Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in the population size of North Island weka ( Gallirallus australis greyi ) during establishment on Pakatoa Island , Hauraki Gulf , New Zealand

Thirty-one North Island weka (Gallirallus australis greyi) were released on Pakatoa Island (26 ha), Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand in Aug 1996. The population then fluctuated between c.19 and 182 individuals, including c.6-55 pairs. The last of the translocated weka died between Jan and Jun 1998, during a drought and after the rodenticide Talon® was laid to kill Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), and only weka <1 year old survived. Most young raised in Dec 2001-Jan 2002 died during a drought in Feb Mar 2002. The weka population increased during a period of higher rainfall from mid-1998 to Dec 2001. The higher population resulted in smaller home ranges, higher frequencies of diurnal spacing calls, more aggressive behaviour, and a higher incidence of plumage damage. The large fluctuations in population size on Pakatoa I suggests that future translocations of weka should select islands with wetter and less variable rainfall patterns Beauchamp, A.J.; Hanbury, J.; Hanbury, R. 2009. Changes in the population size of North Island weka (Gallirallus australis greyi) during establishment on Pakatoa Island, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Notornis 56(3): 124-133.
New Empirical Evidence

This paper explores the link between the presence of unions in the workplace, the adoption of decentralized labor agreements and technical efficiency, using a relatively new methodology and a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms. We apply the Data Envelopment Analysis, and its robust version based on bootstrap theory, to get reliable estimates of technical efficiency at the firm level in a standard first stage. We devote particular attention to the specific technology adopted, by distinguishing 20 different sector frontiers, as well as to the presence of outliers. The obtained efficiency scores are analyzed in a second stage applying a truncated regression model estimated via Maximum Likelihood, following the Simar and Wilson (2007) methodology. Our results highlight that the presence of workplace unionization decreases the level of technical efficiency, while other aspects limiting unions’ power such as a strong exposure to international markets, high debt levels or the prevalence of flexible assets partially reduce the union negative effect. However, when firms adopt decentralized labor contracts agreements, the effect on efficiency is positive and partially compensates the unions’ effect. The results are robust to the inclusion of many firm characteristics over which managers have no direct control and to different model specifications.
Examining the Way of Local Identity Perception in Historic Neighbors ( Case of Study : Dodangeh Neighbor in Borujerd )

Place is a manifestation of subjective and social thinking, symbol of life and is a source of symbolic memories; it also is a part of our imaginations and attachments, though at present human and identical dimension of cities and places may be undermined. Place as a collection, helps to develop a process in which people’ sense of place and attachment and identity all are developed and maintained. These days, the loss of identity and lack of connectivity of human life spaces with historical and cultural contexts has been turned into one the main pre-occupations of current architectures and urban planners. Modern neighbors only cause to create non-places in lack of sufficient facilities for specification of human identities. This is while, a place is accounted as a litter for being situated and a part of human existence while is considered as a main identity source. So, it is essential to analyze the way of perception of local identity by people and the bilateral relationship of person and the place. In this paper, with the aim of assessing of the way of local identity perception in historic neighbors, we have tried to review theorists’ views on the basis of related documents. Examining different effective factors in that, model and the process of forming local identity were been specified. Finally, using SPSS 19, we examined mentioned model in Dodangeh neighbor in Borujerd. Results highlighted the importance of the staying time as well activity and memorability in creating local identity in historical neighbors.
Speeding-Up Mutation Testing via Data Compression and State Infection

Mutation testing is widely considered as a high-end test criterion due to the vast number of mutants it generates. Although many efforts have been made to reduce the computational cost of mutation testing, its scalability issue remains in practice. In this paper, we introduce a novel method to speed up mutation testing based on state infection information. In addition to filtering out uninfected test executions, we further select a subset of mutants and a subset of test cases to run leveraging data-compression techniques. In particular, we adopt Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) to group similar mutants together and then select test cases to cover these mutants. To evaluate our method, we conducted an experimental study on six open source Java projects. We used EvoSuite to automatically generate test cases and to collect mutation data. The initial results show that our method can reduce the execution time by 83.93% with only 0.257% loss in precision.
Toward Dynamic Link Utilization for Efficient Vehicular Edge Content Distribution

With the significant advance of connected vehicles, future demand for vehicular infotainment services will be greatly increased. Traditional content distribution approaches based on typical cellular architecture suffer from long latency and unstable connections in high-dynamic vehicular environments and even may cause congestion on the backhaul network due to a large amount of requested data. In this paper, we propose a novel content delivery framework by leveraging the 5G edge networks, in which the content caching and data prefetching techniques are exploited accordingly. We investigate the comprehensive dynamic link utilization problem in 5G edge networks from the perspectives of vehicle users and network operator, respectively. For the vehicle users’ perspective, our aim is to maximize the vehicular content distribution throughput through optimal scheduling of vehicular access link slots, and also the utilization problem of backhaul link slots in edge networks is studied to reduce the data access delay of vehicles. For the network operator's perspective, the objective is to maximize the total profit of the network operator, and therefore, the auction model is utilized for the vehicular access link slot scheduling and the backhaul link utilization is analyzed in terms of compensations and costs. Finally, extensive simulations are conducted to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed solutions for edge content delivery of connected vehicles.
Adjustable Robust Optimization Reformulations of Two-Stage Worst-Case Regret Minimization Problems

Although the stochastic optimization paradigm exploits probability theory to optimize the tradeoff between risk and returns, robust optimization has gained significant popularity by reducing computation requirements through the optimization of the worst-case scenario in a set. An appealing alternative to stochastic and robust optimization consists in optimizing decisions using the notion of regret. Although regret minimization models are generally perceived as leading to less conservative decisions than those produced by robust optimization, their numerical optimization is a real challenge in general. In “Adjustable Robust Optimization Reformulations of Two-Stage Worst-case Regret Minimization Problems,” M. Poursoltani and E. Delage show how to reduce a two-stage worst-case absolute/relative regret minimization problem to a two-stage robust optimization one. This opens the way for taking advantage of recent advanced approximate and exact solution schemes for these hard problems. Their experiments corroborate the high-quality performance of affine decision rules as a popular polynomial-time approximation scheme, from which, under mild conditions, one can even expect exact regret-averse decisions.
Functional Brain Organization in Space and Time

xiv Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Spontaneous neural activity reflects the underlying functional architecture of the brain . 1 1.2 Using spontaneous BOLD activity to study spatial functional organization . 4 Brain parcellation . 4 Transitions in RSFC can be used to define cortical areas . 5 Defining functional organization accounting for sources of individual variability . 6 1.3 Temporal scales of spontaneous BOLD activity . 7 What is the physiological relevance of spontaneous BOLD activity? 7 Spectral content of spontaneous BOLD activity . 8 Spontaneous BOLD activity relates to structural connectivity . 9 Correlations in BOLD activity are relatively stable . 10 But correlations are not static . 10 Do BOLD correlations meaningfully vary over shorter time scales? 13 Chapter 2: An approach for parcellating human cortical areas using resting-state correlations . 27 2.1 Abstract . 28 2.2 Introduction . 28 RSFC can be used to identify area borders in groups of individuals . 32 RSFC-Boundary Mapping identifies locations of abrupt transitions in patterns of restingstate correlations . 33 RSFC-defined borders are highly similar across independent groups of individuals35 RSFC-defined borders exhibit strong correspondence with task-activation maps . 38 RSFC-defined borders respect architectonic divisions in some locations . 42 RSFC borders exhibit overlap with architectonic divisions defining primary visual cortex . 43 RSFC can be used to identify the location of area centers . 47 RSFC-defined borders overlap with RSFC-defined system boundaries, but also reveal plausible areal divisions within the identified systems . 50 Additional constraints and considerations . 57 2.3 Concluding comments . 61 2.4 Appendix – Methods . 63 2.5 Acknowledgements . 73 2.6 References . 74 Chapter 3: Generation and evaluation of cortical areal parcellation from restingstate correlations . 86 3.1 Abstract . 87 3.2 Introduction . 87
Self-organization Of V 1 Complex-Cells Based On Slow Feature Analysis And Retinal Waves Sven Dähne

The developing visual system of many mammalian species is partially structured and organized even before the onset of vision. Spontaneous neural activity, which spreads in waves across the retina, has been suggested to play a major role in these prenatal structuring processes. Recently, it has been shown that when employing an efficient coding strategy, such as sparse coding, these retinal activity patterns lead to basis functions that resemble optimal stimuli of simple cells in primary visual cortex (V1). Here I present the results of applying a coding strategy that optimizes for temporal slowness, namely Slow Feature Analysis (SFA), to a biologically plausible model of retinal waves. Previously, SFA has been successfully applied in modeling parts of the visual system, most notably in reproducing a rich set of complex-cell features by training SFA with natural image sequences. In this work, I was able to obtain units that share a number of properties with cortical complex-cells by training with simulated retinal waves. The results support the idea that retinal waves share relevant temporal and spatial properties with natural visual input. Hence, retinal waves seem suitable training stimuli to learn invariances and thereby shape the developing early visual system so that it is best prepared for coding input from the natural world.
Does Size Matter ? The Impact of Managerial Incentives and Firm Size on Acquisition Announcement Returns

Using 3,042 acquiring firm observations for the period 1993 – 2007, I find that managers of small companies make value increasing acquisition decisions whereas managers of large companies destroy firm value, known as the size effect. By examining the interaction effect of executive compensation and corporate governance with the size of the firm, I find that the managerial hubris is the underlying reason for the acquisition underperformance of large US based companies. Managers of larger companies unintentionally destroy value in their acquisition behavior. Furthermore, I find that the relation between acquiring-firm size and cumulative abnormal announcement returns is U-shaped – the middle sized companies perform the worst.
Elevada Diversidad Genética del Virus de la Inmunodeficiencia Humana – Tipo 1 en Jamaica

The subtypes of the human immunodeficiency virus – type 1 (HIV-1) strains from 54 HIV-1 – infected persons including 44 strains which were typed previously by heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) were determined by DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Of 54 HIVinfected persons, 92.5% were infected with HIV-1 subtype B and 7.5% with other HIV-1 subtypes including subtypes D (3.7%), A (1.9%) and J (1.9%). In the phylogenetic analysis, the subtype A virus found in the sample clustered with subtype A reference strains and a circulating recombinant form (CRF) reference strain which originates in Central Africa and is circulating in Cuba indicating a close relationship between these viruses. There was 86% concordance between HMA and DNA sequencing in assigning subtype B viruses. For the non-B subtype viruses, there was less concordance between the two methods (67%). The results confirm the predominance of HIV-1 subtype B strains and the high genetic diversity of HIV1 strains in circulation in Jamaica. The efficacies and some limitations of the HMA as a method of HIV1 subtyping also were noted. It is important that the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica be monitored meticulously for possible expansions in non-B subtypes and the emergence of inter-subtype recombinant forms. We recommend that the more expensive DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, including HIV-1 genotyping for antiretroviral drug resistance testing, be used as an adjunct to the more costeffective HMA to track the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Jamaica. Elevada Diversidad Genética del Virus de la Inmunodeficiencia Humana – Tipo 1 en Jamaica OD Heslop1, MF Smikle1, IE Vickers1, NA Christian1, KM Harvey2, JP Figueroa2, SE Brown3, CDC Christie4, B Bain5, EN Barton6
Recent , Functionally Diverse Origin for Mitochondrial Genes from ~ 2700 Metazoan Species

The young-earth creation model currently lacks a robust explanation for molecular diversity. No comprehensive method exists by which absolute or relative sequence differences among species can be predicted, and no method has been formulated to rigorously predict the function of molecular residues, especially those in so-called “house-keeping” proteins. In this study, I derived a method to predict the function of molecular differences between biblical “kinds. ” Applying this method to the mitochondrial “house-keeping” protein sequences of ~2700 species, I found that differences among “kinds” were not due to neutral changes since creation, but were explicable in functional terms. This mutation rates and the young-earth timescale. These data provide a compelling alternative to oldearth and evolutionary explanations for molecular diversity, and they challenge the millions-of-years timescale common to these models.
MANAGEMENT OF PHYTOPHTHORA CAPSICI ON SUMMER SQUASH AND AGE-RELATED RESISTANCE ON PROCESSING PUMPKIN AND WINTER SQUASH FRUITS

MANAGEMENT OF PHYTOPHTHORA CAPSICI ON SUMMER SQUASH AND AGERELATED RESISTANCE ON PROCESSING PUMPKIN AND WINTER SQUASH FRUITS BY Michael D. Meyer Phytophthora blight, caused by Phytophthora capsici Leonian, is an economically important disease of cucurbit crops (Cucurbita spp.). Michigan accounts for 20% of the squash produced in the U.S., with total cash receipts of $12 million in 2009. Field and greenhouse trials were conducted to compare soil drenches and foliar sprays of eleven fungicides for control of Phytophthora crown and root rot on summer squash. Soil drenches were more effective than foliar sprays at limiting plant death caused by P. capsici. Mean plant death 42 days post inoculation (dpi) was 41% for soil drenches and 92% for foliar sprays. Drenches of fluopicolide, mandipropamid or dimethomorph limited plant death to ≤10%, and prevented yield loss associated with crown and root rot. Similarly, disease progress was slower and crown rot was less severe following soil drenches compared to foliar sprays in greenhouse trials. Most fungicide treatments were more effective on the cultivar ‘Leopard’ than ‘Cougar’, which is more susceptible to P. capsici. A laboratory study evaluated age-related resistance to Phytophthora fruit rot in ‘Dickenson Field’ processing pumpkin and ‘Golden Delicious’ winter squash. Hand-pollinated fruits were harvested 3, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28, 42, or 56 days post pollination (dpp) and inoculated with P. capsici. Susceptibility to Phytophthora fruit rot decreased with fruit age in ‘Dickenson Field’ processing pumpkin, whereas ‘Golden Delicious’ winter squash remained susceptible to fruit rot even as fruit reached full maturity. Lesion diameter and pathogen growth were generally greater on younger fruit than older fruit. Less than 15% of ‘Dickenson Field’ fruit 21 dpp or
Price Competition in Canadian Bought Deal Equity Offerings

This study examines the competitiveness of underwriting fees for bought deal seasoned equity offerings in Canada. Competitive fees are important because they minimize the cost of raising capital, thereby promoting corporate investment and economic growth. I study the clustering of fees, the structure of the underwriting industry (concentration, barriers to entry and profitability) and changes in fee-setting behaviour over the 1987-2004 period. I find structural factors conducive to reduced competition and some behaviour consistent with a lack of competition. I discuss changes that would have to be made to improve competition, and highlight linkages with US and UK markets. JEL classification: G24, G28
Trace metals in fl uids lining the respiratory system of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fi brosis and di ff use lung diseases

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial lung disease with a poor prognosis and an undefined etiopathogenesis. Oxidative stress contributes to alveolar injury and fibrosis development and, because transition metals are essential to the functioning of most proteins involved in redox reactions, a better knowledge of metal concentrations and metabolism in the respiratory system of IPF patients may provide a valuable complementary approach to prevent and manage a disease which is often misdiagnosed or diagnosed in
Individual Differences in the Neural Dynamics of Response Inhibition

Response inhibition is a widely studied aspect of cognitive control that is particularly interesting because of its applications to clinical populations. Although individual differences are integral to cognitive control, so too is our ability to aggregate information across a group of individuals, so that we can powerfully generalize and characterize the group's behavior. Hence, an examination of response inhibition would ideally involve an accurate estimation of both group- and individual-level effects. Hierarchical Bayesian analyses account for individual differences by simultaneously estimating group and individual factors and compensate for sparse data by pooling information across participants. Hierarchical Bayesian models are thus an ideal tool for studying response inhibition, especially when analyzing neural data. We construct hierarchical Bayesian models of the fMRI neural time series, models assuming hierarchies across conditions, participants, and ROIs. Here, we demonstrate the advantages of our models over a conventional generalized linear model in accurately separating signal from noise. We then apply our models to go/no-go and stop signal data from 11 participants. We find strong evidence for individual differences in neural responses to going, not going, and stopping and in functional connectivity across the two tasks and demonstrate how hierarchical Bayesian models can effectively compensate for these individual differences while providing group-level summarizations. Finally, we validated the reliability of our findings using a larger go/no-go data set consisting of 179 participants. In conclusion, hierarchical Bayesian models not only account for individual differences but allow us to better understand the cognitive dynamics of response inhibition.
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided rendezvous in benign biliary or pancreatic disorders with a 22-gauge needle and a 0.018-inch guidewire

Abstract Background and study aims The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of endoscopic ultrasound-guided rendezvous (EUS-RV) for benign biliary or pancreatic disorders with a 22-gauge needle and a 0.018-inch guidewire. Patients and methods Patients who underwent EUS-RV after failed biliary or pancreatic cannulation for benign disorder were candidates for this study. For EUS-RV, a 22-gauge needle and a 0.018-inch guidewire were used. Inclusion criteria were unsuccessful biliary or pancreatic cannulation for therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with benign biliary or pancreatic obstruction. Exclusion criteria included malignant biliary or pancreatic obstruction, inaccessible papilla due to surgically altered upper gastrointestinal anatomy or duodenal stricture, and previous sphincterotomy and/or biliary stent placement. The primary outcome was the technical success rate of biliary or pancreatic cannulation, and the secondary outcome was the rate of adverse events. Results Thirty-one patients were evaluated. The overall technical success rate was 80.6 % (81.5 % in biliary and 75 % in pancreatic cases). Adverse events (AEs) were identified in 12.9 % of patients, including one with biliary peritonitis, one with abdominal pain and one with severe pancreatitis plus pneumomediastinum. Only one of the AEs (3.3 %) was directly related to the rendezvous procedure. Conclusions EUS-RV may be a safe and feasible salvage method for unsuccessful cannulation for benign disorders. Use of a 22-gauge needle with a 0.018-inch guidewire may be the first option for benign pathology.
Environmental Related Risk Factors to Road Traffic Accidents in Ilam, Iran

Introduction: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are the most serious health issue in the world and the main cause of death after the first year of birth. Environmental factors are among the most important and effective aspects of RTIs occurrences and their human consequences. Aim: This study aimed to identify the environmental factors associated with road traffic accidents (RTAs) in Ilam province. Methods: All crash data in Ilam province in 2012 were investigated. RTI’s data was collected using COM 114 form which included some human, environmental and vehicle related factors. Through Chi-Square test and logistic regression model, the association between environmental factors and RTIs was examined. For all statistical analyses we used the package Stata 13.1. Results: A total of 2314 traffic accidents were investigated. The highest 1659 (72.3%) and lowest 19 (0.83%) frequency of RTAs occurred during day and sunrise respectively. The majority of RTAs took place in July and September. The maximum number of RTAs was when the day was clear (91.7%) 2103 and the minimum when it was cloudy (3.5%) 81. A significant relationship was found between fatal RTAs and factors such as; the sort of the road, the hindered visibility, the location of the accident, the accidents’ place, the climate, and lighting of the day (P<0.05). The adjusted chance of traffic accidents causing death or injuries in main streets was 9.7 times more than in highways; in sidetracks it was 3.54 times more. And when it was cloudy, the chance was 2.60 times more than when was clear (P<0.05). Conclusion: Regarding the standards of road construction, development of the roads, and educating drivers how to adjust their driving behavior to the environment and road conditions could have a great role in decreasing RTAs causing death or injury.