Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Root Gravitropism and Below-ground Competition among Neighbouring Plants: A Modelling Approach

Competition for nutrients among neighbouring roots occurs when their individual depletion volumes overlap, causing a reduction in nutrient uptake. By exploring diAerent spatial niches, plants with contrasting root architecture may reduce the extent of competition among neighbouring root systems. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the impact of root architecture on competition for phosphorus among neighbouring plants; and (2) to compare the magnitude of competition among roots of the same plant vs. roots of neighbouring plants. SimRoot ,a dynamic geometric model, was used to simulate common bean root growth and to compare the overlap of depletion volumes. By varying the gravitropism of basal roots, we simulated three distinct root architectures: shallow, intermediate and deep, corresponding to observed genetic variation for root architecture in this species. Combinations of roots having the same architecture resulted in more intense inter-plant competition. Among them, the deepdeep combination had the most intense competition. Competition between deep root systems and shallow root systems was only half that of deep root systems competing with other deep root systems. Inter-plant root competition increased as soil diAusivity increased and the distance among plants decreased. In heterogeneous soils, co-localization of soil resources and roots was more important in determining resource uptake than inter-plant root competition. Competition among roots of the same plant was three- to five-times greater than competition among roots of neighbouring plants. Genetic variation for root architecture in common bean may be related to adaptation to diverse competitive environments. # 2001 Annals of Botany Company
Analyse des sites de récidives après chimioradiothérapie en modulation d’intensité pour le cancer du canal anal

Objective : evaluation des sites de recidives apres radio chimiotherapie en modulation d’intensite pour le cancer du canal anal. Materiels et methodes : apres recalage rigide entre le scanner dosimetrique et l’examen d’imagerie de la recidive, les recidives etaient classees en fonction du niveau de dose du PTV1 (volume prophylactique) et du PTV2 (volume complementaire) : 1) « dans le volume traite » (IV) si 95% ou plus du GTV recidive(GTVr) etait dans l’isodose 95% de prescription, 2) « en bords de volume » (BV) si 20% a 95% du GTVr etait dans l’isodose 95% ou 3) « hors volume » (HV) si moins de 20% du (GTVr) etait dans l’isodose 95%. Resultats : entre 2007 et 2016, 254 patients ont ete traites par RCMI pour un carcinome epidermoide du canal anal non metastatique. Avec un suivi median de 27.5 mois [1-103], la probabilite de survie sans recidive a 3 ans etait de 75.8%. Un stade T3 /T4 (p<0.001), Le statut N+ (p<0.01), l’immunodepression (p<0.01) le sexe masculin (p=0.04), et la presence d’une colostomie de decharge (p=0.02) etaient associees significativement au risque de recidive. Cinquante-trois patients (20.8%) ont presente une recidive locoregionale (LR) (10 %), a distance (6%) ou LR et a distance (4%) dans un delai median de 6 mois [0 – 48]. Sur 24 analyses dosimetriques des 36 recidives tumorales, 19 (80 %) se situaient IV PTV2, 4 BV PTV2 et une HV PTV2 /IV PTV1. Sur les 9 sites de recidives ganglionnaires pelviennes, 22% se situaient IV PTV2, 11% en BV PTV2 / IV PTV1, et 67 % HV PTV2. Conclusion : notre etude montre que les recidives survenaient dans les volumes identifies et couverts par la dose prescrite. Ces recidives temoignent probablement d’une resistance au traitement justifiant les essais d’intensification pour les tumeurs localement avancees.
Threonine:lysine ratio for Japanese quail hen diets

SUMMARY The objective of this study was to evaluate threonine requirements for laying Japanese quail fed with different threonine:lysine ratios through measurement of zootechnical and histological performance. A total of 288 Japanese quail at 125 d of age were distributed in a totally randomized design, with 6 treatments and 6 replications of 8 each. The treatments consisted of a basal diet made of corn, soybean meal, and corn gluten meal, supplemented with l -lysine, dl -methionine, l -tryptophan, l -isoleucine, and l -valine to meet the laying Japanese quail essential amino acid needs, except for threonine. The basal diet was supplemented with 0.00, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, 0.16, and 0.20% of l -threonine in substitution for l -glutamate acid, with the objective of reaching levels of 0.66, 0.70, 0.74, 0.78, 0.82, and 0.86% of threonine in the feed, resulting in threonine:lysine ratios of 66, 70, 74, 78, 82, and 86%. Zootechnical and histological indexes of the digestive and reproductive system were evaluated. The amino acid ratio alteration assessed in this study influenced performance and histology of the quail through improving productive performance at a 78% threonine:lysine ratio.
Contribution of bacteria to release and fixation of phosphorus in lake sediments

Cycling of phosphorus at the sediment-water interface is traditionally considered to bc controlled by pH- and rcdox-dependent, abiotic processes, such as formation and dissolution of FeOOH-POd complexes. In this study, however, a large part of total P in sediments of Lake Sempach, an 87-m deep eutrophic lake, was estimated to bc incorporated in bacterial biomass. Laboratory experiments indicated that sediment microorganisms can rapidly take up and release soluble reactive P (SRP), depending on rcdox conditions, and that sterilization ofoxic sediments decreased their SRI? sorption capacity. In an in situ experiment conducted in the lake, bacteria also contributed considerably to SRP fixation when water enclosed within a sediment flux chamber was reoxygenated following anoxia, Moreover, in that experiment and in data sets from several other lakes, anoxic releases of Fc and P from sediments appeared to be partly uncoupled. As part of an ongoing revision of the classical model for P exchange across the sediment-water interface, these results provide direct cvidencc that fixation and release of SRP may be controlled part! y by rcdox-dependent changes in microbial physiology,as Wellas by productionand dc~ornmsitionOfmicrobial biomass.
Response to the crisis and gender segregation in Turkey’s labour market

This study addresses the effectiveness of the fiscal stimulus package announced by the Turkish government in 2009 in terms of its particular gendered outcomes, with a special emphasis on employment policies. Through an analysis of the package’s components and the policies of the Public Employment Agency of Turkey (Iskur), this article demonstrates the public sector’s reluctance to take a leading role in generating employment and the insufficiency of its efforts in addressing the stated goal of increasing women’s employment. Active and passive employment policies in Turkey are instead shown to be accommodating the country’s gender-segregated labour markets and discrimination against women.
Impact of uncertainty on the optimum nitrogen fertilization rate and agronomic, ecological and economic factors in an oilseed rape based crop rotation

SUMMARY Crop yield and optimum nitrogen fertilization rates (Nopt) are often calculated ex post by specific functions of the nitrogen fertilization rate, but in doing this, uncertainties in terms of model choice, annual nitrogen response variations and parameter estimation are neglected. In the present study, Nopt, grain yields, net revenues and N balances were estimated for the three crops of an oilseed rape (OSR)–winter wheat–winter barley rotation. The effects of uncertainties were considered using three different statistical models, estimating an identical Nopt over the years and carrying out Monte-Carlo simulations where model parameters were varied according to their estimated standard errors. The statistical models used were the quadratic (Q) polynomial function, the linear response and plateau (LRP) function and the quadratic response and plateau (QRP) function. The Q model tended to estimate the highest Nopt values for the three crops, followed by the QRP and the LRP model in an initial ex post analysis. The highest corresponding mean net revenues in the rotation were estimated by the LRP model, followed by the Q and QRP model; mean N balances increased in the order LRP, QRP and Q. In the comparison of the crops, OSR showed the highest N balances followed by wheat and barley. Considering the protein concentration in wheat, Nopt values estimated by the Q model were considerably higher than without the economic effects of grain quality. In order to consider uncertainties in annual nitrogen response, an ex ante Nopt over the years was determined by maximizing the cumulated net revenues over all years in the rotation. Ex ante Nopt was higher as the mean of the ex post Nopt values for the QRP and LRP model. Average grain yields and net revenues were lower, N balances were higher. Running the Monte-Carlo simulations, ex post Nopt was obtained by 10 000 generated functions in each year and ex ante Nopt by 50 000 generated functions of years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2002. This led to an increase in Nopt especially for the LRP model, while effects on the estimation of Nopt by the Q model were rather small. For the LRP model, corresponding mean net revenue decreased and mean N balance rose. In contrast, due to marginal changes in Nopt, the consideration of uncertainties in the estimations had only a small effect on net revenue and N balance in the Q model. In general, all kinds of uncertainty tended to increase Nopt but this effect was much higher for the LRP model as compared to the Q model. This increase in Nopt was associated with decreasing net revenues and increasing N balances. Exceptionally in OSR using the Q model, however, the ex ante approaches considering uncertainty led to slightly lower Nopt values compared to the ex post value.
Influence of Starch and Casein Administered Postruminally on Small Intestinal Sodium-Glucose Cotransport Activity and Expression

Twenty-four Holstein steer calves (88 ± 3kg) with abomasal catheters were randomly assigned within blocks to one of four treatments. The treatments consisted of four abomasal infusions: water (control), 4 g/kg BW.d-1 of partially hydrolyzed starch (SH), 0.6 g/kg BW.d-1 of casein, and a mix of SH + casein. The small intestine was collected and five equidistan, 1m sites were identified (duodenum, jejunum 1, jejunum 2 jejunum 3 and ileum). Maltase specific activity in mucosal homogenate and brush border membrane vesicles, SGLT1 protein abundance, and sodium-dependent glucose uptake in brush border membrane vesicles did not differ between the calves receiving different abomasal infusion treatments. However, maltase specific activity in homogenates and brush border membrane vesicles increased four-fold from the duodenum to the first jejunal site before declining steadily towards the ileum (p=0.0145 p=0.0020, respectively). The SGLT1 abundance differed by intestinal sampling site (p=0.0162). These data indicated that cattle might not have the ability to alter the capacity for glucose uptake when challenged with different substrates and that the regulation of SGLT1 expression could differ between bovine and other species.
SCALED CHRYSOPHYTES (CHRYSOPHYCEAE AND SYNUROPHYCEAE) FROM ADIRONDACK DRAINAGE LAKES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES 1

The relationships between 23 scaled chrysophyte taxa (Chrysophyceae and Synurophyceae) and measured limnological variables in 62 Adirondack, New York, drainage lakes were examined by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The major proportion of variation in chrysophyte species distributions was strongly related to total monomeric Al (Alm) and Mg concentrations, and their close correlates pH, Na, Ca, and acid‐neutralizing capacity (ANC). Total monomeric Al concentrations explain a greater proportion of species variation than pH, suggesting that Alm concentrations may be more important in governing the distribution of chrysophyte taxa in these lakes. Gaussian logit (GL) and linear logit (LL) regressions of the relative percentages of individual chrysophyte taxa to lakewater pH and Alm concentrations and the examination of pH–Alm response surfaces show that many chrysophyte taxa exhibit unique responses to these environmental gradients; taxa can be characterized as alkaline, circumneutral, acidic, and pH indifferent. Within each of these groups, taxa can be characterized further based upon their optima and tolerances to Alm concentrations. Chrysophyte indicator species (i.e. a taxon with a strong statistical relationship to the environmental variable of interest, a well‐defined optimum, and a narrow tolerance to the variable of interest) for pH include Mallomonas hindonii, M. crassisquama, M. pseudocoronata, and Synura uvella; M. hindonii, M. crassisquama, M. pseudocoronata, S. petersenii, and S. spinosa are good indicators of Alm concentrations. Highly significant predictive models were developed to infer lakewater pH and Alm concentrations from the relative percentages of chrysophyte scales in the study lakes. Model evaluation was based on their correlation coefficients and the root‐mean‐squared error of prediction (RMSE) derived from bootstrapping. Weighted averaging regression and calibration with tolerance down‐weighting (i.e. weighting taxa inversely to their variance) produced superior results when compared to the computationally and data‐demanding maximum likelihood methods and to simple weighted averaging regression and calibration.
Creating endless sounds

This paper proposes signal processing methods to extend a stationary part of an audio signal endlessly. A frequent occasion is that there is not enough audio material to build a synthesizer, but an example sound must be extended or modiﬁed for more variability. Filtering of a white noise signal with a ﬁlter designed based on high-order linear prediction or concatenation of the example signal can produce convincing arbitrarily long sounds, such as ambient noise or musical tones, and can be interpreted as a spectral freeze technique without looping. It is shown that the random input signal will pump energy to the narrow resonances of the ﬁlter so that lively and realistic variations in the sound are generated. For real-time implementation, this paper proposes to replace white noise with velvet noise, as this reduces the number of operations by 90% or more, with respect to standard convolution, without affecting the sound quality, or by FFT convolution, which can be simpliﬁed to the randomization of spectral phase and only taking the inverse FFT. Examples of producing endless airplane cabin noise and pi-ano tones based on a short example recording are studied. The proposed methods lead to a new way to generate audio material for music, ﬁlms, and gaming.
Morphology of olfactory sensilla and its role in host plant recognition by Neomegalotomus parvus (Westwood) (Heteroptera: Alydidae)

ABSTRACT The external morphology of the sensilla, including pores and permeable points on the cuticle of the antennae ofadults of Neomegalotomus parvus (West.) (Heteroptera: Alydidae) was investigated with regard to their olfactoryfunction. Behavioural evidence of olfaction, the importance of the different antennal segments in locating the hostunder still-air, and the responses of the insects to plants´ scents and to pheromones in wind assays were alsostudied. With the scanning electronic microscope mechanoreceptor sensilla were found on the four segments of theantennae of N. parvus. The density of the sensilla was greater on the 4 th segment. On the apical segment, sensillawith olfactory morphological traits were observed. Bugs with intact antennae located food more frequently andfaster than those with blocked or amputated antennae. N. parvus preferred intact seeds to sealed seeds, but therewas no preference when the last segment of the antenna was blocked. In wind tunnel, bugs were attracted to matureand green pods, and to hexanic extract of mature pods of pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. ; there was noresponse to panicles of rice, Oryza sativa L. or to the male pheromone.Key words: Sensilla, host plant, behaviour, antenna
Growth, development, and life‐history strategies in an unpredictable environment: case study of a rare hoverfly Blera fallax (Diptera, Syrphidae)

1. Development in organisms can vary in response to fluctuating environments. In holometabolous insects, variation in adult phenotypic traits is strongly influenced by growth conditions experienced by larvae. The main aim of this study was to assess how much environmental insight can be gained from analysis of the phenotypic changes in an insect's life history parameters in response to realistic food limitations.
The Effect of Sugammadex on Respiratory Functions in Bariatric Surgery

Objective: Bariatric surgeries increased in the last decades likewise obesity. The need for high doses of neuromuscular blocking agents in these surgeries may cause residual paralysis and also critical respiratory events and late complications such as hypoxemia, pneumonia, atelectasis, and the possibility of reintubation. The purpose of this study to evaluate the effect of sugammadex on respiratory parameters. Materials and method: 62 patients are included the study and they were assigned to one of the two groups randomly. LSG operation was performed on all the patients based on standard anesthesia management. In Group S (n=31), Sugammadex 2 mg/kg was administered for the reversal of rocuronium. In Group N (n=31), Neostigmine 0.05 mg/kg was administered together with atropine 0.02 mg/kg for the reversal of rocuronium. Extubation duration, Aldrete scores at 5, 10, and 15 minutes after extubation, PACU duration, FEV1 values of RFT, ABG values, mobilization time were analyzed. Results: In group S, patients have higher PO2 and lower PCO2 levels, shorter mobilization times, and an Aldrete score of 15 sooner, and moreover, they occupy the operating room and PACU to a lesser extent but FEV1 values did not differ between groups. Conclusion: In conclusion, sugammadex allows a safe and rapid recovery from deep rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade after LSG surgery.
Isodeformation curves of the extraocular muscles from the inverse kinematics of a cable-driven parallel kinematics mechanism model of the eye

A mechanical model of the eye considering it as a cable-driven parallel kinematics mechanism is proposed. The inverse kinematics of the eye is carried out and the isodeformation curves of the extraocular muscles are obtained. The results agree with those previously reported by other, more complex, analytical approaches and with physiological measurements. They are also a contribution to the modeling of the kinematics and to the understanding of the motion planning of the eye, from the standpoint of robotics and mechanism theory. This work may support the neurologically-constrained argument for the positioning of the eye.
The function of mate choice in sticklebacks: optimizing Mhc genetics

Sexual reproduction is an evolutionary 'puzzle'. A sexual female 'throws away' half of her genes (during meiosis), and 'fills up' what she lost with genes from a male. Thus, sexual reproduction can only be successful if the offspring with the new mixture of genes should be more than twice as fit as if she had just made a copy of herself. A challenging hypothesis assumes that infectious diseases select for females that reshuffle the immune genes for their offspring in each generation. The required increase in quality could be achieved by females selectively 'smelling out' suitable immune-genes (i.e. Mhc alleles) in potential partners, which, in combination with the female's genes, offer optimal resistance against quickly changing infectious diseases. It was found that most three spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus in natural populations around Plon, Germany, had intermediate instead of maximal numbers of different Mhc class IIB alleles. Furthermore, fish with an intermediate number of different Mhc alleles were infected with the lowest number of both parasite species and parasites per species. This suggests that Mhc heterozygosity was optimized instead of maximized. Can this immunogenetic optimum be achieved through female choice? In a flow channel design that allowed the detection of olfactory signals only, it was found that female three-spined sticklebacks that were ready to spawn preferred males as mates that in combination with their Mhc alleles would allow the production of offspring with the optimal number of Mhc alleles. Thus, mate choice in three-spined sticklebacks could have the two-fold advantage over asexual reproduction that is required to maintain sexual reproduction. The interaction of olfactory with visual signals in three-spined stickleback mate choice is discussed. The three-spined stickleback is a suitable model organism for studying the evolution of sexual reproduction in relation to optimizing offspring immune genetics although other fishes may be as suitable.
Global warming and the export of dissolved organic carbon from boreal peatlands

Peatlands occupy approximately 15% of boreal and sub-arctic regions, contain approximately one third of the world's soil carbon pool, and supply most of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) entering boreal lakes and rivers and the Arctic Ocean. The high latitudes occupied by these peatlands are expected to see the greatest amount of climatic warming in the next several decades. In addition to increasing temperatures, climatic change could also affect the position of the water-table level and discharge from these peatlands. Changes in temperature, water tables, and discharge could affect delivery of DOC to downstream ecosystems where it exerts significant control over productivity, biogeochemical cycles, and attenuation of visible and UV radiation. We experimentally warmed and controlled water tables while measuring discharge in a factorial experiment in large mesocosms containing peat monoliths and intact plant communities from a bog and fen to determine the effects of climate change on DOC budgets. We show that the DOC budget is controlled largely by changes in discharge rather than by any effect of warming or position of the water-table level on DOC concentrations. Furthermore, we identify a critical discharge rate in bogs and fens for which the DOC budget switches from net export to net retention. We also demonstrate an exponential increase in trace gas CO 2 -C and CH 4 -C emissions coincident with increased retention of dissolved organic carbon from boreal peatlands.
Real-time implementation of ReSuMe learning in Spiking Neural Network

Neuromorphic systems are designed by mimicking or being inspired by the nervous system, which realizes robust, autonomous, and power-efficient information processing by highly parallel architecture. Supervised learning was proposed as a successful concept of information processing in neural network. Recently, there has been an increasing body of evidence that instruction-based learning is also exploited by the brain. ReSuMe is a proposed algorithm by Ponulak and Kasinski in 2010. It proposes a supervised learning for biologically plausible neurons that reproduce template signals (instructions) or patterns encoded in precisely timed sequences of spikes. Here, we present a real-time ReSuMe learning implementation on FPGA using Leaky Integrate-and-fire (LIF) Spiking Neural Network (SNN). FPGA allows real-time implementation and embedded system. We show that this implementation can make successful the learning on a specific pattern.