Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Theoretical evidence for the functional benefit of root cortical aerenchyma in soils with low phosphorus availability.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The formation of root cortical aerenchyma (RCA) reduces root respiration and nutrient content by converting living tissue to air volume. It was hypothesized that RCA increases soil resource acquisition by reducing the metabolic and phosphorus cost of soil exploration. METHODS To test the quantitative logic of the hypothesis, SimRoot, a functional-structural plant model with emphasis on root architecture and nutrient acquisition, was employed. Sensitivity analyses for the effects of RCA on the initial 40 d of growth of maize (Zea mays) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) were conducted in soils with varying degrees of phosphorus availability. With reference to future climates, the benefit of having RCA in high CO(2) environments was simulated. KEY RESULTS The model shows that RCA may increase the growth of plants faced with suboptimal phosphorus availability up to 70 % for maize and 14 % for bean after 40 d of growth. Maximum increases were obtained at low phosphorus availability (3 µm). Remobilization of phosphorus from dying cells had a larger effect on plant growth than reduced root respiration. The benefit of both these functions was additive and increased over time. Larger benefits may be expected for mature plants. Sensitivity analysis for light-use efficiency showed that the benefit of having RCA is relatively stable, suggesting that elevated CO(2) in future climates will not significantly effect the benefits of having RCA. CONCLUSIONS The results support the hypothesis that RCA is an adaptive trait for phosphorus acquisition by remobilizing phosphorus from the root cortex and reducing the metabolic costs of soil exploration. The benefit of having RCA in low-phosphorus soils is larger for maize than for bean, as maize is more sensitive to low phosphorus availability while it has a more 'expensive' root system. Genetic variation in RCA may be useful for breeding phosphorus-efficient crop cultivars, which is important for improving global food security.
Detectando la mentira en lenguaje escrito Detecting deception in written language

Deception in language has been studied from the perspective of several disciplines, being the most recent one opinion mining. Within this framework, the present study attempts to explore deception cues in written Spanish, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been investigated yet. For our purposes, we have developed a framework based on a classifier using a Support Vector Machine (SVM) in order to detect deception in an ad hoc opinion corpus. We have used the psycholinguistic categories defined in LIWC (Pennebaker, Francis and Booth, 2001) through its four broad dimensions for the subsequent training of the abovementioned classifier. The findings reveal that truthful and deceptive texts in Spanish are indeed separable, being the two first dimensions, linguistic and psychological processes, the most relevant ones for fulfilling our aim.
Mortality and Associated Risk Factors in Dialysis Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Background/Aims: Although dialysis patients have a higher risk of morbidity and mortality related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) than the general population, the mortality and associated risk factors in Asian dialysis patients with CVD have not been well examined. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, mortality and risk factors were investigated in 591 dialysis patients who were recruited from two dialysis centers from May 1, 2009 to May 1, 2014. The Cox proportional hazards regression assessed adjusted differences in mortality risk. A multivariate analysis was also performed, comparing the CVD and non-CVD groups. Results: A total of 591 patients were enrolled in this study (mean age, 52.05 ± 16.46 years [SD]; 61.8% men; 20.8% with CVD), with a median follow-up of 21.9 (maximum, 72) months. The cumulative hazard of mortality was significantly higher in CVD patients (hazard ratio [HR], 1.835; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.023-3.293; P=0.042) than in their non-CVD counterparts after adjusting for various confounders. On multivariate Cox analysis, stroke (HR, 4.574; 95% CI, 2.149-9.736; P<0.001) was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in the CVD group. In the non-CVD group, diabetes mellitus (HR, 2.974; 95% CI, 1.560-5.668; P=0.001) and elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive lipoprotein (hs-CRP) (HR, 1.017; 95% CI, 1.005-1.030; P=0.005) were independent predictors of all-cause mortality. Conclusion: All-cause mortality was significantly higher in the CVD group than in the non-CVD group. Stroke is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in dialysis patients with CVD. These findings warrant further studies into preventive and interventional strategies.
Engaging a University in Self-Assessment and Strategic Planning to Build Partnership Capacity: The UCSF Experience

In an effort to better fulfill its public service mission, the University of California, San Francisco, has undertaken an intensive assessment and strategic planning process to build institutional capacity for civic engagement and community partnership. The first stage was a qualitative assessment focused primarily on three local communities, followed by a grassroots collaborative planning process resulting in the creation of a department-based Community Partnership Resource Center. The second stage was a campuswide self-assessment by the UCSF Executive Vice Chancellor’s Task Force on Community Partnerships. This quantitative data collection about current UCSF partnerships and examination of national best practices resulted in recommendations for institutional action. The third stage was the creation of the University Community Partnership Program, which will ultimately serve the needs of the entire UCSF campus as well as all surrounding communities. This article describes the self-assessment and strategic planning process, challenges encountered, and lessons learned.
The Perceptions of Elementary Students about the Reasons for Bullying

Bir veya daha cok kisi tarafindan tekrarli olarak olumsuz davranislar yoneltilen kisi zorbaliga ugramis olarak kabul edilir. Okulda ve toplumda zorbalik cok sik yasanir. Ogrenciler okul zorbaliginin birinci dereceden taniklaridir. Bu calismanin amaci ilkogretim ogrencilerinin okuldaki zorbaligin nedenleriyle ilgili algilarini ortaya cikarmaktir. Bu amacla bir ilkogretim okulunda 4-8. siniflardaki 688 ogrenciye Colorado Okul Iklimi Anketi uygulanmistir. Veriler frekans ve yuzde hesaplari araciligiyla analiz edilmistir. En sik bildirilen zorbaliga ugrama nedeni fiziksel zayiflik olmustur (zorbalarin %,56.5, zorba- kurbanlarin %52.9 ve kurbanlarin %48.6’si). Şisman olmak ve fakir olmak diger nedenler arasindadir. Kizlarin yaklasik olarak yarisi sirasiyla kisa, fakir ve sisman olmanin en onemli zorbaliga ugrama nedenleri oldugunu bildirirken, erkekler fiziksel zayiflik, sismanlik ve cilizligi rapor etmislerdir. Ne zorba ne de kurban olanlara gore zorbaliga ugrama nedenleri fiziksel zayiflik, fakirlik ve kotu giyinmedir. Hem kurbanlar hem de zorbakurbanlar birinci nedenin fiziksel zayiflik oldugunu dile getirirken, zorbalar arkadasi olmayan, kisa ve fakir cocuklarin zorbaliga ugradigini soylemislerdir
Is the U.S. Aggregate Production Function Cobb-Douglas? New Estimates of the Elasticity of Substitution

Abstract I present new estimates of the elasticity of substitution between capital and labor using data from the private sector of the U.S. economy for the period 1948-1998. I first adopt Berndt's (1976) specification, which assumes that technological change is Hicks neutral. Consistently with his results, I estimate elasticities of substitution that are not significantly different from one. I next show, however, that restricting the analysis to Hicks-neutral technological change necessarily biases the estimates of the elasticity towards one. When I modify the econometric specification to allow for biased technical change, I obtain significantly lower estimates of the elasticity of substitution. I conclude that the U.S. economy is not well described by a Cobb-Douglas aggregate production function. I present estimates based on both classical regression analysis and time series analysis. In the process, I deal with issues related to the nonsphericality of the disturbances, the endogeneity of the regressors, and the nonstationarity of the series involved in the estimation.
YOGY: a web-based, integrated database to retrieve protein orthologs and associated Gene Ontology terms

We present YOGY a web-based resource for orthologous proteins from nine eukaryotic organisms: Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Arabidopsis thaliana, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, Plasmodium falciparum, Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using a gene name from any of these organisms as a query, this database provides comprehensive, combined information on orthologs in other species using data from five independent resources: KOGs, Inparanoid, HomoloGene, OrthoMCL and a table of curated fission and budding yeast orthologs. Associated Gene Ontology (GO) terms of orthologs can also be retrieved for functional inference. Integrating these different and complementary datasets provides a straightforward tool to identify known and predicted orthologs of proteins from a variety of species. This resource should be useful for bench scientists looking for functional clues for their genes of interest as well as for curators looking for information that can be transferred based on orthology and for rapidly identifying the relevant GO terms as an aid to literature curation. YOGY is accessible online at .
The Use of Virtual Characters to Assess and Train Non-Verbal Communication in High-Functioning Autism

High-functioning autism (HFA) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is characterized by life-long socio-communicative impairments on the one hand and preserved verbal and general learning and memory abilities on the other. One of the areas where particular difficulties are observable is the understanding of non-verbal communication cues. Thus, investigating the underlying psychological processes and neural mechanisms of non-verbal communication in HFA allows a better understanding of this disorder, and potentially enables the development of more efficient forms of psychotherapy and trainings. However, the research on non-verbal information processing in HFA faces several methodological challenges. The use of virtual characters (VCs) helps to overcome such challenges by enabling an ecologically valid experience of social presence, and by providing an experimental platform that can be systematically and fully controlled. To make this field of research accessible to a broader audience, we elaborate in the first part of the review the validity of using VCs in non-verbal behavior research on HFA, and we review current relevant paradigms and findings from social-cognitive neuroscience. In the second part, we argue for the use of VCs as either agents or avatars in the context of “transformed social interactions. ” This allows for the implementation of real-time social interaction in virtual experimental settings, which represents a more sensitive measure of socio-communicative impairments in HFA. Finally, we argue that VCs and environments are a valuable assistive, educational and therapeutic tool for HFA.
β2-Agonists Potentiate Corticosteroid-Induced Neutrophil Survival

Neutrophils are considered to play a role in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma. Recent guidelines recommend the use of a combination of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting β2-agonists (LABA) in the treatment of COPD with exacerbations and asthma not adequately controlled by ICS alone. LABA have been proposed to have a synergistic effect with corticosteroids by activating glucocorticoid receptors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of β2-agonists on the inhibitory effects of corticosteroids on human neutrophil apoptosis. In addition, the effects of β2-agonists on spontaneous neutrophil apoptosis and on GM-CSF- and LTB4-afforded survival were also evaluated. Neutrophils were isolated from human blood under sterile conditions and cultured for 16 hours. Apoptosis was assessed by relative DNA fragmentation assay. Morphological analysis was used as a control method to confirm the occurrence of apoptosis. Salbutamol, formoterol and salmeterol prolonged the lifespan of budesonide- and fluticasone propionate-treated neutrophils by inhibiting apoptosis. Formoterol and salbutamol partly reversed the inhibitory effect of GM-CSF on neutrophil apoptosis. In contrast, the effects of β2-agonists on spontaneous neutrophil apoptosis and on LTB4-afforded survival were negligible. β2-agonists potentiate corticosteroid-induced neutrophil survival at clinically relevant drug concentrations. Whether these effects translate into clinically relevant changes in lung neutrophil numbers remains to be demonstrated.
Interactive relationships of Microcystis aeruginosa and three species of Chlorella under the condition of coexistence

The interactive relationships of toxic and bloom-forming Microcystis aeruginosa and three common green algae (including Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Chlorella vulgaris, Chlorella ellipsoidea) were investigated under the condition of coexisting cultivation. To inoculate the log-phase cells of C. pyrenoidosa and M. aeruginosa, the cocultivation results showed that M. aeruginosa under low initial densities could stimulate the growth of C. pyrenoidosa but its growth was inhibited; however, the growth of C. pyrenoidosa could be significantly inhibited while the growth of M. aeruginosa was pretty well with its initial density reaching up to 1×106 cells·mL−1. Stable-phase M. aeruginosa caused more apparent phenomenon on C. pyrenoidosa but lost the competitiveness itself. Similar phenomena were observed when M. aeruginosa was coexisted with C. vulgaris or C. ellipsoidea. These results provided evidence in support of algal relationship in waterbodies, pointed out that restriction of harmful algal bloom in a certain range of density or growth stage might be beneficial to restoration of water environment, and proposed that all the three chlorella species had competitive advantage to be used to protect against M. aeruginosa bloom.
Ambiguous abbreviations: an audit of abbreviations in paediatric note keeping

Objective: To assess the frequency, nature and understanding of abbreviations in medical records. Design: Audit of abbreviation use and meaning in paediatric handover sheets and medical notes compared to two standards, the Trust Intranet Medical Dictionary (TID) and Mosby’s Medical Dictionary (MMD). A selection of abbreviations was shown to healthcare professionals to examine interpretation of abbreviations. Setting: Large inner-city district general hospital, Birmingham, UK. Main outcome measures: Frequency, nature and understanding of abbreviations in paediatric medical records. Results: On 25 handover sheets a total of 2286 abbreviations were used, with 221 different abbreviations; the standards recognised 14% (TID) and 20% (MMD) of these abbreviations. In 168 sets of medical notes a total of 3668 abbreviations were used, with 479 different abbreviations; the standards recognised 15% (TID) and 17% (MMD). Some words were shortened in different forms, for example, normal (N, Nl, NAD) and some abbreviations had multiple interpretations that differed from those intended, for example, TOF (tetralogy of Fallot, tracheo-oesophageal fistula). When presented with a selection of abbreviations, paediatric doctors recognized 56–94% and other healthcare professionals recognised 31–63%. Conclusion: Abbreviation use was widespread in paediatric note keeping. There was no systematic approach to this and difficulties in interpretation were demonstrated. The use of standardised abbreviations to avoid confusion is suggested.
Opportunistic iot for monitoring of grazing cattle: demo

Precision livestock farming and other agricultural applications are considered to have great potential to utilise the many benefits of IoT technology. It is however important to maintain low cost and energy consumption to make it feasible in a very competitive market, making opportunistic and D2D communication interesting options. The demo will show a prototype of a system for monitoring grazing cattle in large free-range areas. We will demonstrate the mobile devices collecting data about the animals and their encounters with each other as well as the cloud platform that allows the farmer to access the data for more efficient operation of the farm.
Reversible Induction of Phantom Auditory Sensations through Simulated Unilateral Hearing Loss

Tinnitus, a phantom auditory sensation, is associated with hearing loss in most cases, but it is unclear if hearing loss causes tinnitus. Phantom auditory sensations can be induced in normal hearing listeners when they experience severe auditory deprivation such as confinement in an anechoic chamber, which can be regarded as somewhat analogous to a profound bilateral hearing loss. As this condition is relatively uncommon among tinnitus patients, induction of phantom sounds by a lesser degree of auditory deprivation could advance our understanding of the mechanisms of tinnitus. In this study, we therefore investigated the reporting of phantom sounds after continuous use of an earplug. 18 healthy volunteers with normal hearing wore a silicone earplug continuously in one ear for 7 days. The attenuation provided by the earplugs simulated a mild high-frequency hearing loss, mean attenuation increased from <10 dB at 0.25 kHz to >30 dB at 3 and 4 kHz. 14 out of 18 participants reported phantom sounds during earplug use. 11 participants presented with stable phantom sounds on day 7 and underwent tinnitus spectrum characterization with the earplug still in place. The spectra showed that the phantom sounds were perceived predominantly as high-pitched, corresponding to the frequency range most affected by the earplug. In all cases, the auditory phantom disappeared when the earplug was removed, indicating a causal relation between auditory deprivation and phantom sounds. This relation matches the predictions of our computational model of tinnitus development, which proposes a possible mechanism by which a stabilization of neuronal activity through homeostatic plasticity in the central auditory system could lead to the development of a neuronal correlate of tinnitus when auditory nerve activity is reduced due to the earplug.
Posttraumatic stress disorder and depression following trauma: understanding comorbidity.

OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression occur frequently following traumatic exposure, both as separate disorders and concurrently. This raises the question of whether PTSD and depression are separate disorders in the aftermath of trauma or part of a single general traumatic stress construct. This study aimed to explore the relationships among PTSD, depression, and comorbid PTSD/depression following traumatic injury. METHOD A group of 363 injury survivors was assessed just prior to discharge from hospital and 3 and 12 months postinjury. Canonical correlations were used to examine the relationship between PTSD and depression symptom severity and a set of predictor variables. Multinomial logistic regression was used to identify whether the diagnostic categories of PTSD, depression, and comorbid PTSD/depression were associated with different groups of predictors. RESULTS The majority of psychopathology in the aftermath of trauma was best conceptualized as a general traumatic stress factor, suggesting that when PTSD and depression occur together, they reflect a shared vulnerability with similar predictive variables. However, there was also evidence that in a minority of cases at 3 months, depression occurs independently from PTSD and was predicted by a different combination of variables. CONCLUSIONS While PTSD and comorbid PTSD/depression are indistinguishable, the findings support the existence of depression as a separate construct in the acute, but not the chronic, aftermath of trauma.
Farmers' perceptions of and adaptation strategies to climate change and their determinants: the case of Punjab province, Pakistan

Abstract. Climate change is a global environmental threat to all economic sectors, particularly the agricultural sector. Pakistan is one of the countries negatively affected by climate change due to its high exposure to extreme events and low adaptive capacity. In Pakistan, farmers are the primary stakeholders in agriculture and are more at risk due to climate vulnerability. Based on farm household data from 450 households collected from three districts in three agroecological zones in the Punjab province of Pakistan, this study examines how farmers perceive climate change and how they adapt their farming in response to perceived changes in climate. The results demonstrate that awareness of climate change is widespread throughout the area, and farm households make adjustments to adapt their agriculture in response to climatic change. Overall 58% of the farm households adapted their farming to climate change. Changing crop varieties, changing planting dates, planting of shade trees and changing fertilizers were the main adaptation methods implemented by farm households in the study area. The results from the binary logistic model reveal that education, farm experience, household size, land area, tenancy status, ownership of a tube well, access to market information, information on weather forecasting and agricultural extension services all influence farmers' choices of adaptation measures. The results also indicate that adaptation to climate change is constrained by several factors such as lack of information, lack of money, resource constraints and shortage of irrigation water in the study area. Findings of the study suggest the need for greater investment in farmer education and improved institutional setup for climate change adaptation to improve farmers' wellbeing.
Validation of the Stroke Rehabilitation Motivation Scale: a pilot study

Objective. To develop and validate a Stroke Rehabilitation Motivation Scale (SRMS). Methods. In stage 1, the 28-item SRMS was adapted from the Sports Motivation Scale and tested for internal and inter-rater reliability in 18 patients. The 7 most reliable items were selected for the 7-item SRMS. In stage 2, the 7-item SRMS was tested in 13 additional patients. Results. In a group of 19 men and 12 women, the mean total score of the 7-item SRMS was 24.1 (standard deviation, 4.6; range, 7-35). 25 patients had normal-to-high motivation (score of ≥21) and 6 had low motivation (score of 0.5) and inter-rater reliability (as measured by intra-class correlation coefficient of >0.5) was demonstrated in the 28-item group (n=18). There was less consistency in the 7-item sample; the Cronbach’s alpha for intrinsic items was 0.61, but was only 0.27 for extrinsic items. Conclusion. The 28-item SMRS showed good inter-rater reliability and internal consistency. The reliability of the 28-item SRMS suggests that adaptation of the SRMS from the Sports Motivation Scale was successful.
Determining transformation distance in similarity: Considerations for assessing representational changes a priori

The representational distortion (RD) approach to similarity (e.g., Hahn, Chater, & Richardson, 2003) proposes that similarity is computed using the transformation distance between two entities. We argue that researchers who adopt this approach need to be concerned with how representational transformations can be determined a priori. We discuss several roadblocks to using this approach. Specifically we demonstrate the difficulties inherent in determining what transformations are psychologically salient and the importance of considering the directionality of transformations.