Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An epigenome-wide association meta-analysis of prenatal maternal stress in neonates: A model approach for replication

ABSTRACT Prenatal maternal stress exposure has been associated with neonatal differential DNA methylation. However, the available evidence in humans is largely based on candidate gene methylation studies, where only a few CpG sites were evaluated. The aim of this study was to examine the association between prenatal exposure to maternal stress and offspring genome-wide cord blood methylation using different methods. First, we conducted a meta-analysis and follow-up pathway analyses. Second, we used novel region discovery methods [i.e., differentially methylated regions (DMRs) analyses]. To this end, we used data from two independent population-based studies, the Generation R Study (n = 912) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, n = 828), to (i) measure genome-wide DNA methylation in cord blood and (ii) extract a prenatal maternal stress composite. The meta-analysis (ntotal = 1,740) revealed no epigenome-wide (meta P <1.00e-07) associations of prenatal maternal stress exposure with neonatal differential DNA methylation. Follow-up analyses of the top hits derived from our epigenome-wide meta-analysis (meta P <1.00e-04) indicated an over-representation of the methyltransferase activity pathway. We identified no Bonferroni-corrected (P <1.00e-06) DMRs associated with prenatal maternal stress exposure. Combining data from two independent population-based samples in an epigenome-wide meta-analysis, the current study indicates that there are no large effects of prenatal maternal stress exposure on neonatal DNA methylation. Such replication efforts are essential in the search for robust associations, whether derived from candidate gene methylation or epigenome-wide studies.
A Pedological Characterisation of Some Inland Wetlands and Ramsar Sites in Algeria

This paper aims to characterise soils of 12 wetlands, of which ten are Ramsar sites, in the ecocomplex of wetlands of the Hauts Plateaux region in Northeast Algeria. Soil samples from every site were collected following the four cardinal directions, along a transect covering the peripheral vegetation belts, and from two depths of the surface horizon. Each soil sample was analysed to determine electrical conductivity, pH, total carbonates, gypsum, chlorides, bicarbonates, sulfates and the particle size. The soil texture and chemical facies (Cl–SO4–HCO3) of each site were identified and discussed. Changes in physicochemical parameters were tested according to the spatial features of sites (orientations, vegetation transects and sample depth). A great heterogeneity was found between soils of sampled sites. Indeed, soil physicochemical characteristics differed from one site to another and between belts of the natural vegetation within the same site. Overall, the study wetlands were characterised by salty to very salty soils (electrical conductivity = 3·46 ± 2·44 dS m−1), of neutral to alkaline pH (6·9–8·1), moderately calcareous (CaCO3 ranged between 15·7% and 33·7%) and little to extremely gypsiferous (gypsium varied from 2·1% to 39·4%). The dominant soil texture classes were medium textures (loam, sandy loam or silty clay loam). Chemically, chlorides (18·5 ± 16·3 Meq/100 g) and/or sulfates (16·5 ± 12·5 Meq/100 g) dominated soil solutions of these environments but with slight bicarbonate contents (0·6 ± 2·6 Meq/100 g). Moreover, there were poor correlations between physicochemical parameters, which indicates interactions between certain parameters under the effect of specific habitat conditions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Midazolam pharmacokinetics following intravenous and buccal administration.

AIMS Midazolam has good anxiolytic qualities and is a well established premedication agent before anaesthesia or short surgical procedures. The objective of the present study was to determine pharmacokinetic data from individual plasma concentration profiles obtained following intravenous and buccal administration of midazolam. METHODS Eight young healthy volunteers received single doses of 5 mg midazolam i.v. and after a period of 1 week buccally in a cross over manner. Blood samples were obtained up to 480 min. The measurement of plasma midazolam concentrations was by gas-chromatography. RESULTS The maximum plasma concentration was 55.9 ng ml(-1) (range 35.6-77.9 ng ml(-1)) at 30 min (range 15-90 min) following buccal administration. AUC was calculated to be 15016 ng ml(-1) min (s.d. 3778 ng ml(-1) min) following i.v. and 11191 ng ml(-1) min (s.d. 1777 ng ml(-1) min) following buccal midazolam. This gave a mean midazolam bioavailability of 74.5%. CONCLUSIONS The pharmacokinetic data presented in this study demonstrate a high bioavailability and reliable plasma concentrations following buccal midazolam. The clinical benefit of buccal midazolam may be in particular patient controlled premedication or sedation in adults.
A new way to use hidden Markov models for object tracking in video sequences

In this paper, we are dealing with color object tracking. We propose to use hidden Markov models in a different way as classical approaches. Indeed, we use these mathematical tools to model the object in the spatial domain rather than in the temporal domain. Besides in order to manage multidimensional (color) data, multidimensional hidden Markov models are involved. Object learning step is performed using the GHOSP algorithm whereas object tracking step is done by approximate object position prediction and then precise object position localisation. This last step can be seen as an object recognition problem and will be solved using a method based on the forward algorithm.
Influence of carrying heavy loads on soldiers' posture, movements and gait

Military personnel are required to carry heavy loads whilst marching; this load carriage represents a substantial component of training and combat. Studies in the literature mainly concentrate on physiological effects, with few biomechanical studies of military load carriage systems (LCS). This study examines changes in gait and posture caused by increasing load carriage in military LCS. The four conditions used during this study were control (including rifle, boots and helmet carriage, totalling 8 kg), webbing (weighing 8 kg), backpack (24 kg) and a light antitank weapon (LAW; 10 kg), resulting in an incremental increase in load carried from 8, 16, 40 to 50 kg. A total of 20 male soldiers were evaluated in the sagittal plane using a 3-D motion analysis system. Measurements of ankle, knee, femur, trunk and craniovertebral angles and spatiotemporal parameters were made during self-paced walking. Results showed spatiotemporal changes were unrelated to angular changes, perhaps a consequence of military training. Knee and femur ranges of motion (control, 21.1° ± 3.0 and 33.9° ± 7.1 respectively) increased (p < 0.05) with load (LAW, 25.5° ± 2.3 and 37.8° ± 1.5 respectively). The trunk flexed significantly further forward, confirming results from previous studies. In addition, the craniovertebral angle decreased (p < 0.001) indicating a more forward position of the head with load. It is concluded that the head functions in concert with the trunk to counterbalance load. The higher muscular tensions necessary to sustain these changes have been associated with injury, muscle strain and joint problems.
Bioactive Indole Derivatives from the South Pacific Marine Sponges Rhopaloeides odorabile and Hyrtios sp.

Indole derivatives including bromoindoles have been isolated from the South Pacific marine sponges Rhopaloeides odorabile and Hyrtios sp. Their structures were established through analysis of mass spectra and 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data. Their potential inhibitory phospholipase A2 (PLA2), antioxidant and cytotoxic activities were evaluated. The new derivative 5,6-dibromo-l-hypaphorine (9) isolated from Hyrtios sp. revealed a weak bee venom PLA2 inhibition (IC50 0.2 mM) and a significant antioxidant activity with an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) value of 0.22. The sesquiterpene aureol (4), also isolated from Hyrtios sp. , showed the most potent antioxidant activity with an ORAC value of 0.29.
Influence of transient atmospheric circulation on the surface heating of the western Pacific warm pool

Trade and monsoonal winds converge to regions of the highest sea surface temperature (SST) in the equatorial western Pacific. These regions have the largest cloud cover and smallest wind speed. Both surface solar heating and evaporative cooling are weak. Data on surface heat fluxes show that the reduced evaporative cooling due to weakened winds exceeds the reduced solar heating due to enhanced cloudiness. The result is a maximum surface heating in the strong convective and high SST regions, which follow the seasonal march of the sun. As the Sun moves away from a convective region, the strong trade and monsoonal winds set in, and the evaporative cooling enhances, resulting in a net cooling of the surface. We conclude that the seasonal variation of evaporation associated with the seasonal variation of trade and monsoonal winds is one of the major factors that modulate the SST distribution of the Pacific warm pool.
Temperature-aware microarchitecture

With power density and hence cooling costs rising exponentially, processor packaging can no longer be designed for the worst case, and there is an urgent need for runtime processor-level techniques that can regulate operating temperature when the package's capacity is exceeded. Evaluating such techniques, however, requires a thermal model that is practical for architectural studies. We describe HotSpot, an accurate yet fast model based on an equivalent circuit of thermal resistances and capacitances that correspond to microarchitecture blocks and essential aspects of the thermal package. Validation was performed using finite-element simulation. We also introduce several effective methods for dynamic thermal management (DTM): "temperature-tracking" frequency scaling, localized toggling, and migrating computation to spare hardware units. Modeling temperature at the microarchitecture level also shows that power metrics are poor predictors of temperature, and that sensor imprecision has a substantial impact on the performance of DTM.
Dynamical stability of body center cubic iron at the Earth’s core conditions

Here, using self-consistent ab initio lattice dynamical calculations that go beyond the quasiharmonic approximation, we show that the high-pressure high-temperature bcc-Fe phase is dynamically stable. In this treatment the temperature-dependent phonon spectra are derived by exciting all the lattice vibrations, in which the phonon–phonon interactions are considered. The high-pressure and high-temperature bcc-Fe phase shows standard bcc-type phonon dispersion curves except for the transverse branch, which is overdamped along the high symmetry direction Γ-N, at temperatures below 4,500 K. When lowering the temperature down to a critical value TC, the lattice instability of the bcc structure is reached. The pressure dependence of this critical temperature is studied at conditions relevant for the Earth’s core.
Effects of site-specific factors on corn stover removal thresholds and subsequent environmental impacts in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Corn (Zea mays L.) stover removal thresholds are subject to many site-specific factors. Current data do not provide practical stover removal guidelines for given site-specific conditions. We used the Agricultural Policy Environmental Extender (APEX) model to assess the effects of site-specific factors and corn stover removal from 3,703 farm fields within the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB). From among the many management and resource attribute factors across these farm fields, we chose the site-specific factors of two land types (highly erodible land [HEL] and non-HEL), three soil textures (clayey, loamy, and sandy), four hydrologic groups (A, B, C, and D), and two management scenarios (Baseline and Enhanced Conservation Treatment) to characterize the variability of stover production potential. The Baseline management reflects farmer management practices reported in the Conservation Effects Assessment Project National Cropland Assessment database, while the Enhanced Conservation Treatment reflects additional conservation practices and management scenarios needed to mitigate sediment, nutrient, and soil organic carbon (SOC) losses. For evaluation purposes, we used the Conservation Effects Assessment Project National Cropland Assessment “acceptable planning criteria” but with more stringent SOC criteria, which does not allow stover removal on sites that lose SOC. Overall, grain and stover yields and N and P losses decreased, while sediment and SOC losses increased with increasing stover removal. On average, Baseline stover yields on HEL were slightly lower than on non-HEL, while yields were higher on loamy, followed by clayey, and then sandy soils. Hydrologic group D soils had the highest Baseline stover yields, followed by those in group B, then group C, and then group A with the lowest yields. The Enhanced Conservation Treatment management drastically mitigated sediment and nutrient losses by 69% and 57%, respectively. Differential impacts of stover removal were most pronounced among the soil textural classes, followed by soil hydrologic groups, and then land type. Overall, the findings of this research underscore the importance of site-specific factors in determining corn stover removal thresholds. For the Upper Mississippi River Basin and for sites meeting the “acceptable planning criteria,” sufficiently “safe” corn stover removals are possible such that only a portion of the available corn acreage would be required to produce enough ethanol to exceed the National 2012 Energy Independence and Security Act goal. However, we do not evaluate issues associated with ethanol plant economic feasibility, such as spatial concentration of stover production.
Cainozoic environmental change in southern Africa, with special emphasis on the last 200 000 years

Since the end of the Cretaceous, Africa's latitudinal drift has been relatively small and has not significantly modified the general pattern of stepwise cooling and aridification that has characterized the Cainozoic era. Tectonic uplift has, in contrast, strongly influenced regional climates in east and southern Africa, especially during the late Neogene, and has accentuated the east-west moisture gradient which has prevailed, with minor interruptions, since the Oligocene. In common with most other midlatitude regions, southern African environments responded dramatically to the global episode of cooling and drying between 2.8 and 2.6 myr which ushered in the cyclical fluctuations of the Pleistocene. The establishment of a winter rainfall regime in the southwestern part of the subcontinent probably dates from around 2.6 myr. In the north east, new proxy data spanning the last 200 000 years indicate that summer rainfall varied in relation to receipts of solar insolation at precessional frequencies. Superimposed upon these cyclical changes were a number of less regular variations which, on the basis of the larger body of evidence available for the Holocene, elicited specific localized responses. These diachronistic changes argue for the involvement of factors other than solar insolation alone in the more recent evolution of southern African climates.
A phytoplasma related to 'Candidatus phytoplasma asteri' detected in citrus showing Huanglongbing (yellow shoot disease) symptoms in Guangdong, P. R. China.

Citrus huanglongbing (HLB) or yellow shoot disease (i.e., greening disease) is highly destructive to citrus production worldwide. Understanding the etiology of HLB is critical for managing the disease. HLB is currently associated with infection by 'Candidatus Liberibacter spp. ' around the world, including China. However, Koch's postulates have not been fulfilled. In addition, other plant pathogens also may be involved in HLB. In a survey performed in Guangdong Province, P. R. China in 2006 and 2007, 141 citrus samples showing typical symptoms of HLB from 11 different cities were collected. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using phytoplasma-specific primer sets fU5/rU3 nested with primer set P1/P7 identified 110 (78.0%) positive samples. A 1,785-bp amplicon was obtained with primer set P1/P7. Analysis showed a 100% identity of this sequence in the region of 16S rDNA and 16S-23S rRNA intergenic transcribed spacer to three strains of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteri' (onion yellows [Japan], aster yellows 'watercress' [Hawaii], and valeriana yellows [Lithuania]). Of the 141 samples, 89 (63.1%) samples were positive for 'Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus'. When mixed infection was considered, 69 (48.9%) samples were positive for both 'Ca. P. asteri' and 'Ca. L. asiaticus'. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed low titers of both walled and wall-less bodies in the phloem sieve tubes of HLB citrus. When transmission from symptomatic citrus to periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) via dodder (Cuscuta campestris) was conducted, both phytoplasma and 'Ca. L. asiaticus' were detected from the affected periwinkle. In addition to yellowing/mottling, the infected periwinkle showed symptoms of virescence and phyllody which are commonly associated with phytoplasmal diseases. TEM analysis of affected periwinkle revealed pleomorphic and wall-less organisms, characteristic of phytoplasmas, filling some phloem sieve tubes. In contrast, walled bacteria were at low titer. This study showed that in addition to 'Ca. L. asiaticus', a phytoplasma related to 'Ca. P. asteri' could also be detected in citrus showing HLB symptoms in Guangdong.
Experimental study and mathematical modelling of soluble chemical transfer from unsaturated/saturated soil to surface runoff

A one‐dimensional, two‐layer solute transport model is developed to simulate chemical transport process in an initially unsaturated soil with ponding water on the soil surface before surface runoff starts. The developed mathematical model is tested against a laboratory experiment. The infiltration and diffusion processes are mathematically lumped together and described by incomplete mixing parameters. Based on mass conservation and water balance equations, the model is developed to describe solute transport in a two‐zone layer, a ponding runoff zone and a soil mixing zone. The two‐zone layer is treated as one system to avoid describing the complicated chemical transport processes near the soil surface in the mixing zone. The proposed model was analytically solved, and the solutions agreed well with the experimental data. The developed experimental method and mathematical model were used to study the effect of the soil initial moisture saturation on chemical concentration in surface runoff. The study results indicated that, when the soil was initially saturated, chemical concentration in surface runoff was significantly (two orders of magnitude) higher than that with initially unsaturated soil, while the initial chemical concentrations at the two cases were of the same magnitude. The soil mixing depth for the initially unsaturated soil was much larger than that for the initially saturated soil, and the incomplete runoff mixing parameter was larger for the initially unsaturated soil. The higher the infiltration rate of the soil, the greater the infiltration‐related incomplete mixing parameter. According to the quantitative analysis, the soil mixing depth was found to be sensitive for both initially unsaturated and saturated soils, and the incomplete runoff mixing parameter was sensitive for initially saturated soil but not for the initially unsaturated soil; the incomplete infiltration mixing parameter behaved just the opposite. Some suggestions are made for reducing chemical loss from runoff. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Infrasonic jet noise from volcanic eruptions

The lowermost section of a Vulcanian or Plinian volcanic eruption column may be thought of as a momentum‐driven, turbulent, free‐shear jet flow. We propose that large‐amplitude and long‐duration infrasonic (<20 Hz) signals recorded at ranges of tens of kilometers during powerful eruptions at Mount St. Helens, USA, and Tungurahua, Ecuador, represent a low frequency form of jet noise. A preliminary test of this hypothesis is made by comparing the observed infrasonic spectra to the empirically‐derived similarity spectra for pure‐air jets. Although the spectral shapes are in approximate agreement, the observed volcanic signals have additional complexities not present in the pure‐air laboratory data. These features may result from multiphase flow containing solid particles and liquid droplets, very high temperatures, and perhaps complex crater morphology. However, the overall similarity between the volcanic signals and jet noise indicates that broadband infrasound measurements at volcanoes may provide a quantitative link to eruption jet dynamics, and would aid substantially in the remote assessment of volcanic hazard.
Electric and Magnetic Field Galvanic Distortion Decomposition of BC87 Data.

The BC87 magnetotelluric data exhibit distortions due to three-dimensional structures at all scale sizes, from very local to regional. Previous work has shown that these distortions can sometimes, but not always, be described by an electric field galvanic distortion model, and hence can be removed using a tensor decomposition approach. This work extends the analysis to include galvanic distortion of the magnetic field, and shows its importance for many of the BC87 sites. However, even a combined electric and magnetic field galvanic distortion approach fails for quite a few of the sites studied. This is pervasive for periods shorter than 10 s, suggesting local 3D inductive effects, but model inadequacy at longer periods may indicate a breakdown of the model assumptions, particularly the requirement that the regional electric field be both uniform across the distorting body and comparable to that at the observation point.
Human Monocyte-Derived Osteoclasts Are Targeted by Staphylococcal Pore-Forming Toxins and Superantigens

Staphylococcus aureus is the leading cause of bone and joint infections (BJIs). Staphylococcal pathogenesis involves numerous virulence factors including secreted toxins such as pore-forming toxins (PFTs) and superantigens. The role of these toxins on BJI outcome is largely unknown. In particular, few studies have examined how osteoclasts, the bone-resorbing cells, respond to exposure to staphylococcal PFTs and superantigens. We investigated the direct impact of recombinant staphylococcal toxins on human primary mature monocyte-derived osteoclasts, in terms of cytotoxicity and cell activation with cell death and bone resorption assays, using macrophages of the corresponding donors as a reference. Monocyte-derived osteoclasts displayed similar toxin susceptibility profiles compared to macrophages. Specifically, we demonstrated that the Panton-Valentine leukocidin, known as one of the most powerful PFT which lyses myeloid cells after binding to the C5a receptor, was able to induce the death of osteoclasts. The archetypal superantigen TSST-1 was not cytotoxic but enhanced the bone resorption activity of osteoclasts, suggesting a novel mechanism by which superantigen-producing S. aureus can accelerate the destruction of bone tissue during BJI. Altogether, our data indicate that the diverse clinical presentations of BJIs could be related, at least partly, to the toxin profiles of S. aureus isolates involved in these severe infections.