Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular resolution of marine turtle stock composition in fishery bycatch: a case study in the Mediterranean

Based on an extensive sampling regime from both nesting populations and bycatch, frequency analyses of mitochondrial (mt) DNA control region haplotypes in the Mediterranean were used to assess the genetic structure and stock composition of the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, in different marine fisheries. The analyses show the following. (i) In drifting longline fisheries working in Mediterranean pelagic habitats 53–55% of turtles caught originated from the Mediterranean stock; (ii) In bottom‐trawl fisheries all turtle bycatch is derived from this regional stock; (iii) This regional stock contribution to fishery bycatch suggests that the population size of the Mediterranean loggerhead nesting population is significantly larger than previously thought. This is consistent with a recent holistic estimate based on the discovery of a large rookery in Libya. (iv) Present impact of fishery‐related mortality on the Mediterranean nesting population is probably incompatible with its long‐term conservation. Sea turtle conservation regulations are urgently needed for the Mediterranean fisheries. (v) The significant divergence of mtDNA haplotype frequencies of the Turkish loggerhead colonies define this nesting population as a particularly important management unit. Large immature and adult stages from this management unit seem to be harvested predominantly by Egyptian fisheries. (vi) Combined with other data, our findings suggest that all the nesting populations in the Mediterranean should be considered as management units sharing immature pelagic habitats throughout the Mediterranean (and possibly the eastern Atlantic), with distinct and more localized benthic feeding habitats in the eastern basin used by large immatures and adults. (vii) Between the strict oceanic pelagic and the benthic stages, immature turtles appear to live through an intermediate neritic stage, in which they switch between pelagic and benthic foods.
Position sensitivity in the visual word form area

Seeing words involves the activity of neural circuitry within a small region in human ventral temporal cortex known as the visual word form area (VWFA). It is widely asserted that VWFA responses, which are essential for skilled reading, do not depend on the visual field position of the writing (position invariant). Such position invariance supports the hypothesis that the VWFA analyzes word forms at an abstract level, far removed from specific stimulus features. Using functional MRI pattern-classification techniques, we show that position information is encoded in the spatial pattern of VWFA responses. A right-hemisphere homolog (rVWFA) shows similarly position-sensitive responses. Furthermore, electrophysiological recordings in the human brain show position-sensitive VWFA response latencies. These findings show that position-sensitive information is present in the neural circuitry that conveys visual word form information to language areas. The presence of position sensitivity in the VWFA has implications for how word forms might be learned and stored within the reading circuitry.
PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Too Proud to Let Go : Narcissistic Entitlement as a Barrier to Forgiveness

Narcissistic entitlement impedes forgiveness in ways not captured by other robust predictors (e.g., offense severity, apology, relationship closeness, religiosity, Big Five personality factors), as demonstrated in 6 studies. Narcissistic entitlement involves expectations of special treatment and preoccupation with defending one’s rights. In Study 1, entitlement predicted less forgiveness and greater insistence on repayment for a past offense. Complementary results emerged from Study 2, which used hypothetical transgressions, and Study 3, which assessed broad forgiveness dispositions. Study 4 examined associations with the Big Five, and Study 5 extended the findings to a laboratory context. Study 6 demonstrated that entitlement predicted diminished increases in forgiveness over time. Taken together, these results suggest that narcissistic entitlement is a robust, distinct predictor of unforgiveness.
DOES GENETIC DIVERSITY REDUCE SIBLING COMPETITION?

An enduring hypothesis for the proximal benefits of sex is that recombination increases the genetic variation among offspring and that this genetic variation increases offspring performance. A corollary of this hypothesis is that mothers that mate multiply increase genetic variation within a clutch and gain benefits due to genetic diversity alone. Many studies have demonstrated that multiple mating can increase offspring performance, but most attribute this increase to sexual selection and the role of genetic diversity has received less attention. Here, we used a breeding design to generate populations of full‐siblings, half‐siblings, and unrelated individuals of the solitary ascidian Ciona intestinalis. Importantly, we preclude the potentially confounding influences of maternal effects and sexual selection. We found that individuals in populations with greater genetic diversity had greater performance (metamorphic success, postmetamorphic survival, and postmetamorphic size) than individuals in populations with lower genetic diversity. Furthermore, we show that by mating with multiple males and thereby increasing genetic variation within a single clutch of offspring, females gain indirect fitness benefits in the absence of mate‐choice. Our results show that when siblings are likely to interact, genetic variation among individuals can decrease competition for resources and generate substantial fitness benefits within a single generation.
VHY, a Novel Myristoylated Testis-restricted Dual Specificity Protein Phosphatase Related to VHX*

The human DUSP15 gene encodes an uncharacterized 235-amino acid member of the subfamily of small dual specificity protein phosphatases related to the Vaccinia virus VH1 phosphatase. Similar to VHR-related MKPX (VHX) (DUSP22), the predicted protein has an N-terminal myristoylation recognition sequence, and we show here that both are indeed modified by the attachment of a myristate to Gly-2. In recognition of this relatedness to VHX, we refer to the DUSP15-encoded protein as VH1-related member Y (VHY). We report that VHY is expressed at high levels in the testis and barely detectable levels in the brain, spinal cord, and thyroid. A VHY-specific antiserum detected a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 26 kDa, and histochemical analysis showed that VHY was readily detectable in pachytene spermatocytes (midstage of meiotic division I) and round spermatids and weakly in Leydig cells (somatic cells outside of the seminiferous tubules). When expressed in 293T or NIH-3T3 cells, VHY was concentrated at the plasma membrane with some staining of vesicular structures in the Golgi region. Mutation of the myristoylation site Gly-2 abrogated membrane location. Finally, we demonstrate that VHY is an active phosphatase in vitro. We conclude that VHY is a new member of a subgroup of myristoylated VH1-like small dual specificity phosphatases.
Augmenting acid with affective details to assess credibility

En muchos paises, se demanda en el sistema de Justicia Penal de protocolos validos de entrevista de investigacion y de evaluacion de la credibilidad del testimonio. Se diseno un estudio para poner a prueba de un sistema llamado Assessment Criteria Indicative of Deception (ACID). El ACID engloba estrategias de entrevista que faciliten la deteccion de engano y criterios de contenido que lo diferencian en el comportamiento verbal. Sesenta estudiantes universitarios participaron en una tarea de robo simulada con incentivos disenados para aumentar la validez externa. Posteriormente, los participantes fueron entrevistados y evaluados mediante el ACID, instruyendo a la mistad para que respondieran honestamente y la otra mitad para que negaran haber participado en el robo. Los resultados mostraron que las declaraciones honestas eran mas largas, mas vividamente detalladas y estructuradas mas espontaneamente que las inventadas. Asimismo, la adicion de detalles afectivos como variable dependiente mejoro significativamente el ACID. En general, 48 de las 60 declaraciones fueron clasificadas correctamente (26 de 30 declaraciones honestas y 22 de 30 declaraciones inventadas). El ACID resulto eficaz, mejorando con la inclusion de informacion afectiva. Los puntos fuertes y debilidades de este estudio se discuten para el establecimiento de implicaciones en la investigacion basica y la aplicacion forense.
High-speed fibre Bragg grating sensor interrogation using dispersion compensation fibre

A novel high-speed fibre Bragg grating (FBG) sensor interrogator using dispersion-compensating fibre is proposed and demonstrated. The wavelength shift measurement of the FBG sensor is converted to time-domain measurement. The high-speed potential of this scheme was investigated experimentally, demonstrating an effective sampling speed of 2.44 megasamples per second.
Self-perceived attractiveness influences human female preferences for sexual dimorphism and symmetry in male faces

Exaggerated sexual dimorphism and symmetry in human faces have both been linked to potential ‘good–gene’ benefits and have also been found to influence the attractiveness of male faces. The current study explores how female self–rated attractiveness influences male face preference in females using faces manipulated with computer graphics. The study demonstrates that there is a relatively increased preference for masculinity and an increased preference for symmetry for women who regard themselves as attractive. This finding may reflect a condition–dependent mating strategy analogous to behaviours found in other species. The absence of a preference for proposed markers of good genes may be adaptive in women of low mate value to avoid the costs of decreased parental investment from the owners of such characteristics.
Coupling internal cerebellar models enhances online adaptation and supports offline consolidation in sensorimotor tasks

The cerebellum is thought to mediate sensorimotor adaptation through the acquisition of internal models of the body-environment interaction. These representations can be of two types, identified as forward and inverse models. The first predicts the sensory consequences of actions, while the second provides the correct commands to achieve desired state transitions. In this paper, we propose a composite architecture consisting of multiple cerebellar internal models to account for the adaptation performance of humans during sensorimotor learning. The proposed model takes inspiration from the cerebellar microcomplex circuit, and employs spiking neurons to process information. We investigate the intrinsic properties of the cerebellar circuitry subserving efficient adaptation properties, and we assess the complementary contributions of internal representations by simulating our model in a procedural adaptation task. Our simulation results suggest that the coupling of internal models enhances learning performance significantly (compared with independent forward and inverse models), and it allows for the reproduction of human adaptation capabilities. Furthermore, we provide a computational explanation for the performance improvement observed after one night of sleep in a wide range of sensorimotor tasks. We predict that internal model coupling is a necessary condition for the offline consolidation of procedural memories.
The BCI competition III: validating alternative approaches to actual BCI problems

A brain-computer interface (BCI) is a system that allows its users to control external devices with brain activity. Although the proof-of-concept was given decades ago, the reliable translation of user intent into device control commands is still a major challenge. Success requires the effective interaction of two adaptive controllers: the user's brain, which produces brain activity that encodes intent, and the BCI system, which translates that activity into device control commands. In order to facilitate this interaction, many laboratories are exploring a variety of signal analysis techniques to improve the adaptation of the BCI system to the user. In the literature, many machine learning and pattern classification algorithms have been reported to give impressive results when applied to BCI data in offline analyses. However, it is more difficult to evaluate their relative value for actual online use. BCI data competitions have been organized to provide objective formal evaluations of alternative methods. Prompted by the great interest in the first two BCI Competitions, we organized the third BCI Competition to address several of the most difficult and important analysis problems in BCI research. The paper describes the data sets that were provided to the competitors and gives an overview of the results.
The Intrinsic Shape of Spiral Galaxies in the 2MASS Large Galaxy Atlas

The apparent shapes of spiral galaxies in the Two Micron All Sky Survey Large Galaxy Atlas are used to constrain the intrinsic shapes of their disks. When the distribution of apparent axis ratios is estimated using a nonparametric kernel method, the shape distribution is inconsistent with axisymmetry at the 90% confidence level in the B band and at the 99% confidence level in the Ks band. If spirals are subdivided by Hubble type, the late-type spirals (Sc and later) are consistent with axisymmetry, while the earlier spirals are strongly inconsistent with axisymmetry. The distribution of disk ellipticity can be fitted adequately with either a Gaussian or a lognormal distribution. The best fits for the late spirals imply a median ellipticity of ϵ ≈ 0.07 in the B band and ϵ ≈ 0.02 in the Ks band. For the earlier spirals, the best fits imply a median ellipticity of ϵ ≈ 0.18 in the B band and ϵ ≈ 0.30 in the Ks band. The observed scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation, for both late and early spirals, is consistent with the disk ellipticity measured in the B band. This indicates that excluding spirals of Hubble type earlier than Sc will minimize the intrinsic scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation used as a distance indicator.
Distinction and Status Production on User-Generated Content Platforms: Using Bourdieu's Theory of Cultural Production to Understand Social Dynamics in Online Fields

In this paper, we propose an analytical lens for studying social status production processes across a wide variety of user-generated content UGC platforms. Various streams of research, including those focused on social network analysis in social media, online communities, reputation systems, blogs, and multiplayer games, have discussed social status production online in ways that are diverse and incompatible. Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of fields of cultural production, we introduce the notion of an online field and associated sociological concepts to help explain how diverse types of producers and consumers of content jointly generate unique power relations online. We elaborate on what role external resources and status markers may play in shaping social dynamics in online fields. Using this unifying theory we are able to integrate previous research findings and propose an explanation of social processes behind both the similarity across UGC platforms, which all offer multiple ways of pursuing distinction through content production, as well as the differences across such platforms in terms of which distinctions matter. We elaborate what role platform design choices play in shaping which forms of distinction count and how they are pursued as well as implications these have for status gaining strategies. We conclude the paper by suggesting how our theory can be used in future qualitative and quantitative research studies.
Impact of heat stress on health and performance of dairy animals: A review

Sustainability in livestock production system is largely affected by climate change. An imbalance between metabolic heat production inside the animal body and its dissipation to the surroundings results to heat stress (HS) under high air temperature and humid climates. The foremost reaction of animals under thermal weather is increases in respiration rate, rectal temperature and heart rate. It directly affect feed intake thereby, reduces growth rate, milk yield, reproductive performance, and even death in extreme cases. Dairy breeds are typically more sensitive to HS than meat breeds, and higher producing animals are, furthermore, susceptible since they generates more metabolic heat. HS suppresses the immune and endocrine system thereby enhances susceptibility of an animal to various diseases. Hence, sustainable dairy farming remains a vast challenge in these changing climatic conditions globally.
Addition of Berberine to 5-Aminosalicylic Acid for Treatment of Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Chronic Colitis in C57BL/6 Mice

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a common chronic remitting disease but without satisfactory treatment. Alternative medicine berberine has received massive attention for its potential in UC treatment. Conventional therapies with the addition of berberine are becoming attractive as novel therapies in UC. In the present study, we investigated the preclinical activity of a conventional oral 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA) therapy plus berberine in experimental colitis. A subclinical dose of 5-ASA (200 mg/kg/day) alone or 5-ASA plus berberine (20 mg/kg/day) was orally administered for 30 days to C57BL/6 mice with colitis induced by three cycles of 2% dextran sulfate sodium (DSS). The disease severity, inflammatory responses, drug accumulation and potential toxicity of colitis mice were examined. The results showed that comparing to 5-ASA alone, 5-ASA plus berberine more potently ameliorated DSS-induced disease severity, colon shortening, and colon histological injury. Further, the up-regulation in mRNA level of colonic TNF-α as well as NFκB and JAK2 phosphorylation caused by DSS were more pronouncedly reversed in animals treated with the combination therapy than those treated with 5-ASA alone. Moreover, the addition of berberine to 5-ASA more significantly inhibited lymphocyte TNF-α secretion of DSS mice than 5-ASA alone. In the meanwhile, no extra drug accumulation or potential toxicity to major organs of colitis mice was observed with this combination treatment. In summary, our studies provide preclinical rationale for the addition of berberine to 5-ASA as a promising therapeutic strategy in clinic by reducing dose of standard therapy.
Feasibility of Frequency-Modulated Wireless Transmission for a Multi-Purpose MEMS-Based Accelerometer

Recent advances in the Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology have made wireless MEMS accelerometers an attractive tool for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of civil engineering structures. To date, sensors' low sensitivity and accuracy—especially at very low frequencies—have imposed serious limitations for their application in monitoring large-sized structures. Conventionally, the MEMS sensor's analog signals are converted to digital signals before radio-frequency (RF) wireless transmission. The conversion can cause a low sensitivity to the important low-frequency and low-amplitude signals. To overcome this difficulty, the authors have developed a MEMS accelerometer system, which converts the sensor output voltage to a frequency-modulated signal before RF transmission. This is achieved by using a Voltage to Frequency Conversion (V/F) instead of the conventional Analog to Digital Conversion (ADC). In this paper, a prototype MEMS accelerometer system is presented, which consists of a transmitter and receiver circuit boards. The former is equipped with a MEMS accelerometer, a V/F converter and a wireless RF transmitter, while the latter contains an RF receiver and a F/V converter for demodulating the signal. The efficacy of the MEMS accelerometer system in measuring low-frequency and low-amplitude dynamic responses is demonstrated through extensive laboratory tests and experiments on a flow-loop pipeline.
Understanding the cycle of maternal intergenerational child maltreatment

Familial child maltreatment continues to be an area of concern in child protection proceedings which often involves the psychological assessment of parents. Research has demonstrated that a significant number of parents assessed in child protection proceedings report experiences of victimisation in their own childhoods. While the consequences of childhood maltreatment are well known, few studies have focused on the intergenerational patterns of child maltreatment amongst mothers involved in child protection proceedings. This thesis attempts to explore the transmission of maternal child abuse and neglect through systematic review of literature in the field, a study comparing mothers who abuse with mothers who neglect, and a critique of a psychometric measure of personality in parents subject to child protection proceedings. Understanding interpersonal differences in intergenerational neglectful and abusive mothers involved in childcare proceedings may lead to the development of effective interventions which may disrupt the generational transmission of child maltreatment.
THE PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF THE DIAL-3 KINDERGARTEN READINESS SCREENING ASSESSMENT AS IT RELATES TO READING AND MATH ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN THE FOURTH GRADE

Judy Jackson May, Advisor The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between pre-kindergarten student test scores on a kindergarten readiness assessment, the Developmental Indicators for Assessment of Learning (DIAL-3), and test scores for the same students four years later on the mathematics and reading sections of the Ohio Fourth Grade State Achievement Test. Determining if the DIAL-3 readiness assessment had long-range predictive validity was the goal of this dissertation study. The design of the study was correlational. The researcher used historical data from at least 48 students from each of three district types (rural, suburban, and urban) as the sample for this study. Utilizing a sampling method of stratified-cluster, 208 students were randomly selected for inclusion in this study. In addition, the researcher analyzed and discussed influential variables, which affected the results. Age, ethnicity, gender, district type, half-day programs were among the variables analyzed. The targeted population was diverse in socio-economic status, race, and gender and consisted of students in Northwestern Ohio. To address the premise of this study, three research questions were developed and analyzed. Utilizing a Pearson Correlation Coefficient to calculate the relationship between the variables, the researcher was able to identify practical significance in many analyses. Although a low correlation existed in regards to the White, rural population, an increase in relationship existed among urban, children of color. Additionally, gender was analyzed to influence the
Interpersonal Forgiveness from an Eastern Orthodox Perspective

In the last 15 years, Christian and secular psychologists in the western tradition have written much about interpersonal forgiveness and reconciliation. The eastern Christian tradition (i.e., the Orthodox Church) has not had much of a voice in this discussion. In order to promote dialogue and assist clinicians in their ministry to Orthodox Christians, this article proposes some basic elements of an Orthodox view of interpersonal forgiveness and reconciliation, links those elements with eastern theology and anthropology, and compares them with concepts from western Christian and secular psychology.