Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing best practice for selecting surrogates and target–setting methods in a megadiverse country

espanolLa planificacion sistematica de la conservacion proporciona un marco para identificar areas representativas de la biodiversidad, pero su eficacia depende de la eleccion de sustitutos y de las metas de conservacion. Mexico ha realizado analisis integrales y participativos de vacios y omisiones en conservacion. En este trabajo presentamos los resultados de dos evaluaciones independientes sobre sustitutos de la biodiversidad a fin de poner a prueba los criterios utilizados en Mexico para identificar las prioridades espaciales de conservacion. Se probo el efecto sombrilla de los mamiferos de distribucion restringida, endemicos y amenazados, y la influencia del establecimiento de las metas en la configuracion espacial de la red de areas de conservacion, asi como el desempeno de sustitutos taxonomicos. Los resultados muestran que el establecimiento de metas influye mucho en la configuracion espacial y en los valores de irremplazabilidad de la red. La eficacia de la representacion y la cobertura de las areas de distribucion de las especies variaron con la seleccion de los sustitutos, pero no con el establecimiento de las metas. Las especies amenazadas y las raras no estuvieron suficientemente representadas cuando se usaron otras especies como sustitutos, mientras que los mamiferos amenazados representaron el 90% de todas las especies. La eficacia de las redes disenadas para un solo taxon de vertebrados vario mucho; los reptiles y anfibios obtuvieron mejores resultados que los obtenidos al azar, y lograron una alta representacion de otros grupos taxonomicos en la red disenada para dichos taxones. EnglishSystematic conservation planning provides a framework to identify representative areas of biodiversity, but its effectiveness depends on the choice of surrogates and targets. Mexico has conducted participatory and comprehensive gap analyses. We present the results of two independent surrogate assessments to test the criteria used in Mexico's spatial conservation prioritization. We tested the surrogate efficiency of range restricted, endemic, and threatened mammals and the influence of target–setting on the spatial configuration of the conservation network, as well as the performance of taxonomic–based surrogates. Results show that target–setting heavily influences the spatial configuration and irreplaceability values of the conservation area network. Representation effectiveness and coverage of species distribution was sensitive to surrogate selection but not to target–setting. Threatened and rare species were poorly represented when other surrogate species were used, while threatened mammals represented 90% of all species. The effectiveness of networks designed for a single vertebrate taxon varied greatly; reptiles and amphibians performed better than random achieving high species representation.
Molecular Characterization of Two Myxosporean Species, Henneguya namae Haldar et al. 1983 and Myxobolus sophorae Jayasri, 1982 (Myxosporea: Myxobolidae)

In Indian freshwater fish myxosporean infections are among the most cosmopolitan parasites, they are relatively well studied morphologically but their phylogenetic relationships were unclear and the genetic data is limited only to a few species. The study aims to present molecular data for two myxosporean species, Henneguya namae Haldar et al. 1983 and Myxobolus sophorae Jayasri, 1982 collected from Indian freshwater fish, the elongate glass-perchlet Chanda nama (=Ambassis nama) and pool barb Puntius sophore, respectively. In the present study molecular data are provided for H. namae and M. sophorae using nested PCR. The obtained partial 18S rDNA gene sequences were analyzed using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods. The 18S rDNA gene sequences of H. namae showed similarity with the sequences of H. chaudhuryi, Henneguya sp. RA-2015, H. voronini and H. setiuensis about 72.1 to 78% and M. sophorae with Myxobolus ticto was about 90% respectively. The aim of this paper was to identify H. namae and M. sophorae morphologically and using molecular methods.
Study on the development of lactic acid bacteria in cow's and sheep's milk treated with ultrasound

Lactic acid bacteria Raw milk is a complex nutritional medium suitable for the growth of various microorganisms. Different methods such as pasteurization, bactofugation, etc. have been applied to eliminate undesirable bacteria. An alternative to these practices is the ultrasonic treatment of raw milk. An important advantage of this method is the destruction of bacterial cells without altering the vitamin content and fat, achieving at the same time good homogenization of milk. The acidification ability of Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus cultured both in raw and pasteurized ultrasonic cow’s and sheep’s milk at 42C and post-acidification of the cultures has been examined. © 2013 PSCI Publisher All rights reserved.
Abiotic stress-induced regulation of antioxidant genes in different Arabidopsis ecotypes: microarray data evaluation

Abstract Although stresses induce generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are highly reactive and toxic, and cause severe damage to cellular components; plants have very efficient enzymatic ROS-scavenging mechanisms. Despite the substantial knowledge produced about these enzymes, we still have limited knowledge regarding their expression patterns in relation to the stress type, duration and strength. Thus, taking advantage of microarray data, this work evaluated the abiotic stresses (salt, cold, heat and light) induced regulation of six antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), in 10 natural Arabidopsis ecotypes. The expression profiles of 36 genes encoding six enzymatic antioxidants including CSD1-3, FSD1-3, MSD1-2, CAT1-3, APX1-6, APXT, APXS, GPX1-8, MDAR1-5 and DHAR1-4 were investigated. In particular, FSD1, FSD2, CSD1 and CSD2 genes coding for SOD; CAT2 and CAT3 for CAT; APX3-6, APXT and APXS for APX; GPX1, GPX2, GPX5, GPX6 and GPX7 for GPX; MDAR2-4 for MDHAR; and DHAR1 and DHAR3 for DHAR families appeared to be more differentially expressed under given stress conditions. Primarily, high light as well as salt and cold stresses considerably up-regulated the gene expression, whereas cold stress significantly led to the down-regulation of genes. The overall expression pattern of ecotypes suggested that the studied Arabidopsis genotypes had different stress tolerance.
Infrared Dim and Small Target Detection via Multiple Subspace Learning and Spatial-Temporal Patch-Tensor Model

Robust detection of infrared small and dim targets with highly heterogeneous backgrounds plays an indispensable role in infrared search and tracking (IRST) system, which is still a challenging problem. In this article, a novel method based on multisubspace learning and spatial-temporal tensor data structure is aimed to solve this problem. First, a tensor data structure is constructed to use inner correlation in spatial and temporal domain of the infrared image sequence. Second, in consideration of the complex and heterogeneous backgrounds in infrared images, the proposed method promotes the multisubspace property to tensor domain to separate the target and the background more accurately. Finally, an efficient and effective optimization algorithm based on alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is designed to solve this problem. Experimental results on various and real scenes demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method compared to other five baseline methods.
Effects of different phases of the lunar month on living organisms

ABSTRACT The illumination and the gravitational pull of the moon on the earth are not same in all the prominent position of the moon during the lunar month, i.e. new moon (NM), first quarter (FQ), full moon (FM) and third quarter (TQ), and the amplitude of ocean tides also varies among those lunar phases. A huge number of investigations have shown the relation of lunar phases with the different activity of living organisms, like the activity pattern of marine and other animals, birds, insects and humans. These alterations of activity pattern may be due to the changes of lunar gravitational force on the earth surface and changes of “biological tide” or the alteration of electromagnetic field of the earth and lunar illumination. The altered autonomic neural activity and cardiovascular activity of higher vertebrates and light/dark cycle in different lunar phases are probably the fundamental causes of the changes of activity of other living organisms.
Kant on ethics and politics

Best known for his ethical works, Immanuel Kant was part of the liberal Enlightenment and addressed most of the principal political issues of his day. Several of his major works were written in the wake of the storming of the Bastille in Paris, while Europe was engaged in the French Revolutionary Wars. His rejection of revolution but endorsement of the principles for which the French revolutionaries were fighting, as well as his plea for a federation of European states that would settle disputes peacefully, reflected his engagement with the controversies raised by the Revolution. But, although he could not countenance revolution, he declared that, once a revolutionary government has succeeded in establishing itself, citizens should obey the new government, rather than try to restore the ousted authorities.
Nutritional evaluation of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu cultivated in soils developed from basalt and sandstone in the state of Paraná

Determining the nutritional composition of a pasture is necessary to evaluate its quality, aiming to meet the requirements of feeding animals and guarantee good performance. The quality of the forage biomass produced depends directly on the fertility and type of soil, environmental conditions, and management. In this scenario, the aim was to evaluate the chemical composition, in vitro digestibility of dry matter, and macro- and micronutrient contents of Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu cultivated in soils developed from basalt and sandstone in the state of Paraná. A total of 120 forage samples were collected in a soil developed from basalt and 116 in soil developed from sandstone. Forage harvesting occurred in autumn and spring for basalt soil (season effect), and in spring (soil effect) for sandstone soil. Soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected in the spring season, at the same forage collection sites, to obtain a greater sample representativity regarding climate–soil–plant relationships. Forage samples were separated in leaf blade and stem + sheath, and analyses of dry matter (DM), mineral matter (MM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), total digestible nutrients (TDN), nitrogen, and macro- and micronutrient contents were performed. In soil samples, the contents of P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Zn were analyzed. There were season and soil-type effects on the chemical composition of the cultivar studied. The highest levels of protein, NDF, ADF, lignin, and cellulose were obtained in autumn. In samples from soil developed from basalt, higher levels of hemicellulose, IVDMD, and TDN were obtained in the spring. K, P, Mn, and Zn presented levels within the range recommended for the studied forage, but the values of Ca and Mg in autumn and N in the three studied periods remained below the level considered adequate. Soil nutrient contents were influenced (P < 0.05) by the soil source material, and the highest levels of K, Ca, Mg, Mn, and Zn were observed in soil developed from basalt. Forage cultivated in spring in the soil area developed from basalt, was nutritionally superior in relation to forage cultivated in the soil developed from sandstone.
Investigating the effect of poor communication in terms of cost and time overruns in the construction industry

Cost and time overruns are major issues faced by the construction industry worldwide. Studies have shown that various factors cause these overruns. One of the critical factors that cause these overruns is poor communication. This study aims to study and measure the severity of poor communication in causing cost and time overruns in construction projects. The study adopted two consecutive approaches to study the effect of poor communication in causing cost and time overruns. The first approach was to conduct an extensive literature review to extract causative factors from diverse construction industries that consider poor communication as a causative factor, then to determine its severity percentage, among other factors for each study. From the analysis, it can be concluded that developed countries that apply information communication technology and advanced communication systems have lower severity percentages compared to other countries. The second approach was to conduct a qualitative study by interviewing construction experts and to examine their comments and criticisms of the results obtained from the literature. Experts were asked to highlight their views on the severity of poor communication in the construction industry. The outcome of these interviews was thematically analysed. The findings show that poor communication has a significant effect on cost and time overruns in construction projects.
Neuronal memory for language processing

In language processing, an interpretation is computed incrementally within memory while utterances unfold in time. Here, we investigate the nature of this processing memory in a spiking network model of sentence comprehension. We show that the history dependence of neuronal responses endows circuits of biological neurons with adequate memory to assign semantic roles and resolve binding relations between words in a stream of language input. A neurobiological read-write memory is proposed where short-lived spiking activity encodes information into coupled dynamic variables that move at slower timescales. This state-dependent network does not rely on persistent activity, excitatory feedback, or synaptic plasticity for storage. Instead, information is maintained in adaptive neuronal conductances and can be accessed directly during comprehension without cued retrieval of previous input words. This work provides a step towards a computational neurobiology of language.
CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS OF MOBILIZING EDUCATIONAL POLICIES TOWARD PRACTICE OF BASIC EDUCATION SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

The purposes of this research were to study the conditions and problems of mobilizing educational policies toward practice of the school and to study the components of capability for mobilizing educational policies toward practice. Research findings were as follows: (1) regarding the operational conditions of mobilizing educational policies toward practice, it was found that some schools conducted an analysis of the policies while other schools did not do so because they considered that the policies had already been pre-determined for practice; some schools took action to ensure the understanding and acceptance of the policies; most of the schools did not set up any specific working team to be responsible for implementation of the policies, did not evaluate the policies, and did not attempt to create continuity in the implementation; (2) regarding the problems of mobilizing educational policies, it was found that the supervisory work unit issued a lot of policies for the schools to implement without integrating those policies; it also urged the schools to speed up the implementation; on the other hand, the school administrators did not seriously attempt to mobilize the policies, did not analyze the policies, and failed to create the program/project for mobilization of the policies; and (3) the capability for mobilizing educational policies toward practice comprised the following components: the competency for transforming the policy; creating the understanding and acceptance of school personnel; setting up the work structure; resources management; personnel development; monitoring, supervising and evaluation; and creating continuous solidity.
Characterization and genomic analysis of phage vB_ValR_NF, representing a new viral family prevalent in the Ulva prolifera blooms

Introduction Vibrio is an important bacterial genus containing many pathogenic species. Although more and more Vibrio phages were isolated, the genome, ecology and evolution of Vibrio phages and their roles in bacteriophage therapy, have not been fully revealed. Methods Novel Vibrio phage vB_ValR_NF infecting Vibrio alginolyticus was isolated from the coastal waters of Qingdao during the Ulva prolifera blooms, Characterization and genomic feature of phage vB_ValR_NF has been analysed using phage isolation, sequencing and metagenome method. Results and Discussion Phage vB_ValR_NF has a siphoviral morphology (icosahedral head 114±1 nm in diameter; a tail length of 231±1 nm), a short latent period (30 minutes) and a large burst size (113 virions per cell), and the thermal/pH stability study showed that phage vB_ValR_NF was highly tolerant to a range of pHs (4-12) and temperatures (-20 - 45 °C), respectively. Host range analysis suggests that phage vB_ValR_NF not only has a high inhibitory ability against the host strain V. alginolyticus, but also can infect 7 other Vibrio strains. In addition, the phage vB_ValR_NF has a double-stranded 44, 507 bp DNA genome, with 43.10 % GC content and 75 open reading frames. Three auxiliary metabolic genes associated with aldehyde dehydrogenase, serine/threonine protein phosphatase and calcineurin-like phosphoesterase were predicted, might help the host V. alginolyticus occupy the survival advantage, thus improving the survival chance of phage vB_ValR_NF under harsh conditions. This point can be supported by the higher abundance of phage vB_ValR_NF during the U. prolifera blooms than in other marine environments. Further phylogenetic and genomic analysis shows that the viral group represented by Vibrio phage vB_ValR_NF is different from other well-defined reference viruses, and can be classified into a new family, named Ruirongviridae. In general, as a new marine phage infecting V. alginolyticus, phage vB_ValR_NF provides basic information for further molecular research on phage–host interactions and evolution, and may unravel a novel insight into changes in the community structure of organisms during the U. prolifera blooms. At the same time, its high tolerance to extreme conditions and excellent bactericidal ability will become important reference factors when evaluating the potential of phage vB_ValR_NF in bacteriophage therapy in the future.
Cloud, Aerosol, and Radiative Properties Over the Western North Atlantic Ocean

This study examines the atmospheric properties of weather states (WSs) derived from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project over the Western North Atlantic Ocean. In particular, radiation and aerosol data corresponding to two sites in the study domain, Pennsylvania State University and Bermuda, were examined to characterize the atmospheric properties of the various satellite‐derived WSs. At both sites, the fair weather WS was most prevalent, followed by the cirrus WS. Differences in the seasonality of the various WSs were observed at the two sites. Fractional sky cover and effective shortwave cloud transmissivity derived from ground‐based radiation measurements were able to capture differences among the satellite‐derived WSs. Speciated aerosol optical thicknesses (AOT) from the Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 were used to investigate potential differences in aerosol properties among the WSs. The clear sky WS exhibited below‐average seasonal values of AOT at both sites year‐round, as well as relatively high rates of occurrence with low AOT events. In addition, the clear sky WS showed above‐average contributions from dust and black carbon to the total AOT year‐round. Finally, transitions between various WSs were examined under low, high, and mid‐range AOT conditions. The most common pathway was for the WSs to remain in the same state after a 3 h interval. Some WSs, such as mid latitude storms, deep convection, middle top, and shallow cumulus, were more prevalent as ending states under high AOT conditions. This work motivates examining differences in aerosol properties between WSs in other regions.
Antifeedant effect of Brassica nigra seeds against cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis and its potential antibacterial activity

Water extract of mustard seeds (Brassica nigra L.) at 40, 20 and 10% concentrations were applied to evaluate the bioactivity of mustard seed extract against the 4th instar larvae of cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis. Increasing concentration of mustard extracts exhibited anti-feedant activity. Antibacterial potential of mustard seeds was determined using the disc diffusion test against 10 bacterial strains; Aqueous and acetone extracts showed very weak or no antibacterial activity ranging from 6.0 to 7.75 mm zone of inhibition (ZI), 6.0 mm is the diameter of the blank disc and means no activity; The methanol extract showed varied degrees of weak antibacterial activity (ranging from 6.5 to 8.75 mm ZI). B. nigra could be a good source of insect antifeedant agents.
Financial liquidity: An emergent phenomena

In a complex system model we simulate runs for different strategies of economic agents to study diverse types of fluctuations. The liquidity of financial assets arises as a result of agent's interaction and not as intrinsic properties of the assets. Small differences in the strategic rules adopted by the agents lead to divergent paths of market liquidity. Our simulation also supports the idea that the higher the maximum local allowed fluctuation the higher the path divergence.
High treatment resistance is associated with lower performance in the Stroop test in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder

Around 50% of the patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are resistant to treatment, and patients with OCD show alterations in a broad range of cognitive abilities. The present study investigated the links between treatment-resistance, executive and working memory abilities, and the severity of OCD symptoms among 66 patients with OCD. The patients performed seven tests gauging their executive functions and working memory and filled in questionnaires for OCD severity and insight into their pathology. In addition, the executive and working memory abilities of a subset of these patients were compared with those of individually matched control participants. In contrast with previous studies, patients’ treatment resistance was evaluated by considering the clinical outcomes of all the treatments that they received during the course of their disease. Higher treatment resistance was associated with lower performance in one particular executive test, the Stroop test, which assessed patients’ ability to inhibit prepotent/automatic responses. Older age and more severe OCD symptoms were also associated with higher treatment resistance. Regardless of OCD severity, the patients displayed small to moderate deficits across most components of executive functions compared to control participants. Interestingly, patients with OCD took more time than control participants to perform speeded neuropsychological tests but never made more errors. Altogether, this study shows that the treatment-resistance of patients with OCD may be reliably quantified over the course of years and treatments using Pallanti and Quercioli’s (2006) treatment resistance-related scales. The data suggest that the Stroop test could be used clinically to anticipate treatment outcomes in to-be-treated patients.