Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gas Separation Properties of Polyimide Thin Films on Ceramic Supports for High Temperature Applications

Novel selective ceramic-supported thin polyimide films produced in a single dip coating step are proposed for membrane applications at elevated temperatures. Layers of the polyimides P84®, Matrimid 5218®, and 6FDA-6FpDA were successfully deposited onto porous alumina supports. In order to tackle the poor compatibility between ceramic support and polymer, and to get defect-free thin films, the effect of the viscosity of the polymer solution was studied, giving the entanglement concentration (C*) for each polymer. The C* values were 3.09 wt. % for the 6FDA-6FpDA, 3.52 wt. % for Matrimid®, and 4.30 wt. % for P84®. A minimum polymer solution concentration necessary for defect-free film formation was found for each polymer, with the inverse order to the intrinsic viscosities (P84® ≥ Matrimid® >> 6FDA-6FpDA). The effect of the temperature on the permeance of prepared membranes was studied for H2, CH4, N2, O2, and CO2. As expected, activation energy of permeance for hydrogen was higher than for CO2, resulting in H2/CO2 selectivity increase with temperature. More densely packed polymers lead to materials that are more selective at elevated temperatures.
Diagnostic and predictive evaluation using salivary gland ultrasonography in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

OBJECTIVES We aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of salivary gland ultrasonography (SGUS) as a single test for the detection of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and examine the prognostic factors for severe structural damage of the salivary glands based on SGUS score. METHODS Patients with pSS (n=94) and idiopathic sicca syndrome (n=44) were evaluated using the SGUS 0-48 scoring system, which comprises five parameters: parenchymal echogenicity, homogeneity, hypoechoic areas, hyperechogenic reflections, and clearness of posterior borders. The salivary gland volume and intraglandular power Doppler signal (PDS) were also assessed. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with SGUS score. RESULTS Patients with pSS showed a significantly higher SGUS score than controls [median (IQR): 24.5 (13.0) vs 6 (3.75), p<0.001]. An SGUS cut-off of ≥14 had a sensitivity of 80.9% and a specificity of 95.5% for the diagnosis of pSS. There were no significant differences in the measured volumes and PDS between pSS patients and controls. The SGUS score correlated with unstimulated salivary flow rate (USFR), serum rheumatoid factor and IgG. Double seropositivity with anti-Ro/SS-A and anti-La/SS-B (β=6.060, p=0.001) and USFR (β=-1.913, p<0.001) were independently associated with the SGUS score. CONCLUSIONS The SGUS scoring system is a valuable diagnostic method for pSS. Double seropositivity of anti-Ro/SS-A and La/SS-B along with USFR were independent predictive factors for structural damage of the salivary glands.
Role of nitric oxide in adrenal catecholamine secretion in anesthetized dogs.

We examined the role of nitric oxide (NO) in adrenal catecholamine secretion in response to splanchnic nerve stimulation (SNS) and exogenous acetylcholine (ACh) in anesthetized dogs. The NO synthase inhibitor N ω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME), NO donor 3-(2-hydroxy-1-methyl-2-nitrosohydrazino)- N-methyl-1-propanamine (NOC 7), and ACh were administered intra-arterially into the adrenal gland. The increases in catecholamine output induced by ACh (0.75-3 μg) were enhanced byl-NAME (0.1-1 mg/min) and inhibited by NOC 7 (0.2-2 μg/min). Inhibition by NOC 7 (2 μg/min) was observed during treatment withl-NAME (1 mg/min). The increases in catecholamine output induced by SNS (1-2 Hz) were inhibited byl-NAME and by NOC 7. No inhibitory effect of NOC 7 was observed during treatment withl-NAME. These results suggest that NO may play an inhibitory role in the regulation of adrenal catecholamine secretion in response to exogenous ACh.
Projected effects of Climate‐change‐induced flow alterations on stream macroinvertebrate abundances

Abstract Global change has the potential to affect river flow conditions which are fundamental determinants of physical habitats. Predictions of the effects of flow alterations on aquatic biota have mostly been assessed based on species ecological traits (e.g., current preferences), which are difficult to link to quantitative discharge data. Alternatively, we used empirically derived predictive relationships for species’ response to flow to assess the effect of flow alterations due to climate change in two contrasting central European river catchments. Predictive relationships were set up for 294 individual species based on (1) abundance data from 223 sampling sites in the Kinzig lower‐mountainous catchment and 67 sites in the Treene lowland catchment, and (2) flow conditions at these sites described by five flow metrics quantifying the duration, frequency, magnitude, timing and rate of flow events using present‐day gauging data. Species’ abundances were predicted for three periods: (1) baseline (1998–2017), (2) horizon 2050 (2046–2065) and (3) horizon 2090 (2080–2099) based on these empirical relationships and using high‐resolution modeled discharge data for the present and future climate conditions. We compared the differences in predicted abundances among periods for individual species at each site, where the percent change served as a proxy to assess the potential species responses to flow alterations. Climate change was predicted to most strongly affect the low‐flow conditions, leading to decreased abundances of species up to −42%. Finally combining the response of all species over all metrics indicated increasing overall species assemblage responses in 98% of the studied river reaches in both projected horizons and were significantly larger in the lower‐mountainous Kinzig compared to the lowland Treene catchment. Such quantitative analyses of freshwater taxa responses to flow alterations provide valuable tools for predicting potential climate‐change impacts on species abundances and can be applied to any stressor, species, or region.
What determines prey selection in owls? Roles of prey traits, prey class, environmental variables, and taxonomic specialization

Abstract Ecological theory suggests that prey size should increase with predator size, but this trend may be masked by other factors affecting prey selection, such as environmental constraints or specific prey preferences of predator species. Owls are an ideal case study for exploring how predator body size affects prey selection in the presence of other factors due to the ease of analyzing their diets from owl pellets and their widespread distributions, allowing interspecific comparisons between variable habitats. Here, we analyze various dimensions of prey resource selection among owls, including prey size, taxonomy (i.e., whether or not particular taxa are favored regardless of their size), and prey traits (movement type, social structure, activity pattern, and diet). We collected pellets of five sympatric owl species (Athene noctua, Tyto alba, Asio otus, Strix aluco, and Bubo bubo) from 78 sites across the Mediterranean Levant. Prey intake was compared between sites, with various environmental variables and owl species as predictors of abundance. Despite significant environmental impacts on prey intake, some key patterns emerge among owl species studied. Owls select prey by predator body size: Larger owls tend to feed on wider ranges of prey sizes, leading to higher means. In addition, guild members show both specialization and generalism in terms of prey taxa, sometimes in contrast with the expectations of the predator–prey body size hypothesis. Our results suggest that while predator body size is an important factor in prey selection, taxon specialization by predator species also has considerable impact.
High-Throughput Non-Orthogonal Interleaved Random Space-Time Coding for Multi-Source Cooperation

In this paper, we propose a novel distributed interleaved Random Space-Time Code (IR-STC) designed for Multi- Source Cooperation (MSC) employing various relaying techniques, namely Amplify-Forward, Decode-Forward, Soft-Decode-Forward and Differential-Decode-Forward. We characterise the achievable slot utilisation efficiency and introduce a two-phase communication regime for our IR-STC aided MSC. A matrix based formalism is used for describing our IR-STC scheme and a novel Structured Embedded (SE) random interleaver generation method is proposed. Furthermore, the Bit Error Ratio (BER) performance of our IR-STC is characterised in conjunction with various relaying techniques under different inter-source Nakagami-m fading channels.
Count data in biology—Data transformation or model reformation?

Abstract Statistical analyses are an integral component of scientific research, and for decades, biologists have applied transformations to data to meet the normal error assumptions for F and t tests. Over the years, there has been a movement from data transformation toward model reformation—the use of non‐normal error structures within the framework of the generalized linear model (GLM). The principal advantage of model reformation is that parameters are estimated on the original, rather than the transformed scale. However, data transformation has been shown to give better control over type I error, for simulated data with known error structures. We conducted a literature review of statistical textbooks directed toward biologists and of journal articles published in the primary literature to determine temporal trends in both the text recommendations and the practice in the refereed literature over the past 35 years. In this review, a trend of increasing use of reformation in the primary literature was evident, moving from no use of reformation before 1996 to >50% of the articles reviewed applying GLM after 2006. However, no such trend was observed in the recommendations in statistical textbooks. We then undertook 12 analyses based on published datasets in which we compared the type I error estimates, residual plot diagnostics, and coefficients yielded by analyses using square root transformations, log transformations, and the GLM. All analyses yielded acceptable residual versus fit plots and had similar p‐values within each analysis, but as expected, the coefficient estimates differed substantially. Furthermore, no consensus could be found in the literature regarding a procedure to back‐transform the coefficient estimates obtained from linear models performed on transformed datasets. This lack of consistency among coefficient estimates constitutes a major argument for model reformation over data transformation in biology.
Positive force- and [Ca2+]i-frequency relationships in rat ventricular trabeculae at physiological frequencies.

The isometric force-frequency relationship of isolated rat ventricular trabeculae (diameter <250 μm) was examined at 24, 30, and 37°C at stimulation frequencies (0.1-12 Hz) encompassing the physiological range. Some muscles were microinjected with fura PE3 to monitor the diastolic and systolic intracellular concentration of Ca2+([Ca2+]i). At a near-physiological external Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]o) of 1 mM, a positive force-frequency relationship was demonstrated at all temperatures. The force-frequency relationship became negative at high frequencies (e.g., >6 Hz at 30°C) at 1 mM [Ca2+]oor at low frequencies at 8 mM [Ca2+]o. The twitch and Ca2+ transient became shorter as stimulation frequency increased; these changes were related to changes in systolic, rather than diastolic, [Ca2+]iand were not blocked by inhibitors of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. The positive force-frequency relationship of rat trabeculae was caused by a frequency-dependent loading of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) with Ca2+. We suggest that at high frequencies, or under conditions of Ca2+ overload, this loading saturates. Processes that tend to decrease SR Ca2+ release will then predominate, resulting in a negative force-frequency relationship.
Posttranscriptional regulation of the proximal tubule NaPi-II transporter in response to PTH and dietary Pi.

The rate of proximal tubular reabsorption of phosphate (Pi) is a major determinant of Pi homeostasis. Deviations of the extracellular concentration of Piare corrected by many factors that control the activity of Na-Pi cotransport across the apical membrane. In this review, we describe the regulation of proximal tubule Pi reabsorption via one particular Na-Pi cotransporter (the type IIa cotransporter) by parathyroid hormone (PTH) and dietary phosphate intake. Available data indicate that both factors determine the net amount of type IIa protein residing in the apical membrane. The resulting change in transport capacity is a function of both the rate of cotransporter insertion and internalization. The latter process is most likely regulated by PTH and dietary Pi and is considered irreversible since internalized type IIa Na-Picotransporters are subsequently routed to the lysosomes for degradation.
Endothelin-1 and CYP450 arachidonate metabolites interact to promote tissue injury in DOCA-salt hypertension.

Inhibition of cytochrome P-450 (CYP450) enzymes with cobalt chloride (CoCl2) prevented hypertension, organ hypertrophy, and renal injury induced by DOCA and salt (1% NaCl) in uninephrectomized (UNx) rats. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) rose to 193 ± 6 mmHg by day 21 from control levels of 150 ± 7 mmHg in response to DOCA-salt treatment, a rise that was prevented by CoCl2 (24 mg ⋅ kg-1 ⋅ 24 h-1). The effects of DOCA-salt treatment, which increased protein excretion to 88.3 ± 6.9 mg/24 h on day 21 from 9.0 ± 1.1 mg/24 h on day 3, were prevented by CoCl2. CoCl2 also attenuated the renal and left ventricular hypertrophy and the increase in media-to-lumen ratio in hypertensive rats. DOCA-salt treatment increased excretion of endothelin (ET)-1 from 81 ± 17 to 277 ± 104 pg ⋅ 100 g body wt-1 ⋅ 24 h-1 associated with a fourfold increase in 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) excretion from 3.0 ± 1.1 to 12.2 ± 1.9 ng ⋅ 100 g body wt-1 ⋅ 24 h-1( days 3 vs. 21). CoCl2 blunted these increases by 58 and 72%, respectively. In aortic rings pulsed with [3H]thymidine, ET-1 increased its incorporation. Dibromododec-11-enoic acid, an inhibitor of 20-HETE synthesis, attenuated ET-1-induced increases in [3H]thymidine incorporation. We distinguished effects of CoCl2 acting via CO generation vs. suppression of CYP450-arachidonic acid metabolism by treating UNx-salt-DOCA rats with 1-aminobenzotriazole (ABT), which suppresses CYP450 enzyme activity, and compared these results to those produced by CoCl2. ABT reduced hypertension, as did CoCl2. Unlike CoCl2, ABT did not prevent organ hypertrophy and proteinuria, suggesting that these effects were partially related to CO formation. Blockade of the ETA receptor with BMS-182874 reduced SBP, organ hypertrophy, and proteinuria, indicating the importance of ET-initiated abnormalities to the progression of lesions in UNx-salt-DOCA.
Phenotypic control of gap junctional communication by cultured alveolar epithelial cells.

We examined phenotype-specific changes in gap junction protein [connexin (Cx)] expression and function by cultured rat alveolar type II cells. Type II cells cultured on extracellular matrix in medium containing keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and 2% fetal bovine serum (FBS; KGF/2) retained expression of surfactant protein C and the 180-kDa lamellar body membrane protein (lbm180). These markers were lost when cells were cultured in medium containing 10% FBS (MEM/10). With RT-PCR, cells cultured in MEM/10 showed transient increases in Cx43 and Cx46 mRNA expression, whereas Cx32 and Cx26 decreased and Cx30.3 and Cx37 were unchanged. Transient changes in Cx32, Cx43, and Cx46 protein expression were confirmed by immunoblot. In contrast, cells cultured in KGF/2 retained expression of Cx32 and showed increased expression of Cx30.3 and Cx46 mRNAs, compared with that in day 0 cells. With immunofluorescence microscopy, Cx32 and Cx43 were at the plasma membrane of cells grown in KGF/2, whereas Cx46 was exclusively intracellular. Type II cells cultured in MEM/10 showed ∼3- to 4-fold more intercellular transfer of microinjected lucifer yellow through gap junctions than cells grown in 2% FBS. Thus type II cells dynamically alter gap junctional communication, and distinct alveolar epithelial cell phenotypes express different connexins.
Effects of Aging on Musical Performance in Professional Orchestral Musicians.

BACKGROUND The physical and psychological demands of playing a musical instrument are likely to be affected by age-related decline in function, including physical, cognitive, psychological, and organ-related changes. However, the complex neurophysiological demands of playing a musical instrument may delay many normal aging-related changes. AIM This study compared professional classical musicians of different ages, using a range of physical and psychological measures, to discover how increasing age might affect work performance and to identify possible risk and protective factors for physical and psychological health as the musicians age. SUBJECTS 377 professional orchestral musicians from eight Australian orchestras (70% response rate), ages 18 to 68 yrs (mean 42.1). Multiple standardized physical and psychological tools were used to evaluate the impact of age on a range of physical and mental health variables. RESULTS Age was not statistically associated with frequency or severity of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders, ratings of perceived exertion, QuickDASH scores, use of beta-blockers, workplace satisfaction, and most psychological tests. Differences were observed on SPIN (social anxiety) scores, with lowest scores in the oldest age group (10.66 in 55+ yrs vs 17.83 in 18-30 yrs, p=0.016). Older musicians had higher BMIs and fewer practice sessions per day than younger musicians and also were more likely to consume alcohol on 5+ days/wk (44% vs 9%, p=0.003). CONCLUSION Advancing age does not appear to exert undue negative impacts on physical and psychological health or performance capacity of professional orchestral musicians. However, dwindling numbers in the older age groups may suggest a "survivor" effect, whereby those who develop significant age-related decrements may cease professional performance at earlier ages. Longitudinal studies on the professional trajectories of professional orchestral musicians are needed to explore this question further.
Continuous prediction of shoulder joint angle in real-time

Continuous prediction of dynamic joint angle from surface electromyography (sEMG) signal is one of the most important applications in rehabilitation area for stroke survivors as these can directly reflect the user motor intention. In this study, new shoulder joint angle prediction method in real-time based on the biosignal: sEMG is proposed. Firstly, sEMG to muscle activation model is built up to extract the user intention from contracted muscles and then feed into the extreme learning machine (ELM) to estimate the angle in real-time continuously. The estimated joint angle is then compare with the webcam captured joint angle to analyze the effectiveness of the proposed method. The result reveals that correlation coefficient between actual angle and estimated angle is as high as 0.96 in offline and 0.93 in online mode. In addition, the processing time for the estimation is less than 32ms in both cases which is within the semblance of human natural movements. Therefore, the proposed method is able to predict the user intended movement very well and naturally and hence, it is suitable for real-time applications.
Analysis of Transposable Elements in Coccidioides Species

Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii are primary pathogenic fungi that cause disease in immunologically-normal animals and people. The organism is found exclusively in arid regions of the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and South America, but not in other parts of the world. This study is a detailed analysis of the transposable elements (TE) in Coccidioides spp. As is common in most fungi, Class I and Class II transposons were identified and the LTR Gypsy superfamily is the most common. The minority of Coccidioides Gypsy transposons contained regions highly homologous to polyprotein domains. Phylogenetic analysis of the integrase and reverse transcriptase sequences revealed that many, but not all, of the Gypsy reverse transcriptase and integrase domains clustered by species suggesting extensive transposition after speciation of the two Coccidiodies spp. The TEs were clustered and the distribution is enriched for the ends on contigs. Analysis of gene expression data from C. immitis found that protein-coding genes within 1 kB of hAT or Gypsy TEs were poorly expressed. The expression of C. posadasii genes within 1 kB of Gypsy TEs was also significantly lower compared to all genes but the difference in expression was smaller than C. immitis. C. posadasii orthologs of C. immitis Gyspsy-associated genes were also likely to be TE-associated. In both C. immitis and C. posadasii the TEs were preferentially associated with genes annotated with protein kinase gene ontology terms. These observations suggest that TE may play a role in influencing gene expression in Coccidioides spp. Our hope is that these bioinformatic studies of the potential TE influence on expression and evolution of Coccidioides will prompt the development of testable hypotheses to better understand the role of TEs in the biology and gene regulation of Coccidioides spp.
Identification of Genetic Regions Associated with Scrotal Hernias in a Commercial Swine Herd

In this paper, we have used two approaches to detect genetic associations with scrotal hernias in commercial pigs. Firstly, we have investigated the effects of runs of homozygosity (ROH) with the appearance of scrotal hernias, followed by a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS). The phenotype classification was based on visual appearance of scrotal hernias. Each affected animal was matched to a healthy control from the same pen. In the total, 68 animals were genotyped using the Porcine SNP60 Beadchip, out of those, 41 animals had the presence of hernias and 27 were healthy animals. Fifteen animals were removed from the analysis due to differences in genetic background, leaving 18 healthy animals and 35 piglets with scrotal hernia. Further, the detection of extended haplotypes shared ROH were conducted for health (control) and affected (case) animals and a permutation test was used to test whether the ROH segments were more frequent in case/case pairs than non-case/case pairs. Using the ROH, we have identified an association (p = 0.019) on chromosome 2(SSC2) being segregated on animals with the presence of scrotal hernias. Using a GWAS, a region composed by 3 SNPs on the sexual chromosome X (SSCX) were associated with scrotal hernias (p < 1.6 × 10−5), this region harbors the Androgen Receptor Gene (AR).
Discovering informative connection subgraphs in multi-relational graphs

Discovering patterns in graphs has long been an area of interest. In most approaches to such pattern discovery either quantitative anomalies, frequency of substructure or maximum flow is used to measure the interestingness of a pattern. In this paper we introduce heuristics that guide a subgraph discovery algorithm away from banal paths towards more "informative" ones. Given an RDF graph a user might pose a question of the form: "What are the most relevant ways in which entity X is related to entity Y? " the response to which is a subgraph connecting X to Y. We use our heuristics to discover informative subgraphs within RDF graphs. Our heuristics are based on weighting mechanisms derived from edge semantics suggested by the RDF schema. We present an analysis of the quality of the subgraphs generated with respect to path ranking metrics. We then conclude presenting intuitions about which of our weighting schemes and heuristics produce higher quality subgraphs.