Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selection of Multiple Umbrella Species for Functional and Taxonomic Diversity to Represent Urban Biodiversity

Surrogates, such as umbrella species, are commonly used to reduce the complexity of quantifying biodiversity for conservation purposes. The presence of umbrella species is often indicative of high taxonomic diversity; however, functional diversity is now recognized as an important metric for biodiversity and thus should be considered when choosing umbrella species. We identified umbrella species associated with high taxonomic and functional biodiversity in urban areas in Switzerland. We analyzed 39,752 individuals of 574 animal species from 96 study plots and 1397 presences of 262 plant species from 58 plots. Thirty‐one biodiversity measures of 7 taxonomic groups (plants, spiders, bees, ground beetles, lady bugs, weevils and birds) were included in within‐ and across‐taxa analyses. Sixteen measures were taxonomical (species richness and species diversity), whereas 15 were functional (species traits including mobility, resource use, and reproduction). We used indicator value analysis to identify umbrella species associated with single or multiple biodiversity measures. Many umbrella species were indicators of high biodiversity within their own taxonomic group (from 33.3% in weevils to 93.8% in birds), to a lesser extent they were indicators across taxa. Principal component analysis revealed that umbrella species for multiple measures of biodiversity represented different aspects of biodiversity, especially with respect to measures of taxonomic and functional diversity. Thus, even umbrella species for multiple measures of biodiversity were complementary in the biodiversity aspects they represented. Thus, the choice of umbrella species based solely on taxonomic diversity is questionable and may not represent biodiversity comprehensively. Our results suggest that, depending on conservation priorities, managers should choose multiple and complementary umbrella species to assess the state of biodiversity.
An interleaved structure of sepic converter with lower current ripple

In this paper a high step up DC-DC converter is proposed. The presented converter is an improved structure of conventional SEPIC converter. It has two paralleled modules to reduce current stresses of elements such as switches and diodes. Each module is consists of a power switch, four diodes and coupled inductors. Passive clamp circuit recycle inductor's leakage current and as a result, voltage spikes and voltage stresses of switches are diminished. Therefore, both voltage and current stresses of switches are minimized and this causes to achieve lower losses and higher efficiency. In addition applying voltage multiplier cell in each module increases voltage gain. Operation modes and steady state analysis are considered vividly. To validate all advantages of the proposed converter, simulations fulfilled with PSCAD-EMTC.
Effect of Genetic Counseling and Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations in African American Women: A Randomized Trial

Background: Limited empirical data are available on the effects of genetic counseling and testing among African American women. Objective: To evaluate the effects of genetic counseling and testing in African American women based on different levels of exposure: (a) women who were randomized to culturally tailored (CTGC) and standard genetic counseling (SGC) to women who declined randomization (non-randomized group), (b) participants and non-participants in genetic counseling, and (c) BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) test result acceptors and decliners. Design: Randomized trial of genetic counseling conducted from February 2003 to November 2006. Measures: We evaluated changes in perceived risk of developing breast cancer and cancer worry. Results: Women randomized to CTGC and SGC did not differ in terms of changes in risk perception and cancer worry compared to decliners. However, counseling participants had a significantly greater likelihood of reporting reductions in perceived risk compared to non-participants (p = 0.03). Test result acceptors also had a significantly greater likelihood of reporting decreases in cancer worry (p = 0.03). However, having a cancer history (p = 0.03) and a BRCA1/2 prior probability (p = 0.04) were associated with increases in cancer worry. Conclusions: Although CTGC did not lead to significant improvements in perceived risk or psychological functioning, African American women may benefit from genetic counseling and testing. Continued efforts should be made to increase access to genetic counseling and testing among African American women at increased risk for hereditary disease. But, follow-up support may be needed for women who have a personal history of cancer and those with a greater prior probability of having a BRCA1/2 mutation.
Impact of radiotherapy on clinical outcome in reconstructive surgery

What is the problem? The late effects of radiotherapy, which manifest from six months onwards, can have long-lasting and generally progressive and irreversible effects on normal tissues. In this chapter we will discuss the clinical effects of radiotherapy on breast reconstruction, but many of the aspects will also be relevant for other areas of reconstructive surgery for cancer. A literature review has been performed to determine the clinical impact of radiotherapy on breast reconstruction following mastectomy for breast cancer. The evidence base for clinical decision-making regarding the best scheduling of treatments and reconstruction technique will be examined. To explain the long term effects of radiotherapy on normal tissues, the underlying biological processes that radiation induces will be discussed, on the basis of our pre-clinical and translational research in this area. In particular, the effects on blood vessels and lymph vessels, inflammation and fibrosis will be highlighted, as these are relevant to reconstructive surgery following radiotherapy. Biological intervention strategies for future research to minimize the negative effects of radiotherapy on normal tissues will be described.
Neural networks for safety-critical applications — Challenges, experiments and perspectives

We propose a methodology for designing dependable Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) by extending the concepts of understandability, correctness, and validity that are crucial ingredients in existing certification standards. We apply the concept in a concrete case study for designing a highway ANN-based motion predictor to guarantee safety properties such as impossibility for the ego vehicle to suggest moving to the right lane if there exists another vehicle on its right.
Selection-based Text Entry in Virtual Reality

In recent years, Virtual Reality (VR) and 3D User Interfaces (3DUI) have seen a drastic increase in popularity, especially in terms of consumer-ready hardware and software. While the technology for input as well as output devices is market ready, only a few solutions for text input exist, and empirical knowledge about performance and user preferences is lacking. In this paper, we study text entry in VR by selecting characters on a virtual keyboard. We discuss the design space for assessing selection-based text entry in VR. Then, we implement six methods that span different parts of the design space and evaluate their performance and user preferences. Our results show that pointing using tracked hand-held controllers outperforms all other methods. Other methods such as head pointing can be viable alternatives depending on available resources. We summarize our findings by formulating guidelines for choosing optimal virtual keyboard text entry methods in VR.
The effects of heuristic rule training on operator performance in a simulated process control environment

In complex work environments, the occurrence of novel system states represents a particular challenge for the design of training. This article is concerned with the use of heuristic rules to prepare operators for the management of unfamiliar fault states. An experiment was carried out to examine the effects of heuristic rule training on operator performance and system management behaviour. Thirty-nine trainee operators from the chemical industry took part in the study. They were trained for 4 h on a PC-based simulation of a process control task. Operators in the experimental group received training on heuristic rules while operators in the control group did not. One week later the operators participated in a 70-min testing session. While the results showed that heuristic rules training led to better diagnostic performance, it was also associated with increased operator fatigue and impaired secondary task performance. The implications of the findings for using heuristic rule training are discussed.
Bypassing the need for subcellular localization of a polysaccharide export‐anchor complex by overexpressing its protein subunits

Subcellular protein localization is thought to promote protein–protein interaction by increasing the effective concentration and enabling spatial co‐ordination and proper segregation of proteins. We found that protein overexpression allowed the assembly of a productive polysaccharide biosynthesis‐export‐anchoring complex in the absence of polar localization in Caulobacter crescentus. Polar localization of the holdfast export protein, HfsD, depends on the presence of the other export proteins, HfsA and HfsB, and on the polar scaffold protein PodJ. The holdfast deficiency of hfsB and podJ mutants is suppressed by the overexpression of export proteins. Restored holdfasts are randomly positioned and colocalize with a holdfast anchor protein in these strains, indicating that functional complexes can form at non‐polar sites. Therefore, overexpression of export proteins surpasses a concentration threshold necessary for holdfast synthesis. Restoration of holdfast synthesis at non‐polar sites reduces surface adhesion, consistent with the need to spatially co‐ordinate the holdfast synthesis machinery with the flagellum and pili. These strains lack the cell‐specific segregation of the holdfast, resulting in the presence of holdfasts in motile daughter cells. Our results highlight the fact that multiple facets of subcellular localization can be coupled to improve the phenotypic outcome of a protein assembly.
Mano a Mano-Mujer: An Effective HIV Prevention Intervention for Chilean Women

The impact of a professionally facilitated peer group intervention for HIV prevention among 400 low-income Chilean women was examined using a quasiexperimental design. At 3 months postintervention, the intervention group had higher HIV-related knowledge, more positive attitudes toward people living with HIV, fewer perceived condom use barriers, greater self- efficacy, higher HIV reduction behavioral intentions, more communication with partners about safer sex, and decreased depression symptoms. They did not, however, have increased condom use or self-esteem. More attention to gender barriers is needed. This intervention offers a model for reducing HIV for women in Chile and other Latin American countries.
ARSENIC REMOVAL FROM HOUSEHOLD DRINKING WATER BY ADSORPTION

ABSTRACT Geogenic inorganic arsenic contamination in drinking water has been raising public health concern especially in developing countries. Cost-effective and stopgap arsenic removal method for household use (cooking and drinking) is very urgent. Several iron treated natural materials such as Fe-treated activated carbon (FeAC), Fe-treated gel beads (FeGB) and iron oxide-coated sand (IOCS), were investigated in this study for arsenic removal from dispersed household drinking water supply (scattered wells in the endemic arsenic poisoning areas). IOCS showed consistently good performance in terms of As(III) and As(V) removal in batch tests, column tests and field experiment. As(V) adsorption decreased slightly but As(III) adsorption maintained relatively stable when the pH value was increased from 5 to 9. In strong hardness water (612.5 mg/L CaCO3), As(III) adsorption efficiency was noted to decrease. The adsorption data obtained in column test fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorbent recovery efficiency was above 94% when using 0.2 N NaOH regenerated the columns. In addition, 200 L of product water was produced by the household device (containing 3.0 kg IOCS produced) when the influent arsenic concentration ranging from 0.202 to 1.733 mg/L was encountered during the field experimental study conducted in Shanyin County, China. Neither the iron leaching nor other water quality deterioration was observed. It was noted in this study that IOCS is a promising medium for arsenic removal from household drinking water supplies.
Simple boundary condition for terminating photonic crystal waveguides

Many photonic crystal (PhC) devices are nonperiodic structures due to the introduced defects in an otherwise perfectly periodic PhC, and they are often connected by PhC waveguides that serve as input and output ports. Numerical simulation of a PhC device requires boundary conditions to terminate PhC waveguides that extend to infinity. The rigorous boundary condition for terminating a PhC waveguide is a nonlocal condition that connects the wave field on the entire surface (or line in two-dimensional problems) transverse to the waveguide axis, and it is relatively difficult to use, especially for realistic devices, such as those in PhC slabs. In this paper, a simple approximate boundary condition involving a few points in the waveguide axis direction is introduced. The new boundary condition is used with the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map method to take advantage of the lattice structures and identical unit cells in PhC devices. Comparisons with the rigorous nonlocal boundary condition indicate that the simple boundary condition gives accurate solutions if the computational domain is enlarged by a few lattice constants in each direction.
Does core stability exercise improve lumbopelvic stability (through endurance tests) more than general exercise in chronic low back pain? A quasi-randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT Introduction: The aim was to compare core stability and general exercises (GEs) in chronic low back pain (LBP) patients based on lumbopelvic stability (LPS) assessment through three endurance core stability tests. There is a controversy about preference of core stability exercise (CSE) over other types of exercise for chronic LBP. Studies which have compared these exercises used other outcomes than those related to LPS. As it is claimed that CSE enhances back stability, endurance tests for LPS were used. Materials and Methods: A 16-session CSE program and a GE program with the same duration were conducted for two groups of participants. Frequency of interventions for both groups was three times a week. Forty-three people (aged 18–60 years) with chronic non-specific LBP were alternately allocated to core stability (n = 22) or GE group (n = 21) when admitted. The primary outcomes were three endurance core stability tests including: (1) trunk flexor; (2) trunk extensor; and (3) side bridge tests. Secondary outcomes were disability and pain. Measurements were taken at baseline and the end of the intervention. Results: After the intervention, test times increased and disability and pain decreased within groups. There was no signiﬁcant difference between two groups in increasing test times (p = 0.23 to p = 0.36) or decreasing disability (p = 0.16) and pain (p = 0.73). Conclusions: CSE is not more effective than GE for improving endurance core stability tests and reducing disability and pain in chronic non-specific LBP patients.
Parametric models for characterizing respiratory input impedance

This study compares a manifold of parametric models reported in the literature with two novel parametric models for identifying human input respiratory impedance. The analysis is carried out on typical patient data obtained with the forced oscillations technique (FOT), on three sets of representative diagnosed subjects: healthy, asthma and COPD. The performance of the models is characterized by the error between the true respiratory impedance of the patient and the estimated impedance by the parametric models. The optimal solutions of the nonlinear estimations are compared. The resulting parameter values are discussed with respect to both model structure and physiological insight.
Effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of Rosa damascena on learning and memory in male rats consuming a high-fat diet

Abstract Context: High-fat diet (HFD) can cause deficits in learning and memory through oxidative stress and increase Alzheimer disease risk. Rosa damascena Mill. (Rosaceae) extract possesses potent antioxidant properties. Objective: This study investigated the effects of the hydroalcoholic extracts of petals of R. damascena on learning and memory in male rats consuming an HFD. Materials and methods: Forty male Wistar rats (200–250 g) were randomly assigned to four groups: control, R. damascena extract, HFD and HFD + extract. The extract (1 g/kg bw daily) was administered by oral gavage for 1 month. Animals were allowed free access to high-fat chow for 3 months. The Morris water maze and the passive avoidance learning tests were used to assess learning and memory. Results: In the passive avoidance learning test, the step-through latencies in the retention test (STLr) of the extract (147.4 ± 23.3) and HFD (150.3 ± 25.2) groups were significantly lower than those of the control group (270.4 ± 10.5) (respectively, p < 0.001 and p < 0.01). STLr was significantly higher in the HFD + extract group (265.3 ± 10.6) than in the HFD group (150.3 ± 25.2) (p < 0.01). Time spent in the dark compartment (TDC) in the HFD + extract group (5.3 ± 2.6) was significantly lower than that in the HFD group (85.8 ± 19.1) (p < 0.05). Discussion and conclusion: Our results indicate that, while HFD or R. damascena extract alone leads to memory deficits, R. damascena extract exerted a positive effect on HFD-induced memory deficits. We hypothesize that the observed effects of R. damascena extract are likely due to its strong antioxidant properties.
Cell-Type Specific DNA Methylation Patterns Define Human Breast Cellular Identity

DNA methylation plays a role in a variety of biological processes including embryonic development, imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, and stem cell differentiation. Tissue specific differential methylation has also been well characterized. We sought to extend these studies to create a map of differential DNA methylation between different cell types derived from a single tissue. Using three pairs of isogenic human mammary epithelial and fibroblast cells, promoter region DNA methylation was characterized using MeDIP coupled to microarray analysis. Comparison of DNA methylation between these cell types revealed nearly three thousand cell-type specific differentially methylated regions (ctDMRs). MassARRAY was performed upon 87 ctDMRs to confirm and quantify differential DNA methylation. Each of the examined regions exhibited statistically significant differences ranging from 10–70%. Gene ontology analysis revealed the overrepresentation of many transcription factors involved in developmental processes. Additionally, we have shown that ctDMRs are associated with histone related epigenetic marks and are often aberrantly methylated in breast cancer. Overall, our data suggest that there are thousands of ctDMRs which consistently exhibit differential DNA methylation and may underlie cell type specificity in human breast tissue. In addition, we describe the pathways affected by these differences and provide insight into the molecular mechanisms and physiological overlap between normal cellular differentiation and breast carcinogenesis.
Comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and substance use disorder complexity and chronicity in treatment-seeking adults.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a known risk factor for substance use disorder (SUD); however, the potential additive contribution of comorbid ADHD to drug-specific dependence in SUD populations is largely unknown. The current study aimed to assess this association between ADHD symptoms and drug-specific SUD complexity and chronicity. DESIGN AND METHODS A cross-sectional survey was administered to a convenience sample of 489 adults receiving SUD treatment at 16 Australian drug and alcohol treatment centres between September 2010 and August 2011. Participants were screened for adult ADHD symptoms using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale. Associations between ADHD screening status and drug-specific SUD complexity and chronicity were assessed using multivariate logistic and modified Poisson regression analysis, controlling for a range of potential confounders. RESULTS Overall, 215 (44%) patients screened positive for concurrent adult ADHD and SUD. After Simes' correction, a significant positive association was observed between ADHD screening status and current amphetamine SUD (odds ratio (OR) = 1.85; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19-2.36). Patients who screened positive for ADHD were significantly more likely to report SUD history for heavy alcohol use (OR = 2.05; 95% CI: 1.21-3.45) and amphetamine (OR = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.26-3.06) as well as significantly increased risk of moderate (3-4 years) duration for benzodiazepine and amphetamine SUDs and long (≥5 years) duration for alcohol, opiates other than heroin or methadone, and amphetamine SUDs. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The findings provide evidence that there is increased drug dependence complexity and chronicity in treatment-seeking SUD patients who screen positively for ADHD, specifically for amphetamine, alcohol, opiates other than heroin or methadone, and benzodiazepines.
Equilibrium configurations of 11 eV sterile neutrinos in MONDian galaxy clusters

Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) can fit a broad range of galaxy kinematic data, but struggles with clusters of galaxies. MONDian clusters need dark matter, and here we test the 11 eV/c 2 sterile neutrino - used to fit the first three acoustic peaks of the cosmic microwave background - by investigating their equilibrium distributions in 30 groups and clusters over a wide range of temperatures. We do this by first taking the known sterile neutrino density, necessary for hydrostatic equilibrium of the intracluster medium (or to produce the observed lensing map). Then, we solve for the sterile neutrino velocity dispersion, needed for their own hydrostatic equilibrium, through the equation of state for a partially degenerate neutrino gas. The velocity dispersion is a unique, continuous function of radius determined by the density and mass of the sterile neutrinos particles. Knowing both the sterile neutrino density and velocity dispersion tells us the Tremaine-Gunn phase-space limit at all radii. We find that all 30 systems serendipitously reach the Tremaine-Gunn limit by the centre, which means a portion of the dynamical mass must always be covered by the brightest cluster galaxy. Interestingly, the typical fitted K-band mass-to-light ratio is unity and at most 1.2, which is very consistent - although leaving no margin for error - with stellar population synthesis models. Amidst the sample there are several special cases including the Coma cluster (for which dark matter was first proposed), NGC 720 (where geometrical evidence for dark matter was found) and the bullet cluster (where dark matter - of some kind - in clusters was directly proven to exist). We demonstrate that 11 eV/c 2 sterile neutrinos are unlikely to influence spiral galaxy rotation curves, as they don’t influence even some very massive early-types (NGC 4125 and NGC 6482). Finally, we conclude that it is intriguing that the minimum mass of sterile neutrino particle that can match the cosmic microwave background is identical to the minimum mass found here to be consistent with equilibrium configurations of MONDian clusters of galaxies.