Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Newly identified helper bacteria stimulate ectomycorrhizal formation in Populus

Mycorrhiza helper bacteria (MHB) are known to increase host root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi but the molecular mechanisms and potential tripartite interactions are poorly understood. Through an effort to study Populus microbiome, we isolated 21 Pseudomonas strains from native Populus deltoides roots. These bacterial isolates were characterized and screened for MHB effectiveness on the Populus-Laccaria system. Two additional Pseudomonas strains (i.e., Pf-5 and BBc6R8) from existing collections were included for comparative purposes. We analyzed the effect of co-cultivation of these 23 individual Pseudomonas strains on Laccaria bicolor “S238N” growth rate, mycelial architecture and transcriptional changes. Nineteen of the 23 Pseudomonas strains tested had positive effects on L. bicolor S238N growth, as well as on mycelial architecture, with strains GM41 and GM18 having the most significant effect. Four of seven L. bicolor reporter genes, Tra1, Tectonin2, Gcn5, and Cipc1, thought to be regulated during the interaction with MHB strain BBc6R8, were induced or repressed, while interacting with Pseudomonas strains GM17, GM33, GM41, GM48, Pf-5, and BBc6R8. Strain GM41 promoted the highest roots colonization across three Populus species but most notably in P. deltoides, which is otherwise poorly colonized by L. bicolor. Here we report novel MHB strains isolated from native Populus that improve L. bicolor root colonization on Populus. This tripartite relationship could be exploited for Populus species/genotypes nursery production as a means of improving establishment and survival in marginal lands.
Uniting needs, responses, and theory during reentry: The distinct and joint contributions of peer influence and religious/spiritual support on substance use

ABSTRACT Using a dual framework of differential association and the risk-need-responsivity model, this study uses data from the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative to investigate how peer criminality, peer support, and religious or spiritual support impact substance use during reentry. Results indicate that less peer criminality and more religious/spiritual support relate to lower levels of substance use, and in both independent and interdependent ways. However, results also suggest that religious/spiritual support interacts with high amounts of peer support to increase substance use. Collectively, the three elements of risks, needs, and responses may be intertwined in the case of peer influence and religious/spiritual support.
Problems in methods for the detection of significant proteinuria in pregnancy

The aim of this study was to underscore problems associated with the dipstick test and determination of protein concentration alone in spot‐urine (P‐test) compared with spot‐urine protein‐to‐creatinine ratio (P/Cr test) and to determine whether urine collection for 24‐h test was complete.
The Proinflammatory Cytokine High-Mobility Group Box-1 Mediates Retinal Neuropathy Induced by Diabetes

To test the hypothesis that increased expression of proinflammatory cytokine high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) in epiretinal membranes and vitreous fluid from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and in retinas of diabetic rats plays a pathogenetic role in mediating diabetes-induced retinal neuropathy. Retinas of 1-month diabetic rats and HMGB1 intravitreally injected normal rats were studied using Western blot analysis, RT-PCR and glutamate assay. In addition, we studied the effect of the HMGB1 inhibitor glycyrrhizin on diabetes-induced biochemical changes in the retina. Diabetes and intravitreal injection of HMGB1 in normal rats induced significant upregulation of HMGB1 protein and mRNA, activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), cleaved caspase-3 and glutamate; and significant downregulation of synaptophysin, tyrosine hydroxylase, glutamine synthetase, and glyoxalase 1. Constant glycyrrhizin intake from the onset of diabetes did not affect the metabolic status of the diabetic rats, but it significantly attenuated diabetes-induced upregulation of HMGB1 protein and mRNA, activated ERK1/2, cleaved caspase-3, and glutamate. In the glycyrrhizin-fed diabetic rats, the decrease in synaptophysin, tyrosine hydroxylase, and glyoxalase 1 caused by diabetes was significantly attenuated. These findings suggest that early retinal neuropathy of diabetes involves upregulated expression of HMGB1 and can be ameliorated by inhibition of HMGB1.
Multifunctional Mobile Units with a same platform for in-pipe inspection robots

Robots are efficient and economic for in-pipe inspection tasks. In this paper, we deal with versatility and multifunction of in-pipe inspection robots. A versatile platform equipped with one driving motor is the main body of multifunctional mobile unit (MMU) that performs inspection tasks. We have developed three kinds of MMU by fixing different assemblies on the proposed versatile platform. MMU1 is an adaptive mobile mechanism that changes its working mode autonomously and gets over the obstacle without any extra motorpsilas help, in the case that the pipe diameter changes. MMU2 is a mechanism that has both driving ability and detecting function; MMU3 is equipped with assemblies that integrate the wheel and propeller function together, thus, MMU3 is able to propel both in dry pipe and watery pipe. These MMUs are all constructed from a same platform, which makes little increase of the cost but realizes of more kinds of robots. Several basic experiments have been conducted to confirm the effectiveness and mobility of the MMUs.
Maternal Effects and the Evolution of Chinook Salmon

Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) populations are under increasing threat due to habitat degradation, over fishing, invasive pathogens, and climate change. The early life history stage (fertilization – free feeding) is one of the most vulnerable developmental phases and performance at this stage may be a critical factor affecting population persistence. Offspring traits and performance are often greatly influenced by maternal effects, which have the potential to alter patterns of inheritance and selection, and environmental factors such as temperature. However, the contribution of maternal effects to the evolution of offspring traits under varying environmental conditions is still poorly understood in salmon. To address this research gap, I assessed the contribution of egg size, a primary maternal effect trait, to the within and among population variation in offspring traits in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) under different rearing temperatures. I found that egg size explained most of the within and among population variation in offspring traits, which suggests that egg size has the capacity to significantly influence the adaptive response of early life phenotypes. I also assessed the effect of egg nutrient composition, which is a transgenerational maternal effect, on the expression of offspring phenotypes and determined that both the fatty acid and proximate composition of eggs influenced offspring phenotypes above and beyond the effect of egg size. Importantly, the effects of both egg size and nutrient composition were temperature dependent. A primary concern for many studies of maternal effects is the lack of in-situ studies. Therefore, I reared Chinook salmon embryos in-situ and found that egg size had a linear, non-linear, or no effect on early life survival depending on the habitat characteristics of the nest. Based on the in-situ egg size – survival relationships, I showed how variation in egg size could increase or decrease offspring production in a population depending on the match between the population egg size distribution and the egg size selection regime using a simulation model. Overall, this work demonstrates the significant contribution maternal effects make to the expression and evolution of offspring phenotypes in salmon.
The Conversion of Cultural Tastes into Social Network Ties1

In recent years, sociologists have focused less on cultural tastes as “effects” of social structure and more on their causal efficacy in the creation and maintenance of social ties. Progress on this agenda has been hindered, however, by limitations in theory, methods, and available data. This article attempts to advance all three fronts. First, it clarifies, integrates, and expands upon prior work to develop a more comprehensive theoretical framework for examining the conversion of cultural tastes into social relationships. Second, it introduces a powerful network modeling tool, stochastic actor-based modeling, that is uniquely capable of implementing this framework. Third, it illustrates the utility of these advances using an original, longitudinal data set based on the behavior of a cohort of college students on Facebook. Findings from this application suggest several general substantive propositions about capital conversion, providing a starting point for future research.
Immunomodulatory Drug CC-5013 or CC-4047 and Rituximab Enhance Antitumor Activity in a Severe Combined Immunodeficient Mouse Lymphoma Model

New thalidomide derivatives CC-5013 and CC-4047 (immunomodulatory drugs, IMiD) are up to 10,000 times more potent than Thalidomide. The biological effects of IMiDs are presumed to be mediated by (a) activation of some components of the innate [natural killer (NK) cells] or adoptive immune system (T cells), (b) modification of cytokine microenvironment in the tumor bed, or by (c) inhibition of angiogenesis. In this article, we tested an innovative combination strategy involving rituximab and IMiDs in aggressive lymphoma cell lines and human lymphoma xenografts. Treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cells with CC-5013 resulted in a 40% to 70% growth inhibition when compared with controls (P < 0.05). Exposure of lymphoma cells to CC-4047 resulted in a lesser degree of growth inhibition. Induction of apoptosis was shown in 10% to 26% of lymphoma cells 24 hours following exposure to either IMiD. In vivo studies in severe combined immunodeficient mice showed synergistic activity between CC-4047 (and to a lesser degree, CC-5013) plus rituximab. Animals treated with the CC-4047/rituximab combination had a median survival of 74 days (P = 0.0012) compared with 58 days (P = 0.167) in CC-5013/rituximab-treated animals compared with 45 days in rituximab monotherapy–treated animals. The synergistic effect between IMiDs and rituximab in our mouse model was attributed to NK cell expansion. The enhancement of rituximab activity by IMiDs was abrogated by in vivo depletion of NK cells. Augmenting NK cell function by CC-4047 or CC-5013 exposure may increase the antitumor effects of rituximab against B-cell lymphomas and warrants further exploration in the context of a clinical trial.
Dynamic hyperinflation and tolerance to interval exercise in patients with advanced COPD

Dynamic hyperinflation (DH) contributes importantly to the limitation of constant-load exercise (CLE) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, its role in the limitation of interval exercise (IE) remains to be explored. The change (Δ) in inspiratory capacity (IC) was measured to reflect changes in DH in 27 COPD patients (forced expiratory volume in one second mean±sem % predicted: 40±3) at the end of a symptom-limited CLE test at 80% of peak work capacity (WRmax) and an IE test at 100% WRmax (30 s of work, alternated with 30 s of unloaded pedalling). At the limit of tolerance in both IE and CLE, patients exhibited similar DH (ΔIC: 0.39±0.05 L and 0.45±0.05 L, respectively). However, exercise endurance time (tend) for IE (32.7±3.0 min) was significantly greater than for CLE (10.3±1.6 min). The IE tend correlated with resting IC, expressed as % pred normal. At 30 and 90% of total IE tend, ΔIC (0.43±0.06 and 0.39±0.05 L, respectively) and minute ventilation (31.1±1.6 and 32.7±2.2 L·min−1, respectively) were not significantly different. Resting hyperinflation helps to explain the limitation of interval exercise. Implementation of interval exercise for rehabilitation should provide important clinical benefits because it prolongs exercise endurance time and allows sustaining higher stable ventilation.
Food Insufficiency Is Associated with High-Risk Sexual Behavior among Women in Botswana and Swaziland

Background Both food insufficiency and HIV infection are major public health problems in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the impact of food insufficiency on HIV risk behavior has not been systematically investigated. We tested the hypothesis that food insufficiency is associated with HIV transmission behavior. Methods and Findings We studied the association between food insufficiency (not having enough food to eat over the previous 12 months) and inconsistent condom use, sex exchange, and other measures of risky sex in a cross-sectional population-based study of 1,255 adults in Botswana and 796 adults in Swaziland using a stratified two-stage probability design. Associations were examined using multivariable logistic regression analyses, clustered by country and stratified by gender. Food insufficiency was reported by 32% of women and 22% of men over the previous 12 months. Among 1,050 women in both countries, after controlling for respondent characteristics including income and education, HIV knowledge, and alcohol use, food insufficiency was associated with inconsistent condom use with a nonprimary partner (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.27–2.36), sex exchange (AOR 1.84, 95% CI 1.74–1.93), intergenerational sexual relationships (AOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.03–2.08), and lack of control in sexual relationships (AOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.24–2.28). Associations between food insufficiency and risky sex were much attenuated among men. Conclusions Food insufficiency is an important risk factor for increased sexual risk-taking among women in Botswana and Swaziland. Targeted food assistance and income generation programs in conjunction with efforts to enhance women's legal and social rights may play an important role in decreasing HIV transmission risk for women.
Contemporary generic market in Japan – key conditions to successful evolution

The Japanese pharmaceutical market, the world’s second largest, is traditionally renowned for the domination of patented drugs and the weakest generics share among major established economies. An in-depth observation of published evidence in Japanese/English language provided closer insight into current trends in Japanese domestic legislation and pharmaceutical market development. Recent governmental interventions have resulted in significant expansion of the generic medicines market size. Substantial savings due to generic substitution of patent-protected drugs have already been achieved and are likely to increase in future. Nationwide population aging threatening sustainable healthcare funding is contributing to the relevance of generic policy success. Serious long-term challenges to the modest Japanese generic manufacturing capacities will be posed by foreign pharmaceutical industries particularly the ones based in emerging BRIC economies.
No . 139 / May 2006 The Euro and Financial Integration

We provide a quantitative analysis of the impact of the euro on European financial integration. We consider both volumeand price-based indicators. In general, we find evidence that common membership of the euro area strengthens bilateral financial linkages. However, we emphasize that EMU has only been one innovation driving European financial integration in recent years, with global factors also increasingly important. ____________________ * Prepared for “The Travails of the Eurozone” conference, Heriot-Watt University, March 24th 2006. We thank David Cobham, Robbie Mochrie and the conference participants for helpful comments. Email: plane@tcd.ie; waltis@tcd.ie. Agustin Benetrix and Vahagn Galstyan provided excellent research assistance. Lane thanks the IRCHSS and the HEA-PRTLI grant to the IIIS for financial support.
Language mediators’ support for refugees at border crossing points: enhancing societal tools for sustainable communication in multicultural communities of Austria, Germany and Russia

The contemporary international situation is characterized by the humanitarian crisis and a great wave of refugees. The border point of a host country separates the refugee’s former life full of suffering and pain and the expectations of a new peaceful life. Here a language mediator is considered like a person who can show the refugee a way to the new life. The issue of the language mediation to refugees at border points is the subject matter of this paper. The research papers concerning various aspects of the refugees migration, the UN documents and the various materials on the topic and the practical experience of Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Russian Federation are examined. The government departments in the countries under study that are responsible for the work and assistance to refugees are stated. The professional activity of a language mediator is viewed from various angles. In the framework of the research a survey on the language mediation activity, the refugee obstacles in border points and the opinions of the language mediators from Austria, Germany and Russia was held. The findings of the survey were generalized and the recommendations to improve the translators/interpreters activity were made. The research is implemented within the framework of the RUDN university participation in the Russia-wide 5-100 project.
ASCA Measurements of Silicon and Iron Abundances in the Intracluster Medium

We analyzed the ASCA X-ray data of 40 nearby Clusters of galaxies, whose intracluster-medium temperature distributes in the range of 0.9-10 keV. We measured the Si and Fe abundances of the intracluster medium, spatially averaging over each Cluster, but excluding the central ~ 0.15/I^Q1 Mpc region in order to avoid any possible abundance gradients and complex temperature structures. The Fe abundances of these Clusters are 0.2-0.3 solar, with only weak dependence on the temperature of the intracluster medium, hence on the Cluster richness. In contrast, the Si abundance is observed to increase from 0.3 to 0.6-0.7 solar from the poorer to richer Clusters. These results suggest that the Supernovae of both type-Ia and type-II significantly contribute to the metal enrichment of the intracluster medium, with the relative contribution of type-II Supernovae increasing towards richer Clusters. We suggest a possibility that a considerable fraction of type-II Supernova products escaped from poorer Systems.
A Study of the Effect of a Reading Comprehension Strategy on High School Students with Learning Disabilities

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a particular text explicit comprehension strategy called, "stop and think. " The strategy taught students to pause briefly while reading to note in their own words what has happened so far in the reading before they continue. This technique is intended to help students to self-monitor their own comprehension and to determine if they need to re-read. Students in a control group and an experimental group were used for the study. Both groups consisted often ninth-grade students with learning disabilities enrolled in a suburban high school. Students in the experimental group were all participants in a corrective reading program which met for 40 minutes every day. Direct instruction on the use of the strategy and the students implementation of the strategy lasted approximately nine weeks. Activities involving the use of the stop and think strategy were incorporated two to three times per week. When the strategy was first introduced the students used narrative short stories to maintain motivation while becoming efficient at using it. Students practiced the strategy as a whole group and then individually. During the sixth week of instruction, students began using the strategy with content area readings. Students in the control group did not receive formal reading instruction. To determine the effectiveness of the stop and think strategy, a pretest and a posttest of text-explicit reading comprehension was given to the experimental group and the control group. Two sections from a ninth-grade Global Studies book were used for the pretest and the posttest. For the pretest, students were randomly given one of two sections from the textbook. For the posttest they were give the section they had not done for the pretest. A t test was used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the text-explicit reading comprehension level of the experimental group and the control group. The findings indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the posttest scores of the experimental group, who received the stop and think strategy instruction, and the control group, who did not receive the instruction, favoring the experimental group.
The Impact of Cognitive Styles on Users' Future Intention to Use E-Negotiation Systems

Individual differences in cognitive style have long been regarded as key factors in the success of information systems(IS) and an important topic for IS development and implementation. However, few empirical studies of cognitive style have been conducted in the discipline of negotiation systems (NS). To draw the attention of NS researchers, this study applied Foxall's style/involvement model (SIM) to reveal the relationship between users' unique cognitive styles and their ENS future use intentions. The theoretical model was tested using empirical data collected from an online laboratory experiment involving 92 subjects. Findings confirmed that underlying differences in individuals' adaptive- innovative styles and involvement levels were associated with significant differences in their future use intention towards ENSs. More specifically, more- involved innovators reported the highest future use intention towards ENSs among the four segments. This study not only extends the IS research stream of cognitive style in the context of ENS, but also broadens the knowledge of cognitive styles in the context of information systems by introducing a SIM that has been well examined in the disciplines of social psychology and marketing.
Response characteristics of neutron survey instruments.

The response characteristics presently used for neutron survey instruments are often based on a very limited set of early data and may not be generally reliable. With the increasing availability of workplace spectral information, and greater concerns over correcting instrument readings, better response characteristics data are needed. This report gives the results of a survey to establish which are the most commonly used designs, lists available survey instrument response data, and gives the results of computer modelling and response calculations for these designs.