Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Plasma Membrane—An Integrating Compartment for Mechano-Signaling

Plants are able to sense their mechanical environment. This mechanical signal is used by the plant to determine its phenotypic features. This is true also at a smaller scale. Morphogenesis, both at the cell and tissue level, involves mechanical signals that influence specific patterns of gene expression and trigger signaling pathways. How a mechanical stress is perceived and how this signal is transduced into the cell remains a challenging question in the plant community. Among the structural components of plant cells, the plasma membrane has received very little attention. Yet, its position at the interface between the cell wall and the interior of the cell makes it a key factor at the nexus between biochemical and mechanical cues. So far, most of the key players that are described to perceive and maintain mechanical cell status and to respond to a mechanical stress are localized at or close to the plasma membrane. In this review, we will focus on the importance of the plasma membrane in mechano-sensing and try to illustrate how the composition of this dynamic compartment is involved in the regulatory processes of a cell to respond to mechanical stress.
Mechanisms and impacts of an incentive‐based conservation program with evidence from a randomized control trial

Conservation science needs more high‐quality impact evaluations, especially ones that explore mechanisms of success or failure. Randomized control trials (RCTs) provide particularly robust evidence of the effectiveness of interventions (although they have been criticized as reductionist and unable to provide insights into mechanisms), but there have been few such experiments investigating conservation at the landscape scale. We explored the impact of Watershared, an incentive‐based conservation program in the Bolivian Andes, with one of the few RCTs of landscape‐scale conservation in existence. There is strong interest in such incentive‐based conservation approaches as some argue they can avoid negative social impacts sometimes associated with protected areas. We focused on social and environmental outcomes based on responses from a household survey in 129 communities randomly allocated to control or treatment (conducted both at the baseline in 2010 and repeated in 2015–2016). We controlled for incomplete program uptake by combining standard RCT analysis with matching methods and investigated mechanisms by exploring intermediate and ultimate outcomes according to the underlying theory of change. Previous analyses, focused on single biophysical outcomes, showed that over its first 5 years Watershared did not slow deforestation or improve water quality at the landscape scale. We found that Watershared influenced some outcomes measured using the survey, but the effects were complex, and some were unexpected. We thus demonstrated how RCTs can provide insights into the pathways of impact, as well as whether an intervention has impact. This paper, one of the first registered reports in conservation science, demonstrates how preregistration can help make complex research designs more transparent, avoid cherry picking, and reduce publication bias.
Cytotoxic Activity of Aplykurodin A Isolated From Aplysia kurodai against AXIN1-Mutated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells by Promoting Oncogenic β-Catenin Degradation

Dysregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is involved in the development of human hepatocellular carcinoma and has thus emerged as a therapeutic target for this malignant tumor. In this study, we employed sensitive cell-based assays to identify aplykurodin A isolated from Aplysia kurodai as an antagonist of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Aplykurodin A inhibited β-catenin responsive transcription, which was stimulated by a Wnt3a-conditioned medium or a glycogen synthase kinase 3β inhibitor by accelerating intracellular β-catenin degradation. Aplykurodin A downregulated the level of oncogenic β-catenin and decreased the expression of β-catenin-dependent gene, leading to inhibition of human hepatoma Hep3B and SNU475 cell proliferation. Moreover, apoptosis and autophagy were elicited by aplykurodin A, as indicated by an increase the number of Annexin V-FITC-stained cells and the formation of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 puncta, respectively, in Hep3B and SNU475 cells. Our findings suggest that aplykurodin A provides a novel therapeutic strategy for human hepatocellular carcinoma via stimulation of oncogenic β-catenin degradation.
Drooling in children with neurodisability: A survey of Australian speech–language pathologists’ practice

Abstract Purpose: In the absence of evidence-based guidelines, this study sought to understand current speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) practice when treating drooling in children with a neurodisability. Method: Descriptive research using cross-sectional survey methodology. Online survey methods were used to obtain specific information on Australian SLPs’ self-reported assessment and treatment practices relative to working with children with neurodisability who drool. Questions focussed on level of expertise, treatment approaches and barriers to evidence-based practice (EBP) in this area. Participants were sourced through three targeted associations/organisations. Data were analysed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. Result: Participants were Australian SLPs who had recent experience working with children with neurodisability who drool (n = 68). They favoured informal rather than formal methods for assessment. Preferred treatment techniques included behavioural intervention methods (46–53%) and modifying positioning (43.3%). Client suitability dominated reasoning regarding treatment selection (60%) with 57% of SLPs reporting EBP barriers. Conclusion: Drooling was perceived to be a complex practice area for which SLPs desire additional education. Despite availability, valid and reliable assessments of drooling were not commonly used. Clinicians have limited evidence to support their practice: further research is needed to establish evidence-based treatments for drooling.
Host-Microbiota Interactions in Ileum and Caecum of Pigs Divergent in Feed Efficiency Contribute to Nutrient Utilization

The composition of the intestinal microbiota plays an important role in the digestion and utilization of nutrients and for gut health. Low-fiber diets stimulate digestion and absorption processes, predominantly in the upper region of the gastrointestinal tract, thereby increasing the conversion of feed into body weight. As a consequence, the chemical composition of digesta after duodenal and jejunal absorption processes and passage has a limited complexity affecting colonization and molecular profiles of enterocytes in the hind gut. To decipher ileal and caecal microbial ecosystems and host transcriptional profiles that are beneficial for effective use of the remaining nutrients, pigs differing in feeding efficiency were studied. Biological functions that were consistently enriched at both the gene and microbiota levels comprise immunity-related processes, which ensure the integrity of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, the differential abundance of certain genera, including Rothia, Subdoligranulu, Leeia and Cellulosilyticum, reflects the establishment of a microbial profile that supports the digestion of endogenously indigestible dietary components in highly feed-efficient pigs. Overall, the results indicate the potential to promote these beneficial functions and further improve feed efficiency through manipulation of dietary and probiotic strategies.
Morphological responses of three persistent native anuran species after forest conversion into monoculture pine plantations: tolerance or prosperity?

Species loss by habitat replacement operating as an ecological filter is a well-known consequence of modern human activities. In contrast, the ecological and evolutionary response on species overcoming those filters in converted habitats has not been thoroughly explored. Species that persist are subject to novel and potentially stressful conditions that may induce certain morphological changes. We evaluated changes in the functional morphology of three anuran species persisting after the conversion of areas of the Atlantic Forest into pine plantations. We specifically evaluated differences in body size and body condition indices, head width and hind legs length between adult individuals from both habitats and sexes. Habitat conversion and sexual dimorphism affected the morphology of the three anurans, with varying effects upon species and traits. Regarding the effect of habitat conversion, Elachistocleis bicolor increased body condition in plantations with no changes in the other traits, Physalaemus cuvieri showed only a marginal increment in residual body mass in plantations, and Odontophrynus americanus exhibited a substantial increment in body size while maintaining its body condition in plantations. Remarkably, none of the results suggested these persistent anurans were stressed by forest conversion. This study shows that habitat conversion may induce intraspecific morphological changes in ecologically relevant traits of persistent species, and that disturbed areas do not necessarily imply stressful, low quality habitats affecting all persistent native species negatively. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Role of CT Angiography in Patient Selection for Thrombolytic Therapy in Acute Hemispheric Stroke

Background and Purpose—It has been shown that thrombolytic therapy can improve clinical outcome in a subgroup of patients with acute cerebral ischemia. This subgroup was characterized by certain clinical and imaging findings (eg, moderate to severe neurological deficit for less than 3 to 6 hours, occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, lack of extended infarct signs on CT, and efficient leptomeningeal collaterals). Although not part of published prospective randomized rtPA trials, information about the status of the brain vessels would be helpful in the selection of patients who may benefit the most. Our purpose was to determine the feasibility of CT angiography (CTA) in patients with acute hemispheric ischemia and to evaluate its relevance for thrombolytic therapy. Methods—CTA was performed in 40 consecutive patients (11 women and 29 men; age range, 19 to 80 years) with moderate or severe symptoms (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of ≥8) of acute hemispheric ischemia. CTA findings were c.
Identifying Semantically Similar questions using NLP techniques and Linked Data Principles

In Community Question Answering (CQA) sites, despite active participation, a signiﬁcant amount of questions on such sites remain unanswered due to a lot of reasons such as the question being poorly formed/worded, unavailability of any answerer or the increased inﬂow of questions in the same area which disinterests an answerer to answer the same question or having to redirect them multiple times to already answered questions. This research is an attempt to study if unstructured data is converted to structured data using state-of-the art natural language processing (NLP) techniques and Linked Data technologies, to what extent it could help a user in identifying semantically similar questions. One of the most contested themes in Computer Science is the ability to automatically map natural language semantics into programming languages. This research work is distinguished from other studies as we approach the problem from an ontology centred view and the idea of knowledge reuse forms the notion of this work. We evaluate our approach and open discussions on new ways to evaluate the identiﬁcation of semantically similar questions. The key ﬁndings of this research demonstrate that using NLP techniques and Linked Data principles identiﬁcation of semantically similar questions is viable. The proposed approach has a small but signiﬁcant impact which can be leveraged for designing data models for the task of ﬁnding semantically similar questions.
News Reflection on Presidential Decree Related to Migrant Workers as Ideological Practice of Global Capitalism in Indonesia

Public policies contained in Presidential Regulation No. 20 in 2018 concerning migrant workers issued by President Joko Widodo trigger pros and cons in the development of the global economy and international politics. This study aimed to dismantle the purpose behind Presidential Regulation on migrant workers and the practice of global capitalist ideology through news on online media, particularly Detik.com, Kompas.com and Tempo.co from April to May 2018. The theories used in this Norman Fairclough's principles [1]. The method used in this study was a critical paradigm through Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis. The analysis unit of this research was the news about the Presidential Regulation on migrant workers. The results of this study indicated several points. The Government did not dispute the presence of migrant workers from China. There were political interests between the Government and Chinese investors. The media industry applied a global capitalist ideology and a global business model based on international political interests that were more on the scope of the Asia Pacific region. The role of the media, in which at the current condition, supported the policy of the Presidential Regulation on Migrant workers through media report loaded with political interests reflected by policies supports issued by Jokowi.
Spectrum Efficiency of Sensing Non-Cooperative Cognitive Radio Network based Massive MIMO Systems

— In a cellular network, the demand for high throughput and reliable transmission is increasing in large scale. One of the architectures proposed for 5G wireless communication to satisfy the demand is Massive MIMO system. The massive system is equipped with the large array of antennas at the Base Station (BS) serving multiple single antenna users simultaneously i.e., number of BS antennas are typically more compared to the number of users in a cell. This additional number of antennas at the base station increases the spatial degree of freedom which helps to increase throughput, maximize the beamforming gain, simplify the signal processing technique and reduces the need of more transmit power. The advantages of massive MIMO can be achieved only if Channel State Information (CSI) is known at BS uplink and downlink operate on orthogonal channels. The studied of non-cooperative cognitive radio network based massive MIMO systems is present in this paper.
The Beneficial Effect of Enriched Environment on Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease, its main clinical symptoms are the progressive decline of cognitive and memory functions. Enriched Environment (EE) achieves the goal of improving brain cognitive reserve by enhancing the multi-directional stimulation on movement, sensory and cognitive systems of animals. And EE can regulate the levels of various trophic factors in the brain, promote synaptic regeneration and enhance neural plasticity to reduce the loss of neurons induced by inflammation. At present, there is still no effective treatment for AD and the clinical intervention drug is expensive. So it is essential to actively explore non-drug treatment. This review will explain the effects of EE on learning ability, memory ability and mental behavior in AD, and provide a new direction for the treatment and rehabilitation of AD.
The Geology of the Tecolotlan Graben, Jalisco, Mexico

The Tecolotlan valley is a small graben ~110 km southwest of Guadalajara in the northeastern corner of the Jalisco block of west-central Mexico. The graben trends roughly north-south, is ~10 km wide and 20 km long, with ~500 m of topographic relief. It is bounded to the east by a horst of Cretaceous (Albian/Cenomanian) limestone and to the west by a block of Late Cretaceous volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, lava fl ows, and ignimbrites (one is 77 Ma). These volcanic rocks have chemical and mineralogical affi nities with continental volcanic arc sequences and record a history of arc volcanism and sedimentation during the Late Cretaceous. The sequence (over 300 m thick) consists of rhyolitic ash-fl ow tuffs and trachytic lava fl ows (lacking pillow structures) interbedded with volcanic debris fl ow deposits, arkosic fl uvial sandstones, and volcanic conglomerates. This suggests that by the Late Cretaceous the continental arc was emergent, but probably still low-standing as it continued to accumulate sediment after the closure of the Arperos oceanic basin and accretion of the Guerrero arc terrane to Mexico. The Tecolotlan valley contains discontinuously deposited latest Miocene to Recent sediments that are important for their record of extension, magmatism, and diverse vertebrate fauna. Neogene basin fi ll is divided into older, Late Hemphillian age (ca. 5–4.8 Ma) sedimentary rocks (~50–60 m) that are mostly fi ne-grained fl uvial and overbank deposits, and younger, Late Blancan–Recent (younger than ca. 2.7 Ma) sediments (up to 30 m thick) that consist of coarse-grained, high-energy, fl uvial deposits. Intercalated with the basin-fi ll sedimentary rocks are isolated lava fl ows and pyroclastic-fall beds. It appears that volcanism and extension in the Tecolotlan graben occurred simultaneously with a period of increased volcanic activity along the ESEWNW–trending Tepic-Zacoalco graben. Although extension and volcanism ceased by Kowallis, B.J., Christiansen, E.H. , Carranza-Castañeda, O. , Miller, W.E. , Ross, K.T. , and Tingey, D.G. , 2017 The Geology of the Tecolotlan Graben, Jalisco, Mexico: Geological Society of America Digital Map and Chart 22, 37 p., doi:10.1130/2017.DMCH022. TXT. For permission to copy, contact editing@geosociety. org. © 2017 The Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.
Multilevel Analyses of Student, Parent, and School Indicators of Achievement in High School Transition in Turkey

In Turkey, students are placed in a high school according to the scores they receive from a large-scale transition exam. Although the assessment procedures have shown changes over time, scores of this exam still play a vital role in students being accepted into a prestigious high school, which may also be an initial step for their prospective achievement at the higher education level. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the student-, parent-, and school-related variables affecting eighth grade students’ academic achievement on high school transition exams (TEOG) in state secondary schools in Eskişehir, Turkey, along with the relationships of these variables, by using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Study participants included 667 students and their parents as well as 211 school leaders and teachers. The results showed that schools located in high socioeconomic status neighborhoods received higher effectiveness scores. The first HLM analysis indicated that 37% of the variation in the TEOG scores resulted from schools. School effectiveness was responsible for 85% of variation in scores. In the second HLM analysis, it was found that school socioeconomic level created a 76% of variation in scores. Although cross interactions in both analyses were significant, the percentage of their explained variance was rather low. The findings of this study could be used to take reasonable steps to improve educational decisions and might give insights to students, parents, and educational leaders to increase students’ academic achievement in the process of transition to high school. SCHOOL COMMUNITY JOURNAL 32
Vignette: Application of the RPV method and other functions of the UncertainInterval package

This vignette demonstrates the use of the UncertainInterval package for the determination of an interval of uncertain or inconclusive scores of medical tests. It is demonstrated using a large synthetic but realistic data set, with results of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) for the detection of cognitive impairment (CI). It is shown that a more robust result can be expected upon avoiding the range of test scores within which most classification errors are expected, with adequate predictive values for more clinical settings. The clinical settings show sample prevalence’s of cognitive impairment that vary widely from . 22 to . 88. The analysis with the UncertainInterval package shows a middle range of test scores that does not differentiate sufficiently between the two true classes of patients. This interval includes a relatively large part of all errors, when compared to an optimal dichotomous threshold that minimizes the sum of errors. Excluding this uncertain or inconclusive range of test scores offers higher classification accuracies for the samples of individual clinical settings. In comparison to a dichotomous threshold, excluding the most error prone test scores enable a classification that offers adequate accuracies in a larger number of clinical settings.
IN-FLIGHT CHARACTERISATION OF CRYOSAT-2 REACTION CONTROL SYSTEM

ESA’s Earth Explorer CryoSat, launched on the 8 of April 2010, is dedicated to precise monitoring of the changes in the thickness of marine ice floating in the polar oceans and variations in the thickness of vast ice sheets. The Reaction Control System (RCS) of CryoSat-2 is based on cold-gaseous Nitrogen propulsion, using a High-Pressure storage tank, mechanical pressure regulators and Low-Pressure thrusters. The purpose of the RCS is to perform attitude control (generating all the reaction moments in excess of the magnetorquers’ capability), attitude manoeuvres and orbit transfer or maintenance. During CryoSat-2 LEOP, Commissioning and Routine operations phases, different activities were performed by the Flight Dynamics team of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), for inflight characterisation of the RCS: in-flight cold-gas consumption, monitored by two different methods (PVT and Thrusters-activity), mass-flow calibration of the thrusters, force calibration of the orbit-control and attitude-control thrusters. This paper will focus on these activities, reporting on adopted methods, operational concepts and results, from direct monitoring and analysis of the actual CryoSat-2 spacecraft performances.