julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Soil Temperature and Soil Moisture Patterns in a Himalayan Alpine Treeline Ecotone
2016-08-01

ABSTRACT Soil properties in alpine treeline ecotones are insufficiently explored. In particular, an extensive monitoring of soil moisture conditions over a longer period of time is rare, and the effects of soil moisture variability on alpine treelines have not received adequate attention yet. Soil temperature patterns are generally well documented, and soil temperature is considered a key factor in limiting tree growth at both global and local scales. We performed a 21⁄2-year monitoring in a near-natural treeline ecotone in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal. In this paper, we present new findings on spatiotemporal soil temperature and moisture variability in relation to topographical features and vegetation patterns (variations in stand structures and tree physiognomy). Our results show a growing season mean soil temperature of 7.5 ± 0.6 °C at 10 cm depth at the Rolwaling treeline. Multivariate statistical analyses yield a significant relation between soil temperatures and the variability in tree height, crown length, crown width, and leaf area index (LAI). In turn, soil temperature variability is controlled by the tree physiognomy itself. Soil moisture conditions (available water capacity, 0–10 cm) appear to be less substantial for current stand structures and tree physiognomy. In turn, tree physiognomy patterns control soil moisture, which additionally is affected by snow cover. In Rolwaling, shallow and coarse-grained soils cause low water-holding capacities, and thus a remarkable amount of water percolates from topsoils to subsoils. In the alpine tundra with missing forest canopy, year-round lowest available water capacities are additionally caused by high solar radiation, wind, and thus high evaporation. We assume low soil moisture availability causing largely prevented tree regeneration especially in the alpine tundra. We conclude that soil temperature and moisture patterns reflect tree physiognomy patterns. The latter cause disparities in soil temperature and moisture conditions inside and outside of the closed forest by shading effects and differences in leaf fall.
Multiple Xanthomonas euvesicatoria Type III Effectors Inhibit flg22-Triggered Immunity
2016-08-01

Xanthomonas euvesicatoria is the causal agent of bacterial spot disease in pepper and tomato. X. euvesicatoria bacteria interfere with plant cellular processes by injecting effector proteins into host cells through the type III secretion (T3S) system. About 35 T3S effectors have been identified in X. euvesicatoria 85-10, and a few of them were implicated in suppression of pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). We used an Arabidopsis thaliana pathogen-free protoplast–based assay to identify X. euvesicatoria 85-10 effectors that interfere with PTI signaling induced by the bacterial peptide flg22. Of 33 tested effectors, 17 inhibited activation of a PTI-inducible promoter. Among them, nine effectors also interfered with activation of an abscisic acid–inducible promoter. However, effectors that inhibited flg22-induced signaling did not affect phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases acting downstream of flg22 perception. Further investigation of selected effectors revealed that XopAJ, XopE2, and XopF2 inhibited activation of a PTI-inducible promoter by the bacterial peptide elf18 in Arabidopsis protoplasts and by flg22 in tomato protoplasts. The effectors XopF2, XopE2, XopAP, XopAE, XopH, and XopAJ inhibited flg22-induced callose deposition in planta and enhanced disease symptoms caused by attenuated Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. Finally, selected effectors were found to localize to various plant subcellular compartments. These results indicate that X. euvesicatoria bacteria utilize multiple T3S effectors to suppress flg22-induced signaling acting downstream or in parallel to MAP kinase cascades and suggest they act through different molecular mechanisms.
S1‐Guidelines on UV phototherapy and photochemotherapy
2016-08-01

Summary Known in part since antiquity, the salutary effects of sunlight again garnered increasing attention in the second half of the 19 th century. The development of a device for ultraviolet irradiation of cutaneous tuberculosis by Finnsen at the onset of the twentieth century truly marked the beginning of modern phototherapy. In dermatology, treatment methods almost exclusively use wavelengths below the visible light range (ultraviolet light). Since the early 1970s, increasingly powerful artificial light sources have become available for UVB and UVA therapy as well as the combination of UVA and photosensitizers (photochemotherapy). High structural and procedural quality standards are an essential prerequisite for the implementation of effective as well as safe phototherapy. The following guidelines outline the current consensus of leading experts in the field of phototherapy with respect to indications, contraindications, and side effects of various treatment options available. Particular focus is also on adequate UV doses at the beginning and over the further course of treatment as well as on management of side effects.
Stimulation of Slack K+ Channels Alters Mass at the Plasma Membrane by Triggering Dissociation of a Phosphatase-Regulatory Complex
2016-08-01

Human mutations in the cytoplasmic C-terminal domain of Slack sodium-activated potassium (KNa) channels result in childhood epilepsy with severe intellectual disability. Slack currents can be increased by pharmacological activators or by phosphorylation of a Slack C-terminal residue by protein kinase C. Using an optical biosensor assay, we find that Slack channel stimulation in neurons or transfected cells produces loss of mass near the plasma membrane. Slack mutants associated with intellectual disability fail to trigger any change in mass. The loss of mass results from the dissociation of the protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) targeting protein, Phactr-1, from the channel. Phactr1 dissociation is specific to wild-type Slack channels and is not observed when related potassium channels are stimulated. Our findings suggest that Slack channels are coupled to cytoplasmic signaling pathways and that dysregulation of this coupling may trigger the aberrant intellectual development associated with specific childhood epilepsies.
Evidence for herbivorous cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) in Goyet Cave, Belgium: implications for palaeodietary reconstruction of fossil bears using amino acid δ15N approaches
2016-08-01

ABSTRACT Insights into causes of extinction in fossil animals can contribute to an understanding of how environmental or anthropogenic processes may affect extant animals. Cave bears that went extinct in the late Pleistocene in Europe have been considered largely herbivorous based on tooth, skull and jaw morphology. Nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition (δ 15 N, δ 13 C) of bone collagen of many cave bears having values similar to or lower than those of coeval herbivores support an exclusive plant diet and their occurrence in habitats with denser vegetation. A complicating aspect of this hypothesis is that isotopic compositions of bulk collagen, especially those of nitrogen, could reflect environmental fluctuation as well as behavioural and physiological traits, which are not related to trophic position and so may lead to uncertainty in palaeodietary reconstruction. Here we show that δ 15 N analysis of individual collagen amino acids of fossil bears from Goyet Cave (Belgium) indicates that cave bears had a constant trophic position of 1.9–2.1, indicating purely herbivorous diets, while brown bears had a trophic position of 2.0–2.4, indicating a slightly more omnivorous diet. Results might support the hypothesis of the extinction of cave bear due to the inflexibility in feeding habits.
LFQProfiler and RNPxl: Open-Source Tools for Label-Free Quantification and Protein–RNA Cross-Linking Integrated into Proteome Discoverer
2016-08-01

Modern mass spectrometry setups used in today's proteomics studies generate vast amounts of raw data, calling for highly efficient data processing and analysis tools. Software for analyzing these data is either monolithic (easy to use, but sometimes too rigid) or workflow-driven (easy to customize, but sometimes complex). Thermo Proteome Discoverer (PD) is a powerful software for workflow-driven data analysis in proteomics which, in our eyes, achieves a good trade-off between flexibility and usability. Here, we present two open-source plugins for PD providing additional functionality: LFQProfiler for label-free quantification of peptides and proteins, and RNP(xl) for UV-induced peptide-RNA cross-linking data analysis. LFQProfiler interacts with existing PD nodes for peptide identification and validation and takes care of the entire quantitative part of the workflow. We show that it performs at least on par with other state-of-the-art software solutions for label-free quantification in a recently published benchmark ( Ramus, C.; J. Proteomics 2016 , 132 , 51 - 62 ). The second workflow, RNP(xl), represents the first software solution to date for identification of peptide-RNA cross-links including automatic localization of the cross-links at amino acid resolution and localization scoring. It comes with a customized integrated cross-link fragment spectrum viewer for convenient manual inspection and validation of the results.
Daily home-based spirometry during withdrawal of inhaled corticosteroid in severe to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
2016-08-01

The WISDOM study (NCT00975195) reported a change in lung function following withdrawal of fluticasone propionate in patients with severe to very severe COPD treated with tiotropium and salmeterol. However, little is known about the validity of home-based spirometry measurements of lung function in COPD. Therefore, as part of this study, following suitable training, patients recorded daily home-based spirometry measurements in addition to undergoing periodic in-clinic spirometric testing throughout the study duration. We subsequently determined the validity of home-based spirometry for detecting changes in lung function by comparing in-clinic and home-based forced expiratory volume in 1 second in patients who underwent stepwise fluticasone propionate withdrawal over 12 weeks versus patients remaining on fluticasone propionate for 52 weeks. Bland-Altman analysis of these data confirmed good agreement between in-clinic and home-based measurements, both across all visits and at the individual visits at study weeks 6, 12, 18, and 52. There was a measurable difference between the forced expiratory volume in 1 second values recorded at home and in the clinic (mean difference of -0.05 L), which may be due to suboptimal patient effort in performing unsupervised recordings. However, this difference remained consistent over time. Overall, these data demonstrate that home-based and in-clinic spirometric measurements were equally valid and reliable for assessing lung function in patients with COPD, and suggest that home-based spirometry may be a useful tool to facilitate analysis of changes in lung function on a day-to-day basis.
Toward the influence of temporal attention on the selection of targets in a visual search task: An ERP study
2016-08-01

Abstract We used ERPs to investigate whether temporal attention interacts with spatial attention and feature‐based attention to enhance visual processing. We presented a visual search display containing one singleton stimulus among a set of homogenous distractors. Participants were asked to respond only to target singletons of a particular color and shape that were presented in an attended spatial position. We manipulated temporal attention by presenting a warning signal before each search display and varying the foreperiod (FP) between the warning signal and the search display in a blocked manner. We observed distinctive ERP effects of both spatial and temporal attention. The amplitudes for the N2pc, SPCN, and P3 were enhanced by spatial attention indicating a processing benefit of relevant stimulus features at the attended side. Temporal attention accelerated stimulus processing; this was indexed by an earlier onset of the N2pc component and a reduction in reaction times to targets. Most importantly, temporal attention did not interact with spatial attention or stimulus features to influence visual processing. Taken together, the results suggest that temporal attention fosters visual perceptual processing in a visual search task independently from spatial attention and feature‐based attention; this provides support for the nonspecific enhancement hypothesis of temporal attention.
Inter‐relation between brain‐derived neurotrophic factor and antioxidant enzymes in bipolar disorder
2016-08-01

Objectives Accumulating evidence indicates that oxidative stress and neurotrophins have a bidirectional relationship. In this post hoc, exploratory analysis, we investigated the association between plasma brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and activities of the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) and healthy controls. Methods We measured plasma levels of BDNF and activities of GPx and SOD in individuals with BD (n=59) and healthy controls (n=26). Information related to current and past psychiatric/medical history, as well as to metabolic comorbidities, was also reported. Results There were negative correlations between BDNF, GPx ( r =−.449, P ≤.001) and GPx/SOD ratio ( r =−.503, P &lt;.001), and a positive correlation between BDNF and SOD ( r =.254, P =.020). There was a moderating effect of body mass index (BMI) on the association between BDNF and GPx/SOD rate ratio [(RR)=1.002, P =.034]; interactions between impaired glucose metabolism (IGM), GPx (RR=1.016, P =.033), and GPx/SOD ratio (RR=1.026, P =.002) were also observed. These results were significant in models that included age, gender, alcohol, tobacco and medication use. Conclusions There was a robust and independent correlation between peripheral BDNF and antioxidant enzyme activities in individuals with BD, which was moderated by metabolic comorbidities. These results reinforce the concept that these systems are associated and further extend knowledge of the putative effect of metabolic comorbidities in the pathophysiological substrates of BD.
A Custom Probe Station for Microstrip Detector Quality Assurance of the CBM Experiment
2016-08-01

The double-sided silicon microstrip sensors with 58μm pitch are the main building blocks of the Silicon Tracking System (STS) — the central detector of the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) Experiment. The STS will employ about 1200 such sensors arranged on eight traking stations. Electrical characterization of the sensors is necessary to ensure their compliance with the specifications. For this purpuse a custom probe station is being developed at Tuebingen University. One of the main requirements is a high accuracy and a repeatability better than 1 μm to allow an automatic, succesive positioning on all 1024 pads of a sensor, as well as a positioning range in accordance with the size of STS sensors. The probe station is controlled via dedicated software developed at Tuebingen University. It allows to inspect the required ~10% of the sensors on the series production stage with characterization time 4-5 hours per one double-sided sensor. The construction of the probe station and first measurements are discussed in this paper.
Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy with inferior vena cava thrombectomy: highlight of key surgical steps
2016-08-01

As a conclusion, laparoscopic radical nephrectomy and IVC thrombectomy is a complex and technically demanding surgery. With advancement of surgical skills as well as technology, more cases of minimally invasive laparoscopic radical nephrectomy and IVC thrombectomy can performed to improve the perioperative outcomes of carefully selected patients in a high volume center.
The Contribution of Local and Regional Authorities to a ‘Good’ System of Governance within the EU
2016-08-01

The participation of the local and regional authorities in EU processes should be promoted and enhanced by the EU, the Member States and the same local/regional authorities. These should perform a stronger role in the constitutional architecture of the EU. In this way they would contribute more effectively to a limited, balanced and legitimate system of governance based on constitutionalism within the EU. The participation of sub-national authorities in the EU reconciles European integration with the multi-level systems of governance of the Member States; strengthens the legitimacy of EU and national (EU-related) decision-making processes; and reinforces the legal limitation of the decision-making power of both Union institutions and national authorities.
Investigation of the properties of jets from p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions with ALICE
2016-08-01

Jets from hard scattering processes allow to study the properties of strongly interacting matter produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The hot and dense medium created in such collisions is expected to cause energy loss of hard-scattered partons via elastic scattering and gluon radiation. Eventually, these processes modify the parton fragmentation. We report measurements of charged jets from lead-lead (Pb-Pb) and proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at (J)= 2.76 TeV and 5.02 TeV. To estimate cold nuclear matter effects, the jet production in p-Pb collisions is studied for different centrality classes and is compared to that in proton-proton (pp) collisions via the nuclear modification factor. In addition, we discuss the measurement of (charged) jets recoiling from a high-p(T) trigger hadron, which allows to remove the contribution of combinatorial jets without introducing a bias on the jet population. Furthermore, we report about the measurement of strange hadrons (A, K(g)) in association with charged jets from Pb-Pb and p-Pb collisions. The results are expected to clarify the role of the fragmentation process in the anomalous baryon-to-meson ratio observed at intermediate p(T) in A-A collisions. In particular, the measurement allows disentangling the contributions from jet fragmentation and other hadronisation processes.
Hyperons at CBM-FAIR
2016-08-01

The CBM experiment is one of the four scientific pillars of the Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt, Germany. Its discovery potential - complementary to heavy-ion experiments at colliders - is based on high-luminosity ion beams. This enables access to extremely rare probes such as charmed particles, vector mesons or multi-strange hyperons with high statistics. However, 3rd generations readout systems and detectors are required to handle the large interaction rates (up to 10 MHz for Au+Au) with sufficient precision and bandwidth. In this contribution we will outline the unique CBM physics program focusing onto hyperons.
Adaptive Control of the Heating System for Optimized Energy Consumption in Electric Vehicles
2016-08-01

The heating system, the second largest energy consumer after the power train in electric vehicles (EV), has a significant impact on the overall energy management. We propose an optimized control algorithm for minimizing the energy consumption of the heating system for the passenger cabin. The presented adaptive control strategy combining a learning algorithm and dynamic programming optimizes the amount of energy consumption under consideration of the thermal comfort of EV passengers. Experiments shows that a reduction of energy consumption up to 12 % is achieved without sacrificing the preferred comfort.
Social Cognition in Williams Syndrome: Face Tuning
2016-08-02

Many neurological, neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and psychosomatic disorders are characterized by impairments in visual social cognition, body language reading, and facial assessment of a social counterpart. Yet a wealth of research indicates that individuals with Williams syndrome exhibit remarkable concern for social stimuli and face fascination. Here individuals with Williams syndrome were presented with a set of Face-n-Food images composed of food ingredients and in different degree resembling a face (slightly bordering on the Giuseppe Arcimboldo style). The primary advantage of these images is that single components do not explicitly trigger face-specific processing, whereas in face images commonly used for investigating face perception (such as photographs or depictions), the mere occurrence of typical cues already implicates face presence. In a spontaneous recognition task, participants were shown a set of images in a predetermined order from the least to most resembling a face. Strikingly, individuals with Williams syndrome exhibited profound deficits in recognition of the Face-n-Food images as a face: they did not report seeing a face on the images, which typically developing controls effortlessly recognized as a face, and gave overall fewer face responses. This suggests atypical face tuning in Williams syndrome. The outcome is discussed in the light of a general pattern of social cognition in Williams syndrome and brain mechanisms underpinning face processing.
Petrology and geochemistry of Early Cretaceous A-type granitoids and late Mesozoic mafic dikes and their relationship to adakitic intrusions in the lower Yangtze River belt, Southeast China
2016-08-02

The relationship among magmatism, large-scale metallogenesis of Southeast China, and subduction of the Pacific plate has long been debated. The lower Yangtze River belt (LYRB) in the northeastern edge of Southeast China is characterized by intense late Mesozoic magmatism and associated polymetallic mineralization such as copper, gold, iron, tungsten, molybdenum, etc. The copper-related adakitic rocks (148–130 Ma) in this belt are the oldest episode of magmatism and intruded as small intermediate-acid intrusive bodies. The Huayuangong granitoids (HYG), located in the southern part of this belt, however, are copper-barren. Three granitoid samples from this pluton give zircon U–Pb ages of 126.4 ± 1.6 Ma, 125.9 ± 1.9 Ma, and 126.2 ± 1.2 Ma, respectively. The HYG has A-type affinity with metaluminous to weakly peraluminous, high FeOT/(FeOT+MgO) ratios, and high Zr+Nb+Ce+Yb contents. Meanwhile, 10 late Mesozoic mafic samples from the LYRB exhibit similar trace element characteristics to those of 'continental arc andesite' (CAA) and suggest an enriched lithospheric mantle source with depletion in high field strength elements (e.g. Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, and Ti) and enrichment of large ion lithophile elements (e.g. Rb, Th, U, and Pb). Although the HYG exhibits similar Sr–Nd isotope composition with the mafic dikes, distinct whole-rock Pb isotope ratios imply that the granitoids and mafic magmas originated from heterogeneous mantle sources. Compared with coeval Baijuhuajian A-type rocks that are exposed along the Jiang–Shao fault of Southeast China, the HYG shows enriched Hf isotope ratios of zircon with εHf(t) values ranging from −4.8 to −11.1. In the Yb/Ta versus Y/Nb diagram, being different from the major asthenospheric mantle-origin Baijuhuajian pluton, a large range of and high Y/Nb ratios as well as high Zr contents of the HYG pluton suggest a magmatic source of mixing between the asthenospheric and enriched crustal component in the LYRB. Compared with early-stage copper-related adakitic rocks (148–130 Ma) with subduction-related affinities and high oxygen fugacity, the copper-barren HYG has with-plate A-type affinities and lower oxygen fugacity. Summarizing, the production of early-stage (i.e. subduction related) adakitic rocks followed by late-stage A-type granitoids in the LYRB is ascribed to the rollback of the Palaeo-Pacific plate beneath Southeast China and associated with asthenospheric upwelling and lithospheric thinning during the late Mesozoic era.