Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Life history traits of aquatic non-indigenous species: freshwater vs. marine habitats

One of the most dominant concepts in invasion ecology is the stage-based invasion model, consisting of transport, introduction, establishment and spread. Many species fail at one of the stages, with propagule pressure (i.e. number of introduced individuals) identified as a principal factor affecting establishment success. Population characteristics such as phenotypic plasticity and beneficial life history traits may facilitate successful transition of species through different stages of the process; however, studies on the latter are not so common and most of those studies focus on terrestrial taxa. In this study, we hypothesized seven life history traits that may be beneficial for invasion success of aquatic species, and determined those traits for established non-indigenous species (NIS) in the North and Baltic Seas (i.e. marine environment) and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River regions (i.e. freshwater environment). This is the first study that examined certain life history traits of all NIS established in particular regions, as well as compared those traits between marine and freshwater habitats. Our study determined some differences in life history traits between NIS in the marine and freshwater habitats. Those differences were connected to different taxonomic groups that were dominant NIS in these two types of habitats. Furthermore, species originating from different donor regions had also different life history traits. The majority of NIS in both regions were r-strategists. There was a significantly higher number of NIS that were able to reproduce both asexually and sexually and to produce dormant stages in the freshwater than in marine habitat. Finally, as r-strategy, asexual reproduction and dormancy were dominant traits of NIS in the freshwater habitat, freshwater ecosystems may be under greater invasion risk than marine ones, as those traits reduce both demographic and environmental stochasticity during the invasion process.
Dynamic Alliances⇤

Alliance arrangements frequently change despite the costs of forming new pacts and terminating existing ones. Scholars typically attribute states’ alliance decisions to static considerations, such as the power balance, or retrospective changes, such as past power shifts. We highlight another factor: prospective changes, particularly anticipated military strength shifts. We analyze a three-country bargaining model of alliances and war that incorporates forward-looking power dynamics. The model, unlike those restricting players to set roles, flexibly allows players to ally in any arrangement. We find that alliance arrangements which are optimal when power is static are often suboptimal when power fluctuates. Accordingly, states strategically alter alliance arrangements in anticipation of military strength shifts. Extensive empirical analyses corroborate the expectation. Moving from a static power environment to one in which states anticipate sizable shifts increases expected alliance changes by 70%. Future considerations affect the alliances that states forge to navigate the changing international landscape.
The reproductive biology of tilefish, Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps Goode and Bean, from the United States Mid-Atlantic Bight, and the effects of fishing on the breeding system

To investigate the reproductive biology of tilefish, LopkQ/atilus ckalll(U'! eolltir.ep3 Goode and Bean, we sampled the commerciallongline fishery from 1978 to 1982. Results suggested that tilefish are fractional spawners from March to November with a spawning peak from May to September. Estimates of fecundity ranged from about 195 x 103 to 10 x 106 (for 53 em FL, 2.1 kg and 91 em FL, 13 kg females), but only 60-85% of the ovarian eggs appeared to have been released by the end of the spawning season. Tilefish are apparently gonochoristic however, some adult males bad slight amounts of ovarian tissue within the testicular mass. Sex ratios were skewed in favor of males at larger sizes; however, both sexes were present at most ages. All juveniles and unsexed fish «400 mm FL) appeared to be female (i.e., gonad cell structure consisted of oogonia and previtellogenic oocytes), suggesting that some tilefish may undergo prematurational sex reversal, or that early gonad development involves an all female appearing stage. Tilefish may have a complex breeding system that is behaviorally mediated. Both sexes are functionally mature at ca. 50 em FL and 5 years, but some males appear to delay participation in spawning for 2-3 years and 10-15 cm in additional length. Tilefish are sexually dimorphic, with males attaining larger sizes and developing conspicuously enlarged predordal adipose flaps (an apparent indicator of male breeding status) at 65-70 cm FL (6-7 years), when males begin to participate in spawning (Le., develop large testes), not when they are functionally mature (Le., producing sperm). The rapidly expanding fishery from 1978 to 1982, which reduced population density by one-half to two-thirds, may have altered the breeding system by causing males to spawn at smaller sizes (10 cm) and younger ages (2-2.5 years) in 1982 than in 1978.
Effects of Chicory Powder and Butyric Acid Combination on Broiler Chickens

The risk of antibiotic resistance by continuous administration of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in animal feed led to a ban on sub-therapeutic use of AGPs in poultry diets in European Union since January 2006. One of the consequences of excluding AGPs from broiler diets will be inevitably change in the microbial ecology of intestinal tract in chicks (Knarreborg et al. 2002). Different alternatives for antibiotics are proposed such as organic acids, probiotics, prebiotics and phytogenic products (Dahiya et al. 2006). Amongst the organic acids, short chain fatty acids (SCFA) such as butyric acid (BA) are considered as potential alternative to AGPs. Butyrate which is derived from the fermentation of non starch polysaccharides (NSP) is considered to be important for normal development of epithelial cells (Pryde et al. 2002). However, the levels of SCFA are quite low in the distal gastrointestinal (GI) tract and caeca of young broiler chickens (Van der Wielen, 2006) and so the young chicks may be the best candidates for dietary supplementation. It was shown that dietary inclusion of BA had no effect on body weight or weight gain, but birds The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different levels of chicory root and stem powder (CRSP) and butyric acid (BA) combination on the performance, carcass traits, relative weight of internal organs and some blood parameters in broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty one-day-old broilers (Ross 308) were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments with six replicates of 10 birds each. The treatments were: 1) basal diet without CRSP and BA (control group), 2) basal diet + 15 g/kg CRSP + 0.3% BA (CRSP15), 3) basal diet + 30 g/kg CRSP + 0.3% BA (CRSP30) and 4) basal diet + 45 g/kg CRSP + 0.3% BA (CRSP45). At day forty six, two birds per replicate (pen) were randomly selected and slaughtered for carcass traits and some blood parameter measurements. The results showed that body weight gain of birds fed CRSP45 diet was significantly (P<0.05) higher than those fed on the other treatment diets during starter (1-21 d), grower (22-46 d) and whole experimental period (1-46 d). The drumstick and breast yield as a percentage of live body weight were significantly (P<0.05) higher in birds fed CRSP45 diet compared with those fed the control diet. There were not significant effect (P>0.05) of dietary treatments on serum biochemical parameters and relative weights of abdominal organs excluding the liver.
Fermentation Characteristics in Sheep as Affected

With increase in the probability of transmissible antibiotic resistance to human, the use of growth-promoter antibiotics in animal production systems has been banned in most developed countries (European Union, 2003). The removal of antibiotics has led the scientists’ interest on investigation for the alternatives (Busquet et al. 2005; Iason, 2005; Durmic et al. 2014). Medicinal plants and their extracts as natural alternative to antibiotics showed the potential of manipulating the rumen fermentation to improve the utilization of nutrients (Busquet et al. 2005; Kim et al. 2013; Kim et al. 2015). The bioactive constituents of these compounds are secondary metabolites that are produced by plants to protect themselves against plant diseases and insects (Wallace, 2004). Malva sylvestris usually known as common Mallow is native to Asia, Europe, and north Africa and have been used as a medicinal plant since a long time ago. In the Mediterranean region, Malva sylvestris has a long history of use as food and potent drug in traditional and ethno veterinary medicines because of its antiinflammatory, antioxidant, anti-complementary, anticancer and skin tissue integrity characteristics (Gasparetto et al. 2011). The whole aerial parts of Malva sylvestris or its leaves have been administrated to ruminant to treat colic, blocked rumen, mastitis, young calves’ diarrhea, respiration problem and reproductive disorder (Gonzalez et al. 2010; Idolo et al. 2010). The objective of this study was to investigate in vitro effect of Malva sylvestris leaf extract (at 0, 25, 50 and 100 μL/30 mL of medium) on sheep ruminal cellulolytic and total viable bacteria growth, protozoa populations, methane production, neutral detergent fiber degradability (NDFD) and fermentation efficiency of oat hay. The addition of Malva sylvestris leaf extract at 25, 50 and 100 μL led to a linear increase (P<0.01) in vitro truly degraded dry matter (INTDDM), NDFD and partitioning factor (PF) of oat hay and decrease (P<0.01) methane emission after 24 hours of incubation. The addition of Malva sylvestris leaf extract resulted in a decrease (P<0.01) in potential of gas production at 25 and 50 μL and increase in lag time (0.95, 1.01 and 1.13 h relative to 0.61 h), constant rate of gas production (b) and gas produced at half-life (c) at 25, 50 and 100 μL. The addition of this extract decreased a number of total protozoa and Entodinium, Isotrichae, Diplodinium and Ophryoscolex species (P<0.01). The number of total and cellulolytic bacteria was not influenced by the addition of Malva sylvestris leaf extract. The result of this study demonstrated that Malva sylvestris extract had some potential for improving the rumen fermentation.
Using rock physics for constructing synthetic sonic logs

Knowledge of velocity-depth trends in shales is important for determining background velocity, interpreting seismic data and for predicting abnormal pressures for drilling purposes. However, the existing log data on shale formations is often unavailable or unreliable. Hence, we have used both empirical and effective medium theory based rock physics models for constructing synthetic sonic logs for mudstone sequences at North Sea wells. Our approach is to use resistivity or porosity as the independent variables. The RMS errors for the resistivity based Faust (1953) and Hubert (2008) models are 3.2-11.6 % and 4.2-11.7 %, respectively. The RMS errors are 4.4-7.9% and 4.4-12.7% for the porosity-based Wyllie (1951) and Holt & Fjær (2003) models, respectively. In terms of model complexity it is the Faust (1951) model that provides the best fit to the measured sonic data since it has the fewest number of fitting parameters. ROCKENG09: Proceedings of the 3rd CANUS Rock Mechanics Symposium, Toronto, May 2009 (Ed: M.Diederichs and G.Grasselli)
The association between Staphylococcus epidermidis and palmitic acid level in patients with acne vulgaris

Introduction: Acne vulgaris is an inflammatory disorder of the pilosebaceous gland. Palmitic acid is one of the major types of free fatty acid and may play a role in acne pathogenesis. In addition, recent studies suggested that Staphylococcus epidermidis might be involved in acne. Objective: To explore the association between Staphylococcus epidermidis and palmitic acid in acne vulgaris. Methods: Forty-three high school students at an urban area in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, were included. The palmitic acid level was measured using gas chromatography and comedone was cultured to detect the microbiota profile. Mann-Whitney test was used to analyze the median palmitic level difference between groups with different acne vulgaris severity. Results: Fourteen patients (32.6%) had mild acne vulgaris, while 14 and 15 patients had moderate and severe acne vulgaris, respectively. The severe and moderate group showed significantly higher palmitic acid level compared with the mild group. Subgroup analysis of patients with moderate and severe acne vulgaris positive for S. epidermidis showed a significantly higher palmitic acid level compared with the mild group. Conclusions: This result suggests that S. epidermidis may be associated with the palmitic acid level and may contribute to acne pathogenesis.
Diet Quality as a Mediator of the Relation between Income-to-Poverty Ratio and Overweight/Obesity among Adults: Moderating Effect of Sex

Poverty status influences obesity and dietary quality, and dietary quality influences obesity. How these relationships differ by sex is unclear. The current study aims were to 1) determine whether dietary quality mediates the relation between income-to-poverty ratio (IPR) and overweight/obesity (OV/OB) among men and women, separately, and 2) determine whether either of the mediated paths differs by sex. Four cycles of NHANES (2007-2014) were merged to obtain an unweighted study sample of 12,768 adults with complete data. Exposure variables included self-reported measures of IPR, Healthy Eating index (HEI) total score to measure diet quality, and sex. Direct assessment of height and weight was used to create OV/OB vs. normal weight categories of interest. A multiple-group moderated mediation model was conducted to evaluate the moderating effect of sex on the association between IPR and OV/OB through HEI. Covariates included age, race, marital status, education, employment, meeting physical activity recommendations, and daily sedentary time. A greater proportion of females experienced OV/OB, lower IPR, and higher HEI. The association between IPR and HEI did not differ by sex. Greater IPR was associated with lower odds of experiencing OV/OB for women and higher odds of experiencing OV/OB among men. For both males and females, HEI partially mediated the relationship between IPR and OV/OB (p < .05). While efforts to improve dietary quality of all adults regardless of income and sex is needed, improving the dietary quality of higher income men may assist with reducing their experiences with OV/ OB.
Science Journals — AAAS

BACKGROUND: The idea that memory is stored as enduring changes in the brain dates back at least to the time of Plato and Aristotle (circa 350BCE), but its scientific articulation emerged in the 20th century when Richard Semon introduced the term “engram” to describe the neural substrate for storing and recalling memories. Essentially, Semon proposed that an experience activates a population of neurons that undergo persistent chemical and/or physical changes to become an engram. Subsequent reactivation of the engram by cues available at the time of the experience induces memory retrieval. After Karl Lashley failed to find the engram in a rat brain, studies attempting to localize an engram were largely abandoned. SpurredbyDonaldO.Hebb’s theory thataugmentedsynaptic strength and neuronal connectivity are critical formemory formation,many researchers showed that enhanced synaptic strength was correlated with memory. Nonetheless, the causal relationship between these enduring changes in synaptic connectivity with a specific, behaviorally identifiable memory at the level of the cell ensemble (an engram) awaited further advances in experimental technologies.
Analysis of Inflation and Its Effect on Economic Growth in Nigeria

This paper examined the effect of inflation on economic growth in Nigeria utilizing annualized data covering the period 1986 – 2015, which were obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin of various issues. This study employed ex-post research design because the variables were based on events that had already taken place, which the researcher could neither control nor manipulate. Some preliminary tests were performed to ensure data stationarity, and also ascertain how well the series were distributed. While Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) was adopted for the former, descriptive statistics explained the latter. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) technique was used to estimate the variables. Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) formed the dependent variable, Inflation Rate (INFR), Interest Rate (Interest Rate) and Exchange Rate (EXCHR) made up the independent variables. Statistical outcomes were interpreted based on a 5 percent level of significance. The regression results indicated that INFR had a positive and non-significant effect on economic growth (measured by RGDP) in Nigeria for the period studied. The study recommended that government should adopt tight monetary policy measures to stabilize tide of inflationary pressures on our economy. It also recommended that political leaders should minimize unjustified public spending and promote fiscal prudence.
Information Asymmetry and Insider Trading*

I investigate the impact of information asymmetry on insider trading by exploiting a quasi-experimental design: the brokerage closure-related terminations of analyst coverage, which exogenously increase the information asymmetry of the affected firms. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I find that after the terminations of analyst coverage, corporate insiders obtain significantly higher abnormal returns and enjoy larger abnormal profits. The magnitudes of the increase are large economically. For firms with five or fewer analysts, losing one analyst increases the six-month abnormal returns by 16.0% for insider purchases, and by 10.7% for insider sales (both in absolute terms). My paper highlights the role of information asymmetry as a critical determinant of insiders’ abnormal profits, and calls for regulatory attention to corporate insiders’ transactions associated with high levels of information asymmetry. JEL classification: G12, G14, G18, G24, G30, G38
FDI and CO 2 Emissions in the ASEAN-5 and India by Namé Martinez na 7021

With the tremendous increases in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the last four decades arose the problem of a possible relationship between FDI and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Scholars have hypothesized that international companies invest in countries with lax environmental regulations to escape high production cost, we call this the pollution haven hypothesis. The ASEAN-5, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as India are of particular interest as FDI is known for playing an important role in their economic development. However, a lack of studies using recent data in Southeast Asia became apparent. Hence, this study aimed at filling this gap. To achieve this goal, a structural break analysis and a Toda and Yamamoto causality test were conducted for the six countries. The findings were as follow: a relationship going from FDI to CO2 emissions for India, the reverse for Vietnam and the Philippines, a bidirectional relationship for Thailand, and finally, no relationship for Indonesia and Malaysia. As the relationship is very country-specific, any policy regarding FDI must be implemented with care and special attention should be paid to the transfer of technology as it is key for a positive impact of FDI.
PRE HOSPITAL AND IN HOSPITAL DELAYS AFTER THE ONSET OF ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE IN A SAMPLE OF EGYPTIAN PATIENTS

Background: Cerebrovascular stroke (CVS) is the second most common cause of death after ischemic heart disease and the third most common cause of disability after ischemic heart disease and cancer. Objective: Investigating the time lags and the factors causing pre hospital and in hospital delays after acute ischemic stroke. Patients and Methods: This study included 70 patients recruited from the Neurology Department Al -Azhar University (Al Hussein Hospital) and El Sahel Teaching Hospital during the period from November 2018 to June 2019 with the diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke. Results: The pre hospital time ranged from 6 to168 hours with mean 32.657 ± 32.838 hours. The laboratory time ranged from 48 to 70 minutes with mean 56.943 ± 4.943 minutes and computed tomography time ranged from 15 to 40 minutes with mean 27.271± 5.868 minutes. The results revealed that pre hospital delay was due to lake of awareness about stroke symptoms and signs, late decision to seek medical care and lake of transportation by Emergency Medical System, and revealed that in hospital delay due to delayed laboratory investigations and computed tomography completion time. Conclusion: The time interval between the onset of symptoms and the decision to call for medical care was far from optimal in patients with acute stroke, and was the underlying cause of the prolonged pre hospital delay. The present study revealed that all patients arrived at our hospitals were too late to benefit maximally from the emerging stroke therapies.
Secret Sharing Schemes for Ports of Matroids of Rank 3

A secret sharing scheme is ideal if the size of each share is equal to the size of the secret. Brickell and Davenport showed that the access structure of an ideal secret sharing scheme is determined by a matroid. Namely, the minimal authorized subsets of an ideal secret sharing scheme are in correspondence with the circuits of a matroid containing a fixed point. In this case, we say that the access structure is a matroid port. It is known that, for an access structure, being a matroid port is not a sufficient condition to admit an ideal secret sharing scheme. In this work we present a linear secret sharing scheme construction for ports of matroids of rank 3 in which the size of each share is at most n times the size of the secret. Using the previously known secret sharing constructions, the size of each share was O(n/ log n) the size of the secret. Our construction is extended to ports of matroids of any rank k ≥ 2, obtaining secret sharing schemes in which the size of each share is at most nk−2 times the size of the secret. This work is complemented by presenting lower bounds: There exist matroid ports that require (Fq, `)-linear secret schemes with total information ratio Ω(2/`n √ log q).
Antioxidant properties of Artemisia herba-alba Asso., Mentha pulegium L. and Origanum compactum Benth. essential oils

There is an increasing demand for natural products to replace synthetic antioxidant preservatives. The present work investigates the antioxidant activities of three commercial essential oils (Artemisia herba-alba, Mentha pulegium and Origanum compactum) from Morocco by three different methods, namely DPPH free radical scavenging, β-carotene/linoleic acid and TBARS assays. In all methods investigated, O. compactum essential oil exhibited higher antioxidant activity than that of other tested essential oils. This activity could be attributed to the phenolic compounds present at high concentrations in this oil. In conclusion, O. compactum essential oil may be worth further investigation and could be a good natural alternative to chemical additives.