Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Minimum rank with zero diagonal Authors

Associated with a simple graph G is a family of real, symmetric zero diagonal matrices with the same nonzero pattern as the adjacency matrix of G. The minimum of the ranks of the matrices in this family is denoted mr0(G). We characterize all connected graphs G with extreme minimum zero-diagonal rank: a connected graph G has mr0(G) ≤ 3 if and only if it is a complete multipartite graph, and mr0(G) = |G| if and only if it has a unique spanning generalized cycle (also called a perfect [1, 2]-factor). We present an algorithm for determining whether a graph has a unique spanning generalized cycle. In addition, we determine maximum zero-diagonal rank and show that for some graphs, not all ranks between minimum and maximum zero-diagonal ranks are allowed.
Cell division plane orientation based on tensile stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Significance The control of cell division plane orientation is crucial in biology and most particularly in plants, in which cells cannot rearrange their positions, as they are glued to each other by their cell walls. Cell geometry has long been proposed to determine cell division plane orientation. Here, using statistical analysis, modeling, and live imaging in the Arabidopsis shoot apex, we show that plant cells instead divide along maximal tension. Cell geometry has long been proposed to play a key role in the orientation of symmetric cell division planes. In particular, the recently proposed Besson–Dumais rule generalizes Errera’s rule and predicts that cells divide along one of the local minima of plane area. However, this rule has been tested only on tissues with rather local spherical shape and homogeneous growth. Here, we tested the application of the Besson–Dumais rule to the divisions occurring in the Arabidopsis shoot apex, which contains domains with anisotropic curvature and differential growth. We found that the Besson–Dumais rule works well in the central part of the apex, but fails to account for cell division planes in the saddle-shaped boundary region. Because curvature anisotropy and differential growth prescribe directional tensile stress in that region, we tested the putative contribution of anisotropic stress fields to cell division plane orientation at the shoot apex. To do so, we compared two division rules: geometrical (new plane along the shortest path) and mechanical (new plane along maximal tension). The mechanical division rule reproduced the enrichment of long planes observed in the boundary region. Experimental perturbation of mechanical stress pattern further supported a contribution of anisotropic tensile stress in division plane orientation. Importantly, simulations of tissues growing in an isotropic stress field, and dividing along maximal tension, provided division plane distributions comparable to those obtained with the geometrical rule. We thus propose that division plane orientation by tensile stress offers a general rule for symmetric cell division in plants.
Efficient Verifiable Databases With Insertion/Deletion Operations From Delegating Polynomial Functions

The notion of verifiable database with updates (VDB) enables a resource-limited client to securely outsource a very large database to an untrusted server, and the client could later retrieve a database record and update it efficiently. In addition, the client could detect any misbehavior of tampering with the data record by the server. To the best of our knowledge, the existing VDB schemes cannot efficiently support all updating operations (i.e., insertion, deletion, and replacement) simultaneously. In this paper, we introduce a new primitive called Merkle sum hash tree and then use it to design a new VDB scheme that supports for all updating operations from delegating polynomial functions. An interesting property of our scheme is that all updating operations can be viewed as a special case of “replacement” in the Benabbas–Gennaro–Vahlis VDB scheme. Thus, our construction is very efficient for real-world applications. Furthermore, we formally prove that the proposed construction can achieve the desired security properties when the subgroup member assumption holds.
Modeling Privacy Control in Context-Aware Systems

Significant complexity issues challenge designers of context-aware systems with privacy control. Information spaces provide a way to organize information, resources, and services around important privacy-relevant contextual factors. In this article, we describe a theoretical model for privacy control in context-aware systems based on a core abstraction of information spaces. We have previously focused on deriving socially based privacy objectives in pervasive computing environments. Building on Ravi Sandhu's four-layer OM-AM (objectives, models, architectures, and mechanisms) idea, we aim to use information spaces to construct a model for privacy control that supports our socially based privacy objectives. We also discuss how we can introduce decentralization, a desirable property for many pervasive computing systems, into our information space model, using unified privacy tagging.
Assay and purification of S-adenosyl-L-methionine:precorrin-2 methyltransferase from Pseudomonas denitrificans

S-Adenosyl-L-methionine:precorrin-2 methyltransferase (SP2MT), which catalyzes the C-20 methylation of precorrin-2 to precorrin-3, was purified to homogeneity from extracts of a recombinant strain of Pseudomonas denitrificans derived from a cobalamin-overproducing strain. Ammonium sulfate fractionation followed by chromatography on DEAE-Trisacryl, hydroxyapatite, and Mono Q HR purified the enzyme about 110-fold, with a 28% yield. For enzyme purification and characterization, a coupled-enzyme assay was developed which generated in situ the highly oxygen-sensitive substrate, precorrin-2, from delta-aminolevulinic acid. Evidence is given that the chemically reduced form of sirohydrochlorin (dihydrosirohydrochlorin) is methylated at C-20 to precorrin-3 by pure SP2MT. No subsequent SP2MT-dependent methylation reaction of precorrin-3 was detected. The native enzyme has an apparent molecular weight of 53,000, as estimated by gel filtration, and consists of two identical subunits of Mr 26,000, as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Stepwise Edman degradation provided the N-terminal sequence of the first 17 amino acids.
Do heart failure specialist nurses think differently when faced with 'hard' or 'easy' decisions: a judgement analysis.

AIMS To unpack specialist heart failure nurses' decision-making and explore whether viewing a decision as 'hard' or 'easier' is associated with different decision-making characteristics. BACKGROUND Specialist heart failure nurses exemplify modern nursing roles. They face diagnostic, prognostic and treatment uncertainties of varying degrees of complexity in the choices they face. Nurses' cognitive handling of complexity is largely unknown. DESIGN Judgement analysis survey. METHODS Judgement analysis with 29 nurses and two judgement tasks was undertaken. A drug titration decision (classed as 'easier' by nurses) was compared with a 'harder' palliative care referral choice. Measures of agreement between the nurses, the linearity and non-linearity in information processing by nurses and the degree of cognitive control exercised by them were explored. Differences between nurses with varying degrees of education were explored using paired t-testing. The relationship between experience and key measures was explored using bivariate correlations. RESULTS Nurses varied in their judgements and the weighting afforded to information. Self-reported decision difficulty was less important for cognitive handling of information and agreement between nurses than we predicted. Nurses had high degrees of cognitive control in the drug task and far less in the palliative referral condition. However, there was no change in the linear or non-linear processing of information of the two tasks. Education and clinical experience were not related to agreement or information processing. CONCLUSIONS Nurses' self-reported difficulty in decisions should not be relied upon as valid indicators of decisional complexity. The title 'specialist nurse' should not be assumed to equate by default with clinical expertise. Thinking in a more sophisticated way about the relationship between experience, uncertainty, decision structure and information available may help nurses make better choices. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Teaching nurses about what makes for hard and difficult decisions and increasing awareness of the decisions they make may lead to better quality choices. Practice developers should pay attention to the quality of clinical experience as well as the quantity when considering decision-making expertise.
Focus + Context Rendering of Structured Biomedical Data

Biomedical data can be classified according to different taxonomies. Understanding the relationships between different data categories is essential for an in-depth knowledge of the data. We present a volume rendering system aimed at outlining structural relationships between different classification criteria of a biomedical voxel model. The system clusterizes the model into subsets of voxels sharing the same classification criteria. It constructs a labelled voxel model storing for each voxel an identifier of its associated cluster. We represent the classification space as a graph and we render it in the application interface. This way, clinicians can specify their visualization queries by selecting nodes of the graph and boolean operations between them. Given a rendering query, the system computes a transfer function on the labelled voxel model domain. This transfer function, together with the original voxel model and the labelled voxel model, are used during rendering to visualize the selected data more or less colored according to level of the graph at which they have been selected, and contextualized with the other parts of the model to which they are related. We demonstrate the utility of our approach on several biomedical datasets.
Risk Identification and Evaluation of the Long-term Supply of Manganese Mines in China Based on the VW-BGR Method

Manganese is mostly used in the iron and steel industry and serves as an important metal mineral in the national economy. It is difficult to substantially increase the output of China’s manganese ore because it is of low grade and high impurity content. However, as a large consumer in the world, it is very important to ensure the long-term stable supply of this mineral. Collecting historical data on manganese ore in China over the past 20 years, we identified and evaluated risks during the whole process of production, supply, consumption, reserves, and trade of resources using the Volkswagen and German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (VW-BGR) method by selecting nine indicators: current market equilibrium, market price volatility, Reserve/production ratio, import dependence, import concentration, country risks, country concentration and future supply and demand trend. Furthermore, we assessed its economic importance by calculating the contribution of manganese ore involved in different value chains. It shows the same downward trend both in manganese ore consumption and economic importance, and the future demand of manganese ore will slow down, and the global supply will exceed demand. Based on the comprehensive evaluation of supply and demand trends in the past and future, it was concluded that the current market balance, import dependence and country concentration risks are the main driving factors for the supply risk of manganese ore in China, showing higher supply risk than that of the other factors; the resource and geostrategic risks are moderate, and may significantly reduce the supply risk if effective measures are implemented. As per the aforementioned analysis, to address the risk of supply interruption, this study provides some suggestions and measures, such as strengthening resource reserves and low-grade manganese ore utilization at home, actively exploring foreign markets, exploiting overseas resources, expanding import channels, extending the industrial chain, and adopting equity mergers and acquisitions abroad.
The importance of ecological constraints on the control of multi-species treeline dynamics in eastern Nunavik, Quebec.

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Treelines are temperature-sensitive ecotones that should be able to expand in response to global warming; however, they are also controlled by ecological constraints. These constraints can create bottlenecks for tree regeneration, hindering treeline advances. Near Kangiqsualujjuaq (Nunavik, subarctic Québec), previous studies suggested successful recruitment of Larix laricina above the altitudinal treeline, while Picea mariana establishment remains scarce. We studied regeneration of both species to identify factors responsible for such contrasting responses. • METHODS We measured seeds and wings to evaluate species dispersal potential. We compared seed viability and tolerance to shrub leachates with germination trials. To evaluate seedbed preferences, we compared seedling occurrence on the different seedbeds with seedbed relative abundance in the field. • KEY RESULTS Seed germination was similar between L. laricina and P. mariana, whereas dispersal potential was higher for the latter. Germination of P. mariana seeds was more strongly inhibited by shrub leachates than were L. laricina seeds. In the field, we found only a few Picea seedlings, but numerous seedlings of Larix had established disproportionally on several seedbeds. While Betula glandulosa, mosses, and Vaccinium uliginosim impeded Larix establishment, numerous seedlings were found on lichens, mineral soil, and liverworts. The low occurrence of suitable seedbeds for Picea, mainly mineral soil, could explain the seedling scarcity of this species. • CONCLUSIONS This study highlighted that allelopathy and unsuitable seedbeds could contribute to regeneration failure of P. mariana in eastern Nunavik and emphasizes the need to consider ecological preferences of species before predicting treeline expansion under a warmer climate.
Risk factors for Trypanosoma cruzi infection in California blood donors

Background: Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan parasite that causes Chagas'disease, is endemic in Central and South America and in Mexico. Risk of infection is related to exposure to insects harboring T. cruzi or to the transfusion of blood from an infected donor. Large numbers of immigrants from endemic areas reside in California, but the frequency with which persons at risk for T. cruzi contribute to the blood supply there is not known.
Characterization of Dobrava virus: A hantavirus from Slovenia, Yugoslavia

Small mammals were collected in natural foci of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Slovenia, Yugoslavia, and a hantavirus was isolated from the lungs of an Apodemus flavicol lis captured in Dobrava village. This new isolate, Dobrava virus, was compared with representative strains of the Hantavirus genus by serological and polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP) methods. It was found by cross immunofluorescent and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays that antigenic properties of Dobrava virus were different from those of other hantaviruses. The RNA of this virus was successfully amplified with hantavirus genus reactive primer sets by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR); however, PCR‐RFLP analysis of the amplified product was shown to be unique among those of the known hantaviruses, further indicating that Dobrava virus represents a new hantavirus serotype. Published 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mediastinal large cell lymphoma: An uncommon subset of adult lymphoma curable with combined modality therapy

Thirty adults with large cell lymphoma predominantly localized to the mediastinum diagnosed at the Massachusetts General Hospital between 1976 and 1985 were identified. The median age of the 20 females and 10 males was 34 years. All but one presented with symptoms due to an enlarging mediastinal mass, which was localized in 22 patients (73%) and exceeded 10 cm in maximal diameter in 65%. Superior vena cava syndrome and large pleural and pericardial effusions were common. Employing CHOP chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisone) and consolidation radiation therapy in most cases, 80% achieved a complete remission and 59% survive failure‐free at 5 years by actuarial calculation, the size of the mediastinal mass adversely affected failure‐free survival (89% vs. 40%, P < 0.05). No other pretreatment risk factor predicted outcome, but more intense chemotherapy was associated with improved survival (P = 0.035). Large cell mediastinal lymphoma is a locally invasive, often bulky malignancy with a predilection for young women; disease of low or moderate bulk is curable with full dose CHOP chemotherapy and consolidation radiation, but bulky disease requires more aggressive treatment.
TNF Influences Chemokine Expression of Macrophages In Vitro and That of CD11b+ Cells In Vivo during Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection1

Granulomas, focal accumulations of immune cells, form in the lung during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Chemokines, chemotactic cytokines, are logical candidates for inducing migration of T lymphocytes and monocytes to and within the lung. TNF influences chemokine expression in some models. TNF-deficient mice infected with M. tuberculosis are highly susceptible to disease, and granuloma formation is inhibited. Through in vitro assays, we demonstrate that neutralization of TNF in M. tuberculosis-infected macrophages led to a reduction in many inflammatory chemokines, such as C-C chemokine ligand 5, CXC ligand 9 (CXCL9), and CXCL10. In TNF-deficient mice, immune cells migrated to the lungs early after infection, but did not organize to form granulomas within the lung. Although chemokine expression, as measured in whole lung tissue, was not different, the expression of chemokines in the CD11b+ subset of cells isolated ex vivo from the lungs of TNF-deficient mice had reduced expression of C-C chemokine ligand 5, CXCL9, and CXCL10 at early time points after TNF neutralization. Local expression of CXCR3-binding chemokines within the lungs, as determined by in situ hybridization, was also affected by TNF. Therefore, TNF affects the expression of chemokines by macrophages in vitro and CD11b+ cells in vivo, which probably influences the local chemokine gradients and granuloma formation.
Focus on Mammalian Embryogenomics Blastocyst elongation, trophoblastic differentiation, and embryonic pattern formation

The molecular basis of ungulate and non-rodent conceptus elongation and gastrulation remains poorly understood; however, use of state-of-the-art genomic technologies is beginning to elucidate the mechanisms regulating these complicated processes. For instance, transcriptome analysis of elongating porcine concepti indicates that protein synthesis and trafﬁcking, cell growth and proliferation, and cellular morphology are major regulated processes. Furthermore, potential autocrine roles of estrogen and interleukin-1- b in regulating porcine conceptus growth and remodeling and metabolism have become evident. The importance of estrogen in pig is emphasized by the altered expression of essential steroidogenic and trophoblast factors in lagging ovoid concepti. In ruminants, the characteristic mononucleate trophoblast cells differentiate into a second lineage important for implantation, the binucleate trophoblast, and transcriptome proﬁling of bovine concepti has revealed a gene cluster associated with rapid trophoblast proliferation and differentiation. Gene cluster analysis has also provided evidence of correlated spatiotemporal expression and emphasized the signiﬁcance of the bovine trophoblast cell lineage and the regulatory mechanism of trophoblast function. As a part of the gastrulation process in the mammalian conceptus, speciﬁcation of the germ layers and hence deﬁnitive body axes occur in advance of primitive streak formation. Processing of the transforming growth factor- b -signaling molecules nodal and BMP4 by speciﬁc proteases is emerging as a decisive step in the initial patterning of the pre-gastrulation embryo. The topography of expression of these and other secreted molecules with reference to embryonic and extraembryonic tissues determines their local interaction potential. Their ensuing signaling leads to the speciﬁcation of axial epiblast and hypoblast compartments through cellular migration and differentiation and, in particular, the speciﬁcation of the early germ layer tissues in the epiblast via gene expression characteristic of endoderm and mesoderm precursor cells.
Assessment of Renal Function in the Early Stages of Nephrotoxicity Induced by Iodinated Contrast Media

To determine whether there are early renal function parameters (RFP) which can be monitored to rapidly detect nephrotoxicity induced by contrast media (CM), we observed RFP in 16 patients with normal renal function before and after administration of CM. Forty-eight hours after diatrizoate meglumine administration, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) increased (p < 0.05). In all patients, acute tubular damage was revealed by early urinary RFP. Increases in levels of serum angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE), β2-microglobulin (β2M) and urinary albumin (Alb) were associated with alterations in glomerular function. The changes in early RFP occurred earlier than those of BUN and SCr. The present study demonstrates that serum ACE, β2M, urinary Alb, γ-glutamyl-transpeptidase and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosidase are sensitive parameters for the early assessment of subclinical nephrotoxicity induced by CM.
Ocular Dimensions and Refraction in Tibetan Children

A cross-sectional study of 404 Tibetan children (212 males, 192 females) aged 6 to 16 years was conducted in the Bouda region of Kathmandu, Nepal in April, 1992. Examination procedures included retinoscopy (1% cyclopentolate HCI), keratometry A-scan ultrasonography, and video ophthalmophakometry. The mean refractive error was +1.11 D (SD: 0.56 D) at age 6 years decreasing to +0.63 D (SD: 0.34 D) at age 16 years with a prevalence of myopia in this group of 3.9%. Most children examined had low refractive errors, with 95.5% having errors in the range —0.50 to + 1.50 D. Crystalline lens power decreased by 2.59 D, with an associated increase in its anterior radius of curvature of 1.98 mm and 0.49 mm in its posterior radius of curvature over the age range studied. Vitreous chamber depth increased by 0.69 mm, but no significant changes were recorded in anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, or corneal curvature. We conclude that the balance between the decrease in crystalline lens power and the increase in vitreous length is the major factor in maintaining the tendency to emmetropia in these children.