Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of artificial mycorrhizal inoculation on the growth of common oak seedlings and development of mycorrhiza: inoculation may not positively affect growth of seedlings

Background and Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of the VAMBACã mycorrhizal inoculum on the growth and mycorrhizal characteristics of Quercus robur seedlings. Materials and Methods: The oak seedlings soaked in an inoculum containing mycorrhizal fungi were planted on six study plots. The non-inoculated seedlings were planted on control plots. Two-year-old plants were evaluated at three of the plots, while 9-to-10-year-old plants were evaluated at the remaining three plots. Seedlings’ above-ground height, main root length, root dry mass, above-ground dry mass and stem diameter were evaluated. For five plants, mycorrhizal characteristics (the density of active and inactive mycorrhizae and the proportion of active mycorrhizae) were also evaluated in the laboratory. Results and Conclusions: Inoculated seedlings demonstrated significantly higher proportion of active mycorrhizae in all plots as well as a higher density of active mycorrhizae only on some studied plots when compared to control. Among growth characteristics, inoculated seedlings demonstrated higher values for all evaluated variables. The most striking differences were observed in stem diameter, which was significantly different for all young stands and for one plantation. For the remaining growth characteristics, inoculated and control seedlings displayed significant differences only on some plots. These results showed that artificial mycorrhizal inoculation can be used in forestry practice, but its effects may not always be necessarily positive.
Tensile strength prediction of irregular fibres using diameter-dependent Weibull analysis

Abstract A modified Weibull model incorporating the within-fibre diameter variation is applied to examine the fibre diameter effect on the strength of single fibres. Australian Superfine Merino Wool (ASFW) and Inner Mongolia Cashmere (IMC) were used in the present work, since these animal fibres tend to have relatively large diameter variations. To determine single fibre strength, tensile measurements were carried out for fibres with diameters varying between 9 and 21 μm at a constant gauge length. It was found that an increase in the diameter disparity along the fibre reduces the strength of fibres. To validate this, the accuracy of predicting weak-link scaling was evaluated; the results showed that the application of modified Weibull distribution gives a better relationship with the empirical data than the standard Weibull model. The results suggest that the modified Weibull model is more accurate in predicting the size dependence and strength of single fibres with diameter variations.
β‐adrenergic receptor signalling and its functional consequences in the diseased heart

To maintain the balance between the demand of the body and supply (cardiac output), cardiac performance is tightly regulated via the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. In heart failure, cardiac output (supply) is decreased due to pathologic remodelling of the heart. To meet the demands of the body, the sympathetic system is activated and catecholamines stimulate β‐adrenergic receptors (β‐ARs) to increase contractile performance and cardiac output. Although this is beneficial in the acute phase, chronic β‐ARs stimulation initiates a cascade of alterations at the cellular level, resulting in a diminished contractile performance of the heart.
Isolation and characterization of a regulatory gene affecting rhamnolipid biosurfactant synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

A mutant strain (65E12) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that is unable to produce rhamnolipid biosurfactants and lacks rhamnosyltransferase activity was genetically complemented by using a P. aeruginosa PG201 wild-type gene library. A single complementing cosmid was isolated on the basis of surface tension measurements of subcultures of the transconjugants by using a sib selection strategy. The subcloning of the complementing cosmid clone yielded a 2-kb fragment capable of restoring rhamnolipid biosynthesis, rhamnosyltransferase activity, and utilization of hexadecane as a C source in mutant 65E12. The nucleotide sequence of the complementing 2-kb fragment was determined, and a single open reading frame (rhlR) of 723 bp specifying a putative 28-kDa protein (RhlR) was identified. Sequence homologies between the RhlR protein and some regulatory proteins such as LasR of P. aeruginosa, LuxR of Vibrio fischeri, RhiR of Rhizobium leguminosarum, and the putative activator 28-kDa UvrC of Escherichia coli suggest that the RhlR protein is a transcriptional activator. A putative target promoter which is regulated by the RhlR protein has been identified 2.5 kb upstream of the rhlR gene. Multiple plasmid-based rhlR gene copies had a stimulating effect on the growth of the P. aeruginosa wild-type strain in hexadecane-containing minimal medium, on rhamnolipid production, and on the production of pyocyanin chromophores. Disruption of the P. aeruginosa wild-type rhlR locus led to rhamnolipid-deficient mutant strains, thus confirming directly that this gene is necessary for rhamnolipid biosynthesis. Additionally, such PG201::'rhlR' mutant strains lacked elastase activity, indicating that the RhlR protein is a pleiotropic regulator.
An FGREP Investigation into Phonotactics

We discuss experiments with neural networks being trained in a phonotactic processing task. A recurrent network not only learns to predict the next letter given a partial processed word, but also learns to represent the letters in a manner meaningful to the processing task. To this end, we use Miikkulainen’s (1993) FGREP, augmented with an algorithm we call dispersion, to improve distinctness among the set of letter representations. Our goal is to create a more realistic model of how humans might process natural language.
A Definition and Classification of Timing Anomalies

Timing Anomalies are characterized by counterintuitive timing behaviour. A locally faster execution leads to an increase of the execution time of the whole program. The presence of such behaviour makes WCET analysis more difficult: It is not safe to assume local worst-case behaviour wherever the analysis encounters uncertainty. Existing definitions of Timing Anomalies are rather imprecise and intuitive in nature. Some do not cover all kinds of known Timing Anomalies. After giving an overview of related work, we give a concise formal definition of Timing Anomalies. We then begin to identify different classes of anomalies. One of these classes, coined Scheduling Timing Anomalies, coincides with previous restricted definitions.
Study of the effect of nickel heavy metals on some physiological parameters of Catharanthus roseus

Plants, in their life cycle, are usually exposed to various kinds of non-biological stresses including heavy metals. One of these heavy metals is nickel which affects many physiological processes of plants. Studies have shown that the changes in planting conditions can affect the qualitative and quantitative features of Catharanthus roseus; therefore, creating stressful conditions (e.g. NiCl2) can be an effective way to investigate the changes. In this research, we investigated the effect of 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 25 and 50 mM concentrations of NiCl2 on the degree of catalase enzyme activity, amount of proline aggregation and photosynthetic parameters on seeds of pink variety of C. roseus. The results indicated that the degree of catalase enzyme activity and the amount of proline aggregation increased in plants which were exposed to NiCl2 treatments, especially in high concentrations, while the total protein decreased. The stress of Ni also affected photosynthetic parameters, and decreased the amount of pigments, as well as the efficiency of photosystem II.
A prospective study of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and coronary heart disease in women.

OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reflects a prolonged stress reaction and dysregulation of the stress response system and is hypothesized to increase risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD). No study has tested this hypothesis in women even though PTSD is more prevalent among women than men. This study aims to examine whether higher levels of PTSD symptoms are associated with increased risk of incident CHD among women. DESIGN A prospective study using data from women participating in the Baltimore cohort of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study (n = 1059). Past year trauma and associated PTSD symptoms were assessed using the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Incident CHD occurring during the 14-year follow-up through 1996. RESULTS Women with five or more symptoms were at over three times the risk of incident CHD compared with those with no symptoms (age-adjusted OR = 3.21, 95% CI: 1.29-7.98). Findings were maintained after controlling for standard coronary risk factors as well as depression or trait anxiety. CONCLUSION PTSD symptoms may have damaging effects on physical health for civilian community-dwelling women, with high levels of PTSD symptoms associated with increased risk of CHD-related morbidity and mortality.
Improved Steiner tree approximation in graphs

The Steiner tree problem in weighted graphs seeks a minimum weight connected subgraph containing a given subset of the vertices (terminals). We present a new polynomial-time heuristic with an approximation ratio approaching 1 + 1~___33 ~ 1.55, which improves upon the previously best-known approximation algorithm of [10] with performance ratio ~ 1.59. In quasi-bipartite graphs (i.e., in graphs where all non-terminals are pairwise disjoint), our algorithm achieves an approximation ratio of ~ 1.28, whereas the previously best method achieves an approximation ratio approachiug 1.5 [19]. For complete graphs with edge weights 1 and 2, we show that our heuristic has an approximation ratio approaching ~ 1.28, which 4 improves upon the previously best-known ratio of ~ [4]. Our method is considerably simpler and easier to implement than previous approaches. Our techniques can also be used to prove that the Iterated 1-Steiner heuristic [14] achieves an approximation ratio of 1.5 in quasi-blpartite graphs, thus providing the first known non-trivial performance ratio of this well-known method. 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n Given an arbi t rary weighted graph with a distinguished vertex subset, the Steiner Tree Problem asks for a minimum-cost subtree spanning the distinguished vertices. Steiner trees are important in various applications such as VLSI routing [14], wirelength es t imat ion [6], phylogenetic tree reconstruction in biology [11], and network routing [12]. The Steiner Tree Problem is N P h a r d even in the Euclidean or rectilinear metrics [8]. Arora established tha t Euclidean and rectilinear minimum-cost Steiner trees can be efficiently approximated arbitrari ly close to optimal [1]. On the other hand, unless P = N P , the Steiner Tree Problem in general graphs c~. nnot be approximated within a factor of 1 + e for sufficiently small e > 0 [4, 7]. For arbi t rary weighted graphs, the best Steiner approximat ion ratio achievable within polynomial t ime was gradually decreased from 2 to 1.59 in a series of works [20, 21, 2, 22, 18, 15, 10]. In this paper we present a polynomialt ime approximation scheme with a performance ratio approaching 1 + ~ ~ 1.55 which improves upon the previously best -known ratio of 1.59 due to "This work was supported by a Packard Foundation Fellowship, by a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award (MIP-9457412), and by a GSU Research Initiation Grant.
On continuous Homotopic one layer routing

We give an &Ogr;(n<supscrpt>3</supscrpt>·log n) time and &Ogr;(n<supscrpt>3</supscrpt>) space algorithm for the continuous homotopic one layer routing problem. The main contribution is an extension of the sweep paradigm to a universal cover space of the plane.
Living synaptic vesicle marker: Synaptotagmin‐GFP

Synapses are the site of chemical communication between neurons and between neurons and muscles. The synaptic vesicle (SV) is a prominent presynaptic organelle which contains chemical neurotransmitters and fuses with the plasma membrane to mediate neurotransmission. There are about 50 or so synaptic proteins which are either integral vesicle membrane proteins (e.g., synaptotagmin, syt; and synaptobrevin, syb) or vesicle-associated proteins (e.g., cysteine string protein, CSP; Fernandez-Chacon and Sudhof, 1999). We have transformed Drosophila with a novel syt-eGFP (enhanced GFP) fusion protein, the fluorescence pattern of which colocalizes with native SV proteins at synapses, suggesting that the syt-eGFP fusion protein is correctly localized as an integral SV protein and therefore a good SV marker in living synapses. We demonstrate that the syt-eGFP line can be used to study SV dynamics in vivo by fluorescence recovery after photobleach (FRAP). The syt-eGFP fusion was constructed as shown in Figure 1. The eGFP carries double substitution of Phe 64 to Leu and Ser 65 to Thr and fluoresces 35-fold more intensely than wild-type GFP when excited at 488 nm, based on spectral analysis of equal amounts of soluble protein (Cormack et al., 1996). Four syt-eGFP transgenic lines were generated; one with insertion on the X chromosome, two on the second chromosome, and one on the third chromosome. All of these lines produced clear fluorescence when crossed to a pan-neuronal GAL4 driver (elav-GAL4, see Fig. 2) or a subset neuronal GAL4 driver 4G-GAL4 (data not shown). 4G-GAL4 is identified from an enhancer trap screen for neuronal-specific genes; it starts expression at late embryogenesis panneuronally, but in a subset of motor neurons in the third instar larvae, and enriched in mushroom body in adult brain. The eGFP-positive animals, from embryos to adults, can be readily recognizable under a fluorescence dissecting scope. Stocks with expression of syt-eGFP in all neurons (recombinant chromosome carrying both elav-GAL4 and syt-eGFP on the X chromosome) or subset of neurons (recombinant chromosome carrying both 4G-GAL4 and syt-eGFP on the second chromosome) were established. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that syt-eGFP is present in SVs, with expression similar to the native syt (Fig. 2). First, syt-eGFP is highly enriched in the neuropil region of the ventral nerve cord (VNC) of the embryo (data not shown) and larva (Fig. 2A, left), as well as in the axonal lobes of the larval mushroom body (Fig. 2A, right). These neuropil regions are densely packed with neuronal synapses. Second, at neuromuscular junction (NMJ) synapses, where we have higher resolution of single synaptic boutons, the syt-eGFP pattern perfectly matches the staining pattern seen with antibodies against SV-associated proteins (Fig. 2B). This suggests that syt-eGFP is tightly linked to SVs. Third, to further
A Debugging Model for Lazy Functional Logic Languages

In this paper we present a debugging model for a lazy functional logic programming language whose semantics is based on lazy narrowing under a particular control regime: Demand Driven (dpt). dpt makes quite hard to predict the sequence of evaluations in computing head normal forms for total function applications. The order in which rules are applied in such computations can be diierent from its textual deenition order. Moreover, demanded arguments are evaluated by computing the head normal form of itself and of those positions inside the argument which are also demanded. However, demanded positions for one and the same argument may not be evaluated sequentially. The sophisticated operational semantics of dpt makes necessary to develop a good debugging model which reeects the computational behaviour of programs, showing the diierent lazy uniications for demanded positions and the set of possible rules for applying depending on the former lazy uniications. We present a debugging model based on Byrd's box model but incorporating new kind of boxes corresponding to the diierent steps followed by the dpt strategy in computing goals. Such boxes contain extra information in their ports which make easier the chase of goal computations. The presented debugging model is also aproppiated for others existing strategies for lazy narrowing, such as the na ve strategy.
Some refelexions and results about the effect of speech denoising algorithms on speech quality

This paper deals with the importance of identifying and selecting the adequate speech denoising technique according to the desired quality. Three types and degradations are considered: the overall degradation, the speech distortion and the residual background noise. Different popular techniques of speech enhancement with and without perceptual tools are considered. Different criteria of quality evaluation well correlated with subjective tests and ITU-T recommendations are used. The analysis carried during this paper showed that, in terms of overall quality and residual noise evaluation, perceptual techniques lead to the better performances. In terms of speech distortion, the best performances are obtained with spectral subtraction and statistical techniques.
How to Prove Yourself to Multiple Parties: Energy-Efficient Multi-group Authentication

Zero-knowledge identification (ZKI) schemes have been studied extensively in the cryptology literature and are currently being used commercially for radio frequency identification (RFID) authentication. Much like the public key cryptosystems that may be used to ensure message confidentiality, ZKI schemes rely on the hardness of certain problems -- e.g., factoring the product of large primes -- to provide secure authentication. In this paper, we extend existing ZKI schemes based on error-correcting codes to support multi-group authentication. In particular, we propose two schemes that enable a prover to simultaneously authenticate its membership in M &ge; 1 groups. The proposed multi-group authentication protocols are of particular relevance to military ad hoc networks, where group communications is the norm and energy efficiency is a critical performance metric.
Estimated medical cost reductions associated with apixaban in real-world patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation

Abstract Objective: The Apixaban for Reduction in Stroke and Other Thromboembolic Events in Atrial Fibrillation (ARISTOTLE) trial demonstrated that apixaban was effective in reducing the risk of stroke and major bleeding in non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients. Medical cost avoidance studies for oral anticoagulants have used warfarin event rates from clinical trials, which may not reflect the real-world (RW) setting. This study aimed to estimate the difference in medical costs associated with apixaban instead of warfarin in RW NVAF patients. Methods: This study selected patients with NVAF diagnosis during 2007–2010 from a Medco population of US commercial and Medicare health plans. Stroke and major bleeding excluding intracranial hemorrhage (MBEIH) were identified using diagnosis codes. Pharmacy claims were used to define warfarin exposure periods. Rates of stroke and MBEIH were calculated during warfarin exposure. To estimate the absolute risk reduction (ARR) between warfarin and apixaban in RW, the relative risk reductions (RRR) from ARISTOTLE were multiplied by the event rates observed in RW during warfarin exposure. Medical cost reductions associated with apixaban were calculated by applying the ARR to the 1-year incremental cost for each event. Stroke and MBEIH costs were obtained from the literature and adjusted to 2011 levels. Results: During a patient year, the use of apixaban instead of warfarin resulted in medical cost reductions of $493 for stroke and $752 for MBEIH and $1245 for the combined outcome of both events. The medical costs avoided were greater as baseline stroke risk increased. Conclusion: If RRRs demonstrated in ARISTOTLE persist in RW, the use of apixaban will be associated with lower medical costs vs warfarin. Main limitations of this study were: identification of clinical events using administrative codes rather than confirmatory clinical data, inability to evaluate the level of international normalized ratio (INR) control, and not including INR monitoring and drug costs.
Identifying and Distinguishing Value Profiles in American and Israeli Adolescents

Although research has examined how values are correlated with behavior, little has examined how the system of values predicts behavior. In a cross-cultural sample of American (109 European American; 216 African American) and Israeli (318 Arab Israeli; 216 Jewish Israeli) adolescents, the present study used latent profile analysis to identify groups which reflected the theoretical structure of values across both cultures. Four profiles were found: self-focused, anxiety-free, other-focused, and undifferentiated. Results indicated that Self-Focused adolescents were the most aggressive and viewed as leaders by their peers compared to the other groups. Self-Focused and anxiety-free youth reported more delinquency than their peers. Few differences between cultural groups emerged, suggesting that this approach is a promising avenue for understanding heterogeneity in behavior.
Photodynamic Efficiency: From Molecular Photochemistry to Cell Death

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinical modality used to treat cancer and infectious diseases. The main agent is the photosensitizer (PS), which is excited by light and converted to a triplet excited state. This latter species leads to the formation of singlet oxygen and radicals that oxidize biomolecules. The main motivation for this review is to suggest alternatives for achieving high-efficiency PDT protocols, by taking advantage of knowledge on the chemical and biological processes taking place during and after photosensitization. We defend that in order to obtain specific mechanisms of cell death and maximize PDT efficiency, PSes should oxidize specific molecular targets. We consider the role of subcellular localization, how PS photochemistry and photophysics can change according to its nanoenvironment, and how can all these trigger specific cell death mechanisms. We propose that in order to develop PSes that will cause a breakthrough enhancement in the efficiency of PDT, researchers should first consider tissue and intracellular localization, instead of trying to maximize singlet oxygen quantum yields in in vitro tests. In addition to this, we also indicate many open questions and challenges remaining in this field, hoping to encourage future research.
Relaxin and insulin‐like peptide 3 in the musculoskeletal system: from bench to bedside

Skeletal muscles and bones form a joined functional unit sharing a complex mechanical, biochemical and hormonal crosstalk. A number of factors, including sex hormones, physiologically regulate the musculoskeletal system. Striking gender differences in muscle and bone mass, and function are mainly caused by distinct actions exerted by oestrogens and androgens. However, relaxin and relaxin‐related peptides, such as insulin‐like peptide 3 (INSL3), might contribute to these sex‐associated differences in physiological and pathological conditions (such as osteoporosis and sarcopenia). Relaxin is a ‘pregnancy’ hormone, but it is also produced from the prostate gland, and has recently attracted attention as a potential drug for cardiovascular disorders and fibrosis. In contrast, INSL3 is a male‐specific hormone produced by the Leydig cells of the testis with a fundamental role in testicular descent during fetal life. Recent evidence suggests that both hormones have interesting roles in the musculoskeletal system. Relaxin and INSL3, by finely tuning bone formation and resorption, are involved in bone remodelling processes, and relaxin contributes to the healing of injured ligaments and promotes skeletal muscle regeneration. Here, we review the most recent findings on the effects of relaxin and INSL3 on skeletal muscle and the cell components of bone. In the light of the experimental evidence available and animal models, their clinical implications are also discussed.