Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do large‐seeded herbs have a small range size? The seed mass–distribution range trade‐off hypothesis

Abstract We aimed to introduce and test the “seed mass–distribution range trade‐off” hypothesis, that is, that range size is negatively related to seed mass due to the generally better dispersal ability of smaller seeds. Studying the effects of environmental factors on the seed mass and range size of species, we also aimed to identify habitats where species may be at risk and need extra conservation effort to avoid local extinctions. We collected data for seed mass, global range size, and indicators for environmental factors of the habitat for 1,600 species of the Pannonian Ecoregion (Central Europe) from the literature. We tested the relationship between species’ seed mass, range size, and indicator values for soil moisture, light intensity, and nutrient supply. We found that seed mass is negatively correlated with range size; thus, a seed mass–distribution range trade‐off was validated based on the studied large species pool. We found increasing seed mass with decreasing light intensity and increasing nutrient availability, but decreasing seed mass with increasing soil moisture. Range size increased with increasing soil moisture and nutrient supply, but decreased with increasing light intensity. Our results supported the hypothesis that there is a trade‐off between seed mass and distribution range. We found that species of habitats characterized by low soil moisture and nutrient values but high light intensity values have small range size. This emphasizes that species of dry, infertile habitats, such as dry grasslands, could be more vulnerable to habitat fragmentation or degradation than species of wet and fertile habitats. The remarkably high number of species and the use of global distribution range in our study support our understanding of global biogeographic processes and patterns that are essential in defining conservation priorities.
Psychiatric Comorbidity in Patients with Acne

Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder which has a high prevalence among adolescents and young adults and can be associated with emotional and psychological burden on patients. This review aimed to explore psychological factors in patients with acne. Several forms of emotional distress and psychological complications can occur with acne. Such complications may be worse than the physical impact of the skin condition. Current literature suggests that skin changes in acne are associated with changed body image, psychological distress, anxiety, social phobia, suicidal ideation and depression. Population-based studies suggest a significant association between acne and mental distress among both male and female adolescents. Presence of psychological distress is related to severity of acne in some studies. However, other case-controlled studies suggest increased risk for psychological problems in patients with acne regardless of its severity. Stress is suspected to have a role in exacerbations of acne, and the quality of life (QoL) is affected particularly in cases with severe facial acne. Acne treatment can be associated with psychiatric side effects. Isotretinoin may be associated with depression and suicide attempts as shown in several studies but with conflicting results. On the other hand, psychotropic medications (such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers) can also induce acne. The results of this review indicate the importance of vigilant psychiatric assessment for patients with acne, particularly those receiving isotretinoin, is needed for early diagnosis and treatment of the associated psychiatric co-morbidity.
Vers une meilleure compréhension de la tolérance aux antibiotiques de biofilms bactériens cliniques

Les bacteries sont des microorganismes capables de se developper et de proliferer independamment les uns des autres en milieu liquide. Mais des qu’une surface se presente, biotique ou abiotique, les bacteries privilegient un « mode de vie en communaute » pour se proteger des agressions externes et survivre aux environnements hostiles. Ces biostructures, appelees biofilms, sont presentes dans tous les environnements naturels, y compris chez l’Homme ou elles peuvent etre a l’origine d’infections chroniques lorsqu’elles hebergent des germes pathogenes. Il est aujourd’hui admis que de tels edifices biologiques perdurent sous l’action des antibiotiques. Outre le tres mediatique phenomene de resistance qui trouve son origine dans des mutations genetiques bacteriennes, la tolerance, quant a elle, provient des specificites de la structure et de la physiologie des bacteries organisees en biofilms. C’est dans ce contexte que s’inscrit ce travail de these qui vise a mieux comprendre les mecanismes sous-jacents au manque d’efficacite d’antibiotiques (vancomycine,daptomycine, rifampicine) vis-a-vis des biofilms de S. aureus, en s’appuyant notamment sur des techniques innovantes d’imagerie a resolution micro-nanometrique. Nous avons mis au point un modele d’infections sur prothese vasculaire implantable chez la souris qui a permis une toute premiere visualisation par imagerie de fluorescence de biofilms formes in vivo et soumis a l’action des antibiotiques mais aussi de montrer leur activite limitee. Nous nous sommes ensuite attaches a une meilleure comprehension de la tolerance aux antibiotiques de biofilms bacteriens de S. aureus. Pour ce faire, nos etudes ont porte, d’une part, sur le role de la matrice extracellulaire et, d’autre part, sur le role de la physiologie des bacteries incluses en biofilm. Il a ainsi ete mis en evidence le role crucial de la fluidite membranaire. Ces travaux nous ont alors permis de degager des pistes pour ameliorer l’antibiotherapie disponible mais aussi developper des alternatives a ce type de traitement.
Crystal Structure of DMSO Reductase: Redox-Linked Changes in Molybdopterin Coordination

The molybdoenzyme dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) reductase contributes to the release of dimethylsulfide, a compound that has been implicated in cloud nucleation and global climate regulation. The crystal structure of DMSO reductase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides reveals a monooxo molybdenum cofactor containing two molybdopterin guanine dinucleotides that asymmetrically coordinate the molybdenum through their dithiolene groups. One of the pterins exhibits different coordination modes to the molybdenum between the oxidized and reduced states, whereas the side chain oxygen of Ser147 coordinates the metal in both states. The change in pterin coordination between the Mo(VI) and Mo(IV) forms suggests a mechanism for substrate binding and reduction by this enzyme. Sequence comparisons of DMSO reductase with a family of bacterial oxotransferases containing molybdopterin guanine dinucleotide indicate a similar polypeptide fold and active site with two molybdopterins within this family.
Acoustic-Phonetic Feature Based Dialect Identification in Hindi Speech

Abstract Every individual has some unique speaking style and this variation influences their speech characteristics. Speakers’ native dialect is one of the major factors influencing their speech characteristics that influence the performance of automatic speech recognition system (ASR). In this paper, we describe a method to identify Hindi dialects and examine the contribution of different acoustic-phonetic features for the purpose. Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC), Perceptual linear prediction coefficients (PLP) and PLP derived from Mel-scale filter bank (MF- PLP) have been extracted as spectral features from the spoken utterances. They are further used to measure the capability of Auto-associative neural networks (AANN) for capturing non-linear relation specific to information from spectral features. Prosodic features are for capturing long - range features. Based on these features efficiency of AANN is measured to model intrinsic characteristics of speech features due to dialects.
Host-Specific Involvement of the HC Protein in the Long-Distance Movement of Potyviruses

ABSTRACT Plum pox virus (PPV) is a member of the Potyvirus genus that, in nature, infects trees of the Prunus genus. Although PPV infects systemically several species of the Nicotiana genus, such as N. clevelandii and N. benthamiana, and replicates in the inoculated leaves of N. tabacum, it is unable to infect systemically the last host. The long-distance movement defect of PPV was corrected in transgenic tobacco plants expressing the 5"-terminal region of the genome of tobacco etch virus (TEV), a potyvirus that infects systemically tobacco. The fact that PPV was unable to move to upper noninoculated leaves in tobacco plants transformed with the same TEV transgene, but with a mutation in the HC protein (HC-Pro)-coding sequences, identifies the multifunctional HC-Pro as the complementing factor, and strongly suggests that a defect in an HC-Pro activity is responsible for the long-distance movement defect of PPV in tobacco. Whereas PPV HC-Pro strongly intensifies the symptoms caused by potato virus X (PVX) in the PPV systemic hosts N. clevelandii and N. benthamiana, it has no apparent effect on PVX pathogenicity in tobacco, supporting the hypothesis that long-distance movement and pathogenicity enhancement are related activities of the potyviral HC proteins. The movement defect of PPV in tobacco could also be complemented by cucumber mosaic virus in a mixed infection, demonstrating that at least some components of the long-distance machinery of the potyviruses are not strictly virus specific. A general conclusion of this work is that the HC-Pro might be a relevant factor for controlling the host range of the potyviruses.
OBRAMUS: A System for Object-Based Retouch of Amateur Music

In the more recent past, the area of semantic audio has become object of special attention due to the increase in attractiveness of signal representations which allow manipulations of audio on a symbolic level. The semantics usually refer to audio objects, such as instruments, or musical entities, such as chords or notes. On this view, we present a system for making minor corrections to amateur piano recordings based on a nonnegative matrix factorization. Acting as middleman between the signal and the user, the system enables a simple form of musical recomposition by altering pitch, timbre, onset and oﬀset of distinct notes. The workﬂow is iterative, that is the result improves stepwise through user intervention.
The murine chemokine receptor CXCR4 is tightly regulated during T cell development and activation

We have characterized the murine homolog of the HIV‐co‐receptor CXCR4 during T cell development and activation. Our data demonstrate that this chemokine receptor, although highly conserved between human and mouse, is differently expressed and regulated in both species. Mitogenic activation resulted in an increase of surface CXCR4 on murine T cells within 2 days, whereas the receptor was strongly down‐regulated on human T cells during this period. Furthermore, intraperitoneal immunization of mice resulted in a strong increase of splenic and mesenteric cytotoxic T cells co‐expressing CXCR4. It is interesting that, on thymocytes, expression of CXCR4 is restricted to CD4+CD8+ cells. Stromal cell‐derived factor‐1α, a natural ligand of CXCR4, induced chemotaxis of thymocytes and was found to counteract dexamethasone‐induced apoptosis to a certain extent in these cells. Thus, our data show that expression of CXCR4 is tightly controlled on murine T cells and indicate that this highly conserved chemokine receptor might serve different functions in humans and mice. J. Leukoc. Biol. 66: 996–1004; 1999.
The genetic improvement of protein quality in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) has a high seed protein content, between 20 and 30%. The protein quality in common is considered low because of the suboptimal levels of methionine and cysteine in the seed. Phaseolin, the main seed storage protein, accounts for 30-50% of the total seed protein content. Phaseolin only contains about 0.5 to 0.80% methionine. The suggested nutritional requirements for methionine-cysteine in the human diet are between 2.5 and 2.6 %. Previous studies on the germplasm SMARC1N-PN1 showed that deficiency in phaseolin and lectins leads to increased methionine-cysteine up to 2.6% in the bean seed. Dr. Hou, the bean breeder in Manitoba, made a cross between SMARC1N-PN1 and Morden-003. One Hundred and eighty-five recombinant inbred lines (RILs) F2:8 were obtained of this cross through eight generations of inbreeding. In this study I used SDS-PAGE to assess the protein profiles of the RILs according to the phenotypic expression for phaseolin and lectins. The RILs deficient in phaseolin and lectins increased their total methionine-cysteine seed content up to 3.4%. Field trials were conducted to assess the impact of the protein deficiency on the RILs’ agronomic traits. The RILs deficient in phaseolin and lectins had a similar agronomic performance as Morden-003 thus can be considered Canadian elite germplasm to develop common bean cultivars with improved protein. Key-words: Phaseolus vulgaris, SDS-PAGE, phaseolin, methionine, cysteine, recombinant inbreed lines
Co-occurrence of obsessive-compulsive personality traits in young and middle-aged Japanese alcohol-dependent men.

BACKGROUND Previous studies may have underestimated the potential importance of the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive traits among persons with alcoholism. Although many studies have examined the characteristics of young alcoholics compared with middle-aged alcoholics, none has compared the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive traits in young and middle-aged alcoholics. METHODS This study compared the prevalence of obsessive-compulsive traits (Leyton Obsessional Inventory) and depressive symptoms (Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale) among young (n=41) and middle-aged (n=34) hospitalized Japanese male alcoholics and in young (n=28) and middle-aged (n=25) nonalcoholic subjects. RESULTS Both young and middle-aged male alcoholics reported more obsessive-compulsive personality traits and depressive symptoms than their comparison groups. However, the alcoholic subjects' obsessive-compulsive personality traits were not related to their level of depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Young and middle-aged male Japanese alcoholics have more obsessive-compulsive personality traits than nonalcoholic males of similar ages. Their alcohol-related psychological and behavioral characteristics may derive, in part, from their obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Emitter size effect on current gain in fully self-aligned AlGaAs/GaAs HBT's with AlGaAs surface passivation layer

The emitter size effect for fully self-aligned AlGaAs-GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with depleted AlGaAs passivation layers, in which the partially thinned AlGaAs emitter is self-aligned by using the dual sidewall process, is investigated. It is demonstrated that drastic improvement in the emitter size effect can be achieved with an AlGaAs passivation layer as small as 0.2 mu m in width, due to the surface recombination current reduction by a factor of 1/40 in the extrinsic base region. It has also been found that the base current is dominated by excess leakage current in the proton-implanted isolation region. <<ETX>>
Solução Numérica de Escoamentos Incompressíveis com Simulação de Grandes Escalas

Neste trabalho, apresenta-se um metodo numerico para a simulacao de escoamentos turbulentos incompressiveis. O escoamento e analisado empregando as equacoes de Navier-Stokes e uma equacao de conservacao de massa considerando a hipoteses de pseudo-compressibilidade. Para a simulacao de escoamentos turbulentos, emprega-se a Simulacao de Grandes Escalas (LES – Large Eddy Simulation) com os modelos classico e de Smagorinsky dinâmico para as escalas inferiores a resolucao da malha. O Metodo dos Elementos Finitos e empregado para a discretizacao do dominio espacial, utilizando o elemento isoparametrico hexaedrico de oito nos. As matrizes do elemento correspondentes sao obtidas analiticamente, empregando integracao numerica reduzida. A influencia dos modelos LES, do refinamento da malha e do esquema numerico sao analisados e os principais parâmetros do escoamento sao calculados. Finalmente, resultados numericos obtidos com o presente modelo sao apresentados e analisados para dois exemplos classicos (escoamento entre duas placas paralelas e cavidade com uma superficie movel) com diferentes numeros de Reynolds para demonstrar a viabilidade do codigo computacional implementado.
Internal health status belief and lower perceived functional deficit are related among anterior cruciate ligament-deficient patients.

PURPOSE Health locus of control has been shown to influence the recovery process after injury and surgery. This study attempted to determine relationships between patient perceptions of health locus of control and their perceived functional limitations after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture. An external health locus of control refers to the belief that one's outcome after injury or surgery is under the control of powerful others or is determined by fate, luck, or chance. An internal health locus of control refers to the belief that one's outcome is directly related to individual patient behaviors. TYPE OF STUDY Quasi-experimental, posttest only design. METHODS Over a 1-year time period, 70 consecutive patients with unilateral ACL deficiency (acute, <1 month after onset) agreed to participate in this study. All data were collected 1 week before ACL reconstruction. Subjects completed the Health Locus of Control Scale (HLC) and the physical function section of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey. A Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance was used to assess group differences (P <.05) based on SF-36 physical function score classification. RESULTS Subjects with minimal perceived functional limitations (SF-36 physical function group 3) displayed lower (more internal) HLC scores (29.6 +/- 4.4; range, 24-36) than subjects with moderate perceived functional limitations (SF-36 physical function group 2) (33.0 +/- 6.1; range, 22-44) or subjects with maximal perceived functional limitations (SF-36 physical function group 1) (33.9 +/- 2.8; range, 30-38). CONCLUSIONS Subjects with lower perceived functional limitations regarded their health status as being controlled more by internal factors. It is not proven whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship or which of these parameters is the antecedent. Related reports suggest that perception of control may positively influence functional outcome and disability levels. Patients who perceive preoperative pain and functional limitation to be excessive may have low tolerance for the stressors associated with surgery and postoperative rehabilitation. With these patients, a more conservative surgical and rehabilitation approach may be better. Alternatively, methods to change their perceptions, such as cognitive therapy, may have a positive role.
Biomass production and secretion of hydrolytic enzymes are influenced by the structural complexity of the nitrogen source in Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus nidulans

The structural complexity of the nitrogen sources strongly affects biomass production and secretion of hydrolytic enzymes in filamentous fungi. Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus nidulans were grown in media containing glucose or starch, and supplemented with a nitrogen source varying from a single ammonium salt (ammonium sulfate) to free amino acids (casamino acids), peptides (peptone) and protein (gelatin). In glucose, when the initial pH was adjusted to 5.0, for both microorganisms, higher biomass production occurred upon supplementation with a nitrogen source in the peptide form (peptone and gelatin). With a close to neutrality pH, biomass accumulation was lower only in the presence of the ammonium salt. When grown in starch, biomass accumulation and secretion of hydrolytic enzymes (amylolytic and proteolytic) by Fusarium also depended on the nature of the nitrogen supplement and the pH. When the initial pH was adjusted to 5.0, higher growth and higher amylolytic activities were detected in the media supplemented with peptone, gelatin and casamino acids. However, at pH 7.0, higher biomass accumulation and higher amylolytic activities were observed upon supplementation with peptone or gelatin. Ammonium sulfate and casamino acids induced a lower production of biomass, and a different level of amylolytic enzyme secretion: high in ammonium sulfate and low in casamino acids. Secretion of proteolytic activity was always higher in the media supplemented with peptone and gelatin. Aspergillus, when grown in starch, was not as dependent as Fusarium on the nature of nitrogen source or the pH. The results described in this work indicate that the metabolism of fungi is regulated not only by pH, but also by the level of structural complexity of the nitrogen source in correlation to the carbon source.
[Prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis C virus infection in a hospitalized population in a gastroenterology unit. Role of endoscopic biopsies].

OBJECTIVES AND METHODS In order to study the prevalence and risk factors of HCV infection in a population hospitalized in a Gastroenterology Unit, 3,767 patients were tested for serum anti-HCV, and 2,607 filled out a questionnaire about risk factors. RESULTS With the RIBA 2 test, the overall prevalence was 5.9%. Because of the age distribution, two populations were studied. In patients younger than 45, intravenous drug use was the only independent risk factor linked to serum anti-HCV positivity (Odds ratio: 151, CI 95%: 66.9-340). In patients older than 45, the independent risk factors were chronic liver disease (Odds ratio: 8.5, CI 95%: 4.4-16.8), per-endoscopic biopsies (Odds ratio: 2.7, CI 95%: 1.4-5.4), and blood transfusions (Odds ratio: 1.8, CI 95%: 0.9-3.5). Two variables were dominant for the entire population: IV drug use and chronic liver disease. In patients without these factors, only one risk factor was linked to serum anti-HCV positivity: perendoscopic biopsies (Odds ratio: 5.2, CI 95%: 1.6-16.5). CONCLUSION These results suggest that HCV may be transmitted by perendoscopic biopsies.
Relación clínico patológica de causas de muerte en el hospital militar de Matanzas

Introduccion: El correcto establecimiento de la relacion clinico-patologica constituye un indicador de calidad de la atencion medica hospitalaria. Objetivo: Caracterizar la correlacion clinico-patologica de las causas de muerte en el Hospital Militar "Dr. Mario Munoz Monroy". Metodos: Se realizo un estudio observacional, descriptivo, transversal en el que se incluyeron fallecidos/as con autopsia en el periodo de enero de 1986 a diciembre de 2015, en el Hospital Militar "Dr. Mario Munoz Monroy". Resultados: La edad fue de 15 a mas de 85 anos, con predominio de hombres (1315; 58,3 %); el grupo de edad mas representado fue el de 65-74 anos (28,6 %). La bronconeumonia constituyo la principal causa directa de muerte, tanto por diagnostico clinico (15,3 %) como patologico (20,3 %) y la ateroesclerosis generalizada represento la causa basica mas frecuente segun diagnostico clinico (13,8 %) y patologico (18,5 %). Hubo 20,6 % de discrepancias diagnosticas en las causas directas de muerte y 23,5 % en las causas basicas. La coincidencia diagnostica total en las causas directas y basicas fue de 74,9 % y 68,9 %, respectivamente. Las mayores discrepancias diagnosticas correspondieron al tromboembolismo pulmonar (39,0 %) y al infarto agudo de miocardio (34,0 %). Conclusiones: La correlacion clinicopatologica general y particular, en las causas de muerte directa y basica, alcanzaron valores que se encuentran dentro de la media nacional. Se presentan discrepancias diagnosticas en una de cada cuatro autopsias.