julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Mapping of Dwellings in IDP/Refugee Settlements from Very High-Resolution Satellite Imagery Using a Mask Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network
2022-02-01

Earth-observation-based mapping plays a critical role in humanitarian responses by providing timely and accurate information in inaccessible areas, or in situations where frequent updates and monitoring are required, such as in internally displaced population (IDP)/refugee settlements. Manual information extraction pipelines are slow and resource inefficient. Advances in deep learning, especially convolutional neural networks (CNNs), are providing state-of-the-art possibilities for automation in information extraction. This study investigates a deep convolutional neural network-based Mask R-CNN model for dwelling extractions in IDP/refugee settlements. The study uses a time series of very high-resolution satellite images from WorldView-2 and WorldView-3. The model was trained with transfer learning through domain adaptation from nonremote sensing tasks. The capability of a model trained on historical images to detect dwelling features on completely unseen newly obtained images through temporal transfer was investigated. The results show that transfer learning provides better performance than training the model from scratch, with an MIoU range of 4.5 to 15.3%, and a range of 18.6 to 25.6% for the overall quality of the extracted dwellings, which varied on the bases of the source of the pretrained weight and the input image. Once it was trained on historical images, the model achieved 62.9, 89.3, and 77% for the object-based mean intersection over union (MIoU), completeness, and quality metrics, respectively, on completely unseen images.
Groundwater‐surface water exchange as key control for instream and groundwater nitrate concentrations along a first‐order agricultural stream
2022-02-01

Abstract Lower‐order streams (first‐ and second‐order) define the initial, landscape‐related, chemical signature of stream water in catchments. To date, first‐order streams have been perceived as predominantly draining systems, which collect water and solutes from the surrounding groundwater and surface runoff and simply mirror the chemical composition of the inputs. In this study, the impact of stream‐groundwater exchange fluxes on water chemistry of a first order agricultural stream (Schönbrunnen) and its connected groundwater in south‐western Germany was assessed combining 222 Rn, dissolved ions (chloride, sulphate, nitrate), and salt tracer tests with investigations of stream discharge and groundwater hydraulic gradients. The findings suggest that stream‐water chemistry in lower‐order streams is governed by an intricate interplay between dynamic, bidirectional water and solute exchange between groundwater and the stream leading to a pronounced hydrologic turnover along the studied reaches. High nitrate concentrations (up to 79 mg/L as NO 3 − ) in stream water were attenuated in downstream direction (a mean value of 39 mg/L) without an increase in discharge, suggesting that redox processes occurring during sediment passage in sequential infiltration and exfiltration zones affect stream water chemistry. Nitrate in stream water infiltrating into the aquifer at distinct losing spots was subject to denitrification within the first few decimetres of the streambed, while concurrent exfiltration of low‐nitrate groundwater into the stream at gaining spots compensated for flow losses and in turn diluted instream nitrate concentrations. In summary the findings imply that (1) instream mixing resulting from the bidirectional exchange of water between groundwater and the stream (hydrologic turnover) affects instream nitrate concentrations, (2) denitrification in the streambed of losing reaches and the near‐stream aquifer significantly contributes to reactive nitrate turnover and elimination, and (3) oxidation of ammonium could be a secondary source of nitrate inputs into the stream.
Long-Term Consequences of Repeated School Closures During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Reading and Mathematics Competencies
2022-02-01

School closures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 were associated with attenuated learning gains compared to pre-pandemic years. In Germany, two further pandemic waves led to school closures and periods of remote learning between December 2020 and May 2021. The present study investigates the academic achievement of all incoming fifth-graders in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg before and during the pandemic, using educational large-scale assessment results in reading and mathematics. Each year, the assessments took place at the beginning of the school year in September (each n &amp;gt; 84,000). The comparison of average competence levels in 2021 with pre-pandemic years (2017–2019) indicates that the downward trend that was observed after the first pandemic wave in 2020 came to a halt in the domain of reading and continued at a slower rate in the domain of mathematical operations. Achievements in the mathematical domain of numbers even rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. Longer periods of school closures were associated with larger learning losses. Additional analyses showed larger learning losses for the group of low-achieving students and for schools with less socio-cultural capital. The partial rebound of learning outcomes suggests that most teachers and students successfully adapted to the pandemic situation in 2021. Still, disadvantaged student groups are at high risk of further substantial learning losses due to school closures that may negatively affect their future education. Accordingly, disadvantaged student groups in particular should receive additional support to compensate for the loss of learning opportunities in the classroom.
Have Video Games Evolved Enough to Teach Human Origins?
2022-02-01

Overview Video games are unparalleled as an interactive medium and can serve as potential educational tools through intelligent game design and the players’ immersion in the game world (e.g., Mayo 2009; Rassalle 2021; Rubio-Campillo 2020; Winter 2021). At the same time, video games, like any media, might also misinform (e.g., Aron 2020; Dennis 2019; Emery and Reinhard 2016). In this review, I present my impressions of the game Ancestors: A Humankind Odyssey (Panache Digital Games 2019), specifically regarding its portrayal of paleoanthropological themes. In preparing this review, I played the game in its entirety and subsequently interviewed the developers in order to clarify their intentions when designing the game (Patrice Désilets and Marc-André De Blois, personal communication 2021). Using the medium of video games, is it possible to make a “perfectly” accurate simulation of human evolution? Perhaps, but that may not matter anyway. In my view, video games, as exemplified by Ancestors , have great potential for exploring the basic components of human evolution and to reach and inspire a wider public that might otherwise learn very little about the subject matter.
Update Breast Cancer 2021 Part 4 – Prevention and Early Stages
2022-02-01

Abstract This past year has seen new and effective options for further improving treatment outcome in many patients with early-stage breast cancer. Patients with hormone receptor-positive disease benefited significantly from the addition of the CDK4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib to endocrine adjuvant therapy. In triple-negative disease, data were presented for two treatment regimens. Patients with advanced disease (stage 2 and 3) benefit from neoadjuvant treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab in combination with standard chemotherapy, regardless of PD-L1 expression. When neoadjuvant therapy has failed to achieve the desired remission in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, the administration of the PARP inhibitor olaparib has demonstrated an impressive response. Other data address translational issues in HER2-positive breast cancer and neoadjuvant therapy approaches with the oral SERD giredestrant and the PARP inhibitor talazoparib. This review presents and analyses the findings of this yearʼ s most important study outcomes.
Update Breast Cancer 2021 Part 5 – Advanced Breast Cancer
2022-02-01

Abstract Despite the COVID 19 pandemic and mostly virtual congresses, innovation in the treatment of breast cancer patients continues at an unabated pace. This review summarises the current developments. Initial overall survival data for CDK4/6 inhibitor treatment in combination with an aromatase inhibitor as the first advanced line of therapy in treatment-naive postmenopausal patients have been published. Similarly, a trial comparing trastuzumab-deruxtecan versus trastuzumab-emtansine revealed a clear benefit regarding progression-free survival. Understanding of biomarkers making checkpoint inhibitor therapy particularly effective is increasing, and new compounds such as oral selective estrogen receptor destabilisers (SERDs) are entering clinical development and completing the first phase III trials.
Migration Background, Gender, and the Prevention of Depressive Symptoms: A Secondary Analysis
2022-02-01

Adolescent girls, independent of their migration background, and adolescent boys, specifically with a migration background, experience more depressive symptoms than boys without a migration background. Adolescent girls also benefit more from depression prevention programs than boys. However, no studies have examined the role of migration background on depression prevention. This cluster-randomized trial included 439 eighth-grade students (43.5% girls, 42.4% with a migration background) in Germany. Adolescents were randomized into either a 10-week universal prevention program or school-as-usual. Following our secondary analyses and as predicted, depressive symptoms decreased in girls in the prevention but not in the control group. Consistent with our hypotheses, boys did not benefit from the prevention program, nor was there a significant interaction between gender and migration background. Independent of condition, depressive symptoms increased in adolescents with a migration background. More research is needed to improve depression prevention for adolescent boys and in adolescents with a migration background.
The German Gestational Diabetes Study (PREG), a prospective multicentre cohort study: rationale, methodology and design
2022-02-01

Introduction Even well-treated gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) might still have impact on long-term health of the mother and her offspring, although this relationship has not yet been conclusively studied. Using in-depth phenotyping of the mother and her offspring, we aim to elucidate the relationship of maternal hyperglycaemia during pregnancy and adequate treatment, and its impact on the long-term health of both mother and child. Methods The multicentre PREG study, a prospective cohort study, is designed to metabolically and phenotypically characterise women with a 75-g five-point oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) during, and repeatedly after pregnancy. Outcome measures are maternal glycaemia during OGTTs, birth outcome and the health and growth development of the offspring. The children of the study participants are followed up until adulthood with developmental tests and metabolic and epigenetic phenotyping in the PREG Offspring study. A total of 800 women (600 with GDM, 200 controls) will be recruited. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol has been approved by all local ethics committees. Results will be disseminated via conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. Trial registration number The PREG study and the PREG Offspring study are registered with Clinical Trials (ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT04270578 , NCT04722900 ).
Developments in Halogen Abundance and Isotope Measurements
2022-02-01

The four stable halogens (F, Cl, Br, and I) are low-abundance elements that are widely distributed in nature. Two of the halogens, Cl and Br, each have two stable isotopes showing a range in natural isotope variation of up to a few parts per thousand. A variety of analytical techniques have been developed to determine the abundance and isotopic ratios of the halogens: these include in situ techniques for high spatial resolution studies and bulk determinations, and they have been applied to a range of materials, including whole rocks, minerals, glasses, and fluid inclusions. Here, we summarise some of the established methods for determining halogen abundances and isotopes and highlight key advances.
Überlebenswichtig: Glutaminsynthetasehomologe Proteine in Streptomyceten
2022-02-01

Abstract Streptomycetes have to cope with fluctuating nitrogen conditions in soil. Key enzymes in nitrogen metabolism in streptomycetes are the two glutamine synthetases (GSs), GlnA and GlnII. We demonstrated that GlnA3 and GlnA4, proteins previously annotated as GSs, are involved in utilization and detoxification of polyamines and ethanolamine. Homologs of these enzymes are present in pathogenic Actinobacteria and are promising drug targets. We designed a novel strategy for development of anti-tubercular antibiotics based on the inhibition of GlnA3.
Contributed Session III: Central-Peripheral Dichotomy (CPD) in feedforward and feedback processes explored by depth perception in random-dot stereograms (RDSs)
2022-02-01

Information bottleneck limits feedforward signals from the primary visual cortex (V1) to higher brain areas, these signals nevertheless give initial perceptual hypotheses about visual scenes. Feedback from higher to lower visual areas verify and re-weight these hypotheses in noisy or ambiguous situations via analysis-by-synthesis. We call this process Feedforward-Feedback-Verify-reWeight (FFVW). CPD hypothesizes that the feedback is weaker or absent in the peripheral visual field (Zhaoping, 2017, 2019). Accordingly, peripheral vision is vulnerable to illusions by misleading V1 signals. CPD and FFVW are manifest using RDSs for depth surfaces by contrast-reversed random-dots (CRRDs), for which a black dot in one eye corresponds to a white dot in the other eye. V1 neurons respond to CRRDs as if their preferred binocular disparities become anti-preferred and vice versa, signalling reversed depths. I show that (1) the reversed depth is seen in peripheral but not central vision; (2) compromising feedback by brief viewing and backward masking makes reversed-depth seen in central vision; and (3) adding reversed-depth signals to normal-depth ones enhances or degrades depth percepts in central vision when these depth signals by V1 responses agree or disagree, respectively, with each other. In (3), degradation occurs only when the feedback is compromised, whereas enhancement occurs regardless, revealing a nonlinearity in the feedback processes for perceptual decisions.
Understanding Irony in Literary Texts: A Cognitive Approach
2022-02-01

Cognitive approaches are particularly appealing when it comes to phenomena that can be adequately described only when their mental processing is taken into account. The phenomenon of irony is one of them. While there has been a plethora of semantic and structural analytic approaches in literary studies and linguistics that have focused on irony, the question is to what extent irony is already inherent in the texts themselves, to what extent it is only recognizable from contexts, and whether we recognize irony as such equally at all. In this article, we combine approaches from literary studies, cognitive psychology, and psycholinguistics in a corpus-based study. We ask whether irony is recognizable from certain textual features, such as genre or style. To determine this, we undertook a questionnaire study that indeed supports the conclusion that it is. It is the goal of the article to stimulate further contributions of this kind in order to explore the potential of a cognitive approach for the processing of irony in literary texts, providing a sound basis for future neuro-aesthetic investigations.
Against strict headedness in syntax
2022-02-01

Strict headedness is a common idealization in the structural analysis of linguistic entities, particularly in syntax. This contribution takes a critical look at its premises and applications by demonstrating the surprising sloppiness of both the defining concepts and the test procedures, and by showing how strict headedness is nevertheless implemented as an important axiom into virtually all mainstream grammar formalisms. Subsequently, I present a non-trivial head-agnostic analysis based on Tree Unification & Constraints (TUCO) in order to show that there actually is a choice and that strict headedness can be avoided in principle.
Divergent natural selection alters male sperm competition success in Drosophila melanogaster
2022-02-01

Abstract Sexually selected traits may also be subject to non‐sexual selection. If optimal trait values depend on environmental conditions, then “narrow sense” (i.e., non‐sexual) natural selection can lead to local adaptation, with fitness in a certain environment being highest among individuals selected under that environment. Such adaptation can, in turn, drive ecological speciation via sexual selection. To date, most research on the effect of narrow‐sense natural selection on sexually selected traits has focused on precopulatory measures like mating success. However, postcopulatory traits, such as sperm function, can also be under non‐sexual selection, and have the potential to contribute to population divergence between different environments. Here, we investigate the effects of narrow‐sense natural selection on male postcopulatory success in Drosophila melanogaster . We chose two extreme environments, low oxygen (10%, hypoxic) or high CO 2 (5%, hypercapnic) to detect small effects. We measured the sperm defensive (P1) and offensive (P2) capabilities of selected and control males in the corresponding selection environment and under control conditions. Overall, selection under hypoxia decreased both P1 and P2, while selection under hypercapnia had no effect. Surprisingly, P1 for both selected and control males was higher under both ambient hypoxia and ambient hypercapnia, compared to control conditions, while P2 was lower under hypoxia. We found limited evidence for local adaptation: the positive environmental effect of hypoxia on P1 was greater in hypoxia‐selected males than in controls. We discuss the implications of our findings for the evolution of postcopulatory traits in response to non‐sexual and sexual selection.
Pierre Ostiguy, Francisco Panizza and Benjamin Moffitt (eds.), Populism in Global Perspective: A Performative and Discursive Approach (Abingdon: Routledge, 2021), pp. 324, £120.00, £34.99 pb, £31.49 E-book
2022-02-01

Pierre Ostiguy, Francisco Panizza and Benjamin Moffitt (eds.), Populism in Global Perspective: A Performative and Discursive Approach (Abingdon: Routledge, 2021), pp. 324, £120.00, £34.99 pb, £31.49 E-book - Volume 54 Issue 1
A global survey of specialized metabolic diversity encoded in bacterial genomes
2022-02-01

&lt;p&gt;Bacterial secondary metabolites have been studied for decades for their usefulness as drugs, such as antibiotics. However, the identification of new structures has been decelerating, in part due to rediscovery of known compounds. Meanwhile, multi-resistant pathogens continue to emerge, urging the need for new antibiotics. It is unclear how much chemical diversity exists in Nature and whether discovery efforts should be focused on established antibiotic producers or rather on understudied taxa. Here, we surveyed around 170,000 bacterial genomes as well as several thousands of Metagenome Assembled Genomes (MAGs) for their diversity in Biosynthetic Gene Clusters (BGCs) known to encode the biosynthetic machinery for producing secondary metabolites. We used two distinct algorithms to provide a global overview of the biosynthetic diversity present in the sequenced part of the bacterial kingdom. Our results indicate that only 3% of genomic potential for natural products has been experimentally discovered. We connect the emergence of most biosynthetic diversity in evolutionary history close to the taxonomic rank of genus. Despite enormous differences in potential among taxa, we identify &lt;em&gt;Streptomyces&lt;/em&gt; as by far the most biosynthetically diverse based on currently available data. Simultaneously, our analysis highlights multiple promising high-producing taxa that have thus far escaped investigation.&lt;/p&gt;
Negative impact of roadside mowing on arthropod fauna and its reduction with ‘arthropod‐friendly’ mowing technique
2022-02-02

Abstract An underestimated factor that contributes to the decline of insects observed during the last year is probably the mortality, which is caused by mowing of grassland. We studied the negative impact of mowing on the arthropod fauna of roadside grassland, which might serve as potential habitat for insects to prevent their local extinction and as corridor for the dispersal in anthropogenic landscapes. In addition, we studied if losses due to mowing can be mitigated by the use of ‘arthropod‐friendly’ mowing technique. In agreement with earlier studies, we found that mowing with a conventional mowing head (MK 1200 from MULAG) caused considerable losses in arthropods, ranging from 29% for Heteroptera over around 50% in Araneae, Cicadina, Hymenoptera and Diptera, up to 73% for holometabolous larvae, and 87% for Lepidoptera. These losses by mowing were fully offset for Araneae, Cicadina, Heteroptera, Lepidoptera and larvae of holometabolous insects when using the mowing head Eco 1200 from MULAG, which was designed to be ‘arthropod‐friendly’. For Hymenoptera and Diptera, the losses were reduced by 15% and 25% respectively. For Saltatoria and Coleoptera, we did not find any significant differences between all treatments. These data demonstrate that mowing of roadsides with conventional mowing technology has a highly detrimental effect on the grassland arthropod fauna. However, this effect can be offset or at least mitigated by the use of ‘arthropod‐friendly’ mowing technique. Therefore, this technique has a high potential to reduce insect decline in roadside grassland, making these areas a habitat for insects.