Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improved luminescence properties of nanocrystalline silicon films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition technique at low temperature

Nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) films have been prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). The feed gases were SiF4/SiH4/H2. The deposition temperature, Td and the air exposure time were varied. The optical properties of the films were evaluated by measurement of the photoluminescence (PL) and the structural properties were investigated by measurements of x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared absorption and Raman scattering. The structural changed from an amorphous to a nanocrystalline phase at Td = 80°C. In addition, it suggests that Td low condition lead to the increase in the density of SiH-related bonds and a decrease in the average grain size, . The oxygen absorption peak increases with the air exposure time. The PL intensity increases and blue shifts consistently with the decrease of and increase of oxygen content.
The Influence of Genetic Drift and Selection on Quantitative Traits in a Plant Pathogenic Fungus

Genetic drift and selection are ubiquitous evolutionary forces acting to shape genetic variation in populations. While their relative importance has been well studied in plants and animals, less is known about their relative importance in fungal pathogens. Because agro-ecosystems are more homogeneous environments than natural ecosystems, stabilizing selection may play a stronger role than genetic drift or diversifying selection in shaping genetic variation among populations of fungal pathogens in agro-ecosystems. We tested this hypothesis by conducting a Q ST/F ST analysis using agricultural populations of the barley pathogen Rhynchosporium commune. Population divergence for eight quantitative traits (Q ST) was compared with divergence at eight neutral microsatellite loci (F ST) for 126 pathogen strains originating from nine globally distributed field populations to infer the effects of genetic drift and types of selection acting on each trait. Our analyses indicated that five of the eight traits had Q ST values significantly lower than F ST, consistent with stabilizing selection, whereas one trait, growth under heat stress (22°C), showed evidence of diversifying selection and local adaptation (Q ST>F ST). Estimates of heritability were high for all traits (means ranging between 0.55–0.84), and average heritability across traits was negatively correlated with microsatellite gene diversity. Some trait pairs were genetically correlated and there was significant evidence for a trade-off between spore size and spore number, and between melanization and growth under benign temperature. Our findings indicate that many ecologically and agriculturally important traits are under stabilizing selection in R. commune and that high within-population genetic variation is maintained for these traits.
Deletion of a Cation Transporter Promotes Lysis in Streptococcus pneumoniae

ABSTRACT Streptococcus pneumoniae is a significant human pathogen which causes respiratory and serious invasive diseases. Mg2+ is essential for life, and its concentration varies throughout the human body. Magnesium uptake plays an important role in the virulence of many bacterial pathogens. To study the Mg2+ uptake of S. pneumoniae strain D39, a mutant was generated in SPD1383, a P-type ATPase with homology to the Salmonella Mg2+ transporter MgtA, which has also been shown to be a Ca2+ exporter in strain TIGR4. Under low-Ca2+ conditions, mutation led to a growth defect in complex medium and the gene was nearly essential for growth under low-Mg2+ conditions. Addition of Mg2+ restored the normal growth of the mutant in all cases, but the addition of other divalent cations had no effect. Addition of Ca2+, Mn2+, and Zn2+ in the presence of high Mg2+ concentrations inhibited restoration of growth. The mutant was unable to proliferate in blood, which was also alleviated by the addition of Mg2+. The protein was located in the membrane and produced in various S. pneumoniae strains and pathogenic streptococcal species. Surprisingly, mutation of the gene led to an elevated toxicity for endothelial cells. This was caused by an increased amount of pneumolysin in the medium, mediated by elevated lysis of the mutant. Thus, in this study, we uncovered a role for SPD1383 in Mg2+ uptake and hypothesize that the protein is a Mg2+/Ca2+ antiporter. Furthermore, a disturbance in Mg2+ homeostasis seems to promote lysis of S. pneumoniae.
Do conditional cash transfers influence migration? A study using experimental data from the Mexican progresa program

Prior research on Mexican migration has shown that social networks and economic incentives play an important role in determining migration outcomes. We use experimental data from PROGRESA, Mexico’s primary poverty-reduction program, to evaluate the effects of conditional cash transfers on migration both domestically and to the United States. Our study complements a growing body of literature aimed at overcoming longstanding hurdles to the establishment of causal validity in empirical studies of migration. Analysis based on the data collected before and after the program’s onset shows that conditional transfers reduce U.S. migration but not domestic migration. The data also enable us to explore the role of existing family and community migration networks. The results show that migration networks strongly influence migration, but that the effect of conditional transfers on migration is apparently not mediated by existing migration network structures. Our results suggest that conditional transfers may be helpful in managing rural out-migration, particularly to the United States.
Supercritical entanglement in local systems: Counterexample to the area law for quantum matter

Significance We introduce a class of exactly solvable models with surprising properties. We show that even simple quantum matter is much more entangled than previously believed possible. One then expects more complex systems to be substantially more entangled. For over two decades it was believed that the area law is violated by at most a logarithm in the system’s size for quantum matter (i.e., interactions satisfying physical reasonability criteria clearly stated in the article). In this work we introduce a class of physically reasonable models that we can prove violate the area law by a square root, i.e., exponentially more than the logarithm. Quantum entanglement is the most surprising feature of quantum mechanics. Entanglement is simultaneously responsible for the difficulty of simulating quantum matter on a classical computer and the exponential speedups afforded by quantum computers. Ground states of quantum many-body systems typically satisfy an “area law”: The amount of entanglement between a subsystem and the rest of the system is proportional to the area of the boundary. A system that obeys an area law has less entanglement and can be simulated more efficiently than a generic quantum state whose entanglement could be proportional to the total system’s size. Moreover, an area law provides useful information about the low-energy physics of the system. It is widely believed that for physically reasonable quantum systems, the area law cannot be violated by more than a logarithmic factor in the system’s size. We introduce a class of exactly solvable one-dimensional physical models which we can prove have exponentially more entanglement than suggested by the area law, and violate the area law by a square-root factor. This work suggests that simple quantum matter is richer and can provide much more quantum resources (i.e., entanglement) than expected. In addition to using recent advances in quantum information and condensed matter theory, we have drawn upon various branches of mathematics such as combinatorics of random walks, Brownian excursions, and fractional matching theory. We hope that the techniques developed herein may be useful for other problems in physics as well.
Global phylogeography of the dusky shark Carcharhinus obscurus: implications for fisheries management and monitoring the shark fin trade

Genetic stock structure information is needed to delineate management units and mon- itor trade in sharks, many of which are heavily exploited and declining. The dusky shark Carcha - rhinus obscurus is a large apex predator that is sought after for its fins and is considered highly sus- ceptible to overexploitation. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies this species as 'Vulnerable' globally and 'Endangered' in the northwest Atlantic. We make the first assessment of global stock structure of C. obscurus by analyzing part of the mitochondrial control region (mtCR) in 255 individuals sampled from 8 geographically dispersed locations. We found 25 mtCR haplotypes and rejected a null hypothesis of panmixia (analysis of molecular variance, ΦST = 0.55, p < 0.000001), detecting significant differentiation between 3 management units: US Atlantic (USATL), South Africa (SAF), and Australia (AUS). We also found preliminary evidence of population structure between the USATL and southwest Atlantic (Brazil). There were no shared haplotypes between the western Atlantic and Indo-Pacific. These analyses suggest that replenishment of the col- lapsed USATL management unit via immigration of females from elsewhere is unlikely. Mixed stock analysis (MSA) simulations show that reconstruction of the relative contributions of USATL, SAF, and AUS management units to the Asian fin trade is possible using these mtCR sequences. We suggest avenues for obtaining samples to conduct MSA of the shark fin trade, which could enhance manage- ment of dusky sharks and other species that are exploited for their fins.
Andrographolide sensitizes prostate cancer cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a promising agent for anticancer therapy. The identification of small molecules that can establish the sensitivity of prostate cancer (PCa) cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis is crucial for the targeted treatment of PCa. PC3, DU145, JAC-1, TsuPr1, and LNCaP cells were treated with Andrographolide (Andro) and TRAIL, and the apoptosis was measured using the Annexin V/PI double staining method. Real time-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot analysis were performed to measure the expression levels of target molecules. RNA interference technique was used to down-regulate the expression of the target protein. We established a nude mouse xenograft model of PCa, which was used to measure the caspase-3 activity in the tumor cells using flow cytometry. In this research study, our results demonstrated that Andro preferentially increased the sensitivity of PCa cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis at subtoxic concentrations, and the regulation mechanism was related to the up-regulation of DR4. In addition, it also increased the p53 expression and led to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cells. Further research revealed that the DR4 inhibition, p53 expression, and ROS generation can significantly reduce the apoptosis induced by the combination of TRAIL and Andro in PCa cells. In conclusion, Andro increases the sensitivity of PCa cells to TRAIL-induced apoptosis through the generation of ROS and up-regulation of p53 and then promotes PCa cell apoptosis associated with the activation of DR4.
Metrological techniques to study pirmary and secondar hemostasis

xvi Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Overview of Hemostasis and Relation to Disease . 1 1.2 Blood and Vascular Cell Physiology . 2 1.2. 1 Red blood cells . 2 1.2. 2 White blood cells . 3 1.2. 3 Platelets . 3 1.2. 4 Endothelial cells . 4 1.2. 5 Hemorheology . 4 1.3 Primary Hemostasis . 5 1.3. 1 Mechanism of platelet adhesion . 5 1.3. 2 Platelet activation and aggregation . 6 1.3. 3 Dysfunction of primary hemostasis . 10 1.3. 4 Common methodologies to study primary hemostasis . 11 1.4 Secondary Hemostasis . 13
Human Genome Epidemiology ( HuGE ) Review The Association Between Complement Component 2 / Complement Factor B Polymorphisms and Age-related Macular Degeneration : A HuGE Review and Meta-Analysis

The authors performed a systematic review of the association of complement component 2(C2)/complement factor B (CFB) gene polymorphisms with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In total, data from 19 studies published between 2006 and 2011 were pooled for 4 polymorphisms: rs9332739 and rs547154 in the C2 gene and rs4151667 and rs641153 in the CFB gene. Data extraction and assessments for risk of bias were independently performed by 2 reviewers. Allele frequencies and allele and genotypic effects were pooled. Heterogeneity and publication bias were explored. Pooled minor allele frequencies for all 4 SNPs were between 4.7% and 9.6% for all polymorphisms, except for an Indian population in which the C allele at rs9332739 was the major allele. For the C2 polymorphisms, the minor C allele at rs9332739 and the minor T allele at rs547154 carried estimated relative risks (odds ratios) of 0.55 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.46, 0.65) and 0.47 (95% CI: 0.39, 0.57), respectively. For the CFB polymorphisms, the minor A alleles at rs4151667 and rs614153 carried estimated risks of 0.54 (95% CI: 0.45, 0.64) and 0.41 (95% CI: 0.34, 0.51), respectively. These allele effects contributed to an absolute lowering of the risk of all AMD in Caucasian populations by 2.0%–6.0%. This meta-analysis provides a robust estimate of the protective association of C2/CFB with AMD.
Light quark masses from lattice QCD

We present estimates of the masses of light quarks using lattice data. Our main results are based on a global analysis of all the published data for Wilson, Sheikholeslami-Wohlert (clover), and staggered fermions, both in the quenched approximation and with n{sub f}=2 dynamical flavors. We find that the values of masses with the various formulations agree after extrapolation to the continuum limit for the n{sub f}=0 theory. Our best estimates, in the {ovr MS} scheme at {mu}=2GeV, are {bar m}=3.4{plus_minus}0.4{plus_minus}0.3MeV and m{sub s}=100{plus_minus}21{plus_minus}10MeV in the quenched approximation. The n{sub f}=2 results,{bar m}=2.7{plus_minus}0.3{plus_minus}0.3MeV and m{sub s}=68{plus_minus}12{plus_minus}7MeV, are preliminary. (A linear extrapolation in n{sub f} would further reduce these estimates for the physical case of three dynamical flavors.) These estimates are smaller than phenomenological estimates based on sum rules, but maintain the ratios predicted by chiral perturbation theory. The new results have a significant impact on the extraction of {epsilon}{sup {prime}}/{epsilon} from the standard model. Using the same lattice data we estimate the quark condensate using the Gell-Mann{endash}Oakes{endash}Renner relation. Again the three formulations give consistent results after extrapolation to a=0, and the value turns out to be correspondingly larger, roughly preserving m{sub s}{l_angle}{bar {psi}}{psi}{r_angle}. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
Studies on the diatom genus Stenopterobia (Bacillariophyceae) including descriptions of two new species

During an investigation of freshwater diatoms from highly acidic ponds scattered along the Atlantic Coastal Plain of North Carolina we encountered a large number of specimens from the genus Stenopterobia. All of the specimens were representative of straight, not sigmoidal-shaped, taxa and collectively ranged in length from ca. 10 µm to over 200 µm. In the process of making species determinations we examined type material for four species of Stenopterobia originally described by Lewis (1864) from Saco Pond, a small spring-fed waterbody nestled in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The four species, Stenopterobia baileyi (Lewis) Brebisson ex Van Heurck, Stenopterobia anceps (Lewis) Brebisson ex Van Heurck, Stenopterobia delicatissima (Lewis) Brebisson ex Van Heurck, and Surirella intermedia Lewis (=Stenopterobia curvula (W. Smith) Krammer), were originally placed by Lewis within the genus Surirella. We examined seven permanent slides archived at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia that contai.
Individual Differences in Auditory Brainstem Response Wave Characteristics

Little is known about how outer hair cell loss interacts with noise-induced and age-related auditory nerve degradation (i.e., cochlear synaptopathy) to affect auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave characteristics. Given that listeners with impaired audiograms likely suffer from mixtures of these hearing deficits and that ABR amplitudes have successfully been used to isolate synaptopathy in listeners with normal audiograms, an improved understanding of how different hearing pathologies affect the ABR source generators will improve their sensitivity in hearing diagnostics. We employed a functional model for human ABRs in which different combinations of hearing deficits were simulated and show that high-frequency cochlear gain loss steepens the slope of the ABR Wave-V latency versus intensity and amplitude versus intensity curves. We propose that grouping listeners according to a ratio of these slope metrics (i.e., the ABR growth ratio) might offer a way to factor out the outer hair cell loss deficit and maximally relate individual differences for constant ratios to other peripheral hearing deficits such as cochlear synaptopathy. We compared the model predictions to recorded click-ABRs from 30 participants with normal or high-frequency sloping audiograms and confirm the predicted relationship between the ABR latency growth curve and audiogram slope. Experimental ABR amplitude growth showed large individual differences and was compared with the Wave-I amplitude, Wave-V/I ratio, or the interwave I – W latency in the same listeners. The model simulations along with the ABR recordings suggest that a hearing loss profile depicting the ABR growth ratio versus the Wave-I amplitude or Wave-V/I ratio might be able to differentiate outer hair cell deficits from cochlear synaptopathy in listeners with mixed pathologies.
Intraspecific Variation in Cellular and Biochemical Heat Response Strategies of Mediterranean Xeropicta derbentina [Pulmonata, Hygromiidae]

Dry and hot environments challenge the survival of terrestrial snails. To minimize overheating and desiccation, physiological and biochemical adaptations are of high importance for these animals. In the present study, seven populations of the Mediterranean land snail species Xeropicta derbentina were sampled from their natural habitat in order to investigate the intraspecific variation of cellular and biochemical mechanisms, which are assigned to contribute to heat resistance. Furthermore, we tested whether genetic parameters are correlated with these physiological heat stress response patterns. Specimens of each population were individually exposed to elevated temperatures (25 to 52°C) for 8 h in the laboratory. After exposure, the health condition of the snails' hepatopancreas was examined by means of qualitative description and semi-quantitative assessment of histopathological effects. In addition, the heat-shock protein 70 level (Hsp70) was determined. Generally, calcium cells of the hepatopancreas were more heat resistant than digestive cells - this phenomenon was associated with elevated Hsp70 levels at 40°C.We observed considerable variation in the snails' heat response strategy: Individuals from three populations invested much energy in producing a highly elevated Hsp70 level, whereas three other populations invested energy in moderate stress protein levels - both strategies were in association with cellular functionality. Furthermore, one population kept cellular condition stable despite a low Hsp70 level until 40°C exposure, whereas prominent cellular reactions were observed above this thermal limit. Genetic diversity (mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene) within populations was low. Nevertheless, when using genetic indices as explanatory variables in a multivariate regression tree (MRT) analysis, population structure explained mean differences in cellular and biochemical heat stress responses, especially in the group exposed to 40°C. Our study showed that, even in similar habitats within a close range, populations of the same species use different stress response strategies that all rendered survival possible.
Interprofessional teamwork in medical rehabilitation: a comparison of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary team approach

Objective: To compare multi- and interdisciplinary team approaches concerning team process (teamwork) and team effectiveness (team performance and staff satisfaction) in German medical rehabilitation clinics. Design: A cross-sectional study with a descriptive—explorative design. Setting: Eighteen medical rehabilitation clinics divided into two groups (somatic and psychosomatic indication fields). Subjects: The 18 head physicians or psychotherapists in the clinics and their complete rehabilitation teams (n = 824). Main measures: An interview guide was designed to determine the team approach in a telephone interview. A staff questionnaire for team members measured teamwork and team effectiveness with psychometrically validated questionnaires and self-administered items. Results: All 18 head physicians took part in the telephone interview. The response rate of the employee attitude survey averaged 46% (n = 378). Eight teams were categorized as multidisciplinary and seven teams as interdisciplinary. In three cases the results were ambiguous. These teams were not considered in the further study. As expected, the interdisciplinary team approach showed significantly better results for nearly all aspects of teamwork and team effectiveness in comparison with the multidisciplinary team approach. The differences between multi- and interdisciplinary approach concerning teamwork and team effectiveness were higher in the somatic (8 teams, n = 183) than in the psychosomatic indication fields (7 teams, n = 195). Conclusions: Teamwork and team effectiveness are higher in teams working with the interdisciplinary team approach. Therefore the interdisciplinary approach can be recommended, particularly for clinics in the somatic indication field. Team development can help to move from the multidisciplinary to the interdisciplinary approach.
Occlusion-aware 3D multiple object tracker with two cameras for visual surveillance

An occlusion-aware multiple deformable object tracker for visual surveillance from two cameras is presented. Each object is tracked by a separate particle filter tracker, which is initiated upon detection of a new person and terminated when s/he leaves the scene. Objects are considered as 3D points at their centre of masses as if their mass density is uniform. Point objects and corresponding silhouette centroids in two views together with the epipolar geometry they satisfy resulted in a practical tracking methodology. An occlusion filter is described, that provides the tracker filters conditional occlusion probabilities of the objects, given their estimated positions. Advances over the previous work; in the computation of conditional occlusion probabilities, in incorporation of these probabilities in the particle filter, and in maintaining tracking of separating objects after long periods of moving close-by, are presented on PETS 2006, PETS 2009 and EPFL datasets.