Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of hair and DNA-based approaches in dietary analysis of free-ranging wolves (Canis lupus) in Alberta, Canada

Comparison of hair and DNA-based approaches in dietary analysis of free-ranging wolves (Canis lupus) in Alberta, Canada Carolyn Rachel Shores Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Samuel Wasser Biology Dietary information of free-ranging animals is essential for understanding their ecology, conservation and management. Carnivore diet is most frequently estimated using morphological analysis of prey remains found in scats. However, genetic methods are becoming increasingly common and may identify prey parts that are unidentifiable with morphological methods (Symondson 2002). We developed an easy and accurate molecular approach to assess occurrence of prey species in the diet of free-living wolves (Canis lupus) and compared the results to analyses of prey hair in the same samples. The occurrence of DNA and hair remains for moose (Alces alces), woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), deer (Odocoileus sp.), snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) and American beaver (Castor canadensis) were compared in wolf scats from northeastern Alberta, Canada. Detection of any prey species was 1.34 times as likely with DNA analysis than with hair analysis. DNA analysis showed significantly higher occurrences of every prey species (p<0.05) except deer. These findings highlight the advantage of molecular dietary analysis in differentiating between taxonomically similar prey species and increased prey detection rates as compared to morphological analysis.
Paper No 595: The Sigma Home: towards an authentic evaluation of a prototype building

Offsite construction of housing has generally been developed and tested in terms of physical performance requirements. This paper introduces a combinatory strategy which provides a more complete understanding of the performance of a housing prototype to inform further modification prior to mass production. The paper examines the rationale behind the combinatory strategy and discusses this in relation to the evaluation of a single prototype house built as a demonstration and test site with periodic inhabitation. Each of the contributing evaluation methods is discussed in terms of its effectiveness and issues arising with the experimental process in order to highlight lessons for the development of a more inclusive evaluation of prototype housing in the future. Overall energy use, associated carbon dioxide emissions, thermal comfort, and air quality within the home are evaluated. The post-occupancy evaluation also includes an assessment of the induction process for living in the prototype home as well as video-analysis of the functionality of the prototype under authentic living conditions. Initial findings indicate that the home provides very satisfactory living conditions with good thermal comfort and air quality. Energy use is higher than expected due to a number of factors, including residents’ lack of familiarity with the heating and ventilation systems and lack of airtightness.
Identification of a Diploid Self-sporulating Cycle in the Basidiomycetous Yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides

Summary: Self-sporulating diploid and aneuploid cells were identified in the life cycle of Rhodosporidium toruloides by microscopic observation of nuclear behaviour, microphotometry of DNA content, and genetic characterization of progeny. From a sexual cross between haploid A- and a-type strains, diploid progeny with both A and a mating-type loci and aneuploid progeny with either A or a mating-type locus were isolated in addition to haploid progeny. The diploid isolates propagated by budding in yeast form and eventually developed monokaryotic hyphae. The diploid hyphae formed uninucleate teliospores and blastospores from which diploid yeast cells were isolated (self-sporulating). Aneuploids carrying the A or a mating-type isolated from a sexual cross and from self-sporulating diploids entered the sexual cycle like haploid cells. The life cycle consisting of sexual and self-sporulating cycles is presented.
A Finite Difference Frequency Domain Based Full Vectorial Transverse Modesolver for Anisotropic Waveguides with Arbitrary Permittivity and Permeability Tensors

─ In this work a Yee’s mesh based full vectorial transverse finite difference frequency (FDFD) modesolver has been derived from discretized Maxwell’s equations in Matrix form for anisotropic waveguides with arbitrary permittivity and permeability tensors. This work incorporates arbitrary permittivity and permeability simultaneously into matrix equations of Yee’s mesh based modesolver, which previous works have not done. For benchmarking the Python implementation of these matrix equations, cross section of Yittrium Iron Garnate (YIG) channel waveguide has been taken as first one of the three test structures. Numerical result from this work has been compared with that from previous work on YIG channel waveguide and is found to be in good agreement. Further, for benchmarking the effective index values of waveguides having both permittivity and permeability anisotropic simultaneously, a finite element based commercial software (COMSOL) has been used, the values of effective indexes from solver presented in this work and commercial software have been compared, and are also found to be in good agreement. Index Terms ─ Anisotropic waveguides, finite difference frequency domain, full vectorial, modesolver.
Relation between Widths of the Grain Boundary Energy Cusps at Special Misorientations and the Microstructural Characteristics in the Sintering of a Fe-Cu-C Alloy.

A new Monte Carlo model, three-dimensional multi-particle model, was developed to simulate the three-dimensional microstructural characteristic in the sintering of a Fe–Cu–C alloy. The probability model incorporated the energy-misorientation relationship assigned to randomly generated neighboring grains. The effect on microstructural characteristics of adding doped materials was also quantified and related to the energy-misorientation relationship. The present Monte Carlo model accounts for the relationship between the grain boundary energy and the dihedral angle distribution and determines the effect of the width of the grain boundary energy cusp at the special misorientation on the contiguity and coordination number in the sintering of a Fe–Cu–C alloy. All specimens show a strong correlation between the contiguity ˆ C and coordination number ˆ N, irrespective of the width of the grain boundary energy cusp at the special misorientation. The correlation can be expressed as: ˆ N/ ˆ NO = ˆ CN/ ˆ CO, where ˆ NO is the mean coordination number, ˆ CO is the mean contiguity, and ˆ CN is the mean contiguity having the coordination number ˆ N.
Dry mass–length relationships for benthic insects: a review with new data from Catamaran Brook, New Brunswick, Canada

1. ___We summarized previously published mass–length relationships for aquatic insects, and determined the relationship between dry body mass and body length for eight genera and seven families of benthic insects from Catamaran Brook, New Brunswick, Canada. 2. ___A power function was the most commonly used model in the earlier studies and best described the observed mass–length relationship for taxa from Catamaran Brook. 3. ___Predicted mass at length was highly variable (coefficient of variation_≥ 25%) among models developed in different studies for the same family group. This variability presumably resulted from both variation in the methods used to construct the models, and in the natural spatio-temporal and taxonomic variation in mass at length, although the relative contributions of these two sources cannot be determined from existing data. 4. ___Several recommendations are made for the development and application of mass–length equations in future studies.
The relationship between flexible and self-regulated learning in open and distance universities

Flexibility in learning provides a student room for volitional control and an array of strategies and encourages persistence in the face of difficulties. Autonomy in and control over one’s learning process can be seen as a condition for self-regulated learning. There are a number of categories and dimensions for flexible learning; following professional publications, time, location, lesson content, pedagogy method, learning style, organization, and course requirements are all elements to consider. Using these categories and the dimensions of flexible learning, we developed and validated a questionnaire for an open and distance learning setting. This article reports on the results from a study investigating the relationship between flexible learning and self-regulated learning strategies. The results show the positive effects of flexible learning and its three factors, time management, teacher contact, and content, on self-regulated learning strategies (cognitive, metacognitive, and resource-based). Groups that have high flexibility in learning indicate that they use more learning strategies than groups with low flexibility.
SELECTIVE ATTENTION AND CONFIDENCE CALIBRATION

This experiment examined the effect of attentionally irrelevant visual stimuli on subjective confidence calibration. Participants identified target letters that were flanked by letters that differed with respect to their response congruency to the target response. The key result was the finding of higher overconfidence in incongruent flanker conditions, even when presentation time manipulations were successful in equating accuracies across the three flanker conditions.
Three sightings of Mesoplodon species in the Bay of Biscay: first confirmed True's beaked whales (M. mirus) for the north-east Atlantic?

Three sightings of Mesoplodon beaked whales are reported from the Bay of Biscay, north-east Atlantic. All sightings comprised one or two animals, breaching repeatedly in proximity to the survey vessel, and occurred at between 2200 and 4100 m water depth. Descriptive and photographic data are compared with published accounts of Mesoplodon species in the north-east Atlantic, and the identification of the animals as True's beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus) concurs with all observed features. Within the north-east Atlantic, True's beaked whale is the only Mesoplodon species that could produce the single, closely-spaced parallel-paired scar observed on one animal. Our observations are consistent with the first live sightings of True's beaked whale in the Bay of Biscay, and only the second documented record worldwide.
Efficacy of Speech Therapy for Dysarthria

We investigated the efficacy of speech therapy for dysarthria. Of a total of 263 dysarthria patients, we compared 187 who received speech therapy (therapy group) and 76 who did not receive speech therapy (control group). The following results were obtained: 1. Among patients with dysarthria caused by cerebrovascular disease, spinocerebellar 新 潟 医療福 祉大 学 医療技 術学 部言 語聴 覚学 科1):〒950-3198新 潟 県新潟 市北 区 島見町1398 新 潟 医療福 祉大 学大 学院2):〒950-3198新 潟 県新 潟市 北 区島見 町1398 下 越病 院 リハ ビ リテー シ ョン課3):〒956-0831新 潟 県新潟 市 中沢 町1-23 佐 野厚 生総 合病 院 リハ ビリテー シ ョン科4):〒327-8511栃 木 県佐野 市堀 米町1728 初 台 リハ ビ リテー シ ョン病院 リハ ビ リテ ー シ ョン科5):〒151-0071東 京都 渋 谷 区本 町3-53-3 1) Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Science, Niigata University of Health and Welfare: 1398, Shimami-cho, Niigata 950-3198 2) Graduate School of Health and Welfare, Niigata University of Health and Welfare: 1398, Shimami-cho, Niigata 950-3198 3) Department of Rehabilitation, Kaetsu Hospital: 1-23, Nakazawa-cho, Niigata 956-0831 4) Department of Rehabilitation, Sano Kosei General Hospital: 1728, Horigome, Sano-shi, Tochigi 327-8511 5) Department of Rehabilitation, Hatsudai Rehabilitation Hospital: 3-53-3 Honmachi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0071 2006年4月21日 受稿2007年4月16日 受 理
Generalized Wavelet Fisher’s Information of 1/ Signals.

This paper defines the generalized wavelet Fisher information of parameter . This information measure is obtained by generalizing the time-domain definition of Fisher’s information of Furuichi to the wavelet domain and allows to quantify smoothness and correlation, among other signals characteristics. Closed-form expressions of generalized wavelet Fisher information for signals are determined and a detailed discussion of their properties, characteristics and their relationship with wavelet -Fisher information are given. Information planes of signals Fisher information are obtained and, based on these, potential applications are highlighted. Finally, generalized wavelet Fisher information is applied to the problem of detecting and locating weak structural breaks in stationary signals, particularly for fractional Gaussian noise series. It is shown that by using a joint Fisher/F-Statistic procedure, significant improvements in time and accuracy are achieved in comparison with the sole application of the F-statistic.
Is routine antibiotic prescription following exodontias necessary? A randomized controlled clinical study

The importance of routine antibiotics following exodontias should not be addressed in isolation but in conjunction with other factors. Information obtained included patient bio-data, oral hygiene status, tooth extracted, type of exodontias (routine or surgical) and duration of extraction ( than 10 min). Randomized patients for extractions were divided into two groups, method of randomization and allotment of patients were done by blind masking. Selection of group was done by picking closed ballot papers which had been designated as 1 or 2, 1-signifies no antibiotic and 2-signifies antibiotic prescription. The first group was given antibiotics following extraction and second group which served as the control were not given antibiotics. There were a total of 262 patients that had exodontias within the study period, 104 (39.7%) males and 158 (60.3%) were under the age range 15 to 96 years, and mean (standard deviation) of 35.2 (14.6) years. There were 162 (61.8%) patients in the first group and 100 (38.2%) patients in the second group (no antibiotics), 95 (36.3%) patients in the second group had non-traumatic extractions and 5 had traumatic extractions. 45 patients in second group had extractions that lasted more than 10 min. Out of 240 (91.6%) routine extractions done, 96 (36.6%) were in the second group and of 22 (8.4%) surgical extractions, 4 (1.5%) were in the second group. This study showed that routine antibiotic used was not necessary following all exodontias procedures, and variables such as type of extraction, difficulty of extraction and adherence to post operative instructions were important associated factors that determined the occurrence of postoperative complications. The registration number of this trial is PACTR201408000861302. Registered with the Pan-African Clinical Trial Registry. Key words: Exodontia, complications, antibiotics, associated factors.
An Area at War: AlarmingMalnutrition Status and itsPredictors among Children Aged6-60 Months Old in Kokang,Myanmar

An Area at War: Alarming Malnutrition Status and its Predictors among Children Aged 6-60 Months Old in Kokang, Myanmar Aim: Myanmar is a populous and impoverished country with military conflicts for over 40 years and Kokang is one of the most turbulent regions. Malnutrition is a major health problem in this area, however researches are limited. This study aims to evaluate the malnutrition condition of children in Kokang, Myanmar and the factors associated with malnutrition. Methods: Data were obtained from 123 children aged from 6 to 60 months. Anthropometrical assessment was performed and validated questionnaires were used to collect socioeconomic and demographic data. Results: Among the children enrolled in this study, 42.5% were found to be stunting, 22.5% were underweight, 8.3% were wasting, 8.3% were thin, 5.9% had a small head circumference, and 3.3% were wasting with amid-upper arm circumference <12.5 cm. Drinking spring or river water (OR=7.11, 95% CI2.46–20.52) was a predictor of stunting and low family annual income contributed to underweight (OR=8.95, 95% CI 1.63–49.11) in the regression model. Predictors of wasting included age and length of exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: This study illustrates the alarming local prevalence of childhood malnutrition and the associated predictors, which require a multipronged approach to find a solution.
Amylose and amylopectin in selected Malaysian foods and its relationship to glycemic index

The aim of this study was to determine the nutrient contents and to evaluate the relationship between amylose and amylopectin content to glycemic index of diet commonly eaten by Malaysian. The food samples consisted of nasi lemak, fried rice, fried rice noodle, fried macaroni, sandwich sardine, doughnut, curry puff and roti canai with dhal. Each sample was prepared based on standard recipe (except doughnut, roti canai with dhal and curry puff were bought from 3 different locations) in two different cycles. Moisture, ash, crude protein and crude fat were analyzed using proximate analysis whereas amount of carbohydrate was calculated “by difference”. Total dietary fiber was analyzed using AOAC 991.43. The content of amylose and amylopectin were analyzed using colorimetric method and calculated “by difference”, respectively. Our results showed that doughnut contained the highest carbohydrate (49.49 ± 1.24 g/100 g) while nasi lemak had the lowest carbohydrate (25.04 ± 0.56 g/100 g). Roti canai with dhal had the highest total dietary fiber content (3.89 ± 0.43 g/100 g). The highest amylose content was found in roti canai with dhal (11.75 ± 1.38%) while highest amylopectin content was in nasi lemak (94.19 ± 0.48%). The amylose content of tested samples ranged from 5 to 12%. In conclusion, results showed that there was no significant relationship between the ratio of amylose to amylopectin and glycemic index but negative trend existed which indicated increase in amylose content will lower the glycemic index of a food.
Activities of Hereford and Santa Gertrudis Cattle on A Southern New Mexico Range.

Highlight The Hereford cows spent more time grazing, less time walking, and traveled less distance than the Santa Gertrudis. When compared to results from other locations, there is no apparent relationship between grazing time and quantity of forage per unit area. There were generally 4 grazing periods: about midnight, from daybreak for the next 3 to 31/2 hr, midday, and late afternoon for 3 to 31/2 hr.
Bridging the gap on tight separation brown dwarf binaries

Multiplicity is a key statistic for understanding the formation of very low mass (VLM) stars and brown dwarfs. Currently, the separation distribution of VLM binaries remains poorly constrained at small separations (<1 AU), leading to uncertainty in the overall binary fraction. We approach this problem by searching for late M/early L plus T dwarf spectral binaries whose combined light spectra exhibit distinct peculiarities, making their identification independent of separation. We define a set of spectral indices designed to identify these systems, and use a spectral template fitting method to confirm and characterize spectral binary (SB) candidates from a library of 738 spectra from the SpeX Prism Spectral Libraries. We present twelve new binary candidates, confirm two previously reported candidates and rule out other two previously reported candidates. All of our candidates have primary and secondary spectral types between M7-L7 and L8-T8 respectively. We find that blue L dwarfs and subdwarfs are contaminants in our sample and propose a method for segregating these sources. If confirmed by follow-up observations, these systems may potentially add to the growing list of tight separation binaries, giving further insight into brown dwarf formation scenarios.
THE EFFECTS OF IMPLEMENTING SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT, FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT AND DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT ON IRANIAN EFL LEARNERS’ LISTENING ABILITY AND LISTENING STRATEGY USE

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of implementing three forms of assessment namely , summative, formative and dynamic assessment on Iranian freshmen's listening ability and listening strategy use to fulfill the purposes of the study , 140 freshmen from Garmsar university and jame-elmikarbordi university who were majoring in English translation were selected . They formed randomly three experimental groups. Each group experienced a certain type of assessment. To study the effects of the assessment types, the learners took five teacher-made listening tests. Moreover, to observe any development in the learners' level of listening strategy use a questionnaire based on O'Malley Chamot and Kupper (1989), Young (1997) and Goh (2000, 2002) was used. The results indicated that the learners in dynamic group not only could outperform the other groups in terms of listening ability, but they also used more listening strategies.
Production of enriched biomass by red yeasts of Sporobolomyces sp. grown on waste substrates.

Carotenoids and ergosterol are industrially significant metabolites probably involved in yeast stress response mechanisms. Thus, controlled physiological and nutrition stress including use of waste substrates can be used for their enhanced production. In this work two red yeast strains of the genus Sporobolomyces (Sporobolomyces roseus, Sporobolomyces shibatanus) were studied. To increase the yield of metabolites at improved biomass production, several types of exogenous as well as nutrition stress were tested. Each strain was cultivated at optimal growth conditions and in medium with modified carbon and nitrogen sources. Synthetic media with addition of complex substrates (e.g. yeast extract) and vitamin mixtures as well as some waste materials (whey, apple fibre, wheat, crushed pasta) were used as nutrient sources. Peroxide and salt stress were applied too, cells were exposed to oxidative stress (2-10 mM H2O2) and osmotic stress (2-10 % NaCl). During the experiment, growth characteristics and the production of biomass, carotenoids and ergosterol were evaluated. In optimal conditions tested strains substantially differed in biomass as well as metabolite production. S.roseus produced about 50 % of biomass produced by S.shibatanus (8 g/L). Oppositely, production of pigments and ergosterol by S.roseus was 3-4 times higher than in S.shibatanus. S.roseus was able to use most of waste substrates, the best production of ergosterol (8.9 mg/g d.w.) and beta-carotene (4.33 mg/g d.w.) was obtained in medium with JMBFS / Marova et al. 2012 : 1 (4) 534-551 535 crushed pasta hydrolyzed by mixed enzyme from Phanerochaetae chrysosporium. Regardless very high production of carotenes and ergosterol, S.roseus is probably not suitable for industrial use because of relatively low biomass production.