Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Embedding Scientific Explanations Into Storybooks Impacts Children’s Scientific Discourse and Learning

Children’s understanding of unobservable scientific entities largely depends on testimony from others, especially through parental explanations that highlight the mechanism underlying a scientific entity. Mechanistic explanations are particularly helpful in promoting children’s conceptual understanding, yet they are relatively rare in parent–child conversations. The current study aimed to increase parent–child use of mechanistic conversation by modeling this language in a storybook about the mechanism of electrical circuits. We also examined whether an increase in mechanistic conversation was associated with science learning outcomes, measured at both the dyadic- and child-level. In the current study, parents and their 4- to 5-year-old children (N = 60) were randomly assigned to read a book containing mechanistic explanations (n = 32) or one containing non-mechanistic explanations (n = 28). After reading the book together, parent–child joint understanding of electricity’s mechanism was tested by asking the dyad to assemble electrical components of a circuit toy so that a light would turn on. Finally, child science learning outcomes were examined by asking children to assemble a novel circuit toy and answer comprehension questions to gauge their understanding of electricity’s mechanism. Results indicate that dyads who read storybooks containing mechanistic explanations were (1) more successful at completing the circuit (putting the pieces together to make the light turn on) and (2) used more mechanistic language than dyads assigned to the non-mechanistic condition. Children in the mechanistic condition also had better learning outcomes, but only if they engaged in more mechanistic discourse with their parent. We discuss these results using a social interactionist framework to highlight the role of input and interaction for learning. We also highlight how these results implicate everyday routines such as book reading in supporting children’s scientific discourse and understanding.
Chemical characteristics and in situ ruminal parameters of barley for cattle: Comparison of the malting cultivar AC Metcalfe and five feed cultivars

The objective of this study was to compare the most widely grown barley cultivar in Canada, AC Metcalfe, a malting type barley, with five feed cultivars. Barley cultivars were grown at one location during 3 consecutive years and barley samples were milled to pass through a 1-mm screen and analysed to determine nutritive value. Additional samples were passed through a roller mill with a gap set at 1.12 mm and incubated ruminally for 0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 h in 3 dry Holstein cows fitted with rumen cannulae. The rate and extent of rumen digestion were estimated. AC Metcalfe had a higher (P < 0.001) concentration of NDF, and lower (P < 0.05) concentrations of non structural carbohydrates, starch, ADF, total digestible nutrients, and fermentable cell wall carbohydrates compared with the mean of the feed cultivars. The malting cultivar had a higher (P < 0.001) soluble DM fraction, lower (P < 0.05) CP and starch degradation rates, and a lower (P < 0.001) ruminally degradable starch concentration compared wi.
Variability of kinetoplast DNA from plant trypanosomatids responsible for Hartrot and Marchitez diseases

The kinetoplast DNA of 27 plant trypanosomatid stocks (22 intraphloemic Phytomonas associated with coconut Hartrot, oil palm Marchitez, or decay of Alpinia purpurata, 3 Phytomonas isolates from latex, and 2 fruit trypanosomatids) was studied. Four classes of minicircle sizes were obtained: 1.6 and 1.8 kb for isolates originating from coconut palms, oil palms, Alpinia purpurata, and fruits; 850 bp and 2.8 kb for isolates from latex. Restriction endonuclease analysis showed that for almost all of the isolates minicircles were heterogeneous in base sequence. Cross-hybridization experiments were performed by Southern blot. A high sequence similarity only occurred between isolates of the same class of minicircle sizes, except for the 1.6-kb class, in which isolates from fruits and isolates originating from diseased coconut belonged to two hybridization groups. Moreover, the intraphloemic isolates that belonged to two classes, 1.6 and 1.8 kb, showed sequence similarity. These data confirm the existence of at least two groups of intraphloemic trypanosomatids associated with wilts, several groups of latex trypanosomatids, and one group of fruit trypanosomatids and could help in the classification of the lower trypanosomatids.
Some effects of leaf posture on photosynthesis and yield in wheat

SUMMARY Canopy enclosures were used to study the photosynthesis of two winter wheat genotypes with contrasting leaf posture (E, erect; L, lax). Over the grain filling period, the net carbon dioxide fixation during the daytime was nearly always greater in E than in L. In general, a greater proportion of the fixation took place in the lower leaves of E than L. Because of the slower senescence of its lower leaves, the leaf area index of E was slightly but consistently higher than that of L and this appeared to account, in part, for the difference between the genotypes in canopy photosynthesis. However, during June and early July, when the leaf area indices were above three, the more uniform distribution of light in the canopy of E than in that of L appeared to be a cause of its higher rate of photosynthesis. Over the grain filling period, more dry matter was lost from the stems of L than from those of E. It is suggested that the shortfall of assimilate for grain filling was met, at least in part, by translocation of materials from the stems and that their greater depletion in L made up for the lower contribution from current assimilation in this genotype.
Hábitos alimenticios y ecología trófica del pez Lutjanus griseus (Pisces: Lutjanidae) asociado a la vegetación sumergida en la Laguna de Términos, Campeche, México

Feeding habits and trophic ecology of the fish Lutjanus griseus (Pisces: Lutjanidae) associ- ated with submerged vegetation in Laguna de Terminos, Campeche, Mexico. In Campeche, Mexico, the Laguna de Terminos has Thalassia testudinum beds inhabited by the grey snapper, Lutjanus griseus (Linnaeus 1758). Along one year, we collected 994 individuals and 672 had food in their stomachs; we recorded number, weight, and frequency of trophic groups, and the index of relative importance. Dominant food components were Farfantepenaeus duorarum and Palemonetes octaviae, Eucinostomus gula (Cuvier 1830) and Libinia dubia. Salinity and temperature were related to the number of individuals collected and with greater fish consumption by large L. griseus. The trophic niche breadth index was calculated for six size-classes of fish. The smallest and the largest fish had the lowest index values, whereas medium-size snappers had higher values. This snapper has a preference for habitats with submerged vegetation. The percentage of fish with food in their stomachs was higher during dark hours, providing evidence of the nocturnal habits of this fish. Rev. Biol. Trop. 55 (3-4): 989- 1004. Epub 2007 December, 28.
Industrial Robotics Trajectory Compensation Model and Joints Torsional Stiffness Impact Analysis

The behavior of an industrial robot may change under the influence of an external force. These robots are not able to absorb force disturbances, inducing displacements and deformation in their joints. For that reason, an error is generated between the programmed and executed trajectory, decreasing the precision of the operation. This can be associated with the low stiffness of the manipulators. This work presents an industrial robot trajectory compensation model considering joints stiffness and the analysis of the impact on the final trajectory.
Computational-Level Framework for Autonomous Systems: a Practical Approach

A growing number robots with autonomous capabilities are operating in collaboration with the human operator. Safety of such cooperative scenarios is a key issue, yet the international standards describing their requirements are still under development. Guidelines and frameworks for verification and operation are still under finalization, requiring proactivity an precautiousness from the industry. As technology development evolves at a more rapid pace than regulations, there is a need to restructure the automotive development pipeline from the basics, starting at software level, or even earlier, at data level. This paper presents some practical considerations on how the early stages of autonomous systems development need to be orchestrated. A structure is given to address and identifies key action points as guidelines for the research community to enhance advancements.
THE PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN SULPHIDE BY YEAST AND BY ZYMOMONAS ANAEROBIA

Radiochemical experiments indicated that most of the free hydrogen sulphide excreted by a brewing yeast in wort and by Zymomonas anaerobia in beer was derived from sulphate. Sulphate was also assimilated by the organisms but most of their cellular sulphur was derived from other sources. In a synthetic beer medium, excessive amounts of hydrogen sulphide were liberated by Z. anaerobia when pantothenate was deficient. Sulphate and zinc ions stimulated sulphide production by the bacterium.
Long-term fluctuations in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna population

Long-term time-series of bluefin tuna catches from ancestral Mediterranean and Atlantic trap fisheries are presented and analysed. The trap is a passive gear, little modified for centuries, that catches bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus during their annual spawning migration. These features, together with preliminary analyses, lead us to suggest that long-term fluctuations in trap catches could reflect those in true abundance if they vary in the same manner all around the western Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic. To test this hypothesis, we investigated 54 time-series more than 20 years long (the longest ones spanning four centuries) of trap catches along the western Mediterranean coasts of Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Tunisia, Spain, and Morocco, and the adjacent Atlantic coasts of Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Trends and cycles were identified using Eigen Vector Filtering and spectral analysis, and the synchrony between short- and long-term fluctuations in trap catches was studied with the modified correlogram of Koenig and Knops. The magnitude of fluctuations in trap catches is large, periods of great abundance being up to seven times bigger than those when abundance was low. More interesting was the occurrence of 100-year-long periodic fluctuations as well as 20-year cycles. These medium- to long-term fluctuations, representing more than 50% of the total variability in the time-series, were synchronous all around the western Mediterranean and adjacent North Atlantic. In contrast, short-term variability was synchronous at a local scale only. It is argued that long-term fluctuations in trap catches could be considered as a proxy for those of true abundance, and a synthetic time-series has been computed to depict them. Biological and ecological processes that could cause such long-term fluctuations are also discussed.
Nanoparticle based gene therapy approach: A pioneering rebellion in the management of psychiatric disorders.

The neuropsychiatric illnesses have been enigmatic, with no effective treatment to date. The complexity and heterogeneity of psychiatric disorders are daunting for the development of novel treatment modalities. The conventional treatment approaches are less effective and are associated with several side effects, thus creating the need for the development of more innovative strategies. Since psychiatric disorders are known to exhibit genetic linkage, gene therapy has attracted the attention of the researchers worldwide. The delivery of nucleic acids is a complex process requiring the transport of genetic material across various intracellular and extracellular barriers to reach the target cells eliciting the transfection process. Therefore, the challenge still remains the identification or development of delivery system for nucleic acid delivery. Viral vectors are quite effective but are associated with toxicity and side effects. With the rapid advancement in the field of nanotechnology, nanosized materials were identified to be the perfect candidate for nonviral vectors in gene delivery. The biggest advantage of nanoparticles is that their surface can be engineered in many possible ways to deliver the drugs directly to the target site. Although gene therapy has already been established as an innovative treatment modality for several neurological diseases, its use in psychiatry still warrants more investigations for its translation into clinical use. The present manuscript discusses the prospects of gene therapy in psychiatric disorders, their benefits, and pitfalls. the review embarks upon the importance of nanoparticle-based gene therapy for an effective management of psychiatric disorders.
TXNIP induces growth arrest and enhances ABT263‐induced apoptosis in mixed‐lineage leukemia‐rearranged acute myeloid leukemia cells

Thioredoxin‐interacting protein (TXNIP) has been widely recognized as a tumor suppressor in various cancers, including liver, breast, and thyroid cancers. Although TXNIP is epigenetically silenced in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, as in many cancer cells, its role in leukemogenesis remains elusive. Mixed‐lineage leukemia (MLL) gene rearrangements in AML are associated with poor prognosis, and the development of a new treatment method is eagerly anticipated. In this study, we first reveal that lower expression of TXNIP is correlated with shortened overall survival periods in AML patients. Moreover, we demonstrated that TXNIP overexpression significantly suppresses proliferation in AML cells harboring MLL fusion genes. TXNIP promotes autophagy by increasing expression of the autophagy protein, Beclin 1, and lipidation of LC3B. We also show that TXNIP overexpression combined with ABT263, a potent inhibitor of Bcl‐2 and Bcl‐xL, is highly effective at inducing cell death in MLL‐rearranged (MLL‐r) AML cells. In summary, this study provides insights into the molecular mechanism of TXNIP‐mediated tumor suppression and furthermore underscores the potential of TXNIP as a promising therapeutic target for MLL‐r AML.
Composition and Antioxidant Activities of Volatile Organic Compounds in Radiation-Bred Coreopsis Cultivars

Coreopsis is a flowering plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. It is an ornamental plant native to the Americas, Asia and Oceania and its flower is used as a raw material for tea and food manufacture in China. In this study, new cultivars of C. rosea (“golden ring”) were developed via radiation-induced mutation of the original cultivar, “pumpkin pie”. The chemical composition and antioxidant activities of flowers belonging to three different Coreopsis cultivars were evaluated: “golden ring”, “pumpkin pie” and “snow chrysanthemum” (coreopsis tea; C. tinctoria). The volatile compounds were characterized via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and 50–59 oils representing 95.3–96.8% of the total volatile compounds in these flower materials were identified. ”Golden ring” contained a high amount of fatty acids (38.13%), while “pumpkin pie” and “snow chrysanthemum” teas were rich in aliphatic amides (43.01%) and esters (67.22%), respectively. The antioxidant activities of the volatile oils of these cultivars were evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydraxyl (DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging assays. The volatile extract of “golden ring” showed higher antioxidant activities compared with the extracts of the other cultivars. Therefore, “golden ring” can be used for further development as a raw material for tea manufacture or as a dietary supplement.
Phenotypic Integration and Environmental ChangeWhat are the consequences of differential phenotypic plasticity of traits

nformation on developmental processes is now being incorporated into theories of the evolution of phenotypic characteristics (Cheverud 1984, Lande 1982). Such theories typically focus on the developmental trajectory expressed in a single environment. But biologists have recently recognized the need to incorporate developmental flexibility in multiple environmental conditions into evolutionary theories (Schlichting 1986, Stearns and Koella 1986, Sultan 1987, Via and Lande 1985). Phenotypic plasticity, the morphological and physiological responses of an organism's phenotype to a change in environmental conditions, represents the interplay between ecological factors and the developmental program of the organism. Some plastic responses are obviously adaptive, but answers to questions concerning the way in which adaptive plasticity and norms of reaction evolve are elusive (Via 1988). What does a plastic response of a trait involve? Some plastic responses may simply be changes in scale, as for example when plants simply grow less when they lack nutrients. But how much growth is stunted under the same conditions can vary among genotypes. Such differences in phenotypic plasticity represent genetic differences in their developmental programs. Other types of plastic response may Heterogeneous environments favor the
Range Dynamics of Hudson River Striped Bass along the Atlantic Coast

Abstract We analyzed the movements of Hudson River striped bass Morone saxatilis along the Atlantic coast from the results of a tagging program conducted in the Hudson River estuary between 1984 and 1988. Almost 30,000 striped bass were marked with internal anchor tags; most measured between 200 and 800 mm total length (TL). Interpretations of recoveries are conditional because the distribution and selectivity of fishing effort along the Atlantic coast are unknown. The proportion of total recaptures from outside the Hudson River increased significantly with fish length and by season from spring through autumn. The geographic range of recoveries extended from the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina – a coastal range of about 1,500 km. Most fish recaptured in spring had traveled north and east; recoveries from south of the New York Bight were uncommon until autumn. Many recaptures came from tributaries; far northern recaptures, in particular, tended to occur in rivers or near river m.
Emergence of scale-free smectic rivers and critical depinning in emulsions driven through disorder

Significance Processes as diverse as enhance oil recovery, sand-bed erosion, and even transport of magnetic flux lines in dirty superconductors ultimately rely on the displacement of interacting particles (oil droplets, grains, or flux lines) through disordered media. In all these examples, a minimal drive is required to unpin and transport interacting particles. Taking advantage of model microfluidic experiments, we demonstrate that the depinning of emulsions advected through disordered channels is a critical phenomenon: a phase transition between a regime where the droplets are trapped and a flowing regime where the droplets are effectively transported through an emergent network of sparse rivers. These experiments illuminate the universality of plastic depinning dynamics. During the past 60 min, oil companies have extracted 6 trillion liters of oil from the ground, thereby giving a striking illustration of the impact of multiphase flows on the world economy. From a fundamental perspective, we largely understand the dynamics of interfaces separating immiscible fluids driven through heterogeneous environments. In stark contrast, the basic mechanisms ruling the transport of fragmented fluids, such as foams and emulsions, remain elusive with studies mostly limited to isolated droplets and bubbles. Here, we demonstrate that the mobilization of emulsion driven through model disordered media is a critical plastic depinning transition. To elucidate this collective dynamics, we track the trajectories of hundreds of thousands of microfluidic droplets advected through random lattices of pinning sites. Their dynamics reveals that macroscopic mobilization only requires the coordinated motion of small groups of particles and does not involve any large-scale avalanches. Criticality arises from the interplay between contact and hydrodynamic interaction, which channel seemingly erratic depinning events along smectic river networks correlated over system spanning scales. Beyond the specifics of emulsion transport, we close our article discussing the similarities and profound differences with the plastic depinning transitions of driven flux lines in high-Tc superconductors, charged colloids, and grain transport in eroded sand beds.
Historical Small‐Scale Surface Structures as a Model for Post‐Mining Land Reclamation

Historical land use provides long‐term field experiments that give valuable clues for ecosystem management and habitat restoration. We hypothesized that remnants of a small‐scale charcoal‐ore industry that ceased more than a century ago still affect soil properties and the litter‐dwelling fauna of a beech forest on rendzina soil (pH 4–6.5). We sampled the remains of charcoal kilns, small mining pits, and mounds of dugout material. Soils from kilns displayed increased carbon and nutrient contents and soils from kilns and in pits tended to be moister than that from all other locations. Leaf litter accumulated in the pits. Most mesofauna taxa occurred independent of the modifications, whereas larger‐sized Collembola and many macrofauna taxa (Aranea, Chilopoda, Diplopoda, Isopoda, Coleoptera, and Gastropoda) were more abundant in the pits. Snails are highly sensitive to microclimatic fluctuations and structural changes and thus were used to compare man‐made structures with natural ones: assemblages from kilns equaled those from the unmodified forest floor, assemblages from pits resembled those from adjacent to coarse woody debris (CWD), and assemblages from mounds resembled those from outcrops and tree bases. The outcrops were the local keystone structure, but mining pits and CWD added to species richness as they provided shelter for hygrophilous species. We thus recommend maintaining or creating a diversified soil surface structure in post‐mining land reclamation to accumulate organic matter and nutrients and to buffer microclimatic extremes.
Cationic Dendrimer G2-S16 Inhibits Herpes Simplex Type 2 Infection and Protects Mice Vaginal Microbiome

The G2-S16 polyanionic carbosilane dendrimer is a promising microbicide that inhibits HSV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo in mice models. This G2-S16 dendrimer inhibits HSV-2 infection even in the presence of semen. Murine models, such as BALB/c female mice, are generally used to characterize host-pathogen interactions within the vaginal tract. However, the composition of endogenous vaginal flora remains largely undefined with modern microbiome analyses. It is important to note that the G2-S16 dendrimer does not change healthy mouse vaginal microbiome where Pseudomonas (10.2–79.1%) and Janthinobacterium (0.7–13%) are the more abundant genera. The HSV-2 vaginally infected female mice showed a significant microbiome alteration because an increase of Staphylococcus (up to 98.8%) and Escherichia (30.76%) levels were observed becoming these bacteria the predominant genera. BALB/c female mice vaginally-treated with the G2-S16 dendrimer and infected with the HSV-2 maintained a healthy vaginal microbiome similar to uninfected female mice. Summarizing, the G2-S16 polyanionic carbosilane dendrimer inhibits the HSV-2 infection in the presence of semen and prevents the alteration of mice female vaginal microbiome.