Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical Activity Protects the Pathological Alterations of Alzheimer’s Disease Kidneys via the Activation of PACAP and BMP Signaling Pathways

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with typical amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregations. Elimination of the Aβ precursors via the kidneys makes the organ a potential factor in the systemic degeneration leading to AD. Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) exerts neuroprotective effects in AD and plays a protective role in kidney pathologies. Increased physical activity is preventive of the formation of AD, but its detailed mechanism and possible connections with PACAP have not been clarified. In the kidneys of AD mice, the effects of physical activity were investigated by comparing wild-type and AD organs. Aβ plaque formation was reduced in AD kidneys after increased training (TAD). Mechanotransduction elevated PACAP receptor expression in TAD mice and normalized the protein kinase A (PKA)-mediated pathways. BMP4/BMPR1 elevation activated Smad1 expression and normalized collagen type IV in TAD animals. In conclusion, our data suggest that elevated physical activity can prevent the AD-induced pathological changes in the kidneys via, at least in part, the activation of PACAP–BMP signaling crosstalk.
Fire effects on community structure, composition, and diversity in a dry sandstone barrens

TAFT, J. B. (Center for Biodiversity, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL 61820). Fire effects on community structure, composition, and diversity in a dry sandstone barrens. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 130:170-192. 2003. Fire effects on canopy, shrub/sapling, and ground-cover species composition, structure, and diversity patterns were examined following two burns in a dry sandstone barrens remnant in southern Illinois. Vegetation was monitored at a fire treatment site and a nearby fire-free control site for three years following the first fire and two years following the second fire. Fire effects were most pronounced in the ground-cover stratum and least in the tree stratum. At the fire treatment site, tree species richness was unchanged while tree density (stems 26 cm dbh) declined 10.6% from a baseline total of 945 stems/ha to 845 stems/ha. There was additional tree mortality the second growing season following each fire. Quercus stellata remained by far the most dominant species. Fire effects were limited to small-diameter trees ('15 cm dbh) while total tree basal area increased at the treatment site from 17.8 m2/ha to 18.22 m2. Stem density in the shrub/sapling stratum significantly declined immediately following each fire while recovery to preburn levels was underway in four years just prior to the second burn. After two burns, stem density was about 45% the baseline amount. In the ground-cover stratum there were significant increases in diversity, species richness, species density, and percent cover at the fire treatment site while at the control site these variables remained unchanged or slightly declined. Noteworthy differences occurred among C3 and C4 graminoid species as many C3 species (e.g., Dichanthelium spp., Carex spp.) increased greatly in frequency and percent cover with fire while C4 species (e.g., Schizachyrium scoparium, Sorghastrum nutans) had parallel decline in the treatment and control sites.
Are Two Voices Better Than One? Comparing Aspects of Text Quality and Authorial Voice in Paired and Independent L2 Writing

Research has shown that collaboratively produced texts are better in quality compared with individually written texts. However, no study has considered the role of collaboration in authorial voice, which is an essential element in current writing curricula. This study analyzes the effects of collaborative task performance in the quality of L2 learners’ argumentative texts and in their authorial voice strength. A total of 306 upper-intermediate L2 learners were selected and divided into independent (N = 130) and paired (N = 176) groups. Each learner/pair was asked to write one argumentative text. The quality of writings was determined by a quantitative analysis that included three measures of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Participants’ authorial voice strength was assessed by two raters using an analytic voice rubric. Comparison of means revealed that pairs outperformed independent writers in all CAF measures. However, the results for the role of collaboration in authorial voice were mixed: While pairs were more successful than independent writers in manifesting their ideational voice, independent writers outperformed pairs with regard to affective and presence voice dimensions and holistic voice scores. The article concludes that, despite its positive implications for L2 writing, collaborative writing may pose challenges for learners’ authorial stance taking.
Intestinal Motility: A Computer Simulation of the Effects of Drugs on Colonic Peristalsis, for Teaching Undergraduate Pharmacology Students

An interactive computer-assisted learning (CAD program, which simulates experiments performed on segments of rat colon (in vitro) to study the pharmacology of intestinal motility, is described. The program covers: a) the actions of drugs that affect cholinergic excitatory neurotransmission in the colon; b) the effects of sympathomimetic amines; and c) an investigation of the mechanism of action of the laxative, phenolphthalein. The program can be run on any IBM-compatible PC, and makes use of text and high-resolution graphics to provide a background to the experiments and to describe the methodology. The screen display emulates a chart recorder, and simulated results, derived from actual data, are presented, in response to student selection of pre-determined experimental protocols from a menu. The program is aimed at undergraduate students, and is intended to support or replace a conventional laboratory practical class, while achieving the majority of the same teaching and learning objectives.
A Description of a Recording Porometer and a Note on Stomatal Behaviour during Wilting

IN necessary experiments to obtain involving a continuous the estimation record of stomatal of stomatal aperture behaviour it is often over nec ssary t obtai a continuous r ord of sto tal b h iour over a considerable period. The necessity for making continuous observations by any of the usual methods is inconvenient, especially when observations of other phenomena have to be made. Balls (1) has used with success an automatic recording porometer, the Stomatograph, the chief objection to which is its high cost. More recently, Neilson Jones (2) has devised a recording porometer which can be constructed in the laboratory from inexpensive material. The apparatus here described is also of simple construction, and it has been found very satisfactory for stomatal investigations. The apparatus is essentially a self-recording modification of the aspirator porometer which has been described by one of us in a previous paper (3). In that paper it should have been stated that Balls (1, p. 34) has experimented with a recording aspirator, which, however, was subsequently abandoned for the type of apparatus of his Stomatograph. In the present apparatus a head of water in a constant-pressure aspirator is employed to draw air through the leaf, and the speed of the air-stream (and therefore the relative size of the stomatal apertures) is measured by the rate at which water flows from the aspirator. The apparatus is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1. A is a widemouthed bottle fitted with a rubber stopper pierced by three holes, through
Fossil Box Turtles (Terrapene) from Central North America, and Box Turtles of Eastern Mexico

Aftonian of the Pleistocene in Kansas. Only two fossil specimens of Terrapene ornata ornata were examined. Both were from New Mexico, one from a Wisconsin and one from a post-Wisconsin deposit. Most of the fossil box turtles from the central United States are referred to Terrapene carolina. The oldest specimens are from pre-Sangamon deposits of Texas and Kansas and are identified as T. carolina putnami. A number of the fossils are of Sangamon and early Wisconsin age and are identified as Terrapene carolina putnami x triunguis. The majority of the fossils are of late Wisconsin age and are identified as T. carolina triunguis, which occupies most of the central U. S. today. It is suggested that at times during the Pliocene and Pleistocene conditions comparable to those of the modern Gulf Coastal Plain extended as far inland as Kansas, New Mexico, and eastern Mexico, and that this broad coastal plain area was occupied by a single subspecies, T. carolina putnami. Climatic fluctuations and associated environmental changes during the Pleistocene ultimately led to the differentiation of putnami into T. carolina major in the southeast and T. carolina triunguis in the west. In Mexico, T. carolina putnami, or forms intermediate between putnami and triunguis, gave rise to T. carolina mexicana (formerly T. m. mexicana), T. carolina yucatana (formerly T. m. yucatana), and T. coahuila. T. carolina mexicana has a restricted distribution in southeastern Mexico and it is morphologically close to T. carolina triunguis. Texas fossils of late Wisconsin times indicate that the isolation of mexicana and triunguis is a relatively recent occurrence. T. carolina yucatana is restricted in distribution to the Yucatan Peninsula and it is morphologically close to T. carolina major. It is suggested that yucatana reached the Yucatan Peninsula during a glacial state of the Pleistocene when sea levels were low and a coastal plain was exposed between the present gulf coast and the mountains. The isolation of yucatana occurred prior to that of mexicana, and yucatana is somewhat closer to the older putnami stock than is mexicana. T. coahuila is restricted in distribution to a bolson in central Coahuila where it maintains an aquatic existence. Its distinct morphology may be attributed either to isolation from putnami at a time earlier than the other turtles were isolated or to a higher evolutionary rate as a result of rigorous selective pressure.
Prolamin Levels through Brewing and the Impact of Prolyl Endoproteinase1

Beer is derived from grist materials that contain gluten-type protein; therefore, it has long been assumed that it should not be consumed by those with celiac disease. However, because a significant objective of the malting and brewing process is protein precipitation and modification, beer may be rendered low in gluten from these processes alone. The levels of prolamin have been monitored throughout the brewing process with the RIDASCREEN Gliadin competitive R5 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. The barley malt contained 6,832.3 ± 61 mg/kg, but only 131.1 ± 1 mg/kg of prolamin remained after fermentation. Addition of prolyl endoproteinase lowered the level of prolamin still further, to levels below the reliable limit of detection. A significant difference in foam stability was observed between the control and the prolyl endoproteinase-treated gluten-free beer, but no other beers were significantly affected by the addition of this enzyme.
NEW SALAMANDER OF THE GENUS PLETHODON FROM MISSISSIPPI

T HE late Jackson Harold Ainsworth collected two salamanders "2 Mi S. of Bay Springs," Mississippi on 12 June 1964. At that time, Ainsworth was collecting forJ. William Cliburn, University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg. The two specimens, labeled "Plethodon glutinosus," were eventually transferred to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (MMNS), Jackson, where I found them in early 1991. Ainsworth's two individuals, despite their label, were instantly recognizable as distinctive and peculiar. I showed the specimens to numerous interested herpetologists, especially at the Highlands Conference on Plethodontid Salamanders in
Recent Advances in Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of DNA Replication Process

DNA replication is the basis for biological inheritance, involving a series of sophisticated biochemical processes. Over the past decades, numerous in vitro or in vivo experiments have been implemented among a variety of organisms. While these resource-intensive techniques may always be costly, time-consuming or unable to measure the replication process on a global scale. Recently, mathematical modeling and computational simulation of biochemical processes that can be used for rapid testing of biology hypotheses have attracted considerable attention. In this review, we outline some key mathematical and computational works proposed recently for DNA replication process, with emphasis on the modeling and simulation of the replication origin identification and characterization, the replication process initiation and regulation, and the genome-wide profiling of DNA replication. Although many excellent works have been done, for a deeper insight into the DNA replication process, further iteration of mathematical modeling and biochemical experiment are still needed, and the prospective and possible research directions are discussed herein.
Masitinib - a targeted therapy with applications in veterinary oncology and inflammatory diseases.

Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are an innovative class of drug, which have recently become available to veterinary medicine. This targeted therapy inhibits enzymes involved in cellular signalling pathways that regulate key cell functions and cell survival. Over the last decade, TKIs have revolutionised the management of certain human cancers and are now making inroads into veterinary medicine, with canine mast cell tumour (MCT) being their first major success story. TKIs used in the veterinary setting, either having been borrowed from human medicine or developed especially to address unmet veterinary needs, include imatinib, masitinib and toceranib. Masitinib and toceranib have been approved for use in many parts of the world for the treatment of canine MCT. In many ways, masitinib may be considered the forerunner in this field, with respect to history of regulatory authorisation and commercialisation, developmental progress of phase III clinical studies, and also in the depth and breadth of clinical knowledge acquired in both dogs and cats. It will be masitinib therefore, with its completed phase III studies in canine oncology and immune-mediate indications, its long-term follow-up of MCT treatment (approximately 6 years), and development programme for numerous other canine and feline diseases that will serve as an example of what this remarkably versatile class of therapeutic drug promises to accomplish in veterinary medicine. We review the clinical development of masitinib in veterinary medicine to date, discuss safety-related issues and emerging new therapeutic directions.
Coordinated Control of Electric Vehicles and Renewable Energy Sources for Frequency Regulation in Microgrids

A Control technique of electric vehicles (EVs) cooperating with ac microgrids is considered as an important role with integration of renewable energy sources (RES), i.e. wind and solar farms. As known, the intermittent power generations of these RESs can provide significant changes of the frequency in microgrids. Consequently, outputs of these generations are regarded as continuous disturbances. Previously, the ability to permit frequency stabilizing effect was usually neglected in microgrid design; thereupon, the performance of controller may be ineffective to regulate the frequency in such a microgrid. To address this problem, a new coordination of EV, wind farm (WF), and photovoltaic (PV) for microgrid frequency regulation is proposed in this article. In the control design, the proposed adaptive PI controller is developed by using practical proportional integral (PI) controllers. An effect of a small delay is also considered in input-output pairs of the adaptive PI controllers. Simulation model is developed for validating the proposed controller. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed coordinated control technique of EVs, WF, and PV power generation provides a better frequency regulation performance than a fixed PI controller under various uncertainties such as wind and solar power fluctuations, ${N}$ -1 outages, disconnection of RESs, load variations, and the number of EVs.
Fault Feature Extraction of Flexible Thin-walled Bearings Based on VMD and MOMEDA

Aiming at fault feature extraction of thin-walled flexible bearing, a fault diagnosis method based on Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) and Multipoint Optimal Minimum Entropy Deconvolution Adjusted (MOMEDA) is proposed. Firstly, the number of VMD layers is determined according to the correlation coefficient, and the kurtosis of each intrinsic mode functions (IMF) is calculated. The IMF component with the largest kurtosis is selected as the best component according to the kurtosis maximum criterion. Then the multipoint kurtosis of the best component is calculated to determine the optimal fault period and the MOMEDA is carried out. Finally, do the envelope spectrum analysis. By analyzing the fault signals of the outer and inner rings of flexible thin-walled bearings, it shows that this method can extract the fault feature frequency of flexible thin-walled bearings accurately and effectively. At the same time, this method is compared with the method based on VMD and MED (Minimum Entropy Deconvolution), and the results show that the method proposed in this paper not only has a strong noise reduction effect, but also can extract the fault feature frequency more accurately.
End of Life Vehicle Disassembly Plant Layout Evaluation Integrating Gray Correlation and Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory

End of life vehicle (ELV) is a significant renewable resource with enormous economic value and environmental value. This paper introduced a novel approach that combines the gray correlation and Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) with an interactive technique in order to consider both quantitative and qualitative features simultaneously in ELV plant facility layout problem. The gray interval number of gray correlation is used as the expert’s evaluation score of the impact factor of the ELV dismantling plant, DEMATEL constructs a direct impact matrix by analyzing the causal relationship between various influencing factors in the system. The proposed approach is applied to the case of a realistic ELV dismantling plant, and the evaluation framework for an ELV plant layout alternatives and design assessment analysis also conducted. The results show that it provides a systematic decision support tool and a feasible approach for evaluation of ELV disassembly plant layout alternatives.
Guidance Laws for Path Following Control of Surface Vehicles

This paper investigates the fixed-time guidance laws for surface vehicles to pursue the maneuvering target at a desired heading in the presence of disturbance. We propose a new guidance law based on the constant bearing principle, which guarantees the fixed-time convergence of the line-of-sight angular rate regardless of different initial states. Using the proposed guidance law and a new sliding surface, we can track the maneuvering target at a desired angle in fixed time. The proposed algorithms are validated in several simulations.
Commercial-Scale Vacuum Fumigation with Ethyl Formate for Postharvest Control of the Green Peach Aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) on Film-Wrapped Lettuce

Commercial-scale vacuum fumigation with ethyl formate (EF) controlled over 98% of the green peach aphids Myzus persicae (Sulzer) on film-wrapped, packed head lettuce. Fumigation for 1 h at 60 mm Hg with an initial dosage of 0.5% EF was as effective as 0.9% EF. The higher dosage caused some injury to the lettuce, but the lower one did not. Neither taste nor odor of the lettuce was affected by fumigation at either level. Residues of EF could not be detected and only trace amounts of ethanol were found in the fumigated lettuce.
Changing light levels induce photo-oxidative stress and alterations in shell density of Amphistegina lobifera (Foraminifera)

Light is an important factor limiting the distribution of holobiont (host-algae) organisms in marine environments. Reef-dwelling large benthic foraminifera (LBF) are particularly sensitive to changes in light exposure, but their cryptic behaviour allows them to colonise different habitats across a light gradient. Yet, how foraminifera of the same species that live in different habitats respond to variations in light conditions, and the physiological and morphological attributes that govern that response, remain unclear. Here, we investigate how Amphistegina lobifera, a common and abundant LBF species in reef environments, collected from different reef sites across a light gradient, respond to changing light levels under lab-controlled conditions. Reduced light below their optimum level for growth and calcification caused a significant reduction in antioxidant capacity, and a significant decline in the density of newly added chambers. In contrast, elevated light caused significant reduction in survivorship, induced bleaching and photo-oxidative stress, and caused thickening of external chambers. Reef site did not have a significant effect on most of the responses, and populations collected from different reef sites showed similar sensitivity to changes in irradiance below and above their optimum level. The capacity to regulate symbiont density and to host a diversity of symbiotic diatoms within Amphistegina could be a reason for their ability to acclimate rapidly to different light levels. However, prolonged exposure to reduced light may result in a decrease in shell density and, as a consequence, a decline in carbonate production in reef environments.
Cross-Modal Guidance Network For Sketch-Based 3d Shape Retrieval

The main challenge of sketch-based 3D shape retrieval is the large cross-modal differences between 2D sketches and 3D shapes. Most recent works employed two heterogeneous networks and a shared loss to directly map the features from different modalities to a common feature space, which failed to reduce the cross-modal differences effectively. In this paper, we propose a novel method that adopts a teacher-student strategy to learn an aligned cross-modal feature space indirectly. Specifically, our method first employs a classification network to learn the discriminative features of 3D shapes. Then, the pre-learned features are considered as a teacher to guide the feature learning of 2D sketches. In order to align the cross-modal features, 2D sketch features are transferred to the pre-learned 3D feature space. Our experiments on two benchmark datasets demonstrate that our method obtains superior retrieval performance than the state-of-the-art approaches.
Lossy Geometry Compression Of 3d Point Cloud Data Via An Adaptive Octree-Guided Network

In this paper, we propose a deep learning based framework for point cloud geometry lossy compression via hybrid representation of point cloud. First, the input raw 3D point cloud data is adaptively decomposed into non-overlapping local patches through adaptive Octree decomposition and clustering. Second, a framework of point cloud auto-encoder network with quantization layer is proposed for learning compact latent feature representation from each patch. Specifically, the proposed point cloud auto-encoder networks with different input size are trained for achieving optimal rate-distortion (RD) performance. Final, bitstream specifications of proposed compression systems with additional signaled meta-data and header information are designed to support parallel decoding and successive reconstruction. Experimental results shows that our proposed method can achieve 40.20% bitrate saving in average than the existing standard Geometry based Point Cloud Compression (G-PCC) codec.