Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Responses of Estuarine Infauna to Disturbance. I. Spatial and Temporal Variation of Initial Recolonization

Responses to disturbance of estuarine infauna were studied to test the hypothesis that seasonality, the estuarine environmental gradient and sediment composition would significantly affect recolonization. The study was conducted in a small estuary located in southeastern Connecticut. USA, using controlled disturbance experiments and sampling of the ambient infauna. Species composition in experimental plots and ambient sediments usually did not differ, either on a seasonal or areal basis. Numerically dominant species usually included the polychaetes Streblospio benedicti, Capitella spp. and Polydora ligni, and the oligochaete Peloscolex gabriellae. Other species included the polychaetes Scoloplos fragilis, Hobsonia florida and Nereis virens, the hemichordate Saccoglossus ko waleski, and the amphipods Microdeutopus gryllotalpa and Corophium insidiosum At times, densities of these species exceeded or were equivalent to dominant species densities in ambient sediments and experimental plots. There were usually significant differences in recolonization and ambient population dynamics due to seasonality and estuarine position. The effects of sediment composition on recolonization patterns of the various species were generally not significant. Seasonal trends in ambient and recolonization species densities were similar, with the highest responses to disturbance in the spring and summer. As ambient densities declined during the fall and winter, responses to disturbance did likewise. On an areal basis, the highest responses to disturbance occurred in the middle and upper portions of the estuary. Ambient densities followed a similar pattern, but peak densities in the early spring (May, 1979) were found in the lower portion of the estuary. Based on differences between ambient and recolonization population densities, only 1 species, Polydora ligni, exhibited a regular opportunistic response. Other species exhibited opportunistic responses, but in only 1 or 2 mo during the study. It is apparent, therefore, that species responses to disturbance were quite variable and no general pattern of recolonization could be applied to Alewife Cove with respect to seasonality and estuarine position. Due to this variation, and the historical component involved in recolonization of disturbed habitats, hypotheses correlating species responses to disturbance with life history adaptations may not be generally applicable to estuarine soft-bottom communities.
Genetic variation in the juvenile leaf morphology of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. ssp globulus

The patterns of genetic variation in the length and shape of juvenile leaves of Eucalyptus globulus ssp globulus are described. Significant additive genetic variation occurred within populations for all traits. Leaf length was more heritable (h2 = 0.34) than most leaf shape traits (h2 = 0.19-0.34). Significant genetic differences also occur between populations in both leaf length and shape with the strongest differentiation occurring in leaf length. There were strong intra- and interpopulation genetic correlations amongst most of the leaf traits. Height and volume at two years of age were genetically independent of leaf length, but within populations, faster growth was genetically correlated with increased basal lobing and a shift of the widest point closer to the leaf base. The intra- and interpopulation genetic correlations were markedly different for some pairs of traits. Leaf length was genetically independent of the height of transition from the juvenile to the adult leaf form within populations, yet genetic differences between populations were highly correlated. Growth was more highly genetically correlated with different facets of leaf shape within populations than between populations. It is argued that correlated selection is the most likely cause of correlated genetic variation between populations when traits are genetically independent within populations.
A Regional Study on Primary Trauma Diversion in Hong Kong

Background Primary trauma diversion (PTD) allows ambulance crews to transport severely injured patients directly to trauma centres. It has been launched in Kowloon Central Cluster (KCC) of Hospital Authority, Hong Kong since 2006. Objective The study investigated the performance of PTD with a view to provide relevant information for further development. The compliance with PTD, under-triage and over-triage were the major outcomes measurement. Patients' characteristics and their clinical information were also described. Method This was a retrospective descriptive study. We reviewed and analyzed the data in our hospital trauma registry during the study period between 1st July 2006 and 30th June 2009. Result One hundred and sixty-three trauma patients were diverted to our trauma centre during the study period. The mean Injury Severity Score was 11.72 with 90 of them being classified as severely injured. We found that 47 and 73 patients were under and over triage respectively. About 74% eligible trauma patients were diverted to the trauma centre according to PTD criteria. Conclusion Although the initial experience of PTD in KCC is satisfactory, more severely injured patients will benefit from our trauma centre service by improving the under-triage rate. We also foresee a better compliance with trauma diversion in the future.
Transnational Trafficking, Law Enforcement, and Victim Protection: A Middleman Trafficker’s Perspective

We explore two hitherto poorly understood characteristics of the human-trafficking market—the cross-border ease of mobility of traffickers and the elasticity of buyers’ demand. In a model of two-way bargaining, the exact configuration of these characteristics is shown to determine whether domestic and foreign crackdowns on illicit employment mutually reinforce or counteract one another in efforts to stem the tide of trafficking. Estimation results from a gravity model of trafficking present evidence consistent with the mutual-reinforcement view, indicating considerable ease of mobility and inelastic demand.
Effects of High Dose Fibrinogen on in vitro Haemodilution with Different Therapeutic Fluids

Background: Therapeutic fluids used in intensive care can have profound effects on coagulation, not only by dilution itself but also by other more complicated interactions. The aim of this in vitro study was to monitor the extent of dilutive coagulopathy induced by the most common therapeutic fluids and to attempt normalization of haemostasis by fibrinogen addition. Methods: 8 patients were recruited from the intensive care unit. Native whole blood was drawn, diluted by 50% with 9 different fluids, and run through a Sonoclot Analyzer. This was then repeated with high dose fibrinogen (corresponding to an in vivo dose of 8g/70kg) added to the dilutions. The fluids used were Voluven, Venofundin, Volulyte, Tetraspan, Albumin 5%, Macrodex, Gelofusine, Ringer's acetate and NaCl. This covers the entire spectrum of fluids available in Sweden. Results: A significant in vitro dilutive response compared to undiluted blood was seen for all synthetic colloid fluids but not for albumin or crystalloids. Dextran and Gelofusine's impact on coagulation parameters was greater than both NaCl and Ringer's acetate. The individual patient's response showed a high variability, which was reflected in high standard deviations. No significant improvement from fibrinogen addition could be seen on Sonoclot parameters. Conclusion: The dilutive effects of resuscitation fluids at 50% dilution are more severe for synthetic colloids compared to alternative therapies. Fibrinogen addition did not affect the induced coagulopathy as measured by the Sonoclot.
A revision of the genus Geitlerinema and a description of the genus Anagnostidinema gen. nov. (Oscillatoriophycidae, Cyanobacteria)

The simple filamentous cyanobacterial genus Geitlerinema is heterogeneous. At least two distinct phylogenetic clades can be derived from the set of most common freshwater Geitlerinema species. Our revision is based on the original description of the type species G. splendidum aka Oscillatoria spendida and on molecular sequencing of morphologically relevant strains. The revised Geitlerinema contains only one species according to morphological similarity with its original description. Consequently, the majority of other freshwater species inferred from molecular sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and 16S-23S ITS analysis (related both genetically and morphologically to G. pseudacutissimum) must be classified as a special taxon on the generic level. The name Anagnostidinema is proposed for this genus, which was selected in memory of the prominent late cyanobacterial specialist Konstantinos Anagnostidis. The genetic position, short review and characteristics of the newly defined genus Anagnostidinema is presented in this paper. The taxonomy of the rest of species (including the marine taxa), which are currently unable to be classified taxonomically with certainty, remain to be resolved in future studies.
AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF SELF-COMPASSION AND SELF-CRITICISM ON IMPLICIT ASSOCIATIONS WITH NON-SUICIDAL SELF-INJURY

OF DISSERTATION AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF SELF-COMPASSION AND SELF-CRITICISM ON IMPLICIT ASSOCIATIONS WITH NON-SUICIDAL SELF-INJURY Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the intentional destruction of bodily tissue in the absence of suicidal motives. NSSI is strongly associated with self-criticism (Gilbert et al., 2010) and individuals who self-injure often report doing so to punish themselves. Conversely, self-compassion, or the tendency to be caring with oneself, is associated with psychological well-being (Neff et al., 2007). The aim of the present study was to determine whether experimentally inducing self-criticism or self-compassion would lead to changes in implicit identification with NSSI. The Self-Injury Implicit Association Test (SI-IAT; Nock & Banaji, 2007) is an assessment of the strength of the automatic associations that a person holds between themselves and NSSI. Participants were randomly assigned to a self-criticism induction, a self-compassion induction, or a neutral condition and completed the SI-IAT before and after the induction. Results showed that participants in the self-criticism induction experienced an increase in their implicit associations with NSSI while implicit associations in the self-compassion and control conditions generally did not change. Results were not significantly different for those with or without a history of NSSI and highlight the importance of self-criticism in NSSI. Future research should examine increases in self-criticism as a potential precursor of NSSI in longitudinal samples.
Development and use of the Wetland Fish Index to assess the quality of coastal wetlands in the Laurentian Great Lakes

We use fish and environmental data from 40 wetlands of the Laurentian Great Lakes to develop the Wetland Fish Index (WFI), a tool that can be used to assess the quality of coastal marshes. A partial canonical correspondence analysis was used to ordinate fish species along multidimensional environmental axes that accounted for anthropogenic disturbance based on temperature, conductivity, and the presence of pollutants (e.g., suspended solids and primary nu- trients). Compared with other measures of fish habitat quality (e.g., Shannon-Wiener diversity index and species rich- ness), the WFI was the only index that was significantly related to the degree of water quality degradation and wetlands condition, as indicated by an independent index of wetland quality, the Water Quality Index (WQI). WQI ranks sites according to deterioration in water quality and is statistically related to the degree of land-use alteration in wetland watersheds. We demonstrate the usefulness of the WFI for detecting intrawetland variation between two sites in a degraded urban wetland, Frenchman's Bay, Lake Ontario, and to distinguish the heavily impacted wetlands in lower Green Bay from the less-impacted marshes in middle and upper Green Bay, Lake Michigan. This was accom- plished by using only published fish data without corresponding environmental variables.
Directionlets Using In-phase Lifting For Image Representation

Directionlets allow construction of perfect reconstruction and critically sampled multi directional anisotropic basis, yet retaining the separable filtering of standard wav elet transform. Due to the spatially varying filtering and downsampling direction, it, however, is forced to apply spatialsegmentation and process each segment independently. Because of this independent processing of the image segments, directi onlets suffer from the following two major limitations when applied to, say, image coding. 1) Failure to exploit the correlation acr oss block boundaries degrades the coding performance and also induces blocking artifacts, thus making it mandatory to use de-blocking filter at low bit rates. 2) Spatial scalability, i.e, minimum segment size or the number of levels of the transform, is limited due to independent processing of segments. We sho w that, with simple modifications in the block boundaries, we can overcome these limitations by, what we call, in-phase lifti ng implementation of directionlets. In the context of directionlets using in-phase lifting, we identify different possible groups of downsampling matrices that would allow construction of multi level transform without forcing independent processing of segments both with and without any modifications in the segment boundary. Experimental results in image coding sho w objective and subjective improvements when compared to the directionlets applied independently on each image segment . As an application, using both the in-phase lifting implementation of directionlets and the adaptive directional lifting, we have constructed an adaptive directional wavelet transform whi ch has shown improved image coding performance over these adaptiv e directional wavelet transforms.
Effects of the GABAB Receptor-Positive Modulators CGP7930 and rac-BHFF in Baclofen- and γ-Hydroxybutyrate-Discriminating Pigeons

In vivo effects of GABAB receptor-positive modulators suggest them to have therapeutic potential to treat central nervous system disorders such as anxiety and drug abuse. Although these effects are thought to be mediated by positive modulation of GABAB receptors, such modulation has been examined primarily in vitro. This study further examined the in vivo properties of the GABAB receptor-positive modulators 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-(3-hydroxy-2,2-dimethylpropyl) phenol (CGP7930) and (R,S)-5,7-di-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-3-trifluoromethyl-3H-benzofuran-2-one (rac-BHFF). In pigeons discriminating baclofen from saline, γ-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) produced 100% baclofen-appropriate responding, and the GABAB antagonist 3-aminopropyl(dimethoxymethyl) phosphinic acid (CGP35348) blocked the effects of both drugs. CGP7930 and rac-BHFF produced at most 41 and 74% baclofen-appropriate responding, respectively, and enhanced the discriminative stimulus effects of baclofen, but not of GHB. In pigeons discriminating GHB from saline, CGP7930 and rac-BHFF produced at most 1 and 49% GHB-appropriate responding, respectively, and enhanced the effects of baclofen, but not of GHB. Enhancement of the discriminative stimulus effects of baclofen by rac-BHFF and CGP7930 is further evidence of their effectiveness as GABAB receptor-positive modulators in vivo. Furthermore, lack of complete substitution of the positive modulators rac-BHFF and CGP7930 for baclofen and GHB suggests that their discriminative stimulus effects differ from those of GABAB receptor agonists. Finally, together with converging evidence that the GABAB receptor populations mediating the effects of baclofen and GHB are not identical, the present findings suggest that these populations differ in their susceptibility to positive modulatory effects. Such differences could allow for more selective therapeutic targeting of the GABAB system.
Correction: Regulation of retinal axon growth by secreted Vax1 homeodomain protein

Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons of binocular animals cross the midline at the optic chiasm (OC) to grow toward their synaptic targets in the contralateral brain. Ventral anterior homeobox 1 (Vax1) plays an essential role in the development of the OC by regulating RGC axon growth in a non-cell autonomous manner. In this study, we identify an unexpected function of Vax1 that is secreted from ventral hypothalamic cells and diffuses to RGC axons, where it promotes axonal growth independent of its transcription factor activity. We demonstrate that Vax1 binds to extracellular sugar groups of the heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) located in RGC axons. Both Vax1 binding to HSPGs and subsequent penetration into the axoplasm, where Vax1 activates local protein synthesis, are required for RGC axonal growth. Together, our findings demonstrate that Vax1 possesses a novel RGC axon growth factor activity that is critical for the development of the mammalian binocular visual system.
Swimming performance studies on the eastern Pacific bonito Sarda chiliensis, a close relative of the tunas (family Scombridae) I. Energetics

SUMMARY A large swim tunnel respirometer was used to quantify the swimming energetics of the eastern Pacific bonito Sarda chiliensis (tribe Sardini) (45–50 cm fork length, FL) at speeds between 50 and 120 cm s-1 and at 18±2°C. The bonito rate of oxygen uptake (V̇O2)–speed function is U-shaped with a minimum V̇O2 at 60 cm s-1, an exponential increase in V̇O2 with increased speed, and an elevated increase in V̇O2 at 50 cm s-1 where bonito swimming is unstable. The onset of unstable swimming occurs at speeds predicted by calculation of the minimum speed for bonito hydrostatic equilibrium (1.2 FL s-1). The optimum swimming speed (Uopt) for the bonito at 18±2°C is approximately 70 cm s-1 (1.4 FL s-1) and the gross cost of transport at Uopt is 0.27 J N-1 m-1. The mean standard metabolic rate (SMR), determined by extrapolating swimming V̇O2 to zero speed, is 107±22 mg O2 kg-1 h-1. Plasma lactate determinations at different phases of the experiment showed that capture and handling increased anaerobic metabolism, but plasma lactate concentration returned to pre-experiment levels over the course of the swimming tests. When adjustments are made for differences in temperature, bonito net swimming costs are similar to those of similar-sized yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares (tribe Thunnini), but the bonito has a significantly lower SMR. Because bonitos are the sister group to tunas, this finding suggests that the elevated SMR of the tunas is an autapomorphic trait of the Thunnini.
Cough and aspiration of food and liquids due to oral-pharyngeal dysphagia: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.

BACKGROUND Cough may be an indicator of aspiration due to oral-pharyngeal dysphagia. METHODS Relevant literature was identified by searching the Communication Sciences and Disorders Dome, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Educational Resource Information Center, Health & Psychosocial Instruments, the American Psychological Association, and the National Library of Medicine databases from 1965 to 2004 using the terms "deglutition," "aspiration," and "cough. " RESULTS Aspiration was observed on radiologic evaluation in over one third of acute stroke patients and in >40% of patients undergoing cervical spine surgery. Cough while eating may indicate aspiration, but aspiration may be clinically silent. Subjective patient and caregiver reports of cough while eating are useful in identifying patients who are at risk for aspiration. Objective measures of voluntary cough and tussigenic challenges to inhaled irritants are under investigation to determine their capacity to predict the risk for aspiration and subsequent pneumonia. The treatment of dysphagic patients by a multidisciplinary team, including early evaluation by a speech-language pathologist, is associated with improved outcomes. Effective clinical interventions such as the use of compensatory swallowing strategies and the alteration of food consistencies can be based on the results of instrumental swallowing studies. The efficacy of swallowing exercises and electrical muscle stimulation is under study. Surgical interventions may be considered in selected patients, but studies proving efficacy are generally lacking. CONCLUSIONS Patients who are at risk for aspiration can be identified, and appropriate interventions can reduce its associated morbidity.
Export barriers to the Chinese market: Insights from British Columbia forest products firms.

Canada's forest products firms have endeavored to develop the Chinese market as their alternative export destination. These needs became even urgent since the US economic recession in 2008. Reducing the export barriers that firms encountered will minimize their losses and enhance their export performance in the Chinese market. Through a questionnaire survey, thirty-four managers in British Columbia's forest products firms identified and evaluated the barriers that hindering their exporting to the Chinese market. The identified nine export obstacles include difficulties in finding business opportunities, skillful personnel and foreign representatives; differences in verbal, nonverbal language and socio-cultural traits, price competition and excessive transportation cost. The findings in this study also indicate that different parameters of firm size have different relationships with export barriers. In addition, different parameters of firm's export experience also show different relationships with export barriers. These findings will facilitate forest policy makers in British Columbia to formulate Chinese market export strategies, especially to target firms with different firm's size and export experience.
Pharmacological Therapy for Acute Spinal Cord Injury.

• Administration of methylprednisolone (MP) for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) is not recommended. Clinicians considering MP therapy should bear in mind that the drug is not Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for this application. There is no Class I or Class II medical evidence supporting the clinical benefit of MP in the treatment of acute SCI. Scattered reports of Class III evidence claim inconsistent effects likely related to random chance or selection bias. However, Class I, II, and III evidence exists that high-dose steroids are associated with harmful side effects including death. • Administration of GM-1 ganglioside (Sygen) for the treatment of acute SCI is not recommended.