Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seasonal variation in the biocontrol efficiency of bacterial wilt is driven by temperature‐mediated changes in bacterial competitive interactions

Summary Microbe‐based biocontrol applications hold the potential to become an efficient way to control plant pathogen disease outbreaks in the future. However, their efficiency is still very variable, which could be due to their sensitivity to the abiotic environmental conditions. Here, we assessed how environmental temperature variation correlates with ability of Ralstonia pickettii, an endophytic bacterial biocontrol agent, to suppress the Ralstonia solanacearum pathogen during different tomato crop seasons in China. We found that suppression of the pathogen was highest when the seasonal mean temperatures were around 20 °C and rapidly decreased with increasing mean crop season temperatures. Interestingly, low levels of disease incidence did not correlate with low pathogen or high biocontrol agent absolute densities. Instead, the biocontrol to pathogen density ratio was a more important predictor of disease incidence levels between different crop seasons. To understand this mechanistically, we measured the growth and strength of competition between the biocontrol agent and the pathogen over a naturally occurring temperature gradient in vitro. We found that the biocontrol strain grew relatively faster at low temperature ranges, and the pathogen at high temperature ranges, and that similar to field experiments, pathogen suppression peaked at 20 °C. Together, our results suggest that temperature‐mediated changes in the strength of bacterial competition could potentially explain the variable R. solanacearum biocontrol outcomes between different crop seasons in China. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that abiotic environmental conditions, such as temperature, can affect the efficacy of biocontrol applications. Thus, in order to develop more consistent biocontrol applications in the future, we might need to find and isolate bacterial strains that can retain their functionality regardless of the changing environmental conditions.
The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility Investment, Assurance, and Perceived Fairness on Investors’ Judgments

Although the supply and demand for corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure are increasing (e.g., Simnett et al. 2009a, 2009b) prior studies provide inconclusive evidence as to whether or not CSR disclosures matter to investors (e.g., Margolis et al. 2009; Ioannou and Serafeim 2010). We examine three conditions under which individual investors adjust their stock price assessments in the presence of a positive CSR disclosure. Specifically, we investigate how a company‟s higher or lower level of CSR investment (either top or bottom industry ranking) and the presence or absence of CSR assurance affect an investor‟s judgments about the company. Given that prior research finds that individual perceptions of fairness affects business decision making (e.g., Cohen et al. 2007; Bierstaker et al. 2012), we also examine how the investors‟ perceptions of the outcome fairness of CSR affects investors‟ judgments. We employ a 2 x 2 between-subjects online sequential experiment in which investors provide an initial stock price assessment in the presence of financial information, then provide a revised assessment after viewing the positive CSR disclosure. Consistent with expectations, higher CSR investment and the higher fairness perceptions of CSR are associated with greater stock price assessment revisions, holding constant the positive nature of the CSR disclosure. Further, consistent with attribution theory (e.g., Coram et al. 2009), the upward stock price revisions are greatest with higher CSR investment in the presence of CSR assurance. Implications for CSR research and practice are discussed.
The Transposition of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive in the UK, France and Italy

The aim of this study is to investigate how EU Member States used their discretion in transposing EU Directive n. 2014/95/EU. The Directive provided the opportunity to achieve similar levels of companies’ transparency on social and environmental matters, as well as increasing trust and encouraging more sustainable corporate behaviors. The comparison of the transposition laws in France, Italy, and the UK indicates that significant differences shape company obligations at the country level.
Reduced-Order Electrochemical Model Parameters Identification and SOC Estimation for Healthy and Aged Li-Ion Batteries Part I: Parameterization Model Development for Healthy Batteries

The current phase in our transportation system represents a paradigm shift from conventional, fossil-fuel-based vehicles into the second-generation electric and hybrid vehicles. Electric vehicles (EVs) provide numerous advantages compared with conventional vehicles because they are more efficient, sustainable, greener, and cleaner. The commercial market penetration and success of EVs depend on the efficiency, safety, cost, and lifetime of the traction battery pack. One of the current key electrification challenges is to accurately estimate the battery pack state of charge (SOC) and state of health (SOH), and therefore provide an estimate of the remaining driving range at various battery states of life. To estimate the battery SOC, a high-fidelity battery model along with a robust, accurate estimation strategy is necessary. This paper provides three main contributions: 1) introducing a new SOC parameterization strategy and employing it in setting up optimizer constraints to estimate battery parameters; 2) identification of the full-set of the reduced-order electrochemical battery model parameters by using noninvasive genetic algorithm optimization on a fresh battery; and 3) model validation by using real-world driving cycles. Extensive tests have been conducted on lithium iron phosphate-based cells widely used in high-power automotive applications. Models can be effectively used onboard of battery management system.
Resistance to change of alcohol self-administration: effects of alcohol-delivery rate on disruption by extinction and naltrexone

A common finding in resistance to change research with food-maintained operant behavior is that the persistence of behavior depends on the rate of reinforcement delivered in the context in which the behavior occurs. The present experiment evaluated the effects of rate of response-dependent alcohol delivery on the resistance to change of rats' alcohol self-administration in the face of disruption produced by extinction and a range of doses of naltrexone (1.0, 3.0, 10.0 mg/kg, subcutaneous). Rats responded for a 10% alcohol solution in a multiple schedule of reinforcement arranging a higher rate of alcohol delivery (variable interval 15 s) in the presence of one stimulus and a lower rate of alcohol delivery (variable interval 45 s) in the presence of another stimulus. Baseline response rates and resistance to extinction were higher in the presence of the stimulus associated with higher rates of alcohol delivery. This finding is consistent with studies of the resistance to change of food-maintained behavior. The rate of alcohol delivered in the components, however, did not systematically affect resistance to disruption by naltrexone. One interpretation of this finding from the perspective of behavioral momentum theory is that naltrexone may decrease the impact of alcohol-associated stimuli on the persistence of drinking by reducing sensitivity to the relative reinforcement conditions arranged in the presence of different stimuli.
Combining Web-Based and Mail Surveys Improves Response Rates: A PBRN Study From PRIME Net

PURPOSE The advent of Web-based survey tools has provided the investigator with an alternative to paper-based survey methods that in many instances may be less expensive to implement than traditional paper-based surveys. Newer technology, however, does not diminish the importance of obtaining an adequate response rate. METHODS We analyzed response rate data obtained from a survey implemented across 3 practice-based research networks (PBRNs) in which the survey was first implemented electronically with 5 rounds of electronic solicitation for an Internet-based questionnaire and then by 2 rounds of a paper-based version mailed only to nonresponders. RESULTS Overall, 24% of the total survey responses received were in the paper mode despite intense promotion of the survey in the electronic phase. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest there is still an important role for the use of paper-based methods in PBRN survey research. Both hard copy and electronic survey collection methods may be required to enhance clinician response rates in PBRNs.
A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Phase III Trial of Selegiline Monotherapy for Early Parkinson Disease

Background In Japan, selegiline has been approved for combination therapy with levodopa for Parkinson disease (PD). We conducted a trial of selegiline monotherapy for early PD. Methods In this 12-week controlled phase III trial, a total of 292 subjects were randomized to receive placebo (n = 146) (full analysis set 140) or selegiline (n = 146) (full analysis set 139). The primary outcome measure was the change in the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part I + II + III total score from baseline to the final visit. Other secondary measures and a safety profile were evaluated. Results Selegiline monotherapy reduced the primary outcome measure by −6.26 ± 7.86 compared with the placebo −3.14 ± 6.98 (mean ± SD, P = 0.0005 by analysis of covariance). There was no significant difference in the number of adverse events between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions Selegiline monotherapy reduced the total Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale part I + II + III score and was well tolerated in Japanese patients with early PD.
Relationship between procalcitonin plasma levels and severity of injury, sepsis, organ failure, and mortality in injured patients

Objective: To compare procalcitonin (PCT) plasma levels of injured patients with the incidence and severity of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), infection, and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and to assess the predictive value of PCT for these posttraumatic complications. Design: Retrospective study comparing patients with mechanical trauma in terms of severity of injury, development of infectious complications, and organ dysfunctions. Setting: Level I trauma center with emergency room, intensive care unit, and research laboratory. Patients: Four hundred five injured patients with an Injury Severity Score of ≥9 points were enrolled in this study from January 1994 to February 1996. Interventions: Blood samples were collected on the day of admission and on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 21 thereafter. Measurements and Main Results: We determined PCT serum levels using a specific immunoluminometric assay. We retrospectively evaluated the occurrence of SIRS, sepsis, and MODS using patients’ charts. Mechanical trauma led to increased PCT plasma levels dependent on the severity of injury, with peak values on days 1 and 3 (p < .05) and a continuous decrease within 21 days after trauma. Patients who developed SIRS demonstrated a significant (p < .05) increase of peak PCT plasma levels compared with patients without SIRS. The highest PCT plasma concentrations early after injury were observed in patients with sepsis (6.9 ± 2.5 ng/mL; day 1) or severe MODS (5.7 ± 2.2 ng/mL; day 1) with a sustained increase (p < .05) for 14 days compared with patients with an uneventful posttraumatic course (1.1 ± 0.2 ng/mL). Moreover, these increased PCT plasma levels during the first 3 days after trauma predicted (p < .0001; logistic regression analysis) severe SIRS, sepsis, and MODS. Conclusions: These data indicate that PCT represents a sensitive and predictive indicator of sepsis and severe MODS in injured patients. Routine analysis of PCT levels seems to aid early recognition of these posttraumatic complications. Thus, PCT may represent a useful marker to monitor the inflammatory status of injured patients at risk.
Temperature and soil organic matter decomposition rates – synthesis of current knowledge and a way forward

The response of soil organic matter (OM) decomposition to increasing temperature is a critical aspect of ecosystem responses to global change. The impacts of climate warming on decomposition dynamics have not been resolved due to apparently contradictory results from field and lab experiments, most of which has focused on labile carbon with short turnover times. But the majority of total soil carbon stocks are comprised of organic carbon with turnover times of decades to centuries. Understanding the response of these carbon pools to climate change is essential for forecasting longer‐term changes in soil carbon storage. Herein, we briefly synthesize information from recent studies that have been conducted using a wide variety of approaches. In our effort to understand research to‐date, we derive a new conceptual model that explicitly identifies the processes controlling soil OM availability for decomposition and allows a more explicit description of the factors regulating OM decomposition under different circumstances. It explicitly defines resistance of soil OM to decomposition as being due either to its chemical conformation (quality) or its physico‐chemical protection from decomposition. The former is embodied in the depolymerization process, the latter by adsorption/desorption and aggregate turnover. We hypothesize a strong role for variation in temperature sensitivity as a function of reaction rates for both. We conclude that important advances in understanding the temperature response of the processes that control substrate availability, depolymerization, microbial efficiency, and enzyme production will be needed to predict the fate of soil carbon stocks in a warmer world.
Evaluation of different techniques for breaking seed dormancy of Heliotropium europaeum L. (Boraginaceae).

Prediction of germination and emergence of weeds plays a key role in weed management strategies. For this reason, the seed dormancy status of Heliotropium europaeum (Boraginaceae) was investigated in North West of Iran. The dormancy breaking treatments were after-ripening, gibberellic acid, hot water, KNO3, cold stratification, and washing. Seeds were strongly dormant at maturity and maintained high levels of dormancy for long periods of time. However, after 12 months storage at dry conditions, germination percentage increased to 37%. Washing and hot water treatments did not alter seed dormancy behavior, while the influence of gibberellic acid, KNO3 and cold stratification was significant. The highest value for germination percentage obtained by cold stratification increased the value up to 90%. Results of seedling growth showed that compared to other treatments, the seeds treated by KNO3 produced longer shoots and vigorous seedlings. The high vigor index was also recorded for cold stratification. It is concluded that the seeds of Heliotrope had a high primary dormancy and among treatments, the cold stratification was a more effective method in breaking seed dormancy .
Incentive Policies for Facilitating Knowledge Sharing in an Enterprise Social Network

: This paper examines knowledge sharing in enterprise social network (ESNs) through an analytical model. The structure of an ESN, its underlying technology, and incentives for knowledge workers affect knowledge sharing in organizations. We present a stylized model with two groups of knowledge workers with different knowledge levels. High-knowledge workers vary in their connectivity and sharing costs. We explore the design and efficacy of various incentive policies to facilitate knowledge sharing in ESNs. The different incentive schemes target either specific workers or groups based on connectivity, efficiency, or both. Our research provides valuable insights for practitioners to design incentive policies for promoting knowledge sharing in ESNs.
Investigating vibration dyanmics of cross-coupled MEMS resonators for reduced motional resistance

This paper investigates the vibration dynamics of a closed-chain, cross-coupled architecture of MEMS resonators. The system presented here is electrostatically transduced and operates at 1.04 MHz. Curve veering of the eigenvalue loci is used to experimentally quantify the coupling spring constants. Numerical simulations of the motional resistance variation against induced perturbation are used to assess the robustness of the cross-coupled system as opposed to equivalent traditional open-ended linear one-dimensional coupling scheme. Results show improvements of as much as 32% in the motional resistance between the cross-coupled system and its one-dimensional counterpart.
A Robust Preconditioned Iterative Method for the Navier-Stokes Equations with High Reynolds Numbers

In this paper, we proposed a new solver for the Navier-Stokes equations coming from the channel flow with high Reynolds number. We use the preconditioned Krylov subspace iterative methods such as Generalized Minimum Residual Methods (GMRES). We consider the variation of the Hermitian and Skew-Hermitian splitting to construct the preconditioner. Convergence of the preconditioned iteration is analyzed. We can show that the proposed preconditioner has a robust behavior for the Navier-Stokes problems in variety of models. Numerical experiments show the robustness and efficiency of the preconditioned GMRES for the Navier-Stokes problems with Reynolds numbers up to ten thousands.
Mortality in HIV-Infected and Uninfected Children of HIV-Infected and Uninfected Mothers in Rural Uganda

Objective: To estimate 2-year mortality rates in HIV-1-infected and uninfected infants born to HIV+ and HIV− mothers. Methods: Data are from a prospective study in rural Rakai District, Uganda. Infant HIV status (determined by polymerase chain reaction) was evaluated at 1 to 6 weeks postpartum and during breast-feeding, and maternal HIV viral load and CD4 levels were measured at the postpartum visit. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used to assess survival of infants by maternal and infant HIV status and by quartiles of viral load. Log-rank tests were used to test the equality of survival functions. Results: Of the 4604 pregnant women, 16.9% were HIV+, and the proportion of children infected was 20.9%. Median survival of HIV-infected infants was 23 months. Two-year child mortality rates were 128 of 1000 children born to HIV− mothers, 165.5 of 1000 uninfected children born to HIV+ mothers, and 540.1 of 1000 HIV-infected children (P < 0.0001). Compared with children of HIV− mothers, the hazard of child mortality was 2.04 (P < 0.001) if the mother was HIV+and 3.78 (P < 0.001) if the infant was also infected. In the adjusted model, the highest quartiles of log10 HIV viral load in infants and mothers were associated with significantly increased hazard of child mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 8.54 and HR = 2.50, respectively). Maternal CD4 counts <200 cells/mL were also significant predictors of child mortality (HR = 2.61). A total of 67.6% of HIV-infected children with viral loads above the median died by the age of 2 years and are in need of early antiretroviral therapy (ART). Conclusions: More than half of HIV-infected infants died at less than 2 years of age. Therefore, ART may need to be initiated earlier in HIV-infected African children.
Robust homeostatic control of quadriceps pH during natural locomotor activity in man

It is generally thought that intracellular pH (pHi) of skeletal muscle falls at least 0.5 units during intense activity, but evidence on natural (i.e., voluntary, two‐legged (2L)) locomotor activity in man has exclusively come from invasive studies of upper leg muscle. Here, noninvasive 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P NMRS) was used to study human quadriceps muscle energetics and pHi during incremental bicycling exercise to exhaustion in six normally active subjects. Cellular energy charge (CEC; [PCr]/([PCr]+[Pi])) linearly (r 0.90) dropped 83 ± 3% during ramp exercise to exhaustion from 0.92 ± 0.01 at rest to 0.16 ± 0.03 at maximal sustained work rate (WR) (166±17 W; range: 108–223 W). Surprisingly, pHi likewise dropped linearly (r 0.82) no more than 0.2 units over the entire range of WR between rest and maximal (pHi 7.08±0.01 and 6.84±0.02, respectively). But after termination of exercise pHi dropped rapidly to textbook acidic values of 6.6 explaining classic biopsy results. Comparative coresponse analysis of pHi and CEC changes during 2L‐vs. 1L‐cycling showed that homeostatic control of quadriceps pHi during bicycling is robust and unique to natural locomotor exercise. These results highlight the robustness of the integrative set of physicochemical and physiological control mechanisms in acid–base balance during natural locomotor activity in man.
Alternative Trading Systems' impacts on depth and informed trading

This study investigates the impact of Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) on depth and the probability of informed trading (PIN). The probability of informed trading and VNET, a metric of depth that determines the net directional volume necessary to induce a price change or return, are estimated for volume-matched samples of New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq listed firms. Trade and quote data are obtained for two time periods before, and two time periods following, the introduction of trading in decimals on January 29,2001 and April 19, 2001 for the NYSE and Nasdaq, respectively. The data are used to estimate VNET and the probability of informed trading through time for the NYSE and Nasdaq matched portfolios, separating the impact of decimalization on VNET and the probability of informed trading. Estimates of the immediate effect of decimalization on market depth show VNET decreased on the NYSE from pre­ decimalization 2001 to post-decimalization 2001. However, decimalization caused no immediate impact on depth on the Nasdaq. Over the year following decimalization, VNET increased on the Nasdaq, but decreased on the NYSE. The impact of A TS on depth for Nasdaq listed companies has been significant. Higher proportions of quote activity through ECNs are related to increased depth. On the other hand, higher proportions of trading through SelectNet are related to decreased depth · and increased spreads. I find a positive relationship exists between the probability of informed trading and the proportion of trades from SOES and SelectNet, and a negative relationship with ECN quotation activity. Therefore, informed traders' decisions of order execution venue
MicroRNA-33 encoded by an intron of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (Srebp2) regulates HDL in vivo

Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2) transcription factor has been identified as a key protein in cholesterol metabolism through the transactivation of the LDL receptor and cholesterol biosynthesis genes. Here, we generated mice lacking microRNA (miR)-33, encoded by an intron of the Srebp2, and showed that miR-33 repressed the expression of ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) protein, a key regulator of HDL synthesis by mediating cholesterol efflux from cells to apolipoprotein A (apoA)-I. In fact, peritoneal macrophages derived from miR-33–deficient mice showed a marked increase in ABCA1 levels and higher apoA-I–dependent cholesterol efflux than those from WT mice. ABCA1 protein levels in liver were also higher in miR-33–deficient mice than in WT mice. Moreover, miR-33–deficient mice had significantly higher serum HDL cholesterol levels than WT mice. These data establish a critical role for miR-33 in the regulation of ABCA1 expression and HDL biogenesis in vivo.