Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Species richness patterns of obligate subterranean beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) in a global biodiversity hotspot – effect of scale and sampling intensity

We studied species richness patterns of obligate subterranean (troglobiotic) beetles in the Dinaric karst of the western Balkans, using five grid sizes with cells of 80 × 80, 40 × 40, 20 × 20, 10 × 10, and 5 × 5 km. The same two hotspots could be recognized at all scales, although details differed. Differences in sampling intensity were not sufficient to explain these patterns. Correlations between number of species and number of sampled localities increased with increasing cell size. Additional species are expected to be found in the region, as indicated by jackknife 1, jackknife 2, Chao2, bootstrap, and incidence‐based coverage (ICE) species richness estimators. All estimates increased with increasing cell size, except Chao2, with the lowest prediction at the intermediate 20 × 20 km cell size. Jackknife 2 and ICE gave highest estimates and jackknife 1 and bootstrap the lowest. Jackknife 1 and bootstrap estimates changed least with cell size, while the number of single cell species increased. In the highly endemic subterranean fauna with many rare species, bootstrap may be most appropriate to consider. Positive autocorrelation of species numbers was highest at 20 × 20 km scale, so we used this cell size for further analyses. At this scale we added 137 localities with less positional accuracy to 1572 previously considered, and increased 254 troglobiotic species considered to 276. Previously discovered hotspots and their positions did not change, except for a new species‐rich cell which appeared in the south‐eastern region. There are two centres of troglobiotic species richness in the Dinaric karst. The one in the north‐west exhibited high species richness of Trechinae (Carabidae), while in the south‐east, the Leptodirinae (Cholevidae) were much more diverse. These centres of species richness should serve as the starting point for establishing a conservation network of important subterranean areas in Dinaric karst.
Herbage yield and quality of Lablab purpureus during the late dry season in Western Nigeria.

The objective of this study was to determine the herbage yield and nutritional quality of Lablab purpureus during the peak of dry season in South Western Nigeria and to ascertain its capacity as dry season supplement for ruminant animals in that region. The experiment was carried out at the Livestock Research Farm, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta from May 2008 till March 2009. The 3 treatments consisted of 3 cutting periods replicated four times. The average CP content of lablab varied from 180 g.kg -1 DM to 220 g.kg -1 DM with the leaf fraction in March having the highest CP content of 220 g.kg -1 DM as a result of sudden rainfall. The highest (2745 kg/ha) yield was recorded in January while the least dry matter content was recorded in February. The ash and the ether extract content of lablab during the late dry season in South West Nigeria ranged from 50 g.kg -1 DM to 90 g.kg -1 DM and 55 to 80 g.kg -1 DM, respectively. The NDF, ADF and lignin content increased significantly (P<0.05) with advancing the harvesting stage with stem fraction higher (P<0.05) than that leaf fraction. The herbage yield and quality of L. purpureus in terms of its crude protein, fibre and minerals from this study shows that the appropriate time to harvest and use lablab as supplement to animal diet during the late dry season is January, which has the highest herbage yield and quality.
Influence of climatic and edaphic factors on the distribution of Eragrostis lehmanniana Nees in Arizona, USA.

Abstract Lehmann lovegrass (Eragrostis lehmanniana Nees) was introduced into Arizona, USA, from South Africa in 1932 and has since been sown throughout the southwestern USA and Northern Mexico. The species is well adapted in southeastern Arizona where it has been sown on over 69 115 ha and has spread by seed to an additional 76 040 ha. Where Lehmann lovegrass predominates and spreads, surface soils are sandy, summer rainfall is greater than or equal to 200 mm and winter temperatures rarely fall below 0° C. Factors contributing to the spread of Lehmann lovegrass in southeastern Arizona include fire, cattle grazing and drought.
The Grenville Orogen explained? Applications and limitations of integrating numerical models with geological and geophysical data

Numerical models offer powerful insights into tectonic processes, especially when their validity can be tested against geological and geophysical observations from natural orogenic belts. Here we explain some of the criteria for success in integrating orogenic models with data, using examples from the Grenville Orogen. Model designs must be simplified by comparison with nature to illuminate the first-order processes that control orogenic evolution, which limits the extent to which model results can reproduce geological observations. For the western Grenville Orogen, observed variations in geological properties are represented by lower crustal blocks with strength decreasing from the exterior to the interior of the model. GO-series models with this design reproduce the first-order crustal architecture of the Georgian Bay and Montreal – Val d’Or Lithoprobe transects. Both constant-convergence and stop-convergence models produce similar geometries, but only stop-convergence models produce normal-sense shear .
Monitoring and Predicting Response to Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy: A Quantitative SPECT-CT Based Analysis

Purpose: A standard imaging protocol for monitoring and predicting the response to Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT) has not been established yet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response to PRRT by quantitative SPECT-CT and assess the value of SPECT-CT over routine planar scintigraphy in predicting the outcome of PRRT. Methods: 32 patients with neuroendocrine tumour, who underwent SPECT-CT imaging after the first and second course of radiolabelled DOTATOC were retrospectively analysed. The response to therapy was defined by decrease in tumour volume in CT. The uptake in planar scintigraphy was evaluated by visual assessment based on a 5-point scoring scale. From SPECT images, ratios of maximum and mean values of tumour uptake to normal liver uptake were calculated. The value of SPECT-CT over planar scintigraphy in predicting therapy response was assessed by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: Evaluation of 77 target lesions (in 32 patients) by SPECT-CT imaging, showed that the mean uptake ratio decreased from a median value of 5.66 (range 0.5 to 32.37) to 3.85 (range 0.95 to 15.75), with an overall 26 % decrease (P < 0.001). The maximum uptake ratio decreased from a median value of 7.98 (0.97 to 54.21) to 5.59 (1.95 to 29.71), with an overall 30 % decrease (P < 0.002). On evaluation of 67 measurable lesions by CT (in 23 patients), the tumour volume decreased from a median value of 58.5 cm 3 (14.1 to 411.7) to 38.3 cm 3 (9.9 to 428.4) with an overall 35 % decrease (P = 0.001). The area under the ROC curve was 0.733 (95 % Confidence Interval: 0.203, 0.819) for SPECT-CT and 0.551 (95 % Confidence Interval: 0.485, 0.981) for planar scintigraphy. Conclusion: Our results highlight the value of SPECT-CT in monitoring, quantitative evaluation of response to PRRT and its superiority in the prediction of decrease in tumour volume. The initial tumour uptake ratio from SPECT-CT could serve as a prognostic factor in the prediction of response to PRRT.
PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES IN PLANT ANATOMY

THE complex phenomena of plant growth may be regarded as a dynamic equilibrium between the internal tendencies inherited by the plant and the external factors operating during its development. If this conception be applied to the analysis of the Angiosperm seedling given in the first paper of the series (15), in which it was described as an axis capped by two opposing, differently constituted, apical meristems with an equatorial region of food supply, the question immediately arises as to what extent external factors influence the subsequent development of the seedling. It is evident that normally the two apical meristems continue their growth under very different conditions, the stem meristem rising into the light and into comparatively dry air, the root meristem continuing its growth in darkness and in a moist atmosphere. The investigator has to hand experimental methods which will enable him to ascertain whether the characteristic behaviour of these different meristems is inseparably associated with the natural environment; and such experiments have frequently been carried out. The problem requires consideration anew from the standpoint adopted in these papers, and the results of some such experiments will now be considered. Few new observations fall to be recorded, but as the standpoint from which the facts are analysed is all important it seems desirable to make this clear by a discussion of our own experiments before attempting any discussion of earlier work. The experimental results requiring discussion are those obtained when a stem apex is allowed to develop in darkness, when the charac-
Dynamics of propagation patterns and anti-arrhythmic mechanisms during atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation leads to a rapid and irregular heartbeat. It is an extremely dynamic process involving many electrical waves. Wave patterns can be identified to help direct catheter treatments for atrial fibrillation. An accurate interpretation requires the use of many electrodes and a sufficiently long hospital admission. Vernakalant is the most recent medicine used to treat atrial fibrillation. While Vernakalant proved to be highly effective in treating this arrhythmia, we found the action mechanism to be different than previously thought. Vernakalant slows down electrical activation, which is associated with life-threatening arrhythmias. Careful patient selection is therefore imperative.
Ion Probe U-Pb dating of the Central Sakarya basement: a peri-Gondwana terrane cut by late Lower Carboniferous subduction/collision related granitic magmatism

Our aim here is to better understand the age and tectonic history of crystalline basement units in the Sakarya Zone of N Turkey, north of the Neotethyan İzmir-Ankara-Erzincan Suture Zone, utilising field, petrographic and ion probe dating, the latter carried out at the University of Edinburgh. One of the largest basement units, Central Sakarya, is dominated by paragneisses and schists that are best exposed between Bilecik and Sarıcakaya, forming a belt∼15 km wide x 100 km long. Smaller outcrops of this basement are exposed further north, for instance in the Geyve area. High-grade metamorphic basement is unconformably overlain by Lower Jurassic-Upper Cretaceous cover sediments of the Sakarya Zone and is in tectonic contact with the Late Palaeozoic-Early Mesozoic Karakaya Complex to the south. Ion-probe U-Pb dating of 89 detrital zircons, separated from one garnet micaschist sample, range from 551 Ma (Ediacaran) to 2738 Ma (Neoarchean). 85% of the ages are > 90 % concordant. Zircon populations cluster at ∼550-750 Ma (28 grains), ∼950-1050 Ma (27 grains) and ∼2000 Ma (5 grains), with smaller groupings at ∼800 Ma and ∼1850 Ma. The first, prominent population (Neoproterozoic) reflects derivation from a source area related to a Cadomian-Avalonian magmatic arc, likely to be associated with a Cadomian/NE African terrane rather than Baltica (Baltica is known to be magmatically inactive during this period), or Avalonia/Amazonia (in view of the absence of Mesoproterozoic ages in Avalonian-Amazonian terranes). The early Neoproterozoic ages (0.9-1 Ga) deviate significantly from the known age spectra of Cadomian terranes (i.e. Armorican Terrane Assemblage) and instead suggest derivation from an original part of NE Africa. The detrital zircon age spectrum of Cambrian-Ordovician sandstones deposited at the northern periphery of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (i.e. the Elat sandstone) is notably similar to that of the Sakarya basement. The Central Sakarya terrane may have rifted in the Early Palaeozoic, relatively early compared to other E Mediterranean inferred Minoan terranes (e.g. Menderes, Crete, Bitlis), and then accreted to the Eurasian margin, possibly in during Late Palaeozoic time. The Central Sakarya metamorphic basement is cut by a number of granitic intrusions (collectively termed the Söğüt Granite or Sarıcakaya Granite), three of which were dated in this study. Pink, alkali feldspar-rich granite (Küplü granite) yielded an age of 324.3 ±1.5 Ma. Grey, blastomylonitic biotite granite (Çaltı granite) is dated at 327.2 ± 1.9 Ma. Another granitic body with biotite and amphibole (Borçak granite) yielded a significantly younger age of 319.5 ± 1.1 Ma. Thus, late Early Carboniferous granitic magmatism in the Central Sakarya terrane could have persisted for≥ 8 Ma, possibly related to subduction or collision of a Central Sakarya terrane with the Eurasian margin.
Spices and food condiments in Niger-Delta region of Nigeria

Spices and food condiments studies here have both local and international values and recognition. Forty seven crop species commonly used as spices and condiments in the rainforest ecosystem of the Niger delta region of Nigeria were evaluated. The study revealed that leafy vegetables are richer in crude protein (CP) than the spices and bulb. However, all these crops are rich in minerals, relatively low in crude fibre (CF), phylate, oxalate and tannin. Hence they need to form part of our daily diet. Gongronema latiffora had the highest concentration of CP (34.07%) and ash (15.50%), while the least was Allium cepa with 1.55% CP and 0.60% ash. Calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), sodium (Na) and iron (Fe) were the most available minerals. These crops are natural and contain mainly minerals and vitamins and sometimes stimulants and protein which are curative. Herbal medical practitioners are always in love with these plants because they add value to life when properly used and bring income to the farmers that cultivate them. There is need to intensify the cultivation of these crop species in all parts of Nigeria where they grow very well. Key words : Spices, food condiments, Niger Delta.
Variation in rectal temperature of cattle in a tropical environment and its relation to growth rate

Rectal temperatures of cattle grazed near the tropic of Capricorn in central Queensland were studied. The cattle were of Bos indicus, B. taurus and crossbred lines, and were represented by over 200 growing heifers in each of 2 years and some supplementary groups. Rectal temperatures were log e normally distributed when they were expressed as deviations from a basal temperature of 38°C. They were significantly repeatable, but were more highly repeatable when herd mean temperature was above 39·5°C. The heritability estimate was 0·33 ( P The mean phenotypic regression of growth rate on rectal temperature, within breed groups, was 0·04 (s.e. 0·006) kg/day per °C ( r = 0·3, P The evidence of favourable and possible unfavourable responses to selection of cattle for low rectal temperature in warm environments is discussed.
Species identification by oligonucleotide hybridisation: the influence of processing of meat products

We have evaluated the influence of meat processing on the results obtained with a species identification test by DNA oligonucleotide hybridisation. Freezing and thawing of meat did not cause a substantial reduction in the hybridisation signal. Heating of meat at 100°C or 120°C, however, led to signal reduction caused by DNA degradation, but identification was still possible. The signal is highly influenced by the kind of tissues processed. Four extensively processed products with 50 g kg−1 species admixtures were tested. Admixtures could be detected in three products but no hybridisation signal was observed with corned beef. We conclude that the quantification of admixtures by hybridisation is not better than with most alternative methods of species identification, as the strength of the signal depends on factors such as tissue origin and sample processing. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry
Updating knowledge on growth, population dynamics, and ecology of the blue and red shrimp, Aristeus antennatus (Risso, 1816), on the basis of the study of its instars

Both national (GRUND) and international (MEDITS) trawl surveys carried out in the Italian seas since 1994 have produced consistent and rather homogeneous samples of red shrimps (per season, gear, and methods to ascertain abundance). Study and discussion of data regarding Aristeus antennatus (Risso, 1816) from Ligurian fishing grounds during the REDs project (FISH ⁄2004 ⁄0332) made it possible to verify how key instars of the life of the female shrimp can be recognized from length frequency distributions derived from trawl surveys, allowing the age distributions to be split up. The segment of life that can be studied spans ages 1 and 10 and includes 20 instars, but larger sizes have been found which may extend the life span another 3 years. After age 5, only one growth instar per year occurs. Based on our study of the instars, we developed a size ⁄age key for A. antennatus and used it to derive a von Bertalanffy growth function, total mortality rates and exploitation rates. Our results are related to basic biological and ecological characteristics of this species. Large individuals (females ‡50 mm CL at age 5 onward) present in a considerable percentage in the Ligurian Sea, are very important because (i) their fecundity is very high and therefore greatly influences the reproductive potential and (ii) they represent commercially the most valuable part of the catch. In addition, substantial relationships between the life history of A. antennatus and local oceanographic processes exist because the long life span of the species enlarges the area to which eggs and larvae are transported in surface currents, as well as the active return movements in deep waters where adult life mainly takes place. In the study area, the Northern Current provides the possibility of great horizontal displacement of A. antennatus eggs, larvae and early juveniles and, in general, attention to surface circulation may help to identify affinities in distant Mediterranean populations. This study presents A. antennatus in terms of a resource on the move at a Western Mediterranean scale.
EcForest: Extractive document summarization through enhanced sentence embedding and cascade forest

We present EcForest, an extractive summarization model through Enhanced Sentence Embedding and Cascade Forest. Sentence representation is of great significance for many summarization methods. Bag‐of‐words mostly fails to grasp the semantics, and typical embedding models cannot capture more complex semantic features, such as polysemy and the meaning of a phrase, which is usually ignored by simply averaging the word embeddings included in a sentence. To this end, we propose Enhanced Sentence Embedding (ESE) model to solve such drawbacks via mapping several valid features to dense vectors. Essentially, the enhanced sentence embedding is a novel model for improving the distributed representation of sentence. Our sentence embedding model is universally applicable and it can be adapted to other NLP tasks. Moreover, deep forest is used as a sentence extraction algorithm for its robustness to the hyper‐parameters and its efficient training algorithm compared to deep neural network. The evaluation of variant models proposed in this work proves the validation of the enhanced sentence embedding. The comparison results between EcForest and several baselines on two different datasets demonstrate that the proposed summarization model performs better than or with high competitiveness to the state‐of‐the‐art.
Evolution of humeral microanatomy and lifestyle in amniotes, and some comments on palaeobiological inferences

A study on the most exhaustive taxonomic sample of amniotes (75 extant and nine extinct taxa) of any quantitative work on this topic published so far demonstrates a strong relationship between lifestyle (aquatic, amphibious or terrestrial) and humeral microanatomy. We suggest that corrections for multiple testing be used to check for statistical artefacts in the context of a phylogenetic independent contrast analysis, and we use the false discovery rate procedure for this. Linear discriminant models segregate the various lifestyles with excellent success rate of up to 98.5%. Lifestyle was thus inferred for six extinct taxa of uncertain habitat. The results obtained suggest that Captorhinus, Claudiosaurus, and Placodus were amphibious, whereas Neusticosaurus and Mesosaurus were aquatic. Lystrosaurus may have been more aquatic than previously suggested, although the results of our inference models have to be integrated with other sources of data, which suggest that it may have been amphibious, rather than aquatic (as a literal interpretation of the models would suggest). Finally, we propose an alternative method of palaeobiological inference for hypothetical ancestors. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100, 384–406.
Supporting the Interconnection of Communities of Practice: The Example of TE-Cap 2

In this paper, a general model for the Interconnection of Communities of Practice ICP is proposed. This model creates links between local Communities of Practice CoPs and global Communities of Practice on the Web. To hit the target platform specifications to support an ICP are first of all proposed, soon after the TE-Cap 2 Tutoring Experience Capitalisation platform for an ICP of tutors is made up to support people working on it. This platform allows the capitalisation of tutors' contextualised knowledge by making it easily retrievable from all the tutors in their daily practice. At last a descriptive investigation over a four-month period and forty-two users registered on the platform is conducted. Results presented in this paper concern the usability of the platform and the relevance of the model with regard to tutors' needs.
Avaliação da estabilidade e adaptabilidade de genótipos de feijoeiro (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) baseada na análise multivariada da "performance" genotípica

Neste estudo, objetivou-se avaliar a estabilidade e a adaptabilidade de genotipos de feijoeiro, cultivados em diferentes ambientes, por meio da analise multivariada da performance genotipica, empregando-se os teores de agua, o valor proteico e os parâmetros de qualidade tecnologica dos graos (porcentagem de absorcao de agua antes e apos o cozimento, tempo de cozimento, porcentagem de graos inteiros, expansao volumetrica e solidos soluveis totais no caldo), em conjunto com a produtividade media dos genotipos cultivados em diversos ambientes, visando a identificar as linhagens e/ou cultivares mais estaveis e adaptadas para o conjunto de caracteres de importância para a cadeia produtiva do feijoeiro. Para tanto, foram avaliados 19 genotipos de feijoeiro pertencentes aos ensaios de VCU (Valor de Cultivo e Uso) 2005/2006/2007 de graos dos grupos comerciais carioca e preto para o estado de Sao Paulo. Os resultados obtidos pela analise multivarida para a o conjunto das tres epocas de semeadura reportaram o genotipo Gen 96A98-15-3-52-1 e a cultivar IAC-Alvorada como estaveis, responsivas a melhoria dos ambientes e tolerantes nos ambientes desfavoraveis. Por meio dos resultados obtidos, conclui-se que a analise de estabilidade e adaptabilidade multivariada proposta por Carneiro (1998), baseadas em Lin & Binns (1988), mostra-se eficiente e simples para a avaliacao do desempenho genotipico das cultivares, alem de apresentarem unicidade do parâmetro para estimar a adaptabilidade a ambientes favoraveis e desfavoraveis, e simplicidade na interpretacao dos resultados.