Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identifying conservation and research priorities in the face of uncertainty: A review of the threatened bell frog complex in eastern Australia

While the principles and steps to be followed in the recovery of a declining species are relatively straightforward, there is often a considerable gap between the theory and practice. One example is the decline of the bell frog complex in eastern australia, which is comprised of three species: Litoria aurea, L. castanea, and L. raniformis. There is considerable debate about the role of threatening processes in the decline and uncertainty in how best to develop conservation mitigation strategies for these species. To develop a clear picture of the research priorities necessary to enhance the conservation outcomes for the three species we conducted a literature review to focus on the critical gaps in ecological understanding that prevents consensus, and to set research priorities to address these gaps. Unresolved questions were identified and prioritized, and a set of priority research directions and management actions considered to be integral for the persistence of the species were formulated.
Elevated expression of PMEPA 1 predicts poor prognosis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Prostate transmembrane protein, androgen induced 1 (PMEPA1) has been reported to be upregulated and involved in the progression in multiple types of cancer. However, expression of PMEPA1 and its clinical significance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain unclear. In this study, we measured the expression of PMEPA1 mRNA using qRT-PCR in 15 pairs of resected PDAC tissues and corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues. In addition, we assessed the expression of PMEPA1 protein using immunohistochemistry in tissue microarray (TMA) which contains 74 pairs of PDAC tissues and corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues, as well as another 18 PDAC tissues. Our analysis revealed that expression of PMEPA1 mRNA and protein were elevated in PDAC tissues compared with corresponding non-tumor pancreatic tissues (P<0.001). High PMEPA1 expression was positively correlated with histological grade (P = 0.033) and regional lymph node metastasis (P = 0.015). Survival analysis showed that overall survival of patients with high PMEPA1 expression is significantly shorter than that of patients with low PMEPA1 expression (median survival 7.7 vs. 23 months, x2 = 6.979, P = 0.008). The multivariate analysis indicated that high PMEPA1 expression was an independent prognostic factors for poor overall survival in PDAC (hazard ratio = 1.956, P = 0.015). High T stage (hazard ratio = 2.491, P = 0.001) and regional lymph node metastasis (hazard ratio = 2.245, P = 0.002) were also independent prognostic factors for poor survival in PDAC. In conclusion, PMEPA1 might be a valuable prognostic biomarker in PDAC and helpful to selecting patients who need adjuvant treatment.
Assessing the statistical power of genetic analyses to detect multiple mating in fishes B

A single-sex model is presented that calculates the probability of detecting multiple mating (PrDM) given genetic data from the single genetic parent and a sample of its offspring. The model incorporates the effects of numbers of loci, alleles, offspring and genetic parents contributing to the multiple mating, all of which effect PrDM. The model is used to determine the actual number of loci and offspring that are required to detect multiply mated broods with high probability (80 and 95%). For example, if two sires contribute with equal fertilization success to multiply mated broods, then only 10 offspring and one locus with seven equally common alleles are required to ensure that 80% of multiple mated broods are detected. Ninety-five per cent of multiple mated broods can be detected with 10 offspring and five loci with four equally common alleles. The utility of the model is demonstrated with biological examples addressing geographic variation in multiple paternity among natural populations of guppies Poecilia reticulata and mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki.
Estimation of specific surface areas of coarse- grained materials with grain-size curves represented by two-parameter lognormal distributions

The specific surface area (SSA) is an important characteristic of soils and other particulate media. The value of SSA can, for instance, be used to assess the hydraulic conductivity and moisture retention curve. Various methods have been proposed to evaluate the SSA of granular materials from the grain size curves. In this paper, a new approach is presented to estimate SSA for S-shaped grain-size distributions that can be represented by two-parameter lognormal distributions, using the equivalent mean diameter DH. Calculated values from this method are compared with those obtained from existing analytical equations that rely on grain size curve parameters. The introduction of the proposed relationship in the modified Kovacs (MK) model developed to predict the water retention curve is also discussed in a preliminary manner.
IMPROVING PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF PLANT GROWING MEDIAS USING PERLİTE

The most widely used growing media in the production of potted ornamental plants is peat. However, the studies for alternative solutions are being conducted due to the reasons such as restricted peat sources, high cost, destruction of natural environment due to peat production and variability in the quality of produced peat. In the relevant literature, there are two basic ideas on which the studies have focused on. The first one is the development of new growing media using organic-origin wastes, the second one is the preparation of the mixtures in which organic and inorganic materials are used as a component of growingmediums. In this study which was prepared in parallel with the relevant main ideas in the literature, the effects of perlite utilization on the physical properties of indigenous peat, and on those of the growing media obtained from hazelnut cinder, which is among agricultural organic materials in our country and has considerable potential to be the most important alternative of peat, were investigated. For this purpose, the physical properties of the growingmedias, prepared by mixing perlite with raw peat and hazelnut husk, at various ratios (10,15,20,25%), were investigated, and the results obtained were compared with sphagnum peat, and with desired properties for ideal growingmedias, in the literature. When the results obtained from the study were examined, it was seen that as well as the highest values were observed in the mixtures using 25% perlite, the perlite addition increased the porosity of raw peat by 68.25% and air capacity by 30.03%, and that the hazelnut husk decreased air capacity, higher than the ideal values, by 47.19%,thus approximating it its ideal value range. With increasing perlite ratio in the mixtures, the organic substance contents and water holding capacities of the growingmedias decreased as their pH values increased. However, in applications using 25% Perlite, the shrinkage rates of raw peat and hazelnut husk were found as 17.05% and 6.41% respectively, and the water resuction times of those were found as 1.52 and 1.21 minutes, respectively. Based on these results, it can be said that the most important contribution of perlite utilization for raw peat and hazelnut husk is to decrease shrinkage rates and water resuction times, and that this improvement will avail in preventing the damages that occur in plant roots due to drying and shrinking of the growing media, and in decreasing the irrigation frequency.
The Impact of Urbanization and Energy Consumption on CO 2 Emissions in South Asia

This paper explores the relationship between urbanization, CO2 emissions and energy consumption in South Asia for the period of 1983 to 2013, using Panel Co-integration and Granger causality approach. A long-run relationship exists between CO2, energy consumption and urbanization. The empirics also indicate that energy consumption and economic growth are playing a significant role in degrading the environment while trade is improving its quality. Bidirectional causality exists between CO2 and energy, and between urbanization and CO2 emissions both in the short run and long run.
Regime Switching Stochastic Volatility with Skew, Fat Tails and Leverage using Returns and Realized Volatility Contemporaneously

A very general stochastic volatility (SV) model specification with leverage, heavy tails, skew and switching regimes is proposed, using realized volatility (RV) as an auxiliary time series to improve inference on latent volatility. The information content of the range and of implied volatility using the VIX index is also analyzed. Database is the S&P 500 index. Asymmetry in the observation error is modeled by the generalized hyperbolic skew Student-t distribution, whose heavy and light tail enable substantial skewness. Resulting number of regimes and dynamics differ dependent on the auxiliary volatility proxy and are investigated in-sample for the financial crash period 2008/09 in more detail. An out-of-sample study comparing predictive ability of various model variants for a calm and a volatile period yields insights about the gains on forecasting performance from different volatility proxies. Results indicate that including RV or the VIX pays off mostly in more volatile market conditions, whereas in calmer environments SV specifications using no auxiliary series outperform. The range as volatility proxy provides a superior in-sample fit, but its predictive performance is found to be weak.
Cytogenetic analysis of Pseudophoxinus antalyae, Bogustkaya, 1992 (Pisces: Cyprinidae) from the Eastern Mediterranean River Basin, Turkey

The karyotype of Pseudophoxinus antalyae was analyzed using G-banding, C-banding, Ag-NOR staining, and Q-banding. Chromosome analysis of this species, which lives in the Berdan River and Berdan Dam Lake, was performed with the air-drying technique, using gill and fin epithelium cells. The diploid chromosome number of P. antalyae was determined to be 2n = 50, comprising 16 metacentric, 14 submetacentric, 12 subtelocentric, and 8 acrocentric (NF = 92) chromosomes. The largest chromosome pair of the complements was characteristically a submetacentric. The nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) were apparently located in subtelocentric chromosome pairs. The karyotype of P. antalyae is reported for the first time.
Task Force GRAIN QUALITY Fact Sheet # 35 September 10 , 1998 Purdue University Drying of High Oil Corn for Quality

High quality, high oil corn (HOC) should be low in stress cracks (brittleness) and other damages (heat, mold, insects, BCFM) and high in feed value and other desirable end-use attributes (oil, protein, starch, test weight). Stress cracks increase the breakage susceptibility of corn during storage and handling. Corn with a high number of stress cracks generates more dust during grinding, and is more vulnerable to insect and microbial attack during storage. A low feed value results in undesirable feed/gain ratios for HOC.
Grammatical role and word order predict referential form in Finnish : an annotated corpus of Finnish Bachelor ’ s project

In this project, a corpus study using crowd-sourced annotation was done to gain new insights in the distribution of two Finnish pronouns: the demonstrative tämä, ’this’, and the personal pronoun hän, ’s/he’. A non-tagged, non-annotated corpus was morphosyntactically tagged, the relevant pronouns were extracted and Wordrobe, a game-like, online system, which allows people with no linguistic or annotation expertise (but high language-competence) to use their knowledge for annotations, was used to acquire co-reference annotation. The expectation is that a significant relationship between grammatical role, linear word order and the usage of tämä and hän will be found, with tämä used for second-mentioned antecedents, and hän mainly used for subject antecedents. Results show low frequencies of OS-word order, so no clear distinction between the factors can be made. Sentences with only one argument and non-subject/object arguments were also studied, and an unexpectedly high number of tämä with intransitive subject antecedents, which cannot directly be explained. This warrants further study of these previously largely ignored sentence types.
Predictors of difficult intubation – a simple approach

Background: A common cause of anaesthesia related morbidity and mortality is difficult or failed intubation. A lot of studies have attempted to create a score or mathematical model to predict difficult intubation accurately without much success. Many of them consider all predictive parameters as equal. This study attempts to rank the predictors of difficult intubation without creating complicated mathematical models.Methods: Modified mallampati class, degree of head extension, mento-hyoid distance, thyromental distance, interincisor gap, forward movement of the mandible and indirect laryngoscopy were assessed in 498 patients scheduled for elective surgery. Grading of glottis exposure on direct laryngoscopy was done based on CormackLehane classification. Logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors that were significantly associated with difficult glottis exposure (Grades 3 & 4). The predictors were ranked according to the ‘odds’ derived from regression analysis.Results: Direct laryngoscopy was difficult in 40 patients (8%). Indirect laryngoscopy was excluded from the analysis in view of poor patient cooperation in a large number of patients (13%). Degree of head extension, Mento-hyoid distance of < 4 cm and modified Mallampati class 3&4 were found to have significant association with difficult glottic exposure . These predictors could be ranked in the same order based on ‘odds’ ratio (11, 3.4, and 2.5 respectively) calculated from logistic regression analysis.Conclusion: Patients with restricted head movement have much higher ‘odds’ of having a difficult glottic exposure at direct laryngoscopy, followed by those with decreased mentohyoid distance and higher modified mallampati class.
Common features of professional development activities for mathematics and science teachers

This study examines professional development activities provided for mathematics and science teachers in the National Science Foundation’s Math and Science Partnership Program by analyzing a cross‐sectional sample of over 2000 professional development (PD) activities in the program. Data were gathered from secondary source documents and surveys to examine core and structural features of professional development offerings (i.e. form, collective participation, content, duration and outcomes). The results from this sample of PD activities for mathematics and science teachers were mixed. There was evidence of research‐based practices, including the collective participation by teachers at the same grade levels, a focus on content‐specific training and sufficient duration. However, courses and workshops continued as the dominant form of PD delivery, there are few measures used to assess the PD activities, and the partnerships did not connect PD efforts for mathematics and science teachers with classroom practices and student achievement outcomes. These findings indicate that the delivery of PD has adopted important research‐based strategies, but that the partnerships need to design better methods for documenting growth in teacher knowledge and connecting that growth with student outcomes.
Speed Control of a Variable Loaded DC Motor by Using Sliding Mode and Iterative Learning Control

In this paper, speed control of a DC Motor with time varying loaded is performed by using sliding mode control (SMC), classical PID control and iterative learning control (ILC) methods. SMC is a robust nonlinear control method which has insensibility against to external disturbing effects and parametric variations of system. On the other hand, a control method of ILC provides an excellent performance on tracking. In the iterative learning PID (IL-PID) controller, the parameters of PID are automatically adjusted by using the algorithm of iterative learning. In this study, firstly, a DC Motor is modeled by using real data. Secondly, controllers which are an iterative learning PID (IL-PID), SMC-based and classical PID are designed and tested. Moreover, performance analysis of these controllers is done for load changes in the time interval. According to obtained results, the output of SMCbased system converges quickly to the reference value and the system gives the fastest response when changing of load occurs. Another result of this study is that the steady state error based on the learning success of ILC is decreased by IL-PID controller. The novel part of this study is that the comparison of these types of controllers is firstly made with this study. 
Genetic pattern of cystic fibrosis patients in Azeri Turkish population

Objective ― This study was designed to analyze the genetic pattern of cystic fibrosis and effects on age, sex and mortality in the Azeri Turkish population in Iran. Material and Methods ― This study was a descriptive study that was conducted for cystic fibrosis patients in Azeri Turkish population in Iran from 2001 to 2014. Of 331 patients, the spectrum of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutations in 263 patients was reviewed. Demographic and genetic data of patients were summarized by descriptive analysis as frequency, percentage, mean and median. Results ― The frequency consanguineous marriages was 196 (59.2%) positive and 135 (40.8%) negative with a significant difference (P=0.001). We identified 32 known mutations and 74 kinds of genotypes. The most common mutation and genotype were ∆F508 138 (26.2%) and ∆F508/ ∆F508 41 (15.5%), respectively. The most mortality rate had observed in ∆F508 genotypes. Conclusion ― These findings indicate high frequency of consanguinity marriage in this area. A low frequency of the ∆F508 mutation and detection 32 mutations reflect a heterogeneous spectrum of the mutations in this ethnic group. Further examinations are necessary on CFTR gene and affect these items on on age, sex and mortality.
Simulation Analysis as a Way to Assess the Performance of Important Unit Root and Change in Persistence Tests

This chapter shows a way to, using simulation analysis, assess the performance of some of the most popular unit root and change in persistence tests. The authors do this by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The findings suggest that these tests show a lower than expected performance when dealing with some of the processes commonly believed to be found in the economic and financial data. The output signals that extreme care should be taken when trying to support a theory using real data. As the results show, a blind practitioner could get misleading implications almost surely. As an empirical exercise, the authors show that the considered test finds evidence of a unit root process in the US house price index. Nonetheless, as the simulation analysis shows, extreme caution should be taken when analyzing these results. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2011-7.ch018
Antioxidant Properties and Antimicrobial Potential of Aqueous Extract of Basidioma from Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Sing. (Shiitake)

Reactive species are naturally formed in aerobic metabolism and can cause membrane oxidation and damage to intracellular components such as DNA and proteins. Cells can naturally count on a system of defense against free radicals that protect them from oxidative damage. However, when this system becomes inadequate to protect us efficiently, exogenous antioxidants may be of great importance to prevent or even reduce the damage caused by reactive species (Halliwell, 2012). Several species of mushrooms have been described as a source of antioxidant compounds and due to their important nutritional value the edible mushrooms are attractive as functional food and still as a source of drug and nutraceutical development (Barros et al., 2007; Kalač, 2009).
Induction, overhypotheses, and the shape bias: Some arguments and evidence for rational constructivism

A tremendous amount of work has been conducted on infants’ representations of physical objects during the last 25 years (see Baillargeon, 2004; Spelke, 1994, for reviews). One particular perceptual dimension, object shape, has received a great deal of attention in both the literature on object representations and generalization (e.g., Baldwin et al., 1993; Rosch et al., 1976; Shutts et al., Chapter 8; Waxman, 1999; Welder & Graham, 2001) and the literature on early word learning, since the initial vocabulary of most infants contains a large number of count nouns that refer to object categories (e.g., Nelson, 1973). This chapter focuses on a case study of how object representations in infants interact with early word learning, in particular the nature of the so-called “shape bias. ” We will begin with a short review of the controversies in this subfield, and use it to illustrate the two dominant views of cognitive development, which can be roughly classified as nativist or empiricist. We will then present both theoretical arguments and new empirical evidence for a rational constructivist view of cog-nitive development (see also Xu, 2007a). Our goal is to argue for a new approach to the study of cognitive development, one that is strongly committed to both innate concepts and representations, as well as powerful inductive learning mechanisms. In addition to discussing the shape bias and how it relates to object representations, we will also briefly discuss the generality of the approach.
Innovation Efficiency and Technology Gaps in European Region : North vs . South

Departing from the North-South models of International Trade we test whether within European region two main technological clusters co-exist, the Northern European countries and the Southern European countries. Employing a novel non parametric meta-frontier analysis on a country level dataset for the years 2004-2006 we investigate whether there is an actual difference, in terms of innovative performance, among North and South European countries in terms of the technological frontiers under which these firms operate. We then explore the systemic factors that contribute to the existence and maintenance of these technology gaps of European among European countries, emphasizing in the role of entrepreneurship. Our empirical findings suggest that the North vs. South geographical division of countries does not apply in the case of Europe.
Ameliorative Effects of Ginkgo Biloba on Haloperidol-Induced Vacuous Chewing Movement BDNF Plasm Levels in Rats: A Dose-Dependent Effect

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a serious, often disabling, movement disorder associated with long-term neuroleptic treatment, in which characteristic abnormal, involuntary, persistent movements of the tongue and lips and facial musculature are seen [1]. However, TD is a common side effect of antipsychotic drugs treatment in patients with schizophrenia, such as haloperidol, perphenazine or chlorpromazine treatment, and the incidence rate has been estimated that up to 32% [2]. As a consequence, the adverse events induced by these drugs make schizophrenia patients having to face more difficulty in daily life. As so far, the etiology and pathophysiology of TD remain unclear. A recent neurodegeneration hypothesis has been proposed to explain the development of TD, suggesting that long-term antipsychotic treatments can enhance neurotoxic free radical generation [3], which can induce potentially irreversible damage in motor regions of the brain such as the basal ganglia, resulting in TD [4,5]. Currently, no standard treatment approach is available for physicians confronted with such patients. Psychology and Behavioral Science International Journal ISSN 2474-7688