Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Niche‐neutral theoretic approach to mechanisms underlying the biodiversity and biogeography of human microbiomes

The human microbiome consists of five major regional biomes distributed in or on our five body sites including skin, oral, lung, gut, and reproductive tract. Its biogeography (the spatial and temporal distribution of its biodiversity) has far‐reaching implications to our health and diseases. Nevertheless, we currently have very limited understanding on the mechanisms shaping the biogeography, since it is often rather difficult to determine the relative importance of drift, dispersal, speciation, and selection, the four processes (mechanisms) determining the patterns of microbial biogeography and community dynamics according to a recent synthesis in community ecology and biogeography. To disentangle these mechanisms, I utilize multisite neutral (MSN) model and niche‐neutral hybrid (NNH) model to analyze large number of truly multisite microbiome samples covering all five major human microbiome habitats, including 699 metacommunities and 5,420 local communities. Approximately 89% of metacommunities and 92% local communities exhibit patterns indistinguishable from neutral, and 20% indistinguishable from niche‐neutral hybrid model, indicating the relative significance of stochastic neutral forces versus deterministic niche selection in shaping the biogeography of human microbiome. These findings cast supporting evidence to van der Gast's revision to classic Bass‐Becking doctrine of microbial biogeography: “Some things are everywhere and some things are not. Sometimes the environment selects and sometimes it doesn't,” offering the first educated guess for “some” and “sometimes” in the revised doctrine. Furthermore, the logistic/Cox regression models describing the relationships among community neutrality, niche differentiation, and key community/species characteristics (including community diversity, community/species dominance, speciation, and migration rates) were constructed to quantitatively describe the niche‐neutral continuum and the influences of community/species properties on the continuum.
Performance and Analysis of n-Type Vertically Stacked Nanowires Regarding Harmonic Distortion

This paper studies the harmonic distortion (or non-linearity) of vertically stacked SOI nanosheets with different fin widths and channel lengths. The total harmonic distortion and third order harmonic distortion are used as figures of merit in this work. The four approaches applied verifies the correlation between the harmonic distortions and the variety of transistor’s dimensions available for analysis.
Integrative Analysis of Lipid Profiles in Plasma Allows Cardiometabolic Risk Factor Clustering in Children with Metabolically Unhealthy Obesity

Hypertension, central obesity, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia are key risk factors for cardiovascular disease. However, the specific factors contributing to the development of unfavorable cardiometabolic characteristics in children with obesity are unknown. In this study, we investigated the cross-sectional relationships between cytokines, irisin, and fatty acid (FA) composition in plasma in school-age children with metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity (MHO and MUO, respectively) of the same age and body mass index and waist circumference percentiles. We compared the data with that of children with normal weight (NW). We found that inflammatory cytokines and low irisin plasma concentrations are associated with obesity but not with cardiometabolic risk (CMR). Lipid profiles showed that children with MUO have a distinctive FA profile compared with children with MHO and NW, whereas children with MHO shared 88% of the FA profile with the NW group. Among all FAs, concentration of myristic acid (14 : 0), arachidic acid (20 : 0), and n-3 polyunsaturated FAs (PUFAs) was higher in children with MHO, whereas n-6 PUFAs such as arachidonic acid (20 : 4n6) had a significant contribution in defining MUO. These data suggest that the plasma FA profile is not only a central link to obesity but also may act as an indicator of CMR presence.
The Impact of the CEO’s Personal Narcissism on Non-GAAP Earnings

Non-GAAP earnings provide managers the flexibility to exclude GAAP items to either produce a more informative performance measure or provide them the ability to opportunistically exclude recurring expenses from non-GAAP earnings. Prior literature examines the use of this form of disclosure at the firm level, although it is ultimately management's decision. We extend prior non-GAAP literature by examining whether the use and quality of non-GAAP earnings is influenced by CEO personality traits, namely, CEO narcissism. We find that narcissistic CEOs are more likely to exclude expenses from non-GAAP earnings and that the magnitude of exclusions is greater. We also find that those non-GAAP exclusions are more persistent and, thus, lower-quality. Our results shed light on the disclosure practice of non-GAAP earnings and show how narcissistic CEOs are more likely to take advantage of the discretion in financial reporting disclosures in order to benefit the firm and themselves.
Passive Seismic Imaging of Near Vertical Structures Around the SAFOD Site, California, Jointly Using Scattered P and SH Waves

To better illuminate structural discontinuities around the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) site, following the previous study of Zhang et al. (2009), we have extended the Generalized Radon Transform (GRT) method to jointly use scattered P and SH waves from abundant local earthquakes recorded by a local dense seismic network. A hybrid imaging condition is applied to extract consistent structures from scattered P and SH images. In this way, more robust structure information can be determined from separate images with potential artifacts. For the transverse component waveforms, coherent S‐S scattered waves after the direct SH waves can be clearly identified, and they are less interfered with by other scattered and converted waves compared to scattered P‐P waves on the vertical component. Similar to Zhang, Wang, et al. (2009), near‐vertical reflectors are imaged on both sides of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) with scattered SH waves, which is generally consistent with the imaging results using scattered P‐P waves from local earthquakes and a wide‐angle active seismic reflection profile. Compared to the P‐P scattering imaging result, the imaging result using scattered SH waves has higher resolution due to shorter S wavelength and cleaner S‐S scattered waveforms, and the SAF, as well as other reflectors around it, is better resolved. Although the resolution of the joint image obtained by combining separate imaging results from different scattered waves may be degraded, it is able to more robustly characterize strong structure discontinuities using passive seismic sources.
Does an integrated, wrap-around school and community service model in an early learning setting improve academic outcomes for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds?

ABSTRACT Many children start school developmentally vulnerable and struggle to keep up with their peers. Children experiencing socioeconomic-disadvantage are at higher risk of poor developmental outcomes. A high-quality education and wrap-around community-service model, such as the Doveton Model, at Doveton College, Australia, may improve outcomes for families experiencing entrenched disadvantage. This study focussed on the effect of this model on early-learning (pre-formal schooling) for school entry readiness and academic achievement over the subsequent four years. Students who did/did not attend the Doveton Model Early-Learning-Centre were compared using standard reading, oral-language, writing and numeracy tests from school-entry to Year 3. There was a trend towards higher academic achievement for students who attended Doveton early-learning compared to students who had not. Many tests showed statistically significant differences, despite low sample sizes. This study provides preliminary evidence that attending early-learning within a high-quality, wrap-around service model may have significant academic benefits for disadvantaged children.
Effects of a sport leadership programme on the perceptions of university students about their leadership competencies (Efectos de un programa de liderazgo deportivo sobre las percepciones de alumnado universitario)

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a sport leadership programme (ESLP) on variables related to the leaders’ perception regarding instrumental, personal, and systemic skills in university students. In doing so, the second purpose was to analyse the trans-cultural validity of the Cuestionario de Evaluacion de Competencias Transversales de Grado (CECTGRA). Participated 61 students as leaders, 25 mentors and 25 employers, from five European countries. The design was pre-test-post-test, following a longitudinal approach of 24 months to evaluate the effects of the ESLP on variables related to the leader’s perception. An adaptation of the CECTGRA was administered. The questionnaire was valid and reliable to know the effects of the ESLP on the students’ perceptions. However, the sports leaders did not improve their perceptions of competence regarding development, mastery and relevance after the application of the programme. From the finding of this study it is recommended to improve the programme based on the leadership competencies to develop, the teaching-learning methodologies to follow, the activities to implement, and the roles to determine. === El objetivo principal fue evaluar el efecto de un programa de liderazgo deportivo (ESLP) sobre variables relacionadas con la percepcion de lo lideres acerca de sus habilidades instrumentales, personales y sistemicas con alumnado universitario. Para ello, fue necesario analizar la validez transcultural del Cuestionario de Evaluacion de Competencias Transversales de Grado (CECTGRA). Participaron 61 alumnos como lideres, 25 mentores y 25 empleadores de cinco paises europeos. El diseno fue pre-test-post-test, siguiendo un enfoque longitudinal de 24 meses para evaluar los efectos del ESLP sobre variables relacionadas con las percepciones de los lideres. Una adaptacion del CECTGRA fue contestado en las evaluaciones pre-test-post-test. El cuestionario fue valido y fiable para saber los efectos del ESLP sobre las percepciones de los estudiantes. Sin embargo, los lideres deportivos no mejoraron sus percepciones de competencia respecto a desarrollo, dominio y relevancia tras la aplicacion del programa. A partir de estos resultados, se recomienda mejorar el programa a partir de las competencias de liderazgo a desarrollar, las metodologias de ensenanza-aprendizaje a seguir, las actividades a implementar y los roles a determinar.
Variação entre procedências de araucária em Ribeirão Branco (SP) aos vinte e três anos de idade.

Um teste envolvendo dezoito procedencias de araucaria (Araucaria angustifolia (Bert.) O. Ktze. ) foi plantado, por semeadura direta no campo, em Ribeirao Branco, SP. Avaliacoes aos nove, onze e 23 anos demonstraram efeitos significativos da procedencia (somente na altura, aos onze anos, nao foi possivel detectar o efeito da procedencia). As procedencias de maior producao volumetrica foram Campo Mourao, Barracao, Santa Maria, Campos do Jordao e Telemaco Borba. O efeito dos blocos foi altamente significativo, mostrando que o crescimento da araucaria esta sob forte influencia ambiental (condicoes do solo). Para aumentar a produtividade de madeira de araucaria, nesse local, recomendam-se medidas como selecao criteriosa de sitios apropriados para essa cultura, complementada com tratos silviculturais, a fim de proporcionar ambientes mais propicios para que as arvores possam expressar todo o seu potencial genetico. Avaliacoes precoces para selecao de procedencias, visando maior produtividade de madeira na idade adulta, sao ineficazes, devido a mudancas substanciais na posicao hierarquica entre as procedencias, ao longo dos anos.
Functional heterogeneity of alveolar macrophage population based on expression of CXCL2

Pulmonary fungal infections generate heterogenous alveolar macrophage subpopulations. Complementing macrophage functions Alveolar macrophages play an important role in the defense against a wide range of respiratory pathogens. Xu-Vanpala et al. have characterized the roles of alveolar macrophages in response to pulmonary fungal infections in mice. By studying antifungal immune responses in Cxcl2-gfp reporter mice, the authors found CXCL2+ alveolar macrophages to be pro-inflammatory, whereas CXCL2-negative alveolar macrophages produced immunoregulatory molecules, including interleukin-10 and complement component 1q (C1q). Although these two populations had distinct metabolic, epigenetic, and transcriptional profiles, these cell populations were plastic. By using C1q-deficient mice, the authors report that C1q plays an important role in dampening antifungal immune responses in the lung. The studies highlight a previously unappreciated link between tissue macrophages and the complement system. Alveolar macrophages (AMs) are the major lung-resident macrophages and have contradictory functions. AMs maintain tolerance and tissue homeostasis, but they also initiate strong inflammatory responses. However, such opposing roles within the AM population were not known to be simultaneously generated and coexist. Here, we uncovered heterogeneous AM subpopulations generated in response to two distinct pulmonary fungal infections, Cryptococcus neoformans and Aspergillus fumigatus. Some AMs are bona fide sentinel cells that produce chemoattractant CXCL2, which also serves as a marker for AM heterogeneity, in the context of pulmonary fungal infections. However, other AMs do not produce CXCL2 and other pro-inflammatory molecules. Instead, they highly produce anti-inflammatory molecules, including interleukin-10 (IL-10) and complement component 1q (C1q). These two AM subpopulations have distinct metabolic profiles and phagocytic capacities. We report that polarization of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory AM subpopulations is regulated at both epigenetic and transcriptional levels and that these AM subpopulations are generally highly plastic. Our studies have uncovered the role of C1q expression in programming and sustaining anti-inflammatory AMs. Our finding of the AM heterogeneity upon fungal infections suggests a possible pharmacological intervention target to treat fungal infections by tipping the balance of AM subpopulations.
Temporary Design on Public Open Space for Improving the Pedestrian’s Perception Using Social Media Images in Winter Cities

Due to the severe climate, residents of winter cities tend not to utilize public open spaces inwinter. Temporary design interventions such as emblematic events are always proposed in wintercities to enhance pedestrian activity by celebrating the season and improving the perception ofwinter. In this study, we clarify the impact of the event on pedestrians’ perception to determinethe role of temporary design in improving the perception of public open spaces in winter cities.Using the example of event known as “Ice Town” on the Lenin Square in Khabarovsk, the contentof the Instagram images was analyzed to determine their perception during and after the event.The analysis includes classification of the images into clusters related to dierent urban elementsusing transfer learning with CNN (convolutional neural network). A total of 10,200 generated imageson the Lenin Square were considered, with 1700 images which relate the event itself. This accountsfor approximately 20% of all data, while those which related to the during the permanent use of LeninSquare accounted for just 6%. Temporary design of public open spaces has great potential to involvepedestrians in interacting with urban and natural environments in winter cities, even in severe coldclimate, by improving an impression of a place.
Performance of Underwater Wireless Optical Communications in Presents of Cascaded Mixture Exponential-Generalized Gamma Turbulence

Underwater wireless optical communication is one of the critical technologies for buoy-based high-speed cross-sea surface communication, where the communication nodes are vertically deployed. Due to the vertically inhomogeneous nature of the underwater environment, seawater is usually vertically divided into multiple layers with different parameters that reflect the real environment. In this work, we consider a generalized UWOC channel model that contains$N$ layers. To capture the effects of air bubbles and temperature gradients on channel statistics, we model each layer by a mixture Exponential-Generalized Gamma(EGG) distribution. We derive the PDF and CDF of the end-to-end SNR in exact closed-form. Then, unified BER and outage expressions using OOK and BPSK are also derived. The performance and behavior of common vertical underwater optical communication scenarios are thoroughly analyzed through the appropriate selection of parameters. All the derived expressions are verified via Monte Carlo simulations.
Dracula orchids exploit guilds of fungus visiting flies: new perspectives on a mushroom mimic

1. Dracula orchids mimic mushrooms in appearance and scent, and are pollinated by mushroom flies. This study examined the guilds of insect visitors to Dracula species and to co‐occurring mushrooms in an Ecuadorean cloud forest. Significant visitor overlap was documented (mostly in the genera Zygothrica and Hirtodrosophila; Drosophilidae). To test the brood‐site mimicry hypothesis, behavioural observations were also performed and rearing success was examined.
Combined Effect of Outdoor Microclimate Boundary Conditions on Air Conditioning System’s Efficiency and Building Energy Demand in Net Zero Energy Settlements

In Europe, near zero energy buildings (NZEBs) represent the new frontier of energy efficiency in the built environment. Shifting the scale from NZEBs to net zero energy (NZE) settlements represents the opportunity to achieve further energy, environmental, and cost benefits, thanks to shared energy management, optimization of renewable energy systems, and microclimate mitigation. In particular, the last aspect takes advantage of the implementation of local microclimate mitigation strategies at a larger scale to improve settlements outdoor environmental conditions and citizens’ wellbeing. Furthermore, this inter-building scale mitigation involves relatively less severe working boundary conditions for buildings, able to both reduce building energy demand and improve HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system’s efficiency. In this study, this potential extra-energy saving, achievable without additional costs, is explored within the framework of a NZE settlement built in Italy thanks to an ongoing Horizon 2020 project. Improved working conditions for the operating air conditioning system and building energy savings thanks to settlement scale opportunities for microclimate mitigation are assessed. Findings show how this effect represents a further non-negligible energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable benefit achievable through the design and construction of NZE settlements. Potential energy savings are up to 24% when considering the double effect of microclimate mitigation.
More Specific than “Small”: Identifying Key Factors to Account for the Heterogeneity in Stress Findings among Small Businesses

Small businesses are dominant in most economies and their owners likely experience high levels of distress. However, we have not fully explored how these common businesses meaningfully differ with respect to the stress process. Understanding the meaningful variations or subgroups (i.e., heterogeneity) in the small business population will advance occupational health psychology, both in research and practice (e.g., Schonfeld, 2017; Stephan, 2018). To systematize these efforts, the author identifies five commonly appearing “heterogeneity factors” from the literature as modifiers of stressors or the stress process among small business owners. These five heterogeneity factors include: owner centrality, individual differences, gender differences, business/ownership type, and time. After synthesizing the research corresponding to each of these five factors, the author offers specific suggestions for identifying and incorporating relevant heterogeneity factors in future investigations of small business owners’ stress. The author closes by discussing implications for advancing occupational health theories.
Type I Interferon Increases Inflammasomes Associated Pyroptosis in the Salivary Glands of Patients with Primary Sjögren's Syndrome

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease characterized by lymphocytic infiltration in the exocrine glands. In SS, type I IFN has a pathogenic role, and recently, inflammasome activation has been observed in both immune and non-immune cells. However, the relationship between type I IFN and inflammasome-associated pyroptosis in SS has not been studied. We measured IL-18, caspase-1, and IFN-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15) in saliva and serum, and compared whether the expression levels of inflammasome and pyroptosis components, including absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2), NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC), caspase-1, gasdermin D (GSDMD), and gasdermin E (GSDME), in minor salivary gland (MSG) are related to the expression levels of type I IFN signature genes. Expression of type I IFN signature genes was correlated with mRNA levels of caspase-1 and GSDMD in MSG. In confocal analysis, the expression of caspase-1 and GSDMD was higher in salivary gland epithelial cells (SGECs) from SS patients. In the type I IFN-treated human salivary gland epithelial cell line, the expression of caspase-1 and GSDMD was increased, and pyroptosis was accelerated in a caspase-dependent manner upon inflammasome activation. In conclusion, we demonstrate that type I IFN may contribute to inflammasome-associated pyroptosis of the SGECs of SS patients, suggesting another pathogenic role of type I IFN in SS in terms of target tissue -SGECs destruction.
MHC Class I Stability is Modulated by Cell Surface Sialylation in Human Dendritic Cells

Maturation of human Dendritic Cells (DCs) is characterized by increased expression of antigen presentation molecules, and overall decreased levels of sialic acid at cell surface. Here, we aimed to identify sialylated proteins at DC surface and comprehend their role and modulation. Mass spectrometry analysis of DC’s proteins, pulled down by a sialic acid binding lectin, identified molecules of the major human histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I), known as human leucocyte antigen (HLA). After desialylation, DCs showed significantly higher reactivity with antibodies specific for properly folded MHC-I-β2-microglobulin complex and for β2-microglobulin but showed significant lower reactivity with an antibody specific for free MHC-I heavy chain. Similar results for antibody reactivities were observed for TAP2-deficient lymphoblastoid T2 cells, which express HLA-A*02:01. Using fluorescent peptide specifically fitting the groove of HLA-A*02:01, instead of antibody staining, also showed higher peptide binding on desialylated cells, confirming higher surface expression of MHC-I complex. A decay assay showed that desialylation doubled the half-life of MHC-I molecules at cell surface in both DCs and T2 cells. The biological impact of DC´s desialylation was evaluated in co-cultures with autologous T cells, showing higher number and earlier immunological synapses, and consequent significantly increased production of IFN-γ by T cells. In summary, sialic acid content modulates the expression and stability of complex MHC-I, which may account for the improved DC-T synapses.