Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dramatic decline of the Vulnerable Reeves's pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii, endemic to central China

Abstract The current status and distribution of the Vulnerable Reeves's pheasant Syrmaticus reevesii, endemic to central China, is poorly known. To obtain updated information on its status we selected 89 candidate sites in six provinces and one municipality in central China and conducted interviews and field surveys from April 2011 to April 2012. Interviews demonstrated the pheasant has disappeared from 46% of the surveyed sites. Our results also revealed a population decline at 46 sites, including protected areas, although population densities in protected areas were higher than those in non-protected areas. Eighty-three, 26 and 20% of the surveyed sites had evidence of poaching, habitat loss and use of poison, respectively, which were the three major threats to this species. To ensure the long-term survival of Reeves's pheasant in China, protection and management need to be enforced in both protected and non-protected areas. We recommend that this species should be upgraded to a national first-level protected species in China and recategorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
What is the evidence for medicinal value of carnivorous plants?

Throughout history, plants have been used for medicinal purposes. Many of the modern allopathic medicines used today are either directly or indirectly derived from plants. Examples include the cardiotonic and antiarrhythmic agent digoxin (derived from the foxglove—Digitalis purpurea), antimalarial quinine (derived from the bark of the cinchona tree—Cinchona officinalis), the mydriatic (pupil dilatory) agent belladonna (derived from the nightshade Atropa belladonna), aspirin (derived from the bark of the willow tree—Salix alba, etc.), taxol (derived from the yew tree—Taxus brevifolia) and vincristine (derived from the periwinkle—Catharanthus roseus (=Vinca rosea)). Although carnivorous plants have been used medicinally, to date not a single compound derived from carnivorous plants has been widely-accepted in modern allopathic medicine. Pinguicula spp. , Dionaea muscipula, Drosera spp. , Sarracenia purpurea, and Nepenthes spp. are the carnivorous plants frequently touted as having therapeutic potential. We herein review the existing literature on the medical uses of these plants.
Wideband Null Frequency Scanning Circular Sector Patch Antenna Under Triple Resonance

In this article, a novel design approach to triple-resonant, circular sector patch antenna with wideband null frequency scanning functionality is advanced. At first, the operation principle of null frequency scanning functionality is revealed by the simplest, straight electric dipole under multiple resonances. Then, a triple-resonant circular sector patch antenna is designed based on a double-wavelength prototype magnetic dipole by synthesizing it usable resonant modes. As synthesized, the resonant TM12/17,1, TM36/17,1, and TM60/17,1 modes within a 255° circular sector patch radiator can be simultaneously excited, properly perturbed, and then used to realize a wideband null frequency scanning functionality. Next, different prototype antennas are designed and fabricated and experimentally verified the design approach on a single layered air substrate. As finally demonstrated, the antenna can exhibit a null frequency scanning range from $\theta =+ 35^{\circ }$ to −60° within an available radiation bandwidth (ARB) of 24% (i.e., 2.20–2.80 GHz) for null depth smaller than −10 dB.
A multivariate analysis of the vegetation of Cedrus deodara forests in Hindu Kush and Himalayan ranges of Pakistan: evaluating the structure and dynamics

This investigation focuses on the multivariate analysis of the vegetation of the Hindu Kush and Himalayan ranges of Pakistan, concentrating on the dynamics of Cedrus deodara (Roxb. ex D.Don) G.Don. The study includes 47 stands from 23 different locations in the Himalayan region of Pakistan. The point-centred quarter method and 1.5-m radius circular plots were used for the sampling of tree and understorey vegetation, respectively. The size, age structure, and growth rates of Cedrus deodara were also examined in order to trace its dynamics, and an attempt was made to determine the relationships between environmental factors and vegetation. The quantitative distribution of understorey vegetation was also assessed as a way of evaluating the floristic association of the forests. The underlying group structure in the vegetation was exposed using Ward's clustering technique. Results of the cluster analysis showed that 6 groups of vegetation could readily be superimposed on DCA ordination. The vegetation was potentially continued. Among the environmental variables, factors such as elevation, pH, organic matter of soil, total nitrogen, and magnesium showed significant correlations with ordination axes. The size-class structure of Cedrus deodara exhibited many gaps. In most stands, Cedrus deodara exhibited ample recruitment, and relationships between diameter, age, and growth rate were significant in many stands. The study also proposes some recommendations for the maintenance and proper management of these forests.
Cirrhosis in Wilson Disease is characterized by Impaired Hepatic Synthesis, Leukopenia and Thrombocytopenia

Background: Patients with Wilson disease (WD) progress to cirrhosis at an early age but have good prognoses. This study aimed to delineate hepatic features in WD patients with or without cirrhosis. Methods: Medical data were retrospectively collected from 27 July 2015 to 27 June 2018. WD patients were divided into two groups based on whether or not they progressed to cirrhosis. Liver function, portal hypertension features and hematocytopenia rates were compared between groups. Results: The study enrolled 119 WD patients with cirrhosis and 53 WD patients without cirrhosis. There were no differences between groups for liver enzyme levels or incidence rates of Kayser-Fleischer ring (all P > 0.05). Ascites and hepatic encephalopathy were nearly absent in both groups, and almost all patients were Child-Pugh group A. However, WD-associated cirrhotic patients had a higher prothrombin time (beta = 0.908, P = 0.004) and international normalized ratio (beta = 0.089, P = 0.040), wider portal vein diameter (beta = 1.330, P < 0.001), and an increased risk of splenomegaly/splenectomy (odds ratio [OR] = 4.36, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.15-8.84, P < 0.001). Moreover, WD-associated cirrhotic patients have significantly increased risks of leukopenia (OR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.00-5.25, P = 0.049) and thrombocytopenia (OR = 6.89, 95% CI: 2.01-23.59, P = 0.002). Conclusions: Despite presenting good outcomes, mild hepatocyte injury, and good hepatic metabolic function, WD-associated cirrhotic patients show more serious impairment of hepatic synthetic function, wider portal vein diameter, and higher risk of splenomegaly due to portal hypertension.
Alteration of Haematological Profiles due to Cypermethrin Toxicosis in Rana hexadactyla

Cypermethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide with low mammalian toxicity but high insecticidal activity. Following exposure to sublethal concentration of cypermethrin (1/10 LC50 1.63mg/l) in frogs, the haematological profiles were investigated over 7 days and 30 days. The results revealed statistically significant decrease of red blood cells, haemoglobin, packed cell volume, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, and neutrophils, and increase of the other white blood cells, including lymphocytes, monocytes, and eosinophils.
Amino acid and metal content ofCrassostrea gigasshell infested byPolydorasp. in the prismatic layer insoluble matrix and blister membrane

Resume The spionid polychaete Polydora sp. can live and reproduce inside the oysters' shell, excavating a U-shaped burrow the central portion of which is filled with detritus and particles of dissolved shell. The oyster responds by secreting an organic layer, confining the worm, and later covering it with calcitostracum. This process creates a characteristic "mud blister". Cra.s. sostrea gigus werc analysed for the organic matrix amino acid content and 14 metals of the whole shell of normal oystcrs and severely Polydora infested ones. Amino acid, DOPA and FI'-Raman analyses wcre also performed on isolated membranes from the characteristic mud blister and on prismatic layer insoluble matrix (PLIM) of infested oysters, with the aim of detecting any differences between the two organic matrices. Membranes and PLIM composition differ from whole normal shell organic matrix by having lower aspartate and glycine and higher levels of virtually al1 hydrophobic amino acids, especially alanine. There are no signifiant differences between membranes and PLIM in the ratio of charged to non-polar amino acids, respectively 0.54 and 0.59. L-DOPA content is also sirnilar in the two matrices with 0.45 (k0.18) and 0.57 (f 0.30) ng.rng-' protein for PLIM and membranes respectively. The FT-Raman spectra of membranes is very similar to that of PLIM, suggesting that they have identical composition. Zinc, iron and manganese are significantly higher in infested than in normal shells. Infested oysters can provide an excellent opportunity for investigating normal biological calcification processes.
FDG-PET-CT and/or diffusion-weighted MRI

Background: Considerable variation exists in diagnostic tests used for local response evaluation after chemoradiation in patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer. The yield of invasive examination under general anesthesia (EUA) with biopsies in all patients is low and it may induce substantial morbidity. We explored four response evaluation strategies to detect local residual disease in terms of diagnostic accuracy and costeffectiveness. Methods: We built a decision-analytic model using trial data of forty-six patients and scientific literature. We estimated for four strategies the proportion of correct diagnoses, costs concerning diagnostic instruments and the proportion of unnecessary EUA indications. Besides a reference strategy, i.e. EUA for all patients, we considered three imaging strategies consisting of FDG-PET-CT, diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI), or both FDG-PET-CT and DW-MRI followed by EUA after a positive test. The impact of uncertainty was assessed in sensitivity analyses. Results: The EUA strategy led to 96% correct diagnoses. Expected costs were €468 per patient whereas 89% of EUA indications were unnecessary. The DW-MRI strategy was the least costly strategy, but also led to the lowest proportion of correct diagnoses, i.e. 93%. The PET-CT strategy and combined imaging strategy were dominated by the EUA strategy due to respectively a smaller or equal proportion of correct diagnoses, at higher costs. However, the combination of PET-CT and DW-MRI had the highest sensitivity. All imaging strategies considerably reduced (unnecessary) EUA indications and its associated burden compared to the EUA strategy. Conclusions: Because the combined PET-CT and DW-MRI strategy costs only an additional €927 per patient, it is preferred over immediate EUA since it reaches the same diagnostic accuracy in detecting local residual disease while leading to substantially less unnecessary EUA indications. However, if healthcare resources are limited, DW-MRI is the strategy of choice because of lower costs while still providing a large reduction in unnecessary EUA indications.
MicroRNAs as potential biomarkers in malignant pleural mesothelioma

License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. Permissions beyond the scope of the License are administered by Dove Medical Press Limited. Information on how to request permission may be found at: http://www.dovepress. com/permissions.php Current Biomarker Findings 2016:6 1–21 Current Biomarker Findings Dovepress
Simulations Predicting the Ability of Multi-color Simultaneous Photometry to Distinguish TESS Candidate Exoplanets from False Positives

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is currently concluding its 2 yr primary science mission searching 85% of the sky for transiting exoplanets. TESS has already discovered well over one thousand TESS objects of interest (TOIs), but these candidate exoplanets must be distinguished from astrophysical false positives using other instruments or techniques. The 3-band Multi-color Simultaneous Camera for Studying Atmospheres of Transiting Planets (MuSCAT), as well as the 4-band MuSCAT2, can be used to validate TESS discoveries. Transits of exoplanets are achromatic when observed in multiple bandpasses, while transit depths for false positives often vary with wavelength. We created software tools to simulate MuSCAT/MuSCAT2 TESS follow-up observations and reveal which planet candidates can be efficiently distinguished from blended eclipsing binary (BEB) false positives using these two instruments, and which must be validated using other techniques. We applied our software code to the Barclay et al.predicted TESS discoveries, as well as to TOIs downloaded from the ExoFOP-TESS website. We estimate that MuSCAT (MuSCAT2 values in parentheses) will be able to use its multi-color capabilities to distinguish BEB false positives for ∼17% (∼18%) of all TESS discoveries, and ∼13% (∼15%) of Rpl < 4R⊕ discoveries. Our TOI analysis shows that MuSCAT (MuSCAT2) can distinguish BEB false positives for ∼55% (∼52%) of TOIs with transit depths greater than 0.001, for ∼64% (∼61%) of TOIs with transit depths greater than 0.002, and for ∼70% (∼68%) of TOIs with transit depth greater than 0.003. Our work shows that MuSCAT and MuSCAT2 can validate hundreds of Rpl < 4R⊕ candidate exoplanets, thus supporting the TESS mission in achieving its Level 1 Science Requirement of measuring the masses of 50 exoplanets smaller in size than Neptune. Our software tools will assist scientists as they prioritize and optimize follow-up observations of TOIs.
On the Almost Sure Convergence of Stochastic Gradient Descent in Non-Convex Problems

This paper analyzes the trajectories of stochastic gradient descent (SGD) to help understand the algorithm's convergence properties in non-convex problems. We first show that the sequence of iterates generated by SGD remains bounded and converges with probability $1$ under a very broad range of step-size schedules. Subsequently, going beyond existing positive probability guarantees, we show that SGD avoids strict saddle points/manifolds with probability $1$ for the entire spectrum of step-size policies considered. Finally, we prove that the algorithm's rate of convergence to Hurwicz minimizers is $\mathcal{O}(1/n^{p})$ if the method is employed with a $\Theta(1/n^p)$ step-size schedule. This provides an important guideline for tuning the algorithm's step-size as it suggests that a cool-down phase with a vanishing step-size could lead to faster convergence; we demonstrate this heuristic using ResNet architectures on CIFAR.
A Mini-Neptune and a Venus-Zone Planet in the Radius Valley Orbiting the Nearby M2-dwarf TOI-1266: Validation with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder

We report on the validation of two planets orbiting the nearby (36pc) M2 dwarf TOI-1266 observed by the TESS mission. The inner planet is sub-Neptune-sized ($R=2.46 \pm 0.08 R_\oplus$) with an orbital period of 10.9 days. The outer planet has a radius of $1. 67_{-0.11}^{+0.09} R_\oplus$ and resides in the exoplanet Radius Valley---the transition region between rocky and gaseous planets. With an orbital period of 18.8 days, the outer planet receives an insolation flux of 2.4 times that of Earth, similar to the insolation of Venus. Using precision near-infrared radial velocities with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder Spectrograph, we place upper mass limits of $15.9 M_\oplus$ and $6.4 M_\oplus$ at 95% confidence for the inner and outer planet, respectively. A more precise mass constraint of planet c, achievable with current RV instruments given the host star brightness (V=12.9, J=9.7), will yield further insights into the dominant processes sculpting the exoplanet Radius Valley.
Public decisions on animal species: does body size matter?

SUMMARY Systematic knowledge about factors affecting the willingness of societies to conserve biodiversity is still scarce. This study investigates the role of body size in national decisions on wild animal species by analysing the average body sizes of the animal species subject to species-specific legislation in the Netherlands over the period 1857–1995. Three legal objectives were distinguished, namely ‘control’, ‘use’ and ‘protection’. For most taxa, average body sizes of species were found to differ significantly between legal objectives within a substantial number of subperiods analysed. Throughout the entire period examined, protected bird, mammal, fish and mollusc species were of smaller average body size than those subject to use legislation and protected bird, mammal and mollusc species were also smaller than those subject to control legislation most of the time. Protected insects were generally larger than those subject to control or use. For vertebrate taxa, average sizes of protected species increased over the time period selected for examination, suggesting that legislation initially excluded larger vertebrates from protection, possibly partly owing to demands to maintain use of these species. The results emphasize that conservation context is important, as other studies suggest that conservation policy generally favours larger species.
On Time Trend of COVID-19: A Panel Data Study

In this paper, we study the trending behaviour of COVID-19 data at country level, and draw attention to some existing econometric tools which are potentially helpful to understand the trend better in future studies. In our empirical study, we find that European countries overall flatten the curves more effectively compared to the other regions, while Asia & Oceania also achieve some success, but the situations are not as optimistic as in Europe. Africa and America are still facing serious challenges in terms of managing the spread of the virus and reducing the death rate. In Africa, the rate of the spread of the virus is slower and the death rate is also lower than those of the other regions. By comparing the performances of different countries, our results on the performance of different countries in managing the speed of the virus agree with Gu et al. (2020). For example, both studies agree that countries such as USA, UK and Italy perform relatively poorly; on the other hand, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore perform relatively better.
Sprayed and seed dressed pesticides in pollen, nectar and honey of oilseed rape

In recent years repeated colony losses occurred in Germany. Besides Varroosis many other possible causes like bee diseases, nutrition supply as well as effects of pesticides have been discussed. A chronic feeding study was conducted to find indications to what extent negative effects of pesticides in sub-lethal doses can be discerned from effects of other stressors (pathogens, drugs, mix of plant protection products, malnutrition of proteins) or any interactions or coactions. In a screening programme effects of chronic dietary exposure to sub-lethal doses of the insecticide imidacloprid were studied in honeybees under stress of another potential stressor (Varroa destructor, Nosema apis, drugs, lack of pollen supply). The results confirm a chronic oral toxicity of imidacloprid at concentrations which in several previous studies have been reported to be toxic to bees (100 ppb). However, no indications were found for significant differences in sensitivity to imidacloprid between bees under other stressors and control bees.
The Phytochemical Composition and Some Biochemical Effects of Nigerian Tigernut (Cyperus esculentus L.) Tuber

2 Abstract: The phytochemical composition of the tigernut tuber and the effect of the aqueous extract on some biochemical parameters such as blood glucose, serum protein, albumin and cholesterol, white blood cells, red blood cells, haemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and packed cell volume were determined in rats administered different concentrations of the extract. From the result of the phytochemical analysis, the presence of alkaloids, cyanogenic glycosides, resins, tannins, sterols and saponins were observed in the raw tuber, however only alkaloids, sterols and resins were observed in the roasted tuber. Analysis of the antinutrient composition yielded oxalates (0.25±0.65 g/100 g), phytate (1.97±0.81 mg/100 g), saponins (0.88±0.02/100 g), tannins (9.50±0.46 mg/100 g) and cyanogenic glycosides (1.80±0.69 mg/100 g). Roasting numerically decreased the levels of the anti-nutritive factors analyzed. At the end of the treatment period, the mean weights of the animals increased. The blood glucose level decreased significantly in concentratio n dependent manner (p 0.05) on serum cholesterol and protein and on total and differential white blood cell, red blood cell, haemoglobin, packed cell volume and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The results therefore indicate the absence of undesirable effect in the use of the tigernut tuber even in the raw form at least at the administered concentration and for the duration of feeding. The findings are of nutritional, health and industrial relevance since the tuber is currently being used as food in many homes in Nigeria.
An adversarial algorithm for variational inference with a new role for acetylcholine

Sensory learning in the mammalian cortex has long been hypothesized to involve the objective of variational inference (VI). Likely the most well-known algorithm for cortical VI is the Wake-Sleep algorithm (Hinton et al. 1995). However Wake-Sleep problematically assumes that neural activities are independent given lower-layers during generation. Here, we construct a VI system that is both compatible with neurobiology and avoids this assumption. The core of the system is a wake-sleep discriminator that classifies network states as inferred or self-generated. Inference connections learn by opposing this discriminator. This adversarial dynamic solves a core problem within VI, which is to match the distribution of stimulus-evoked (inference) activity to that of self-generated activity. Meanwhile, generative connections learn to predict lower-level activity as in standard VI. We implement this algorithm and show that it can successfully train the approximate inference network for generative models. Our proposed algorithm makes several biological predictions that can be tested. Most importantly, it predicts a teaching signal that is remarkably similar to known properties of the cholinergic system.
An LSTM approach to Forecast Migration using Google Trends

Being able to model and forecast international migration as precisely as possible is crucial for policymaking. Recently Google Trends data in addition to other economic and demographic data have been shown to improve the forecasting quality of a gravity linear model for the one-year ahead forecasting. In this work, we replace the linear model with a long short-term memory (LSTM) approach and compare it with two existing approaches: the linear gravity model and an artificial neural network (ANN) model. Our LSTM approach combined with Google Trends data outperforms both these models on various metrics in the task of forecasting the one-year ahead incoming international migration to 35 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries: for example the root mean square error (RMSE) and the mean average error (MAE) have been divided by 5 and 4 on the test set. This positive result demonstrates that machine learning techniques constitute a serious alternative over traditional approaches for studying migration mechanisms.