Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Onset and Cessation of Raining Season on Crops Yield in Lafia

ABSTRACT The study was aimed at analysing the effect of rainfall onset and cessation trends on crop yields in Lafia town of Nasarawa State from 1980 to 2010. The data was collected from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency Abuja for the said period. Data for crops yield were obtained from Nasarawa Agricultural Development project (NADP) Lafia from 1997 to 2010 for which data were available. The crop yields were used to examine the effect of onset and cessation on crops yield. Regression analysis revealed that that cessation of raining season has more effect on crops yield as compared to onset of raining season. Farmers and others interested in agro allied services should therefore ensure early planting of crops in order to avoid been caught up by the rainfall cessation.
DIVERGENT SELECTION DRIVES THE ADAPTIVE RADIATION OF CROSSBILLS

Abstract Knowledge of how phenotype influences fitness is necessary if we are to understand the basis of natural selection and how natural selection contributes to adaptive radiations. Here I quantify selection on a wild population of red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra complex) in the South Hills, Idaho. Bill depth is the target of selection and selection on bill depth is stabilizing. I then show how fitness is related to both bill depth and performance. I use these and previously published relationships to estimate a fitness surface for five species of red crossbills that are part of an ongoing adaptive radiation in western North America. The fitness surface for crossbills has distinct peaks and valleys, with each crossbill species residing on or very near the summits. This work strongly supports a key tenet of the ecological theory of adaptive radiations; namely, divergent selection for utilizing alternative resources is the ultimate cause of adaptive radiations.
The structural deformation characteristics and the control of gold mineralization of the upper Triassic flysch (Langjiexue Group) in Tibetan Plateau

Located in the eastern section of the Indus‐Yarlung Tsangbo Suture Zone, the Triassic Langjiexue Group is also very important for the distribution of the orogenic gold deposits, such as Bangbu and Zhemulang. Two regional profiles (Jiacha profile and Lang County profile) in the Langjiexue Group have been chosen for systematic mapping. Combing with the method of Ar–Ar dating for mica, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the structural movements and stress periods of the Langjiexue Group, and the relationship between them with the orogenic gold deposits distributed within it, and finally, establish the structural control model for orogenic gold deposits in the Langjiexue Group. The structural deformation of the Langjiexue Group can be divided into 4 stages. In the D1 stage, shallow ductile shear played a dominant role with the principal stress of the reaction in a nearly E–W direction. The main stress of D2 stage was in an obviously S–N direction whose foliation of the axial surface was a ubiquitous phyllitic foliation and foliation. The structures of the D3 stage were superimposed on those of the D2 stage with the main stress of S–N direction. In the D4 stage, the principal stress of the structural movements was in a nearly E–W direction. According to the morphology and spatial positions of the profile folds, the main body of the Songre Formation in the southern parts of the tectonic profiles can be restored into a large reverse antiform, whereas the main body of the Tectonic mélange zone in the northern parts can be restored into a continuous large antiform and synform. Judging by the Ar–Ar plateau ages (56.04 ± 0.72 Ma, 47.98 ± 0.46 Ma) of the sericite in the two quartz veins that were arranged along the axial plane cleavage of the folders in D3 stage, the widely distributed quartz veins in the Langjiexue Group were mainly the outcome of fluid action accompanied by the structural deformation that occurred in the main Indo‐Asian collision orogenesis period, which were in consistent with the mineralogenetic epoch of the orogenic gold deposits in this region.
University supply expansion and inequality of opportunity of access: the case of Uruguay

ABSTRACT This paper examines whether opportunity of access to public university has improved over the period 2008–2013 in Uruguay; in which an important territorial expansion of the public university supply, historically located in Montevideo (the capital of Uruguay), to other regions of the country (named the Interior) took place. Results suggest that Uruguay expanded opportunity to access university increasingly towards the more disadvantaged individuals. However, as the coverage rate of students from better-off parental educational background increased more than for those from less-privileged ones, inequality of opportunity worsened in the Interior.
Intra-Platform Repeatability and Inter-Platform Comparability of MicroRNA Microarray Technology

Over the last decade, DNA microarray technology has provided a great contribution to the life sciences. The MicroArray Quality Control (MAQC) project demonstrated the way to analyze the expression microarray. Recently, microarray technology has been utilized to analyze a comprehensive microRNA expression profiling. Currently, several platforms of microRNA microarray chips are commercially available. Thus, we compared repeatability and comparability of five different microRNA microarray platforms (Agilent, Ambion, Exiqon, Invitrogen and Toray) using 309 microRNAs probes, and the Taqman microRNA system using 142 microRNA probes. This study demonstrated that microRNA microarray has high intra-platform repeatability and comparability to quantitative RT-PCR of microRNA. Among the five platforms, Agilent and Toray array showed relatively better performances than the others. However, the current lineup of commercially available microRNA microarray systems fails to show good inter-platform concordance, probably because of lack of an adequate normalization method and severe divergence in stringency of detection call criteria between different platforms. This study provided the basic information about the performance and the problems specific to the current microRNA microarray systems.
Assessment of heavy metals in River Kabul at Warsak Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The present investigation was conducted to assess the concentration of toxic pollutant i.e. heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Cr and Mn) in River Kabul at Warsak Peshawar with the help of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Three sampling sites were selected in River Kabul at Warsak Peshawar. Each sampling sites was away from one another 100 meters distance i.e. Upstream, Mid-Point and Downstream respectively. In this study the amount of heavy metals recorded were Zn 1.19-1.7 ppm; Cu 0.13-0.75 ppm; Cd 0.02-0.32 ppm; pb 1.01-0.03 ppm; Cr 0.00-0.00 ppm and Mn 0.01-0.03 ppm respectively. In this survey only Cu and Cd were above the permissible limits. This result revealed that River Kabul at Warsak Peshawar site is affected by industrial discharge and anthropogenic activities as well.
Nonlinear robust adaptive Cartesian impedance control of UAVs equipped with a robot manipulator

In this paper, a new nonlinear robust adaptive impedance controller is addressed for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a robot manipulator that physically interacts with environment. A UAV equipped with a robot manipulator is a novel system that can perform different tasks instead of human being in dangerous and/or inaccessible environments. The objective of the proposed robust adaptive controller is control of the UAV and its robotic manipulator’s end-effector impedance in Cartesian space in order to have a stable physical interaction with environment. The proposed controller is robust against parametric uncertainties in the nonlinear dynamics model of the UAV and the robot manipulator. Moreover, the controller has robustness against the bounded force sensor inaccuracies and bounded unstructured modeling (nonparametric) uncertainties and/or disturbances in the system. Tracking performance and stability of the system are proved via Lyapunov stability theorem. Using simulations on a quadrotor UAV equipped with a three-DOF robot manipulator, the effectiveness of the proposed robust adaptive impedance controller is investigated in the presence of the force sensor error, and parametric and non-parametric uncertainties.
Intratracheal myriocin enhances allergen‐induced Th2 inflammation and airway hyper‐responsiveness

Ceramide is the central substrate of sphingolipid metabolism and plays a key role in cellular signal transduction pathways, regulating apoptosis, differentiation, and chemotaxis. Alterations in airway ceramide levels are observed in multiple pulmonary diseases and recent human genetic association studies have linked dysregulation of sphingolipid regulatory genes with asthma pathogenesis.
Toll‐like receptor expression in the peripheral nerve

Toll‐like receptors comprise a family of evolutionary conserved pattern recognition receptors that act as a first defense line in the innate immune system. Upon stimulation with microbial ligands, they orchestrate the induction of a host defense response by activating different signaling cascades. Interestingly, they appear to detect the presence of endogenous signals of danger as well and as such, neurodegeneration is thought to trigger an immune response through ligation of TLRs. Though recent data report the expression of various TLRs in the central nervous system, TLR expression patterns in the peripheral nervous system have not been determined yet. We observed that Schwann cells express relatively high levels of TLRs, with especially TLR3 and TLR4 being prominent. Sensory and motor neurons hardly express TLRs at all. Through the use of NF‐κB signaling as read‐out, we could show that all TLRs are functional in Schwann cells and that bacterial lipoprotein, a ligand for TLR1/TLR2 receptors yields the strongest response. In sciatic nerve, basal levels of TLRs closely reflect the expression patterns as determined in Schwann cells. TLR3, TLR4, and TLR7 are majorly expressed, pointing to their possible role in immune surveillance. Upon axotomy, TLR1 becomes strongly induced, while most other TLR expression levels remain unaffected. Altogether, our data suggest that similar to microglia in the brain, Schwann cells might act as sentinel cells in the PNS. Furthermore, acute neurodegeneration induces a shift in TLR expression pattern, most likely illustrating specialized functions of TLRs in basal versus activated conditions of the peripheral nerve. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Highly Integrated LTCC and LCP Millimeter Wave Functions For 3 D-SOP High Data Rate Wireless Systems

This paper presents the development of highly integrated millimeter waves function in multilayer LTCC and Liquid Crystal Polymer technology. Both ceramic and organic technologies are candidate of choice for the 3D integration, following the system-on-package concept, of compact, low cost, millimeter-wave high data rate wireless systems. Compact and easy-to-design passive functions such as directional filter and band pass filter have been demonstrated with excellent performances and high integration potential. Directional filter represents a fundamental device class enabling a compact hybrid passive mixer solution for millimeter wave direct modulator since they combine multiple filtering functions, reducing complexity while maintaining compactness. Easy implementation in standard LTCC technology has been demonstrated by using vertically coupling mechanism. Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) is a organic material that offers a unique combination of electrical, chemical and mechanical properties, enabling high frequency designs due to its ability to act as both the substrate and package for multilayer constructions. A band pass filter was designed to enable a low cost, very easy to design filtering solution to be integrated into a wireless millimeter-wave gigabit link system. The design exploits successfully the ripple of modified stepped impedance Tchebyscheff low pass filter combined with a rejection stub to create a wideband band-pass response center at 60 GHz. Insertion loss as low as 1.5 dB has been measured demonstrating the potential of LCP for millimeter-wave applications.
Involvement of PD-L1 on tumor cells in the escape from host immune system and tumor immunotherapy by PD-L1 blockade

PD-1 is a receptor of the Ig superfamily that negatively regulates T cell antigen receptor signaling by interacting with the specific ligands (PD-L) and is suggested to play a role in the maintenance of self-tolerance. In the present study, we examined possible roles of the PD-1/PD-L system in tumor immunity. Transgenic expression of PD-L1, one of the PD-L, in P815 tumor cells rendered them less susceptible to the specific T cell antigen receptor-mediated lysis by cytotoxic T cells in vitro, and markedly enhanced their tumorigenesis and invasiveness in vivo in the syngeneic hosts as compared with the parental tumor cells that lacked endogenous PD-L. Both effects could be reversed by anti-PD-L1 Ab. Survey of murine tumor lines revealed that all of the myeloma cell lines examined naturally expressed PD-L1. Growth of the myeloma cells in normal syngeneic mice was inhibited significantly albeit transiently by the administration of anti-PD-L1 Ab in vivo and was suppressed completely in the syngeneic PD-1-deficient mice. These results suggest that the expression of PD-L1 can serve as a potent mechanism for potentially immunogenic tumors to escape from host immune responses and that blockade of interaction between PD-1 and PD-L may provide a promising strategy for specific tumor immunotherapy.
Secretion and cell-surface growth are blocked in a temperature-sensitive mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells contain a small internal pool of the secretory enzymes invertase and acid phosphatase. This pool increases up to 8-fold at 37°C in a temperature-sensitive, secretion-defective mutant strain (sec 1-1). Cell division and incorporation of a sulfate permease activity stop abruptly at the restrictive temperature, while protein synthesis continues for several hours. Electron microscopy of mutant cells incubated at 37°C reveals a large increase in the number of intracellular membrane-bound vesicles, which are shown by histochemical staining to contain the accumulated acid phosphatase. The vesicles are removed and the accumulated enzymes are secreted when cells are returned to a permissive temperature in the presence or absence of cycloheximide. These results are consistent with a vesicle intermediate in the yeast secretory pathway and suggest that exocytosis may contribute to cell-surface growth.
Therapeutic management options for patients with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding

Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) is one of the most challenging disorders faced by gastroenterologists because of its evasive nature and difficulty in identifying the exact source of bleeding. Recent technological advances such as video capsule endoscopy and small bowel deep enteroscopy have revolutionized the diagnosis and management of patients with OGIB. In this paper, we review the various diagnostic and therapeutic options available for the management of patients with OGIB.
3D Web Applications in E-Commerce - A secondary study on the impact of 3D product presentations created with HTML5 and WebGL

This empirical study is a secondary evaluation building on Franka Moritz's work “Potentials of 3D-Web-Applications in E-Commerce - Study about the Impact of 3D-Product-Presentations” [1], which was presented at the Ninth IEEE/ACIS International Conference. As in the above work, the core objective of this study is to compare 2D and 3D product presentations in web interfaces. Elaborating upon the outcomes of Moritz's study, two main factors should be considered when implementing 3D visualizations in e-commerce scenarios. First, whereas Moritz's test applications were based on Flash and Java Applets, the downside of these technologies with regards to limited performance and render quality has been extensively discussed in several other previous works [2], [3]. The approach of this work is based on the latest HTML5 specification and WebGL, which enables a near-photorealistic render result while ensuring application performance. Secondly, instead of comparing arbitrary products and brands to unspecific test participants, focus is placed on a single product range and selected experimental subjects corresponding to product manufacture's target demographic group.
Advanced wastewater treatment using microalgae: effect of temperature on removal of nutrients and organic carbon

This study evaluated the use of mixed indigenous microalgae (MIMA) as a treatment process for wastewaters and CO2 capturing technology at different temperatures. The study follows the growth rate of MIMA, CO2 Capturing from flue gas, removals of organic matter and nutrients from three types of wastewater (primary effluent, secondary effluent and septic effluent). A noticeable difference between the growth patterns of MIMA was observed at different CO2 and different operational temperatures. MIMA showed the highest growth grate when injected with CO2 dosage of 10% compared to the growth for the systems injected with 5% and 15 % of CO2. Ammonia and phosphorus removals for Spirulina were 69%, 75%, and 83%, and 20%, 45% and 75 % for the media injected with 0, 5 and 10% CO2. The results of this study show that simple and cost-effective microalgae-based wastewater treatment systems can be successfully employed at different temperatures as a successful CO2 capturing technology even with the small probability of inhibition at high temperatures.
Parallel repetition: simplifications and the no-signaling case

Consider a game where a refereed chooses (x,y) according to a publiclyknown distribution PXY, sends x to Alice, and y to Bob. Withoutcommunicating with each other, Alice responds with a value "a" and Bobresponds with a value "b". Alice and Bob jointly win if a publiclyknown predicate Q(x,y,a,b) holds. Let such a game be given and assume that the maximum probabilitythat Alice and Bob can win is v<1. Raz (SIAM J. Comput. 27, 1998)shows that if the game is repeated n times in parallel, then the probability that Alice and Bob win all games simultaneously is at most v'(n/log(s)), where s is the maximal number of possible responses from Alice and Bob in the initial game, and v' is a constant depending only on v. In this work, we simplify Raz's proof in various ways and thus shorten it significantly. Further we study the case where Alice and Bob are not restricted to local computations and can use any strategy which does not imply communication among them.
Immunogenicity and Clinical Efficacy of Influenza Vaccination in Pregnancy

Pregnant women are at high risk from influenza due to disproportionate morbidity, mortality, and adverse pregnancy outcomes following infection. As such, they are classified as a high-priority group for vaccination. However, changes in the maternal immune system required to accommodate the allogeneic fetus may alter the immunogenicity of influenza vaccines. A large number of studies have evaluated the safety of the influenza vaccine. Here, we will review available studies on the immunogenicity and efficacy of the influenza vaccine during pregnancy, focusing on both humoral and cellular immunity.
Arsenic in the Evolution of Earth and Extraterrestrial Ecosystems

If you were asked to speculate about the form extra-terrestrial life on Mars might take, which geomicrobial phenomenon might you select as a model system, assuming that life on Mars would be ‘primitive’? Give your reasons. At the end of my senior year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1968, I took Professor Ehrlich's final for his Geomicrobiology course. The above question beckoned to me like the Sirens to Odysseus, for if I answered, it would take so much time and thought that I would never get around to the exam's other essay questions and consequently, would be “shipwrecked” by flunking the course. So, I passed it up. With this 41-year perspective in mind, this manuscript is now submitted to Professor Ehrlich for (belated) “extra-credit. ” R.S. Oremland
Edinburgh Research Explorer Multilevel behavioral synchronization in a joint tower-building task

- Human to Human sensorimotor interaction can only be fully understood by modeling the patterns of bodily synchronization and reconstructing the underlying mechanisms of optimal convergence. We designed a cooperative tower-building task to address such a goal. We recorded upper body kinematics of dyads engaged in the task, focused on the velocity profiles of the head and wrist, and applied Recurrence Quantification Analysis to examine the dynamics of synchronization within, and across the experimental session, comparing the roles of leader and follower. Our results show that the leader was more auto-recurrent than the follower to make his/her behavior more predictable. When looking at the cross-recurrence of the dyad, we find different patterns of synchronization for head and wrist motion. On the wrist, dyads synchronized at short lags, and such pattern was weakly modulated within a single trial, and invariant across the session. Head motion instead, synchronized at longer lags, a phenomenon mostly driven by the leader, and increased both within and between trials. Our findings point at a multi-scale nature of human to human sensorimotor convergence, and provide an experimentally solid benchmark to identify the basic motion primitives maximizing the coupling between humans and artificial agents.
The Rossby normal modes in the South China Sea deep basin evidenced by satellite altimetry

ABSTRACT This study investigates the mechanism of mesoscale eddies observed in the South China Sea (SCS) deep basin, which are characterized by high-frequency occurrence, long life, and regular distribution patterns. Geophysical fluid dynamics predicts that for an enclosed ocean basin, there exist the Rossby normal modes if considering the Earth rotation effect. We use a rectangular ocean basin with a uniform depth to simulate the SCS deep basin and obtain 2D (x − y) sea level distribution patterns of the Rossby normal modes, consisting of alternating cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, as well as their dynamic parameters. The periods of the modes are evidenced by the Fourier period power density spectra of satellite altimeter sea level anomaly (SLA) data from 1993 to 2015. The 2D normal mode patterns are evidenced by SLA images. The phase speeds are evidenced by that derived from the westward movement of the wave/eddy patterns on SLA time-series images.
Computing second derivatives in feed-forward networks: a review

The calculation of second derivatives is required by recent training and analysis techniques of connectionist networks, such as the elimination of superfluous weights, and the estimation of confidence intervals both for weights and network outputs. We review and develop exact and approximate algorithms for calculating second derivatives. For networks with |w| weights, simply writing the full matrix of second derivatives requires O(|w|(2)) operations. For networks of radial basis units or sigmoid units, exact calculation of the necessary intermediate terms requires of the order of 2h+2 backward/forward-propagation passes where h is the number of hidden units in the network. We also review and compare three approximations (ignoring some components of the second derivative, numerical differentiation, and scoring). The algorithms apply to arbitrary activation functions, networks, and error functions.