Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variable Effects of Dispersal on Productivity of Bacterial Communities Due to Changes in Functional Trait Composition

Previous studies have shown variable relationships between dispersal rate and ecosystem functioning, but the reasons for and mechanisms behind variable dispersal rate – functioning patterns are currently unknown. In this study we used six bacterial lake water communities in a laboratory experiment in order to investigate how dispersal among communities influences community productivity by evaluating three different mechanisms: 1) changes in taxonomic diversity, 2) changes in phylogenetic diversity or 3) changes in the composition of functional traits. The experiment was conducted in two phases; (A) a dialysis bag experiment where the dispersal rate among six communities was manipulated and the subsequent change in bacterial diversity and growth rate was recorded, and (B) a regrowth experiment where we manipulated available resources to study how well a taxon grows on certain organic carbon resources, i.e. their functional traits. From experiment (B) we could thus estimate changes in functional traits in communities in experiment (A). Bacterial production was affected by dispersal, but not consistently among lakes. Neither change in taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity with dispersal could explain the observed dispersal – productivity relationships. Instead, changes in trait composition with dispersal, especially the communities’ ability to use p-coumaric acid, an aromatic compound, could explain the observed dispersal – productivity relationships. Changes in this trait caused by dispersal seemed especially important for bacterial productivity in waters with a high aromaticity of the organic matter pool. We conclude that the effect of dispersal on bacterial communities can affect ecosystem functioning in different ways, through changes in functional key-traits which are important for the local environment.
Aspergillus sporulation and mycotoxin production both require inactivation of the FadA Gα protein‐dependent signaling pathway

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans contains a cluster of 25 genes that encode enzymes required to synthesize a toxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolite called sterigmatocystin (ST), a precursor of the better known fungal toxin aflatoxin (AF). One ST Cluster (stc) gene, aflR, functions as a pathway‐specific transcriptional regulator for activation of other genes in the ST pathway. However, the mechanisms controlling activation of aflR and synthesis of ST and AF are not understood. Here we show that one important level for control of stc gene expression requires genes that were first identified as early acting regulators of asexual sporulation. Specifically, we found that loss‐of‐function mutations in flbA, which encodes a RGS domain protein, or dominant activating mutations in fadA, which encodes the α subunit of a heterotrimeric G protein, block both ST production and asexual sporulation. Moreover, overexpression of flbA or dominant interfering fadA mutations cause precocious stc gene expression and ST accumulation, as well as unscheduled sporulation. The requirement for flbA in sporulation and ST production could be suppressed by loss‐of‐function fadA mutations. The ability of flbA to activate stc gene expression was dependent upon another early acting developmental regulator, fluG, and AflR, the stc gene‐specific transcription factor. These results are consistent with a model in which both asexual sporulation and ST production require inactivation of proliferative growth through inhibition of FadA‐dependent signaling. This regulatory mechanism is conserved in AF‐producing fungi and could therefore provide a means of controlling AF contamination.
Cytoskeletal stability and metabolic alterations in primary human macrophages in long-term microgravity

The immune system is one of the most affected systems of the human body during space flight. The cells of the immune system are exceptionally sensitive to microgravity. Thus, serious concerns arise, whether space flight associated weakening of the immune system ultimately precludes the expansion of human presence beyond the Earth's orbit. For human space flight, it is an urgent need to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which altered gravity influences and changes the functions of immune cells. The CELLBOX-PRIME (= CellBox-Primary Human Macrophages in Microgravity Environment) experiment investigated for the first time microgravity-associated long-term alterations in primary human macrophages, one of the most important effector cells of the immune system. The experiment was conducted in the U.S. National Laboratory on board of the International Space Station ISS using the NanoRacks laboratory and Biorack type I standard CELLBOX EUE type IV containers. Upload and download were performed with the SpaceX CRS-3 and the Dragon spaceship on April 18th, 2014 / May 18th, 2014. Surprisingly, primary human macrophages exhibited neither quantitative nor structural changes of the actin and vimentin cytoskeleton after 11 days in microgravity when compared to 1g controls. Neither CD18 or CD14 surface expression were altered in microgravity, however ICAM-1 expression was reduced. The analysis of 74 metabolites in the cell culture supernatant by GC–TOF–MS, revealed eight metabolites with significantly different quantities when compared to 1g controls. In particular, the significant increase of free fucose in the cell culture supernatant was associated with a significant decrease of cell surface–bound fucose. The reduced ICAM-1 expression and the loss of cell surface–bound fucose may contribute to functional impairments, e.g. the activation of T cells, migration and activation of the innate immune response. We assume that the surprisingly small and non-significant cytoskeletal alterations represent a stable “steady state” after adaptive processes are initiated in the new microgravity environment. Due to the utmost importance of the human macrophage system for the elimination of pathogens and the clearance of apoptotic cells, its apparent robustness to a low gravity environment is crucial for human health and performance during long-term space missions.
Caprylate Salts Based on Amines as Volatile Corrosion Inhibitors for Metallic Zinc: Theoretical and Experimental Studies

The interaction of volatile corrosion inhibitors (VCI), caprylate salt derivatives from amines, with zinc metallic surfaces is assessed by density functional theory (DFT) computer simulations, electrochemical impedance (EIS) measurements and humid chamber tests. The results obtained by the different methods were compared, and linear correlations were obtained between theoretical and experimental data. The correlations between experimental and theoretical results showed that the molecular size is the determining factor in the inhibition efficiency. The models used and experimental results indicated that dicyclohexylamine caprylate is the most efficient inhibitor.
Imitation Learning of Robot Movement Using Evolutionary Algorithm

Abstract This paper presents a new framework to generate human-like movement of a humanoid robot in real time using the movement primitive database of a human. The framework consists of two processes: (1) the offline motion imitation learning based on Evolutionary Algorithm and (2) the movement generation of a humanoid robot using the database updated by the motion imitation learning. For the offline process, the initial database contains the kinetic characteristics of a human, since it is full of humans captured motions. The database then develops through the proposed framework of motion learning based on Evolutionary Algorithm, having characteristics of a humanoid in aspect of minimal torque. The humanoid generates a human-like movement corresponding to a given task in real-time by linearly interpolating the primitive movements in the developed database. The proposed framework is a systematic methodology for a humanoid robot to learn human motions, considering the dynamics of the robot. The experiment of catching a ball thrown by a man is performed to show the feasibility of the proposed framework.
Anopheles gambiae miRNAs as actors of defence reaction against Plasmodium invasion

The path Plasmodium takes across the Anopheles midgut constitutes the major bottleneck during the malaria transmission cycle. In the present study, using a combination of shot-gun cloning and bioinformatic analysis, we have identified 18 miRNAs from Anopheles gambiae including three miRNAs unique to mosquito. Twelve of them are expressed ubiquitously across the body, independently of gender, while the other six exhibited an expression pattern restricted to the digestive system. Strikingly, the expression patterns of four miRNAs, including the three unique to mosquito, are affected by the presence of Plasmodium. We also show that knocking down Dicer1 and Ago1 mRNAs led to an increased sensitivity to Plasmodium infection. Altogether, these data support an involvement of miRNAs as new layers in the regulation of Anopheles defence reaction.
Pregnant mice lacking indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase exhibit preeclampsia phenotypes

Preeclampsia is a cardiovascular disorder of late pregnancy that is, commonly characterized by hypertension, renal structural damage and dysfunction, and fetal growth restriction. Prevailing etiologic models of this disorder include T‐cell dysfunction as an initiating cause of preeclampsia. Indoleamine 2,3‐dioxygenase (IDO), an enzyme that mediates the conversion of tryptophan to kynurenine, has been linked to preeclampsia in humans, and is known to regulate T‐cell activity and an endothelial‐derived relaxing factor. To test the hypothesis that IDO is causally involved in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia, mice deficient for IDO (IDO‐KO) were generated on a C57BL/6 background. IDO‐KO and wild‐type C57BL/6 mice were bred, and preeclampsia phenotypes were evaluated during pregnancy. Pregnant IDO‐KO mice exhibited pathognomonic renal glomerular endotheliosis, proteinuria, pregnancy‐specific endothelial dysfunction, intrauterine growth restriction, and mildly elevated blood pressure compared to wild‐type mice. Together these findings highlight an important role for IDO in the generation of phenotypes typical of preeclampsia. Loss of IDO function may represent a risk factor for the development of preeclampsia. By extension, increased IDO activity, reductions in IDO reactants, or increases in IDO products may represent novel therapeutic approaches for this disorder.
Hybrid Chinese/English text identification in Web images

In this paper, a novel algorithm is presented for hybrid Chinese/English text location, segmentation and Chinese character reconstruction in Web images. Since Web images have certain characteristics that distinguish them from conventional complex background images, most text segmentation algorithms with good performance in other fields fail to recognize Web images text. This paper proposes an algorithm that aims to locate and segment hybrid text in Web images, and to retrieve complete Chinese characters using a novel character reconstruction algorithm. Experimental result shows that our approach has high text detection rate and fast processing speed when identifying Web image text, and has promising result in segmentation of oriental text symbols such as Chinese, Japanese and Korea characters.
Transmembrane Charge Separation during the Ferryl-oxo → Oxidized Transition in a Nonpumping Mutant of Cytochrome c Oxidase*

The N139D mutant of cytochrome c oxidase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides retains full steady state oxidase activity but completely lacks proton translocation coupled to turnover in reconstituted liposomes (Pawate, A. S., Morgan, J., Namslauer, A., Mills, D., Brzezinski, P., Ferguson-Miller, S., and Gennis, R. B. (2002) Biochemistry 41, 13417–13423). Here, time-resolved electron transfer and vectorial charge translocation in the ferryl-oxo → oxidized transition (transfer of the 4th electron in the catalytic cycle) have been studied with the N139D mutant using ruthenium(II)-tris-bipyridyl complex as a photoactive single-electron donor. With the wild type oxidase, the flash-induced generation of Δφ in the ferryl-oxo → oxidized transition begins with rapid vectorial electron transfer from CuA to heme a (τ ∼15 μs), followed by two protonic phases, referred to as the intermediate (0.4 ms) and slow electrogenic phases (1.5 ms). In the N139D mutant, only a single protonic phase (τ ∼0.6 ms) is observed, which was associated with electron transfer from heme a to the heme a3/CuB site and decelerates ∼4-fold in D2O. With the wild type oxidase, such a high H2O/D2O solvent isotope effect is characteristic of only the slow (1.5 ms) phase. Presumably, the 0.6-ms electrogenic phase in the N139D mutant reports proton transfer from the inner aqueous phase to Glu-286, replacing the “chemical” proton transferred from Glu-286 to the heme a3/CuB site. The transfer occurs through the D-channel, because it is observed also in the N139D/K362M double mutant in which the K-channel is blocked. It is concluded that the intermediate electrogenic phase observed in the wild type enzyme is missing in the N139D mutant and is because of translocation of the “pumped” proton from Glu-286 to the D-ring propionate of heme a3 or to release of this proton to the outer aqueous phase. Significantly, with the wild type oxidase, the protonic electrogenic phase associated with proton pumping (∼0.4 ms) precedes the electrogenic phase associated with the oxygen chemistry (∼1.5 ms).
Quantitation of CD62, soluble CD62, and lysosome‐associated membrane proteins 1 and 2 for evaluation of the quality of stored platelet concentrates

BACKGROUND: Platelets become activated during storage, which results in secretion of granules, vesiculation of microparticles, secretion of protein, and a number of other biochemical and morphologic processes that decrease the utility of platelet concentrates stored for transfusion. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To evaluate the quality of stored platelet concentrates, the cell surface expression of specific activation‐dependent antigens (CD62 and lysosome‐associated membrane proteins 1 and 2 [LAMP‐1, LAMP‐2]) on platelets stored in a hospital blood bank over a 7‐day period was examined. Relative microparticle counts and the expression of CD62 by microparticles, as well as platelet concentrate supernatant levels of soluble CD62, were determined. RESULTS: The percentage of platelets expressing CD62 increased significantly from Day 1 to Day 5 (p < 0.05) of storage; the mean fluorescence values for CD62 did not. In contrast, the mean fluorescence values of LAMP‐1 and LAMP‐2 rose significantly (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively) between Days 1 and 5. Significant declines in CD62, LAMP‐1, and LAMP‐2 percent expression and mean fluorescence were seen on Day 6 of storage (p < 0.001). Microparticle numbers increased significantly during storage and correlated with levels of CD62 protein (free and membrane‐bound) (r = 0.95 vs. Day 2, p < 0.05; r = 0.88 vs. Day 5, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Flow cytometric evaluations of the expression of cell surface CD62, LAMP‐1, and LAMP‐2 are complementary tests that, especially when used in conjunction with the quantitation of CD62 protein, provided a simple and effective means of evaluating the quality of platelet concentrates stored for transfusion.
The Ile 13 residueofmicrocin J 25 is essential for recognition by the receptor FhuA , but not by the innermembrane transporterSbmA

The Ile residueofmicrocin J25 is essential for recognition by the receptor FhuA,but not by the innermembrane transporterSbmA Sergio B. Socias, Konstantin Severinov & Raul A. Salomon Departamento de Bioquı́mica de la Nutrición, Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas (INSIBIO) (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientı́ficas y Técnicas-Universidad Nacional de Tucumán), San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán, Argentina; Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Waksman Institute, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA and Institutes of Molecular Genetics and Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
An Automated Approach for Sub-Pixel Registration of Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Sentinel-2 Multi Spectral Instrument (MSI) Imagery

Moderate spatial resolution satellite data from the Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-2A MSI sensors together offer 10 m to 30 m multi-spectral reflective wavelength global coverage, providing the opportunity for improved combined sensor mapping and monitoring of the Earth’s surface. However, the standard geolocated Landsat-8 OLI L1T and Sentinel-2A MSI L1C data products are currently found to be misaligned. An approach for automated registration of Landsat-8 OLI L1T and Sentinel-2A MSI L1C data is presented and demonstrated using contemporaneous sensor data. The approach is computationally efficient because it implements feature point detection across four image pyramid levels to identify a sparse set of tie-points. Area-based least squares matching around the feature points with mismatch detection across the image pyramid levels is undertaken to provide reliable tie-points. The approach was assessed by examination of extracted tie-point spatial distributions and tie-point mapping transformations (translation, affine and second order polynomial), dense-matching prediction-error assessment, and by visual registration assessment. Two test sites over Cape Town and Limpopo province in South Africa that contained cloud and shadows were selected. A Landsat-8 L1T image and two Sentinel-2A L1C images sensed 16 and 26 days later were registered (Cape Town) to examine the robustness of the algorithm to surface, atmosphere and cloud changes, in addition to the registration of a Landsat-8 L1T and Sentinel-2A L1C image pair sensed 4 days apart (Limpopo province). The automatically extracted tie-points revealed sensor misregistration greater than one 30 m Landsat-8 pixel dimension for the two Cape Town image pairs, and greater than one 10 m Sentinel-2A pixel dimension for the Limpopo image pair. Transformation fitting assessments showed that the misregistration can be effectively characterized by an affine transformation. Hundreds of automatically located tie-points were extracted and had affine-transformation root-mean-square error fits of approximately 0.3 pixels at 10 m resolution and dense-matching prediction errors of similar magnitude. These results and visual assessment of the affine transformed data indicate that the methodology provides sub-pixel registration performance required for meaningful Landsat-8 OLI and Sentinel-2A MSI data comparison and combined data applications.
On noisy FIR filtering via total least squares estimation

It is known that a problem of FIR filtering with noisy input and output data can be formulated as a total least squares (TLS) estimation problem. In this paper the sensitivity of the TLS algorithm with respect to the ratio between the variances of the input and output noises is studied. The sensitivity analysis shows that the assumption of the known noise variances ratio, which is vital to application of the TLS algorithm, can be relaxed to that of a rough range of this ratio. The practical workability of the TLS algorithm in noisy FIR filtering is thereby substantially increased. The theoretical findings are corroborated with computer simulation results.
Implication of Augmented Vasogenic Leakage in the Mechanism of Persistent Aura in Sporadic Hemiplegic Migraine

The aim of this study is to report a possible implication of augmented vasogenic leakage in the mechanism of prolonged aura in sporadic hemiplegic migraine. A 35-year-old woman with sporadic hemiplegic migraine presented with headache followed by right arm weakness, right visual field defect, aphasia and confusion that persisted for 1 week. During the acute stage, focal hyperaemia was seen in the left cerebral hemisphere corresponding to persistent aura symptoms. Augmented vasogenic leakage was demonstrated on delayed enhanced fluid-attenuated inversion recovery image. Magnetic resonance angiography showed dilation of the left middle cerebral artery. During the convalescent stage, such abnormal findings were not seen. Based on these results, we speculate that augmented vasogenic leakage from the leptomeningeal vessels, probably associated with activation of the trigeminovascular system, may delay the recovery of hemiplegic migraine aura.
Perception of English /i/ and /I/ by Japanese and Spanish Listeners: Longitudinal Results

Flege’s Speech Learning Model predicts that if an L2 learner perceives an L2 speech sound as similar to an L1 speech sound, the two sounds will be combined as a diaphone category, the properties of which will eventually be intermediate between the properties of the L1 and L2 sound. In contrast if the L2 sound is perceived as new, then a new category will be established with properties which may eventually match the properties of the L2 sound. Canadian English has two high front vowels: tense /i/ and lax // differing in spectral and duration properties. Japanese has two high front vowels: long /i/ and short /i/ differing in duration only. English /i/ and // are expected to be perceived as similar to Japanese /i/ and /i/, and Japanese learners of English are predicted to establish diaphone categories. Their identification of English /i/ and // is predicted to initially match their perception of Japanese /i/ and /i/, but eventually be intermediate between the native norms for the L1 and L2 categories. Spanish has one high front vowel. Spanish learners of English are predicted to perceive English // as less similar to Spanish /i/ than English /i/, and are predicted to eventually establish a new // category. Their identification of English /i/ and // is predicted to initially be poor but eventually match that of English listeners. These predictions were tested using a multidimensional edited-speech continuum covering the English words /bt bit bd bid/. Properties which varied in the continuum included vowel spectral properties and vowel duration. A longitudinal study was conducted testing Japanese and Spanish speaking learners of English one month and six months after their arrival in Canada. Japanese listeners were found to have a primarily duration-based categorical boundary between English /i/ and // which did not change between the initial and final tests. Spanish listeners did not have a categorical identification pattern in the initial test, but they did establish duration-based or spectrally-based categorical boundaries by the time of the final test. Results were therefore consistent with the theoretical predictions.
Overconfidence and Bubbles in Experimental Asset Markets

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between market overconfidence and occurrence of stock-price bubbles. Sixty participants traded stocks in 10 experimental asset markets. Markets were constructed on the basis of subjects' overconfidence: The most overconfident subjects form high overconfidence markets and the least overconfident subjects low overconfidence markets. Prices in low overconfidence markets tend to track the fundamental asset value more accurately than prices in high overconfidence markets and are significantly lower and less volatile. Additionally, we observe significantly higher bubble measures and trading volume in high overconfidence markets. Two possible explanations for these differences are analyzed: While price expectations are significantly higher in high overconfidence markets, no differences in the average degree of risk aversion were detected.