Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Costs to host defence and the persistence of parasitic cuckoos

Raising genetically unrelated young is maladaptive, yet brood parasitism is widespread in birds. In several systems, hosts can evolve near-perfect defences against the parasite (discrimination and rejection of unlike eggs), making it difficult to understand how the parasite continues to exist. This study demonstrates costs to host defences (e.g. rejection of one’s own eggs) such that once the parasite goes extinct on a particular host species, defence mechanisms are selectively disadvantageous. The consequent loss of host defences, and potential for re-exploitation of the host by the parasite, can explain the continued persistence of avian brood parasites. The results provide one general explanation for coexistence of parasites and their hosts.
Family structure is associated with oral pain in 12-year-old Greek schoolchildren.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence, associated correlates and impact of oral pain in 12-year-old schoolchildren in Stayroypoli, Greece. DESIGN AND METHOD Cross-sectional survey of all schoolchildren attending the last year of government primary schools using self-administered questionnaires. Approval was granted by the Greek Ministry of Education and Religion. Cooperation was obtained from the schools. Children whose parents did not refuse their participation were invited to complete a questionnaire. Oral pain prevalence was estimated and association with sociodemographic/economic factors tested. Associations between pain experience and impact on daily activities were examined. RESULTS Of the 296 children registered, 225 (76.0%) were present on the days data were collected. Usable questionnaires were completed by 187 children (83.1%). Oral pain in the previous 4 weeks, reported by 70 (37.4%), was more likely to affect children living with one parent/other people (OR 3.0, 95% CI = 1.2-7.4, P = 0.013) and those who brushed less than twice a day (OR 2.8, 1.5-5.2, P = 0.001). Impact on daily activities was reported by 64 children (91.4%). The most commonly stated impacts were eating (40.0%), cleaning teeth (25.7%) and sleeping (18.6%). CONCLUSIONS Oral pain prevalence was high in 12-year-old schoolchildren in Stayroypoli, is associated with family structure, and impacts substantially on daily activities.
Correlates of Environmental Behaviors

Surveys are an efficient and convenient means of collecting data on individuals’ environmental concerns and environmental behaviors, two domains between which a tenuous relationship is often observed. One aspect of tenuousness is addressed by identifying distinct subdimensions of self-reported private environmental behaviors. Survey methods more often than not fail to account for the social context within which individuals are environmentally concerned and behave in an environmentally friendly way. The problem of social context is addressed by developing a measure of social networks that includes participation, volunteering, and face-to-face contact with friends in environmental organizations. Evidence is taken from surveys among organized environmentalists and the general population in Norway in 1995 (N = 3,111). Social context is the only variable that significantly augments environmental behaviors across all subdimensions. Its effect is comparable to sociodemography, political attitudes, and environmental knowledge and concern combined.
Design of microstrip patch antennas with parasitic elements for minimized polarization mismatch

This paper proposes the design of microstrip patch antennas to minimize the polarization mismatch. The proposed antenna consists of a circular radiating patch and multiple parasitic elements. The number, length, and angular positions of the parasitic elements are adjusted to vary the antenna polarization as well as the orientation of the main axis. To demonstrate the feasibility, we design two sample antennas with different axial ratios and the orientation angles. The first sample antenna has linear polarization with a orientation angle of 0°, and the second sample antenna is elliptically polarized with a orientation angle of 5°. The results prove that the proposed antenna can adjust the polarization in the entire range of the axial ratio with the capability of rotating the orientation angle.
Malignant pleural mesothelioma: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

P. Baas1,2, D. Fennell3, K. M. Kerr4, P. E. Van Schil5, R. L. Haas6 & S. Peters7, on behalf of the ESMO Guidelines Committee* Department of Thoracic Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam; The Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Medical Oncology, University of Leicester, Leicester; Department of Pathology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK; Department of Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Radiation Oncology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Medical Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
Rupture of a Surfactant-Covered Thin Liquid Film on a Flexible Wall

The rupture of a surfactant-covered thin liquid film on a flexible wall is studied in this paper. Evolution equations for the deflections of the air-liquid and wall-liquid interfaces and surfactant surface concentration are derived using lubrication theory, and their linear and nonlinear stability characteristics are investigated. Our linear stability results indicate that increases in the level of damping, the longitudinal wall tension, and the relative magnitude of Marangoni stresses have a stabilizing influence. Numerical simulations of the evolution equations are used to investigate the nonlinear characteristics of the instability. In all cases considered, the surfactant concentration decreases in the rupture region as rupture is approached, and the resulting Marangoni flows retard but do not prevent rupture. Self-similar rupture is examined and power-law scalings are extracted for different parameter values. These appear to be unchanged from those for rigid substrates, evidently because the van der Waals forces that drive the instability dominate the rupture dynamics.
Is game farming really all that bad? - follow-up.

Mr. R. Judd Bunnage and I published an opinion on the merits of game farming in the Canadian Veterinary Journal, February 1991 (1). This letter is intended to correct an unintended inaccuracy in our remarks on disease, particularly concerning the recent outbreak of bovine tuberculosis in Canadian game-ranched elk. We stated "Some would blame game farmers for the tuberculosis situation, but it developed due to imported animals". Although some of the involved animals had originated in a United States herd that was not accurate to state that there was a breakdown in Canada's disease screening procedure for imported animals. Test and isolation procedures applied to elk imported from the United States were as stringent as those that allowed the safe importation of thousands of US cattle over the years. Imported elk were tuberculin tested twice in the USA (2), whereas cattle are subjected to only a single test. Certification of their freedom from exposure to disease, during the pre-exportation period, was equivalent. Given the recent knowledge of the apparently deteriorating tuberculosis status of US game farms, Agriculture Canada has placed a complete embargo on the importation of game-ranched species until a protocol can be developed to eliminate any risk of importing the disease.
Optical-Damage-Resistant Ti-Diffused LiNbO3 Strip Waveguide Doped With Scandium

We report Sc3+-doped Ti:LiNbO3 (Ti:Sc:LN) strip waveguide fabricated by Ti-diffusion following homogeneous Sc3+-diffusion-doping in a Z-cut congruent substrate. We show that Sc3+-doping has little contribution to the substrate index and the Li2O out-diffusion was effectively suppressed. The refractive index increases in the waveguide layer are mainly contributed from the Ti4+ dopants. The waveguide well supports both transverse electric (TE) and magnetic (TM) modes, is single-mode at 1.5-μm wavelength, and has a loss of 1.4 dB/cm for the TE mode and 1.8 dB/cm for the TM mode. A secondary ion mass spectrometry study shows that the Sc3+-profile covers 80% ordinary refractive index profile and almost 100% extraordinary refractive index profile, and the 1/e Sc3+ concentration is above the threshold of photorefractive effect. Further, two-beam hologram recording experimental results verify the optical-damage-resistant feature of the waveguide. Highlights are given for fabrication of an optical-damage-resistant Ti:Sc:LN waveguide.
Peripheral organization and central projections of the electrosensory nerves in gymnotiform fish

The electrosensory system of weakly electric gymnotiform fish is described from the receptor distribution on the body surface to the termination of the primary afferentsin the posterior lateral line lobe (PLLL). There are two types of electroreceptor(ampullary and tuberous) and a single type of lateral line mechanoreceptor (neuromast). Receptor counts in Apteronotus albifronsshow that (1) neuromasts are distributed as in other teleosts; (2) ampullary receptors number 151 on one side of the head and 208 on one side of the body; (3) tuberous receptors were estimated to number 3,000‐3,500 on one side of the head and 3,500‐5,000 on one side of the body. The distribution of each receptor type is described.
The inositol polyphosphate 5‐phosphatase OCRL1 restricts intracellular growth of Legionella, localizes to the replicative vacuole and binds to the bacterial effector LpnE

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, replicates within a specific vacuole in amoebae and macrophages. To form these ‘Legionella‐containing vacuoles’ (LCVs), the bacteria employ the Icm/Dot type IV secretion system and effector proteins, some of which anchor to the LCV membrane via the host glycolipid phosphatidylinositol 4‐phosphate [PtdIns(4)P]. Here we analysed the role of inositol polyphosphate 5‐phosphatases (IP5Ps) during L. pneumophila infections. Bacterial replication and LCV formation occurred more efficiently in Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae lacking the IP5P Dd5P4, a homologue of human OCRL1 (Oculocerebrorenal syndrome of Lowe), implicated in retrograde endosome to Golgi trafficking. The phenotype was complemented by Dd5P4 but not the catalytically inactive 5‐phosphatase. Ectopically expressed Dd5P4 or OCRL1 localized to LCVs in D. discoideum via an N‐terminal domain previously not implicated in membrane targeting, and OCRL1 was also identified on LCVs in macrophages. Dd5P4 was catalytically active on LCVs and accumulated on LCVs harbouring wild‐type but not ΔicmT mutant L. pneumophila. The N‐terminal domain of OCRL1 bound L. pneumophila LpnE, a Sel1‐like repeat protein involved in LCV formation, which localizes to LCVs and selectively binds PtdIns(3)P. Our results indicate that OCRL1 restricts intracellular growth of L. pneumophila and binds to LCVs in association with LpnE.
Selected Confirmed, Probable, and Exploratory Migraine Biomarkers

From Harvard Medical School and the John R. Graham Headache Centre, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospital, Boston, MA (Dr. Loder); Molecular Neurology Program, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, CA (Mr. Harrington); Division of Headache, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (Dr. Cutrer); Headache & Pain Unit, Neurology Department, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland (Dr. Sandor); and Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands (Mr. De Vries).
Processing of Form: Further Evidence for the Necessity of Attention

Using the materials and general procedure described by Rock and Gutman (1981), 160 subjects were required to attend selectively to a series of 10 red or green outlines of two overlapping contours. Immediately afterwards, six groups of 20 subjects were administered various kinds of recognition tests involving attended, unattended, or new figures, and two groups of 20 were asked to provide affect ratings of the test stimuli. Consistent with the findings of Rock and Gutman in 1981, attended outlines were selected as old more often than unattended or new ones. Although some data in a single-stimulus condition suggested that the unattended forms were “discriminated negatively,” this effect was not replicated with forced-choice testing. Over-all, there was little evidence that, on unattended forms, subjects were significantly more accurate, differentially confident or displayed more liking than on new ones. These results are interpreted as supporting the view that attention is required for the cognitive representation of form.
Toll-like receptor 4 senses oxidative stress mediated by the oxidation of phospholipids in extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles from patients with rheumatoid arthritis stimulate inflammation in a TLR4-dependent manner. Stressing out TLR4 In addition to bacterial products like lipopolysaccharide (LPS), endogenous molecules released in response to sterile inflammation activate Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). Sterile inflammation contributes to chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Indeed, mice with defective TLR4 signaling are protected from RA. Manček-Keber et al. found that extracellular vesicles (membrane-encapsulated particles) from the serum of RA patients, but not healthy controls, contained oxidized phospholipids and stimulated the TLR4-dependent expression of genes encoding inflammatory cytokines in cells. Cells expressing TLR4 mutants that cannot be activated by LPS also failed to respond to vesicles from RA patients, suggesting that these vesicles signal conditions of oxidative stress to stimulate inflammation. Oxidative stress produced in response to infection or sterile injury activates the innate immune response. We found that extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from the plasma of patients with rheumatoid arthritis or secreted from cells subjected to oxidative stress contained oxidized phospholipids that stimulated cells expressing Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in a manner dependent on its co-receptor MD-2. EVs from healthy subjects or reconstituted synthetic EVs subjected to limited oxidation gained the ability to stimulate TLR4-expressing cells, whereas prolonged oxidation abrogated this property. Furthermore, we found that 15-lipoxygenase generated hydro(pero)xylated phospholipids that stimulated TLR4-expressing cells. Molecular modeling suggested that the mechanism of activation of TLR4 by oxidized phospholipids in EVs was structurally similar to that of the TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This was supported by experiments showing that EV-mediated stimulation of cells required MD-2, that mutations that block LPS binding to TLR4 abrogated the stimulatory effect of EVs, and that EVs induced TLR4 dimerization. On the other hand, analysis of gene expression profiles showed that genes encoding factors that resolve inflammation were more abundantly expressed in responses to EVs than in response to LPS. Together, these data suggest that EVs act as an oxidative stress–induced endogenous danger signal that underlies the pervasive role of TLR4 in inflammatory diseases.
End-to-End Learning of Semantic Grasping

We consider the task of semantic robotic grasping, in which a robot picks up an object of a user-specified class using only monocular images. Inspired by the two-stream hypothesis of visual reasoning, we present a semantic grasping framework that learns object detection, classification, and grasp planning in an end-to-end fashion. A "ventral stream" recognizes object class while a "dorsal stream" simultaneously interprets the geometric relationships necessary to execute successful grasps. We leverage the autonomous data collection capabilities of robots to obtain a large self-supervised dataset for training the dorsal stream, and use semi-supervised label propagation to train the ventral stream with only a modest amount of human supervision. We experimentally show that our approach improves upon grasping systems whose components are not learned end-to-end, including a baseline method that uses bounding box detection. Furthermore, we show that jointly training our model with auxiliary data consisting of non-semantic grasping data, as well as semantically labeled images without grasp actions, has the potential to substantially improve semantic grasping performance.
Condensation of Reverse Engineered UML Diagrams by Using the Semantic Web Technologies

Up-to-date software design documentation is valuable for maintenance engineers, testers and developers joining a project at a later stage; however, UML Models, e.g. class diagrams, are often poorly kept up-to-date during development and maintenance. Reverse engineering, therefore, has become a popular method to recover an up-todate design from the underlying source code. However current techniques yet produce a detailed representation of the underlying source code that would reduce the understandability. In order for the understandability to enhance, condensation of the reverse engineered diagrams has been proposed as a solution. However, current state-ofthe-art approaches in this area still demand a need for improving or alternative approaches. Consistently, in this paper we are putting forward a bridging idea of using the semantic web technologies for improving the condensation process. Two contributions are proposed that support each other. Firstly, the V-Ontmodel is suggested for updating software documentation over the software evolution. Secondly, a general architecture is proposed enabling us to reduce sophisticated analysis tasks for the condensation process of class diagrams to a few queries in SPARQL or its extensions like SPARQL-ML. To discuss the feasibility of the approach we focus on the condensation of reverse engineered class diagrams in the whole paper. Finally, an illustration example is presented in which helper classes are excluded from the class diagrams in the condensation process regarding the structural patterns extracted from the software metadata.
Las motivaciones empresariales de los inmigrantes argentinos en España

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar si los empresarios inmigrantes de paises en desarrollo responden al estereotipo de empresario por "necesidad" definido en las estadisticas internacionales de los paises desarrollados. Para ello se realizaron 214 encuestas a empresarios argentinos radicados en Espana indagando en la motivacion para crear una empresa, la experiencia laboral previa a emigrar y el tipo de emprendimiento que realizan. Los resultados muestran que existe una gran heterogeneidad en los proyectos migratorios que se relacionan con sus caracteristicas personales, sus motivaciones y recursos y el desempeno empresarial. Estos resultados proponen redefinir los conceptos de "oportunidad"/"necesidad" de tal modo que permitan captar el verdadero impacto de las actividades empresariales implementadas por inmigrantes de paises en desarrollo en las economias desarrolladas.
Pervasive real-time intelligent system for tracking critical events in intensive care patients

Nowadays it is fundamental in critical areas as is Intensive Medicine to have intelligent systems that are able to support the decision making process (DMP) giving important information in the right moment. Some of the biggest problems faced by such systems are related both to the number and the different types of data sources present in Intensive Care Units (ICU). Even though in such a setting the values for some variables are easy to collect, data collection is still performed manually for some others. In order to help the DMP in ICU, a Pervasive Intelligent Decision Support System, called INTCare was deployed in the ICU of Centro Hospitalar do Porto in Portugal. This system changed the way of the information is collected and presented. Taking advantage of the change of the environment and the data acquisition system, a system for critical events tracking was developed as the use of information regarding critical events to support decision making in Intensive Care Units is considered very useful. The tracking system was deployed in a particular module of INTCare – Electronic Nursing Record (ENR) and it is accessible anywhere and anytime. The system allows for the calculation of the critical events regarding five variables that are usually monitored in an ICU. Moreover, this system is composed by a grid that shows the events by type and duration, a warning system to alert the doctors and intuitive graphics that allow them to follow the patient evolution. User acceptance was measured through a questionnaire designed in accordance with the Technology Acceptance Methodology (TAM). This paper presents the tracking system, its interface and the results achieved with TAM.
Decentralized Multi-Area Dynamic Economic Dispatch Using Modified Generalized Benders Decomposition

Fluctuations in wind power in geographically distributed areas are typically complementary, and therefore a coordinated multi-area dynamic economic dispatch may enable greater wind power penetration in interconnected power systems. Here we describe a decentralized approach based on a modified generalized Benders decomposition in which locally optimal cost function of each area is introduced. The technique exhibits rapid convergence and does not require parameter tuning. It is suitable for multi-area interconnected systems with a hierarchical control architecture. Comparative numerical simulations demonstrate that the performance of our method is favorable in terms of accuracy, convergence and computational efficiency. A case study on a real power system is also carried out to demonstrate the potential of this technique to increase wind power penetration.
T/R modules for airborne radar: the challenges ahead

European ESCAN airborne radar has now reached a stage of maturity which has realised significant performance improvements with high reliability and affordable costs. T/R modules, as a key element of these ESCAN radars, have also firmly evolved out of the development laboratory and initial production stage into radar production. Achievement of adequate technical performance for T/R modules is now assumed as given, as the focus now shifts to the need to achieve lower cost, weight, repeatability and reliability in volume manufacture. This paper discusses methods of realisation of these key drivers - drivers that enable successful transfer to large scale production (> 100,000 modules/year) in the medium term.