Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conservation status of the Georgia Blind Salamander (Eurycea wallacei) from the Floridan Aquifer of Florida and Georgia

—The Georgia Blind Salamander (Eurycea wallacei) is a poorly understood stygobitic plethodontid salamander found in the Floridan Aquifer of Florida and Georgia, USA. Its distribution is poorly delimited and little information is available on the ecology and life history of the species. We summarize existing information on the Georgia Blind Salamander and report new findings with regard to distribution, conservation status, and aspects of its ecology and life history from recent surveys in Florida and Georgia, including anecdotal observations made by local cave divers. We also present data on the prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and discuss potential measures and challenges involved in conservation. Georgia Blind Salamanders are known from at least 35 localities within five United States Geological Survey (USGS) HUC8 watersheds in Florida and Georgia, all within the groundwater of the Upper Floridan Aquifer. Some populations may be large, as cave divers have observed >100 salamanders in a single dive at three localities and reported densities up to 10 salamanders per square meter. We confirm through direct observation that the Dougherty Plain Cave Crayfish (Cambarus cryptodytes) is a predator of E. wallacei. Although we found no evidence that any populations of the Georgia Blind Salamander have been infected by amphibian chytrid fungus, clear threats remain and include: (1) An “at risk” ranking by USGS of the Floridan Aquifer for contamination; (2) overharvesting of groundwater; (3) the 97 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • VOL15, NO 4 • DEC 2008 189 TABLE OF CONTENTS T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S F E A T U R E A R T I C L E S  Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent . Joshua M. Kapfer 190  The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion . Robert W. Henderson 198 R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E S  The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas . Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry 204  The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida . Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 C O N S E R V A T I O N A L E R T  World’s Mammals in Crisis . 220  More Than Mammals . 223  The “Dow Jones Index” of Biodiversity . 225
Feather-degrading bacteria, uropygial gland size and feather quality in House Sparrows Passer domesticus

Feathers are dead integumentary structures that are prone to damage and thus show gradual degradation over the course of a year. This loss of quality might have negative ﬁ tness consequences. Feather-degrading bacteria are some of the most prevalent feather-degrading organisms, yet the relationship between feather-degrading bacteria load and ﬂ ight feather quality has rarely been assessed. We studied this relationship in free-living House Sparrows during breeding and non-breeding annual lifecycle stages. We also considered the size of the uropygial gland, given the antimicrobial function of its secretions, and the effect of body condition. The number of feather holes was positively associated with feather-degrading bacteria load and was negatively related to uropygial gland size and body condition during the breeding season in both sexes. In the non-breeding season we found the same relationships, but only in females. The degree of feather wear was unrelated to any of the variables measured during the breeding season, whereas it was negatively associated with uropygial gland size and positively with feather-degrading bacteria load in the non-breeding season, but only in females. Our results suggest that feather-degrading bacteria may induce the formation of feather holes, but play only a minor role in the abrasion of ﬂ ight feathers.
Effects of Near Shore Dumping of Solid Waste on Fe ( Ii ) / Fe ( Iii ) Redox Processes And Nutrients Release At The Kibarani Dumpsite , Mombasa , Kenya

Kibarani used to be a dumping site of solid waste of Mombasa on the shore of Makupa Creek. This work was aimed at evaluating the impact of this practice on the shores of the creek. Sediment samples were analysed for Fe(II)/ Fe(III), ammonium, phosphates using the UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. The levels of porosity, total organic matter content and redox potential values were determined. Results showed that lowest redox potential values were present in Station 3 which was the most impacted area. This showed that the area was highly anaerobic and the stable form of iron was Fe(II)‏. Fe(III) levels ranged from 0-6% of the total HCl extractable iron content found in the sediment and was not detected at a depth of 6-12 cm in the highly polluted areas. The levels of phosphates increased with increase in contamination from 2.39± 0.25 μg/g in least contaminated to 16.43±0.67 μg/g in most contaminated site. While the levels of ammonium were highest ranging from 301.42±7.50 μg/g to 402.21±0. 01μg/g in the most contaminated area and the levels were lowest ranging from 183.83±9.19 μg/g to 216.24±2.72 μg/g) in the area that is rooted and animal burrowing was high. Therefore, this study showed that solid waste disposal at the shores alters the geochemical properties of an environment and as a result left negative effects on the shoreline’s flora and fauna.
Labor Unions and Workplace Safety

The authors examine the effect of labor unions on workplace safety. For identification, they exploit the timing and outcome of union elections, using establishments in which elections narrowly fail as a comparison group for establishments in which elections narrowly pass. Data on elections come from the National Labor Relations Board, and data on workplace safety come from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The results indicate that unionization had no detectable effect on accident case rates at the mean, but shifted downward the case-rate distribution below 2 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers annually. The downward shift is most evident among larger bargaining units and manufacturing establishments. Results at the higher end of case-rate distribution are inconclusive.
A Comparative Evaluation of Recommender Systems for Hotel Reviews

There has been increasing growth in deployment of recommender systems across Internet sites, with various models being used. These systems have been particularly valuable for review sites, as they seek to add value to the user experience to gain market share and to create new revenue streams through deals. Hotels are a prime target for this effort, as there is a large number for most destinations and a lot of differentiation between them. In this paper, we present an evaluation of two of the most popular methods for hotel review recommender systems: collaborative filtering and matrix factorization. The accuracy of these systems has become a focus, as more accurate recommendations can lead to increases in profits through various means. Also, given the rapid growth of big data, processing speed to calculate recommendations is an important issue. Using hotel reviews from the TripAdvisor website, we measure the speed and accuracy of these two recommender system methods to determine which method is superior, or the trade-offs between them. The result of the evaluation is a 10.58 times difference in speed of the collaborative filtering method over the matrix factorization recommender system method, but with significantly better accuracy with the matrix factorization method.
Infrared Image Super-Resolution Reconstruction Based on Quaternion Fractional Order Total Variation with Lp Quasinorm

Owing to the limitations of the imaging principle as well as the properties of imaging systems, infrared images often have some drawbacks, including low resolution, a lack of detail, and indistinct edges. Therefore, it is essential to improve infrared image quality. Considering the information of neighbors, a description of sparse edges, and by avoiding staircase artifacts, a new super-resolution reconstruction (SRR) method is proposed for infrared images, which is based on fractional order total variation (FTV) with quaternion total variation and the L p quasinorm. Our proposed method improves the sparsity exploitation of FTV, and efficiently preserves image structures. Furthermore, we adopt the plug-and-play alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) theory for the proposed method to improve the efficiency and robustness of our algorithm; in addition, an accelerated step is adopted. Our experimental results show that the proposed method leads to excellent performances in terms of an objective evaluation and the subjective visual effect.
NEw REagENTs DEpROTECTiON 3 - DyEs CLEaNaMpTM pURifiCaTiON NEw sUppORTs NEw phOsphORaMiDiTEs fLUOREsCENT MONOMERs

One of the fastest growing fields in biology and cancer research is epigenetics. While the underlying genetic code defines which proteins and gene products are synthesized, it is epigenetic control that defines when and where they are expressed. This dynamic control of gene expression is essential for X chromosome inactivation, embryogenesis, cellular differentiation and appears integral to memory formation and synaptic plasticity.1,2 Epigenetic control is generally mediated by methylation of cytidine to 5-methyl-dC in CpG sites and post-translational modification of histones. Methylation of CpG sites near promoters is associated with gene silencing, as is deacetylation of histones. A number of diseases can result when CpG methylation control is lost or when the de novo methylation is incorrect, such as Rett, Fragile X, ATR-X, Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes. In addition, dysregulated methylation patterns are often seen in cancers and this is widely thought to contribute to tumorigenesis.3 Whi le a number of mammalian DNA methyltransferases are known in the DNMT family, the enzymes responsible for demethylation in mammals have yet to be identified conclusively since none has shown clear activity in vitro.4 However, recent work by Skirmantas Kriaucionis in the Heintz Lab. demonstrated that 40% of the purported 5-methyl-dC in Purkinje neurons was actually 5-hydroxymethyl-dC.5 This hydroxymethyl cytidine analog has low affinity for the MethylCpG-binding Protein MeCP2, which is a known transcriptional repressor, as well as DNMT1, which is the maintenance DNA methyltransferase.6,7 This opens up the possibility that demethylation would be acquired passively over multiple cell cycles if a means could be found to convert 5-methyl-dC to 5-hydroxymethyl-dC. Less than a month after Kriaucionis’ publication, the Rao Lab. found an enzyme, TET1, which catalyzes the conversion of 5-methyl-dC to 5-hydroxymethyl-dC in vitro and in vivo, ushering in a new chapter in the field of epigenetics with 5-hydroxymethyl-dC taking center stage.8 Another consideration is the potential for 5-hydroxymethyl-dC to be a bad actor in DNA damage. After all, 5-hydroxymethyl-dU is a product of oxidative damage of thymidine by hydroxyl radicals or ionizing radiation. Similarly, 5-hydroxymethyl-dC may be a damaged form of 5-methyl-dC. However, it is unlikely that the 5-hydroxymethyl-dC detected in neuronal cells is formed by oxidative damage since no other Figure 1: 5-HydroxymetHyl-dC Ce PHosPHoramidite
Redescription of Spinosuchus caseanus ( Archosauromorpha : Trilophosauridae ) from the Upper Triassic of North America

Our reexamination of the holotype of Spinosuchus caseanus from the Upper Triassic of West Texas, in addition to the recognition of additional records of this taxon, demonstrates that it is closely related to the trilophosaurid archosauromorph Trilophosaurus and thus is included in a revised Trilophosauridae. Previous arguments suggesting that features that unite Spinosuchus and Trilophosaurus are not limited to these two taxa or are symplesiomorphies shared with a wide variety of contemporaneous Triassic archosauromorphs are not substantiated based on a detailed comparative analysis of the two taxa. The distinctive neural spine morphology of Spinosuchus allows for recognition of this taxon based on isolated vertebrae and thus increases its biostratigraphic value. Spinosuchus is restricted to strata of Adamanian age and is therefore an index taxon of the Adamanian land-vertebrate-faunachron. K e y w o r d s : Archosauromorpha, Trilophosauridae, Spinosuchus caseanus, Late Triassic, North America. Z u s a m m e n f a s s u n g Unsere Überprüfung des Holotyps von Spinosuchus caseanus aus der oberen Trias von West Texas, in Verbindung mit der Entdeckung weiterer Nachweise der Art, belegt, dass die Art nahe verwandt ist mit dem trilophosauriden Archosauromorphen Trilophosaurus. Daher wird sie in die revidierte Familie Trilophosauridae gestellt. Frühere Argumente, die belegen sollten, dass Merkmale, die Spinosuchus und Trilophosaurus vereinen, nicht auf diese beiden Taxa beschränkt sind, oder dass sie Synplesiomorphien sind, die sie mit einer Vielzahl gleichalter trias sischer Archosauromopha teilen, können nach eingehender vergleichender Analyse der beiden Taxa nicht bestätigt werden. Die charakteristische Morphologie der Neuraldornen von Spinosuchus erlaubt die Zuordnung einzelner Wirbel zu diesem Taxon, wodurch dessen stratigraphische Bedeutung gesteigert wird. Das Vorkommen von Spinosuchus ist beschränkt auf das Adamanium, die Gattung kann daher als Indextaxon für die LandwirbeltierEpoche dieser Zeit betrachte werden.
Effects of feed-borne trichothecene mycotoxins on the lipid peroxidation processes and the glutathione redox system of common carps ( Cyprinus carpio )

The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effects of T-2 toxin and deoxynivalenol on common carp (Cyprinus carpio). The long-term exposure of mycotoxins resulted in increased mortality at both toxin treated group, and the enzymatic antioxidant system was also activated. The parameters of the initial steps of the lipidperoxidation were elevated, which can be in association with the effects of increased oxidative stress, in spite there were no difference in the concentration of malondialdehyde in the mycotoxin treated groups, which means that the progress of lipidperoxidation has been successfully compensated by the antioxidant system.
PRIMING IMPROVES GERMINATION OF MONOGERM RED BEET ( BETA VULGARIS L.) CLUSTERS

Priming treatments have been widely used in a large number of species to improve germination characteristics. The objective of the study was to accomplish the quality of clusters of monogerm red beet breeding lines using osmopriming. The aim of the first experiment was to find an effective priming treatment, which improved the seed germination characteristics of two genotypes, AR79 and W411, primed for 6-120 h with -1.0 MPa KNO 3 , MgSO 4 , PEG 6000 and PEG 8000. Total treatments were 56, laid out in completely randomized design. The purpose of the second experiment was to see how storage for 6 and 12 months at 4 and 15°C affects the clusters germination of AR79, primed for 48 h with -1.0 MPa KNO 3 and PEG 6000. Total treatments were 8, laid out in completely randomized design. Priming improved all tested germination traits of both genotypes, such as the mean germination time, coefficient of uniformity of germination (CUG), coefficient of velocity, germination capacity and percentage (GC) of abnormal seedlings. Both lines presented the most optimal effects of germination after 48 h of priming with KNO 3 and PEG 6000. Cluster storage contributed to the deterioration of their germination. The type of priming solution had no effect on cluster germination after storage. Better results were obtained with clusters stored for 6 than those for 12 months only for the CUG and GC. The storage of clusters at 4°C was more advantageous for germination features than storage at 15°C.
Non-market Valuation of Environmental Goods in Portugal

Este artigo explora a literatura da avaliação económica de bens ambientais em Portugal com o objetivo de identificar oportunidades para reforçar os contributos para a definição de políticas. A análise considera quatro questões: o que tem sido feito neste domínio; quais as características comuns aos diferentes estudos; o que sabemos sobre a validade das estimações; e quais as tendências mais recentes. Conclui-se que a avaliação ambiental em Portugal tem uma aplicação regional relevante com destaque para parques naturais e paisagens. A avaliação contingente é o método mais utilizado. O preço, o rendimento e o uso do recurso para recreio estão entre as variáveis explicativas mais influentes. Os resultados confirmam a validade dos métodos e o seu potencial para fins de política local/regional.
System Concepts and Performance Analysis of Multi-Sensor Navigation Systems for UAV Applications

This paper discusses the hardware and algorithmic details of an integrated navigation systems that fuses the information from an inexpensive Inertial Measurement Unit, a magnetometer triad and a Global Positioning System receiver. Methods for modelling sensor and system errors are presented. An observability analysis of the system shows that observability is conditional when only GPS position fixes are used to aid the inertial sensors. With the addition of a magnetometer triad, it is shown that the system becomes unconditionally observable.
Modelling Organisations As Electronic Institutions

: In recent times, artiﬁcial intelligence and social science have paid closer attention to computational modelling and analysis of organizations. The Multi agent systems community in particular has found organizations to be useful for the design of agent systems in which the regulation of the interaction among autonomous agents is possible. Similarly, social science organizational research has found computational models useful for analysis of structure and dynamics of real organizations. Motivated by this growing interest which is hinged on the importance of computational models for organizations, this paper presents the state of the art approaches to computational models for organizations with emphasis on electronic institutions.
Cramér Rao Bound Analysis for Cooperative Positioning in Intelligent Transportation Systems

With the development of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), requirements for better integrity, accuracy, and availability are becoming important due to the increasing safety implications of these systems. Thus, development of a positioning solution that satisfies ITS requirements has been a relevant challenge for years. The past decade has witnessed the development of ITS with an emphasis on sensor integration. In recent years, a significant amount of work has been done in the domain of cooperative positioning where it has been demonstrated that sharing of information between nodes in a network is beneficial, especially in GNSS denied environments. An ITS cooperative positioning system comprises multiple dynamic nodes (e.g. cars) and static nodes (e.g. infrastructure), each of which is equipped with multiple sensors for positioning and relative range measurements. In cooperative positioning, nodes assist each other in positioning by sharing information about themselves and relative information with respect to neighbouring nodes. Posterior Cramér Rao Bounds (PCRB) is a standard method for evaluating the best theoretical performance of a positioning system. This paper derives the PCRB for cooperative positioning in a dynamic ITS and demonstrates the use of the derived bounds for analysing the system performance with respect to different network parameters. The performance of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure, Vehicleto-Vehicle and combined cooperative positioning for an ad-hoc network of four vehicles and 15 infrastructure nodes is assessed. It is shown that the number of available infrastructure nodes and their geometry can significantly affect the performance. The analysis presented in this paper can be used for designing and developing a robust ITS.
EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF A TWIN BELT CASTER ON THE GROUND OF A WATER MODEL AND SIMULATIONS

This article describes a detailed investigation of the flow at the entry of a twin-belt caster, combining non-intrusive flow velocity measurements via Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV) with detailed numerical simulations based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The experimental set up includes a tundish, a stopper, a Submerged Entry Nozzle (SEN), and the walls of the twin-belt caster. Similarity theory was used to build an appropriate water model. The water level in between the horizontal belts is controlled by the height of the fully functional stopper. Detailed experimental measurements deliver the velocity distribution at the outlet of the SEN and are used to characterize the jet between the belts. The simulation identically reproduces this model providing a direct comparison. Two different turbulence models are applied in CFD simulations. The differences found between the results provide interesting insights. The k-ɷ-SST turbulence model delivers a much better agreement and is thus recommended for future studies. It is also found that, due to the very complex flow structures appearing around the stopper head, the full geometry must be considered in the simulation. Slow fluctuations are observed both in the course of the experiments and CFD, which is why meaningful comparisons are only possible for time-averaged quantities. Finally, a very good agreement is obtained between the measurements and the simulations, opening the door to further studies regarding caster flow homogeneity.
Anti-angiogenesis triggers exosomes release from endothelial cells to promote tumor vasculogenesis

ABSTRACT Although anti-angiogenic therapies (AATs) have some effects against multiple malignancies, they are limited by subsequent tumor vasculogenesis and progression. To investigate the mechanisms by which tumor vasculogenesis and progression following AATs, we transfected microRNA (miR)-9 into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to mimic the tumor-associated endothelial cells in hepatocellular carcinoma and simulated the AATs in vitro and in vivo. We found that administration of the angiogenesis inhibitor vandetanib completely abolished miR-9-induced angiogenesis and promoted autophagy in HUVECs, but induced the release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-enriched exosomes. These VEGF-enriched exosomes significantly promoted the formation of endothelial vessels and vasculogenic mimicry in hepatocellular carcinoma and its progression in mice. Anti-autophagic therapy is proposed to improve the efficacy of AATs. However, similar effects by AATs were observed with the application of anti-autophagy by 3-methyladenine. Our results revealed that tumor vasculogenesis and progression after AATs and anti-autophagic therapies were due to the cross-talk between endothelial and tumor cells via VEGF-enriched exosomes.
Protecting World Leaders Against Deep Fakes

The creation of sophisticated fake videos has been largely relegated to Hollywood studios or state actors. Recent advances in deep learning, however, have made it sig-niﬁcantly easier to create sophisticated and compelling fake videos. With relatively modest amounts of data and computing power, the average person can, for example, create a video of a world leader confessing to illegal activity leading to a constitutional crisis, a military leader saying something racially insensitive leading to civil unrest in an area of military activity, or a corporate titan claiming that their proﬁts are weak leading to global stock manipulation. These so called deep fakes pose a signiﬁcant threat to our democracy, national security, and society. To contend with this growing threat, we describe a forensic technique that models facial expressions and movements that typify an individual’s speaking pattern. Although not visually apparent, these correlations are often violated by the nature of how deep-fake videos are created and can, therefore, be used for authentication.