Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of reproduction of sardine , Sardina pilchardus in the North of Atlantic Moroccan area

This work aims to analyze some aspects of biology of Sardina pilchardus sampled during a period between November 2014 and October 2015 in Casablanca area. The study of reproduction showed that the sex ratio is in favor of females. The females are dominant in all class sizes. The sardines sampled during the period of study present different stage of sexual maturity. This implies that there is a difference in the maturation period and emission of gametes between individuals of the population. We also noted a difference in the percentage of maturation with the seasons. The monthly evolution of the gonad index (RGS) aims to determine spawning periods for a full annual cycle. Sardine reproduces throughout the year and with a major peak in winter. The condition coefficient k evolves in the same way for both sexes. The sizes at first sexual maturity (L50) are 19.8 cm and 17.6 cm for males and females respectively.
Medical Brain Drain and Life Expectancy: A Comparative Analysis between Arab, American and Asian Countries

Purpose: In this paper we use the most recent database on medical brain drain (estimated by Bhargava, Docquier and Moullon in 2010) in order to analyze the consequences ofincreasing medical migration flowson human development, in particular on life expectancy in three developing country groups. Methodology: Our aim is to study the quantitative and qualitative effect of medical brain drain (MBD) on life expectancy in the Arab, Asian and American countries. Findings: The results showed that the MBD has an important and significant quantitative effect on life expectancy in Arab and Asian countries. Indeed, the elasticity of life expectancy with respect (1+MBD) is positive and significant at 1% level in all regressions for the two groups. Nevertheless, this relationship is not clear for central and Latin American countries where elasticity is not significant in two among three regressions. Moreover, the qualitative MBD effect is negative for all countries in the three groups. Recommendations: Therefore, there is a need for the majority of these countries to change both their labor and emigration policies. This can be achieved by a veritable incentive policy and by reinforcing networks between emigrant physicians and their origin society.
From urban to national heat island: The effect of anthropogenic heat output on climate change in high population industrial countries

The project presented here sought to determine whether changes in anthropogenic thermal emission can have a measurable effect on temperature at the national level, taking Japan and Great Britain as type examples. Using energy consumption as a proxy for thermal emission, strong correlations (mean r2 = 0.90 and 0.89, respectively) are found between national equivalent heat output (HO) and temperature above background levels Δt averaged over 5‐ to 8‐yr periods between 1965 and 2013, as opposed to weaker correlations for CMIP5 model temperatures above background levels Δmt (mean r2 = 0.52 and 0.10). It is clear that the fluctuations in Δt are better explained by energy consumption than by present climate models, and that energy consumption can contribute to climate change at the national level on these timescales.
The Effects of Progressive Resistance Training on Obstructed-Gait Tasks in Community-Living Older Adults

This study examined the effects of improved strength on an obstacle course (OC) simulating gait tasks commonly encountered by community-living older adults. Forty-five adults (mean age 68.2 ± 1.5 years) were randomly assigned to a control (10 women, 5 men) or an experimental group (EXP; 19 women, 10 men) and trained 3 days/week for 12 weeks. Using a 1-repetition-maximum (1-RM) method, 6 leg-strength measures were evaluated pre- and posttest. The times to walk an OC of 4 gait tasks (stepping over and across an obstacle, negotiating a raised surface, and foot targeting) set at 3 progressively challenging levels were also assessed. Significant Group × Time interactions were found on all 1-RM tests, with only EXP recording significant improvements (124–147%; p < .001). Strength gains in EXP were accompanied by significant improvements in the times to negotiate all gait stations and walk the entire OC (6-15%; p = .001–.014). This study showed that improving strength is an effective strategy to improve communit.
Baltic sprat larvae: coupling food availability, larval condition and survival

Eggs and larvae of Baltic sprat Sprattus sprattus L. were collected during 14 cruises covering the spawning season in 2002 in Bornholm Basin. Main egg and larval production was in April, with a second small peak in June 2002. The in situ larval abundance was corrected for trans- port processes by hydrodynamic model runs. Corrected larval abundance estimates were compared to initial larval production to derive an index of larval mortality. This index suggested a much higher survival of summer- over spring-born sprat larvae, with pronounced differences in survival for larvae >11 mm. Independent evidence for this survival pattern was gained by measured RNA:DNA ratios in sprat larvae hatched from April to July 2002 and was linked to temporal variability in potential prey abundance. We found higher mean but less variable RNA:DNA ratios in spring- than in summer-born larvae, indicating a strong selection for fast growth in April and May but a less selective environment in June and July. Zooplankton data revealed high naupliar concentrations of Acartia spp. (a key dietary component of sprat) in April and May, but very low concentrations of larger prey items such as copepodites or adults. In contrast, abundance of larger prey increased considerably in June and July. The results suggest that larger sprat (>11 mm) in April and May 2002 may have been food limited and, therefore, had lower rates of survival, supporting the underlying hypothesis of size- specific, temporally limited 'windows of survival' linked to the availability of suitable prey.
Structural Breaks and the Equilibrium Chinese Yuan / US Dollar Real Exchange Rate : A FEER Approach

This paper examines the equilibrium real exchange rate of the Chinese Yuan against the US Dollar within the framework of the FEER model. Quarterly data for the postreform period 1982-2009 are used. We make three important contributions to the literature. First, we allow for endogenous structural breaks in all cointegration relationships. Second, our study highlights macroeconomic fundamentals that affect savings and investment and, hence, the sustainable current account in the mediumterm. Third, we construct a unique set of quarterly data. We find structural breaks in all trade and the sustainable current account equations, with the break dates corresponding to important policy changes in China. The misalignment rates show that the real exchange rate was overvalued in most years until 2003, followed by undervaluation during 2004-2009. However, the average misalignment rates and revaluation required to correct this undervaluation are not as large as suggested by previous studies, with the undervaluation rate declining sharply in 2009. We further simulate misalignment rates using a sustainable current account of three percent. Our findings suggest such exogenous input leads to results biased towards larger undervaluation.
A study about importance of biosafety and biosecurity on aspect of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) in a Quality Control (QC) laboratory of Bangladesh

The Quality Control (QC) laboratory, Chittagong is basically designed to analysis the biological and chemical characteristics of fish and fishery products in view of sustaining Bangladesh export performance in world seafood markets through integration of qualified personnel, standard methods, appropriate equipment and quality assurance system are in place for necessary testing and interpretation of tested results. We describe herein, facilities on microbiological test at biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) containment laboratories, with regard to biosecurity regulations, safety considerations, necessary space, and physical aids in executing ISO standards. These competences can positive impact the number of testing samples investigating microbial pathogens of biodefense concern. Acquisition, use, storage and transfer of microbiological pathogenic bacteria such as reference strains are highly regulated due to their potential to pose a severe threat to export of fish and fishery products. All federal, state, city, and local regulations must be followed to obtain and maintain registration for the institution to conduct research involving pathogens. These include continuous monitoring of personnel, controlled access to containment laboratories, accurate and current pathogens inventory records. Safety considerations are paramount in BSL-2 containment laboratories while considering these types of research tools, workflow and time required for conducting both qualitative and quantitative microbiological test parameters in limited space.
An Extended Probabilistic Serial Mechanism to the Random Assignment Problem with Multi-unit Demands and Polymatroidal Supplies

The authors have recently extended the probabilistic serial (PS) mechanism, due to Bogomolnaia and Moulin, of the random assignment problem to that with unit demands on a matroidal family of goods. In the present paper we consider a further extension of the PS mechanism for multi-unit demands on polymatroids and examine the properties of the extended PS mechanism. We show the ordinal efficiency and envy-freeness of the extended PS mechanism and also give a useful sufficient condition for the obtained solution to be a weakly sd Nash equilibrium. Moreover, we show that the extended PS mechanism is weakly strategy-proof when the underlying polymatroid is a matroid and agents have unit demands.
Image-based multi-scale mechanical analysis of strain amplification in neurons embedded in collagen gel

Abstract A general multi-scale strategy is presented for modeling the mechanical environment of a group of neurons that were embedded within a collagenous matrix. The results of the multi-scale simulation are used to estimate the local strains that arise in neurons when the extracellular matrix is deformed. The distribution of local strains was found to depend strongly on the configuration of the embedded neurons relative to the loading direction, reflecting the anisotropic mechanical behavior of the neurons. More importantly, the applied strain on the surrounding extracellular matrix is amplified in the neurons for all loading configurations that are considered. In the most severe case, the applied strain is amplified by at least a factor of 2 in 10% of the neurons' volume. The approach presented in this paper provides an extension to the capability of past methods by enabling the realistic representation of complex cell geometry into a multi-scale framework. The simulation results for the embedded neurons provide local strain information that is not accessible by current experimental techniques.
Hydroxyl contents of accessory minerals in mantle eclogites and related rocks

Infrared spectra in the region 3000 to 3800 cm-' have been measured on coesite, kyanite, sanidine, and rutile occurring in inclusions of eclogite, and on garnet and spinel in an inclusion of alkremite from South African kimbedites. Coesite and sanidine contain virtually no HrO or OH, although one sanidine crystal was observed to contain abundant HrO, apparently as fluid inclusions of molecular HrO. Kyanite contains significant OH, consistent with previous results for similar samples. Corundum gives no indication of the presence of HrO or OH. Rutile containing significant amounts of Fe, Cr, Al, and Nb also contains significant amounts of structural OH. Garnet in alkremite contains small amounts of molecular HrO, whereas the spinel coexisting with this garnet gives no indication of HrO or OH, indicating that the spinel structure is not able to accommodate significant amounts of OH. Ammonium contents of all samples were less than the detection limit (about 10 ppm).
Ecological differentiation of Mediterranean endemic plants

A striking feature of the Mediterranean flora concerns the high rates of narrow endemism within many regions. The prevailing paradigm for the evolution of such endemism relies on an important role of geographic isolation and allopatric speciation. Until recently there has been little work on the precise ecological differences among endemic plants and their congeners in the Mediterranean region and the potential role of ecological specialisation in isolation and speciation. This paper has two objectives. First, we evaluate general ecological differences among endemic and widespread congeners in the flora of the western Mediterranean. The results and review of the literature attest to consistent patterns of ecological differentiation among endemic species and their snore widespread congeners. Second, we present results of a detailed study of morphological, molecular and ecological differentiation in a group of spring-flowering Mediterranean Cyclamen species. This study illustrates how differentiation in geographically peripheral and ecologically marginal populations may contribute to the diversification of endemic species whose contemporary distributions are disjunct from con-generic species.
Student participation in university governance: the opinions of professors and students

This article focuses on analysing student participation in university governance, with the specific aims of identifying the main obstacles to student participation and offering proposals of how to better facilitate student involvement in the functioning of the university. From student questionnaires, teaching staff interviews and student discussion groups we obtained information regarding the major obstacles to student participation. The methodology employed in this research allows us to compare and contrast the opinions and perceptions of students and teaching staff. Significant differences are identified that highlight the main ways for facilitating change in student participation in the university. The required changes should not only relate to improving the means by which students are informed about ways of participating, but also influence how universities structure participatory processes, the role of the teaching staff and, specifically, the role of coordinators of those managing bodies closest to the students.
A hypothesis linking sub-optimal seawater p CO 2 conditions for cnidarian- Symbiodinium symbioses with the exceedence of the interglacial threshold (>260 ppmv)

Abstract. Most scleractinian corals and many other cnidarians host intracellular photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts ("zooxanthellae"). The zooxanthellae contribute to host metabolism and skeletogenesis to such an extent that this symbiosis is well recognised for its contribution in creating the coral reef ecosystem. The stable functioning of cnidarian symbioses is however dependent upon the host's ability to maintain demographic control of its algal partner. In this review, I explain how the modern envelope of seawater conditions found within many coral reef ecosystems (characterised by elevated temperatures, rising pCO2, and enriched nutrient levels) are antagonistic toward the dominant host processes that restrict excessive symbiont proliferation. Moreover, I outline a new hypothesis and initial evidence base, which support the suggestion that the additional "excess" zooxanthellae fraction permitted by seawater pCO2 levels beyond 260 ppmv significantly increases the propensity for symbiosis breakdown ("bleaching") in response to temperature and irradiance extremes. The relevance of this biological threshold is discussed in terms of historical reef extinction events, glacial-interglacial climate cycles and the modern decline of coral reef ecosystems.
An introduction to MPEG-G, the new ISO standard for genomic information representation

The MPEG-G standardization initiative is a coordinated international effort to specify a compressed data format that enables large scale genomic data to be processed, transported and shared. The standard consists of a set of specifications (i.e., a book) describing: i) a nor-mative format syntax, and ii) a normative decoding process to retrieve the information coded in a compliant file or bitstream. Such decoding process enables the use of leading-edge com-pression technologies that have exhibited significant compression gains over currently used formats for storage of unaligned and aligned sequencing reads. Additionally, the standard provides a wealth of much needed functionality, such as selective access, data aggregation, ap-plication programming interfaces to the compressed data, standard interfaces to support data protection mechanisms, support for streaming and a procedure to assess the conformance of implementations. ISO/IEC is engaged in supporting the maintenance and availability of the standard specification, which guarantees the perenniality of applications using MPEG-G. Fi-nally, the standard ensures interoperability and integration with existing genomic information processing pipelines by providing support for conversion from the FASTQ/SAM/BAM file formats. In this paper we provide an overview of the MPEG-G specification, with particular focus on the main advantages and novel functionality it offers. As the standard only specifies the decoding process, encoding performance, both in terms of speed and compression ratio, can vary depending on specific encoder implementations, and will likely improve during the lifetime of MPEG-G. Hence, the performance statistics provided here are only indicative baseline examples of the technologies included in the standard.
Wheat flour versus rice consumption and vascular diseases: Evidence from the China Study II data

Why does wheat flour consumption appear to be significantly associated with vascular diseases? To answer this question we analyzed data on rice consumption, wheat flour consumption, total calorie consumption, and mortality from vascular diseases obtained from the China Study II dataset. This dataset covers the years of 1983, 1989 and 1993; with data related to biochemistry, diet, lifestyle, and mortality from various diseases in 69 counties in China. Our analyses point at a counterintuitive conclusion: it may not be wheat flour consumption that is the problem, but the culture associated with it, characterized by: decreased levels of physical activity, decreased exposure to sunlight, increased consumption of processed foods, and increased social isolation. Wheat flour consumption may act as a proxy for the extent to which this culture is expressed in a population. The more this culture is expressed, the greater is the prevalence of vascular diseases.
Immunohistochemical and Molecular Characteristics of Follicular Patterned Thyroid Nodules with Incomplete Nuclear Features of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Background : Follicular patterned thyroid nodules with incomplete nuclear features of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FTN-INPTCs) are difficult to diagnose, and their biological behavior and association with follicular variants of PTC (FVPTCs) have not yet been established. The aim of this study is to determine immunohistochemical and molecular characteristics of FTNINPTCs. Methods : We investigated immunohistochemical features (galectin-3, HBME-1, CK19, fibronectin-1, CITED1), BRAF V600E mutation and RASSF1A promoter methylation status in 30 FTN-INPTC cases, along with 26 FVPTCs, 21 follicular adenomas (FAs) and 14 nodular hyperplasias (NHs). Results : Expression of galectin-3, HBME-1, CK19 and CITED1 was significantly higher in FTN-INPTCs than in FAs or NHs, but expression of galectin-3, CK19 and fibronectin-1 was lower in FTN-INPTCs than in FVPTCs. The BRAF V600E mutation was not detected in the benign nodules or FTN-INPTCs, whereas 57% of FVPTCs had the mutation. RASSF1A promoter methylation was higher in FTN-INPTCs than in benign nodules but there was no difference between FTN-INPTCs and FVPTCs. Conclusions : Our results represent the borderline immunohistochemical and molecular characteristics of FTN-INPTC. We conclude that FTN-INPTC is an intermediate lesion between a benign nodule and a FVPTC, and that it is pathogenetically related to FVPTC.
Detection and Estimation of Block Structure in Spatial Weight Matrix

In many economic applications, it is often of interest to categorize, classify, or label individuals by groups based on similarity of observed behavior. We propose a method that captures group affiliation or, equivalently, estimates the block structure of a neighboring matrix embedded in a Spatial Econometric model. The main results of the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (Lasso) estimator shows that off-diagonal block elements are estimated as zeros with high probability, property defined as “zero-block consistency. ” Furthermore, we present and prove zero-block consistency for the estimated spatial weight matrix even under a thin margin of interaction between groups. The tool developed in this article can be used as a verification of block structure by applied researchers, or as an exploration tool for estimating unknown block structures. We analyzed the U.S. Senate voting data and correctly identified blocks based on party affiliations. Simulations also show that the method performs well.
Localization of Windows and Doors in 3d Point Clouds of Facades

In this paper, we present a fully automatic approach to localize the outlines of facade objects (windows and doors) in 3D point clouds of facades. We introduce an approach to search for the main facade wall and locate the facade objects within a probabilistic framework. Our search routine is based on Monte Carlo Simulation (MC-Simulation). Templates containing control points of curves are used to approximate the possible shapes of windows and doors. These are interpolated using parametric B-spline curves. These templates are scored in a sliding window style over the entire facade using a likelihood function in a probabilistic matching procedure. This produces many competing results for which a two layered model selection based on Bayes factor is applied. A major thrust in our work is the introduction of a 2D shape-space of similar shapes under affine transform in this architectural scene. This transforms the initial parametric B-splines curves representing the outlines of objects to curves of affine similarity in a strongly reduced dimensionality thus facilitating the generation of competing hypotheses within the search space. A further computational speedup is achieved through the clustering of the search space to disjoint regions, thus enabling a parallel implementation. We obtain state-of-the results on self-acquired data sets. The robustness of our algorithm is evaluated on 3D point clouds from image matching and LiDAR data of diverse quality.
Volatility estimation from short time series of stock prices

We consider estimation of the historical volatility of stock prices. It is assumed that the stock prices are represented as time series formed as samples of the solution of a stochastic differential equation with random and time-varying parameters; these parameters are not observable directly and have unknown evolution law. The price samples are available with limited frequency only. In this setting, the estimation has to be based on short time series, and the estimation error can be significant. We suggest some supplements to the existing nonparametric methods of volatility estimation. Two modifications of the standard summation formula for the volatility are derived. In addition, a linear transformation eliminating the appreciation rate and preserving the volatility is suggested.