julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Multisensoral Topsoil Mapping in the Semiarid Lake Manyara Region, Northern Tanzania
2015-07-28

This study pursues the mapping of the distribution of topsoils and surface substrates of the Lake Manyara area of northern Tanzania. The nine soil and lithological target classes were selected through fieldwork and laboratory analysis of soil samples. High-resolution WorldView-2 data, TerraSAR-X intensity data, medium-resolution ASTER spectral bands and indices, as well as ENVISAT ASAR intensity and SRTM-X-derived topographic parameters served as input features. Objects were derived from image segmentation. The classification of the image objects was conducted applying a nonlinear support vector machine approach. With the recursive feature elimination approach, the most input-relevant features for separating the target classes were selected. Despite multiple target classes, an overall accuracy of 71.9% was achieved. Inaccuracies occurred between classes with high CaCO3 content and between classes of silica-rich substrates. The incorporation of different input feature datasets improved the classification accuracy. An in-depth interpretation of the classification result was conducted with three soil profile transects.
Induction of Suicidal Erythrocyte Death by Cantharidin
2015-07-28

The natural phosphoprotein phosphatase inhibitor cantharidin, primarily used for topical treatment of warts, has later been shown to trigger tumor cell apoptosis and is thus considered for the treatment of malignancy. Similar to apoptosis of tumor cells, erythrocytes may undergo eryptosis, a suicidal cell death characterized by cell shrinkage and translocation of cell membrane phosphatidylserine to the erythrocyte surface. Signaling of eryptosis includes increase of cytosolic Ca2+-activity ([Ca2+]i), ceramide, oxidative stress and dysregulation of several kinases. Phosphatidylserine abundance at the erythrocyte surface was quantified utilizing annexin-V-binding, cell volume from forward scatter, [Ca2+]i from Fluo3-fluorescence, ceramide from antibody binding, and reactive oxidant species (ROS) from 2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) fluorescence. A 48 h treatment of human erythrocytes with cantharidin significantly increased the percentage of annexin-V-binding cells (≥10 mg/mL), significantly decreased forward scatter (≥25 mg/mL), significantly increased [Ca2+]i (≥25 mg/mL), but did not significantly modify ceramide abundance or ROS. The up-regulation of annexin-V-binding following cantharidin treatment was not significantly blunted by removal of extracellular Ca2+ but was abolished by kinase inhibitor staurosporine (1 mM) and slightly decreased by p38 inhibitor skepinone (2 mM). Exposure of erythrocytes to cantharidin triggers suicidal erythrocyte death with erythrocyte shrinkage and erythrocyte membrane scrambling, an effect sensitive to kinase inhibitors staurosporine and skepinone.
First-trimester contingent screening for trisomies 21, 18 and 13 by fetal nuchal translucency and ductus venosus flow and maternal blood cell-free DNA testing
2015-07-28

Objective: To examine performance of screening for major trisomies by a policy of first-line assessment of risk according to maternal age, fetal nuchal translucency thickness (NT) and ductus venosus pulsatility index for veins (DV-PIV) followed by cell-free DNA (cfDNA) testing in pregnancies with an intermediate risk.
Screening Performance and Costs of Different Strategies in Prenatal Screening for Trisomy 21
2015-07-28

Objective: Cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) testing has opened new options in prenatal screening for trisomy 21. Due to the higher costs of cffDNA testing there is an ongoing debate on how to combine different screening strategies.
First trimester ultrasound screening for trisomy 21 based on maternal age, fetal nuchal translucency and different combinations of the additional markers nasal bone, tricuspid and ductus venosus flow
2015-07-28

Objective: To examine the performance of screening for trisomy 21 based on maternal age, fetal nuchal translucency and different combinations of the additional ultrasound parameters: nasal bone (NB), ductus venosus (DV) and tricuspid flow (TR).
Are single odorous components of a predator sufficient to elicit defensive behaviors in prey species?
2015-07-29

When exposed to the odor of a sympatric predator, prey animals typically display escape or defensive responses. These phenomena have been well-documented, especially in rodents, when exposed to the odor of a cat, ferret, or fox. As a result of these experiments new discussions center on the following questions: (1) is a single volatile compound such as a major or a minor mixture constituent in urine or feces, emitted by the predator sufficient to cause defensive reactions in a potential prey species or (2) is a whole array of odors required to elicit a response and (3) will the relative size or escapability of the prey as compared to the predator influence responsiveness. Most predator-prey studies on this topic have been performed in the laboratory or under semi-natural conditions. Field studies could help to find answers to these questions. Australian mammals are completely naïve toward the introduced placental carnivores. That offers ideal opportunities to analyze in the field the responses of potential prey species to unknown predator odors. During the last decades researchers have accumulated an enormous amount of data exploring the effects of eutherian predator odors on native marsupial mammals. In this review, we will give a survey about the development of olfactory research, chemical signals and their influence on the behavior and-in some cases-physiology of prey species. In addition, we report on the effects of predator odor experiments performed under natural conditions in Australia. When studying all these literature we learned that data gained under controlled laboratory conditions elucidate the role of individual odors on brain structures and ultimately on a comparatively narrow range behaviors. In contrast to single odors odor arrays mimic much more the situation prey animals are confronted to in nature. Therefore, a broad range of methodology-from chemistry to ecology including anatomy, physiology, and behavior-is needed to understand all the different (relevant) stimuli that govern and guide the interactions between a predator and its potential prey.
Identification of Habitat-Specific Biomes of Aquatic Fungal Communities Using a Comprehensive Nearly Full-Length 18S rRNA Dataset Enriched with Contextual Data
2015-07-30

Molecular diversity surveys have demonstrated that aquatic fungi are highly diverse, and that they play fundamental ecological roles in aquatic systems. Unfortunately, comparative studies of aquatic fungal communities are few and far between, due to the scarcity of adequate datasets. We combined all publicly available fungal 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences with new sequence data from a marine fungi culture collection. We further enriched this dataset by adding validated contextual data. Specifically, we included data on the habitat type of the samples assigning fungal taxa to ten different habitat categories. This dataset has been created with the intention to serve as a valuable reference dataset for aquatic fungi including a phylogenetic reference tree. The combined data enabled us to infer fungal community patterns in aquatic systems. Pairwise habitat comparisons showed significant phylogenetic differences, indicating that habitat strongly affects fungal community structure. Fungal taxonomic composition differed considerably even on phylum and class level. Freshwater fungal assemblage was most different from all other habitat types and was dominated by basal fungal lineages. For most communities, phylogenetic signals indicated clustering of sequences suggesting that environmental factors were the main drivers of fungal community structure, rather than species competition. Thus, the diversification process of aquatic fungi must be highly clade specific in some cases.The combined data enabled us to infer fungal community patterns in aquatic systems. Pairwise habitat comparisons showed significant phylogenetic differences, indicating that habitat strongly affects fungal community structure. Fungal taxonomic composition differed considerably even on phylum and class level. Freshwater fungal assemblage was most different from all other habitat types and was dominated by basal fungal lineages. For most communities, phylogenetic signals indicated clustering of sequences suggesting that environmental factors were the main drivers of fungal community structure, rather than species competition. Thus, the diversification process of aquatic fungi must be highly clade specific in some cases.
Long‐term effects of plant diversity and composition on plant stoichiometry
2015-07-30

Plant elemental composition can indicate resource limitation, and changes in key elemental ratios (e.g. plant C:N ratios) can influence rates including herbivory, nutrient recycling, and pathogen infection. Although plant stoichiometry can influence ecosystem‐level processes, very few studies have addressed whether and how plant C:N stoichiometry changes with plant diversity and composition. Here, using two long‐term experimental manipulations of plant diversity (Jena and Cedar Creek), we test whether plant richness (species and functional groups) or composition (functional group proportions) affects temporal trends and variability of community‐wide C:N stoichiometry. Site fertility determined the initial community‐scale C:N ratio. Communities growing on N‐poor soil (Cedar Creek) began with higher C:N ratios than communities growing on N‐rich soil (Jena). However, site‐level plant C:N ratios converged through time, most rapidly in high diversity plots. In Jena, plant community C:N ratios increased. This temporal trend was stronger with increasing richness. However, temporal variability of C:N decreased as plant richness increased. In contrast, C:N decreased over time at Cedar Creek, most strongly at high species and functional richness, whereas the temporal variability of C:N increased with both measures of diversity at this site. Thus, temporal trends in the mean and variability of C:N were underlain by concordant changes among sites in functional group proportions. In particular, the convergence of community‐scale C:N over time at these very different sites was mainly due to increasing proportions of forbs at both sites, replacing high mean C:N (C4 grasses, Cedar Creek) or low C:N (legumes, Jena) species. Diversity amplified this convergence; although temporal trends differed in sign between the sites, these trends increased in magnitude with increasing species richness. Our results suggest a predictive mechanistic link between trends in plant diversity and functional group composition and trends in the many ecosystem rates that depend on aboveground community C:N. Synthesis We compared the effect of plant diversity on the temporal dynamics of community stoichiometry in two long‐term grassland diversity experiments: the Cedar Creek and Jena Experiments. Changes in community C:N ratios were accelerated by increasing diversity at both sites, but in opposite directions depending on soil fertility. Stoichiometry changes were driven by shifts of functional group composition differing in their elemental compositions, the identity of the functional groups depending on the site. Thus, we highlighted that community turnover constrained the effect of diversity on plant stoichiometry at both sites
First trimester ultrasound screening for Down syndrome based on maternal age, fetal nuchal translucency and different combinations of the additional markers nasal bone, tricuspid and ductus venosus flow
2015-07-30

What's already known about this topic? First trimester screening for Down syndrome based on maternal age and fetal NT detects about 70% of affected fetuses for a 3% false positive rate. What does this study add? The assessment of one, two and three of the additional ultrasound markers nasal bone, tricuspid and ductus venosus flow increases the detection rate to about 80%, 87% and 94%, respectively, for the same false positive rate. © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.
Uniqueness of the static Einstein–Maxwell spacetimes with a photon sphere
2015-07-30

We consider the problem of uniqueness of static and asymptotically flat\\nEinstein-Maxwell spacetimes with a photon sphere . We are using a\\nnaturally modified definition of a photon sphere for electrically charged\\nspacetimes with the additional property that the one-form is\\nnormal to the photon sphere. For simplicity we are restricting ourselves to the\\ncase of zero magnetic charge and assume that the lapse function regularly\\nfoliates the spacetime outside the photon sphere. With this information we\\nprove that has constant mean curvature and constant scalar curvature. We\\nalso derive a few equations which we later use to prove the main uniqueness\\ntheorem, i. e. the static asymptotically flat Einstein-Maxwell spacetimes with\\na non-extremal photon sphere are isometric to the Reissner-Nordstr\\\\"om one with\\nmass and electric charge subject to .\\n
Post-Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff formalism for relativistic stars
2015-07-30

Besides their astrophysical interest, compact stars also provide an arena for\\nunderstanding the properties of theories of gravity that differ from Einstein's\\ngeneral relativity. Numerous studies have shown that different modified\\ntheories of gravity can modify the bulk properties (such as mass and radius) of\\nneutron stars for given assumptions on the microphysics. What is not usually\\nstressed though is the strong degeneracy in the predictions of these theories\\nfor the stellar mass and radius. Motivated by this observation, in this paper\\nwe take an alternative route and construct a stellar structure formalism which,\\nwithout adhering to any particular theory of gravity, describes in a simple\\nparametrized form the departure from compact stars in general relativity. This\\n"post-Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV)" formalism for spherical static stars is\\ninspired by the well-known parametrized post-Newtonian theory, extended to\\nsecond post-Newtonian order by adding suitable correction terms to the fully\\nrelativistic TOV equations. We show how neutron star properties are modified\\nwithin our formalism, paying special attention to the effect of each correction\\nterm. We also show that the formalism is equivalent to general relativity with\\nan "effective" (gravity-modified) equation of state.\\n
Covariant variational approach to Yang-Mills theory at finite temperatures
2015-07-30

We extend the covariant variational approach for SU(N) Yang-Mills theory in\\nLandau gauge to non-zero temperatures. The renormalization of the\\nzero-temperature case is revisited and it is shown that the same counterterms\\nare sufficient to render the low-order Green's function finite at non-zero\\ntemperature. We compute the ghost and gluon propagator numerically and show\\nthat it agrees in all qualitative respects with the results of high-precision\\nlattice calculations.\\n
A detector module with highly efficient surface-alpha event rejection operated in CRESST-II Phase 2
2015-07-30

\\n The cryogenic dark matter experiment CRESST-II aims at the direct detection of WIMPs via elastic scattering off nuclei in scintillating CaWO crystals. We present a new, highly improved, detector design installed in the current run of CRESST-II Phase 2 with an efficient active rejection of surface-alpha backgrounds. Using CaWO sticks instead of metal clamps to hold the target crystal, a detector housing with fully-scintillating inner surface could be realized. The presented detector (TUM40) provides an excellent threshold of keV and a resolution of keV (at 2.60 keV). With significantly reduced background levels, TUM40 sets stringent limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section and probes a new region of parameter space for WIMP masses below 3 GeV/c . In this paper, we discuss the novel detector design and the surface-alpha event rejection in detail.\\n
Orientations between Red Antenna States of Photosystem I Monomers from Thermosynechococcus elongatus Revealed by Single-Molecule Spectroscopy
2015-07-30

Single-molecule spectroscopy at low temperature was used to study the spectral properties, heterogeneities, and spectral dynamics of the chlorophyll a (Chl a) molecules responsible for the fluorescence emission of photosystem I monomers (PS I-M) from the cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus. The fluorescence spectra of single PS I-M are dominated by several red-shifted chlorophyll a molecules named C708 and C719. The emission spectra show broad spectral distributions and several zero-phonon lines (ZPLs). Compared with the spectra of the single PS I trimers, some contributions are missing due to the lower number of C719 Chl's in monomers. Polarization-dependent measurements show an almost perpendicular orientation between the emitters corresponding to C708 and C719. These contributions can be assigned to chlorophyll dimers B18B19, B31B32, and B32B33.
On-the-Fly Integration of Data from a Spin-Diffusion-Based NMR Experiment into Protein–Ligand Docking
2015-07-30

INPHARMA (interligand nuclear Overhauser enhancement for pharmacophore mapping) determines the relative orientation of two competitive ligands in the protein binding pocket. It is based on the observation of interligand transferred NOEs mediated by spin diffusion through protons of the protein and is, therefore, sensitive to the specific interactions of each of the two ligands with the protein. We show how this information can be directly included into a protein-ligand docking program to guide the prediction of the complex structures. Agreement between the experimental and back-calculated spectra based on the full relaxation matrix approach is translated into a score contribution that is combined with the scoring function ChemPLP of our docking tool PLANTS. This combined score is then used to predict the poses of five weakly bound cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) ligands. After optimizing the setup, which finally also included trNOE data and optimized protonation states, very good success rates were obtained for all combinations of three ligands. For one additional ligand, no conclusive results could be obtained due to the ambiguous electron density of the ligand in the X-ray structure, which does not disprove alternative ligand poses. The failures of the remaining ligand are caused by suboptimal locations of specific protein side chains. Therefore, side-chain flexibility should be included in an improved INPHARMA-PLANTS version. This will reduce the strong dependence on the used protein input structure leading to improved scores overall, not only for this last ligand.
The evolution of Chinese film policy: how to adapt an instrument for hegemonic rule to commercialisation
2015-07-30

Since the 1990s, the Chinese political leadership has gradually embraced the commercialisation of the film sector and has turned the liberalisation of entertainment content production into a strategy for generating legitimacy. This article traces the evolution of Chinese film policy from its Communist origins to the present day, and reveals that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), at the same time, has never desisted from using film production to establish hegemony in a Gramscian sense, and that these efforts have even been intensified over the last decade. The second part of the article scrutinises how the CCP's mechanisms of control and ideological guidance have been adapted to commercialisation and, based on personal interviews with Beijing film producers in 2006 and 2007, investigates the extent to which the intensified efforts of adaptation since 2003 have been able to persuade the private sector of film production to participate in maintaining CCP hegemony.
Fosmidomycin as an Antimalarial Drug: A Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials
2015-07-31

With first indications of resistance against artemisinin compounds, the development of novel alternative antimalarials remains an urgent need. One candidate is fosmidomycin (Fos), a phosphonic acid derivative. This PRISMA guideline-adhering and PROSPERO-registered systematic review and meta-analysis provides an overview of the state-of-the-art of the clinical development of Fos as an antimalarial. Pooling six clinical trials of Fos against uncomplicated malaria in African children yielded an overall day 28 cure rate of 85% (95% CI: 71-98%); a parasite clearance time of 39 h; and a fever clearance time of 30 h. In four adult cohorts, the corresponding values were 70% (95% CI: 40-100%), 49 and 42 h, respectively. Data suggest that besides the partner drug, formulation determines efficacy. We advocate further clinical development of Fos-combinations. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42014013688.
Impact of multicomponent ionic transport on pH fronts propagation in saturated porous media
2015-07-31

Abstract We investigate the propagation of pH fronts during multicomponent ionic transport in saturated porous media under flow‐through conditions. By performing laboratory bench‐scale experiments combined with numerical modeling, we show the important influence of Coulombic effects on proton transport in the presence of ionic admixtures. The experiments were performed in a quasi two‐dimensional flow‐through setup under steady‐state flow and transport conditions. Dilute solutions of hydrochloric acid with MgCl 2 (1:2 strong electrolyte) were used as tracer solutions to experimentally test the effect of electrochemical cross coupling on the migration of diffusive/dispersive pH fronts. We focus on two experimental scenarios, with different composition of tracer solutions, causing remarkably different effects on the propagation of the acidic fronts with relative differences in the penetration depth of pH fronts of 36% between the two scenarios and of 25% and 15% for each scenario with respect to the transport of ions at liberated state (i.e., without considering the charge effects). Also differences in the dilution of the distinct ions plumes up to 28% and 45% in experiment 1 and 2, respectively, were measured at the outflow of the flow‐through system. The dilution of the pH plumes also changed considerably (26% relative difference) in the two flow‐through experiments only due to the different composition of the pore water solution and to the electrostatic coupling of the ions in the flow‐through setups. Numerical transport simulations were performed to interpret the laboratory experiments. The simulations were based on a multicomponent ionic formulation accurately capturing the Coulombic interactions between the transported ions in the flow‐through system. The results of purely forward simulations show a very good agreement with the high‐resolution measurements performed at the outlet of the flow‐through setup and confirms the importance of charge effects on pH transport in porous media.