Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of the functions of TaGW2 homoeologs in wheat grain weight and protein content traits

GW2 is emerging as a key genetic determinant of grain weight in cereal crops; it has three homoeologs (TaGW2-A1, -B1 and -D1) in hexaploid common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Here, by analyzing the gene editing mutants that lack one (B1 or D1), two (B1 and D1) or all three (A1, B1 and D1) homoeologs of TaGW2, several insights are gained into the functions of TaGW2-B1 and -D1 in common wheat grain traits. First, both TaGW2-B1 and -D1 affect thousand-grain weight (TGW) by influencing grain width and length, but the effect conferred by TaGW2-B1 is stronger than that of TaGW2-D1. Second, there exists functional interaction between TaGW2 homoeologs because the TGW increase shown by a double mutant (lacking B1 and D1) was substantially larger than that of their single mutants. Third, both TaGW2-B1 and -D1 modulate cell number and length in the outer pericarp of developing grains, with TaGW2-B1 being more potent. Finally, TaGW2 homoeologs also affect grain protein content as this parameter was generally increased in the mutants, especially in the lines lacking two or three homoeologs. Consistent with this finding, two wheat end-use quality-related parameters, flour protein content and gluten strength, were considerably elevated in the mutants. Collectively, our data shed light on functional difference between and additive interaction of TaGW2 homoeologs in the genetic control of grain weight and protein content traits in common wheat, which may accelerate further research on this important gene and its application in wheat improvement.
Surface and interface analysis of iodine‐doped pentacene structures for OTFTs

We investigated the impact of iodine doping on structural properties of pentacene layers as a function of iodine concentration, which is controlled by the diffusion time. Furthermore, also the storing history of the samples is examined. We found that the iodine doping properties of pentacene samples strongly depend on the storing conditions (ambient atmosphere, time) before diffusion. We observed that the iodine diffusion process into pentacene layers is much faster for new recently prepared samples in contrast to old samples that were stored a few months at atmospheric ambient condition in the dark box before iodine diffusion. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
How do you play with a robotic toy animal?: a long-term study of Pleo

Pleo is one of the more advanced interactive toys currently available for the home market, taking the form of a robotic dinosaur. We present an exploratory study of how it was interacted with and reflected upon in the homes of six families during 2 to 10 months. Our analysis emphasizes a discrepancy between the participants' initial desires to borrow a Pleo and what they reported later on about their actual experiences. Further, the data suggests an apparent tension between participants expecting the robot to work as a 'toy' while making consistent comparisons with real pet animals. We end by discussing a series of implications for design of this category of toys, in order to better maintain interest and engagement over time.
Preparation and physical properties of carotenoids encapsulated in chitosan cross-linked tripolyphosphate nanoparticles

Encapsulation of carotenoids in the chitosan cross-linked tripolyphosphate (TPP) was formulated at different ratios of chitosan: TPP to prepare the nanoparticles with superior aqueous solubility, efficient loading and release. The freeze dried sample prepared under the optimal formula of 3.00% (w/v) carotenoids, 1.50% (w/v) chitosan and 2.00% (w/v) TPP provided the particle with the average size of 317 nm and the encapsulation efficiency of 89.09%. Release of carotenoids in oil was relatively superior to ethanol and phosphate buffer, however, the encapsulated carotenoids could be effectively applied as a natural colorant in both oil-based salad cream and water-based drink. This study illustrated a potential approach to fabricate the carotenoids nanoparticles with competent aqueous solubility and releasing property.
Movement changes due to hemiplegia in stroke survivors: a hermeneutic phenomenological study

Abstract Purpose: Meanings of movement for stroke survivors could give therapists significant insights, especially during maintenance phase. The purpose of this study was to examine how post-stroke users of a long-term elderly care facility had experienced changes in movement resulting from hemiplegia. Method: The participants of this study were 18 stroke survivors using a long-term elderly care facility. Based on phenomenology, between two and three interviews were conducted with each participant about their experiences with hemiplegia. Data analysis consisted of the following phases: ‘data immersion’, ‘data transformation’ and ‘thematic analysis’. This study was approved by the ethics committee of the authors’ institution. Results: Participants experienced seven themes resulting from hemiplegia, perceiving themselves differently from the way they did before the stroke. The themes were as follows: ‘inescapable dependence’, ‘sense of incompetence’, ‘lack of autonomy’, ‘symbol of deviation from normal’, ‘licence for amae’, ‘security of self-worth’ and ‘proof of effort’. Conclusions: The first four themes attempt to express participants’ pain and difficulty in living with their present body; the last three attempt to express methods for coping with the present body in the company of others. Results will assist therapists to understand the significant needs of their clients in the maintenance phase. Implications for Rehabilitation Hemiplegia is paralysis of half of the body; it represents one kind of physical disability caused by stroke. Re-interpretation of how patients had experienced the changes of their movements after they had hemiplegia is helpful for the therapists to understand the significant needs for their clients. It may be especially relevant for therapists working with stroke survivors in the maintenance phase, whose functional recovery of physical movements is not expected to occur to a greater extent.
Comparison of leaf hydrocarbon yields from commercial cotton , FiberMax 1320 treated with growth regulator ( Stance ® ) vs . non-treated plants

The yields of hexane extractable hydrocarbons from ten plants of commercial cotton, FiberMax 1320, grown dryland in Hansford County, TX and sprayed with growth regulator (Stance®) were compared with ten plants non-treated. Significant differences were not found in leaf biomass or HC yield (as g/ weight 10 DW leaves). However, there was a significant difference (p= 0.05) in % HC yields. Plants sprayed with the growth regulator had a lower % HC yield. In contrast, plants not sprayed had a higher % HC yield. The use of a foliar spray containing both mepiquat chloride and cyclanilide (Stance®) resulted in the production decreased amounts of stored HC in cotton. It appears that Stance® not only disrupts gibberellic acid synthesis and the transport of auxins, but likely influences other synthesis pathways (including those leading to stored hydrocarbons). Published on-line www.phytologia. org Phytologia 100(1): 1-5 (Mar 16, 2018). ISSN 030319430.
Bonded amalgams and their use in clinical practice.

UNLABELLED There has been a move in recent years for operative dentists to use the benefits of adhesive technology when placing dental amalgam restorations. This paper describes the potential advantages of the bonded amalgam technique. These benefits include decreased microleakage between the cavity wall and the restorative material. This, in turn, may decrease post-operative sensitivity, pulpal inflammation and the incidence of recurrent caries. Extra retention for the restoration may also be provided and the need for cavities to rely on traditional retention and resistance form may be decreased or even eliminated, thus conserving precious tooth tissue. If the restoration is bonded then flexure during function in teeth may be decreased and, in the case of teeth exhibiting a cracked cusp, this may alleviate or eliminate symptoms. Bonding may also provide support to weakened tooth tissue which otherwise would have to be removed, so rendering cavities more conservative, and may increase the fracture resistance of the tooth. Clinical examples are included to illustrate some of these benefits. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The use of adhesives to bond amalgam to tooth tissue offers potential advantages, although some of the current evidence is equivocal about their routine use.
Long‐term cancer control outcomes in patients with biochemical recurrence and the impact of time from radical prostatectomy to biochemical recurrence

Rates of metastatic progression (MP) and prostate cancer mortality (PCSM) are variable after biochemical recurrence (BCR) in patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP). To describe long‐term oncological outcomes of BCR patients and to analyze risk factors for further outcomes in these men with a special focus on RP‐BCR time.
Data-Adapted Volume Rendering for Scattered Point Data

In this letter, we present a novel method for reconstructing continuous data field from scattered point data, which leads to a more characteristic visualization result by volume rendering. The gradient distribution of scattered point data is analyzed for local feature investigation via singular-value decomposition. A data-adaptive ellipsoidal shaped function is constructed as the penalty function to evaluate point weight coefficient in MLS approximation. The experimental results show that the proposed method can reduce the reconstruction error and get a visualization with better feature discrimination. key words: scattered point data, volume rendering, moving least squares approximation
Pharmacodynamic and Pharmacokinetic Profiles of Sacubitril/Valsartan (LCZ696) in Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction

Summary Aims Concomitant renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system blockade and natriuretic peptide system enhancement may provide unique therapeutic benefits to patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). This study assessed the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of LCZ696 in patients with HFrEF. Methods This was an open‐label, noncontrolled single‐sequence study. After a 24‐h run‐in period, patients (n = 30) with HFrEF (EF ≤ 40%; NYHA class II–IV) received LCZ696 100 mg twice daily (bid) for 7 days and 200 mg bid for 14 days, along with standard treatment for heart failure (HF) (except angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors [ACEIs] or angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs]). Results On Day 21, significant increases were observed in the plasma biomarkers indicative of neprilysin and RAAS inhibition (ratio‐to‐baseline: cyclic guanosine monophosphate [cGMP], 1.38; renin concentration and activity, 3.50 and 2.27, respectively; all, P < 0.05). Plasma NT‐proBNP levels significantly decreased at all the time points on Days 7 and 21; plasma aldosterone and endothelin‐1 levels significantly decreased on Day 21 (all, P < 0.05). Following administration of LCZ696, the Cmax of sacubitril (neprilysin inhibitor prodrug), LBQ657 (active neprilysin inhibitor), and valsartan were reached within 0.5, 2.5, and 2 h. Between 100‐ and 200‐mg doses, the Cmax and AUC 0–12 h for sacubitril and LBQ657 were approximately dose‐proportional while that of valsartan was less than dose‐proportional. Conclusions Treatment with LCZ696 for 21 days was well tolerated and resulted in plasma biomarker changes indicative of neprilysin and RAAS inhibition in patients with HF. The pharmacokinetic exposure of the LCZ696 analytes in patients with HF observed in this study is comparable to that observed in the pivotal Phase III study.
Diagnosis and management of supernumerary teeth.

UNLABELLED Supernumerary teeth can present in various forms and in any region of the mandible or maxilla, but have a predisposition for the anterior maxilla. They can cause a variety of complications in the developing dentition. This article reviews the epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis and options for the management of supernumerary teeth. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Early diagnosis and appropriate management can minimize the potential complications caused by supernumerary teeth. Dental practitioners should be aware of their clinical signs and the treatment options.
Functional and clinical relevance of novel mutations in a large cohort of patients with Cockayne syndrome

Background Cockayne syndrome (CS) is a rare, autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterised by prenatal or postnatal growth failure, progressive neurological dysfunction, ocular and skeletal abnormalities and premature ageing. About half of the patients with symptoms diagnostic for CS show cutaneous photosensitivity and an abnormal cellular response to UV light due to mutations in either the ERCC8/CSA or ERCC6/CSB gene. Studies performed thus far have failed to delineate clear genotype-phenotype relationships. We have carried out a four-centre clinical, molecular and cellular analysis of 124 patients with CS. Methods and results We assigned 39 patients to the ERCC8/CSA and 85 to the ERCC6/CSB genes. Most of the genetic variants were truncations. The missense variants were distributed non-randomly with concentrations in relatively short regions of the respective proteins. Our analyses revealed several hotspots and founder mutations in ERCC6/CSB. Although no unequivocal genotype-phenotype relationships could be made, patients were more likely to have severe clinical features if the mutation was downstream of the PiggyBac insertion in intron 5 of ERCC6/CSB than if it was upstream. Also a higher proportion of severely affected patients was found with mutations in ERCC6/CSB than in ERCC8/CSA. Conclusion By identifying >70 novel homozygous or compound heterozygous genetic variants in 124 patients with CS with different disease severity and ethnic backgrounds, we considerably broaden the CSA and CSB mutation spectrum responsible for CS. Besides providing information relevant for diagnosis of and genetic counselling for this devastating disorder, this study improves the definition of the puzzling genotype-phenotype relationships in patients with CS.
A mutualistic endophyte alters the niche dimensions of its host plant

Few studies have tested whether mutualisms may affect species distributions by altering the niches of partner species. We show that a fungal endophyte is associated with a shift in the soil moisture niche of its host plant relative to a co-occurring, endophyte-free congener. The endophyte appeared to initially restrict its host's distribution to wetter microsites before positively affecting its growth, suggesting the value of considering symbiont effects at different partner life stages. Our study identifies a symbiotic relationship as a potential mechanism facilitating the coexistence of two species, suggesting that symbiont effects on host niche may have community-level consequences.
Optimization of Smooth Functions With Noisy Observations: Local Minimax Rates

We consider the problem of <italic>global optimization</italic> of an unknown non-convex smooth function with noisy zeroth-order feedback. We propose a <italic>local minimax</italic> framework to study the fundamental difficulty of optimizing smooth functions with adaptive function evaluations. We show that for functions with fast growth around their global minima, carefully designed optimization algorithms can identify a near global minimizer with many fewer queries than worst-case global minimax theory predicts. For the special case of strongly convex and smooth functions, our implied convergence rates match the ones developed for zeroth-order <italic>convex</italic> optimization problems. On the other hand, we show that in the worst case no algorithm can converge faster than the minimax rate of estimating an unknown function in the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\ell _\infty $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-norm. Finally, we show that non-adaptive algorithms, though optimal in a global minimax sense, do not attain the optimal local minimax rate.
High Health Satisfaction Among Emerging Adults With Diabetes: Factors Predicting Resilience

Objective: This study was conducted to identify factors contributing to health satisfaction outcomes among emerging adults (ages 18–25) with diabetes. Method: SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study participants whose diabetes was prevalent in 2001 and were ≥18 years of age when they completed a 2008–2009 follow-up survey (n = 340) were included. We developed a health resilience model (HRM) to identify potentially modifiable factors (anticipatory guidance, social support, physical activity, quality of life) associated with health outcomes (satisfaction with health care, overall personal health, self-report of hemoglobin A1c [HbA1c]). Proportional odds logistic regression models were used to examine relationships between modifiable factors and health outcomes while adjusting for predetermined characteristics; linear regression models were used for reported HbA1c. Comparison of participants who reported HbA1c versus nonreporters was conducted. Results: A majority (70%) of participants rated satisfaction with health care ≥7 out of 10, and most (71%) rated overall health as good, very good, or excellent. Satisfaction with health care was independent of change in provider between the ages of 17 and 24. After controlling for predetermined characteristics, we found that the odds of increased satisfaction with health care and overall personal health were 1.3 and 1.2 greater, respectively, when participants discussed additional diabetes-related anticipatory guidance topics with a provider and 1.3 and 2.1, respectively, for each 10-unit change in quality of life score. Relationship between HbA1c level and modifiable factors was not significant; however, participants reporting HbA1c had higher ratings of health care and overall health versus nonreporters. Conclusions: HRM describes relationships between modifiable factors and patient-reported outcomes of satisfaction with health care and overall personal health among a cohort of ethnically and racially diverse emerging adults with longstanding diabetes, over half of whom experienced a change in provider. HRM may discern candidate areas for intervention, such as effective anticipatory guidance that can impact satisfaction with health care and overall health, to promote positive health outcomes.
Semen Characteristics and Spermatozoa Biometry of Different Varieties of Guinea Fowls

A total of twelve male guinea fowls, from each of pearl, white, white breasted and lavender varieties aged eight months were selected based on their phenotypic characters, and trained for semen collection by abdominal massage technique. The semen was analyzed for colour, volume, spermatozoa motility (%), spermatozoa concentration, live and abnormal spermatozoa(%).
Dissonance-Based Eating Disorder Program Reduces Cardiac Risk: A Preliminary Trial

Objective: We conducted a randomized, controlled preliminary trial to examine the effect of a dissonance-based eating disorder program on eating disorder symptoms and cardiac risk indices in a community sample of women with subclinical and clinical symptoms (N = 47), examining the efficacy of the program in both the indicated prevention and treatment realms. Method: Eating disorder symptoms, body mass index, and biomarkers of cardiac risk were examined in dissonance and assessment-only control conditions at baseline, postintervention, and 2-month follow-up. Specifically, we assessed mean R wave amplitude, QT interval length, vagal tone (high frequency spectral power of heart rate variability), and sympathetic tone (low/high frequency spectral power ratio) via electocardiography (ECG) at each assessment period. Results: We predicted a statistically significant 2 (condition: control, dissonance) × 3 (time: baseline, postintervention, 2-month follow-up) interaction in the mixed factorial MANOVA results. Results confirmed this hypothesis. Eating disorder symptoms and cardiac risk indices decreased significantly among participants in the dissonance condition at postintervention and 2-month follow-up compared with baseline. Conclusion: Results provide support for the efficacy of a dissonance-based program in the reduction of eating disorder symptoms and cardiac risk indices among women with subclinical and clinical eating disorder symptoms. Findings establish the efficaciousness of this dissonance-based approach in the indicated prevention and treatment realms and establish its efficacy in reducing cardiac risk indicators.
Anomalous electrical Characteristics of Ion Implanted P + N Junctions

Electrical characteristics of three P + N diodes fabricated on high resistivity silicon by ion implantation technique are studied by making capacitance-voltage (CV), reverse current-voltage (I-V) and dielectric spectroscopy of semiconductor (DSS) measurements. The C-V characteristics show abrupt fall in capacitance, while IV characteristics show abrupt rise in current at the same voltages as in the C-V characteristics. These abrupt discontinuities are ascribed to the formation of defect clusters in the lightly doped base regions where charge transfer might be taking place by thermally assisted tunneling. Low activation energies obtained in the DSS measurements also point toward the same mechanism.
Improvement of 802.11 fingerprint diversity

802.11 networks are largely adopted, thus the identification of wireless devices becomes a major issue in network security. This study takes place in the scope of a defensive scenario, and can be used to detect Medium Access Control (MAC) address spoofing. We develop an approach to improve the identification of unique devices while keeping existing 802.11 fingerprinting methods. We evaluate our approach on two state-of-the-art methods and successfully improve the identification of identical devices on one method.
Basic study on active acoustic shielding: phase 6 improving the method to enlarge AAS window-2

In this paper, it was proved to be useful to use M[ (1-1)-L’] FX-LMS algorism for Active Acoustic Shielding (AAS) window to enlarge the window size. The AAS is a system that can attenuate the sound passing thou gh an open window. The AAS system is composed of many AAS cells set in an array. Each AAS cell consists o f approximately colocated a microphone and a speaker. However, a size of existing type AAS window is 250mm square. Therefore, we proposed M[(1-1)-L’] FX-LMS algorism(M: number of AAS systems, L’: number of error signals used for controlling one AA S cell) for controlling a large size window and lar ge number of AAS cells. This algorithm is a kind of FX -LMS algorithm, each AAS cell is controlled individually by it’s own reference microphone and n eighboring error sensors. In the previous work, 6 A AS cells is set on rectangular window (125 x 750mm square) and controlled by 6[(1-1)-3’] FX-LMS. As a res ult, this system was proved to be useful for controlling AAS cells, In this paper a simulator of M[(1-1)-L’ ] FX-LMS algorithm was constructed, and the simulation results by 6[(1-1)-3’] FX-LMS algorithm well coincided with the above experimented results. This suggests that large AAS window feasible.