Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental manipulation of reproductive tactics in Seba’s short-tailed bats: consequences on sperm quality and oxidative status

Abstract To reproduce, males have to fertilize the female’s eggs, sometimes in competition with ejaculates of other males. In species where males display alternative reproductive tactics, whereby territorial males secure mating and non-territorial males have to sneak copulations, the latter might be expected to invest relatively more resources towards sperm quality compared with the territorial males. Sperm cells are especially vulnerable to oxidative stress, which reduces male fertility. Therefore, antioxidant resources are expected to modulate sperm quality, and might be allocated differently between reproductive tactics. To test the link between reproductive tactics, redox profile and sperm quality, we experimentally induced changes in the reproductive tactics of 39 captive males Seba’s short-tailed bats Carollia perspicillata. We monitored the blood and ejaculate oxidative balance, and the sperm quality before, 7 days and 21 days after the manipulation of reproductive tactic. Although ejaculates’ oxidative damage was negatively related to sperm velocity, males exhibited similar blood and ejaculates redox profiles and similar sperm quality, regardless of their reproductive tactic. Possibly, these results arise as a consequence of some constraints having been lifted during the experiment. Our results also suggest that, in Seba’s short-tailed bats, the expression of alternative reproductive tactics is not subjected to strong oxidative constraints. Furthermore, our results could reflect an absence of trade-off between pre- and post-copulatory traits in harem males, as they could be selected to invest both in female attraction and sperm quality, as a consequence of their inability to fully monopolize females.
Air Pollution Impact on Pregnancy Outcomes in Como, Italy

Objective: This retrospective observational study investigates the association between maternal exposure to air pollutants and pregnancy adverse outcomes in low urbanization areas. Methods: We used multivariate regression analysis to estimate, in the Como province (2005–2012), the effects of NOx, NO2, SO2, O3, CO, and PM10 on low birth weight (LBW), babies small for gestational age (SGA), and preterm birth (PTB). Results: PTB was inversely associated with high (5.5 &mgr;g/m3) exposure to SO2 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.74, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.58–0.95) and to CO (1.8 mg/m3, aOR = 0.84, CI = 0.72–0.99). PTB risk increased with second trimester exposure to NOx (118.3 &mgr;g/m3, aOR = 1.53, CI = 1.25–1.87), while LBW risk increased with third trimester PM10 (56.1 &mgr;g/m3, aOR = 1.44, CI = 1.03–2.02). SGA was inversely associated with third trimester NOx (115.8 &mgr;g/m3, aOR = 0.89, CI = 0.79–0.99). Conclusions: Exposure to SO2 and CO seems to postpone delivery: a longer gestation could compensate for maternal hypoxemic-hypoxic damage.
An Integrated Success Model for Evaluating Information System in Public Sectors

This study modified the dimensions of the TAM and DM the proposed model has been validated by an empirical study based on a questionnaire. The results indicated that information quality has a strong significant influence on IS success (81.9%) followed by Behavioral intention (80.2%); Perceived usefulness (78.8%); whereas the least one is user involvement (70%). The overall results show that the proposed model can be beneficial for decision makers in organizations on evaluating the implementation of information systems. Key wards: DeLone & McLean IS success model, Technology Acceptance Model, Integrated IS Success Model
Cysteine biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: mutation that confers cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency

The cys2-1 mutation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was originally thought to confer cysteine dependence through a serine O-acetyltransferase deficiency. In this study, we show that cys2-1 strains lack not only serine O-acetyltransferase but also cystathionine beta-synthase. However, a prototrophic strain was found to be serine O-acetyltransferase deficient because of a mutation allelic to cys2-1. Moreover, revertants obtained from cys2-1 strains had serine O-acetyltransferase but not cystathionine beta-synthase, whereas transformants obtained by treating a cys2-1 strain with an S. cerevisiae genomic library had cystathionine beta-synthase but not serine O-acetyltransferase. From these observations, we conclude that cys2-1 (serine O-acetyltransferase deficiency) accompanies a very closely linked mutation that causes cystathionine beta-synthase deficiency and that these mutations together confer cysteine dependence. This newly identified mutation is named cys4-1. These results not only support our previous hypothesis that S. cerevisiae has two functional cysteine biosynthetic pathways but also reveal an interesting gene arrangement of the cysteine biosynthetic system.
Surface r-Modes and Burst Oscillations of Neutron Stars

We study the r-modes propagating in steadily mass accreting, nuclear burning, and geometrically thin envelopes on the surface of rotating neutron stars. For the modal analysis, we construct envelope models that are fully radiative or have a convective region. We simply call the former radiative models and the latter convective models in this paper. As the angular rotation frequency Ω is increased, the oscillation frequency ω of the r-modes in the thin envelopes deviates appreciably from the asymptotic frequency ω = 2mΩ/l′(l′ + 1) defined in the limit of Ω → 0, where ω is the frequency observed in the corotating frame of the star, and m and l′ are the indices of the spherical harmonic function Y representing the angular dependence of the modes. We find that the amplitudes of the fundamental r-modes with no radial nodes of the eigenfunctions are strongly confined to the equatorial region, and ω becomes only weakly dependent on Ω, gathering in a frequency range of ω/2π ≲ 10 Hz, at rapid rotation rates. We also find that the fundamental r-modes in the convective models are destabilized by strong nuclear burning in the convective region. Because of excessive heating by nuclear burning, the corotating-frame oscillation frequency ω of the r-modes in the convective models becomes larger, and hence the inertial-frame oscillation frequency |σ| becomes smaller than those of the corresponding r-modes in the radiative models, where σ = ω - mΩ is negative for the r-modes of positive m. We find that the relative frequency change f = -(σconv - σrad)/σrad is always positive and becomes less than ~0.01 for the fundamental r-modes of l′ > |m| + 1 at |σrad|/2π ~ 300 Hz for m = 1 or at |σrad|/2π ~ 600 Hz for m = 2, and that we need to consider the r-modes of l′ much larger than |m| for values of f as small as ~0.001, where σconv and σrad denote the oscillation frequencies for the convective and the radiative envelope models, respectively.
Inaudible Speech Watermarking Based on Self-compensated Echo-hiding and Sparse Subspace Clustering

The method reported here realizes an inaudible echo-hiding based speech watermarking by using sparse subspace clustering (SSC). Speech signal is first analyzed with SSC to obtain its sparse and low-rank components. Watermarks are embedded as the echoes of the sparse component for robust extraction. Self-compensated echoes consisting of two independent echo kernels are designed to have similar delay offsets but opposite amplitudes. A one-bit watermark is embedded by separately performing the echo kernels on the sparse and low-rank components. As a result, the sound distortion caused by one echo signal can be quickly compensated by the other echo signal, which enables better inaudibility. Since the embedded echoes have the same sparsity as the sparse component, watermarks can be extracted with a basic cepstrum analysis even if the echo kernels are not directly performed on the original speech. The evaluation results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of this method.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of schizophrenic patients and comparison subjects during word production.

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to test the feasibility of using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine changes in cortical activation in response to verbal tasks in two brain regions. METHOD Twelve schizophrenic patients and 11 comparison subjects underwent functional MRI of the frontal and temporal lobes. Stimulus sequences were divided into five 30-second segments by using a task-activation paradigm that alternated between resting and stimulated states. Functional images were collected every 30 seconds by using a gradient echo pulse sequence. RESULTS Schizophrenic subjects demonstrated significantly less left frontal activation and greater left temporal activation than comparison subjects during a word fluency task. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary data suggest that functional MRI has the sensitivity to detect differences in activation between comparison subjects and schizophrenic patients during higher cortical functions. These findings are in agreement with PET studies that reported reduced left frontal activation during challenge paradigms for the schizophrenic patients.
Expanding the Neuron's Calcium Signaling Repertoire: Intracellular Calcium Release via Voltage-Induced PLC and IP3R Activation

Neuronal calcium acts as a charge carrier during information processing and as a ubiquitous intracellular messenger. Calcium signals are fundamental to numerous aspects of neuronal development and plasticity. Specific and independent regulation of these vital cellular processes is achieved by a rich bouquet of different calcium signaling mechanisms within the neuron, which either can operate independently or may act in concert. This study demonstrates the existence of a novel calcium signaling mechanism by simultaneous patch clamping and calcium imaging from acutely isolated central neurons. These neurons possess a membrane voltage sensor that, independent of calcium influx, causes G-protein activation, which subsequently leads to calcium release from intracellular stores via phospholipase C and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor activation. This allows neurons to monitor activity by intracellular calcium release without relying on calcium as the input signal and opens up new insights into intracellular signaling, developmental regulation, and information processing in neuronal compartments lacking calcium channels.
Localisation of Focal Epileptic Activity in Children Using High Density EEG Source Imaging

Summary In children suffering from epilepsy, a better understanding of the brain networks involved in epileptic activity is of great clinical and scientific importance. Non-invasive mapping of the epileptic focus can be performed with EEG source imaging (ESI), a technique based on scalp EEG recordings to estimate the localisation of the intra-cerebral electric sources. Recent technological development now allow recording high density EEG with only a short preparation and recording time (ca. 30 minutes in total) making this technique particularly suitable for clinical use in children, even when awake or very young. In children suffering from medically refractory focal epilepsy, ESI is often highly concordant with the epileptogenic zone and can be used in epilepsy surgery to improve the chance of post-operative seizure freedom, provided a sufficient number of electrodes is used, as routinely performed in our centre. More globally, the mapping of onset and propagation of epileptic discharges helps better understanding the pathophysiology of certain epileptic conditions and the potentially associated neurological and cognitive dysfunction. In this article, we present the methodological background and clinical studies of ESI and concordance with other imaging techniques in pediatric epilepsy. Epileptologie 2011; 28: 84 – 90
Universal Decompositional Semantics on Universal Dependencies

We present a framework for augmenting data sets from the Universal Dependencies project with Universal Decompositional Semantics . Where the Universal Dependencies project aims to provide a syntactic annotation standard that can be used consistently across many languages as well as a collection of corpora that use that standard, our extension has similar aims for semantic annotation. We describe results from annotating the English Universal Dependencies treebank, dealing with word senses, semantic roles, and event properties
Modeling video temporal relationships in an object database management system

One of the key aspects of videos is the temporal relationship between video frames. In this paper we propose a tree-based model for specifying the temporal semantics of video data. We present a unique way of integrating our video model into an object database management system which has rich multimedia temporal operations. We further show how temporal histories are used to model video data, explore the video object base using object-oriented techniques. Such a seamless integration gives a uniform interface to end users. The integrated video object base management systems supports a broad range of temporal queries.
Allergic reactions compared between BN and Wistar rats after oral exposure to ovalbumin

There is currently no validated animal model for evaluating the potential allergenicity of food proteins. This study aimed to compare the allergic reactions between BN and Wistar rats after oral exposure to ovalbumin (OVA) by studying immune responses and clinical manifestations. Female BN and Wistar rats were orally exposed to OVA on days 1 and 14, and thereafter daily from day 15 to day 42. Sera and plasma were screened for OVA-specific antibodies and histamine. On day 49, all the OVA-sensitized animals were orally challenged with OVA before blood pressure was measured. One day later (on day 50), histopathology and differential cell counts were performed. The results indicate that oral exposure of BN rats to OVA yielded IgE, IgG, and IgG2a antibody responses that were generally of higher levels than those observed in Wistar rats (p < 0.05). However, the Wistar rats presented with more serious clinical manifestations and histopathologic changes that could have serious implications for any OVA-induced anaphylaxis. The studies here proved that OVA-sensitized BN and Wistar rats evinced different immune responses and clinical manifestations; these outcomes suggested that the two rat strains might differ in their immunologic mechanisms of allergy and that there was no correlation between immune responses and the severity of clinical symptoms. To be clear, the data from these studies should be viewed as ‘preliminary’, as only a single protein allergen was examined. Accordingly, further studies are needed to compare the allergic reactions between BN and Wistar rats by using purified strong-, weak-, and non-allergenic proteins based on the experiments reported here.
An Ant Colony Optimization approach for Stacking ensemble

An ensemble in data mining is the strategy that combines a set of different classifiers together to generate an integrated classification system to classify new instances. In the early research, an ensemble outperforms any of its individual components. Stacking is one of the most influential ensemble among the proposed ensemble schemes. Stacking applies a two-level structure: the base-level classifiers output their own predictions and the meta-level classifier takes the outputs as its input to generate final decision. Most of the existing studies focus on the meta-level classifier adoption, and few on the topic about determining the configuration of both base-level classifiers and the meta-level classifier together. This work is inspired by the Ant Colony Optimization which is good at solving combinatorial optimization problems. We propose an ACO-Stacking ensemble approach and also perform some preliminary experiments to compare our approach with some well-known ensembles. The preliminary results show that the performance of the ACO-Stacking is promising.
Errare machinale est: the use of error-related potentials in brain-machine interfaces

The ability to recognize errors is crucial for efficient behavior. Numerous studies have identified electrophysiological correlates of error recognition in the human brain (error-related potentials, ErrPs). Consequently, it has been proposed to use these signals to improve human-computer interaction (HCI) or brain-machine interfacing (BMI). Here, we present a review of over a decade of developments toward this goal. This body of work provides consistent evidence that ErrPs can be successfully detected on a single-trial basis, and that they can be effectively used in both HCI and BMI applications. We first describe the ErrP phenomenon and follow up with an analysis of different strategies to increase the robustness of a system by incorporating single-trial ErrP recognition, either by correcting the machine's actions or by providing means for its error-based adaptation. These approaches can be applied both when the user employs traditional HCI input devices or in combination with another BMI channel. Finally, we discuss the current challenges that have to be overcome in order to fully integrate ErrPs into practical applications. This includes, in particular, the characterization of such signals during real(istic) applications, as well as the possibility of extracting richer information from them, going beyond the time-locked decoding that dominates current approaches.
Light-Harvesting Complex Protein LHCBM9 Is Critical for Photosystem II Activity and Hydrogen Production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii[C][W]

This work analyzes and elucidates the function of the LHC protein isoform LHCBM9. It provides evidence that the green microalga C. reinhardtii has evolved a LHCII-dependent, medium-term process for photoprotection during environmental stress conditions. Photosynthetic organisms developed multiple strategies for balancing light-harvesting versus intracellular energy utilization to survive ever-changing environmental conditions. The light-harvesting complex (LHC) protein family is of paramount importance for this function and can form light-harvesting pigment protein complexes. In this work, we describe detailed analyses of the photosystem II (PSII) LHC protein LHCBM9 of the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in terms of expression kinetics, localization, and function. In contrast to most LHC members described before, LHCBM9 expression was determined to be very low during standard cell cultivation but strongly increased as a response to specific stress conditions, e.g., when nutrient availability was limited. LHCBM9 was localized as part of PSII supercomplexes but was not found in association with photosystem I complexes. Knockdown cell lines with 50 to 70% reduced amounts of LHCBM9 showed reduced photosynthetic activity upon illumination and severe perturbation of hydrogen production activity. Functional analysis, performed on isolated PSII supercomplexes and recombinant LHCBM9 proteins, demonstrated that presence of LHCBM9 resulted in faster chlorophyll fluorescence decay and reduced production of singlet oxygen, indicating upgraded photoprotection. We conclude that LHCBM9 has a special role within the family of LHCII proteins and serves an important protective function during stress conditions by promoting efficient light energy dissipation and stabilizing PSII supercomplexes.
BER of OFDM systems impaired by carrier frequency offset in multipath fading channels

We introduce an analytical approach to evaluate the error probability of orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) systems subject to carrier frequency offset (CFO) in frequency-selective channels, characterized by Rayleigh or Rician fading. By properly exploiting the Gaussian approximation of the intercarrier interference (ICI), we show that the bit-error rate (BER) for an uncoded OFDM system with quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) can be expressed by the sum of a few integrals, whose number depends on the constellation size. Each integral can be evaluated numerically, or, in Rayleigh fading, by using a series expansion that involves generalized hypergeometric functions. Simulation results illustrate that the theoretical analysis is quite accurate, especially for Rayleigh channels, and also with nonlinear amplifiers.
General practitioners' ranking of evidence-based prescribing quality indicators: a comparative study with a prescription database.

BACKGROUND To ensure that indicators for assessing prescribing quality are appropriate and relevant, physicians should be involved in their development. How general practitioners (GPs) rank these indicators is not fully understood. AIMS (i) To determine how GPs in Ireland rank a set of evidence-based prescribing quality indicators in order of importance and relevance to their practice, and (ii) to compare the GPs' ranking of the defined set of indicators with actual prescribing practice using a prescription database. METHODS A postal questionnaire was sent to 105 GPs, who were asked to rank a set of 11 prescribing quality indicators, identified from the literature from most to least important. The results were aggregated and a weighted score for each indicator determined. These same prescribing indicators were then applied to a prescription database to compare the ranking provided with actual prescribing practice. RESULTS Eighty-six GPs (82%) returned the completed questionnaire. The higher ranks were for quality issues-use of inhaled corticosteroids, statins and benzodiazepines. Actual prescribing data showed prolonged use of benzodiazepines in over half of the prescriptions dispensed (n = 18 171), 52.48% (95% confidence interval 51.95, 53.01) and low usage of generic drugs, 17.78% (17.70, 17.90) despite their high ranking by the GPs. CONCLUSION While GPs have diverse views about the value of different prescribing quality indicators, the results suggest that they do rank evidence-based guidelines on patient management highly, but those based on costs and less evidence the lowest. There was considerable divergence between theory and practice in the application of quality indices.
A snake-like robot driven by a decentralized control that enables both phasic and tonic control

Autonomous decentralized control is a key concept in our understanding of the mechanism underlying locomotion of animals, wherein the phasic pattern of motion and the excitation pattern of muscle tonus are well reconciled. In our recent work, we proposed a decentralized control scheme in which phasic control and tonic control are well coordinated. In this study, we develop a real snake-like robot to validate our proposed control scheme. Experimental results show that the robot exhibits highly adaptive behavior in response to environmental changes. The results obtained are expected to shed new light on the design of autonomous decentralized control systems.
The effect of temperature on the flotation of pyrite

In the investigation descriptionbed here, it was found that the main effect of temperature is on the rate of flotation, and that adsorption of the reagent is not rate controlling. Above 10i? ½C, the flotation rate of pyrite and gangue increases almost exponentially with a rise in temperature. Below that temperature, the flotation rate of pyrite shows a sudden marked decrease, that of gangue increases, and the sulphur grades are significantly poorer. In the flotation of pyrite, the mass transfer of the pyrite from the pulp to the troth is thought to be the ratecontrolling step, whereas the flotation of gangue is controlled by the combined effect of the stability and velocity of the froth and the viscosity of the elutriating medium. The latter is probably the controlling effect at temperatures below 10i? ½C. Little difference was noted in the recoveries (provided no time limit was set) with changes in temperature; hence adequate recoveries can be obtained at Iow temperatures by the introduction of longer residence times for the pulp. The adverse effects of Iow temperatures on grades can be overcome only by additional cleaning or by heating of the pulp.