Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SEASONAL CHANGES IN PRECIPITATION EXTREMES IN RUSSIA FOR THE LAST SEVERAL DECADES AND THEIR IMPACT ON VITAL ACTIVITIES OF THE HUMAN POPULATION

Seasonal regional features of the daily precipitation extremes were studied based on Russian meteorological stations datasets for the period of 1991- 2013 compared to the 1961-1990 climate baseline conditions. Precipitation extreme changes were assessed for the most vulnerable regions of Russia with high population density, where precipitation extremes result in negative impacts on the environment and human activities. It was found that the frequency of precipitation extremes in winter and in spring for the period 1991-2013 significantly increased, by 20-40% at the average, in most parts of the case study area. Due to positive trends in daily precipitation extremes changes which was revealed for the winter and spring periods (not exceeding on average 0.2 mm/day/decade), the risks of catastrophic spring floods have been analysed, especially in the areas with a higher recurrence rate of dangerous floods, i.e. - the South Urals region and the Altai region. Strong positive trends of extreme precipitation changes were observed in the Russian Far East region. It indicates higher risk of summer rain floods in the Amur River basin. A significant impact on human activities and in particular population health is associated with revealed trends in hydrological cycle changes that are not relevant to typical meteorological and hydrological regimes. The significant increase of the frequency of extreme summer precipitation events in the Central Chernozem region of European Russia in the period of 1961-2013 was accompanied by the leptospirosis disease incidences.
Allele-specific transcription of the PAI-1 gene in human astrocytes

Summary The 4G allele of the PAI-1 –675(4G/5G) insertion/deletion promoter polymorphism has been associated with elevated plasma levels of PAI-1 and an increased risk of myocardial infarction. However, this allele has also been associated with a reduced risk of ischaemic stroke. In the brain, PAI-1 is mainly produced by astrocytes, and can reduce the neurotoxic effects exerted by tissue-type plasminogen activator during pathophysiologic conditions. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the PAI-1 –675(4G/5G) polymorphism and the linked –844A/G polymorphism affect transcriptional activity of the PAI-1 gene in human astrocytes. Haplotype chromatin immunoprecipitation (haploChIP) was used in order to quantify allele-specific promoter activity in heterozygous cells. Protein-DNA interactions were investigated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA). A clear allele-specific difference in PAI-1 gene expression was observed in astrocytes, where the haplotype containing the 4G and the –844A alleles was associated with higher transcriptional activity compared to the 5G and –844G-containing haplotype. EMSA revealed an allele-specific binding of nuclear proteins to the 4G/5G site as well as to the –844A/G site. Supershift experiments identified specific binding of the transcription factors Elf-1 and Elk-1 to the –844G allele. The relative impact of the different sites on allele-specific PAI-1 promoter activity remains to be determined. We demonstrate that common polymorphisms within the PAI-1 promoter affect transcriptional activity of the PAI-1 gene in human astrocytes, thus providing a possible molecular genetic mechanism behind the association between PAI-1 promoter variants and ischaemic stroke.
Testing abundance-range size relationships in European carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae)

Four of the eight hypotheses proposed in the literature for explaining the relationship between abundance and range size (the sampling artifact, phylogenetic non-independence, range position and resource breadth hypotheses) were tested by using atlas data for carabid beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. A positive relationship between abundance and partial range size was found in all three countries, and the variation in abundance was lower for widespread species. Analysis of the data did not support three of the proposed hypotheses, but did support the resource breadth hypothesis (species having broader environmental tolerances and being able to use a wider range or resources will have higher local densities and be more widely distributed than more specialised species). Examination of species’ characteristics revealed that widespread species are generally large bodied, generalists (species with wide niche breadths occurring in a variety of habitat types) and are little influenced by human-altered landscapes, while species with restricted distributions are smaller bodied, specialists (species with small niche breadths occurring in only one or two habitat types), and favour natural habitat. Landscape alteration may be an important factor influencing carabid abundance and range size in these three countries with a long history of human-induced environmental changes.
Compaction of granular material inside confined geometries May 18 , 2015

In both nature and engineering, loosely packed granular materials are often compacted inside confined geometries. Here, we explore such behaviour in a quasi-two dimensional geometry, where parallel rigid walls provide the confinement. We use the discrete element method to investigate the stress distribution developed within the granular packing as a result of compaction due to the displacement of a rigid piston. We observe that the stress within the packing increases exponentially with the length of accumulated grains, and show an extension to current analytic models which fits the measured stress. The micromechanical behaviour is studied for a range of system parameters, and the limitations of existing analytic models are described. In particular, we show the smallest sized systems which can be treated using existing models. Additionally, the effects of increasing piston rate, and variations of the initial packing fraction, are described.
ESTUDIO DE LAS CORRELACIONES ENTRE CARACTERÍSTICAS FENOTÍPICAS DE CAPRINOS NATURALIZADOS CORRELATIONS AMONG PHENOTYPIC TRAITS OF NATURALIZED GOATS

El presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo estimar las correlaciones fenotipicas entre el peso y caracteristicas corporales de caprinos en el semiarido de los Estados de Paraiba y Rio Grande do Norte, para definir una ecuacion de prediccion del peso. Fue utilizado el peso corporal (PC), altura a la cruz (AC), longitud corporal (LC), perimetro toracico (PT) y longitud de las orejas (LO) de 750 hembras, siendo 62 del grupo genetico Azul, y 25 del grupo genetico Grauna, 347 de la raza Moxoto y 316 de la raza Caninde. Las evaluaciones fueron realizadas en animales adultos de mas de dos anos. Las correlaciones entre las medidas fenotipicas estudiadas fueron bajas, pero positivas y significativas (p<0,001) y (p<0,005), con excepciones para las caracteristicas LO y AC en algunos grupos o razas. Se obtuvieron ecuaciones de regresion para estimar el peso a partir de LC y PT, que presentaron mayor coeficiente de determinacion. Las medidas PT y LC pueden ser utiles y servir como buen indicativo del PC, aunque con cierta limitacion. SUMMARY
Hypoxia Induces Myocardial Regeneration in Zebrafish

Background— Hypoxia plays an important role in many biological/pathological processes. In particular, hypoxia is associated with cardiac ischemia. which, although initially inducing a protective response, will ultimately lead to the death of cardiomyocytes and loss of tissue, severely affecting cardiac functionality. Although myocardial damage/loss remains an insurmountable problem for adult mammals, the same is not true for adult zebrafish, which are able to completely regenerate their heart after extensive injury. Myocardial regeneration in zebrafish involves the dedifferentiation and proliferation of cardiomyocytes to replace the damaged/missing tissue; at present, however, little is known about what factors regulate this process. Methods and Results— We surmised that ventricular amputation would lead to hypoxia induction in the myocardium of zebrafish and that this may play a role in regulating the regeneration of the missing cardiac tissue. Using a combination of O2 perturbation, conditional transgenics, in vitro cell culture, and microarray analysis, we found that hypoxia induces cardiomyocytes to dedifferentiate and proliferate during heart regeneration in zebrafish and have identified a number of genes that could play a role in this process. Conclusion— These results indicate that hypoxia plays a positive role during heart regeneration, which should be taken into account in future strategies aimed at inducing heart regeneration in humans.
A new approach to evaluate railways efficiency considering safety measures

Article history: Received October 2, 2012 Received in Revised Format January 23, 2013 Accepted February 15, 2013 Available online February 23 2013 Safety is one of the main reasons for choosing railway to other transportation modes and improvement of transportation safety has attracted many researchers in recent years. In this paper, we aim to investigate the influence of safety measures on railways performance evaluation, empirically. The proposed model of this paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate the railways efficiency scores in the presence of safety measure. According to three proposed factors, the most appropriate model is selected to compare its result with output-oriented DEA model. The results of the survey are surprising since inefficient railroads become efficient through adding undesirable outputs in evaluation model. © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Characteristic of complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic relationship of Garrulax sannio (Passeriformes, Timaliidae)

Abstract Garrulax sannio (Passeriformes, Timaliidae) was the medium-sized bird, whose plumage color was similar for both sexes. The complete sequence of the mitochondrial DNA genome from G. sannio used the polymerase chain reaction method. The genome (17 840 bp in length) contained 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA (12S and 16S) genes, 22 tRNA genes and 2 control regions (D-loop). The base composition of G. sannio mitogenome A + T percentage was 52.22%. It is slightly higher than G + C 47.78% which was similar with other vertebrates. Through constructed phylogenetic tree, we could identify its taxonomic status. Therefore, mitochondrial genome was a best way to preserve genetic resources of species.
How Far Can Domestic Credit Growth Explain Speculative Attacks? Empirical Evidence from Turkey

Economies are susceptible to speculative attacks regardless of whether they use fixed or floating exchange rates. Turkish experience in the last two decades constitutes one of the most prominent examples proving this verdict. It is widely accepted that there is a link between domestic credit and speculative attacks on the currency. Nevertheless, the literature on currency crises clearly lacks a country-specific study that addresses the long-run relationship between this indicator and the speculative pressure in the exchange market. This article aims at filling this gap in the literature using monthly Turkish time series data spanning the period 1984:04- 2006:11. Results of the ADF unit root tests suggest that the series are stationary. Hence, no cointegration analysis was carried out before the Granger-causality tests. Granger causality tests fail to establish a causal relationship between domestic credit and exchange market pressure.
Alzheimer's Disease-Related Polymorphisms in Shunt-Responsive Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

BACKGROUND Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a late onset, surgically treated progressive brain disease caused by impaired cerebrospinal fluid dynamics and subsequent ventriculomegaly. Comorbid Alzheimer's disease (AD) seems to be frequent in iNPH. OBJECTIVE We aim to evaluate the role of AD-related polymorphisms in iNPH. METHODS Overall 188 shunt-operated iNPH patients and 688 controls without diagnosed neurodegenerative disease were included into analysis. Twenty-three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs FRMD4A [rs7081208_A, rs2446581_A, rs17314229_T], CR1, BIN, CD2AP, CLU, MS4A6A, MS4A4E, PICALM, ABCA7, CD33, INPP5D, HLA_DRB5, EPHA1, PTK2B, CELF1, SORL1, FERMT2, SLC24A, DSG2, CASS4, and NME8) adjusted to APOE were analyzed between groups by using binary logistic regression analysis. Neuroradiological characteristics and AD-related changes in the right frontal cortical brain biopsies were available for further analysis. RESULTS Logistic regression analysis adjusted to age, gender, and other SNPs indicated allelic variation of NME8 between iNPH patients and non-demented controls (p = 0.014). The allelic variation of NME8 was not related to the neuropathological changes in the brain biopsies of iNPH patients. However, periventricular white matter changes (p = 0.017) were more frequent in the iNPH patients with the AA-genotype, an identified risk factor of AD. CONCLUSIONS Our findings increase the evidence that iNPH is characterized by genetic and pathophysiological mechanisms independent from AD. Considering that NME8 plays a role in the ciliary function and displays SNP-related diversity in white matter changes, the mechanisms of NME8 in iNPH and other neurodegenerative processes are worth further study.
Instructions for use Title Neuroprotective response after photodynamic therapy : Role of vascular endothelial growth factor

Background: Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs and/or photodynamic therapy (PDT) constitute current treatments targeting pathological vascular tissues in tumors and age-related macular degeneration. Concern that PDT might induce VEGF and exacerbate the disease has led us to current practice of using anti-VEGF drugs with PDT simultaneously. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of these therapies are not well understood. Methods: We assessed VEGF levels after PDT of normal mouse retinal tissue, using a laser duration that did not cause obvious tissue damage. To determine the role of PDT-induced VEGF and its downstream signaling, we intravitreally injected a VEGF inhibitor, VEGFR1 Fc, or a PI3K/Akt inhibitor, LY294002, immediately after PDT. Then, histological and biochemical changes of the retinal tissue were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and immunoblot analyses, respectively. Results: At both the mRNA and protein levels, VEGF was upregulated immediately and transiently after PDT. VEGF suppression after PDT resulted in apoptotic destruction of the photoreceptor cell layer in only the irradiated area during PDT. Under these conditions, activation of the anti-apoptotic molecule Akt was suppressed in the irradiated area, and levels of the pro-apoptotic protein BAX were increased. Intravitreal injection of a PI3K/Akt inhibitor immediately after PDT increased BAX levels and photoreceptor cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Cytotoxic stress caused by PDT, at levels that do not cause overt tissue damage, induces VEGF and activates Akt to rescue the neural tissue, suppressing BAX. Thus, the immediate and transient induction of VEGF after PDT is neuroprotective.
Long-term effects of the strong African American families program on youths' alcohol use.

OBJECTIVE This report extends earlier accounts by addressing the effects of the Strong African American Families (SAAF) program across 65 months. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) Rural African American youths randomly assigned to participate in SAAF would demonstrate lower rates of alcohol use than would control youths more than 5 years later, and (b) SAAF's effects on deterring the onset of alcohol use in early adolescence would carry forward to mediate the program's long-term effects. METHOD African American youths in rural Georgia (mean age at pretest = 10.8 years) were assigned randomly to the SAAF group (n = 369) or to a control group (n = 298). Past-month alcohol use was assessed at pretest and at 9, 18, 29, 53, and 65 months after pretest. RESULTS SAAF participants increased their alcohol use at a slower rate than did adolescents in the control condition across the follow-up assessments. At the 65-month assessment, SAAF participants reported having drunk alcohol half as often as did youths in the control group. Consistent with the second hypothesis, SAAF's effects on deterring initiation carried forward to account for its effects on alcohol use across time. CONCLUSIONS Training in protective parenting processes and self-regulatory skills during preadolescence may contribute to a self-sustaining trajectory of disinterest in and avoidance of alcohol use during adolescence when peers begin to model and sanction it.
Overview of Holistic Application of Biogas for Small Scale 1 Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa 2 3

13 14 Holistic farming systems provide designs for the whole farm that make long term sustainable use of 15 nutrients, water, labour, finances and energy. In using organic residues to produce energy, and safely 16 recycling the digested residues back into the farming system, a biogas digester could be a central 17 component of many holistic systems. This paper discusses the influence of environmental, 18 socioeconomic and cultural constraints on the use of biogas digesters in holistic farming systems in 19 Sub-Saharan Africa. In higher altitude areas where maintenance of optimal temperature can constrain 20 anaerobic digestion, floating drum or fixed dome digesters are a better option than flexible balloon 21 digesters because they are less susceptible to temperature changes. If water is a key constraint, 22 rainwater harvesting could be used to reduce the additional labour needed to collect water. If energy 23 is the most limiting resource in the farming system, the optimum use of organic residues might be as 24 a fuel for anaerobic digestion, whereas, if water is limiting, energy production by burning or pyrolysis 25 might be a better option. The bioslurry from anaerobic digestion can be used in fish ponds to produce 26 plankton to feed fish, and can be applied to fertile fields and fields of intermediate fertility, while 27 biochar from pyrolysis is better used to improve the soil in infertile fields. If labour is limiting, it is 28 particularly important that the system design minimises any additional labour needed to process the 29 organic residues on a daily basis, considering trade-offs between labour and other resources. 30 31
Complexities of Confucian Entrepreneurs: Narratives of Transnational Chinese Scholar Entrepreneurs

Confucian philosophies and wisdom as well as their application to daily routines have aroused global interests (Young & Corzine, 2004). The emergence of transnational Chinese scholar entrepreneurs is still underpinned by the concept of Confucian entrepreneurs. This study investigates the construction and transformation of traditional concepts of Confucian entrepreneurs and proposes a working model of contemporary transnational Chinese scholar entrepreneurs. Two cases selected from a TV talk show – Fortune Time, in Shanghai China were used to demonstrate the keys to being successful contemporary scholar entrepreneurs in both local and global businesses. It was found that culture and language, capitals and resources, governance and politics, and entrepreneurship and creativity are four significant features in the construction of contemporary transnational scholar entrepreneurs. They are good practitioners in balancing the relationship between scholarship and entrepreneurship, which facilitates them to achieve optimal social and economic profits in their businesses.
Trust and etiquette in high-criticality automated systems

1 It might, perhaps, be more accurate to say the etiquette is perceived by human users rather than exhibited by the automation itself, but that subtlety is largely irrelevant to the work we review here. Whereas the other articles in this section discuss human-computer etiquette in traditional social interactions involving the use of computers that explicitly strive to elicit a perception of “personhood” from the human participant, we focus on computers that occupy more traditional roles as complex and largely unpersonified machines involved in high-criticality working relationships with humans—where the consequences of failure can be catastrophic in terms of lives, money, or both. Politeness and social niceties are important in many human-human social interactions, but in critical, highly technical work, there is the common misperception that we can “dispense with protocol” and get down to business, even with those who are not particularly courteous. In fact, excessive adherence to polite norms can seem stilted and sometimes frustrating in such settings. Here, we argue the etiquette exhibited 1
Physical parameters and ±0.2% parallax of the detached eclipsing binary V923 Scorpii

Context. V923 Sco is a bright (V = 5.91), nearby (π = 15.46 ± 0.40 mas) southern eclipsing binary. Because both components are slow rotators, the minimum masses of the components are known with 0.2% precision from spectroscopy. The system seems ideal for very precise mass, radius, and luminosity determinations and, owing to its proximity and long orbital period (~34.8 days), promises to be resolved with long-baseline interferometry. Aims. The principal aim is very accurate determinations of absolute stellar parameters for both components of the eclipsing binary and a model-independent determination of the distance. Methods. New high-precision photometry of both eclipses of V923 Sco with the MOST satellite was obtained. The system was spatially resolved with the VLTI AMBER, PIONIER, and GRAVITY instruments at nine epochs. Combining the projected size of the spectroscopic orbit (in km) and visual orbit (in mas) the distance to the system is derived. Simultaneous analysis of photometric, spectroscopic, and interferometric data was performed to obtain a robust determination of the absolute parameters. Results. Very precise absolute parameters of the components were derived in spite of the parameter correlations. The primary component is found to be overluminous for its mass. Combining spectroscopic and interferometric observations enabled us to determine the distance to V923 Sco with better than 0.2% precision, which provides a stringent test of Gaia parallaxes. Conclusions. It is shown that combining spectroscopic and interferometric observations of nearby eclipsing binaries can lead to extremely accurate parallaxes and stellar parameters.
MORPHO-ANATOMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF Tuber macrosporum/Corylus avellana MYCORRHIZAS FROM CULTIVATED SEEDLINGS: CASE REPORT

This study investigated the presence of mycorrhizae on seedlings from part of ten-year-old truffles plantation (about 3,000 m2) located in Eastern Serbia. This study is observation of the presence of ectomycorrhizal fungus from genus Tuber during its symbiotic stage on the roots of Corylus avellana L. Ten root samples were collected (randomly) and observed macroscopically and microscopically analyzed. There were changes in morphology and anatomy of the infected roots of C. avellana. Mantle was clearly observed to cover the roots and the mycelia formed the Harting net. Among arbitrary selected seedlings, there were found mature fruiting bodies on the surface of the soil. The truffles, identified as Tuber macrosporum Vittad, were found in the immediate vicinity of the hazelnut trees. There has been no previous information of mycorrhizae Tuber macrosporum/Corylus avellana on artificially created truffles plantation in Serbia.