Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ecological role of a seaweed secondary metabolite for a colonizing bacterial community

Bacteria associated with seaweeds can both harm and benefit their hosts. Many seaweed species are known to produce compounds that inhibit growth of bacterial isolates, but the ecological role of seaweed metabolites for the associated bacterial community structure is not well understood. In this study the response of a colonizing bacterial community to the secondary metabolite (1,1,3,3-tetrabromo-2-heptanone) from the red alga Bonnemaisonia hamifera was investigated by using field panels coated with the metabolite at a range of concentrations covering those measured at the algal surface. The seaweed metabolite has previously been shown to have antibacterial effects. The metabolite significantly affected the natural fouling community by (i) altering the composition, (ii) altering the diversity by increasing the evenness and (iii) decreasing the density, as measured by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism in conjunction with clone libraries of the 16S rRNA genes and by bacterial enumeration. No single major bacterial taxon (phylum, class) was particularly affected by the metabolite. Instead changes in community composition were observed at a more detailed phylogenetic level. This indicates a broad specificity of the seaweed metabolite against bacterial colonization, which is supported by the observation that the bacterial density was significantly affected at a lower concentration (0.02 μg cm−2) than the composition (1–2.5 μg cm−2) and the evenness (5 μg cm−2) of the bacterial communities. Altogether, the results emphasize the role of secondary metabolites for control of the density and structure of seaweed-associated bacterial communities.
Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) Regulates Dysbindin Function by Enhancing Its Stability*

Background: Dysbindin and Disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) are major schizophrenia susceptibility factors. Results: DISC1 enhances stability of dysbindin, which is critical for neurite outgrowth. Conclusion: Dysbindin and DISC1 form a physiologically functional complex that is essential for normal neurite outgrowth. Significance: Our findings indicate the existence of a protein complex composed of multiple schizophrenia susceptibility factors functioning in a pathway for neurite outgrowth. Dysbindin and DISC1 are schizophrenia susceptibility factors playing roles in neuronal development. Here we show that the physical interaction between dysbindin and DISC1 is critical for the stability of dysbindin and for the process of neurite outgrowth. We found that DISC1 forms a complex with dysbindin and increases its stability in association with a reduction in ubiquitylation. Furthermore, knockdown of DISC1 or expression of a deletion mutant, DISC1 lacking amino acid residues 403–504 of DISC1 (DISC1Δ403–504), effectively decreased levels of endogenous dysbindin. Finally, the neurite outgrowth defect induced by knockdown of DISC1 was partially reversed by coexpression of dysbindin. Taken together, these results indicate that dysbindin and DISC1 form a physiologically functional complex that is essential for normal neurite outgrowth.
Pro-Social and Anti-Social Behaviour

Introducing Pro-social and Anti-social Behaviour. Section 1. Pro-social Behaviour. Traditional Explanations of Pro-social Behaviour. Social Psychological Explanations of Pro-social Behaviour. Individual and Environmental Explanations of Pro-social Behaviour. Bystander Effects on Pro-social Behaviour. Section 2. Anti-social Behaviour. Traditional Explanations of Anti-social Behaviour. Social Psychological Explanations of Anti-social Behaviour. Individual and Environmental Explanations of Anti-social Behaviour. Reducing and Controlling Anti-social Behaviour. Section 3. Media Influences on Pro- and Anti-social Behaviour. Pro- and Anti-Social Behaviour and the Media. Study Aids. Glossary. References. Index.
SPECIMEN SHRINKAGE IN TENNESSEE WARBLERS AND "TRAILL'S" FLYCATCHERS

--Guidelines for morphometric sexing of monochromatic species are frequently based on museum specimens. These specimens tend to shrink when they dry, introducing a potential source of error that is typically ignored when sexing guidelines are applied to living birds. Shrinkage can amount to as much as 4% of the length of living body components, and investigators should correct their field data before applying museum-derived sexing criteria. Studies in the literature and data from Tennessee Warblers (Vermivora peregrina) and "Traill's" flycatchers (Empidonax "traillii") suggest that suitable correction factors will vary with taxon and body component. SE ENCOJEN ESPECiMENES DE VERMIVORA PEREGRINA Y EMPIDONAX TRAILLH Sinopsis. --Las guias para el sexado morfom•trico de especies monocrom•ticas e basan frecuentemente n especlmenes de museo. Estos especlmenes tienden a encogerse cuando se secan, introduciendo una fuente potencial de error que es dpicamente ignorada cuando se aplican las gulas de sexado a individuos vivos. Las pieles pueden encogerse hasta un 4% del largo de sus componentes en un organismo vivo por lo que los investigadores deben hacer las correcciones pertinentes en sus datos de campo antes de aplicar los mismos a los criterios de sexado con pieles de museos. Estudios en la literatura y datos tomados en especlmenes frescos y luego de secarse de las especies Vermivora peregrina y Empidonax traillii sugieren que los factores de correcci6n pueden variar de un tax6n a otro al igual queen los componentes corporales. Guidelines for determining the sex of birds of monochromatic species on the basis of their measurements are frequently developed using museum specimens. Despite the fact that these specimens tend to shrink when they dry, this shrinkage is typically ignored and the results of museum-based studies are applied directly to living birds (e.g., Pyle et al. 1987). Given that shrinkage can amount to an average of as much as 4% of the living length of various body components (e.g., Fjelds5 1980), ignoring it seems unwise. When the sexes are mensurally similar, the difference in length between a fresh and dried body component can represent a large portion of the difference between the sexual means. For example, Mueller (1990) noted that shrinkage of 1.72% represented about 54% of the difference between the mean wing lengths of male and female Saw-whet Owls (Aegolius acadicus). In an attempt to estimate correction values to apply to field data before the application of museum-derived sexing guidelines, I examined the literature and measured "Traill's" flycatchers (Empidonax traillii and E. alnorum) and Tennessee Warblers (Vermivora peregrina) before and after drying.
IDENTIFICATION OF HOMOLOGUES OF THE EMH-3 HOMEOBOX-CONTAINING GENE IN DEMOSPONGES

In the present study, we have identified and characterized homologues of the homeoboxcontaining gene EmH-3 from Ephydatia muelleri in three additional freshwater sponges: Eunapius fragilis, Spongilla lacustris and Trochospongilla horrida. They were designated EmH-3Efr, EmH-3Sl and EmH-3Th. They exhibited a great conservation of genomic and amino acid sequences, exon/intron structure and expression patterns with the EmH-3 gene, which strongly suggested that they have the same function in sponge development. Phylogenetic analyses have shown a grouping of E. muelleri and E. fluviatilis, E. fragilis and S. lacustris, T. horrida being outside both groups. They also showed that EmH-3 and its homologues were most closely related to the Tlx/Hox11 family of higher metazoans. They are probably representatives of this family as they display the family-specific signature and, as are the members of this family, are involved in cell multiplication and differentiation.
Monitoring of Irrigation Schemes by Remote Sensing: Phenology versus Retrieval of Biophysical Variables

The appraisal of crop water requirements (CWR) is crucial for the management of water resources, especially in arid and semi-arid regions where irrigation represents the largest consumer of water, such as the Doukkala area, western Morocco. Simple and (semi) empirical approaches have been applied to estimate CWR: the first one is called Kc-NDVI method, based on the correlation between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the crop coefficient (Kc); the second one is the analytical approach based on the direct application of the Penman-Monteith equation with reflectance-based estimates of canopy biophysical variables, such as surface albedo (r), leaf area index (LAI) and crop height (hc). A time series of high spatial resolution RapidEye (REIS), SPOT4 (HRVIR1) and Landsat 8 (OLI) images acquired during the 2012/2013 agricultural season has been used to assess the spatial and temporal variability of crop evapotranspiration ETc and biophysical variables. The validation using the dual crop coefficient approach (Kcb) showed that the satellite-based estimates of daily ETc were in good agreement with ground-based ETc, i.e., R2 = 0.75 and RMSE = 0.79 versus R2 = 0.73 and RMSE = 0.89 for the Kc-NDVI, respective of the analytical approach. The assessment of irrigation performance in terms of adequacy between water requirements and allocations showed that CWR were much larger than allocated surface water for the entire area, with this difference being small at the beginning of the growing season. Even smaller differences were observed between surface water allocations and Irrigation Water Requirements (IWR) throughout the irrigation season. Finally, surface water allocations were rather close to Net Irrigation Water Requirements (NIWR).
Introducing Security Aspects with Model Transformations

Aspect oriented programming and subsequently aspect oriented software development have received great attention recently and constitutes an interesting field of research in computer science. The goal of this paper is to propose a more precise understanding of aspects based on the idea of crosscutting concerns in view of model transformation. This proposal considers security aspects as an example of a behavior applied over a desired software product. This implies improving the actual definition of aspects. The work introduces the main current concepts of aspect, defines aspects as behavioral entities, presents examples, and outlines a method for model transformation based on the proposed definition.
People Like Virtual Counselors That Highly-Disclose About Themselves

In this paper, we describe our findings from research designed to explore the effect of self-disclosure between virtual human counselors (interviewers) and human users (interviewees) on users' social responses in counseling sessions. To investigate this subject, we designed an experiment involving three conditions of self-disclosure: high-disclosure, low-disclosure, and non-disclosure. We measured users' sense of co-presence and social attraction to virtual counselors. The results demonstrated that users reported more co-presence and social attraction to virtual humans who disclosed highly intimate information about themselves than when compared to other virtual humans who disclosed less intimate or no information about themselves. In addition, a further analysis of users' verbal self-disclosure showed that users revealed a medium level of personal information more often when interacting with virtual humans that highly-disclosed about themselves, than when interacting with virtual humans disclosing less intimate or no information about themselves.
Low Temperature Induction of Arabidopsis CBF1, 2, and 3 Is Gated by the Circadian Clock1

Exposing Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants to low temperature results in rapid induction of CBF1, 2, and 3 (CBF1-3; also known as DREB1B, C, and A, respectively), which encode transcriptional activators that induce expression of a battery of genes that increase plant freezing and chilling tolerance. Recently, it has been shown that basal levels of CBF3 transcripts and those of certain CBF-regulated genes exhibit circadian cycling. Here, we further explored the regulation of CBF1-3 by the circadian clock. The results indicated that the extent to which CBF1-3 transcripts accumulated in response to low temperature was dependent on the time of day that the plants were exposed to low temperature and that this was regulated by the circadian clock. The highest and lowest levels of cold-induced CBF1-3 transcript accumulation occurred at 4 and 16 h after subjective dawn, respectively. An analysis of CBF2 promoter-reporter gene fusions indicated that this control included transcriptional regulation. In addition, the cold responsiveness of RAV1 and ZAT12, genes that are cold induced in parallel with CBF1-3, was also subject to circadian regulation. However, whereas the maximum level of cold-induced RAV1 transcript accumulation occurred at the same time of day as did CBF1-3 transcripts, that of ZAT12 was in reverse phase, i.e. the highest level of cold-induced ZAT12 transcript accumulation occurred 16 h after subjective dawn. These results indicate that cold-induced expression of CBF1-3, RAV1, and ZAT12 is gated by the circadian clock and suggest that this regulation likely occurs through at least two nonidentical (though potentially overlapping) signaling pathways.
Depression modulates pruritus perception: a study of pruritus in psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and chronic idiopathic urticaria.

&NA; Pruritus, or itching, is the most common symptom of dermatologic disease. Psychologic factors can affect pruritus, and in an earlier study of inpatients with moderate to severe psoriasis, we observed that the degree of depressive psychopathology directly correlated with pruritus severity. In this study we investigated the relation between pruritus and depression among a group of patients (N = 252) with a wide range of pruritic skin disorders, including outpatients with mild to moderate psoriasis (N = 77), atopic dermatitis (N = 143) and chronic idiopathic urticaria (N = 32). All patients self‐rated the severity of their pruritus on a 10‐point scale and completed a battery of psychologic ratings, including the Carroll Rating Scale for Depression (CRSD). We observed a direct correlation (Pearson's r = .34, p < .0001) between pruritus severity and the CRSD score. The correlations between pruritus severity and CRSD scores for each individual diagnostic group were as follows: psoriasis: Pearson's r = . 32, p = . 004; atopic dermatitis: Pearson's r = . 21, p = . 013; and chronic idiopathic urticaria: Pearson's r = . 34, p = . 06. When the subjects with pruritus scores less than 5.5 were compared with subjects with pruritus scores greater than 5.5, significant differences (p < .05) in depression scores were found for all three dermatoses by the Mann‐Whitney U test. The depressed clinical state may reduce the threshold for pruritus.
Epidemiology and Reporting Characteristics of Systematic Reviews of Biomedical Research: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Systematic reviews (SRs) can help decision makers interpret the deluge of published biomedical literature. However, a SR may be of limited use if the methods used to conduct the SR are flawed, and reporting of the SR is incomplete. To our knowledge, since 2004 there has been no cross-sectional study of the prevalence, focus, and completeness of reporting of SRs across different specialties. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the epidemiological and reporting characteristics of a more recent cross-section of SRs. Methods and Findings We searched MEDLINE to identify potentially eligible SRs indexed during the month of February 2014. Citations were screened using prespecified eligibility criteria. Epidemiological and reporting characteristics of a random sample of 300 SRs were extracted by one reviewer, with a 10% sample extracted in duplicate. We compared characteristics of Cochrane versus non-Cochrane reviews, and the 2014 sample of SRs versus a 2004 sample of SRs. We identified 682 SRs, suggesting that more than 8,000 SRs are being indexed in MEDLINE annually, corresponding to a 3-fold increase over the last decade. The majority of SRs addressed a therapeutic question and were conducted by authors based in China, the UK, or the US; they included a median of 15 studies involving 2,072 participants. Meta-analysis was performed in 63% of SRs, mostly using standard pairwise methods. Study risk of bias/quality assessment was performed in 70% of SRs but was rarely incorporated into the analysis (16%). Few SRs (7%) searched sources of unpublished data, and the risk of publication bias was considered in less than half of SRs. Reporting quality was highly variable; at least a third of SRs did not report use of a SR protocol, eligibility criteria relating to publication status, years of coverage of the search, a full Boolean search logic for at least one database, methods for data extraction, methods for study risk of bias assessment, a primary outcome, an abstract conclusion that incorporated study limitations, or the funding source of the SR. Cochrane SRs, which accounted for 15% of the sample, had more complete reporting than all other types of SRs. Reporting has generally improved since 2004, but remains suboptimal for many characteristics. Conclusions An increasing number of SRs are being published, and many are poorly conducted and reported. Strategies are needed to help reduce this avoidable waste in research.
What visual illusions teach us about schizophrenia

Illusion, namely a mismatch between the objective and perceived properties of an object present in the environment, is a common feature of visual perception, both in normal and pathological conditions. This makes illusion a valuable tool with which to explore normal perception and its impairments. Although still debated, the hypothesis of a modified, and typically diminished, susceptibility to illusions in schizophrenia patients is supported by a growing number of studies. The current paper aimed to review how illusions have been used to explore and reveal the core features of visual perception in schizophrenia from a psychophysical, neurophysiological and functional point of view. We propose an integration of these findings into a common hierarchical Bayesian inference framework. The Bayesian formalism considers perception as the optimal combination between sensory evidence and prior knowledge, thereby highlighting the interweaving of perceptions and beliefs. Notably, it offers a holistic and convincing explanation for the perceptual changes observed in schizophrenia that might be ideally tested using illusory paradigms, as well as potential paths to explore neural mechanisms. Implications for psychopathology (in terms of positive symptoms, subjective experience or behavior disruptions) are critically discussed.
Defrosting the Digital Library: Bibliographic Tools for the Next Generation Web

Many scientists now manage the bulk of their bibliographic information electronically, thereby organizing their publications and citation material from digital libraries. However, a library has been described as “thought in cold storage,” and unfortunately many digital libraries can be cold, impersonal, isolated, and inaccessible places. In this Review, we discuss the current chilly state of digital libraries for the computational biologist, including PubMed, IEEE Xplore, the ACM digital library, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Citeseer, arXiv, DBLP, and Google Scholar. We illustrate the current process of using these libraries with a typical workflow, and highlight problems with managing data and metadata using URIs. We then examine a range of new applications such as Zotero, Mendeley, Mekentosj Papers, MyNCBI, CiteULike, Connotea, and HubMed that exploit the Web to make these digital libraries more personal, sociable, integrated, and accessible places. We conclude with how these applications may begin to help achieve a digital defrost, and discuss some of the issues that will help or hinder this in terms of making libraries on the Web warmer places in the future, becoming resources that are considerably more useful to both humans and machines.
Differences in multidrug resistance phenotype and matrix metalloproteinases activity between endothelial cells from normal brain and glioma

Endothelial cells (ECs) are new targets for tumor therapy. In this work, we purified endothelial cells from intracerebral and subcutaneous experimental gliomas as well as from normal brain in order to define some of the phenotypical differences between angiogenic and quiescent brain vasculature. We show that the multidrug resistance genes encoding drug efflux pumps at the brain endothelium are expressed differently in normal and tumoral vasculature. We also show that ECs from gliomas present increased activity of gelatinase B (MMP9), key enzyme in the angiogenic process. Importantly, we observe a different phenotype between ECs in the intracerebral and subcutaneous models. Our results provide molecular evidence of phenotypic distinction between tumoral and normal brain vasculature and indicate that the EC phenotype depends on interactions both with tumor cells and also with the microenvironment.
Aggregated modeling and control of integrated boost-flyback high step-up converter

Integrated boost-flyback converter (IBFC) is constructed with the cascade connection of a boost converter and a flyback converter, it has the advantages of high step-up output voltage and system isolation. Since the boost converter and flyback converter operate in different conduction mode while sharing main switch and dc-link capacitor, a theoretical modeling approach and mathematical procedure are complex when the circuit analysis of two converters are attempted simultaneously. Therefore, this paper proposes the aggregated approach to model the IBFC for understanding of its dynamic characteristic. The basic concept of the aggregated modeling is to substitute the boost or the flyback converter with an equivalent current source, and then to derive dynamic equations for the separated converters by state-space average technique. The proposed approach is simplified intuitive circuit analysis. Furthermore, relevant controller is designed based on the achieved control-to-output transfer function. The frequency response taken from a 100W IBFC and dynamic response taken from the 200W prototype interleaving two 100W IBFC show a good agreement with the theoretical expectations.
Mortality Salience Effects on Gender Stereotype Attitudes and Sexism, and the Moderating Effect of Gender Role Conflicts

Mortality Salience Effects on Gender Stereotype Attitudes and Sexism, and the Moderating Effect of Gender Role Conflicts by Gary Leka MA, University of Texas – Pan American, 1998 BA, Pan American University, 1984 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy