Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MACROECONOMICS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change and its consequences are the most important issues affecting the UK economy over the coming century and will present a critical challenge for the UK government moving forward. In particular, the challenge of getting to net zero by 2050 is going to have major ramifications for the macroeconomy. In this commentary, I lay out some of the work that has been done on the implications of climate change and the transition to net zero for the macroeconomy. Economic activity as currently structured involves using fossil fuels as part of the production process. But this releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and leads to higher temperatures. I take this as given, simply noting that if this rise in temperature and the change in weather patterns associated with it are going to be stopped, if not reversed, at some point in the future, then we have to move to a ‘net zero’ (or even ‘net negative’) economy in which output is produced using only those inputs which do not produce greenhouse gases.
Accuracy and suitability of several stand sampling methods in riparian zones

approved: _____________________________________________________________________ Temesgen Hailemariam Stand structure in headwater riparian areas of western Oregon is highly variable making quantification of structural attributes within these stands difficult. A reliable sampling design is important to characterize and monitor changes in stand structure over time. This study examined sixteen alternatives for sampling live conifers and six alternatives for sampling hardwoods and snags. Each sampling alternative was replicated 500 times on a 72 meter square stem map at eight headwater stream locations in western Oregon. A variety of plot sizes and shapes were considered at two sampling intensities of 10 % and 20 % of the stand area. Applied to live conifers, the performance of the alternatives were assessed with respect to estimation of trees per hectare, basal area per hectare, and height to diameter ratio using root mean square error, average mean deviation and percent bias as criteria. Performance with respect to snags and hardwoods was similar. In general, rectangular strip designs oriented perpendicular to the stream outperformed circular, radial plots, and variable plots.
Implication of the Autophagy-Related Protein Beclin1 in the Regulation of EcoHIV Replication and Inflammatory Responses

The protein Beclin1 (BECN1, a mammalian homologue of ATG6 in yeast) plays an important role in the initiation and the normal process of autophagy in cells. Moreover, we and others have shown that Beclin1 plays an important role in viral replication and the innate immune signaling pathways. We previously used the cationic polymer polyethyleneimine (PEI) conjugated to mannose (Man) as a non-viral tool for the delivery of a small interfering (si) Beclin1-PEI-Man nanoplex, which specifically targets mannose receptor-expressing glia (microglia and astrocytes) in the brain when administered intranasally to conventional mice. To expand our previous reports, first we used C57BL/6J mice infected with EcoHIV and exposed them to combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). We show that EcoHIV enters the mouse brain, while intranasal delivery of the nanocomplex significantly reduces the secretion of HIV-induced inflammatory molecules and downregulates the expression of the transcription factor nuclear factor (NF)-kB. Since a spectrum of neurocognitive and motor problems can develop in people living with HIV (PLWH) despite suppressive antiretroviral therapy, we subsequently measured the role of Beclin1 in locomotor activities using EcoHIV-infected BECN1 knockout mice exposed to cART. Viral replication and cytokine secretion were reduced in the postmortem brains recovered from EcoHIV-infected Becn1+/− mice when compared to EcoHIV-infected Becn1+/+ mice, although the impairment in locomotor activities based on muscle strength were comparable. This further highlights the importance of Beclin1 in the regulation of HIV replication and in viral-induced cytokine secretion but not in HIV-induced locomotor impairments. Moreover, the cause of HIV-induced locomotor impairments remains speculative, as we show that this may not be entirely due to viral load and/or HIV-induced inflammatory cytokines.
Note on the landing of juveniles of Sepiella inermis at Mumbai

The Trawlers commonly catch juveniles of Sepiella inermis with dorsal mantle length ranging from 18 to 35 mm from Mumbai. At New Ferry Wharf, it was observed that the maximum catch of juveniles was in the month of May and minimum in October, during 2001 - 2004.
Phylogenetic Structure Revealed through Combining DNA Barcodes with Multi-Gene Data for Agrodiaetus Blue Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

Simple Summary The species-rich subgenus Agrodiaetus Hübner, 1822 is a distinct monophyletic lineage within the diverse blue butterfly genus Polyommatus Latreille, 1804. Although the subgenus has attracted the attention of numerous researchers, a large number of unresolved taxonomic problems persist in Agrodiaetus. In our study, we analyzed the taxonomic structure of the subgenus via combining short mitochondrial DNA barcodes of several extremely rare species, for which multi-locus data were unavailable, with multi-gene mitochondrial and nuclear data for the other Agrodiaetus taxa. This approach resulted in a high phylogenetic resolution of the tree obtained, even for the clades, which were solely represented by DNA barcodes. The status and taxonomic position of the enigmatic species P. muellerae, P. afghanicus, P. frauvartianae, P. bogra and P. anticarmon from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey are revealed and discussed. The complete list of species groups and species of the subgenus Agrodiaetus is presented. Abstract The need for multi-gene analysis in evolutionary and taxonomic studies is generally accepted. However, the sequencing of multiple genes is not always possible. For various reasons, short mitochondrial DNA barcodes are the only source of molecular information for some species in many genera, although multi-locus data are available for other species of the same genera. In particular, such situation exists in the species-rich butterfly subgenus Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus). Here, we analyzed the partitioning of this subgenus into species groups by using three data sets. The first data set was represented by short mitochondrial DNA barcodes for all analyzed samples. The second and third data sets were represented by a combination of short mitochondrial DNA barcodes for part of the taxa with longer mitochondrial sequences COI + tRNA-Leu + COII (data set 2) and with longer mitochondrial COI + tRNA-Leu + COII and nuclear 5.8S rDNA + ITS2 + 28S rDNA sequences (data set 3) for the remaining species. We showed that the DNA barcoding approach (data set 1) failed to reveal the phylogenetic structure, resulting in numerous polytomies in the tree obtained. Combined analysis of the mitochondrial and nuclear sequences (data sets 2 and 3) revealed the species groups and the position within these species groups, even for the taxa for which only short DNA barcodes were available.
The Potential of Instrumental Insemination for Sustainable Honeybee Breeding

Mating control is crucial in honeybee breeding and commonly guaranteed by bringing virgin queens to isolated mating stations (IMS) for their nuptial flights. However, most breeding programs struggle to provide sufficiently many IMS. Research institutions routinely perform instrumental insemination of honeybees, but its potential to substitute IMS in breeding programs has not been sufficiently studied. We performed stochastic simulations to compare instrumental insemination strategies and mating on IMS in terms of genetic progress and inbreeding development. We focused on the role of paternal generation intervals, which can be shortened to two years with instrumental insemination in comparison to three years when using IMS. After 70 years, instrumental insemination yielded up to 42% higher genetic gain than IMS strategies—particularly with few available mating sites. Inbreeding rates with instrumental insemination and IMS were comparable. When the paternal generation interval in instrumental insemination was stretched to three years, the number of drone producers required for sustainable breeding was reduced substantially. In contrast, when shortening the interval to two years, it yielded the highest generational inbreeding rates (up to 2.28%). Overall, instrumental insemination with drones from a single colony appears as a viable strategy for honeybee breeding and a promising alternative to IMS.
Functional Integration: Action and Symmetries

Acknowledgements List symbols, conventions, and formulary Part I. The Physical and Mathematical Environment: 1. The physical and mathematical environment Part II. Quantum Mechanics: 2. First lesson: gaussian integrals 3. Selected examples 4. Semiclassical expansion: WKB 5. Semiclassical expansion: beyond WKB 6. Quantum dynamics: path integrals and operator formalism Part III. Methods from Differential Geometry: 7. Symmetries 8. Homotopy 9. Grassmann analysis: basics 10. Grassmann analysis: applications 11. Volume elements, divergences, gradients Part IV. Non-Gaussian Applications: 12. Poisson processes in physics 13. A mathematical theory of Poisson processes 14. First exit time: energy problems Part V. Problems in Quantum Field Theory: 15. Renormalization 1: an introduction 16. Renormalization 2: scaling 17. Renormalization 3: combinatorics 18. Volume elements in quantum field theory Bryce DeWitt Part VI. Projects: 19. Projects Appendix A. Forward and backward integrals: spaces of pointed paths Appendix B. Product integrals Appendix C. A compendium of gaussian integrals Appendix D. Wick calculus Alexander Wurm Appendix E. The Jacobi operator Appendix F. Change of variables of integration Appendix G. Analytic properties of covariances Appendix H. Feynman's checkerboard Bibliography Index.
A machine learning approach to color space Euclidisation

In this work, a machine learning methodology is proposed for the issue of color space Euclidisation. Given a color difference formula as reference distance law, the Euclidisation task consists in finding an injective transformation from the original color space into a real vector space and the corresponding inverse transformation, such that the Euclidean distances in the embedded color space align with the reference color distances. For this, artificial neural networks are devised as function approximators for the color space transformations being sought. Training these neural networks is accomplished through unsupervised learning, making use of random sampling and gradient descent. As key disagreement measure, either the (symmetric) relative isometric disagreement or the standardized residual sum of squares (STRESS) index is considered at a time and incorporated as part of the optimisation criterion into the objective function. Comparative evaluation is carried out on well‐established color distance laws, including the CIELAB‐based DE2000 color difference formula. The evaluation results indicate significant performance advantages of the proposed approach over previous contributions.
Mitigation of Hepatic Impairment with Polysaccharides from Red Alga Albidum corallinum Supplementation through Promoting the Lipid Profile and Liver Homeostasis in Tebuconazole-Exposed Rats

Sulfated polysaccharides from seaweed are highly active natural substances with valuable applications. In the present paper, attempts have been made to discuss the physicochemical and structural features of polysaccharides isolated from red marine alga Alsidium corallinum (ACPs) and their protective effect in hepatic impairments induced by tebuconazole (TEB) in male adult rats. Structural features were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography, Fourier-transformed infrared, and solid-state 1H and 13C-Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. ACPs are found to be hetero-sulfated-anionic polysaccharides that contain carbohydrates, sulfate groups, and uronic acids. In vitro biological activities suggested the effective antioxidant and antimicrobial capacities of ACPs. For antioxidant testing in vivo, the biochemical analysis and plasma profiles displayed that oral administration of ACPs could mitigate blood lipid indicators, including total cholesterol, triglyceride, low and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and bilirubin. Liver function indexes involving alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase showed that ACPs possessed prominent antioxidant activities. Additionally, the intervention of ACPs potentially inhibited lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, key enzymes of lipid metabolism (<0.001), and improved antioxidant status (<0.05). Histomorphological observation confirmed that ACPs intervention could partially repair liver injuries caused by TEB. The computational results showed that A. corallinum monosaccharides bound 1JIJ, 1HD2, and 1WL4 receptors with acceptable affinities, which, together with deep embedding and molecular interactions, support the antioxidant, antimicrobial, and hypolipidemic outlined effects in the in vitro and in vivo findings. Given their prominent antioxidant effects, ACPs are promising candidates for liver diseases and must be considered in pharmaceutical applications.
Extracellular Vesicles and Their Impact on the Biology of Protozoan Parasites

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-membrane-bound structures produced naturally by all cells and have a variety of functions. EVs act as vehicles for transporting important molecular signals from one cell to another. Several parasites have been shown to secrete EVs, and their biological functions have been extensively studied. EVs have been shown to facilitate communication with the host cells (such as modulation of the host’s immune system or promoting attachment and invasion into the host cells) or for communication between parasitic cells (e.g., transferring drug-resistance genes or factors modulating stage conversion). It is clear that EVs play an important role in host–parasite interactions. In this review, we summarized the latest research on the EVs secreted by protozoan parasites and their role in host–parasite and parasite–parasite communications.
Intermittent hypoxia induces mandibular growth arrest and invokes a different response in condylar and tibial cartilage in infant rats

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) has been associated with skeletal growth. However, the influence of IH on cartilage growth and metabolism is unknown. We compared the effects of IH on chondrocyte proliferation and maturation in the mandibular condyle fibrocartilage and tibial hyaline cartilage of 1-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were exposed to normoxic air (n = 9) or IH at 20 cycles/h (nadir, 4% O2; peak, 21% O2; 0% CO2) (n = 9) for 8 h each day. IH impeded body weight gain, but not tibial elongation. IH also increased cancellous bone mineral and volumetric bone mineral densities in the mandibular condylar head. The mandibular condylar became thinner, but the tibial cartilage did not. IH reduced maturative and increased hypertrophic chondrocytic layers of the middle and posterior mandibular cartilage. PCR showed that IH shifted proliferation and maturation in mandibular condyle fibrocartilage toward hypertrophic differentiation and ossification by downregulating TGF-? and SOX9, and upregulating collagen X. These effects were absent in the tibial growth plate hyaline cartilage. Our results showed that neonatal rats exposed to IH displayed underdeveloped mandibular ramus/condyles, while suppression of chondrogenesis marker expression was detected in the growth-restricted condylar cartilage. �
Multivariable extension of global finite‐time HOSM based differentiator for output‐feedback unit vector and smooth binary control

In this paper, we propose a unit vector control law by output feedback to solve the problem of global exact output tracking for a class of multivariable uncertain plants with nonlinear disturbances. In order to face the nonuniform arbitrary relative degree obstacle, we extend our earlier estimation scheme based on global finite‐time differentiators using dynamic gains to a multivariable architecture. A diagonally stable condition over the system high‐frequency gain (HFG) matrix has to be assumed. Preserving the simplicity of its mono variable framework, variable gain super‐twisting algorithm (STA) is employed to obtain the robust and exact multivariable differentiator. Moreover, state‐norm observers for the unmeasured state variables are constructed to upper bound the disturbances as well as to update the differentiator gains, being both state dependent. Uniform global exponential stability and ultimate exact tracking are proved. As an alternative to chattering alleviation, we appeal to the Emelyanov's concept of binary control in order to obtain a continuous control signal replacing the unit vector function in the controller by a high‐gain gradient adaptive law with parameter projection. As shown in the existing literature for mono variable systems, the proposed multiparameter binary‐adaptive formulation tends to the unit vector control as the adaptation gain increases to infinity, also smoothing the transition from adaptive to sliding mode control. A numerical example is portrayed to illustrate the potentialities of the developed multivariable techniques.
Estimating canine distemper virus exposure in captive carnivores in Thai zoos using a pseudotype-based serum neutralization test

Despite its name, Canine distemper virus (CDV) infection is not restricted to canids but extends to several species of the order Carnivora. The extent of CDV exposure in captive carnivores in Thailand has never been estimated before. Therefore, the objective of this study is to estimate CDV exposure in captive carnivores in Thai zoos using a pseudotype-based neutralization assay (SNT). A total of 264 archived serum samples collected between 2005 and 2020 from captive carnivore species from 6 zoos of the Zoological Park Organization of Thailand (ZPOT) (211 samples) and Tiger Kingdom (TK) (53 samples) were tested in this study. CDV neutralizing antibodies were detected in almost all families of the order Carnivora included in this study, namely Felidae (11%, 17/155), Viverridae (7%, 2/29), Mustelidae (50%, 1/2), Canidae (100%, 1/1), Hyaenidae (29%, 2/7), and Ursidae (38%, 6/16), except for the family Herpestidae (0%, 0/1). Notably, CDV neutralizing antibodies were detected in four carnivore species that have never been reported before, including Asiatic black bear�(80%, 4/5), Malayan sun bear�(18%, 2/11), Clouded leopard (13%, 6/45) and Asiatic golden cat�(100%, 1/1). These findings confirm the occurrence of CDV in captive carnivores in Thai zoos. Overall, this study highlights the need for continued monitoring and management of CDV in captive carnivore population in Thailand to mitigate the potential threats to endangered species and contribute to the conservation efforts of wildlife.
Agriculture-Related Courses in Canadian Universities: How Course Outlines Differ between Social Science and Science Faculties

Abstract The university faculties that offer agriculture-related courses and how agricultural information is provided on course outlines are unknown. From June 2020 through April 2022, Canadian university websites were searched using the terms agri*, food*, farm*, crop*, plant*, animal*, and sustain*, retrieving 417 course outlines in 23 social science and 12 science faculties. Through descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis, the authors identified six themes: industrial agriculture and biotechnology; sustainability; alternatives and organic agriculture; food sovereignty, Indigenous, and gender; food security and food safety; and animal ethics and welfare. Instructors are encouraged to broaden the agricultural topics presented and provide balanced information.
Optimization of a production unit of the dairy agroin-dustry: Chapingo dairy technology unit case

Objective: To evaluate the optimization level of a dairy production unit (DPU) through a mathematical programming model (MP). It is expected that by maximizing net income by at least 10%, the DPU will be more profitable than without optimized management. Design/Methodology/Approach: The analysis was carried out under the economic approach of agricultural production, taking into consideration 11 decision variables in the objective function (OF), which was subject to 20 constraints. The variables were based on the requirements of the demand for dairy by-products, using technical coefficients (input-output coefficient). Excel® Solver® was used to develop the sensitivity report and to analyze the shadow prices and reduced costs. Results: Three scenarios were modeled. Between the first and third scenario, the income increased to $58,000.00 (41.02%). Between the second and third scenario, the income increased to $63,840.00 (46.16%). Study Limitations/Implications: Dairy food processing is an important industry in the economies of the world. Findings/Conclusions: Panela cheese recorded the highest shadow price ($72.85), which indicates that the DPU should concentrate on this type of dairy product. In conclusion, the optimization of the DPU guarantees the efficient use of scarce resources and therefore generates a higher profit.
Quantifying Vulnerability to Climate Change: Implications for Adaptation Assistance

The effects of climate change have been and will be worse in poor countries and small-island states, those least able to adapt to the climate-related disasters. In this paper, senior fellow David Wheeler quantifies and makes available in an accompanying database the vulnerability of 233 countries to three major effects of climate change (weather-related disasters, sea-level rise, and reduced agricultural productivity). He develops a methodology for donors and others to craft cost-effective assistance for climate adaptation which can be applied easily and consistently to all 233 states and all three problems, or to any subset. The paper includes two sample applications: assistance for the 20 island states that are both small and poor to adapt to sea-level rise and general assistance for all low-income countries to adapt to extreme weather changes, sea-level rise, and reduced agricultural productivity.
The effect of economic growth on income inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

In this paper, the way in which economic growth influences income distribution is examined with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite considerable growth in a number of the SSA countries, the region has been slow in reversing the rising trend of income inequality. A large proportion of countries in the region globally rank among economies with extreme income inequality. The study covers a period from 1995 to 2015, due to the limited data on the measure of income inequality, the Gini index, for the largest number of the countries of the region. The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) system was employed in examining this paradox. The findings of this research study do not only suggest the presence of an inverted-U relationship between economic growth and income inequality, but the supposition of the S-shaped curve hypothesis in the interplay of growth and inequality was also tested and confirmed. It can be concluded that in no way do spurts in economic growth bring about diminution in income disproportion in Sub-Saharan Africa.