Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Drought-driven growth reduction in old beech ( Fagus sylvatica L . ) forests of the central Apennines , Italy

Productivity of old-growth beech forests in the Mediterranean Basin was measured by average stem basal area increment (BAI) of dominant trees at two mountain sites in the Italian Apennines. Both forests could be ascribed to the old-growth stage, but they differed markedly with regard to elevation (1000 vs. 1725 m a.s.l.), soil parent material (volcanic vs. calcareous), mean tree age (less than 200 years vs. 300 years), and stand structure (secondary old-growth vs. primary old-growth forest). Drought at the two sites was quantified by the self-calibrated Palmer Moisture Anomaly Index (Z-index), and by the self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for summer (June through August) and the growing season (May through September). Dendroclimatological analyses revealed a moisture limitation of beech BAI at interannual (water availability measured by Z-index) and decadal scales (water availability measured by PDSI). Both BAI and water availability increased from 1950 to 1970, and decreased afterwards. Trees were grouped according to their BAI trends in auxological groups (growth-type chronologies), which confirmed that growth of most trees at both sites declined in recent decades, in agreement with increased drought. Because BAI is not expected to decrease without an external forcing, the patterns we uncovered suggest that long-term drought stress has reduced the productivity of beech forests in the central Apennines, in agreement with similar trends identified in other Mediterranean mountains, but opposite to growth trends reported for many forests in central Europe.
Role of access to parks and markets with anthropometric measurements, biological markers, and a healthy lifestyle

Background: This study examined the association between access to urban green spaces and markets with anthropometric measurements, biological markers, sociodemographic, and healthy lifestyle. Methods: Geographic information systems were used to establish a correlation between environmental features and cardiovascular risk parameters. A total number of 832 (age range 18–74 years) individuals were selected for this study. Results: Body mass index was significantly and positively related to the distance to parks (ρ = 0.079, p < 0.05), but negatively related to the distance to markets (ρ = −0.125, p < 0.05). In addition, waist circumference was similar and positively related to distance to parks (ρ = 0.097, p < 0.05) and negatively related to distance to markets (ρ = −0.092, p < 0.05). With respect to biochemical parameters, when there was an increase in the distance to markets, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased and glycemia decreased. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest the importance of the role of environmental factors such as parks and markets in the development of cardiovascular risk.
European Extremely Large Telescope: Isopistonic angle measurements at Aklim site

As part of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) project, the sitetesting team at Morocco has measured from April 2008 to December 2009. The atmospheric properties at Aklim which was one of the candidates sites pre-selected. In this paper we present the isoplanatic angle 0 and the isopistonic angle p measurements at Aklim site. Statistics of the mentioned parameters are obtained from the whole data recorded using a Multi Aperture Scintillation Sensor (MASS) and a Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM) system. More representative results and statistics are shown hereafter.
All You Need is Love?

ABSTRACT In response to calls for further investigation on the role of music and advertising, the authors of the current study analyzed popular music's most successful songs over a 50-year period (1960–2009). The current paper uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to uncover communication themes from nearly 1,000 songs that best resonated with mass audiences. The study identifies 12 communication themes and finds that they are used repeatedly over time; are largely emotional in nature; appear congruent with contemporary societal and environmental influences; and help predict a song's chances of commercial success. The results provide advertising professionals with a repertoire of themes for consideration in advertising and other marketing communications for mass audiences.
Clear heads and holy hearts : the religious and theological ideal of John Henry Newman

"Clear Heads and Holy Hearts" is an examination of John Henry Newman's vision of the way in which the individual believer and the community of the Church grow in faith and the knowledge of religious truth. The ideal, at both the individual and the communal level, involves, for Newman, a union of ethical and devotional praxis on the one hand and critical self-reflection on the other - in short, the union of "clear heads and holy hearts". Terrence Merrigan is a member of the Faculty of Theology of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Louvain), Belgium. He pursued his doctoral studies on Newman under the direction of Jan Hendrik Walgrave. He has published a number of studies on Newman and edited a special centenary issue of "Louvain Studies" (1990) dedicated to the Cardinal's life and thought.
A client-side directory prefetching mechanism for GlusterFS

Distributed file system has the characteristics of large capacity, good scalability and high reliability, which make it widely used in many areas involving large-scale data storage. It offers simplified, highly-available services for users to access data. However, due to the non-metadata design, the performance of traversal operation on large directories in those non-metadata distributed file systems is poor. With the increasing amount of files, it severely affects the user experience. In this paper, we present a directory prefetching mechanism on the client side to reduce directory traversal operation latency in non-metadata distributed file system. The mechanism, combined with the client's cache, adopts the directory access history to predict future access pattern and fetches the content of the directory without user intervention. Our goal is to reduce the overall access latency in the non-metadata distributed file system in order to better satisfy the user experience.
HDAC4 deacetylase associates with and represses the MEF2 transcription factor

The acetylation state of histones can influence transcription. Acetylation, carried out by acetyltransferases such as CBP/p300 and P/CAF, is commonly associated with transcriptional stimulation, whereas deacetylation, mediated by the three known human deacetylases HDAC1, 2 and 3, causes transcriptional repression. The known human deacetylases represent a single family and are homologues of the yeast RPD3 deacetylase. Here we identify and characterize HDAC4, a representative of a new human histone deacetylase family, which is homologous to the yeast HDA1 deacetylase. We show that HDAC4, unlike other deacetylases, shuttles between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in a process involving active nuclear export. In the nucleus, HDAC4 associates with the myocyte enhancer factor MEF2A. Binding of HDAC4 to MEF2A results in the repression of MEF2A transcriptional activation, a function that requires the deacetylase domain of HDAC4. These results identify MEF2A as a nuclear target for HDAC4‐mediated repression and suggests that compartmentalization may be a novel mechanism for controlling the nuclear activity of this new family of deacetylases.
Monitoring Linux with Native Tools

Linux is gaining interest as a solution across many hardware platforms: Intel based machines, Sun and Apple proprietary hardware and IBM zSeries platforms. But once applications are ported to an open source operating system what options are available to monitor their performance and availability? This presentation covers native Linux solutions to monitoring performance and collecting statistics for capacity planning. We will look at tools ranging from real time monitors through those that can build a database of historical system performance.
Flow separation control using a convection based POD approach

The standard Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) is an optimal tool to extract the energy-containing structures from a turbulent flow field. Some POD applications involve more than the structure identification process, and use the resulting eigenfunctions as a subspace onto which the flow state equations are projected, thus creating a low-dimensional model for the system under study. For these more elaborate applications, an increasing number of which are in the field of flow control, this low-dimensional plant is expected to represent the flow dynamics as accurately as possible. In this work, which ultimately intends to control the flow separation over an airfoil using a dynamical model of the flow, we introduce a variation to the POD formulation that we will refer to as the convection POD or cPOD. This formulation is developed using the non-linear convection terms of the Navier-Stokes equations to build a new kernel, thus producing a subspace knowledgeable about the dynamical realizations in the flow. We show that the convection POD succeeds in capturing the dynamical features of the flow more effectively than the standard formulation. It is found that the eigenfunctions now reveal physical structures in the flow field as opposed to patterns of highest energy concentration. Possible improvements in flow control applications and potential difficulties associated with this method are also discussed.
Inhibition of transient receptor potential canonical channels impairs cytokinesis in human malignant gliomas

Abstract. Objectives: Glial‐derived primary brain tumours, gliomas, are among the fastest growing malignancies and present a huge clinical challenge. Research suggests an important, yet poorly understood, role of ion channels in growth control of normal and malignant cells. In this study, we sought to functionally characterize Transient Receptor Potential Canoncial (TRPC) channels in glioma cell proliferation. TRPC channels form non‐selective cation channels that have been suggested to represent a Ca2+ influx pathway impacting cellular growth. Materials and Methods: Employing a combination of molecular, biochemical and biophysical techniques, we characterized TRPC channels in glioma cells. Results: We showed consistent expression of four channel family members (TRPC‐1, ‐3, ‐5, ‐6) in glioma cell lines and acute patient‐derived tissues. These channels gave rise to small, non‐voltage‐dependent cation currents that were blocked by the TRPC inhibitors GdCl3, 2‐APB, or SKF96365. Importantly, TRPC channels contributed to the resting conductance of glioma cells and their acute pharmacological inhibition caused an ~10 mV hyperpolarization of the cells’ resting potential. Additionally, chronic application of the TRPC inhibitor SKF96365 caused near complete growth arrest. A detailed analysis, by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting and time‐lapse microscopy, showed that growth inhibition occurred at the G2+ M phase of the cell cycle with cytokinesis defects. Cells underwent incomplete cell divisions and became multinucleate, enlarged cells. Conclusions: Nuclear atypia and enlarged cells are histopathological hallmarks for glioblastoma multiforme, the highest grade glioma, suggesting that a defect in TRPC channel function may contribute to cellular abnormalities in these tumours.
Whole-Genome Sequences of Brucella melitensis Strain QH61, Isolated from Yak in Qinghai, China

ABSTRACT The facultative intracellular Gram-negative bacterium Brucella melitensis causes brucellosis in domestic and wild mammals. Brucella melitensis QH61 was isolated from a yak suffering from abortion in 2015 in Qinghai, China. Here, we report the whole-genome sequence of B. melitensis strain QH61.
Online Ranking with Constraints: A Primal-Dual Algorithm and Applications to Web Traffic-Shaping

We study the online constrained ranking problem motivated by an application to web-traffic shaping: an online stream of sessions arrive in which, within each session, we are asked to rank items. The challenge involves optimizing the ranking in each session so that local vs. global objectives are controlled: within each session one wishes to maximize a reward (local) while satisfying certain constraints over the entire set of sessions (global). A typical application of this setup is that of page optimization in a web portal. We wish to rank items so that not only is user engagement maximized in each session, but also other business constraints (such as the number of views/clicks delivered to various publishing partners) are satisfied. We describe an online algorithm for performing this optimization. A novel element of our approach is the use of linear programming duality and connections to the celebrated Hungarian algorithm. This framework enables us to determine a set of shadow prices for each traffic-shaping constraint that can then be used directly in the final ranking function to assign near-optimal rankings. The (dual) linear program can be solved off-line periodically to determine the prices. At serving time these prices are used as weights to compute weighted rank-scores for the items, and the simplicity of the approach facilitates scalability to web applications. We provide rigorous theoretical guarantees for the performance of our online algorithm and validate our approach using numerical experiments on real web-traffic data from a prominent internet portal.
Roadmap layers and processes: resilient and sustainable care facilities

Purpose Health and social care facilities are usually complex buildings that require continuous effort to provide resilient and sustainable responses to changes in demographics, technologies, diseases and models of care. Despite resilience and sustainability concepts being frequently used by practitioners and researchers, ambiguities in their definitions often result in a lack of operational solutions to record, monitor and improve the resilience and sustainability of health and social care facilities. Although the importance and complexity of the issues are widely acknowledged, there is little strategic guidance as to how they should be achieved. The purpose of this paper is to assess the suitability of developing a roadmap for improving the resilience and sustainability of UK health and social care facilities, and to identify the layers and processes needed to construct such a roadmap. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was adopted, starting with a literature review of different types of roadmaps and their suitability to support the desired improvement objectives. Layers and processes were thus developed using the key issues identified in three recent research streams, and the roadmap was structured. Findings The major findings have been captured within a three-layer, four-step process generic roadmap for improving the resilience and sustainability of health and social care facilities that can be used to monitor performance, plans future actions and implement response to change. Practical implications This paper targets decision makers, especially estate managers, but the proposed layers and processes can be modified for other stakeholders. Originality/value This paper suggests an original approach for the development of a roadmap for resilience and sustainability of health and social care facilities, and specifically of how to structure layers and processes, envisioning a more integrated development of service provision and infrastructure asset management.
Risk of gastrointestinal toxicities with PD-1 inhibitors in cancer patients

Background: Anti-programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) antibodies have demonstrated significant clinical activity in many cancer entities. Gastrointestinal toxicities are one of its major side effects, but the overall risks have not been systematically evaluated. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and risk of gastrointestinal toxicities with PD-1 inhibitors in cancer patients through a meta-analysis. Methods: Eligible studies were searched for in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. We included randomized controlled trials with cancer patients treated with PD-1 inhibitors with adequate data on gastrointestinal adverse events. Results: A total of 14 randomized controlled trials involving 7508 patients met eligibility criteria for this meta-analysis. The relative risk of all-grade diarrhea and colitis was 0.66 (95% confidence interval (CI): [0.50, 0.87]; P = . 003) and 3.36 (95% CI: [1.25, 9.04]; P = .02), respectively. The relative risk of high-grade diarrhea and colitis was 0.58 (95% CI: [0.30, 1.11]; P = .10) and 4.31 (95% CI: [1.11, 16.79]; P = .04), respectively. Compared with ipilimumab alone, the nivolumab/ipilimumab combination was associated with a higher risk of developing all-grade diarrhea. Additionally, PD-1 inhibitor monotherapy resulted in a lower risk of developing gastrointestinal adverse events compared with ipilimumab alone. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis has demonstrated that the use of PD-1 inhibitors is associated with an increased risk of colitis compared with chemotherapy or everolimus.
Gold Cup: human resources as sources of competitive advantage and superior performance

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to evaluate the association between human resources and qualification for the 2017 Gold Cup, and second, to examine if human resources could predict qualification for the 2017 Gold Cup. ,Guided by four competitive advantage (CA) theories related to the human resources, the study utilized archival data of 35 male Gold Cup national football teams. The dependent variable was qualifications for 2017 Gold Cup and the independent variables were football-specific human capital measured by ranked number of football amateurs, professionals and officials. Statistical analysis was performed using Kendell τ statistic and binary logistic regression (BLR). ,Qualification for the Gold Cup tournament and all human resources were positively and statistically associated (officials (0.493, p<0.01), amateurs (0.464, p<0.01) and professionals (0.624, p<0.01)), and BLR model (Negelkerke R2) explained 55.8 percent of the variance of human resources. ,The research focused exclusively on football-specific human capital and not alternative sources of CA such as economy power, political stability and/or national football popularity amongst others. ,Human resources are a valuable source of CA which requires long-term strategy geared toward training, development and promotion of talent. Superior football team performance is directly proportional to talented players. ,The study was unique in two ways. First, it made clear the positive significance of human resources as a source of CA. Second, it highlighted the distinction between professional and amateur footballers – a factor uncommon in similar studies.
REPRODUCTIVE CONFLICT IN SOCIAL INSECTS: MALE PRODUCTION BY WORKERS IN A SLAVE‐MAKING ANT.

Abstract In insect societies, workers cooperate but may also pursue their individual interests, such as laying viable male eggs. The case of obligatory slave‐making ants is of particular interest because workers do not engage in maintenance activities and foraging. Therefore, worker egg laying is expected to be less detrimental for colony efficiency than in related, nonparasitic species. Furthermore, as slave‐making workers usually do not perform brood care and thus might have little power in manipulating sex allocation, they might be more strongly selected to increase their direct fitness by producing their own sons than workers in nonparasitic species. In this study we investigated worker reproduction in four natural colonies of the slave‐making ant Polyergus rufescens, using highly variable microsatellite markers. Our results show that workers produce up to 100% of the males. This study thus presents the first direct evidence of an almost complete takeover of male reproduction by workers in ants.
Impact of Sampling Frequency on Harmonic Distortion for Modular Multilevel Converter

This paper applies nearest level control (NLC) to the modular multilevel converter (MMC). Since there are a number of submodules (SMs) in high-voltage applications of MMC and all SM voltages are required to be measured and sorted, if the uniform sampling frequency is not high enough, the SM will not be triggered as quickly as possible. Thus, the converter-output voltage levels and voltage harmonics will be affected. A method to systematically analyze the voltage harmonics is presented, considering the uniform sampling frequency. In order to select a proper sampling frequency, two critical values, which significantly influence the output voltage levels and voltage total harmonic distortions, are calculated. Simulation results based on PSCAD/EMTDC proved the validity of the proposed modulation scheme and the importance of a properly selected sampling frequency.
Equity Commitment under Uncertainty: A Hierarchical Model of Real Option Entry Mode Choices

We develop a hierarchical model of real option entry mode choices under environmental uncertainty and test predictions using a unique sample of U.S. companies expanding in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean between 1980 and 2005. Our results, based on a probit estimation with sample selection, show that country risk has a significant and negative effect at the primary level of the hierarchy. Sensitivity analysis further distinguishes between which entry modes dive our main results. Taken collectively, our findings suggest that prior acquisition experience, marketing intensity, size, as well as a higher proportion of specific or intangible assets, are key attributes for managers to consider when structuring foreign investments as a portfolio of options. Moreover, we find that international investment experience moderates the extent to which firm capabilities matter by weakening the predicted effects of prior acquisition experience and asset structure when firms make choices regarding equity commitment.