Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibitory effect and mechanism of three macrophytes extract on Microcystis aeruginosa growth and physiology

Macrophytes are a promising source of bioactive compounds with potential applications in the biocontrol of harmful cyanobacteria blooms. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of extracts from three macrophytes (Nasturtium officinale, Potamogeton natans and Ranunculus aquatilis) on Microcystis aeruginosa. We assessed physiological indicators of inhibition on M. aeruginosa, including lipid peroxidation, protein content, superoxide dismutase activity, catalase activity and growth. The chemical composition of the macrophyte extracts and their specific allelochemicals were analysed using high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results showed that M. aeruginosa growth was significantly inhibited after 8 days of exposure, with inhibitory rate varying from 96.98% to 99.01%. The macrophyte extracts caused cyanobacterial cell membrane and antioxidant defence system damage. Thirteen different compounds were identified as allelochemical compounds that could be responsible for M. aeruginosa growth inhibition and oxidative stress. Our findings suggest that allelopathic compounds from macrophytes may be used to effectively control cyanobacteria blooms and promote the restoration of aquatic ecosystems.
Observations on the intraspecific variation in tadpole morphology in natural ponds

Intraspecific morphological variation of anuran tadpoles occurs in response to several factors. Causes and consequences of this variation have been largely studied hitherto in controlled environments, but data from natural habitats is clearly less abundant. Here, we present a series of observations on the morphology – mainly tail depth – of three tadpole species from NE Iberian Peninsula across different pond typologies. According to experimental data on tadpole morphology and selective pressures along the pond permanency gradient, we should expect that tadpoles inhabiting ponds with a short hydroperiod – mainly facing desiccation risk – have shallower tail fins than tadpoles from ponds with longer hydroperiod – mainly facing predation risk. Thus, we expected that the link between these complementary selective pressures – predation risk, desiccation risk – and hydroperiod could make possible to detect intraspecific variation in tadpole morphology among different typologies of natural ponds. Morphological differences were found in all studied species, and variation, when present, agreed with theory: tadpoles had deeper fin tails as they were collected in ponds with a longer hydroperiod. Interestingly, in most cases these morphological differences were more marked as tadpoles were larger in size. Although distances among the studied ponds were generally short – posing phenotypic plasticity as the most plausible proximate mechanism – specifically designed studies would be needed to disentangle the relative role of other processes like local adaptation.
Inside the IMF “mea culpa”: A panel analysis on growth forecast errors and Keynesian multipliers in Europe

The tests carried out by Blanchard and Leigh (2013; IMF, 2012) and Fatas and Summers (2018) are extended here into a panel framework in order to assess the empirical basis of the so-called IMF “mea culpa” regarding the underestimation of Keynesian multipliers during the euro area crisis. The objections put forward by the European Central Bank, the European Commission and other authors against the “underestimation” thesis are tested and refuted. The results support the “mea culpa” and highlight that the underestimation of multipliers can concern both the short and the long term. JEL codes :E23, E27, E62
Redescription of Szelepis Liu, 1981 (Placodermi, Arthrodira), from the Lower Devonian of China

ABSTRACT The skull roof of the species Szelepis yunnanensis (Liu, 1979) from the Early Devonian of Yunnan is redescribed, as well as other Szelepis material previously published. It appears that only the holotype of S. yunnanensis can be confidently assigned to this genus. The fusion of the preorbital plates into one plate strongly suggests the assignment of Szelepis yunnanensis to the monophyletic family Actinolepididae Gross, 1940, sensu stricto (comprising Actinolepis Agassiz, 1884, and Bollandaspis Schmidt, 1979). This is confirmed by a phylogenetic analysis. Hence, Szelepis constitutes the most ancient occurrence of the family but not the sister group to the remaining members.
Personality's influence on political orientation extends to concrete stances of political controversy in Germany – Cross-nationally and consistently

Growing evidence suggests that the general personality structure predisposes the political or ideological orientation. Here, we first replicated findings of associations between Big Five factors openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, and self-reported political orientation in a large German sample. However, the new aspect of our study is the addition of Wahl-O-Mat (WoM; a prominent voting advice application) as a measure of concrete policy-positions. Here, a score of accordance between a participant’s and the several German parties’ stances on current and relevant policy-issues is computed. Given that political science identifies trends towards a dealignment of voters with political parties and a decreasing significance of socio-structural factors, an issue-based approach to vote choice may become critical in the future. Therefore, we investigated whether personality’s influence on political orientation also extends to stances about specific issues and, thus, is not restricted to self-placements. As expected, WoM-scores also showed meaningful correlations with personality traits: accordance with right-of-center-parties is negatively related to openness and agreeableness and positively related to conscientiousness. Finally, we recruited smaller samples in the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, Spain, Australia, and Bulgaria and showed that the associations mentioned above are cross-nationally replicable. We conclude that personality influences not only self-perceived political identity but also attitudes towards current issues of political controversy. In both cases, the effects of personality were mediated by Right-Wing-Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation.
Is invasion science moving towards agreed standards? The influence of selected frameworks

The need to understand and manage biological invasions has driven the development of frameworks to circumscribe, classify, and elucidate aspects of the phenomenon. But how influential have these frameworks really been? To test this, we evaluated the impact of a pathway classification framework, a framework focussing on the introduction-naturalisation-invasion continuum, and two papers that outline an impact classification framework. We analysed how these framework papers are cited and by whom, conducted a survey to determine why people have cited the frameworks, and explored the degree to which the frameworks are implemented. The four papers outlining these frameworks are amongst the most-cited in their respective journals, are highly regarded in the field, and are already seen as citation classics (although citations are overwhelmingly within the field of invasion science). The number of citations to the frameworks has increased over time, and, while a significant proportion of these are self-citations (20–40%), this rate is decreasing. The frameworks were cited by studies conducted and authored by researchers from across the world. However, relative to a previous citation analysis of invasion science as a whole, the frameworks are particularly used in Europe and South Africa and less so in North America. There is an increasing number of examples of uptake into invasion policy and management (e.g., the pathway classification framework has been adapted and adopted into EU legislation and CBD targets, and the impact classification framework has been adopted by the IUCN). Copyright John R. U. Wilson et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. NeoBiota 62: 569–590 (2020) doi: 10.3897/neobiota.62. 53243 http://neobiota.pensoft. net RESEARCH ARTICLE Advancing research on alien species and biological invasions A peer-reviewed open-access journal
Metabolomic Profiling After a Meal Shows Greater Changes and Lower Metabolic Flexibility in Cardiometabolic Diseases

Abstract Context Metabolic flexibility is the physiologic acclimatization to differing energy availability and requirement states. Effectively maintaining metabolic flexibility remains challenging, particularly since metabolic dysregulations in meal consumption during cardiometabolic disease (CMD) pathophysiology are incompletely understood. Objective We compared metabolic flexibility following consumption of a standardized meal challenge among adults with or without CMDs. Design, Setting, and Participants Study participants (n = 349; age 37-54 years, 55% female) received a standardized meal challenge (520 kcal, 67.4 g carbohydrates, 24.3 g fat, 8.0 g protein; 259 mL). Blood samples were collected at baseline and 2 hours postchallenge. Plasma samples were assayed by high-resolution, nontargeted metabolomics with dual-column liquid chromatography and ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry. Metabolome-wide associations between features and meal challenge timepoint were assessed in multivariable linear regression models. Results Sixty-five percent of participants had ≥1 of 4 CMDs: 33% were obese, 6% had diabetes, 39% had hypertension, and 50% had metabolic syndrome. Log2-normalized ratios of feature peak areas (postprandial:fasting) clustered separately among participants with versus without any CMDs. Among participants with CMDs, the meal challenge altered 1756 feature peak areas (1063 reversed-phase [C18], 693 hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography [HILIC]; all q < 0.05). In individuals without CMDs, the meal challenge changed 1383 feature peak areas (875 C18; 508 HILIC; all q < 0.05). There were 108 features (60 C18; 48 HILIC) that differed by the meal challenge and CMD status, including dipeptides, carnitines, glycerophospholipids, and a bile acid metabolite (all P < 0.05). Conclusions Among adults with CMDs, more metabolomic features differed after a meal challenge, which reflected lower metabolic flexibility relative to individuals without CMDs.
The Effect of Social Networks Advertisements on Egyptian Consumers’ Purchase Behaviour

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of perceived advertising value of Social Networks adverts (SN ads) on Egyptian consumers’ purchasing behaviour. The researchers based their study on Ducoffe (1996) Advertising Value Model that includes informativeness, entertainment, credibility, and irritation, in addition to materialism and peer influence. Data were obtained from 375 Egyptian respondents. Structural Equation Modelling was applied to examine the research hypotheses. The results supported the positive mediating effect of attitude towards SN ads and purchase intention on the relationship between informativeness, entertainment, irritation, materialism and peer influence on consumers purchasing behaviour. Yet, SN ads credibility deemed insignificant. The results provide significant insights to advertisers with respect to optimising the effect of SN ads on consumers purchasing behaviour. Additionally, it extends Ducoffe model by adding materialism and peer influence. Finally, it validates the Theory of Reasoned Action in the Egyptian context.
Does visual representation of futsal shoes outsole tread groove design resemblance its mechanical traction, dynamic human traction performance, and perceived traction during change of direction and straight sprint tasks?

Abstract We aimed to clarify the efficacy of futsal shoe outsole tread pattern on mechanically available traction, dynamic human traction performance and athlete’s perceived traction. Thirty-nine university level athletes participated two human performance tests (multiple v-cut and 5 m/20m straight sprint) on a hardwood flooring facility using three pairs of futsal shoes that were systematically ranked based on apparent design simplicity/complexity (1 = simple, 2 = moderate and 3 = complex). Further mechanical testing was carried out to measure each shoe’s actual available traction coefficient on a dry hardwood surface [available friction coefficient (AFC)]. Among the three shoes, there were significant differences of AFCs in both horizontal and lateral components (rank 2 > rank 3 > rank 1). The shoes with higher AFC (ranks 2 and 3) had a significant impact on the multiple v-cut performance (p < 0.05) and on perceived traction (p < 0.05) when compared with the shoe with lower AFC (rank 1). No significant differences were observed across all shoe ranks for the initial (5 m) and resultant (20 m) sprint times for the straight sprint test. These findings indicated that the simplex outsole performed worst and the moderately complex outsole performed best for mechanical traction, human performance and perceived traction. Moreover, compared with the moderately complex outsole, the most complex outsole comes with several specific features did not induce any advantage of these parameters. The AFCs of three tested shoes most likely explain the differences in dynamic human traction performance and perceived traction during the test including multiple change of direction.
Embryo Transplantation and Preservation

Effective techniques for embryo transplantation in some laboratory and farm animals are now well established. Methods for collection and transfer of embryos in the pig were first developed in the early 1960s (Hancock and Hovell, 1962; Dziuk, Polge and Rowson, 1964; Vincent, Robison and Ulberg, 1964) and since then they have been applied mainly in research. Embryo transplantation has proved to be a valuable experimental tool in a number of studies concerned with early embryonic development, the survival of embryos in vivo or in vitro, migration and spacing of embryos within the uterus and factors affecting the maintenance of pregnancy. Future research is also likely to be concerned increasingly with cellular and genetic manipulation of eggs and embryos in vitro and the application of these techniques depends to a large extent on having reliable methods for the culture of embryos and their subsequent transfer. Practical applications, particularly in farm animals, are also important and the best example is in cattle where methods developed for research have now been extended very successfully into the practice of animal breeding. Applications in pig husbandry have so far been on a relatively small scale. The high fecundity and reproductive rate in pigs compared with cattle will never provide the same economic incentive to apply such methods for the purpose of genetic improvement or to get more offspring from a few superior animals. On the other hand, strict control of disease, especially in large intensive units, is a most important aspect of modern pig husbandry and embryo transplantation should provide the safest method of introducting new genetic material into closed herds. It is mainly for this reason, and perhaps also for the possibility of transporting embryos between countries, that embryo transplantation in pigs is likely to be applied as a practical measure.
Predicting Indian consumers' purchase intention from Western apparel brands

PurposeThe present study compared Indian consumers' attitude (AT) toward and purchase intention (PI) from Western apparel brands, as a function of their Western acculturation (WA), consumer ethnocentrism (CE) in apparel consumption, consumer cosmopolitanism (CC) and country of residence (India vs the USA). Design/methodology/approachThe sample included Indians residing in India and the USA, who were 19 years or older, and visited online or brick-and-mortar apparel stores. An online survey was administered through Amazon Mechanical Turk to collect the data. The data was analyzed through multi-group structural equation modeling.FindingsWA engenders CE among Indian consumers, especially among Indians residing in India. WA and CC positively influence AT. CE did not have a significant negative influence on AT. Although a high CE lowers the PI, a high WA, CC and positive AT can translate into high PI.Research limitations/implicationsThe study did not use an experimental design. Therefore, causal relationships between the research variables could not be explained. Majority of the respondents were male. This might have confounded the findings with potential gendered effects.Practical implicationsWestern apparel brands targeting Indian consumers in India and the USA should focus on projecting their cosmopolitan and pro-Indian image to target this population's cosmopolitan and ethnocentric outlook, thereby enhancing PI.Originality/valueThe study proposed and empirically tested a conceptual model indicating the relationship between some of the important predictors of Indian consumers' PI in the context of Indians residing in the USA and India.
A New Spiking Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (SCRNN) With Applications to Event-Based Hand Gesture Recognition

The combination of neuromorphic visual sensors and spiking neural network offers a high efficient bio-inspired solution to real-world applications. However, processing event- based sequences still remain challenging because of the nature of their asynchronism and sparsity behavior. In this paper, a novel spiking convolutional recurrent neural network (SCRNN) architecture that takes advantage of both convolution operation and recurrent connectivity to maintain the spatial and temporal relations from event-based sequence data are presented. The use of recurrent architecture enables the network to have arbitrary length of sampling window allowing the network to exploit temporal correlations between event collections. Rather than standard ANN to SNN conversion techniques, the network utilizes supervised Spike Layer Error Reassignment (SLAYER) training mechanism that allows the network to adapt to neuromorphic (event-based) data directly. The network structure is validated on the DVS gesture dataset and it has achieved a 10 class gesture recognition accuracy of 96.59% and 11 class gesture recognition accuracy of 90.28%.
Adding Adulterants to Coffee Reduces Bioactive Compound Levels and Antioxidant Activity

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of coffee adulteration on antioxidant activity in vitro. Coffee beverages were adulterated with different concentrations of coffee hulls, coffee straw, and corn (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 100%) and tested separately. Each coffee beverage was prepared according to the same methods in all of the treatments. Phenolic compound, caffeine, trigonelline, and chlorogenic acid levels were determined in the beverages. Antioxidant activity in vitro was evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging activity, reducing power, iron chelating activity, and lipoperoxidation inhibition methods. Phenolic compound, caffeine, and chlorogenic acid levels of the samples decreased with increasing adulterant concentration. Adding adulterant reduced the antioxidant capacity tested using all of the methods. The results show that adding coffee hulls, coffee straw, and corn affect the antioxidant capacity of the coffee beverages, reducing protection against oxidative stress.
Challenges for interpreting stable isotope fractionation of carbon and nitrogen in tropical aquatic ecosystems

Summary Stable isotopes are useful for elucidating food webs, and oneessentialaspectofinterpretationisaccuratelydeterminingtheenrichment between trophic levels, especially when used inmixing models. The fractionation of the stable isotopes ofnitrogen(Δδ 15 N)andcarbon(Δδ 3 C)betweentrophiclevelsintropicalaquaticecosystemsseemstodiffercomparedtotypicalvalues found in temperate aquatic ecosystems of about 3.4‰forδ 15 Nand0.5‰forδ 13 C.Inrecentstudiesofuplandstreamecosystems in Panama, with and without tadpoles, we foundlower fractionation of δ 15 N, typically 1.0–1.7‰, and muchhigherfractionationofδ 13 C,typically1–1.6‰. Similarvalueshavebeenobservedinothertropicalsystems,includingPuertoRicoandCostaRicastreamsandLakeTanganyika.Theselargedifferencesintrophicfractionationareenigmatic. Weexploresources of variation in fractionation such as tissue turnoverrate,streamflow,taxonomicdifferences,functionalgroupdif-ferences, dietary balance, growth rate, and microbial activityto assess possible contributing factors. The ecological infor-mation embedded in this variation in trophic fractionationshould be embraced and exploited.
Comparative Chromosomal Studies in Rhinolophus formosae and R. luctus from China and Vietnam: Elevation of R. l. lanosus to Species Rank

For the majority of Rhinolophus species a karyotype consisting of either 58 or 62 chromosomes was reported. The members of the R. trifoliatus clade are therefore distinguished from other rhinolophids by low diploid chromosome numbers (2n) and a high rate of chromosomal changes. Recently, based on cytogenetic characters, a cryptic species, R. luctoides, was described and a subspecies, R. luctusmorio, was elevated to species rank. In the present work, the karyotypes of a male bat from Vietnam and a female one from China, both classified as R. luctus by morphological characters, were studied by G-banding and fluorescence in situ hybridization with whole chromosome painting probes derived from Aselliscus stoliczkanus. In the male specimen from Vietnam, the composition of the 15 autosomal bi-armed pairs (2n = 32, FN = 60) is identical to that of R. luctoides from Malaysia. For reason of differences in body size and baculum length as well as in skull morphology, this specimen is provisionally treated as R. cf. luctoides. The karyotype of the female specimen from Sichuan province, China, differs from R. luctoides by a whole arm reciprocal translocation resulting in an altered arm composition of pairs 3 and 4. For this reason, the elevation of the Chinese subspecies of R. luctus, i.e. R. lanosus, to species rank is suggested. The karyotype of the endemic Taiwanese species R. formosae with a diploid number of 2n = 52 is mainly composed of acrocentric autosomal pairs. Of the five bi-armed pairs, only the two smallest show the same arm composition as found in the 2n = 32 karyotypes of other members of the R. trifoliatus clade. The composition of the remaining three bi-armed pairs is unique and represents an apomorphic feature for R. formosae.
The Measure of Financial Stability and its Impact on Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from BRIC Nations

The stability of the economy has explicitly become a key objective for fiscal, economic, and monetary policy. It is a broader term described by different aspects of finance and the financial system. One variable cannot be recognized for defining and achieving stability. The purpose of this paper is two-fold, one to construct four measures of financial stability (MFS). The second purpose is to use the four constructed measures of financial stability in two stage least square (TSLS) regression framework to know the impact of MFA on Foreign Direct Investment (inwards) of BRIC for a period from 2000-2017. In case of Brazil, all the four measures of financial stability are significant. In case of Russia, government finances are not appropriately managed. In case of China, the large inflow of FDI is because of government policies as rest of the measures are negative. In case of India, the government measures are not efficient to attract the FDI.The openness of the economy is positively contributing to FDI in all countries except India. Of all the four nations Brazil is on the right path. JEL Classification Codes: F4, F6, H11, E60.