Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Root discrimination of closely related crop and weed species using FT MIR-ATR spectroscopy

Root discrimination of species is a pre-condition for studying belowground competition processes between crop and weed species. In this experiment, we tested Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT MIR)-attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy to discriminate roots of closely related crop and weed species grown in the greenhouse: maize/barnyard grass, barley/wild oat, wheat/blackgrass (Poaceae), and sugar beet/common lambsquarters (Chenopodiaceae). Fresh (moist) and dried root segments as well as ground roots were analyzed by FT MIR-ATR spectroscopy. Root absorption spectra showed species specific peak distribution and peak height. A clear separation according to species was not possible with fresh root segments. Dried root segments (including root basis, middle section, and root tip) of maize/barnyard grass and sugar beet/common lambsquarters formed completely separated species clusters. Wheat and blackgrass separated in species specific clusters when root tips were removed from cluster analysis. A clear separation of dried root segments according to species was not possible in the case of barley and wild oat. Cluster analyses of ground roots revealed a 100% separation of all tested crop and weed species combinations. Spectra grouped in Poaceae and Chenopodiaceae clusters. Within the Poaceae cluster, C3 and C4 species differed significantly in heterogeneity. Thus, root spectra reflected the degree of kinship. To quantify species proportion in root mixtures, a two- and a three-species model for species quantification in root mixtures of maize, barnyard grass, and wild oat was calculated. The models showed low standard errors of prediction (RMSEP) and high residual predictive deviation values in an external test set validation. Hence, FT MIR-ATR spectroscopy seems to be a promising tool for root research even between closely related plant species.
Functional and Morphological Correlates in the Drosophila LRRK2 loss-of-function Model of Parkinson’s Disease: Drug Effects of Withania somnifera (Dunal) Administration

The common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Dm) is a simple animal species that contributed significantly to the development of neurobiology whose leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 mutants (LRRK2) loss-of-function in the WD40 domain represent a very interesting tool to look into physiopathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Accordingly, LRRK2 Dm have also the potential to contribute to reveal innovative therapeutic approaches to its treatment. Withania somnifera Dunal, a plant that grows spontaneously also in Mediterranean regions, is known in folk medicine for its anti-inflammatory and protective properties against neurodegeneration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of its standardized root methanolic extract (Wse) on the LRRK2 loss-of-function Dm model of PD. To this end mutant and wild type (WT) flies were administered Wse, through diet, at different concentrations as larvae and adults (L+/A+) or as adults (L-/A+) only. LRRK2 mutants have a significantly reduced lifespan and compromised motor function and mitochondrial morphology compared to WT flies 1% Wse-enriched diet, administered to Dm LRRK2 as L-/A+and improved a) locomotor activity b) muscle electrophysiological response to stimuli and also c) protected against mitochondria degeneration. In contrast, the administration of Wse to Dm LRRK2 as L+/A+, no matter at which concentration, worsened lifespan and determined the appearance of increased endosomal activity in the thoracic ganglia. These results, while confirming that the LRRK2 loss-of-function in the WD40 domain represents a valid model of PD, reveal that under appropriate concentrations Wse can be usefully employed to counteract some deficits associated with the disease. However, a careful assessment of the risks, likely related to the impaired endosomal activity, is required.
The Importance of Writing Badly

In my course evaluations, in classes ranging from freshman English to advanced nonfiction, one of the more common comments is that “Professor Ballenger taught me to write badly. ” It is intended as a compliment. I take it as one. It is the same thing I might have said nearly twenty years ago after finishing my first course, a graduate seminar in nonfiction writing, with Donald Murray. Don taught me (and continues to teach me) many things, but the importance of writing badly is the idea I most took to heart. It changed my writing forever. Of course, I don’t mean that I try to write badly but that I have learned to create the conditions that make it possible to write badly without feeling badly about it. More to the point, though, is that giving myself permission to write badly makes it much more likely that I will write what I don’t expect to write, and that from those surprises will come some of my best writing. Writing badly is also a convenient alternative to staring off into space waiting for inspiration, a habit many of my students seem to like. As a result, they don’t get much work done. I’ve removed the excuse that “I just wasn’t in the mood” from my own writing process and I want to remove it from my students’ writing processes as well. There are several conditions that make it possible for me to write badly. One is that I have learned to write fast enough to outrun my internal critic; that is the gift of freewriting. The other condition is that I need to be able to cultivate the illusion that the only audience for my writing is me. I know, in theory, that this is difficult to do, that to some extent all writing is performance, and that a writer always invents a reader, even if that reader is the self. But I’m all in favor of serviceable illusions, and that I can write solely for this self seated in this chair and that the writing will be more “honest” because this is a self I
Elevated Temperature and Drought Interact to Reduce Parasitoid Effectiveness in Suppressing Hosts

Climate change affects the abundance, distribution and activity of natural enemies that are important for suppressing herbivore crop pests. Moreover, higher mean temperatures and increased frequency of climatic extremes are expected to induce different responses across trophic levels, potentially disrupting predator-prey interactions. Using field observations, we examined the response of an aphid host-parasitoid system to variation in temperature. Temperature was positively associated with attack rates by parasitoids, but also with a non-significant trend towards increased attack rates by higher-level hyperparasitoids. Elevated hyperparasitism could partly offset any benefit of climate warming to parasitoids, and would suggest that higher trophic levels may hamper predictions of predator-prey interactions. Additionally, the mechanisms affecting host-parasitoid dynamics were examined using controlled laboratory experiments that simulated both temperature increase and drought. Parasitoid fitness and longevity responded differently when exposed to each climatic variable in isolation, compared to the interaction of both variables at once. Although temperature increase or drought tended to positively affect the ability of parasitoids to control aphid populations, these effects were significantly reversed when the drivers were expressed in concert. Additionally, separate warming and drought treatments reduced parasitoid longevity, and although temperature increased parasitoid emergence success and drought increased offspring production, combined temperature and drought produced the lowest parasitoid emergence. The non-additive effects of different climate drivers, combined with differing responses across trophic levels, suggest that predicting future pest outbreaks will be more challenging than previously imagined.
Article in Press Robotics and Autonomous Systems ( ) – Robotics and Autonomous Systems Brain-coupled Interaction for Semi-autonomous Navigation of an Assistive Robot

Article history: Available online xxxx Keywords: Semi-autonomous navigation Assistive robotics Low throughput user interface Bayesian programming Brain–computer interface Neurorobotics EEG Error-related potentials a b s t r a c t This paper presents a novel semi-autonomous navigation strategy designed for low throughput interfaces. A mobile robot (e.g. intelligent wheelchair) proposes the most probable action, as analyzed from the environment, to a human user who can either accept or reject the proposition. In the case of refusal, the robot will propose another action, until both entities agree on what needs to be done. In an unknown environment, the robotic system first extracts features so as to recognize places of interest where a human–robot interaction should take place (e.g. crossings). Based on the local topology, relevant actions are then proposed, the user providing answers by means of a button or a brain–computer interface (BCI). Our navigation strategy is successfully tested both in simulation and with a real robot, and a feasibility study for the use of a BCI confirms the potential of such an interface.
Self-Alignment Mechanisms for Assistive Wearable Robots: A Kinetostatic Compatibility Method

The field of wearable robotics is gaining momentum thanks to its potential application in rehabilitation engineering, assistive robotics, and power augmentation. These devices are designed to be used in direct contact with the user to aid with movement or increase the power of specific skeletal joints. The design of the so-called physical human-robot interface is critical, since it determines not only the efficacy of the robot but the kinematic compatibility of the device with the human skeleton and the degree of adaptation to different anthropometries as well. Failing to deal with these problems causes misalignments between the robot and the user joint. Axes misalignment leads to the impossibility of controlling the torque effectively transmitted to the user joint and causes undesired loading forces on articulations and soft tissues. In this paper, we propose a general analytical method for the design of exoskeletons able to assist human joints without being subjected to misalignment effects. This method is based on a kinetostatic analysis of a coupled mechanism (robot-human skeleton) and can be applied in the design of self-aligning mechanisms. The method is exemplified in the design of an assistive robotic chain for a two-degree-of-freedom (DOF) human articulation.
Genetic Programming for the Automatic Design of Controllers for a Surface Ship

In this paper, the implementation of genetic programming (GP) to design a controller structure is assessed. GP is used to evolve control strategies that, given the current and desired state of the propulsion and heading dynamics of a supply ship as inputs, generate the commanded forces required to maneuver the ship. The controllers created using GP are evaluated through computer simulations and real maneuverability tests in a laboratory water basin facility. The robustness of each controller is analyzed through the simulation of environmental disturbances. In addition, GP runs in the presence of disturbances are carried out so that the different controllers obtained can be compared. The particular vessel used in this paper is a scale model of a supply ship called CyberShip II. The results obtained illustrate the benefits of using GP for the automatic design of propulsion and navigation controllers for surface ships.
Analysing the Effects of Sales Promotion and Advertising on Consumer ’ s Purchase Behaviour

This study seeks to demonstrate the impact of sales promotion and advertising simultaneously on consumer’s purchasing behaviour. It requires several months to accumulate data and information through questionnaire, surveys, site visits and walk-thorough investigations which are the primary basis of this study work. This study found out that sales promotion is most effective on the consumers who travel through the peripheral route and it can leads the consumer’s mind to brand switching. This study also found that sales promotion and advertising is much more effective in low involvement category products where a simple promotional signal can lead the consumers to buy a product. This study also suggests to the marketers to be aware of the new or unknown product, as sales promotion could have strong negative effects on consumers’ internal price reference and perceived quality. This work also highlights the importance of integrating the advertising with different promotional activities to improve the growth of sales of a product.
The secretion of PGE2, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and TNF alpha by adherent mononuclear cells from early onset periodontitis patients.

The secretion of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) by adherent mononuclear cells (AMNC) from 28 patients with early-onset periodontitis was studied. The early onset-periodontitis patients consisted of 12 patients with localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP) and 16 patients with severe generalized periodontitis (SGP). The AMNC responses to different concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (E. coli) were determined in these 28 patients and compared to 14 healthy controls. Mediator levels in the supernatant were measured using radioimmunoassays for PGE2, IL-1 beta, and IL-6 determination and an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for TNF alpha levels. The mean age of the patients was 19.9 years for the LJP group, 30.4 years for SGP, and 28.0 years for the controls. The mean number of teeth per patient with attachment loss of > 6 mm was 4.75 in the LJP patients and 17.3 in the SGP group. In the absence of LPS, LJP AMNC secreted significantly more PGE2 than unstimulated control or SGP AMNC, while similar baseline amounts of IL-1 beta, IL-6, and TNF alpha were secreted by AMNC from the 3 patient groups. LPS stimulation resulted in the dose-dependent secretion of significantly higher levels of PGE2 by LJP AMNC compared to SGP AMNC which in turn secreted significantly more than controls. TNF alpha secretion by LJP monocytes was significantly greater than the SGP and the control groups while IL-1 beta secretion by the SGP AMNC was depressed compared to the other two patient groups. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Regulation of Synthesis of the Bacillus subtilis Transition-Phase, Spore-Associated Antibacterial Protein TasA

ABSTRACT Previously, we identified a novel component of Bacillus subtilis spores, called TasA, which possesses antibacterial activity. TasA is made early in spore formation, as cells enter stationary phase, and is secreted into the medium as well as deposited into the spore. Here, we show that tasA expression can occur as cells enter stationary phase even under sporulation-repressing conditions, indicating that TasA is a transition-phase protein.tasA and two upstream genes, yqxM andsipW, likely form an operon, transcription of which is under positive control by the transition-phase regulatory genesspo0A and spo0H and negative control by the transition phase regulatory gene abrB. These results are consistent with the suggestion that yqxM, sipW, and tasA constitute a transition phase operon that could play a protective role in a variety of cellular responses to stress during late-exponential-phase and early-stationary-phase growth inB. subtilis.
Skin Sensitization Study of Bee Venom (Apis mellifera L.) in Guinea Pigs

Bee venom ( Apis mellifera L., BV) has been used as a cosmetic ingredient for antiaging, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial functions. The aim of this study was to access the skin sensitization of BV, a Buehler test was conducted fifty healthy male Hartley guinea pigs with three groups; Group G1 (BV-sensitization group, 20 animals), group G2 (the positive control-sensitization group, 20 animals), and group G3 (the ethyl alcohol-sensitization group, 10 animals). The exposure on the left flank for induction was repeated three times at intervals of one week. Two weeks after the last induction, the challenge was performed on the right flank. No treatment-related clinical signs or body weight changes were observed during the study period. The average skin reaction evaluated by erythema and edema on the challenge sites and sensitization rate in the BV-sensitization group at 30 hours were 0.0 and 0%, respectively, which are substantially low compared with in positive control group (average skin reaction: 0.55, sensitization rate: 40%) and identical with in vehicle control group, representing a weak sensitizing potential. The average skin reaction and sensitization rate observed at 54 hours were 0.0 and 0% in the BV-sensitization group, respectively, and 0.25 and 20% in the positive control group, respectively. It was concluded that BV classified to Grade I, induced no sensitization when tested in guinea pigs and may provide a developmental basis for a cosmetic ingredient or external application for topical uses.
High Prevalence of Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Patients with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

Little is known about the relationship between lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Here, we explored the relationship between sight-threatening PDR and PAD. We screened for diabetic retinopathy (DR) and PAD in hospitalized patients with T2D. Patients with a diabetic duration of more than 10 years, HbA1c ≥7.5%, eGFR ≥60mL/min/1.73m2 and with PDR or with no diabetic retinopathy (NDR) were eligible for this cross-sectional study. Severities of DR were graded by digital retinal photographs according to the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) scale. We assessed PAD by measuring Ankle Brachial Index (ABI), Toe Brachial Index (TBI) and Doppler ultrasound. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 17.0 software. Of the 1544 patients, 169 patients with extreme eye (57 PDR and 112 NDR) phenotypes met the inclusion criteria. Patients with PDR had a significantly higher proportion of low ABI (≤0.99) and high ABI (≥1.3) than patients with NDR (28.1% and 15.8% vs. 14.3% and 6.2% respectively, P<0.05). PDR patients also had lower TBI than NDR patients (0.56±0.09 vs. 0.61±0.08, P<0.01). The proportion of patients with abnormal duplex ultrasound was higher in PDR than in NDR (21.1% vs. 9.8%, P<0.001). This showed that PDR associated with PAD could be defined in multiple ways: abnormal ABI (≤0.9) (OR = 3.61, 95% CI: 1.15–11.26), abnormal TBI (OR = 2.84, 95% CI: 1.19–6.64), abnormal duplex (OR = 3.28, 95% CI: 1.00–10.71), and critical limb ischemia (OR = 5.52, 95% CI: 2.14–14.26). Moreover, PDR was a stronger independent correlation factor for PAD than a diabetic duration of 10 years. In conclusion, PAD is more common in PDR than in NDR. It implies that PDR and PAD are mostly concomitant in T2D. We should focus on screening PAD in patients with PDR in clinical practice.
Correlation between the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination and Three Methods of Clock Drawing Scoring

The objective of this study was to assess the correlation between (1) the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and three methods of clock drawing scoring and (2) three methods of clock drawing scoring them selves. A convenience sample of consecutive community-dwelling seniors and attendees at a referral seniors clinic in a tertiary care hospital was used. One hundred fifty participants (72 women, 78 men) were seen with an aver age age of 76 years. There was a significant correlation (P = .01) between MMSE scores and all three methods of clock drawing (R = .67, .618, -.498, respectively), as well as among the three methods of clock drawing scoring. The clock drawing scores showed good correlation with the MMSE score. The clock drawing is well accepted (by the patient) and easily administered (by the health care provider). Clock drawings are recommended as the minimum requirement for cognitive assessment of elderly patients in busy primary care practices and can be used to high light those patients requiring additional cognitive testing. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1999; 12:87-91).
Spiral Artery Remodeling and Trophoblast Invasion in Preeclampsia and Fetal Growth Restriction: Relationship to Clinical Outcome

Failure to transform uteroplacental spiral arteries is thought to underpin disorders of pregnancy, including preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction (FGR). In this study, spiral artery remodeling and extravillous-cytotrophoblast were examined in placental bed biopsies from normal pregnancy (n=25), preeclampsia (n=22), and severe FGR (n=10) and then compared with clinical parameters. Biopsies were immunostained to determine vessel wall integrity, extravillous-cytotrophoblast location/density, periarterial fibrinoid, and endothelium. Muscle disruption was reduced in myometrial spiral arteries in preeclampsia (P=0.0001) and FGR (P=0.0001) compared with controls. Myometrial vessels from cases with birth weight <5th percentile (P<0.001), abnormal uterine Doppler (P<0.01), abnormal umbilical artery Doppler (P<0.001), and preterm delivery (P<0.001) had less muscle destruction compared with >5th percentile. Fewer extravillous-cytotrophoblast surrounded both decidual and myometrial vessels in the normal group and preeclampsia group compared with the FGR group (P=0.001). For myometrial vessels, the normal group contained more intramural extravillous-cytotrophoblast than in preeclampsia (P=0.015). Decidual vessels in the FGR group had less fibrinoid deposition compared with controls (P=0.013). For myometrial vessels, less fibrinoid was deposited in both the preeclampsia group (P=0.0001) and the FGR group (P=0.01) when compared with controls, and less fibrinoid was deposited in the preeclampsia group when compared with FGR group (P<0.001). Myometrial vessels obtained from birth weights <5th percentile had less periarterial fibrinoid than those with >5th percentile (P<0.02). A major defect in myometrial spiral artery remodeling occurs in preeclampsia and FGR that is linked to clinical parameters. Interstitial extravillous-cytotrophoblast is not reduced in preeclampsia but is increased in FGR.
Programmable agents for flexible QoS management in IP networks

Network programmability seems to be a promising solution to network management and quality of service (QoS) control. Software mobile-agents technology is boosting the evolution toward application-level control of network functionalities. Code may be deployed in the network dynamically and on demand for the benefit of applications or application classes. Agents support a dynamic distribution of control and management functions across networks, thus increasing flexibility and efficiency. We propose to use mobile-agent technology to overcome some of the problems inherent in current Internet technology. We focus our attention to QoS monitoring, being locally significant in network subdomains, and realize a QoS management strategy in response to variations of user, customer of application requirements, and of the network state. We describe our experience and the results obtained from our testbed, where software agents are instantiated, executed, migrated, and suspended in order to implement flexible QoS management in IP networks.