Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mycotoxins and mould contamination in cheese: a review

Many types of cheese are an excellent substrate for mould growth. Important fungi growing on cheese include Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Geotrichum, Mucor and Trichoderma. Incidence of moulds in cheese indicates that the predominant flora belong to the genus Penicillium. Some types of cheese such as Camembert and Roquefort cheese intentionally contain moulds. In the production of these kinds of cheeses, starter fungal cultures that have low toxigenic capacity should be selected and spontaneously moulded cheeses should not be consumed to avoid mycotoxin risk. Mycotoxins produced by certain moulds as a toxic metabolic substances can be found in dairy products from two origins: (1) indirect contamination, which results when dairy cows ingest feed that contains mycotoxins that pass into the milk such as aflatoxin M1, and (2) direct contamination, which occurs because of the intentional or accidental growth of moulds. The most common mycotoxins which are stable in cheese are citrinin, penitrem A, ro.
Hallucinating Saliency Maps for Fine-Grained Image Classification for Limited Data Domains

Most of the saliency methods are evaluated on their ability to generate saliency maps, and not on their functionality in a complete vision pipeline, like for instance, image classification. In the current paper, we propose an approach which does not require explicit saliency maps to improve image classification, but they are learned implicitely, during the training of an end-to-end image classification task. We show that our approach obtains similar results as the case when the saliency maps are provided explicitely. Combining RGB data with saliency maps represents a significant advantage for object recognition, especially for the case when training data is limited. We validate our method on several datasets for fine-grained classification tasks (Flowers, Birds and Cars). In addition, we show that our saliency estimation method, which is trained without any saliency groundtruth data, obtains competitive results on real image saliency benchmark (Toronto), and outperforms deep saliency models with synthetic images (SID4VAM).
Chromosome differentiation in the subantarctic Bovichtidae species Cottoperca gobio (Günther, 1861) and Pseudaphritis urvillii (Valenciennes, 1832) (Pisces, Perciformes)

A cytogenetic study on the bovichtid species Cottoperca gobio from the Magellan Strait and Pseudaphritis urvillii from Tasmania showed both species have a plesiomorphic number of chromosomes (2n=48). However, C.gobio has a more conservative karyotype composed entirely of acrocentric chromosomes (Fundamental Number=48); the presence of two metacentric pairs in P. urvilli (FN=52) makes this species karyologically more derived. The differences in the number of chromosomal arms, and the chromosomal location of the nucleolar organizer regions indicate karyological divergence in the two separating stocks from which C.gobio and P.urvillii originated. During the diversification of this notothenioid family, probably coincident with the fragmentation of Gondwana, the stock that split off with the Australian Plate gave rise to the Tasmanian species and experienced more chromosomal modifications than the stock from which C. gobio is derived. The pattern of constitutive heterochromatin suggests a possible homology between a pair of chromosomes in bovichtids and other notothenioids.
Equivariant birational types and Burnside volume

We introduce equivariant Burnside groups, new invariants in equivariant birational geometry, generalizing birational symbols groups for actions of finite abelian groups, due to Kontsevich, Pestun, and the second author, and study their properties. We establish a specialization map for the equivariant birational type of a smooth algebraic variety with an action of a finite group.
Chloroplast DNA phylogeography of Eucalyptus globulus

The pattern of variability in chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. (Myrtaceae) was studied using 270 samples from southern Australia. Forty variable sequence characters were found, defining 105 haplotypes. Haplotypes were assigned to three major cpDNA clades based on their phylogeny. The pattern of cpDNA variation did not conform to subspecies boundaries; however, there was a strong geographic structure to the distribution of clades and haplotypes. One clade (JC) was geographically central and widespread and was found in 163 samples from Tasmania and continental Australia. Less-common clades occurred in more localised regions— southern (Js, 77 samples) and eastern (Jet, 12 samples). The distribution of the Jet and Js clades coincides with hypothesised glacial refugia in Tasmania, suggesting limited seed-mediated dispersal since deglaciation.
Tetralichine Trilobites from the Upper Ordovician of Oklahoma and Virginia and Phylogenetic Systematics of the Tetralichini

Abstract New material, including a complete exoskeleton, from the Bromide Formation of Oklahoma, allows a complete evaluation of Probolichas Phleger, 1936 and necessitates a quantitative revision of the lichid tribe Tetralichini Phleger, 1936. A strict consensus tree of nine equally parsimonious trees generated from a branch and bound analysis indicates that the genus Probolichas is monophyletic, and should no longer be restricted as synonymous with, or as a sub-clade of Amphilichas Raymond, 1905. The genus Apatolichas Whittington, 1963 is revised as a synonym of Amphilichas, and the Tetralichini is defined as clade with three genera: Amphilichas, Probolichas, and Lyralichas Weber, 1948. Probolichas kristiae from the Bromide Formation and Amphilichas effnensis from the Effna Formation of Virginia are new species.
Effects of phytate on mineral bioavailability. in vitro studies on Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ (also Cd2+) solubilities in the presence of phytate

The effect of phytate on the solubility of some minerals (Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+) has been investigated in vitro at 37°C, under pH conditions which may be encountered in the duodenum. The observed solubility trends as a function of phytate concentration and pH result from the formation of complexes having different stoichiometries and solubilities as the conditions are varied. Possible structures for these complexes are proposed. In view of the ever-increasing concern over cadmium toxicity and a recent report which indicates that intestinal absorption of Cd2+ is affected by phytate, this ion was included as part of this study.
The VANDELS survey: Discovery of massive overdensities of galaxies at z  >   2

Context. The advent of deep, multi-wavelength surveys, together with the availability of extensive numerical simulations, now allow us for the systematic search and study of (proto)clusters and their surrounding environment as a function of redshift. Aims. We aim to define the environment and to identify overdensities in the VANDELS Chandra Deep Field-South (CDFS) and UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey (UDS) fields. We want to investigate whether we can use Lyα emission to obtain additional information of the environment properties and whether Lyα emitters show different characteristics as a function of their environment. Methods. We estimated local densities using a three-dimensional algorithm which works in the RA-dec-redshift space. We took advantage of the physical parameters of all the sources in the VANDELS fields to study their properties as a function of environment. In particular, we focused on the rest-frame U − V color to evaluate the stage of evolution of the galaxies located in the overdensities and in the field. Then we selected a sample of 131 Lyα-emitting galaxies (EW(Lyα) > 0 Å), unbiased with respect to environmental density, from the first two seasons of the VANDELS survey to study their location with respect to the over- or under-dense environment and infer whether they are useful tracers of overdense regions. Results. We identify 13 (proto)cluster candidates in the CDFS and nine in the UDS at 2 < z < 4, based on photometric and spectroscopic redshifts from VANDELS and from all the available literature. No significant difference is observed in the rest-frame U − V color between field and galaxies located within the identified overdensities, but the star-forming galaxies in overdense regions tend to be more massive and to have low specific SFRs than in the field. We study the distribution of the VANDELS Lyα emitters (LAEVs) and we find that Lyα emitters lie preferentially outside of overdense regions as the majority of the galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts from VANDELS. The LAEVs in overdense regions tend to have low Lyα equivalent widths and low specific SFRs, and they also tend to be more massive than the LAEVs in the field. Their stacked Lyα profile shows a dominant red peak and a hint of a blue peak. There is evidence that their Lyα emission is more extended and offset with respect to the UV continuum. Conclusions. LAEVs are likely to be influenced by the environment. In fact, our results favour a scenario that implies outflows of low expansion velocities and high HI column densities for galaxies in overdense regions. An outflow with low expansion velocity could be related to the way galaxies are forming stars in overdense regions; the high HI column density can be a consequence of the gravitational potential of the overdensity. Therefore, Lyα-emitting galaxies can provide useful insights on the environment in which they reside.
A Comprehensive Study on Sign Language Recognition Methods

In this paper, a comparative experimental assessment of computer vision-based methods for sign language recognition is conducted. By implementing the most recent deep neural network methods in this field, a thorough evaluation on multiple publicly available datasets is performed. The aim of the present study is to provide insights on sign language recognition, focusing on mapping non-segmented video streams to glosses. For this task, two new sequence training criteria, known from the fields of speech and scene text recognition, are introduced. Furthermore, a plethora of pretraining schemes is thoroughly discussed. Finally, a new RGB+D dataset for the Greek sign language is created. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first sign language dataset where sentence and gloss level annotations are provided for a video capture.
Influência da luz e da temperatura na germinação de sementes de Marcetia taxifolia (A. St.-Hil.) DC. (Melastomataceae)

Marcetia taxifolia (A. St.-Hil.) DC. (Melastomataceae) is a shrub widely distributed in the rupestrian fields of Serra do Cipo, Brazil. In spite of M. taxifolia being a potential species to be used in land rehabilitation, no complete study has been conducted regarding its seed germination. The goal of this work was to evaluate the effect of light and temperature on seed germination of M. taxifolia. Seeds were collected in May/2001 and were submitted to germination tests at constant temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35oC under a photoperiod of 12 hours, and in the absence of light for 30 days. There were statistically significant differences between seed germination and mean time of germination for seeds submitted to the light and dark treatments at 15, 20, 25 and 30oC (p < 0,05; all). Seed germination under 35oC was totally inhibited. The higher germination percentages were obtained at 15 and 20oC, which differed significantly from the temperatures of 25 and 30oC (ANOVA = 13,65; p < 0,001). The data contribute to further studies focusing the propagation of M. taxifolia for land rehabilitation purposes.
The Canonical Wnt/β-catenin Pathway as a Therapeutic Target in Multiple Myeloma

It has been more than 30 years since Nusse and Varmus identified a new mouse proto-oncogene int1 (integration 1), conserved across multiple species, and already recognised in Drosophila as Wingless (Wg). Wnts are now known to activate multiple signalling pathways, the best understood and extensively investigated being the canonical/β-catenin dependent pathway. β-catenin signalling has been found dysregulated to varying degrees and via multiple mechanisms in both solid and haematologic cancers, including multiple myeloma (MM). Recently developed inhibitors of the Wnt canonical pathway have proven to be potentially effective against MM, with minimal side effects. There is cautious optimism that some of these inhibitors will be added in our armamentarium against MM in the not so distant future. In this review, we discuss the possible mechanisms of Wnt-canonical pathway dysregulation in the pathogenesis of MM. Furthermore, we summarise the pathway inhibitors that have been validated in the disease in pre-clinical models or clinical trials and their potential challenges.
On the learnability of quantum neural networks

Quantum neural network (QNN), or equivalently, the variational quantum circuits with a gradient-based classical optimizer, has been broadly applied to many experimental proposals for noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) devices. However, the learning capability of QNN remains largely unknown due to the non-convex optimization landscape, the measurement error, and the unavoidable gate noise introduced by NISQ machines. In this study, we theoretically explore the learnability of QNN from the perspective of the trainability and generalization. Particularly, we derive the convergence performance of QNN under the NISQ setting, and identify classes of computationally hard concepts that can be efficiently learned by QNN. Our results demonstrate that large gate noise, few quantum measurements, and deep circuit depth will lead to poor convergence rates of QNN towards the empirical risk minimization. Moreover, we prove that any concept class, which is efficiently learnable by a restricted quantum statistical query (QSQ) learning model, can also be efficiently learned by QNN. Since the restricted QSQ learning model can tackle certain problems such as parity learning with a runtime speedup, our result suggests that QNN established on NISQ devices will retain the quantum advantage. Our work provides the theoretical guidance for developing advanced QNNs and opens up avenues for exploring quantum advantages using NISQ devices.
Soils, a sink for N2O? A review

Soils are the main sources of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). The N2O emission at the soil surface is the result of production and consumption processes. So far, research has concentrated on net N2O production. However, in the literature, there are numerous reports of net negative fluxes of N2O, (i.e. fluxes from the atmosphere to the soil). Such fluxes are frequent and substantial and cannot simply be dismissed as experimental noise.
High phenotypic variation of seed traits, germination characteristics and genetic diversity of an invasive annual weed

Abstract Both phenotypic and genetic variation can affect the establishment success of exotic species. Using the weed Senecio vernalis Waldst. & Kit. with a continuous westward expansion of the native geographic range, we asked to what degree seed traits and germination patterns differ among different habitat disturbance types in the introduced region. We hypothesized that seed traits and germination pattern differ between different disturbance types, with lighter seeds and enhanced germination speed in highly disturbed habitats. Since S. vernalis colonizes successfully various disturbed habitats, we expected to find a high phenotypic genetic variation. Individuals from 19 populations were sampled from one region in Eastern Germany to study seed trait variation and germination success by means of a germination experiment and to assess genetic patterns using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Contrary to our expectation, habitat disturbance types did not differ in seed traits, germination characteristics or genetic variation. Instead, we found highest phenotypic and genetic variation within populations. Maximum percentage of germination was positively affected by seed mass. In addition, there was a weak but significant association between AFLP band patterns and population size and seed width, indicating that some variation in seed traits has a genetic component. In conclusion, the absence of a population differentiation at this geographic scale makes it unlikely that adaptation to different disturbance regimes is involved. Instead, a high variation in seed traits, overall high germination and genetic variation within populations under a wide range of habitat disturbance conditions seems to enable the offspring to colonize various habitat disturbance types.
Cohen-Lenstra heuristics and bilinear pairings in the presence of roots of unity

Let $L/K$ be a quadratic extension of global fields. We study Cohen-Lenstra heuristics for the $\ell$-part of the relative class group $G_{L/K} := \textrm{Cl}(L/K)$ when $K$ contains $\ell^n$th roots of unity. While the moments of a conjectural distribution in this case had previously been described, no method to calculate the distribution given the moments was known. We resolve this issue by introducing new invariants associated to the class group, $\psi_{L/K}$ and $\omega_{L/K},$ and study the distribution of $(G_{L/K}, \psi_{L/K}, \omega_{L/K})$ using a linear random matrix model. Using this linear model, we calculate the distribution (including our new invariants) in the function field case, and then make local adjustments at the primes lying over $\ell$ and $\infty$ to make a conjecture in the number field case, which agrees with some numerical experiments.
Possible reasons for the decline of two native toothcarps in the Iberian Peninsula: evidence of competition with the introduced Eastern mosquitofish

Summary Interactions between adult individuals of the introduced Eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki and two native fish species to the Iberian Peninsula, the Iberian toothcarp Aphanius iberus and the Valencia toothcarp Valencia hispanica, were studied in mesocosm and laboratory experiments. Eastern mosquitofish always excluded both Valencia and Iberian toothcarp when the ratio introduced-to-native was at unity or favourable to the non-native species. Food availability did not decrease significantly in the mesocosm experimental units. However, specimens of native species had a greater number of empty guts than those of Eastern mosquitofish at the end of the mesocosm experiment. Ethograms were constructed based on qualitative observations in aquaria, with a special emphasis on social behaviours, in particular agonistic (which ultimately were not observed between the species). Satiety (maximum prey number) and voracity (number of prey consumed per unit of time) of the three species were measured in aquaria. The Eastern mosquitofish achieved the highest foraging values (maximum prey = 11, at 11–12 prey min−1), whereas Valencia toothcarp achieved the lowest values (maximum prey = 7, at 5–6 prey min−1). The observed interactions between Eastern mosquitofish and the two native species are discussed.
Quantitative changes in cytoskeletal β‐ and γ‐actin mRNAS and apparent absence of sarcomeric actin gene transcripts in early mouse embryos

Actin is known to be synthesized both during oogenesis and in cleavage‐stage embryos in mice. Cytoskeletal β‐actin appears to be the major component, followed by γ‐actin, but the synthesis of α‐actin has also been inferred from protein electrophoretic patterns. We have studied the expression of cytoskeletal (β‐ and γ‐) and sarcomeric (α‐cardiac and α‐skeletal) actin genes at the level of the individual mRNAs in blot hybridization experiments using isoform‐specific RNA probes. The results show that there are about 2 × 104 β‐actin mRNA molecules in the fully grown oocyte; this number drops to about one‐half in the egg and less than one‐tenth in the late two‐cell embryo but increases rapidly during cleavage to about 3 × 105 molecules in the late blastocyst. The amount of γ‐actin mRNA is similar to that of β‐actin in oocytes and eggs but only about 40% as much in late blastocysts, indicating a differential accumulation of these mRNAs during cleavage. The developmental pattern of β‐ and γ‐actin mRNA provides a striking example of the transition from maternal to embryonic control that occurs at the two‐cell stage and involves the elimination of most or all of the maternal actin mRNA. There was no detectable α‐cardiac or α‐skeletal mRNA (i.e., < 1,000 molecules per embryo) at any stage from oocyte to late blastocyst, suggesting that the sarcomeric actin genes are silent during preimplantation development.
Reply by Zafeiridis and Mougios

We thank Drs Burns and Stensel for their interest in our work. We agree that the published articles on the delayed effect of resistance exercise (RE) on postprandial lipaemia (PL) provide controversial results. Three studies1–3 employed comparable methodologies in terms of exercise protocol and feeding plan of the subjects, that is, two to four sets of eight to eleven exercises at relatively similar intensities (about 10–12 repetitions maximum (RM)) with 1·5–2·0 min of rest between sets and a standardised meal on the night prior to the fat tolerance test. These studies reported a decrease1,3 or no change2 in the postprandial lipaemic response. A fourth study4 employed a similar RE protocol but focused on maintaining the subjects in a state of energy balance by increasing food intake up to two-fold after RE v. control on the night prior to the fat tolerance test. This study found no significant effect of RE on PL.
A versatile trend test for the evaluation of tumor incidences in long-term carcinogenicity bioassays

For the evaluation of carcinogenicity bioassays a new trend test is proposed which is based on a maximum of arithmetic, ordinal, and logarithmic regression scores as well as the Williams-type contrasts for either crude proportions or more appropriate poly3-estimates for the tumor-by-time relationships. This test provides an almost appropriate power for most shapes of dose-response relationships (including for possible downturn effect at high(er) dose(s)), common signs of significance (p-value, confidence limits) and the information on the probable shape. Related software is easily available within the CRAN-packages tukeytrend, MCPAN, multcomp.
Ants remove virtually all western myall (Acacia papyrocarpa Benth.) seeds at Middleback, South Australia

Abstract Ants can have a profound effect on the numbers of seeds present in the seed-bank. We investigated the removal of seeds of an important arid zone tree species, the western myall (Acacia papyrocarpa Benth.). The species has seed characteristics typical of other Acacia species: a hard seed-coat and a small, white aril or elaiosome; the latter is reported to be attractive to ants. An experiment was conducted to see how rapidly and completely the seeds would be removed under various caging treatments. Observations were also made to discover the major seed removers and the fate of the seeds. Seed removal was rapid (< 12h) and was almost entirely by ants, and while our observations were not conclusive, we speculate that much of the seed supply is effectively destroyed by seed harvester ants which thus act as true granivores, not seed dispersers. Whether this matters for western myall in the long term is problematic because the species is so long-lived; rare but successful recruitment events may well be sufficient for its long-term survival.
The distribution of woody legumes in neotropical dry forests: The pleistocene arc theory 20 years on

Fil: Mogni, Virginia Yanina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Biologia. Catedra de Botanica Morfologica y Sistematica Agronomica; Argentina