Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soil water partitioning contributes to species coexistence in tallgrass prairie

The majority of tallgrass prairie root biomass is located in the upper soil layers (0 � 25 cm), but species differences exist in reliance on soil water at varying depths. These differences have led to the hypothesis that resource partitioning belowground facilitates species co-existence in this mesic grassland. To determine if plant water relations can be linked to soil water partitioning as a potential mechanism allowing C3 species to persist among the more dominant C4 grasses, we measured differences in the source of water-use using the isotopic signature of xylem water, volumetric soil water content at 4 depths, and leaf water potentials. Data were collected for seven species representing C4 grasses, C3 forbs and C3 shrubs over three growing seasons at the Konza Prairie (Kansas, USA) to encompass a range of natural climatic conditions. C4 grasses relied on shallow soil water (5 cm) across the growing season and had midday leaf water potentials that were highly correlated with shallow soil water regardless of soil water availability at other portions of the soil profile (20, 40 and 90 cm). In contrast, C3 species only used shallow soil water when plentiful at this depth; these species increased their dependence on soil water from greater depths as the upper soil layers dried. Structural equation models describing plant water relations were very similar for the three C4 species, whereas a unique set of models and drivers were identified for each of the C3 species. These results support soil water partitioning as a mechanism for species coexistence, as C4 species in this grassland have relatively consistent dependence on water in shallow soil layers, whereas C3 species show niche differentiation in water use strategies to avoid competition with C4 grasses for water in shallow soil layers when this resource is limiting and leaf water stress is high.
Local circuit neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex (areas 24a,b,c, 25 and 32) in the monkey: II. Quantitative areal and laminar distributions

The companion paper (Gabbott and Bacon [1996] J. Comp. Neurol.) describes the morphology of calretinin (CR)‐, parvalbumin (PV)‐, calbindin (CB)‐, and GABA‐immunoreactive neurons, and NADPH diaphorase‐reactive cells, in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC; areas 24a, 24b, 24c, 25 and 32) of the adult monkey. Since these local circuit neurons play crucial functional roles, the aim of this study was to provide supportive quantitative data defining their areal and laminar distribution in mPFC.
An Atmospheric Correction Parameter Calculator for a single thermal band earth-sensing instrument

An atmospheric correction tool has been developed for public web site access for the Landsat-5 and Landsat-7 thermal band. The Atmospheric Correction Parameter Calculator uses the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) modeled atmospheric global profiles for a particular date, time and location as input. Using commercially-available MODTRAN software and a suite of integration algorithms, the site-specific atmospheric transmission, and upwelling and downwelling radiances are derived. These calculated parameters can be applied to single band thermal imagery from Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) or Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) to infer an at-surface kinetic temperature for all the pixels in the scene. Given the TM and ETM+ Band-6 instrument calibration uncertainties in Top-of-Atmosphere temperature are /spl plusmn/1.0 and /spl plusmn/0.6 K, respectively, then the corresponding uncertainties in the inferred surface temperatures are approximately /spl plusmn/2-3 K.
Servitizing Manufacturers: The Importance of Service Complexity and Contractual and Relational Capabilities

Processes of servitization will lead providers to change their service delivery structures but they also need to transform broader organisational attributes including contractual and relational capabilities. Based on case studies in the European healthcare sector, we investigate the influence of increasing levels of service complexity on this transformation. Our findings are potentially counter-intuitive; suggesting that contractual capabilities do not increase with service complexity. Instead, we observed increased levels of relational capabilities; manifest in the visibility of the provider on the customer site, the number of ‘non-requested’ site visits and increasingly informal information exchange.
Biological mechanisms underlying the clinical effects of allergen-specific immunotherapy in asthmatic children

ABSTRACT Introduction: Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is indicated for patients with allergic asthma and/or allergic rhinitis, and can be implemented by either subcutaneous injection (SCIT) or sublingual administration (SLIT). AIT reduces asthma symptoms, lowers the use of pharmacologic controller therapy, and decreases the need for rescue medications. SLIT appears to be safer than SCIT, but SCIT seems to be more efficacious and acts earlier in allergic asthmatic children. Areas covered: This review looks at the pathobiology of allergic asthma as well as the role of regulatory T and B cells in allergen tolerance. It also reviews the immunological mechanisms underlying the clinical effects induced by AIT in allergic asthmatic children. Expert opinion: AIT is very effective in allergic asthmatic children, who can significantly benefit from this particular type of immunotherapy in order to achieve a better control of their disease. AIT is also capable of modifying the natural history of allergic asthma. Furthermore, AIT can potentially represent a valuable therapeutic tool within the context of precision medicine, as recombinant allergen technology might allow the creation of targeted extracts able to be effective against specific proteins to which individual asthmatic children are allergic, thus helping to implement a personalized approach to treatment.
Automatic classification of emotion related user states in spontaneous children's speech

The recognition of the user’s emotion-related state is one important step in making human-machine communication more natural. In this work, the focus is set on mono-modal systems with speech as only input channel. Current research has to shift from emotion portrayals to those states that actually appear in application-oriented scenarios. These states are mainly weak emotion-related states and mixtures of different states. The presented FAU Aibo Emotion Corpus is a major contribution in this area. It is a corpus of spontaneous, emotionally colored speech of children at the age of 10 to 13 years interacting with the Sony robot Aibo. 11 emotion-related states are labeled on the word level. Experiments are conducted on three subsets of the corpus on the word, the turn, and the intermediate chunk level. Best results have been obtained on the chunk level where a classwise averaged recognition rate of almost 70% for the 4-class problem Anger, Emphatic, Neutral, and Motherese has been achieved. Applying the proposed entropy based measure for the evaluation of decoders, the performance of the machine classifier on the word level is even slightly better than the one of the average human labeler. The presented set of features covers both acoustic and linguistic features. The linguistic features perform slightly worse than the acoustic features. An improvement can be achieved by combining both knowledge sources. The acoustic features are categorized into prosodic, spectral, and voice quality features. The energy and duration based prosodic features and the spectral MFCC features are the most relevant acoustic features in this scenario. Unigram models and bag-of-words features are the most relevant linguistic features.
Gαi2-mediated signaling events in the endothelium are involved in controlling leukocyte extravasation

The trafficking of leukocytes from the blood to sites of inflammation is the cumulative result of receptor-ligand-mediated signaling events associated with the leukocytes themselves as well as with the underlying vascular endothelium. Our data show that Gαi signaling pathways in the vascular endothelium regulate a critical step required for leukocyte diapedesis. In vivo studies using knockout mice demonstrated that a signaling event in a non-lymphohematopoietic compartment of the lung prevented the recruitment of proinflammatory leukocytes. Intravital microscopy showed that blockade was at the capillary endothelial surface andex vivo studies of leukocyte trafficking demonstrated that a Gαi-signaling event in endothelial cells was required for transmigration. Collectively, these data suggest that specific Gαi2-mediated signaling between endothelial cells and leukocytes is required for the extravasation of leukocytes and for tissue-specific accumulation.
Building a Virtual Campus for digital students

This paper describes the results of a study undertaken on Master of Science students in order to analyse their characteristics as digital students and how this can influence their use of the “Politehnica” University of Timisoara Virtual Campus. The students most used and important tools are search engines, online instant messenger and mobile phones, with direct implications on the development of their online learning environment. Their preferred communication method for educational activities in also instant, synchronous communication while online document sharing scores surprisingly high in their preferences.
Chlamydia trachomatis OmpA genotyping as a tool for studying the natural history of genital chlamydial infection

Objective: To investigate the relationship of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) outer membrane protein A (OmpA) type to the clearance of CT infection before treatment. Methods: CT OmpA genotyping, with amplification and sequencing of ompA, was utilised to study the natural history of CT infection (spontaneous resolution vs persistence) in 102 individuals with chlamydia-positive screening tests returning for treatment. Results: CT OmpA distribution was associated with spontaneous resolution of CT, most notably with CT OmpA genotype J/Ja detected more often from the initial screening CT test than other genotypes in those who then had spontaneous resolution of CT noted at the time of treatment. Five individuals with presumed persisting CT infection had discordant CT OmpA genotypes at the screening and treatment visits, suggesting possible new interval CT infection. Conclusions: Clearance of chlamydia by the host before treatment may be influenced by the CT OmpA genotype infecting the host. CT OmpA genotyping may be a valuable tool in understanding the natural history of chlamydial infections.
Vitamin D supplementation and calcium absorption during caloric restriction: a randomized double-blind trial.

BACKGROUND Weight loss (WL) is associated with a decrease in calcium absorption and may be one mechanism that induces bone loss with weight reduction. OBJECTIVE Because vitamin D supplementation has been shown to increase true fractional calcium absorption (TFCA), the goal of this study was to examine the effect of vitamin D during WL or weight maintenance (WM). DESIGN A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind 6-wk study was conducted in 82 postmenopausal women [BMI (in kg/m(2); ±SD): 30.2 ± 3.7] with 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations <70 nmol/L during either WL or WM. All women were given 10 μg vitamin D(3)/d and 1.2 g Ca/d and either weekly vitamin D(3) (375 μg) or a placebo equivalent to 63 μg (2500 IU)/d and 10 μg (400 IU)/d, respectively. We measured TFCA with the use of dual-stable isotopes, 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone, estradiol, calcitriol, and urinary calcium at baseline and 6 wk in weight loss and vitamin D(3)-supplementation (WL-D; n = 19), weight maintenance and vitamin D(3)-supplementation (WM-D; n = 20), weight loss and placebo (n = 22), and weight maintenance and placebo (n = 21) groups. RESULTS WL groups lost 3.8 ± 1.1% of weight with no difference between vitamin D(3) supplementation and the placebo. The rise in serum 25(OH)D was greatest in the WL-D group (19.8 ± 14.5 nmol/L) compared with in WM-D (9.1 ± 10.3 nmol/L) and placebo groups (1.5 ± 10.9 nmol/L). TFCA increased with vitamin D(3) supplementation compared with placebo treatment (P < 0.01) and decreased during WL compared with WM. Serum 25(OH)D or 1,25-dihyroxyvitamin D did not correlate with TFCA. CONCLUSION These data show that vitamin D supplementation increases TFCA and that WL decreases TFCA and suggest that, when calcium intake is 1.2 g/d, either 10 or 63 μg vitamin D/d is sufficient to maintain the calcium balance. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00473031.
Physical and Psychosocial Symptoms among 88 Volunteer Subjects Compared with Patients Seeking Plastic Surgery Procedures to the Breast

In an investigation of the relationship between macromastia and physical and psychosocial symptoms, 88 female university students, 21 augmentation mammaplasty patients, and 31 breast reduction patients graded somatic and psychosocial symptoms. The intent of the study was to discover which complaints were most common among women presenting for reduction mammaplasty and to determine whether height/weight index and brassiere chest measurement and cup size might affect their symptoms. Both the student group and the augmentation mammaplasty patients differed significantly from the breast reduction patients. Eighty-one percent of the reduction patients complained of neck and back pain. Seventy-seven percent complained of shoulder pain, 58 percent complained of chafing or rash; 45 percent reported significant limitation in their activity; and 52 percent were unhappy with their appearance (p < 0.001 compared with augmentation and student groups). Physical symptoms were related to height/weight index and bra chest and cup sizes in each of the three participating groups. It was found that patients who present for symptom-related reduction mammaplasty have a disease-specific group of physical and psychosocial complaints that are more directly related to large breast size than to being overweight.
The Growth Cone as Seen Through Cajal's Original Histological Preparations and Publications

During the development of the nervous system, each neuron must contact its appropriate target cell in order to establish its specific connections. More than a century ago, Ramón y Cajal discovered an amoeboid-like structure at the end of the axon of developing nerve cells. He called this structure the growth cone [cono de crecimiento] and he proposed that this structure was guided towards its target tissue by chemical substances secreted by the different cells that line its course. We have reviewed the discovery of the growth cone by Cajal using his original publications, his original scientific drawings, and by studying his histological preparations conserved at the “Instituto Cajal” (Madrid, Spain). 1 We found a very good correlation between the structure of the growth cone in the Golgi-impregnated and reduced silver-nitrate-stained material used by Cajal, and that which is revealed with present-day methods. Finally, Cajal's view of the function of the growth cone and his chemotactic hypothesis will also be considered in the light of present-day knowledge. 1The Cajal Museum is situated within the Cajal Institute at Doctor Arce 37, Madrid, where most of the items that Cajal himself produced are conserved, such as: histological preparations; scientific drawings; his photographic collection; scientific manuscripts; scientific correspondence; artistic drawings, and paintings (Freire, 2003). *Both authors have equally contributed to this work.
Needs in Health Care: What Beast is That?

Need is a pivotal concept within health systems internationally given its driving force in health care policy, development, and delivery at population and individual levels. Needs assessments are critical activities undertaken to ensure that health services continue to be needed and to identify new target populations that demonstrate unmet need. The concept of need is underpinned by varied theoretical definitions originating from various disciplines. However, when needs are assessed, or health interventions developed based on need, little, if any, detail of the theoretical or conceptual basis of what is being measured is ever articulated. This is potentially problematic and may lead to measurement being invalid and planned health services being ineffective in meeting needs. Seldom are theoretical definitions of need ever compared and contrasted. This critical review is intended to fill this gap in the literature. Interpretations of the concept of need drawing from areas such as psychology, social policy, and health are introduced. The concept and relevance of unmet need for health services are discussed. It is intended that these definitions can be used to operationalize the term “need” in practice, theoretically drive needs assessment, and help guide health care decisions that are based upon need.
The Effects of Chains on the Measurement of Competition in the Nursing Home Industry

Consistently accounting for more than 50% of the nursing homes in the United States, corporate chains have played an important role in the industry for several decades. However, few studies have explicitly considered the role of chains in measuring competition in nursing home markets. In this study, we use a newly developed database tracking common ownership over a period of nearly two decades to compare chain-adjusted and unadjusted measures of competition at the county and 25 km fixed-radius levels and explore how the differences would affect the assessment of local market structure. On average, the chain-adjusted Herfindahl–Hirschman Indexes (HHIs) are about 0.02 higher than the unadjusted HHIs. Each year, about 20% to 22% of the counties would appear more concentrated when recalculating HHIs accounting for common ownership. Evidence suggests that nursing home chains tend to focus more on expanding access to new markets within a state than to increasing market power within a smaller local market.
Computational prediction of binding hotspots

We combine side-chain modeling, energy minimization and binding free energy calculation to predict point mutations with significant impacts on binding affinities (binding hotspots). Our method achieves high accuracy for two datasets (alanine-scanning mutations in ASEdb and 570 mutations on protease-inhibitor complexes). In particular, we can predict mutations that lead to improved binding with success. We discuss various factors that may contribute the prediction accuracy, including the amino acid to mutate to, and the position of the mutation.
Image Retrieval Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks and Regularized Locality Preserving Indexing Strategy

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) has been a very popular area in large scale data processing and many works have demonstrate that CNN is a very promising tool in many field, e.g., image classification and image retrieval. Theoretically, CNN features can become better and better with the increase of CNN layers. But on the other side more layers can dramatically increase the computational cost on the same condition of other devices. In addition to CNN features, how to dig out the potential information contained in the features is also an important aspect. In this paper, we propose a novel approach utilize deep CNN to extract image features and then introduce a Regularized Locality Preserving Indexing (RLPI) method which can make features more differentiated through learning a new space of the data space. First, we apply deep networks (VGG-net) to extract image features and then introduce Regularized Locality Preserving Indexing (RLPI) method to train a model. Finally, the new feature space can be generated through this model and then can be used to image retrieval.
Changes in force and calcium sensitivity in the developing avian heart.

The aim of this study was to characterize the development of the contractile properties of intact and chemically skinned muscle from chicken heart and to compare these characteristics with those of developing mammalian heart reported by others. Small trabeculae were dissected from left ventricles of Arbor Acre chickens between embryonic day 7 and young adulthood (7 weeks post-hatching). At all ages, increasing extracellular calcium (0.45-3.6 mM) progressively increased twitch force of electrically stimulated trabeculae. Twitch force at 1.8 mM extracellular calcium, normalized to cross-sectional area, increased to a maximum at 1 day post-hatching, remained constant through 3 weeks post-hatching, but then decreased at 7 weeks post-hatching. The maximal calcium-activated force of trabeculae chemically skinned with Triton X-100 detergent increased to a maximum 2 days before the time of hatching and was not significantly changed up to 7 weeks post-hatching. Over the ages studied, average twitch force in 1.8 mM calcium was between 26 and 66% of maximal calcium-activated force after skinning, suggesting that the contractile apparatus is not fully activated during the twitch in normal Ringer. In skinned trabeculae, the calcium sensitivity of the contractile apparatus was higher in the embryo than in the young adult. These age-dependent changes in calcium sensitivity are correlated with isoform switching in troponin T. A decrease in pH from 7.0 to 6.5 decreased the calcium sensitivity of the contractile apparatus to a greater degree in skinned trabeculae from young adult hearts than in those from embryonic hearts. This change in susceptibility to acidosis is temporally associated with isoform switching in troponin I. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)