Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Big city Bombus: using natural history and land-use history to find significant environmental drivers in bumble-bee declines in urban development

Native bee populations are critical sources of pollination. Unfortunately, native bees are declining in abundance and diversity. Much of this decline comes from human land-use change. While the effects of large-scale agriculture on native bees are relatively well understood, the effects of urban development are less clear. Understanding urbanity's effect on native bees requires consideration of specific characteristics of both particular bee species and their urban landscape. We surveyed bumble-bee (Bombus spp.) abundance and diversity in gardens across multiple urban centres in southeastern Michigan. There are significant declines in Bombus abundance and diversity associated with urban development when measured on scales in-line with Bombus flight ability. These declines are entirely driven by declines in females; males showed no response to urbanization. We hypothesize that this is owing to differing foraging strategies between the sexes, and it suggests reduced Bombus colony density in more urban areas. While urbanity reduced Bombus prevalence, results in Detroit imply that ‘shrinking cities’ potentially offer unique urban paradigms that must be considered when studying wild bee ecology. Results show previously unidentified differences in the effects of urbanity on female and male bumble-bee populations and suggest that urban landscapes can be managed to support native bee conservation.
Microfinance Impact Assessments: The Perils of Using New Members as a Control Group

Microfinance institutions aim to reduce poverty. Some assess their impact through a cross-sectional impact methodology which compares veteran to new participants and then calls any difference between these two groups the "impact" of the program. Such studies have risen recently in popularity because they are cheap, easy to implement, and often encouraged by donors. USAID, through its AIMS project, encourages this methodology with its SEEP/AIMS practitioner-oriented tools. This paper intends to inform practitioners about the perils of using such a strategy, and suggests a couple of solutions to some of the larger problems with this approach.
On the periodic solutions of linear homogenous systems of differential equations

Given a fundamental matrix ϕ(x) of an n-th order system of linear homogeneous differential equations Y′=A(x)Y, a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a k-dimensional (k≤n) periodic sub-space (of period T) of the solution space of the above system is obtained in terms of the rank of the scalar matrix ϕ(t)−ϕ(0).
Regulation of Auxin, Abscisic Acid and Salicylic Acid Levels by Ascorbate Application under Heat Stress in Sensitive and Tolerant Maize Leaves

In the present study, the effect of ascorbic acid (5 mM) on some physiological parameters and three hormones (auxin, abscisic acid, salicylic acid) was determined under heat stress (40 °C) in maize tolerant cv. (MAY 69) and sensitive cv. SHEMAL (SH) at 0 h, 4 h and 8 h. Heat stress reduced total chlorophyll content (CHL), relative water content (RWC) and stomatal conductance ( g _s) in SH but did not lead to changes in MAY 69 at 4 h and 8 h. However, pretreatment with ascorbic acid increased (CHL), (RWC) and ( g _s) in SH under heat stress while it reduced MDA content significantly in both cv. We also observed that heat stress led to a reduction in SA level but increased ABA and IAA levels in SH, whereas it increased SA and IAA levels but did not change ABA level in MAY 69 at 4 h. Furthermore, in SH, ASC application under heat stress increased SA level and decreased IAA and ABA levels at 4 h, but it had no effect on SA and ABA at 8 h.
Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic perception of authentic emotions through speech: An acoustic-phonetic study with Brazilian and Swedish listeners

Swedish and Brazilian listeners were presented with authentic emotional speech samples of Brazilian Portuguese and Swedish. They judged on 5-point Likert scales the expression of basic emotions as described by eight adjectives in the utterances in Brazilian Portuguese and the expression of five emotional dimensions in the utterances in Swedish. The PCA technique revealed that two components explain more than 94% of the variance of the judges’ responses in both experiments. These components were predicted through multiple linear regressions from twelve acoustic parameters automatically computed from the utterances. The results point to a similar perception of the emotions between both cultures.
Interference of tannic acid on the genotoxicity of mitomycin C, methylmethanesulfonate, and nitrogen mustard in somatic cells of Drosophila melanogaster

The modulating effects of tannic acid (TA) on somatic mutation and mitotic recombination induced by methylmethanesulfonate (MMS), nitrogen mustard (HN2), and mitomycin C (MMC) were evaluated in the standard (ST) cross of the wing spot test in Drosophila melanogaster using co‐ and posttreatment protocols. It was shown that TA alone did not modify the spontaneous frequencies of single and twin spots, which means that this polyphenol neither acts as a genotoxin nor exerts any antigenotoxic effect over spontaneous DNA lesions. However, the simultaneous administration of genotoxins with TA can lead to considerable alterations of the frequencies of induced wing spots in comparison to those with administration of the genotoxins alone. In fact, TA produced a significant increase in HN2‐induced wing spots with enhancements between 90 and 160%. For MMS, the enhancement was 38% in the highest TA concentration tested. In contrast, a significant protective action of this polyphenol was observed in combined treatments with MMC (64 to 99% inhibition). Moreover, the data from TA posttreatments demonstrated that this agent is not effective in exerting protective or enhancing effects on the genotoxicity of MMS, HN2, or MMC. One feasible mechanism of TA action is its interaction with the enzyme systems catalyzing the metabolic detoxification of MMS and HN2, which may also be involved in the bioactivation of MMC. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 36:195–200, 2000 © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Essential roles of 70kDa heat inducible proteins

The 70kDa heat inducible proteins (hsp70s) are a highly conserved family of proteins found in every organism examined. Some hsp70 proteins are essential for cell viability. Recent work has revealed that these proteins are involved in the movement of proteins into and through various compartments of the eukaryotic cell.
Estrogen Metabolism by Cytochrome P450 1B1 Modulates the Hypertensive Effect of Angiotensin II in Female Mice

To determine the role of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1B1 in the sex difference in response to angiotensin II (Ang II)–induced hypertension, female Cyp1b1+/+ and Cyp1b1−/− mice were infused with Ang II (700 ng/kg per minute) or vehicle with or without ovariectomy. In addition, mice were treated with the CYP1B1 inhibitor, 2,3′,4,5′-tetramethoxystilbene (TMS; 300 &mgr;g/kg IP, every third day), and 17-&bgr; estradiol metabolites, 2-hydroxyestradiol (2-OHE), 4-OHE, or 2-methoxyestradiol (1.5 mg/kg per day IP, for 2 weeks) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) measured. Ang II increased SBP more in Cyp1b1−/− than in Cyp1b1+/+ mice (119±3–171±11 versus 120±4–149±4 mm Hg; P<0.05). Ang II caused cardiovascular remodeling and endothelial dysfunction and increased vascular reactivity and oxidative stress in Cyp1b1−/− but not in Cyp1b1+/+mice. The Ang II–induced increase in SBP was enhanced by ovariectomy and TMS in Cyp1b1+/+ but not in Cyp1b1−/− mice. 2-OHE did not alter Ang II–induced increase in SBP in Cyp1b1+/+ mice but minimized it in Cyp1b1−/− mice, whereas 4-OHE enhanced Ang II–induced increase in SBP in Cyp1b1+/+ mice but did not alter the increased SBP in Cyp1b1−/− mice. 2-OHE–derived catechol-O-methyltransferase metabolite, 2-methoxyestradiol, inhibited Ang II–induced increase in SBP in Cyp1b1−/− mice. Ang II increased plasma levels of 2-methoxyestradiol in Cyp1b1+/+ but not in Cyp1b1−/− mice and increased activity of cardiac extracellular signal–regulated kinase 1/2, p38 mitogen-activated kinase, c-Src, and Akt in Cyp1b1−/− but not in Cyp1b1+/+ mice. These data suggest that CYP1B1 protects against Ang II–induced hypertension and associated cardiovascular changes in female mice, most likely mediated by 2-methoxyestradiol–inhibiting oxidative stress and the activity of these signaling molecules.
Vitamin D3 attenuates oxidative stress and cognitive deficits in a model of toxic demyelination

Objective(s): Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease. The prevalence of MS is highest where environmental supplies of vitamin D are low. Cognitive deficits have been observed in patients with MS. Oxidative damage may contribute to the formation of MS lesions. Considering the involvement of hippocampus in MS, an attempt is made in this study to investigate the effects of vitamin D3 on behavioral process and the oxidative status in the dorsal hippocampus (CA1 area) following the induction of experimental demyelination in rats. Materials and Methods: Animals were divided into six groups. Control group: animals received no surgery and treatment; saline group: animals received normal saline; sham group: animals received 150 μl sesame oil IP; vitamin D3 group: animals received 5 μg/kg vitamin D3 IP; lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC) group (toxic demyelination’s model): animals received LPC by stereotaxic intra-hippocampal injection of 2 μl LPC in CA1 area; Vitamin D3- treated group: animals were treated with vitamin D3 at doses of 5 μg/kg IP for 7 and 21 days post lesion. The spatial memory, biochemical parameters including catalase (CAT) activities and lipid peroxidation levels were investigated. Results: Animals in LPC group had more deficits in spatial memory than the control group in radial arm maze. Vitamin D3 significantly improved spatial memory compared to LPC group. Also, results indicated that vitamin D3 caused a decrease in lipid peroxidation levels and an increase in CAT activities. Conclusion: Current findings suggest that vitamin D3 may have a protective effect on cognitive deficits and oxidative stress in toxic demyelination’s model.
Early cardiac outcomes following contemporary treatment for childhood acute myeloid leukemia: A north American perspective

Anthracycline agents are used for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) but may cause late‐onset cardiomyopathy. Current frontline therapy for AML in North America, as reflected in the approach of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) and other pediatric consortia, is adapted from the anthracyline‐intensive Medical Research Council (MRC) regimen. The purpose of this study was to describe early post‐treatment cardiac function as a potential indicator of acute and long‐term risk associated with this approach.
Positive inotropic and negative chronotropic effects of (−)‐cis‐diltiazem in rat isolated atria

1 The cardiovascular effects of (−)‐cis‐diltiazem, an optical isomer of diltiazem, were studied in the isolated atrium and aortic strip. (−)‐cis‐Diltiazem (30 μm or more) increased the developed tension of the rat left atrium, while (+)‐cis‐diltiazem (1 μm or more) decreased it. 2 (−)‐cis‐Diltiazem (1 to 100 μm) decreased the rate of spontaneous beating in the right atrium as did (+)‐cis‐diltiazem. 3 The potency of the positive inotropic action of (−)‐cis‐diltiazem was almost the same as that of ouabain in the rat left atrium, but in the guinea‐pig left atrium it was considerably weaker than that of ouabain. 4 In both endothelium‐intact and endothelium‐denuded aortic strips, (−)‐cis‐diltiazem relaxed the Ca2+‐induced contraction. In the endothelium‐intact rat aortic strip depolarized by 15 mm KCl, Bay K 8644, a calcium channel agonist, increased the contractile force, whereas (−)‐cis‐diltiazem did not. 5 These results indicate that (−)‐cis‐diltiazem has a positive inotropic action in isolated atria in rats and guinea‐pigs, but the mode of positive inotropic action of (−)‐cis‐diltiazem is different from that of ouabain or Bay K 8644.
Body image and college women’s quality of life: The importance of being self-compassionate

This study explored self-compassion as a mediator between body dissatisfaction, social comparison based on body image and quality of life in 662 female college students. Path analysis revealed that while controlling for body mass index, self-compassion mediated the impact of body dissatisfaction and unfavourable social comparisons on psychological quality of life. The path model accounted for 33 per cent of psychological quality of life variance. Findings highlight the importance of self-compassion as a mechanism that may operate on the association between negative body image evaluations and young women’s quality of life.
A realizability interpretation of Church's simple theory of types

We give a realizability interpretation of an intuitionistic version of Church's Simple Theory of Types (CST) which can be viewed as a formalization of intuitionistic higher-order logic. Although definable in CST we include operators for monotone induction and coinduction and provide simple realizers for them. Realizers are formally represented in an untyped lambda–calculus with pairing and case-construct. The purpose of this interpretation is to provide a foundation for the extraction of verified programs from formal proofs as an alternative to type-theoretic systems. The advantages of our approach are that (a) induction and coinduction are not restricted to the strictly positive case, (b) abstract mathematical structures and results may be imported, (c) the formalization is technically simpler than in other systems, for example, regarding the definition of realizability, which is a simple syntactical substitution, and the treatment of nested and simultaneous (co)inductive definitions.
Leveraging web resources for keyword assignment to short text documents

Assigning relevant keywords to documents is very important for efficient retrieval, clustering and management of the documents. Especially with the web corpus deluged with digital documents, automation of this task is of prime importance. Keyword assignment is a broad topic of research which refers to tagging of document with keywords, key-phrases or topics. For text documents, the keyword assignment techniques have been developed under two sub-topics: automatic keyword extraction (AKE) and automatic key-phrase abstraction. However, the approaches developed in the literature for full text documents cannot be used to assign keywords to low text content documents like twitter feeds, news clips, product reviews or even short scholarly text. In this work, we point out several practical challenges encountered in tagging such low text content documents. As a solution to these challenges, we show that the proposed approaches which leverage knowledge from several open source web resources enhance the quality of the tags (keywords) assigned to the low text content documents. The performance of the proposed approach is tested on real world corpus consisting of scholarly documents with text content ranging from only the text in the title of the document (5-10 words) to the summary text/abstract (100- 150 words). We find that the proposed approach not just improves the accuracy of keyword assignment but offer a computationally efficient solution which can be used in real world applications.
Adaptive robust tracking and model following of uncertain dynamical systems with multiple time delays

The problem of robust tracking and model following is considered for a class of linear systems with multiple delayed state perturbations, time-varying uncertain parameters, and disturbance. In this note, it is assumed that the upper bounds of the delayed state perturbations, uncertainties, and external disturbances, are unknown. An improved adaptation law with /spl sigma/-modification is proposed to estimate such unknown bounds, and on the basis of the updated values of these unknown bounds, a class of continuous memoryless state feedback controllers is constructed for robust tracking of dynamical signals. The proposed adaptive robust tracking controller can guarantee that the tracking error decreases asymptotically to zero in the presence of multiple delayed state perturbations, time-varying uncertain parameters, and disturbance. In addition, it is also shown that this improved adaptation law with /spl sigma/-modification can be applied to the general adaptive control problems to obtain some more exact control results. Finally, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the validity of the results.
Processing of milk products in pottery vessels through British prehistory

By extracting residues from pottery sherds the authors show that it is possible to say whether they had contained dairy or carcass fat residues. Correlation with faunal assemblages showed a good match between the incidence of dairy fat in pottery which implied a strong dairy fraction in the diet and a milking herd implied by the animal bones. They also show that dairy fat was more likely to be found in the smaller pots while carcass fats occurred in the larger ones. The method has demonstrated dairying in England from the fifth millennium BC, and offers a novel way of studying economies with pottery but few animal bones.
Extractive fermentation of clavulanic acid by Streptomyces DAUFPE 3060 using aqueous two‐phase system

The influence of four variables, specifically PEG molar mass (400, 1,000, and 8,000 g/mol), concentrations of PEG and phosphate salts (15, 20, and 25% for both), and agitation intensity (110, 150, and 200 rpm), on clavulanic acid (CA) extraction by extractive fermentation with PEG/phosphate salts aqueous two‐phase system was investigated in shaken flasks using a 24‐1‐fractional factorial design. After selection of the two most significant variables (agitation intensity and PEG molar mass), an optimization study conducted according to a 22‐central composite design revealed that 25% PEG 8,000 g/mol and phosphate salts at 240 rpm (run 6) were the best conditions for the extractive fermentation, leading to the best results in terms of partition coefficient (k = 8.2), yield of CA in the PEG‐rich phase (ηT = 93%) and productivity (P = 5.3 mg/Lh). As a first attempt to make a scale‐up of these results, the effectiveness of the extractive fermentation was then checked in a bench‐scale bioreactor under conditions as close as possible to the optimum ones determined in flasks. The highest CA concentration obtained in the PEG‐rich phase (691 mg/L) was 30% higher than in flasks, thus demonstrating the potential of such a new process, integrating the production and extraction steps, as a promising, low‐cost tool to obtain high yields of this and similar products. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog. , 2011
The Response of Digitalized Canine Ventricle to Programmed Stimulation: A Study on Triggered Activity Arrhythmias in the Whole Heart

Triggered activity (TA) has recently received increased attention as a mechanism responsible for cardiac arrhythmias. However, few studies have shown TA in the intact heart. In an ouabain‐treated dog's heart we have shown: (a) overdrive acceleration, (b) a concordant relationship between the postpacing interval (PI) and pacing cycle length (CL), and (c) a discordant relationship between the PI and number of paced beats necessary to induce TA. These findings appeor to agree with the distinctive characteristics of TA arrhythmias elucidated in previous in vitro studies and suggest TA rather than a reentrant tachycardia. In addition, it is possible that this heart preparation could be considered as a suitable model for the study of TA arrhythmias. These results were obtained using a programmed stimulation protocol in this dog model: (1) Following single programmed ventricular stimulation during sinus rhythm, a repetitive ventricular response (RVR) of more than 3 beats occurred in only 20% of hearts. The relationship between PI and the coupling interval (CI) of the extrastimulus was concordant in 80% (12/15) and discordant in 13% (2/15) of all experiments. The Pl‐CI relationship was influenced by the mutual relationship between the stimulating, recording, and originating sites of TA. (2) RVR of more than 3 beats was induced by consecutive overdrive ventricular stimulation during sinus rhythm (78%). In addition, the PI‐pacing CL relationship was concordant (100%). (3) The transient termination of sustoined VT that occurred spontaneously after administration of a large dose of ouabain was seen in only 15% of the cases after a single programmed premature ventricular stimulation. The return cycle‐CI relationship was biphasic in 75% (15/20) experiments and discordant in 25% (5/20) of the experiments. (4) The termination of spontaneous sustained VT by overdrive ventricular stimulation occurred in only 8% of the cases. Transient overdrive acceleration of VT occurred after overdrive pacing (53%). In contrast, overdrive suppression occurred in only 13%. Thus, the characteristics of TA arrhythmias observed in the whole heart preparations differed, in some respects, from those obtained by in vitro studies. These quantitative observations could suggest a differentiation, based on probability, between TA and the reentrant mechanism that would respond to programmed stimulation in a similar manner. The differentiation between reentrant and triggered ventricular tachycardia can be made with reasonable assurance using these programmed stimulation techniques.
Paper-based versus computer-based testing in engineering education

Using computers for assessment can provide several benefits for educators and test-takers. However, in the literature, there is no consensus on the equivalence of paper-and-pencil and computer-based test environments. Accordingly, more evidences are needed especially for the engineering education. In this study, students' performance on different test modes was evaluated on 209 first year engineering students of a chemistry course. The results of this study showed that, there is no significant performance difference between paper-and-pencil and computer based tests. By comparing results with the previous studies, this study concludes that, personal characteristics of test takers, the features of computer-based testing systems and the test content are all possible confounding factors when comparing test modes and need to be considered by the implementers. The results of this study show that, once these factors are controlled, students' performance on computer-based tests and paper-and-pencil tests in chemistry courses for the engineering students will not vary. This finding is encouraging the educators to get benefits of computer-based tests without any affect on students' performance.
Cerebral Lipids in Down's Syndrome

Lipids of cerebral grey and white matter were examined chemically in four patients with Down's syndrome. No major abnormalities in the composition of the principal lipids or in the pattern of non‐hydroxy and hydroxy fatty acids of the glycolipids could be detected. It is clear that the neurological expressions of the multiple enzymatic abnormalities resulting from the chromosomal defect differ from the pathogenesis of neurological abnormalities in phenylketonuria or in other like disorders of single gene function. In Down's syndrome the chromosomal defect produces metabolic derangements throughout the course of post‐conceptual life, while in the genetic disorders the major abnormalities occur post‐natally, after the infant is deprived of the protecting influence provided by the essentially normal metabolism of his heterozygote mother.