Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Tile-Based Framework with a Spatial-Aware Feature for Easy Access and Efficient Analysis of Marine Remote Sensing Data

Marine remote sensing (MRS) data provide an important tool for advancing global change research. However, the existing product service practices are insufficient for meeting the needs of a full-experience online application. This paper introduces a framework named SatANA, which is unified by a data tiling method with a spatial-aware feature, for integrated and intelligent improvements in visualization, storage and computing. The SatANA framework is supported by a hybrid database storage ideal for the cloud storage of massive MRS data. The raw data are displayed and roamed on a virtual globe through the Internet as tiles, enhancing their spatial awareness, that can be intelligently used for visualization result tuning, data storage preloading and distributed computing optimized indexing. To verify its feasibility and effectiveness, we applied this framework to a platform called SatCO2, which is devoted to providing convenient access to and the efficient utilization of MRS data.
Analyzing Urban Agriculture's Contribution to a Southern City's Resilience through Land Cover Mapping: The Case of Antananarivo, Capital of Madagascar

High urbanization rates in cities lead to rapid changes in land uses, particularly in southern cities where population growth is fast. Urban and peri-urban agricultural land is often seen as available space for the city to expand, but at the same time, agricultural land provides many benefits to cities pertaining to food, employment, and eco-services. In this context, there is an urgent need to provide spatial information to support planning in complex urban systems. The challenge is to integrate analysis of agriculture and urban land-cover classes, and of their spatial and functional patterns. This paper takes up this challenge in Antananarivo (Madagascar), where agricultural plots and homes are interlocked and very small. It innovates by using a methodology already tested in rural settings, but never applied to urban environments. The key step of the analysis is to produce landscape zoning based on multisource satellite data to identify agri-urban functional areas within the city, and to explore their relationships. Our results demonstrate that the proposed classification method is well suited for mapping agriculture and urban land cover (overall accuracy = 76.56% for the 20 classes of level 3) in such a complex setting. The systemic analysis of urban agriculture patterns and functions can help policymakers and urban planners to design and build resilient cities.
Effects of Harvesting Frequency on Leaf and Root Yields of Cassava

SUMMARY Total fresh leaf yield of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) variety Isunikankiyan was not significantly affected by harvesting frequency, unlike variety TMS 30211. Compared with plants whose leaves were not harvested, there was a decrease in total fresh tuberous root yields of 56–76%, 34–62% and 15–32% when leaves were harvested at 1-, 2- and 3-month intervals respectively. The two cassava varieties reacted differently to leaf harvests in terms of tuber yields. Harvesting the top leaves of cassava at 2- or 3-month intervals is recommended to ensure reasonable yields of both leaves and tuberous roots.
Violence and Financial Decisions: Evidence from Mobile Money in Afghanistan

Abstract We provide evidence that violence reduces the adoption and use of mobile money in three separate empirical settings in Afghanistan. First, analyzing nationwide mobile money transaction logs, we find that users exposed to violence reduce use of mobile money. Second, using panel survey data from a field experiment, we show that subjects expecting violence are significantly less likely to respond to random inducements to use mobile money. Finally, analyzing nationwide financial survey data, we find that individuals expecting violence hold more cash. Collectively, this evidence suggests that violence can impede the growth of formal financial systems.
Measles Virus Structural Components Are Enriched into Lipid Raft Microdomains: a Potential Cellular Location for Virus Assembly

ABSTRACT The process of measles virus (MV) assembly and subsequent budding is thought to occur in localized regions of the plasma membrane, to favor specific incorporation of viral components, and to facilitate the exclusion of host proteins. We demonstrate that during the course of virus replication, a significant proportion of MV structural proteins were selectively enriched in the detergent-resistant glycosphingolipids and cholesterol-rich membranes (rafts). Isolated rafts could infect the cell through a membrane fusion step and thus contained all of the components required to create a functional virion. However, they could be distinguished from the mature virions with regards to density and Triton X-100 resistance behavior. We further show that raft localization of the viral internal nucleoprotein and matrix protein was independent of the envelope glycoproteins, indicating that raft membranes could provide a platform for MV assembly. Finally, at least part of the raft MV components were included in the viral particle during the budding process. Taken together, these results strongly suggest a role for raft membranes in the processes of MV assembly and budding.
Facilitation versus competition in grazing herbivore assemblages

The importance of facilitation versus competition in structuring herbivore species assemblages is a critical issue in theoretical ecology as well as for practical wildlife management. This paper examines the evidence for facilitation and clarifies our understanding in relation to the mechanisms and the spatial and temporal scales where they occur. Evidence for facilitation through stimulation of grass regrowth during the growing season appears stronger than that for increased resource access through removal of obstructing grass structures during the dormant season. Although facilitation may benefit the nutritional gains obtained by certain species in the short term, these benefits do not appear to be translated into the expected population consequences. We suggest this could be due to seasonal tradeoffs between facilitation and competition, as well as to restrictions on the spatial extent of trophic overlap.
Attenuation Correction of X-Band Radar Reflectivity Using Adjacent Multiple Microwave Links

Rain attenuation can hinder the implementation of quantitative precipitation estimations using X-band weather radar. Numerous studies have been conducted on correcting the attenuation of radar reflectivity by utilizing a dual-polarimetric radar and an arbitrary-oriented microwave link; however, there is a need to optimize the required number of microwave links and their locations. In this study, we tested four attenuation correction methods and proposed a novel algorithm based on the sole use of adjacent multiple microwave links. The attenuation of the X-band radar reflectivity was corrected by performing forward iterations at each link, and the correction coefficients were statistically analyzed to reduce the instability problem. The algorithms of each method were evaluated by studying the cases of convective and stratiform rainfall, and then validated by comparing the corrected reflectivity of the X-band radar with the qualitatively controlled reflectivity of the S-band radar. The new method was as efficient as the conventional method based on the specific differential phase of dual-polarimetric radar. Furthermore, the correction coefficient was more effectively optimized and stabilized using seven microwave links rather than a single link, and no further independent reference data were required. In addition, the attenuation correction also accounted for spatiotemporal differentiation depending on the rainfall type, and could recover the physical structure of the rainfall. The method developed herein can facilitate estimations of quantitative rainfall in developing countries where dual-polarization weather radars are not common. The exploitation of microwave link data is a promising method for rainfall remote sensing.
MICROSATELLITE DNA TYPING FOR ASSESSMENT OF GENETIC VARIABILITY IN THE MEHSANA BUFFALO BREED OF INDIA

The present study estimates genetic variability with a set of 11 microsatellite markers in a 112 animals of Mehsana breed of Indian buffalo covered under a progeny testing program operated by Dudhsagar Research and Development Association (DURDA). All samples were genotyped at 11 microsatellite loci and analyzed for genetic variability. The observed number of alleles ranged from 5 (ILSTS11) to 16 (ILSTS61), with allelic diversity (average number of observed alleles per locus) of 9.63. Observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.27 (CSSM43) to 0.84 (CSSM22), and from 0.67 (CSSM57) to 0.83 CSSSM43, CSSM61, ILSTS61) respectively. Various genetic variability measures, namely mean allele diversity (9.63), mean Observed heterozygosity (0.66), mean expected heterozygosity (0.77) and mean polymorphism information content (0.738) values showed substantial within-breed genetic variability in this breed. Bottleneck analysis showed no genetic bottleneck in the recent past. The wide range of genetic variability supported the utility of these microsatellite loci in measurement of genetic diversity indices in other Indian buffalo breeds too.
The American Goblin Spiders of the New Genus Escaphiella (Araneae, Oonopidae)

Abstract A new genus, Escaphiella, is established for a group of 36 oonopid species found from the United States south to Chile and Argentina. The previously known species had been placed in Scaphiella Simon, and Escaphiella is hypothesized to be the sister group of that genus. Members of the two groups share a laterally extended ventral abdominal scutum and a distinctive female genitalic conformation, but differ in cheliceral shape and setation, female palpal tarsal shape, male and female palpal tarsal setation, embolus form, and posterior respiratory structure. At least seven species of Escaphiella are characterized by the highly unusual occurrence of asymmetry between the right and left male pedipalps. In at least eight species, the right and left posterior median spinnerets are fused into a single median projection, or even lost entirely. Nine specific names are transferred from Scaphiella: S. hespera Chamberlin (chosen as the type species), S. litoris Chamberlin, S. juvenilis (Gertsch and Davis), S. iguala Gertsch and Davis, S. schmidti Reimoser, S. gertschi Chickering, S. itys Simon, S. scutata Chickering, and S. argentina Birabén. Two of those names are newly synonymized: E. juvenilis with E. hespera, and E. scutata with E. itys. The female of E. hespera is described for the first time, and 29 new species are described: E. nye from California and Nevada, E. acapulco, E. colima, E. catemaco, E. tonila, E. chiapa, E. nayarit, E. magna, and E. olivacea from Mexico, E. viquezi from Honduras and Nicaragua, E. tayrona, E. betin, and E. gigantea from Colombia, E. bolivar from Venezuela, E. cidades, E. hesperoides, E. maculosa, E. cachimbo, E. aratau, E. bahia, E. pocone, E. blumenau, and E. morro from Brazil, E. exlineae from Peru, E. peckorum from Argentina, E. ramirezi from Argentina and Uruguay, E. ocoa from Chile, and E. cristobal and E. isabela from the Galapagos Islands.
Biogeographical implications of mitochondrial DNA variation in the Bockadam snake (Cerberus rynchops, Serpentes: Homalopsinae) in Southeast Asia

Aim The biogeography of Southeast Asia has been greatly affected by Pleistocene sea‐level changes and the consequent alteration of coastline and land mass configurations. We investigated the effect of these Pleistocene events on genetic divergence in Cerberus rynchops, the Bockdam, an Asian water snake (Homalopsinae) associated with tidal mudflats and coastal mangrove forests in Southeast Asia.
Immunity to Chlamydia trachomatis Mouse Pneumonitis Induced by Vaccination with Live Organisms Correlates with Early Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor and Interleukin-12 Production and with Dendritic Cell-Like Maturation

ABSTRACT As is true for other intracellular pathogens, immunization with live Chlamydia trachomatis generally induces stronger protective immunity than does immunization with inactivated organism. To investigate the basis for such a difference, we studied immune responses in BALB/c mice immunized with viable or UV-killed C. trachomatis mouse pneumonitis (MoPn). Strong, acquired resistance to C. trachomatis infection was elicited by immunization with viable but not dead organisms. Immunization with viable organisms induced high levels of antigen-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), gamma interferon production, and immunoglobulin A (IgA) responses. Immunization with inactivated MoPn mainly induced interleukin-10 (IL-10) production and IgG1 antibody without IgA or DTH responses. Analysis of local early cytokine and cellular events at days 3, 5, and 7 after peritoneal cavity immunization showed that high levels of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and IL-12 were detected with viable but not inactivated organisms. Furthermore, enrichment of a dendritic cell (DC)-like population was detected in the peritoneal cavity only among mice immunized with viable organisms. The results suggest that early differences in inducing proinflammatory cytokines and activation and differentiation of DCs may be the key mechanism underlying the difference between viable and inactivated organisms in inducing active immunity to C. trachomatisinfection.
Machine Learning for Tree Species Classification Using Sentinel-2 Spectral Information, Crown Texture, and Environmental Variables

The most recent forest-type map of the Korean Peninsula was produced in 1910. That of South Korea alone was produced since 1972; however, the forest type information of North Korea, which is an inaccessible region, is not known due to the separation after the Korean War. In this study, we developed a model to classify the five dominant tree species in North Korea (Korean red pine, Korean pine, Japanese larch, needle fir, and Oak) using satellite data and machine-learning techniques. The model was applied to the Gwangneung Forest area in South Korea; the Mt. Baekdu area of China, which borders North Korea; and to Goseong-gun, at the border of South Korea and North Korea, to evaluate the model's applicability to North Korea. Eighty-three percent accuracy was achieved in the classification of the Gwangneung Forest area. In classifying forest types in the Mt. Baekdu area and Goseong-gun, even higher accuracies of 91% and 90% were achieved, respectively. These results confirm the model’s regional applicability. To expand the model for application to North Korea, a new model was developed by integrating training data from the three study areas. The integrated model’s classification of forest types in Goseong-gun (South Korea) was relatively accurate (80%); thus, the model was utilized to produce a map of the predicted dominant tree species in Goseong-gun (North Korea).
Catch-up growth strategies differ between body structures: interactions between age and structure-specific growth in wild nestling Alpine Swifts

Summary 1Little is known on the occurrence and magnitude of faster than normal (catch-up) growth in response to periods of undernutrition in the wild, and the extent to which different body structures compensate and over what timescales is poorly understood. 2We investigated catch-up growth in nestling Alpine Swifts, Apus melba, by comparing nestling growth trajectories in response to a naturally occurring 1-week period of inclement weather and undernutrition with growth of nestlings reared in a good year. 3In response to undernutrition, nestlings exhibited a hierarchy of tissues preservation and compensation, with body mass being restored quickly after the end of the period of undernutrition, acceleration of skeletal growth occurring later in development, and compensation in wing length occurring mostly due to a prolongation of growth and delayed fledging. 4The effect of undernutrition and subsequent catch-up growth was age-dependent, with older nestlings being more resilient to undernutrition, and in turn having less need to compensate later in the development. 5This shows that young in a free-living bird population can compensate in body mass and body size for a naturally occurring period of undernutrition, and that the timing and extent of compensation varies with age and between body structures.
Burnout y su relación con la ambigüedad de rol, conflicto de rol y absentismo laboral en trabajadores de la salud

The aim of this research was to analyze the influence of some psychosocial risk factors in the development of burnout and to analyze the influence of this phenomenon on employee absenteeism. The study sample included 142 health care workers. The data analysis included descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression models. The results confirmed the influence of role ambiguity and role conflict on burnout [F (2.139) = 26.720; p < . 001], but the influence of burnout on employee absenteeism was not confirmed. However, a significant and positive relationship has been shown between burnout and employee absenteeism (β = 0.197; p < .05). In conclusion, the findings of this study support the claims that role conflict is a more intense predictor of the emotional component of burnout (burnout; β = 0.585; p < .001). Additionally, there is evidence that prolonged emotional strain could encourage employee absenteeism.
Syphilis in China from 2000 to 2013: epidemiological trends and characteristics

Objective To investigate the trends in and characteristics of syphilis epidemiology in China,and to provide a scientific basis for the development of control strategies.Methods An epidemiological study was performed on syphilis cases reported from 31 provinces,autonomous regions and municipalities between 2000 and 2013.Results The reported syphilis incidence increased yearly from 6.43 per 100 000 person-years in 2000 to 32.86 per 100 000 person-years in 2013,with an average annual growth rate of 13.37％. Syphilis was reported in most (99％) counties/districts in China mainland except for a few remote mountain areas,with a significant difference in the incidence of syphilis between different regions.The regions with a high incidence of syphilis included minority areas in Northwest China (Xinjiang,Qinghai and Ningxia),Minjiang River area,Yangtze River Delta (Zhejiang,Shanghai),Zhujiang River Delta (Guangxi,Guangdong),etc.There had been a rapid increase in the incidence of syphilis in some regions previously reported to have a low incidence (such as Guizhou,Shaanxi,Henan,etc). Among the reported cases,female patients predominated with an average male/female ratio of 0.92 ∶ 1.The incidence of syphilis was highest in the age group of 20-39 years,but increased yearly by more than 30％ in the population aged ＞ 60 years.Of 20 occupations,peasant workers accounted for the highest proportion (31.56％) of syphilis cases,and retired population showed the most rapid increase by about 27.35％ per year.The constituent ratio of primary and secondary syphilis in all the syphilis cases had declined yearly,while that of latent syphilis increased by more than 50％ after 2010.Conclusions Syphilis remains a major public health issue in China,and measures based on the epidemiological features are urgently needed to effectively control epidemic syphilis. Key words: Syphilis; Epidemiology; Data collection
Interleukin-12 Production Is Required for Chlamydial Antigen-Pulsed Dendritic Cells To Induce Protection against Live Chlamydia trachomatis Infection

ABSTRACT Immunization with dendritic cells pulsed ex vivo with antigens has been successfully used to elicit primary antigen-specific immune responses. We report that mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells pulsed with inactivated chlamydial organisms induced strong protection against live chlamydial infection in a mouse lung infection model. Either the dendritic cells or chlamydial organisms alone or macrophages similarly pulsed with chlamydial organisms failed to induce any significant protection. These observations suggest that dendritic cells can efficiently process and present chlamydial antigens to naive T cells in vivo. Mice immunized with the chlamydia-pulsed dendritic cells preferentially developed a Th1 cell-dominant response while mice immunized with the other immunogens did not, suggesting a correlation between a Th1 cell-dominant response and protection against chlamydial infection. We further found that dendritic cells produced a large amount of interleukin 12 (IL-12) upon ex vivo pulsing with inactivated chlamydial organisms, which may allow the dendritic cells to direct a Th1 cell-dominant response. Dendritic cells from mice deficient in the IL-12 p40 gene failed to produce IL-12 after a similar ex vivo pulse with chlamydial organisms, and more importantly, immunization with these dendritic cells failed to induce a Th1 cell-dominant response and did not induce strong protection against chlamydial infection. Thus, the ability of dendritic cells to efficiently process and present chlamydial antigens and to produce IL-12 upon chlamydial-organism stimulation are both required for the induction of protection against chlamydial infection. This information may be useful for the further design of effective chlamydial vaccines.
Meta-XGBoost for Hyperspectral Image Classification Using Extended MSER-Guided Morphological Profiles

To investigate the performance of extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) in remote sensing image classification tasks, XGBoost was first introduced and comparatively investigated for the spectral-spatial classification of hyperspectral imagery using the extended maximally stable extreme-region-guided morphological profiles (EMSER_MPs) proposed in this study. To overcome the potential issues of XGBoost, meta-XGBoost was proposed as an ensemble XGBoost method with classification and regression tree (CART), dropout-introduced multiple additive regression tree (DART), elastic net regression and parallel coordinate descent-based linear regression (linear) and random forest (RaF) boosters. Moreover, to evaluate the performance of the introduced XGBoost approach with different boosters, meta-XGBoost and EMSER_MPs, well-known and widely accepted classifiers, including support vector machine (SVM), bagging, adaptive boosting (AdaBoost), multi class AdaBoost (MultiBoost), extremely randomized decision trees (ExtraTrees), RaF, classification via random forest regression (CVRFR) and ensemble of nested dichotomies with extremely randomized decision tree (END-ERDT) methods, were considered in terms of the classification accuracy and computational efficiency. The experimental results based on two benchmark hyperspectral data sets confirm the superior performance of EMSER_MPs and EMSER_MPs with mean pixel values within region (EMSER_MPsM) compared to that for morphological profiles (MPs), morphological profile with partial reconstruction (MPPR), extended MPs (EMPs), extended MPPR (EMPPR), maximally stable extreme-region-guided morphological profiles (MSER_MPs) and MSER_MPs with mean pixel values within region (MSER_MPsM) features. The proposed meta-XGBoost algorithm is capable of obtaining better results than XGBoost with the CART, DART, linear and RaF boosters, and it could be an alternative to the other considered classifiers in terms of the classification of hyperspectral images using advanced spectral-spatial features, especially from generalized classification accuracy and model training efficiency perspectives.