Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of Microsatellite Markers for the Two Giant Salamander Species (Andrias japonicus and A. davidianus)

Abstract: The Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus) is a near threatened species endemic to western Japan and is strictly protected by law. However, available information regarding the genetic diversity and genetic structure in this species, essential for its effective conservation, has been limited. We developed four microsatellite markers from A. japonicus and characterized these markers for two populations of this species, as well as for some captive Chinese giant salamanders (A. davidianus) of unknown original locality or localities. These markers, showing expected heterozygosities of 0.00–0.50 in the former and 0.63–0.89 in the latter, will be useful in documenting population genetic properties for each of the two species.
Towards Life-Oriented Evaluation Support of Interface Concepts

The evaluation of design concepts is a critical early design stage with potential ramifications on subsequent lifecycle phases. During this stage the engineering designer is typically required to evaluate multiple concepts with respect to conflicting criteria. Over the years academic research proposed numerous concept evaluation techniques in order to support the user at this critical stage. Yet this has yielded an additional problem in which the inexperienced user needs also to be guided in the selection of the appropriate concept evaluation technique. The research presented in this paper has the long-term objective of providing computer support to the user on 2 levels: the evaluation of design concepts and the selection of the appropriate concept appraisal technique. The research, presented in this paper focuses on the development of an approach for the evaluation of module interface design concepts.
Genetic variation and molecular evolution of endangered Kozlov.s pika (Ochotona koslowi Buchner) based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene

Kozlov's pika is a rare and endangered lagomorph species with a limited distribution in the southern Kunlun Mountains in western China. Because of its endangered status, Kozlov's pika is considered a priority species for research and conservation action. Genetic variation and molecular evolution of the Kozlov's pika were studied based on a total of 14 individuals from four locations along the eastern boundary between Xinjiang and Tibet province (35.20-36.48 degrees N, 86.08-83.04 degrees E) on extremely high elevation (usually over 4800 m a.s.l.). The density of local populations was about 3-4 per ha, living in a typical alpine desert grassland habitat. The complete mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene was amplified and sequenced. Based on the cytb gene sequences the genetic variation and molecular evolution were analyzed. Unexpected high haplotype diversity (0.956 +/- 0.045) but low nucleotide diversity (0.00537 +/- 0.00126) was found, indicating past demographic expansion. Significant partitioning of variance (P <0.01) among populations (46.7%), and within populations (53.3%), indicating low level of genetic differentiations among local populations. Our results gave an optimistic survival status of Kozlov's pika at the genetic level. Bayes Empirical Bayes analysis with model M2a and M8 detected three positively selected amino acid sites at the significance level of 0.05. The mutant types with either or both of the mutations aspartic acid to asparagine and glutamic acid to lysine had higher isoelectric point values. We suggested these mutant types might have biological significance to help individuals to adapt to the extremely high elevation habitats.
Asymmetric Substrate Integrated Waveguide Leaky Wave Antenna with Open Stop Band Suppression and Radiation Efficiency Equalization through Broadside

A planar asymmetric substrate integrated waveguide leaky wave antenna is proposed with open stop band suppression and radiation efficiency equalization through broadside for the Ku-band. The stop-band behavior exhibited at broadside in the 1-D periodic structure is significantly reduced using reflection cancellation technique by placing the two slots at a quarter distance within the unit cell. Furthermore, asymmetric technique is applied. The asymmetry is introduced with respect to both axial and transversal axis of the structure so as to match the atbroadside Bloch impedance and off-broadside Bloch impedance. This provides total open stop band suppression and radiation efficiency improvement as well as equalization through broadside. The problem is analyzed with the help of Bloch impedance behavior. For illustration of the above techniques; single slot, double slot and asymmetric designs are developed for the proposed leaky wave antenna. The final asymmetric design after optimization is fabricated. Measured results are almost consistent with the simulation results with complete suppression of open stop band, efficiency improvement and equalization through broadside providing continuous beam scanning from –32° to +27° with constant gain of ~12.5 dBi.
ADBI Working Paper Series EDUCATION, GLOBALIZATION, AND INCOME INEQUALITY IN ASIA

This study considers how education and globalization affect income inequality in Asia, with unbalanced panel data. The evidence supports the validity of Kuznets’ inverted-U hypothesis for the connection between income level and income inequality. However, when more variables are integrated into the model, the consistency of the inverse U-shaped curve becomes weaker. The empirical results suggest that educational variables are highly influential in affecting income distribution. Our analysis indicates that a higher level of education achieved by the population aged 15 and over has improved income distribution in Asia, while educational inequality, measured by the education Gini index, has a negative effect on income distribution. Higher levels of globalization are correlated with higher levels of income inequality, while freedom, either political or economic, has marginal effects on the level of inequity in income distribution.
Influencing Factors for the Intercultural Collaboration between Colleagues of an International Enterprise

In the study at hand, country- and organization-related cultural influence factors for the collaboration between colleagues of an internationally acting enterprise are empirically investigated. Problem-focused interviews with 26 probands have been conducted to validate the relevance of the researched influencing factors. The hypotheses have been tested with the help of a quantitative measuring instrument (standardized online survey). Findings indicate, that cultural differences on the country-related and organizational level between German and Singaporean colleagues are indeed greater than between German and American employees. These do not lead to a worse intercultural collaboration. Positive effects for the intercultural collaboration could be proven for the scales of collectivism, outcome- and career-orientation, employee-orientation and work climate. Furthermore, higher shaped collectivism, as well as a higher success- and career-orientation could be proven as indicators for the greater success of the German-Singaporean collaboration.
Impacts of climate change on heating and cooling: a worldwide estimate from energy and macro-economic perspectives

The energy sector is not only a major driving force of climate change, it is also vulnerable to future climate change. In this paper, we analyze the impacts of changes in future temperature on the heating and cooling services both in terms of global and regional energy impacts and macro-economic eects. For this purpose, the technico-economic TIMES-WORLD and the general equilibrium GEMINI-E3 model are coupled with a climate model, PLASIM-ENTS, to assess the regional and seasonal temperature changes and their consequences on the energy and economic systems. One of the main insight of the analysis is the absence of climate feedback induced by the adaptation of the energy system to future heating and cooling needs, since the latter represent a limited share of total nal energy consumption and emissions, and the heating and cooling changes tend to compensate each other, at the global level. However, signicant changes may be observed at regional levels, more particularly in terms of additional power capacity required to satisfy the new cooling demands. In terms of macro-economic impacts, welfare gains comes from the decrease of energy for heating and to welfare loss due to an increase of electricity for space cooling. For energy exporting countries welfare gain is reduced (or lossed) due to losses of revenue coming from less energy export while for non-energy exporting countries welfare gains is linked to the decrease of energy needs for heating overcompensate the cost coming from the increase of electricity consumption.
Algorithm to Solve Web Service Complex Request Using Automatic Composition of Semantic Web Service

Automatic composition of web services supports the solving of complex user request. The set of pos sible solutions can be represented by a graph, modeling t he composition. Usually, this kind of approach is high ly simplified by considering only sequences of service s. This paper proposes an algorithm for automatic semantic web services composition, which generates a graph takin g into account any composition structure. The request resolution process identifies possible composition structures and selects relevant services based on their semantic descripti on. The resulted composition graph answers all requested functionality with coherent composition structures.
Short-term movements and diving behaviour of satellite-tracked blue sharks Prionace glauca in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean

Shifts in the movement, activity or behaviour of individual animals in relation to chang- ing environmental landscapes play an important role in determining re-distribution patterns of pop- ulations. Such spatial dynamics are poorly understood for pelagic sharks despite the decline of many species due to overfishing. Satellite-linked archival transmitters were used to record the movements of blue sharks Prionace glauca for the first time in the northeast Atlantic. A total of 256 tracking days were recorded, with sharks covering an estimated minimum distance of 11 432 km. Generally, blue sharks displayed wide-ranging southward movements away from the tagging areas (English Chan- nel, southern Portugal and the Azores Islands), with juvenile sharks displaying less site fidelity than previously suggested from other methods. Vertical movements ranged from the surface to a maxi- mum depth of 696 m, and water temperatures varied from 10.6 to 24.6°C. Shifts in both thermal and depth-use patterns were detected, with tracked sharks displaying behavioural variability correlated with the environment, both within and between individuals. Patterns of behaviour in coastal areas were generally linked to the thermal structure of the water column; sharks displayed some prefer- ence for surface layers in thermally stratified waters, but displayed less regular behaviour in well- mixed or weakly stratified waters. In offshore locations, sharks usually adopted either a surface- oriented or a depth-oriented diving pattern, often switching between both in response to probable changes in prey distribution or prey type when in deeper water. Fishing-induced mortality of tracked sharks was approximately 10% during the period of 13 to 70 d post-tagging. Our results indicate a variety of short and longer range movements of juvenile and sub-adult blue sharks with respect to time and environment in the northeast Atlantic, which suggests complex spatial dynamics and popu- lation structuring in this exploited species.
Molecular Diversification and Phylogeny of Mangifera (Anacardiaceae) in Indonesia and Thailand

Phylogenetic relationships among 19 Mangifera L. species of Indonesia and Thailand were analyzed by comparing sequences of maturase-K gene of chloroplast genome. Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony method revealed that the gene could clasify Mangifera into three major groups. Although this classification system is different with the previous system, it can provide a new information about Mangifera taxonomy. Results further exhibited that DNA sequences of the matK of two Mangifera species (M. laurina dan M. macrocarpa) are different between Indonesia and Thailand specimens.
Drift coefficient and simulation of amino acid-solvent interactions for proteins whose main chain have \alpha-helical secondary structures

The formation of multiple helical-linear segments of a polymer in a solvent is investigated analytically. Winding probability functions for diffusive polypeptides is obtained for a drift coefficient f(s) involving Fourier cosine function of the variable s along the chain. Applications to protein chains are explored where the formation of α-helices between linear segments is compared to the conformation of myoglobin (4mbn) found in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). The results generated are also comparable to the results of the well-known APSSP2 secondary structure prediction server of Raghava which employed a sophisticated Example Based Learning (EBL) approach with a combination of neural network and nearest neighbour algorithm. Considering the large amount of data from Protein Data Bank (PDB), we can conveniently predict or mimic the structure of 28 Wilson I. Barredo and Henry P. Aringa other α-helical proteins in solvents with much less computing times which can be used to explore the protein folding problem.
Soil-water interacting use patterns driven by Ziziphus jujuba on the Chenier Island in the Yellow River Delta, China

ABSTRACT The determination of water use patterns of plants in a coastal ecosystem is critical to our understanding of local eco-hydrological processes and predicting trends in ecological succession under the background of global climate change. The water use patterns of Ziziphus jujuba, the dominant species on the Chenier Island in the Yellow River Delta, were examined following summer rainfall events. Stable oxygen isotope analysis was employed to analyze the effects of rainfall on the stable isotopic composition in potential water sources in Z. jujuba. The IsoSource model was used to estimate the contributions of potential water sources for xylem water in Z. jujuba. The results showed heavy rainfall could recharge both soil and groundwater but contributed little to the δ18O values in deep soil water (60–100 cm) and groundwater. Light rainfall had an effect only on surface soil water (0–40 cm). Z. jujuba mainly absorbed deep soil water on non-rainy days. Rainwater became the predominant water source for Z. jujuba during and immediately after heavy rainfall. Switching the plant’s main water source between deep soil water and rainwater provided Z. jujuba with a competitive advantage and improved the water use efficiency of Z. jujuba in this coastal ecosystem.
Anatomic compatibility of pear and quince trees grafted on Pyrus calleryana and Chaenomeles sinensis rootstocks

The objective of this work was to evaluate the graft growth and the anatomical characterization of pear (Pyrus communis x P. pyrifolia) and quince (Cydonia oblonga) cultivars grafted on Pyrus calleryana and Chaenomeles sinensis rootstocks. Sprouted graft percentages at 60 days and the length and diameter of the graft sproutings at 120 days were evaluated. Stem cuttings from the grafting region were performed in transversal and longitudinal sections, and the secondary xylem was separated for tissue comparison. The pear trees showed good development on P. calleryana rootstock, and the anatomical sections showed that the vascular tissues were connected, which did not occur when the trees were grafted on C. sinensis, in which the grafts sprouted, but did not develop, and the vascular tissues did not connect. The quince trees showed good development on both rootstocks due to the good connection of the vascular tissues. The connection of vascular tissues is essential for the success of grafting. The evaluated species did not differ significantly as to their secondary xylem tissues. The incompatibility found between the pear trees and the C. sinensis rootstocks is not anatomical.
Precise measurements of primordial power spectrum with 21 cm fluctuations

We discuss the issue of how precisely we can measure the primordial power spectrum by using future observations of 21 cm fluctuations and cosmic microwave background (CMB). For this purpose, we investigate projected constraints on the quantities characterizing primordial power spectrum: the spectral index n{sub s}, its running α{sub s} and even its higher order running β{sub s}. We show that future 21 cm observations in combinations with CMB would accurately measure above mentioned observables of primordial power spectrum. We also discuss its implications to some explicit inflationary models.
Effects of Exercise on Levels of Depression

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exercise on depression levels. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was applied to a total of 605 subjects at different exercise levels. The BDI score of non-exercising group was 13.18, while the average score of those who exercise was found to be 8.93. Non-exercising group showed higher depressive symptoms than the exercising group. Gender had no significant difference on the levels of depression (p>.05). Non-exercising group was found to be more depressive than the exercising group (p<.01). It was observed that exercising resulted in a low level of depression and the level of depression was reduced as the exercise time was increased. It can be said that exercise had a positive effect on reducing depression. People should be motivated and encouraged for having the habit of regular exercise to improve the quality of life.
Supportive Tools for Collaborative Prototyping

The development of interactive products requires the integration of different disciplines, such as interaction design, design engineering, marketing and R&D. This article explores how these disciplines can be involved in the prototyping process by introducing a set of tools. In the literature, various tools and toolkits are described that support interaction designers in the design and modification of prototypes in the early stages of a project. Although these make prototyping easier for interaction designers, it remains challenging to involve other disciplines in a collaborative prototyping process. In this design case I describe a set of tailor-made tools that were designed to support the collaborative development of an interactive prototype in an industrial setting. I demonstrate how these tools supported collaboration and communication across functional units, and allowed different stakeholders to make concrete design contributions. I propose that investing in the development of such supportive tools is beneficial to product development, as they 1) allow different stakeholders to user the prototype as a development tool, 2) facilitate cross-functional collaboration and 3) enable appropriation and repurposing of the prototype across different departments.
Assessing the Viability and Degeneration of the Medically Important Filarial Nematodes

The assessment of nematodes as they generate and die is not a simple thing to do due in part to the complexity of the organism, and the fact that still relatively little is known about their physiology and internal biology. Indeed, the pathological changes in the internal organs of the worms are still only recognized in general terms. Obviously dead worms are easily recognized (when fractured, or calcified, etc.) but the lesser obvious changes can be difficult to detect and interpret. The point at which a worm can be defined as dead is not a simple matter; cessation of motility is currently the most commonly used parameter for this but it is not always a robust indicator and better indicators are needed. Various methods can be used to assess the presence, viability, and functionality of nematodes but these must be used with an understanding of the situation at hand and the specific questions being addressed. Careful use of appropriate statistics is essential given the complex nature of the target organism and the variability in the changes that can be seen within even one anatomical component of these worms. Histological assessment of the parasites present in both parasitized host tissues and isolated worms used in in vitro experiments can provide information that gives a more detailed understanding of the changes in nematodes as they degenerate and die. Understanding of the pathways nematodes follows as they degenerate naturally or under various external pressures, such as chemotherapy, remains a fascinating and potentially productive goal for investigation. Likewise, a complete understanding and definition of specific indicators that reflect parasite load, parasite viability, and damage, or reduced fecundity, will greatly help the fight against those nematode infections that currently cause significant burdens of disease in humans and animals.
MULTITEMPORAL QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF GRASSLAND AND CROPLAND OBJECTS OF A TOPOGRAPHIC DATASET

As a consequence of the wide-spread application of digital geo-data in geographic information systems (GIS), quality control has become increasingly important to enhance the usefulness of the data. For economic reasons a high degree of automation is required for the quality control process. This goal can be achieved by automatic image analysis techniques. An example of how this can be achieved in the context of quality assessment of cropland and grassland GIS objects is given in this paper. The quality assessment of these objects of a topographic dataset is carried out based on multi-temporal information. The multi-temporal approach combines the channels of all available images as a multilayer image and applies a pixel-based SVM-classification. In this way multispectral as well as multi-temporal information is processed in parallel. The features used for the classification consist of spectral, textural (Haralick features) and structural (features derived from a semi-variogram) features. After the SVM-classification, the pixel-based result is mapped to the GIS-objects. Finally, a simple ruled-based approach is used in order to verify the objects of a GIS database. The approach was tested using a multi-temporal data set consisting of one 5-channel RapidEye image (GSD 5m) and two 3-channel Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) images (GSD 32m). All images were taken within one year. The results show that by using our approach, quality control of GIS- cropland and grassland objects is possible and the human operator saves time using our approach compared to a completely manual quality assessment.
Carbonaceous materials in the acid residue from the Orgueil carbonaceous chondrite meteorite

Abstract— Insoluble organic matter (IOM) dominates the HF/HCl residue of the Orgueil (CI) carbonaceous chondrite meteorite. The IOM is composed primarily of two C‐rich particle types. The first has a fluffy texture similar to crumpled tissue paper, and the second type occurs as solid or hollow nanospheres. High‐resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) images of the fluffy material show it is poorly ordered, with small, irregularly shaped regions having fringes with 0.34–0.38 nm spacings and locally 0.21 nm cross‐fringes. Nanodiamonds occur in the fluffy material. The rounded C‐rich particles are common in the residue and their HRTEM images show neither fringes nor nanodiamonds. Both types of carbonaceous materials have a high aromatic component, as revealed by electron energy‐loss spectroscopy (EELS), with up to 10 at% substitution by S, N, and O. The average compositions of the fluffy material and nanospheres are C100S1.9N3. 7O4.9 and C100S2.4N5. 0O3.9, respectively. The structural and chemical heterogeneity of the carbonaceous materials may represent material from multiple sources.