Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Title Regulation of Zn and Fe transporters by the GPC 1 gene during early wheat monocarpic senescence Permalink

Background: During wheat senescence, leaf components are degraded in a coordinated manner, releasing amino acids and micronutrients which are subsequently transported to the developing grain. We have previously shown that the simultaneous downregulation of Grain Protein Content (GPC) transcription factors, GPC1 and GPC2, greatly delays senescence and disrupts nutrient remobilization, and therefore provide a valuable entry point to identify genes involved in micronutrient transport to the wheat grain. Results: We generated loss-of-function mutations for GPC1 and GPC2 in tetraploid wheat and showed in field trials that gpc1 mutants exhibit significant delays in senescence and reductions in grain Zn and Fe content, but that mutations in GPC2 had no significant effect on these traits. An RNA-seq study of these mutants at different time points showed a larger proportion of senescence-regulated genes among the GPC1 (64%) than among the GPC2 (37%) regulated genes. Combined, the two GPC genes regulate a subset (21.2%) of the senescence-regulated genes, 76.1% of which are upregulated at 12 days after anthesis, before the appearance of any visible signs of senescence. Taken together, these results demonstrate that GPC1 is a key regulator of nutrient remobilization which acts predominantly during the early stages of senescence. Genes upregulated at this stage include transporters from the ZIP and YSL gene families, which facilitate Zn and Fe export from the cytoplasm to the phloem, and genes involved in the biosynthesis of chelators that facilitate the phloem-based transport of these nutrients to the grains. Conclusions: This study provides an overview of the transport mechanisms activated in the wheat flag leaf during monocarpic senescence. It also identifies promising targets to improve nutrient remobilization to the wheat grain, which can help mitigate Zn and Fe deficiencies that afflict many regions of the developing world.
THE ORBIT GRAPH OF FINITE NON-ABELIAN GROUPS

Let G be a finite non-abelian group and let Ω be a set of elements of G. Let A be the set of commuting elements in Ω, i.e A = {v ∈ Ω : vg = gv, g ∈ G}. In this paper, we extend the work on conjugate graph by defining a new graph called the orbit graph, denoted as ΓGΩ. The vertices of ΓGΩ are non central elements in Ω but not in A in which two vertices of ΓGΩ are adjacent if they are conjugate. Some graph properties are provided. Besides, the orbit graph of dihedral groups and quaternion groups is determined.
HOW BIG WAS 'BIG AL'? QUANTIFYING THE EFFECT OF SOFT TISSUE AND OSTEOLOGICAL UNKNOWNS ON MASS PREDICTIONS FOR ALLOSAURUS (DINOSAURIA:THEROPODA)

MOR693, nicknamed ‘Big Al,’ is the most complete skeleton of the non-avian theropod Allosaurus and therefore provides the best opportunity to investigate the mass properties of this important Jurassic theropod through accurate physical or digital volumetric models. In this study, laser scanning and computer modelling software have been used to construct volumetric models of MOR693. A long-range laser scanner has been used to digitize the mounted cast of MOR693, allowing the reconstruction of body volumes and respiratory structures around and within the three-dimensional (3D) skeletal model. The digital medium offered the facility to modify model properties nondestructively in a detailed sensitivity analysis to quantify the effects of the many unknown parameters involved in such reconstructions. In addition to varying the volumes of body segments and respiratory structures, we also extend the sensitivity analysis to include uncertainties regarding osteological articulations in non-avian dinosaurs, including effects of inter-vertebral spacing and the orientation or ‘flare’ of the rib cage in MOR693. Results suggest body mass and inertial values are extremely uncertain and show a wide range in plausible values, whilst the CM (centre of mass) position is well constrained immediately in front and below the hip joint in MOR693, consistent with similar reconstructions of non-avian theropods.
Testing the equivalence principle with atomic interferometry

The weak equivalence principle (WEP), that is, the universality of free fall, states that all point-like neutral particles in a gravitational field fall in the same way. This is the basis of the geometrization of the gravitational interaction. Together with further requirements on the behavior of point particles, light propagation and clocks one can show that gravity is modeled by a Riemannian geometry. Since in the quantum domain all objects are extended, it is not clear whether the notion of a WEP in the quantum domain makes sense at all. We show that for matter wave interferometry the notion of WEP still can be given a meaning. We give a short overview over schemes which allows a violation of the WEP and emphasize that there are also schemes which show that there might be violations of the WEP in the quantum regime which are not present classically. This makes a test of the WEP with quantum matter necessary. We also give a brief outline of the efforts made for testing the WEP with interferometry with cold atoms in the Bremen drop tower carried out by the QUANTUS and PRIMUS collaboration.
Structural Funding and Intrastate Regional Disparities in Post-Communist Countries

The intent of this paper is to provide empiricalevidence about associations between structuralfund allocation in the Czech Republic’s micro-regions for the programming period 2007 to2013, and intrastate regional disparities by consideringthe three traditional pillars of sustainabledevelopment. The results have mixed evidence,both supporting and not supporting various associations.Economically disadvantaged micro-regionshad less structural fund allocation in theeconomic pillar of sustainable development. Tothe contrary, socially disadvantaged micro-regionswere allocated more structural funds inthe social pillar of sustainable development.Therefore, a compensatory effect in sustainabledevelopment was observed between economicand social pillars. Results in the environmentalpillar were insignifi cant. The results in this paperprovide an ambivalent conclusion regardingthe contention that spatial distribution of structuralfunding actually contributes to a reductionin intrastate regional disparities at the micro-regionallevel. However, micro regions with bettereconomic conditions, e.g. agglomeration economies,better human capital and patent activities– received more structural funding in total.
Regional application of PnET-N-DNDC for estimating the N 2 O source strength of tropical rainforests in the Wet Tropics of Australia

In contrast to the significant importance of tropical rainforest ecosystems as one of the major sources within the global atmospheric N2O budget (2.2–3.7TgNyr ), regional estimates of their N2O source strength are still limited and highly uncertain. To contribute toward more reliable estimates of the N2O source strength of tropical rainforest ecosystems on a regional scale, we modified a process-oriented biogeochemical model, PnET-N-DNDC, and parameterized it to simulate C and N turnover and associated N2O emissions in and from tropical rainforest ecosystems. Model modifications included: (1) new parameterizations associated with plant physiology and soil hydrology and the addition of algorithms relating daily leaf litterfall to water stress as well as to daily rainfall to account for the effects of heavy rainfall damage; (2) the development of a denitrifier activity index that depends on soil moisture conditions and influences N turnover by denitrification; and (3) the addition of a biological N fixation algorithm. Daily simulated N2O emissions based on site data were in good agreement (model efficiencies up to 0.83) with field observations in the Wet Tropics of Australia and Costa Rica. The model was even able to reproduce the highly dynamic pattern of N2O emissions with short-term increases during the wet season. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the PnET-N-DNDC model was sensitive to changes in soil properties such as pH, clay content, soil organic carbon and climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature. By linking the PnET-N-DNDCmodel to a geographic information systems database, tropical rainforests in a 9000km area of theWet Tropics of Australia are estimated to emit 962 tN2O-Nyr 1 (2.4kgN2O-Nha 1 yr ) between July 1997 and June 1998.
Structural performances of RC beams strengthened with Steel Reinforced Geopolymeric Matrix (SRGM)

The work aims to investigate the structural performances of an innovative solution, alternative to Externally Bonded (EB) technique, for retrofitting of Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures with deteriorated cover concrete and/or corroded bars: Inhibiting-RepairingStrengthening (IRS). It consists in the installation of a stainless steel fabric in the cover concrete, restoring the latter with a geopolymeric matrix (Steel Reinforced Geopolymeric Matrix, SRGM). The IRS solution is an eco-friendly technology that also reduces the time and the costs of the intervention. In order to simulate existing RC structures, two groups of large-scale RC beams were casted with low concrete strength and corroded smooth round/ribbed bars. Four RC beams were strengthened with IRS-SRGM and EB-SRGM systems and monotonically tested under four-points bending. Test results show that the IRS-SRGM system provides greater load carrying capacity and ductility than the EB-SRGM system. Finally, a theoretical prediction of the tested beams, by means of a fracture mechanics based model, is carried out. The analytical/experimental comparisons are satisfactory.
The Effects of Converting Energy Indirect Subsidies to Direct Subsidies on Household Electricity Consumption in Iran

Solving the structural problems of Iran’s economy and for the most effective usage of irretrievable energies, creation of bonus economy, optimizing the production and consumption of energy and establishing economic and social equity, the law of targeting subsidies started to be performed in Iran. In this appeal, for surveying the effects of such targeting on electric usage of Iranian families, after stating the importance of the research, the hypothesis are posed and in the method of the research which is descriptive-analytical, after gathering data and its analysis with ARDL model (auto regressive distributed lag), the effects of increment in electricity on families’ welfare were calculated. The equation of electricity demand in domestic section was counted. Besides, the lost welfare in such was computed. The results show that performing the electricity price’s increment and the equal direct payment of subsidies to families has resulted in a delicate increase in welfare of poor and low class families, though this equation is reversed for middle and high income families i.e. decrease in their welfare. Likewise, the findings show that the amount of domestic electricity consumption after performing the subsidies targeting decreased and targeting has not resulted the satisfaction of families. And due to increase in life expenses, dissatisfaction of families are rather resulted in cities life. KEYWORD: Targeting subsidies, energy bearer, consumed electricity, ARDL model.
Development of the Algorithm of Determining the State of Evaporation Station Using Neural Networks

For the rational use of thermal resources with the help of optimal control of evaporation station at a sugar factory, it is necessary to carry out the operation control of the states of evaporation station, which is determined based on the current assessments of technological parameters such as levels and temperature in cases of a station, juice and syrup consumption, thermophysical characteristics of vapor as well as the level of its consumption by technological plants of the factory. The algorithm of determining the state of evaporation station as a control object based on intelligent methods of clustering and classification was developed. The applied method of clustering based on the Kohonen self-organizing maps allowed defining a set of possible states of the object on the basis on information hidden in time series of technological parameters of evaporation stations. The application of the method of fuzzy classification allowed determining the state of evaporation station in the current moment based on the values of current parameters of evaporation station and the obtained set of possible states of an object. The developed algorithm of determining the state of evaporation station as a control object is expedient to use in automated control systems with the purpose of operational determining the state of control object in order to make timely decisions on optimal control of evaporation station.
Communicating (and Responding to) Sexual Health Status: Reasons for STD (Non) Disclosure

This investigation examines the sexual health status of individuals and their attitudes toward STDs and STD disclosure (and reasons for nondisclosure) and response. In doing so, this study provides insight into young adults’ sexual practices, attitudes, and behaviors. Two-hundred fifty-three adults of varying relational status participated in an online study about sexual health status, sexual health knowledge, sexual behaviors, relational factors, responses to STD disclosure, reasons for nondisclosure, and if circumstances under which a STD was acquired affected partners’ reaction to the disclosure. Results indicated that, although undergraduate students are knowledgeable about safer sex practices and are concerned about STDs and birth control, few “always” practice safer sex. When considering relational status, STD status and disclosure of that status becomes complicated. However, findings of this investigation suggest that potential positive responses to a perceived negative disclosure (i.e., a positive STD status) are possible when certain relational factors exist and the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the STD involve more external (e.g., didn’t know prior partner had STD) versus internal locus (e.g., partner engaged in risk behavior) of control factors.
Optimizing FPGA-based CNN accelerator for energy efficiency with an extended Roofline model

In recent years, the convolutional neural network (CNN) has found wide acceptance in solving practical computer vision and image recognition problems. Also recently, due to its exibility, faster development time, and energy efficiency, the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) has become an attractive solution to exploit the inherent parallelism in the feedforward process of the CNN. However, to meet the demands for high accuracy of today's practical recognition applications that typically have massive datasets, the sizes of CNNs have to be larger and deeper. Enlargement of the CNN aggravates the problem of off-chip memory bottleneck in the FPGA platform since there is not enough space to save large datasets on-chip. In this work, we propose a memory system architecture that best matches the off-chip memory traffic with the optimum throughput of the computation engine, while it operates at the maximum allowable frequency. With the help of an extended version of the Rooine model proposed in this work, we can estimate memory bandwidth utilization of the system at different operating frequencies since the proposed model considers operating frequency in addition to bandwidth utilization and throughput. In order to find the optimal solution that has the best energy efficiency, we make a trade-off between energy efficiency and computational throughput. This solution saves 18% of energy utilization with the trade-off having less than 2% reduction in throughput performance. We also propose to use a race-to-halt strategy to further improve the energy efficiency of the designed CNN accelerator. Experimental results show that our CNN accelerator can achieve a peak performance of 52.11 GFLOPS and energy efficiency of 10.02 GFLOPS/W on a ZYNQ ZC706 FPGA board running at 250 MHz, which outperforms most previous approaches.
Effort Self-Selection and the Efficiency of Tournaments

When exogenously imposed, rank-order tournaments have incentive properties but their overall efficiency is reduced by a high variance in performance (Bull, Schotter, and Weigelt 1987). However, since the efficiency of performance-related pay is attributable both to its incentive effect and to its selection effect among employees (Lazear, 2000), it is important to investigate the ex ante sorting effect of tournaments. This paper reports results from an experiment analyzing whether allowing subjects to self-select into different payment schemes helps in reducing the variability of performance in tournaments. We show that when the subjects choose to enter a tournament, the average effort is higher and the between-subject variance is substantially lower than when the same payment scheme is imposed. Mainly based on the degree of risk aversion, sorting is efficiency-enhancing since it increases the homogeneity of the contestants. We suggest that the flexibility of the labor market is an important condition for a higher efficiency of relative performance pay.
Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Risk of Oropharynx and Larynx Cancers in Finnish Men

Background: Published studies suggesting a relationship between vitamin D and some common cancers sparked interest in the association of vitamin D with head and neck cancers. Prolonged darker months in Finland are associated with lower levels of ultraviolet B radiation, raising concerns about low vitamin D levels. Methods: We used a nested case–control study in the prospective Alpha-Tocopherol Beta Carotene (ATBC) Study of male smokers in Finland, to examine the relationship between serum 25(OH)D and risk of developing squamous cancers of the head and neck. Using conditional logistic regression, we calculated the multivariate adjusted ORs and CIs comparing those with serum 25(OH)D adequate levels of 50 to <75 nmol/L to those <25.0. Results: We identified incident cancers of the oral cavity (n = 134), pharynx (n = 48), and larynx (n = 158). Median serum vitamin D was 31 nmol/L (interquartile range: 21–48), which is below the 50 nmol/L cutoff point was considered adequate for bone and overall health. Comparing those with serum 25(OH)D below 25 nmol/L to those 50 to <75 nmol/L as the referent, the OR was 1.35 (95% CI: 0.53–3.43, Ptrend = 0.65) for overall head and neck cancers. Stratification by cancer subsites of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx (Ptrend = 0.93, 0.78, 0.26, respectively) or by season of blood draw also showed no association. Conclusions: Our study showed no association between serum 25(OH)D and risk of head and neck cancers. Impact: This study does not support the hypothesis that greater vitamin D exposure would reduce the risk of developing head and neck squamous cancers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 20(6); 1178–84. ©2011 AACR.
A peek into the microbiome of two free-living aquatic nematodes Anticoma & Daptonema

Despite the fact that nematodes and bacteria are most diverse and most abundant forms of life in sediment habitats, their togetherness is never explored especially for free-living forms. To bridge this gap in knowledge, we studied two numerically dominant nematode species, Anticoma litoris and Damptonema sp. at Oregon Inlet, NC, and explored their microbial community profiles using the marker 16S rRNA subunit gene. We primarily used multiple displacement amplification (MDA) followed by PCR, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), amplification and sequenced bands to identify microbial taxa. We also cultivated bacterial taxa after cultivating from squashed individual nematodes. Our findings using culture method showed the microbiome of both nematode taxa to be dominated by Bacilli and Gammaproteobacteria, but results of the MDA-DGGE-PCR method showed a much greater diversity and revealed several exclusive associations. Microbial community profiles of the two nematodes differed greatly among the two species and from the overall sediment bacterial profile, indicating possible selectivity by nematodes in their bacterial associations and specialization in their ecological niche.
Constituency preferences and MP preferences: The electoral connection

The question how voter preferences relate to preferences of representatives under different electoral rules has attracted scholarly attention for some time. Although theoretical work suggests that proportional rule leads to more dispersion of representatives than plurality rule, empirical studies of this nexus have not yet reached a consensus. We argue that this is because they are plagued by serious problems as they rely on measures that differ for both sets of actors. We use behavioral data to estimate ideal points of voters and representatives on a common scale by taking advantage of the high frequency of referendums in Switzerland. We find that members of parliament elected in proportional representation systems are more widely dispersed around the median voter. Probing at what stage this difference in dispersion occurs, we also demonstrate this is the voters’ doing, as it only applies to candidates who are elected.
The Use of Extracellular Matrix as an Inductive Scaffold for the Partial Replacement of Functional Myocardium

Regenerative medicine approaches for the treatment of damaged or missing myocardial tissue include cell-based therapies, scaffold-based therapies, and/or the use of specific growth factors and cytokines. The present study evaluated the ability of extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from porcine urinary bladder to serve as an inductive scaffold for myocardial repair. ECM scaffolds have been shown to support constructive remodeling of other tissue types including the lower urinary tract, the dermis, the esophagus, and dura mater by mechanisms that include the recruitment of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells, angiogenesis, and the generation of bioactive molecules that result from degradation of the ECM. ECM derived from the urinary bladder matrix, identified as UBM, was configured as a single layer sheet and used as a biologic scaffold for a surgically created 2 cm2 full-thickness defect in the right ventricular free wall. Sixteen dogs were divided into two equal groups of eight each. The defect in one group was repaired with a UBM scaffold and the defect in the second group was repaired with a Dacron patch. Each group was divided into two equal subgroups (n = 4), one of which was sacrificed 15 min after surgical repair and the other of which was sacrificed after 8 weeks. Global right ventricular contractility was similar in all four subgroups groups at the time of sacrifice. However, 8 weeks after implantation the UBM-treated defect area showed significantly greater (p < 0.05) regional systolic contraction compared to the myocardial defects repaired with by Dacron (3.3 ± 1.3% vs. −1.8 ± 1.1%; respectively). Unlike the Dacron-repaired region, the UBM-repaired region showed an increase in systolic contraction over the 8-week implantation period (–4.2 ± 1.7% at the time of implantation vs. 3.3 ± 1.3% at 8 weeks). Histological analysis showed the expected fibrotic reaction surrounding the embedded Dacron material with no evidence for myocardial regeneration. Histologic examination of the UBM scaffold site showed cardiomyocytes accounting for approximately 30% of the remodeled tissue. The cardiomyocytes were arranged in an apparently randomly dispersed pattern throughout the entire tissue specimen and stained positive for α-sarcomeric actinin and Connexin 43. The thickness of the UBM graft site increased greatly from the time of implantation to the 8-week sacrifice time point when it was approximately the thickness of the normal right ventricular wall. Histologic examination suggested complete degradation of the originally implanted ECM scaffold and replacement by host tissues. We conclude that UBM facilitates a constructive remodeling of myocardial tissue when used as replacement scaffold for excisional defects.