Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability of regional brachiopod diversity structure across the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary

Abstract The middle Carboniferous was an interval of global change when the climate was transitioning from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. Field collections of paleotropical brachiopod assemblages across the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary reveal a taxonomic turnover event in which the overall diversity structure is conserved, despite an apparent regional extinction of 63% of latest Mississippian genera and an apparent regional origination of 50% of earliest Pennsylvanian. An analysis of the global ranges of the brachiopods encountered in the field reveals that turnover was driven primarily by extirpation and immigration rather than true extinctions and originations. Taxonomic richness and evenness are indistinguishable between the latest Mississippian and earliest Pennsylvanian stages. Additive diversity partitioning shows that the within-collection, between-collections (i.e., within-bed), and between-bed diversity components do not change across the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary for richness or evenness. Rank-abundance plots of genera show the same distribution for both stages, but with no correlation between the Mississippian abundances of range-through genera and their abundance in the Pennsylvanian. Detrended correspondence analysis shows a major change in taxonomic composition across that Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary and consistency in the general gradient along which genera were distributed. An estimation of spatio-temporal heterogeneity of taxonomic composition within each stage reveals that the earliest Pennsylvanian was significantly more homogeneous. These results suggest that middle Carboniferous brachiopod assemblages from tropical shallow-water carbonate platform settings were organized by some factor that was independent of the specific taxa present. Furthermore, the increased homogeneity in taxonomic composition in the Morrowan did not affect the overall diversity structure. Strong competitive interactions among taxa do not appear to be important in determining the taxonomic compositions and abundances of brachiopod stage-level assemblages.
Readability and Suitability Assessment of Adolescent Education Material in Preventing Hookah Smoking

Background: Educational material is frequently used by health providers to inform adolescences about the health hazards of hookah. However, little attention has been paid to the readability and suitability of these adolescent educational materials. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the readability and suitability of adolescent educational material in preventing hookah smoking. Patients and Methods: Multiple authoritative resources were chosen for the design and preparation of educational material and were then tailored to the target group. Readability was measured by using the readability assessment of materials (RAM); and suitability was determined by the suitability assessment of materials (SAM) that considers characteristics such as content, graphics, layout/topography, and cultural appropriateness. Fifteen reviewers, including 10 adolescents and 5 health experts scored the educational material. Results: The mean readability score ± standard deviation (SD) of the educational media was 9 ± 1.9, 10 ± 1.1, and 9 ± 1.7, for the pamphlet, brochure, and poster, respectively, which were increased to 15 ± 1.3, 17 ± 0.7, and 16 ± 1.5 after tailoring the content. The average SAM scores before and after tailoring the content were 79% for the pamphlet, which was increased to 90%; 81% for the brochure, which was increased to 93%; and 79% for the poster, which was increased to 93%. The increase in all scores was significant (P < 0.05). The final tailored educational material was rated “superior media” on the SAM ratings. Conclusions: The findings indicated that the readability and suitability of the educational material were increased. Compliance with these recommendations may increase the likelihood of consumer perception and recall.
CORROSION INHIBITION AND ADSORPTION CHARACTERISTICS OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF Brachystegia eurycoma SEED ON THE CORROSION OF MILD STEEL IN 1M H2SO4 ACID SOLUTION

Extract of Brachystegia eurycoma Seed (BES) was investigated as corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in 1M H2SO4 using phytochemical screening, weight loss, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The analysis of the weight loss results showed that the Inhibition efficiency of the Brachystegia eurycoma seed extract is directly proportional to its concentration and inversely proportional to solution temperature and mild steel contact time in the test solution. The inhibition efficiency increases gradually reaching a maximum value of 95.53% within the first 24 h at a concentration of 5.0 g/l. The kinetic study shows that the inhibitory action is a first order kinetics with the concentration of the seed extract of Brachystegia eurycoma which is best fitted into the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption of Brachystegia eurycoma seed extract onto the metal surface was spontaneous, exothermic and supported the physical adsorption process. FTIR results showed that the inhibition mechanism was an adsorption process through the functional groups present in the seed extract. Surface morphology also revealed that corrosion product confirmed the protection offered by the extract on the surface of the metal immersed in the acid media.
The Dual Arrhenius and Michaelis–Menten kinetics model for decomposition of soil organic matter at hourly to seasonal time scales

Decomposition of soil carbon stocks is one of the largest potential biotic feedbacks to climate change. Models of decomposition of soil organic matter and of soil respiration rely on empirical functions that relate variation in temperature and soil water content to rates of microbial metabolism using soil‐C substrates. Here, we describe a unifying modeling framework to combine the effects of temperature, soil water content, and soluble substrate supply on decomposition of soluble soil‐C substrates using simple functions based on process concepts. The model's backbone is the Michaelis–Menten equation, which describes the relationship between reaction velocity and soluble organic‐C and O2 substrate concentrations at an enzyme's reactive site, which are determined by diffusivity functions based on soil water content. Temperature sensitivity is simulated by allowing the maximum velocity of the reaction (Vmax) to vary according to Arrhenius function. The Dual Arrhenius and Michaelis–Menten kinetics (DAMM) model core was able to predict effectively observations from of laboratory enzyme assays of β‐glucosidase and phenol‐oxidase across a range of substrate concentrations and incubation temperatures. The model also functioned as well or better than purely empirical models for simulating hourly and seasonal soil respiration data from a trenched plot in a deciduous forest at the Harvard Forest, in northeastern United States. The DAMM model demonstrates that enzymatic processes can be intrinsically temperature sensitive, but environmental constrains of substrate supply under soil moisture extremes can prevent that response to temperature from being observed. We discuss how DAMM could serve as a core module that is informed by other modules regarding microbial dynamics and supply of soluble‐C substrates from plant inputs and from desorption of physically stabilized soil‐C pools. Most importantly, it presents a way forward from purely empirical representation of temperature and moisture responses and integrates temperature‐sensitive enzymatic processes with constraints of substrate supply.
Culture and the Self: The effect of self-construal on attitudes toward trade liberalization in Japan

By integrating theories from social psychology and political economy, this article examines the effect of self-construal and economic self-interest on trade attitude formation in Japan. It is argued that the effect of self-interest narrowly defined by factor endowment on trade attitudes is conditional upon whether individuals define the self independently or interdependently. Using data from the 2008 Japanese General Social Survey, it is confirmed that factor endowment has no significant direct effect on trade attitudes in Japan. Additionally it is shown that economic self-interest predicts trade attitudes in individuals reporting an independent self-construal. Furthermore, the effect of self-interest on trade attitudes of independent individuals is significantly different from that of interdependent individuals. Differences in self-construal across both individuals and cultures should be considered when examining trade attitudes and other policy preferences. 「文化と自己:日本の貿易自由化に対する態度に自己観が与える影響」
Disturbance and climate effects on carbon stocks and fluxes across Western Oregon USA

We used a spatially nested hierarchy of field and remote-sensing observations and a process model, Biome-BGC, to produce a carbon budget for the forested region of Oregon, and to determine the relative influence of differences in climate and disturbance among the ecoregions on carbon stocks and fluxes. The simulations suggest that annual net uptake (net ecosystem production (NEP)) for the whole forested region (8.2 million hectares) was 13.8TgC (168gCm � 2 yr � 1 ), with the highest mean uptake in the Coast Range ecoregion (226gCm � 2 yr � 1 ), and the lowest mean NEP in the East Cascades (EC) ecoregion (88gCm � 2 yr � 1 ). Carbon stocks totaled 2765TgC (33700gCm � 2 ), with wide variability among ecoregions in the mean stock and in the partitioning above- and belowground. The flux of carbon from the land to the atmosphere that is driven by wildfire was relatively low during the late 1990s ( � 0.1TgCyr � 1 ), however, wildfires in 2002 generated a much larger C source ( � 4.1TgC). Annual harvest removals from the study area over the period 1995‐2000 were � 5.5TgCyr � 1 . The removals were disproportionately from the Coast Range, which is heavily managed for timber production (approximately 50% of all of Oregon’s forest land has been managed for timber in the past 5 years). The estimate for the annual increase in C stored in long-lived forest products and land fills was 1.4TgCyr � 1 . Net biome production (NBP) on the land, the net effect of NEP, harvest removals, and wildfire emissions indicates that the study area was a sink (8.2TgCyr � 1 ). NBP of the study area, which is the more heavily forested half of the state, compensated for � 52% of Oregon’s fossil carbon dioxide emissions of 15.6TgCyr � 1 in 2000. The Biscuit Fire in 2002 reduced NBP dramatically, exacerbating net emissions that year. The regional total reflects the strong east‐west gradient in potential productivity associated with the climatic gradient, and a disturbance regime that has been dominated in recent decades by commercial forestry.
GROWTH PERFORMANCE, DIGESTIBILITY COEFFICIENTS, BLOOD PARAMETERS AND CARCASS TRAITS OF RABBITS FED BIOLOGICALLY TREATED DIETS

The current study was carried out to investigate the effect of supplemental two levels of effective microorganisms (EM1) in the diet, as a biological treatment, on growth performance, digestibility coefficients, blood parameters and carcass traits of growing rabbits. Total of 45 growing rabbits (7 wk of age) were divided into three groups (15 in each) with five replicates for each group. Rabbits in all experimental groups were fed the same basal diet (20% CP and 16% CF); but differed in level of biological treatment. Rabbits in the 1 st group (control) were fed the basal diet without treatment, while those in the 2 nd and 3 rd groups were fed the basal diet treated with EM1 at levels of 1 (1% EM) and 1.5% (1.5% EM), respectively. Live body weight (LBW), digestibility coefficients (DC), some blood parameters and carcass traits were determined for up to 13 weeks of age. Results showed that 1 or 1.5% EM slightly increased contents of OM and NFE, and decreased EE and ash contents in diet of rabbits. Treatment with 1.5% EM increased CP and decreased CF contents, increased (P<0.05) final LBW and total weight gain, decreased (P>0.05) feed intake and improved (P<0.05) feed conversion ratio as compared to the controls. Digestibility coefficients of all nutrients improved by both levels of dietary EM treatments, being significant (P<0.05) only on CP, EE and NFE. Serum concentrations of total protein (TP), albumin (AL), globulin (GL) and glucose as well as activity of AST increased (P<0.05) were the highest (P<0.01), while activity of ALT was the lowest (P<0.05) in 1.5% EM treatment. Biological treatment with EM had no important effects on carcass traits and meat composition of rabbits. From the economic point of view, the observed nearly economic efficiency for both treated groups may suggest that EM at a level of 1.5% was effective in improving growth performance of rabbits without adversely effects on caecal digestion and healthy status of growing rabbits.
Simulating Nature

The author, Arthur C. Petersen, was a member of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and works as chief scientist at the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. He mentions that the first edition of this book, Simulating Nature, has achieved some kind of cult status, while being now out of print, which is why he wrote this second edition. The book centers on the notion of uncertainty connected with computer simulations in the first part (pages 1-94) and on the same analysis applied to the simulation of climate change, based on the experience of the author, in the second part (pages 95-178). I must warn the reader that, as the second part got too focused and acronym-filled for my own taste, I did not read it in depth, even though the issues of climate change and of the human role in this change are definitely of interest to me. (Readers of CHANCE must also realize that there is very little connection with statistics in this book or my review of it! ) Note that the final chapter is actually more of a neat summary of the book than a true conclusion, so a reader eager to get an idea about the contents of the book can grasp them through the eight pages of the eighth chapter.
Estimating the Survival of Patients With Lung Cancer: What Is the Best Statistical Model?

Objectives: Investigating the survival of patients with cancer is vitally necessary for controlling the disease and for assessing treatment methods. This study aimed to compare various statistical models of survival and to determine the survival rate and its related factors among patients suffering from lung cancer. Methods: In this retrospective cohort, the cumulative survival rate, median survival time, and factors associated with the survival of lung cancer patients were estimated using Cox, Weibull, exponential, and Gompertz regression models. Kaplan-Meier tables and the log-rank test were also used to analyze the survival of patients in different subgroups. Results: Of 102 patients with lung cancer, 74.5% were male. During the follow-up period, 80.4% died. The incidence rate of death among patients was estimated as 3.9 (95% confidence [CI], 3.1 to 4.8) per 100 person-months. The 5-year survival rate for all patients, males, females, patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), and patients with small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) was 17%, 13%, 29%, 21%, and 0%, respectively. The median survival time for all patients, males, females, those with NSCLC, and those with SCLC was 12.7 months, 12.0 months, 16.0 months, 16.0 months, and 6.0 months, respectively. Multivariate analyses indicated that the hazard ratios (95% CIs) for male sex, age, and SCLC were 0.56 (0.33 to 0.93), 1.03 (1.01 to 1.05), and 2.91 (1.71 to 4.95), respectively. Conclusions: Our results showed that the exponential model was the most precise. This model identified age, sex, and type of cancer as factors that predicted survival in patients with lung cancer.
İlköğretim Okulu Öğretmenlerinin Psikolojik Dayanıklılık Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological hardiness levels of primary school teachers according to their some demographic variables. A total of 347 teachers employed in the primary schools in Ankara participated in the study. ‘Personal Views Survey III-R’ was used to determine teachers’ psychological hardiness. Independent Samples t-Test and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient were performed to analyze the data. Results revealed that the total scores of teachers’ psychological hardiness did not vary depending on their variables of gender and branch. However, psychological hardiness was not significantly related to both age and years of experience. These findings give rise to the need for further research contributing to the relationships of teacher hardiness to both different personal and organizational variables as well as personality characteristics
Investigations of Red Deer (Cervus Elaphus) Sarcocystis Species Composition in Lithuania

Thirty seven red deer (Cervus elaphus) individuals hunted in four districts of Lithuania (Molėtai, Sirvintos, Ukmergė, and Alytus) were investigated. Cysts of Sarcocystis were detected in muscle preparations stained with methylene blue of 26 (70.2 ± 7.5%) individuals. Three types of cysts differentiated under a light microscope were identified as belonging to the species S. cf. capreolicanis, S. cf. hofmanni, and Sarcocystis sp. (S. cf. grueneri? ). It was found out that from one to three Sarcocystis species may parasitise one individual. In addition, it was established that as far as morphological features are concerned S. cf. capreolicanis and S. cf. hofmanni parasitising red deer are identical with, respectively, S. capreolicanis and S. cf. hofmanni parasitising roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). Sarcocystis sp. (S. cf. grueneri? ) was recorded in Lithuania for the first time.
The implementation process of the Workload Indicators Staffing Need (WISN) method by WHO in determining midwifery staff requirements in Greek Hospitals

INTRODUCTION One of the greatest challenges in the healthcare field is planning the health workforce under limited financial resources while being fully capable of responding to an affordable, fair and efficient healthcare system. This study aimed to demonstrate the implementation process of the health workforce planning tool ‘Workload Indicators of Staffing Needs’ introduced by the World Health Organization. METHODS A descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out at four (two public and two private) hospitals in Greece, to estimate midwifery staff requirements at ward level during 2015–2016, using the WISN software tool. Focus group discussions, structured interviews and annual service statistics from the hospitals’ records were used to obtain data. RESULTS Results for both private hospitals showed a shortage in the number of midwives. However, after combining the interpretation of the results, as indicated by the WISN methodology and the structured interviews, current and required staffing is in balance in both. On the other hand, both public hospitals indicate a surplus of midwives (1.83 and 1.33 ratios for the General hospitals in Korinthos and Kalamata, respectively). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated the implementation process of the WISN methodology through its application in midwifery staff at four hospitals in Greece and confirmed its usefulness in estimating staffing requirements. The application of the WISN methodology should be viewed as a vital tool in assessing overstaffing and understaffing through the estimation of workload pressure among different categories of health staff, thus providing the basis for effective health workforce redistribution in Greece.
Host age and pathogen exposure level as factors in the susceptibility of the house fly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) to Beauveria bassiana

Abstract Adult house flies, Musca domestica L. , of four ages, <1, 3, 7, and 14 day post-eclosion, were exposed to three strains of Beauveria bassiana (P89, L90 and 447). Flies were exposed to moistened filter paper treated with either a low (1.57×104 conidia/cm2) or high (1.57×105 conidia/cm2) concentration of each fungal strain for 6 h. Strain 447 was superior to the two house fly-derived B. bassiana strains in inducing host infection and mortality. Significant spikes in infection and mortality occurred as early as 5 days post-exposure with higher concentration exposures acting more quickly. Few differences were observed in either infection or mortality among the four fly age classes. On Day 10 post-exposure, 77% of the high-concentration, 447-exposed flies were infected, compared with only 24% of the flies from the P89 low-concentration exposure. Potential applications of these results in integrated house fly management programs are discussed.
Grazing primarily drives the relative abundance change of C4 plants in the typical steppe grasslands across households at a regional scale

Increases in temperature and grazing intensity are believed to promote the relative abundance of C4 plants in grassland communities in Inner Mongolia. However, there is a lack of understanding as to which factor is the primary driver at the household scale. The relative abundance of C4 plants in grassland communities within 32 households was monitored over a 5-year period (2008–12) in the typical steppe region of Inner Mongolia. The relationships between the mean annual temperature, grazing intensity and their combinations on the patterns of the relative abundance of C4 plants across the land managed by these households were analysed. The results showed that (1) the herbage mass of the typical steppe grassland was mainly composed of C3 plants (87%); (2) the C4 plants were more sensitive to, and can be used as indicators of, environmental changes. These C4 species included Cleistogenes squarrosa (Trin.) Keng, Chenopodium glaucum Linn. and Salsola collina Pall. ; (3) both increasing temperature and grazing intensity promoted the relative abundance of C4 plants. Grazing intensity was the primary driver of the change in relative abundance of C4 plants in this region. Not only did grazing change the micro-environment of the grasslands, but also the C3 species were preferentially grazed by the livestock. Comparison of the results with previous studies on the temporal variation in the abundance of C4 plants suggests that the relative importance of grazing and climatic factors depends on the spatial scales of the studies, with climate being of greater importance at the regional rather than the household scale.
<formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$k$</tex></formula> Out of <formula formulatype="inline"><tex Notation="TeX">$n$</tex></formula> Region Incrementing Scheme in Visual Cryptography

Recently, Wang introduced a novel (2, <i>n</i> ) region incrementing visual cryptographic scheme (RIVCS), which can gradually reconstruct secrets in a single image with multiple security levels. In RIVCS, the secret image is subdivided into multiple regions in such a way that any <i>t</i> shadow images, where 2 ≤ <i>t</i> ≤ <i>n</i>, can be used to reveal the (<i>t</i>-1) th region. However, Wang's scheme suffers from the incorrect-color problem, which the colors of reconstructed images may be reversed (i.e., the black and white are reversed). If the color of text is also the secret information, the incorrect-color problem will compromise the secret. Additionally, Wang's scheme is only suitable for the 2-out-of-<i>n</i> case, i.e., (<i>k</i>,<i>n</i>)-RIVCS where <i>k</i>=2. In this paper, we propose a general (<i>k</i>,<i>n</i>)-RIVCS, where <i>k</i> and <i>n</i> are any integers, that is able to reveal correct colors of all regions. This paper has made three main contributions: 1) our scheme is a general (<i>k</i>,<i>n</i>)-RIVCS, where <i>k</i> and <i>n</i> can be any integers; 2) the incorrect-color problem is solved; and 3) our (<i>k</i>,<i>n</i>)-RIVCS is theoretically proven to satisfy the security and contrast conditions.