Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intraspecific variation and population structure of the Velvetbean Caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis Hübner, 1818 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The velvetbean caterpillar (VBC), Anticarsia gemmatalis Hubner, 1818 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is one of the most important New World soybean agro-ecosystems pests, occurring from 40° N in the USA to 39° S in Argentina. Information on the migration patterns of the VBC moth may be important for managing the resistance of VBC populations to insecticides or plants carrying the Bacillus thuringiensis insecticide genes, especially since sedentary populations have a higher potential to became resistant than migratory populations. We studied intraspecific variations of geographically distinct VBC populations in order to determine the genetic distance between them and to assess the variability of VBC populations from near the city of Londrina (Parana (PR) state, Brazil). Samples of the VBC were obtained from sites near the following towns or cities: Marianna and Quincy (Florida, USA); La Virginia (Tucuman province, Argentina); Londrina (PR), Passo Fundo (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) and Planaltina (Goias, Brazil). The VBC samples were used to construct a genetic similarity matrix based on random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) allele frequencies, the cotton leafworm, Alabama argillacea, Hubner 1823 (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), being used as an outgroup. Interestingly, despite the great distance (about 6,500 km) between Planaltina and Quincy some of the specimens from the Quincy population clustered in a group genetically close to the Planaltina populations. Larvae collected on peanuts in Marianna and on soybean in Quincy, 70 km apart, appeared genetically similar. The population from Planaltina was the most heterogeneous (polymorphism = 85.6%; heterozygosity = 0.1505). The Argentinean VBC population was entirely different from the Brazilian populations. The genetic similarities found between individuals from geographically distant populations and effective migration rate values (2.0566 > Nm < 15.2618) indicate that migration occurs.
[Transformation of schistosomulae by electroporation and transient expression of the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) gene].

OBJECTIVE To explore the possibility of heterogeneous gene to express in juvenile Schistosoma japonicum and the application of electroporation in transformation of schistosomulae. METHODS The plasmids of pEGFP-C1 were introduced into mechanically transformed schistosomula with electroporation. The presence, transcription and translation of the transgene in electroporated schistosomula were confirmed by PCR, RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis respectively using the genomic DNA, total RNA and protein extracted and isolated from schistosomula cultured in vitro for 48 hours. Meanwhile, localization of EGFP within electroporated schistosomula was performed with confocal laser scanning micro scope. RESULTS 760 bp and 276 bp amplified products by PCR and RT-PCR were found coincident with the expected size and expression of EGFP gene in electroporated schistosomula was confirmed by Western blotting. Fluorescence of EGFP was localized in tegument and subtegument of the electroporated schistosomula with confocal microscopy, especially in the anterior part of the worm. CONCLUSION The heterogeneous gene of EGFP has been successfully introduced into juvenile S. japonicum by electroporation and the expression of transgene was confirmed with molecular and microscopical methods.
Exchange Rate Modelling in Ghana: Do the Purchasing Power Parity and Uncovered Interest Parity Conditions Hold Jointly?

We employ the cointegration and Vector Error Correction methodology to explore exchange rate modelling in Ghana by considering the interactions between the goods and capital asset markets using monthly data spanning from 1997:1 to 2007:12. The empirical evidence supports a long-run relationship between prices, interest rates, and exchange rates in which the signs are consistent with the joint validity of the unrestricted PPP and UIP conditions. Further likelihood ration tests based on the cointegration vector show that the strict forms of the PPP and UIP conditions between Ghana and the USA do not hold as stationary relations. The findings suggest that the interactions between the goods and capital asset markets matter for the conduct of monetary policy and exchange rate modelling in Ghana. The UIP condition, which functions in the capital market, postulates that the interest rate differential between two countries is equal to the expected change in the exchange rates. However, just like the PPP, the empirical validity of the UIP as a forward-looking market clearing mechanism in the capital market has not been influential. Among other things, this failure has been ascribed to the existence of a stationary time-dependent risk premium, learning effects and expectation errors. A seminal work by Johansen and Juselius in 1992 attributes the failure of earlier studies and lack of empirical support for the parities to the disregard for the possible interactions between the goods markets and the capital asset markets. A consideration of the systematic relationship between the two conditions implies that omission of interest rates or price levels from cointegrating vector for PPP or UIP conditions can lead to a rejection of a long-run relationship between exchange rate, the price differential and the interest rate differentials. Undeniably a joint model of the parities enables one to proper capture the linkages between the variables. It also allows for different short-run and long-run dynamics so that the error correction terms of the PPP and the UIP ensure that the model is consistent with the two parities in a steady state. In the short run it is presupposed that the conditions describe a tendency in the markets to react toward parity, connoting that neither prices nor interest rates can diverge substantially without inducing adjustment forces that tend to restore equilibrium. Following this development, a growing body of the empirical literature has documented support for the joint modelling of PPP and UIP. Most of them argue that since exchange rates are affected by developments in both the goods and asset markets, the two parity relationships may not be independent of each other in the long-run (see, Camarero and Tamarit, 1996; Caporale et al. 2001; Juselius 1995; Juselius and MacDonald, 2004; MacDonald and Marsh 1997; Miyakoshi 2004; Ozmen and Gokcan, 2004). At the same time, other arguments support that disequilibrium in one market may
Parts-based face detection at multiple views

There is disclosed a hand-held portable tool which is driven by an electric motor from a source of electricity. The tool has a housing for the motor which has a commutator which extends into a hollow handle. The hollow handle has mounted therein a printed-circuit board having electrically conductive pathways. An electric switch is mounted on the board and incorporates a bridging element which engages contact terminals on the printed-circuit board when the switch is manually actuated thereby closing the electric circuit of the tool motor. In this way, separate electrical connections to the switch assembly per se are avoided and substantial time in assembly of the tool is saved.
INTESTINE-SPECIFIC OVEREXPRESSION OF IL-10 IMPROVES SURVIVAL IN POLYMICROBIAL SEPSIS

Targeted IL-10 therapy improves survival in preclinical models of critical illness, and intestine-specific IL-10 decreases inflammation in models of chronic inflammatory disease. We therefore sought to determine whether intestine-specific overexpression of IL-10 would improve survival in sepsis. Transgenic mice that overexpress IL-10 in their gut epithelium (Fabpi-IL-10 mice) and wild-type (WT) littermates (n = 127) were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture with a 27-gauge needle. The 7-day survival rate was 45% in transgenic animals and 30% in WT animals (P ≤ 0.05). Systemic levels of IL-10 were undetectable in both groups of animals under basal conditions and were elevated to a similar degree in septic animals regardless of whether they expressed the transgene. Local parameters of injury, including gut epithelial apoptosis, intestinal permeability, peritoneal lavage cytokines, and stimulated cytokines from intraepithelial lymphocytes, were similar between transgenic and WT mice. However, in stimulated splenocytes, proinflammatory cytokines monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (189 ± 43 vs. 40 ± 8 pg/mL) and IL-6 (116 ± 28 vs. 34 ± 9 pg/mL) were lower in Fabpi-IL-10 mice than WT littermates despite the intestine-specific nature of the transgene (P < 0.05). Cytokine levels were similar in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid between the 2 groups, as were circulating LPS levels. Transgenic mice also had lower white blood cell counts associated with lower absolute neutrophil counts (0.5 ± 0.1 vs. 1.0 ± 0.2 103/mm3; P < 0.05). These results indicate that gut-specific overexpression of IL-10 improves survival in a murine model of sepsis, and interactions between the intestinal epithelium and the systemic immune system may play a role in conferring this survival advantage.
Partition-based acquisition model for speed up navigated beta-probe surface imaging

Although gross total resection in low-grade glioma surgery leads to a better patient outcome, the in-vivo control of resection borders remains challenging. For this purpose, navigated beta-probe systems combined with 18F-based radiotracer, relying on activity distribution surface estimation, have been proposed to generate reconstructed images. The clinical relevancy has been outlined by early studies where intraoperative functional information is leveraged although inducing low spatial resolution in reconstruction. To improve reconstruction quality, multiple acquisition models have been proposed. They involve the definition of attenuation matrix for designing radiation detection physics. Yet, they require high computational power for efficient intraoperative use. To address the problem, we propose a new acquisition model called Partition Model (PM) considering an existing model where coefficients of the matrix are taken from a look-up table (LUT). Our model is based upon the division of the LUT into averaged homogeneous values for assigning attenuation coefficients. We validated our model using in vitro datasets, where tumors and peri-tumoral tissues have been simulated. We compared our acquisition model with the o_-the-shelf LUT and the raw method. Acquisition models outperformed the raw method in term of tumor contrast (7.97:1 mean T:B) but with a difficulty of real-time use. Both acquisition models reached the same detection performance with references (0.8 mean AUC and 0.77 mean NCC), where PM slightly improves the mean tumor contrast up to 10.1:1 vs 9.9:1 with the LUT model and more importantly, it reduces the mean computation time by 7.5%. Our model gives a faster solution for an intraoperative use of navigated beta-probe surface imaging system, with improved image quality.
Dark matter, time-varying G, and a dilaton field.

We demonstrate the observational viability of having an exactly massless dilaton field couple with gravitational strength to most matter in the Universe. This is done by constructing a generalized Jordan-Brans-Dicke model in which the scalar couples with different strengths to visible and to conjectured dark'' matter. In this model, improved {ital {dot G}} measurements may provide nontrivial bounds on the coupling constants of the dilaton to matter.
Identification of Parameters and Model Structure for Missile Aerodynamics

In this paper, current work on the Aerodynamic Coefficient Estimation (ACES) program for guided missiles is reviewed. A fundamental statistical approach to the problem is taken, and recent developments in the identification of model structure are used including: initial comparison of parametric model structures by subset regression using a leaps and bounds algorithm, refined comparison of different parametric model structures using the Akaike information criterion (AIC), and estimation of parameters within a model structure using batch and recursive maximum likelihood parameter estimation algorithms. Detailed numerical results of the parameter estimation procedures are presented using simulated measurement data. Batch maximum likelihood (BML) and recursive maximum likelihood (RML) parameter estimation algorithms are compared to the original ACES program using the Extended Kalman Filter (EKFP) algorithm with the unknown parameters augmenting the states. It is found that the BML is about 100 times more accurate than the EKF, and that the RML is almost as accurate as the BML with considerably less computation.
Learning Accurate Low-Bit Deep Neural Networks with Stochastic Quantization

Low-bit deep neural networks (DNNs) become critical for embedded applications due to their low storage requirement and computing efficiency. However, they suffer much from the non-negligible accuracy drop. This paper proposes the stochastic quantization (SQ) algorithm for learning accurate low-bit DNNs. The motivation is due to the following observation. Existing training algorithms approximate the real-valued elements/filters with low-bit representation all together in each iteration. The quantization errors may be small for some elements/filters, while are remarkable for others, which lead to inappropriate gradient direction during training, and thus bring notable accuracy drop. Instead, SQ quantizes a portion of elements/filters to low-bit with a stochastic probability inversely proportional to the quantization error, while keeping the other portion unchanged with full-precision. The quantized and full-precision portions are updated with corresponding gradients separately in each iteration. The SQ ratio is gradually increased until the whole network is quantized. This procedure can greatly compensate the quantization error and thus yield better accuracy for low-bit DNNs. Experiments show that SQ can consistently and significantly improve the accuracy for different low-bit DNNs on various datasets and various network structures.
30-day moratlity versus 1 year mortality in post cardiac surgery in adults

In this issue, Jakobsen et al . [9] have retrospectively analysed 26,602 patients over a 12 year period from Danish database covering almost 60% of the Danish population. The beauty of this retrospective data is the information available from the database and the simplicity of the paper! Having worked in Denmark for many years, I have experienced the meticulous data entry in Danish hospitals. During this period they found that average age, % of females and EuroSCORE increased over this time period, but on removing age, sex, and procedure factors from EuroSCORE actual fall was seen in the remaining primary morbidity factors. 30‐day mortality decreased, but one‐year mortality remained Scoring system not only helps us in obtaining the informed consent of a patient but also in scientific analysis and comparison of various therapeutic modalities improving quality of care and optimal allocation and utilization of health care resources in a result‐oriented and cost effective fashion.
Instructional Videos and Others on Youtube - Similarities and Differences in Comments

YouTube is a video sharing platform and its resources have been used for formal and informal learning. Users can add comments, as well as sign that they like a given video. The work described in this paper is mainly devoted to the comments provided by users and how they differ (or not) depending on the type of videos: those that are used to support learning versus those that does not. An application was developed to collect data available on the YouTube platform. The analysis of comments extracted from YouTube was performed using natural language processing techniques and differences in writing were also analyzed. Two major groups of videos were considered: technical, or instructional videos, and non-technical videos. The former usually have an educational nature and are watched by people that aim to improve their knowledge and skills, while the others are more devoted to entertainment. The similarities and differences found between these different types of videos are discussed.
Fermented co-products and fermented compound diets for pigs : a review

This review deals with the properties of fermented diets and their effects on growth performance and gastrointestinal environment of pigs. In addition, some possible modes of action are hypothesized. Starch and sugar rich liquid co-products have a high potential for fermenting during storage. Soaking compound feed with water is another means of achieving a fermented diet. These diets are characterized by a pH between 3.5 and 4.5, high levels of lactic acid, and, to a lesser extent, acetic acid and alcohol. Fermented diets seem to improve growth performance of pigs, compared with non-fermented diets. The exact reasons for this are not yet clear; however, some hypotheses are given. Based on a limited number of studies, fermented diets reduce the gastric pH and the number of Coliform bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract compared with non-fermented diets. Furthermore, there are some indications that fermented diets may positively affect pancreatic secretion, villus architecture, digestibility and absorption of dietary nutrients. Fermented diets may reduce the physical activity of pigs. More specific studies on the effect and modes of action of fermented diets are needed to allow firmer conclusions to be drawn. # 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
On the Use of Naive Bayesian Classifiers for Detecting Elementary and Coordinated Attacks

Bayesian networks are very powerful tools for knowledge representation and reasoning under uncertainty. This paper shows the applicability of naive Bayesian classifiers to two major problems in intrusion detection: the detection of elementary attacks and the detection of coordinated ones. We propose two models starting with stating the problems and defining the variables necessary for model building using naive Bayesian networks. In addition to the fact that the construction of such models is simple and efficient, the performance of naive Bayesian networks on a representative data is competing with the most efficient state of the art classification tools. We show how the decision rules used in naive Bayesian classifiers can be improved to detect new attacks and new anomalous activities. We experimentally show the effectiveness of these improvements on a recent Web-based traffic. Finally, we propose a naive Bayesian network-based approach especially designed to detect coordinated attacks and provide experimental results showing the effectiveness of this approach.
A new allele of Lyl1 confirms its important role in hematopoietic stem cell function

Lyl1 codes for a bHLH protein that is an important regulator of hematopoietic stem cell function. An existing mutant allele of Lyl1 features a lacZ gene inserted in‐frame into the fourth exon, leaving behind the N‐terminus and the DNA‐binding basic region, resulting in a translated chimeric protein. Here, we have generated a null allele, which allowed us to examine residual function of the N‐terminus in the absence of a bHLH region. The new Lyl1‐/‐ mouse model exhibited a reduced ability to generate lymphoid lineages and a somewhat more severe hematopoietic repopulation defect when transplanting purified hematopoietic stem cells. Our data show that in the absence of the HLH but presence of the N‐terminus, residual function of the Lyl1 is detectable but relatively minor. The new model may be of use for studies of Lyl1 in which a null allele is required, or for which presence of the LacZ may complicate the combined use of additional mouse models bearing the lacZ marker. genesis 49:441–448, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Adaptive evolution in static and dynamic environments

This thesis provides a framework for describing a canonical evolutionary system. Populations of individuals are envisaged as traversing a search space structured by genetic and developmental operators under the influence of selection. Selection acts on individuals' phenotypic expressions, guiding the population over an evaluation landscape, which describes an idealised evaluation surface over the phenotypic space. The corresponding valuation landscape describes evaluations over the genotypic space and may be transformed by within generation adaptive (learning) or maladaptive (fault induction) local search. Populations subjected to particular genetic and selection operators are claimed to evolve towards a region of the valuation landscape with a characteristic local ruggedness, as given by the runtime operator correlation coefficient. This corresponds to the view of evolution discovering an evolutionarily stable population, or quasi-species, held in a state of dynamic equilibrium by the operator set and evaluation function. This is demonstrated by genetic algorithm experiments using the NK landscapes and a novel, evolvable evaluation function, The Tower of Babel. In fluctuating environments of varying temporal ruggedness, different operator sets are correspondingly more or less adapted. Quantitative genetics analyses of populations in sinusoidally fluctuating conditions are shown to describe certain well known electronic filters. This observation suggests the notion of Evolutionary Signal Processing. Genetic algorithm experiments in which a population tracks a sinusoidally fluctuating optimum support this view. Using a self-adaptive mutation rate, it is possible to tune the evolutionary filter to the environmental frequency. For a time varying frequency, the mutation rate reacts accordingly. With local search, the valuation landscape is transformed through temporal smoothing. By coevolving modifier genes for individual learning and the rate at which the benefits may be directly transmitted to the next generation, the relative adaptedness of individual learning and cultural inheritance according to the rate of environmental change is demonstrated.