Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protein Quantity and Quality of Safflower Seed Improved by NP Fertilizer and Rhizobacteria (Azospirillum and Azotobacter spp.)

HIGHLIGHTS Rhizobacteria (Azotobacter spp.) have improved the quality and quantity of safflower seed protein. Protein quality was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and new bands were found in response to different combinations of rhizobacteria and lower doses of fertilizers. The PGPR application has reduced the use of fertilizers upto 50%. Protein is an essential part of the human diet. The aim of this present study was to improve the protein quality of safflower seed by the application of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in combination with conventional nitrogen and phosphate (NP) fertilizers. The seeds of two safflower cultivars Thori and Saif-32, were inoculated with Azospirillum and Azotobacter and grown under field conditions. Protein content and quality was assessed by crude protein, amino acid analysis, and SDS-PAGE. Seed crude protein and amino acids (methionine, phenylalanine, and glutamic acid) showed significant improvements (55–1250%) by Azotobacter supplemented with a quarter dose of fertilizers (BTQ) at P ≤ 0.05. Additional protein bands were induced in Thori and Saif-32 by BTQ and BTH (Azotobacter supplemented with a half dose of fertilizer) respectively. The Azospirillum in combination with half dose of fertilizer (SPH) and BTQ enhanced both indole acetic acid (IAA) (90%) and gibberellic acid (GA) (23–27%) content in safflower leaf. Taken together, these data suggest that Azospirillum and Azotobacter along with significantly reduced (up to 75%) use of NP fertilizers could improve the quality and quantity of safflower seed protein.
The Experiences of the Elderly and Caregivers in Respect of Caring for the Elderly in Windhoek and Rehoboth Namibia: An Exploratory and Descriptive Study

In many instances, care for the elderly, especially in long-term care institutions, is provided under minimal supervision by caregivers who are lay people. This can lead to poor quality care or neglect of the elderly. The research question was: “How competent are lay caregivers for the elderly in old age homes, who often lack the opportunity for training to improve their knowledge and skills, in delivering care to the elderly? The aims of the study were to explore and describe the experiences of both the caregivers and the elderly in respect of caring for the elderly in old age homes. The objectives of the study were to explore and describe the experiences of the caregivers and the elderly with respect to caring for the elderly and in respect of nursing care they received. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive, contextual and phenomenology design was used to perform this study. In the situational analysis, the experiences and needs of the caregivers were described. Themes in terms of interpersonal relationships that could be positive or negative regarding the elderly were identified. These included lack of regular in-service training sessions for caregivers. Likewise, sub-themes like communication, support and caring for elderly people were revealed. Inadequate knowledge of caregivers in caring procedures, a shortage of staff, equipment and absence of policies which should support and guide the work of caregivers impacts negatively on the care of the elderly. From the experiences of the elderly and caregivers, the competencies under scrutiny emerged and were measured qualitatively by the perceptions of the elderly, in respect of the caring they were exposed to.
Simple, Efficient, and Neural Algorithms for Sparse Coding

Sparse coding is a basic task in many fields including signal processing, neuroscience and machine learning where the goal is to learn a basis that enables a sparse representation of a given set of data, if one exists. Its standard formulation is as a non-convex optimization problem which is solved in practice by heuristics based on alternating minimization. Re- cent work has resulted in several algorithms for sparse coding with provable guarantees, but somewhat surprisingly these are outperformed by the simple alternating minimization heuristics. Here we give a general framework for understanding alternating minimization which we leverage to analyze existing heuristics and to design new ones also with provable guarantees. Some of these algorithms seem implementable on simple neural architectures, which was the original motivation of Olshausen and Field (1997a) in introducing sparse coding. We also give the first efficient algorithm for sparse coding that works almost up to the information theoretic limit for sparse recovery on incoherent dictionaries. All previous algorithms that approached or surpassed this limit run in time exponential in some natural parameter. Finally, our algorithms improve upon the sample complexity of existing approaches. We believe that our analysis framework will have applications in other settings where simple iterative algorithms are used.
Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale

The sibling relationship and its potential impact on neurodevelopment and mental health are important areas of neuroscientific research. Validation of the tools assessing the quality of the sibling relationship would be the first essential step for conducting neurobiological and psychosocial studies related to the sibling relationship. However, to the best of our knowledge, no sibling relationship assessment tools have been empirically validated in Korean. We aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale (LSRS), which is one of the most commonly used self-report questionnaires to assess the quality of the sibling relationship. A total of 109 adults completed a series of self-report questionnaires including the LSRS, the mental health subscale of the Medical Outcomes Study-Short Form 36 version 2 (SF36v2), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS), and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS). The internal consistency, subscale intercorrelations, one-week test-retest reliability, convergent validity, divergent validity, and the construct validity were assessed. All six subscale scores and the total score of the LSRS demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.85-0.94) and good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.77-0.92). Correlations of the LSRS with the SF36v2 mental health score (r=0.32, p=0.01) and with the SLS (r=0.27, p=0.04) supported the good convergent validity. The divergent validity was shown by the non-significant correlation of the LSRS with the MC-SDS (r=0.15, p=0.26). Two factors were extracted through factor analysis, which explained 78.63% of the total variance. The three Adult subscales loaded on the first factor and the three Child subscales loaded on the second factor. Results suggest that the Korean version of the LSRS is a reliable and valid tool for examining the sibling relationship.
New insights into the genesis of the Miocene collapse structures of the island of Gozo (Malta, central Mediterranean Sea)

The large palaeosinkholes located in the NW of Gozo (central Mediterranean Sea, Malta) offer excellent exposures that provide information on the geometry and kinematics of large karst-related collapse structures. Detailed geological analysis of these peculiar palaeosinkholes indicates that deep-seated evaporite dissolution is the most feasible hypothesis to explain their formation, according to the following evidence. (1) Several structures have been formed by progressive foundering of cylindrical blocks with limited internal deformation as revealed by the synsedimentary subsidence recorded by their Miocene sedimentary fill. This subsidence mechanism is more compatible with interstratal dissolution of evaporites than karstification and cave development in limestone formations. (2) The dimensions and deformation style of the palaeosinkholes are similar to those of other collapse structures related to deep-seated dissolution of salt-bearing evaporites. (3) The arcuate monocline associated with some of these collapse structures is also a characteristic feature of subsidence related to dissolution of evaporites. However, no major evaporite formations have been documented so far in the subsurface of the Malta Platform. Supplementary material: Detailed descriptions of the collapse structures of the island of Gozo (Malta, central Mediterranean Sea) are available at www.geolsoc. org.uk/SUP18808.
Mid-Holocene emergence of a low-frequency millennial oscillation in western Mediterranean climate: Implications for past dynamics of the North Atlantic atmospheric westerlies

The nature and tempo of Holocene climate variability is examined in the record of forest vegetation from western Mediterranean marine core MD95-2043. Episodes of forest decline occurred at 10.1, 9.2, 8.3, 7.4, 5.4–4.5 and 3.7–2.9 cal. ka BP, and between 1.9 cal. ka BP and the top of the record (1.3 cal. ka BP). Wavelet analysis confirms a ~900 yr periodicity prior to and during the early Holocene and the dominance of a ~1750 yr periodicity after 6 cal. ka BP. The ~900 yr periodicity has counterparts in numerous North Atlantic and Northern Hemisphere palaeoclimate records, and in solar irradiance proxies (Δ14C and 10Be), and may relate to a Sun–climate connection during the early Holocene. Comparisons between the MD95-2043 forest record and strategically located records from Morocco, Iceland, Norway and Israel suggest that the ~1750 yr mid- to late-Holocene oscillation reflects shifts between a prevailing strong and weak state of the zonal flow, with impacts similar to the positive and negative modes of the present-day North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The mid- to late-Holocene millennial oscillation in zonal flow appears closely coupled to North Atlantic surface ocean circulation dynamics, and may have been driven by an internal oscillation in deep-water convection strength. The findings suggest that the mid-Holocene transition in western Mediterranean climate was accompanied by a shift in the fundamental tempo of millennial-scale variability, reflecting contrasting sensitivity of the North Atlantic climate system to different forcing factors (solar versus oceanic) under deglacial and fully interglacial conditions.
Isotopic Ratio Measurements of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Using a 4.3 μm Pulsed Quantum Cascade Laser

We report CO<sub>2</sub> isotopic ratios (<sup>13</sup>C, <sup>18</sup>O) measured in air using a pulsed quantum cascade laser at 2310 cm<sup>-1</sup>. Performance is improved by analyzing the deviations between the sample spectra and simultaneously acquired reference spectra.
Brain Networks of Novelty-Driven Involuntary and Cued Voluntary Auditory Attention Shifting

In everyday life, we need a capacity to flexibly shift attention between alternative sound sources. However, relatively little work has been done to elucidate the mechanisms of attention shifting in the auditory domain. Here, we used a mixed event-related/sparse-sampling fMRI approach to investigate this essential cognitive function. In each 10-sec trial, subjects were instructed to wait for an auditory “cue” signaling the location where a subsequent “target” sound was likely to be presented. The target was occasionally replaced by an unexpected “novel” sound in the uncued ear, to trigger involuntary attention shifting. To maximize the attention effects, cues, targets, and novels were embedded within dichotic 800-Hz vs. 1500-Hz pure-tone “standard” trains. The sound of clustered fMRI acquisition (starting at t = 7.82 sec) served as a controlled trial-end signal. Our approach revealed notable activation differences between the conditions. Cued voluntary attention shifting activated the superior intraparietal sulcus (IPS), whereas novelty-triggered involuntary orienting activated the inferior IPS and certain subareas of the precuneus. Clearly more widespread activations were observed during voluntary than involuntary orienting in the premotor cortex, including the frontal eye fields. Moreover, we found evidence for a frontoinsular-cingular attentional control network, consisting of the anterior insula, inferior frontal cortex, and medial frontal cortices, which were activated during both target discrimination and voluntary attention shifting. Finally, novels and targets activated much wider areas of superior temporal auditory cortices than shifting cues.
A Dependency Treebank of Classical Chinese Poems

As interest grows in the use of linguistically annotated corpora in research and teaching of foreign languages and literature, treebanks of various historical texts have been developed. We introduce the first large-scale dependency treebank for Classical Chinese literature. Derived from the Stanford dependency types, it consists of over 32K characters drawn from a collection of poems written in the 8th century CE. We report on the design of new dependency relations, discuss aspects of the annotation process and evaluation, and illustrate its use in a study of parallelism in Classical Chinese poetry.
Multisensory approach to handwriting remediation: perceptions of school-based occupational therapists.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to describe the current practices of school-based occupational therapists regarding their use of multisensory modalities and activities in handwriting remediation. METHOD A survey was sent to 313 school-based occupational therapist members of the American Occupational Therapy Association who identified themselves as working in a school system as their primary employment setting. Of these, 198 surveys were returned and analyzed descriptively, resulting in a response rate of 63.3%. RESULTS More than 130 different multisensory modalities and activities were documented. Twenty-five of these had previously been reported in the literature, the other 114 were documented, by respondents, within the "other" category. Most respondents reported using 5 or more modalities and activities per student, the most frequent being chalk and chalkboard. No consensus among respondents is apparent about the primary sensory systems stimulated by the modalities and activities. No difference in modality and activity use was found on the basis of demographic variables. CONCLUSION Overall findings indicate that the breadth of modalities and activities being used is far greater than that currently found in the literature. The results suggest a need for completing studies designed to examine the use and effectiveness of multisensory modalities and activities in handwriting remediation.
Holocene Fluctuations of a Meromictic Lake in Southern British Columbia

Holocene deposits of Mahoney Lake, a meromictic saline lake located in a closed basin in the semi-arid Okanagan Valley, contain evidence of frequent and marked changes in lake depth (up to >12 m/10014C yr) probably caused by short-term changes in effective precipitation. We studied a 5.45-m-long core comprising a basal layer of inorganic mud overlain by a succession of layers of calcareous laminated and nonlaminated organic mud, marl, and sand. We used Mazama tephra to adjust nine radiocarbon ages for the hardwater effect. Meromixis developed ca. 900014C yr B.P., and the lake has been episodically meromictic for about half the time since. Because of close linkages between sediments and depositional environments in meromictic and saline lakes, we infer that laminated sediments indicate meromictic conditions and high lake levels (>ca. 12 m water depth), whereas thick marl layers and nonlaminated sediments indicate nonmeromictic conditions and thus low lake levels (<ca. 8 m depth). Many of the inferred short-term climatic changes have not been identified in previous studies in northwestern North America, perhaps because of insensitive climatic proxies, inadequate temporal resolution, or discounting of anomalous findings.
Non-synonymous FGD3 Variant as Positional Candidate for Disproportional Tall Stature Accounting for a Carcass Weight QTL (CW-3) and Skeletal Dysplasia in Japanese Black Cattle

Recessive skeletal dysplasia, characterized by joint- and/or hip bone-enlargement, was mapped within the critical region for a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) influencing carcass weight; previously named CW-3 in Japanese Black cattle. The risk allele was on the same chromosome as the Q allele that increases carcass weight. Phenotypic characterization revealed that the risk allele causes disproportional tall stature and bone size that increases carcass weight in heterozygous individuals but causes disproportionately narrow chest width in homozygotes. A non-synonymous variant of FGD3 was identified as a positional candidate quantitative trait nucleotide (QTN) and the corresponding mutant protein showed reduced activity as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for Cdc42. FGD3 is expressed in the growth plate cartilage of femurs from bovine and mouse. Thus, loss of FDG3 activity may lead to subsequent loss of Cdc42 function. This would be consistent with the columnar disorganization of proliferating chondrocytes in chondrocyte-specific inactivated Cdc42 mutant mice. This is the first report showing association of FGD3 with skeletal dysplasia.
Genes and Pathways Involved in Adult Onset Disorders Featuring Muscle Mitochondrial DNA Instability

Replication and maintenance of mtDNA entirely relies on a set of proteins encoded by the nuclear genome, which include members of the core replicative machinery, proteins involved in the homeostasis of mitochondrial dNTPs pools or deputed to the control of mitochondrial dynamics and morphology. Mutations in their coding genes have been observed in familial and sporadic forms of pediatric and adult-onset clinical phenotypes featuring mtDNA instability. The list of defects involved in these disorders has recently expanded, including mutations in the exo-/endo-nuclease flap-processing proteins MGME1 and DNA2, supporting the notion that an enzymatic DNA repair system actively takes place in mitochondria. The results obtained in the last few years acknowledge the contribution of next-generation sequencing methods in the identification of new disease loci in small groups of patients and even single probands. Although heterogeneous, these genes can be conveniently classified according to the pathway to which they belong. The definition of the molecular and biochemical features of these pathways might be helpful for fundamental knowledge of these disorders, to accelerate genetic diagnosis of patients and the development of rational therapies. In this review, we discuss the molecular findings disclosed in adult patients with muscle pathology hallmarked by mtDNA instability.
Sampling and Analysis Artifacts Caused by Elevated Indoor Air Polychlorinated Biphenyl Concentrations

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations were measured in the indoor air of several public buildings in Bloomington, IN. The concentrations ranged from 5 to 300 times higher than outdoor concentrations, and the indoor air PCB levels were highest in buildings with the earliest construction dates; see Figure 2. These elevated indoor air PCB levels have caused contamination in sample preparation as well as artifacts in sample collection. PCBs in procedural blanks in a laboratory with an indoor air PCB concentration of 6 ng/m3 averaged 1 order of magnitude lower than those measured in a laboratory with an indoor air PCB concentration of 300 ng/m3. Air sampling conducted on the roof of a building with high indoor air PCB concentrations and roof-top ventilation gave PCB concentrations that were approximately five times above ambient levels. However, sampling on the roof of another building without roof-top ventilation gave PCB concentrations that were not artificially elevated. We recommend measuring the i.
Ocean circulation within the North Water polynya of Baffin Bay

Abstract The North Water Polynya is a recurrent polynya at the northern end of Baffin Bay. As part of the International North Water Project, recording current meters were moored within this polynya during 1997–98 to study the physical reasons for its existence. The data demonstrate that the North Water Polynya is dominated by a strong southward flow of cold water and ice from the Arctic Ocean. Although the West Greenland Current directs a modest flow of warmer water towards the polynya from the south‐east, this flow loses much of its heat south of the polynya through re‐circulation into and isopycnal mixing with the Arctic outflow. If an ice jam stops the inflow of ice from the north, the continued drift of ice southward ‘below’ the blockage is sufficient to create a large polynya without oceanic heating. However, upwelling near the Greenland coast can bring relatively warm water to the base of the turbulent surface layer where it is entrained via convection driven by brine growing from ice. The resulting flux of sensible heat supplies about one‐third of the heat loss at the surface and slows ice growth. Because the sensible heat flux is dependent upon freezing, it decreases as ice growth slows in spring and cannot, itself, generate ice‐free waters early in the year.
Cortical output to fast and slow muscles of the ankle in the rhesus macaque

The cortical control of fast and slow muscles of the ankle has been the subject of numerous reports yielding conflicting results. Although it is generally agreed that cortical stimulation yields short latency facilitation of fast muscles, the effects on the slow muscle, soleus, remain controversial. Some studies have shown predominant facilitation of soleus from the cortex while others have provided evidence of differential control in which soleus is predominantly inhibited from the cortex. The objective of this study was to investigate the cortical control of fast and slow muscles of the ankle using stimulus triggered averaging (StTA) of EMG activity, which is a sensitive method of detecting output effects on muscle activity. This method also has relatively high spatial resolution and can be applied in awake, behaving subjects. Two rhesus macaques were trained to perform a hindlimb push-pull task. Stimulus triggered averages (StTAs) of EMG activity (15, 30, and 60 μA at 15 Hz) were computed for four muscles of the ankle [tibialis anterior (TA), medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral gastrocnemius (LG), and soleus] as the monkeys performed the task. Poststimulus facilitation (PStF) was observed in both the fast muscles (TA, MG, and LG) as well as the slow muscle (soleus) and was as common and as strong in soleus as in the fast muscles. However, while poststimulus suppression (PStS) was observed in all muscles, it was more common in the slow muscle compared to the fast muscles and was as common as facilitation at low stimulus intensities. Overall, our results demonstrate that cortical facilitation of soleus has an organization that is very similar to that of the fast ankle muscles. However, cortical inhibition is organized differently allowing for more prominent suppression of soleus motoneurons.