Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contrasting Effects of Aqueous Tissue Extracts from an Invasive Plant, Bidens pilosa L. var. radiata, on the Performance of Its Sympatric Plant Species

Bidens pilosa L. var. radiata Sch. Bip. , a common weed in lowland Taiwan, is listed as one of the twenty most noxious invasive plants in Taiwan. In this study, we examined the effect of aqueous extracts of leaves, stems and roots of the invasive plant on germination and growth of seedlings (estimated by measuring the elongation of hypocotyls and radicals) of the same species and two other sympatric species, B. bipinnata and Ageraturem conyzoides. The objective of this study was to understand whether the aqueous tissue extracts affected the performance of the target species and whether these effects varied among tissue types and among target species. We found that the germination percentage of seeds of B. bipinnata was significantly reduced by root and leaf extracts, that of B. pilosa var. radiata was also significantly reduced by the application of root extract, while that of A. conyzoides was not affected by any of the three tissue extracts. The application of stem and leaf extracts inhibited the elongation of radicals of B. pilosa var. radiata, consequently, the growth of seedlings of this species was decreased in these two treatments. Though the elongation of hypocotyls was stimulated by leaf extract, the overall growth of seedlings of B. bipinnata was not affected by any tissue extract. In contrast, all three extracts stimulated the elongation of hypocotyls and radicals of A. conyzoides, consequently, the overall growth of seedlings of this plant was promoted by all three extracts. These results revealed that aqueous extracts from tissue of B. pilosa var. radiata had differential effect on the emergence and seedling growth of the three target species. The inhibition effect of its root and leaf extracts on the germination of B. bipinnata may partially explain the overwhelming dominance of B. pilosa var. radiata over B. bipinnata when they are sympatric.
New top-flavor models with a seesaw mechanism

A new class of models is constructed in which the third family quarks, but not leptons, experience a new SU(2) or U(1) gauge force. Anomaly cancellation enforces the introduction of spectator quarks so that top and bottom quark masses are naturally generated via a seesaw mechanism. We find the new contributions to the (S,T,U) parameters and Zb{bar b}vertex to be generically small. We analyze how the reasonable flavor mixing pattern can be generated to ensure the top-seesaw mechanism and sufficiently suppress flavor-changing effects for light quarks. Collider signatures for the light Higgs boson and top quark are also discussed.
Global identification of potential gene biomarkers associated with ozone-induced foliar injury in rice seedling leaves by correlating their symptom severity with transcriptome profiling

A combined approach of evaluating ozone (O 3 )-caused foliar injury symptom and global gene expression profiling was used to identify potential genes associated with severity of injury on leaves of O 3 (200 ppb)-fumigated (1, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h) two-week-old rice (cv. Nipponbare) seedling. Foliar injuries were evaluated up to 72 h using both qualitative visual scale and quantitative RGB (red-green-blue) image analysis methods. The (R-G)/(R+G) was an optimal quantitative RGB parameter to assess foliar injury. Large-scale transcript profiling of leaves identified 270 genes linked with foliar injury. Genes were subjected to Pearson’s correlation test between their expression changes and O 3 -induced foliar injury changes (relative (R-G)/(R+G) parameters). Expression of 146 genes was found to increase with increased foliar severity up to 72 h, showing a positive, tight correlation between a subset of gene expression and commonly observed O 3 -triggerred symptom of foliar injury with correlation coefficient below -0.80. Of 146 genes, genes involved in metabolism (25%) formed a major functional category. Metabolic networks with identified metabolic genes provided insight into cellular responses such as photorespiration, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, and detoxification. The O 3 effect on these cellular responses has been previously reported based on physiological and biochemical studies, validating our approach used in this study to globally identify O 3 -responsive biomarkers tightly linked with foliar injury symptom. This study provides evidence for presence of large number of genes associated with foliar injury symptom than thought before, serving as a resource of potential biomarkers to study mechanisms of visible injury development by O 3 . DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3126/ijls.v6i1. 6059
Evidential Critieria of Homology for Comparative Psychology

Abstract: While the homology concept has taken on importance in thinking about the nature of psychological kinds (e.g. Griffiths 1997), no one has shown how comparative psychological and behavioral evidence can distinguish between competing homology claims. I adapt the operational criteria of homology to accomplish this. I consider two competing homology claims that compare human anger with putative aggression systems of nonhuman animals, and demonstrate the effectiveness of these criteria in adjudicating between these claims.
A Returns‐Based Representation of Earnings Quality

We examine the properties of a returns‐based representation of earnings quality, estimated from firm‐specific asset‐pricing regressions augmented by an earnings quality mimicking factor. The coefficient on the earnings quality factor (the “e‐loading”) captures the sensitivity of the firm's returns to earnings quality in a given year or quarter, analogous to beta as a measure of the sensitivity of returns to market movements. Relative to other proxies for earnings quality, e‐loadings can be calculated for larger samples of firms and can be estimated for shorter intervals at any point in time. Along all dimensions examined, we find that e‐loadings perform well in capturing notions of earnings quality.
On the velocity distributions of the one-dimensional inelastic gas

We consider the single-particle velocity distribution of a one-dimensional fluid of inelastic particles. Both the freely evolving (cooling) system and the non-equilibrium stationary state obtained in the presence of random forcing are investigated, and special emphasis is paid to the small inelasticity limit. The results are obtained from analytical arguments applied to the Boltzmann equation along with three complementary numerical techniques (molecular dynamics, direct Monte Carlo simulation methods and iterative solutions of integro? differential kinetic equations). For the freely cooling fluid, we investigate in detail the scaling properties of the bimodal velocity distribution emerging close to elasticity and calculate the scaling function associated with the distribution function. In the heated steady state, we find that, depending on the inelasticity, the distribution function may display two different stretched exponential tails at large velocities. The inelasticity dependence of the crossover velocity is determined, and it is found that the extremely high-velocity tail may not be observable at `experimentally relevant' inelasticities.
Spectral Backtests of Forecast Distributions with Application to Risk Management

We study a class of backtests for forecast distributions in which the test statistic depends on a spectral transformation that weights exceedance events by a function of the modeled probability level. The weighting scheme is specified by a kernel measure which makes explicit the user's priorities for model performance. The class of spectral backtests includes tests of unconditional coverage and tests of conditional coverage. We show how the class embeds a wide variety of backtests in the existing literature, and further propose novel variants which are easily implemented, well-sized and have good power. In an empirical application, we backtest forecast distributions for the overnight P&L of ten bank trading portfolios. For some portfolios, test results depend materially on the choice of kernel.
Prediction of T-cell epitopes for designing a reverse vaccine against streptococcal bacteria

Streptococcal bacteria are among dangerous human pathogens with major prevalence worldwide. A good vaccine against streptococcal bacteria should have epitopes that confer protection from infection by different streptococcal bacteria types. we aimed was to recognize the most immunogenic and conserved epitopes of streptococcal bacteria, which could be a potential candidate for vaccine development. Nineteen different M proteins of different streptococcal bacteria were chosen and analyzed. Nine-mer epitopes able to simulate both cells mediate and humoral immunity were predicted. Molecular docking was applied in order to measure free binding energy of selected epitopes. Final epitopes were analyzed if they were conserved among different streptococcal bacteria. The identified epitopes require experimental validation for their potential use in peptide vaccines.
Massive integration of inorganic nanowire-based structures on solid substrates for device applications

Inorganic nanowire-based devices have recently drawn extensive attention as one of the next-generation device architectures. Nevertheless, a lack of mass-production methods has been one of the major hurdles holding back the practical applications of such devices. Herein, we review three promising strategies for the massive assembly of inorganic nanowires for their device applications, which are topically selected: selective growth, selective assembly, and direct printing methods. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are also discussed.
coinfections — schistosomes and simian-human immunodeficiency virus , and malaria —

Parasites and pathogens are a fundamental driving force in the ecology and evolution of mammalian populations, and understanding disease processes in natural populations is an urgent priority in the face of increased rates of infectious disease emergence. In this review, we argue that mammalogists are uniquely placed to contribute to addressing these challenges because in-depth knowledge of mammal species is fundamental to the development of wild model systems that could accelerate discovery in disease ecology. The use of animal models—species for which a broad range of diagnostic, molecular, and genetic tools have been developed—in tightly controlled laboratory environments has been instrumental in driving progress in the biomedical sciences. However, in natural populations, disease processes operate in the context of enormous genetic, phenotypic, and environmental variability. Understanding diseases in animal populations (including humans) thus requires investment in “wild animal models” that explicitly include individual variation and relevant environmental gradients. Wild mammal groups such as primates and rodents have already been identified as potentially useful models of infectious diseases in the wild. Here, we discuss the enormous potential that ungulates hold as candidates for wild model systems. The diversity, broad geographic distribution, and often high abundance of species in this group make them a highly accessible target for disease research. Moreover, a depth of background knowledge, close relationships to domesticated animals, and ongoing management of many wild ungulate species provide context, tools, and opportunity for cutting-edge research at the interface of ecological and biomedical sciences. Studies of wild ungulates are already helping to unravel some key challenges in infectious disease research, including the role of parasites in trophic cascades, the consequences of climate change for disease dynamics, and the systems biology of host–parasite interactions. Other areas where ungulate studies may provide new insight include research on the sources and drivers of emerging infectious diseases.
New Applications Of Electron Spin Resonance: Dating, Dosimetry And Microscopy

Clock of elapsed time - the place of ESR dating introduction - what is ESR? ESR dating and dosimetry - principles and procedures assessment of radiation dose rate carbonate (CaCO3) - cave deposits aragonite (CaCO3) - shells and corals in marine geology sulphates and other carbonates - evaporates phosphates - bioapatite for anthropology SiO2 - faults and sediments SiO2 and silicates - geothermal and volcanic materials space and environmental sciences chemical ESR dating - valency changes ESR dosimetry - accident and monitoring ESR imaging (microscopy) a portable ESR - automatic sample changer.
Introduction to Neural Networks Linear systems analysis Introduction to Learning and Memory

1. Symmetric matrix If the transpose of a matrix equals itself, WT = W, W is said to be a symmetric matrix. I.e. wij = wji for each i and j. Symmetric matrices occur quite often in physical systems (e.g. the force on particle i by particle j is equal to the force of j on i). The elements of a symmetric matrix H look like they are reflected about the diagonal. We constructed a symmetric matrix when we modeled the exponential drop-off in lateral inhibition.
ON BREED COMPOSITION ESTIMATION OF CROSS-BRED ANIMALS USING NON-LINEAR OPTIMISATION

Genetically admixed animals are common in most quantitative genetic analysis, and usually are a result of intended crosses between two or more pure breed populations to enhance productivity. Disregarding the genetic heterogeneous architecture of admixed individuals may lead to poor or even wrong inference about the quality, quantity and genome location of genetic factors affecting phenotypes, and it could reduce the accuracy of estimates of genetic merit. In this article a nonlinear optimisation approach (constrained genomic regression, CGR) is presented to describe the marker genotype of a focus animal as a linear function of marker allele frequencies of possible populations of origin. The algorithm was tested on a beef cattle data set consisting of 11639 animals from 11 different breeds with marker genotypes of 4022 single nucleotide polymorphisms, which were used to generate 5000 artificially cross-bred animals. For comparison the data set was also analysed with the ADMIXTURE software (ADM). CGR outperformed ADM with a maximum difference between the true and estimated breed proportion of 0.25 and 0.28 for the 5 and 25 cross-over data set respectively. For ADM this parameter was 0.83 and 0.66. The mean squared estimation error was 15 and 5 times larger for ADM compared to CGR for the 5 and 25 cross-over data set respectively. In addition, CGR always outperformed ADM in terms of speed by factor 20.
An insight into the Recent Advances on the Physiology and Treatment of Retention of Fetal Membranes in Cattle

Received: Revised: Accepted: 2013–12–11 2013–12–27 2013–12–29 The fetal membranes which are commonly called placenta are the connections between dam and fetus for the normal circulation of nutrients to fetus. If the placenta is not expelled within normal time, it is called as retention of fetal membrane. Retention of fetal membrane is the common cause of reduction of fertility in cattle. For the management of this disease, it is necessary to understand the etiology and pathophsiology of this disease. The normal separation of fetal membranes consists of complex hormonal process that starts before parturition in cattle. The causes of retention of fetal membranes include immature placentomes due to infections, induction of parturition, difficult birth, hormonal imbalance and nutritional deficiencies. The treatments which are commonly used for the retention of fetal membranes do not show the significant effects. The use of antibiotics minimizes the growth of microorganism in retained fetal membrane but they have not shown improvement in the subsequent fertility of affected animals. Recently, new treatments like injection of collagenase enzyme into umbilical arteries and intrauterine use of ozone gas produces useful results but these therapies are costly. The objective of this review is to understand the physiological processes of fetal membranes expulsion, causes and treatments of retention of fetal membranes. All copyrights reserved to Nexus® academic publishers
Long‐term cadmium exposure influences the abundance of proteins that impact the cell wall structure in Medicago sativa stems

Abstract Cadmium (Cd) is a non‐essential, toxic heavy metal that poses serious threats to both ecosystems and human health. Plants employ various cellular and molecular mechanisms to minimise the impact of Cd toxicity and cell walls function as a defensive barrier during Cd exposure. In this study, we adopted a quantitative gel‐based proteomic approach (two‐dimensional difference gel electrophoresis) to investigate changes in the abundance of cell wall and soluble proteins in stems of Medicago sativa L. upon long‐term exposure to Cd (10 mg·Cd·kg−1 soil as CdSO 4). Obtained protein data were complemented with targeted gene expression analyses. Plants were affected by Cd exposure at an early growth stage but seemed to recover at a more mature stage as no difference in biomass was observed. The accumulation of Cd was highest in roots followed by stems and leaves. Quantitative proteomics revealed a changed abundance for 179 cell wall proteins and 30 proteins in the soluble fraction upon long‐term Cd exposure. These proteins are involved in cell wall remodelling, defence response, carbohydrate metabolism and promotion of the lignification process. The data indicate that Cd exposure alters the cell wall proteome and underline the role of cell wall proteins in defence against Cd stress. The identified proteins are linked to alterations in cell wall structure and lignification process in stems of M. sativa, underpinning the function of the cell wall as an effective barrier against Cd stress.
In hot water: zooplankton and climate change

An overview is provided of the observed and potential future responses of zooplankton communities to global warming. I begin by describing the importance of zooplankton in ocean ecosystems and the attributes that make them sensitive beacons of climate change. Global warming may have even greater repercussions for marine ecosystems than for terrestrial ecosystems, because temperature influences water column stability, nutrient enrichment, and the degree of new production, and thus the abundance, size composition, diversity, and trophic efficiency of zooplankton. Pertinent descriptions of physical changes in the ocean in response to climate change are given as a prelude to a detailed discussion of observed impacts of global warming on zooplankton. These manifest as changes in the distribution of individual species and assemblages, in the timing of important life-cycle events, and in abundance and community structure. The most illustrative case studies, where climate has had an obvious, tangible impact on zooplankton and substantial ecosystem consequences, are presented. Changes in the distribution and phenology of zooplankton are faster and greater than those observed for terrestrial groups. Relevant projected changes in ocean conditions are then presented, followed by an exploration of potential future changes in zooplankton communities from the perspective of different modelling approaches. Researchers have used a range of modelling approaches on individual species and functional groups forced by output from climate models under future greenhouse gas emission scenarios. I conclude by suggesting some potential future directions in climate change research for zooplankton, viz. the use of richer zooplankton functional groups in ecosystem models; greater research effort in tropical systems; investigating climate change in conjunction with other human impacts; and a global zooplankton observing system.
Experimental evidence of ferroelectric negative capacitance in nanoscale heterostructures

We report a proof-of-concept demonstration of negative capacitance effect in a nanoscale ferroelectric-dielectric heterostructure. In a bilayer of ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 and dielectric SrTiO3, the composite capacitance was observed to be larger than the constituent SrTiO3 capacitance, indicating an effective negative capacitance of the constituent Pb(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3 layer. Temperature is shown to be an effective tuning parameter for the ferroelectric negative capacitance and the degree of capacitance enhancement in the heterostructure. Landau’s mean field theory based calculations show qualitative agreement with observed effects. This work underpins the possibility that by replacing gate oxides by ferroelectrics in nanoscale transistors, the sub threshold slope can be lowered below the classical limit (60 mV/decade).
hanges in patient safety culture after estructuring of intensive care units : Two ross-sectional studies

Department of Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway Unit for Applied Clinical Research, Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian niversity of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Department of Quality and Patient Safety, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Brumunddal, Norway Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Norwegian University of Science nd Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Sex-associated Treatment Differences and Their Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results from the METEOR Register

Objective. To assess differences in initial treatment and treatment response in male and female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in daily clinical practice. Methods. The proportion of patients with RA starting different antirheumatic treatments (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; DMARD) and the response to treatment were compared in the international, observational METEOR register. All visits from start of the first DMARD until the first DMARD switch or the end of followup were selected. The effect of sex on time to switch from first to second treatment was calculated using Cox regression. Linear mixed model analyses were performed to assess whether men and women responded differently to treatments, as measured by Disease Activity Score (DAS) or Health Assessment Questionnaire. Results. Women (n = 4393) more often started treatment with hydroxychloroquine, as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate (MTX) or a glucocorticoid, and men (n = 1142) more often started treatment with MTX and/or sulfasalazine. Time to switch DMARD was shorter for women than for men. Women had a statistically significantly higher DAS over time than men (DAS improvement per year β −0.69, 95% CI −0.75 to −0.62 for men and −0.58, 95% CI −0.62 to −0.55 for women). Subanalyses per DMARD group showed for the conventional synthetic DMARD combination therapy a slightly greater decrease in DAS over time in men (−0.89, 95% CI −1.07 to −0.71) compared to women (−0.59, 95% CI −0.67 to −0.51), but these difference between the sexes were clinically negligible. Conclusion. This worldwide observational study suggests that in daily practice, men and women with RA are prescribed different initial treatments, but there were no differences in response to treatment between the sexes.