Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of riparian vegetation removal on nutrient retention in a Mediterranean stream

We examined the effects of riparian vegetation removal on algal dynamics and stream nutrient retention efficiency by comparing NH4-N and PO4-P uptake lengths from a logged and an unlogged reach in Riera Major, a forested Mediterranean stream in northeastern Spain. From June to September 1995, we executed 6 short-term additions of N (as NH4Cl) and P (as Na2HPO4) in a 200-m section to measure nutrient uptake lengths. The study site included 2 clearly differentiated reaches in terms of canopy cover by riparian trees: the first 100 m were completely logged (i.e., the logged reach) and the remaining 100 m were left intact (i.e., the shaded reach). Trees were removed from the banks of the logged reach in the winter previous to our sampling. In the shaded reach, riparian vegetation was dominated by alders (Alnus glutinosa). The study was conducted during summer and fall months when differences in light availability between the 2 reaches were greatest because of forest canopy conditions. Algal biomass and % of stream surface covered by algae were higher in the logged than in the shaded reach, indicating that logging had a stimulatory effect on algae in the stream. Overall, nutrient retention efficiency was higher (i.e., shorter uptake lengths) in the logged than in the shaded reach, especially for PO4-P. Despite a greater increase in PO4-P retention efficiency relative to that of NH4-N following logging, retention efficiency for NH4-N was higher than for PO4-P in both study reaches. The PO4-P mass-transfer coefficient was correlated with primary production in both study reaches, indicating that algal activity plays an important role in controlling PO4-P dynamics in this stream. In contrast, the NH4-N mass-transfer coefficient showed a positive relationship only with % of algal coverage in the logged reach, and was not correlated with any algal-related parameter in the shaded reach. The lack of correlation with algal production suggests that mechanisms other than algal activity (i.e., microbial heterotrophic processes or abiotic mechanisms) may also influence NH4-N retention in this stream. Overall, this study shows that logging disturbances in small shaded streams may alter in-stream ecological features that lead to changes in stream nutrient retention efficiency. Moreover, it emphasizes that alteration of the tight linkage between the stream channel and the adjacent riparian zone may directly and indirectly impact biogeochemical processes with implications for stream ecosystem functioning.
The number of leaders needed for consensus

In order to have a self-organized multi-agent system exhibit some expected collective behavior, it is necessary that some agents (called leaders) are informed about the expected behavior and able to intervene. Then a fundamental question is: how many such leaders are needed? Naturally the answer depends on the model used. In this paper the model proposed by Vicsek et al. is used for the analysis. By analyzing the system dynamics and estimating the characteristics of the initial neighbor graph, a lower bound on the ratio of leaders is provided that guarantees the expected consensus being reached almost surely.
Detecting Influence Relationships from Graphs

Graphs have been widely used to represent objects and ob- ject connections in applications such as the Web, social net- works, and citation networks. Mining influence relationships from graphs has gained interests in recent years because pro- viding influence information about the object connections in graphs can facilitate graph exploration, graph search, and connection recommendations. In this paper, we study the problem of detecting influence aspects, on which objects are connected, and influence degree (or influence strength), with which one graph node influences another graph node on a given aspect. Existing techniques focus on inferring either the influence degrees or influence types from graphs. We propose two generative Aspect Influence Models, OAIM and LAIM, to detect both influence aspects and influence de- grees. These models utilize the topological structure of the graphs, the text content associated with objects, and the con- text in which the objects are connected. We compare these two models with one baseline approach which considers only the text content associated with objects. The empirical stud- ies on citation graphs and networks of users from Twitter show that our models can discover more effective results than the baseline approach.
Identification of GDNF gene sequence variations in patients with medullary sponge kidney disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Medullary sponge kidney (MSK) is a rare nephropathy characterized by cystic anomalies of precalyceal ducts, nephrocalcinosis, renal stones, and tubule dysfunctions. Its association with various malformations and cases of familial aggregation supports the conviction that genetic factors are involved, but no genetic studies have been conducted to date. It is hypothesized that MSK is due to a disruption at the "ureteric bud/metanephric blastema" interface caused by critical developmental genes functioning abnormally. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS Fifty-five apparently sporadic MSK patients were analyzed by direct DNA sequencing of all exons and exon-intron boundaries of glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) gene and rearranged during transfection (RET) gene, which have a leading role in renal development. RESULTS Two novel variants were found in heterozygosity in the MSK case population: GDNF{ENST00000344622}:c. -45G>C and c. -27+18G>A in a putative binding domain for paired-box 2 transcription factor. As a whole, eight patients showed these variations: four patients carried the c. [-45G>C; -27+18G>A] complex allele, and the others had the c. -27+18G>A alone. A case-control study revealed that these two alleles were significantly associated with MSK. Five of the eight cases were found to be familial, and the allele variants cosegregated with the disease in a seemingly dominant pattern of inheritance. Patients revealed no mutations in the RET gene. CONCLUSIONS This is the first report identifying GDNF gene sequence variations in patients with MSK and suggesting a role for this gene in the pathogenesis of some cases of the disease.
"Hardcore" definitions and their application to a population-based sample of smokers.

INTRODUCTION As smoking prevalence declines, some suggest that so-called "hardcore" smokers will come to represent a growing and irreducible proportion of current smokers ("hardening hypothesis"). Different definitions of a "hardcore" smoker have been used in the literature. This paper describes population-based definitions of "hardcore" smokers and compares estimates of the prevalence of "hardcore" smokers derived using these definitions. METHODS Definitions identified in a comprehensive literature search were reduced to their component constructs. We estimated the prevalence of "hardcore" smokers as a proportion of all current adult smokers in Ontario, Canada, using data from the Ontario Tobacco Survey (2005-2008; N = 4,130). Definition concordance was examined using bivariate cross-tabulations. RESULTS Six definitions were identified in the literature. Five definitions included constructs of quit intentions and quit attempts, four included nicotine dependence, three included long-term use, and one included a measure of smoker knowledge about smoking hazards and confronting substantial societal disapprobation of smoking. Estimates of "hardcore" smoker prevalence in Ontario based on these definitions ranged from 0.03% to 13.77%. CONCLUSIONS Estimates of the prevalence of "hardcore" smokers in Ontario varied considerably between the six definitions of the "hardcore" smokers found in the population-based literature. This study underscores the need for consensus on the best definition of "hardcore" smoker.
The Kynurenine Pathway As a Novel Link between Allergy and the Gut Microbiome

In the past few decades, the indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO) subset of the kynurenine (KYN) pathway of tryptophan (TRP) metabolism has been the subject of much research in the area of immune tolerance. In this review, we aim to incorporate new findings on this pathway in relation to allergy and the gut microbiome, while providing a comprehensive overview of the pathway itself. Stimulated by interferon gamma, IDO acts as a tolerogenic, immunosuppressive enzyme to attenuate allergic responses by the induction of the KYN-IDO pathway, resultant depletion of TRP, and elevation in KYN metabolites. Acting through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor, KYN metabolites cause T-cell anergy and apoptosis, proliferation of Treg and Th17 cells, and deviation of the Th1/Th2 response, although the outcome is highly dependent on the microenvironment. Moreover, new evidence from germ-free mice and human infants shows that gut microbiota and breast milk are key in determining the functioning of the KYN-IDO pathway. As such, we recommend further research on how this pathway may be a critical link between the microbiome and development of allergy.
Social Work, Women, and Feminism: A Review of Social Work Journals, 1988-1997

This article surveys articles containing women's content that were published in 17 social work journals from 1988 to 1997. It discusses the journals in which content on women was most and least likely to appear, which social roles were most frequently used to depict women, which themes pertaining to women captured the most attention, which social work curricular areas were most frequently mentioned, and which analytical methods were used. Moreover, it determines the extent to which the articles were feminist or reflected a variation of feminism.
The Pattern, Presentation and Management of Pardah Pin Inhalation: Report from a Single Center in Northern India.

OBJECTIVE To describe the clinical characteristics, presentation and management of Pardah pin inhalation in female teenagers of single center in northern India. METHODS This was a prospective cross-sectional study being performed in department of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery of Sher-i-Kashmir institute of medical sciences located in northern India from January 2009 to December 2012. We included 36 female patients with Pardah pin inhalation who were admitted to our center during the study period. All patients underwent rigid bronchoscopy under local or general anesthesia. We recorded the baseline characteristics including the demographic information, the site of the pin and clinical findings as well as the management strategies and the outcome of these patients. RESULTS All patients were female using scarf to wrap their head and neck as religious obligation. Mean age of the patients was 14.3 ± 3.6 years. The most common symptom was chocking followed by cough being reported in all (100%) and 31 (86.1%) patients respectively. Bronchoscopy was successful in removing the pin in 31 (86.1%) patients. Pins were located in right main bronchus in 20 (55.5%) patients, and in left main bronchus in 10 (27.7%) patients. There was no mortality in our series. Pin was removed in 31 (86.1%) patients with the help of bronchoscope, but 5 (13.9%) patients needed bronchotomy for removal of the pin. Average hospital stay was 12.43 ± 1.6 hours. CONCLUSION Rigid bronchoscopy is an ideal approach in management of Pardah pin inhalation. However some patients may need bronchotomy to remove the Pardah pin.
Time-frequency learning machines for nonstationarity detection using surrogates

An operational framework has recently been developed for testing stationarity of any signal relatively to an observation scale. The originality is to extract time-frequency features from a set of stationarized surrogate signals, and to use them for defining the null hypothesis of stationarity. Our paper is a further contribution that explores a general framework embedding techniques from machine learning and timefrequency analysis, called time-frequency learning machines. Based on one-class support vector machines, our approach uses entire time-frequency representations and does not require arbitrary feature extraction. Its relevance is illustrated by simulation results, and spherical multidimensional scaling techniques to map data to a visible 3D space.
Youth trends in China

Shows how child‐centred marketing in China has gradually developed, using an example the traditional hero figure Wukong, who now appears and behaves in a far more child‐friendly way than before. Uses child‐centred qualitative research, including drawings, play and photography, as well as interviews with parents and children, to assess trends among Chinese children and youth. Finds that gender is important in children’s choice of toys and games, especially for boys, and that empowerment is a dominant theme in their choice, and also in their aspirations for employment; they are curious, and wish to be successful, powerful and popular. Moves on to young people, finding that peer group pressures are their strongest influences and spending time with friends their favourite leisure activity; they appear to put the individual ahead of the family and to value self‐actualisation over external recognition, in strong contrast to traditional Chinese culture. Finishes with what counts as cool in China: this is a mix of western and traditional Chinese values, with sporting ability and competence scoring high, but musical tastes were for Chinese rather than international artists.
Towards the Semi-Automatic Verification of Parameterized Real-Time Systems Using Network Invariants

Real-time systems often have to cope with an unbounded number of components. For example, an operating system scheduler has to be able to manage an arbitrary number of threads. At the same time, the correctness of central control units such as schedulers is crucial for the correctness of the whole system. However, the comprehensive and semi-automatic verification of real-time systems that are parameterized with an unbounded number of components is still an open problem. In this paper, we propose an approach in which parameterized systems can be verified using a combination of theorem proving and model checking. The interactive theorem prover is used for the overall verification task delegating subsequent proof-goals to automatic verification tools. The central proof method is based on network invariants. The idea of network invariants is to over approximate all instances of a parameterized system and to perform the verification on the abstract model. We have adopted an existing network invariant approach for the verification of centralized real-time systems such as schedulers and formalized the theory in the Isabelle/HOL theorem prover. Preliminary results on applying our framework to small examples are promising and make it worth to evaluate the approach with larger case studies in future work.
Political Blogs: Transmission Belts, Soapboxes, Mobilizers, or Conversation Starters?

ABSTRACT This paper makes an initial attempt to situate political blogging alongside other forms of political participation by asking the question: how do political bloggers actually use their blogs? More specifically, this paper relies on a detailed content analysis of 5,000 less popular and 5,000 A‐list political blog posts over the course of the 2004 campaign in order to determine whether political bloggers use their blogs primarily as “soapboxes,” “transmission belts,” “mobilizers,” or “conversation starters. ” The results presented here suggest that although political blogs are used to make opinion statements far more often than they are used to mobilize political action, to request feedback from readers, or to pass along information produced by others, blog use changes significantly in response to key political events. To be more precise, less popular political bloggers were significantly more likely to mobilize political action on Election Day, and all bloggers—regardless of popularity—showed a greater propensity to seek feedback from their readers on the days of the presidential debates and in the weeks immediately following the election. Political blogging, in short, is a complex form of political participation that blends hypertext links, opinionated commentary, calls to political action, and requests for feedback in different ways at different moments in time.
How do pre-service teachers’ reflective processes differ in relation to different contexts?

Reflective practice represents a central theme in teacher education. The focus of this study is to look at pre-service teachers’ reflection processes and their breadth and depth in four different contexts. Our research data consist of 53 pre-service teachers’ mathematics portfolios, from which three were selected for closer scrutiny. The chosen portfolios represent different reflection profiles. According to our findings, the breadth and the depth of the pre-service teachers’ reflection processes varied greatly, and their former experiences as learners of mathematics seemed to have a great impact on their reflection when teaching mathematics for the first time. However, through acquaintance with research articles, the pre-service teachers’ reflection deepened and, at the same time, seemed to broaden. The participants’ consideration of biographical contexts aided their understanding and their reflection of other contexts.
Preservice Teachers’ Interpretations of a Field-Based Reading Block

This study examined 28 preservice teachers’ interpretations of a 9-hour, field-based reading block. Qualitative analyses of varied data sources, including surveys, journals, and interviews, revealed that during the block experience the students (a) became more prepared and confident to teach children who experience reading difficulties, (b) developed new conceptions of teaching and learning processes, and (c) gained a more positive attitude toward and respect for the teaching profession. We argue that these preservice teachers’ professional growth was facilitated by an integrated block of courses that affords time, intensity, and richness of experience, and by a learning context consistent with the social constructivist principles. We further suggest that it is possible to design and implement a coherent curriculum that is at once “intensely academic” and “intensely practical,” one that emphasizes the cultivation of professional knowledge and wisdom without losing sight of the need for skills development.
Spurious entropy minima for multimodal source separation

This paper presents two approaches for showing that spurious minima of the entropy may exist in the blind source separation context. The first one is based on the calculation of first and second derivative of the output entropy and The second one is based on entropy approximator for multimodal variable having small overlap between the modes. It is shown that spurious entropy minima arise when the source distribution becomes more and more multimodal.
Segmented political assimilation: perceptions of racialized opportunities and Latino immigrants' partisan identification

Abstract To account for Latino immigrants' assimilation into the American political mainstream, I derive social psychological factors from the contextual notion of ‘modes of incorporation’ in the segmented assimilation literature. These social psychological factors, perceptions of racialized opportunities (PROPs), relate to immigrants' adoption of political party identities (i.e. Democrat, Republican). I test these PROPs factors utilizing the 2006 Latino National Survey (N=5,717 immigrant Latino respondents). Multinomial logistic regressions predicting party identification, compared to either ‘Don't Know’ or ‘Don't Care’ options, indicate that PROPs are significantly related to Latino immigrants' identification as either Democrats or Republicans. High levels of identification with perceived white opportunities are related to Republican identity and high levels of identification with perceived black opportunities differentiate Democrats from Republicans.
Retinal Structure and Visual Acuity in a Polyprotodont Marsupial, the Fat-Tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata)

The visual system of the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), a small polyprotodont marsupial, has been examined both anatomically and behaviourally. The ganglion cell layer was examined in cresyl-violet stained wholemounts and found to contain a mean of 81,400 ganglion cells (SD ± 3,360); the identification of ganglion cells was supported by a correspondence to optic axon counts. Ganglion cells were distributed as a mid-temporally situated area centralis, embedded in a pronounced visual streak. Localised implants of horseradish peroxidase into retinal wholemounts revealed both A-type and B-type horizontal cells. Sections of the outer retina showed it to be rod-dominated, with a rod-to-cone ratio of 40:1 at the area centralis; cones were found to contain oil droplets but double cones were not a prominent feature. The retinal pigment epithelium consisted of squamous cells. Visual acuity, estimated from counts of peak ganglion cell density (8,300/mm2, SD ± 1,180) and measurements of posterior nodal distance (2.9 mm), was found to be 2.30 cycles per degree. The value was close to that of 2.36 cycles per degree estimated by behavioural tests using a Mitchell jumping stand; values were similar at low, intermediate and high light levels. Our findings are discussed in relation to the lifestyle of the dunnart.
Antigen-binding characteristics of AbCD71 and its inhibitory effect on PHA-induced lymphoproliferation

AbstractAim:To investigate the anti-lymphoproliferative effect of the prepared recombinant chimeric human/murine anti-cluster of differentiation(CD) 71 monoclonal antibody (AbCD71), which is composed of mouse-derived, antigen-binding variable regions and human-derived constant regions.Methods:After plasmids construction and transfection, the expression of AbCD71 in the transfectoma supernatant was determined by the sandwich ELISA. Indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to measure the antigen-binding characteristic and the percent CD71-expressed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The antibodies were purified from the ascites via diethylaminoethyl(DEAE)-Sephadex A-50 chromatography and then identified by SDS-PAGE. At last, inhibitory effect of AbCD71 on PHA-induced PBMC proliferation was calculated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay.Results:Constant domain of heavy chain(CH) and light chain(CL)of AbCD71 were in the human Cγ family and human Cκ family, respectively. AbCD71 could compete with its original murine mAb to bind with CD71-positive human leukemia cell line CEM cells. AbCD71 could inhibit the peripheral blood mono-nuclear cell proliferation induced by phytohemagglutinin(PHA) in vitro in a dose-dependent manner, especially at time-points 0 and 12 h after induction. There was no statistical difference when compared with original murine mAb.Conclusion:The AbCD71 is a promising immunosuppressant. Our approach to blocking CD71 with the chimeric human/murine mAb provides a novel strategy for prolonging allograft survival.