet, to soil moisture initialization in different climatic regions over Europe and to establish the necessary spin‐up time within the framework of decadal predictions for these regions. Sensitivity experiments consisted of a reference simulation from 1968 to 1999 and five simulations from 1972 to 1983. The Effective Drought Index (EDI) is used to select and quantify drought status in the reference run to establish the simulation time period for the sensitivity experiments. Different soil initialization procedures are investigated. The sensitivity of the decadal predictions to soil moisture initial conditions is investigated through the analysis of water cycle components' (WCC) variability. In an episodic timescale, the local effects of soil moisture on the boundary layer and the propagated effects on the large‐scale dynamics are analysed. The results show: (1) COSMO–CLM reproduces the observed features of the drought index. (2) Soil moisture initialization exerts a relevant impact on WCC, e.g. precipitation distribution and intensity. (3) Regional characteristics strongly impact the response of the WCC. Precipitation and evapotranspiration deviations are larger for humid regions. (4) The initial soil conditions (wet/dry), the regional characteristics (humid/dry) and the annual period (wet/dry) play a key role in the time that soil needs to restore quasi‐equilibrium and the impact on the atmospheric conditions. Humid areas, and for all regions, a humid initialization, exhibit shorter spin‐up times, also soil reacts more sensitive when initialized during dry periods. (5) The initial soil perturbation may markedly modify atmospheric pressure field, wind circulation systems and atmospheric water vapour distribution affecting atmospheric stability conditions, thus modifying precipitation intensity and distribution even several years after the initialization.
Characterization of Salmonella-Induced Cell Death in Human Macrophage-Like THP-1 Cells

ABSTRACT Salmonella strains are facultative intracellular pathogens that produce marked cytopathology during infection of host cells. Different forms of cytopathic effects have been associated with the virulence systems encoded by the two Salmonella pathogenicity islands (SPI-1 and SPI-2) and the spv locus. We used Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin to investigate the induction of cytopathology during infection of the human macrophage-like cell line THP-1. Analysis of host cells by flow cytometry using a fluorescent terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay revealed that 70% of THP-1 cells showed DNA fragmentation after 4 h of infection, increasing to greater than 90% by 5.5 h. Moreover, the results showed that gentamicin-killed or chloramphenicol-treated bacteria did not induce DNA fragmentation. Serovar Dublin strains with mutations in SPI-1, SPI-2, or spvB induced these cytopathic effects similar to wild-type bacteria. In contrast, a mutation in the phoP regulatory gene abolished DNA fragmentation in the TUNEL assay. Caspase-3 activation was detected during Salmonella infection of THP-1 cells, but caspase-8 and caspase-9 activities were not found. However, inhibition of caspase-3 did not block Salmonella-induced DNA fragmentation. These results identify a previously undetected apoptotic effect in Salmonella-infected cells that is dependent on phoP gene function.
Statistical Confidence Measures for Probabilistic Parsing

We introduce a formal framework that allows the calculation of new purely statistical confidence measures for parsing, which are estimated from posterior probability of constituents. These measures allow us to mark each constituent of a parse tree as correct or incorrect. Experimental assessment using the Penn Treebank shows favorable results for the classical confidence evaluation metrics: the CER and the ROC curve. We also present preliminar experiments on application of confidence measures to improve parse trees by automatic constituent relabeling.
A User's Guide to Pde Models for Chemotaxis

Mathematical modelling of chemotaxis (the movement of biological cells or organisms in response to chemical gradients) has developed into a large and diverse discipline, whose aspects include its mechanistic basis, the modelling of specific systems and the mathematical behaviour of the underlying equations. has provided a cornerstone for much of this work, its success being a consequence of its intuitive simplicity, analytical tractability and capacity to replicate key behaviour of chemotactic populations. One such property, the ability to display " auto-aggregation " , has led to its prominence as a mechanism for self-organisation of biological systems. This phenomenon has been shown to lead to finite-time blow-up under certain formulations of the model, and a large body of work has been devoted to determining when blow-up occurs or whether globally existing solutions exist. In this paper, we explore in detail a number of variations of the original Keller–Segel model. We review their formulation from a biological perspective, contrast their pat-terning properties, summarise key results on their analytical properties and classify their solution form. We conclude with a brief discussion and expand on some of the outstanding issues revealed as a result of this work.