Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seroprevalences of Newly Discovered Porcine Pestiviruses in German Pig Farms

Several novel porcine pestiviruses that are linked to disease outbreaks in commercial pig farms were discovered during recent years. Bungowannah pestivirus (BuPV; new species Pestivirus F) causes sudden death in young pigs, but has only ever been isolated in the Australian region Bungowannah. Atypical porcine pestivirus (APPV; new species Pestivirus K) on the other hand has been found in multiple countries worldwide and is potentially linked to congenital tremor, a disease that causes considerable production problems in pig farms. To assess the seroprevalences of both viruses in German commercial farms during the years 2009/10 and 2018, two approaches were selected. Antibodies against Pestivirus F were detected by a traditional in-house indirect immunofluorescence test against the culture-grown virus isolate, while for the detection of Pestivirus K-specific antibodies, a newly developed test system utilizing a chimeric construct of bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 (BVDV-1; species Pestivirus A) containing the E1 and E2 encoding sequences of APPV was established. A total of 1115 samples originating from 122 farms located in seven German federal states were investigated. Antibodies against Bungowannah virus could not be detected, confirming the absence of this virus in other regions than the initially affected Australian pig farm complex. In contrast, antibodies against APPV were highly prevalent throughout Germany at both investigated time points. The seroprevalence at the state level fluctuated to some degree, but the overall percentage remained stable, as is to be expected for an endemic pestivirus lacking any form of control measures.
Dollar exposure of East Asian Firms: New evidence

The author emphasizes that multinational firms from East-Asian markets report significant aggregate currency exposures to both the home currency – U.S. dollar real exchange rate and the U.S. dollar real effective value. Moreover, by identifying cash flow exposures, the short-term unlevered and financing cash-flow exposure, in addition to the standard stock price exposure, this paper gives new insights of the actual nature of the U.S. dollar exposure. Currency crises, currency arrangements, and the possible operations of the firms in the United States make up a set of decisive determinants of the aggregate time-varying exposure.
Temperature and Probe‐to‐Probe Variability Effects on the Performance of Capacitance Soil Moisture Sensors in an Oxisol

Temperature variability and hysteresis and probe variability affect sensor measurements. Probe‐to‐probe variability is significant but random. Temperature variability is the major source of error in sensor performance. Magnitude of temperature‐induced error is a function of water content and sensor type. Dependent calibration functions could improve sensor measurement performance.
Disparities in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Incidence in California: An Update

Background: Given changes in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence and the ethnodemographic landscape, we analyzed recent HCC incidence patterns and trends in California. Methods: Using 47,992 primary, invasive HCC cases diagnosed from 1988 to 2014 from the California Cancer Registry, we calculated age-adjusted incidence rates (IR), annual percent change (APC), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) by sex, race/ethnicity, and nativity among Hispanics and Asian ethnic groups. Results: Compared with non-Hispanic Whites (NHW), all other racial/ethnic groups had higher HCC incidence. Vietnamese had the highest IRs (males: 47.4, 95% CI, 45.3–49.5; females: 14.1, 95% CI, 13.0–15.3). Foreign-born Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese had higher incidence than U.S.-born. The reverse was observed for Hispanic males, whereas no differences by nativity were seen for Hispanic females. IRs increased most for NHWs. Among Asians, male and female Filipinos and Japanese males experienced rate increases, whereas male and female Koreans and Chinese males experienced rate decreases. U.S.-born male and female Hispanics and Japanese had higher APCs than foreign-born, as did Filipino males, whereas Chinese males had a reverse pattern. Annual increases in HCC incidence slowed down in recent years for U.S.-born Hispanic males and females and stabilized among male NHWs and non-Hispanic Blacks. For some Asian groups, early time periods exhibited increasing/stable APCs, whereas later time periods showed decreasing APCs. Conclusions: We found significant racial/ethnic and nativity differences in HCC IRs and trends. Impact: With changing trends, closer surveillance of HCC incidence by disaggregated race/ethnicity and nativity is warranted among Hispanics and Asians.
The disappearance of the 1667-MHz OH maser in IRAS 17436+5003 (HD 161796)

We report the diminution of the 1667-MHz OH maser in the post-asymptotic giant branch star IRAS 17436 + 5003, by a factor of greater than or similar to 17 over a period of less than or similar to 12 yr, from observations with MERLIN. This circumstellar maser was detected by Likkel in 1987, at the 13sigma level of her observations with the Green Bank Telescope. We discuss a number of possible reasons for this phenomenon and conclude that it is most likely due to turbulence arising from interacting stellar winds.
Simple Intercepts, Simple Slopes, and Regions of Significance in MLR 2-Way Interactions

This web page calculates simple intercepts, simple slopes, and the region of significance to facilitate the testing and probing of two-way interactions estimated in hierarchical linear regression models (HLMs). The interaction can be between two dichotomous variables, two continuous variables, or a dichotomous and a continuous variable. Further, the interaction can occur solely within level 1 (i.e., Case 1), solely within level 2 (i.e., Case 2), or result from a cross level prediction of a level 1 random effect by a level 2 covariate (i.e., Case 3). Because the analytic methods are identical for probing interactions in all three cases, we use the general notation 0 to define the simple intercept and 1 to define the simple slope regardless of which case we are considering. We use the standard notation of Raudenbush and Bryk (2002) to define each of these cases, and we assume that the user is knowledgeable both in the general HLM and in the testing, probing, and interpretation of interactions in multiple linear regression (e.g., Aiken & West, 1991). The following material is intended to facilitate the calculation of the methods presented in Bauer and Curran (2004) and Curran, Bauer, and Willoughby (in press), and we recommend consulting these papers for further details.
Comparison of the chemical removal rates of a low cost microbial fuel cel and an aerated activated sludge bioreacteur, and evaluation of its performances

Microbial fuel cells can be used to reduce the organic load of a wastewater, while producing electricity at the same time. However, most tests on MFCs are done in controlled laboratory environments using synthetic wastewaters, and MFCs that contain expensive catalysts and membranes. In this work, we studied the performances of a low-cost microbial fuel cell that was made with stainless steel electrodes and no catalysts, and The COD removal in the MFC was compared to the one obtained in an aerated activated sludge bioreactor. It was found that the MFC could be used for water treatment, an 80% COD removal was reached after 15 days, compared to 90% after 10 days in the aerated reactor. However, the power densities were quite low, a maximum of 2.5 mW/m2 could be reached, this was due to high activation losses, a high internal resistance, and the presence of few electrogenic bacteria in the biocatayst.
Explorer Deterministic Equivalent Performance Analysis of Time-Varying Massive MIMO Systems

Delayed channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT) due to time variation of the channel, coming from the users’ relative movement with regard to the BS antennas, is a n inevitable degrading performance factor in practical syst ems. Despite its importance, little attention has been paid to the l iterature of multi-cellular multiple-input massive multiple-outpu t (MIMO) system by investigating only the maximal ratio combining (MRC) receiver and the maximum ratio transmission (MRT) precoder. Hence, the contribution of this work is designated by the per formance analysis/comparison of/with more sophisticatedlinear techniques, i.e., a minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) det ector for the uplink and a regularized zero-forcing (RZF) precoder for the downlink are assessed. In particular, we derive the deterministic equivalents of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios (SINRs), which capture the effect of delayed CSIT, an d make the use of lengthy Monte Carlo simulations unnecessary . Furthermore, prediction of the current CSIT after applying a Wiener filter allows to evaluate the mitigation capabilities of MMSE and RZF. Numerical results depict that the proposed achievable SINRs (MMSE/RZF) are more efficient than simpler solutions (MRC/MRT) in delayed CSIT conditions, and yield a higher prediction at no special computational cost due to their deterministic nature. Nevertheless, it is shown thatmassive MIMO are preferable even in time-varying channel conditions.
Evaluation of Cardiac Function in Women With a History of Preeclampsia: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Background Women with a history of preeclampsia are at increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the underlying mechanisms of disease association, and the ideal method of monitoring this high‐risk group, remains unclear. This review aims to determine whether women with a history of preeclampsia show clinical or subclinical cardiac changes when evaluated with an echocardiogram. Methods and Results A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases was performed to identify studies that examined cardiac function in women with a history of preeclampsia, in comparison with those with normotensive pregnancies. In the 27 included studies, we found no significant differences between preeclampsia and nonpreeclampsia women with regard to left ventricular ejection fraction, isovolumetric relaxation time, or deceleration time. Women with a history of preeclampsia demonstrated a higher left ventricular mass index and relative wall thickness with a mean difference of 4.25 g/m2 (95% CI, 2.08, 6.42) and 0.03 (95% CI, 0.01, 0.05), respectively. In comparison with the nonpreeclampsia population, they also demonstrated a lower E/A and a higher E/e′ ratio with a mean difference of −0.08 (95% CI, −0.15, −0.01) and 0.84 (95% CI, 0.41, 1.27), respectively. Conclusions In comparison with women who had a normotensive pregnancy, women with a history of preeclampsia demonstrated a trend toward altered cardiac structure and function. Further studies with larger sample sizes and consistent echocardiogram reporting with the use of sensitive preclinical markers are required to assess the role of echocardiography in monitoring this high‐risk population group.
Engineered Artificial MicroRNA Precursors Facilitate Cloning and Gene Silencing in Arabidopsis and Rice

Plant genome sequences are presently deciphered at a staggering speed, due to the rapid advancement of high-throughput sequencing technologies. However, functional genomics significantly lag behind due to technical obstacles related to functional redundancy and mutant lethality. Artificial microRNA (amiRNA) technology is a specific, reversible, and multiplex gene silencing tool that has been frequently used in generating constitutive or conditional mutants for gene functional interrogation. The routine approach to construct amiRNA precursors involves multiple polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) that can increase both time and labor expenses, as well as the chance to introduce sequence errors. Here, we report a simplified method to clone and express amiRNAs in Arabidopsis and rice based on the engineered Arabidopsis miR319a or rice miR528 precursor, which harbor restriction sites to facilitate one-step cloning of a single PCR product. Stem-loop reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and functional assays validated that amiRNAs can be accurately processed from these modified precursors and work efficiently in plant protoplasts. In addition, Arabidopsis transgenic plants overexpressing the modified miR319a precursor or its derived amiRNA could exhibit strong gene silencing phenotypes, as expected. The simplified amiRNA cloning strategy will be broadly useful for functional genomic studies in Arabidopsis and rice, and maybe other dicotyledon and monocotyledon species as well.
When Parties Meet Voters

This article provides a new comparative methodology for the study of party–voter linkages from the perspective of voters, where the critical question that distinguishes clientelistic from programmatic parties is access to publicly provided benefits. In the former case, partisan networks mediate access to goods. In the latter, beneficiaries are defined by policy and access is independent from partisan distribution networks. We show that these different access mechanisms shape voters’ distributive expectations and the nature of their linkages to political parties by developing a unique methodology to measure party networks. We test it using original survey data from Argentina and Chile and show variation both across and within countries on party–voter linkages based on differential access to benefits and parties’ organizational capacity.
Foreign Direct Investment and Trade: A Causality Analysis

We analyse in this paper the relationship between outward FDI and exports, with Spanish quarterly data for the period 1977-1992. The empirical methodology makes use of Granger-causality tests in a cointegration framework, where the order of lags for each variable has been selected by means of Hsiao¹s sequential approach. The tests have been performed both in a bivariate and multivariate setting, in the latter case including as additional variables a proxy for world income and the relative price of exports. Since cointegration between outward FDI and exports was found, error-correction mechanisms under three alternative specifications were included, which allowed us to discriminate between short- and long-run Granger-causality. Our results point to the existence of long-run Granger-causality from outward FDI to exports, according to a complementary relationship, for the Spanish case during the period of analysis.
Clinical Study Risk Factors Related to Low Ankle-Brachial Index Measured by Traditional andModified Definition in Hypertensive Elderly Patients

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) increases with age and ankle-brachial index (ABI) ≤ 0.9 is a noninvasive marker of PAD. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors related to a low ABI in the elderly using two different methods of ABI calculation (traditional and modified definition using lower instead of higher ankle pressure). A cross-sectional study was carried out with 65 hypertensive patients aged 65 years or older. PAD was present in 18% of individuals by current ABI definition and in 32% by modified method. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, higher levels of systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure, elevated risk by Framingham Risk Score (FRS), and a higher number of total and antihypertensive drugs in use were associated with low ABI by both definitions. Smoking and LDL-cholesterol were associated with low ABI only by the modified definition. Low ABI by the modified definition detected 9 new cases of PAD but cardiovascular risk had not been considered high in 3 patients when calculated by FRS. In conclusion, given that a simple modification of ABI calculation would be able to identify more patients at high risk, it should be considered for cardiovascular risk prediction in all elderly hypertensive outpatients.
Veterans with Gulf War Illness exhibit distinct respiratory patterns during maximal cardiopulmonary exercise

Introduction The components of minute ventilation, respiratory frequency and tidal volume, appear differentially regulated and thereby afford unique insight into the ventilatory response to exercise. However, respiratory frequency and tidal volume are infrequently reported, and have not previously been considered among military veterans with Gulf War Illness. Our purpose was to evaluate respiratory frequency and tidal volume in response to a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test in individuals with and without Gulf War Illness. Materials and methods 20 cases with Gulf War Illness and 14 controls participated in this study and performed maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test on a cycle ergometer. Ventilatory variables (minute ventilation, respiratory frequency and tidal volume) were obtained and normalized to peak exercise capacity. Using mixed-design analysis of variance models, with group and time as factors, we analyzed exercise ventilatory patterns for the entire sample and for 11 subjects from each group matched for race, age, sex, and height. Results Despite similar minute ventilation (p = 0.57, η2p = 0.01), tidal volume was greater (p = 0.02, η2p = 0.16) and respiratory frequency was lower (p = 0.004, η2p = 0.24) in Veterans with Gulf War Illness than controls. The findings for respiratory frequency remained significant in the matched subgroup (p = 0.004, η2p = 0.35). Conclusion In our sample, veterans with Gulf War Illness adopt a unique exercise ventilatory pattern characterized by reduced respiratory frequency, despite similar ventilation relative to controls. Although the mechanism(s) by which this pattern is achieved remains unresolved, our findings suggest that the components of ventilation should be considered when evaluating clinical conditions with unexplained exertional symptoms.
Thermo/pH Responsive Star and Linear Copolymers Containing a Cholic Acid-Derived Monomer, N-Isopropylacrylamide and Acrylic Acid: Synthesis and Solution Properties

In this work three CTAs trithiocarbonate-type were synthesized—bifunctional (with PEG), trifunctional (with glycerol), and tetrafunctional (PERT)—and used in the controlled polymerization of 2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl cholate (CAE) via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The resulting macroCTAs containing a cholic acid-derived polymer were chain extended with N-isopropylacrylamide with or without acrylic acid. The thermosensitive and/or pH properties of these copolymers were studied in PBS solutions. The copolymers synthesized without poly(acrylic acid) (PAAc) were unstable above the transition temperature. Similar behavior was observed for the copolymer solutions containing PAAc (2% in feed) at lower values of pH showing a faster precipitation above the LCST. On the contrary, copolymer solutions containing PAAc showed great stability at higher pH values for a longer time period at 37 °C. Interestingly, the Dh of the aggregates ranged from 18 to 30 nm in all copolymers (with or without PAAc) below the transition temperature, although the topology and the block sequence in the chain were significantly different.
BiLSTM Domain Attention Task Attention x ŷ ( DC ) ŷ ( k ) Domain Classifier Task Classifier

Distributed representation plays an important role in deep learning based natural language processing. However, the representation of a sentence often varies in different tasks, which is usually learned from scratch and suffers from the limited amounts of training data. In this paper, we claim that a good sentence representation should be invariant and can benefit the various subsequent tasks. To achieve this purpose, we propose a new scheme of information sharing for multi-task learning. More specifically, all tasks share the same sentence representation and each task can select the task-specific information from the shared sentence representation with attention mechanism. The query vector of each task’s attention could be either static parameters or generated dynamically. We conduct extensive experiments on 16 different text classification tasks, which demonstrate the benefits of our architecture.
Influence of food availability and climate on behavior patterns of western black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor) at Mt. Wuliang, Yunnan, China

Food abundance and climatic factors can significantly affect the behavior of animals and constrain their activity budgets. The population of western black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor) in Mt. Wuliang lives in montane forest and is close to the northern extreme of the distribution for gibbons (Hylobatidae). Their habitats show remarkable seasonal variation in terms of food availability, temperature, and rainfall. To understand behavioral adaptations of western black crested gibbons to different sets of ecological conditions, we examined relationships among food availability, mean temperature, rainfall, and behavior patterns by observing two groups for 1 year each. Our results revealed that activity budget was affected by food availability and mean temperature. The gibbons spent more time eating flowers when that resource was more available and spent less time moving when fruit was more available. The gibbons spent less time feeding and more time resting, and spent less feeding time on fruit and leaves when the mean temperature was lower. These results suggest that the gibbons displayed a pronounced preference for flowers as a food resource and adopted a time minimizer strategy when high‐nutrient food items (i.e., fruit) were more available. In addition, the gibbons adopted an energy‐conserving strategy during periods of low temperature. The flexibility of behavioral patterns in responding to food availability and temperature may potentially improve the gibbons’ prospects of surviving and reproducing in a northern montane forest.
Latent Inhibition and Overswitching in Schizophrenia by Herzel Yogev

Attention disorders in schizophrenia are manifested in two different ways. On the one hand, the schizophrenia patient tends to keep a learned response even after it ceases to be relevant (perseveration). On the other hand, the schizophrenia patient tends to replace an adaptive response without being given a reason to do so (overswitching). In the present study, overswitching was investigated in relation to latent inhibition (LI), which is the normal ability to ignore nonrelevant stimuli. A new tool—the Combined Attention Test—was used for this purpose in a group of 41 unmedicated schizophrenia patients, divided into subgroups of patients with predominantly positive and negative symptoms, and 24 normal controls. The results show that positive schizophrenia patients, who exhibited high levels of overswitching, also revealed impaired LI, while the negative schizophrenia group, as well as normal controls, exhibited intact LI. These findings suggest that overswitching is a specific attention deficit in positive schizophrenia. We discuss the possibility that impaired LI is a consequence of overswitching and comment on the putative neurophysiology.