Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long‐Term Monitoring and Evaluation of the Lower Red River Meadow Restoration Project, Idaho, U.S.A.

Although public and financial support for stream restoration projects is increasing, long‐term monitoring and reporting of project successes and failures are limited. We present the initial results of a long‐term monitoring program for the Lower Red River Meadow Restoration Project in north‐central Idaho, U.S.A. We evaluate a natural channel design’s effectiveness in shifting a degraded stream ecosystem onto a path of ecological recovery. Field monitoring and hydrodynamic modeling are used to quantify post‐restoration changes in 17 physical and biological performance indicators. Statistical and ecological significance are evaluated within a framework of clear objectives, expected responses (ecological hypotheses), and performance criteria (reference conditions) to assess post‐restoration changes away from pre‐restoration conditions. Compared to pre‐restoration conditions, we observed ecosystem improvements in channel sinuosity, slope, depth, and water surface elevation; quantity, quality, and diversity of in‐stream habitat and spawning substrate; and bird population numbers and diversity. Modeling documented the potential for enhanced river–floodplain connectivity. Failure to detect either statistically or ecologically significant change in groundwater depth, stream temperature, native riparian cover, and salmonid density is due to a combination of small sample sizes, high interannual variability, external influences, and the early stages of recovery. Unexpected decreases in native riparian cover led to implementation of adaptive management strategies. Challenges included those common to most project‐level monitoring—isolating restoration effects in complex ecosystems, securing long‐term funding, and implementing scientifically rigorous experimental designs. Continued monitoring and adaptive management that support the establishment of mature and dense riparian shrub communities are crucial to overall success of the project.
Habitat model for baiting foxes in suburban areas to counteract Echinococcus multilocularis

Abstract Context. Foxes are carriers of many zoonoses, such as the fox tapeworm. Treating foxes with medication of edible bait is often the only way of protecting people. Whereas bait can be distributed very effectively by aeroplane in rural areas, in settled areas it must be distributed by hand. In doing so it is important to get as close as possible to the foxes. Aims. In suburban areas it is important to ensure that it is mainly foxes that take the bait and that they do so within a short time. In order to achieve this, a habitat model was developed for the baiting of foxes in suburban areas. Methods. In Grünwald, a suburb of Munich, 12 foxes were radio-collared and observed to see which gardens they visited more frequently or for longer periods. At the same time, the community area was divided up by a grid. At each point on the grid, two gardens were selected: one garden known to be visited by foxes, and a control garden in which no fox had been observed. In this way the structure of average gardens in the community could be compared with those used by foxes. On this basis a model of garden use by foxes was developed and checked by a program of phototrapping in a separate area. Key results. Using sources of food, bushes and garden houses as variables, a habitat model was developed with the categories ‘unsuitable’, ‘less suitable’ and ‘very suitable’ for foxes. This correlated closely with the appearance of foxes in gardens (P < 0.001). Conclusion. The model helps to identify gardens preferred by foxes. Implications. This study shows us how to reach foxes in suburban environments quickly with bait containing medication and so contributes to improving public health. The method described, of checking a model in an area not used in the development of the model, can also be seen as a contribution towards the universalisation of models.
Curvas de crescimento em ovinos da raça morada nova criados no estado da Bahia

The objective of the present study was to evaluate non-linear models to describe Morada Nova sheep herds raised in the State of Bahia and, after defining the best suiting model, calculate the rate of absolute growth and evaluate the influence of environmental factors (sex and type of parturition) on the curve parameters. Weighting data from 40 sheep from birth up to 385 days of age were used. The non-linear models used were: Brody, Von Bertalanffy, Richards, Logistic and Gompertz. Von Bertalanffy, Brody and Richards models presented the best adjustments and were equivalent to explain the growth of the analyzed animals. A remarkable drop in the absolute growth rate was observed after weaning, suggesting that a proper diet should be implemented to supply the nutritional demands of the animals at this stage. The environmental effects (sex and type of parturition) have significantly influenced the maturity rate (k), but only the sex of the lamb affected weight at maturity (A). Animals born from single parturition proved to be heavier than twins which, in turn, presented compensatory gain. The growth of males was higher than of females and the latter presented more precocity than males. Estimated correlation between parameters A and k was negative (-0.65) for the Von Bertalanffy model and for the Brody and Richards models (-0.71) indicating that the most precocious animals are less likely to reach elevated weights when adults.
PCR-RFLP analysis of IL-2Rγ and IL-15Rα genes in Specialized Layer Chicken Lines

Abstract Singh, A.P., Kumar, S. and Gupta, T. 2008. PCR-RFLP analysis of IL-2Rγ and IL-15Rα genes in specialized layer chicken lines. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 33: 29–31. DNA polymorphism of IL-2Rγ and IL-15Rα was studied in 70 birds belonging to third generation of specialized White Leghorn chicken lines, divergently selected for humoral immune response to sheep erythrocytes by PCR-RFLP technique using specific primers. Amplification revealed product of 600bp for IL-2Rγ and 246bp for IL-15Rα genes. These amplicons digested with Hph I and Alu I revealed similar and monomorphic patterns in specialized layer chicken lines. It may be inferred that although specific primers amplified the target gene sequence but the PCR-RFLP pattern varied under different genetic backgrounds.
Estimation of total hemolymph volume in the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus

Biomedical companies extract blood from the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, for the production of Limulus Amebocyte Lysate, used worldwide for detecting endotoxins in injectable solutions and medical devices. Despite the extensive use of horseshoe crabs by the biomedical industry, total hemolymph volume for this species is not known. The hemolymph volume of 60 adult horseshoe crabs was estimated using an inulin dilution technique. Blood volume of the horseshoe crab represented as a percentage of wet body weight was 25 ± 2.2% for males and 25 ± 5.1% (mean ± SD) for females. Relationships between hemolymph volume and weight (p = 0.0026, r 2 = 0.8762), hemolymph volume and prosomal width (p < 0.0001), and hemolymph volume and inter-ocular width (p < 0.0001) were observed. No significant differences were observed between males and females. The relationship of animal size and hemolymph volume can be used to predict how much blood can be drawn from horseshoe crabs used by the biomedical industry, and can be of further use in future bleeding mortality studies.
Effects of Step-Wise Acid Leaching with HCl on Synthesis of Zeolitic Materials from Paper Sludge Ash

Incinerated ash with a relatively high Ca content, paper sludge ash, was converted to zeolitic materials with high cation-exchange capacities (CECs) by aging at 80 °C in NaOH solution via step-wise acid leaching with HCl to reduce the ash Ca content. The extraction of Ca, Mg, Si, and Al from the ash into the acid solutions during leaching and the products obtained from the leached ash by reaction with an alkali were examined. The contents of Ca and Mg in the ash were more easily extracted from the ash than those of Si and Al in the initial leaching. The leachant pH decreased with increasing numbers of leaching steps, and the amounts of Si, Al, and Ca extracted from the ash increased as a result of the dissolution of gehlenite (Ca2Al2SiO7), one of the main minerals in the ash. Zeolites A and P were synthesized from the leached ashes, and hydroxysodalite was synthesized from the raw ash. With increasing numbers of leaching steps of the ash, the obtained product contained lower released Ca, whereas the product contained higher released Na and has higher CEC, depending on the zeolite phases in the product. The product with the highest CEC was synthesized from third-leached ash, and its CEC was 1.5 mmol/g, which is about four times higher than that of the raw ash (0.4 mmol/g).
The development of lateral‐line sense organs in amphibians observed in living and vital‐stained preparations

Cutaneous organs in aquatic forms were long ago a subject of great interest to the one to whom this paper is dedicated, for , in 1903, Professor Herrick showed experimentally that the so-called terminal buds in the skin of fishes were gustatory in function. His experiments gave to our knowledge of certain fishes the critical evidence needed to separate the function of these organs from that of a system of organs, the lateralis, which had been known for a long time to exist in both fishes and amphibians. About this time there appeared another publication (Harrison, '04) which dealt with the developmental aspects of the lateral-line organs in the amphibians. I ts significance lies not only in the fact that it was the first experimental approach to an ontogenetic study of this system, but that the various problems which the methods of the investigation brought out have scarcely been realized to the present day. The method of studying in the living animal the origin and development of a sense organ, the method of studying the phenomena of growth direction and polarization in a system so admirably adapted for such investigations, the relation of these developmental phases to influences of the nervous system and the various possible genetic studies, are sufficient citations to show the broad fields which these experiments disclose.
How Does the Presentation Mode of Product Information Affect Product Evaluation? : The Mediation of Construal Level and the Moderation of Response Time

: The purpose of this study was to examine how the presentation mode (sequential- vs. simultaneous-mode) of information influences its evaluation. Three experiments revealed the interaction effect between the presentation mode and the valence of the product information. When respondents read about the positive aspects of the product, the evaluation was higher in the simultaneous presentation mode than in the sequential presentation mode. For negative product information, respondents’ evaluation was higher in the sequential presentation mode than in the simultaneous presentation mode. The simultaneous presentation mode intensified the impact of the information valence on evaluation. This study proposed that the sequential and the simultaneous presentation modes prime high and low construal levels, respectively. The mediation analysis provides support for such a prediction. Finally, the mediating effect of construal levels in evaluation was shown to disappear when respondents focused on the product information for a longer duration, while the mediation effect remained when the response time was short.
Adversarial Deep Multi-Task Learning Using Semantically Orthogonal Spaces and Application to Facial Attributes Prediction

Deep learning-based multi-task approaches usually rely on factorizing representation layers up to a certain point, where the network splits into several heads, each one addressing a specific task. Depending on the inter-task correlation, such naive model may or may not allow the tasks to benefit from each others. In this paper, we propose a novel Semantic Orthogonality Spaces (SOS) method for multi-task problems, where each task is predicted using the information from a common subspace that factorizes information among all tasks, as well as a task-specific subspace. We enforce orthogonality between these tasks by applying soft orthogonality constraints, as well as adversarially-learned semantic orthogonality objectives that ensures that predicting one task requires the specific information related to that task. We demonstrate the effectiveness of SOS on synthetic data, as well as for large-scale facial attributes prediction. In particular, we use SOS to craft a lightweight architecture that provides high-end accuracies on CelebA database.
A time-expanded network for the biomedical sample transportation problem

En esta investigacion, se propone una nueva formulacion sobre una red expandida en el tiempo para el problema de transporte de muestras medicas. El problema de transporte de muestras medicas es un problema de ruteo de vehiculos que surge en el contexto de la logistica en salud. La dificultad de este problema de transporte esta relacionada con la vida util de la muestra porque la duracion de una ruta esta limitada por el tiempo disponible para completar el transporte de la muestra antes de que perezca. Para probar la calidad y el comportamiento de la formulacion expandida en el tiempo, se realizan experimentos en un conjunto de instancias inspiradas en la operacion de la red de laboratorios de Quebec bajo la administracion del Ministere de la Sante et des Services sociaux (Ministerio de Salud y Servicios Sociales). Los resultados exponen la conveniencia de utilizar una red expandida en el tiempo para modelar el problema de transporte de muestras medicas.
Epidemiology of stage III lung cancer: frequency, diagnostic characteristics, and survival

Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) includes a highly heterogeneous group of patients with differences in the extent and localization of disease. Many aspects of stage III disease are controversial. The data supporting treatment approaches are often subject to a number of limitations, due to the heterogeneous patient populations involved in the trials. Furthermore, the definition of stage III disease has changed over time, and early studies were frequently inadequately powered to detect small differences in therapeutic outcome, were not randomized, or had a limited follow-up times. Major improvements in therapy, including the use of more active chemotherapy agents and refinements in radiation and surgical techniques, also limit the interpretation of earlier clinical trials. Lastly, improvements in pretreatment staging have led to reclassification of patients with relatively minimal metastatic disease as stage IV rather than stage III, leading to an apparent increase in the overall survival of both stage III and IV patients. Median overall stage III NSCLC survival ranges from 9 to 34 months. Higher survival rates are observed in younger Caucasian women with good performance status, adenocarcinoma, mutations, stage IIIA, and in patients with multidisciplinary-team-based diagnoses.
Correlation of Lipid Profile and Glycated Hemoglobin as a New Prognostic Criterion for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Development and Progression

The aim of the study was to assess correlations between the lipid profile and glycated hemoglobin in order to define their prognostic value as a criterion for the development and progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) in individuals with metabolic syndrome and low body mass. Materials and Methods The study included the results of examining 50 patients with metabolic syndrome (group 1), 50 with low body mass index (BMI) (group 2), 50 with DM2 (group 3), and 50 apparently healthy people (control group). Biochemical indices of the lipid profile and glycated hemoglobin in the venous blood were assessed using analyzers Clima MC-15 (Spain), BS-200, and BS-200 E (China). Results It has been established that correlations of the parameters such as high-density lipoproteins (HDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), urea, and creatinine with BMI are expressed statistically more significantly in women in groups 1 and 2 in comparison with group 3, while in men the reverse situation is observed. Besides, correlation of triglyceride levels with BMI is statistically more marked in patients with DM2 than in apparently healthy people being positive in women and negative in men. Thus, HDL, LDL, creatinine, and urea may be diagnostically significant in the assessment of the development and progression of DM2 in men with metabolic syndrome since a strong positive correlation has been found between them and BMI, triglycerides were also found to be significant because a strong negative correlation has been detected between them and BMI. For women with metabolic syndrome, the combination of a weak correlation of BMI with the levels of HDL, LDL, urea, and creatinine and a strong positive correlation with triglycerides may be considered to be a prognostically significant index. Conclusion New correlation characteristics of biochemical blood indices in DM2 may serve as prognostic criteria for disease development and progression.
Patterns of plant species richness along riverbanks

We studied bank vegetation between the spring high-water level and the summer low-water level along two rivers in northern Sweden. The hypothesis that natural and ruderal species would show different downstream patterns of species richness was tested by sampling species composition and environmental variables along 200 m long stretches of riverbank, 10 km apart. Natural species richness was highest in the midreaches of both rivers, whereas ruderal species showed a significant, monotonic increase down- stream. There are no obvious mechanisms producing the quadratic pattern of natural species richness. The downstream increase in ruderal species suggests a founder effect depending on larger artificial disturbances near the coast, but alternative explanations are also given. Total species richness did not exhibit any interpretable downstream patterns. The only factors significantly correlated with total species richness along both rivers were substrate heterogeneity and substrate fineness. Total species richness increased with substrate het- erogeneity and was at maximum at intermediate levels of substrate fineness. This suggests that co-occurrence of natural and ruderal species is most likely where substrate types are numerous and dominant substrate particle size intermediate. Kep u'ords. natural species; northern Sweden; riparian vegetation; river; riverbank; ruderal species;
Revisiting the past to foretell the future: summer temperature and habitat area predict pika extirpations in California

The American pika (Ochotona princeps) appears to have experienced climate‐mediated upslope range contraction in the Great Basin of North America, but this result has not yet been extended to other portions of the pika's range. Our goals were: first, to determine the environmental parameters that most influence current pika distribution within California; second, to infer whether these constraints explain extirpations that have occurred in California; third, to predict future extirpations; and fourth, to advance methods for assessing the degree to which pikas and other climate‐sensitive mammals are threatened by climate change.
The green algal genera Rhipiliopsis A. & E.S. Gepp and Rhipiliella gen. nov. (Udoteaceae, Bryopsidales) in Australia and the Philippines

Abstract Four new species of Rhipiliopsis from eastern (R. gracilis, R. howensis, R. millarii) and western (R. multiplex) Australia and one new species (R. carolyniae) from the Philippines are described and compared anatomically with the type of the genus, R. peltata (J. Agardh) A. & E.S. Gepp. Rhipiliopsis echinocaulos (Cribb) Farghaly comb. nov. from eastern Australia has also been studied. All are characterized by corticated or spinous mono- or multisiphonous stalks, polystromatic blades, and siphons which either cohere directly at scattered localized sites or form lateral attachment processes. Distinguishing features include habit, number of siphon layers composing the blade, presence or lack ofblade differentiation into distinct medullary and cortical regions, siphon diameter and shape, degree of constriction above siphon dichotomies, presence (and distribution) or absence of spines on blade siphons, and stalk anatomy. Rhipiliopsis multiplex is unique in producing branching erect axes with tiers of p.
Energy Capacity of Waffle-Flat-Plate Structures with Hysteretic Dampers Subjected to Bidirectional Seismic Loadings

This study investigates the capacity, in terms of energy, of waffle-flat-plate (WFP) structures with hysteretic dampers subjected to biaxial seismic actions. A numerical model was developed and calibrated with the experimental results obtained from shake-table testing carried out on a WFP specimen subjected to biaxial seismic loads. Then the WFP system was retrofitted with hysteretic dampers—slit-plate dampers (SPDs)—and the numerical model was subjected to different sets of ordinary ground motion records to attain different seismic performance levels (SPLs). Each set of records was applied in a sequence of scaled seismic simulations until the SPL of near collapse was achieved. The capacity in terms of input energy and dissipated energy are presented for the different SPLs, taking into account the differences observed under unidirectional and bidirectional seismic loadings. Furthermore, the level of damage (i.e., accumulated plastic deformations), the level of ductility and the relationship between them—expressed as equivalent number of cycles—are also shown for both the WFP system and the hysteretic dampers. The seismic capacity of the WFP system is found to be significantly enhanced by the inclusion of hysteretic dampers.
Evaluation of waste products in the synthesis of surfactants by yeasts

The highest yields of biosurfactants were obtained by: (i) Pseudozyma antarctica (107.2 g L−1) cultivated in a medium containing post-refining waste; (ii) Pseudozyma aphidis (77.7 g L−1); and (iii) Starmerella bombicola (93.8 g L−1) both cultivated in a medium with soapstock; (iv)Pichia jadinii (67.3 g L−1) cultivated in a medium supplemented with waste frying oil. It was found that the biosurfactant synthesis yield increased in all strains when the cell surface hydrophobicity reached 70–80 %, enabling the microbial cells to make good contact with hydrophobic substrates. The lowest surface tension of the post-cultivation medium was from 32.0 mN m−1 to 37.8 mN m−1. However, this parameter (which was also determined by a drop collapse assay) was of limited use in monitoring biosurfactant synthesis in this study. The crude glycerol was not a good substrate for biosurfactant synthesis although, in the case of P. aphidis, 67.4 g L−1 of biosurfactants were obtained after cultivation in the medium supplemented with glycerol fraction (GF2). In a low-cost medium containing soapstock and whey permeate or molasses, about 90 g L−1 of mannosylerythritol lipids were synthesised by P. aphidis and approximately 40 g L−1 by P. antarctica.
EFFET DE LA TENEUR EN PROTÉINES DE RATIONS A BASE DE SOJA OU DE SÉSAME SUR LA CROISSANCE DU LAPIN

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. EFFET DE LA TENEUR EN PROTÉINES DE RATIONS A BASE DE SOJA OU DE SÉSAME SUR LA CROISSANCE DU LAPIN F. Lebas, Marie-Claude Cousin, G. Sardi