Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Taxonomic relationships in the genus Ammonia (Foraminifera) based on ribosomal DNA sequences

The genus Ammonia is a common benthic foraminifer which is widely distributed in nearshore marine environments. Its large morphological variability causes considerable difficulties in species identification. In the present study, we investigated taxonomic relationships in Ammonia by using a molecular approach based on ribosomal DNA sequences. We obtained 149 partial large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) sequences and 23 small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) sequences from 88 living Ammonia specimens which were collected from free-living populations in 14 localities. Sequence analysis revealed the presence of eight distinct genotypic groups (T1–T7, T9) and one distinct genotype that is represented by one specimen (T8). Examination of morphological characters shows that only one genotypic group can be clearly distinguished by its morphology. Biogeographical and ecological features are used for an additional characterization and it seems that the different groups live in relatively well defined environmental conditions and that only one genotypic group is cosmopolitan, while the others have a rather restricted geographical distribution. According to our study, three of the genotypic groups can be regarded as distinct species.
Self Assembling Peptide Nanofibers for Extracellular Matrix Remodeling in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic illnesses in the world and 25.8 million individuals – 8.3% of the population– are afflicted in the United States alone with annual medical costs estimated at $174 billion in 2007 [1]. While there are many life-threatening complications associated with diabetes, heart disease is one of the most severe with a higher than normal diabetes-associated death rate. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a diabetes-associated cardiovascular condition defined as ventricular dysfunction in the absence of other etiological factors, such as hypertension or coronary heart disease [2-4], which results in pathological alterations to the myocardium including circulatory defects, impaired heart muscle contraction, and progressive fibrosis. The elusive and poorly defined nature of DCM indicates that there exists a need for novel approaches for treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy which may focus on alternative molecular mechanisms for the disease. Extracellular matrix (ECM) turnover and remodeling are essential in many physiological processes yet their regulation is impaired in DCM, leading to damaging structural, geometric and functional changes in the heart [2,3,5,6]. ECM turnover can be regulated by many factors, including matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) [6], angiotensin II [7], aldosterone [4], nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) [8], transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) [9], nitric oxide [10], advanced glycation end products [5], and kinins [11]. Importantly, recent studies of diabetic human patients [12,13] and in animal models [7,9,14-16] suggest that MMP activity is impaired in diabetes, thus highlighting this particular mechanism as a novel therapeutic target. In particular, studies such as these have shown that dysregulation of cardiac MMP-2 expression contributes to the increased collagen deposition, progressive fibrosis, increased ventricular stiffness, and cardiac dysfunction seen in diabetic cardiomyopathy in rodent animal models. This MMP-2 deficiency likely stems from diabetes-related changes to the cardiac fibroblast phenotype, such as increased collagen synthesis by cardiac fibroblasts under diabetic conditions [17-19]. At the same time, studies in murine models of type II (db/db) diabetes have shown decreased MMP activation in diabetic fibroblasts, as well as impairments in vital cellular processes, including reduced growth factor expression and reduced cellular migration [20]. Therefore, overcoming the inhibitory effects of diabetic conditions on matrix remodeling by cardiac fibroblasts through stimulation of native MMP-2 expression or delivery of exogenous MMP-2 represents a novel target for therapeutic treatment of DCM.
Identification of Chlamydophila abortus infection in aborting ewes and goats in Eastern Turkey

SUMMARY This study was conducted to identify Chlamydophila abortus (C. abortus) by culture and PCR in aborting ewes and goats. During two successive lambing seasons, a total of 71 aborted foetuses (64 sheep and 7 goats, each from a different herd), and 100 vaginal swab samples from 10 of the herds in which abortions had been observed, have been analysed by culture and PCR. C. abortus was identified in 7 (6 lambs and 1 goat) of the 71 aborted foetuses (9.86%) using culture and PCR from embryonated egg yolk sacs inoculated with foetal organ suspensions, and was detected directly from foetal organ suspensions in only 5 cases. The C. abortus DNA was also identified in 6% of the vaginal swab samples as well as in the corresponding abortion products in 2 of the herds. All isolates showed identical restriction profiles with the S26/3 reference strain using Alu1 and HaeIII restriction enzymes in the Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) test. Focal necrosis was evidenced in foetal liver, spleen and lungs, as well as portal mononuclear cell infiltrates in the liver and alveolar septal thickening in the lungs. These findings show that C. abortus plays a substantial role in sheep abortion in Turkey.
Effect of Grape Seed Extract and Vitamin C Feed Supplements Carcass Characteristics , Gut Morphology and Ileal Microflora

Heat stress is one of the main problems in hot seasons or hot areas of the world that can cause huge economic losses to the poultry industry. Furthermore, global warming is occurring due to factors such as deforestation, and increased green house gas emissions (CO2, N2O, CH4), with the data suggesting that temperatures are rising at a rate of 0.2 ̊C per decade, a rate that is likely to increase in the future (US EPA, 2010). It is well known that poultry are warm-blooded animals (body temperature is about 40.541.5 ̊C) (Etches et al. 2008), with almost all parts of their bodies covered by feathers and with no sweat glands. They are therefore susceptible to the danger of heat stress because of difficulties in releasing their body heat to the environment (Tamzil et al. 2013). Animals have known zones The effects of dietary supplementation of grape seed extract (GSE) and vitamin C on carcass characteristics, gut morphology and ileal microflora in broiler chickens exposed to chronic heat stress were examined. Experimental diets included a control diet (without additive), 3 levels of GSE (150, 300, 450 mg/kg of diet), and vitamin C (300 mg/kg of diet). Each of the five diets was fed to 5 replicates of 12 male Cobb-500 chicks, from 1 to 42 d of age. The birds were exposed to chronic daily heat stress of 34 ± 1 ̊C with 65-70% relative humidity for 5 hours per day from 29 to 42 d of age. Addition of GSE or vitamin C to the basal diet did not affect the percentage by weight of the edible carcass, breast, drumstick + thighs, liver, empty gizzard, or abdominal fat. Furthermore, in heat-exposed broiler chickens the relative length of duodenum, jejunum and ileum did not show significant alteration when compared to the control group before and after chronic heat stress. Dietary GSE and vitamin C caused differences in jejunum muscle layer thickness, villus height, villus width and crypt depth of birds before heat stress. Addition of the GSE or vitamin C did not affect the jejunum muscle layer thickness, villus width, crypt depth and villus: crypt ratio of broilers under heat stress (42 d). However, broilers fed a diet containing GSE had higher villus compared to the control group at 42 d (P<0.05). Adding GSE or vitamin C reduced ileal coliforms and the Escherichia coli population of broilers before heat stress condition (28 d). Under chronic heat stress conditions, broilers fed diet supplemented with GSE had lower ileal coliforms and Escherichia coli populations compared to control birds (P<0.05). Thus, GSE can be recommended as a new herbal extract supplement to the diet of broiler chickens in order to improve jejunum villus height and decrease detrimental bacteria in the ileum of birds before and during chronic heat stress condition.
Employees’ Service Innovation Behavior and New Service Development in Four- and Five-Star Hotels

This study aims to explore the impact of Employee Service Innovation Behavior (ESIB) on New Service Development (NSD) among hotels’ employees. A research model was proposed in which one hypothesis was developed. The empirical data were collected from employees who are working in four- and five-star hotels in Jordan. A total of 332 questionnaires were returned and the data were analyzed using a single regression to determine the relationship between ESIB and NSD. The results supported the proposed model that there is a significant relationship between ESIB and NSD, and it also found that service innovation performance is exited in the hotel industry. The theoretical and managerial implications were drawn based on the study findings, and recommendations for future researchers were made, and limitations and conclusions are discussed.
Well‐posedness of the Laplacian on manifolds with boundary and bounded geometry

Let M be a Riemannian manifold with a smooth boundary. The main question we address in this article is: “When is the Laplace–Beltrami operator Δ:Hk+1(M)∩H01(M)→Hk−1(M) , k∈N0 , invertible? ” We consider also the case of mixed boundary conditions. The study of this main question leads us to the class of manifolds with boundary and bounded geometry introduced by Schick (Math. Nachr. 223 (2001), 103–120). We thus begin with some needed results on the geometry of manifolds with boundary and bounded geometry. Let ∂DM⊂∂M be an open and closed subset of the boundary of M. We say that (M,∂DM) has finite width if, by definition, M is a manifold with boundary and bounded geometry such that the distance dist(x,∂DM) from a point x∈M to ∂DM⊂∂M is bounded uniformly in x (and hence, in particular, ∂DM intersects all connected components of M). For manifolds (M,∂DM) with finite width, we prove a Poincaré inequality for functions vanishing on ∂DM , thus generalizing an important result of Sakurai (Osaka J. Math, 2017). The Poincaré inequality then leads, as in the classical case to results on the spectrum of Δ with domain given by mixed boundary conditions, in particular, Δ is invertible for manifolds (M,∂DM) with finite width. The bounded geometry assumption then allows us to prove the well‐posedness of the Poisson problem with mixed boundary conditions in the higher Sobolev spaces Hs(M) , s≥0 .
Role of Melatonin in Management of Partially Hepatectomized and/or Propagated- Cirrhotic Livers of Rats

The present work aims to evaluate the effect of melatonin on partial hepatectomized rats, propagated- cirrhotic and cirrhotic partial hepatectomized rats. Hepatic resection was carried out in rats by removing 33 % of liver, while cirrhosis was initiated in liver through intraperitoneal injection of dimethyl nitrosamine (DMN) 200mg/kg body weight twice a week for one month. The effect of melatonin on these experimental groups was achieved through evaluating certain biochemical parameters including liver marker enzymes; alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin. Also, total protein content and albumin were studied. Moreover, liver antioxidants: glutathione (GSH), catalase, nitric oxide (NO) and lipid peroxide were determined in this study. Adenylate energy charge (AEC), ATP, ADP, AMP, inorganic phosphate and phosphate potential were taken also into consideration. Proinflammatory markers; interleukin -1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor- α (TNF- α) as well as growth factors such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and transforming growth factor- ߚ (TGF- ߚ ), were also examined. The biochemical results were documented by histopathological examination of different experimental groups. The present results, clearly demonstrate disturbances in all biochemical parameters ascertained with histopathological observation of liver which reveals vascular congestion, inflammatory changes with congested sinusoids, nuclear changes (pyknosis), and centrilobular necrosis, fatty changes, vascular congestion and fatty changes in centrilobular necrotic liver. Improvement in all biochemical parameters studied was noticed in different therapeutic groups, as a result of treatment with melatonin. These results were run in parallel with the finding of amelioration signs in rat's hepatic architecture. Thus it could be concluded that, melatonin can up-regulate and counteract the inflammatory process, minimize damage of the liver, delay disease progression and reduce its complications.
Homotopy K3 surfaces and mod 2 Seiberg-Witten invariants

After writing this paper we learned that this result was also known to Kronheimer and Furuta. This theorem is closely related to the work of Fintushel and Stern [FS1], [FS2]. They proved that any homotopy K3 surface which contains a smoothly embedded Σ(2, 3, 7) has nontrivial SU(2) Donaldson invariants mod 2. Note that Theorem 1.1 and the folk conjecture, (cf. [W]), on the relation between Donaldson and Seiberg-Witten invariants would imply that every homotopy K3 surface has nontrivial SU(2) Donaldson invariants mod 2. As a straightforward corollary of Theorem 1.1 and the adjunction inequalities for the Seiberg-Witten basic classes [KM], [MSzT], [D2] we get the following:
SCOPE, BOUNDARY CHOICES AND PROFIT EVOLUTION OVER THE INDUSTRY LIFE-CYCLE

Recent research shows that to understand vertical scope we need to combine transaction cost and capabilities to look at all firm’s choices in terms of expanding vertically or continuing focused. The main implication is that industry competition dynamics, evolution, and vertical scope should be jointly considered. Yet existing research has not adequately studied the interplay between a sector’s evolution and firm vertical scope, and how these shape profitability. Previous models of endogenous scope have considered how profitability drives firms’ particular integration choices; yet little is said about profitability evolution as industry changes. This paper aspires to cover this gap, focusing on the profitability implications of scope changes, and how these relate to changes in firm’s underlying capability distributions. In particular, it sheds light into a sectors’ evolution dynamics, by looking at how modular and architectural innovations affect specialists and integrated firms and shape both the sector’s scope and profit distribution.
The Effect of Environmental Cost on Financial Performance of Nigerian Brewery

This research work was carried on the effect of environmental cost on organizational performance of Nigerian brewery Plc. Data used for this study were obtained from the annual report of Nigerian brewery Plc on Donations (DN), Medical Expenses (ME) and on the Return on Asset (ROA) within a period of five for the years 2011 to 2015. Hypotheses were formulated and multiple regressions were used for the analysis. It was found that both donation and medical expenses have a negative relationship (r = -0.068 and r =- 0.072) respectively with return on assets (ROA). Trainings, Recruitment and Canteen Expenses (TRC) and the return on assets (ROA) have a positive relationship (r = 0.068) on Nigerian brewery Plc. Keywords : Environmental cost, performance, Donations, Medical expenses, Trainings, Recruitment and Canteen expenses
Numerical analysis of Thai members of the Eugenia-Syzygium group (Myrtaceae)

Four different analyses of Thai Syzygium show, with very small discrepancies, that one smaller monophyletic and one larger polyphyletic group can be recognised. The smaller monophyletic group warrants sectional rank as Syzygium section Jambosa and consists of S. anacardiifolium, S. aqueum, S. diospyrifolium, S. formosum, S. foxworthianum, S. jambos, S. lakshanakarae, S. malaccense, S. megacarpum, S. papillosum, S. pseudoformosum, S. pycnanthum, S. samarangense, S. scortechinii and S. siamense.
Cognitive profiles of genetic syndromes with Intellectual Disability

The study of similarities and differences in the cognitive profiles of persons with genetic-based Intellectual Disability is relevant to increase our understanding about the complex way in which genetic aspects affect cognitive processes. Genetic syndromes have been mainly studied with reference to withinprofile variability. The aim of our study was to compare cognitive syndrome profiles in order to detect those cognitive variables that better characterize each syndrome. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was administered in a sample composed of 156 persons with mild or moderate Intellectual Disability, 94 males and 62 females, divided into four groups according to their genetic syndrome (Down or Trisomy-21, Williams, Prader-Willi, Fragile-X) The groups were paired on chronological and mental ages and levels of maladaptive behaviors. Variance analysis across syndromes, followed by a discriminant analysis, were performed for all the variables. Results showed that the delay in cognitive functions is higher in attentionconcentration and visuo-spatial constructive skills than in verbal skills. The genetic syndromes had different profiles, with a higher level for Prader-Willi than for Down and Fragile-X; the intra-profile disharmony was lower in Down and higher in Williams syndrome. Discriminant analysis allowed us to detect the best discriminating subtests in the classification of syndromes based on cognitive points of strength
Effect of magnetic field on seed germination and seedling growth of sunflower

Effect of magnetic field on seed germination and seedling growth of sunflower The impact of a variable magnetic field, magnetically treated water and a combination of both these factors on the germination of seeds and the final mass at the initial stage of growth sunflower plants was presented. Investigations were carried out in pots filled with sand, tin an air-conditioned plant house with no access to daylight using fluorescent light as illumination. A statistical significance positive impact was achieved for the samples subjected to the interaction of both stimulating factors simultaneously, the magnetic field and the impact of treated water several times on the speed of seed germination and final plant mass. Negative impacts were obtained for the majority of the test cases, for the magnetically treated water, the short duration of activity of the magnetic field and for the connection of the magnetic field and low-flow times.
Solving ambivalence in context : The experience and resolution of attitudinal

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Ensuring Payment Security in Wireless Networks

 Abstract— A secure payment scheme, called as the Report based pAyment sChemE (RACE) is used in multi hop wireless networks to stimulate node cooperation, regulate packet transmission and enforce fairness. The nodes submit lightweight payment reports (instead of receipts) to the Trusted Authority (TA) to update their credit accounts and temporarily store the evidences which are undeniable. The report includes the session information. The Trusted Authority verifies the payment by investigating the consistency of the report and clears the fair reports with almost no cryptographic operations or computational overhead. The nodes which do not pass or relay others packets, but it makes use of neighbor or cooperative nodes to relay its packets are called selfish nodes. This degrades the network connectivity and fairness. Such type of nodes also submits reports to the Trusted Authority. But when tested for consistency, it is found to be a cheating node. For such reports, the evidences are requested by the Trusted Authority to identify and evict the cheating nodes or selfish nodes. After evicting the selfish nodes, communication can be efficiently established again with increased throughput and less amount of processing and communication overhead. RACE is the first payment scheme that uses the concept of evidences to secure the payments. It requires cryptographic operations in clearing the payment only in the case of cheating. Also this is the first system that can verify the payment by investigating the consistency of the node's reports without submitting and processing security tokens and without false accusations. To prevent the multihop communications from failing due to insufficient credits, the source node can borrow credits or they can be purchased with real money from the Trusted Authority. RACE can secure the payment and precisely identify the cheating nodes without false denunciations. This is done by establishing a route between the source and the destination by sending a route request to the destination and the destination replies with path, a hash element from the hash chain and the signature. Keywords—Cooperation incentive schemes, network-level security, payment schemes, lightweight payment reports and Evidences I. INTRODUCTION MWNs can be deployed readily at low cost in developing and rural areas. Multihop packet relay can extend the network coverage using limited transmit power, improve area spectral efficiency, and enhance the network throughput
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Speech and sign perception in deaf children with cochlear implants

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What Do Micro Price Data Tell Us on the Validity of the New Keynesian Phillips Curve?

Abstract This paper surveys the current state of global empirical research on price setting behaviour at the firm level to evaluate the adequacy of pricing models used in the macro literature. To that end, it analyses the implications of 25 theoretical models (sticky information, menu costs, time dependent, costs of adjustment and customer anger models) in terms of their ability to match the key micro stylised facts. It is found that the explanatory power differs considerably across models and that many popular models are at odds with the main micro features, suggesting the need to further refine modelling strategies.
ON THE CHARACTERISTICS AND ENHANCEMENT OF INTERNET SHORT VIDEO SHARING

In this thesis, using long-term data traces, we present an in-depth and systematic measurement study on the characteristics of YouTube, the most successful site providing a new generation of short video sharing service. We find that YouTube videos have noticeable differences compared with traditional videos, making it difficult to use conventional strategies (e.g., peer-to-peer) to reduce the server workload. However, the social network presented among YouTube videos opens new opportunities. We design a novel social network based peer-to-peer short video sharing system, in which peers are responsible for re-distributing the videos that they have cached. We address a series of key design issues to realize the system, including an efficient indexing scheme, a bi-Iayer overlay leveraging social networking, a source rate allocation and a pre-fetching strategy to guarantee the playback quality. We perform extensive simulations, which show that the system greatly reduces the server workload and improves the playback quality.