Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biodiversity and biogeography of non-marine Mollusca on the islands of the Southern Ocean

There are no terrestrial and freshwater molluscs associated with Continental nor Maritime Antarctica. The malacofaunas of the cool-temperate and sub-Antarctic islands of the Southern Ocean are extremely depauperate, comprising a mere 68 site-records of 51 species from 27 genera in 13 families. The South Atlantic records are confined to the Falkland Islands, which harbour nine species (one bivalve, five pond snails and three terrestrial aliens), and South Georgia, where there is one Notodiscus sp. (Charopidae). The fauna of the South Indian Ocean islands of Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen and Heard, comprises two alien slugs and endemic Notodiscus hookeri (Charopidae). The majority of species occur on the South Pacific Ocean Islands of Macquarie, Campbell, Auckland, Snares, Antipodes, Bounty and Chatham to the south and east of New Zealand. The Chatham fauna is dissimilar to that on the other South Pacific Islands, though both represent vicariant remnants of common South Pacific Is. /New Zealand Athoracophoridae, Charopidae and Punctidae. There is, other than the broad South Indian Ocean distribution of Notodiscus hookeri, little evidence of Holocene dispersal and colonization. Indeed the Southern Ocean is an effective barrier and the different regional (South Atlantic/Indian/Pacific) faunas are principally vicariant and derived from local survivors of Pleistocene glaciation.
Address-Space Multiplexing revisited on AMD64/x86_64 Studienarbeitvon

Address space multiplexing is a technique which enables multiple independent processes to share a single address space. This technique can be used to reduce the context switching time and the dependency on special hardware, such as tagged translation lookaside buffers. The design consist of modifying the program to achieve isolation. Thereafter the program is loaded into a single address space where the necessary process-related structures are initialized and execution of the subprocess is started. In this thesis we explore how LLVM intermediate representation (LLVM IR) can be used to achieve isolation of multiplexed processes. Using LLVM IR allows us to be independent of programming language and hardware. Our main focus is the protection of memory access, which we achieve by modifying the intermediate representation of the target program. The modiﬁcation inserts additional instructions to limit the addressable memory of each process, thereby achieving protection from misbehaving processes. Further protection is realized by using mechanisms provided by the underlying operating system, such as the clone system call. We developed a prototype that is able to load a modiﬁed LLVM IR program into its address space and start its execution in a subprocess. Using our prototype we were able to show that the process-related structures are isolated and that memory access can only occur within the assigned memory area, at the cost of performance. The performance impact varies depending on which type of memory access is limited and the total number of memory accesses performed by the target program. The overhead of our prototype for commonly used programs is expected to be between 14% and 50%. The maximum overhead we measured is less than 100%. Applications can beneﬁt from using a multiplexed address space if the number of context switches is high enough to compensate the performance loss caused by our modiﬁcation. Future research has to be done to further optimize the instructions used to limit the addressable memory thereby improving isolation and
Molecular and crystal structure, optical properties and DFT studies of 1,4-dimethoxy-2,5-bis[2-(4-nitrophenyl)ethenyl]benzene

In the title molecule, which is based on a 1,4-distyryl-2,5-dimethoxybenzene core with p-nitro-substituted terminal benzene rings, the dihedral angle between mean planes of the central fragment and the terminal phenyl ring is 16.46 (6)°. The crystal packing is stabilized by π–π interactions.
GLASS FIBRE WITH CARBON NANOTUBE NETWORKS AS MULTI-FUNCTIONAL SENSOR

A single glass fibre sensor has been manufactured b y epositing multiwalled carbon nanotubes on fibre surface. The single fibre and th eir epoxy matrix composites show linear and nonlinear piezoresistivity, temperature and relative humidity dependencies of electricity. Unidirectional composites exhibit an u ltra-high anisotropic semiconducting property and an ultra-low electrical percolation th reshold.
Problems and prospects for mapping vegetation condition in Australia's arid rangelands

References Australian Government (2004) An Interim Approach to The Native Vegetation Condition (Indicator Status: for Advice). Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra. Available from URL: http://www.nrm. gov.au/monitoring/ indicators/vegetation-condition/index.html. Hill R. (2001) Native Vegetation Policy. Reversing the Decline in the Quality and Extent of Australia’s Native Vegetation Cover. Statement by Senator the Honourable Robert Hill, Minister for the Environment and Heritage September 2001. Available from URL: http://www.deh. gov.au/land/ publications/vegetation-policy.html. Newell G. R. , White M. D. , Griffioen P. and Conroy M. (2006) Vegetation condition mapping at a landscape-scales across Victoria. Ecological Management & Restoration 7 (Suppl. 1), S65–S68. Parkes D. , Newell G. and Cheal D. (2003) Assessing the quality of native vegetation: The ‘habitat hectares’ approach. Ecological Management & Restoration 4 (s1), s29–s38. Platt S. J. and Lowe K. W. (2002) Biodiversity Action Planning: Action Planning for Native Biodiversity at Multiple Scales – Catchment, Bioregional, Landscape, Local . Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Melbourne. State of Victoria (2002) Victoria’s Native Vegetation Management: a Framework for Action . Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Available from URL: http://www.dse. vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenlwm.nsf/LinkView/ 3BA0EB9CB247BB1FCA256C230023A88449A37B2E66E4FD5E4A25 6DEA00250A3B.
Prevention after acute coronary syndrome the ‘less is more’ philosophy

Abstract In the cardiology field, in recent years, we have witnessed an exponential increase in the use of both invasive and non-invasive instrument diagnostics. Particularly after an acute coronary syndrome, instrumental examinations, especially non-invasive ones, are often prescribed inappropriately until they almost completely replace the clinical evaluation. Their correct use, on the contrary, would require the choice of a test to be prescribed according to the epidemiological and clinical context of the individual patient. The strategy of early diagnosis, obtainable through instrumental screening and borrowed from oncological pathologies, was transferred ‘tout court’ in the cardiovascular field without any scientific basis, replacing the pharmacological or non-pharmacological intervention, such as the appropriate lifestyle, aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk factors. The guidelines of the main scientific societies define the most appropriate paths in the management of the coronary heart disease patients, both in the immediate post-acute phase and in the chronic phase. Although the guidelines sometimes show an excessive simplification of clinical problems, in an age in which the control of health expenditure has become a priority the correctness of the indications is an indispensable objective, being incontrovertible that a test is indicated only when an instrumental examination is able to modify the diagnostic-therapeutic path and the outcome of the patient.
Systematic studies on some species of the genus Artemisia: biomolecular analysis

ABSTRACT The internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of the ribosomal DNA gene of 11 taxa of the genus Artemisia were sequenced and compared with other 14 species taken from GenBank. The aims of this study are to clarify phylogenetic relationships for 25 taxa within the genus Artemisia, and to highlight the phylogenetic position of some species of geobotanical interest from the Alps or from other European areas. The results support the monophyly of the genus Artemisia, and the presence of the five main clades, corresponding to the morphologically based sections, Absinthium, Artemisia, Seriphidium, Dracunculus and Tridentatae. Only A. annua and A. genipi are not classified in the section in which they were traditionally included: A. annua is assigned to Seriphidium and not Artemisia, and A. genipi to Absinthium and not Artemisia. The basal structure of the tree differed in the 45 equally parsimonious MP trees, and thus appeared as a polytomy in the consensus tree. This does not allow us to completely solve the relationships among the clades. The molecular data are complementary with the morphological and biogeographical information and all are essential to draw valid conclusions on the relative closeness of the various taxa.
Phylogeny and character evolution of the marine mite genus Isobactrus (Acari: Halacaridae)

A morphology-based phylogenetic analysis of the 24 species of Isobactrus (Acari: Halacaridae) demonstrated three major monophyletic groups supported by synapomorphies. Each group is geographically distinct being tropical Pacific, North Atlantic and Holarctic. Character optimization indicates some evolutionary tendencies of character transformation. Reduction of idiosomal lateral setation, loss of setae on the genu and the addition of female subgenital setae are postulated synapomorphies congruent throughout the tropical lineage. Similarly, setal addition on the telofemur occurred in the North Atlantic lineage, while reduction of genital area sclerotization is recognized in a northern phyletic group.
The combined action of 9 lipoxygenase and galactolipase is sufficient to bring about programmed cell death during tobacco hypersensitive response

Oxylipins, derived from fatty acid hydroperoxides (FAHs), are thought to play different roles during plant pathogen interactions. During hypersensitive response (HR) some of them serve as signals necessary for defence gene activation whereas others could contribute to pathogen killing or could participate in the execution of plant programmed cell death (PCD) associated with this resistance. In order to address the role of these compounds in the latter process, we have closely observed lipid peroxidation, the first step of this metabolic pathway, under different situations which led either to accelerated or inhibited HR cell death. The oxidative process has been studied in cryptogein-elicited tobacco leaves and during Ralstonia solanacearum-induced HR. It was shown that FAH accumulation was preceded by the co-ordinated rise in 9 lipoxygenase (9 LOX) and galactolipase activities in addition to the transcription of a set of four genes encoding 9 LOX and patatin-like proteins, NtPAT1-3. The latter gene expression was at the origin of a metabolic pathway allowing the release of poly-unsaturated fatty acids from plastid galactolipids and their oxidation into free 9 FAHs. This 9 LOX-dependent lipid peroxidation was found to be sufficient to lead to HR cell death. Finally, during the bacterial-induced HR, lipid peroxidation appeared as a composite of metabolites of enzymatic and non-enzymatic origins and suggested the role of H2O2 as an important source of oxidant that might, in synergy with 9 FAHs, contribute to cell death execution.
Performance of Early Maize Cultivars Derived from Recurrent Selection for Grain Yield and Striga Resistance

Maize (Zea mays L.) production in west and central Africa (WCA) is constrained by the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth and recurrent drought. Two early maize populations, TZE-W Pop DT STR C 0 (white) and TZE-Y Pop DT STR C 0 (yellow), developed from diverse genetic backgrounds, were subjected to three cycles of S 1 recurrent selection under artificial Striga infestation. Inbreds and synthetic cultivars were developed from the different cycles of selection. The populations (C 0 ), derived cultivars, and check cultivars were evaluated in 2002 and 2003 under Striga-infested and Striga-free environments in WCA. The objective was to assess the performance of the derived cultivars from the different cycles of selection. Under Striga infestation, ACR 94 TZE Comp5-Y and ACR 94 TZE Comp5-W, which were not from the selection program, were the highest-yielding group (2158 and 2124 kg ha -1 , respectively). The second group comprised six products of the selection program, with grain yield ranging from 1806 to 1954 kg ha -1 . The third group, with grain yield of 1498 to 1759 kg ha -1 contained mostly Striga-susceptible cultivars and the C 0 of the selection program. Under Striga-free conditions, the performance of several cultivars from the selection program was equal to or better than ACR 94 TZE Comp5-Y and ACR 94 TZE Comp5-W. The genotype plus genotype x environment interaction biplot analysis demonstrated that EV DT-Y 2000 STR C 1 and TZE-W Pop DT STR C 3 from the selection program, along with ACR 94 TZE Comp5-W, had stable grain yield under Striga-infested and noninfested conditions.
Immunocytochemical localization of host (Apis mellifera) proteins in growing oocytes of a hemophagous mite (Varroa jacobsoni) by the unlabeled antibody—enzyme (PAP) method

The mite, Varroa jacobsoni is a hemophagous ectoparasite of honeybees (Apis spec.). Host hemolymph proteins are resorbed by Varroa without digestive degradation. By immunocytochemical methods, these foreign proteins can be localized in growing Varroa oocytes; they are assimilated into the eggs.
The Distribution and Abundance of Seals in the Canadian High Arctic, 1980–82

Surveys of hauled-out ringed seals (Phoca hispida) and bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) were flown in 1980 and 1981 over Jones Sound, the Sverdrup Basin, the channels between the Parry Islands, the Parry Channel, Prince of Wales Strait, and northern Amundsen Gulf. Part of the survey was flown again in 1982. Ringed seals were most numerous in Barrow Strait and Wellington Channel, their density decreasing westward and northward. Their preferred habitat was annual ice, fast or cracking, of high cover; they avoided deep water. Bearded seals were seen in low numbers in early-opening areas, preferring floe or rotten ice of moderate or low cover over shallow water.
Plant-mediated effects of drought stress on host preference and performance of a grass miner

The plant stress hypothesis predicts that environmental stress increases the suitability of plants as food for herbivores, especially for senescence feeders. Yet, performance is enhanced only at moderate stress intensities in several herbivores. Even more paradoxically, a large number of insect species prefer and perform better on vigorously growing plants. In order to test plant stress theory, we conducted a laboratory experiment in which the influence of plant water stress on host preference and the performance of the grass miner Chromatomyia milii was studied. We imposed a gradient of stress intensities, i.e. 25, 50, 75, 150, and 300-ml weekly-administered water per grass pot, in order to study the full range of responses of C. milii to water stressed plants. Plant stress intensity was quantified by measuring individual plant mass, foliar water content and the concentration of the photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll a and b. Plant mass had decreased from the 150 and 300-ml treatments to the lowest water treatment at the end of our experiment, which was mainly a result of a reduction in leaf area and leaf number. Foliar water content was clearly negatively affected by water shortage. Chlorophyll a and b also decreased with water shortage. Finally, the stress intensity measurements showed that plants acclimated to water stress conditions throughout the experiment. Feeding and oviposition preference of C. milii was positively related to water supply. No larvae survived on two lowest water treatments and only 38% survived on the 75-ml treatment, while more than 80% survived on the 150 and the 300-ml treatments. Offspring development time was longer on the 75-ml treatment than on the 150 and the 300-ml treatments. We also evaluated the mechanisms that could explain the response of C. milii to water stressed plants. Although no relationship between water treatment and foliar amino acid concentration was found, we observed significantly higher foliar protein concentrations in the 25 and the 50-ml treatments. This supports the hypothesis that abiotic stress causes an increase of nitrogenous compounds in plants. Leaf senescence following self-pruning, a process by which H. lanatus plants acclimate to drought conditions, was responsible for the dramatically high offspring mortality on the water stressed plants. The shape of the plant stress intensity-herbivore response relationship showed strong variation and depended both on the type of plant stress intensity measure and herbivore response variable involved. Yet, all relationships showed a monotonic increase of herbivore preference and performance with decreasing plant stress intensity. This indicates that C. milii prefers and performs better on vigorously growing plants. We found no support for an increased herbivore performance on moderately or severely stressed plants.
Survival and Germination of Bacillus clausii UBBC07 Spores in in vitro Human Gastrointestinal Tract Simulation Model and Evaluation of Clausin Production

Bacillus clausii UBBC07 is a commercial spore probiotic known to reduce diarrhea in children and adults. In the present study, survival and germination of UBBC07 spores were investigated under fed and fasted conditions in Simulator of Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem. Besides this, lantibiotic production, purification, and characterization were performed. The agar plate analysis showed that spores were 100% tolerant to fed and fasted gastrointestinal tract (GIT) conditions. Simultaneously, flow cytometry revealed that at the end of small intestinal incubation, 120% (fed) and 133% (fasted) spores were in viable germinating state. The transformation of viable germinating spores into viable vegetative cells was observed at 3 h of incubation under fasted GIT conditions. In antimicrobial evaluation, UBBC07 produced low-molecular-weight (2107.94 Da) class I lantibiotic clausin. The presence of lanB, lanC, and lanD genes confirms the clausin production. Clausin is stable at proteases (pepsin, proteinase K, and trypsin), temperature (up to 100°C), and pH (up to 11). Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity toward Gram-positive bacteria including Clostridium difficile is advantageous. In conclusion, B. clausii UBBC07 spore probiotic is capable of surviving and germinating under in vitro upper GIT conditions. The clausin production justifies strain applicability in diarrhea.
Magnesium Alloys With Tunable Interfaces as Bone Implant Materials

Magnesium (Mg) based biodegradable materials are a new generation orthopedic implant materials that are intended to possess same mechanical properties as that of bone. Mg alloys are considered as promising substitutes to permanent implants due to their biodegradability in the physiological environment. However, rapid corrosion rate is one of the major constraints of using Mg alloys in clinical applications in spite of their excellent biocompatibility. Approaches to overcome the limitations include the selection of adequate alloying elements, proper surface treatment, surface modification with coating to control the degradation rate. This review focuses on current advances on surface engineering of Mg based biomaterials for biomedical applications. The review begins with a description of corrosion mechanism of Mg alloy, the requirement for appropriate surface functionalization/coatings, their structure-property-performance relationship, and suitability for biomedical applications. The control of physico-chemical properties such as wettability, surface morphology, surface chemistry, and surface functional groups of the coating tailored by various approaches forms the pivotal part of the review. Chemical surface treatment offers initial protection from corrosion and inorganic coating like hydroxyapatite (HA) improves the biocompatibility of the substrate. Considering the demand of ideal implant materials, multilayer hybrid coatings on Mg alloy in combination with chemical pretreatment or inorganic HA coating, and protein-based polymer coating could be a promising technique to improve corrosion resistance and promote biocompatibility of Mg-based alloys.
Introducing a Computerized Figural Memory Test Based on Automatic Item Generation: An Analysis With the Rasch Poisson Counts Model

An automatic item generator for figural memory test items called figumem was developed. It is available in R. A cognitive model allowed the generation of hypothetically parallel items within three difficulty levels determined by visual information load. In a pilot study, participants solved three items for each level of visual load. Within an item response theory approach, the Rasch Poisson counts model and modifications of it were fitted to the data. Results showed overall satisfying fit. Visual information load explained most of the variance in item difficulty. Differences in difficulty between items of the same family were comparatively low, displaying the utility of the item generator for the creation of parallel test forms. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for the use and extensions of figumem are discussed.
Hybrid Composites Based on Thermoplastic Polyurethane With a Mixture of Carbon Nanotubes and Carbon Black Modified With Polypyrrole for Electromagnetic Shielding

Hybrid conducting composites comprising thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and mixtures of carbon black modified with polypyrrole (CB-PPy) and carbon nanotubes (CNT) were prepared by melt mixing process. The electrical conductivity, rheological properties and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of TPU/CB-PPy and TPU/CNT composites were also investigated those results observed for TPU/CB-PPy/CNT hybrid composites. TPU/CNT composites show a very sharp insulator-conductor transition and the electrical percolation threshold was about 1 wt% of CNT, which was lower than that found for TPU/CB-PPy (7 wt%). Moreover, EMI SE values of TPU/CNT composites were higher than those for TPU/CB-PPy due to the denser CNT conductive pathway into TPU matrix. In order to achieve the highest electrical conductivity and EMI SE values, mixtures of CB-PPy/CNT were added in the composites in different mass fractions. In fact, the electrical conductivity values increased by combining CB-PPy and CNT, resulting in hybrid composites of TPU/CB-PPy/CNT with higher EMI SE values when compared to TPU/CB-PPy composites. The present study demonstrates the potential use of hybrid polymer composites containing 5 or 8 wt% of CB-PPy/CNT at specific CB-PPy/CNT ratios with good processabilty and EMI SE values as high as −20 dB indicating the potential use of these materials for electromagnetic shielding application in the X-band frequency region.
Overlapping ADS-B signals separation algorithm based on MUSIC

In order to improve the reception performance of SSR replies in high-density signal environment, a separation algorithm is proposed, which constructs the separating matrix with estimating the direction of arrival of signal. Firstly, determine the number of overlapping signals with the eigenvalues distribution of the measurements. Secondly, reconstruct the mixing matrix with the DOA of signals, which is estimated by peak value searching in MUSIC algorithm. Finally, estimate the separating matrix by calculating the Moore-Penrose inverse of the reconstructed mixing matrix to separate the overlapping signals. Simulation is done based on uniform linear array with 6 elements. The results show that the proposed separation algorithm can achieve more than 90 percent success rate to separate two short Mode S replies, and the separating performance is similar to independent component analysis algorithm better than projection algorithm. The amount of calculation is less than 10 percent of ICA algorithm, so the proposed separation algorithm is easier to engineering application.