Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The price of being late: short- and long-term consequences of a delayed migration timing

Choosing the right migration timing is critical for migrants because conditions encountered en route influence movement costs, survival, and, in social migrants, the availability of social information. Depending on lifetime stages, individuals may migrate at different times due to diverging constraints, affecting the composition of migration groups. To examine the consequences of a delayed migration timing, we artificially delayed the migration of juvenile white storks (Ciconia ciconia) and thereby altered their physical and social environment. Using nearly continuous 1 Hz GPS trajectories, we examined their migration behaviour, ranging from sub-second level performance to global long-distance movement, in relation to two control groups. We found that delayed storks experienced suboptimal soaring conditions, but better wind support and thereby achieved higher flight speeds than control storks. Delayed storks had a lower mortality rate than the control storks and wintered closer to the breeding area. In fact, none of the delayed storks reached the traditional African wintering areas. Thus, our results show that juvenile storks can survive migrating at the ‘wrong’ time. However, this had long-term consequences on migration decisions. We suggest that, when timing their migration, storks balance not just energy and time, but also the availability of social information.
The timid invasion: behavioural adjustments and range expansion in a non-native rodent

In biological invasion processes animal behavior moderates the success of invasive species, and the native fauna’s ability to adapt. The importance of behavioral syndromes and flexibility of invading species for invasion success remains debated. We investigated behavior of rodents, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) currently invading Ireland, and the native wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) that declines with vole invasion, at replicated sites at pre-invasion, edge, and source of the invasion. We found that individual rodents varied consistently in risk-taking behaviors, and mice had not adapted to the presence of invasive voles. Voles at the invasion edge were more careful but also more flexible compared to voles the invasion source. The ability to develop timid and flexible phenotypes may contribute to the invasion success of rodents worldwide.
“From Nares to Wound: Exploring the mechanisms for Staphylococcal surgical site infections, implications for infection prevention”

Abstract Surgical site infections (SSIs) are important healthcare-associated infections, leading to increased morbidity and mortality, healthcare costs, and prolonged hospital stays. Staphylococcus aureus is an important and common microbial cause of SSI. Nasal carriage of S. aureus has been shown to be an important determinant for the development of SSI, and interventions aimed at eradicating preoperative nasal carriage are associated with a reduced risk of infection. Yet, it is not entirely clear how the nasally residing S. aureus causes SSI at distant body sites. In this commentary, we describe our view on how S. aureus can be transported from the nares to the incision site during surgery. In addition, we shed light on the implications of our view for infection prevention research.
Global analysis of putative phospholipases in Plasmodium falciparum reveals an essential role of the phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C in parasite maturation

ABSTRACT For its replication within red blood cells, the malaria parasite depends on a highly active and regulated lipid metabolism. Enzymes involved in lipid metabolic processes such as phospholipases are, therefore, potential drug targets. Here, using reverse genetics approaches, we show that only 1 out of the 19 putative phospholipases expressed in asexual blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum is essential for proliferation in vitro, pointing toward a high level of redundancy among members of this enzyme family. Using conditional mislocalization and gene disruption techniques, we show that this essential phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC, PF3D7_1013500) has a previously unrecognized essential role during intracellular parasite maturation, long before its previously perceived role in parasite egress and invasion. Subsequent lipidomic analysis suggests that PI-PLC mediates cleavage of phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP2) in schizont-stage parasites, underlining its critical role in regulating phosphoinositide levels in the parasite. IMPORTANCE The clinical symptoms of malaria arise due to repeated rounds of replication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells (RBCs). Central to this is an intense period of membrane biogenesis. Generation of membranes not only requires de novo synthesis and acquisition but also the degradation of phospholipids, a function that is performed by phospholipases. In this study, we investigate the essentiality of the 19 putative phospholipase enzymes that the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum expresses during its replication within RBCs. We not only show that a high level of functional redundancy exists among these enzymes but, at the same time, also identify an essential role for the phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C in parasite development and cleavage of the phospholipid phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate. The clinical symptoms of malaria arise due to repeated rounds of replication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells (RBCs). Central to this is an intense period of membrane biogenesis. Generation of membranes not only requires de novo synthesis and acquisition but also the degradation of phospholipids, a function that is performed by phospholipases. In this study, we investigate the essentiality of the 19 putative phospholipase enzymes that the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum expresses during its replication within RBCs. We not only show that a high level of functional redundancy exists among these enzymes but, at the same time, also identify an essential role for the phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C in parasite development and cleavage of the phospholipid phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate.
High-Temperature Low-Cycle Fatigue Behaviour of MAR-M247 Coated with Newly Developed Thermal and Environmental Barrier Coating

This study investigates the strain-controlled low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behaviour of an untreated and surface-treated MAR-M247 superalloy in a symmetrical push-pull cycle with a constant strain rate at 900°C in laboratory air. A newly developed experimental thermal and environmental barrier coating (TEBC) system, consisting of a 170 μm thick CoNiCrAlY bond coat (BC) and a bilayer ceramic top coat (TC), with an interlayer and an upper layer, was deposited using air plasma spray techniques. The ceramic interlayer with an average thickness of 77 μm was formed from agglomerated and sintered yttria-stabilized zirconia. An experimental mixture of mullite (Al6Si2O13) and hexacelsian (BaAl2Si2O8) at a ratio of 70/30 vol.% was sprayed as the upper layer. The average thickness of the TC was 244 μm. The specimen sections were investigated using a TESCAN Lyra3 XMU scanning electron microscope (SEM) to characterise the microstructure of both the TEBC and the substrate material. The fatigue damage mechanisms in the TEBC-coated superalloy were studied. The fatigue life curves in the representation of the total strain amplitude versus the number of cycles to failure of the TEBC-coated and uncoated superalloy were assessed. TEBC was found to have a slight, positive effect on the fatigue life of MAR-M247.
Pretherapeutic Laparoscopic Staging in Advanced Gastric Carcinoma

Background and Study Aims: Direct visualization of the abdominal cavity by laparoscopy prior to multimodal treatment may be capable of improving the diagnostic precision of gastric cancer staging. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether diagnostic laparoscopy can influence treatment strategies in gastric cancer staged T3 and T4 by preoperative diagnostic tests. Patients and Methods: Extended diagnostic laparoscopy (EDL) was carried out in 111 patients with advanced gastric cancer staged T3 or T4 by computed tomo­ graphy (CT) and endoluminal ultrasound (EUS). On Lauren's classification of gastric cancer, 46 % of the le­ sions were of the intestinal type and 54 % of the nonin-testinal type. EDL was carried out with the patients un­ der general anesthesia, and included visual inspection of the abdomen, with surgical exploration of initially in­ accessible regions, laparoscopic ultrasound examina­ tion, peritoneal lavage, and biopsies. The information provided by laparoscopy was classified as 1) no addi­ tional information, 2) important additional findings in­ dependent of the tumor stage, 3) downgrading of the tu­ mor to a more favorable stage, and 4) upgrading of the tumor to a less favorable stage. The results of EDL were then compared with those obtained by sonography, CT and EUS in combination. Results: EDL was performed successfully in 107 pa­ tients. In 56 of the 111 patients (50.5%), no additional findings were obtained. In 5.4% of cases, additional unforeseen information was found, not connected with the tumor but altering the management. EDL altered the preoperative diagnosis in 51 of the 111 patients (46.0%), leading to changes in management in 45 of them (40.5 %). EUS provided additional information in eight cases (7.2 % of the whole group, or 15.7% of those in whom the diagnosis had to be changed). Four metas­ tases were detected using EDL. It was possible to rule out peritoneal spread in four patients, but it was newly detected in 26. Conclusions: Additional information by EDL about the tumor stage in gastric cancer led to a modification of the therapeutic strategy in 40 % of patients, in spite of earlier comprehensive diagnostic work-up using mod­ ern imaging procedures. EDL should therefore be man­ datory if neoadjuvant treatment is planned, in order to avoid either undertreatment or overtreatment of this type of tumor.
Stability Analysis and Control for Switched System With Bounded Actuators

This paper addresses the control problem of the switched system with bounded actuators and average dwell-time. We present the switching rules for the designed controllers based on two kinds of parametric algebraic Riccati equation. The exponential stability of the switched system under the average-dwell time is ensured by the designed controllers and the switching rules. The dynamic performance of the control system is enhanced greatly by the proposed method. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and the usefulness of the obtained theoretical results.
Protoplanetary environments at the astronomical unit scale: the contribution of long baseline interferometry

In this contribution we review the recent advances in star and planet formation studies that have been allowed by long baseline optical interferometers in the last few years. We see how interferometry continues to bring significant observational constraints on complex processes such as accretion/ejection, dust sublimation and evolution and planet formation. We discuss the implication of the arrival on sky of GRAVITY and MATISSE at VLTI together with MYSTIC and MIRCX at CHARA and how these new facilities can contribute answering to the burning questions of planet formation.
Accelerating unstructured large eddy simulation solver with GPU

Purpose Adopting large eddy simulation (LES) to simulate the complex flow in turbomachinery is appropriate to overcome the limitation of current Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes modelling and it provides a deeper understanding of the complicated transitional and turbulent flow mechanism; however, the large computational cost limits its application in high Reynolds number flow. This study aims to develop a three-dimensional GPU-enabled parallel-unstructured solver to speed up the high-fidelity LES simulation. Design/methodology/approach Compared to the central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs) can provide higher computational speed. This work aims to develop a three-dimensional GPU-enabled parallel-unstructured solver to speed up the high-fidelity LES simulation. A set of low-dissipation schemes designed for unstructured mesh is implemented with compute unified device architecture programming model. Several key parameters affecting the performance of the GPU code are discussed and further speed-up can be obtained by analysing the underlying finite volume-based numerical scheme. Findings The results show that an acceleration ratio of approximately 84 (on a single GPU) for double precision algorithm can be achieved with this unstructured GPU code. The transitional flow inside a compressor is simulated and the computational efficiency has been improved greatly. The transition process is discussed and the role of K-H instability playing in the transition mechanism is verified. Practical/implications The speed-up gained from GPU-enabled solver reaches 84 compared to original code running on CPU and the vast speed-up enables the fast-turnaround high-fidelity LES simulation. Originality/value The GPU-enabled flow solver is implemented and optimized according to the feature of finite volume scheme. The solving time is reduced remarkably and the detail structures including vortices are captured.
Associative properties of structural plasticity based on firing rate homeostasis in a balanced recurrent network of spiking neurons

Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity have been studied extensively in the past, both experimentally and theoretically, but many aspects of their interaction remain to be elucidated. Hebbian plasticity is thought to shape neuronal connectivity during development and learning, whereas homeostatic plasticity would stabilize network activity. Here we investigate another aspect of this interaction, which is whether Hebbian associative properties can also emerge as a network effect from a plasticity rule based on homeostatic principles on the neuronal level. The maturation of cortical networks during sensory experience is an ideal case to explore this question. Excitatory neurons in the visual cortex of rodents have been shown to connect preferentially to neurons that respond to similar visual features. Since this connectivity bias is not existent at the time of eye opening, but only after some weeks of visual experience, it has been suggested that plastic mechanisms are responsible for the changes taking place during sensory stimulation. We consider a structural plasticity rule driven by a homeostasis of firing rate in a recurrent network of leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) neurons exposed to external input that is modulated by the orientation of a visual stimulus. Our results show that feature specific connectivity, similar to what has been experimentally observed in rodent visual cortex, can emerge out of a random balanced network of LIF neurons with a plasticity rule that is not explicitly dependent on correlations between pre- and postsynaptic neuronal activity. The synaptic association of neurons responding to similar stimulus features occurs as a side-effect of controlling the activity of individual neurons. The experience dependent structural changes that are triggered by simulation are long lasting and decay only slowly when the neurons are exposed again to non modulated external input.
Continuous vs. pulsatile administration of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) in the model of the chronically cannulated rat: long-term effects on thyroid function

Summary Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) belongs to a family of glycoprotein hormones secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland in a pulsatile fashion. Although this pulsatile pattern of release has been characterized by several groups, its exact physiological relevance remains to be elucidated. We established a model of a chronically cannulated rat allowing us to apply quantified pulses of thyrotropin-releasing hormone intravenously and to monitor the biological response on the anterior pituitary as well as on the thyroid level. Serum rTSH, T3 and T4 levels were measured as functional parameters. During the five day infusion period, TSH increased under both continuous and pulsatile TRI-I stimulation, but this increase was only maintained following pulsatile TRH but not after continuous application. No differences between the continuous and the pulsatile infusion regimen could be observed in terms of TT3 release, whereas 114 decreased following an initial stimulation under continuous application, but remained stimulated during pulsatile application. Our data indicate that the model of the chronically cannulated rat appears to be a valuable tool to study the impact of the temporal pattern of TRH/TSH on thyroid physiology.
An ultrafast X-ray scintillating detector made of ZnO(Ga)

Owing to its ultrafast scintillation, quite high light yield, strong radiation resistance, and non-deliquescence, ZnO(Ga) is a highly promising choice for an ultrafast X-ray detector. Because of its high deposition rate, good production repeatability and strong adhesive force, reactive magnetron sputtering was used to produce a ZnO(Ga) crystal on a quartz glass substrate, after the production conditions were optimized. The fluorescence lifetime of the sample was 173 ps. An ultrafast X-ray scintillating detector, equipped with a fast microchannel plate (MCP) photomultiplier tube (PMT), was developed and the X-ray tests show a signal full width at half maximum (FWHM) of only 385.5 ps. Moreover, derivation from the previous measurement shows the ZnO(Ga) has an ultrafast time response (FWHM = 355.1 ps) and a high light yield (14740 photons/MeV).
K-Beam Subgradient Descent for Minimax Optimization

Minimax optimization plays a key role in adversarial training of machine learning algorithms, such as learning generative models, domain adaptation, privacy preservation, and robust learning. In this paper, we demonstrate the failure of alternating gradient descent in minimax optimization problems due to the discontinuity of solutions of the inner maximization. To address this, we propose a new epsilon-subgradient descent algorithm that addresses this problem by simultaneously tracking K candidate solutions. Practically, the algorithm can find solutions that previous saddle-point algorithms cannot find, with only a sublinear increase of complexity in K. We analyze the conditions under which the algorithm converges to the true solution in detail. A significant improvement in stability and convergence speed of the algorithm is observed in simple representative problems, GAN training, and domain-adaptation problems.
Chromosome organization shapes replisome dynamics in Caulobacter crescentus

DNA replication in bacteria takes place on highly compacted chromosomes, where segregation, transcription, and repair must occur simultaneously. Within this dynamic environment, colocalization of sister replisomes has been observed in many bacterial species, driving the hypothesis that a physical linker may tether them together. However, replisome splitting has also been reported in many of the same species, leaving the principles behind replisome organization a long-standing puzzle. Here, by tracking the replisome β-clamp subunit in live Caulobacter crescentus, we find that rapid DNA segregation can give rise to a second focus which resembles a replisome, but does not replicate DNA. Sister replisomes can remain colocalized, or split apart to travel along DNA separately upon disruption of chromosome inter-arm alignment. Furthermore, chromosome arm-specific replication-transcription conflicts differentially modify replication speed on the two arms, facilitate the decoupling of the two replisomes. With these observations, we conclude that the dynamic chromosome organization flexibly shapes the organization of sister replisomes, and we outline principles which can help to reconcile previously conflicting models of replisome architecture.
Natural Convection of Third Grade Non-Newtonian Fluid Flow in a Changeable Semi-permeable Medium Considering the Effects of Variable Heat Source and Magnetic Field

The main purpose of this paper is to conduct momentum and energy analysis on non-Newtonian fluid flow in a semi-permeable medium between two infinite vertical flat plates considering the influences of medium porosity, heat source and magnetic field. In this study, porosity, heat source and magnetic field terms are considered to be variable. Initially, partial differential equations of momentum and energy are derived and turned into ordinary differential equations utilizing a similarity solution. Afterwards, a system of differential equations is solved by Least Square Method (LSM) and subsequently reliable functions are proposed for temperature and velocity distributions. To assess the precision of this method, the equations are also solved by a numerical method and an analytical approach known as Galerkin Method (GM). Regarding the comparisons, it can be implied that when the values of magnetic field, heat source and porosity are constant along the channel width, both LSM and GM methods are efficient and appropriate agreement is observed between the results. However, for the case in which these parameters linearly vary along the channel width, Galerkin approach shows more accurate results. Ultimately, the influences of Hartman number, porosity and heat source parameters on the velocity and temperature distributions are discussed.
Ultrabreitbandige Strahlungseinkopplung in THz-Detektoren

Bolometrische Detektoren bieten vielversprechende Eigenschaften fur den messtechnischen Nachweis von THz-Strahlung. Um eine effiziente Einkopplung der THz-Strahlung in den Detektor zu gewahrleisten, wurden in dieser Arbeit ultrabreitbandige Antennenstrukturen entwickelt. Unter Verwendung dieser Strukturen wurde es moglich, ultrakurze THz-Impulse im Bereich weniger Pikosekunden zeitlich aufzulosen sowie spezifische Transienteneffekte erstmalig messtechnisch nachzuweisen.
High precision control in PTP trajectory planning for nonlinear systems using on high‐degree polynomial and cuckoo search

In this paper, in order to fulfill requirements for high precision control, high‐degree polynomial and cuckoo search algorithms are used in point‐to‐point (PTP) trajectory planning for nonlinear systems. The high‐degree polynomial describes the PTP trajectory and the cuckoo search is applied to obtain the coefficients of the high‐degree polynomial with constraints. This method is verified in the hydraulic toggle mechanism. Hamilton's principle and a Lagrange multiplier help establish the dynamic and kinematic equations in the hydraulic toggle mechanism. Position accuracy and the convergence effect of different degrees of polynomials are then compared through experiment. Specifically, this paper discusses the error of the 8‐degree polynomial trajectory between the optimization and practical values and the repeated accuracy of the optimization trajectory, which verify the method's high precision control in regard to the PTP trajectory planning for nonlinear system proposed in this paper. This method could be used in any type of PTP trajectory planning for nonlinear system.