Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) spectral library II: New indices in Y, J, H, and L atmospheric windows.

Stellar population studies in the infrared (IR) wavelength range have two main advantages with respect to the optical regime: they probe different populations, because most of the light in the IR comes from redder and generally older stars, and they allow us to see through dust because IR light is less affected by extinction. Unfortunately, IR modeling work was halted by the lack of adequate stellar libraries, but this has changed in the recent years. Our project investigates the sensitivity of various spectral features in the 1--5\,$\mu$m wavelength range to the physical properties of stars ($T_{eff}$, [Fe/H], log g and aims to objectively define spectral indices that can characterize the age and metallicity of unresolved stellar populations. We implemented a method that uses derivatives of the indices as functions of $T_{eff}$, [Fe/H] or log g across the entire available wavelength range to reveal the most sensitive indices to these parameters and the ranges in which these indices work. Here, we complement the previous work in the I and K bands, reporting a new system of 14, 12, 22, and 12 indices for Y, J, H, and L atmospheric windows, respectively, and describe their behavior. Our analysis indicates that features sensitive to the effective temperature are present and measurable in all the investigated atmospheric windows at the spectral resolution and in the metallicity range of the IRTF library for a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 20-30. The surface gravity is more challenging and only indices in the H and J windows are best suited for this. The metallicity range of the stars with available spectra is too narrow to search for suitable diagnostics. For the spectra of unresolved galaxies, the defined indices are valuable tools in tracing the properties of the stars in the IR-dominant stellar populations.
Spatiotemporal cost‐supply curves for bioenergy production in Mozambique

The objective of this study is to assess how bioenergy costs and supply potential in Mozambique develop over time in a spatially explicit way. The land availability for energy crops was explored making use of a business‐as‐usual and progressive scenario on the development of other land‐use functions. The assessment of the costs and supply potential is based on developments in land availability, the suitability of the land that is and becomes available, the disaggregated cost breakdown of energy crop production, the transportation distance of feedstock to conversion plant, the cost of conversion, the transportation distance from plant to harbor, and the cost of international shipping. The supply chains of eucalyptus (torrefied) pellets and sugarcane ethanol are used as a case study. The results show a large spatial variation in supply chain costs, which is the result of spatial variation in feedstock production costs, primary transport costs, and secondary transport costs. Most promising areas for eucalyptus and sugarcane production are scattered in the central south, the central, and the north‐eastern part of Mozambique where agro‐ecological conditions are relatively favorable, where sufficient feedstock can grow to meet plant input requirements, and where infrastructure is available. In 2030, in the progressive scenario, the total potential for eucalyptus pellet production amounts 3200 PJ of which 2500 PJ could be exported to Europe below a market price level of 8 €/GJ; for sugarcane ethanol, the total potential amount is 850 PJ of which 500 PJ could be exported below a price level of 30 €/GJ. The location of production is the key factor for cost‐effective production. This study demonstrates an approach which enables the assessment of the development of bioenergy potential and costs over time in a spatially explicit way. As environmental and socio‐economic impacts of bioenergy supply chains are highly related to the biophysical and socio‐economic context of the production location, a spatially explicit assessment of bioenergy production potential is a suitable approach for the assessment of the sustainability of bioenergy chains. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Smart Hydrogels – Synthetic Stimuli-Responsive Antitumor Drug Release Systems

Abstract Among modern drug formulations, stimuli-responsive hydrogels also called “smart hydrogels” deserve a special attention. The basic feature of this system is the ability to change their mechanical properties, swelling ability, hydrophilicity, bioactive molecules permeability, etc., influenced by various stimuli, such as temperature, pH, electromagnetic radiation, magnetic field and biological factors. Therefore, stimuli-responsive matrices can be potentially used in tissue engineering, cell cultures and technology of innovative drug delivery systems (DDSs), releasing the active substances under the control of internal or external stimuli. Moreover, smart hydrogels can be used as injectable DDSs, due to gel–sol transition connected with in situ cross-linking process. Innovative smart hydrogel DDSs can be utilized as matrices for targeted therapy, which enhances the effectiveness of tumor chemotherapy and subsequently limits systemic toxicity. External stimulus sensitivity allows remote control over the drug release profile and gel formation. On the other hand, internal factors provide drg accumulation in tumor tissue and reduce the concentration of active drug form in healthy tissue. In this report, we summarise the basic knowledge and chemical strategies for the synthetic smart hydrogel DDSs applied in antitumor therapy.
The Pseudomonas Spoilage of Eggs Laid by Individual Hens

Abstract WITH increasing production of eggs, the consumer's demand for quality also increases. In preceding papers (Orel, Musil and Znojilova, 1956Orel, Musil and Znojilova, 1958) it has been shown that the quantity of the dense egg white and the strength of egg shell may be increased, and the rate of evaporation from the eggs may be decreased, by selection of hens according to the quality of their eggs. The quality of egg shells was evaluated by the specific gravity of the fresh laid eggs, a procedure whose repeatability estimates have been stated to be R = 0.33. The breeding quality of the hens, from the standpoint of shell quality, was evaluated by determining the specific gravity of at least ten eggs laid in sequence. Poultry production is dependent on the artificial incubation of eggs. Svensson (1957), studying the relationship of the specific gravity of fresh laid eggs to their hatchability, showed that eggs with …
Exploration of Y-chromosome specific markers to discover SNP associated with sub fertility traits in dairy bulls

The present study was designed to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in Y-chromosome specific genes, namely, sex determining region, Y-encoded (SRY) and testis specific protein, Y-encoded (TSPY) vis-a-vis, detection of association between the SNP and andrological parameters (like, conception rate and per cent individual motility of semen). A total of 106 bulls, belonging to Karan Fries (Holstein Friesian crossbreds cattle), Sahiwal cattle and Murrah buffalo, were selected based on poor reproductive performance (viz., libido, semen quality & freezability), along with some control bulls with normal andrological parameters. Single strand conformation polymorphism followed by sequencing of the different band patterns revealed only a single novel SNP (Guanine to Adenine transition) in the 4 th intron of TSPY gene in Murrah buffalo. There was no significant association between the genotypes and the andrological parameters under study. Further study, encompassing larger number of animals distributed over many farms, could reveal sizeable number of SNP and association with spermatological parameters.
Population and transmission dynamics of cowpox in bank voles: testing fundamental assumptions

The idea that the rate of production of new infections, of directly transmitted microparasites, is a reflection of an interaction between the number of infectious hosts and the number of susceptible hosts in a population is central to our understanding of dynamical processes in epidemiology. Empirical support for the idea has been seriously lacking, especially for endemic infections in natural hosts, but is provided here for cowpox virus infection in bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus), using alternative descriptions of transmission dynamics: true and pseudo mass action. The former appears, overall, to give a better description of the dynamics. Transmission rates differ in two natural populations, but both support previously untested theories on the allometric scaling of transmission rates.
African histoplasmosis of the penis

Abstract African Histoplasmosis is deep mycosis caused by Histoplasma duboisii and genitourinary involvement is extremely rare. We report a case of African histoplasmosis in a 27-year-old subject with painful penis ulcer. Ulcer edge biopsy had revealed inflammatory granulomas made of epithelioid cells, lymphoplasmocytes, polynuclear eosinophils and giant multinucleated cells, with ovoid yeasts surrounded by a clear halo. PAS and Grocott stains revealed numerous fungal structures with a morphology measuring 7 to 15 nm. The diagnosis Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii was placed and the patient put on itraconazole (400 mg/day) for six months with a good course. African histoplasmosis of the subject penis is an extremely rare entity. The diagnosis of certainty often makes use of histology and mycological examination, and makes it possible to eliminate differential diagnoses such as cryptoccocosis, tuberculosis or cancer.
How community ecology links natural mortality, growth, and production of fish populations

Andersen, K. H. , Farnsworth, K. D. , Pedersen, M. , Gislason, H. , and Beyer, J. E. 2009. How community ecology links natural mortality, growth, and production of fish populations. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1978-1984.
Arrest, resorption, or maturation of oöcytes in Aedes aegypti: dependence on the quantity of blood and the interval between blood meals

ABSTRACT. After emergence, the follicles of A. aegypti double in length and the oöcytes may deposit a small amount of yolk, but within 2 days growth is arrested. Renewed growth and vitellogenesis, as well as the number of eggs finally produced, depends on the quantity of blood ingested. All females, given either a small (1 μl) or large (4 μl) meal of rat blood by enema, began yolk deposition in a nearly equal number of oöcytes, and each oöcyte had about the same amount of yolk 8 h later. Within 48 h, females fed 4 μl had each produced more than 100 eggs, whereas females fed 1 μl either had continued yolk deposition in some oöcytes, while most degenerated, or had all re‐entered oögenic arrest. Consequently, 48 h after the 1 μl meal, a female had either c. 50 or 0 eggs. Even by 14 h after a 1‐μl meal, females were either committed to re‐enter oögenic arrest or to complete maturation of some oöcytes and resorb the yolk of others. This was shown by removing and examining one ovary 14 h after a blood meal and then giving a second blood meal. The second meal stimulated meal maturation in the remaining ovary, but only in those females whose oöcytes had been in oögenic arrest when the first ovary was examined; the second meal had no effect on females whose first ovary had contained both vitellogenic and degenerating oöcytes. Oösorption was not reversed by a second blood meal. Our results do not support the hypothesis that the female ‘evaluates’ the ingested meal and begins vitellogenesis in an ‘appropriate’ number of oöcytes. The results demonstrate that the ovary is an unreliable indicator of the frequency of blood‐feeding, when females take a small meal.
miR-135a Alleviates Silica-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis by Targeting NF-κB/Inflammatory Signaling Pathway

Silica exposure triggers inflammatory response and pulmonary fibrosis that is a severe occupational or environmental lung disease with no effective therapies. The complicated biological and molecular mechanisms underlying silica-induced lung damages have not yet been fully understood. miR-135a inhibits inflammation, apoptosis, and cancer cell proliferation. But the roles of miRNA135a involved in the silica-induced lung damages remain largely unexplored. We investigated the roles and mechanisms of miR-135a underlying silica-induced pulmonary fibrosis. The present study showed silica exposure caused the decrease in miR-135a level but the increase in inflammatory mediators. Transduction of lentivirus expressing miR-135a reduced the level of inflammatory mediators in lung tissues from silica-treated mice and improved pulmonary fibrosis which was consistent with the downregulated α-SMA but enhanced E-cadherin. Moreover, miR-135a overexpression inhibited p-p65 level in lung tissues. Overexpression of miR-135a inhibitor strengthened TLR4 protein level and NF-κB activation in BEAS-2B cells. Injection of PDTC, an inhibitor of NF-κB, further reinforced miR-135a-mediated amelioration of inflammation and pulmonary fibrosis induced by silica. The collective data indicate miR-135a restrains NF-κB activation probably through targeting TLR4 to alleviate silica-induced inflammatory response and pulmonary fibrosis.
POSITIVE PLANT–ANIMAL INTERACTIONS IN THE HIGH MARSH OF AN ARGENTINEAN COASTAL LAGOON

Although plant-plant facilitations have been shown to be important struc- turing forces in salt marshes, less attention has been given to the potential role played by plant-animal facilitations in structuring these communities. We used a combination of sampling and field experiments to evaluate the effect of microenvironmental changes pro- duced by plant cover on the distribution of the burrowing crab Chasmagnathus granulata, a dominant macroinvertebrate of high marshes of the southwestern Atlantic coast. Four questions were explored. Is there a relationship between the spatial distribution of C. granulate and the spatial distribution of rooted macrophytes or distance from the marsh edge? How important is plant cover for the establishment and survival of crabs in the high marsh? Does plant cover affect critical physical variables for crab establishment? How important are environmental conditions for the survival of crabs in the high marsh? Surveys of the marsh surface showed that: (1) there was a strong relationship between the presence of plant cover and the spatial distribution of Chasmagnathus granulate in the high marsh, and (2) both mean crab size and burrow density decreased from the marsh edge to high-marsh levels. By shading the substrate, live plants and experimental plant mimics were found to be equally efficient at buffering high temperature, dehydration, and soil hardness in the high marsh. Experimental amelioration of these harsh physical con- ditions led to higher crab densities. Crab burrows also buffered harsh environmental con- ditions, diminishing surface air temperature from -460C to 230C. Finally, tethering ex- periments showed that stressful heating in the high marsh is lethal for crabs, and that plant cover is crucial for the establishment and long-term success of crabs in the high marsh. No predation was observed in tethering experiments. Our results suggest that plant cover is largely responsible for determining the spatial distribution of this dominant crab in the high marsh through facilitation. Thus, our work shows that plant-animal facilitations as well as plant-plant facilitations are important struc- turing forces in salt marsh communities.
Inhibition of JNK Alleviates Chronic Hypoperfusion-Related Ischemia Induces Oxidative Stress and Brain Degeneration via Nrf2/HO-1 and NF-κB Signaling

Cerebral ischemia is one of the leading causes of neurological disorders. The exact molecular mechanism related to chronic unilateral cerebral ischemia-induced neurodegeneration and memory deficit has not been precisely elucidated. In this study, we examined the effect of chronic ischemia on the induction of oxidative stress and c-Jun N-terminal kinase-associated detrimental effects and unveiled the inhibitory effect of specific JNK inhibitor (SP600125) on JNK-mediated brain degeneration in adult mice. Our behavioral, biochemical, and immunofluorescence studies revealed that chronic ischemic injuries sustained increased levels of oxidative stress-induced active JNK for a long time, whereas SP600125 significantly reduced the elevated level of active JNK and further regulated Nrf2/HO-1 and NF-κB signaling, which have been confirmed in vivo. Neuroinflammatory mediators and loss of neuronal cells was significantly reduced with the administration of SP600125. Ischemic brain injury caused synaptic dysfunction and memory impairment in mice. However, these were significantly improved with SP600125. On the whole, these findings suggest that elevated ROS-mediated JNK is a key mediator in chronic ischemic conditions and has a crucial role in neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and memory dysfunction. Our findings suggest that chronic oxidative stress associated JNK would be a potential target in time-dependent studies of chronic ischemic conditions induced brain degeneration.
Prorocentrum Minimum (Dinophyceae) in the Adriatic and Black Sea

During the summer months of 1983 Prorocentrum minimum (Pavillard) Schiller, not earlier recorded from the Adriatic, constituted a considerable proportion of the regular summer bloom in the Sibenik Bay (eastern Adriatic coast). During the subsequent years (1984,1985,1986) the proportions of P. minimum in summer blooms in the Ŝibenik Bay was constantly increasing (Marasović, 1986; Marasović, in press). At the same time its presence was reported from the other parts of the Adriatic coast, attributed to the intensified eutrophication of the Adriatic waters (Pucher-Petković & Marasović, 1987; Marasović et al., 1988; Pucher-Petković et al., 1988; Marasović, 1989).
Construction and Comprehensive Analysis of Dysregulated Long Noncoding RNA-Associated Competing Endogenous RNA Network in Moyamoya Disease

Background Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a rare cerebrovascular disease characterized by chronic progressive stenosis or occlusion of the bilateral internal carotid artery (ICA), the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), and the middle cerebral artery (MCA). MMD is secondary to the formation of an abnormal vascular network at the base of the skull. However, the etiology and pathogenesis of MMD remain poorly understood. Methods A competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed by analyzing sample-matched messenger RNA (mRNA), long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), and microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles from MMD patients and control samples. Then, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to identify crucial genes associated with MMD. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analyses were employed with the DAVID database to investigate the underlying functions of differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) involved in the ceRNA network. CMap was used to identify potential small drug molecules. Results A total of 94 miRNAs, 3649 lncRNAs, and 2294 mRNAs were differentially expressed between MMD patients and control samples. A synergistic ceRNA lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed. Core regulatory miRNAs (miR-107 and miR-423-5p) and key mRNAs (STAT5B, FOSL2, CEBPB, and CXCL16) involved in the ceRNA network were identified. GO and KEGG analyses indicated that the DEmRNAs were involved in the regulation of the immune system and inflammation in MMD. Finally, two potential small molecule drugs, CAY-10415 and indirubin, were identified by CMap as candidate drugs for treating MMD. Conclusions The present study used bioinformatics analysis of candidate RNAs to identify a series of clearly altered miRNAs, lncRNAs, and mRNAs involved in MMD. Furthermore, a ceRNA lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed, which provides insights into the novel molecular pathogenesis of MMD, thus giving promising clues for clinical therapy.
HPC AI500: The Methodology, Tools, Roofline Performance Models, and Metrics for Benchmarking HPC AI Systems

The recent years witness a trend of applying large-scale distributed deep learning in both business and scientific computing areas, whose goal is to speed up the training time to achieve a state-of-the-art quality. The HPC community feels a great interest in building the HPC AI systems that are dedicated to running those workloads. The HPC AI benchmarks accelerate the process. Unfortunately, benchmarking HPC AI systems at scale raises serious challenges. None of previous HPC AI benchmarks achieve the goal of being equivalent, relevant, representative, affordable, and repeatable. This paper presents a comprehensive methodology, tools, Roofline performance models, and innovative metrics for benchmarking, optimizing, and ranking HPC AI systems, which we call HPC AI500 V2.0. We abstract the HPC AI system into nine independent layers, and present explicit benchmarking rules and procedures to assure equivalence of each layer, repeatability, and replicability. On the basis of AIBench -- by far the most comprehensive AI benchmarks suite, we present and build two HPC AI benchmarks from both business and scientific computing: Image Classification, and Extreme Weather Analytics, achieving both representativeness and affordability. To rank the performance and energy-efficiency of HPC AI systems, we propose Valid FLOPS, and Valid FLOPS per watt, which impose a penalty on failing to achieve the target quality. We propose using convolution and GEMM -- the two most intensively-used kernel functions to measure the upper bound performance of the HPC AI systems, and present HPC AI roofline models for guiding performance optimizations. The evaluations show our methodology, benchmarks, performance models, and metrics can measure, optimize, and rank the HPC AI systems in a scalable, simple, and affordable way. HPC AI500 V2.0 are publicly available from this http URL.
Network Capabilities for the HL-LHC Era

High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments rely on the networks as one of the critical parts of their infrastructure both within the participating laboratories and sites as well as globally to interconnect the sites, data centres and experiments instrumentation. Network virtualisation and programmable networks are two key enablers that facilitate agile, fast and more economical network infrastructures as well as service development, deployment and provisioning. Adoption of these technologies by HEP sites and experiments will allow them to design more scalable and robust networks while decreasing the overall cost and improving the effectiveness of the resource utilization. The primary challenge we currently face is ensuring that WLCG and its constituent collaborations will have the networking capabilities required to most effectively exploit LHC data for the lifetime of the LHC. In this paper we provide a high level summary of the HEPiX NFV Working Group report that explored some of the novel network capabilities that could potentially be deployment in time for HL-LHC.