Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The detection and decay of Cry1Ab Bt-endotoxins within non-target slugs, Deroceras reticulatum (Mollusca: Pulmonata), following consumption of transgenic corn

Abstract With greater acreages being planted to transgenic crops, the exposure of non-target species to bioengineered material is increasing. Although the slug, Deroceras reticulatum (Müller), is a major agricultural pest throughout the world, Bacillus thuringiensis crops were not intended to target these species. Molluscs are readily consumed by many generalist predators; if these Cry1Ab-endotoxins are taken up by slugs during feeding on transgenic plants, predators would therefore be exposed to elevated endotoxin concentrations. Using a biochemical assay, we tested the hypothesis that slugs fed transgenic corn would accumulate detectable quantities of Cry1Ab-endotoxins for prolonged periods of time. Characterization indicated that at low dilution rates, Cry1Ab-endotoxins were detectable in slugs fed Bt-corn but no reactivity was elicited by specimens fed non-transgenic food. It was possible to detect Cry1Ab-endotoxins in slugs for 95.9 h after consumption of Bt-corn. Although quantities were small, these long detection periods indicated potential exposure of generalist predators to low concentrations of transgenic insecticidal toxins in the field.
Comparison of daily rhythms of oxygen metabolites and serum barrier to oxidation in domestic animals

The aim of this study was to compare the daily rhythm of reactive oxygen metabolites (hydroperoxides), and serum barrier to oxidation in five different mammal species. Five female Comisana sheep, five female Maltese goats, five female Bruna cows and five female Thoroughbred horses were housed separately in boxes equipped with an opening window and five female Blue Vienna rabbits were individually housed in metallic cages. All animals were kept under natural photoperiod and indoor environmental conditions. Blood samples were collected every 3 h over a 48 h period for the assessment of hydroperoxides, antioxidant barrier (Oxy-ads) and thiol-antioxidant barrier (SHp). A two-way for repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant effect of time of day and different species on all studied parameters. Daily rhythmicity of hydroperoxides, Oxy-ads and SHp were observed in all studied species. Nocturnal acrophases were observed in sheep, goats and rabbits, diurnal acrophases were observed in cattle and horse. We conclude that there is a synergism of the daily rhythms of hydroperoxides and anti-oxidant power in the different species studied, and that this synergism is typical of each species.
A main speaker decision for a distributed telepresence system

In this paper, we propose a method to detect a main speaker and automatically change into one's high definition (HD) video for a distributed telepresence system, so that the users feel immersive and convenient. In contrast to centralized systems, user equipment (UE) performs the main speaker decision (MSD) with a time synchronization using network time protocol (NTP). The MSD method includes a voice activity detection (VAD) and post-corrections to remove unwanted voice detections and share the same main speaker. We emphasize an audio signal of the main speaker to become more immersive. The proposed approach is applied to the telepresence system developed by ETRI and shows good performances.
Time Varying Beta Risk: An Analysis of Alternative Modelling Techniques

This paper investigates the performance of three different approaches to modelling time-variation in conditional asset betas: GARCH models, the extended market model of Schwert and Seguin (1990) and the Kalman Filter algorithm. Using daily UK industry returns, we find the simple market model beta to be as efficient as the more complicated GARCH type models. However, the Kalman Filter algorithm incorporating a random walk parameterisation dominates all other models under the mean-square error criterion. Finally, we provide strong evidence that a combination of the methods under investigation may lead to considerably more powerful estimators of the time-variation in conditional beta. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2000.
Preserved residual renal function is associated with lower oxidative stress in peritoneal dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Residual renal function (RRF) correlates with survival in peritoneal dialysis (PD). We investigated the association between oxidative stress and RRF in PD. METHODS Adequacy of dialysis, total and free malondialdehydes (MDA), and lipid hydroperoxides (LHP) were obtained from 23 stable PD patients. RESULTS Free MDA level decreased with total weekly Kt/V urea (r = -0.51, P = 0.013) and urinary Kt/V (KRU) (r = -0.53, P = 0.009), but not with peritoneal Kt/V. Similar results were found with LHP level. In multivariate analysis, total weekly Kt/V urea and KRU remained associated with free MDA and LHP, independently of gender, nutritional or inflammatory status, and peritoneal permeability. CONCLUSION A preserved RRF is associated with lower serum levels of lipid peroxidation products among PD patients.
FDI-trade nexus: empirical analysis on ASEAN-5

This paper investigates the dynamic linkages between FDI and trade of ASEAN-5 countries using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. Empirical results suggest that FDI and import are complement to each other in long run but import tends to substitute FDI in short run. Conversely, export tends to substitute FDI in long run, however, complementary linkage was found between FDI and export in short run.
Mechanism of the delta wrench in opening the beta sliding clamp.

The beta sliding clamp encircles DNA and tethers DNA polymerase III holoenzyme to the template for high processivity. The clamp loader, gamma complex (gamma 3 delta delta'chi psi), assembles beta around DNA in an ATP-fueled reaction. The delta subunit of the clamp loader opens the beta ring and is referred to as the wrench; ATP modulates contact between beta and delta among other functions. Crystal structures of delta.beta and the gamma 3 delta delta' minimal clamp loader make predictions of the clamp loader mechanism, which are tested in this report by mutagenesis. The delta wrench contacts beta at two sites. One site is at the beta dimer interface, where delta appears to distort the interface by via a steric clash between a helix on delta and a loop near the beta interface. The energy for this steric clash is thought to derive from the other site of interaction, in which delta binds to a hydrophobic pocket in beta. The current study demonstrates that rather than a simple steric clash with beta, delta specifically contacts beta at this site, but not through amino acid side chains, and thus is presumably mediated by peptide backbone atoms. The results also imply that the interaction of delta at the hydrophobic site on beta contributes to destabilization of the beta dimer interface rather than acting solely as a grip of delta on beta. Within the gamma complex, delta' is proposed to prevent delta from binding to beta in the absence of ATP. This report demonstrates that one or more gamma subunits also contribute to this role. The results also indicate that delta' acts as a backboard upon which the gamma subunits push to attain the ATP induced change needed for the delta wrench to bind and open the beta ring.
Worldwide genetic variation in dopamine and serotonin pathway genes: Implications for association studies

The dopamine and serotonin systems are two of the most important neurotransmitter pathways in the human nervous system and their roles in controlling behavior and mental status are well accepted. Genes from both systems have been widely implicated in psychiatric and behavioral disorders, with numerous reports of associations and almost equally as numerous reports of the failure to replicate a previous finding of association. We investigate a set of 21 dopamine and serotonin genes commonly tested for association with psychiatric disease in a set of 39 worldwide populations representing global genetic diversity to see whether the failure to replicate findings of association may be explained by population based differences in allele frequencies and linkage disequilibrium (LD) in this gene set. We present results demonstrating a surprising homogeneity of the allele frequencies across worldwide populations in these genes. LD both for populations within continent groupings and across continental regions also showed a remarkable similarity. These findings taken together suggest that ethnic differences in these parameters are not major generators of artifacts in genetic association studies of psychiatric disorders with genes from this set. Therefore, factors other than ethnic differences in genetic variation may explain the discrepancies reported among genetic association studies with this set of genes to date. The transferability of tagSNPs defined in the HapMap populations to other worldwide populations was also investigated and found to be high. A list of tagSNPs per gene and continental region is proposed providing a guide for future association studies with these genes. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Optimal Margin Distribution Clustering

Maximum margin clustering (MMC), which borrows the large margin heuristic from support vector machine (SVM), has achieved more accurate results than traditional clustering methods. The intuition is that, for a good clustering, when labels are assigned to different clusters, SVM can achieve a large minimum margin on this data. Recent studies, however, disclosed that maximizing the minimum margin does not necessarily lead to better performance, and instead, it is crucial to optimize the margin distribution. In this paper, we propose a novel approach ODMC (Optimal margin Distribution Machine for Clustering), which tries to cluster the data and achieve optimal margin distribution simultaneously. Specifically, we characterize the margin distribution by the first- and second-order statistics, i.e., the margin mean and variance, and extend a stochastic mirror descent method to solve the resultant minimax problem. Moreover, we prove theoretically that ODMC has the same convergence rate with state-of-the-art cutting plane based algorithms but involves much less computation cost per iteration, so our method is much more scalable than existing approaches. Extensive experiments on UCI data sets show that ODMC is significantly better than compared methods, which verifies the superiority of optimal margin distribution learning.
The Relationship between Fisheries and Farming

Fishmeal is a critically important feed ingredient for use in animal (e.g., poultry and pork) and aquaculture production (e.g., salmon, trout, and shrimp). There is concern that demand for fishmeal may place additional stress on the world’s pelagic fisheries and may undermine the sustainability of some aquaculture systems that rely on fishmeal. Our research suggests that since 1998 market for fishmeal has changed. An important explanation is likely to be the increasing use of specialized feed formulations in the pork, poultry and aquaculture sectors. It is clear that growth in aquaculture production alone is insufficient to explain the structural change since growth in the use of fishmeal in aquaculture has slowed considerably despite the continued rapid growth in global aquaculture sector. The increasing relative price of fishmeal is likely to increase costs for animal producers, act as a stimulus for innovation and have considerable implications for the management of pelagic fisheries.
Coping with intrinsic constraints of neural origin in the design of rehabilitation robots: A preliminary study

This work proposes a mechatronic solution to increase the backdrivability of a rehabilitation robot in order to cope with intrinsic kinematic constraints which are adopted by the human brain to solve redundancy in motor tasks. In order to reduce the interaction force between the user and the robot and ensure the robot to follow subjects movements a pure force control algorithm has been adopted. The Control law has been validated on the MIT-Manus robotic system: first simulation tests have been performed, and then experimental trials on the real machine have been realized in several operative conditions. A net decrease of human force required to execute a motor task in interaction with the robot has been verified both in simulation tests and experimental validation; this confirms that force control effectively reduce the robot perturbation to subjects intrinsic motor strategies. From these observations it would be possible to define useful indications for the design of a new generation of rehabilitative robots, which comply with constraints of neural origin.
DEAD-box RNA helicase Belle/DDX3 and the RNA interference pathway promote mitotic chromosome segregation

During mitosis, faithful inheritance of genetic material is achieved by chromosome segregation, as mediated by the condensin I and II complexes. Failed chromosome segregation can result in neoplasm formation, infertility, and birth defects. Recently, the germ-line–specific DEAD-box RNA helicase Vasa was demonstrated to promote mitotic chromosome segregation in Drosophila by facilitating robust chromosomal localization of Barren (Barr), a condensin I component. This mitotic function of Vasa is mediated by Aubergine and Spindle-E, which are two germ-line components of the Piwi-interacting RNA pathway. Faithful segregation of chromosomes should be executed both in germ-line and somatic cells. However, whether a similar mechanism also functions in promoting chromosome segregation in somatic cells has not been elucidated. Here, we present evidence that belle (vasa paralog) and the RNA interference pathway regulate chromosome segregation in Drosophila somatic cells. During mitosis, belle promotes robust Barr chromosomal localization and chromosome segregation. Belle's localization to condensing chromosomes depends on dicer-2 and argonaute2. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments indicated that Belle interacts with Barr and Argonaute2 and is enriched at endogenous siRNA (endo-siRNA)-generating loci. Our results suggest that Belle functions in promoting chromosome segregation in Drosophila somatic cells via the endo-siRNA pathway. DDX3 (human homolog of belle) and DICER function in promoting chromosome segregation and hCAP-H (human homolog of Barr) localization in HeLa cells, indicating a conserved function for those proteins in human cells. Our results suggest that the RNA helicase Belle/DDX3 and the RNA interference pathway perform a common role in regulating chromosome segregation in Drosophila and human somatic cells.
Ppp-Based Analysis of New Zealand'S Equilibrium Exchange Rate

We use two alternative methodologies to estimate an equilibrium value for the USD/NZD bilateral exchange rate. A cross-country comparison of prices for individual goods, augmented with a Balassa-Samuelson variable suggests that the New Zealand dollar was close to fairly valued in 1999, but undervalued by slightly more than 10 per cent in 2000. Equilibrium was estimated at roughly US$0.52. The second methodology uses dynamic OLS and panel dynamic OLS, to test for a cointegrating relationship between the nominal exchange rate and relative prices, as well as a number of other possible explanatory variables. Using a long sample period for New Zealand, we find some tentative evidence of a stable PPP relationship for the USD/NZD bilateral exchange rate, and this model suggests that the equilibrium value of the dollar is roughly US$0.60. However, the results are very sensitive to the sample period, and in most specifications, particularly those that incorporate the recent depreciation in the New Zealand dollar, the data are unsupportive of a long-run PPP relationship. Therefore, the results should be interpreted with caution.
An experimental analysis of the origins of somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the dentate gyrus of the rat

In previous studies, fibers demonstrating somatostatin-like immunoreactivity were observed in the outer half of the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus in the rat and monkey. They occupy the same region as those of the perforant pathway that originates in the entorhinal cortex. Numerous somatostatin immunoreactive neuronal cell bodies were also observed in the hilar region, though stained axonal profiles could not be followed from these cells into the molecular layer. In the present study, several experimental procedures were employed to determine the origin of the somatostatin-positive fibers in the molecular layer. Transection of the perforant path fibers resulted in such characteristic changes as shrinkage of the molecular layer and sprouting of AChE-positive fibers. There was no apparent decrease, however, in the density of somatostatin-positive fibers. In fact, since the stained fibers occupied a narrower band in the shrunken molecular layer, their density appeared greater. Injections of kainic acid into the hilar region produced a lesion of hilar neurons, including those positive for somatostatin. In the region of cell loss, there was a marked reduction of somatostatin-immunoreactive fibers in the ipsilateral molecular layer, with no detectable changes in the homotopic contralateral molecular layer. The distribution of AChE fibers, which presumably have an extrinsic origin, was not altered by the treatment. In a final series of experiments, the retrograde tracer wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) was injected into the hilar region and sections were prepared for the simultaneous demonstration of the tracer and of somatostatin-like immunoreactivity. Somatostatin-positive neurons demonstrating WGA-HRP reaction product were observed primarily in the ipsilateral hilar region, but a few double-labeled cells were also seen in the same area of the contralateral side. These studies indicate that a population of intrinsic neurons located in the polymorphic layer of the dentate gyrus projects to the outer half of the ipsilateral molecular layer. A similar, but very much smaller, projection also extends to the contralateral dentate gyrus. Taken together, these projections appear to account for much of the somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus.
Growth, Nontradables, and Price Convergence in the Baltics

This paper reviews the recent real exchange rate appreciation observed in the three Baltic countries. Until now, this phenomenon may be viewed primarily as a consequence of the undervalued real exchange rates of the new currencies. Looking ahead, a tendency for continued real appreciation is to be expected as part of the transition process toward higher income levels, due in part to differential productivity growth rates in the tradable and nontradable sectors. In the absence of an appreciation of the nominal exchange rate, this real appreciation will occur through inflation rates that are higher than in industrial countries. Provided that the current prudent economic policies are continued, such higher inflation will not threaten macroeconomic objectives and may indeed be viewed as an indication that the transition process is progressing as expected.
Cannabis use and age at onset of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to assess the independent influences of gender and cannabis use on milestones of early course in schizophrenia. METHOD In this population-based, first-contact incidence study conducted in The Hague, the Netherlands, patients (N=133) were interviewed with the Comprehensive Assessment of Symptoms and History, and key informants were interviewed with the Instrument for the Retrospective Assessment of the Onset of Schizophrenia. Milestones of early course were 1) first social and/or occupational dysfunction, 2) first psychotic episode, and 3) first negative symptoms. RESULTS Male patients were significantly younger than female patients at first social and/or occupational dysfunction, first psychotic episode, and first negative symptoms. Cannabis-using patients were significantly younger at these milestones than were patients who did not use cannabis. Multivariate analyses showed that cannabis use, but not gender, made an independent contribution to the prediction of age at first psychotic episode: male cannabis users were a mean of 6.9 years younger at illness onset than male nonusers. In contrast, age at first social and/or occupational dysfunction and the risk of developing negative symptoms before the first contact with a physician for treatment of possible psychotic disorder were predicted by gender, but not by cannabis use. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate a strong association between use of cannabis and earlier age at first psychotic episode in male schizophrenia patients. Additional studies examining this possibly causal relationship are needed.
Prix des matières premières dans le domaine automobile : une analyse économétrique de la dynamique du prix des plastiques

Le secteur automobile est de plus en plus dependant aux matieres plastiques dont le niveau et la volatilite des prix ont fortement augmente au cours des dix dernieres annees, sous l’effet suppose des variations du prix du petrole qui est le principal input necessaire a leur fabrication. La these vise a fournir des outils econometriques permettant d’analyser et gerer le risque de variations des prix des principales matieres plastiques utilisees dans l’industrie automobile. A l’aide des methodologies de cointegration, nous montrons que les relations d’equilibre de long terme et les dynamiques de court terme mettent en evidence un mecanisme de transmission des variations des couts de production sur le prix des plastiques situes en aval du processus productif. L’existence de relations de cointegration significatives entre les prix petrochimiques et petroliers justifie l’elaboration de strategies de couverture contre les variations des couts de production et l’estimation de modeles a correction d’erreur qui permettent d’affiner les previsions des prix.
LRU-WSR: integration of LRU and writes sequence reordering for flash memory

Most mobile devices are equipped with a NAND flash memory even if it has characteristics of not-in-place update and asymmetric I/O latencies among read, write, and erase operations: write/erase operations are much slower than a read operation in a flash memory. For the overall performance of a flash memory system, the buffer replacement policy should consider the above severely asymmetric I/O latencies. However, existing LRU buffer replacement algorithm cannot deal with the above problem. This paper proposes the LRU-WSR buffer replacement algorithm that enhances LRU by reordering writes of not-cold dirty pages from the buffer cache to flash storage. The enhanced LRU-WSR algorithm focuses on reducing the number of write/erase operations as well as preventing serious degradation of buffer hit ratio. The experimental results show that the LRU-WSR outperforms other algorithms including LRU, CF-LRU, and FAB1.
Ship Wakes Detection in SAR Images Based on the Joint Radon Transform and Entropy

In order to distinguish true ship wakes from other spurious linear feature effectively, a novel method of ship wakes detection based on the Radon transform (RT) and on the entropy, and named joint Radon and entropy detection algorithm (JRE) is proposed. The proposed approach extracts all possible peaks in Radon transform space with a low threshold, then computes the entropies centering around each peak and identifies the true ship wakes from spurious ones. Furthermore, the method can increase the detection probability and reduce the false alarm probability. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the method is capable of detecting synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ship wakes precisely and reliably in the presence of both strong noise and sea clutter