Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microbial and Enzyme Activities of Saline and Sodic Soils

Salinization and sodication are abiotic soil factors, important hazards to soil fertility and consequently affect the crop production. Soil salinization is of great concern for irrigated agriculture in arid and semi‐arid regions of the world; sodicity is characterized by an excessively high concentration of sodium (Na) in their cation exchange system. In recent times, attention has been turned to study the impacts of these factors (salinity and sodicity) on soil microbial activities. Microbial activities play central role in degradation and decomposition of soil organic matter, mineralization of nutrients and stabilization of soil aggregates. To understand the ecology of soil system, therefore, it is important to be conversant with the soil microbial activities, which show quick response to little change in the soil environment. Microbial activities (generally measured as C–N dynamics, soil respiration–basal respiration, or CO2 emission), microbial abundance, microbial biomass, quotients (microbial and metabolic) and microbial community structure, and soil enzymes have been considered as potential indicators to assess the severity of the land degradation and the effectiveness of land use management. Therefore, it is important to synthesize the available information regarding microbial activities in use and management of salt‐affected soils. The reclamation and management of such soils and their physico‐chemical properties have been reviewed well in the literature. In this review, an attempt has been made to compile the current knowledge about the effects of soil salinization and sodication on microbial and enzyme activities and identify research gaps for future research. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect of a One-Off Educational Session about Enterobiasis on Knowledge, Preventative Practices, and Infection Rates among Schoolchildren in South Korea

Although health education has proven to be cost-effective in slowing the spread of enterobiasis, assessments of the effectiveness of health education to reduce infectious diseases specifically in children are rare. To evaluate the effect of health education on knowledge, preventative practices, and the prevalence of enterobiasis, 319 children from 16 classes were divided into experimental and control groups. Data were collected from May 2012 to March 2013. A 40-minute in-class talk was given once in the experimental group. There were significant differences over the time in the mean scores for children's knowledge of Enterobius vermicularis infection in the intervention group compared to the control group (p<0.001). After the educational session, the score for knowledge about E. vermicularis infection increased from 60.2±2.32 to 92.7±1.19 in the experimental group; this gain was partially lost 3 months later, decreasing to 83.6±1.77 (p<0.001). Children's enterobiasis infection prevention practice scores also increased, from 3.23±0.27 to 3.73±0.25, 1 week after the educational session, a gain that was partially lost at 3 months, decreasing to 3.46±0.36 (p<0.001). The overall E. vermicularis egg detection rate was 4.4%; the rates for each school ranged from 0% to 12.9% at screening. The infection rate at 3 months after the treatment sharply decreased from 12.3% to 0.8% in the experimental group, compared to a decrease from 8.5% to 3.7% in the control group during the same period. We recommend that health education on enterobiasis be provided to children to increase their knowledge about enterobiasis and improve prevention practices.
Planning by Probabilistic Inference

This paper presents and demonstrates a new approach to the problem of planning under uncertainty. Actions are treated as hidden variables, with their own prior distributions, in a probabilistic generative model involving actions and states. Planning is done by computing the posterior distribution over actions, conditioned on reaching the goal state within a specified number of steps. Under the new formulation, the toolbox of inference techniques be brought to bear on the planning problem. This paper focuses on problems with discrete actions and states, and discusses some extensions.
Etiologies of Arthritis in Sub-Saharan Africa Rheumatology Practice

Objective: To research distribution of etiologies modification of arthritis in Congo-Brazzaville, twenty years after the first reports. Methods: A cross sectional study has been achieved. Medical files of patients admitted for arthritis between 2000 and 2014, in Rheumatology department of Brazzaville university teaching hospital have been included. Among 416 patients listed as cases of arthritis, 201 answered to the inclusion criterias have been kept for analysis. The etiological diagnoses were based on criterias of classification and/or diagnosis used in Rheumatology. Results: 201 patients, 110 men (54.72%) and 91 women (45.28%) were included. The sex-ratio was 1.2, and average age was 45.5 years old (extremes: 8-86 years). Among them, 72 patients had microcrystal arthritis. Septic arthritis and those associated with HIV constituted the second etiological group of 60 patients and respectively, 32 were bacterial and 28 HIV associated arthritis. 58 remaining patients had a chronic inflammatory arthritis. Etiology distribution showed that gout was the most frequent (33.83%), followed by septic arthritis (15.92%), HIV associated arthritis (13.93%) and rheumatoid arthritis (11.94%). In 11 patients (5.5%), etiology was unknown. Conclusion: Three decades after the first publications in Brazzaville, the etiologies of arthritis remain dominated in order of frequency by gout, septic arthritis and HIV associated arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The frequency of indeterminate arthritis decreased significantly. Spondy-loarthropathy and autoimmune diseases are more common diagnosis.
A Variscan slow-spreading ridge (MOR-LHOT) in Limousin (French Massif Central): magmatic evolution and tectonic setting inferred from mineral chemistry

Abstract The Limousin ophiolite (French Massif Central) occurs as elongate bodies forming a (nearly) continuous suture zone between two major lithotectonic units of the French Variscan belt. The mantle section of the ophiolite is made of diopside-bearing harzburgite, harzburgite and dunite characteristic of a lherzolite-harzburgite ophiolite type (LHOT). The plutonic section is essentially composed of troctolites, wehrlites and gabbros locally intruded by ilmenite-rich mafic dykes. All the rocks were strongly affected by an ocean-floor hydrothermal metamorphism. The composition and evolution of primary magmatic phases (olivine, clinopyroxene, plagioclase and spinel) throughout the lowermost magmatic sequence correspond to those described in oceanic cumulates (ODP data). The Limousin ophiolite is thus of MOR type instead of SSZ type. The whole lithological section, the mineral chemistry, the extensive hydrothermal oceanic alteration and the relatively thin crustal section are typical of a slow-spreading ridge ocean (i.e. Mid-Atlantic ridge). Comparison of the Limousin ophiolite with other ophiolites from European Variscides suggests that the oceanic domain was actively spreading during the Late Palaeozoic and extended from the Armorican massif to the Polish Sudetes.
Care planning and decision-making in teams in Swedish elderly care: A study of interprofessional collaboration and professional boundaries

In front-line practice, joint working between different professionals in health/social care and rehabilitation is regarded as a means to reach a comprehensive assessment of the needs of the older care recipients, leading to decisions on appropriate care and services. The aim of this study was to examine professional collaboration and professional boundaries in interprofessional care planning teams. Two different care planning teams were studied, one performing care planning in the homes of older individuals and the other performing care planning for older people in hospital wards. The empirical data consisted of audio-recorded care planning meetings and interviews with the professionals in the teams. The integration between the professionals involved was most noticeable in the investigation and assessment phase, while it was lower in the planning phase and almost non-existent in decision-making. The home care planning team tended to work in a more integrated manner than the discharge planning team. The importance of clarifying the roles of all professions concerned with needs assessment and care planning for older people became evident in this study.
Trends in Precipitation Extremes over Southeast Asia

The authors investigate trends in precipitation extremes using daily precipitation data from Southeast Asian countries during 1950s to 2000s. Number of wet days, defined by a day with at least 1 mm of precipitation, tends to decrease over these countries, while average precipitation intensity of wet days shows an increasing trend. Heavy precipitation indices, which are defined by precipitation amount and percentile, demonstrate that the number of stations with significant upward trend is larger than that with significant downward trend. Heavy precipitation increases in southern Vietnam, northern part of Myanmar, and the Visayas and Luzon Islands in the Philippines, while heavy precipitation decreases in northern Vietnam. Annual maximum number of consecutive dry days decreases in the region where winter monsoon precipitation dominates. Decrease of precipitation event in the dry season is suggested in Myanmar.
First Neuromuscular Contact Correlates with Onset of Primary Myogenesis in Rat and Mouse Limb Muscles

Skeletal muscle development has been the focus of intensive study for many decades. Recent advances in genetic manipulation of the mouse have increased our understanding of the cell signalling involved in the development of muscle progenitors which give rise to adult skeletal muscles and their stem cell populations. However, the influence of a vital tissue type – the peripheral nerve—has largely been ignored since its earliest descriptions. Here we carefully describe the timing in which myogenic progenitors expressing Pax3 and Pax7 (the earliest markers of myogenic cells) enter the limb buds of rat and mouse embryos, as well as the spatiotemporal relationship between these progenitors and the ingrowing peripheral nerve. We show that progenitors expressing Pax3 enter the limb bud one full day ahead of the first neurites and that Pax7-expressing progenitors (associated with secondary myogenesis in the limb) are first seen in the limb bud at the time of nerve entry and in close proximity to the nerve. The initial entry of the nerve also coincides with the first expression of myosin heavy chain showing that the first contact between nerves and myogenic cells correlates with the onset of myogenic differentiation. Furthermore, as the nerve grows into the limb, Pax3 expression is progressively replaced by Pax7 expression in myogenic progenitors. These findings indicate that the ingrowing nerve enters the limb presumptive muscle masses earlier than what was generally described and raises the possibility that nerve may influence the differentiation of muscle progenitors in rodent limbs.
Tectonic evolution of the Carpathian Foredeep and its influence on Miocene sedimentation

Shctural anaiysis of the Miocene dcposits o f thc norlhem marginal part of the Carpathian Forcdccp, fmm thcNidaTrough in the west to Tamobrzcgin thccast shows that t h m tcctonicphasw affcctcd Ncogenc dcposits of the Carpathian Forcdcep: (1) an Early Styrian phasc Early Badcnian synscdirncntary rnovcrncnts, (2) a Moldavian phasc (Latc-Styrian) Early/Lntc Badcnian, aficr dcposition of gypsum and during dcposition of thc hcowcr part of thc Pecfen Bcds, (3) an Attican phasc Satmatian-Plicccnc(? ), aftcr deposition of thc Krakowicc Re&. Thc two Badcnian pbascs involvcd reactivation of NW-SE hscrncnt faults Early-Slyrian plmc activity along thcsc faults; rwultcd in facies changes and thickness variability in thc Baranbw Bt3cd Reactivation of these faults during thc Moldavian pliasc rcsulted in a considcrablc increase of thdr throws. Strata in thc footwalls of faults wcrc antithetically rotated to form struchrral traps far subscqucnt hydrocarbon and sulphur deposi~s. During thc Attican phasc, a horizontal cornprcssion sb-cw ficld (compression direction 30-50") produccd tmnsvcrse and oblique faults (NE-SW and ENE-WSW) with strikcslip and obliquc-slip movements. Thcsc faults wmc rcsponsiblc for "pumping" hydroca~bons ~ n t o thc earlier formod traps. Minor dcfonnations witbin m s u m dcposiis and seismotoctonic fcaturcs of the W i t h Gravcls arc also discussed.
Heritability of left ventricular and papillary muscle heart size: a twin study with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

AIMS Earlier studies in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins showed genetic variance on echocardiographically determined heart size. However, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is more precise and reproducible. We performed a twin study relying on CMR, focusing on left ventricular (LV) mass and papillary muscle, since there are no genetic reports on this structure. METHODS AND RESULTS We measured left heart dimensions of 25 healthy twin pairs with a 1.5T MR scanner, analysed with the mass, Medis Software. We performed heritability analysis and tests for genetic influences shared between cardiac structures. We found that CMR-based heritability estimates (h(2) = 84%) substantially exceeded estimates based on echocardiography. We also found significant genetic influence on papillary muscle mass (h(2) = 82%). Bivariate analysis of papillary and LV muscle mass revealed significant genetic influences shared by both phenotypes (genetic correlation 0.59) and suggested an additional genetic component specific to papillary muscle. We observed correlations between body mass index, surface area, and systolic blood pressure with cardiac dimensions, even in this small study. Environmental influences were relevant as well, indicating reciprocal influences on papillary vs. LV muscle mass. CONCLUSION Cardiovascular magnetic resonance, even with few subjects, allows a genetic assessment of cardiac structures that cannot be attained with echocardiography. Hitherto fore unappreciated relationships can be uncovered by this method.
Guest editorial: Special issue on implicit computational complexity

This special issue of ACM Transactions on Computational Logic is devoted to Implicit Computational Complexity, following the Workshop on Implicit Computational Complexity held in Marseilles in February 2006 as part of the special thematic session on Geometry of Computation (GEOCAL'06) at the Centre International de Rencontres Mathematiques. The articles selected had been submitted responding to a public call-for-papers after the workshop and have undergone the TOCL standard refereeing process.
An autonomous decentralized mechanism for energy interchanges with accelerated diffusion based on MCMC

It is not easy to provide energy supply based on renewable energy enough to satisfy energy demand anytime and anywhere because renewable energy amounts depends on geographical conditions and the time of day. This paper proposes a novel autonomous decentralized mechanism of energy interchanges between distributed batteries on the basis of the diffusion equation and MCMC (Markov chain Monte Carlo) for realizing energy supply appropriately for energy demand. Experimental results show the proposed mechanism effectively works under several situations.
Mesenchymal Stem Cells as Immunomodulators in a Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation

Vascularized composite allotransplantations (VCAs) are not routinely performed for tissue reconstruction because of the potentially harmful adverse effects associated with lifelong administration of immunosuppressive agents. Researchers have been eagerly seeking alternative methods that circumvent the long-term use of immunosuppressants. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) show promise as an immunomodulatory therapeutic agent and are currently being tested in preclinical and clinical settings as therapies for autoimmune disorders or transplant rejection. The mechanisms by which MSCs modulate the immune response are still under thorough investigation, but these most likely involve expression of local factors influencing T-cell regulation, modulation of cytokine expression (e.g., IL-10, TGF-β, TNF-α, INF-γ, etc.), and interactions with dendritic or antigen presenting cells. In this paper, we summarize the current understanding of immunomodulation achieved by MSC therapies and introduce a possible outline for future clinical applications in VCA.
A Statistical Method for Estimating the Usefulness of Text Databases

Searching desired data on the Internet is one of the most common ways the Internet is used. No single search engine is capable of searching all data on the Internet. The approach that provides an interface for invoking multiple search engines for each user query has the potential to satisfy more users. When the number of search engines under the interface is large, invoking all search engines for each query is often not cost effective because it creates unnecessary network traffic by sending the query to a large number of useless search engines and searching these useless search engines wastes local resources. The problem can be overcome if the usefulness of every search engine with respect to each query can be predicted. We present a statistical method to estimate the usefulness of a search engine for any given query. For a given query, the usefulness of a search engine in this paper is defined to be a combination of the number of documents in the search engine that are sufficiently similar to the query and the average similarity of these documents. Experimental results indicate that our estimation method is much more accurate than existing methods.
Facilitating Preservice Teachers' Development of Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK)

Preparing preservice teachers for ICT integration in the classrooms is a key focus for many teacher education institutes. This paper examines the perceived development of preservice teachers in terms of their technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge and the synthesis of such knowledge, i.e., the technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK). A questionnaire adapted from Schmidt, Baran, Thompson, Mishra, Koehler, and Shin (2009) was validated using factor analyses and the preservice teachers' TPACK perceptions before and after their ICT course were examined. The results reveal statistical significant gains with good effect sizes. Regression analysis further reveals that technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge are all significant predictors of preservice teachers' TPACK, with pedagogical knowledge having the largest impact. Implications for designing the ICT instruction of preservice teachers are discussed.
Alcohol-attributable mortality in a high per capita consumption country -- Germany.

AIMS Little is known about age and gender distributions in alcohol-attributable mortality (AAM). The aim of this paper is to describe age and gender in AAM in a high per capita consumption country. METHODS The AAM was determined using national mortality statistics and data on the prevalence of alcohol risk drinking from Germany. According to this approach, alcohol-attributable fractions (AF) of causes of death are estimated. RESULTS In males, as well as females, more than 70% of the AAM cases are due to alcohol consumption as well as smoking. The mortality rates are highest in the age range 35-64 years with 25% of the total mortality in males, and 13% in females. The median age at death in AAM exclusively based on alcohol is 15 years below the median age at death in the male and 24 years below that in the female population. CONCLUSIONS Early intervention should be stressed.
Intragenomic Heterogeneity of 16S rRNA Genes Causes Overestimation of Prokaryotic Diversity

ABSTRACT Ever since Carl Woese introduced the use of 16S rRNA genes for determining the phylogenetic relationships of prokaryotes, this method has been regarded as the “gold standard” in both microbial phylogeny and ecology studies. However, intragenomic heterogeneity within 16S rRNA genes has been reported in many investigations and is believed to bias the estimation of prokaryotic diversity. In the current study, 2,013 completely sequenced genomes of bacteria and archaea were analyzed and intragenomic heterogeneity was found in 952 genomes (585 species), with 87.5% of the divergence detected being below the 1% level. In particular, some extremophiles (thermophiles and halophiles) were found to harbor highly divergent 16S rRNA genes. Overestimation caused by 16S rRNA gene intragenomic heterogeneity was evaluated at different levels using the full-length and partial 16S rRNA genes usually chosen as targets for pyrosequencing. The result indicates that, at the unique level, full-length 16S rRNA genes can produce an overestimation of as much as 123.7%, while at the 3% level, an overestimation of 12.9% for the V6 region may be introduced. Further analysis showed that intragenomic heterogeneity tends to concentrate in specific positions, with the V1 and V6 regions suffering the most intragenomic heterogeneity and the V4 and V5 regions suffering the least intragenomic heterogeneity in bacteria. This is the most up-to-date overview of the diversity of 16S rRNA genes within prokaryotic genomes. It not only provides general guidance on how much overestimation can be introduced when applying 16S rRNA gene-based methods, due to its intragenomic heterogeneity, but also recommends that, for bacteria, this overestimation be minimized using primers targeting the V4 and V5 regions.
Site-Specific MicroRNA Expression May Lead to Different Subtypes in Ulcerative Colitis

Background and Aim Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a type of inflammatory bowel disease, considered as an important disease of gastrointestinal tract having a huge impact on the health of the patient. Prolonged inflammation of colon in UC patients increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer. MiRNA are reported as a connecting link between inflammation and cancer. Differential miRNA expression is reported in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients involving various regions of the gastrointestinal tract. The current study was performed to dissect out the site specific miRNA expression in the colon biopsy samples of UC patients from Northern India. Methods Biopsy samples were collected from UC patients and healthy controls from Rectosigmoid Area (RS) and Ascending Colon (AC). MiRNA expression was compared between patients with RS and AC using a microarray platform. Differential expression was further validated by Real Time PCR analysis. Demographic and pathological data of UC -associated CRC patients was collected from the hospital database and analyzed for assessing the site of cancer. Results Upon analysis of data generated on a microarray platform and qRT PCR revealed that the expression of six miRNAs hsa-miR-146b-5p, hsa-miR-335-3p, hsa-miR-342-3p, hsa-miR-644b-3p, hsa-miR-491-3p, hsa-miR-4732-3p were downregulated in patients where RS was involved as compared to AC. The expression of hsa-miR-141-3p was upregulated in patients where RS region was involved as compared to AC. Analysis of the registered UC patient’s database from the hospital revealed that the site of CRC was predomimnantly the rectosigmoid region of the colon in most of the cases. Conclusion This is the first study to show the differential expression of miRNA involving different sites of colon in UC patients. Taking our data and previous reports into consideration, we propose that differential miRNA expression during UC perhaps contribute in the development of UC-associated CRC at the rectosigmoid area.