Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential impacts of climate change on soil properties

Climate change is expected to have a vigorous impact on soils and ecosystems due to elevated temperature and changes in precipitation (amount and frequency), thereby altering biogeochemical and hydrological cycles. Several phenomena associated with climate change and anthropogenic activity affect soils indirectly via ecosystem functioning (such as higher atmospheric CO2 concentration and N deposition). Continuous interactions between climate and soils determine the transformation and transport processes. Long-term gradual changes in abiotic environmental factors alter naturally occurring soil forming processes by modifying the soil water regime, mineral composition evolution, and the rate of organic matter formation and degradation. The resulting physical and chemical soil properties play a fundamental role in the productivity and environmental quality of cultivated land, so it is crucial to evaluate the potential outcomes of climate change and soil interactions. This paper attempts to review the underlying long-term processes influenced by different aspects of climate change. When considering major soil forming factors (climate, parent material, living organisms, topography), especially climate, we put special attention to soil physical properties (soil structure and texture, and consequential changes in soil hydrothermal regime), soil chemical properties (e.g. cation exchange capacity, soil organic matter content as influenced by changes in environmental conditions) and soil degradation as a result of longterm soil physicochemical transformations. The temperate region, specifically the Carpathian Basin as a heterogeneous territory consisting of different climatic and soil zones from continental to mountainous, is used as an example to present potential changes and to assess the effect of climate change on soils. The altered physicochemical and biological properties of soils require accentuated scientific attention, particularly with respect to significant feedback processes to climate and soil services such as food security.
Is there a sweet spot for energy harvesting?

The low power consumption of silicon-based electronics combined with the significant power densities of modern primary or rechargeable batteries has enabled a broad variety of battery-powered handheld, wearable and even implantable devices. A range of devices powered by batteries and spanning six orders of magnitude power consumption are shown in Table 1, with their typical power consumption and their energy autonomy. All these devices need a compact, low-cost and lightweight energy source, which enables the desired portability and achieves a certain level of energy autonomy. In the 100µW range power consumption, wearable wireless sensor nodes are situated.
Phellinus linteus Mycelium Alleviates Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury through Autophagic Regulation

The incidence of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury is rapidly increasing around the world and this disease is a major contributor to global morbidity and mortality. It is known that regulation of programmed cell death including apoptosis and autophagy reduces the impact of myocardial IR injury. In this study, the cardioprotective effects and underlying mechanisms of Phellinus linteus (Berk. and Curt.) Teng, Hymenochaetaceae (PL), a type of medicinal mushroom, were examined in rats subjected to myocardial IR injury. The left main coronary artery of rats was ligated for 1 h and reperfused for 3 h. The arrhythmia levels were monitored during the entire process and the infarct size was evaluated after myocardial IR injury. Furthermore, the expression levels of proteins in apoptotic and autophagic pathways were observed. Pretreatment with PL mycelium (PLM) significantly reduced ventricular arrhythmia and mortality due to myocardial IR injury. PLM also significantly decreased myocardial infarct size and plasma lactate dehydrogenase level after myocardial IR injury. Moreover, PLM administration resulted in decreased caspase 3 and caspase 9 activation and increased Bcl-2/Bax ratio. Phosphorylation level of AMPK was elevated while mTOR level was reduced. Becline-1 and p62 levels decreased. These findings suggest that PLM is effective in protecting the myocardium against IR injury. The mechanism involves mediation through suppressed pro-apoptotic signaling and regulation of autophagic signaling, including stimulation of AMPK-dependent pathway and inhibition of beclin-1-dependent pathway, resulting in enhancement of protective autophagy and inhibition of excessive autophagy.
An Efficient Algorithm for Finding an Almost Connected Dominating Set of Small Size on Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

In this paper, we propose an efficient, distributed and localized algorithm for finding an almost connected dominating set of small size on wireless ad hoc networks. Broadcasting and routing based on a connected dominating set (CDS) is a promising approach. A set is dominating if all the nodes of the network are either in the set or neighbors of nodes in the set. The efficiency of dominating-set-based broadcasting or routing mainly depends on the overhead in constructing the dominating set and the size of the dominating set. Our algorithm can find a CDS faster and the size of the found CDS is smaller than the previous algorithms proposed in the literature. Although our algorithm cannot guarantee the set found is actually a CDS but from our simulation results, the probabilities that the found set is a CDS are higher than 99.96% in all cases
Establishment of a cell line from a chemotherapy resistant diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Department of Oncology, Radiology and Clinical Immunology, Uppsala University, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden, Department of Tumor Biology, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, Health and Society, Biomedical Laboratory Science, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden, Laboratory Medicine, Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, Department of Medical Sciences, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, CMM L8:01, Karolinska Institutet and University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, and Department of Clinical Genetics, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden
A Novel QoS-Guaranteed Power-Efficient Management Scheme for IEEE 802.15.3 HR-WPAN

This paper proposes a novel quality of service (QoS) guaranteed power-efficient management scheme for IEEE 802.15. 3 HR-WPAN, coined Hierarchical MAC Scheduling Scheme (HMSS). The design objectives of HMSS are to guarantee the QoS of multimedia services and minimize the power consumption of energy-sensitive DEVs. By classifying traffics into layers with different priorities, HMSS schedules the traffic layer with high priority preferentially. The order of intra- layer traffics is scheduled to minimize the wakeup times. In addition, a sharing common DEV scheme (SCDS) is proposed to reduce the number of the patches caused by classifying traffics. Simulation results show that HMSS guarantees the QoS requirements of multimedia services in IEEE 802.15. 3 HR- WPAN, while the Min-Degree Searching (MDS) Scheme proposed in IEEE 802.15. 3 does not consider the QoS requirements at all.
CD40 ligand-deficient mice generate a normal primary cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response but a defective humoral response to a viral infection

CD40 ligand is expressed on activated T cells and interacts with CD40 on B cells and monocytes. It is not known what role CD40 ligand plays in the generation of immune responses to viral infection. To address this issue, we examined virus-specific T- and B-cell responses in CD40 ligand-deficient (CD40L-/-) mice following infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). We found that primary anti-LCMV specific antibody responses were severely impaired in CD40L-/- mice, with the defect being most striking for antibody of the immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) isotype. Interestingly, low levels of LCMV-specific antibodies of the IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgG3 isotypes were made in the CD40L-/- mice, showing that IgG1 responses are totally dependent on CD40L but that at least some IgG2a, IgG2b, and IgG3 responses can be CD40L independent. However, unlike CD40L+/+ mice, CD40L-/- mice were unable to sustain virus-specific antibody responses and showed a gradual decline in serum antibody levels over time. The CD40L-/- mice were also deficient in the generation of memory B cells. In contrast to the severely impaired humoral responses, CD40L-/- mice generated potent virus-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses after LCMV infection and were able to clear the virus. These results show that CD40L does not play a role in generating primary virus-specific CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses but does affect the primary antibody response and the generation of memory B cells.
On the performance of ZigBee Pro and ZigBee IP in IEEE 802.15.4 networks

The wide spread of smart embedded devices and the trend towards their inclusion in a unique Internet of Things are making urgent their full integration within the TCP/IP protocol stack. This paper considers ZigBee, a short-range radio communication standard for embedded devices, and compares two alternative protocol stacks, namely ZigBee Pro and ZigBee IP, developed for the integration of ZigBee in the so called Internet of Things. The performance evaluation is founded on experimental results achieved using two test-beds built to this purpose and is based on service reliability and latency as metrics.
Quantitative effects of stationary linear image processing on noise and resolution of structure in radionuclide images.

Processing radionuclide image data in an attempt to improve its diagnostic usefulness inevitably changes both the noise and the resolution of structures in the image. Although at present little conclusive evidence exists to indicate whether or not image processing is beneficial, an understanding of the quantitative effects of various processing techniques on parameters of resolution, noise magnitude, and noise texture seems to provide a useful beginning towards solution of the more difficult problem of understanding the effects of image processing on diagnostic image quality. Quantitative effects of stationary linear image processing procedures, which include all convolutions and filtering operations, can be predicted rather simply. In the present work, expressions for predicting these quantitative effects are developed and are applied to computer-synthesized image data to provide illustrative examples of the effects of typical noise-smoothing and resolutionenhancing operations. (auth)
A probabilistic transmission scheme for distributed estimation in wireless sensor networks

In this paper, we propose a probabilistic transmission scheme for distributed parameter estimation in wireless sensor networks. We assume that sensor observation noises are Gaussian distributed with non-identical statistics and the fusion center does not know the sensors' noise statistics. Each sensor employs a data rate to quantize its analog measurement that is a function of its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In order not to exceed the available capacity, for each possible data rate, the quantized sensor data are sent to the fusion center with a certain transmission probability. Under total bandwidth and network utilization constraints, we formulate an optimization problem to find the optimal transmission probabilities of each data rate by minimizing the inverse of the average Fisher information of the estimate. Under stringent availability of bandwidth, simulation results show that the proposed probabilistic transmission scheme outperforms the scheme where the total bandwidth is equally distributed among sensors. The optimal transmission probabilities are assigned in such a way that the sensors with high SNR have priority to transmit their data, and the mean squared estimation error is quite close to the case where all the sensors transmit at the maximum data rate.
Early Cretaceous potassic volcanic rocks from the northern margin of the Sulu orogenic belt, Shandong Province, eastern China: Constraints on petrogenesis and crust–mantle interaction

A major and trace element, Sr–Nd–Hf isotope, and zircon U–Pb geochronology study was conducted on Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks from the northern margin of the Sulu orogenic belt in Shandong Province, eastern China. These results constrain the petrogenesis of the volcanic rocks and provide important insights into the significance of crust–mantle interaction. The rocks comprise high‐K basaltic andesite, shoshonites, latites, high‐K dacites, and high‐K rhyolites. U–Pb zircon dating of four representative samples of latite, two high‐K dacites, and high‐K rhyolite indicates that these rocks formed from 126 to 122 Ma. The volcanic rocks are characterized by high K2O (2.04–6.70 wt.%) and total alkalis (Na2O + K2O; 5.3–10.9 wt.%) that plot within the field for shoshonitic rocks. All the rocks are enriched in light rare earth and large‐ion lithophile elements (e.g., Rb, Th, U, and K) and are depleted in high‐field‐strength elements (e.g., Nb, Ta, and Ti). The rocks have high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.706760–0.708898), low εNd(t) values (−19.5 to −12.5), and negative εHf(t) values (−31.3 to −19.7), similar to the Early Cretaceous Jiaodong mafic dikes and intermediate–mafic volcanic rocks. These geochemical and isotopic characteristics indicate that the volcanic rocks formed through simultaneous fractional crystallization and crustal assimilation of a basaltic magma derived from metasomatized mantle. The metasomatized mantle source might have been produced by the recycling of subducted Yangtze Craton crust into the ancient lithospheric mantle of the North China Craton.
Stagnation control using interacted multiple ant colonies

Stagnation is a common problem that all ant algorithms suffer from regardless of their application domain.This paper proposes a new algorithmic approach that can effectively be used to tackle combinatorial optimization problems with a good chance to control the stagnation. The new approach utilizes multiple ant colonies with certain techniques that efficiently organize the work of these colonies to avoid the stagnation situations. Computational tests show that the proposed approach is competitive with other state of art ant algorithms.
Ringing Ears: The Neuroscience of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a phantom sound (ringing of the ears) that affects quality of life for millions around the world and is associated in most cases with hearing impairment. This symposium will consider evidence that deafferentation of tonotopically organized central auditory structures leads to increased neuron spontaneous firing rates and neural synchrony in the hearing loss region. This region covers the frequency spectrum of tinnitus sounds, which are optimally suppressed following exposure to band-limited noise covering the same frequencies. Cross-modal compensations in subcortical structures may contribute to tinnitus and its modulation by jaw-clenching and eye movements. Yet many older individuals with impaired hearing do not have tinnitus, possibly because age-related changes in inhibitory circuits are better preserved. A brain network involving limbic and other nonauditory regions is active in tinnitus and may be driven when spectrotemporal information conveyed by the damaged ear does not match that predicted by central auditory processing.
Dendritic Cells in Human Atherosclerosis: From Circulation to Atherosclerotic Plaques

Background. Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease with atherosclerotic plaques containing inflammatory infiltrates predominantly consisting of monocytes/macrophages and activated T cells. More recent is the implication of dendritic cells (DCs) in the disease. Since DCs were demonstrated in human arteries in 1995, numerous studies in humans suggest a role for these professional antigen-presenting cells in atherosclerosis. Aim. This paper focuses on the observations made in blood and arteries of patients with atherosclerosis. In principal, flow cytometric analyses show that circulating myeloid (m) and plasmacytoid (p) DCs are diminished in coronary artery disease, while immunohistochemical studies describe increased intimal DC counts with evolving plaque stages. Moreover, mDCs and pDCs appear to behave differently in atherosclerosis. Yet, the origin of plaque DCs and their relationship with blood DCs are unknown. Therefore, several explanations for the observed changes are postulated. In addition, the technical challenges and discrepancies in the research field are discussed. Future. Future studies in humans, in combination with experimental animal studies will unravel mechanisms leading to altered blood and plaque DCs in atherosclerosis. As DCs are crucial for inducing but also dampening immune responses, understanding their life cycle, trafficking and function in atherosclerosis will determine potential use of DCs in antiatherogenic therapies.
Deletion of Ovarian Hormones Induces a Sickness Behavior in Rats Comparable to the Effect of Lipopolysaccharide

Neuroimmune factors have been proposed as the contributors to the pathogenesis of sickness behaviors. The effects of female gonadal hormones on both neuroinflammation and depression have also been well considered. In the present study, the capability of deletion of ovarian hormones to induce sickness-like behaviors in rats was compared with the effect lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The groups were including Sham, OVX, Sham-LPS, and OVX-LPS. The Sham-LPS and OVX-LPS groups were treated with LPS (250 μg/kg) two hours before conducting the behavioral tests. In the forced swimming (FST), the immobility times in both OVX and Sham-LPS groups were higher than that of Sham (P < 0.001). In open-field (OP) test, the central crossing number by OVX and Sham-LPS groups were lower than Sham (P < 0.001) while there were no significant differences between OVX-LPS and OVX groups. In elevated plus maze (EPM), the percent of entries to the open arm by both OVX and Sham-LPS groups was lower than that of Sham group (P < 0.001). The results of present study showed that deletion of ovarian hormones induced sickness behaviors in rats which were comparable to the effects of LPS. Moreover, further investigations are required in order to better understand the mechanism(s) involved.
Poor performance in the advanced level geography: a case of four high schools in Hurungwe District, Mashonaland West Province, Zimbabwe

The study investigates the causes of high failure rate in Advanced level Geography in four high schools in Hurungwe district, Zimbabwe. A multi-stage procedure was used to sample a total of 4 high schools, 100 high school pupils, 17 teachers, 4 Heads of Departments and 4 Heads for the study. Adopting a qualitative research design and case study approach, this study explores the factors influencing high failure rate in Advanced Level Geography. Four High Schools in Hurungwe district were investigated. In Addition to desk-top review; purposive sampling was used to select key participants from the four high schools. Questionnaires, informal interviews and vital records review were used to collect relevant data. Findings show that shortage of resources, overstretched teachers, admission of mediocre lower 6 pupils and recruitment of under qualified teachers were some of the factors contributing to poor pass rates in the district.
High-Performance Integrated hydrodynamic Modelling of Storm Induced Floods at a Catchment Scale

Flooding is one of the most common types of natural hazards. The current practice of large-scale fluvial flood modelling relies on the use of hydrological models to predict upstream discharge hydrograph to drive inundation modelling at downstream. However, the oversimplified representation of both catchment topographies and hydraulics make hydrological models heavily rely on model parameterisation and calibration. This makes the modelling strategy unsuitable for prediction of extreme events featured with highly transient hydraulic processes, for which high-quality hydrological data is commonly missing to support model parameterisation and calibration. In this paper, the HighPerformance Integrated hydrodynamic Modelling System (HiPIMS) has been adapted and applied to the whole 2500 km Eden catchment in the UK to reproduce the flood event caused by Storm Desmond in December, 2015. Without necessity of intensive calibration and using hydrographs as boundary conditions, satisfactory results have been obtained for both inundation extent and water level time series in channels, in comparison with observations. Accelerated by multiple modern graphic processing units (GPUs), the model runs more than 20 times faster than real time for the simulation of the whole catchment at 20m resolution. The results successfully demonstrate HiPIMS as a promising tool for real-time flood forecasting and flood risk assessment.
SpielRaum: Perspectives for Collaborative Play

Created in a custom-designed interactive visualization studio, the virtual reality research project SpielRaum combines cave projections with first person virtual reality interfaces for collaborative games that exploit individual perspectives of players on a common virtual space. These games were tested by a large diverse audience, and user feedback was collected via semi-structured face-to-face interviews.
Brain mechanisms underlying the impact of attachment-related stress on social cognition

Mentalizing, in particular the successful attribution of complex mental states to others, is crucial for navigating social interactions. This ability is highly influenced by external factors within one's daily life, such as stress. We investigated the impact of stress on the brain basis of mentalization in adults. Using a novel modification of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET-R) we compared the differential effects of two personalized stress induction procedures: a general stress induction (GSI) and an attachment-related stress induction (ASI). Participants performed the RMET-R at baseline and after each of the two inductions. Baseline results replicated and extended previous findings regarding the neural correlates of the RMET-R. Additionally, we identified brain regions associated with making complex age judgments from the same stimuli. Results after stress exposure showed that the ASI condition resulted in reduced mentalization-related activation in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), left inferior frontal gyrus and left temporoparietal junction (TPJ). Moreover, the left middle frontal gyrus and left anterior insula showed greater functional connectivity to the left posterior STS after the ASI. Our findings indicate that attachment-related stress has a unique effect on the neural correlates of mentalization.
Using CCA to improve CCA: A new spectral method for estimating vector models of words

Unlabeled data is often used to learn representations which can be used to supplement baseline features in a supervised learner. For example, for text applications where the words lie in a very high dimensional space (the size of the vocabulary), one can learn a low rank “dictionary” by an eigendecomposition of the word co-occurrence matrix (e.g. using PCA or CCA). In this paper, we present a new spectral method based on CCA to learn an eigenword dictionary. Our improved procedure computes two set of CCAs, the first one between the left and right contexts of the given word and the second one between the projections resulting from this CCA and the word itself. We prove theoretically that this two-step procedure has lower sample complexity than the simple single step procedure and also illustrate the empirical efficacy of our approach and the richness of representations learned by our Two Step CCA (TSCCA) procedure on the tasks of POS tagging and sentiment classification.