Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chlamydia trachomatis infection in mothers with preterm delivery and in their newborn infants Note

We studied Chlamydia trachomatis infection in mothers with preterm delivery and intrauterine transmission of the infection to their offspring. Forty‐one mothers with preterm labour and their newborn infants (n=50) were studied for the presence of C. trachomatis infection using microimmunofluorescence test for detection of serum antibodies against C. trachomatis and polymerase chain reaction for detection of C. trachomatis‐specific DNA in mucosal swabs. Antibodies to C. trachomatis were found in serum of 12 mothers (29%). Five of fourteen mothers had C. trachomatis DNA in cervical specimens. Eighteen neonates were born to the 14 mothers with positive serology and/or C. trachomatis DNA. C. trachomatis DNA was detected in specimens from 10 of the 18 neonates (55.5%). Three of the available cord blood samples contained C. trachomatis IgM antibodies. Our results strongly suggest that mothers and their preterm babies may benefit from screening for active C. trachomatis infection.
Acidification and eutrophication of deciduous forests in northwestern Germany demonstrated by indicator species analysis

A new method of indicator species analysis is suggested that can be used to demonstrate changes in the species composition of forests resulting from atmospheric deposition of acidifying substances and nitrogen. The method is not dependent on an exact re-localization of sites. 2162 published releves of Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur- Carpinus betulus forests from two study areas in Germany (S Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen) were compiled and divided into releves from before 1975 and more recent releves. Weighted averages of Ellenberg indicator values for light (L), moisture (M), reaction (R), and nitrogen (N) were calculated and for each of the four data sets - mesic and dry sites in two areas - N was regressed on R to give a predicted value (Npred) for any given R. The differences between observed values Nobs and Npred were calculated separately for old and new releves (Ndev-old and Ndev-new). The same analysis was applied to model data including 16 different scenarios of acidification and/or eutrophication. The model runs resulted in six different types of regression plots for Ndev and R. All models had in common that the regression lines for Ndev-new lay, completely or largely, above the zero line of no change and above the lines for Ndev-old. Also, in the four data sets, Ndev-new was generally larger than Ndev-old, and particularly so in Nordrhein-Westfalen. The values of Ldev-old and Ldev-new indicate that the differences in Ndev are unlikely to be caused by altered forest management, but must result from atmospheric pollution.
Detecting North American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) in riffles

1.The spread of the invasive signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) outside its natural range is of widespread concern due to the threats posed to native biodiversity. To date, there is no standard protocol for determining signal crayfish presence or absence in a watercourse. 2.For the purposes of this investigation, the crayfish detection ability of active sampling methods — hand-netting, electrofishing (one, two and three runs), kick sampling and Surber sampling — was tested at 30 sites along the River Clyde, southern central Scotland. 3.No single technique was successful in detecting crayfish in 100% of the sites known to contain crayfish and so the application of combinations of techniques was considered. The combination of techniques that resulted in a 100% detection rate was electrofishing (three runs) together with kick sampling. These results suggest that three-run electrofishing and kick sampling are the best candidates for incorporation into a crayfish detection protocol. 4.The mean time taken to apply electrofishing (three runs) was significantly greater than the mean time to apply kick sampling. Given the lower effort required for its application, kick sampling is recommended as the preliminary technique: if kick sampling yields a negative result, the application of electrofishing will decrease the chance of recording a false negative presence. If both kick sampling and electrofishing fail to detect crayfish, trapping may further decrease the risk of a false negative result. 5.These findings have assisted in the development of a crayfish detection protocol, which will be applied across Scotland to determine the current distribution of signal crayfish. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The New World species of Ataenius HAROLD, 1867. VI. Revision of the A. aequalis-platensis-group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae: Eupariini)

The aequalis-platensis group of the New World species of Ataenius HAROLD is revised. Twenty seven species are recognised including eight species described as new: Ataenius abancay sp. n. , A. borjae sp. n. , A. caicarae sp. n. , A. cochabambae sp. n. , A. guanacastae sp. n. , A. guriensis sp. n. , A. onkonensis sp. n. and A. pseudoclavatus sp. n. Six new synonyms are proposed: A. aequalis HAROLD, 1880 (= A. insulicola CHAPIN, 1940, syn. n., = A. titschacki BALTHASAR, 1941, syn. n.); A. platensis (BLANCHARD, 1846) ((= A. heyrovskyi BALTHASAR, 1960, syn. n., = A. degallieri CHALUMEAU, 1990, syn. n.)); A. punctipennis HAROLD, 1868 (= A. subopacus CHAPIN, 1940, syn. n.) and A. setiger BATES, 1887 (= A. pseudohirsutus CARTWRIGHT, 1974, syn. n.) The taxa are dia- gnosed, keyed and illustrated, available biological information and distribution data are given. A cladistic analysis is presented for the hypothetical relationships among discussed species.
Exploring Mobile Banking Service Quality: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract The purpose of this study is to explore the key dimensions of mobile banking (m-banking) service quality. Four qualitative methods (focus group, in-depth interviews, critical incident technique, and netnography) were used for data collection. Inductive content analysis and Pareto analysis were used to explore the key themes (dimensions). Results demonstrated that privacy and security, customer support, interactivity, efficiency, and content were the key dimensions. The findings of the study provide useful insights for developing a scale to measure m-banking service quality. Practically, the findings will help banks understand consumers’ expectations, and provide directions for providing quality m-banking services.
Optical properties, mitochondria, and sutures of lenses of fishes: a comparative study of nine species

This comparative study of lenses from nine fish species consisted of seven teleosts (oscar, Astronotus ocellatus; smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu; orangespotted sunfish, Lepomis humilus; Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus; common carp, Cyprinus carpio; rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss; American eel, Anguilla rostrata) and two species representing more primitive forms (brook lamprey, Lampetra lamotteni; lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens). Lens optical properties were analysed using an automated scanning laser monitor. Lens suture anatomy and the morphology and distribution of mitochondria were analysed using a confocal laser scanning microscope. Lenses of Arctic char exhibited the sharpest focus, whereas American eel lenses exhibited the poorest ability to focus and the highest amount of spherical aberration. Metabolically active mitochondria are found in lens epithelial and superficial cortical fibre cells, as in mammals. The results of the detailed study of the lens sutures show that teleost lense.
A hybrid mathematical model of solid tumour invasion: the importance of cell adhesion

In this paper we present a hybrid mathematical model of the invasion of healthy tissue by a solid tumour. In particular we consider early vascular growth, just after angiogenesis has occurred. We examine how the geometry of the growing tumour is affected by tumour cell heterogeneity caused by genetic mutations. As the tumour grows, mutations occur leading to a heterogeneous tumour cell population with some cells having a greater ability to migrate, proliferate or degrade the surrounding tissue. All of these cell properties are closely controlled by cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions and as such the physical geometry of the whole tumour will be dependent on these individual cell interactions. The hybrid model we develop focuses on four key variables implicated in the invasion process: tumour cells, host tissue (extracellular matrix), matrix-degradative enzymes and oxygen. The model is considered to be hybrid since the latter three variables are continuous (i.e. concentrations) and the tumour cells are discrete (i.e. individuals). With this hybrid model we examine how individual-based cell interactions (with one another and the matrix) can affect the tumour shape and discuss which of these interactions is perhaps most crucial in influencing the tumour’s final structure.
Modernity Lacks Care: Community-based Development and the Moral Economy of Households in Eastern Nagaland

The article examines two aspects of development presented through an ethnographic study of the project ‘Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development’. First is the discursive construction of project beneficiaries as poor, underdeveloped and backward in modernist literature. Second, the article captures inter-household negotiations around developmental resources in the context of microcredit. Drawing on participant observations, oral histories and household interviews, I explore the micro-politics of everyday life to reflect on the contesting representations of ‘beneficiary community’ and ‘project experts’. In addition, I analyse the struggle within the community for resources made available by the project. This illuminates the actors, networks and institutions involved in community development programmes and problematizes ideal conceptualization of communities as a site for collective participation. The article highlights practices of objectification and the creation of a populist discourse on participation that overlooks multiple layers of patronage, public and self-interest exercised by project beneficiaries in community development programmes. Additionally, the article investigates how the lack of ‘care’ in modernist participatory agricultural development discourse undermines the community’s aspirations for development and establishes a rupture between policy and practice.
Reference dose determination in 60Co and high-energy radiotherapy photon beams by using Farmer-type cylindrical ionization chambers – an experimental investigation

Ionization chamber dosimetry is predominantly used for determination of the absorbed dose to water in 60Co and high-energy radiotherapy photon beams. The most widespread ionization chambers employed for absolute or reference dose determinations in reference conditions are the Farmer-type cylindrical ionization chambers. The Farmer-type ionization chambers have a variety of constructions and materials and their responses vary in the radiation beam. Clinical accelerators, in addition to conventional photon beams with flattening-filter, can also deliver flattening-filter-free (FFF) photon beams. The responses of five different Farmer-type cylindrical ionization chambers were experimentally examined with reference to absorbed dose determination in reference conditions when using the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Technical Reports Series no. 483 (TRS-483) and the IAEA TRS-398 dosimetry protocol in the present investigation. The irradiations were performed using 60Co and megavoltage photon beams with 6 MV, 15 MV, 6 MV FFF and 10 MV FFF nominal photon energies. The chamber calibrations were performed at different Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories and are traceable to primary standards at different Primary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories. The chambers were also cross-calibrated at our laboratory using 60Co γ-beam. The variation found in the data regarding the reference dose determination using the various Farmer-type chambers in the photon beams employed was about 1% at maximum. Thus, the selection of the ionization chamber in reference dose determinations may affect the outcomes. The differences in the absorbed dose values were similar in the conventional as well as in the FFF photon beams. For the FFF photon beams the absorbed dose computations were performed using the IAEA-AAPM TRS-483 dosimetry protocol. Two of the ionization chambers used had identical construction but different central electrodes, i.e. graphite versus aluminium. The results obtained using these two chambers show that, in the photon beams examined, the employed correction for the central electrode (pcel) regarding these two chambers is associated with an inaccuracy which is larger than the calculated uncertainty for this correction. The outcomes found in the present experimental investigation using the various ionization chambers also indicate possible inaccuracy in the employed beam quality correction factors (kQ) and imply the need for a revision of these factors.
Palynological dating of low-grade metamorphosed rocks: Applications to Early Paleozoic rocks of the Central Maine/Aroostook-Matapedia Basin and Fredericton Trough (Northern Appalachians) in eastern and east-central maine, U.S.A.

Identification of spores, acritarchs, and chitinozoans in weakly metamorphosed (≥ 300 °C) turbidites demonstrates the usefulness of palynological dating for hitherto unfossiliferous strata that underlie much of the Gander terrane in Maine. Identification of spores, acritarchs, and chitinozoans in weakly metamorphosed (≥ 300 °C) turbidites demonstrates the usefulness of palynological dating for hitherto unfossiliferous strata that underlie much of the Gander terrane in Maine. Combined with sparse macrofossil ages and geochronologic data from detrital zircons, volcanic horizons, and plutons, the fossils constrain the ages of strata in the Central Maine/Aroostook-Matapedia (CMAM) basin and Fredericton trough and help to resolve paleogeographic and tectonic problems. Ages for the provisional Brewer (Upper Ordovician to Llandovery) and Bangor (Wenlock) formations in the Bangor area fill the last remaining gap in CMAM basin stratigraphy and permit correlation across the entire basin, from western Maine to the New Brunswick border. Resulting lithofacies patterns document basinward facies changes from both eastern and western external sources, and also indicate internal sources within the basin. A progressive decrease in carbonate sediment in the CMAM basin toward the south suggests interaction between axial and basinward currents in which micrite transported by axial currents from the Matapedia platform in northern New Brunswick was progressively overwhelmed to the south by clastic sedimentation from flanking highland sources. Middle to late Silurian age ranges for the Flume Ridge Formation, the most extensive unit in the Fredericton trough, and the newly named County Road Formation permit correlation with rocks in similar structural positions in New Brunswick. Recent geologic mapping, the new age control, and improved understanding of facies relationships show that the CMAM basin was perhaps as wide as 800 to 1000 km prior to deformation; developed on continental crust after mid-Ordovician plate accretion; contained a body of deep water with anoxic bottom conditions and mostly pelagic organisms; and contains a series of overlapping submarine fans derived from multiple sources.
The Black-Tailed Prairie Dog: Social Life of a Burrowing Mammal

John L. Hoogland draws on 16 years of research at Wind Cave Na tional Park, South Dakota, in the United States, to provide this account of prairie dog social behaviour. Through comparisons with more than 300 other animal species, he offers new insights into basic theory in behavioural ecology and sociobiology. Hoogland documents interactions within, and among, families of prairie dogs to examine the advantages and disadvantages of coloniality. By addressing such topics as male and female reproductive success, inbreeding, kin recognition and infanticide, Hoogland offers a broad view of conflict and co-operation. Among his surprising findings is that prairie dog females sometimes suckle, and at other times kill, the offspring of close kin. Enhanced by more than 100 photographs, this book illuminates the social organization of a burrowing mammal and raises fundamental questions about current theory. It should be of interest not only to mammalogists and other vertebrate biologists, but also students of behavioural and evolutionary ecology.
Produção de moranga e pepino em solo com incorporação de cama aviária e casca de pinus

A cama aviaria e a casca de pinus (Pinus taeda) sao subprodutos de empresas avicolas e florestais que podem ser utilizados na melhoria da fertilidade e das propriedades fisicas e quimicas do solo. As morangas 'Tetsukabuto' (Cucurbita maxima x C. moschata) e 'Exposicao' (Cucurbita maxima) e o pepino 'Caipira' (Cucumis sativus) estao entre as cucurbitaceas mais cultivadas em Santa Catarina. Avaliou-se os efeitos de doses (0 a 50 g.kg-1 de solo) de cama aviaria (2,82% N; 2,53% P; 1,2% K; 2,5% Ca; 0,5% Mg) e da casca de pinus (0,30% N; 0,10% P; 0,12% K; 0,21% Ca; 0,03% Mg), incorporadas ao solo, no desenvolvimento de plantas e na producao de moranga e pepino. Os experimentos foram delineados em blocos ao acaso, desenvolvidos em casa de vegetacao e no campo, e, dependendo do experimento, possuiam tratamentos variando de quatro a cinco, e, repeticoes de quatro a oito. Em casa de vegetacao, doses de cama aviaria de ate 30 g kg-1 de solo (correspondendo a ~3 kg m-2) aumentaram as plantas emergentes (~15% a 50%) e a massa da materia fresca (~90% a 200%) de plantas de moranga 'Exposicao' e de pepino 'Caipira'. O pH e os conteudos de Ca, K, Mg, Mn, N, P e Zn do solo aumentaram com o incremento das doses de cama aviaria. O incremento nas doses de casca de pinus diminuiu (~27%) os niveis de nitrogenio mineral do solo. Nos experimentos de campo, a incorporacao de cama aviaria e casca de pinus aumentou a emergencia (~15%) de plântulas de pepino. A producao de frutos de moranga 'Tetsukabuto' e de pepino 'Caipira' aumentou (~120%) nos tratamentos com cama aviaria, na dose de 30 g kg-1 (correspondendo a ~ 3 kg m-2).
Harmonic and unbalanced voltage compensation with VOC‐based three‐phase four‐leg inverters in islanded microgrids

This study proposes a novel method that combines sliding mode control (SMC) and virtual oscillator control (VOC) to eliminate voltage harmonics and unbalance caused by non-linear and unbalanced loads in a three-phase low-voltage microgrid. The conventional VOC is modified to fit the three-phase four-leg inverter systems and a novel SMC control is designed using the high-pass filter technique and linearised super twist algorithm. The proposed control method can keep the voltage harmonics and unbalance at the point of common coupling within the IEEE standard limits, under heavily non-linear and unbalanced load conditions. The validity of the proposed method is verified by both offline simulations in Matlab/Simulink and Control Hardware-in-the Loop simulations using an OPAL-RT platform.
Biomass dynamics of herbaceous vegetation in Zambezi riverine woodlands.

Summary Seasonal changes in biomass, productivity and large mammal utilization of annual grasslands on Zambezi alluvium in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, were recorded over four years and compared with perennial grasslands. Annual grasses grew only in the wet season, but forb productivity peaked at the start of the dry season. Large mammals and termites ate dead annual grasses in the dry season. Production was usually greater in perennial grasslands, than in annual ones, and perennial grasses often grew throughout the year. Large mammal utilization of grasslands varied between 53 and 99% of annual production. Resume L'on rapporte les changements saisonniers de biomasse, productivite et utilisation par les grands mammiferes des herbages annuels dans les plaines alluviales du Zambeze au Parc National de Mana Pools, Zimbabwe, pendant 4 ans et on les compare avec ceux des herbages perennes. Les herbes annuelles ne croissent que pendant la saison des pluies mais la productivite du fourrage etait au maximum en debut de perennes que dans les annuels et les herbes perennes poussaient souvent tout au long de I'annee. L'utilisation par les grands mammiferes variait de 53 a 99% de la production annuelle.
Experimentally validated model and power optimization of a magnetoelectric wireless power transfer system in free-free configuration

This article presents a thorough analysis and an equivalent circuit model of a wireless power transfer system utilizing magnetoelectric (ME) effects. Based on two-port theory, explicit analytical solutions of, (i) the ME coefficient αME (defined by the derivative of the generated electric field with respect to the applied magnetic field), and (ii) the power transferred to a load resistance, are derived and rigorously validated by experiments. The compact closed-forms of the optimal load and its corresponding maximum output power are developed. In our particular experimental system, a power of ∼10 mW is attained at an applied magnetic flux density of 318.9 µT with a laminated composite made by two Galfenol and one PZT layers. While αME is widely used in the literature as a standard criterion to evaluate the performance of a ME transducer, we reveal that larger αME does not always ensure higher optimum power delivered to the load. Instead, we quantify the essential influences of each magnetostrictive and piezoelectric phases on the maximum obtainable power. We show that the transduction factor between the magnetic and mechanical domains is often more critical for power optimization than the mechanical-electrical transduction factor as it determines and limits the maximum power available for transfer to a resistive load.