Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of Strain-Specific Sequences That Distinguish a Mycoplasma gallisepticum Vaccine Strain from Field Isolates

ABSTRACT Despite attempts to control avian mycoplasmosis through management, vaccination, and surveillance, Mycoplasma gallisepticum continues to cause significant morbidity, mortality, and economic losses in poultry production. Live attenuated vaccines are commonly used in the poultry industry to control avian mycoplasmosis; unfortunately, some vaccines may revert to virulence and vaccine strains are generally difficult to distinguish from natural field isolates. In order to identify genome differences among vaccine revertants, vaccine strains, and field isolates, whole-genome sequencing of the M. gallisepticum vaccine strain ts-11 and several “ts-11-like” strains isolated from commercial flocks was performed using Illumina and 454 pyrosequencing and the sequenced genomes compared to the M. gallisepticum Rlow reference genome. The collective contigs for each strain were annotated using the fully annotated Mycoplasma reference genome. The analysis revealed genetic differences among vlhA alleles, as well as among genes annotated as coding for a cell wall surface anchor protein (mg0377) and a hypothetical protein gene, mg0359, unique to M. gallisepticum ts-11 vaccine strain. PCR protocols were designed to target 5 sequences unique to the M. gallisepticum ts-11 strain: vlhA3.04a, vlhA3.04b, vlhA3.05, mg0377, and mg0359. All ts-11 isolates were positive for the five gene alleles tested by PCR; however, 5 to 36% of field isolates were also positive for at least one of the alleles tested. A combination of PCR tests for vlhA3.04a, vlhA3.05, and mg0359 was able to distinguish the M. gallisepticum ts-11 vaccine strain from field isolates. This method will further supplement current approaches to quickly distinguish M. gallisepticum vaccine strains from field isolates.
Combined application of Azotobacter and Urea to improve growth of rice ( Oryza sativum )

Azotobacter is a free living nitrogen fixer and a plant growth promoting rhizobacteria. It is gram negative, motile, spherical bacteria. It promots the plant growth by producing auxin, producing siederophores and solubilizing phosphate. In present study combine application of a biofertilizer and a chemical fertilizer is done. Azotobacter alone and with the combination of 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% urea is applied to rice seeds and effect on the seed germination and plant growth have been recorded. It is observed that coinoculation of chemical and biofertilizers improves the growth of plant.
Opinion Dynamics and the Evolution of Social Power in Influence Networks

This paper studies the evolution of self-appraisal, social power, and interpersonal influences for a group of individuals who discuss and form opinions about a sequence of issues. Our empirical model combines the averaging rule of DeGroot to describe opinion formation processes and the reflected appraisal mechanism of Friedkin to describe the dynamics of individuals' self-appraisal and social power. Given a set of relative interpersonal weights, the DeGroot--Friedkin model predicts the evolution of the influence network governing the opinion formation process. We provide a rigorous mathematical formulation of the influence network dynamics, characterize its equilibria, and establish its convergence properties for all possible structures of the relative interpersonal weights and corresponding eigenvector centrality scores. The model predicts that the social power ranking among individuals is asymptotically equal to their centrality ranking, that social power tends to accumulate at the top of the hierarchy,.
DO BANDWAGONS MATTER ? EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF EARLY ADOPTERS ON THE DIFFUSION OF THE ISO 9000 MANAGEMENT STANDARD

Voluntary industry management standards are emerging as an important new form of industrial coordination. They now regulate management practices in industries as diverse as electronics and entertainment. One goal of these standards is the differentiation of wellmanagement firms. Unfortunately, theories of diffusion suggest that such differentiation may be short lived. Adoption of a management standard by high quality firms should encourage other firms to adopt — particularly those firms with lower quality. Thus, ‘negative’ bandwagons may destroy the value of management standards. In this paper, we explore this dismal hypothesis by investigating how the number and nature of previous adopters influences the propensity of firms to participate in the ISO 9000 quality management standard. We do not find the predicted linear relationship between quality of initial adopters and subsequent adoption rates. Rather we find that adoption is suppressed both by high and low quality previous adopters. We propose some explanations for this relationship and discuss the implications for theory. * Corresponding author. We would like to thank Magali Delmas and Michael Lenox for their help in the creation of this paper. We are also grateful for financial support from the Institute of Global Conflict and Cooperation at UC San Diego and the U.S. EPA (Grant # 99-063334).
High correlation of scotopic and photopic electroretinogram components with severity of central retinal artery occlusion

Purpose The aim of this study was to determine whether a significant correlation exists between the scotopic and photopic components of electroretinograms (ERGs) and the degree of circulation disturbances caused by a central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). Design Observational clinical study. Participants Sixteen patients with a CRAO (16 eyes). Methods The circulatory disturbance in eyes with CRAO was graded as mild (group 1) when the arm-to-retina transmission time was <30 sec and severe (group 2) when the arm-to-retina transmission time was ≥30 sec. Scotopic and photopic ERG components in eyes with CRAO were compared with those in healthy fellow eyes with respect to the degree of circulation disturbance. Results The scotopic and photopic b-waves were significantly reduced only in group 2, whereas the amplitudes of the photopic negative response (PhNR) of the photopic cone ERGs were significantly reduced in both groups. The amplitudes of each ERG component, except for the a-wave of the mixed rod-cone ERG, were significantly smaller in group 2 than in group 1. Conclusions The PhNR was reduced even in group 1 with minimal circulatory disturbance and thus may be a good functional indicator.
Estimation of Textured Surface Inclination by Parallel Local Spectral Analysis

When an inclined, uniformly textured surface is viewed by an observer or imaged by a camera, the systematic distortions of the perspective transformation will induce a predictable distribution of shifts in the projected spatial frequencies which compose the texture. By measuring these shifts using a set of filters having suitable spatial, frequency, and orientation resolution, the inclination angles of the original textured surface may be estimated. An algorithm is presented which uses the amplitude distributions of 2D Gabor filters to perform such a calculation. Central to the algorithm is a pair of iteratively executed routines. The fist adjusts local sets of parameters to reduce the error between predicted and measured filter amplitudes. The second propagates the local parameters to neighboring regions to consolidate the estimates of inclination. The algorithm is capable of operating in parallel on any number of regions in the image and with a diverse set of filter inputs. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Science Technical Report No. MSCIS-89-47. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn. edu/cis_reports/588 Estimation Of Textured Surface Inclination By Parallel Local Spectral Analysis MS-CIS-89-47 GRASP LAB 186 M. R. Turner R Bajcsy G. L. Gerstein Department of Computer and Information Science School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6389
Protective Effector Memory CD4 T Cells Depend on ICOS for Survival

Memory CD4 T cells play a vital role in protection against re-infection by pathogens as diverse as helminthes or influenza viruses. Inducible costimulator (ICOS) is highly expressed on memory CD4 T cells and has been shown to augment proliferation and survival of activated CD4 T cells. However, the role of ICOS costimulation on the development and maintenance of memory CD4 T cells remains controversial. Herein, we describe a significant defect in the number of effector memory (EM) phenotype cells in ICOS−/− and ICOSL−/− mice that becomes progressively more dramatic as the mice age. This decrease was not due to a defect in the homeostatic proliferation of EM phenotype CD4 T cells in ICOS−/− or ICOSL−/− mice. To determine whether ICOS regulated the development or survival of EM CD4 T cells, we utilized an adoptive transfer model. We found no defect in development of EM CD4 T cells, but long-term survival of ICOS−/− EM CD4 T cells was significantly compromised compared to wild-type cells. The defect in survival was specific to EM cells as the central memory (CM) ICOS−/− CD4 T cells persisted as well as wild type cells. To determine the physiological consequences of a specific defect in EM CD4 T cells, wild-type and ICOS−/− mice were infected with influenza virus. ICOS−/− mice developed significantly fewer influenza-specific EM CD4 T cells and were more susceptible to re-infection than wild-type mice. Collectively, our findings demonstrate a role for ICOS costimulation in the maintenance of EM but not CM CD4 T cells.
Senior Public Managers’ Engagement: A Person–Situation-Interactionist Perspective

ABSTRACT This article examines the engagement of senior public managers by developing a person–situation-interactionist perspective. It integrates the literature on social exchange theory and person–organization fit to explore the effects of decision autonomy and shared vision on the engagement of more than 2,000 senior public sector managers in the central government agencies of three continental European countries: France, Germany, and The Netherlands. Then, it examines whether the locus of control of those managers moderates the decision autonomy–engagement and shared vision–engagement relationships. The structural equation modeling results suggest that there are positive relationships between both decision autonomy and shared vision and employee engagement. Further analysis revealed that an internal locus of control strengthened the decision autonomy–engagement relationship, but that it weakened the shared vision–engagement relationship.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANETARY CANDIDATES OBSERVED BY KEPLER. II. ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF DATA

On 2011 February 1 the Kepler mission released data for 156,453 stars observed from the beginning of the science observations on 2009 May 2 through September 16. There are 1235 planetary candidates with transit-like signatures detected in this period. These are associated with 997 host stars. Distributions of the characteristics of the planetary candidates are separated into five class sizes: 68 candidates of approximately Earth-size (Rp < 1.25 R⊕), 288 super-Earth-size (1.25 R⊕ ⩽ Rp < 2 R⊕), 662 Neptune-size (2 R⊕ ⩽ Rp < 6 R⊕), 165 Jupiter-size (6 R⊕ ⩽ Rp < 15 R⊕), and 19 up to twice the size of Jupiter (15 R⊕ ⩽ Rp < 22 R⊕). In the temperature range appropriate for the habitable zone, 54 candidates are found with sizes ranging from Earth-size to larger than that of Jupiter. Six are less than twice the size of the Earth. Over 74% of the planetary candidates are smaller than Neptune. The observed number versus size distribution of planetary candidates increases to a peak at two to three times the Earth-size and then declines inversely proportional to the area of the candidate. Our current best estimates of the intrinsic frequencies of planetary candidates, after correcting for geometric and sensitivity biases, are 5% for Earth-size candidates, 8% for super-Earth-size candidates, 18% for Neptune-size candidates, 2% for Jupiter-size candidates, and 0.1% for very large candidates; a total of 0.34 candidates per star. Multi-candidate, transiting systems are frequent; 17% of the host stars have multi-candidate systems, and 34% of all the candidates are part of multi-candidate systems.
Reconstructing Fossil Sub-structures of the Galactic Disk: Clues from Abundance Patterns of Old Open Clusters and Moving Groups

Abstract The long term goal of large-scale chemical tagging is to use stellar elemental abundances as a tracer of dispersed substructures of the Galactic disk. The identification of such lost stellar aggregates and the exploration of their chemical properties will be key in understanding the formation and evolution of the disk. Present day stellar structures such as open clusters and moving groups are the ideal testing grounds for the viability of chemical tagging, as they are believed to be the remnants of the original larger star-forming aggregates. Until recently, high accuracy elemental abundance studies of open clusters and moving groups having been lacking in the literature. In this paper we examine recent high resolution abundance studies of open clusters to explore the various abundance trends and reasses the prospects of large-scale chemical tagging.
Bad Luck, Bad Policy, and Learning? A Markov-Switching Approach to Understanding Postwar U.S. Macroeconomic Dynamics

In this paper we analyze changes in the Federal Reserve behavior and objectives since the 1960s justified by potentially evolving beliefs — through a real-time learning process — about the structure of the economy and shifts in policymakers preferences in the late 1970s. In addition, we allow for changes in the volatility of the structural shocks in a medium scale Markov-switching DSGE model. We evaluate the relative contribution of each narrative to the explanation of the Great Inflation and the Great Moderation. We argue that the interplay between central bank learning and a shift in policy makers’ preferences explains movements in the monetary instrument, and regulates equilibrium determinacy in the economy. We find evidence of “bad” policy consistent with equilibrium indeterminacy during the 1970s and “good” policy during the Great Moderation. In addition, the model captures non-policy related high volatility periods clustered around the late 1960’s through the 1970s, specifically supply side shocks that behaved as destabilizing forces driving macroeconomic fluctuations. To conclude, we observe that a change in monetary policy objectives, assumptions about policymakers’ learning process, and Markov-switching volatility are key to fit the model to the U.S. post-war data.
1 . 5 HAIL METRICS USING CONVENTIONAL RADAR

Insurance claims due to hailstorms in urban areas have escalated over the past 10 years. A study by Herzog (2002) compiled and summarized the hailstorm damages in the USA for the period 1994-2000 for the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS). Verified hail losses amounted to $2.5 Billion per year, with the actual amount possibly being 50% higher. Insured claims from the hailstorm that struck Sydney Australia on April 14, 1999 were approximately $1.5 billion, making it the most damaging event in Australian insurance history. And most recently, the most damaging hailstorm ever recorded in the USA moved over portions of the St. Louis and Kansas City urban areas collectively causing $1.9 billion in damage claims from a 2-day period, becoming the ninth most costly weather catastrophe in the United States since property insurance records began in 1949 (Changnon and Burroughs, 2003). There are several reasons for making radar-hail measurements in general, and specifically for any cloud seeding project that attempts to reduce the amount and severity of the hail fall:
Recent wind driven high sea ice area export in the Fram Strait contributes to Arctic sea ice decline

Abstract. Arctic sea ice area has been decreasing for the past two decades. Apart from melting, the southward drift through Fram Strait is the main ice loss mechanism. We present high resolution sea ice drift data across 79° N from 2004 to 2010. Ice drift has been derived from radar satellite data and corresponds well with variability in local geostrophic wind. The underlying East Greenland current contributes with a constant southward speed close to 5 cm s−1, and drives around a third of the ice export. We use geostrophic winds derived from reanalysis data to calculate the Fram Strait ice area export back to 1957, finding that the sea ice area export recently is about 25% larger than during the 1960's. The increase in ice export occurred mostly during winter and is directly connected to higher southward ice drift velocities, due to stronger geostrophic winds. The increase in ice drift is large enough to counteract a decrease in ice concentration of the exported sea ice. Using storm tracking we link changes in geostrophic winds to more intense Nordic Sea low pressure systems. Annual sea ice area export likely has a significant influence on the summer sea ice variability and we find low values in the 1960's, the late 1980's and 1990's, and particularly high values during 2005–2008. The study highlights the possible role of variability in ice export as an explanatory factor for understanding the dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice during the last decades.
How the Dataweb Can Support Cloud Federation: Service Representation and Secure Data Exchange

Cloud Computing and federation enable new challenging business scenarios. However, the technology driving federation is at the early stage and many issues have to be overcome. On one hand, an important problem is how to logically map the virtual resources hosted in federated cloud data-centers. On the other hand, another issue consists of how to exchange data in a secure way to enable a cloud to access only the allowed external resources. In this paper, we address both issues adopting the concept of "Dataweb'' and the XDI technology. More specifically, using the Higgings framework an use case including several IaaS federated clouds is discussed and evaluated, specifically focusing on security.
Nuclear Medicine in Musculoskeletal Disorders: Clinical Approach

Nuclear medicine supplies with functional perspective in the diagnosis of different pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. Bone scintigraphy is one of the most used nuclear medicine techniques in our clinical practice for location, evaluation and diagnosis of these pathologies because of its high sensitivity. This technique identifies functional changes before structural lesions have been established. For the study of musculoskeletal disorders, the usage of three-phase bone scintigraphy is applied more often than conventional bone scintigraphy. However, due to its low specificity, it has been replaced by other techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of localized lesions. New techniques in nuclear medicine which provide precision with high sensitivity are currently available, such as single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), useful in the evaluation of lumbar and hip pathology, or the presence of inflammation in small joints (hands and feet), and positron emission tomography (PET), which provides a metabolic imaging. Several radionuclides can be used in the scintigraphic evaluation, although the most commonly used for bone scintigraphy are labelled with technetium 99-m (99mTc), standing out diphosphonate compounds such as methylene diphosphonate (MDP). This radiopharmaceutical (Tc-99m-MDP) is used for studying metabolic bone diseases like Paget s disease, transient osteoporosis and reflex sympathetic dystrophy. And it is also useful in the location of polytopic forms of avascular osteonecrosis, in the study of hidden painful radiologic bone lesions such as osteoid osteoma or others bone tumours, in the evaluation of soft-tissue lesions, and in the assessment of spread pattern of bone metastases. Furthermore, this radionuclide may locate bone fractures, identify the cause of pain in patients with chronic pain after arthroplasty, show the evolution of heterotopic ossification and provide information about musculoskeletal system infections (in combination with other radionuclides) and paediatric diseases. Other radionuclides commonly used in the evaluation of infectious or inflammatory processes in the musculoskeletal system are gallium citrate and indium 111-labelled leukocytes, since the latter increases the specificity of technetium radiotracer. Local treatments can be applied by radio isotopic techniques. One of these is radiosynoviorthesis, used in the treatment of patients with persistent monoarthritis in different stages (from inflammatory poliarthritis to pigmentary villonodular sinovitis).
Decentralized supervisory control of discrete event systems moving decisions closer to actions

In decentralized control of discrete event systems, two main agents contribute to the computation of decisions: local supervisors and fusion modules. The local supervisors process the information detected on the plant and its environment, and transmit their results to the fusion modules. The latter process what is received from the local supervisors in order to decide actions to be applied to the plant. In the existing decentralized control architectures, the local supervisors execute complex operations, while the fusion modules execute simple operations. In the present article, we propose to move the decision computation complexity from local supervisors to fusion modules, that is what we term: moving decisions closer to actions. We justify this movement of decision and develop a simple architecture based on it. With the proposed architecture, the local supervisors are simple local observers, while all decisions are computed by the fusion modules. We characterize the class of languages achievable with the new architecture and compare it with the classes of languages achievable with the existing decentralized architectures and the centralized architecture.
Development of a Firefly Luciferase-Based Assay for Determining Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Mycobacterium aviumsubsp. paratuberculosis

ABSTRACT Paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) is a fatal disease of ruminants for which no effective treatment is available. Presently, no drugs against Mycobacterium avium subsp.paratuberculosis (M. paratuberculosis), the causative agent of Johne’s disease, are approved for use in livestock. Additionally, M. paratuberculosis has been linked to a human chronic granulomatous ileitis (Crohn’s disease). To assist in the evaluation of antimicrobial agents with potential activity against M. paratuberculosis, we have developed a firefly luciferase-based assay for the determination of drug susceptibilities. The microorganism used was M. paratuberculosis K-10(pYUB180), a clinical isolate carrying a plasmid with the firefly luciferase gene. The MICs determined by the broth macrodilution method were as follows: amikacin, 2 μg/ml; Bay y 3118, 0.015 μg/ml; clarithromycin, 1.25 μg/ml;d-cycloserine, 25 μg/ml; ethambutol, 20 μg/ml; and rifabutin, 0.5 μg/ml. The strain was resistant to isoniazid and kanamycin. The results obtained by the luciferase assay were identical or fell within 1 doubling dilution. These results suggest that a combination of amikacin, clarithromycin, and rifabutin may be the most efficacious therapy for the treatment of M. paratuberculosis infections and that the use of fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics deserves further consideration. We demonstrate that the luciferase drug susceptibility assay is reliable for M. paratuberculosis and gives results within 7 days, whereas the broth macrodilution method requires 14 days.