Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bear Bodies, Bear Masculinity

Bears comprise a subculture of gay men who valorize the larger, hirsute body. This research interrogates Bear culture as a gendered strategy for repudiating effeminacy that simultaneously challenges and reproduces norms of hegemonic masculinity. In this research, the author situates his ethnographic study of a major metropolitan Bear community in its social and historical context to illuminate this paradox, with special emphasis on the embodiment of Bear masculinity and its effect on sexual practice. The author concludes that through a process of embodied agency, Bear culture yields a number of sexually innovative practices that disperse pleasure across the body and disrupt genitally centered, phallusandreceptacle interpretations of sex. However, the subversive potential of these practices is significantly undermined by an attendant set of practices that reflect heteronormative and hegemonically masculine interpretations of sex.
Predicting Weekly Variation of Culex tarsalis (Diptera: Culicidae) West Nile Virus Infection in a Newly Endemic Region, the Canadian Prairies

ABSTRACT West Nile virus (WNV) spread across most of North America within a short time period after its incursion into the Western Hemisphere. The Canadian prairies had the highest human incidence of WNV disease in Canada, particularly in 2007. Statistical modeling and geographic information systems can be used to develop a predictive model and facilitate the mobilization of targeted disease management strategies. Using data collected between 2005 and 2008, we constructed models integrating abiotic and biotic factors to predict the WNV infection rate in female Culex tarsalis Coquillett, the primary vector of WNV in the Canadian prairies. During the study period, the highest mean Cx. tarsalis infection rate was during week 34 (late August). The Cx. tarsalis infection rate increased with increasing Cx. tarsalis abundance and mean temperature lagged from 1 to 8 wk, but decreased with increasing mean precipitation lagged from 2 to 6 wk. Furthermore, precipitation was a ‘distorter variable’ that altered the association between Cx. tarsalis abundance and the WNV infection rate. Our model clarified how weather influenced the Cx. tarsalis infection rate in the Canadian prairies, a newly and highly WNV endemic region of North America. An understanding of the role of lagged weather variables was essential for providing sufficient lead time to predict WNV occurrence, and for implementing disease control and prevention strategies. Furthermore, it is a useful tool for assessing the potential effects of future climate change on WNV in areas near its northern distributional limit.
Detection of the intercellular adhesion gene cluster (ica) in clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates

Staphylococcus aureus is a major hospital and community pathogen having the aptitude to cause a wide variety of infections in men. The ability of microorganisms to produce biofilm facilitates them to withstand the host immune response and is recognized as one factor contributing to chronic or persistent infections. It was demonstrated that the ica-encoded genes lead to the biosynthesis of polysaccharide intercellular adhesion (PIA) molecules, and may be involved in the accumulation phase of biofilm formation. Different studies have shown the decisive role of the ica gene as virulence factors in staphylococcal infections. This study was carried out to demonstrate the relationship between ica gene and production of slime layer in S. aureus strains. Sixty S. aureus strains were isolated from patients. The isolates were identified morphologically and biochemically following standard laboratory methods. After identification, the staphylococcal isolates were maintained in trypticase soy broth (TSB), to which 15% glycerol was added, and stored at –20°C. Slime formation and biofilm assay was monitored. A PCR assay was developed to identify the presence of icaD (intercellular adhesion gene) gene in all isolates. Thirty-nine slime producing colonies with CRA plates (65%) formed black colors, the remaining 21 isolates were pink (35%). In the quantitative biofilm assay 35 (58%) produced biofilm while 25 (42%) isolates did not exhibit this property. All isolates were positive for detection of icaD gene by PCR method. The interaction of icaA and icaD in the investigated isolates may be important in slime layer formation and biofilm phenomena. We propose PCR detection of the ica gene locus as a rapid and effective method to be used for discrimination between potentially virulent and nonvirulent isolates, with implications for therapeutic and preventive measures pertainin to the management of colonized indwelling catheters.
Boolean network models of cellular regulation: prospects and limitations

Computer models are valuable tools towards an understanding of the cell's biochemical regulatory machinery. Possible levels of description of such models range from modelling the underlying biochemical details to top-down approaches, using tools from the theory of complex networks. The latter, coarse-grained approach is taken where regulatory circuits are classified in graph-theoretical terms, with the elements of the regulatory networks being reduced to simply nodes and links, in order to obtain architectural information about the network. Further, considering dynamics on networks at such an abstract level seems rather unlikely to match dynamical regulatory activity of biological cells. Therefore, it came as a surprise when recently examples of discrete dynamical network models based on very simplistic dynamical elements emerged which in fact do match sequences of regulatory patterns of their biological counterparts. Here I will review such discrete dynamical network models, or Boolean networks, of biological regulatory networks. Further, we will take a look at such models extended with stochastic noise, which allow studying the role of network topology in providing robustness against noise. In the end, we will discuss the interesting question of why at all such simple models can describe aspects of biology despite their simplicity. Finally, prospects of Boolean models in exploratory dynamical models for biological circuits and their mutants will be discussed.
Bone-eating worms from the Antarctic: the contrasting fate of whale and wood remains on the Southern Ocean seafloor

We report the results from the first experimental study of the fate of whale and wood remains on the Antarctic seafloor. Using a baited free-vehicle lander design, we show that whale-falls in the Antarctic are heavily infested by at least two new species of bone-eating worm, Osedax antarcticus sp. nov. and Osedax deceptionensis sp. nov. In stark contrast, wood remains are remarkably well preserved with the absence of typical wood-eating fauna such as the xylophagainid bivalves. The combined whale-fall and wood-fall experiment provides support to the hypothesis that the Antarctic circumpolar current is a barrier to the larvae of deep-water species that are broadly distributed in other ocean basins. Since humans first started exploring the Antarctic, wood has been deposited on the seafloor in the form of shipwrecks and waste; our data suggest that this anthropogenic wood may be exceptionally well preserved. Alongside the new species descriptions, we conducted a comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of Osedax, suggesting the clade is most closely related to the frenulate tubeworms, not the vestimentiferans as previous reported.
Effects of relative humidity on apple quality under simulated shelf temperature storage

The effects of relative humidity (RH) on the quality of `Braeburn' and `Jonagold' apples were studied at 208C under 30, 65 and 95% RH conditions. The aim of the research was to assess the effects of RH on apple quality under retailers' shelf temperatures. Mealy texture may develop by holding apples at high RH (95%), and 208C for some time depending on the cultivar. The 65% RH treatment is a typical RH for shelf life and 30% is a low RH condition. Apple ®rmness, expressible juice content, weight loss, pH, soluble solids content (SSC), and some other quality parameters were determined instrumentally. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was applied to investigate the structural changes at the level of the cell wall. The RH had signi®cant effects on weight loss, ®rmness, and SSC values. Acoustic non-destructive measurements showed that the ®rmness of apples decreased more slowly at higher RH, and the weight loss was faster at low RH for both apple cultivars. Mealiness was observed under high RH (95%) and was associated with low tensile strength and an increase of cell separation following the simulated shelf storage. Higher RH could maintain apple ®rmness and weight better than lower RH but it tended to promote the development of mealy texture at 208C. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
A Survey of SiO 5 → 4 Emission toward Outflows from Low-Luminosity Protostellar Candidates

We have observed the SiO J = 5 → 4 line toward a sample of 25 low-luminosity (L* < 103 L☉) protostellar outflow systems. The line was detected toward seven of the 25 sources, a detection rate of 28%. The majority (5 of 7) of sources detected were of Class 0 status. We detected a higher fraction of Class 0 sources compared with the Class I and II sources, although given the small numbers involved the significance of this result should be regarded as tentative. Most of the detected sources showed emission either at or close to the central position, coincident with the protostar. In four cases (HH 211, HH 25MMS, V380 Ori NE, and HH 212) emission was also detected at positions away from the center, and it was stronger than that observed at the center position. SiO abundances of 10-8 to 8 × 10-7 are derived from LTE analysis. For two sources we have additional transitions, which we use to conduct statistical equilibrium modeling to estimate the gas density in the SiO-emitting regions. For HH 25MMS these results suggest that the SiO emission arises in a higher density region than the methanol previously observed. We find that the most likely explanation for the preferential detection of SiO emission toward Class 0 sources is the greater density of those environments, reinforced by higher shock velocities. We conclude that while not all Class 0 sources exhibit SiO emission, SiO emission is a good signpost for the presence of Class 0 sources.
Dynamic bandwidth control of the virtual path in an asynchronous transfer mode network

The virtual path concept has several valuable features to construct an economical and efficient asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. One of them is bandwidth control which affords transmission efficiency improvement through statistical sharing of capacity. An effective bandwidth control algorithm and its calculated performance are described. Network performance with the algorithm is evaluated, and the bandwidth control is shown to successfully improve network transmission efficiency with only a slight increase in processing load compared to the fixed bandwidth scheme. A method is also proposed to equalize call loss probability for each virtual path. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by analysis. >
Third grade students' perceptions of portfolios

THIRD GRADE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PORTFOLIOS SEPTEMBER 2000 THOMAS M. JULIUS, B.A., TUFTS UNIVERSITY M.Ed., ANTIOCH NEW ENGLAND GRADUATE SCHOOL Ed.D. , UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Linda L. Griffin This study examined elementary students' perceptions of portfolios and identified instructional strategies that supported students' higher order thinking about portfolios. The participants were 22 students and their teachers from two third grade classrooms during the 1998-1999 school year. Data collection included: student and teacher interviews, classroom and parent/teacher conference observations, portfolio artifacts, teacher logs, and consultations with teachers. Student interviews were coded and scored according to each student's depth of insight. Data were analyzed using the constant comparison method for qualitative analysis. Student interviews were coded using The Ethnograph software program. Two themes were derived from the data: portfolios contribute to third grade students’ ability to self-reflect and to the development of students’ sense of ownership in the classroom. Results of this study indicated that students used portfolios to monitor their progress, students made judgments based on physical features, choice was a factor in the portfolio process and, instructional strategies supported higher order thinking.
Distributed Search for Balanced Energy Consumption Spanning Trees in Wireless Sensor Networks

Sensor networks are commonly used for security and surveillance applications. As sensor nodes have limited battery paower, computing, and storage resources, the energy efficient security techniques are needed. We provide a new heuristic approach to search for balanced and small weight routing spanning trees in a network. The approach is a modification of Kruskal's minimum spanning tree (MST) search algorithm and is based on a distributed search by hierarchical clusters. It provides spanning trees with a lower maximum degree, a bigger diameter and can be used for balanced energy consumption routing in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The approach can be implemented in parallel as well as a simple locally distributed algorithm. Simulations of a realistic scenario WSN are done based on the transmission energy matrix. The simulation results show that the proposed approach can extend the functional lifetime of a WSN in 3-4 times in terms of sensor transmission energy. Possible preliminary clustering of the input network is considered as well.
Anaerobes in human biliary tracts

During a 2-year period, 1,892 patients underwent biliary tract surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Both aerobic and anaerobic cultures of bile were performed in 371 of these patients. Sixty-nine percent of the cultures were positive, and 41% (117) of these grew anaerobes, although they were present in pure culture only twice. Mixed cultures most commonly contained four different organisms (three aerobes and one anaerobe). Bacteroides fragilis was the single most commonly isolated anaerobe and ranked fourth in terms of overall isolates behind Escherichia coli, group D streptococci, and Klebsiella B. fragilis accounted for 7.0% of the total group D streptococci, and Klebsiella. B. fragilis accounted for 7.0% of the total aerobic and anaerobic isolates and was present in 21% of all positive cultures. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Clostridium perfringens ranked fifth and sixth, providing 6.5 and 5.9% of all isolates, respectively. This study demonstrates the frequent presence of anaerobes in patients with bactibilia and suggests that they be considered in the formulation of antimicrobial therapy for infections involving human biliary tracts.
Exploring Representation Learning With CNNs for Frame-to-Frame Ego-Motion Estimation

Visual ego-motion estimation, or briefly visual odometry (VO), is one of the key building blocks of modern SLAM systems. In the last decade, impressive results have been demonstrated in the context of visual navigation, reaching very high localization performance. However, all ego-motion estimation systems require careful parameter tuning procedures for the specific environment they have to work in. Furthermore, even in ideal scenarios, most state-of-the-art approaches fail to handle image anomalies and imperfections, which results in less robust estimates. VO systems that rely on geometrical approaches extract sparse or dense features and match them to perform frame-to-frame (F2F) motion estimation. However, images contain much more information that can be used to further improve the F2F estimation. To learn new feature representation, a very successful approach is to use deep convolutional neural networks. Inspired by recent advances in deep networks and by previous work on learning methods applied to VO, we explore the use of convolutional neural networks to learn both the best visual features and the best estimator for the task of visual ego-motion estimation. With experiments on publicly available datasets, we show that our approach is robust with respect to blur, luminance, and contrast anomalies and outperforms most state-of-the-art approaches even in nominal conditions.
Morphological organization of rat hippocampal slice cultures

Using various histological methods, we investigated the cellular and morphological organization of rat hippocampal slice cultures. Many of the typical features of the hippocampus were retained in vitro over a long period of time. The principal cell types of the hippocampus and dentate gyrus, the pyramidal cells and granule cells, were well preserved and matured in vitro. Nonpyramidal cells and γ‐aminobutyric‐acid (GABA) cells were also present in slice cultures and exhibited a strikingly similar dendritic appearance at the light microscopic level. Moreover, GABA‐immunoreactive cell bodies and presynaptic terminals could be identified at the electron microscopic level; they expressed typical symmetric synaptic contacts with cell bodies and dendrites. The course of the intrinsic hippocampal fiber pathways—the mossy fibers, Schaffer collaterals, and alveus–was generally retained in vitro. Additional aberrant fiber projections could be identified. Finally, three types of nonneuronal cells could be distinguished on the basis of immunocytochemical methods.
TSPAN12 is a critical factor for cancer–fibroblast cell contact-mediated cancer invasion

Significance Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are abundant and promote cancer proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Mutations in the p53 gene and decreased p53 expression are often detected in CAFs, and a dysfunction in p53 in CAFs contributes to cancer progression. However, how host-derived p53 influences cancer cells remains unclear. We herein established coculture systems to monitor enhancements in invasiveness and proliferation elicited by p53-depleted fibroblasts and demonstrated that tetraspanin 12 (TSPAN12), identified as a p53-regulated gene, was required for these processes through the contact of cancer cells with stromal fibroblasts and β-catenin–mediated CXC chemokine ligand 6 (CXCL6) secretion. These results suggest that antibodies against TSPAN12 and CXCL6 may be effective therapeutic agents for cancer. Communication between cancer cells and their microenvironment controls cancer progression. Although the tumor suppressor p53 functions in a cell-autonomous manner, it has also recently been shown to function in a non–cell-autonomous fashion. Although functional defects have been reported in p53 in stromal cells surrounding cancer, including mutations in the p53 gene and decreased p53 expression, the role of p53 in stromal cells during cancer progression remains unclear. We herein show that the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a marker of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), was increased by the ablation of p53 in lung fibroblasts. CAFs enhanced the invasion and proliferation of lung cancer cells when cocultured with p53-depleted fibroblasts and required contact between cancer and stromal cells. A comprehensive analysis using a DNA chip revealed that tetraspanin 12 (TSPAN12), which belongs to the tetraspanin protein family, was derepressed by p53 knockdown. TSPAN12 knockdown in p53-depleted fibroblasts inhibited cancer cell proliferation and invasion elicited by coculturing with p53-depleted fibroblasts in vitro, and inhibited tumor growth in vivo. It also decreased CXC chemokine ligand 6 (CXCL6) secretion through the β-catenin signaling pathway, suggesting that cancer cell contact with TSPAN12 in fibroblasts transduced β-catenin signaling into fibroblasts, leading to the secretion of CXCL6 to efficiently promote invasion. These results suggest that stroma-derived p53 plays a pivotal role in epithelial cancer progression and that TSPAN12 and CXCL6 are potential targets for lung cancer therapy.
Identification of a Novel Vinyl Reductase Gene Essential for the Biosynthesis of Monovinyl Chlorophyll in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803*

The vast majority of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms use monovinyl chlorophyll for their photosynthetic reactions. For the biosynthesis of this type of chlorophyll, the reduction of the 8-vinyl group that is located on the B-ring of the macrocycle is essential. Previously, we identified the gene encoding 8-vinyl reductase responsible for this reaction in higher plants and termed it DVR. Among the sequenced genomes of cyanobacteria, only several Synechococcus species contain DVR homologues. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that many other cyanobacteria producing monovinyl chlorophyll should contain a vinyl reductase that is unrelated to the higher plant DVR. To identify the cyanobacterial gene that is responsible for monovinyl chlorophyll synthesis, we developed a bioinformatics tool, correlation coefficient calculation tool, which calculates the correlation coefficient between the distributions of a certain phenotype and genes among a group of organisms. The program indicated that the distribution of a gene encoding a putative dehydrogenase protein is best correlated with the distribution of the DVR-less cyanobacteria. We subsequently knocked out the corresponding gene (Slr1923) in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 and characterized the mutant. The knock-out mutant lost its ability to synthesize monovinyl chlorophyll and accumulated 3,8-divinyl chlorophyll instead. We concluded that Slr1923 encodes the vinyl reductase or a subunit essential for monovinyl chlorophyll synthesis. The function and evolution of 8-vinyl reductase genes are discussed.
Nanosized Thin SnO2 Layers Doped with Te and TeO2 as Room Temperature Humidity Sensors

In this paper the humidity sensing properties of layers prepared by a new method for obtaining doped tin oxide are studied. Different techniques—SEM, EDS in SEM, TEM, SAED, AES and electrical measurements—are used for detailed characterization of the thin layers. The as-deposited layers are amorphous with great specific area and low density. They are built up of a fine grained matrix, consisting of Sn- and Te-oxides, and a nanosized dispersed phase of Te, Sn and/or SnTe. The chemical composition of both the matrix and the nanosized particles depends on the ratio RSn/Te and the evaporation conditions. It is shown that as-deposited layers with RSn/Te ranging from 0.4 to 0.9 exhibit excellent characteristics as humidity sensors operating at room temperature—very high sensitivity, good selectivity, fast response and short recovery period. Ageing tests have shown that the layers possess good long-term stability. Results obtained regarding the type of the water adsorption on the layers' surface help better understand the relation between preparation conditions, structure, composition and humidity sensing properties.