Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synergistic effects of non-Apis bees and honey bees for pollination services

In diverse pollinator communities, interspecific interactions may modify the behaviour and increase the pollination effectiveness of individual species. Because agricultural production reliant on pollination is growing, improving pollination effectiveness could increase crop yield without any increase in agricultural intensity or area. In California almond, a crop highly dependent on honey bee pollination, we explored the foraging behaviour and pollination effectiveness of honey bees in orchards with simple (honey bee only) and diverse (non-Apis bees present) bee communities. In orchards with non-Apis bees, the foraging behaviour of honey bees changed and the pollination effectiveness of a single honey bee visit was greater than in orchards where non-Apis bees were absent. This change translated to a greater proportion of fruit set in these orchards. Our field experiments show that increased pollinator diversity can synergistically increase pollination service, through species interactions that alter the behaviour and resulting functional quality of a dominant pollinator species. These results of functional synergy between species were supported by an additional controlled cage experiment with Osmia lignaria and Apis mellifera. Our findings highlight a largely unexplored facilitative component of the benefit of biodiversity to ecosystem services, and represent a way to improve pollinator-dependent crop yields in a sustainable manner.
Willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men in Malaysia: Findings from an online survey

Objective We examined willingness to use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Malaysia. Methods An online survey of 990 MSM was conducted between March and April 2016. Eligibility criteria included being biological male, Malaysian citizen, 18 years of age or above, identifying as MSM, and being HIV negative or unknown status. Participants’ demographics, sexual and drug use behaviors, attitudes towards PrEP, and preferences regarding future access to PrEP were collected. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression were performed to determine factors associated with willingness to use PrEP. Results Fewer than half of participants (44%) knew about PrEP before completing the survey. Overall, 39% of the sample were willing to take PrEP. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that Malay men (AOR: 1.73, 95% CI:1.12, 2.70), having 2 or more male anal sex partners in the past 6 months (AOR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.29, 3.05), previous knowledge of PrEP (AOR: 1.40, 95%CI: 1.06, 1.86), lack of confidence in practising safer sex (AOR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.81), and having ever paid for sex with a male partner (AOR: 1.39, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.91) were independently associated with greater willingness to use PrEP, while men who identified as heterosexual were less willing to use PrEP (AOR, 0.36, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.97). Majority of participants preferred to access PrEP at affordable cost below 100 Malaysian Ringgit (USD25) per month from community based organisations followed by private or government hospitals. Conclusions Overall, MSM in Malaysia reported a relatively low level of willingness to use PrEP, although willingness was higher among those previously aware of PrEP. There is a need to provide PrEP at affordable cost, increase demand and awareness of PrEP, and to provide access to this preventative medication via diverse, integrated and tailored sexual health services.
Prepubertal exposure to dietary zearalenone alters hypothalamo-hypophysial function but does not impair postpubertal reproductive function of gilts.

At an average age of 70 d, 60 Yorkshire gilts born either in July (Trial 1; n = 30) or August (Trial 2; n = 30) received a diet containing zearalenone for 0 (control), 45 or 90 d. The concentration of zearalenone in diets was 2 ppm for 2 wk and 1.5 ppm for the remainder of the study. Vulval swelling and reddening was evident within 7 d after zearalenone was first fed. Zearalenone consumption had no effect on BW or backfat depth. Puberty occurred in Trial 1 at 219 +/- 6 d and was not influenced by zearalenone. Gilts in Trial 2 were divided into two groups; blood samples were taken from 12 gilts to assess pulsatile LH patterns and LH response to estradiol benzoate (EB) and 18 were handled similarly to those in Trial 1. Of this latter subgroup, age at puberty was younger (P less than .05) with zearalenone (217 +/- 7.0, 193 +/- 9.1 and 185.6 +/- 8.2 d for 0-, 45-, and 90-d treatments). Prepubertal consumption of zearalenone did not affect conception rates, ovulation rates, number of fetuses or percentage of embryo survival following mating at pubertal estrus. Two days before the 90-d experimental period ended for Trial 2, blood samples were taken from 12 gilts (four/treatment) every 15 min for 4 h prior to injection of EB (10 micrograms/kg) and every 6 h for 108 h after EB. Analysis of pulsatile patterns of LH revealed no influence of zearalenone on the number of peaks/4 h, baseline concentration or peak height. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Porcine granulosa cells produce a progesterone secretion inhibitory activity.

OBJECTIVE To extend our previous observations of granulosa cell conditioned medium inhibition on basal and FSH-stimulated progesterone secretion by granulosa cells from large porcine antral follicles. METHODS Granulosa cell conditioned media (SGCCM) were obtained from cultures of granulosa cells which were harvested from small porcine antral follicles. SGCCM were fractionated by filtration through an Amicon XM-50 and an PM-10 membrane. RESULTS Two fractions - XM-50 filtrate (<50 kDa) and PM-10 retentate (10-50 kDa) - exhibited well expressed inhibitory effect on the progesterone secretion from large follicle granulosa cells in vitro. Such inhibitory effect was fully prevented by heat treatment, partially inactivated by trypsin digestion (P<0.05), but was resistant to several freeze-thaw cycles and storage at -20 or -70 degrees C for up to one year. CONCLUSIONS It is suggested that SGCCM contains some regulatory substance(s) capable of inhibiting progesterone secretion by cultured granulosa cells and that the molecular weight of such substance is presumably between 10-50 kDa.
Low-strain heteroepitaxial nanodiamonds: fabrication and photoluminescence of silicon-vacancy colour centres

Nanodiamonds with the ‘diamond’ 1332.5 cm−1 Raman line as narrow as 1.8 cm−1 have been produced by reactive ion etching in oxygen plasma of heteroepitaxial diamond particles grown by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (MWPECVD) on silicon. After the etching, a doublet is recorded in the zero-phonon line photoluminescence spectra of an ensemble of silicon-vacancy (SiV) centres at 10 K. Each line of the doublet is split into two lines corresponding to the optical transitions between the split excited and ground energy levels of the SiV centres. These Raman and photoluminescent features have been observed previously only in low-strain homoepitaxial diamond films and single-crystal diamond.
Oriented Growth of Calcite Controlled by Self-Assembled Monolayers of Functionalized Alkanethiols Supported on Gold and Silver

This paper describes the oriented nucleation of calcite controlled by self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of ω-terminated alkanethiols (HS(CH2)nX) supported on metal films. The effect of the chemistry and geometry of the organic surfaces was surveyed by using different functional groups (X = CO2-, SO3-, PO32-, OH, N(CH3)3+, CH3) and different supporting metals (Au and Ag). Optical microscopy, SEM with image analysis, and XRD were employed to characterize density and orientation of the crystals. Compared to the control surfaces of bare metal films, SAMs terminated in CO2-, SO3-, PO32-, and OH groups were more active in inducing nucleation, whereas SAMs terminated in N(CH3)3+ and CH3 inhibited nucleation. The crystallographic orientations of the crystals were distinct and highly homogeneous for each surface, but different on different surfaces. SAMs of CO2-/Au, CO2-/Ag, OH/Au, OH/Ag, SO3-/Au, and SO3-/Ag induced the face-selective nucleation of calcite from the (015), (012), (104), (103), (1 0 12), and (107) c.
On Achievable Schemes of Interference Alignment in Constant Channels via Finite Amplify-and-Forward Relays

This paper elaborates on the achievable schemes of interference alignment in constant channels via finite amplify-and-forward (AF) relays. Consider $K$ sources communicating with $K$ destinations without direct links besides the relay connections. The total number of relays is finite. The objective is to achieve interference alignment for all user pairs to obtain half of their interference-free degrees of freedom. In general, two strategies are employed: coding at the edge and coding in the middle, in which relays show different roles. The contributions are that two fundamental and critical elements are captured to enable interference alignment in this network: channel randomness or relativity; subspace dimension suppression.
Impaired rapid error monitoring but intact error signaling following rostral anterior cingulate cortex lesions in humans

Detecting one’s own errors and appropriately correcting behavior are crucial for efficient goal-directed performance. A correlate of rapid evaluation of behavioral outcomes is the error-related negativity (Ne/ERN) which emerges at the time of the erroneous response over frontal brain areas. However, whether the error monitoring system’s ability to distinguish between errors and correct responses at this early time point is a necessary precondition for the subsequent emergence of error awareness remains unclear. The present study investigated this question using error-related brain activity and vocal error signaling responses in seven human patients with lesions in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and adjoining ventromedial prefrontal cortex, while they performed a flanker task. The difference between errors and correct responses was severely attenuated in these patients indicating impaired rapid error monitong, but they showed no impairment in error signaling. However, impaired rapid error monitoring coincided with a failure to increase response accuracy on trials following errors. These results demonstrate that the error monitoring system’s ability to distinguish between errors and correct responses at the time of the response is crucial for adaptive post-error adjustments, but not a necessary precondition for error awareness.
Hubba: hub objects analyzer—a framework of interactome hubs identification for network biology

One major task in the post-genome era is to reconstruct proteomic and genomic interacting networks using high-throughput experiment data. To identify essential nodes/hubs in these interactomes is a way to decipher the critical keys inside biochemical pathways or complex networks. These essential nodes/hubs may serve as potential drug-targets for developing novel therapy of human diseases, such as cancer or infectious disease caused by emerging pathogens. Hub Objects Analyzer (Hubba) is a web-based service for exploring important nodes in an interactome network generated from specific small- or large-scale experimental methods based on graph theory. Two characteristic analysis algorithms, Maximum Neighborhood Component (MNC) and Density of Maximum Neighborhood Component (DMNC) are developed for exploring and identifying hubs/essential nodes from interactome networks. Users can submit their own interaction data in PSI format (Proteomics Standards Initiative, version 2.5 and 1.0), tab format and tab with weight values. User will get an email notification of the calculation complete in minutes or hours, depending on the size of submitted dataset. Hubba result includes a rank given by a composite index, a manifest graph of network to show the relationship amid these hubs, and links for retrieving output files. This proposed method (DMNC || MNC) can be applied to discover some unrecognized hubs from previous dataset. For example, most of the Hubba high-ranked hubs (80% in top 10 hub list, and >70% in top 40 hub list) from the yeast protein interactome data (Y2H experiment) are reported as essential proteins. Since the analysis methods of Hubba are based on topology, it can also be used on other kinds of networks to explore the essential nodes, like networks in yeast, rat, mouse and human. The website of Hubba is freely available at http://hub.iis. sinica.edu. tw/Hubba.
The effect of nanoscale surface curvature on the oligomerization of surface-bound proteins

The influence of surface topography on protein conformation and association is used routinely in biological cells to orchestrate and coordinate biomolecular events. In the laboratory, controlling the surface curvature at the nanoscale offers new possibilities for manipulating protein–protein interactions and protein function at surfaces. We have studied the effect of surface curvature on the association of two proteins, α-lactalbumin (α-LA) and β-lactoglobulin (β-LG), which perform their function at the oil–water interface in milk emulsions. To control the surface curvature at the nanoscale, we have used a combination of polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles (NPs) and ultrathin PS films to fabricate chemically pure, hydrophobic surfaces that are highly curved and are stable in aqueous buffer. We have used single-molecule force spectroscopy to measure the contour lengths Lc for α-LA and β-LG adsorbed on highly curved PS surfaces (NP diameters of 27 and 50 nm, capped with a 10 nm thick PS film), and we have compared these values in situ with those measured for the same proteins adsorbed onto flat PS surfaces in the same samples. The Lc distributions for β-LG adsorbed onto a flat PS surface contain monomer and dimer peaks at 60 and 120 nm, respectively, while α-LA contains a large monomer peak near 50 nm and a dimer peak at 100 nm, with a tail extending out to 200 nm, corresponding to higher order oligomers, e.g. trimers and tetramers. When β-LG or α-LA is adsorbed onto the most highly curved surfaces, both monomer peaks are shifted to much smaller values of Lc. Furthermore, for β-LG, the dimer peak is strongly suppressed on the highly curved surface, whereas for α-LA the trimer and tetramer tail is suppressed with no significant change in the dimer peak. For both proteins, the number of higher order oligomers is significantly reduced as the curvature of the underlying surface is increased. These results suggest that the surface curvature provides a new method of manipulating protein–protein interactions and controlling the association of adsorbed proteins, with applications to the development of novel biosensors.
Assessment of Suitable Loading Rate for Suction-Controlled Triaxial Testing on Compacted Silty Sand via Axis-Translation Technique

State-of-the-art automated triaxial test systems have allowed for testing of saturated and unsaturated soil specimens along sophisticated stress paths. Selection of an appropriate shearing rate is crucial in the accurate determination of shear induced volume changes in the specimen, and making sure that there is no bifurcation of the target effective stress path from the measured stress path. However, in triaxial testing of unsaturated soils (UNSAT testing) at constant suction values, the axial shearing rate should also be slow enough to maintain equilibrium of matric suction as well as uniformity in water content throughout the shearing stage. In this case shearing rate is mostly controlled by the high-air-entry ceramic disk, regardless of how pervious the soil is. The maximum suction that is to be applied during the test program at highest confining pressure has to be chosen to quantify this rate. In medium to dense silty sands, with tendency to dilate upon shearing, it is essential to have shearing rates slow enough to permit upward flow of water into the specimen through the low-permeability ceramic disk. As part of an ongoing research on statically compacted unsaturated silty sands at UT Arlington, the suitable shearing rate is determined empirically through a series of strain-controlled UNSAT Triaxial CD tests at three axial shearing rates (0.014%/min, 0.0086%/min and 0.0029%/min), with highest suction applied via axis-translation technique. The most suitable shearing rate would be the maximum rate for which the specimen is subjected to constant matric suction throughout the test, with induced axial strains similar to those induced at lower shearing rates. Importance of assessment of suitable loading rate during shearing stage (henceforth called as shearing rate) has been long well recognized as it affects the strength, stiffness and volume change behavior of unsaturated soil specimens during triaxial testing. Effective strength parameters in geotechnical design are usually obtained via consolidated drained (CD) or consolidated undrained (CU) tests. Due to the growing evidence of increase in strength due to matric suction, there is a need to modify the conventional triaxial test apparatus to accommodate unsaturated testing along with saturated soil testing. In unsaturated soil triaxial testing, the pore air and pore water
Part I. Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) limit apoptosis upon infection with alphavirus vectors.

Viral expression systems offer the ability to generate high levels of a particular protein within a relatively short period of time. In particular, alphavirus constructs based on Sindbis virus (SV) and Semliki Forest virus (SFV) are promising vehicles as they are cytoplasmic vectors with the potential for high expression levels. Two such alphavirus vectors were utilized during the current study to infect two commercially relevant cell lines, baby hamster kidney (BHK) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO); the first was a fully competent SV derivative carrying the gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (dsSV-CAT), while the second was a replication deficient SFV construct containing the human interleukin-12 (IL-12) p35 and p40 genes (SFV-IL-12). Since infection with these vectors induced apoptosis in both cell lines, the present effort was dedicated to determining the ability of anti-apoptosis genes to limit the cell death associated with these virus constructs. Infection with the dsSV-CAT vector resulted in the rapid death of BHK and CHO cells within 4 days, a phenomenon which was considerably delayed by stably overexpressing bcl-2 or bcl-x(L). In fact, cellular lifespans were doubled in both BHK-bcl2 and CHO-bclx(L) cells relative to the parental cell lines. Furthermore, the presence of these gene products provided increases of up to 2-fold in recombinant CAT production. Overexpression of bcl-2 and bcl-x(L) also altered the response of these cells upon infection with SFV-IL-12. While the parental cell lines were completely nonviable within 1 week, the BHK-bcl2, BHK-bclx(L), and CHO-bclx(L) cells each recovered from the infection, resuming exponential growth and regaining viabilities of over 90% by 9 days post-infection. Total IL-12 productivities were nearly doubled by Bcl-2 and Bcl-x(L) in the CHO cells, although this effect was apparently cell-line specific, as the native BHK cells were able to secrete more IL-12 than either of its transfected derivatives. Regardless, the presence of the anti-apoptosis genes allowed the production of IL-12 to be maintained, albeit at low levels, from each of the cell lines for the duration of the culture process. Therefore, overexpression of bcl-2 family members can have a significant impact on culture viabilities and recombinant protein production during alphavirus infections of mammalian cells.
Decentralized sequential change detection using physical layer fusion

The problem of decentralized sequential detection with conditionally independent observations is studied. The sensors form a star topology with a central node called fusion center as the hub. The sensors make noisy observations of a parameter that changes from an initial state to a final state at a random time where the random change time has a geometric distribution. The sensors amplify and forward the observations over a wireless Gaussian multiple access channel and operate under either a power constraint or an energy constraint. The optimal transmission strategy at each stage is shown to be the one that maximizes a certain Ali-Silvey distance between the distributions for the hypotheses before and after the change. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed analog technique has lower detection delays when compared with existing schemes. Simulations further demonstrate that the energy-constrained formulation enables better use of the total available energy than the power-constrained formulation in the change detection problem.
Utilization of Statins Beyond the Initial Period After Stroke and 1‐Year Risk of Recurrent Stroke

Background In‐hospital discontinuation of statins has been linked to poorer early stroke outcomes, but the consequences of postdischarge discontinuation or dose reduction of statin treatment are unknown. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of statin discontinuation or statin dose reduction on recurrent stroke risk. Methods and Results We conducted a nationwide cohort study using the data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Our source population comprised all patients who were prescribed a statin within 90 days of discharge after an ischemic stroke between 2001 and 2012. Patients were categorized into 3 groups: statin‐discontinued, statin‐reduced, and statin‐maintained. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratios and 95%CIs of recurrent stroke during 1‐year follow‐up in the groups who discontinued statins or reduced statin dose compared with the group who maintained statins as the reference. Among the 45 151 ischemic stroke patients meeting criteria, during the day‐90 to day‐180 period, 7.0% were on reduced statin therapy, and 18.5% were not on any statin therapy. Compared with maintained‐statin intensity therapy, discontinuation of statins was associated with an increased hazard of recurrent stroke (adjusted hazard ratio 1.42, 95%CI 1.28‐1.57), whereas reduced‐statin dose was not associated with an additional risk (adjusted hazard ratio 0.94, 95%CI 0.78‐1.12). Propensity‐matching analysis obtained similar results. Conclusions Discontinuation of statin therapy between 3 and 6 months after an index ischemic stroke was associated with a higher risk of recurrent stroke within 1 year after statin discontinuation.
The Narrow Abdomen Ion Channel Complex Is Highly Stable and Persists from Development into Adult Stages to Promote Behavioral Rhythmicity

The sodium leak channel NARROW ABDOMEN (NA)/ NALCN is an important component of circadian pacemaker neuronal output. In Drosophila, rhythmic expression of the NA channel regulator Nlf-1 in a subset of adult pacemaker neurons has been proposed to contribute to circadian regulation of channel localization or activity. Here we have restricted expression of Drosophila NA channel subunits or the Nlf-1 regulator to either development or adulthood using the temperature-inducible tubulin-GAL80ts system. Surprisingly, we find that developmental expression of endogenous channel subunits and Nlf-1 is sufficient to promote robust rhythmic behavior in adults. Moreover, we find that channel complex proteins produced during development persist in the Drosophila head with little decay for at least 5–7 days in adults. In contrast, restricting either endogenous or transgenic gene expression to adult stages produces only limited amounts of the functional channel complex. These data indicate that much of the NA channel complex that functions in adult circadian neurons is normally produced during development, and that the channel complex is very stable in most neurons in the Drosophila brain. Based on these findings, we propose that circadian regulation of NA channel function in adult pacemaker neurons is mediated primarily by post-translational mechanisms that are independent of Nlf-1.