Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
So Volcanoes Created the Dinosaurs? A Quantitative Characterization of the Early Evolution of Terrestrial Pan-Aves

The early Mesozoic is marked by several global-scale environmental events, including the emplacement of large igneous provinces, such as the Siberian Traps, Wrangellia, and Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). These have been hypothesised as drivers of the successful diversification of Pan-Aves, the lineage of archosaurs closer to birds than to crocodiles. We characterize here the diversification and body size evolution of terrestrial pan-avians (excluding pterosaurs) along the Triassic and Early Jurassic, using phylogenetic- and occurrence-based approaches, in an attempt to test the influence of such drivers. As diversity metrics, we quantified raw species richness and phylogenetic diversity (using time-calibrated phylogenetic trees), and net diversification rates were estimated with PyRate and the episodic fossilized-birth-death model. We have also characterised through-time patterns of body size (femoral length) and estimated body size evolutionary rates. Our results indicate that macroevolutionary shifts estimated from occurrence data are placed more recently in time than those from phylogenetic-based approaches, as shown by the higher diversity increase, diversification rates, and body size disparity of terrestrial Pan-Aves in the Carnian. This is consistent with hypotheses suggesting that the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE) was crucial for the early radiation of the group. Yet, phylogeny-based results show higher diversity/diversification rates for the Ladinian and Norian, suggesting a minor effect for the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE). We also found no meaningful shifts in diversity, diversification, or size-related metrics across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Even if the end-Triassic mass extinction possibly emptied ecospace, allowing dinosaur diversity to increase during the Jurassic, our results suggest that this expansion did not occur fast and homogeneously for the entire group. In fact, a sustained reduction in diversity and sub-zero net diversification rates are seen after the extinction, but macroevolutionary patterns here should be interpreted with care towards the end of the Early Jurassic, as they may be biased by an “edge effect. ” Overall, few macroevolutionary shifts were consistently identified across all results, suggesting that the early diversification of terrestrial pan-avians was more nuanced and complex than anticipated.
Soil Carbon in The Bone Bay Mangrove Ecosystem, Palopo City

The mangrove ecosystem is one of the many ecosystems found along tropical beaches that have a function as a buffer area between land and sea and produce organic matter. There are several factors that influence the spread of mangrove plants, namely the physical factor of the soil. This study aimed to determine the soil carbon content in the mangrove ecosystem in the village of Temmalebba, South Sulawesi. The data collected in the form of bulk density (BD), organic matter (BO) and percent C for analysis of carbon content was obtained from the analysis of soil samples taken from 10 points with 3 replications for composite samples. The sampling point was determined based on the growth and density of mangroves. Further-more, the data was analyzed using the organic C equation and carbon content. The results showed that the highest bulk density was found at a depth of 60–100 cm with a value of 1.28 g/cm 3 . The highest percent of organic matter content found at a depth of 0-30 cm with a value of 9.18%. The highest soil carbon content found at a depth of 60–100 cm with a value of 225.38 (MgC ha-1). Soil carbon content in the mangrove ecosystem of Bone Bay, Temmalebba village is strongly in fluenced by several factors, including soil depth, bulk density, organic matter, and soil texture.
Attitude and practices among nursing students toward COVID-19 prevention

Nursing students are the essential part of the healthcare system all over the world, and play a significant role in the nursing job in the future. In crises, such as the present one, nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes and practices toward COVID-19 prevention should be considered in the planning for health promotion and disease control especially effective educational implementations for COVID-19. The aim of study to assess the attitude and practice regarding COVID 19 prevention and associate their relation with socio- demographic characteristics of nursing college students. The result of the present study showed that nursing students had a favorable attitude (75.6%), and moderate level of practices (62, 6%) toward COVID-19 prevention.
An Analysis of Exchange Rate Pass-Through to Domestic Prices: Evidence from Turkey

Assessing the impact of exchange rate shocks on domestic prices (Exchange Rate Pass-through) has a crucial role, particularly for the inflation targeting countries. This paper aims to clarify some aspects of ERPT to domestic prices in Turkey, an emerging country. Specifically, this study investigates if ERPT in Turkey is complete and how the behavior of ERPT has changed after the adoption of a flexible exchange rate regime in 2001. A Vector Auto Regression (VAR) framework is used to analyze the impact of exchange rate shocks on CPI Inflation. This study provides empirical evidence on the incompleteness and the pattern of ERPT on Turkey’s CPI inflation based on the VAR Model. The findings demonstrate that ERPT is not only incomplete but also has a different pattern during the floating exchange rate period. The pass-through has decreased from 2001 to 2017, and it has increased dramatically after 2017 to a large extent because of very high inflation and high exchange rate volatility in this period.
Eco-evolutionary priority and the assembly of the New Zealand flora

ABSTRACT Eco-evolutionary priority effects, in which early arriving taxa pre-empt environmental niches and evolve to exclude or marginalise later arriving taxa, have been claimed to have influenced current vegetation communities in New Zealand. We here critically assess this claim. An examination of the entire New Zealand conifer and angiosperm flora shows that early arriving lineages do not have more species than later arriving lineages, and do not dominate regional species pools. A nationwide forest plot data set shows no influence of lineage age on tree dominance. Woody species with wide latitudinal ranges tend to be older, but plant height and biotically dispersed fruit exert a stronger influence. Range extent is not influenced by lineage age in the alpine zone. The New Zealand studies on which the original claim for eco-evolutionary priority effects is based are flawed as they sample only a small fraction of the flora and plant communities and base their conclusions on a few selected lineages. The large climatic and landscape alterations of the last 50 million years, changes in the type and number of immigrant taxa establishing, and extinction are likely to have been much more influential than arrival times in shaping the extant New Zealand flora.
TREM2 coding variants in Slovak Alzheimer's disease patients.

BACKGROUND Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is an important modulator of innate immune responses. In the human brain, TREM2 is primarily expressed on microglia and is involved in cell survival, phagocytosis, and regulation of inflammation. TREM2 dysfunction has been linked to the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Rare coding variants of the TREM2 gene have been reported to modulate AD risk in several populations, however, data on their association with susceptibility to AD in the Slovak population have been missing. METHODS We have analyzed 10 non-synonymous coding variants located in TREM2 exon 2 by direct sequencing in 270 late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) patients and 331 controls. RESULTS Four out of 10 TREM2 mutant variants have been identified in the analyzed groups, namely rs75932628 C > T (R47H), rs142232675 C > T (D87N), rs143332484 C > T (R62H), and rs2234253 G > T (T96K). R47H was found only in the AD group, while T96K was present only in the controls. Although no significant association between TREM2 coding variants and LOAD susceptibility has been detected, the observed odds ratio (OR) of 3.69 for R47H carriers suggests an increased risk of LOAD for this variant in the Slovak population. Moreover, we also found a higher OR for the rs143332484-T allele in APOEε4 non-carriers (1.99) when compared to APOEε4 carriers (0.62). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest an impact of specific TREM2 rare coding variants on AD risk in the Slovak population.
Cognitive Development of Mathematics Education Students based on Piaget's Theory in terms of Gender Differences

This study aims to understand the cognitive development of mathematics education students based on Piaget's theory in terms of gender differences. This research method is descriptive quantitative research with the research subjects being students of mathematics education at Timor Universities. Students' cognitive development was measured using the Logical Operations Test (LOT), which consisted of 14 numbers. LOT questions are given to students, the results are analyzed and described. The results showed that the cognitive development stage for females was 19.18% in the initial concrete stage, 36.99% in the final concrete stage, 13.70% in the initial formal stage and 1.37% in the final formal stage. Male at 9.59% in the initial concrete stage, 6.85% in the final concrete stage, 9.59% in the initial formal stage and 2.74% in the final formal stage. Meanwhile, students' understanding based on seven logical operations is in low understanding for each type.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui perkembangan kognitif mahasiswa pendidikan matematika berdasarkan teori Piaget ditinjau dari perbedaan jenis kelamin. Metode penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif kuantitatif dengan subjek penelitian adalah mahasiswa pendidikan matematika Universitas Timor. Perkembangan kognitif mahasiswa diukur dengan menggunakan Tes Operasi Logis (TOL) yang berjumlah 14 nomor. Soal TOL diberikan kepada mahasiswa, hasilnya dianalisis dan dideskripsikan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa tahap perkembangan kognitif sebesar 19,18% tahap konkret awal, 36,99 % tahap konkret akhir, 13,70% tahap formal awal dan 1,37% tahap formal akhir bagi mahasiswa perempuan. Sementara hasil pemetaan tahap perkembangan kognitif sebesar 9,59% tahap konkret awal, 6,85 % tahap konkret akhir, 9,59% tahap formal awal dan 2,74% tahap formal akhir bagi mahasiswa laki-laki. Sementara itu pemahaman mahasiswa berdasarkan 7 operasi logis berada dalam pemahaman rendah untuk masing-masing tipe.
President Trump and the Shallow State: Disloyalty at the Highest Levels

President Donald Trump often complained about the “deep state” of career civil servants who, he asserted, were determined to undermine his presidency. But it was his own presidential appointees who most visibly resisted his directives. Political appointees are expected to be the most loyal advocates of a president's policy agenda, riding herd on the many bureaucracies of the executive branch. This article analyzes resistance to Trump's policy directives by his own appointees in the White House, cabinet, military, and intelligence community. It concludes that this level of resistance is unprecedented in the modern presidency.
Biological Characteristics of Infectious Laryngotracheitis Viruses Isolated in China

Infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) causes severe respiratory disease in chickens and results in huge economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. To correlate the genomic difference with the replication and pathogenicity, phenotypes of three ILTVs isolated from chickens in China from 2016 to 2018 were sequenced by high-throughput sequencing. Based on the entire genome, the isolates GD2018 and SH2017 shared 99.9% nucleotide homology, while the isolate SH2016 shared 99.7% nucleotide homology with GD2018 and SH2017, respectively. Each virus genome contained 82 ORFs encoding 77 kinds of protein, 31 of which share the same amino acid sequence in the three viruses. GD2018 and SH2017 shared 57 proteins with the same amino acid sequence, while SH2016 shared 42 and 41 proteins with the amino acid sequences of GD2018 and SH2017, respectively. SH2016 propagated efficiently in allantoic fluid and on chorioallantoic membranes (CAMs) of SPF chicken embryo eggs, while GD2018 and SH2017 proliferated well only on CAMs. GD2018 propagated most efficiently on CAMs and LMH cells among three isolates. SH2016 caused serious clinical symptoms, while GD2018 and SH2017 caused mild and moderate clinical symptoms in chickens, although the sero of the chickens infected with those three isolates were all positive for anti-ILTV antibody at 14 and 21 days after challenge. Three ILTVs with high genetic homology showed significant differences in the replication in different culture systems and the pathogenicity of chickens, providing basic materials for studying the key determinants of pathogenicity of ILTV.
Double deep q-learning with prioritized experience replay for anomaly detection in smart environments

Anomaly detection in smart environments is important when dealing with rare events, which can be safety-critical to individuals or infrastructure. Safety-critical means in this case, that these events can be a threat to the safety of individuals (e.g. a person falling to the ground) or to the security of infrastructure (e.g. unauthorized access to protected facilities). However, recognizing abnormal events in smart environments is challenging, because of the complex and volatile nature of the data recorded by monitoring sensors. Methodologies proposed in the literature are frequently domain-specific and are subject to biased assumptions about the underlying data. In this work, we propose the adaption of a deep reinforcement learning algorithm, namely double deep q-learning (DDQN), for anomaly detection in smart environments. Our proposed anomaly detector directly learns a decision-making function, which can classify rare events based on multivariate sequential time series data. With an emphasis on improving the performance in rare event classification tasks, we extended the algorithm with a prioritized experience replay (PER) strategy, and showed that the PER extension yields an increase in detection performance. The adaption of the improved version of the DDQN reinforcement learning algorithm for anomaly detection in smart environments is the major contribution of this work. Empirical studies on publicly available real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed solution. Here specifically, we use a dataset for fall and for occupancy detection to evaluate the solution proposed in this work. Our solution yields comparable detection performance to previous work, and has the additional advantages of being adaptable to different environments and capable of online learning.
Reducing CNN textural bias with k-space artifacts improves robustness

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have become the de facto algorithms of choice for semantic segmentation tasks in biomedical image processing. Yet, models based on CNNs remain susceptible to the domain shift problem, where a mismatch between source and target distributions could lead to a drop in performance. CNNs were recently shown to exhibit a textural bias when processing natural images, and recent studies suggest that this bias also extends to the context of biomedical imaging. In this paper, we focus on Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) and investigate textural bias in the context of k-space artifacts (Gibbs, spike, and wraparound artifacts), which naturally manifest in clinical MRI scans. We show that carefully introducing such artifacts at training time can help reduce textural bias, and consequently lead to CNN models that are more robust to acquisition noise and out-of-distribution inference, including scans from hospitals not seen during training. We also present Gibbs ResUnet; a novel, end-to-end framework that automatically finds an optimal combination of Gibbs k-space stylizations and segmentation model weights. We illustrate our findings on multimodal and multi-institutional clinical MRI datasets obtained retrospectively from the Medical Segmentation Decathlon (n = 750) and The Cancer Imaging Archive (n = 243).
Behavior Changes toward Preventive Actions after Second Vaccination of Coronavirus -19 among Students University of Hail: Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected many aspects of life, much vaccine adopted to minimize morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. Aim: To assess behavior changes after taken second dose of COVID-19 vaccine among students in university of Hail. Methodology: This cross-sectional questionnaire based study involved 350 participants from Hail University, Saudi Arabia. We distributed online questionnaire to determine differences in the protective measures before and after the second dose of COVID-19. Results: We included 350 participants from Hail University in Saudi Arabia in this study. Declines at different levels was detected in all protective measures after the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine that were in the questionnaire compared to before taking the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. The significance of the behavior changes after receiving second dose of COVID-19 vaccine compared to behavior changes before receiving second dose of COVID-19 vaccine (P<0.0001). Conclusion: the second dose of vaccine resulted noticeable changes in preventive measurement behavior in university of Hail students.
Potential of Waste Marble Sludge for Repressing Alkali-Silica Reaction in Concrete with Reactive Aggregates

The continuous development of the marble industry has led to an increase in the accumulation of waste marble sludge causing landfilling and health-associated issues. The intention of the current study is to explore the potential of waste marble sludge powder (MS) utilization as a means of controlling alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete. Specimen (cubes, prisms, and mortar bars) were prepared to incorporate reactive aggregates and various proportions of MS ranging from 5% to 40% as a replacement for aggregates. Expansion and mechanical strength characteristics were determined to investigate the effectiveness of MS to control ASRfor up to 150 days. Results revealed that on replacing aggregates in the control specimen with 25% MS, the ASR expansion at 14 days reduced from 0.23% to 0.17%, and the expansion at 28 days reduced from 0.28% to 0.17% which is within limits as per American Standard for Testing of Materials (ASTM) C1260. Furthermore, specimens incorporating MS exhibited improved compressive and flexural strength as compared to the identical specimen without MS. Microstructural analysis using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed micro-cracks in the control specimen while the specimen incorporating MS was found intact. Thus, it can be foreseen that the use of MS as a partial replacement of aggregates can control ASR in concrete as well as reduce the dumping and harmful emissions issue.
A Wideband and Ultra-Thin Metamaterial Absorber Based on Resistive FSS

A wideband, ultra-thin, wide-angle and polarization-insensitive metamaterial absorber with a single-layer resistive frequency selective surface (FSS) is proposed. The simulated results show that the absorption rate of the absorber is greater than 90% in a frequency range of 24.1–42.6 GHz, and the relative absorption bandwidth is up to 55.47%. The thickness of the structure is 1.2 mm, which is 0.088 λ and 0.156 λ for the lowest and highest frequencies, respectively. The power loss density is analyzed to explore the mechanism of the absorption and the resistive film layer is important for the wideband absorption. Meanwhile, a strong absorption for oblique incidence with wide angle and the characteristics of polarization insensitivity are achieved for the proposed design.
The Effect of Resource Complementarity on a Company's Performance Post-Merger and Acquisition in the Southeast Asia Region: The Moderating Role of the Merger and Acquisition Experience

This study examines the effect of resource complementarity on a post-merger and acquisition company's performance, moderated by the bidder's merger and acquisition experience. Resource complementarity is an important aspect that needs to be considered when carrying out mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This study uses a purposive sampling method, which has specific criteria for selecting the sample, while the dataset is cross-sectional. Tests have been conducted on 97 non-financial companies that carried out M&A in Southeast Asia between 2007 to 2017, and their post-M&A performance has been examined. This research’s methodology utilizes a quantitative approach and explanatory variables. The results indicate that resource complementarity has a significant effect on the performance of post-M&A companies. In other words, resource complementarity has a positive and significant effect on changes in the performance of companies after their M&A. The moderation test shows exciting findings, namely, for companies with little experience, the effect of resource complementarity on post-M&A performance is more substantial. This study has practical recommendations for decision-makers. When conducting their M&A, organizations should select targets with complementary resources and not depend on prior experience, since it is not necessarily applicable to the present circumstances. Furthermore, as they integrate feedback systems to relate earlier experiences, the acquisition experience will have a more robust learning impact.
COX-2 Deficiency Promotes White Adipogenesis via PGE2-Mediated Paracrine Mechanism and Exacerbates Diet-Induced Obesity

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) plays a critical role in regulating innate immunity and metabolism by producing prostaglandins (PGs) and other lipid mediators. However, the implication of adipose COX-2 in obesity remains largely unknown. Using adipocyte-specific COX-2 knockout (KO) mice, we showed that depleting COX-2 in adipocytes promoted white adipose tissue development accompanied with increased size and number of adipocytes and predisposed diet-induced adiposity, obesity, and insulin resistance. The increased size and number of adipocytes by COX-2 KO were reversed by the treatment of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) but not PGI2 and PGD2 during adipocyte differentiation. PGE2 suppresses PPARγ expression through the PKA pathway at the early phase of adipogenesis, and treatment of PGE2 or PKA activator isoproterenol diminished the increased lipid droplets in size and number in COX-2 KO primary adipocytes. Administration of PGE2 attenuated increased fat mass and fat percentage in COX-2 deficient mice. Taken together, our study demonstrated the suppressing effect of adipocyte COX-2 on adipogenesis and reveals that COX-2 restrains adipose tissue expansion via the PGE2-mediated paracrine mechanism and prevents the development of obesity and related metabolic disorders.