Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Variations in Host Resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f sp. cubense Race 4 in Musa Species, With a Focus on the Subtropical Race 4

Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) has severely curtailed banana production in the tropical regions of the world. The tropical race 4 (TR4) of Foc was detected in Australia in the 1990s and it is virulent to all Cavendish type banana cultivars, which represents the majority of banana production in Australia. Genetic resistance to Foc race 4 is urgently needed. To characterize sources of resistance, we have assessed the Foc resistance response of 34 Musa cultivars with plants grown under controlled settings. Amongst diploid banana cultivars carrying the AA genome, resistance is found in Musa acuminata sub-species including malaccensis ‘Pahang’ and burmannica ‘Calcutta4. ’ In the polyploid group, the hybrids such as ‘FHIA-18’ and ‘FHIA-25’ are highly resistant against both Foc-TR4 and subtropical race 4 (Foc-STR4). Interestingly, ‘FHIA-2’ and ‘CAM020’ appear to be resistant to Foc-TR4 but susceptible to Foc-STR4, suggesting potential differences in the resistance mechanisms against the different race 4 strains. Using a GFP tagged Foc-STR4 strain challenged onto both resistant and susceptible M. a. malaccensis lines, a high inoculum dosage rapidly induced vascular wilt in the susceptible M. a. malaccensis lines at 2.5 weeks. This was associated with an accumulation of micro-conidia in the rhizome and the movement of the fungus through the xylem vessels. In contrast, the fungal movement was restrained in the rhizome of the resistant M. a. malaccensis lines and no sporulation was observed. Overall, this research suggests that the resistance response is dependent to an extent on inoculum dosage and that the plant host’s response, in the rhizome, plays an important role in inhibiting the fungus from spreading to the rest of the plant. Identifying race 4 resistant accessions can help to understand mechanisms of resistance and provide banana breeders with the genetic resources to integrate resistance genes into commercial varieties.
Influence of Oxidation Level of Graphene Oxide on the Mechanical Performance and Photo-Oxidation Resistance of a Polyamide 6

The aim of this work is to study the relationship between the chemical-physical properties of graphene oxide (GO) and the performance of a polyamide 6 (PA6) in terms of mechanical reinforcement and resistance to UV-exposure. For this purpose, two samples of GO possessing different oxidation degrees were added (0.75 wt.%) to PA6 by way of a two-step technique and the materials achieved were carefully analysed from a morphological, chemical-physical, mechanical point of view. Photo-oxidation tests were carried out to assess the performance of this class of nanohybrids after 240 h of UV-exposure. The results reveal that both nanocomposites exhibit enhanced mechanical performance and durability of PA6. However, the most oxidized GO led to a higher increase of mechanical properties and a stronger resistance to UV-exposure. All the analyses confirm that both GO samples are well dispersed and covalently attached to PA6. However, the higher the oxidation level of GO the stronger and the more extended the chemical interphase of the nanocomposite. As regards photochemical stability, both GO samples display UV-shielding capacity but the most oxidized GO also shows radical scavenging activity by virtue of its nanocavities and defects, imparted by prolonged oxidation, which endows PA6 with an outstanding durability even after 240 h of UV-exposure.
The Antigenic Topology of Norovirus as Defined by B and T Cell Epitope Mapping: Implications for Universal Vaccines and Therapeutics

Human norovirus (HuNoV) is the leading cause of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis. Vaccine design has been confounded by the antigenic diversity of these viruses and a limited understanding of protective immunity. We reviewed 77 articles published since 1988 describing the isolation, function, and mapping of 307 unique monoclonal antibodies directed against B cell epitopes of human and murine noroviruses representing diverse Genogroups (G). Of these antibodies, 91, 153, 21, and 42 were reported as GI-specific, GII-specific, MNV GV-specific, and G cross-reactive, respectively. Our goal was to reconstruct the antigenic topology of noroviruses in relationship to mapped epitopes with potential for therapeutic use or inclusion in universal vaccines. Furthermore, we reviewed seven published studies of norovirus T cell epitopes that identified 18 unique peptide sequences with CD4- or CD8-stimulating activity. Both the protruding (P) and shell (S) domains of the major capsid protein VP1 contained B and T cell epitopes, with the majority of neutralizing and HBGA-blocking B cell epitopes mapping in or proximal to the surface-exposed P2 region of the P domain. The majority of broadly reactive B and T cell epitopes mapped to the S and P1 arm of the P domain. Taken together, this atlas of mapped B and T cell epitopes offers insight into the promises and challenges of designing universal vaccines and immunotherapy for the noroviruses.
Protein Composition and Baking Quality of Wheat Flour as Affected by Split Nitrogen Application

Baking quality of wheat flour is determined by grain protein concentration (GPC) and its composition and is highly influenced by environmental factors such as nitrogen (N) fertilization management. This study investigated the effect of split N application on grain protein composition and baking quality of two winter wheat cultivars, Tobak and JB Asano, belonging to different baking quality classes. Bread loaf volumes in both cultivars were enhanced by split N application. In contrast, GPC was only significantly increased in JB Asano. Comparative 2-DE revealed that the relative volumes of 21 and 28 unique protein spots were significantly changed by split N application in Tobak and JB Asano, respectively. Specifically, the alterations in relative abundance of certain proteins, i.e., globulins, LMW-GS, α-, and γ-gliadins as well as α-amylase/trypsin inhibitors were more sensitive to split N application. Furthermore, certain proteins identified as globulins and alpha-amylase inhibitors were changed in both wheat cultivars under split N application. These results implied that the functions of these unique proteins might have played important roles in affecting baking quality of wheat flour, especially for cultivars (i.e., Tobak in the present study) the baking quality of which is less dependent on GPC.
Characterizing and comparing Portuguese and English Wikipedia medicine-related articles

Wikipedia is the largest on-line collaborative encyclopedia, containing information from a plethora of fields, including medicine. It has been shown that Wikipedia is one of the top visited sites by readers looking for information on this topic. The large reliance on Wikipedia for this type of information drives research towards the analysis of the quality of its articles. In this work, we evaluate and compare the quality of medicine-related articles in the English and Portuguese Wikipedia. For that we use metrics such as authority, completeness, complexity, informativeness, consistency, currency and volatility, and domain-specific measurements, in order to evaluate and compare the quality of medicine related articles in the English and Portuguese Wikipedia. We were able to conclude that the English articles score better across most metrics than the Portuguese articles.
“Data Strikes”: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a New Form of Collective Action Against Technology Companies

The public is increasingly concerned about the practices of large technology companies with regards to privacy and many other issues. To force changes in these practices, there have been growing calls for “data strikes. ” These new types of collective action would seek to create leverage for the public by starving business-critical models (e.g. recommender systems, ranking algorithms) of much-needed training data. However, little is known about how data strikes would work, let alone how effective they would be. Focusing on the important commercial domain of recommender systems, we simulate data strikes under a wide variety of conditions and explore how they can augment traditional boycotts. Our results suggest that data strikes can be effective and that users have more power in their relationship with technology companies than they do with other companies. However, our results also highlight important trade-offs and challenges that must be considered by potential organizers.
p14ARF Prevents Proliferation of Aneuploid Cells by Inducing p53‐Dependent Apoptosis

Weakening the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint by reduced expression of its components induces chromosome instability and aneuploidy that are hallmarks of cancer cells. The tumor suppressor p14ARF is overexpressed in response to oncogenic stimuli to stabilize p53 halting cell progression. Previously, we found that lack or reduced expression of p14ARF is involved in the maintenance of aneuploid cells in primary human cells, suggesting that it could be part of a pathway controlling their proliferation. To investigate this aspect further, p14ARF was ectopically expressed in HCT116 cells after depletion of the Spindle Assembly Checkpoint MAD2 protein that was used as a trigger for aneuploidy. p14ARF Re‐expression reduced the number of aneuploid cells in MAD2 post‐transcriptionally silenced cells. Also aberrant mitoses, frequently displayed in MAD2‐depleted cells, were decreased when p14ARF was expressed at the same time. In addition, p14ARF ectopic expression in MAD2‐depleted cells induced apoptosis associated with increased p53 protein levels. Conversely, p14ARF ectopic expression did not induce apoptosis in HCT116 p53KO cells. Collectively, our results suggest that the tumor suppressor p14ARF may have an important role in counteracting proliferation of aneuploid cells by activating p53‐dependent apoptosis. J. Cell. Physiol. 231: 336–344, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Auto-EM: End-to-end Fuzzy Entity-Matching using Pre-trained Deep Models and Transfer Learning

Entity matching (EM), also known as entity resolution, fuzzy join, and record linkage, refers to the process of identifying records corresponding to the same real-world entities from different data sources. It is an important and long-standing problem in data integration and data mining. So far progresses have been made mainly in the form of model improvements, where models with better accuracy are developed when large amounts of training data is available. In real-world applications we find that advanced approaches can often require too many labeled examples that is expensive to obtain, which has become a key obstacle to wider adoption. We in this work take a different tack, proposing a transfer-learning approach to EM, leveraging pre-trained EM models from large-scale, production knowledge bases (KB). Specifically, for each entity-type in KB, (e.g., location, organization, people, etc.), we use rich synonymous names of known entities in the KB as training data, to pre-train type-detection and EM models for each type, using a novel hierarchical neural network architecture we develop. Given a new EM task, with little or no training data, we can either fine-tune or directly leverage pre-trained EM models, to build end-to-end, high-quality EM systems. Experiments on a variety of real EM tasks suggest that the pre-trained approach is effective and outperforms existing EM methods.1.
Exercise and Conjugated Linoleic Acid Supplementation Induce Changes in the Composition of Liver Fatty Acids

Exercise and supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) are used to reduce body weight and to improve health. Applied together, they may exert a synergistic effect. However, the effects of exercise and CLA supplementation on liver metabolism are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of exercise and CLA supplementation on fatty acids (FA) composition in mouse liver. We analyzed 44 of known FAs of this organ by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Our results demonstrated that exercise contributed to a decrease in odd-chain FA and an increase in n-6 polyunsaturated FA contents. In turn, CLA stimulated an increase in branched-chain FAs and n-3 polyunsaturated FAs. Exercise combined with CLA supplementation caused a substantial increase in branched-chain FA content and a slight increase in n-6 polyunsaturated FAs. The elevated liver content of branched-chain FAs after the exercise combined with CLA supplementation, as well as the increase in n-3 polyunsaturated FAs after CLA may be favorable since both these FA groups were previously shown to produce health benefits. However, the expression pattern of enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis did not match the changes in FA composition. Thus, the mechanism of exercise- and CLA-induced changes in liver FA profile is yet to be established. Also, the consequences of CLA- and/or exercise-induced changes in the composition of liver FAs need to be elucidated.
Characterizing the Behavioral Evolution of Twitter Users and The Truth Behind the 90-9-1 Rule

Online Social Networks (OSNs) represent a fertile field to collect real user data and to explore OSNs user behavior. Recently, two topics are drawing the attention of researchers: the evolution of online social roles and the question of participation inequality. In this work, we bring these two fields together to study and characterize the behavioral evolution of OSNs users according to the quantity and the typology of their social interactions. We found that online participation on the microblogging platform can be categorized into four different activity levels. Furthermore, we empirically verified that the 90-9-1 rule of thumb about participation inequality is not an accurate representation of reality. Findings from our analysis reveal that lurkers are less than expected: they are not 9 out of 10 as suggested by Nielsen, but 3 out of 4. This represents a significant result that can give new insights on how users relate with social media and how their use is evolving towards a more active interaction with the new generation of consumers.
Drosophila Cellular Immunity Against Parasitoid Wasps: A Complex and Time-Dependent Process

Host-parasitoid interactions are among the most studied interactions between invertebrates because of their fundamental interest – the evolution of original traits in parasitoids – and applied, parasitoids being widely used in biological control. Immunity, and in particular cellular immunity, is central in these interactions, the host encapsulation response being specific for large foreign bodies such as parasitoid eggs. Although already well studied in this species, recent data on Drosophila melanogaster have unquestionably improved knowledge of invertebrate cellular immunity. At the same time, the venomics of parasitoids has expanded, notably those of Drosophila. Here, we summarize and discuss these advances, with a focus on an emerging “time-dependent” view of interactions outcome at the intra- and interspecific level. We also present issues still in debate and prospects for study. Data on the Drosophila-parasitoid model paves the way to new concepts in insect immunity as well as parasitoid wasp strategies to overcome it.
Analysis of the Reconstruction of Sparse Signals in the DCT Domain Applied to Audio Signals

Sparse signals can be reconstructed from a reduced set of signal samples using compressive sensing (CS) methods. The discrete cosine transform (DCT) can provide highly concentrated representations of audio signals. This property implies the DCT as a good sparsity domain for the audio signals. In this paper, the DCT is studied within the context of sparse audio signal processing using the CS theory and methods. The DCT coefficients of a sparse signal, calculated with a reduced set of available samples, can be modeled as random variables. It has been shown that the statistical properties of these variables are closely related to the unique reconstruction conditions. The main result of this paper is in an exact formula for the mean-square reconstruction error in the case of approximately sparse and nonsparse noisy signals reconstructed under the sparsity assumption. Based on the presented analysis, a simple and computationally efficient reconstruction algorithm is proposed. The presented theoretical concepts and the efficiency of the reconstruction algorithm are verified numerically, including examples with synthetic and recorded audio signals with unavailable or corrupted samples. Random disturbances and disturbances simulating clicks or inpainting in audio signals are considered. Statistical verification is done on a dataset with experimental signals. Results are compared with some classical and recent methods used in similar signal and disturbance scenarios.
CARDIAC RISK FACTORS AND COMPLICATIONS IN NON‐CARDIAC SURGERY

In an attempt to assess cardiac risk in non-cardiac surgery, 1001 patients over 40 years of age who underwent major operative procedures were examined preoperatively, observed through surgery, studied with at least one postoperative electrocardiogram, and followed until hospital discharge or death. Documented postoperative myocardial infarction occurred in only 18 patients; though most of these patients had some pre-existing heart disease, there were few preoperative factors which were statistically correlated with postoperative infarction. Postoperative pulmonary edema was strongly correlated with preoperative heart failure, but 21 of the 36 patients who developed pulmonary edema did not have any prior history of heart failure. Nearly all of these 21 patients were elderly, had abnormal preoperative electrocardiograms, and had intraabdominal or intrathoracic surgery. In the absence of an acute infarction, bifascicular conduction defects, with or without PR interval prolongation, never progressed to complete heart block. Spinal anesthesia protected against postoperative heart failure but not against other cardiac complication. By multivariate regression analysis, postoperative cardiac death was significantly correlated with (a) myocardial infarction in the previous 6 months; (b) third heart sound or jugular venous distention immediately preoperatively; (c) more than five premature ventricular contractions per minute documented at any time preoperatively; (d) rhythm other than sinus, or premature atrial contractions on preoperative electrocardiogram; (e) age over 70 years; (f) significant valvular aortic stenosis; (g) emergency operation; (h) a 33% or greater fall in systolic blood pressure for more than 10 minutes intraoperatively. Notably unimportant factors included smoking, glucose intolerance, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, peripheral atherosclerotic vascular disease, angina, and distant myocardial infarction.
Olfactory and Gustatory Dysfunction in Patients With Autoimmune Encephalitis

Objective: To test the hypothesis that olfactory (OF) and gustatory function (GF) is disturbed in patients with autoimmune encephalitides (AE). Methods: The orthonasal OF was tested in 32 patients with AE and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC) with the standardized Threshold Discrimination Identification (TDI) score. This validated olfactory testing method yields individual scores for olfactory threshold (T), odor discrimination (D), and identification (I), along with a composite TDI score. The GF was determined by the Taste Strip Test (TST). Results: Overall, 24/32 (75%) of patients with AE, but none of 32 HC (p < 0.001) had olfactory dysfunction in TDI testing. The results of the threshold, discrimination and identification subtests were significantly reduced in patients with AE compared to HC (all p < 0.001). Assessed by TST, 5/19 (26.3%) of patients with AE, but none of 19 HC presented a significant limitation in GF (p < 0.001). The TDI score was correlated with the subjective estimation of the olfactory capacity on a visual analog scale (VAS; rs = 0.475, p = 0.008). Neither age, sex, modified Rankin Scale nor disease duration were associated with the composite TDI score. Conclusions: This is the first study investigating OF and GF in AE patients. According to unblinded assessment, patients with AE have a reduced olfactory and gustatory capacity compared to HC, suggesting that olfactory and gustatory dysfunction are hitherto unrecognized symptoms in AE. Further studies with larger number of AE patients would be of interest to verify our results.
Achievements in correct-by-design control for stochastic systems

Discrete-time stochastic systems are an essential modeling tool for many engineering systems. The direct synthesis of controllers for guaranteeing temporal properties encoded as finite automata has gain significant attention. Still, for many physical systems, computational issues make the synthesis problematic due to the inherent continuity and complexity of the state space. This extended abstract summarises achievements made in correct-by-design robust controller synthesis of stochastic systems using approximate simulation relations.
The Challenges and Promise of Complement Therapeutics for Ocular Diseases

Ocular inflammation is a defining feature of sight threating diseases and its dysregulation can catalyze and or propagate ocular neurodegenerative maladies such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The complement system, an intrinsic component of the innate immunity, has an integral role in maintaining immune-surveillance and homeostasis in the ocular microenvironment; however, overstimulation can drive ocular inflammatory diseases. The mechanism for complement disease propagation in AMD is not fully understood, although there is accumulating evidence showing that targeted modulation of complement-specific proteins has the potential to become a viable therapeutic approach. To date, a major focus of complement therapeutics has been on targeting the alternative complement system in AMD. Recent studies have outlined potential complement cascade inhibitors that might mitigate AMD disease progression. First-in-class complement inhibitors target the modulation of complement proteins C3, C5, factor B, factor D, and properdin. Herein, we will summarize ocular inflammation in the context of AMD disease progression, current clinical outcomes and complications of complement-mediated therapeutics. Given the need for additional therapeutic approaches for ocular inflammatory diseases, targeted complement modulation has emerged as a leading candidate for eliminating inflammation-driven ocular maladies.
Emotion Regulation, Subjective Well-Being, and Perceived Stress in Daily Life of Geriatric Nurses

This daily diary study examined the within-person coupling between four emotion regulation strategies and both subjective well-being and perceived stress in daily life of geriatric nurses. Participants (N = 89) described how they regulated their emotions in terms of cognitive reappraisal and suppression. They also indicated their subjective well-being and level of perceived stress each day over 3 weeks. At the within-person level, cognitive reappraisal intended to increase positive emotions was positively associated with higher subjective well-being and negatively associated with perceived stress. Suppression of the expression of positive emotions was negatively associated with subjective well-being and positively associated with perceived stress. However, cognitive reappraisal intended to down-regulate negative emotions and suppression as a strategy to inhibit the expression of negative emotions were not associated with daily well-being or perceived stress. Off-days were rated as days with higher subjective well-being and lower perceived stress in contrast to working days. At the between-person level, individuals who reported more daily negative affect reported increased suppression of positive emotions, corroborating the within-person findings. Moreover, findings indicated that nurses with more years of experience in the job reported higher subjective well-being and less perceived stress. These results provide insights into important daily emotional processes of geriatric nurses, both at workdays and in their leisure time.