Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Response of Soybean Insects to an Autumn-Seeded Rye Cover Crop

ABSTRACT We evaluated the hypothesis that the use of an autumn-seeded winter rye, Secale cereale L. , cover crop in soybean, Glycine max (L.) Men. , could lead to decreased insect pest pressure. We compared insect pest and natural enemy populations in an organic soybean production system with soybeans planted into an autumn-seeded rye cover crop (i.e., soybeans planted in spring into a rye cover crop that had been planted the previous autumn). Small-plot experiments were conducted at two locations in southwestern Minnesota to compare insect populations on soybean planted into fallow ground versus soybean planted into rye that was managed by mowing using three different techniques. Densities of potato leafhopper, Empoasca fabae (Harris), were significantly lower on soybean in all of the rye treatments compared with soybean without rye at both locations. Densities of soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura, were significantly lower on all of the treatments incorporating rye than the soybean-only treatment at one site, but the suppressive effect of rye depended on the specifics of rye planting at the other site. Densities of bean leaf beetle, Cerotoma trifurcata (Förster), were significantly lower in the rye plots than soybean-only plots at one of the two sites. Foliar-foraging insect predator densities did not differ significantly among treatments at either site. Soybean yields did not differ significantly among treatments at either location although there was a trend for lower yield in two of the rye treatments. A statewide survey also was conducted to compare A. glycines infestations in Minnesota soybean fields with and without a rye cover crop. The proportion of plants infested and infestation ratings were both significantly lower in soybean fields with rye than in those without.
Progress of new label-free techniques for biosensors: a review

Abstract The detection techniques used in biosensors can be broadly classified into label-based and label-free. Label-based detection relies on the specific properties of labels for detecting a particular target. In contrast, label-free detection is suitable for the target molecules that are not labeled or the screening of analytes which are not easy to tag. Also, more types of label-free biosensors have emerged with developments in biotechnology. The latest developed techniques in label-free biosensors, such as field-effect transistors-based biosensors including carbon nanotube field-effect transistor biosensors, graphene field-effect transistor biosensors and silicon nanowire field-effect transistor biosensors, magnetoelastic biosensors, optical-based biosensors, surface stress-based biosensors and other type of biosensors based on the nanotechnology are discussed. The sensing principles, configurations, sensing performance, applications, advantages and restriction of different label-free based biosensors are considered and discussed in this review. Most concepts included in this survey could certainly be applied to the development of this kind of biosensor in the future.
Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Patients with Affective Disorders

Regional cerebral blood flow at rest was measured in 38 patients with major depressive disorders and 16 controls by SPECT with inhalation of xenon-133. All subjects had been withdrawn from medication. The mean hemispheric cerebral blood flow was not statistically different between the controls and the different subgroups of depressed patients defined either by biological markers or clinical characteristics. However, the predominantly cortical blood flow, measured on the outer cerebral rim of the third tomographic slice, was significantly lower on the left hemisphere in bipolar patients when compared with normals and unipolar patients. The same lateralisation was observed in patients with an endogenous depression according to the Newcastle scale.
Fitting System Using Loop Subdivision Surfaces for Distributed Mesh Generation

We propose a fast method of generating an approximate polygonal mesh from an implicit surface. Current workstations are still not capable of producing polygon meshes fast enough for the interactive modelling of complex implicit models. In this paper we first of all give overviews of our implicit polygonization and sub-division surface techniques. Our approach is to minimize an energy function that explicitly models the competing desires of conciseness of representation and fidelity to the data.
An analysis of multiple correlation cancellation loops with a filter in the auxiliary path

A technique known as a "multiple correlation cancellation loop" and also as the "LMS algorithm" is widely used in adaptive arrays for radar, sonar, and communications, as well as in many other signal processing applications. In this paper, an analysis of this technique is extended to the case when a linear filter appears in the auxiliary signal path. A general solution to this problem is obtained and several examples for narrowband and broad-band signals are presented.
Monitoring Acoustic Emissions to Predict Modulus of Rupture of Finger-Joints from Tropical African Hardwoods

The acoustic emission patterns generated from bending tests of finger-joints from three tropical African hardwoods, Obeche ( Triplochiton scleroxylon ), Makore ( Tieghemella heckelii ), and Moabi ( Baillonella toxisperma ) were evaluated to determine the possibility of using them to predict finger-joint modulus of rupture. The patterns of acoustic emissions generated from the bending tests were observed to differ, depending on the type of finger profile and wood species. The regression coefficient of the regression of cumulative acoustic emission count on applied stress squared also varied with the profile and species type. When modulus of rupture was correlated with this regression coefficient, for stresses applied up to 50% of mean ultimate strength, the logarithmic regression model developed could predict modulus of rupture of the finger-joints accurately to ±10%. ±12%, and ±21% for Obeche, Makore, and Moabi, respectively. The models developed also seemed sensitive to the quality of the finger-joints from the three tropical African hardwoods. The results of the study gave an indication that this acoustic emission monitoring procedure could be useful for nondestructively predicting modulus of rupture of finger-joints from the three tropical African hardwoods.
Bortezomib plus dexamethasone is highly effective in relapsed and refractory myeloma patients but responses are short‐lived

Objectives: Bortezomib has proven to be effective as single agent in myeloma patients. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of bortezomib in combination with dexamethasone in a cohort of multiple myeloma (MM) relapsed/refractory patients treated in a single center.
Disseminated neuroblastoma in the nude rat: A xenograft model of human malignancy

The overall survival of children with neuroblastoma remains less than 30% due to disease dissemination at the time of diagnosis. An animal model of neuroblastoma, with characteristics similar to those observed clinically in children, would be beneficial to investigations into the diverse biology of this tumor. The purpose of this study was (1) to develop a model of disseminated neuroblastoma in the nude rat by intracardiac injection of neuroblastoma cells derived from cell lines with different N‐myc copy numbers; (2) to investigate the effect of age on tumor growth and dissemination; and (3) to assess progression of disease radiologically and correlate with autopsy findings.
Multiple differential expression networks identify key genes in rectal cancer.

BACKGROUND Rectal cancer is an important contributor to cancer mortality. OBJECTIVE The objective of this paper is to identify key genes across three phenotypes (fungating, polypoid and polypoid & small-ulcer) of rectal cancer based on multiple differential expression networks (DENs). METHODS Differential interactions and non-differential interactions were evaluated according to Spearman correlation coefficient (SCC) algorithm, and were selected to construct DENs. Topological analysis was performed for exploring hub genes in largest components of DENs. Key genes were denoted as intersections between nodes of DENs and rectal cancer associated genes from Genecards. Finally, we utilized hub genes to classify phenotypes of rectal cancer on the basis of support vector machines (SVM) methodology. RESULTS We obtained 19 hub genes and total 12 common key genes of three largest components of DENs, and EGFR was the common element. The SVM results revealed that hub genes could classify phenotypes, and validated feasibility of DEN methods. CONCLUSIONS We have successfully identified significant genes (such as EGFR and UBC) across fungating, polypoid and polypoid & small-ulcer phenotype of rectal cancer. They might be potential biomarkers for classification, detection and therapy of this cancer.
Analyzing Sentiment Word Relations with Affect, Judgment, and Appreciation

In this work, we propose a method for automatic analysis of attitude (affect, judgment, and appreciation) in sentiment words. The first stage of the proposed method is an automatic separation of unambiguous affective and judgmental adjectives from miscellaneous that express appreciation or different attitudes depending on context. In our experiments with machine learning algorithms we employed three feature sets based on Pointwise Mutual Information, word-pattern co-occurrence, and minimal path length. The next stage of the proposed method is to estimate the potentials of miscellaneous adjectives to convey affect, judgment, and appreciation. Based on the sentences automatically collected for each adjective, the algorithm analyses the context of phrases that contain sentiment word by considering morphological tags, high-level concepts, and named entities, and then makes decision about contextual attitude labels. Finally, the appraisal potentials of a word are calculated based on the number of sentences related to each type of attitude.
Genetic dissection of the biosynthetic route to gentamicin A2 by heterologous expression of its minimal gene set

Since the first use of streptomycin as an effective antibiotic drug in the treatment of tuberculosis, aminoglycoside antibiotics have been widely used against a variety of bacterial infections for over six decades. However, the pathways for aminoglycoside biosynthesis still remain unclear, mainly because of difficulty in genetic manipulation of actinomycetes producing this class of antibiotics. Gentamicin belongs to the group of 4,6-disubstituted aminoglycosides containing a characteristic core aminocyclitol moiety, 2-deoxystreptamine (2-DOS), and the recent discovery of its biosynthetic gene cluster in Micromonospora echinospora has enabled us to decipher its biosynthetic pathway. To determine the minimal set of genes and their functions for the generation of gentamicin A2, the first pseudotrisaccharide intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway for the gentamicin complex, various sets of candidate genes from M. echinospora and other related aminoglycoside-producing strains were introduced into a nonaminoglycoside producing strain of Streptomyces venezuelae. Heterologous expression of different combinations of putative 2-DOS biosynthetic genes revealed that a subset, gtmB-gtmA-gacH, is responsible for the biosynthesis of this core aminocyclitol moiety of gentamicin. Expression of gtmG together with gtmB-gtmA-gacH led to production of 2′-N-acetylparomamine, demonstrating that GtmG acts as a glycosyltransferase that adds N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GLcNA) to 2-DOS. Expression of gtmM in a 2′-N-acetylparomamine-producing recombinant S. venezuelae strain generated paromamine. Expression of gtmE in an engineered paromamine-producing strain of S. venezuelae successfully generated gentamicin A2, indicating that GtmE is another glycosyltransferase that attaches d-xylose to paromamine. These results represent in vivo evidence elucidating the complete biosynthetic pathway of the pseudotrisaccharide aminoglycoside.
The computation of full-complexity polytopic robust control invariant sets

This paper considers the problem of evaluating robust control invariant (RCI) sets for linear discrete-time systems subject to state and input constraints as well as additive disturbances. An RCI set has the property that if the system state is inside the set at any one time, then it is guaranteed to remain in the set for all future times using a pre-defined state feedback control law. This problem is important in many control applications. We present a numerically efficient algorithm for the computation of full-complexity polytopic RCI sets. Farkas' Theorem is first used to derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of an admissible polytopic RCI set in the form of nonlinear matrix inequalities. An Elimination Lemma is then used to derive sufficient conditions, in the form of linear matrix inequalities, for the existence of the solution. An optimization algorithm to approximate maximal RCI sets is also proposed. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Three Peptides From the Atrial Natriuretic Factor Prohormone Amino Terminus Lower Blood Pressure and Produce Diuresis, Natriuresis, and/or Kaliuresis in Humans

BackgroundThree peptides consisting of amino acids 1-30, 31-67, and 79-98 of the 126–amino acid atrial natriuretic factor prohormone (proANF), which have blood pressure-lowering, diuretic, natriuretic, and/or kaliuretic properties in animals, were investigated to determine if they have similar properties in humans. Methods and ResultsThirty-six healthy, normotensive human volunteers (18 men and 18 women, ages 20 to 58 years) were divided into six similar groups based on age, sex, weight, blood pressure, and heart rate. After a 60-minute baseline period, 100 ng of proANFs 1-30, 31-67, 79-98, or ANF/kg body wt per minute was given intravenously for 60 minutes followed by a 3-hour postinfusion data collection period. Each of the atrial natriuretic peptides decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressures (P<.05), with proANF 31-67 causing the largest decrease. Urine flow increased 4- to 12-fold and was still significantly increased (P<.01) for 2 to 3 hours after stopping the respective infusions of proANFs 1-30, 31-67, and 79-98. Atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) increased urine flow 4- to 11-fold but by 2 hours after infusion was significantly increased in only 1 of 6 subjects. Sodium excretion increased 3-to 8-fold, 3- to 6-fold, 0- to 2-fold (NS), and 3- to 11-fold, respectively, with proANFs 1-30, 31-67, 79-98, and ANF. Natriuretic effects of proANFs 1-30 and 31-67 were significantly prolonged (P<.001) compared with ANF. ProANFs 1-30, 31-67, 79-98, and ANF increased potassium excretion 2- to 3-fold, 0-fold, 3- to 4-fold, and 2-fold, respectively. High-performance gel permeation chromatography followed by the respective radioimmunoassays revealed that proANFs 1-30, 31-67, 79-98, and 68-98, as well as ANF circulate as distinct peptides. ConclusionsProANFs 1-30, 31-67, and 79-98, as well as ANF have significant blood pressure-lowering and diuretic properties. ProANFs 1-30 and 31-67 also have natriuretic properties in humans that are significantly (P<.001) prolonged compared with ANF. ProANF 79-98, although not possessing any natriuretic property, is the strongest stimulator of potassium excretion of the four atrial natriuretic peptides.
Vegetation gradients in relation to temporal fluctuation of environmental factors in Bekanbeushi peatland, Hokkaido, Japan

The relationship between vegetation gradients and temporal variation of groundwater table depth, groundwater pH and electrical conductivity was studied in Bekanbeushi peatland, northern Japan. These environmental factors were expressed using four statistical parameters: maximum, minimum, mean and standard deviation or coefficient of variation during the growing season. The bog–fen–swamp/marsh gradient was primarily explained by minimum, maximum and mean groundwater table depth and minimum pH. The separation between the bog and the fen by minimum pH was particularly clear. Minimum conductivity was secondarily important for explaining this vegetation gradient. The swamp–marsh gradient was explained by the standard deviation of groundwater table depth. Maximum pH and conductivity were not significant in explaining either of these gradients. This study suggests that parameters that are obtained from the consecutive measurement of environmental factors may have differing significance in explaining vegetation gradients in these peatlands, and values from a single sampling may miss important ecological information.
Steady state visual evoked potential detection using Subclass Marginal Fisher Analysis

Recently, SSVEP detection from EEG signals has attracted the interest of the research community, leading to a number of well-tailored methods, such as Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) and a number of variants. Despite their effectiveness, due to their strong dependence on the correct calculation of correlations, these methods may prove to be inadequate in front of potential deficiency in the number of channels used, the number of available trials or the duration of the acquired signals. In this paper, we propose the use of Subclass Marginal Fisher Analysis (SMFA) in order to overcome such problems. SMFA has the power to effectively learn discriminative features of poor signals, and this advantage is expected to offer the appropriate robustness needed in order to handle such deficiencies. In this context, we pinpoint the qualitative advantages of SMFA, and through a series of experiments we prove its superiority over the state-of-the-art in detecting SSVEPs from EEG signals acquired with limited resources.
Structural and transport properties of Yb substituted YBaCo4O7

We investigate a series of compounds of the type, Y1-xYbxBaCo4O7, to study the effect of chemical pressure on the structural and electrical transport properties of a geometrically frustrated cobaltite, YBaCo4O7. Rietveld analysis of XRD data were carried out for all the samples studied. The four probe resistivity measurements were carried out to understand the transport mechanism in these compounds at temperatures below room temperatures. These results are presented and discussed in the context of ongoing efforts in studying geometrically frustrated magnetic compounds with novel physical properties.
Viewpoint invariant texture matching and wide baseline stereo

We describe and demonstrate a texture region descriptor which is invariant to affine geometric and photometric transformations, and insensitive to the shape of the texture region. It is applicable to texture patches which are locally planar and have stationary statistics. The novelty of the descriptor is that it is based on statistics aggregated over the region, resulting in richer and more stable descriptors than those computed at a point. Two texture matching applications of this descriptor are demonstrated: (1) it is used to automatically identify, regions of the same type of texture, but with varying surface pose, within a single image; (2) it is used to support wide baseline stereo, i.e. to enable the automatic computation of the epipolar geometry between two images acquired from quite separated viewpoints. Results are presented on several sets of real images.
Plasticity of Sorghum Stem Biomass Accumulation in Response to Water Deficit: A Multiscale Analysis from Internode Tissue to Plant Level

Sorghum is increasingly used as a biomass crop worldwide. Its genetic diversity provides a large range of stem biochemical composition suitable for various end-uses as bioenergy or forage. Its drought tolerance enables it to reasonably sustain biomass production under water limited conditions. However, drought effect on the accumulation of sorghum stem biomass remains poorly understood which limits progress in crop improvement and management. This study aimed at identifying the morphological, biochemical and histological traits underlying biomass accumulation in the sorghum stem and its plasticity in response to water deficit. Two hybrids (G1, G4) different in stem biochemical composition (G4, more lignified, less sweet) were evaluated during 2 years in the field in Southern France, under two water treatments differentiated during stem elongation (irrigated; 1 month dry-down until an average soil water deficit of -8.85 bars). Plant phenology was observed weekly. At the end of the water treatment and at final harvest, plant height, stem and leaf dry-weight and the size, biochemical composition and tissue histology of internodes at 2–4 positions along the stem were measured. Stem biomass accumulation was significantly reduced by drought (in average 42% at the end of the dry-down). This was due to the reduction of the length, but not diameter, of the internodes expanded during water deficit. These internodes had more soluble sugar but lower lignin and cellulose contents. This was associated with a decrease of the areal proportion of lignified cell wall in internode outer zone whereas the areal proportion of this zone was not affected. All internodes for a given genotype and environment followed a common histochemical dynamics. Hemicellulose content and the areal proportion of inner vs. outer internode tissues were set up early during internode growth and were not drought responsive. G4 exhibited a higher drought sensitivity than G1 for plant height only. At final harvest, the stem dry weight was only 18% lower in water deficit (re-watered) compared to well-watered treatment and internodes growing during re-watering were similar to those on the well-watered plants. These results are being valorized to refine the phenotyping of sorghum diversity panels and breeding populations.
The Impact of Managerial Characteristics of Top Management Team on the Extent of Information Technology Adoption: An Exploratory Study with the Upper Echelon Theory

This article investigates the effect of compositions of managerial characteristics of top management team on the extent of information technology (IT) adoption. Adopting the upper echelon theory as theoretic foundation, the study formulated hypotheses relating compositions of top management team (TMT) characteristics to the extent of IT adoption in small businesses. Specifically, the TMT characteristics examined in the study are distribution of age, education level, gender and ethnicity of top managers. The major findings of the research are that the compositions of age, education, and gender are significant predictors of the extent of IT adoption. The research contributes to the body of knowledge in this area by (1) investigating the effect of TMT characteristics on the extent of IT adoption and (2) empirically testing the validity of the upper echelon theory in the field of IT.