Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current plate velocities relative to the hotspots incorporating the NUVEL-1 global plate motion model

NUVEL-1 is a new global model of current relative plate velocities [DeMets et al., 1990], which differ significantly from those of prior models. Here we incorporate NUVEL-1 into HS2-NUVEL1, a new global model of plate velocities relative to the hotspots. HS2-NUVEL1 was determined from the hotspot data and errors used by Minster and Jordan [1978] to determine AM1-2, which is their model of plate velocities relative to the hotspots. AM1-2 is consistent with Minster and Jordan's relative plate velocity model RM2. Here we compare HS2-NUVEL1 with AM1-2 and examine how their differences relate to differences between NUVEL-1 and RM2. HS2-NUVEL1 plate velocities relative to the hotspots are mainly similar to those of AM1-2. Minor differences between the two models include the following: (1) in HS2-NUVEL1 the speed of the partly continental, apparently non-subducting Indian plate is greater than that of the purely oceanic, subducting Nazca plate; (2) in places the direction of motion of the African, Antarctic, Arabian, Australian, Caribbean, Cocos, Eurasian, North American, and South American plates differs between models by more than 10°; (3) in places the speed of the Australian, Caribbean, Cocos, Indian, and Nazca plates differs between models by more than 8 mm/yr. Although 27 of the 30 RM2 Euler vectors differ with 95% confidence from those of NUVEL-1, only the AM1-2 Arabia-hotspot and India-hotspot Euler vectors differ with 95% confidence from those of HS2-NUVEL1. Thus, substituting NUVEL-1 for RM2 in the inversion for plate velocities relative to the hotspots changes few Euler vectors significantly, presumably because the uncertainty in the velocity of a plate relative to the hotspots is much greater than the uncertainty in its velocity relative to other plates.
Hot spot reflectance signatures of common boreal lichens

We present new results on the hot spot directional signature for a set of commonlichen species (such as Cladina and Cladonia). This is, to our knowledge, the firstlaboratory experiment on the backscattering of lichen and adds to the so far sparsecollection of hot spot signatures for land surfaces, especially forest understory. We reportexceptionally intense backscattering surges for lichens with complex branching structureand discuss the implications for remote monitoring and the inventory of lichenabundances. Experiments were also made with surface structures modified by grindingand black paint: The significant differences in the observed hot spot peak amplitudes arestrong experimental evidence that the shadow-hiding mechanism plays an important rolein the backscattering enhancement for such canopy-type structures.
A study of oceanic surface heat fluxes in the Greenland, Norwegian, and Barents Seas

This study examines oceanic surface heat fluxes in the Norwegian, Greenland, and Barents seas using the gridded Navy Fleet Numerical Oceanography Central surface analysis and the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE) IIc cloudiness data bases. Monthly and annual means of net and turbulent heat fluxes are computed for the FGGE year 1979. The FGGE IIb data base consisting of individual observations provides particularly good data coverage in this region for a comparison with the gridded Navy winds and air temperatures. The standard errors of estimate between the Navy and FGGE IIb winds and air temperatures are 3.6 m/s and 2.5°C, respectively. The computations for the latent and sensible heat fluxes are based on bulk formulas with the same constant heat exchange coefficient of 1.5×10−3. The results show extremely strong wintertime heat fluxes in the northern Greenland Sea and especially in the Barents Sea in contrast to previous studies. The highest monthly average net fluxes are well over 400 W m−2 in these two regions in January and February 1979. The estimated uncertainty for the higher heat fluxes based on the comparison between the FGGE IIb and the Navy data sets is about ±30%.
Reprints Available Directly from the Publisher Photocopying Permitted by License Only a Selective Culture System for Generating Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase-positive Lymphoid Cells in Vitro. v. Detection of Stage-specific Pro-b-cell Stimulating Activity in Medium Conditioned by Mouse Bone M

The selective in vitro generation of rat, mouse, and human terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-positive (TdT lymphoid cells in our long-term xenogeneic bone marrow (BM) culture system is characterized by physical interaction between the developing lymphocytes and mouse BM-adherent stromal cells and macrophages. In the present study, experiments in which micropor)us membrane culture inserts were inoculated with rat BM cells demonstrated that although the generation of primitive B-lineage lymphoid cells requires the presence of a mouse BM feeder layer, cognitive recognition events are not necessary. Similarly, cell-free (and serum-free) medium conditioned with mouse BM (but not thymus or spleen) adherent cells and stromal-cell lines therefrom supported the proliferation of early rat lymphoid cells in a dose-dependent manner. Double immunofluorescence for incorporated bromo-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and early B-lineage markers of rat BM lymphoid cells maintained in culture inserts or conditioned medium (CM), and studies of their in vitro and in vivo developmental potentials, indicated that the lymphoproliferative response resulted from the selective stimulation of lymphoid stem and/or progenitor cells. The most primitive of these target cells had a HIS24 HIS50-TdT-c/-sIg-, pre-pro-B-cell phenotype. Whereas this subset normally constitutes less than 2% of B-lineage BM cells in vivo, it comprises more than 25% of total lymphoid cells in vitro. In addition, the number of TdT cells, predominantly of the early pro-B-cell phenotype (HIS24 HIS50-c/-sIg-), was increased approximately tenfold above input levels. Based on these and previous findings, a schematic model is proposed for the developmental pathway of early B-lineage cells in rat BM from the level of the committed (possibly common) lymphoid stem cell to that of the pre-B-cell.
UNIVERSITY OF DORTMUND REIHE COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH CENTER 531 Design and Management of Complex Technical Processes and Systems by means of Computational Intelligence Methods Evolutionary Algorithms and the Maximum Matching Problem

Randomized search heuristics like evolutionary algorithms are mostly applied to problems whose structure is not completely known but also to combinatorial optimization problems. Practitioners report surprising successes but almost no results with theoretically well-founded analyses exist. Such an analysis is started in this paper for a fundamental evolutionary algorithm and the well-known maximum matching problem. It is proven that the evolutionary algorithm is a polynomial-time randomized approximation scheme (PRAS) for this optimization problem, although the algorithm does not employ the idea of augmenting paths. Moreover, for very simple graphs it is proved that the expected optimization time of the algorithm is polynomially bounded and bipartite graphs are constructed where this time grows exponentially.
Age Differences in Striatal Delay Sensitivity during Intertemporal Choice in Healthy Adults

Intertemporal choices are a ubiquitous class of decisions that involve selecting between outcomes available at different times in the future. We investigated the neural systems supporting intertemporal decisions in healthy younger and older adults. Using functional neuroimaging, we find that aging is associated with a shift in the brain areas that respond to delayed rewards. Although we replicate findings that brain regions associated with the mesolimbic dopamine system respond preferentially to immediate rewards, we find a separate region in the ventral striatum with very modest time dependence in older adults. Activation in this striatal region was relatively insensitive to delay in older but not younger adults. Since the dopamine system is believed to support associative learning about future rewards over time, our observed transfer of function may be due to greater experience with delayed rewards as people age. Identifying differences in the neural systems underlying these decisions may contribute to a more comprehensive model of age-related change in intertemporal choice.
Comment on ‘Measuring the flow resistance of submerged grass’ by C. A. M. E. Wilson and M. S. Horritt, Hydrological Processes 16: 2589–2598

In this short note, the experimental data of Wilson and Horritt (2002. Hydrological Processes 16: 2589–2598), jointly with the measurements by Kouwen et al. (1969. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Division, ASCE 95: 329–342) and by Raffaelli et al. (2002 In Proceedings XXVIII Convegno di Idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche, Cosenza, Italy; 223–230), are firstly used to test Kouwen's approach. All experimental data are then used to calibrate a flow resistance equation that was theoretically deduced by dimensional analysis and self‐similarity theory. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intracellular pH Effects in Lactic Acid Bacteria

Abstract The objectives of this research were to determine the effect of lactic acid and low pH on the intracellular pH in three species of lactic acid bacteria. A pH gradient (intracellular pH minus the extracellular pH) of . 9 to 1.4 pH units was achieved by several strains of lactic acid bacteria, including Streptococcus thermophilus 19258 and 573, Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis C2, and Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris HP during log phase of growth in various media. A noticeable decline of the pH gradient occurred at an internal pH of 5.5 to 6.0. In late stationary phase, the pH gradient was generally reduced to . 5 pH units or less. In contrast, the aciduric Lactobacillus casei 685 maintained a large pH gradient (> 1.0 pH units) even when the medium pH was reduced to less than 4.0. Rapid growth of lactococci and streptococci in media containing excess lactose did not occur when the intracellular pH was reduced below a critical pH of 5.0 or at a neutral pH when proton-uncoupling agents were present.
How subduction broke up Pangaea with implications for the supercontinent cycle

Abstract Mechanisms that can explain the Mesozoic motion of Pangaea in a palaeomagnetic mantle reference frame may also be able to explain its breakup. Calculations indicate that Pangaea moved along a non-rigid path in the mantle frame between the late Triassic and early Jurassic. The breakup of Pangaea may have happened as a response to this non-rigid motion. Tectonic forces applied to the margins of Pangaea as a consequence of subduction at its peripheries can explain both the motion and deformation of Pangaea with a single mechanism. In contrast, mantle forces applied to the base of Pangaea appear to be inconsistent with the kinematic constraints and do not explain the change in supercontinent motion that accompanied the breakup event. Top-down plate tectonics are inferred to have caused the breakup of Pangaea. Strong coupling between the mantle and lithosphere may not have been the case during the Phanerozoic eon when the Pangaean supercontinent formed and subsequently dispersed.
Lactobacillus for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in women: meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common infections affecting women, and often recur. Lactobacillus probiotics could potentially replace low dose, long term antibiotics as a safer prophylactic for recurrent UTI (rUTI). This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to compile the results of existing randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to determine the efficacy of probiotic Lactobacillus species in preventing rUTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched from inception to July 2012 for RCTs using a Lactobacillus prophylactic against rUTI in premenopausal adult women. A random-effects model meta-analysis was performed using a pooled risk ratio, comparing incidence of rUTI in patients receiving Lactobacillus to control. RESULTS Data from 294 patients across five studies were included. There was no statistically significant difference in the risk for rUTI in patients receiving Lactobacillus versus controls, as indicated by the pooled risk ratio of 0.85 (95% confidence interval of 0.58-1.25, p = 0.41). A sensitivity analysis was performed, excluding studies using ineffective strains and studies testing for safety. Data from 127 patients in two studies were included. A statistically significant decrease in rUTI was found in patients given Lactobacillus, denoted by the pooled risk ratio of 0.51 (95% confidence interval 0.26-0.99, p = 0.05) with no statistical heterogeneity (I2 = 0%). CONCLUSION Probiotic strains of Lactobacillus are safe and effective in preventing rUTI in adult women. However, more RCTs are required before a definitive recommendation can be made since the patient population contributing data to this meta-analysis was small.
Seismic Damage to Masonry-Infilled Timber Houses in the 2013 M7.0 Lushan, China, Earthquake

Masonry-infilled timber frames are widely used for residential houses in underdeveloped rural and mountainous areas in southwestern China. As suggested by the identified dynamic properties of three typical timber houses of this type, the structure can be taken as a dual system in which the masonry infills provide the most lateral resistance, while the timber frame withstands the vertical loads. The seismic damage to the houses, either of masonry or of masonry-infilled timber structures, in a small town near the epicenter of the 2013 M7.0 Lushan earthquake in southwestern China was inspected and compared, in order to show that the masonry-infilled timber houses exhibited much better seismic performance than the unreinforced masonry ones during the earthquake.
Morphological and Physiological Evaluations of Seedling Quality

Seedling quality and subsequent field performance can be influenced by various stress factors. Measuring seedling quality can help to identify possible crop problems in order to make informed decisions for culturing, lifting, storing, and planting. In addition, seedling quality data can help seedling growers and users to better understand annual patterns among species, stock- types, seed lots, and cultural treatments. This paper describes stresses that can reduce seedling quality and summarizes several common morphological and physiological measurements that have been linked to seedling field performance.
Homomorphisms of Signed Graphs

A signed graph [G,Σ] is a graph G together with an assignment of signs + and − to all the edges of G where Σ is the set of negative edges. Furthermore [G,Σ1] and [G,Σ2] are considered to be equivalent if the symmetric difference of Σ1 and Σ2 is an edge cut of G. Naturally arising from matroid theory, several notions of graph theory, such as the theory of minors and the theory of nowhere‐zero flows, have been already extended to signed graphs. In an unpublished manuscript, B. Guenin introduced the notion of signed graph homomorphisms where he showed how some well‐known conjectures can be captured using this notion. A signed graph [G,Σ] is said to map to [H,Σ1] if there is an equivalent signed graph [G,Σ′] of [G,Σ] and a mapping ϕ:V(G)→V(H) such that (i) if xy∈E(G) then ϕ(x)ϕ(y)∈E(H) and (ii) xy∈Σ′ if and only if ϕ(x)ϕ(y)∈Σ1 . The chromatic number of a signed graph [G,Σ] can then be defined as the smallest order of a homomorphic image of [G,Σ] . Capturing the notion of graph homomorphism order, signed graph homomorphisms provide room for extensions and strengthenings of most homomorphism and coloring theories on graphs. Thus this paper is the first general study of signed graph homomorphisms. In this work, our focus would be on the relation of homomorphisms of signed graphs with minors of signed graphs. After a thorough introduction to the concept we show that the notion of signed graph homomorphism on the set of signed graphs whose underlying graph is bipartite already captures the standard notion of graph homomorphism. We prove that the largest planar signed clique is of order 8. For the maximum chromatic number of planar signed graphs we give the lower bound of 10 and the upper bound of 48. We determine this maximum for some other families such as outerplanar signed graphs. Finally, reformulating Hadwiger's conjecture in the language of homomorphism of signed graphs whose underlying graph is bipartite, we show that while some stronger form of the conjecture holds for small chromatic number, such strengthening of the conjecture would not hold for large chromatic numbers. This could be regarded as a first indication that perhaps Hadwiger's conjecture only holds for small chromatic numbers.
MRS: A click-based multipath routing simulator

The ability to forward traffic on multiple paths would be useful for customizing paths for different applications, improving reliability and balancing load. In order to evaluate the behaviour and performance of multipath routing protocols both simulators and test beds are often used. The simulator is used in the first stages and the test bed is used in the final stages of the development process. However, when moving from simulation to test bed, source code usually needs to be re-implemented. In this paper, we present MRS to address these issues. It was constructed by embedding the Click Modular Router inside of the NS2 simulator. The source code with MRS may run on an actual system as well as under a simulator with minor modifications. We implement a multipath routing protocol called AMIR in MRS. Simulation results show that MRS is a useful and effective tool for evaluating multipath routing protocols. The results also indicate that multipath routing has a greater advantage in improving network performance than single-path routing.
Characterization of a Novel Angular Dioxygenase from Fluorene-Degrading Sphingomonas sp. Strain LB126

ABSTRACT In this study, the genes involved in the initial attack on fluorene by Sphingomonas sp. strain LB126 were investigated. The α and β subunits of a dioxygenase complex (FlnA1-FlnA2), showing 63 and 51% sequence identity, respectively, to the subunits of an angular dioxygenase from the gram-positive dibenzofuran degrader Terrabacter sp. strain DBF63, were identified. When overexpressed in Escherichia coli, FlnA1-FlnA2 was responsible for the angular oxidation of fluorene, 9-hydroxyfluorene, 9-fluorenone, dibenzofuran, and dibenzo-p-dioxin. Moreover, FlnA1-FlnA2 was able to oxidize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heteroaromatics, some of which were not oxidized by the dioxygenase from Terrabacter sp. strain DBF63. The quantification of resulting oxidation products showed that fluorene and phenanthrene were the preferred substrates of FlnA1-FlnA2.
A POGLUT1 mutation causes a muscular dystrophy with reduced Notch signaling and satellite cell loss

Skeletal muscle regeneration by muscle satellite cells is a physiological mechanism activated upon muscle damage and regulated by Notch signaling. In a family with autosomal recessive limb‐girdle muscular dystrophy, we identified a missense mutation in POGLUT1 (protein O‐glucosyltransferase 1), an enzyme involved in Notch posttranslational modification and function. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that the mutation reduces O‐glucosyltransferase activity on Notch and impairs muscle development. Muscles from patients revealed decreased Notch signaling, dramatic reduction in satellite cell pool and a muscle‐specific α‐dystroglycan hypoglycosylation not present in patients' fibroblasts. Primary myoblasts from patients showed slow proliferation, facilitated differentiation, and a decreased pool of quiescent PAX7+ cells. A robust rescue of the myogenesis was demonstrated by increasing Notch signaling. None of these alterations were found in muscles from secondary dystroglycanopathy patients. These data suggest that a key pathomechanism for this novel form of muscular dystrophy is Notch‐dependent loss of satellite cells.
Screening for prostate cancer using multivariate mixed-effects models

Using several variables known to be related to prostate cancer, a multivariate classification method is developed to predict the onset of clinical prostate cancer. A multivariate mixed-effects model is used to describe longitudinal changes in prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a free testosterone index (FTI), and body mass index (BMI) before any clinical evidence of prostate cancer. The patterns of change in these three variables are allowed to vary depending on whether the subject develops prostate cancer or not and the severity of the prostate cancer at diagnosis. An application of Bayes’ theorem provides posterior probabilities that we use to predict whether an individual will develop prostate cancer and, if so, whether it is a high-risk or a low-risk cancer. The classification rule is applied sequentially one multivariate observation at a time until the subject is classified as a cancer case or until the last observation has been used. We perform the analyses using each of the three variables individually, combined together in pairs, and all three variables together in one analysis. We compare the classification results among the various analyses and a simulation study demonstrates how the sensitivity of prediction changes with respect to the number and type of variables used in the prediction process.
Bioinspired Drill for Planetary Sampling : Literature Survey , Conceptual Design , and Feasibility Study

Growing interest in planetary subsurface exploration has prompted an examination of advanced drilling technologies. One of the major limitations of sampling in low gravity environments (such as Mars, asteroids, etc.) using conventional rotary drills is the need for high axial force, which suffers from big overhead mass, buckling problems, and power hungriness. Though drills using percussive motion may operate in low mass and power, the drilling rate is generally slow. Drawing inspiration from nature for a lighter weight and energy efficient solution, we propose a novel drilling method based on the working mechanism of wood wasp ovipositors. The bioinspired drill requires no reactive external force by applying two-valve-reciprocating motion. The proposed biomimetic system indicates enhanced utility that is critical for space missions where premium is placed on mass, volume, and power. Biological systems are similarly constrained making biomimetic technology uniquely suited and advantageous as a model ofminiaturized systems.As a result of the European SpaceAgency project on bionics and space systemdesign, this paper presents a literature survey of planetary drilling, working principle of the bioinspired drillingmechanism, a conceptual design, and feasibility study of the first prototype within a space system envelope.
Polar Codes: Speed of Polarization and Polynomial Gap to Capacity

We prove that, for all binary-input symmetric memoryless channels, polar codes enable reliable communication at rates within an additive gap ε > 0 to the Shannon capacity with a block length, construction complexity, and decoding complexity, all bounded by a polynomial in 1/ε. Polar coding gives the first known explicit construction with rigorous proofs of all these properties; previous constructions were not known to achieve capacity with less than exp(1/ε) decoding complexity except for erasure channels. We establish the capacity-achieving property of polar codes via a direct analysis of the underlying martingale of conditional entropies, without relying on the martingale convergence theorem. This step gives rough polarization (noise levels ≈ ε for the good channels), which can then be adequately amplified by tracking the decay of the channel Bhattacharyya parameters. Our effective bounds imply that polar codes can have block length (and encoding/decoding complexity) bounded by a polynomial in 1/ε. The generator matrix of such polar codes can be constructed in polynomial time by algorithmically computing an adequate approximation of the polarization process.