Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Impacts of Impervious Cover, Water Withdrawals, and Climate Change on River Flows in the Conterminous Us

Rivers are essential to aquatic ecosystem and societal sustainability, but are increasingly impacted by water withdrawals, land-use change, and climate change. The relative and cumulative effects of these stressors on continental river flows are relatively unknown. In this study, we used an integrated water balance and flow routing model to evaluate the impacts of impervious cover and water withdrawal on river flow across the conterminous US at the 8-digit Hy-drologic Unit Code (HUC) watershed scale. We then estimated the impacts of projected change in withdrawals, impervious cover, and climate under the B1 " Low " and A2 " High " emission scenarios on river flows by 2060. Our results suggest that compared to no impervious cover, 2010 levels of impervious cover increased river flows by 9.9 % on average with larger impacts in and downstream of major metropolitan areas. In contrast, compared to no water withdrawals , 2005 withdrawals decreased river flows by 1.4 % on average with larger impacts in heavily irrigated arid regions of Western US. By 2060, impacts of climate change were predicted to overwhelm the potential gain in river flow due to future changes in impervious cover and add to the potential reduction in river flows from withdrawals, decreasing mean annual river flows from 2010 levels by 16 % on average. However, increases in impervious cover by 2060 may offset the impact of climate change during the growing season in some watersheds. Large water withdrawals will aggravate the predicted impact of climate change on river flows, particularly in the Western US. Predicted ecohydro-logical impacts of land cover, water withdrawal, and climate change will likely include alteration of the terrestrial water balance, stream channel habitat, riparian and aquatic community structure in snow-dominated basins, and fish and mussel extirpations in heavily impacted watersheds. These changes may also require new infrastructure to support increasing an-thropogenic demand for water, relocation of agricultural production , and/or water conservation measures. Given that the impacts of land use, withdrawals and climate may be either additive or offsetting in different magnitudes, integrated and spatially explicit modeling and management approaches are necessary to effectively manage water resources for aquatic life and human use in the face of global change.
PIKfyve Deficiency in Myeloid Cells Impairs Lysosomal Homeostasis in Macrophages and Promotes Systemic Inflammation in Mice

Macrophages are professional phagocytes that are essential for host defense and tissue homeostasis. Proper membrane trafficking and degradative functions of the endolysosomal system are known to be critical for the function of these cells. We have found that PIKfyve, the kinase that synthesizes the endosomal phosphoinositide phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate, is an essential regulator of lysosomal biogenesis and degradative functions in macrophages. ABSTRACT Macrophages are professional phagocytes that are essential for host defense and tissue homeostasis. Proper membrane trafficking and degradative functions of the endolysosomal system are known to be critical for the function of these cells. We have found that PIKfyve, the kinase that synthesizes the endosomal phosphoinositide phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate, is an essential regulator of lysosomal biogenesis and degradative functions in macrophages. Genetically engineered mice lacking PIKfyve in their myeloid cells (PIKfyvefl/fl LysM-Cre) develop diffuse tissue infiltration of foamy macrophages, hepatosplenomegaly, and systemic inflammation. PIKfyve loss in macrophages causes enlarged endolysosomal compartments and impairs the lysosomal degradative function. Moreover, PIKfyve deficiency increases the cellular levels of lysosomal proteins. Although PIKfyve deficiency reduced the activation of mTORC1 pathway and was associated with increased cleavage of TFEB proteins, this does not translate into transcriptional activation of lysosomal genes, suggesting that PIKfyve modulates the abundance of lysosomal proteins by affecting the degradation of these proteins. Our study shows that PIKfyve modulation of lysosomal degradative activity and protein expression is essential to maintain lysosomal homeostasis in macrophages.
Increasing vitamin C content of plants through enhanced ascorbate recycling

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is essential to prevent disease associated with connective tissue (e.g., scurvy), improves cardiovascular and immune cell functions, and is used to regenerate α-tocopherol (vitamin E). In contrast to most animals, humans lack the ability to synthesize ascorbic acid as a result of a mutation in the last enzyme required for ascorbate biosynthesis. Vitamin C, therefore, must be obtained from dietary sources and, because it cannot be stored in the body, it must be obtained regularly. Once used, ascorbic acid can be regenerated from its oxidized form in a reaction catalyzed by dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR). To examine whether overexpression of DHAR in plants would increase the level of ascorbic acid through improved ascorbate recycling, a DHAR cDNA from wheat was isolated and expressed in tobacco and maize, where DHAR expression was increased up to 32- and 100-fold, respectively. The increase in DHAR expression increased foliar and kernel ascorbic acid levels 2- to 4-fold and significantly increased the ascorbate redox state in both tobacco and maize. In addition, the level of glutathione, the reductant used by DHAR, also increased, as did its redox state. These results demonstrate that the vitamin C content of plants can be elevated by increasing expression of the enzyme responsible for recycling ascorbate.
Seaweed extracts’ multifactorial action: influence on physiological and biochemical status of Solanaceae plants

Seaweeds are one of the important marine bioresources which are nowadays termed as eco-friendly stimulators of crop growth, stress tolerance, and yielding. In this review, we give an update of the current state of our understanding of the seaweed extracts (SWE) effects on the physiological alterations they induce in Solanaceae vegetables. SWE may provide a powerful and environmentally friendly approach to nutrient management. A pool of common bioactive molecules of SWE provides enhancement of the antioxidant machinery of treated plants providing balanced development, earlier flowering, and enhanced fruiting. The basic mechanisms of SWE action seem to be unspecific for tomato, pepper, and eggplant. They include accelerating growth, nutrient uptake, and photosynthesis performance, which can induce plant tolerance to adverse environmental conditions, improve flowering, fruit setting, and yield, and enhance nutritional quality of the crops. The mechanism of SWE action is complex because of multielement composition and cross-action between constituents.
Tensor Decompositions: A New Concept in Brain Data Analysis?

Matrix factorizations and their extensions to tensor facto rizations and decompositions have become prominent techniques for linear and multilinear blind source separation (BSS), especially multiway Independent Component Analysis (ICA), Nonnegative Matrix and Tensor Factorization (NMF/NTF), Smooth Component Analysis (SmoCA) and Sparse Component Analysis (SCA). Moreover, tensor decompositions have many other potential applications beyond multilinear BSS, especially feature extracti on, classification, dimensionality reduction and multiway clustering. In this paper, we briefly overview new and emerging models and approaches for tensor decompositions in applications to group and linked multiway BSS/ICA, feature extraction, classification and Multiway Parti al Least Squares (MPLS)
Early coadministration of clonazepam with sertraline for panic disorder.

BACKGROUND There is debate about combining benzodiazepines with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the acute treatment of panic disorder. Although this medication combination is widely used in clinical practice, there is no well-tested, optimal method of coadministering these medications for the treatment of panic disorder. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of early coadministration of clonazepam with sertraline in the treatment of panic disorder. METHODS Fifty patients with panic disorder were randomized into a double-blind clinical trial. Patients received open-label sertraline for 12 weeks (target dose, 100 mg/d), and in addition were randomized to groups receiving either 0.5 mg of active clonazepam 3 times daily or placebo clonazepam for the first 4 weeks of the trial. The clonazepam dose was then tapered during 3 weeks and discontinued. RESULTS Thirty-four (68%) of 50 patients completed the trial. Drop-out rates were similar in the sertraline/placebo vs the sertraline/clonazepam group (38% vs 25%) (P =.5). An intent-to-treat analysis (on last observation carried forward data) revealed a much greater proportion of responders in the sertraline/clonazepam compared with the sertraline/placebo group at the end of week 1 of the trial (41% vs 4%) (P =.003). There was also a significant between-group difference at the end of week 3 with 14 (63%) of 22 of the sertraline/clonazepam group responding to treatment vs 8 (32%) of 25 of the sertraline/placebo group (P =.05). This difference was not observed at other times during the trial. CONCLUSION These data indicate that rapid stabilization of panic symptoms can be safely achieved with a sertraline/clonazepam combination, supporting the clinical utility of this type of regimen for facilitating early improvement of panic symptoms relative to sertraline alone.
A parameterized wifi fingerprint database construction method

In Wi-Fi fingerprinting localization system, good positioning accuracy requires accurate fingerprint database, but too much heavy labor was involved in the collection of accurate fingerprint. Therefore, the collection, calibration and maintenance of fingerprint database in Wi-Fi positioning has always been one of the research hotspots. In this paper, a parameterized fingerprint construction system is proposed to obtain an accurate fingerprint database, and the collection and periodic maintenance of fingerprints is relatively efficient. In the proposed scheme, Wi-Fi signal collected in actual environment and wireless signal propagation theory is used to model APs in the interested area by using the least squares fitting method to construct a fingerprint database which matches the surrounding environment. At the end of the paper, an experiment was carried out at Haiyun teaching building of Xiamen University. Compared with the original fingerprints, the positioning accuracy of optimized fingerprints obtained by the proposed scheme is improved by 48%.
Inferring gender and age of customers in shopping malls via indoor positioning data

Customer profiles that include gender and age information are important to businesses and can be used to promote sales and provide personalized services. This information is gathered in e-commerce by analyzing customer visit records in virtual web space. However, such practice is difficult in brick-and-mortar businesses because the data that can be utilized to infer customer profiles are limited in physical spaces. In this paper, we attempt to infer the gender and age of customers using indoor positioning data generated by the Wi-Fi engine. To achieve this, we first construct a synthesized features vector to distinguish different profiles. This vector contains both customer spatial–temporal mobility characteristics and interest preferences. A hidden Markov model group detection method is then applied to detect customers who shop together because they usually show the same shopping behavior and it is difficult to distinguish their profiles. Finally, a random forest inference model is proposed to infer profiles of customers who shop alone. The indoor positioning data collected in the Longhu Tianjie Plaza in Chongqing were used as a case study. The result shows that customer profiles are indeed inferable from indoor positioning data. The accuracy of the gender inference model reaches 73.9%, while that of the age inference model is 67.9%. This demonstrates the potential value of new “big data” for promoting precision marketing and customer management in brick-and-mortar businesses.
Methodology for traffic load estimation in WLANs based on real traces

This paper presents a methodology to estimate traffic load parameters in WLAN network consisting of a large number of access points (APs). The methodology takes into account the high variability of data traffic throughout the network that APs have to handle and process. It is based on using a low number of initial data formed from known statistical data about behavior of the network. The methodology exploits the inequality in AP popularity along the wireless network to estimate traffic load parameters. It is validated using real WLAN traces of a popular SNMP data collection of Dartmouth College. The methodology provides the traffic load estimations the coincide with the results of actual load measurements when initial input are extracted from everyday real WLAN traces. It also provides appropriate results when some of the initial data for the model are formed by averaging over a certain arbitrary long time period.
Fully convolutional multi-scale dense networks for monocular depth estimation

Monocular depth estimation is of vital importance in understanding the 3D geometry of a scene. However, inferring the underlying depth is ill-posed and inherently ambiguous. In this study, two improvements to existing approaches are proposed. One is about a clean improved network architecture, for which the authors extend Densely Connected Convolutional Network (DenseNet) to work as end-to-end fully convolutional multi-scale dense networks. The dense upsampling blocks are integrated to improve the output resolution and selected skip connection is incorporated to connect the downsampling and the upsampling paths efficiently. The other is about edge-preserving loss functions, encompassing the reverse Huber loss, depth gradient loss and feature edge loss, which is particularly suited for estimation of fine details and clear boundaries of objects. Experiments on the NYU-Depth-v2 dataset and KITTI dataset show that the proposed model is competitive to the state-of-the-art methods, achieving 0.506 and 4.977 performance in terms of root mean squared error respectively.
The effect of tyrosine kinase inhibitors used in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia on the cardiovascular system

The use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia has significantly improved the prognosis and outcomes for most patients. Clinical trials indicate that long-term CMl therapy requires the introduction of second- or third-generation inhibitors in approximately 40–50% of cases. Effective in the case of imatinib resistance or intolerance, second generation TKI’s can also be used as a first-line treatment, leading to a faster, and deeper molecular response. TKIs, however, have also been observed to cause significant late adverse effects, including cardiovascular complications, which may raise certain safety concerns. The excellent treatment outcomes achieved with tyrosine kinase inhibitors have led to a gradual increase in the number and age of treated patients, and the associated higher incidence and severity of age-related co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and congestive heart failure, which raise the risk of treatment-related cardiovascular complications. The article discusses the effects of individual TKIs on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular complications and presents the results of clinical trials that studied their impact on the incidence of such events.
Evaluation of F1 Hybrids and their Parents for Growth, Yield and Quality in Cherry Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Var. cerasiforme)

The present study was carried out to estimate the performance of F1 hybrids and their parents for various yield and yield-attributing traits in cherry tomato, at Division of Vegetable Crops, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bengaluru, during the year 2010-11. Among the seven parents used, three parents, namely, IIHR-2866 (yielding 3.03kg/plant), IIHR-2864 (2.87kg/plant) and IIHR-2865 (2.73kg/plant) were found to be high-yielding. Among the 21 F1 hybrids evaluated, three hybrids, namely, IIHR-2754 x IIHR-2860 (4.27kg/plant), followed by IIHR- 2754 x IIHR-2865 (3.97kg/plant) and IIHR-2864 x IIHR-2865 (3.40kg/plant) recorded higher yield than the Check varieties, whereas, three hybrids, viz, IIHR-2754 x IIHR-2865 (54.38t/ha), succeeded by IIHR-2863 x IIHR-2866 (46.46t/ha) and IIHR-2858 x IIHR-2866 (44.79t/ha), recorded higher estimated yield per hectare than the Check varieties. Hybrid IIHR-2754 x IIHR-2860 was found promising for most of the traits studied. The best performing parents can be used for breeding further while, the hybrids can be exploited commercially.
The implementation of a novel open-winding permanent magnetic starter-generator

In order to overcome the difficulties of voltage regulation, narrow speed range and low power factor of the traditional permanent magnetic generator used in the vehicles applications, This document presented the analysis, design and implementation of a novel starter-generator using the open-winding permanent magnetic machine. In the proposed method, one side of the open-winding permanent magnetic machine was connected to the rectifier for the DC output, the other side was connected to the inverter for the regulation of the output voltage. In contrast to the conventional permanent magnetic machine for the vehicle, the generation speed range and efficiency of the proposed machine can be improved. The operation principle of starting and generation was analyzed and a new control algorithm for regulation of the DC voltage and current of machine was developed. The high performances of voltage regulation, wide speed range and power factor are verified by the simulation and experiment results.
Introduction of a new cobalamin (vitamin B12) assay: lessons from a flawed validation study

Abstract Background: Plasma vitamin B12 [cobalamin (Cbl)] concentrations are usually measured as a screening marker for vitamin B12 deficiency. Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics has introduced Cbl assays for various platforms, i.e., the immulite (IML) 2000 and 2500. In our laboratories, regular validation studies for the IML 2500 were conducted and showed acceptable quality specifications. After the introduction of the IML 2500 Cbl assay, clinicians in the department of internal medicine reported an increased frequency of patients with Cbl-concentrations less than 148 pmol/L. Methods: In order to investigate this claim from the clinicians, we retrospectively analyzed the internal and external quality control (QC) of the Cbl assay. In addition, the monthly patient means for the Cbl assay were analyzed both before and after the introduction of the new Cbl assay. Results: No abnormalities were found in the internal and external QCs. However, the monthly patient means for the Cbl assay showed a statistically significant decrease in cobalamin concentrations. Siemens acknowledged the problems and formulated a new Cbl assay, which was subsequently validated in our laboratories and showed equivocal Cbl results when compared to the IML 2000 Cbl assay. Conclusions: We report a flawed validation study conducted by the manufacturer that resulted in an undetected analytical problem in the IML 2500 Cbl assay, its subsequent introduction on the market, the final recognition of the poor performance of the assay by our clinicians, and the eventual resolution by the manufacturer. Hence, it emphasizes the utmost importance for thorough comparison between assays over the entire measurement range, even when both assays are produced by the same manufacturer.
Bioinformatics tools for quantitative and functional metagenome and metatranscriptome data analysis in microbes

Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing approaches are more frequently being used to link microbiota to important diseases and ecological changes. Many analyses have been used to compare the taxonomic and functional profiles of microbiota across habitats or individuals. While a large portion of metagenomic analyses focus on species-level profiling, some studies use strain-level metagenomic analyses to investigate the relationship between specific strains and certain circumstances. Metatranscriptomic analysis provides another important insight into activities of genes by examining gene expression levels of microbiota. Hence, combining metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses will help understand the activity or enrichment of a given gene set, such as drug-resistant genes among microbiome samples. Here, we summarize existing bioinformatics tools of metagenomic and metatranscriptomic data analysis, the purpose of which is to assist researchers in deciding the appropriate tools for their microbiome studies. Additionally, we propose an Integrated Meta-Function mapping pipeline to incorporate various reference databases and accelerate functional gene mapping procedures for both metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses.
Identification of competence pheromone responsive genes in Streptococcus pneumoniae by use of DNA microarrays

Natural genetic transformation in Streptococcus pneumoniae is controlled in part by a quorum‐sensing system mediated by a peptide pheromone called competence‐stimulating peptide (CSP), which acts to coordinate transient activation of genes required for competence. To characterize the transcriptional response and regulatory events occurring when cells are exposed to competence pheromone, we constructed DNA microarrays and analysed the temporal expression profiles of 1817 among the 2129 unique predicted open reading frames present in the S. pneumoniae TIGR4 genome (84%). After CSP stimulation, responsive genes exhibited four temporally distinct expression profiles: early, late and delayed gene induction, and gene repression. At least eight early genes participate in competence regulation including comX, which encodes an alternative sigma factor. Late genes were dependent on ComX for CSP‐induced expression, many playing important roles in transformation. Genes in the delayed class (third temporal wave) appear to be stress related. Genes repressed during the CSP response include ribosomal protein loci and other genes involved in protein synthesis. This study increased the number of identified CSP‐responsive genes from approximately 40 to 188. Given the relatively large number of induced genes (6% of the genome), it was of interest to determine which genes provide functions essential to transformation. Many of the induced loci were subjected to gene disruption mutagenesis, allowing us to establish that among 124 CSP‐inducible genes, 67 were individually dispensable for transformation, whereas 23 were required for transformation.