Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Late Campanian and Early Maastrichtian ammonites from the white chalk of Kronsmoor (northern Germany) – taxonomy and stratigraphy

Hypophylloceras ( Neophylloceras ) velledaeforme (SCHLUTER, 1872), Anagaudryceras lueneburgense (SCHLUTER, 1872), Saghalinites wrighti BIRKELUND, 1965, Pachydiscus ( Pachydiscus ) neubergicus (VON HAUER, 1858), Menuites cf. wittekindi (SCHLUTER, 1872), Diplomoceras cylindraceum (DEFRANCE, 1816), Baculites vertebralis LAMARCK, 1801, Baculites knorrianus DESMAREST, 1817, Acanthoscaphites tridens (KNER, 1848), and Hoploscaphites constrictus (J. SOWERBY, 1877) are described for the first time from Kronsmoor, the only continuous Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary succession of northern Germany. Combined with the slightly younger section at Hemmoor (30 km SW of Kronsmoor), thirteen ammonites species in all are known to date from the Maastrichtian. The material studied comprises species from the Upper Campanian Belemnitella langei to the Lower Maastrichtian Belemnella sumensis zones. Three species ( Baculites vertebralis , Baculites knorrianus , Hoploscaphites constrictus ) occur earlier here than elseswhere (e.g., Denmark). Menuites cf. wittekindi , formerly known only from the Nostoceras polyplocum Zone (Upper Campanian), occurs in the Belemnella lanceolata Zone at Kronsmoor. Pachydiscus neubergicus and Diplomoceras cylindraceum , two of twelve markers for the base of the Maastrichtian at Tercis (GSSP, southwestern France), have their first occurrences at Kronsmoor significantly above that of Belemnella lanceolata , the belemnite marker for the base of the stage. Compared with Tercis, were the stage boundary was recommended between the FOs of both ammonite species, the Campanian – Maastrichtian boundary at Kronsmoor seems to be located within the Belemnella pseudobtusa Zone. Thus, the first occurrence of the genus Belemnella is of Late Campanian age, appearing c. 540 ky earlier than the base of the Maastrichtian as defined at the GSSP at Tercis.
Continuous shared control for stabilizing reaching and grasping with brain-machine interfaces

Research on brain-machine interfaces (BMI's) is directed toward enabling paralyzed individuals to manipulate their environment through slave robots. Even for able-bodied individuals, using a robot to reach and grasp objects in unstructured environments can be a difficult telemanipulation task. Controlling the slave directly with neural signals instead of a hand-master adds further challenges, such as uncertainty about the intended trajectory coupled with a low update rate for the command signal. To address these challenges, a continuous shared control (CSC) paradigm is introduced for BMI where robot sensors produce reflex-like reactions to augment brain-controlled trajectories. To test the merits of this approach, CSC was implemented on a 3-degree-of-freedom robot with a gripper bearing three co-located range sensors. The robot was commanded to follow eighty-three reach-and-grasp trajectories estimated previously from the outputs of a population of neurons recorded from the brain of a monkey. Five different levels of sensor-based reflexes were tested. Weighting brain commands 70% and sensor commands 30% produced the best task performance, better than brain signals alone by more than seven-fold. Such a marked performance improvement in this test case suggests that some level of machine autonomy will be an important component of successful BMI systems in general.
THE CELLULAR TRANSFORMATION OF INJECTED COLLOIDAL IRON COMPLEXES INTO FERRITIN AND HEMOSIDERIN IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS

As revealed by electron microscopy and electron diffraction, the physical state of ferric hydroxide micelles contained in iron-dextran, saccharated iron oxide, and hydrous ferric oxide ("ferric hydroxide") differs notably from the state of the ferric hydroxide in ferritin or hemosiderin. By virtue of this difference one can trace the intracellular transformation of colloidal iron, administered parenterally, into ferritin and hemosiderin. One hour after intraperitoneal injection of iron-dextran or saccharated iron oxide into mice, characteristic deposits were present in splenic macrophages, in sinusoidal endothelial cells of spleen and liver, and in vascular endothelial cells of various renal capillaries. Four hours after injection, small numbers of ferritin molecules were identifiable about intracellular aggregates of injected iron compounds; and by the 6th day, ferritin was abundant in close proximity to deposits of injected iron compounds. The latter were frequently situated in cytoplasmic vesicles delimited by single membranes. These vesicles were most frequently found in tissue obtained during the first 6 days after injection; and in certain of the vesicles ferritin molecules surrounded closely packed aggregates of injected material. Much unchanged ferric hydroxide was still present in macrophages and vascular endothelial cells 3 to 4 weeks after injection. While electron microscopy left no doubt about the identity of injected ferric hydroxide on the one hand, and of ferritin or hemosiderin on the other, histochemical tests for iron failed in this respect. Precipitation of ferric hydroxide (hydrous ferric oxide) from stabilized colloidal dispersions of iron-dextran was brought about in vitro by incubation with minced mouse tissue (e.g. liver), but not by incubation with mouse serum or blood. Subcutaneous injections of hydrous gel of ferric oxide into mice initially produced localized extracellular precipitates. Most of the material was still extracellular 16 days after injection, though part of it was phagocytized by macrophages near the site of injection; but apparently none reached the spleen in unaltered form. Five days after injection and thereafter, much ferritin was present in macrophages about the site of injection and in the spleen. The findings show that iron preparations widely used in therapy can be identified within cells, and that their intracellular disposition and fate can be followed at the molecular level. Considered in the light of previous work, they indicate that the characteristic structure of the ferric hydroxide micelles in molecules of ferritin is specific, and develops during the union of apoferritin with ferric hydroxide. Apparently this union does not depend upon specific cell components.
Decays of the Bc meson in a relativistic quark-meson model

The semileptonic decay form factors of the double heavy Bc meson provide a unique opportunity to study the strong interactions between two heavy quarks. A fully relativistic model, with effective non-local quark-meson interactions, is used to compute semileptonic decay form factors, for both the Bc and a wide range of other heavy-light mesons. Using these form factors predictions for decay rates and branching ratios are obtained. The results are compared with other theoretical approaches and, where available, to experimental results. In addition, the radiative decay of B*c is discussed.
PICKY: a novel SVD-based NMR spectra peak picking method

Motivation: Picking peaks from experimental NMR spectra is a key unsolved problem for automated NMR protein structure determination. Such a process is a prerequisite for resonance assignment, nuclear overhauser enhancement (NOE) distance restraint assignment, and structure calculation tasks. Manual or semi-automatic peak picking, which is currently the prominent way used in NMR labs, is tedious, time consuming and costly. Results: We introduce new ideas, including noise-level estimation, component forming and sub-division, singular value decomposition (SVD)-based peak picking and peak pruning and refinement. PICKY is developed as an automated peak picking method. Different from the previous research on peak picking, we provide a systematic study of the proposed method. PICKY is tested on 32 real 2D and 3D spectra of eight target proteins, and achieves an average of 88% recall and 74% precision. PICKY is efficient. It takes PICKY on average 15.7 s to process an NMR spectrum. More important than these numbers, PICKY actually works in practice. We feed peak lists generated by PICKY to IPASS for resonance assignment, feed IPASS assignment to SPARTA for fragments generation, and feed SPARTA fragments to FALCON for structure calculation. This results in high-resolution structures of several proteins, for example, TM1112, at 1.25 Å. Availability: PICKY is available upon request. The peak lists of PICKY can be easily loaded by SPARKY to enable a better interactive strategy for rapid peak picking. Contact: mli@uwaterloo.ca
Risk of environmental contamination by the active ingredient imidacloprid used for corn seed dressing. Preliminary results

Aim of the study was to detect the possible loss of a.i. imidacloprid through the fan drain of pneumatic seed drills during corn sowing operations. The experiment regarded Gaucho ® dressed corn seeds. In order to detect air contamination, paper filters were positioned at the air output of the fan; in addition grass and flower samples from green areas near fields were collected immediately after the corn had been sown. Residues of imidacloprid were found both in the paper filters and in the grass and flowers samples. Quantity of imidacloprid in the paper filters increased with increasing exposure times. The results confirm that the air is contaminated by a.i. imidacloprid during normal sowing operations using Gaucho ® dressed corn seeds.
3D Morphometric Study of the Mandibular Fossa and Its Implication for Species Recognition in Homo erectus

The problem of species recognition in paleoanthropology has been the subject of numerous studies. In the current study, we have used the complex topography of the mandibular fossa to assess its potential as a species-specific indicator. Six landmarks were registered using a microscribe 3Dx digitizer on four extant species: Pan paniscus, Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla, and two ethnical groups of modern humans. Using principal component analysis (PC), the results statistically separated between the species and within the two Homo groups. The same method was applied to a sample of 13 casts of Pleistocene hominids from Asia, Europe and Africa. The first PC separated Asian Homo erectus from African Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis. The second PC separated African Homo erectus from Homo heidelbergensis. Interestingly Homo floresiensis groups with Homo heidelbergensis. Adding recent human sample to the analysis showed them to fall within the African Homo erectus group. Cluster analysis on the superimposed fossil data had turned the same results. These results favor the view that Homo erectus is actually made from at least two distinct species. Homo floresiensis is not a form of pathologic sapiens, and Homo sapiens has descendent solely from early African-like species.
Lower Jurassic Foraminifera and Calcified Microflora from Gibraltar, Western Mediterranean

Benthic foraminifera are described for the first time from the Gibraltar Limestone Formation of the Rock of Gibraltar. The new species Siphovalvulina colomiS. gibraltarensisRiyadhella praeregularis occur with Duotaxis metula Kristan, Everticyclammina praevirguliana Fugagnoli, Siphovalvulina sp. ,an atypically early example of Textulariopsis sp. , and Nodosaria sp. Microflora are present as the probable cyanobacterium Cayeuxia ? piae Frollo, the alga Palaeodasycladus ? mediterraneus (Pia), and the disputed alga Thaumatoporella ? parvovesiculifera (Raineri). The foraminifera compare most closely with poorly‐known taxa from Italy, Spain and Morocco, and are consistent with an Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) age for the upper part of the &62;460‐m‐thick Gibraltar Limestone. Most are textulariids and more primitive than species well known from the later Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) of the Mediterranean region, especially Morocco and Italy. The biota as a whole is characteristic of inner carbonate platform environments widespread along the rifted western margins of the Early Jurassic Tethys, notably those recorded from Morocco, Italy and Greece as well as southern Spain.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy for cutaneous melanoma: the Stanford experience, 1997-2004.

OBJECTIVE To review sentinel lymph node (SLN) data from Stanford University Medical Center from January 1, 1997, to January 1, 2004, including rates of SLN positivity according to 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor classification, relation to other clinical and pathologic prognostic factors, and rates and sites of melanoma recurrence. DESIGN Retrospective case series. SETTING Stanford University Medical Center and Stanford melanoma clinics. PATIENTS A total of 274 consecutive patients with primary melanoma who underwent SLN biopsy (SLNB) between January 1, 1997, and January 1, 2004, or who were referred to the Stanford melanoma clinics after SLNB and were followed up through March 2005. INTERVENTIONS All patients underwent standard wide local excision of their primary tumors and SLNB with intradermal injection of isosulfan blue dye and/or technetium sulfur colloid. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Rates of SLN positivity per 2002 AJCC tumor classification, relation to other clinical and pathologic prognostic factors, and rates and sites of melanoma recurrence in node-negative and node-positive patients. RESULTS Positive SLNs were detected in 39 (15%) of 260 cases, including 0 (0%) of 45 for cutaneous melanomas 1.0 mm thick or less (T1), 21 (18%) of 115 for melanomas 1.01 to 2.0 mm thick (T2), 12 (19%) of 64 for melanomas 2.01 to 4.0 mm thick (T3), and 5 (16%) of 32 for melanomas thicker than 4.0 mm (T4). Median Breslow depths were 1.89 mm for SLN-positive biopsy specimens and 1.50 mm for SLN-negative biopsy specimens (P = .07). The recurrence rate was 46% among SLN-positive patients, with a median time to recurrence of 8 months. Bivariate analysis revealed SLN positivity to be associated with AJCC tumor classification (P = .02), location on the trunk (P = .03), and presence of ulceration (P = .03). By multivariate logistic regression, ulceration (P = .01) was predictive of SLN positivity, whereas SLN status (P< .001), ulceration (P = .02), and location (P = .03) were predictive of recurrent disease. CONCLUSION Data from the past 8 years confirm the accuracy and prognostic value of SLNB in cutaneous melanoma and the low rate of regional nodal recurrence for SLN-negative patients.
Efficiency Analysis of a High-Specific Impulse Hall Thruster

*† Performance and plasma measurements of the high-specific impulse NASA-173Mv2 Hall thruster were analyzed using a phenomenological performance model that accounts for a partially-ionized plasma containing multiply-charged ions. Between discharge voltages of 300-900 V, the results showed that although the net decrease of efficiency due to multiplycharged ions was only 1.5-3.0%, the effects of multiply-charged ions on the ion and electron currents could not be neglected. Between 300-900 V, the increase of the discharge current was attributed to the increasing fraction of multiply-charged ions, while the maximum deviation of the electron current from its average value was only +5/-14%. These findings revealed how efficient operation at high-specific impulse was enabled through the regulation of the electron current with the applied magnetic field. Between 300-900 V, the voltage utilization ranged from 89-97%, the mass utilization from 86-90%, and the current utilization from 77-81%. Therefore, the anode efficiency was largely determined by the current utilization. The electron Hall parameter was nearly constant with voltage, decreasing from an average of 210 at 300 V to an average of 160 between 400-900 V. These results confirmed our claim that efficient operation can be achieved only over a limited range of Hall parameters.
A survey of young people's reading in England

This article reports on selected results of a comprehensive survey of children's reading in England, carried out online in 2005 by the National Centre for Research in Children's Literature at Roehampton University. With 4182 responses from children living in England aged from 4 to 16 years, the survey is a follow-up to a similar study completed in 1996. The article concentrates on those issues included in the survey which are of particular interest to children's librarians, specifically questions relating to borrowing books, choosing books, reading recommendations, book reviews, school libraries and classroom book corners.
Multiple Mechanisms Regulate Subcellular Localization of Human CDC6*

CDC6 is a protein essential for DNA replication, the expression and abundance of which are cell cycle-regulated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have demonstrated previously that the subcellular localization of the human CDC6 homolog, HsCDC6, is cell cycle-dependent: nuclear during G1 phase and cytoplasmic during S phase. Here we demonstrate that endogenous HsCDC6 is phosphorylated during the G1/S transition. The N-terminal region contains putative cyclin-dependent kinase phosphorylation sites adjoining nuclear localization sequences (NLSs) and a cyclin-docking motif, whereas the C-terminal region contains a nuclear export signal (NES). In addition, we show that the observed regulated subcellular localization depends on phosphorylation status, NLS, and NES. When the four putative substrate sites (serines 45, 54, 74, and 106) for cyclin-dependent kinases are mutated to alanines, the resulting HsCDC6A4 protein is localized predominantly to the nucleus. This localization depends upon two functional NLSs, because expression of HsCDC6 containing mutations in the two putative NLSs results in predominantly cytoplasmic distribution. Furthermore, mutation of the four serines to phosphate-mimicking aspartates (HsCDC6D4) results in strictly cytoplasmic localization. This cytoplasmic localization depends upon the C-terminal NES. Together these results demonstrate that HsCDC6 is phosphorylated at the G1/S phase of the cell cycle and that the phosphorylation status determines the subcellular localization.
HCMV Reprogramming of Infected Monocyte Survival and Differentiation: A Goldilocks Phenomenon

The wide range of disease pathologies seen in multiple organ sites associated with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection results from the systemic hematogenous dissemination of the virus, which is mediated predominately by infected monocytes. In addition to their role in viral spread, infected monocytes are also known to play a key role in viral latency and life-long persistence. However, in order to utilize infected monocytes for viral spread and persistence, HCMV must overcome a number of monocyte biological hurdles, including their naturally short lifespan and their inability to support viral gene expression and replication. Our laboratory has shown that HCMV is able to manipulate the biology of infected monocytes in order to overcome these biological hurdles by inducing the survival and differentiation of infected monocytes into long-lived macrophages capable of supporting viral gene expression and replication. In this current review, we describe the unique aspects of how HCMV promotes monocyte survival and differentiation by inducing a “finely-tuned” macrophage cell type following infection. Specifically, we describe the induction of a uniquely polarized macrophage subset from infected monocytes, which we argue is the ideal cellular environment for the initiation of viral gene expression and replication and, ultimately, viral spread and persistence within the infected host.
Replacing rose-tinted spectacles with a high-powered microscope: The historical versus modern carbon footprint of animal agriculture

As natural resources dwindle and concern over climate change increases, should the livestock industry continue to intensify and improve productivity to feed the increasing population, or return to less productive traditional methods? In 1800, each US farm could only produce enough food to feed one other family. In the wake of considerable improvements in productivity, each farmer currently produces enough food to feed an average of 125 other people. As the global population increases to a predicted 9.5 billion people in the year 2050, food requirements will rise by 70% compared with the present day (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; FAO, 2009). Assuming the present competition for energy, land, and water continues, resources available for agricultural production will decrease with increased population growth. The global livestock industries thus face the challenge of producing suffi cient animal-source foods to meet consumer demand, using a fi nite resource base. The environmental impact of livestock farming is one of the most commonly discussed issues within food production. A lexicon of previously unfamiliar terms including carbon footprint, sustainability, and local food have entered everyday conversation via media articles, blog posts, and restaurant menus. Ethical consumerism, defi ned by Singer and Mason (2006) as an interest in the way in which food is produced, the practices employed, and a concern for low environmental impact, high animal welfare, and optimal worker conditions, is considered to be increasing. As a consequence, popular perceptions of sustainable agriculture appear to be directed towards traditional systems, organic production, or farms that supply only the local geographical area. Although it is widely understood that improving effi ciency reduces expense, resources, and waste, the consumer often considers effi ciency to have negative connotations when applied to large-scale contemporary food production. This article will discuss the effects of advances in productivity and effi ciency in the livestock industries in the United States on the environmental impact and carbon footprint of modern food production.
On the normalized minimum error-entropy adaptive algorithm: Cost function and update recursion

Information theoretical learning (ITL) has recently been proved to be an efficient tool for developing new adaptive filtering algorithms. The starting point of this approach is the use of an information theoretical cost function. The most widely used family of algorithms in this class is the minimum error entropy (MEE). Linear and nonlinear adaptive filters from MEE family have better overall performance than traditional minimum mean-squared error and least-square filters in environments that include nonlinear models and/or where high-order-statistic noises are present, such as impulsive noises. In this paper, we study a well-known MEE-based algorithm: the normalized minimum error entropy (NMEE). We propose an alternative cost function associated with the current known NMEE update recursion. In addition, we propose a new update recursion related to the original NMEE cost function.