Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chronic exposure to neonicotinoids reduces honey bee health near corn crops

Damage confirmed Early studies of the impacts of neonicotinoid insecticides on insect pollinators indicated considerable harm. However, lingering criticism was that the studies did not represent field-realistic levels of the chemicals or prevailing environmental conditions. Two studies, conducted on different crops and on two continents, now substantiate that neonicotinoids diminish bee health (see the Perspective by Kerr). Tsvetkov et al. find that bees near corn crops are exposed to neonicotinoids for 3 to 4 months via nontarget pollen, resulting in decreased survival and immune responses, especially when coexposed to a commonly used agrochemical fungicide. Woodcock et al., in a multicounty experiment on rapeseed in Europe, find that neonicotinoid exposure from several nontarget sources reduces overwintering success and colony reproduction in both honeybees and wild bees. These field results confirm that neonicotinoids negatively affect pollinator health under realistic agricultural conditions. Science, this issue p. 1395, p. 1393; see also p. 1331 Bee health is affected by neonicotinoids under field-realistic conditions across crops conditions. Experiments linking neonicotinoids and declining bee health have been criticized for not simulating realistic exposure. Here we quantified the duration and magnitude of neonicotinoid exposure in Canada’s corn-growing regions and used these data to design realistic experiments to investigate the effect of such insecticides on honey bees. Colonies near corn were naturally exposed to neonicotinoids for up to 4 months—the majority of the honey bee’s active season. Realistic experiments showed that neonicotinoids increased worker mortality and were associated with declines in social immunity and increased queenlessness over time. We also discovered that the acute toxicity of neonicotinoids to honey bees doubles in the presence of a commonly encountered fungicide. Our work demonstrates that field-realistic exposure to neonicotinoids can reduce honey bee health in corn-growing regions.
Sharing Knowledge between Independent Grid Communities

In recent years, grid-based approaches for processing scientific data became popular in various fields of research. A multitude of communities has emerged that all benefit from the processing and storage power the grid offers to them. So far there has not yet been much collaboration between these independent communities. But applying semantic technologies to create knowledge bases, sharing this knowledge, and providing access to data maintained by a community, allows to exploit a synergy effect that all communities can benefit from. In this paper, we propose a framework that applies information extraction to generate abstract knowledge from source doc- uments to be shared among participating communities. The framework also enables users to search for documents based on keywords or metadata as well as to search for extracted knowledge. This search is not restricted to the community the user is registered at but covers all registered communities and the data they are willing to share with others.
Terminal arbors of axons projecting to the somatosensory cortex of the adult rat. I. The normal morphology of specific thalamocortical afferents

A characteristic feature of the rat somatosensory neocortex is a discrete topographic representation of the facial whiskers. Afferent fibers projecting to this vibrissae representation were “bulk-labeled” by injecting horseradish peroxidase into the white matter. Terminal arbors with the morphological characteristics of Lorente de No's (1949) “specific” thalamocortical afferents were then reconstructed through serial sections. These terminal arbors, characterized by the discrete organization of their dense plexus in layer IV, have a laminar distribution of boutons that parallels the laminar pattern of terminal degeneration resulting from lesions of the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus. The regional distribution of different-sized arbors corresponds to the distribution of vibrissae-related clusters of different sizes. Larger arbors were found in the posteromedial region corresponding to the mystacial vibrissae representation, while smaller arbors were found in the anterolateral region corresponding to the representation of the anterior sinus hairs. Terminal arbors were also reconstructed from sections stained simultaneously to demonstrate the pattern of vibrissae-related clusters. The greatest concentration of boutons on these axons occurred within a single vibrissae-related cluster. Furthermore, when 2 fibers terminated within a single cluster, their terminal arbors appeared to be largely coextensive. The morphology, size, and distribution of these terminal arbors support the hypothesis that the layer IV plexus of a single specific thalamocortical afferent tends to fill a vibrissae-related cluster. Thus, the organization of specific thalamocortical afferents may be responsible for clustered organization within the somatotopic map of the rodent neocortex.
Spoofing countermeasures to protect automatic speaker verification from voice conversion

This paper presents a new countermeasure for the protection of automatic speaker verification systems from spoofed, converted voice signals. The new countermeasure exploits the common shift applied to the spectral slope of consecutive speech frames involved in the mapping of a spoofer's voice signal towards a statistical model of a given target. While the countermeasure exploits prior knowledge of the attack in an admittedly unrealistic sense, it is shown to detect almost all spoofed signals which otherwise provoke significant increases in false acceptance. The work also discusses the need for formal evaluations to develop new countermeasures which are less reliant on prior knowledge.
The influence of demand characteristics and social desirability on clients' ratings of the therapeutic alliance.

OBJECTIVE To examine demand characteristics, social desirability on clients' rating of working alliance using the Session Rating Scale (SRS; Miller, Duncan, & Johnson, 2000). METHOD Clients (N = 102) at two sites were randomly assigned to one of three alliance feedback conditions: (a) IF--SRS completed in presence of therapist and the results discussed immediately afterward; (b) Next Session Feedback--SRS completed alone and results discussed next session; or (c) No Feedback--SRS completed alone and results not available to therapist. Clients completed the SRS for the first three sessions of treatment. RESULTS No statistically significant differences in SRS scores across the feedback conditions were found. Additionally, the analysis showed that SRS scores were not correlated with a measure of social desirability but were correlated with an established alliance measure. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that alliance scores were not inflated due to the presence of a therapist or knowing that the scores would be observed by the therapist.
A Theoretical Framework for Assessing Effects of User Generated Content on a Company's Marketing Outcomes

Marketing a brand and analyzing the effectiveness of promotional campaigns have always been major topics for marketing. In today's world, marketers use many data sources to analyze the behavior and responses of their consumers. This mainly involves data from Point of Sales, consumer surveys or home visits. However, with the advancement of web technologies, there is one more place where data is available: User generated content (UGC) from Web 2.0 applications. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to formulate hypotheses for the interrelationship between user generated content on the Internet and brand marketing and promotional effectiveness of a firm or campaign.
Discovery of drug mode of action and drug repositioning from transcriptional responses

A bottleneck in drug discovery is the identification of the molecular targets of a compound (mode of action, MoA) and of its off-target effects. Previous approaches to elucidate drug MoA include analysis of chemical structures, transcriptional responses following treatment, and text mining. Methods based on transcriptional responses require the least amount of information and can be quickly applied to new compounds. Available methods are inefficient and are not able to support network pharmacology. We developed an automatic and robust approach that exploits similarity in gene expression profiles following drug treatment, across multiple cell lines and dosages, to predict similarities in drug effect and MoA. We constructed a “drug network” of 1,302 nodes (drugs) and 41,047 edges (indicating similarities between pair of drugs). We applied network theory, partitioning drugs into groups of densely interconnected nodes (i.e., communities). These communities are significantly enriched for compounds with similar MoA, or acting on the same pathway, and can be used to identify the compound-targeted biological pathways. New compounds can be integrated into the network to predict their therapeutic and off-target effects. Using this network, we correctly predicted the MoA for nine anticancer compounds, and we were able to discover an unreported effect for a well-known drug. We verified an unexpected similarity between cyclin-dependent kinase 2 inhibitors and Topoisomerase inhibitors. We discovered that Fasudil (a Rho-kinase inhibitor) might be “repositioned” as an enhancer of cellular autophagy, potentially applicable to several neurodegenerative disorders. Our approach was implemented in a tool (Mode of Action by NeTwoRk Analysis, MANTRA, http://mantra.tigem.it).
Altered expression of CD43-hexasaccharide isoform on peripheral T lymphocytes from HIV-infected individuals

ObjectiveTo examine if peripheral T lymphocytes from HIV-infected individuals show abnormalities in the surface expression of CD43, the major sialoglycoprotein of leukocytes. DesignA series of 86 HIV-positive individuals was studied. The subjects, grouped by their peripheral CD4 cell count, were in different stages of the disease as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). MethodsPeripheral leukocytes and isolated lymphocytes were examined by double and triple immunofluorescence flow cytometric and Western blot analyses with monoclonal antibodies, which discriminate between CD43 isoforms. ResultsWe found elevated percentages of the surface expression of CD43-hexasaccharide isoform on T lymphocytes from 82 out of 86 individuals tested. Increasing percentages are progressively found in CDC groups 1, 2 and 3 patients. The expression of the molecule is remarkably biased towards the CD8 cell subpopulation. The percentage of cells bearing human leukocyte antigen-DR locus molecules (HLA-DR) is also augmented. Two subsets expressing T305 have been identified: a minor subset that co-expresses HLA-DR and T305; and a second population formed by the majority of T305-positive cells, which lack surface HLA-DR. Finally, we found CD43 bands with altered electrophoretic mobility in lysates from peripheral lymphocytes from all HIV-positive individuals tested. ConclusionThe augmented expression of CD43-hexasaccharides and the observed cellular distribution suggest an important regulatory role for this molecule in HIV-specific responses.
Investigating Attributes for Performing Quality Analytics in Web Learning Environment

is directly connected with satisfaction of the user and one will satisfy providing the training surroundings which provides full technical, infrastructure support and interactive user interface. Quality Analytics is that the discovery and also the systematic machine analysis of knowledge statistics to search out meaningful patterns particularly valuable in areas wealthy with recorded information. Quality Analytics of web application surroundings evaluates the appliance supported varied relevant quality parameters like Business Qualities, Generic Qualities, System Qualities and Learner Response Qualities. These parameters should be targeted upon to style analytical pattern to watch the user behavior. If any of the web-based application fails to deliver these then it clearly reflects the compromise within the quality of the merchandise. ISO/IEC 19796-1 international customary focuses on quality management and assurance in e-Learning and it's also necessary to scrutinize and assess the results generated by various quality factors in dynamic net based environment. This paper proposes analytics based mostly technique to generate and monitor values of some vital quality factors. Effective assessment of those factors is useful in standardization the overall performance of dynamic net based surroundings and the analytics make sure the user behavior towards the web application.
Contribution of Individual Ebp Pilus Subunits of Enterococcus faecalis OG1RF to Pilus Biogenesis, Biofilm Formation and Urinary Tract Infection

The endocarditis and biofilm-associated pilus (Ebp) operon is a component of the core genome of Enterococcus faecalis that has been shown to be important for biofilm formation, adherence to host fibrinogen, collagen and platelets, and in experimental endocarditis and urinary tract infection models. Here, we created single and double deletion mutants of the pilus subunits and sortases; next, by combining western blotting, immunoelectron microscopy, and using ebpR in trans to increase pilus production, we identified EbpA as the tip pilin and EbpB as anchor at the pilus base, the latter attached to cell wall by the housekeeping sortase, SrtA. We also confirmed EbpC and Bps as the major pilin and pilin-specific sortase, respectively, both required for pilus polymerization. Interestingly, pilus length was increased and the number of pili decreased by deleting ebpA, while control overexpression of ebpA in trans restored wild-type levels, suggesting a dual role for EbpA in both initiation and termination of pilus polymerization. We next investigated the contribution of each pilin subunit to biofilm formation and UTI. Significant reduction in biofilm formation was observed with deletion of ebpA or ebpC (P<0.001) while ebpB was found to be dispensable; a similar result was seen in kidney CFUs in experimental UTI (ΔebpA, ΔebpC, P≤0.0093; ΔebpB, non-significant, each vs. OG1RF). Hence, our data provide important structural and functional information about these ubiquitous E. faecalis pili and, based on their demonstrated importance in biofilm and infection, suggest EbpA and EbpC as potential targets for antibody-based therapeutic approaches.
Resource Heterogeneity Moderates the Biodiversity-Function Relationship in Real World Ecosystems

Numerous recent studies have tested the effects of plant, pollinator, and predator diversity on primary productivity, pollination, and consumption, respectively. Many have shown a positive relationship, particularly in controlled experiments, but variability in results has emphasized the context-dependency of these relationships. Complementary resource use may lead to a positive relationship between diversity and these processes, but only when a diverse array of niches is available to be partitioned among species. Therefore, the slope of the diversity-function relationship may change across differing levels of heterogeneity, but empirical evaluations of this pattern are lacking. Here we examine three important functions/properties in different real world (i.e., nonexperimental) ecosystems: plant biomass in German grasslands, parasitism rates across five habitat types in coastal Ecuador, and coffee pollination in agroforestry systems in Indonesia. We use general linear and structural equation modeling to demonstrate that the effect of diversity on these processes is context dependent, such that the slope of this relationship increases in environments where limiting resources (soil nutrients, host insects, and coffee flowers, respectively) are spatially heterogeneous. These real world patterns, combined with previous experiments, suggest that biodiversity may have its greatest impact on the functioning of diverse, naturally heterogeneous ecosystems.
The Course of the Nerve Root in the Neural Foramen and Its Relationship with Foraminal Entrapment or Impingement in Adult Patients with Lumbar Isthmic Spondylolisthesis and Radicular Pain

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the course of a nerve root in the neural foramen and its relationship with foraminal entrapment or impingement in 19 adult patients with isthmic spondylolisthesis and radicular pain. Myelo–computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed that the course of the nerve root was normal (ie, medial and then inferior, along the pedicle) in 10 patients and was deviated posteriorly in 9 patients. The patients with a normal nerve root course (N-NRC) had either a bony callus projecting medially into the spinal canal (n = 6) or a low mean percentile of vertebral slip (n = 4; 13.9 ± 1.3). Those nine patients with a posteriorly deviated nerve root course (PD-NRC) had no medially projecting bony callus in the spinal canal but had a higher mean percentile of vertebral slip (n = 9; 31.5 ± 10.1; P = 0.005). In the neural foramen, nerve roots of the N-NRC patients were entrapped craniocaudally between the pedicle and superior part of the intervertebral disc. In contrast, nerve roots of the PD-NRC patients were impinged ventrodorsally between the posterosuperior part of the intervertebral disc and either bony callus projecting inferiorly toward the neural foramen or fibrocartilaginous mass arising around the isthmic defect. The foraminal craniocaudal entrapment and ventrodorsal impingement highly agreed with the side of radicular pain (κ= 0.73, P < 0.001). Our results demonstrate that the medially projecting bony callus and the percentile of vertebral slip affect the course of the nerve root in the neural foramen, which in turn determines the foraminal craniocaudal entrapment or ventrodorsal impingement. These two mechanisms, based on the course of the nerve root, correlate well with the side of radicular pain.
Turbo-based Interference Cancellation for SFBC-OFDM Systems

To carry out simple linear decoding, it is usually assumed in space-frequency block coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (SFBC-OFDM) systems that the channel frequency responses between sub-carriers remain constant within a block length [1]. However, this assumption becomes unreliable when the system operates in a severe multipath environment. The conventional linear decoder [1] gives rise to inter-channel interference (ICI) due to variations of channel frequency response between sub-carriers. In this paper, we propose a turbo-based interference cancellation scheme to mitigate this effect. While the implementation complexity is higher than for conventional detection, the proposed scheme can effectively eliminate ICI, and exploit the increased diversity available in channels with long delay profile.
Design of Compact Differential Dual-Frequency Antenna With Stacked Patches

A compact differential dual-frequency antenna with stacked configuration is described. Compared with the conventional stacked dual frequency antenna, the radiating element with a half guided wavelength is distributed on two layers and connected through via holes, thus the dimension of the antenna is reduced effectively. In order to improve the bandwidth at the first resonant frequency (f1), a reflecting board is introduced and connected with the ground plane through three via holes. As a result, a new resonant frequency closing to f1 can be excited and the bandwidth at fx is enhanced. Both differential antennas with and without the reflecting board are fabricated and measured. The realized antennas have a compact size of 15 mm × 15 mm, which equals to 0.23¿1 × 0.23¿1 (¿1, the guided wavelength at f1). Experimental results show that the proposed antenna can operate at 2.4 GHz and 5.2 GHz bands. Good agreement between the simulated and measured results is obtained.
Development of an extruded Mg–Zn–Ca-based alloy: new insight on the role of Mn addition in precipitation

An age hardenable Mg–2.5Zn–0.1Ca–0.1Mn (mol%) alloy has been developed. The extruded sample followed by a T5 treatment reveals 290 and 269 MPa of tensile and compressive proof stresses, respectively. Elongation to failure in tension and compression were 22 and 13%, respectively. The stresses were comparable to those in an as-extruded Mg–2.4Zn–0.1Ca–0.1Zr (mol%) and a T6-treated 6063 Al alloys. and phases appeared in the extruded samples, and these precipitates enhanced the proof stresses. Mn was detected in the fine precipitates, which may lead to dense distribution of the fine precipitations. The precipitates pinned the grain growth of dynamic recrystallisation and, therefore, fine grain size could be obtained. The fine precipitates suppressed the occurrence of tensile twinning in unrecrystallised regions, resulting in a high value associated with yield anisotropy.
Selective laser sintering of single‐ and two‐component metal powders

A comparative characterisation of selective laser sintering (SLS) mechanisms of single‐ and two‐component powders is presented. The effects of the volume fraction of liquid phase and the powder absorptance were discussed. Single‐component Ni‐alloy, Fe and Cu powders as well as two‐component powder systems based on Ni‐alloy, Fe and Cu were investigated. In particular, the following types of two‐component powder systems were studied: Ni‐alloy‐Cu and Fe‐Cu powder mixtures as well as Cu‐coated Ni‐alloy powder and Cu‐coated Fe powders. SLS experiments were performed with a CW‐ Nd:YAG laser (λ=1.06 μm). The acting mechanism in all cases was liquid phase sintering.
Recent Advances in Protein Transduction Technology

During the past 15 years, a variety of peptides, known as protein transduction domains (PTDs), or cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), have been characterized for their ability to translocate into live cells. There are now numerous examples of biologically active full-length proteins and peptides that have been successfully delivered to cells and tissues, both in vitro and in vivo. One of the principal mechanisms of protein transduction is via electrostatic interactions with the plasma membrane, subsequent penetration into the cells by macropinocytosis, and release into the cytoplasm and nuclei by retrograde transport. Recent reports have also now shown that some of the limitations of protein transduction technology have been overcome. In particular, the use of ubiquitination-resistant proteins has been demonstrated to be a more effective strategy for transduction because the half-life of these molecules is significantly increased. Moreover, the use of the NH2-terminal domain of the influenza virus hemagglutinin-2 subunit (HA2) or photosensitive PTDs has been shown to specifically enhance macropinosome escape. Hence, these and other recent advances in protein transduction technologies have created a number of possibilities for the development of new peptide-based drugs.