Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Host Specificity in Ectomycorrhizal Communities: What Do the Exceptions Tell Us?1

Abstract Classic ectomycorrhizal symbioses are mutualisms that involve the exchange of fixed carbon for mineral nutrients between plant roots and fungi. They are unique in the way they contain features of both intimate and diffuse symbioses. The degree of host specificity varies, particularly among the fungi. Here we examine two exceptional cases of specificity to see what they tell us about the advantages of specificity, how it is initiated, and the potential role that it plays in complex ecosystems. The first case involves non-photosynthetic epiparasitic plants, which contrary to virtually all other plants, exhibit high levels of specificity toward their fungal hosts. The second case involves suilloid fungi; this is the largest monophyletic group of ectomycorrhizal fungi that is essentially restricted to associations with a single plant family. In both cases, new symbioses are initiated by dormant propagules that are stimulated to germinate by chemical cues from the host. This reduces the cost of wasting propagules on non-hosts. The advantages of specificity remain unclear in both cases, but we argue that increased benefit to the specialist may result from specialized physiological adaptations. We reexamine the idea that specialist fungi may help their hosts compete in complex ecosystems by reducing facultative epiparasitism by other plants, and suggest an alternative hypothesis for the observed pattern.
No smile like another: adult age differences in identifying emotions that accompany smiles

People smile in various emotional contexts, for example, when they are amused or angry or simply being polite. We investigated whether younger and older adults differ in how well they are able to identify the emotional experiences accompanying smile expressions, and whether the age of the smiling person plays a role in this respect. With this aim, we produced 80 video episodes of three types of smile expressions: positive-affect smiles had been spontaneously displayed by target persons as they were watching amusing film clips and cartoons. Negative-affect smiles had been displayed spontaneously by target persons during an interaction in which they were being unfairly accused. Affectively neutral smiles were posed upon request. Differences in the accompanying emotional experiences were validated by target persons' self-reports. These smile videos served as experimental stimuli in two studies with younger and older adult participants. In Study 1, older participants were less likely to attribute positive emotions to smiles, and more likely to assume that a smile was posed. Furthermore, younger participants were more accurate than older adults at identifying emotional experiences accompanying smiles. In Study 2, both younger and older participants attributed positive emotions more frequently to smiles shown by older as compared to younger target persons, but older participants did so less frequently than younger participants. Again, younger participants were more accurate than older participants in identifying emotional experiences accompanying smiles, but this effect was attenuated for older target persons. Older participants could better identify the emotional state accompanying smiles shown by older than by younger target persons. Taken together, these findings indicate that there is an age-related decline in the ability to decipher the emotional meaning of smiles presented without context, which, however, is attenuated when the smiling person is also an older adult.
Ferrous sulfate, but not iron polymaltose complex, aggravates local and systemic inflammation and oxidative stress in dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis in rats

Background and aims Iron deficiency is common in inflammatory bowel disease, yet oral iron therapy may worsen the disease symptoms and increase systemic and local oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of oral ferrous sulfate and iron polymaltose complex on inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in colitic rats. Methods Animals were divided into four groups with ten animals each. Rats of three groups received dextran sodium sulfate to induce colitis and animals of two of these groups received 5 mg iron/kg of body weight a day, as ferrous sulfate or iron polymaltose complex, for 7 days. Gross colon anatomy, histology of colon and liver, stainings of L-ferritin, Prussian blue, hepcidin, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6, as well serum levels of liver enzymes, inflammatory markers, and iron markers, were assessed. Results Body weight, gross anatomy, crypt injury and inflammation scores, inflammatory parameters in liver and colon, as well as serum and liver hepcidin levels were not significantly different between colitic animals without iron treatment and colitic animals treated with iron polymaltose complex. In contrast, ferrous sulfate treatment caused significant worsening of these parameters. As opposed to ferrous sulfate, iron polymaltose complex caused less or no additional oxidative stress in the colon and liver compared to colitic animals without iron treatment. Conclusion Iron polymaltose complex had negligible effects on colonic tissue erosion, local or systemic oxidative stress, and local or systemic inflammation, even at high therapeutic doses, and may thus represent a valuable oral treatment of iron deficiency in inflammatory bowel disease.
Exploration of trade-offs between steady-state and dynamic properties in signaling cycles

In the intracellular signaling networks that regulate important cell processes, the base pattern comprises the cycle of reversible phosphorylation of a protein, catalyzed by kinases and opposing phosphatases. Mathematical modeling and analysis have been used for gaining a better understanding of their functions and to capture the rules governing system behavior. Since biochemical parameters in signaling pathways are not easily accessible experimentally, it is necessary to explore possibilities for both steady-state and dynamic responses in these systems. While a number of studies have focused on analyzing these properties separately, it is necessary to take into account both of these responses simultaneously in order to be able to interpret a broader range of phenotypes. This paper investigates the trade-offs between optimal characteristics of both steady-state and dynamic responses. Following an inverse sensitivity analysis approach, we use systematic optimization methods to find the biochemical and biophysical parameters that simultaneously achieve optimal steady-state and dynamic performance. Remarkably, we find that even a single covalent modification cycle can simultaneously and robustly achieve high ultrasensitivity, high amplification and rapid signal transduction. We also find that the response rise and decay times can be modulated independently by varying the activating- and deactivating-enzyme-to-interconvertible-protein ratios.
The influence of pitch and noise on the discriminability of filterbank features

Most features used for speech recognition are derived from the output of a filterbank inspired by the auditory system. The two most commonly used filter shapes are the triangular filters used in MFCC (mel-frequency cepstral coefficients) and the gammatone filters that model psychoacoustic critical bands. However, for both of these filterbanks there are free parameters that must be chosen by the system designer. In this paper, we explore the effect that different parameter settings have on the discriminability of speech sound classes. Specifically, we focus our attention on two primary parameters: the filter shape (triangular or gammatone) and the filter bandwidth. We use variations in the noise level and the pitch to explore the behavior of different filterbanks. We use the Fisher linear discriminant to give us insight about why some filterbanks perform better than others. We observe three things: 1) there are significant differences even among different implementations of the same filterbank, 2) wider filters help remove the non-informative pitch information, and 3) the Fisher criteria helps us understand why. We validate the Fisher measure with speech recognition experiments on the Aurora-4 speech corpus.
Wavelength requirements in arbitrarily connected wavelength-routed optical networks

Wavelength division multiplexed optical networks using wavelength routing (WRONs) represent the most promising solution for future high-capacity wide-area network applications. One of the crucial factors which will determine their feasibility is the number of wavelengths required to satisfy the network traffic demand. In this paper, we consider arbitrarily connected networks as physical topologies for WRONs. By analysing a large number of randomly generated networks, bounds on the network wavelength requirements are first evaluated as a function of the physical connectivity. The advantages achievable by multifiber connections and the consequence of single link failure restoration are then assessed for several existing or planned network topologies. The results can be used in the analysis and optimization of the WRON design.
Seroepidemiological Study of Toxocariasis among Volunteers Animal Husbandry Workers and Veterinary in Southern Anatolia in Turkey in 2014

Background: Human toxocariasis is a parasitic infection caused by the larvae of Toxocara canis. We examine the Toxocara seroprevalance in veterinarians and animal husbandry workers living in the Mugla Province, Turkey to evaluate better the risk factors for Toxocara exposure. Methods: In 2014, 376 volunteers participated in the study in 2014. All blood specimens were tested using a commercial enzyme immunoassay kit and ELISA positive samples were confirmed by Western Blot (WB) method. Results: The seroprevalence of Toxocara, as determined by WB, was 8%. A statistically significant correlation was evident between patient age and Toxocara positivity among animal husbandry workers (P = 0.029). A strong association was also evident between sex and seropositivity in the animal husbandry group (P=0.024). Veterinarians working in pet clinics did in fact exhibit higher Toxocara seropositivities relative to those of other groups (P = 0.029). A statistically significant difference was detected between the rural geographic areas surveyed (P = 0.04). Conclusion: In Mugla Province, seroprevalence of Toxocara is lower than other regions. Despite the low seroprevalence observed, especially in high risk professions toxocariasis remains an important medical concern within the region.
Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among Adult Survivors Two Months after the Wenchuan Earthquake

This study investigated the symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and associated risk factors among adult survivors 2 mo. after the Wenchuan earthquake in China. 228 survivors completed the Chinese version of the Impact of Event Scale–Revised. The prevalence of probable PTSD was 43%. The significant predictive factors for the severity of PTSD symptoms included being female, having lower educational level, being bereaved, and witnessing death. Findings of this study suggest that PTSD is a common mental health problem among earthquake survivors in China. Given inadequate knowledge and practices concerning the mental health of disaster victims in China, the information provided by this study is useful for directing, strengthening, and evaluating disaster-related mental health needs and interventions after earthquakes.
Adaptive intersection and t-threshold problems

Consider the problem of computing the intersection of k sorted sets. In the comparison model, we prove a new lower bound which depends on the non-deterministic complexity of the instance, and implies that the algorithm of Demaine, López-Ortiz and Munro [2] is usually optimal in this "adaptive" sense. We extend the lower bound and the algorithm to the t-Threshold Problem, which consists in finding the elements which are in at least t of the k sets. These problems are motivated by boolean queries in text database systems.
Physics-Based Model of IGBT Including MOS Side Two-Dimensional Effects

An existing physics-based model, which has proven accurate for inductive turn-off and inductive turn-on simulations, is modified to account for lateral-gate IGBT two-dimensional effects at the MOS end of the drift region. The modification is based on a steady-state solution of carrier distribution in the JFET region of the IGBT. The accuracy of this solution is verified through a set of finite-element simulations. The improved accuracy of the modified model in terms of on-state forward drop and voltage tail at turn-on is verified through comparison with experimental results
Meta Structure: Computing Relevance in Large Heterogeneous Information Networks

A heterogeneous information network (HIN) is a graph model in which objects and edges are annotated with types. Large and complex databases, such as YAGO and DBLP, can be modeled as HINs. A fundamental problem in HINs is the computation of closeness, or relevance, between two HIN objects. Relevance measures can be used in various applications, including entity resolution, recommendation, and information retrieval. Several studies have investigated the use of HIN information for relevance computation, however, most of them only utilize simple structure, such as path, to measure the similarity between objects. In this paper, we propose to use meta structure, which is a directed acyclic graph of object types with edge types connecting in between, to measure the proximity between objects. The strength of meta structure is that it can describe complex relationship between two HIN objects (e.g., two papers in DBLP share the same authors and topics). We develop three relevance measures based on meta structure. Due to the computational complexity of these measures, we further design an algorithm with data structures proposed to support their evaluation. Our extensive experiments on YAGO and DBLP show that meta structure-based relevance is more effective than state-of-the-art approaches, and can be efficiently computed.
Diversity and Distribution of Ecotypes of the Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophy Gene pufM in the Delaware Estuary

ABSTRACT The diversity of aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria has been examined in marine habitats, but the types of AAP bacteria in estuarine waters and distribution of ecotypes in any environment are not well known. The goal of this study was to determine the diversity of AAP bacteria in the Delaware estuary and to examine the distribution of select ecotypes using quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays for the pufM gene, which encodes a protein in the light reaction center of AAP bacteria. In PCR libraries from the Delaware River, pufM genes similar to those from Beta- (Rhodoferax-like) or Gammaproteobacteria comprised at least 50% of the clones, but the expressed pufM genes from the river were not dominated by these two groups in August 2002 (less than 31% of clones). In four transects, qPCR data indicated that the gammaproteobacterial type of pufM was abundant only near the mouth of the bay whereas Rhodoferax-like AAP bacteria were restricted to waters with a salinity of <5. In contrast, a Rhodobacter-like pufM gene was ubiquitous, but its distribution along the salinity gradient varied with the season. High fractions (12 to 24%) of all three pufM types were associated with particles. The data suggest that different groups of AAP bacteria are controlled by different environmental factors, which may explain current difficulties in predicting the distribution of total AAP bacteria in aquatic environments.
Re: "Twelve-Year Experience of Lester Jones Tubes-Results and Comparison of Three Different Tube Types".

To the Editor: We read with interest the article entitled “Twelve-Year Experience of Lester Jones Tubes—Results and Comparison of Three Different Tube Types” by Laura Bagdonaite and Andrew Pearson. According to the authors, the newly introduced StopLoss Jones tubes seem to “prevent the previously common problem of extrusion,” with the lowest overall complication rate compared with the regular and the frosted Jones tubes. It is probably by mere chance that in the same issue of the journal, a separate article assessed the presence of biofilm on lacrimal silicone stents and demonstrated that by 4 weeks after surgery 100% of the stents demonstrated evidence of biofilm formation. The StopLoss Jones tube is basically a regular Jones tube with the addition of a flexible internal silicone flange. Logical thinking dictates that this intuitive design would reduce the rate of extrusion, and indeed this concurs with the authors’ findings that “the risk of extrusion for both frosted and plain tubes was significantly higher than for” StopLoss tubes. Infection is a frequently overlooked complication after Jones tube placement and is less common than extrusion, but we are concerned that because of the very nature (silicone) and location (inside the nasal cavity) of the flange of Stoploss tubes, a biofilm from the nasal microbial flora may easily collect around this silicone flange which could potentially act as a depot for bacteria and fungi, with the tube lumen subsequently acting as a successful conduit for this flora to reach the ocular surface. An additional significant cause for concern is that the longest follow-up period for the StopLoss tubes was much shorter than the other 2 groups (25 months vs. 108 and 60 months, respectively). While all silastic tubes will eventually be removed decreasing the possibility of an overt clinical infection, all Jones tube at least in theory are of a more permanent nature and a longer follow-up is needed to alleviate this concern.
Demonstrator of the Belle II Online Tracking and Pixel Data Reduction on the High Level Trigger System

The future Belle II experiment will employ a computer-farm based data reduction system for the readout of its innermost detector, a DEPFET-technology based silicon detector with pixel readout. A large fraction of the background hits can be rejected by defining a set of regions of interest (ROIs) on the pixel detector sensors (PXD) and then recording just the data from the pixels inside the ROI. The ROIs are defined on an event by event basis by extrapolating back onto the PXD the charged tracks detected in the outer trackers (a four-layer double-sided silicon strip detector surrounded by a wire chamber). The tracks are reconstructed in real time on the High Level Trigger (HLT). The pixel detector is then read out based on the ROI information. A demonstrator of this architecture was under beam test earlier this year in DESY (Hamburg, Germany). The demonstrator was operated in an electron beam whose momentum was in the 2-6 GeV/c range with a typical trigger rate of a few kilohertz in a magnetic field of strength up to 1 T. The demonstrator consists of one pixel sensor and four silicon strip sensors arranged in a five-layer configuration mimicking the Belle II vertex detector. The detector readout was a scaled down version of the full Belle II DAQ + HLT chain. The demonstrator was used to detect the particles, reconstruct in real time the trajectories, identify the ROIs on the PXD plane and record the PXD data within. We describe the requirements and the architecture of the final system together with the results obtained with the demonstrator.
Relationship Between Hyperacute Blood Pressure and Outcome After Ischemic Stroke: Data From the VISTA Collaboration

Background and Purpose— High blood pressure (BP) is associated independently with poor outcome after acute ischemic stroke, although in most analyses “baseline” BP was measured 24 hours or more postictus, and not during the hyperacute period. Methods— Analyses included 1722 patients in hyperacute trials (recruitment <8 hours) from the Virtual Stroke International Stroke Trial Archive (VISTA) Collaboration. Data on BP at enrolment and after 1, 2, 16, 24, 48, and 72 hours, neurological impairment at 7 days (NIHSS), and functional outcome at 90 days (modified Rankin scale) were assessed using logistic regression models, adjusted for confounding variables; results are for 10-mm Hg change in BP. Results— Mean time to enrolment was 3.7 hours (range 1.0 to 7.9). High systolic BP (SBP) was significantly associated with increased neurological impairment (odds ratio, OR 1.06, 95% confidence interval, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.12), and poor functional outcome; odds ratios for both increased with later BP measurements made at up to 24 hours poststroke. Smaller (versus larger) declines in SBP over the first 24 hours were significantly associated with poor NIHSS scores (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.27) and functional outcome (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.34). A large variability in SBP was also associated with poor functional outcome. Conclusions— High SBP and large variability in SBP in the hyperacute stages of ischemic stroke are associated with increased neurological impairment and poor functional outcome, as are small falls in SBP over the first 24 hours.
Reduced-Complexity Receivers for Strongly Narrowband Intersymbol Interference Introduced by Faster-than-Nyquist Signaling

We propose new M-algorithm BCJR (M-BCJR) algorithms for low-complexity turbo equalization and apply them to severe intersymbol interference (ISI) introduced by faster than Nyquist signaling. These reduced-search detectors are evaluated in simple detection over the ISI channel and in iterative decoding of coded FTN transmissions. In the second case, accurate log likelihood ratios are essential and we introduce a 3-recursion M-BCJR that provides this. Focusing signal energy by a minimum phase conversion before the M-BCJR is also essential; we propose an improvement to this older idea. The new M-BCJRs are compared to reduced-trellis VA and BCJR benchmarks. The FTN signals carry 4-8 bits/Hz-s in a fixed spectrum, with severe ISI models as long as 32 taps. The combination of coded FTN and the reduced-complexity BCJR is an attractive narrowband coding method.
On Percolation and the Bunkbed Conjecture

We study a problem on edge percolation on product graphs G × K2. Here G is any finite graph and K2 consists of two vertices {0, 1} connected by an edge. Every edge in G × K2 is present with probability p independent of other edges. The bunkbed conjecture states that for all G and p, the probability that (u, 0) is in the same component as (v, 0) is greater than or equal to the probability that (u, 0) is in the same component as (v, 1) for every pair of vertices u, v ∈ G. We generalize this conjecture and formulate and prove similar statements for randomly directed graphs. The methods lead to a proof of the original conjecture for special classes of graphs G, in particular outerplanar graphs.
Occurrence of tetrodotoxin and paralytic shellfish poisons in a gastropod implicated in food poisoning in southern Taiwan

The toxicity of the gastropod Nassarius papillosus implicated in a food paralytic poisoning incident in Liuchiu Island, Taiwan, in October 2005 is reported. The symptoms of a victim (67 years old) were featured by general paresthesia, paralysis of phalanges and extremities, paralysis, coma, and aphasia. The remaining specimens of shell were assayed for toxicity. The range of specimen toxicity was found to be 63–474 mouse units (MU) per specimen for N. papillosus by a tetrodotoxin (TTX) bioassay. The mean (SD) toxicity of the digestive gland and other portions were 296 ± 120 and 382 ± 156 MU in N. papillosus. The toxin was partially purified from the acidic methanol extract of the gastropod by using a C18 solid-phase extraction column. The eluate was then filtered through a 3000 MW cut-off ultrafree microcentrifuge filter. It was shown that the toxin purified from gastropods analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry contained TTX 42–60 µg g−1 (about 90%), whereas along with minor paralytic shellfish poisons (PSP) it was 3–6 µg g−1 (about 10%).