Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Combined Inoculation with Multiple Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Improves Growth, Nutrient Uptake and Photosynthesis in Cucumber Seedlings

Mycorrhizal inoculation stimulates growth, photosynthesis and nutrient uptake in a wide range of host plants. However, the ultimate effects of arbuscular mycorrhyzal (AM) symbiosis vary with the plants and fungal species involved in the association. Therefore, identification of the appropriate combinations of AM fungi (AMF) that interact synergistically to improve their benefits is of high significance. Here, three AM fungal compositions namely VT (Claroideoglomus sp., Funneliformis sp., Diversispora sp., Glomus sp., and Rhizophagus sp.) and BF (Glomus intraradices, G. microageregatum BEG and G. Claroideum BEG 210), and Funneliformis mosseae (Fm) were investigated with respect to the growth, gas exchange parameters, enzymes activities in Calvin cycles and related gene expression in cucumber seedlings. The results showed that VT, BF and Fm could successfully colonize cucumber root to a different degree with the colonization rates 82.38, 74.65, and 70.32% at 46 days post inoculation, respectively. The plant height, stem diameter, dry weight, root to shoot ratio of cucumber seedlings inoculated with AMF increased significantly compared with the non-inoculated control. Moreover, AMF colonization greatly increased the root activity, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, light saturated rate of the CO2 assimilation (Asat), maximum carboxylation rate (Vcmax) and maximum ribulose-1,5-bis-phosphate (RuBP) regeneration rate (Jmax), which were increased by 52.81, 30.75, 58.76, 47.00, 69.15, and 65.53% when inoculated with VT, respectively. The activities of some key enzymes such RuBP carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), D-fructose-6-phosphatase (F6P) and ribulose-5-phosphate kinase (Ru5PK), and related gene expression involved in the Calvin cycle including RCA, FBPase, FBPA, SBPase, rbcS and rbcL were upregulated by AMF colonization. AMF inoculation also improved macro- and micro nutrient contents such as N, P, K, S, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mg, and Zn in roots. Further analysis revealed that inoculation with VT had relatively better effect on growth of cucumber seedling followed by BF and Fm, indicating that AMF composition consisting of distant AMF species may have a better effect than a single or closely related AMF spp. This study advances the understanding of plant responses to different AM fungi toward development of strategies on AMF-promoted vegetable production.
Progress in clinical neurosciences :A systematic review of the use of triptans in acute migraine

Objectif: Nous avons procede a une revue systematique de la litterature pour consolider les donnees pertinentes a l'efficacite et a la securite des triptans disponibles au Canada (sumatriptan, rizatriptan, naratriptan, zolmitriptan), et pour elaborer des lignes directrices quant a la selection d'un triptan. Methodes: Les donnees des etudes randomisees ayant un groupe placebo, qui ont ete publiees, ont ete regroupees et un NNT et NNH combine a ete determine pour chaque triptan (NNT: number needed to treat - nombre d'individus a traiter pour prevenir un incident; NNH: number needed to harm - nombre d'individus a traiter pour qu'en moyenne un effet indesirable survienne). Les essais comparatifs de triptans ont egalement ete examines. Resultats: Le NNT le plus bas, pour la reponse definie comme l'absence de cephalee apres une a deux heures, est observe avec l'administration sous-cutanee de sumatriptan. En ce qui concerne les preparations orales, le NNT le plus bas a ete observe avec le rizatriptan et le plus eleve avec le naratriptan. Le NNH le plus bas a ete observe avec le sumatriptan sous-cutane. Conclusions: Les triptans sont des medicaments relativement surs et efficaces pour traiter les acces aigus de migraine. Cependant, les differences entre eux sont relativement faibles. Les aspects a considerer dans le choix d'un triptan sont: la reponse et la tolerance du patient, les caracteristiques des acces, le soulagement des symptomes associes, la constance de la reponse, la recurrence de la cephalee, le mode d'administration et la preference du patient.
An evaluation of segment duration effects in HTTP adaptive streaming over mobile networks

In HTTP adaptive streaming, the length of each video segment is not strictly specified; choosing segment duration is an implementation-specific decision. In this paper, we evaluate the effects of segment duration to video streaming performance in various network conditions. By carrying out experiments we realize that the choice of segment duration has a profound impact on several aspects including end-user's experience as well as the effects on the server and network side. Our experimental results provide preliminary suggestions on the choice of segment duration in certain streaming situations.
Cuckoos, cowbirds and hosts: adaptations, trade-offs and constraints

The interactions between brood parasitic birds and their host species provide one of the best model systems for coevolution. Despite being intensively studied, the parasite–host system provides ample opportunities to test new predictions from both coevolutionary theory as well as life-history theory in general. I identify four main areas that might be especially fruitful: cuckoo female gentes as alternative reproductive strategies, non-random and nonlinear risks of brood parasitism for host individuals, host parental quality and targeted brood parasitism, and differences and similarities between predation risk and parasitism risk. Rather than being a rare and intriguing system to study coevolutionary processes, I believe that avian brood parasites and their hosts are much more important as extreme cases in the evolution of life-history strategies. They provide unique examples of trade-offs and situations where constraints are either completely removed or particularly severe.
Hydroxyurea : Effects on Hemoglobin F Production in Patients With Sickle Cell Anemia

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Privacy-Enhancing Technologies for Medical Tests Using Genomic Data

In this paper, we propose privacy-enhancing technologies for medical tests and personalized medicine methods, w hich utilize patients’ genomic data. First, we highlight the pot ential privacy threats on genomic data and the challenges of provid ing privacy-preserving algorithms. Then, focusing specifical ly on a typical disease-susceptibility test, we develop a new arch ite ture (between the patient and the medical unit) and propose priva cypreserving algorithms by utilizing homomorphic encryptio n and proxy encryption. Assuming the whole genome sequencing is d one by a certified institution, we propose to store patients’ gen omic data encrypted by their public keys at a Storage and Processi ng Unit (SPU). The proposed algorithm lets the SPU (or the medic al unit) process the encrypted genomic data for medical tests a nd personalized medicine methods while preserving the privac y of patients’ genomic data. We extensively analyze the relatio nship between the storage cost (of the genomic data), the level of g enomic privacy (of the patient), and the characteristics of the gen omic data. Furthermore, we implement and show via a complexity analysi s the practicality of the proposed schemes. Finally, we evalu ate the security of the proposed schemes and propose new researc h directions on genomic privacy.
Proteus sp. – an opportunistic bacterial pathogen – classification, swarming growth, clinical significance and virulence factors

ABSTRACT The genus Proteus belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family, where it is placed in the tribe Proteeae, together with the genera Morganella and Providencia. Currently, the genus Proteus consists of five species: P. mirabilis, P. vulgaris, P. penneri, P. hauseri and P. myxofaciens, as well as three unnamed Proteus genomospecies. The most defining characteristic of Proteus bacteria is a swarming phenomenon, a multicellular differentiation process of short rods to elongated swarmer cells. It allows population of bacteria to migrate on solid surface. Proteus bacteria inhabit the environment and are also present in the intestines of humans and animals. These microorganisms under favorable conditions cause a number of infections including urinary tract infections (UTIs), wound infections, meningitis in neonates or infants and rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, Proteus is known as a bacterial opportunistic pathogen. It causes complicated UTIs with a higher frequency, compared to other uropathogens. Proteus infections are accompanied by a formation of urinary stones, containing struvite and carbonate apatite. The virulence of Proteus rods has been related to several factors including fimbriae, flagella, enzymes (urease - hydrolyzing urea to CO2 and NH3, proteases degrading antibodies, tissue matrix proteins and proteins of the complement system), iron acqusition systems and toxins: hemolysins, Proteus toxin agglutinin (Pta), as well as an endotoxin - lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Proteus rods form biofilm, particularly on the surface of urinary catheters, which can lead to serious consequences for patients. In this review we present factors involved in the regulation of swarming phenomenon, discuss the role of particular pathogenic features of Proteus spp. , and characterize biofilm formation by these bacteria.
Real-Time Hybrid Locomotion Mode Recognition for Lower Limb Wearable Robots

Real-time recognition of locomotion-related activities is a fundamental skill that a controller of lower limb wearable robots should possess. Subject-specific training and reliance on electromyographic interfaces are the main limitations of existing approaches. This study presents a novel methodology for real-time locomotion mode recognition of locomotion-related activities in lower limb wearable robotics. A hybrid classifier can distinguish among seven locomotion-related activities. First, a time-based approach classifies between static and dynamical states based on gait kinematics data. Second, an event-based fuzzy-logic method triggered by foot pressure sensors operates in a subject-independent fashion on a minimal set of relevant biomechanical features to classify among dynamical modes. The locomotion mode recognition algorithm is implemented on the controller of a portable powered orthosis for hip assistance. An experimental protocol is designed to evaluate the controller performance in an out-of-lab scenario without the need for subject-specific training. Experiments are conducted on six healthy volunteers performing locomotion-related activities at slow, normal, and fast speeds under the zero-torque and assistive mode of the orthosis. The overall accuracy rate of the controller is 99.4% over more than 10 000 steps, including seamless transitions between different modes. The experimental results show a successful subject-independent performance of the controller for wearable robots assisting locomotion-related activities.
Optimizing Client Association for Load Balancing and Fairness in Millimeter-Wave Wireless Networks

Millimeter-wave communications in the 60-GHz band are considered one of the key technologies for enabling multigigabit wireless access. However, the special characteristics of such a band pose major obstacles to the optimal utilization of the wireless resources, where the problem of efficient client association to access points (APs) is of vital importance. In this paper, the client association in 60-GHz wireless access networks is investigated. The AP utilization and the quality of the rapidly vanishing communication links are the control parameters. Because of the tricky nonconvex and combinatorial nature of the client association optimization problem, a novel solution method is developed to guarantee balanced and fair resource allocation. A new distributed, lightweight, and easy-to-implement association algorithm, based on Lagrangian duality theory and subgradient methods, is proposed. It is shown that the algorithm is asymptotically optimal, that is, the relative duality gap diminishes to zero as the number of clients increases .
Real-time Data Prefetching Algorithm Based on Sequential Patternmining in Cloud Environment

In cloud computing, data access delay becomes the leading factor that affects the QoS. Data prefetching is an effective technology for hiding data access delay in cloud computing environment. This paper proposes a Real-time Data Prefetching algorithm based on sequential pattern mining to hidden the data access delay. First, it uses sequential pattern mining algorithm to extract user access patterns from user's historical accesses records. Second, according to users' access patterns predicts related data object of the data object on demand as a candidate prefetching data set. Finally, according to slackness value of related data objects, they are prefetched to local data nodes. Experiments results showed that this algorithm can effectively reduce the network overhead in data transmission and avoids excessive prefetching.
A benthic predatory fish does not cause selection on armour traits in three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus (Gasterosteiformes: Gasterosteidae)

Predation can promote divergence between prey populations and contribute to ecological speciation. In theory, predators can also constrain prey population divergence. In coastal British Columbia, Canada, Gasterosteus aculeatus (three-spined stickleback) species pairs only occur in lakes with a single species of predatory fish: Oncorhynchus clarkii (the cutthroat trout). Similar lakes containing additional predatory fish species (Cottus asper, prickly sculpins; Oncorhynchus mykiss, rainbow trout) contain only single species of morphologically intermediate stickleback, suggesting that these predators prevent the coexistence of stickleback species pairs. We conducted a mesocosm experiment to investigate how prickly sculpins might constrain divergence, by quantifying their impact on survival and natural selection on antipredator (armour) traits in F2 stickleback from a cross between ecologically divergent populations. We tested three hypotheses: (1) sculpin predation on sticklebacks reduces survival in a way that could result in their exclusion from certain niches; (2) sculpins compete with stickleback; (3) sculpins respond to prey vulnerabilities in similar ways to cutthroat trout, tending to constrain rather than to enhance divergence. We found that sculpins significantly reduce stickleback survival, that their presence per se does not reduce growth in stickleback, and that predation did not result in selection on any of the armour traits measured, or on gill raker length, which is an important trophic trait. These results tend to refute hypotheses (2) and (3), while supporting hypothesis (1). © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 104, 877–885.
[Effect of Candida albicans growth on silicone elastomer containing nano-TiO2].

OBJECTIVE To study the antibacterial effect against Candida albicans of the A-2186 silicone elastomer containing nano-TiO2 in vitro. METHODS Antibacterial agent of nano-TiO2 was added into A-2186 silicone elastomer with incorporating percentages of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% (W/W). There was no nano-TiO2 in the control group. The antibacterial effect of the A-2186 silicone elastomer was determined using the film contact method with lighting and without lighting. RESULTS Either with lighting or without lighting, there were significances between the experiment groups and the control group (P < 0.05). When the incorporating percent was 2.0%, the inhibitory effect was the best among the experiment groups. Without lighting, the inhibitory rate was 53.7% and with lighting, the inhibitory rate was 85.9%. CONCLUSIONS The A-2186 silicone elastomer containing nano-TiO2 has antibacterial properties against Candida albicans, which enhances with increases of nano-TiO2 percent in the material. With the same incorporating percentage, the antibacterial effect with lighting is better than that without lighting.
Raypath separation with high resolution processing

In this paper, a high resolution array processing is presented in the context of ocean acoustic tomography for separating raypaths in the DOA-temporal domain. It is a combination of the active large band MUSIC (MUSICAL) with spatio-frequency smoothing processing method. The processing is applied on synthetic data. Compared with the conventional beamforming, this algorithm largely improves the separation performances and presents less artifacts.
CaT1 and the Calcium Release-activated Calcium Channel Manifest Distinct Pore Properties*

The calcium release-activated calcium channel (CRAC) is a highly Ca2+-selective ion channel that is activated on depletion of inositol triphosphate (IP3)-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ stores. It was recently reported that CaT1, a member of the TRP family of cation channels, exhibits the unique biophysical properties of CRAC, which led to the conclusion that CaT1 comprises all or part of the CRAC pore (Yue, L., Peng, J. B., Hediger, M. A., and Clapham, D. E. (2001) Nature 410, 705–709). Here, we directly compare endogenous CRAC with heterologously expressed CaT1 and show that they manifest several clearly distinct properties. CaT1 can be distinguished from CRAC in the following features: sensitivity to store-depleting agents; inward rectification in the absence of divalent cations; relative permeability to Na+ and Cs+; effect of 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB). Moreover, CaT1 displays a mode of voltage-dependent gating that is fully absent in CRAC and originates from the voltage-dependent binding/unbinding of Mg2+ inside the channel pore. Our results imply that the pores of CaT1 and CRAC are not identical and indicate that CaT1 is a Mg2+-gated channel not directly related to CRAC.
Use of Gypsum as a Preventive Measure for Strength Deterioration during Curing in Class F Fly Ash Geopolymer System

This study discusses strength deterioration during the curing process of fly ash geopolymer and the use of CaSO4·2H2O (gypsum) as a deterioration remedy when the ash was synthesized using a 10M NaOH and Na-silicate solution. The strength decline was mainly due to the widespread formation of nanometer-sized cracks that were related to excessive Na and Si concentrations at an early age. Use of 2 wt% CaSO4·2H2O resulted in the best measured strength by temporarily reducing Na and Si concentrations; Na was absorbed by SO42−, up to 11% in the matrix within one day, and formed Na2SO4 (thenardite), which gradually dissolved over time, slowly releasing Na ions. However, more than 4% gypsum suppressed overall strength development because too many Na ions were locked into Na2SO4 and could not participate in geopolymerization. The addition of gypsum impeded glass dissolution and even halted the process when more than 4% gypsum was used.
Compiler and Run-Time Support for Exploiting Regularity within Irregular Applications

This paper starts from a well-known idea, that structure in irregular problems improves sequential performance, and tries to show that the same structure can also be exploited for parallelization of irregular problems on a distributed-memory multicomputer. In particular, we extend a well-known parallelization technique called run-time compilation to use structure information that is explicit on the array subscripts. This paper presents a number of internal representations suited to particular access patterns and shows how various preprocessing structures such as translation tables, trace arrays, and interprocessor communication schedules can be encoded in terms of one or more of these representations. We show how loop and index normalization are important for detection of irregularity in array references, as well as the presence of locality in such references. This paper presents methods for detection of irregularity, feasibility of inspection, and finally, placement of inspectors and interprocessor communication schedules. We show that this process can be automated through extensions to an HPF/Fortran-77 distributed-memory compiler (PARADIGM) and a new runtime support for irregular problems (PILAR) that uses a variety of internal representations of communication patterns. We devise performance measures which consider the relationship between the inspection cost, the execution cost, and the number of times the executor is invoked so that a comparison of the competing schemes can be performed independent of the number of iterations. Finally, we show experimental results on an IBM SP-2 that validate our approach. These results show that dramatic improvements in both memory requirements and execution time can be achieved by using these techniques.
High Temperature Degradation of 5250-4 Polymer Resin

Abstract : 5250-4 bismaleimide resin is used in high performance polymer matrix composites with high temperature aeronautical applications. This thesis investigated the thermal and oxidative degradation of 5250-4 neat resin powder in argon, air, and oxygen environments. The powder was aged at 163 deg. C, 177 deg. C, and 190 deg. C in all environments for at least 250 hours. Isothermal thermo-gravimetric analysis demonstrated that weight loss was negligible for aging in the argon environment, indicating weight loss is the result of an oxidative process at these temperatures. The 5250-4 powder exhibited an initial period of weight gain before eventually losing weight in both air and oxygen. The applicability of a closed loop oxidation scheme to 5250-4 gravimetric behavior was investigated. Kinetic parameters for the scheme were determined for the Air Force Research Laboratory's polymer matrix composite lifetime prediction modeling efforts.
Beamforming for SC-FDMA transmission over MIMO ISI channels with decision-feedback equalization

We consider transmit beamforming algorithms for single-carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) transmission over frequency-selective multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels. The beamforming filters are designed for optimum performance of MIMO minimum mean-squared error decision-feedback equalization (MMSE-DFE). It turns out that eigenbeamforming diagonalizing the overall channel is optimum, and in addition an optimum power allocation has to be performed which is similar in spirit to classical results for the optimum continuous-time transmit filter for linear modulation formats obtained by Yang and Roy. Simulation results indicate that the proposed solution is beneficial for the block error rate performance of an SC-FDMA transmission scheme with strong channel coding and error-free decisions in the feedback path of MMSE-DFE, which can be guaranteed e.g. by equivalent Tomlinson-Harashima precoding at the transmitter side.
Tail of a linear diffusion with Markov switching

Let Y be a Ornstein–Uhlenbeck diffusion governed by a stationary and ergodic Markov jump process X, i.e. dYt=a(Xt)Ytdt+σ(Xt)dWt, Y0=y0. Ergodicity conditions for Y have been obtained. Here we investigate the tail property of the stationary distribution of this model. A characterization of the only two possible cases is established: light tail or polynomial tail. Our method is based on discretizations and renewal theory. To cite this article: B. de Saporta, J.-F. Yao, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 339 (2004).