Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Injury to Cotton by Adult Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae) of Different Gender and Reproductive States

ABSTRACT Lygus hesperus Knight (Hemiptera: Miridae) is a key pest of cotton (Gossypium spp.) in the western United States that injures floral buds (squares) and developing fruit (bolls). However, no clear relationship between Lygus population level and plant injury has been established. Agedependent feeding activity by L. hesperus is a possible source of variation that has not been examined for its influence in studies of the impact of Lygus on cotton. Recent video-based laboratory studies indicated that feeding behaviors and trivial movement varied among L. hesperus adults of different gender and reproductive states (prereproductive; reproductive and unmated; and reproductive and mated). We compared within-plant distributions and accumulations of feeding injury to intact cotton plants corresponding to adult L. hesperus of different gender and reproductive states. Adult females, regardless of reproductive state, were observed on squares and axillary buds more often than were males. Additionally, prereproductive adults were observed on squares and axillary buds more often than were mated or unmated reproductive adults, regardless of gender. Plants that were exposed to prereproductive adults exhibited more abscised squares and more squares with injured anthers compared with plants exposed to reproductive adults. However, feeding injury did not differ by insect mating status or gender. These results are consistent with results of our previous video-based assays, and indicate adult reproductive state represents a source of variation that should be controlled in studies to evaluate Lygus-induced injury to cotton and other crop plants.
Latent Gaussian Processes for Distribution Estimation of Multivariate Categorical Data

Multivariate categorical data occur in many applications of machine learning. One of the main difficulties with these vectors of categorical variables is sparsity. The number of possible observations grows exponentially with vector length, but dataset diversity might be poor in comparison. Recent models have gained significant improvement in supervised tasks with this data. These models embed observations in a continuous space to capture similarities between them. Building on these ideas we propose a Bayesian model for the unsupervised task of distribution estimation of multivariate categorical data. We model vectors of categorical variables as generated from a non-linear transformation of a continuous latent space. Non-linearity captures multi-modality in the distribution. The continuous representation addresses sparsity. Our model ties together many existing models, linking the linear categorical latent Gaussian model, the Gaussian process latent variable model, and Gaussian process classification. We derive inference for our model based on recent developments in sampling based variational inference. We show empirically that the model outperforms its linear and discrete counterparts in imputation tasks of sparse data.
Silver nanoshells plasmonically controlled random lasing without dielectric spacer

Random lasing properties of dye solutions suspended with silver nanoshells are investigated. Unlike the case of metal nanoparticles with a dielectric layer to suppress high absorption rate which is seriously detrimental to lasing resonance, Ag nanoshells with cavity mode can concentrate electric field around the void centre and consequently lead to low loss. This is supported by the finite-different time-domain method. The results suggest that Ag nanoshells nanostructures present a new approach towards well-controlled random lasers.
Analysing Molecular Landscapes Using Random Walks and Information Theory

Search heuristics for the in-silico discovery of drug candidates have recently received increased attention. Most of these heuristics such as Simulated Annealing and Evolutionary Algorithms gradually improve molecules by exploiting that the similarity in the molecular structure often relates to the similarity in the properties of molecules such as activity against a target. However, it often remains unproven whether such continuity assumptions actually hold. Generally speaking, there is a need to better understand and assess the properties of molecular search landscapes in order to design/choose appropriate optimization methods to search these spaces. The theory of combinatorial landscape analysis aims to provide such analysis tools. However, many of the methods proposed in this ﬁeld require the complete knowledge of the landscape and thus are inappropriate for analysing the huge search spaces of chemical structures. If the size of the search space forbids enumeration, statistical landscape analysis methods are the only available tool. Following the approach presented by V. K. Vassilev, in this thesis, we pro-pose to estimate landscape properties from random walks using the variation operator of the search heuristic. Once a search heuristic is built, these random walks can be generated with little extra eﬀort. The precision of the obtained results scales with the number and length of the random walks available. Given the data from random walks the following analysis methods can be used: (1) Correlation Length Analysis which reveals the validity of the continuity assumption; (2) Information Complexity which reveals the structural diversity of the search landscape; (3) Multimodality measures which estimate the frequency of local optima for diﬀerent neighbourhood radii, and ﬁnally (4) Neutrality measures which account for the size distribution of plateaus in the landscape. Each measure indicates diﬃculties for optimization routines encountered when optimizing the objective function. We apply random-walk based landscape analysis for four search spaces in the context of de-novo drug design: Firstly, we study the properties of three search spaces induced by the mutation operators of the “Molecule Evoluator TM ” developed by Eric-Wubbo Lameijer, with an activity model
RARγ and Cdx1 Interactions in Vertebral Patterning

Abstract Exogenous retinoic acid (RA) can evoke vertebral homeosis when administered during late gastrulation. These vertebral transformations correlate with alterations of the rostral limit of Hox gene expression in the prevertebrae, suggesting that retinoid signaling regulates the combinatorial expression of Hox genes dictating vertebral identity. Conversely, loss of certain RA receptors (RARs) results in anterior homeotic transformations principally affecting the cervical region. Despite these observations, the relationship between retinoid signaling, somitic Hox expression, and vertebral patterning is poorly understood. The members of the murine Cdx family (Cdx1, Cdx2, and Cdx4) are the homologues of Drosophila caudal and encode homeobox-containing transcription factors. Cdx1 homozygous null mutants exhibit anterior homeotic transformations, some of which are reminiscent of those in RARγ null offspring. In Cdx1 mutants, these transformations occur concomitant with posteriorized prevertebral expression of certain Hox genes. Cdx1 has recently been demonstrated to be a direct RA target, suggesting an indirect means by which retinoid signaling may impact vertebral patterning. To further investigate this relationship, a complete allelic series of Cdx1-RARγ mutants was generated and the skeletal phenotype assessed either following normal gestation or after administration of RA. Synergistic interactions between these null alleles were observed in compound mutants, and the full effects of exogenous RA on vertebral morphogenesis required Cdx1. These findings are consistent with a role for RA upstream of Cdx1 as regards axial patterning. However, exogenous RA attenuated several defects inherent to Cdx1 null mutants. This finding, together with the increased phenotypic severity of RARγ–Cdx1 double null mutants relative to single nulls, suggests that these pathways also function in parallel, likely by converging on common targets.
GaN-based light-emitting diodes on various substrates: a critical review

GaN and related III-nitrides have attracted considerable attention as promising materials for application in optoelectronic devices, in particular, light-emitting diodes (LEDs). At present, sapphire is still the most popular commercial substrate for epitaxial growth of GaN-based LEDs. However, due to its relatively large lattice mismatch with GaN and low thermal conductivity, sapphire is not the most ideal substrate for GaN-based LEDs. Therefore, in order to obtain high-performance and high-power LEDs with relatively low cost, unconventional substrates, which are of low lattice mismatch with GaN, high thermal conductivity and low cost, have been tried as substitutes for sapphire. As a matter of fact, it is not easy to obtain high-quality III-nitride films on those substrates for various reasons. However, by developing a variety of techniques, distincts progress has been made during the past decade, with high-performance LEDs being successfully achieved on these unconventional substrates. This review focuses on state-of-the-art high-performance GaN-based LED materials and devices on unconventional substrates. The issues involved in the growth of GaN-based LED structures on each type of unconventional substrate are outlined, and the fundamental physics behind these issues is detailed. The corresponding solutions for III-nitride growth, defect control, and chip processing for each type of unconventional substrate are discussed in depth, together with a brief introduction to some newly developed techniques in order to realize LED structures on unconventional substrates. This is very useful for understanding the progress in this field of physics. In this review, we also speculate on the prospects for LEDs on unconventional substrates.
Investigating the Relationship Between Construction Contract Documentation Incompleteness and Project Transaction Characteristics : Practical Considerations

Research on Documentation Incompleteness (DI) and loss-and-expense claims (LEXs) is currently underway. As part of this research, an experiment must be designed to define the secondary relationship between DI and project transaction characteristics (Project Uncertainty and Asset Specificity) and determine the optimal level of DI for a specific type of building project construction. To maximize reliability and validity in investigating this secondary relationship, experimental design must ensure that only Uncertainty and Asset Specificity (the main independent variables of interest) are varied and consequences on DI (the dependent variable) are monitored and measured accurately. Generally, however, in construction research, it is neither practical nor possible to ensure that only one of the many independent variables affecting construction project outcomes varies in value; nor is it usually possible to isolate individual dependent variables (Fellows and Liu, 2008; Creswell, 2009). The usual approach is to devise quasi-experiments in which only the main independent variables, except the one of interest, are held approximately constant and consequences for the major dependent variable are measured. This paper proposes a method of comparative study of the construction documentation used and transaction characteristics occurring on similar building projects, and executed around the same time, by similar firms employing similar organizational arrangements. This paper reports on the work in progress by reviewing the methodology and rationale for adoption of the methods proposed for the experiment. Consideration is given to how the method would answer the associated research questions, accomplish the research objectives, and interpret the results. Issues reviewed include: research approach and design and considerations for ensuring acquisition of high-quality, relevant data for analysis. Study limitations and strategies employed to increase confidence in the inferences drawn about the relationship between DI and project transaction characteristics are also presented. This paper aims to raise awareness of: the nature of available building construction documentation and data on Uncertainty and Asset Specificity; practicality constraints of data acquisition; and appropriate analytical tests and techniques. It should serve as a useful guide for future researchers tasked with determining most appropriate methods for carrying out construction contract documentation research under similarly less than ideal circumstances.
Animal-animat coevolution: using the animal population as fitness function

We show an artificial world where animals (humans) and animats (software agents) interact in a coevolutionary arms race. The two species each use adaptation schemes of their own. Learning through interaction with humans has been out of reach for evolutionary learning techniques because too many iterations are necessary. Our work demonstrates that the Internet is a new environment where this may be possible through an appropriate setup that creates mutualism, a relationship where human and animat species benefit from their interactions with each other.
Pyrethroid resistance in tropical bedbugs, Cimex hemipterus, associated with use of treated bednets

Abstract When Tanzanian villages were provided with pyrethroid‐treated bednets, bedbugs (Cimicidae) disappeared; however, after about 6 years they have re‐appeared in these villages. Using a newly devised test‐kit, susceptibility tests of bedbugs Cimex hemipterus (Fabricius) from five of these villages showed that there is resistance to permethrin and alphacypermethrin in bedbugs from each of the villages, in contrast to those from five villages without treated nets. Circumstantial evidence indicates that bedbug resistance to pyrethroid insecticides may evolve more readily in villages with incomplete coverage rates of treated bednets, allowing bedbug infestations to become re‐established. Bedbugs have not returned to a village where nearly all the beds have been provided with pyrethroid‐treated bednets for 14 years.
Demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system occurring in black South Africans

OBJECTIVES To investigate the nature and cause in eight black South African patients of a recurrent (multiphasic), remitting, and relapsing demyelinating disease of the CNS. METHODS The clinical and laboratory investigations and radiological manifestations of these patients were documented. RESULTS Each patient had two or more acute attacks of demyelinating disease affecting the CNS. The clinical presentations of the patients were predominantly those of multiphasic neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Brain MRI in these patients showed features consistent with those described for acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), as well as lesions that are described in multiple sclerosis. There was involvement of the corpus callosum in addition to typical ADEM lesions. Laboratory investigations excluded all other known causes of multiphasic CNS demyelination. Oligoclonal antibodies were not detected in these patients at any time. The patients were all from a population with a low risk for MS (black South Africans). CONCLUSION The patients described here represent a new phenotypic expression of a recurrent (multiphasic), steroid sensitive, inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the CNS occurring in black South Africans. The disorder is either a distinct inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the CNS of as yet unknown aetiology, or a varied form of MS (ADEM/NMO) occurring in a population with a low risk (where the genetic trait and environmental risk factors for MS do not exist) for MS.
Modeling and optimization of algae growth

The wastewater from greenhouses has a high amount of mineral contamination and an environmentally-friendly method of removal is to use algae to clean this runoff water. The algae consume the minerals as part of their growth process. In addition to cleaning the water, the created algal bio-mass has a variety of applications including production of bio-diesel, animal feed, products for pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes, or it can even be used as a source of heating or electricity . The aim of this paper is to develop a model of algae production and use this model to investigate how best to optimize algae farms to satisfy the dual goals of maximizing growth and removing mineral contaminants. With this aim in mind the paper is split into five main sections. In the first a review of the biological literature is undertaken with the aim of determining what factors effect the growth of algae. The second section contains a review of exciting mathematical models from the literature, and for each model a steady-state analysis is performed. Moreover, for each model the strengths and weaknesses are discussed in detail. In the third section,a new two-stage model for algae production is proposed, careful estimation of parameters is undertaken and numerical solutions are presented. In the next section, a new one-dimensional spatial-temporal model is presented, numerically solved and optimization strategies are discussed. Finally, these elements are brought together and recommendations of how to continue are drawn.
Simple graph models of information spread in finite populations

We consider several classes of simple graphs as potential models for information diffusion in a structured population. These include biases cycles, dual circular flows, partial bipartite graphs and what we call ‘single-link’ graphs. In addition to fixation probabilities, we study structure parameters for these graphs, including eigenvalues of the Laplacian, conductances, communicability and expected hitting times. In several cases, values of these parameters are related, most strongly so for partial bipartite graphs. A measure of directional bias in cycles and circular flows arises from the non-zero eigenvalues of the antisymmetric part of the Laplacian and another measure is found for cycles as the value of the transition probability for which hitting times going in either direction of the cycle are equal. A generalization of circular flow graphs is used to illustrate the possibility of tuning edge weights to match pre-specified values for graph parameters; in particular, we show that generalizations of circular flows can be tuned to have fixation probabilities equal to the Moran probability for a complete graph by tuning vertex temperature profiles. Finally, single-link graphs are introduced as an example of a graph involving a bottleneck in the connection between two components and these are compared to the partial bipartite graphs.
Ecological correlates of extra-group paternity in mammals

Extra-group paternity (EGP) can form an important part of the mating system in birds and mammals. However, our present understanding of its extent and ecology comes primarily from birds. Here, we use data from 26 species and phylogenetic comparative methods to explore interspecific variation in EGP in mammals and test prominent ecological hypotheses for this variation. We found extensive EGP (46% of species showed more than 20% EGP), indicating that EGP is likely to play an important role in the mating system and the dynamics of sexual selection in mammals. Variation in EGP was most closely correlated with the length of the mating season. As the length of the mating season increased, EGP declined, suggesting that it is increasingly difficult for males to monopolize their social mates when mating seasons are short and overlap among females in oestrus is likely to be high. EGP was secondarily correlated with the number of females in a breeding group, consistent with the idea that as female clustering increases, males are less able to monopolize individual females. Finally, EGP was not related to social mating system, suggesting that the opportunities for the extra-group fertilizations and the payoffs involved do not consistently vary with social mating system.
Burden of disease and injury ,

Key findings • Torres Strait – Northern Peninsula, Cape York and Mt Isa Health Service Districts experienced considerably higher DALY rates and lower life expectancies than the average for Queensland. • Key areas for reducing health inequality in HALE in Queensland are cardiovascular diseases, unintentional injuries and diabetes. • Within Queensland there was a 5.3 year HALE differential between areas of socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage, largely caused by cardiovascular disease and mental disorders. • Within Queensland there was a 6.4 years HALE differential between cities and remote areas, largely caused by cardiovascular disease, unintentional injuries and diabetes. • Within Queensland there was a 11.9 year deficit in HALE in Indigenous people compared to non‐Indigenous people, with cardiovascular disease and diabetes accounting for 5.9 years of this loss of healthy life.
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Pancreas

Purpose To develop a diffusion-tensor-imaging (DTI) protocol that is sensitive to the complex diffusion and perfusion properties of the healthy and malignant pancreas tissues. Materials and Methods Twenty-eight healthy volunteers and nine patients with pancreatic-ductal-adenocacinoma (PDAC), were scanned at 3T with T2-weighted and DTI sequences. Healthy volunteers were also scanned with multi-b diffusion-weighted-imaging (DWI), whereas a standard clinical protocol complemented the PDAC patients’ scans. Image processing at pixel resolution yielded parametric maps of three directional diffusion coefficients λ1, λ2, λ3, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and fractional anisotropy (FA), as well as a λ1-vector map, and a main diffusion-direction map. Results DTI measurements of healthy pancreatic tissue at b-values 0,500 s/mm2yielded: λ1 = (2.65±0.35)×10−3, λ2 = (1.87±0.22)×10−3, λ3 = (1.20±0.18)×10−3, ADC = (1.91±0.22)×10−3 (all in mm2/s units) and FA = 0.38±0.06. Using b-values of 100,500 s/mm2 led to a significant reduction in λ1, λ2, λ3 and ADC (p<.0001) and a significant increase (p<0.0001) in FA. The reduction in the diffusion coefficients suggested a contribution of a fast intra-voxel-incoherent-motion (IVIM) component at b≤100 s/mm2, which was confirmed by the multi-b DWI results. In PDACs, λ1, λ2, λ3 and ADC in both 0,500 s/mm2 and 100,500 s/mm2 b-values sets, as well as the reduction in these diffusion coefficients between the two sets, were significantly lower in comparison to the distal normal pancreatic tissue, suggesting higher cellularity and diminution of the fast-IVIM component in the cancer tissue. Conclusion DTI using two reference b-values 0 and 100 s/mm2 enabled characterization of the water diffusion and anisotropy of the healthy pancreas, taking into account a contribution of IVIM. The reduction in the diffusion coefficients of PDAC, as compared to normal pancreatic tissue, and the smaller change in these coefficients in PDAC when the reference b-value was modified from 0 to 100 s/mm2, helped identifying the presence of malignancy.