Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed representations of prediction error signals across the cortical hierarchy are synergistic

An important question concerning inter-areal communication in the cortex is whether these interactions are synergistic, i.e. brain signals can either share common information (redundancy) or they can encode complementary information that is only available when both signals are considered together (synergy). Here, we dissociated cortical interactions sharing common information from those encoding complementary information during prediction error processing. To this end, we computed co-information, an information-theoretical measure that distinguishes redundant from synergistic information among brain signals. We analyzed auditory and frontal electrocorticography (ECoG) signals in five common awake marmosets performing two distinct auditory oddball tasks and investigated to what extent event-related potentials (ERP) and broadband (BB) dynamics encoded redundant and synergistic information during auditory prediction error processing. In both tasks, we observed multiple patterns of synergy across the entire cortical hierarchy with distinct dynamics. The information conveyed by ERPs and BB signals was highly synergistic even at lower stages of the hierarchy in the auditory cortex, as well as between auditory and frontal regions. Using a brain-constrained neural network, we simulated the spatio-temporal patterns of synergy and redundancy observed in the experimental results and further demonstrated that the emergence of synergy between auditory and frontal regions requires the presence of strong, long-distance, feedback and feedforward connections. These results indicate that the distributed representations of prediction error signals across the cortical hierarchy can be highly synergistic.
A natural history of networks: Modeling higher-order interactions in geohistorical data

Paleobiologists often employ network-based methods to analyze the inherently complex data retrieved from geohistorical records. Because they lack a common framework for designing, performing, evaluating, and communicating network-based studies, reproducibility and interdisciplinary research are hampered. The high-dimensional and spatiotemporally resolved data also raise questions about the limitations of standard network models. They risk obscuring paleontological patterns by washing out higher-order node interactions when assuming independent pairwise links. Recently introduced higher-order representations and models better suited for the complex relational structure of geohistorical data provide an opportunity to move paleobiology research beyond these challenges. Higher-order models can represent the spatiotemporal constraints on the information paths underlying geohistorical data, capturing the high-dimensional patterns more accurately. Here we describe how to use the Map Equation framework for designing higher-order models of geohistorical data, address some practical decisions involved in modeling complex dependencies, and discuss critical methodological and conceptual issues that make it difficult to compare results across studies in the growing body of network paleobiology research. We illustrate multilayer networks, hypergraphs, and varying Markov time models for higher-order networks in case studies on gradient analysis, bioregionalization, and macroevolution, and delineate future research directions for current challenges in the emerging field of network paleobiology.
Top-down control of exogenous attentional selection is mediated by beta coherence in prefrontal cortex

Salience-driven exogenous and goal-driven endogenous attentional selection are two distinct forms of attention that guide selection of task-irrelevant and task-relevant targets in primates. During conflict i.e, when salience and goal each favor the selection of different targets, endogenous selection of the task-relevant target relies on top-down control. Top-down attentional control mechanisms enable selection of the task-relevant target by limiting the influence of sensory information. Although the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is known to mediate top-down control, the neuronal mechanisms of top-down control of attentional selection are poorly understood. Here, using a two-target free-choice luminance-reward selection task, we demonstrate that visual-movement neurons and not visual neurons or movement neurons encode exogenous and endogenous selection. We then show that coherent-beta activity selectively modulates mechanisms of exogenous selection specifically during conflict and consequently may support top-down control. These results reveal the VM-neuron-specific network mechanisms of attentional selection and suggest a functional role for beta-frequency coherent neural dynamics in the modulation of sensory communication channels for the top-down control of attentional selection.
Floral presence and flower identity alter cereal aphid endosymbiont communities on adjacent crops

Floral plantings adjacent to crops fields can recruit populations of natural enemies by providing flower nectar and non-crop prey to increase natural pest regulation. Observed variation in success rates might be due to changes in the unseen community of protective endosymbionts hosted by many herbivorous insects, which can confer resistance to various specialist natural enemies, e.g. parasitoid wasps. Reduced insect control may occur if highly protective symbiont combinations increase in frequency via selection effects, and this is expected to be stronger in lower diversity systems. We used a large-scale field trial to analyse the bacterial endosymbiont communities hosted by cereal aphids (Sitobion avenae) collected along transects into strip plots of barley plants managed by either conventional or integrated (including floral field margins and reduced inputs) methods. In addition, we conducted an outdoor pot experiment to analyse endosymbionts in S. avenae aphids collected on barley plants that were either grown alone or alongside one of three flowering plants, across three time points. In the field, aphids hosted up to four symbionts. The abundance of aphids and parasitoid wasps was reduced towards the middle of all fields while aphid symbiont species richness and diversity decreased into the field in conventional, but not integrated, field-strips. The proportion of aphids hosting different symbiont combinations varied across cropping systems, with distances into the fields, and were correlated with parasitoid wasp abundances. In the pot experiment, aphids hosted up to six symbionts. Flower presence increased natural enemy abundance and diversity, and decreased aphid abundance. The proportion of aphids hosting different symbiont combinations varied across the flower treatment and time, and were correlated with varying abundances of the different specialist parasitoid wasp species recruited by different flowers. Synthesis and applications. Floral plantings and flower identity can have community-wide impacts on the combinations of bacterial endosymbionts hosted by herbivorous insects. Our work highlights the potential of within-season selection for symbiont-mediated pest resistance to natural enemies with biological control impacts. This could be mitigated through increased recruitment of diverse natural enemies by incorporating functional diversity of floral resources into the environment.
Responses of soil carbon sequestration to climate‐smart agriculture practices: A meta‐analysis

Climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) management practices (e.g., conservation tillage, cover crops, and biochar applications) have been widely adopted to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring crop productivity. However, current measurements regarding the influences of CSA management practices on SOC sequestration diverge widely, making it difficult to derive conclusions about individual and combined CSA management effects and bringing large uncertainties in quantifying the potential of the agricultural sector to mitigate climate change. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 3,049 paired measurements from 417 peer‐reviewed articles to examine the effects of three common CSA management practices on SOC sequestration as well as the environmental controlling factors. We found that, on average, biochar applications represented the most effective approach for increasing SOC content (39%), followed by cover crops (6%) and conservation tillage (5%). Further analysis suggested that the effects of CSA management practices were more pronounced in areas with relatively warmer climates or lower nitrogen fertilizer inputs. Our meta‐analysis demonstrated that, through adopting CSA practices, cropland could be an improved carbon sink. We also highlight the importance of considering local environmental factors (e.g., climate and soil conditions and their combination with other management practices) in identifying appropriate CSA practices for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring crop productivity.
A Measure of Agreement for Interval or Nominal Multivariate Observations

This article addresses the problem of accounting overall chance-corrected interobserver agreement among the multivariate ratings of several judges. Modifying an approach by Berry and Mielke, a generalization of Cohen’s kappa coefficient is proposed. The generalized statistic accounts agreement for multivariate interval or nominal observations among several judges. The statistic’s metric is conventional, and in the univariate case it is equivalent to existing extensions of the kappa coefficient to several observers, as well as to a certain intraclass correlation coefficient. Application is exemplified using hypothetical and real-life data sets.
Interpreting Measures of Meaning: Introducing Salience Differentiated Stability

In digital studies of the use of words in intellectual history, meaning is measured based on the idea of Firth that a word can be characterized by the company it keeps. The words that are literally close to it in the texts in which it is written should tell us something about what the word means. In practice, we will look at meaning being measured by a method called Pointwise Mutual Information or PMI for short. However, even granting that we use PMI, this description is still quite vague and allows for multiple different ways to interpret 'the company a word keeps' in the practice of coding an actual algorithm to discern this company. In this paper we will look specifically at the choice to 1. use all words close to another or 2. use merely the ones that are most disproportionately present. Using work from contemporary philosophers of language Mark Wilson and Sally Haslanger, we argue that both capture an aspect of meaning, 2 capturing the most salient way to understand a word, and 1 capturing the subtle, not so salient, but nonetheless important ways in which words are used overall. Then we will look to measure the overall stability in word meaning, the degree to which it is used similarly in different texts within a corpus. Having characterized PMI, salience and stability we will introduce Salience Differentiated Stability or SDS, a value indicating both the salient and less salient stability of a word, which will help identify words that are simpler or more shifty than they at first appear. Lastly we will test the use of this new value by doing a case study of the salience differentiated stability of common terms in early modern physics text books.
MILES SSP Models

Abstract We present SEDs for single-age, single-metallicity stellar populations (SSPs) covering the full optical spectral range at resolution (FWHM = 2.3Å). These SEDs can be regarded as our base models, as we combine scaled-solar isochrones with an empirical stellar spectral library (MILES), which follows the chemical evolution pattern of the solar neighbourhood. The models rely as much as possible on empirical ingredients as also employ extensive photometric libraries. Thanks to the unprecedented parameter coverage of the MILES library we synthesize SSP SEDs from intermediate- to very-old age regimes, and the metallicity from super-solar to [M/H] = −2.3, all for a suite of IMF shapes and slopes. We propose a new Line Index System (LIS), based on flux-calibrated spectra, to avoid the intrinsic uncertainties associated with the Lick/IDS system and provide more appropriate, uniform, spectral resolution.
An overview on riemerellosis: A worldwide emerging disease of ducks

Riemerella anatipestifer (R. anatipestifer) is the bacterial cause of an economically important and serious disease of ducks and other poultry species. Extensive reports showed that this disease condition is widely distributed in different countries since 1904. Horizontal and mechanical transmissions are important routes of R. anatipestifer dissemination. The disease is characterised by respiratory, nervous and locomotor disturbance with high mortality rates especially in ducklings. Affected birds showed generalised polyserositis or localised lesions in different organs. The clinical picture of R. anatipestifer is similar to and confused with other bacterial infections, so diagnosis of the disease relies mainly on laboratory techniques. At least 21 serotypes of R. anatipestifer have been identified. Control of R. anatipestifer infection mainly depends on using of the suitable antibiotics according to the antibiogram results. Due to the extensive and hazardous uses of antibiotics, development of multi-drug resistance strains of R. anatipestifer is common. Prevention of the disease can be achieved though application of good management practice and vaccination. Different types of vaccines are commercially available. There are autogenous polyvalent live or inactivated bacterins as well as subunit and recombinant vaccines. The vaccines give protection only for the specific serotypes present in the used vaccines. Therefore, this review article gives an overview on R. anatipestifer infections regarding the distribution all over the world, susceptibility and infection, clinical picture, laboratory diagnosis as well as prevention and control methods.
Local quantum channels preserving classical correlations

The aim of this paper is to discuss local quantum channels that preserve classical correlations. First, we give two equivalent characterizations of classical correlated states. Then we obtain the relationships among classical correlation-preserving local quantum channels, commutativity-preserving local quantum channels and commutativity-preserving quantum channels on each subsystem. Furthermore, for a two-qubit system, we show the general form of classical correlation-preserving local quantum channels.
Economic Analysis of Palm Oil Demand in Selected Major Importing Countries

This study attempts to examine factors influencing the demand for palm oil in selected major markets (India, EU, China, Pakistan and Nigeria). The study employed the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method on data collected for the period 1980 to 2017. The bound test indicates that there are long-run relationships between the studied variables. The empirical results show that Gross Domestic Product (GDP), palm oil price, and soyabean oil price, production and crushing capacity are significant determinants of palm oil demand.
Protection effect of gut microbiota composition and acetate absorption against hypertension-induced damages on the longevity population in Guangxi, China

Introduction Recent evidence supports a role for the gut microbe-metabolites in longevity. However, the phenomenon of hypertension is more common in the longevity area and whether hypertension is associated with longevity remains unclear. Here, we hypothesize that the levels of gut microbiota, SCFAs, and urine metabolites were different between hypertension elderly and hypertension longevity. Methods We recruited 46 elderly volunteers from Donglan County, Guangxi, and 32 were selected and included in the experiment. The subjects with hypertension were divided into two groups according to age, Hypertension Elderly (HTE, aged 70.5 ± 8.59, n = 19) and Hypertension Longevity (HTL, aged 100 ± 5.72, n = 13). The gut microbiota, SCFAs, and urine metabolites were determined by three-generation 16S rRNA full-length sequencing, GC-MS, and 1H-NMR, respectively. Results Compared with the HTL group, the HTE group had higher levels of hypertension-related genera Klebsiella and Streptococcus, while having lower levels of the SCFA-producing genera Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, and Alistipes. Based on LEFse analysis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Lactobacillus gasseri, Streptococcus salivarius, Ruminococcus, Actinomyces, Rikenellaceae, f_Saccharimonadaceae, Clostridium perfringens, and Bacteroids, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Parabacteroides, Alistipes were biomarkers that showed significant differences between the groups. In addition, the microbial pathways associated with K. pneumoniae and E. coli may promote hypertension, while A. muciniphila may play a role in reversing the development of hypertension in long-lived elderly. Metabolomics revealed that HTL contained a lower concentration of fecal acetate and propionate than HTE, while it contained a higher concentration of serum acetate and urine acetate. Furthermore, their immune cells exhibited no significant changes in SCFAs receptors. Conclusion Although long-lived elderly have extremely high systolic blood pressure, their unique gut microbiota composition and efficient acetate absorption in the colon may offset the damages caused by hypertension and maintain healthy homeostasis. Graphical Abstract Summary of the study findings.
Early lexical processing of Chinese one-character words and Mongolian words: A comparative study using event-related potentials

Logographic language and alphabetic language differ significantly in orthography. Investigating the commonality and particularity of visual word recognition between the two distinct writing systems is informative for understating the neural mechanisms underlying visual word recognition. In the present study, we compared the chronometry of early lexical processing and the brain regions involved in early lexical processing between Chinese (logographic language) and Mongolian (alphabetic language) by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) using both implicit and explicit reading tasks. Familiar Chinese one-character words (lexical) and unknown Chinese one-character words (non-lexical) were pseudorandomly presented to native Chinese readers in Experiment 1. Mongolian words (lexical) and pseudowords (non-lexical) were pseudorandomly presented to native Mongolian readers in Experiment 2. In the color decision task, participants were asked to decide the color (black or blue) of each stimulus. In the lexical recognition task, participants were asked to report whether they could recognize each stimulus. The results showed that in both experiments and both tasks, ERPs to lexical items differed significantly from those to non-lexical items in the parietooccipital scalp region approximately 250 ms after stimulus onset, reflecting the early lexical processing, which likely originated from the ventral occipitotemporal cortex as revealed by source analysis. These results indicated that although Chinese and Mongolian differed markedly in orthographic features, the neural mechanisms underlying early lexical processing are similar between the two languages.
Three-dimensional seismic stability of locally loaded slopes under a rotational velocity field

In practical engineering, slopes subjected to local loads, like footings of buildings, are common. This paper aims to give an insight into the effect of seismic force on the stability of locally loaded slopes. Numerical methods can be used to study this problem, but they require much computational time. Contrarily, limit analysis method is an approach to perform slope stability analysis with high computational efficiency. Thus, an accurate approach in mechanical points is proposed for this problem based on limit analysis method herein. In the framework of limit analysis, existing research about this problem used a kinematically translational velocity field. However, the velocity field of the locally loaded slope at failure is proved to be rotational possibly. Thus, to fill this gap, a 3D rotational velocity field is employed herein to obtain limit loads on the slope top, which improves the existing upper-bound solutions obtained by using the translational velocity field. The particle swarm optimization algorithm and the Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm are employed to search the global minimum of the upper-bound estimation of the limit load. Parametric analysis is performed and it shows that the limit load increases with the increase of a/H or the internal friction angle φ but decreases as the slope angle β or the length-to-width ratio (L/t) of the local load increases. Furthermore, the limit load is found to decrease with the increase of the seismic coefficient k h and it is proportional to the seismic coefficient.
Endocrine and metabolic interactions in healthy pregnancies and hyperinsulinemic pregnancies affected by polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes and obesity

During pregnancy, the fetoplacental unit is key in the pronounced physiological endocrine changes which support pregnancy, fetal development and survival, birth and lactation. In healthy women, pregnancy is characterized by changes in insulin sensitivity and increased maternal androgen levels. These are accompanied by a suite of mechanisms that support fetal growth, maintain glucose homeostasis and protect both mother and fetus from adverse effects of pregnancy induced insulin and androgen excess. In pregnancies affected by endocrine, metabolic disorders such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), diabetes and obesity, there is an imbalance of beneficial and adverse impacts of pregnancy induced endocrine changes. These inter-related conditions are characterized by an interplay of hyperinsulinemia and hyperandrogenism which influence fetoplacental function and are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, macrosomia, preterm delivery and caesarean section. However, the exact underlying mechanisms and relationships of the endocrine and metabolic milieu in these disorders and the impact they have on the prenatal endocrine environment and developing fetus remain poorly understood. Here we aim to review the complex endocrine and metabolic interactions in healthy women during normal pregnancies and those in pregnancies complicated by hyperinsulinemic disorders (PCOS, diabetes and obesity). We also explore the relationships between these endocrine and metabolic differences and the fetoplacental unit, pregnancy outcomes and the developing fetus.