Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Collapsing avian community on a Hawaiian island

Climate change and disease are linked to the rapid decline of native birds on the Hawaiian island of Kaua‘i. The viability of many species has been jeopardized by numerous negative factors over the centuries, but climate change is predicted to accelerate and increase the pressure of many of these threats, leading to extinctions. The Hawaiian honeycreepers, famous for their spectacular adaptive radiation, are predicted to experience negative responses to climate change, given their susceptibility to introduced disease, the strong linkage of disease distribution to climatic conditions, and their current distribution. We document the rapid collapse of the native avifauna on the island of Kaua‘i that corresponds to changes in climate and disease prevalence. Although multiple factors may be pressuring the community, we suggest that a tipping point has been crossed in which temperatures in forest habitats at high elevations have reached a threshold that facilitates the development of avian malaria and its vector throughout these species’ ranges. Continued incursion of invasive weeds and non-native avian competitors may be facilitated by climate change and could also contribute to declines. If current rates of decline continue, we predict multiple extinctions in the coming decades. Kaua‘i represents an early warning for the forest bird communities on the Maui and Hawai‘i islands, as well as other species around the world that are trapped within a climatic space that is rapidly disappearing.
Manipulation of Ascending Aortic Pressure and Flow Wave Reflections with the Valsalva Maneuver: Relationship to Input Impedance

SUMMARY Dramatic changes in the shape of pulsatile ascending aortic pressure and flow wave forms occur during the Valsalva maneuver in man. To study these changes, aortic pressure and flow signals were recorded in eight patients using a multisensor catheter. Aortic input impedance was derived during the control, strain and postrelease phases of the Valsalva maneuver. During control, well-defined minima and maxima occurred in the spectral plots of impedance moduli. This pattern was accentuated during the postrelease phase. In contrast, input impedance during strain was almost equal to the characteristic impedance for all harmonics. These results imply that during the control and postrelease phases, strong reflections return to the ascending aorta, but during the strain phase, reflections are minimal, absent or more diffuse. From wave transmission theory, it also follows that pulsatile pressure and flow wave forms should be similar in shape in the absence of reflections and dissimilar in the presence of reflections. This was observed in all eight patients. By provoking changes in the arterial tree during the Valsalva maneuver, the magnitude and timing of wave reflections were significantly altered, resulting in marked changes in the shape of pulsatile aortic pressure and flow wave forms. This study demonstrates the importance of reflections in determining the shape of the arterial pulse.
Prenatal alcohol exposure, birthweight, and measures of child size from birth to age 14 years.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on offspring's weight, height, and head circumference from birth through 14 years of age. METHODS This longitudinal prospective study examined a cohort of approximately 500 offspring (oversampled for heavier drinkers and stratified for smoking from a population of 1529 women in prenatal care at the 5th gestational month) at birth; 8 and 18 months; and 4, 7, and 14 years of age. Covariates were examined by means of multiple regression. Birth size measures were also examined as predictors of 7-year neurodevelopmental outcomes. RESULTS Effects of alcohol were observed on weight, length, and head circumference at birth; these effects were not altered by adjustment for covariates including smoking. However, the birthweight effect is clearly transient: although alcohol effects remained observable at 8 months, they were not measurable thereafter through age 14 years. CONCLUSIONS In this population-based sample, neither birthweight nor any later size measure was as useful an indicator of the enduring effects of prenatal alcohol exposure as were certain neurodevelopmental outcomes.
The Role of Corticotropin‐Releasing Factor in the Anxiogenic Effects of Ethanol Withdrawal

In summary, endogenous CRF has been demonstrated to play an important role in the endocrine but also autonomic and behavioral responses to a stressor and to mediate some of the signs and symptoms observed in human affective and anxiety disorders. These findings led to the hypothesis that the anxiety that characterizes drug withdrawal, such as ethanol withdrawal in humans, may be related in part to the action of CRF-producing neurons in the CNS. Indeed, rats made dependent on an ethanol liquid diet showed significant signs of enhanced stress responsiveness that was blocked by intracerebral administration of a CRF antagonist. At this time little is known about the specific site of action for endogenous CRF. However, recent studies using local administration of CRF antagonist and in vivo CRF microdialysis suggest that the central nucleus of the amygdala may be an important site for the increases in CRF activity associated with the anxiogenic effects of ethanol withdrawal. Although preliminary, these results propound that ethanol dependence may involve a prolonged dysregulation of the CRF system in the basal forebrain that may contribute to the increased motivational effect of ethanol withdrawal.
RECOGNITION OF ASSIMILATED WORDS IN NORMAL AND FAST SPEECH

Even when words are normally assimilated in connected speech, listeners can recognise them easily. Word recognition may be so robust against assimilation, because listeners expect certain assimilation phenomena (given speech rate and style). From this hypothesis, we predict that listeners have more difficulty in recognising (unexpectedly) un-assimilated words than assimilated ones. This difficulty would even be greater when listening to fast speech. These predictions were tested in a word detection experiment, with speech of normal and fast rates. For normal speech, RTs were indeed slower for un-assimilated target words than for assimilated targets, as predicted. Listeners expect certain assimilations in the input speech, and they expect to undo these in word recognition. For fast speech, however, the effect of assimilation was reversed. Under adverse conditions, word recognition seems to be facilitated by a more faithful (unassimilated) phonetic representation of the target word, even if such a realisation is unnatural.
Genetic diversity of Mycobacterium avium complex strains isolated in Argentina by MIRU-VNTR

SUMMARY Mycobacterium avium sp. avium (MAA), M. avium sp. hominissuis (MAH), and M. avium sp. paratuberculosis (MAP) are the main members of the M. avium complex (MAC) causing diseases in several hosts. The aim of this study was to describe the genetic diversity of MAC isolated from different hosts. Twenty-six MAH and 61 MAP isolates were recovered from humans and cattle, respectively. GenoType CM® and IS1311-PCR were used to identify Mycobacterium species. The IS901-PCR was used to differentiate between MAH and MAA, while IS900-PCR was used to identify MAP. Genotyping was performed using a mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) scheme (loci: 292, X3, 25, 47, 3, 7, 10, 32) and patterns (INMV) were assigned according to the MAC-INMV database (http://mac-inmv.tours.inra.fr/). Twenty-two (22/26, 84·6%) MAH isolates were genotyped and 16 were grouped into the following, INMV 92, INMV 121, INMV 97, INMV 103, INMV 50, and INMV 40. The loci X3 and 25 showed the largest diversity (D: 0·5844), and the global discriminatory index (Hunter and Gaston discriminatory index, HGDI) was 0·9300. MAP (100%) isolates were grouped into INMV 1, INMV 2, INMV 11, INMV 8, and INMV 5. The HGDI was 0·6984 and loci 292 and 7 had the largest D (0·6980 and 0·5050). MAH presented a higher D when compared with MAP. The MIRU-VNTR was a useful tool to describe the genetic diversity of both MAH and MAP as well as to identify six new MAH patterns that were conveniently reported to the MAC-INMV database. It was also demonstrated that, in the geographical region studied, human MAC cases were produced by MAH as there was no MAA found among the human clinical samples.
Cytokine secretion requires phosphatidylcholine synthesis

Choline cytidylyltransferase (CCT) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the phosphatidylcholine biosynthetic pathway. Here, we demonstrate that CCTα-mediated phosphatidylcholine synthesis is required to maintain normal Golgi structure and function as well as cytokine secretion from the Golgi complex. CCTα is localized to the trans-Golgi region and its expression is increased in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated wild-type macrophages. Although LPS triggers transient reorganization of Golgi morphology in wild-type macrophages, similar structural alterations persist in CCTα-deficient cells. Pro–tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-6 remain lodged in the secretory compartment of CCTα-deficient macrophages after LPS stimulation. However, the lysosomal-mediated secretion pathways for interleukin-1β secretion and constitutive apolipoprotein E secretion are unaltered. Exogenous lysophosphatidylcholine restores LPS-stimulated secretion from CCTα-deficient cells, and elevated diacylglycerol levels alone do not impede secretion of pro–tumor necrosis factor α or interleukin-6. These results identify CCTα as a key component in membrane biogenesis during LPS-stimulated cytokine secretion from the Golgi complex.
Lung cancer in lifetime nonsmoking men – results of a case-control study in Germany

Epidemiological studies of lung cancer among nonsmoking men are few. This case–control study was conducted among lifetime nonsmoking men between 1990 and 1996 in Germany to examine lung cancer risk in relation to occupation, environmental tobacco smoke, residential radon, family history of cancer and previous lung disease. A total of 58 male cases with confirmed primary lung cancer and 803 male population controls who had never smoked more than 400 cigarettes in their lifetime were personally interviewed by a standardized questionnaire. In addition, 1-year radon measurements in the living and bedroom of the subjects' last dwelling were carried out. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Having ever worked in a job with known lung carcinogens was associated with a two-fold significantly increased lung cancer risk (OR = 2.2; Cl = 1.0–5.0), adjusted for age and region. The linear trend test for lung-cancer risk associated with radon exposure was close to statistical significance, demonstrating an excess relative risk for an increase in exposure of 100 Bq m−3 of 0.43 (P = 0.052). Nonsignificantly elevated effects of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in public transportation and in social settings were observed. No associations with a family history of cancer or previous lung diseases were found. Our results indicate that occupational carcinogens and indoor radon may play a role in some lung cancers in nonsmoking men. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign
Discontinuous carbon fibre composites for automotive applications

Increasingly stringent emissions targets are encouraging vehicle manufacturers to prioritise reduction of vehicle mass. The falling cost of carbon fibre is increasing the viability of lightweight carbon-based body panel systems across a broad range of production volumes. In the present work an automated process has been developed for the manufacture of random fibre preforms at medium volume production levels (30-50,000ppa). This thesis seeks to understand the influence of key microstructural parameters on the mechanical and physical properties of carbon fibre laminates produced by directed fibre preforming. The principal parameters studied are fibre length, tow filament count and laminate thickness. A statistical process simulation has been developed to predict preform density variation and the results are compared with experimental tensile properties. Experimental studies have shown that there is a notable reduction in areal density variation and consequently an increase in tensile properties with shorter fibres (115mm to 6mm) and thicker laminates (1.5mm to 4mm for a constant volume fraction). Shorter lengths improved preform coverage and gave higher tensile strength, whilst thicker laminates reduced the presence of unreinforced areas which cause stress concentrations. Tow filamentisation has been induced by pneumatic means to reduce the mean filament count and maximise the mechanical performance when using inexpensive, 24K bundles. By maximising the level of filamentisation both stiffness and strength can be increased by 20% and 45% respectively. An analytical stiffness model is presented to predict the effect of tow filament count on the in-plane elastic constants. Filament count and out-of-plane fibre orientation distributions are determined from optical microscopy and are incorporated into a multi-level Mori-Tanaka based model. Predictions are within 8% of the experimental data for laminates containing large fibre bundles and 10% for laminates with highly filamentised bundles. An expression for critical bundle length has been developed for more accurate strength prediction, based on the number of filaments within the bundle. Experimental results confirm that the critical tow length is proportional to the tow filament count. Directed fibre preforming has been benchmarked against other competing processes in respect of mechanical properties, weight saving potential and cost. A full-scale demonstrator component has been manufactured using a variety of carbon composite solutions, which can all provide 40 to 50% weight saving for an equivalent bending stiffness to steel and greatly improved dent resistance. Directed fibre preforming has shown great promise for both semi-structural and structural components for medium volume applications, particularly when aligned fibres are introduced. The results from this work can be directly scaled for industrial application to provide a cost effective, lightweight alternative to steel.
Regulatory Focus and Romantic Alternatives

Romantic Alternatives 320 Commitment and Romantic Alternatives 320 Regulatory Focus theory: Promotionand Prevention Motivations 321 Do Promotion-Focused and Prevention-Focused individuals Differ in their Romantic Standards? 323 Study 1: Regulatory Focus and Self-ReportedAttention to and Pursuitof Romantic Alternatives 324 Study 2: Regulatory Focus and Consideration of Alternatives to an Established Relationship 325 Study 3: Regulatory Focusand Consideration of Alternatives Among the Romantically unattached 326 Summary of Empirical Results 329 Regulatory Focus and Romantic Relationships 329 is it Best not to DatePromotion-Focused individuals? 330 What About Approach and Avoidance Motivations? 331 Conclusions 332 References 332
Sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma presenting in the oropharynx

Metastasis stemming from a distant malignancy is far less common than an oropharyngeal primary and represents only 1% of all oral neoplasms. The difficulty in diagnosing a metastasis in the oropharynx may be compounded if the lesion is poorly differentiated and bears little resemblance to the primary tumor. We present the case of synchronous metastatic renal cell carcinoma of the mandibular gingiva in a woman with sarcomatoid clear cell renal cell carcinoma. The metastatic lesion was poorly differentiated and lacked expression of the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) antigen. In contrast, PAX‐8 staining was strongly positive. This case serves to highlight the diagnostic difficulty posed by poorly differentiated lesions in the oropharynx and reinforces the sensitivity of the cell lineage‐specific transcription factor PAX‐8 in poorly differentiated RCC.
Analysis of a Path Following Method for Nonsmooth Convex Programs

Recently Gilbert, Gonzaga and Karas [7] constructed examples of ill-behaved central paths for convex programs. In this paper we show that under mild conditions the central path has sufficient smoothness to allow construction of a path-following interior point algorithm for non-differentiable convex programs. We show that starting from a point near the center of the first set an 2-optimal solution can be obtained in a finite number of iterations converging linearly.
Differential Contributions of Olfactory Receptor Neurons in a Drosophila Olfactory Circuit

Abstract The ability of an animal to detect, discriminate, and respond to odors depends on the functions of its olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). The extent to which each ORN, upon activation, contributes to chemotaxis is not well understood. We hypothesized that strong activation of each ORN elicits a different behavioral response in the Drosophila melanogaster larva by differentially affecting the composition of its navigational behavior. To test this hypothesis, we exposed Drosophila larvae to specific odorants to analyze the effect of individual ORN activity on chemotaxis. We used two different behavioral paradigms to analyze the chemotaxis response of larvae to odorants. When tested with five different odorants that elicit strong physiological responses from single ORNs, larval behavioral responses toward each odorant differed in the strength of attraction as well as in the composition of discrete navigational elements, such as runs and turns. Further, behavioral responses to odorants did not correlate with either the strength of odor gradients tested or the sensitivity of each ORN to its cognate odorant. Finally, we provide evidence that wild-type larvae with all ORNs intact exhibit higher behavioral variance than mutant larvae that have only a single pair of functional ORNs. We conclude that individual ORNs contribute differently to the olfactory circuit that instructs chemotactic responses. Our results, along with recent studies from other groups, suggest that ORNs are functionally nonequivalent units. These results have implications for understanding peripheral odor coding.
A critical constant for the k nearest-neighbour model

Let 𝒫 be a Poisson process of intensity 1 in a square S n of area n. For a fixed integer k, join every point of 𝒫 to its k nearest neighbours, creating an undirected random geometric graph G n,k . We prove that there exists a critical constant c crit such that, for c < c crit, G n,⌊c log n⌋ is disconnected with probability tending to 1 as n → ∞ and, for c > c crit, G n,⌊c log n⌋ is connected with probability tending to 1 as n → ∞. This answers a question posed in Balister et al. (2005).
Screening targeted testis-specific genes for molecular assessment of aberrant sperm quality

Teratospermia is a heterogeneous and complex disorder, which is closely associated with male fertility. Genes and gene products associated with teratospermia may serve as targeted biomarkers that help understand the underlying mechanisms of male infertility; however, systematic information on the subject remains to be elucidated. The present study performed a comparative bioinformatics analysis to identify biomarkers associated with sperm quality, particular focusing on testis-specific biomarkers. A stepwise screening approach identified 1,085 testis/epididymis-specific genes and 3,406 teratospermia-associated genes, resulting in 348 testis-specific genes associated with aberrant sperm quality. These genes were functionally associated with the reproduction process. Gene products corresponding to heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 4 like (HSPA4L) and phosphoglycerate kinase 2 were characterized at the cellular level in human testes and ejaculated spermatozoa. HSPA4L expression in sperm was revealed to be associated with sperm quality. The present study provided a novel insight into the understanding of sperm quality, and a potential method for the diagnosis and assessment of sperm quality in the event of male infertility.
Centre De Referència En Economia Analítica Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series Working Paper Nº 76 Forward Induction and the Excess Capacity Puzzle: an Experimental Investigation Forward Induction and the Excess Capacity Puzzle: an Experimental Investigation*

While the theoretical industrial organization literature has long argued that excess capacity can be used to deter entry into markets, there is little empirical evidence that incumbent firms effectively behave in this way. Bagwell and Ramey (1996) propose a game with a specific sequence of moves and partially-recoverable capacity costs in which forward induction provides a theoretical rationalization for firm behavior in the field. We conduct an experiment with a game inspired by their work. In our data the incumbent tends to keep the market, in contrast to what the forward induction argument of Bagwell and Ramey would suggest. The results indicate that players perceive that the first mover has an advantage without having to pre-commit capacity. In our game, evolution and learning do not drive out this perception. We back these claims with data analysis, a theoretical framework for dynamics, and simulation results.
A scheduling and synchronization technique for RAPIEnet switches using edge-coloring of conflict multigraphs

In this paper, we present a technique for obtaining conflict-free schedules for real-time automation protocol for industrial Ethernet (RAPIEnet) switches. Mathematical model of the switch is obtained using graph theory. Initially network traffic entry and exit parts in a single RAPIEnet switch are identified, so that a bipartite conflict graph can be constructed. The obtained conflict graph is transformed to three kinds of matrices to be used as inputs for our simulation model, and selection of any of the matrix forms is application-specific. A greedy edge-coloring algorithm is used to schedule the network traffic and to solve the minimum coloring problem. After scheduling, empty slots are identified for forwarding the non real-time traffic of asynchronous devices. Finally, an algorithm for synchronizing the schedules of adjacent switches is proposed using edge-contraction and minors. All simulations were carried out using Matlab.
Expression and prognostic significance of catalase in malignant mesothelioma

Free radicals and antioxidant enzymes (AOEs) may play a critical role in cell proliferation and in the resistance of malignant cells against cytotoxic drugs and radiation. Malignant mesothelioma is a resistant tumor with high levels of manganese superoxide dismutase, a central superoxide scavenging AOE. In the current study, the authors assessed the expression and prognostic role of catalase, an important hydrogen peroxide scavenging AOE, in malignant pleural mesothelioma.