Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Food regimes and their trade links: A socio-ecological perspective

Abstract The concept of food regimes has become a prominent theory in political economy. We here provide socio-ecological underpinning of the food regimes theory and thereby connect it closer to an ecological economics perspective. We quantify physical trade with main agricultural commodities between world regions from the mid-19th century to 2016 and ask how trade patterns relate to issues of resource use, in particular, to land use, soil fertility and the energetic basis of agriculture. Agricultural exports rose from a few million t/yr around 1870 to 1.4 billion t/yr in 2016. Growth in trade and production did not follow a continuous trend, periods of accelerated growth alternating with phases of relative stability can be distinguished. Rather than directed modernization we observe shifts in unequal relations of power, physical exchange and environmental pressure between changing centers and peripheries. The periods of growth in trade match with the periodization of food regimes. We find that regime shifts are closely related to changes in societies energy metabolism, in the resource base of agricultural production and also to agro-ecological crisis. Our analysis emphasizes that food regimes not only reflect changes in power relations in the world system, but also changes in societies natural relations.
Source–sink dynamics shape the evolution of antibiotic resistance and its pleiotropic fitness cost

Understanding the conditions that favour the evolution and maintenance of antibiotic resistance is the central goal of epidemiology. A crucial feature explaining the adaptation to harsh, or ‘sink’, environments is the supply of beneficial mutations via migration from a ‘source’ population. Given that antibiotic resistance is frequently associated with antagonistic pleiotropic fitness costs, increased migration rate is predicted not only to increase the rate of resistance evolution but also to increase the probability of fixation of resistance mutations with minimal fitness costs. Here we report in vitro experiments using the nosocomial pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa that support these predictions: increasing rate of migration into environments containing antibiotics increased the rate of resistance evolution and decreased the associated costs of resistance. Consistent with previous theoretical work, we found that resistance evolution arose more rapidly in the presence of a single antibiotic than two. Evolution of resistance was also more rapid when bacteria were subjected to sequential exposure with two antibiotics (cycling therapy) compared with simultaneous exposure (bi-therapy). Furthermore, pleiotropic fitness costs of resistance to two antibiotics were higher than for one antibiotic, and were also higher under bi-therapy than cycling therapy, although the cost of resistance depended on the order of the antibiotics through time. These results may be relevant to the clinical setting where immigration is known to be important between chemotherapeutically treated patients, and demonstrate the importance of ecological and evolutionary dynamics in the control of antibiotic resistance.
A comparative study of the microbiologic effectiveness of chemical disinfectants and peroxide-neutralizer systems.

We evaluated the antimicrobial activity of chemical and hydrogen peroxide-neutralizer contact lens disinfection systems. The acute activity, storage, and recontamination potential of the two disinfection methods were compared by challenging the disinfectants with Staphylococcus spp. , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Candida spp. , and Aspergillus fumigatus. Chemical disinfectants preserved with polyquaternium-1 and polyhexamethylene biguanide and hydrogen peroxide-neutralizer systems with no additional preservatives were tested. Additionally, lens cases from patients using both systems were evaluated. Lens cases from patients using peroxide-neutralizer systems tended toward heavier contamination (31.8%) than the cases disinfected with a chemical system (20.3%, P = 0.16). The laboratory results showed that the differences in activity of chemical and peroxide-neutralizer systems was not statistically significant at the disinfection times against Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. marcescens, Candida parapsilosis, and A. fumigatus (P = 0.1037 to P = 0.5412). A statistical difference was shown against C. albicans (P = 0.0176) in favor of the peroxide-neutralizer systems. The reverse was true during storage. Although the chemical disinfectants maintained the population of microorganisms, the bacteria and yeast increased to over 10(7) CFU/mL in neutralized peroxide systems. Overall, the results emphasize the importance of contact lens products containing preservatives for lasting protection from microorganisms.
TFIIA induces conformational changes in TFIID via interactions with the basic repeat

DNA-binding studies with Saccharomyces cerevisiae TFIID point mutants indicated that TFIIA interacts with the basic repeat region of TFIID and induces structural changes. The latter was shown by the ability of TFIIA to compensate for TFIID point mutants defective for DNA binding. Interaction with TFIIA also rendered TFIID binding temperature independent, thus mimicking the effect of removing the nonconserved N terminus of TFIID. In addition, N-terminal truncation of the TFIID point mutants defective for DNA binding mimicked the ability of TFIIA to restore DNA binding of those mutants. Taken together, these results suggest that TFIIA enhances TFIID binding to DNA by eliminating an otherwise inhibitory effect of the nonconserved N terminus of TFIID. Furthermore, analyses of TFIID contact points on DNA and binding studies with TATA-containing oligonucleotide probes showed that TFIIA decreases the effect of sequences flanking the adenovirus major late TATA element on TFIID binding to DNA, suggesting a possible role of TFIIA in allowing TFIID to recognize a wider variety of promoters.
Robust force sensorless control in motion control system

This paper describes robust force sensorless control system in motion control. Motion control technology has been contributed to a variety of industrial applications. The achievement of force control is one of the deep technical issues in motion control and industrial applications. Force control has been researched for more than four decades. Generally, force sensor has been utilized in force control. However, a force sensor has certain disadvantages and prevents the realization of precise force control. Especially, sensor noise causes degradation on control performance. Thus, force sensorless control has been developed. Here, both performances of a force control system with force sensor and force sensorless control system are observed in experiments. In addition, external forces are classified into reaction forces and action forces. Most force control systems are targets of reaction force control. However, action force control system is required to adopt to more variety applications. Thus, at first, reaction force control system and action force control system are described. In addition, the relationship between both force control system and control stiffness is expressed. Control stiffness is a performance index of motion control. Control stiffness is then used to evaluate the performance of both force control system. Experimental results are presented the behavior of reaction force control and action control
Managing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Deficiency in the Skeletally Immature Individual: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Objective: To perform a systematic review of the literature to answer whether early ACL reconstruction for a skeletally immature individuals result in improved outcome compared with nonsurgical treatment or delaying the reconstruction until skeletal maturity in the pediatric athlete. Data Sources: Articles were restricted to the English language, and 6 databases were searched (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, ACP Journal Club, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews). The following keywords were used: anterior cruciate ligament, ACL, child, immature, pediatric, pediatric, and young. Selection Criteria: All studies examining the ACL reconstruction in skeletally immature individuals, including citations describing complications. Excluded were articles looking at ACL repairs and ACL avulsion injuries. All types of study design, including review articles, were included. Comparative studies were reviewed in detail and analyzed qualitatively. Data Extraction and Synthesis: A total of 615 articles were identified. Sixty-six articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. There were no articles with levels of evidence better than level III. The majority of the articles represented case series and reviews with expert opinion. Results: There were 7 articles that provided comparisons between surgical and nonsurgical treatment in order to answer the question. Conclusions: The study designs are inadequate to answer the question of whether early or delayed ACL reconstruction results in the best possible outcome in skeletally immature individuals. Future prospective studies are required to answer the question adequately. A proposed algorithm was described to deal with the question.
Sequence characterization of Ndelle virus genome segments 1, 5, 7, 8, and 10: evidence for reassignment to the genus Orthoreovirus, family Reoviridae.

The full-length nucleotide sequences of genome segments 1, 5, 7, 8 and 10 from Ndelle virus (NDEV) have been characterized. Comparison of the deduced protein amino acid sequences with those of other member viruses of the family Reoviridae demonstrates that NDEV was originally assigned incorrectly to the genus Orbivirus (aa identity values of <20%). In contrast, high levels of amino acid identity were found with members of the species Mammalian orthoreovirus (MRV); for example, amino acid identity in gamma3(Pol) is between 91 and 97%. These findings, together with previous antigenic analyses, provide evidence that NDEV should be reclassified as a new serotype (designated MRV-4) within the Mammalian orthoreovirus species.
Dynamics of Gastrovascular Circulation in the Hydrozoan Podocoryne carnea: the One-Polyp Case.

Time-lapse video microscopy and image analysis algorithms were used to generate high-resolution time series of the length and volume of a single hydrozoan polyp before and after feeding. A polyp of Podocoryne carnea prior to feeding is effectively static in length and volume. At 20{deg}C, feeding elicits 8-millihertz (mHz) oscillations in polyp length and volume. A polyp connected to a colony by a single stolon displayed an abrupt transition from low-amplitude, 8-mHz oscillations to large-amplitude, 6-mHz oscillations at 1.5-2 h after feeding. The transition was preceded by a substantial decrease in polyp volume and increase in length which coincided with the export of food items from the digestive cavity of the polyp into the colonial gastrovascular system. In contrast, 8-mHz oscillations of a polyp isolated from a colony continued for 12.7 h after feeding, at which time particulates from the digestive cavity were exported into the hydrorhiza and a 4-mHz subharmonic became briefly dominant. Regular oscillatory behavior was terminated by regurgitation at comparable intervals post-feeding in coupled and isolated polyps. These observations are compatible with the hypothesis that the presence of nutrients in the digestive cavity induces polyp oscillations and that release of nutrients into the gastrovascular system similarly induces unfed polyps to oscillate, thereby distributing the contents of the fed polyp throughout the colony.
Disease threats posed by alien species: the role of a poxvirus in the decline of the native red squirrel in Britain

Red squirrels are declining in the United Kingdom. Competition from, and squirrel poxvirus (SQPV) disease carried by, grey squirrels are assumed to be determining the decline. We analyse the incidence of disease and changes in distribution of the two species in Cumbria, from 1993 to 2003 and compare these to the predictions of an individual-based (IB) spatially explicit disease model simulating the dynamics of both squirrel species and SQPV in the landscape. Grey squirrels increased whilst red squirrels declined over 10 years. The incidence of disease in red squirrels was related to the time since grey squirrels arrived in the landscape. Analysis of rates of decline in red squirrel populations in other areas showed that declines are 17–25 times higher in regions where SQPV is present in grey squirrel populations than in those where it is not. The IB model predicted spatial overlap of 3–4 years between the species that was also observed in the field. The model predictions matched the observed data best when contact rates and rates of infection between the two species were low. The model predicted that a grey squirrel population control of >60% effective kill was needed to stop the decline in red squirrel populations in Cumbria.
Severing all ties between mother and daughter: cell separation in budding yeast

At the end of nuclear division in the budding yeast, acto‐myosin ring contraction and cytokinesis occur between mother and daughter cells. This is followed by cell separation, after which mother and daughter cells go their separate ways. While cell separation may be the last event that takes place between the two cells, it is nonetheless under tight regulation which ensures that both cells are viable upon separation. It is becoming increasingly clear that the components of the cell separation machinery are controlled at various levels, including the temporal and spatial regulation of the genes encoding for the components and the specific localization of the components to the neck. In addition, these regulatory controls are co‐ordinated with exit from mitosis, thereby placing a mechanistic link between the end of mitosis and cell separation. More importantly, the success of the cell separation event is contingent upon the presence of a trilaminar septum, whose assembly is dependent on a host of proteins which localize to the neck over the span of one cell division cycle.
How many genes are needed to make a pollen tube? Lessons from transcriptomics.

BACKGROUND Pollen is the male gametophyte of higher plants. Upon pollination, it germinates and develops into a fast-growing cytoplasmic extension, the pollen tube, which ultimately delivers the sperm into the ovary. The biological relevance of its role, and the uniqueness of this kind of cellular organization, have made pollen the focus of many approaches, and it stands today as one of the best-known models in plant cell biology. In contrast, the genetic background of its development has been until recently largely unknown. Some genes involved have been described and a few functional mutants have been characterized, but only to a limited extent and allowing only a limited understanding of the regulatory mechanisms. Yet, being a relatively simple organ (2 or 3 cells), pollen stands as an excellent target for molecular-biology-based approaches. RECENT PROGRESS Recent studies on Arabidopsis thaliana have characterized the transcriptional profile of pollen grains and microgametogenesis in comparison to sporophytic tissues. They underline the unique characteristics of pollen, not only in terms of a strongly reduced set of genes being expressed, but also in terms of the functions of the proteins encoded and the pathways they are involved in. These approaches have expanded the number of genes with known expression in pollen from a few hundred to nearly eight thousand. While for the first time allowing systems and/or gene-family approaches, this information also expands dramatically the possibility of hypothesis-driven experimentation based on specific gene function predictions. Recent studies reveal this to be the case in, for example, transcriptional regulation, cell-cycle progression and gene-silencing mechanisms in mature pollen.
Ras Protein/cAMP-dependent Protein Kinase Signaling Is Negatively Regulated by a Deubiquitinating Enzyme, Ubp3, in Yeast*

Background: Ras proteins are important molecular switches. RasGAP is an essential negative regulator of Ras, and its activity is controlled by ubiquitination. Results: RasGAP interacts with a deubiquitinating enzyme, Ubp3. Disrupting Ubp3 activity leads to accumulation of ubiquitinated RasGAP and hyperactivation of Ras signaling. Conclusion: Appropriate deubiquitination of RasGAP by Ubp3 is important for Ras signaling. Significance: This study reveals a new layer of mechanism that regulates Ras. Ras proteins and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase A, PKA) are important components of a nutrient signaling pathway that mediates cellular responses to glucose in yeast. The molecular mechanisms that regulate Ras/PKA-mediated signaling remain to be fully understood. Here, we provide evidence that Ras/PKA signaling is negatively regulated by a deubiquitinating enzyme, Ubp3. Disrupting the activity of Ubp3 leads to hyperactivation of PKA, as evidenced by much enhanced phosphorylation of PKA substrates, decreased accumulation of glycogen, larger cell size, and increased sensitivity to heat shock. Levels of intracellular cAMP and the active forms of Ras proteins are also elevated in the ubp3Δ mutant. Consistent with a possibility that the increased cAMP is responsible for the abnormal signaling behavior of the ubp3Δ mutant, overexpressing PDE2, which encodes a phosphodiesterase that hydrolyzes cAMP, significantly relieves the cell size increase and heat shock sensitivity of the mutant. Further analysis reveals that Ubp3 interacts with a Ras GTPase-accelerating protein, Ira2, and regulates its level of ubiquitination. Together, our data indicate that Ubp3 is a new regulator of the Ras/PKA signaling pathway and suggest that Ubp3 regulates this pathway by controlling the ubiquitination of Ras GTPase-accelerating protein Ira2.
Genetic Engineering Development and Acceptance in Sub Saharan Africa: Stakeholders and Public Opinion about GMO

Many researchers and policymakers have brought about different solutions to the global issue of food insecurity. The limitations of providing sustainable resolutions to avert poverty and hunger in Africa have being tackled in diverse ways and has generated a number of controversies in the region. This paper aims to investigate issues pertaining to GE development and production in Sub Saharan Africa and to unearth and propose solutions to challenges restricting the development and production of GE crops in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) by examining the opinions of policymakers and the general public in selected number of countries. A qualitative approach of interviews was employed to gain an understanding from different perspectives. A survey conducted in four Sub-Saharan African countries; Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and South Africa revealed that, people are confident that GMO could solve the current agronomic problems but the fear of its potential harm on the environment and health is what deters them. Also, regulatory requirements are emerging as crucial hindrances to many of these countries. However, the study touched briefly on the potential of GMO solving these agronomic problems hence further research should emphasize the potential of GMO soling non-agronomic problems. Also, due to the busy schedule of many relevant stakeholders and respondents, it was difficult to get hold of them to be interviewed.
Single-channel blind equalization for GSM cellular systems

This paper focuses on the study of blind equalization global system for mobile communications (GSM) systems using a single antenna. In order to utilize the well-known linear system model in conventional studies of blind equalization, an equivalent baseband quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) approximation is used for the nonlinear GMSK signal in GSM systems. Since the GMSK signal in GSM has very little excess bandwidth to warrant oversampling, a derotation scheme is developed to create two subchannels for each received GMSK signal sampled at the baud rate. Linear approximation of the GMSK signal makes the traditional QAM blind equalization system model applicable for GSM. Derotation induces channel diversity without an additional antenna and reduces the number of necessary radio frequency (RF) receivers (sensors) without increasing hardware or computational costs. Several second-order statistical and higher order statistical methods of blind equalization are adopted for GSM signals.
Ocular findings in patients with psoriasis

Background Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting skin, nails, and joints. Although there are not many reports in the literature, ocular findings occur in approximately 10% of patients, in mostly those who have psoriatic arthritis. In this study, we aimed to evaluate eye involvement in psoriasis patients.
Soiling correction model for long term energy prediction in photovoltaic modules

A model is presented for predicting photovoltaic energy generation including dust effects. A combination of MATLAB and SMARTS is used to allow for global as well as spectral effects of dust accumulation. The model takes cell technology spectral dependency, outdoor weather elements, possible rain cleaning and the number of times the module is cleaned into consideration. The model is then validated by means of comparison with outdoor data. A Monte-Carlo analysis was used to predict the long term effects of dust for a given climates. Different installation configuration scenarios where simulated to further improve the correction model where the simulated results showed an improvement of 66% in the simulated - dust corrected annual energy data for horizontal installation configuration.
Vascular status and physical functioning: the association between vascular status and physical functioning in middle-aged and elderly men: a cross-sectional study

Background Living independently is an important component of quality of life. Cardiovascular diseases are prominent among the chronic conditions that predispose elderly people to functional limitations and disability, which impair quality of life. Insight into factors that play a role in the development process of limitations and disability of patients with subclinical cardiovascular diseases will aid in the development of preventive interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of vascular status with muscle strength and physical functioning in middle aged and elderly men. Design The study is a population-based cross-sectional study in 400 men aged 40–80 years, independently living at the time of enrolment, performed in the University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands. Methods Vascular status was measured noninvasively with ankle arm index, pulse wave velocity and intima–media thickness. Muscle strength was measured by isometric grip strength and physical performance was measured by Guralniks Physical Performance Score. Results After adjustment for confounders, no associations were found between vascular status and physical functioning. Stratifying did not reveal subgroups, such as older age, in which an association was present. Conclusion Contrary to former study results, this study showed no age-independent association between the extent of vascular damage and physical performance and muscle strength.