Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RELATIONSHIPS RETWEEN THE DISTRIBUTIONS OF QUERCUS SECT HETEROBALANUS(FAGACEAE)AND UPLIFT OF HIMALAYAS

Quercus sect. Heterobalanus (Oerst.) Menits. is a group of oaks consisting of 9 species. They are distributed from Chiang Mai in Thailand to southwest China, Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal and Afghanistan. However, they are mainly concentrated in eastern Himalayan areas, particularly in the Hengduan Mountains. They are dominant elements in vegetation types of Hengduan mountains. Relationships between the distributions of the section and uplift of Himalayas are discussed in the present paper. Taxonomical revision is carried out at first and 12 species of the section are reduced to 9. Based on taxonomical revision, the modern distribution, fossil history and systematic position of the section are discussed. The fossil record of this section extended back to the Miocene. Early fossil oaks of this section were found mixed with other oaks or Fagaceae, which formed evergreen broadleaf forests in subtropical region of China and east Asia. The younger fossil (the Late Miocene) records showed that oaks of this section had become the dominant element in floras. A hypothesis was proposed that Sect. Heterobalanus had its origins in these subtropical broadleaf forests. This type of forest was widely distributed in many regions including the Hengduan Mountains. After the Tertiary Indian plate collided with Eurasia it caused the uplifting of Himalayas and the formation of the Hengduan Mountains where the climate became cold and dry. Such an environment was not ideal for most broadleaf evergreen trees. However, oaks of sect. Heterobalanus, having obvious xerophytic characters such as dense hairs, thick cuticles, lignified epidermal cell walls and cuticles, and low stomatal density, were adapted to such an environment and therefore became dominant elements in the Hengduan Mountain regions. This hypothesis is partly supported by modern distribution, fossil history and AFLP evidences. 
The impact of immobile zones on the transport and retention of nanoparticles in porous media

Nanoparticle transport and retention within porous media is treated by conceptualizing the porous media as a series of independent collectors (e.g., Colloid Filtration Theory). This conceptualization assumes that flow phenomena near grain‐grain contacts, such as immobile zones (areas of low flow), exert a negligible influence on nanoparticle transport and assumes that retention and release of particles depends only on surface chemistry. This study investigated the impact of immobile zones on nanoparticle transport and retention by employing synchrotron X‐ray computed microtomography (SXCMT) to examine pore‐scale silver nanoparticle distributions during transport through three sand columns: uniform iron oxide, uniform quartz, and well‐graded quartz. Extended tailing was observed during the elution phase of all experiments suggesting that hydraulic retention in immobile zones, not detachment from grains, was the source of tailing. A numerical simulation of fluid flow through an SXCMT data set predicted the presence of immobile zones near grain‐grain contacts. SXCMT‐determined silver nanoparticle concentrations observed that significantly lower nanoparticle concentrations existed near grain‐grain contacts throughout the duration of all experiments. In addition, the SXCMT‐determined pore‐scale concentration gradients were found to be independent of surface chemistry and grain size distribution, suggesting that immobile zones limit the diffusive transport of nanoparticles toward the collectors. These results suggest that the well‐known overprediction of nanoparticle retention by traditional CFT may be due to ignoring the influences of grain‐grain contacts and immobile zones. As such, accurate prediction of nanoparticle transport requires consideration of immobile zones and their influence on both hydraulic and surface retention.
An Ensemble Learning Strategy for Panel Time Series Forecasting of Excess Mortality During the COVID-19 Pandemic (preprint)

Quantifying and analyzing excess mortality in crises such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is crucial for policymakers. The traditional way it is measured does not account for differences in the level, long-term secular trends, and seasonal patterns in all-cause mortality across countries and regions. This paper develops and empirically investigates the forecasting performance of a novel flexible and dynamic ensemble learning strategy for seasonal time series forecasting of monthly respiratory diseases deaths data across a pool of 61 heterogeneous countries. The strategy is based on a Bayesian Model Ensemble (BME) of heterogeneous time series methods involving both the selection of the subset of best forecasters (model confidence set), the identification of the best holdout period for each contributed model, and the determination of optimal weights using the out-of-sample predictive accuracy. A model selection strategy is also developed to remove the outlier models and to combine the models with reasonable accuracy in the ensemble. The empirical results of this large set of experiments show that the accuracy of the BME approach improves noticeably by using a flexible and dynamic holdout period selection. Additionally, that the BME forecasts of respiratory disease deaths for each country are highly accurate and exhibit a high correlation (94%) with COVID-19 deaths in 2020.
Molecular taxonomic analysis of the plant associations of adult pollen beetles ( Nitidulidae : Meligethinae ) , and the population structure of

Ouvrard, P., Hicks, D. M. , Mouland, M. , Nicholls, J. A. , Baldock, K. C. R. , Goddard, M. A. , Kunin, W. E. , Potts, S. G. , Thieme, T. , Veromann, E. and Stone, G. N. (2016) Molecular taxonomic analysis of the plant associations of adult pollen beetles (Nitidulidae: Meligethinae), and the population structure of Brassicogethes aeneus. Genome, 59 (12). pp. 1101­1116. ISSN 1480­3321 doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/gen­ 2016­0020 Available at http://centaur.reading. ac.uk/68135/
school-Clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors among obese schoolchildren: the Taipei Children Heart Study 1–3

Background: Childhood obesity increases the risk of obesity in adulthood and is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. Objective: We evaluated the clustering of CVD risk factors among obese schoolchildren in Taiwan. Design: After multistage sampling of 85 junior high schools in Taipei, we randomly selected 1366 children (681 boys and 685 girls) aged 13.3 y (range: 12–16 y). Anthropometric, blood pressure (BP), and biochemical CVD risk factors (including blood glucose, lipid, and lipoprotein concentrations) were measured. Results: Boys had a higher body mass index, systolic BP, and glucose concentrations than girls and girls had higher lipid and lipoprotein concentrations than boys. After adjustment for age, obese boys had a significantly higher BP, ratio of total to HDL cholesterol, and glucose, cholesterol, triacylglycerol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I, and apolipoprotein B concentrations than nonobese boys. BP, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and ratio of total to HDL cholesterol were significantly different between nonobese and obese girls. Approximately 70% of obese boys had one and 25% had two or more CVD risk factors other than obesity. Obese girls had a significantly higher prevalence of high BP and a higher prevalence of CVD risk factor clustering than nonobese girls. Conclusions: Boys had higher glucose concentrations and BP and lower lipid concentrations than girls. We found an association between obesity and higher BP and between obesity and blood glucose and lipid concentrations for both sexes. Clustering of CVD risk factors was especially apparent among the obese children. A clustering of CVD risk factors may begin during early adolescence among the obese.
Abordagem etnobotânica sobre plantas medicinais citadas por populações do entorno de uma unidade de conservação da caatinga do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

Ethnobotanical approach to medicinal plants mentioned by people from the environs of a caatinga conservation unit in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Caatinga, the only exclusively Brazilian biome, has suffered exploitation of its natural resources, with loss of biodiversity associated with wood and plant extract supply. The resulting impacts on this biome have led to the search for strategies for its conservation like the establishment of Conservation Units (CUs), such as the Ecological Station of Serido (ESEC Serido) located in Rio Grande do Norte State. The human communities in ESEC Serido environs maintain a strong relationship with this conservation unit. Considering that the misuse of caatinga resources has been strongly linked to the needs of its inhabitants, this work aimed to investigate the environmental perception of communities from the environs of ESEC Serido, focusing on the popular knowledge about plants of medicinal use. This investigation recorded 48 native and 39 exotic species, of which 31 and 14 species, respectively, had medicinal properties. The communities surveyed showed a deep knowledge of the plants found in that region and the wealth of these results is relevant for future management strategies in this Conservation Unit.
Speciation of heavy metals in Lake Ta ihu sediments of Core MS

The BCR sequential extraction proce dure is applied to the speciation of heavy metals(Cu,Fe,Mn,Ni,Pb and Zn)in lake sediments of Core MS in Lake Taihu,and the error analysis of BCR method is also performed.The results show that the BCR method h as better stability for the extracti on of speciation of heavy metals in th e lake sediments.In the extractable forms of the heavy metals,Cu,Ni and Pb are mainly associated with organic /sulp hide fractions and Fe-Mn oxide fractions;Fe and Zn mainly with Fe-Mn oxide fra ctions;and Mn mainly with exchangeable and carbonate fractio ns.The organic /sulphide fractions of Cu,Mn,Ni,Pb and Zn have good correlation with TOC,and the Fe-Mn o xide fractions of Ni,Pb and Zn have good correlation with Mn of Fe-Mn oxide fraction,which reflects the geochemical properties of the heavy metals and their correlation with the physiochemical characteristics of the sediments.T he variations of the speciation in Co re MS can be divided into two periods:the extractable forms of the elements have stable concentrations between 13and 4cm,which indicates the nature sources of the heavy metals;all the e xtractable forms of the heavy metals show high values in the top 4cm sediments,indicating the anthropogenic inputs of heavy metals from the rapid industrial,agricultural and domestic sources during recent 20years in the Lake Taihu basin.The pollution elem ents and their pollution history reflected by the sediments of Core MS are in agre ement with the economy types and seed time of Lake Taihu basin.Results from this study are useful in accessing the chemical changes,pollution a nd the releasing into the water envir onment of heavy metals in Lake Taihu sedimen ts.
Observations on the polyneuropathy and the disordered pyruvate metabolism induced by nitrofurazone in cases of sleeping sickness due to "Trypanosoma rhodesiense"

Reference has already been made in the literature to trials with nitro-furazone (5-nitro-2-furfuraldehyde semicarbazone) in sleeping sickness (Evens et al., 1957; Apted, 1960) and to the need for an effective therapeutic agent in the treatment of subjects with infections refractory to melarsoprol. The ultimate results of nitrofurazone in the treatment of advanced late-stage sleeping sickness due to Trypanosoma rhodesiense are irregular and unpredictable (Apted, 1960; Robertson, 1961 a) but because good results may be sometimes obtained in patients with an otherwise hopeless prognosis, nitrofurazone merits further investigation. Fierlafyn (1960) has reported favourably on the initial results of nitrofurazone treatment in T. gambiense infections but long term results have not yet been obtained. Nitrofurazone has, however, serious disadvantages
ANALYSING LARG SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES IN IRANIAN CEMENT INDUSTRIES

In the contemporary highly competitive international business environment companies have to exercise great care in devising entry strategies for foreign markets. Therefore, supply chain management (SCM) is considered a strategic factor for the better attainment of organizational goals such as enhanced competitiveness, improved customer service and increased pro ﬁ tability. Because the, Supply chain management as a vital challenge to the Cement industry and developing infrastructure as a whole has been posed by scholars. This article analyses Lean, Agile, Resilient, and Green (LARG) supply chain management competitive strategies in Iranian cement industries. The lean, agile, resilient and green SCM paradigms had been adopted to improve the SC performance. We used Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) technique to weighting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) based on LARG supply chain management practices for 11 Iranian cement companies. Then the Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) matrix used to check if which strategy is appropriate. In the SPACE matrix we assessed Iranian cement industries across four dimensions include: Industry Attractiveness (IA), Environmental Stability (ES), Competitive Advantage (CA) and Financial Strength (FS). The results showed that Iranian cement industries can follow an aggressive strategy as it leverages its strengths into the opportunities. Iranian cement industries are also blessed because it has a good competitive advantage in an industry which is considered to be attractive. Among the strategic choices, develop new local markets strategy has the ﬁ rst priority, followed by the; Increase production capacity, Export markets development, Diversi ﬁ cation in product with QSPM method. Finally, some actions recommended for Iranian cement industries in such a strong position.
THE DOWNSIDE RISK APPROACH TO COST OF EQUITY DETERMINATION FOR SLOVENIAN, CROATIAN AND SERBIAN CAPITAL MARKETS

In developed countries Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is the most frequently used model for determination of the cost of equity. On the other hand, there is no consensus about which model would be the most appropriate and easy to use for the estimation of cost of equity in emerging markets.The aim of this research is to analyze on the basis of Estrada’s work (2000; 2007) four different risk measures based on standard deviation, beta, downside risk and downside beta, as well as corresponding asset pricing models for capital markets of Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia in order to determine the most appropriate asset pricing model and to estimate the costs of equity for selected markets. It should be pointed out that asset pricing research in general is scarce for selected markets and that similar research was not done for them. Results of the research show that for total selected market the most appropriate risk measure out of four proposed is downside risk, while the model that best explains full sample mean returns contains combination of downside risk and downside beta. Results of the research favor downside risk measure for each selected market. When considering multiple regressions with the highest explanatory power for each selected market, results show that all multiple regressions contain downside risk as a risk variable and beta or downside beta as additional systematic risk variable, indicating one more time importance of downside risk for Slovenian, Croatian and Serbian capital markets.The results show that the average cost of equity estimated on the basis of asset pricing model with downside risk as a risk measure amounts to 20.16% for full sample. The results also indicate that Serbia has the highest cost of equity and that the cost of equity for Slovenian and Croatian capital markets is lower and rather similar.
The Access Gap: Poverty and Characteristics of School Library Media Centers

Stephen Krashen believes that schools can counter the effects of poverty in at least one area: access to books. However, little research has been done to determine whether students living in poverty have access to school library services comparable to those attending schools with low concentrations of students living in poverty. We examined the school library access gap; namely, the differences in school library characteristics (staffing, books added to collection, schedule, and number of days closed) in schools with various concentrations of students living in poverty. Alarmingly, we found that the students in most need—those attending schools with the highest concentrations of students living in poverty—had the fewest school library resources to draw on. Findings suggest that if we hope to close achievement gaps between high and low socioeconomic groups, we must attend to the access gap in school libraries in high- and low-poverty schools.
MedEdPublish Manuscript

Stress is a psychological change that is becoming ever more frequent among medical school students than that of the general population, and these stress levels may affect academic performance. When the individual learning style does not fit into the method used by the student’s university, the clash may become another stress factor. We evaluated preferred learning styles (Honey-Alonso Learning Styles Questionnaire) and stress levels (Lipp Inventory of Stress Symptoms for Adults) among medical students from two universities in the state of São Paulo that apply different teaching methods. The results showed that and the majority of the students were found to exhibit the reflexive learning style at both schools (60.4% at UNOESTE and 32.7% in FACERES) and high stress levels overall among the students (68.2% at UNOESTE and 74.0% at FACERES) in the resistance phase (81%), and there was a predominance of psychological symptoms of stress over physical symptoms at both universities (75.86% of students at UNOESTE and 86.48% at FACERES). Female students were found to exhibit higher stress levels than their male counterparts (72% and 55%, respectively). However, we didn ́t find any statistical association between stress level and learning style. This is the first study to compare stress levels, learning styles, and teaching methodologies at two different medical schools. Original article Open Access Corresponding author: Prof Patricia Maluf Cury pmcury@hotmail.com Institution: 1. Faceres Medical School, 2. Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto, 3. Universidade do Oeste Paulista, 4. Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto, 5. Faceres Medical School, 6. Faceres Medical School, 7. Faceres Medical School, 8. Faceres Medical School Categories: Education Management, Students/Trainees, Teaching and Learning Botelho F, Bergamo I, Oliveira M, Trevizan F, Pacca F, Fucuta P, Cury P MedEdPublish http://dx.doi. org/10.15694/mep.2017. 000022
A spatial multi-scale ﬂuorescence microscopy toolbox discloses entry checkpoints of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Vero E6 cells

We exploited a multi-scale microscopy imaging toolbox to address some major issues related to SARS-CoV-2 interactions with host cells. Our approach harnesses both conventional and super-resolution ﬂu-orescence microscopy and easily matches the spatial scale of single-virus/cell checkpoints. After its validation through the characterization of infected cells and virus morphology, we leveraged this toolbox to reveal subtle issues related to the entry phase of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Vero E6 cells. Our results show that in Vero E6 cells the B.1. 1.7 strain (aka Alpha Variant of Concern) is associated with much faster kinetics of endocytic uptake compared to its ancestor B.1. 177. Given the cell-entry scenario dominated by the endosomal ‘‘late pathway”, the faster internalization of B.1. 1.7 could be directly related to the N501Y mutation in the S protein, which is known to strengthen the binding of Spike receptor binding domain with ACE2. Remarkably, we also directly observed the central role of clathrin as a mediator of endocytosis in the late pathway of entry. In keeping with the clathrin-mediated endocytosis, we highlighted the non-raft membrane localization of ACE2. Overall, we believe that our ﬂuorescence microscopy-based approach represents a fertile strategy to investigate the molecular features of SARS-CoV-2 interactions with cells. (cid:1) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creative-commons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Audit fees : an analysis of the family and nonfamily business listed on the BM & FBovespa

Objective – Examine the relationship between audit fees and the quality of financial information in familiar and non-familiar companies listed on the BM&FBovespa. Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive, documentary research with application of average test and linear regression model, using data from 2009, 2010 and 2011 of a sample of 133 family businesses and 128 non-familiar BM&FBovespa. The basis for the study was Ghosh and Tang (2015). Findings The findings indicate a rejection of the hypothesis through the average test and regression model, in which the variable dependent (family firms) was not statistically significant. This result differs from that obtained by Ghosh and Tang (2015) and makes inference to the characteristics of the companies and the Brazilian market. Practical implications – Enabled the discussion on the relationship between audit fees and the structure of ownership and control of Brazilian companies, going through the theme of quality of financial information. It also helped the identification of key explanatory variables for audit fees. In family firms included: size, foreign-sales, mergers and/or acquisitions (M&A), Big Four, and in non-family firms: size, regulation, busy-season, Big Four and auditor-tenure.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 12 th WORLD RABBIT CONGRESS

The interest in phytogenic feed additives has been increased in rabbit nutrition since the ban of antibiotic as growth enhancer.The current study compared the effect of dietary inclusion of potential antioxidants (vitamin E vs. artemisia powder) on growth performance, dressing percentage and some physico-chemical characteristics of refrigerated loin meat stored at 4°C for 6 days. Eighty- 5 week old NZW rabbits were equally distributed among 4 experimental treatments and fed on diets with one of the following supplements per kg diet for 8 weeks; none (a basal control diet; 60mg vitamin E), 100mg vitamin E, 200mg or 400mg artemisia powder). Results indicate that live weight gain and hot dressing percentage were significantly ( p =0.001 and 0.035, respectively) higher in both turmeric supplemented groups compared to the control and 100mg vitamin E groups. Feed conversion ratio was significantly ( p =0.001) improved in all antioxidants supplemented groups compared to the control. The 200mg/kg diet of artemisia powder group had more 21.36, 3.61 and 14.78% better live weight gain, dressing percentage and feed conversion ratio, respectively than the control group. Chemical composition of the loin meat, especially in terms of higher crude protein and lower ether extract contents was significantly affected with artemisia at the rate of 200mg/kg diet. Also, rate of oxidative rancidity of loin meat was significantly reduced with artemisia feeding at 1, 3 and 6 days following refrigerated storage, irrespective of supplementation rate. It could be recommended to fortify growing rabbit diet with artemisia powder at the rate of 200mg/kg diet to improve the growth performance and oxidative stability of refrigerated meat.