Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interface Adhesion between 2D Materials and Elastomers Measured by Buckle Delaminations

2D systems have great promise as next generation electronic materials but require intimate knowledge of their interactions with their neighbors for device fabrication and mechanical manipulation. Although adhesion between 2D materials and stiff substrates such as silicon and copper has been measured, adhesion between 2D materials and soft polymer substrates remains difficult to characterize due to the large deformability of the polymer substrates. In this work, a buckling‐based metrology for measuring the adhesion energy between few layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and soft elastomeric substrates is proposed and demonstrated. Due to large elastic mismatch, few layer MoS2 flakes can form spontaneous wrinkles and buckle‐delaminations on elastomer substrates during exfoliation. MoS2‐elastomer interface toughness can therefore be calculated from the buckle delamination profile measured by atomic force microscopy. The thickness of the MoS2 flake is obtained by analyzing coexisting wrinkles on the same flake. Using this approach, adhesion of few layer MoS2 to 10:1 Sylgard 184 polydimethylsiloxane is measured to be 18 ± 2 mJ m−2, which is about an order of magnitude below graphene‐to‐stiff‐substrate adhesion. Finally, this simple methodology can be generalized to obtain adhesion energies between various combinations of 2D materials and deformable substrates.
pasos (parental allocation of singles in open systems): a computer program for individual parental allocation with missing parents

pasos is a parental allocation program designed to identify collected parents based on individual multilocus genotypes while detecting missing parents when a proportion of them have not been collected. It makes use of restricted error tolerance in order to distinguish between a partially incorrect genotype from a false parent's genotype. pasos also introduces the technique of sequence allocation allowing the user to obtain estimates of the proportion of missing parents and of allocation correctness. The pasos interface is very similar to the one found in papa, its closed system counterpart (Duchesne et al. 2002). A help file thoroughly describes all technical terms such as error modelling, parameters and procedures. pasos can be downloaded free of charge from: http://www.bio. ulaval.ca/louisbernatchez/.
Integrating Scientific Argumentation to Improve Undergraduate Writing and Learning in a Global Environmental Change Course

ABSTRACT We present a strategy for using scientific argumentation in an early undergraduate laboratory course to teach disciplinary writing practices and to promote critical thinking, knowledge transformation, and understanding of the scientific method. The approach combines targeted writing instruction; data analysis and interpretation; formulation of a hypothesis; and construction of an argument. Students submit and receive feedback on two drafts of two different argumentation essays, providing the opportunity for guided practice. Each written argument is intended to draw on several weeks' course material, including short lectures, discussions, readings, and problem sets. Thus our aim with these writing assignments is to help students synthesize content and concepts, deepening their learning. We have found that this inquiry-based approach to writing engages students in course material, and significantly improves both writing and learning. We observed the greatest improvement among students with the lowest initial scores, suggesting that lower-achieving students benefitted disproportionately from this approach. Students have responded positively to the use of writing in the course, many stating on course evaluations that this is the first time they have received instruction in scientific writing. They have also pointed to a greater “big-picture” understanding of the course gained through writing. We describe the course and our curriculum, and provide suggestions for implementation as well as rubrics used to evaluate problem sets and student argumentation essays.
Nuclear physics in particle therapy: a review

Charged particle therapy has been largely driven and influenced by nuclear physics. The increase in energy deposition density along the ion path in the body allows reducing the dose to normal tissues during radiotherapy compared to photons. Clinical results of particle therapy support the physical rationale for this treatment, but the method remains controversial because of the high cost and of the lack of comparative clinical trials proving the benefit compared to x-rays. Research in applied nuclear physics, including nuclear interactions, dosimetry, image guidance, range verification, novel accelerators and beam delivery technologies, can significantly improve the clinical outcome in particle therapy. Measurements of fragmentation cross-sections, including those for the production of positron-emitting fragments, and attenuation curves are needed for tuning Monte Carlo codes, whose use in clinical environments is rapidly increasing thanks to fast calculation methods. Existing cross sections and codes are indeed not very accurate in the energy and target regions of interest for particle therapy. These measurements are especially urgent for new ions to be used in therapy, such as helium. Furthermore, nuclear physics hardware developments are frequently finding applications in ion therapy due to similar requirements concerning sensors and real-time data processing. In this review we will briefly describe the physics bases, and concentrate on the open issues.
High-dynamic-range Imaging for Depth Maps

In this paper, I propose a method which applies the fundamental idea and technique of high-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging [5] to depth maps obtained from time-of-flight depth sensors. HDR imaging creates a single high-quality output from a number of photographs in different settings as its input. Similarly, my technique uses a set of depth maps, which are obtained from different settings (i.e. frequency of the time-of-flight camera [8]), to create a single highquality depth map. From the fact that differently ranged depth maps have different sweet spots, this method results in having a depth map that is both detailed in short distances and robust in long distances.
Raffles, roles, and the outcome of sperm competition in sockeye salmon

In species with male alternative reproductive phenotypes, one phenotype is usually disadvantaged in mating competition. In salmonid fishes, large late-maturing males pair with nesting females and maintain close contact before and during spawning. Small early-maturing males have little contact with nesting females and, during spawning, begin to release sperm after the paired male. The effects of male phenotype and timing of ejaculation on success in sperm competition are not known. In this study, we determined paternity of offspring resulting from in vitro competitive fer - tilizations to examine these two aspects of sperm competition in sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum, 1792). When we fertilized eggs with mixtures of equal numbers of sperm from each of two male age classes, we found that success in sperm competition did not depend on male age. However, success in these competitive fertilizations did not conform to the fair raffle model of sperm competition, since paternity in most of the clutches was biased in favour of one male. When we added milt from two males sequentially to a batch of eggs, we found that sperm from the sec- ond male fertilized fewer eggs than sperm from the first male, but the difference was less than expected. In addition, a male's success when his milt was added first was not correlated with his success when his milt was added second. Resume : Chez les especes qui possedent des mâles reproducteurs de deux phenotypes differents, l'un des deux pheno- types est generalement desavantage dans la competition pour la reproduction. Chez les poissons salmonides, les grands mâles a maturation tardive s'apparient avec les femelles au nid et gardent un contact serre avec elles avant et durant la fraye. Les petits mâles a maturation hâtive ont peu de contacts avec les femelles au nid et, durant la fraye, commen- cent a liberer leurs spermatozoides apres le mâle apparie. Les effets du phenotype mâle et du moment de l'ejaculation sur le succes de la competition spermatique ne sont pas connus. Nous avons determine la paternite des rejetons pro- duits dans des fecondations competitives in vitro afin d'etudier ces deux aspects de la competition spermatique chez le saumon rouge, Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum, 1792). Lorsque les oeufs sont fecondes par des melanges egaux de spermatozoides provenant de mâles de deux classes d'âge differentes, le succes de la competition spermatique n'est pas
Analysis of the dose-sparing effect of adjuvanted Sabin-inactivated poliovirus vaccine (sIPV)

ABSTRACT Sabin-based inactivated poliovirus vaccine(sIPV) is gradually replacing live-attenuated oral polio vaccine(OPV). Sabin-inactivated poliovirus vaccine(sIPV) has played a vital role in reducing economic burden of poliomyelitis and maintaining appropriate antibody levels in the population. However, due to its high cost and limited manufacturing capacity, sIPV cannot reach its full potential for global poliovirus eradication in developing countries. Therefore, to address this situation, we designed this study to evaluate the dose-sparing effects of AS03, CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (PolyI:C) admixed with sIPV in rats. Our results showed that a combination of 1/4-dose sIPV adjuvanted with AS03 or AS03 with BW006 provides a seroconversion rate similar to that of full-dose sIPV without adjuvant and that, this rate is 5-fold higher than that of 1/4-dose sIPV without adjuvant after the first immunization. The combination of AS03 or AS03 with BW006 as an adjuvant effectively reduced sIPV dose by at least 4-fold and induced both humoral and cellular immune responses. Therefore, our study revealed that the combination of AS03 or AS03 with BW006 is a promising adjuvant for sIPV development.
Mating patterns and determinants of individual reproductive success in brown trout (Salmo trutta) revealed by parentage analysis of an entire stream living population

Reproductive success and its determinants are difficult to infer for wild populations of species with no parental care where behavioural observations are difficult or impossible. In this study, we characterized the breeding system and provide estimates of individual reproductive success under natural conditions for an exhaustively sampled stream‐resident brown trout (Salmo trutta) population. We inferred parentage using a full probability Bayesian model that combines genetic (microsatellite) with phenotypic data. By augmenting the potential parents file with inferred parental genotypes from sib‐ship analysis in cases where large families had unsampled parents, we could make more precise inference on variance of family size. We observed both polygamous and monogamous matings and large reproductive skew for both sexes, particularly in males. Correspondingly, we found evidence for sexual selection on body size for both sexes. We show that the mating system of brown trout has the potential to be very flexible and we conjecture that environmental uncertainty could be driving the evolution and perhaps select for the maintenance of plasticity of the mating system in this species.
Validation of Nutritional Risk Screening‐2002 in a Hospitalized Adult Population

BACKGROUND Malnutrition in hospitalized patients is a serious problem and is associated with a number of adverse outcomes. The Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 (NRS-2002) tool was designed to identify patients at nutrition risk. The validation of NRS-2002 compared with detailed clinical assessment of nutrition status was not studied before in hospitalized Turkish adults. The aim of this study is to determine validity, sensitivity, and specificity of the Turkish version of NRS-2002 in a hospitalized adult population. METHODS A total of 271 consecutive hospitalized patients aged >18 years admitted to surgical and medical wards of a university hospital in Turkey were included in this single-center non interventional validity study. Assessment by geriatricians was used as the reference method. Two geriatricians experienced in the field of malnutrition interpreted the patients' nutrition status after the evaluation of several parameters. Patients were divided into "at nutrition risk" and "not at nutrition risk" groups by geriatricians. Concordance between the 2 geriatricians' clinical assessments was analyzed by κ statistics. Excellent concordance was found; therefore, the first geriatrician's decisions were accepted as the gold standard. The correlation of nutrition status of the patients, determined with NRS-2002 and experienced geriatrician's decisions, was evaluated for the validity. RESULTS NRS-2002 has a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 92% when compared with professional assessment. The positive and negative predictive values were 87% and 92%, respectively. Testretest agreement was excellent as represented by a κ coefficient of 0.956. CONCLUSIONS NRS-2002 is a valid tool to assess malnutrition risk in Turkish hospitalized patients.
Nonparallelism in MHCIIβ diversity accompanies nonparallelism in pathogen infection of lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) species pairs as revealed by next‐generation sequencing

Major histocompatibility (MHC) immune system genes may evolve in response to pathogens in the environment. Because they also may affect mate choice, they are candidates for having great importance in ecological speciation. Here, we use next‐generation sequencing to test the general hypothesis of parallelism in patterns of MHCIIβ diversity and bacterial infections among five dwarf and normal whitefish sympatric pairs. A second objective was to assess the functional relationships between specific MHCIIβ alleles and pathogens in natural conditions. Each individual had between one and four alleles, indicating two paralogous loci. In Cliff Lake, the dwarf ecotype was monomorphic for the most common allele. In Webster Lake, the skew in the allelic distribution was towards the same allele but in the normal ecotype, underscoring the nonparallel divergence among lakes. Our signal of balancing selection matched putative peptide binding region residues in some cases, but not in others, supporting other recent findings of substantial functional differences in fish MHCIIβ compared with mammals. Individuals with fewer alleles were less likely to be infected; thus, we found no evidence for the heterozygote advantage hypothesis. MHCIIβ alleles and pathogenic bacteria formed distinct clusters in multivariate analyses, and clusters of certain alleles were associated with clusters of pathogens, or sometimes the absence of pathogens, indicating functional relationships at the individual level. Given that patterns of MHCIIβ and bacteria were nonparallel among dwarf and normal whitefish pairs, we conclude that pathogens driving MHCIIβ evolution did not play a direct role in their parallel phenotypic evolution.
Age dependency for coagulation parameters in paediatric populations

Summary Understanding of developmental haemostasis is critical to ensure optimal prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of haemorrhagic and thrombotic diseases in children. As coagulation test results are known to be dependent on the reagents/analysers used, it is recommended for each laboratory to define the age-dependent reference ranges by using its own technical condition. That study was carried out in seven centers to establish age-specific reference ranges using the same reagents and analyser. Plasma samples were obtained from 1437 paediatric patients from the following age groups: 15 days-4 weeks (n=36), 1–5 months (n=320), 6–12 months (n=176), 1–5 years (n=507), 6–10 years (n=132) and 11–17 years (n=262). Indication of coagulation testing was pre-operative screening for non-acute diseases in most cases. PT values were similar in the different age groups to those in adults, whereas longer aPTTs were demonstrated in the younger children. Plasma levels of all clotting factors, except for FV, were significantly decreased (p<0.0001) in the youngest children, adult values being usually reached before the end of the first year. The same applied to antithrombin, protein C/S, and plasminogen. In contrast, FVIII and VWF levels were elevated in the youngest children and returned to adult values within six months. The same applied to D-dimer levels, which were found elevated, particularly until six months of life, until puberty. These data suggest that most coagulation test results are highly dependent on age, mainly during the first year of life, and that age-specific reference ranges must be used to ensure proper evaluation of coagulation in children.
Mechanisms of Melatonin in Alleviating Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic, progressive and prevalent neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of higher cognitive functions and an associated loss of memory. The thus far “incurable” stigma for AD prevails because of variations in the success rates of different treatment protocols in animal and human studies. Among the classical hypotheses explaining AD pathogenesis, the amyloid hypothesis is currently being targeted for drug development. The underlying concept is to prevent the formation of these neurotoxic peptides which play a central role in AD pathology and trigger a multispectral cascade of neurodegenerative processes post-aggregation. This could possibly be achieved by pharmacological inhibition of β- or γ-secretase or stimulating the non-amyloidogenic α-secretase. Melatonin the pineal hormone is a multifunctioning indoleamine. Production of this amphiphilic molecule diminishes with advancing age and this decrease runs parallel with the progression of AD which itself explains the potential benefits of melatonin in line of development and devastating consequences of the disease progression. Our recent studies have revealed a novel mechanism by which melatonin stimulates the nonamyloidogenic processing and inhibits the amyloidogenic processing of β-amyloid precursor protein (βAPP) by stimulating α-secretases and consequently down regulating both β- and γ-secretases at the transcriptional level. In this review, we discuss and evaluate the neuroprotective functions of melatonin in AD pathogenesis, including its role in the classical hypotheses in cellular and animal models and clinical interventions in AD patients, and suggest that with early detection, melatonin treatment is qualified to be an anti-AD therapy.
Fasudil hydrochloride could promote axonal growth through inhibiting the activity of ROCK.

OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the neuroprotective effect of Rho kinase inhibitor fasudil hydrochloride in ischemia/reperfusion injury N2a neuron. METHODS In vitro, N2a cells induced by ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion were treated with fasudil hydrochloride, cell damage was analyzed by MTT. On the other hand, the cytoskeleton of N2a cells was scanned through immunofluorescence techniques by Confocal Laser Microscopy which stained with FITC-phalloidin for F-actin visualization. RESULTS The activation of ROCK-II increased significantly in the damaged local during the following phase of ischemia/reperfusion injury. Ischemia induced a striking reorganization of actin cytoskeleton with a weakening of fluorescent intensity of the peripheral filament actin bands and formation of the long and thick stress fibers, but pretreatment of Fasudil hydrochloride could reversed the changes of ultra-structure on the cellular surface. MTT assay showed that Fasudil hydrochloride could prolong the survival time of the N2a cells after mimic ischemia-reperfusion for 24 h. CONCLUSIONS The activation of ROCK-II has an exceptional hoist after ischemia/reperfusion injury, it is likely to induce the collapse of the growth cone through MLC-P. Fasudil hydrochloride could promote axonal growth on inhibitory of ROCK activity.
Quantitative Analysis of Fundus-Image Sequences Reveals Phase of Spontaneous Venous Pulsations.

PURPOSE Spontaneous venous pulsation correlates negatively with elevated intracranial pressure and papilledema, and it relates to glaucoma. Yet, its etiology remains unclear. A key element to elucidate its underlying mechanism is the time at which collapse occurs with respect to the heart cycle, but previous reports are contradictory. We assessed this question in healthy subjects using quantitative measurements of both vein diameters and artery lateral displacements; the latter being used as the marker of the ocular systole time. METHODS We recorded 5-second fundus sequences with a near-infrared scanning laser ophthalmoscope in 12 young healthy subjects. The image sequences were coregistered, cleaned from microsaccades, and filtered via a principal component analysis to remove nonpulsatile dynamic features. Time courses of arterial lateral displacement and of diameter at sites of spontaneous venous pulsation or proximal to the disk were retrieved from those image sequences and compared. RESULTS Four subjects displayed both arterial and venous pulsatile waveforms. On those, we observed venous diameter waveforms differing markedly among the subjects, ranging from a waveform matching the typical intraocular pressure waveform to a close replica of the arterial waveform. CONCLUSIONS The heterogeneity in waveforms and arteriovenous phases suggests that the mechanism governing the venous outflow resistance differs among healthy subjects. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE Further characterizations are necessary to understand the heterogeneous mechanisms governing the venous outflow resistance as this resistance is altered in glaucoma and is instrumental when monitoring intracranial hypertension based on fundus observations.
Notch Signaling Activates Yorkie Non-Cell Autonomously in Drosophila

In Drosophila imaginal epithelia, cells mutant for the endocytic neoplastic tumor suppressor gene vps25 stimulate nearby untransformed cells to express Drosophila Inhibitor-of-Apoptosis-Protein-1 (DIAP-1), conferring resistance to apoptosis non-cell autonomously. Here, we show that the non-cell autonomous induction of DIAP-1 is mediated by Yorkie, the conserved downstream effector of Hippo signaling. The non-cell autonomous induction of Yorkie is due to Notch signaling from vps25 mutant cells. Moreover, activated Notch in normal cells is sufficient to induce non-cell autonomous Yorkie activity in wing imaginal discs. Our data identify a novel mechanism by which Notch promotes cell survival non-cell autonomously and by which neoplastic tumor cells generate a supportive microenvironment for tumor growth.