Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactions Between Fusarium verticillioides, Aspergillus flavus, and Insect Infestation in Four Maize Genotypes in Lowland Africa.

ABSTRACT An experiment was designed to compare cycles of selection of four maize genotypes for ear- and grain-quality characteristics, interactions with Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium verticillioides infection, and insect ear infestation in two seasons. Mean infection levels by A. flavus and F. verticillioides were significantly higher in inoculated rows than in the controls. The F. verticillioides-inoculated rows had significantly more coleopteran beetles and lepidopteran borers per ear than the controls and A. flavus-inoculated rows. Genotypes and cycles of selection within genotype were not different with respect to number of insects or percent fungal incidence in the ear, but they were different for husk extension, field weight, 100-grain weight, and grain density. Inoculation with either fungus resulted in significantly higher percentage of floaters (i.e., loss of grain density) and lower grain weight than the controls. Aflatoxin (B1 and B2) in A. flavus-inoculated rows averaged 327 ppb in the first season and 589 ppb in the second (dryer) season. Fumonisin levels in F. verticillioides-inoculated rows did not differ between seasons, with an average of 6.2 ppm across seasons. In the noninoculated control rows, fumonisin was significantly higher in the first (5.3 ppm) than in the second (3.1 ppm) season. For all genotypes, husk extension and yield parameters decreased in the fungal-inoculated treatments. General ear-rot scoring was significantly correlated with incidence of F. verticillioides in kernels and grain-weight loss but not with A. flavus in the grain.
Surface-Associated Flagellum Formation and Swarming Differentiation in Bacillus subtilis Are Controlled by the ifm Locus

ABSTRACT Knowledge of the highly regulated processes governing the production of flagella in Bacillus subtilis is the result of several observations obtained from growing this microorganism in liquid cultures. No information is available regarding the regulation of flagellar formation in B. subtilis in response to contact with a solid surface. One of the best-characterized responses of flagellated eubacteria to surfaces is swarming motility, a coordinate cell differentiation process that allows collective movement of bacteria over solid substrates. This study describes the swarming ability of a B. subtilis hypermotile mutant harboring a mutation in the ifm locus that has long been known to affect the degree of flagellation and motility in liquid media. On solid media, the mutant produces elongated and hyperflagellated cells displaying a 10-fold increase in extracellular flagellin. In contrast to the mutant, the parental strain, as well as other laboratory strains carrying a wild-type ifm locus, fails to activate a swarm response. Furthermore, it stops to produce flagella when transferred from liquid to solid medium. Evidence is provided that the absence of flagella is due to the lack of flagellin gene expression. However, restoration of flagellin synthesis in cells overexpressing σD or carrying a deletion of flgM does not recover the ability to assemble flagella. Thus, the ifm gene plays a determinantal role in the ability of B. subtilis to contact with solid surfaces.
Semi-automatic Hand Detection - A Case Study on Real Life Mobile Eye-tracker Data

In this paper we present a highly accurate algorithm for the detection of human hands in real-life 2D image sequences. Current state of the art algorithms show relatively poor detection accuracy results on unconstrained, challenging images. To overcome this, we introduce a detection scheme in which we combine several well known detection techniques combined with an advanced elimination mechanism to reduce false detections. Furthermore we present a novel (semi-)automatic framework achieving detection rates up to 100%, with only minimal manual input. This is a useful tool in supervised applications where an error-free detection result is required at the cost of a limited amount of manual effort. As an application, this paper focuses on the analysis of video data of human-human interaction, collected with the scene camera of mobile eye-tracking glasses. This type of data is typically annotated manually for relevant features (e.g. visual fixations on gestures), which is a time-consuming, tedious and error-prone task. The usage of our semi-automatic approach reduces the amount of manual analysis dramatically. We also present a new fully annotated benchmark dataset on this application which we made publicly available.
Seasonal Blood Pressure and Body Weight Variation in Patients on Chronic Hemodialysis

Aim: The relation of ambient temperature (AMT) and relative humidity to systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body weight (BW), and body weight gain between dialysis sessions (ΔBW) was examined in hemodialysis patients by Fourier analysis. Methods and Results: The authors recruited 144 dialysis patients from a hemodialysis center in Okinawa, Japan where there is distinct seasonal variation in monthly AMT but a constant intradiurnal temperature change throughout the year. All patients had been undergoing chronic and regular hemodialysis three times per week. SBP, DBP, and BW before dialysis sessions and ΔBW were recorded in 1994. Mean monthly Okinawa AMT in 1994 was highest in Augsut and lowest in February and March, and the mean monthly relative humidity in 1994 was highest in June and lowest in January. Mean SBP and DBP were lowest in August and June respectively, and greatest in December. BW was lowest in July and September, and greatest in February and March; ΔBW was lowest in July and greatest in January. These seasonal patterns were well reproduced by the first Fourier component. The cross-correlation coefficient showed that monthly mean AMT and SBP, DBP, BW, and ΔBW were correlated with a lag time of 5 or 6 months. The cross correlation coefficient showed that relative humidity and SBP, DBP and ΔBW were also correlated with a 6-month lag time. In analyzing subgroups of patients according to the presence or absence of antihypertensive medications, a seasonal change was observed in the SBP and DBP of patients not being treated with antihypertensives, and in the DBP of patients taking antihypertensive medications, but not in the SBP of patients taking antihypertensive medications. Conclusion: Seasonal variations in SBP, DBP, BW and ΔBW were evident. AMT and the relative humidity correlated strongly with SBP, DBP, BW and ΔBW. The clinical implications of these findings in hemodialysis patients warrant further investigation.
Women who use injection drugs: the social context of risk.

R elatively few studies — especially Canadian ones — have addressed the problems and issues specific to women who are injection drug users. Much of what we can say about this group of women must be extrapolated from the literature on HIV/AIDS and from reports on drug treatment programs in the US. Notwithstanding the lack of information about them, women who inject drugs are increasingly visible in our society. Needle-exchange and harm-reduction programs in Canada report significant use by women: for example, women comprise 35% of the approximately 6000 registrants of the Vancouver Needle Exchange and were represented in the same proportion in the cohort of injection drug users involved in the Vancouver Injection Drug Use Study (VIDUS). Approximately 20% of injection drug users recruited in Montreal for an observational study of risk behaviours and HIV infection were women. The urgency of the problems facing these women challenges physicians to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the culture and context in which they live and a more informed approach to their health care.
Cerebellar-Inspired Adaptive Control of a Robot Eye Actuated by Pneumatic Artificial Muscles

In this paper, a model of cerebellar function is implemented and evaluated in the control of a robot eye actuated by pneumatic artificial muscles. The investigated control problem is stabilization of the visual image in response to disturbances. This is analogous to the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) in humans. The cerebellar model is structurally based on the adaptive filter, and the learning rule is computationally analogous to least-mean squares, where parameter adaptation at the parallel fiber/Purkinje cell synapse is driven by the correlation of the sensory error signal (carried by the climbing fiber) and the motor command signal. Convergence of the algorithm is first analyzed in simulation on a model of the robot and then tested online in both one and two degrees of freedom. The results show that this model of neural function successfully works on a real-world problem, providing empirical evidence for validating: 1) the generic cerebellar learning algorithm; 2) the function of the cerebellum in the VOR; and 3) the signal transmission between functional neural components of the VOR.
WHY DO SOME SIBLINGS ATTACK EACH OTHER? COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AGGRESSION IN AVIAN BROODS

Abstract In many parentally fed species, siblings compete for food not only by begging and scrambling, but also by violently attacking each other. This aggressive competition has mostly been studied in birds, where it is often combined with dominance subordination, aggressive intimidation, and siblicide. Previous experimental and theoretical studies proposed several life-history, morphological, and behavioral variables that may facilitate the evolution of broodmate aggression, and explain its taxonomic distribution. Here we apply phylogenetic comparative analyses for the first time to test the influence of five hypothesized facilitators of the evolution of broodmate aggression, analyzing 69 species in seven avian families using two quantitative measures of aggression: incidence and intensity. We show that incidence and intensity of aggression increase with long nestling periods and indirect feeding, and small brood size is associated with intense aggression. Large food parcels were not correlated with either the incidence or intensity of aggression. Our study suggests that indirect feeding, long nestling periods, and small broods, possibly in combination with other factors, have tended to favor the evolution of aggressive broodmate competition.
Presence of transplantable T-lymphoid cells in C57BL/6 mice infected with murine AIDS virus

The Duplan strain of murine leukemia virus induces murine AIDS in C57BL/6 mice. When spleen cells from C57BL/6 mice infected with the virus were transplanted into nude mice, subcutaneous solid tumors at the transplanted sites were formed and splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy were induced. These transplantable cells were Thy-1- CD4+ alpha-beta T-cell receptor-positive T cells and integrated with the pathogenic defective viral genome. These results indicate that neoplastic cells of T-cell lineage were induced by infecting C57BL/6 mice with murine AIDS virus.
Information, Perspective, and Judgments About the Self in Face and Dignity Cultures

People’s judgments about their own moral status and well-being were made differently by those from a Dignity culture (Anglo-Americans) and by those from a Face culture (Asian Americans). Face culture participants were more influenced by information processed from a third-person (compared with first-person) perspective, with information about the self having a powerful effect only when seen through another’s eyes. Thus, (a) Asian Americans felt the greatest need for moral cleansing when thinking about how others would judge their many (vs. few) transgressions, but this effect did not hold when others were not invoked, and (b) Asian Americans defined themselves as having a rich social network and worthwhile life when thinking about how others would evaluate their many (vs. few) friendships, but again, effects did not hold when others were not invoked. In contrast, Anglo-Americans responded to information about their transgressions or friendships, but effects were pronounced only when other people were not invoked.
Molecular and cellular pathogenesis of X‐linked lymphoproliferative disease

Summary: X‐linked lymphoproliferative disease (XLP) is an inherited immune defect caused by mutations in the Src homology 2 domain‐containing gene 1A, which encodes the adapter protein, signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM)‐associated protein (SAP). SAP is expressed in T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and NKT cells, where it binds to the cytoplasmic domain of the surface receptor SLAM (CD150) and the related receptors, 2B4 (CD244), CD84, Ly9 (CD229), NK‐T‐B‐antigen, and CD2‐like receptor‐activating cytotoxic T cells. SAP also binds to the Src family tyrosine kinase Fyn and recruits it to SLAM, which leads to the generation of downstream phosphotyrosine signals. While the roles of the SLAM family receptors are only beginning to be understood, experiments suggest that these molecules regulate important aspects of lymphocyte function, such as proliferation, cytokine secretion, cytotoxicity, and antibody production. Thus, in XLP patients who lack functional SAP, the SLAM family receptors may not signal properly. This property likely contributes to the phenotypes of XLP, including fulminant infectious mononucleosis, lymphoma, and hypogammaglobulinemia. Further studies of SAP and the SLAM family receptors will provide insights into XLP and elucidate the signaling events regulating lymphocyte ontogeny and function.
Modern communication technologies and the extension of the territory of struggle: Conceptualising Tunisia’s jasmine revolution

This article seeks to conceptualise the role of modern communications technologies in revolutionary social movements starting from the jasmine revolution in Tunisia. After pointing to the limited explanatory potential of rationalist models of resource mobilisation and political opportunity structures in the case at hand, the article offers to investigate the extent to which the Internet provided new, immaterial territories over which discontent could prosper. Importing Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of ‘territorialisation’ in the study of contentious politics, the article proposes to apprehend social movements on the basis of the inclusiveness and thickness of their territorial foundations and hypothesises that immaterial territories of struggle gave rise to an extremely inclusive but fairly shallow social movement, which was only able to solve basic collective action problems. More complex forms of collective action were conducted in less inclusive communities with thicker territorial foundations.
Motivated Shifting of Justice Standards

Three studies test whether group members strategically shift the standard of judgment they use to decide whether a particular ingroup action was unjust. In Study 1, individuals who were highly identified with their ingroup set higher confirmatory injustice standards than low identifiers—they needed more evidence to conclude that their group acted unjustly. This led to reductions in judgments of harm and diminished collective guilt. In Study 2, group identification was experimentally manipulated and the results of Study 1 were replicated. In Study 3, stronger support is provided for the motivational nature of this process. Specifically, the motivation to shift the standard upward was decreased by providing group members with an opportunity to self-affirm at the group level. Participants who self-affirmed set lower confirmatory standards of injustice, rated the harm as more severe, and experienced greater collective guilt than, those not self-affirming. Implications of this quantitative standard shifting are discussed.
New insights into the enigma of immunoglobulin D

Summary: Immunoglobulin D (IgD) has remained a mysterious antibody class for almost half a century. IgD was initially thought to be a recently evolved Ig isotype expressed only by some mammalian species, but recent discoveries in fishes and amphibians demonstrate that IgD was present in the ancestor of all jawed vertebrates and has important immunological functions. The structure of IgD has been very dynamic throughout evolution. Mammals can express IgD through alternative splicing and class switch recombination. Active cell‐dependent and T‐cell‐independent IgM‐to‐IgD class switching takes place in a unique subset of human B cells from the upper aerodigestive mucosa, which provides a layer of mucosal protection by interacting with many pathogens and their virulence factors. Circulating IgD can bind to myeloid cells such as basophils and induce antimicrobial, inflammatory, and B‐cell‐stimulating factors upon cross‐linking, which contributes to not only immune surveillance but also inflammation and tissue damage when this pathway is overactivated under pathological conditions. Recent research shows that IgD is an important immunomodulator that orchestrates an ancestral surveillance system at the interface between immunity and inflammation.
Graft ischemic time and outcome of lung transplantation: a multicenter analysis.

RATIONALE The effect of graft ischemic time on early graft function and long-term survival of patients who underwent lung transplantation remains controversial. Consequently, graft ischemic time has not been incorporated in the decision-making process at the time of graft acceptance. OBJECTIVES To investigate the relationship between graft ischemic time and (1) early graft function and (2) long-term survival after lung transplantation. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The data from 752 patients who underwent single lung transplantation (n = 258), bilateral lung transplantation (n = 247), and heart-lung transplantation (n = 247) in seven French transplantation centers during a 12-year period were reviewed. Independent data quality control was done to ensure the quality of the collected variables. Mean graft ischemic time was 245.8 +/- 96.4 minutes (range 50-660). After adjustment on 11 potential confounders, graft ischemic time was associated with the recipient Pa(O2)/FI(O2) ratio recorded within the first 6 hours and with long-term survival in patients undergoing single or double lung transplantation but not in patients undergoing heart-lung transplantation. The relationship between graft ischemic time and survival appears to be of cubic form with a cutoff value of 330 minutes. These results were unaffected by the preservation fluid employed. CONCLUSIONS The results of this large cohort of patients suggest a close relationship between graft ischemic time and both early gas exchange and long-term survival after single and double lung transplantation. Such relationship was not found in patients undergoing heart-lung transplantation. The expected graft ischemic time should be incorporated in the decision-making process at the time of graft acceptance.
Properties of biochar derived from wood and high-nutrient biomasses with the aim of agronomic and environmental benefits

Biochar production and use are part of the modern agenda to recycle wastes, and to retain nutrients, pollutants, and heavy metals in the soil and to offset some greenhouse gas emissions. Biochars from wood (eucalyptus sawdust, pine bark), sugarcane bagasse, and substances rich in nutrients (coffee husk, chicken manure) produced at 350, 450 and 750°C were characterized to identify agronomic and environmental benefits, which may enhance soil quality. Biochars derived from wood and sugarcane have greater potential for improving C storage in tropical soils due to a higher aromatic character, high C concentration, low H/C ratio, and FTIR spectra features as compared to nutrient-rich biochars. The high ash content associated with alkaline chemical species such as KHCO3 and CaCO3, verified by XRD analysis, made chicken manure and coffee husk biochars potential liming agents for remediating acidic soils. High Ca and K contents in chicken manure and coffee husk biomass can significantly replace conventional sources of K (mostly imported in Brazil) and Ca, suggesting a high agronomic value for these biochars. High-ash biochars, such as chicken manure and coffee husk, produced at low-temperatures (350 and 450°C) exhibited high CEC values, which can be considered as a potential applicable material to increase nutrient retention in soil. Therefore, the agronomic value of the biochars in this study is predominantly regulated by the nutrient richness of the biomass, but an increase in pyrolysis temperature to 750°C can strongly decrease the adsorptive capacities of chicken manure and coffee husk biochars. A diagram of the agronomic potential and environmental benefits is presented, along with some guidelines to relate biochar properties with potential agronomic and environmental uses. Based on biochar properties, research needs are identified and directions for future trials are delineated.
Phase noise analysis of the OFDM communication system by the standard frequency deviation

This paper analyzes phase noise effects on the performance of an OFDM communication system by the linear approximation approach. We newly present a generalized phase noise power spectrum density (PSD) model using the normalized phase noise power spectrum model-Lorentzian model. Also, we derive the relationship between the phase noise PSD's parameter f/sub 3dB/ and the standard frequency deviation f/sub d/ of phase noise probability density function (PDF), and the relationship between phase noise variance /spl sigma//sub /spl phi///sup 2/ and f/sub d/. Analytical BER results closely match with simulation results of the OFDM communication system using QPSK and 16QAM modulation format. The performance of OFDM system is evaluated when the bandwidth B/sub s/=10 MHz and phase noise is included. When the standard frequency deviation f/sub d/ are 5 Hz, 8 Hz. and 12 Hz, the SNR to meet the BER=10/sup -4/ in AWGN channel experiences the power penalty by about 0.6 dB, 1.0 dB and 1.7 dB in the QPSK scheme and about 1.9 dB, 3.2 dB and 67 dB in 16QAM modulation than the OFDM communication system without phase noise. Furthermore, the BER performance of the QPSK-OFDM communication system is considerably degraded because of the BER error floor if the phase noise standard frequency deviation f/sub d/ becomes greater than 30 Hz.
Gene therapy for human bypass grafts

Autologous saphenous vein is the conduit of choice for the bypass of arterial occlusive disease, be it in the peripheral arterial tree or in the coronary system. This technique is limited by primary graft failure rates approaching 20% in the first year for peripheral arterial disease and 50% at 10 years for coronary artery bypass grafting. The PREVENT trial describes a novel, safe and effective means of ex vivo transfection of harvested vein grafts with an E2F decoy oligonucleotide, with 70–74% decreases in the level of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and c-myc mRNA expressed by the smooth muscle cells in the vein. This translated into a statistically significant reduction in primary graft failure when used to bypass peripheral arterial occlusions in a high-risk human patient population.
Alternative Medicine: Potential Dangers for the Diabetic Foot

Two patients with non‐insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus and previously undiagnosed peripheral neuropathy consulted separate practitioners in alternative medicine with symptoms of painful cold feet. They both received the traditional Chinese therapy of moxibustion and subsequently developed painless ulceration at the sites of treatment on the feet and legs. These cases re‐emphasize the dangers of trauma to the neuropathic limb in patients with diabetes.