Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The incised valley of Baffin Bay, Texas: a tale of two climates

Baffin Bay, Texas is the flooded Last Glacial Maximum incised valley of the Los Olmos, San Fernando and Petronila Creeks along the north‐western Gulf of Mexico. Cores up to 17 m in length and high‐resolution seismic profiles were used to study the history of Baffin Bay over the last 10 kyr and to document the unusual depositional environments within the valley fill. The deposits of the Baffin Bay incised valley record two major and two minor events. Around 8·0 ka, the estuarine environments backstepped more than 15 km in response to an increase in the rate of sea‐level rise. Around 5·5 ka, these estuarine environments changed from environments similar to other estuaries of the northern Gulf of Mexico to the unusual suite of environments found today. Another minor flooding event occurred around 4·8 ka in which several internal spits were flooded. Some time after 4·0 ka, the upper‐bay mud‐flats experienced a progradational event. Because of its semi‐arid climate and isolation from the Gulf of Mexico, five depositional environments not found in the other incised‐valley fills of the northern Gulf of Mexico are found today within Baffin Bay. These deposits include well‐laminated carbonate and siliciclastic open‐bay muds, ooid beaches, shelly internal spits and barrier islands, serpulid worm‐tube reefs and prograding upper‐bay mud‐flats. Based on these unusual deposits, and other characteristics of Baffin Bay, five criteria are suggested to help identify incised valleys that filled in arid and semi‐arid climates. These criteria include the presence of: (i) hypersaline‐tolerant fauna; (ii) aeolian deposits; and (iii) carbonate and/or evaporite deposits; and the absence of: (iv) peat or other organic‐rich deposits in the upper bay and bay‐margin areas; and (v) well‐developed fluvially dominated bayhead deltas.
Exchange Rate Pass-through in Global Value Chains: The Effects of Upstream Suppliers

In this paper, we estimate the effect of fluctuations in nominal exchange rates on trade in manufactured goods for final use. We estimate an econometric model of international trade that incorporates data on the value-added content of trade flows. Our analysis indicates that the value-added trade data can significantly improve estimates of exchange rate pass-through rates and trade elasticities by more fully accounting for the effects of a reduction in the value of an exporter’s currency on its own costs and the costs of its international competitors.
Comparison of genetic and morphological data for inferring similarity among native Dalmatian (Croatia) grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)

Sixteen native central Dalmatian grapevine cultivars were characterised at eight SSR loci and eighteen primary morphological descriptors. The present work describes for the first time twelve native Dalmatian cultivars with morphological and molecular descriptors. One pair of synonyms was determined (‘Babiu ’/’Rogozniu ka’), and the other previously assumed pair (’Crljenak Kastelanski’/’Pribidrag’) was verified. The remaining cultivars showed unique SSR genotype and seemed to be different from any other previously described Croatian cultivars. The results of SSR characterisation suggested the possibility of parent-offspring relationship between ’Babiu ’ and ’Dobriu iu ’ and between ’Plavac Mali’ and ’Babica’. Phenotypic relationship among cultivars based on morphological data (d-values) was determined according to original mathematical algorithm. The d-value proved to be informative and showed rather clear ability to discriminate between Dalmatian cultivars. Significant but weak correlation (r = -0.38) was observed by comparing the similarity matrices obtained from morphological and SSR data using the Mantel test.
Myeloma Cells Deplete Bone Marrow Glutamine and Inhibit Osteoblast Differentiation Limiting Asparagine Availability

Simple Summary Osteolytic bone lesions represent an important clinical feature of multiple myeloma (MM). MM cells metabolize very high amounts of glutamine (Gln) and significantly lower Gln in the bone marrow. In this contribution we demonstrate that MM-dependent Gln depletion impairs the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells into osteoblasts, the cells that form new bone tissue. We also found that osteoblast differentiation is associated with increased expression of glutaminase, the main enzyme that metabolizes Gln, SNAT2, a transporter able to accumulate Gln into the cells, and asparagine synthetase, the enzyme that uses Gln to obtain asparagine (Asn). Asn rescued osteoblast differentiation of Gln-starved mesenchymal stromal cells. These results demonstrate that MM cells impair osteoblast differentiation, hindering mesenchymal Asn synthesis through Gln depletion. Besides providing a metabolic mechanism underlying osteolytic lesions in MM, these results suggest that Asn supplementation may prevent bone disease in MM patients. Abstract Multiple myeloma (MM) cells consume huge amounts of glutamine and, as a consequence, the amino acid concentration is lower-than-normal in the bone marrow (BM) of MM patients. Here we show that MM-dependent glutamine depletion induces glutamine synthetase in stromal cells, as demonstrated in BM biopsies of MM patients, and reproduced in vitro by co-culturing human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) with MM cells. Moreover, glutamine depletion hinders osteoblast differentiation of MSCs, which is also severely blunted by the spent, low-glutamine medium of MM cells, and rescued by glutamine restitution. Glutaminase and the concentrative glutamine transporter SNAT2 are induced during osteoblastogenesis in vivo and in vitro, and both needed for MSCs differentiation, pointing to enhanced the requirement for the amino acid. Osteoblastogenesis also triggers the induction of glutamine-dependent asparagine synthetase (ASNS), and, among non-essential amino acids, asparagine rescues differentiation of glutamine-starved MSCs, by restoring the transcriptional profiles of differentiating MSCs altered by glutamine starvation. Thus, reduced asparagine availability provides a mechanistic link between MM-dependent Gln depletion in BM and impairment of osteoblast differentiation. Inhibition of Gln metabolism in MM cells and supplementation of asparagine to stromal cells may, therefore, constitute novel approaches to prevent osteolytic lesions in MM.
Genome Skimming: A Rapid Approach to Gaining Diverse Biological Insights into Multicellular Pathogens

Genomic data acquisition is now trivial for biologists. Yet, moving from millions of sequence reads to an assembled and annotated genome continues to pose a daunting challenge. The first animal genome sequenced arose from the free-living model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans [1]. This venture provided an unprecedented foundation for new insights into genome function and ‘omics tool development. However, the C. elegans endeavor has been tough to repeat, even with the advent of new high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies. For example, the first plant-parasitic nematode (PPN) genomes were published ten years after the C. elegans genome [2,3], and only five publication-quality PPN genomes are presently available [4–6]. Fig 1 overviews the course of a typical genome project. Millions of DNA sequences are initially collected in a matter of days, thanks to new DNA sequencing technologies. Early analytical phases (quality control and initial assembly) are also quick and usually straightforward. However, the subsequent computational stages (refining the assembly, gene prediction, and annotation) present significant bioinformatics bottlenecks. These lengthy in silico steps require multiple iterative stages of analysis, finally leading to a finished genome deemed “good enough” for publication. These latter stages often take years. Fig 1 Genome skimming schematic. The term “genome skimming” was recently coined [7–9] to describe shallow sequencing approaches aiming to uncover conserved ortholog sequences for phylogenomic studies. Here, we overview a genome skimming strategy applied to six PPN species but expand the scope beyond phylogenetics and toward diverse questions relating to pathogen function and biology. We demonstrate our strategy’s utility in rapidly revealing insights and new hypotheses relating to nematode genome structure, effector genes, and endosymbionts.
First complete mitochondrial genome of the endemic goby, Rhinogobius davidi (Gobiiformes: Gobiidae: Gobionellinae), in China

Abstract The first complete mitochondrial genome of the freshwater goby Rhinogobius davidi was determined by high-throughput sequencing. This genome was 16,627 bp in length and consisted of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 2 non-coding control regions. Phylogenetic analysis based on the amino acid sequences of 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes from R. davidi and 23 relatives suggested that R. davidi had a close mitogenome relationship with Rhinogobius giurinus. This complete genome of R. davidi will provide basal molecular data for future studies on taxonomy, comparative genomics, and adaptive evolution in Rhinogobius.
POLLEN MORPHOLOGY OF ARTEMISIA L. (ASTERACEAE) IN IRAN

The pollen morphology of 26 species of Artemisia L. from 33 species that grow in Iran was investigated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Based on exine ornamentation observed under SEM, two types of pollen grains were recognized: type I, Exine surface have dense acute spinule or, Type II, exine surface have a sparse density of spinule. Pictures of all species and characteristics of pollen grain structure are presented.
Comparison of multitemporal compositing methods for burnt area detection in Southeast Asian conditions

This study investigated the usability of different multitemporal compositing methods for burnt area detection purposes in the humid tropical conditions of insular Southeast Asia, characterised by persisting cloud cover, varying fire‐induced spectral changes and large amount of small burn scars. Six monthly composites of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance images (MOD09) were built using six different algorithms. The performance and usability of the compositing algorithms were evaluated using three criteria: separability between burnt and unburnt areas, homogeneity and average sensor zenith angle. Maximum surface temperature method (band 31, 11.0 µm) produced the most homogeneous composites with preference to close‐to‐nadir observations. However, these composites showed unexpectedly low separability between burnt and unburnt areas, mainly due to low spatial resolution of band 31 (1000 m). Overall, taking into account the performance of the compositing methods and the large amount of small burnt areas in insular Southeast Asia, a minimum NIR (band 2, 0.86 µm) method, combined with pre‐compositing cloud and cloud shadow removal, was seen as the most suitable compositing method for burnt area detection in this region. Its strengths were 250 m spatial resolution in pixel selection and high burnt/unburnt separability combined with reasonably good performance on homogeneity and average sensor zenith angle.
Phosphorus distribution among selected abiotic and biotic components of two KwaZulu-Natal estuaries, South Africa.

Phosphorus is an essential element since it controls primary productivity in aquatic ecosystems and its excess can lead to eutrophication in receiving systems. The aim of this project was to determine phosphorus distribution in biotic and abiotic nutrient pools of two KwaZulu-Natal estuaries. Samples of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP), particulate phosphorus (PP), phytoplankton, microphytobenthos, zooplankton, macrozoobenthos and sediment were collected in the temporarily open/closed Mpenjati (MP) and permanently open Mlalazi Estuary (ML) during May (ML), September (MP) and November (ML+MP) using standard methods. Chlorophyll a concentrations as well as species richness, abundance and biomass of zooplankton and macrozoobenthos were analysed. Living and non living nutrient pools were analysed for phosphorus and were compared between stations, sampling sessions, estuaries and taxa. Zooplankton abundance and biomass in the Mlalazi Estuary was higher during May than November. In the Mpenjati Estuary highest zooplankton abundance and biomass was recorded during September than November. No significant differences were apparent in abundance (p = 0.217) and biomass (p = 0.974) of zooplankton between the two estuaries. Macrozoobenthos abundance and biomass in the Mlalazi Estuary was higher during May than November. In the Mpenjati Estuary macrozoobenthos abundance and biomass was higher during November than September. Significant differences in abundance (p = 0.003) and biomass (p = 0.020) were apparent between the estuaries. Sediment to a depth of 10 cm comprised the highest phosphorus biomass than any other nutrient pool in both Mlalazi (4871.1 mgP·m -2 ± 5888.9 SD) and Mpenjati (2578.6 mgP·m -2 ± 1828.0 SD) estuaries followed by DIP (120.5 mgP·m -2 ± 177.7 SD and 5.9 mgP·m -2 ± 6.1 SD respectively). In both estuaries, the lowest phosphorus biomass was contained in zooplankton with both estuaries containing zooplankton P biomass of 0.001 mgP·m -2 ± 0.002 SD. Particulate phosphorus and DIP concentrations were higher in the upper reaches in both estuaries indicating that rivers were the main sources of this nutrient in these systems. The Mlalazi Estuary had higher nutrient levels than the Mpenjati Estuary. Such elevated nutrients can be enhanced by the continuous river flow into the permanently open estuary. In both estuaries, no significant differences were apparent in zooplankton and macrozoobenthos P content between different taxa.
when they finance their acquisitions using equity ?

Companies that use their own stock to finance acquisitions have incentives to increase their market values prior to the acquisition. This study examines whether such companies mislead investors by issuing overly optimistic forecasts of future earnings (‘‘deception by commission’’) or by withholding bad news about future earnings (‘‘deception by omission’’). We compare the management forecasts of acquiring firms in a pre-acquisition period (days -90 to -30 before the acquisition announcement) and a post-acquisition period (days ? 30 to ? 90 after the acquisition is completed). We show that, when acquisitions are financed using stock, companies are not more likely to issue overly optimistic earnings forecasts during the pre-acquisition period compared with the postacquisition period. However, these same acquirers are more likely to withhold impending bad news about future earnings. Consistent with litigation having an asymmetric effect on disclosure incentives, our findings suggest that deception by omission occurs more often than deception by commission.
Andrzej Wojtyna

The "new economy" is a term that began to be used more frequently mid-way through the 1990s, particularly in relation to the economy of the United States. This was followed by the appearance in literature of another new term -„new economics. ” The question arises -have sufficient qualitative changes of an essential nature occurred in the economy of the United States to warrant the application of this new term to describe it? A second issue requiring consideration is whether traditional economics provides analytical tools which can be used to describe and explain these qualitatively new phenomena and relations, or has it become necessary to expand the field of economics to encompass a "new economics. " On one hand, we must determine if the changes that have occurred relate to economics and not solely to technology. On the other hand, the core problem remains whether it will be enough to re-calibrate old economic laws, or whether they will have to be formulated anew (D’Andrea Tyson, 1999). Searching for answers to these questions is particularly important in the context of the post-socialist economies which are undergoing transformation. Even Polish economists and politicians have begun to voice the view that during certain special periods selected fundamental relations cease to be valid or acquire new qualitative characteristics. As a result, there is a risk that certain controversial, untested concepts will be "imported" for the purpose of demonstrating that economic policy can be steered in such a way as to avoid making difficult choices and circumvent existing limitations. In chronological terms, the concept of the "new economy" is linked to the period of highly favorable economic conditions and growth experienced by the United States during the 1990s. Certain authors have also applied this concept to Great Britain and Denmark (Nielsen, 1999), due to the existence of economically favorable conditions in these countries. Taylor (1998) is of the opinion it is correct to use the term „long economic boom” to describe the more than fifteen year period of relatively stable economic expansion experienced by the United States, which began in November of 1982 and was interrupted solely by the short and mild
Glucocorticoid Receptor Condensates Link DNA-Dependent Receptor Dimerization and Transcriptional Transactivation

Significance Antiinflammatory steroid drugs signal through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and regulate the expression of specific target genes. It is well known that different GR response elements in regulatory DNA sequences determine if a gene is activated or repressed, but the mechanism for this is unknown. We show that GR forms phase-separated condensates, which specifically enrich transcriptional coregulator proteins. Condensates of GR bound to activating or repressive response elements exhibit different properties and are not miscible with each other. Importantly, binding to activating DNA results in enhanced recruitment of coactivators to GR condensates. This work demonstrates that GR signaling is functionally modulated by phase separation and describes a mechanism for the DNA-dependent up- and down-regulation of GR target genes. The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ligand-regulated transcription factor (TF) that controls the tissue- and gene-specific transactivation and transrepression of thousands of target genes. Distinct GR DNA-binding sequences with activating or repressive activities have been identified, but how they modulate transcription in opposite ways is not known. We show that GR forms phase-separated condensates that specifically concentrate known coregulators via their intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) in vitro. A combination of dynamic, multivalent (between IDRs) and specific, stable interactions (between LxxLL motifs and the GR ligand-binding domain) control the degree of recruitment. Importantly, GR DNA binding directs the selective partitioning of coregulators within GR condensates such that activating DNAs cause enhanced recruitment of coactivators. Our work shows that condensation controls GR function by modulating coregulator recruitment and provides a mechanism for the up- and down-regulation of GR target genes controlled by distinct DNA recognition elements.
Lagarosolen jingxiensis Yan Liu,H.S.Gao & W.B.Xu,A New Species of Gesneriaceae from Guangxi,China

A new species of Gesneriaceae,Lagarosolen jingxiensis Yan Liu,H.S. Gao W.B. Xu,from Guang～xi,China,is described and illustrated.The new species is similar to L.hispidus W.T. Wang,but differs in its leaf margin crenate,bracts linear or narrowly lanceolate,filaments 6~7 mm long,corolla lobes ovate,with 2 pale yellow stripes inside.It was only found in several karst caves in Jingxi County,Guangxi.
History of the North Atlantic cod stocks

During the last decades, all cod stocks of the North Atlantic have been exposed to gradually rising fishing pressures due in part to improvements in technology that result in increasingly efficient fishing practices. At the same time, all stocks have experiences changing environmental conditions, which, together with increasing fishing pressures, are thought to be responsible for the historical fluctuations in stock abundances and structures. Stock sizes, and the age and size structures of stocks have consequently been depleted. Such drastic changes in population sizes have raised concerns about potential (selective) changes in genetic composition and loss in genetic diversity. Today many of the stocks are heavily overfished and some are considered to have reached the stage of recruitment overfishing. In this paper, we review the state of knowledge concerning the genetic composition as well as trends in landings, fishing mortality, stocks size, stock composition and recruitment among all major cod stocks in the North Atlantic.
Breeding Has Increased the Diversity of Cultivated Tomato in The Netherlands

It is generally believed that domestication and breeding of plants has led to genetic erosion, including loss of nutritional value and resistances to diseases, especially in tomato. We studied the diversity dynamics of greenhouse tomato varieties in NW Europe, especially The Netherlands, over the last seven decades. According to the used SNP array, the genetic diversity was indeed very low during the 1960s, but is now eight times higher when compared to that dip. The pressure since the 1970s to apply less pesticides led to the introgression of many disease resistances from wild relatives, representing the first boost of genetic diversity. In Europe a second boost ensued, largely driven by German popular media who named poor tasting tomatoes Wasserbomben (water bombs). The subsequent collapse of Dutch tomato exports to Germany fueled breeding for fruit flavor, further increasing diversity since the 1990s. The increased diversity in composition of aroma volatiles observed starting from 1990s may reflect the efforts of breeders to improve fruit quality. Specific groups of aroma compounds showed different quantitative trend over the decades studied. Our study provides compelling evidence that breeding has increased the diversity of tomato varieties considerably since the 1970s.
Scabs: The Social Suppression of Labor Supply

Social norms have the potential to alter the functioning of economic markets. We test whether norms shape the aggregate labor supply curve by leading decentralized individuals to maintain wage floors in their local labor markets. We partner with existing employers who create new jobs for workers in informal spot labor markets. Unemployed workers would like to find work, and prefer to do so even at wages below the prevailing wage rather than remain unemployed. However, they rarely do so when this choice is observable to other workers. In contrast, social observability does not affect labor supply at the prevailing wage. Consistent with the idea that norms could have aggregate implications, measures of social cohesion correlate with downward wage rigidity and business cycle volatility across India.
Buried high-density polyethylene pipelines subjected to normal and strike-slip faulting — a centrifuge investigation

Permanent ground deformation is arguably the most severe hazard for continuous buried pipelines. This paper presents results from two pairs of centrifuge tests designed to investigate the differences in behavior of buried high-density polyethylene pipelines subjected to normal and strike-slip faulting. The tests results show that, as expected, the pipeline behavior is asymmetric under normal faulting and symmetric under strike-slip faulting. In the case of strike-slip faulting, the soil–pipe interaction pressure distribution is symmetric with respect to the fault. However, in the case of normal faulting, there is a pressure concentration close to the fault trace on the up-thrown side, with much lower soil–pipe interaction pressures at other locations on the pipe. The soil–pipe interaction force versus deformation relationship (i.e., the p–y relationship) was obtained based on the experimental data. The p–y relationships for both the strike-slip and normal faulting cases were also compared with the relatio.