Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Obtaining bootstrap data for the joint distribution of bivariate survival times

The bivariate data in clinical research fields often has two types of failure times, which are mark variable for the first failure time and the final failure time. This paper showed how to generate bootstrap data to get Bayesian estimation for the joint distribution of bivariate survival times. The observed data was generated by Frank's family and the fake date is simulated with the Gamma prior of survival time. The bootstrap data was obtained by combining the mimic data with the observed data and the simulated fake data from the observed data.
Limited evidence for ecosystem-level change on reefs exposed to Haliotis rubra ('blacklip abalone') exploitation.

It is increasingly recognized that fisheries must take the broader ecosystem into account for sustainable management of marine systems, requiring an understanding of the interaction between fished species and other organisms. This study uses a correlative approach to investigate potential interactions between benthic organisms and Haliotis rubra, a dominant herbivore that is the subject of a large and valuable commercial fishery in south-eastern Australia. Specific emphasis was placed on understanding associations between H. rubra and understorey organisms, because particular understorey algae (crustose coralline algae) provide critical habitat for H. rubra larval recruitment and juvenile ecology. Broad-scale surveys along the 6–8 m depth contour (the depth range where H. rubra fishing activity is intense) were conducted across four regions (separated by 104-105 m),including at least 10 sites (separated by 102-103 m) within each region. Positive correlations between H. rubra and crustose coralline algae were found, while negative correlations were observed between H. rubra and sessile invertebrates and understorey algae. While significant, these associations were weak and H. rubra abundance generally only explained a small proportion of the variability in the abundance of understorey organisms (r2 0.02–0.30). H. rubra abundance also had a minor influence on community-level understorey patterns in comparison with differences in community structure attributable to regional variation. Patterns of H. rubra abundance and benthic community structure were also examined in relation to depth at a restricted number of sites. At sites where differences in understorey groups were evident, H. rubra abundance also varied significantly, highlighting the issue of confounding when contrasting patterns of understorey abundance using a correlative approach. Further manipulative experiments are required to confirm causal relationships; however, the available correlative evidence suggests limited ecosystem effects of H. rubra depletion at the scale of individual reefs.
Effect of Soaking African Yam Bean Seeds in Unripe Plantain Peel Ash Solutions on the Nutrients, Anti-nutrients and Functional Properties of the Flour

The dark brown coloured variety of African yam bean seeds (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) were soaked in distilled water (control) and in 1,2,3,4 and 5% solutions of unripe plantain peel ash (1:3w/v) for 15h at room temperature (27+0C), decorticated and processed into flours. The effects of soaking the seeds in different concentrations of the ash solution on proximate, mineral and anti-nutrient composition as well as on the functional properties of the flours were investigated. Result showed that the treatments had varying effects on the parameters evaluated. Flours prepared from seeds that were soaked in ash solutions had significantly (p 0.05) higher swelling index and marginally (p>0.05) lower water absorption capacity and bulk density than the flour from seeds that were soaked in water. It is evident from the study that soaking African yam bean seeds in unripe plantain peel ash solutions has beneficial effects as the flours prepared from the soaked seeds had higher levels of protein and mineral elements, lower levels of anti-nutrients and the functional properties were not impaired when compared with flour from seeds that were soaked in water.
The reoccurrence of H5N1 outbreaks necessitates the development of safe and effective influenza vaccine technologies for the prevention and control of avian influenza in Sub-Saharan Africa

Africa is experiencing reoccurrence of avian influenza outbreaks with huge negative impact on the economy of the continent as a result of high mortality rate and extreme contagiousness of the disease. The epidemiology of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Africa during the 2006-2008 outbreaks was complex and linked to movements of poultry commodities and wild birds. The peculiar risk factors, negative economic impact and the potential of being used as a biological weapon necessitates the development of a comprehensive control programme for the prevention or eradication of the disease. It is the opinion of this paper that development of new influenza vaccine technologies will provide affordable comprehensive control programmes for avian influenza prevention in Africa. To keep pace with the variability of the viruses, there is need for frequent redesign of avian influenza (AI) vaccines to match the circulating subtypes and on this is predicated the necessity of the development of influenza vaccine technology for a country, zone or region. The new vaccine technologies have been shown to have the potentials of giving vaccines with required criteria of purity, safety, efficacy, potency, low cost and short response time. The concept of most new vaccine technologies is biased towards removal of influenza virus from the system of vaccine development and at the same time obtaining more effective, potent and safe influenza vaccines. The new influenza vaccine technologies include gene-based, genomics-based, subunit, plant-based, VLPs and universal vaccine technologies. These technologies have the potential to provide vaccines that will not just be used as intervention strategies to lessen severity of the disease but as preventative vaccination. Also routine vaccination will not just be as a tool of last option in disease endemic areas, but one to prevent the disease. Key words: Technologies, avian influenza, vaccine, eradication, prevention, comprehensive, control, programme.
Economic Crisis and Women's Childbearing Motivations: The Induced Abortion Response of Women on Public Assistance

This study examines whether welfare reform and other indicators of financial hardship influence women’s childbearing motivations and abortion acceptability and whether the latter serve to affect abortion behavior. The conceptual framework adopted to answer the study questions is drawn from the crisis models of Bloom and Reichert (1998) and A. R. Roberts (1991, 2000, 2005) and applied to induced abortion using scales developed by Miller (1992). Using data on a random sample of 1,236 women from the New Jersey’s welfare reform experiment, the study finds some evidence that New Jersey’s welfare reform (which contained a family cap and a rigorous JOBS program) has served to make abortions more acceptable, which in turn leads to a higher likelihood of induced abortions. [Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 6:52–65 (2006)]
Blastema cells derived from rabbit ear show stem cell characteristics

Abstract Regeneration is a biological phenomenon, which takes place via two main mechanisms: first, dedifferentiation of mature cells followed by their differentiation into functional new cells and second, activation of endogenous somatic stem cells for regeneration of damaged or lost tissues. One of the best examples of healing process in mammals is the regeneration of damaged pinna in rabbits by blastema tissue. The aim of present study was to investigate culture requirements, proliferative properties and expression of some stemness factors in cells derived from regenerating blastema tissue obtained from rabbit pinna in vitro. The regenerating tissues were obtained from male New Zealand white rabbits by double punching of the pinna and cell culture conditions were set to derive and enrich the self renewing cells for further characterisation. The cells were subjected to survival and growth examinations in vitro, and expression of several stemness factors was studied in these cells using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results revealed that the derived cells are rather immortal, as they have been growing for more than 120 passages in culture up until this report. Furthermore, RT-PCR and flow cytometry analyses showed that these cells express a number of stemness related genes including Oct4 and Sox2. In conclusion, in this study, stem like cells were derived from blastema tissue of rabbit ears for the first time, showing great self renewing capacity, which provides a suitable in vitro model for regeneration studies. Moreover, they could be considered as a good source of stem like cells for future applications.
Cooking the books around initial public offerings : A study about the pervasiveness of earnings management and investor protection regulations

textabstractMost prior studies suggest that firms opportunistically increase their earnings around an initial public offering (IPO). With a sample of 512 IPOs in 24 countries worldwide I find that IPO firms that are under suspicion of such behaviour, represent only a small proportion (+/-10%) of the total sample. My findings challenge the opportunistic perspective on earnings management and suggest that the information perspective is more pronounced. Furthermore, I find no evidence for a positive relationship between low investor protection regulations and opportunistic earnings management. It seems that stronger enforcement of investor protection laws do not counter self-interested behaviour.
Isolation and characterization of triterpenoids and fatty acid ester of triterpenoid from leaves of Bauhinia variegata

Indian traditional medicinal plant Bauhinia variegata were extracted with ethanol and fractionated successively with petroleum ether (60 – 80°C), chloroform, n-butanol and methanol. The preliminary phytochemical studies of ethanolic extract of plant material showed the presence of carbohydrate, protein, glycosides, triterpenoids, saponins and steroids. The detailed phytochemical investigation of petroleum ether fraction of ethanolic extract of this plant isolated three triterpenoids and a fatty acid ester of triterpenoid, which were identified by spectroscopical analysis as α- amyrin caprylate, Lupeol, nor-α-amyrin and 3β, 28-di hydroxyl olean-12-enyl-palmitate, respectively.
Neighbourhood regeneration by facade redesign: A visual experiment on energy efficiency and aesthetics

Energy efficiency and architectural value of post-war residential buildings in Europeis poor. To deal with energy efficiency, decay and livability problems, improvements of building facades seem to be indicated especially when combined with tenants’ preferences for architectural aesthetics. But a valid way to assess multiple characteristics of housing facades is lacking. To assess tenant’s preferences we used an online visual experiment. In particular, we developed a questionnaire and pilot it with the students of Architecture. All the tested characteristics, i.e. Surface Articulation, Coloring, Sustainable Character, Glazing, Shading and Rent significantly contributed to the valuation of facades. This indicated that such a visual experiment might be sensitive to further investigate tenant’s preferences in innovative facade directed renovation approaches as well.
Dilution effects on microzooplankton in dilution grazing experiments

In dilution experiments, filtered seawater is used to create a gradient of grazing pressure on phytoplankton. Microzooplankton grazing is estimated by examining phytoplankton growth within the gradient. However, the dilution series also represents a resource gradient for microzooplankton. Here we report the effects of dilution on grazers. In 2 standard dilution experiments, using communities from the eutrophic (chlorophyll a = 12 to 15 μg 1 -1 ) Rhode River Estuary, we examined the effects of dilution on different groups of microzooplankters: rotifers, tintinnid ciliates, oligotrich ciliates, predacious ciliates, and Mesodinium rubrum. Apparent growth rates of tintinnids and oligotrichs varied with prey concentration, decreasing with the dilution factor from about +0.5 d -1 in undiluted whole water to about -1 d -1 in the 5% whole water, closely resembling numerical response curves. Among tintinnids, there was an increase in the relative abundance of larger tintinnids in the time 24 h samples of dilute treatments compared to the less dilute treatments. No consistent dilution effect was shown by rotifers or predacious ciliates. The growth rates of the photosynthetic ciliate M. rubrum increased with dilution, resembling the typical pattern of chlorophyll a and autotrophic nanoplankton. Grazer growth in undiluted waters and grazer mortality in dilute water may be common and result in uncertainty in measured grazing rates. We urge that grazers be examined in grazing experiments not only to assess possible artifacts in grazing rate estimates, but also to provide information, beyond a simple grazing rate, on the grazer populations.
Student Attrition: A Study of Risk Factors in an International University

Increasing pressure on Thai private universities to retain their students in the wake of decreasing student enrollment, demographic changes, and direct competition from public universities calls for them to address more systematically plans and action for student retention. The purpose of this study was to determine risk factors that affect student retention at an international university in Thailand. First year undergraduate students (N=2,193) were surveyed for factors related to student attrition. The survey was conducted both online and distributed on campus to a cohort of first year students. A 5point scale survey instrument was constructed around five categories of factors related to student attrition according to the theoretical literature: Academic Factors, Social Factors, Motivational Factors, Faculty Factors, and University Factors. A multiple regression model was employed to assess the predictive ability of the five factors plus students’ reported high school GPA and their concern with ability to pay tuition. The multiple regression analysis yielded significant results for the following factors: Social, Motivational, and University factors, entering GPA, and concern with ability to pay tuition. Results suggest that a combination of attention to traditional components of student attrition factors and a systematic review of institutional specific factors may be may be the optimal approach to inform institutional retention practice. Keyword: student retention, attrition, international university
Early Devonian Scolecodonts from Podolia, Ukraine

One of the most fossiliferous and thickest sections of the marine Lower Devonian deposits was, for the first time investigated for the content of polychaete jaws (= scolecodonts). They are represented by elements of five genera and at least nine species but are not abundant and mostly fractured. Only a fraction of the specimens are sufficiently well preserved to allow genus and species-level identification. However, in some of them even the microstructure of the jaw wall can be observed. Over 90% of the determinable specimens are represented by the jaws of paulinitids which mostly belong to three species known from the Silurian of the Baltic region. Additionally, mochtyellids, atraktoprionids, skalenoprionids and, in the lower part of the sequence, polychaetaspids have been recorded. Two new species are established—Polychaetaspis kozlowskii sp. nov. and Atraktoprion podolicus sp. nov. Status of the genera Oenonites Hinde, 1879 and Kettnerites is discussed. Lectotype of the first is not determinable to the species level, while holotype of the type species of the second is probably missing and not determinable after the original illustration.
Water services delivery as a business: an approach to sustaining water services in rural areas

In Kenya, almost 2/3rd of rural water projects start malfunctioning within 3-5 years of construction. While most of these projects have capacity to generate sufficient revenue to sustain their commercial operation, reliance on voluntary community groups has undermined the potential role of local enterprises and professional firms to keep these projects functional. SNV Netherlands Development Organisation in partnership with Adam Smith International have designed and implemented an approach aimed at delivering rural water services at scale. This approach uses market systems approach, which includes market research, commercial viability analysis, and business modelling as a tool to formalise relationship among the regulator/local government, users group, and commercial operators. While challenging the traditional belief that poor people cannot pay for water fees, this approach has demonstrated business incentives for small private firms in rural areas. This paper highlights various steps involved in the innovation, initial findings of the research and emerging lessons.
Waveform characterization of the soybean stem feeder Edessa meditabunda: overcoming the challenge of wiring pentatomids for EPG

Stink bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae) are in general robust and restless insects, which makes them difficult to wire for electropenetrograph (EPG) studies. In addition, cuticular lipids may reduce wire effectiveness, and their removal could improve success of wiring. We compared wiring effectiveness for three species of stink bugs, differing in walking behaviour and degree of cuticular waxiness, that is, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood), Nezara viridula (L.), and Loxa deducta (Walker). Results indicated that removal of cuticular lipids by mechanical abrasion (via sanding) greatly improved attachment success with gold wire. Our hypothesis that heavier and bigger bugs would lose the wire attachment more quickly than lighter and smaller bugs was not confirmed, regardless of the sanding. In contrast, our hypothesis that greater movement of a bug would cause the wire to break more often was supported by extensive testing. Behaviour appears to be more relevant for successful wiring than body weight. We used the sanding and wiring technique to characterize and correlate direct current EPG waveforms for the large and restless stem‐feeding stink bug Edessa meditabunda (Fabricius) on soybean plants. This marks the first published example of pentatomid EPG waveforms. Edessa meditabunda recordings on soybean stems generated eight types of waveforms in three phases and two families, named as follows: non‐probing = Np and Z; pathway phase = Em1; X wave phase = X; ingestion phase, family I = Em2 and Em3; ingestion phase, family N = Em4 and Em5. These eight were described based on their frequencies, relative amplitudes, and level voltages. Histological studies of stylets within salivary sheaths correlated the Em1, Em2, and Em3 waveforms with specific penetration sites. The waveform with the longest duration when feeding was Em2, representing xylem sap ingestion; in addition, waveform Em3 (always preceded by an X wave) was correlated with phloem sap ingestion.
Structural and Non-Structural Similarity Combination of Users in Social Networks

Estimating similarity is expressed in many domains and sciences. For instance, data mining, web mining, clustering, search engines, ontology mapping and social networks require the definition and deployment of similarity. User similarity in social networks is one of the main problems and has many applications in this area. In this paper, a new method is introduced for combining structural and non-structural similarity between users in social networks. In the experimental section, structural similarity algorithms are combined with non-structural similarity algorithms through the proposed method. All experiments are implemented on some part of the Twitter dataset. Experimental results show that the precisions of all algorithms are increased with the proposed method.
Response of Corn to Cadmium and Drought Stress and Its Potential Use for Phytoremediation

In the present study, the effects of different cadmium (Cd) levels of irrigation water (0, 5, 10 and 20 mg L -1 ) on corn plants (foliage) under different irrigation intervals (1, 3, and 7 days) were investigated. Clear Cd toxicity symptoms appeared on the plants at the end of the experiment. The results showed that stem dry weight (DW) followed by transpiration (T) and plant height were the measured plant parameters most sensitive to increasing Cd levels of irrigation water. In addition, Cd reduced water uptake by corn and led to more soil moisture. The results also demonstrated that corn might produce more shoot biomass with Cd application, which should be taken into consideration if no visible symptoms of Cd toxicity and considerable amounts of the metal uptake are present. Cadmium application through irrigation did not show a marked impairment in the nutrient status of the plants. Moreover, accumulation of Cd in the leaves was more than the stems by 24, 56, and 27% at 1, 3, and 7-day irrigation frequencies, respectively. Also, corn stem was found to be more sensitive to Cd than leaf. The results showed that corn might be used for phytoremediation of Cd under optimum moisture conditions and light contamination of the soil. Furthermore, shoot Cd concentration followed an asymptote pattern as a function of soil Cd, which was expressed by a plateau-type model under each irrigation interval.
Bootstrap for Value at Risk Prediction

We evaluate the predictive performance of a variety of value-at-risk (VaR) models for a portfolio consisting of five assets. Traditional VaR models such as historical simulation with bootstrap and filtered historical simulation methods are considered. We suggest a new method for estimating Value at Risk: the filtered historical simulation GJR-GARCH method based on bootstrapping the standardized GJR-GARCH residuals. The predictive performance is evaluated in terms of three criteria, the test of unconditional coverage, independence and conditional coverage and the quadratic loss function suggested. The results show that classical methods are inefficient under moderate departures from normality and that the new method produces the most accurate forecasts of extreme losses.
Molecular support for a sister group relationship between Pici and Galbulae (Piciformes sensu Wetmore 1960)

Woodpeckers, honeyguides, barbets, and toucans form a well-supported clade with approximately 355 species. This clade, commonly referred to as Pici, share with the South American clade Galbulae (puffbirds and jacamars) a zygodactyls foot with a unique arrangement of the deep flexor tendons (Gadow's Type VI). Based on these characters, Pici and Galbulae are often considered sister taxa, and have in traditional classification been placed in the order Piciformes. There are, however, a wealth of other morphological characters that contradicts this association, and indicates that Pici is closer related to the Passeriformes (passerines) than to Galbulae. Galbulae, in turn, is considered more closely related to the rollers and ground-rollers (Coracii). In this study, we evaluate these two hypotheses by using DNA sequence data from exons of the nuclear RAG-1 and c-myc genes, and an intron of the nuclear myoglobin gene, totally including 3400 basepairs of aligned sequences. The results indicate a sister group relationship between Pici and Galbulae, i.e. monophyly of the Piciformes, and this association has high statistical support in terms of bootstrap values and posterior probabilities. This study also supports several associations within the traditional order Coraciiformes, including a sister group relationship between the kingfishers (Alcedinidae) and a clade with todies (Todidae) and motmots (Momotidae), and with the bee-eaters (Meropidae) placed basal relative to these three groups.