Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feeding on prey increases photosynthetic efficiency in the carnivorous sundew Drosera capensis.

UNLABELLED BACKROUND AND AIMS: It has been suggested that the rate of net photosynthesis (AN) of carnivorous plants increases in response to prey capture and nutrient uptake; however, data confirming the benefit from carnivory in terms of increased AN are scarce and unclear. The principal aim of our study was to investigate the photosynthetic benefit from prey capture in the carnivorous sundew Drosera capensis. METHODS Prey attraction experiments were performed, with measurements and visualization of enzyme activities, elemental analysis and pigment quantification together with simultaneous measurements of gas exchange and chlorophyll a fluorescence in D. capensis in response to feeding with fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). KEY RESULTS Red coloration of tentacles did not act as a signal to attract fruit flies onto the traps. Phosphatase, phophodiesterase and protease activities were induced 24 h after prey capture. These activities are consistent with the depletion of phosphorus and nitrogen from digested prey and a significant increase in their content in leaf tissue after 10 weeks. Mechanical stimulation of tentacle glands alone was not sufficient to induce proteolytic activity. Activities of β-D-glucosidases and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidases in the tentacle mucilage were not detected. The uptake of phosphorus from prey was more efficient than that of nitrogen and caused the foliar N:P ratio to decrease; the contents of other elements (K, Ca, Mg) decreased slightly in fed plants. Increased foliar N and P contents resulted in a significant increase in the aboveground plant biomass, the number of leaves and chlorophyll content as well as AN, maximum quantum yield (Fv/Fm) and effective photochemical quantum yield of photosystem II (ΦPSII). CONCLUSIONS According to the stoichiometric relationships among different nutrients, the growth of unfed D. capensis plants was P-limited. This P-limitation was markedly alleviated by feeding on fruit flies and resulted in improved plant nutrient status and photosynthetic performance. This study supports the original cost/benefit model proposed by T. Givnish almost 30 years ago and underlines the importance of plant carnivory for increasing phosphorus, and thereby photosynthesis.
Emotions and emotion regulation in survivors of childhood sexual abuse: the importance of “disgust” in traumatic stress and psychopathology

Background Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has the potential to compromise socio-emotional development of the survivor resulting in increased vulnerability to difficulties regulating emotions. In turn, emotion regulation is thought to play a key part in a number of psychological disorders which CSA survivors are at increased risk of developing. A better understanding of the basic emotions experienced in this population and emotion regulation strategies will inform current treatment. Objective This paper examines the relationships between type of emotions experienced, emotion regulation strategies, and psychological trauma symptoms in a sample of survivors of CSA. Method A consecutive case series of CSA survivors (n=109) completed the Basic Emotions Scale (BES)—Weekly, General, and Coping versions; the Regulation of Emotions Questionnaire; the Post-traumatic Stress Checklist—Civilian Version (PCL-C); and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure. Results Significantly higher levels of disgust than other levels of emotions were reported on the weekly version of the BES. In addition, significantly higher levels of disgust and lower levels of happiness were reported on the BES—General subscale. Regression analyses revealed that sadness, fear, disgust, and external dysfunctional coping strategies predicted global post-traumatic stress disorder and re-experiencing symptomatology measured by the PCL-C. Global distress, as measured by CORE, was predicted by the emotions of sadness, disgust, and low happiness, as well as dysfunctional regulatory strategies. In addition, preliminary exploratory factor analyses supported the structure of all three versions of the BES, with disgust explaining the largest percentage of variance, followed by happiness. Conclusions The findings highlight the utility of profiling basic emotions in understanding the strong associations between emotional phenomena, particularly the emotion of disgust and psychopathology in CSA survivors.
Cole's Parametric Search Technique Made Practical

Parametric search has been widely used in geometric algorithms. Cole's improvement provides a way of saving a logarithmic factor in the running time over what is achievable using the standard method. Unfortunately, this improvement comes at the expense of making an already complicated algorithm even more complex; hence, this technique has been mostly of theoretical interest. In this paper, we provide an algorithm engineering framework that allows for the same asymptotic complexity to be achieved probabilistically in a way that is both simple and practical (i.e., suitable for actual implementation). The main idea of our approach is to show that a variant of quicksort, known as boxsort, can be used to drive comparisons, instead of using a sorting network, like the complicated AKS network, or an EREW parallel sorting algorithm, like the fairly intricate parallel mergesort algorithm. This results in a randomized optimization algorithm with a running time matching that of using Cole's method, with high probability, while also being practical. We show how this results in practical implementations of some geometric algorithms utilizing parametric searching and provide experimental results that prove practicality of the method.
Spectral Signatures of Reorganised Brain Networks in Disorders of Consciousness

Theoretical advances in the science of consciousness have proposed that it is concomitant with balanced cortical integration and differentiation, enabled by efficient networks of information transfer across multiple scales. Here, we apply graph theory to compare key signatures of such networks in high-density electroencephalographic data from 32 patients with chronic disorders of consciousness, against normative data from healthy controls. Based on connectivity within canonical frequency bands, we found that patient networks had reduced local and global efficiency, and fewer hubs in the alpha band. We devised a novel topographical metric, termed modular span, which showed that the alpha network modules in patients were also spatially circumscribed, lacking the structured long-distance interactions commonly observed in the healthy controls. Importantly however, these differences between graph-theoretic metrics were partially reversed in delta and theta band networks, which were also significantly more similar to each other in patients than controls. Going further, we found that metrics of alpha network efficiency also correlated with the degree of behavioural awareness. Intriguingly, some patients in behaviourally unresponsive vegetative states who demonstrated evidence of covert awareness with functional neuroimaging stood out from this trend: they had alpha networks that were remarkably well preserved and similar to those observed in the controls. Taken together, our findings inform current understanding of disorders of consciousness by highlighting the distinctive brain networks that characterise them. In the significant minority of vegetative patients who follow commands in neuroimaging tests, they point to putative network mechanisms that could support cognitive function and consciousness despite profound behavioural impairment.
The influence of complex and threatening environments in early life on brain size and behaviour

The ways in which challenging environments during development shape the brain and behaviour are increasingly being addressed. To date, studies typically consider only single variables, but the real world is more complex. Many factors simultaneously affect the brain and behaviour, and whether these work independently or interact remains untested. To address this, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were reared in a two-by-two design in housing that varied in structural complexity and/or exposure to a stressor. Fish experiencing both complexity (enrichment objects changed over time) and mild stress (daily net chasing) exhibited enhanced learning and were less anxious when tested as juveniles (between 77 and 90 days). Adults tested (aged 1 year) were also less anxious even though fish were kept in standard housing after three months of age (i.e. no chasing or enrichment). Volumetric measures of the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that complexity alone generated fish with a larger brain, but this increase in size was not seen in fish that experienced both complexity and chasing, or chasing alone. The results highlight the importance of looking at multiple variables simultaneously, and reveal differential effects of complexity and stressful experiences during development of the brain and behaviour.
Lamina-specific contribution of glutamatergic and GABAergic potentials to hippocampal sharp wave-ripple complexes

The mammalian hippocampus expresses highly organized patterns of neuronal activity which form a neuronal correlate of spatial memories. These memory-encoding neuronal ensembles form on top of different network oscillations which entrain neurons in a state- and experience-dependent manner. The mechanisms underlying activation, timing and selection of participating neurons are incompletely understood. Here we studied the synaptic mechanisms underlying one prominent network pattern called sharp wave-ripple complexes (SPW-R) which are involved in memory consolidation during sleep. We recorded SPW-R with extracellular electrodes along the different layers of area CA1 in mouse hippocampal slices. Contribution of glutamatergic excitation and GABAergic inhibition, respectively, was probed by local application of receptor antagonists into s. radiatum, pyramidale and oriens. Laminar profiles of field potentials show that GABAergic potentials contribute substantially to sharp waves and superimposed ripple oscillations in s. pyramidale. Inhibitory inputs to s. pyramidale and s. oriens are crucial for action potential timing by ripple oscillations, as revealed by multiunit-recordings in the pyramidal cell layer. Glutamatergic afferents, on the other hand, contribute to sharp waves in s. radiatum where they also evoke a fast oscillation at ~200 Hz. Surprisingly, field ripples in s. radiatum are slightly slower than ripples in s. pyramidale, resulting in a systematic shift between dendritic and somatic oscillations. This complex interplay between dendritic excitation and perisomatic inhibition may be responsible for the precise timing of discharge probability during the time course of SPW-R. Together, our data illustrate a complementary role of spatially confined excitatory and inhibitory transmission during highly ordered network patterns in the hippocampus.
Analysis and Improvement of Low Rank Representation for Subspace segmentation

We analyze and improve low rank representation (LRR), the state-of-the-art algorithm for subspace segmentation of data. We prove that for the noiseless case, the optimization model of LRR has a unique solution, which is the shape interaction matrix (SIM) of the data matrix. So in essence LRR is equivalent to factorization methods. We also prove that the minimum value of the optimization model of LRR is equal to the rank of the data matrix. For the noisy case, we show that LRR can be approximated as a factorization method that combines noise removal by column sparse robust PCA. We further propose an improved version of LRR, called Robust Shape Interaction (RSI), which uses the corrected data as the dictionary instead of the noisy data. RSI is more robust than LRR when the corruption in data is heavy. Experiments on both synthetic and real data testify to the improved robustness of RSI.
A Novel Low-Bias Charge Concept for HBT/BJT Models Including Heterobandgap and Temperature Effects—Part I: Theory

A new compact model approach is suggested for the low-bias base charge of homo- and heterojunction bipolar transistors. It is shown that the junction-related (Early) components of this charge depend on an effective doping density. This concept leads to an accurate description with the conventional capacitance-charge model formulas but using different parameters directly extracted from direct-current measurements instead of the classical parameter values derived from alternating-current measurements. The temperature dependence of the low-bias base charge has also been revised, resulting in a new term added to the currently adopted temperature law. The applied novel analytic technique made it possible to determine the influence of bandgap narrowing (BGN) effects and Ge doping on the temperature behavior of SiGe transistors.
A Refined Analysis of Superoxide Production by Mitochondrial sn-Glycerol 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase*

Background: Oxidation of glycerol 3-phosphate generates superoxide/H2O2 from multiple sites within mitochondria. Results: Some of the superoxide/H2O2 originates specifically from mGPDH, but much can come from complex II; this demands a reassessment of prior investigations. Conclusion: The ubiquinone binding site in mGPDH produces superoxide to both sides of the inner membrane. Significance: mGPDH can generate superoxide at rates comparable with other major sites. The oxidation of sn-glycerol 3-phosphate by mitochondrial sn-glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (mGPDH) is a major pathway for transfer of cytosolic reducing equivalents to the mitochondrial electron transport chain. It is known to generate H2O2 at a range of rates and from multiple sites within the chain. The rates and sites depend upon tissue source, concentrations of glycerol 3-phosphate and calcium, and the presence of different electron transport chain inhibitors. We report a detailed examination of H2O2 production during glycerol 3-phosphate oxidation by skeletal muscle, brown fat, brain, and heart mitochondria with an emphasis on conditions under which mGPDH itself is the source of superoxide and H2O2. Importantly, we demonstrate that a substantial portion of H2O2 production commonly attributed to mGPDH originates instead from electron flow through the ubiquinone pool into complex II. When complex II is inhibited and mGPDH is the sole superoxide producer, the rate of superoxide production depends on the concentrations of glycerol 3-phosphate and calcium and correlates positively with the predicted reduction state of the ubiquinone pool. mGPDH-specific superoxide production plateaus at a rate comparable with the other major sites of superoxide production in mitochondria, the superoxide-producing center shows no sign of being overreducible, and the maximum superoxide production rate correlates with mGPDH activity in four different tissues. mGPDH produces superoxide approximately equally toward each side of the mitochondrial inner membrane, suggesting that the Q-binding pocket of mGPDH is the major site of superoxide generation. These results clarify the maximum rate and mechanism of superoxide production by mGPDH.
Advanced experimental and simulation techniques for analysis of dynamic responses during drop impact

Board level solder joint reliability performance during drop test is a critical concern to semiconductor and electronic product manufacturers. A new JEDEC standard for board level drop test of handheld electronic products was just released to specify the drop test procedure and conditions. However, there is no detailed information stated on dynamic responses of printed circuit board (PCB) and solder joints which are closely related to stress and strain of solder joints that affect the solder joint reliability, nor there is any simulation technique which provides good correlation with experimental measurements of dynamic responses of PCB and the resulting solder joint reliability during the entire drop impact process. In this paper, comprehensive dynamic responses of PCB and solder joints, e.g., acceleration, strains, and resistance, are measured and analyzed with a multichannel real-time electrical monitoring system, and simulated with a novel input acceleration (Input-G) method. The solder joint failure process, i.e. crack initiation, propagation, and opening, is well understood from the behavior of dynamic resistance. It is found experimentally and numerically that the mechanical shock causes multiple PCB bending or vibration which induces the solder joint fatigue failure. It is proven that the peeling stress of the critical solder joint is the dominant failure indicator by simulation, which correlates well with the observations and assumptions by experiment. Coincidence of cyclic change among dynamic resistance of solder joints dynamic strains of PCB, and the peeling stress of the critical solder joints indicates that the solder joint crack opens and closes when PCB bends down and up, and the critical solder joint failure is induced by cyclic peeling stress. The failure mode and location of critical solder balls predicted by modeling correlate well with experimental observation by cross-section and dye penetration test.
Determination of Human Rotavirus VP6 Genogroups I and II by Reverse Transcription-PCR

ABSTRACT Based on nucleotide sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the partial VP6 genes, group A rotaviruses can be mainly differentiated into two genogroups. In this study, a method employing reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and degenerate primers was established to assign the VP6 genogroup. VP6 genogroup I and genogroup II could be determined according to the sizes of the amplicons: 380 and 780 bp, respectively. The VP6 genogroup of human reference strains of G1 to G4 and G9 types and RotaTeq vaccine strains could be properly assigned by RT-PCR. Eighty rotavirus-positive fecal samples were subjected to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), RT-PCR, and sequencing of the partial VP6 gene for subgroup and genogroup determination. The results correlated well among these three methods, except for seven samples whose subgroups could not be determined by ELISA. VP6 genogroups of another 150 rotavirus strains recovered between 1981 and 2005 were determined by RT-PCR and sequencing, and the same results were obtained by these two methods. Furthermore, an additional 524 rotavirus-positive fecal samples were tested by RT-PCR, and the VP6 genogroups could be easily determined. The RT-PCR assay developed here provided a reliable and convenient method for assigning the VP6 genogroups of human rotaviruses with a wide range of genetic variation.
A comparison of facial feature representation methods for automatic facial expression recognition

A machine translation system that can convert South African Sign Language video to English audio or text and vice versa in real-time would be immensely beneficial to the Deaf and hard of hearing. Sign language gestures are characterised and expressed by five distinct parameters: hand location; hand orientation; hand shape; hand movement and facial expressions. The aim of this research is to recognise facial expressions and to compare the following feature descriptors: local binary patterns; compound local binary patterns and histogram of oriented gradients in two testing environments, a subset of the BU3D-FE dataset and the CK+ dataset. The overall accuracy, accuracy across facial expression classes, robustness to test subjects, and the ability to generalise of each feature descriptor within the context of automatic facial expression recognition are analysed as part of the comparison procedure. Overall, HOG proved to be a more robust feature descriptor to the LBP and CLBP. Furthermore, the CLBP can generally be considered to be superior to the LBP, but the LBP has greater potential in terms of its ability to generalise.
Thymosin α1 inserts N terminus into model membranes assuming a helical conformation

Objective: Thymosin α1 (Tα1) is a peptide hormone whose therapeutic application has been approved in several diseases, but the description of a precise receptor for its therapeutic action still remains elusive and some knowledge of the mechanism of interaction with the cell membrane still needs to be clarified. This work is aimed at studying the folding and interaction of Tα1, which is completely unstructured in water solution, with model membranes. Methods: The folding and interaction of Tα1 with sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles was monitored by NMR and CD spectroscopy techniques. Results: Tα1 assumes a helical conformation in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles, showing a helical fold with a structural break around residues 9 and 14. These results were confirmed by circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy. Moreover, by paramagnetic NMR relaxation it was found that Tα1 is inserted in the hydrophobic region of the micelles by the residues 1 – 5 of the N-terminal end. This result clarifies the modality of insertion that was not obtained in previous NMR studies in trifluoroethanol. Conclusions: These findings suggest that Tα1 folds on the membrane and, when inserted, may be able to interact with nearby proteins and/or receptors acting as an effector and causing a biological signaling cascade.
Dynamic Facial Analysis: From Bayesian Filtering to Recurrent Neural Network

Facial analysis in videos, including head pose estimation and facial landmark localization, is key for many applications such as facial animation capture, human activity recognition, and human-computer interaction. In this paper, we propose to use a recurrent neural network (RNN) for joint estimation and tracking of facial features in videos. We are inspired by the fact that the computation performed in an RNN bears resemblance to Bayesian filters, which have been used for tracking in many previous methods for facial analysis from videos. Bayesian filters used in these methods, however, require complicated, problem-specific design and tuning. In contrast, our proposed RNN-based method avoids such tracker-engineering by learning from training data, similar to how a convolutional neural network (CNN) avoids feature-engineering for image classification. As an end-to-end network, the proposed RNN-based method provides a generic and holistic solution for joint estimation and tracking of various types of facial features from consecutive video frames. Extensive experimental results on head pose estimation and facial landmark localization from videos demonstrate that the proposed RNN-based method outperforms frame-wise models and Bayesian filtering. In addition, we create a large-scale synthetic dataset for head pose estimation, with which we achieve state-of-the-art performance on a benchmark dataset.
Variation in bone morphogenetic protein 15 is not associated with spontaneous human dizygotic twinning.

BACKGROUND Spontaneous dizygotic (DZ) twinning in humans is under genetic control. In sheep, heterozygous loss of function mutations in bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) increase ovulation and hence twinning rates. METHODS To investigate the role of BMP15 in human twinning, we typed 14 common variants, 4 rare novel variants initially detected by sequencing 279 mothers of DZ twins (MODZT) and 17 variants previously associated with premature ovarian failure (POF) in 933 DZ twinning families. We also typed five additional POF associated GDF9 variants. RESULTS There was some evidence for association between DZ twinning and a common intronic BMP15 variant (rs3897937), but this was not significant after correction for multiple testing. Three of the four novel variants (p.Pro174Ser, p.Ala311Thr and p.Arg392Thr) occurred in 1-5 MODZT but were not detected in 1512 controls. We also detected three POF associated mutations in both BMP15 and GDF9 at low frequencies in MODZT and controls. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that neither rare nor common BMP15 variants play a significant role in the variation in human DZ twinning.