Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ecological impacts of water-based recreational activities on freshwater ecosystems: a global meta-analysis

Human presence at water bodies can have a range of ecological impacts, creating trade-offs between recreation as an ecosystem service and conservation. Conservation policies could be improved by relying on robust knowledge about the relative ecological impacts of water-based recreation. We present the first global synthesis on recreation ecology in aquatic ecosystems, differentiating the ecological impacts of shore use, (shoreline) angling, swimming and boating. Impacts were assessed at three levels of biological organization (individuals, populations and communities) for several taxa. We screened over 13 000 articles and identified 94 suitable studies that met the inclusion criteria, providing 701 effect sizes. Impacts of boating and shore use resulted in consistently negative, significant ecological impacts across all levels of biological organization. The results were less consistent for angling and swimming. The strongest negative effects were observed in invertebrates and plants. Recreational impacts on birds were most pronounced at the individual level, but not significant at the community level. Due to publication bias and knowledge gaps, generalizations of the ecological impacts of aquatic recreation are challenging. Impacts depend less on the form of recreation. Thus, selectively constraining specific types of recreation may have little conservation value, as long as other forms of water-based recreation continue.
Impact of perceived value on behaviour intention of parent-child runners in a marathon event

Abstract In China, there has been a rapid growth of marathon events in recent years. With more events being staged, an opportunity has arisen for parents to attend with their children as a way of family time together. Due to the swift pace of industrialization, urbanization, and work commitment, parenting time and family interaction have become a major challenge for Chinese residents today. Building on previous research indications that individual value beliefs and perceptions would affect one’s behaviour, this study was designed to examine the impact of perceived value parents placed on marathons as an opportunity to bond with their children. Through a comprehensive review of literature and test of content validity, the Scale of Parenting Value Perception was developed. The survey form also contained items assessing consumption behaviour. A total of 384 marathon runners who were parents to one or more children participating in a marathon event responded to the survey. Perceived value of parents and children fell into five factors, including functional value, social value, sentiment value, experiential value, and personal value, which were significantly (p < .001) predictive of behavioural intentions. The findings highlight the benefits parents perceive and children receive through joint participation in sports and also indicate the necessity for sport managers to build family friendly events and promote the family value of these events through educational programs, publicity mechanism, and most importantly, high-quality family services to accommodate the needs and wants of parents and their children.
Prediction of InSAR deformation time-series using a long short-term memory neural network

ABSTRACT The prediction of land subsidence is a crucial step for early warning of urban infrastructure damage and timely remedy. However, the performance of most mathematical and empirical prediction models is often compromised by their large number of parameters, complex operational processes and sparsely measured values. Currently, the traditional neural network models are popular and effective, but they cannot accurately discover the characteristic changes of time series data. In this paper, a long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network was proposed to predict the land subsidence of time series Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). First, the Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PS-InSAR) technique was utilized to monitor the time series land subsidence at Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) from 2005 to 2010 based on ENVISAT ASAR images with a descending orbit. The results were compared with the existing results to verify the reliability and then used to analyse the temporal and spatial characteristics of the time series land subsidence of the BCIA. Based on the time series InSAR deformation data, the LSTM neural network was used to establish the prediction model of time series InSAR, and the results were compared with those of the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). The comparison results showed that the LSTM neural network was more accurate than the MLP and RNN on the point scale (the root mean square error was 4.60 mm and the mean absolute error was 3.18 mm), the correlation coefficients between the prediction results of the LSTM neural network and the real InSAR measurement results in 2007 and 2008 were 0.93 mm and 0.96 mm, respectively, indicating that LSTM neural network had better prediction performance. Eventually, based on the land subsidence data of time series InSAR from 2006 to 2010, the LSTM neural network was applied to predict the BCIA time series land subsidence in 2011. The results predicted that cumulative subsidence in September 2011 would reach a maximum of 350 mm. Therefore, the LSTM neural network is a potentially effective prediction method, which can replace numerical or empirical models in the absence of detailed hydrogeological data. Moreover, its prediction results can be used to assist decision-making, early warning and hazard relief.
Processing of PLA/pineapple fiber based next generation composites

ABSTRACT Nowadays, the research fraternity across the globe is putting incredible efforts toward the development of sustainable materials. During this endeavor, the potential of sustainable biocomposites incorporating natural fibers as reinforcement and biopolymers as the matrix has received widespread attention for addressing the challenges associated with synthetic fibers and petroleum-derived polymers. However, the limited information about the processing guidelines for these materials and the lack of scientific evidence on how the processing routes affect the performance of the fabricated composites have limited their usage in several commercial applications. In the current investigation, three manufacturing routes, direct-injection molding (DIM) without compounding; compounding using extrusion followed by injection molding (EIM); and compounding using extrusion followed by compression molding (ECM) have been adopted to develop pineapple fibers (PFs)/poly-lactic acid (PLA) biocomposites. The investigation revealed that the crystallinity, visco-elastic, and mechanical responses of the composites fabricated by EIM significantly dominate the composites fabricated by DIM and ECM. The microstructural analysis confirms the severe attrition of fibers during ECM. The thermal analysis of the fabricated composites established that the important responses; glass transition, crystallization, and melting temperature, are independent of the choice of the manufacturing process.
Vertical Zonation of Some Crustose Lichens (Verrucariaceae) in Bay of Fundy Littoral Zones of Nova Scotia

Abstract - Despite harsh conditions provided by wave action, salinity, UV exposure, and other pressures, lichens provide most of the substrate cover in the rocky littoral zone. We documented the vertical zonation and general ecology of several littoral members of the lichenized ascomycete family Verrucariaceae from 7 sites along Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy coast. We identified lichens morphologically and confirmed species using ITS rDNA barcoding to provide novel biodiversity data. We documented 8 lichens in Nova Scotia littoral zones, with all transects showing low lichen diversity and moderate evenness. Vertical zonation was not strongly correlated with mean low tide; a variety of biotic and abiotic factors likely affected the distribution of the few species determining lichen community composition in this region.
Bird-Arrival Dates and Climate Change, Sherbrooke, Quebec

Abstract - Evidence for earlier spring arrival times of migratory breeding birds is often linked to changing climatic conditions, especially increasing temperatures. Using data collected and recorded in a research diary, this article documents changes in bird-arrival dates within the city of Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. Spring arrival dates of 31 bird species were observed and recorded over a 26-year period, from 1994 to 2019, during a series of 1376 walks along a regular 6.5–7.5-km route. Temperature data for this period were collected from the regional Environment Canada climate station. Arrival dates displayed a strong correlation to changing climate conditions; 28 species had a trend toward arrival dates when correlated to mean temperatures, and this effect was significant in 12 species. Climate change, as indicated by increasing spring temperatures, seems to be having a major influence on the advancement in bird-arrival dates in the spring at this locality.
Public Reporting and Perception of Invasive Pheretimoid “Jumping Worms” in the Northeastern United States

Abstract - Pheretimoid earthworms (“Jumping Worms”) are Asian annelids with characteristics that make them effective invaders in the northeastern United States. Because many species of Jumping Worms thrive in wood mulches, gardening practices may play a significant role in distributing them. Despite mounting evidence that Jumping Worms can cause damage to gardens and natural ecosystems, the current range of Jumping Worms in North America is poorly known. We compiled reports of Jumping Worms from many different data sources to better understand the potential for amateur community scientists to contribute information regarding undescribed populations of these invasive species. Additionally, we conducted a survey of Cooperative Extension Master Gardener volunteers to better understand the perception of these species within the gardening community and attempts at control. Amateur reporting from community-science programs and gardeners resulted in a large number of potential, undescribed Jumping Worm populations, especially in areas unstudied by the small number of earthworm researchers in our study region. Within the gardening community, the perception of Jumping Worms is less favorable compared to other earthworms, largely owing to their perceived negative ecological effects in gardens and natural ecosystems. As a result, homeowners frequently attempt to control their abundance. Gardeners and community scientists can importantly contribute to our understanding of the range and negative effects of invasive Jumping Worms in the Northeast.
Farmland Rental Rates: Does Organic Certification Matter?

We estimate U.S. organic farmers’ marginal willingness to pay to rent an acre of certified organic land relative to conventional farmland. Using a selection-on-observables design and farm-level data on farmland rental rates, organic status, and many conditioning variables, we address the role of profitability in mediating the effect of organic status. We find a 26% rental rate premium for organic farmland not driven by higher profits on organic farms. This premium is a modest incentive for landowners but a barrier for tenants to convert to organic farming practices, which may explain limited growth in U.S. organic acreage.
Ethics and I-O psychology: Do we just talk the talk or do we walk the walk?

The Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) adopted the American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (https://www.apa. org/ethics/code) and, as SIOP members and psychologists, we agree to follow and abide by and are expected to comply with the APA Ethics Code1, 2. Therefore, we applaud Lefkowitz’s (2021) contribution to the theoretical frameworks for ethics. Clearly identifying ethical dilemmas should foster interest and subsequent research on ethical conflicts that are faced by industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists. In this response, we have three foci:
Forms of ethical dilemmas in industrial-organizational psychology

Abstract Professional ethics has not been a major focus in industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology—in comparison with our study of unethical behavior in organizations. Consequently, we know very little about ethical situations actually faced by I-O psychologists. This article presents and tests a structural perspective on understanding the nature of ethical dilemmas that can facilitate such study. A taxonomy of five paradigmatic forms of ethical dilemmas is defined and placed in a theoretical context. Narrative descriptions of 292 ethical situations were obtained from a sample of 228 professional members of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) in the United States and were used to empirically test the taxonomy. The narratives were content analyzed for form of dilemma, work domain of occurrence, relevance to human resource administration concerns, and favorability of the situation’s resolution. The work domains that were most problematic were academic research/publication activities, individual assessment/assessment centers, consulting issues regarding the client, and academic supervising/mentoring. There were no significant differences as a function of respondents’ sex, seniority, or professional membership status (member/fellow). This relatively “content free” structural aspect of ethical dilemmas enables comparisons across different domains (of professions, organizations, demographic groups, age cohorts, etc.) in which the overt idiosyncratic ethical problems experienced are not commensurable. Similarly, it can yield interpretable longitudinal comparisons despite changes in the manifestations of ethical problems encountered over time.
Exploring the New Zealand’s competence-based ethical training: Guidelines for I-O psychologists

Lefkowitz (2021) developed a taxonomy to address the nuances of the ethical dilemmas that industrial-organizational (I-O) psychologists face due to factors such as changes over time in technology, economy, and other transitions giving rise to novel ethical issues. This structural approach enables comparisons of the ethical dilemmas across various professions, organizations, demographic groups, and so on. To complement this “content-free” structural aspect of ethical dilemmas, we propose that a systematic approach should be developed to help I-O psychologists make ethical decisions. The goal of this commentary is to initiate the dialog of developing a structural approach to ethical decision making in I-O psychology. Therefore, in this commentary, we first review the New Zealand Psychologists Board’s (NZPB) competence-based ethical training, which seeks to unify different practices of psychology by first providing psychologists with an understanding of the fundamental purpose of the ethical codes and subsequently implementing them in unique situations successfully (NZBP, 2002). Then, we outline a six-step, ethical decision-making model prescribed to use the competencies efficiently. Next, we use the ethical dilemma presented in Lefkowitz’s (2021) paper (see Appendix A) to provide a template with examples of how the decision-making model can be implemented. Finally, we suggest practical implications and future research to test this approach empirically in the I-O psychology field.
Improved thermoelectric power factor and conversion efficiency of perovskite barium stannate

In the pursuit of high thermoelectric conversion efficiency, both high operating temperature and high figure of merit ZT are desirable. Thermoelectric materials used in high-temperature power generation are still in great demand. Here we demonstrate the n-type doped barium stannate (BaSnO3) behaves as a robust candidate, as a high-temperature thermoelectric material, due to its ultrahigh power factor and excellent structural and chemical stability. A systematic calculation focused on the geometric, electronic and thermoelectric transport properties of BaSnO3 is performed by using density functional theory combined with Boltzmann transport theory. It can be noticed that the electrical conductivity of BaSnO3 is improved dramatically when it is n-type doped, resulting from the small effective mass and extraordinary high mobility. The power factor maximum reaches 1.5 × 10−3 W m−1 K−2 at 1200 K with the optimal carrier concentration 1.6 × 1019 cm−3, which suggests the great potential of BaSnO3 as an n-type high temperature thermoelectric material.
Sister chromatid exchanges induced by perturbed replication are formed independently of homologous recombination factors

Sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) are products of joint DNA molecule resolution, and are considered to form through homologous recombination (HR). Indeed, upon generation of irradiation-induced DNA breaks, SCE induction was compromised in cells deficient for canonical HR factors BRCA1, BRCA2 and RAD51. Contrarily, replication-blocking agents, including PARP inhibitors, induced SCEs independently of BRCA1, BRCA2 and RAD51. PARP inhibitor-induced SCEs were enriched at common fragile sites (CFSs), and were accompanied by post-replicative single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) gaps. Moreover, PARP inhibitor-induced replication lesions were transmitted into mitosis, suggesting that SCEs originate from mitotic processing of under-replicated DNA. We found that DNA polymerase theta (POLQ) was recruited to mitotic DNA lesions, and loss of POLQ resulted in reduced SCE numbers and severe chromosome fragmentation upon PARP inhibition in HR-deficient cells. Combined, our data show that PARP inhibition generates under-replicated DNA, which is transferred into mitosis and processed into SCEs, independently of canonical HR factors.
CanIsoNet: a database to study the functional impact of isoform switching events in diseases

Motivation Alternative splicing, as an essential regulatory mechanism in normal mammalian cells, is frequently disturbed in cancer and other diseases. Switches in the expression of most dominant alternative isoforms can alter protein interaction networks of associated genes giving rise to a disease or disease progression. Here, we present CanIsoNet (disease-specific isoform interaction network), a database to view, browse and search these isoform switching events. CanIsoNet is the first webserver that incorporates isoform expression data with STRING interaction networks and ClinVar annotations to predict the pathogenic impact of isoform switching events in various diseases. Results Data in CanIsoNet can be browsed by disease or searched by genes or isoforms in annotation-rich data tables. Various annotations for 11,072 isoforms and 13,531 unique isoform switching events across 28 different tissue types are provided. The network density score for each disease-specific isoform, PFAM domain IDs of disrupted interactions, domain structure visualization of transcripts and expression data of switched isoforms for each sample are given. Additionally, the genes annotated in ClinVar are highlighted in the interactive interaction network. Availability CanIsoNet is freely available at https://caniso.net. The source codes can be found under a Creative Common License at https://github.com/kahramanlab/CanIsoNet_Web. Supplementary Information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Nanoscale organization of the endogenous ASC speck

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a central component of the innate immune system. Its activation leads to the formation of a supramolecular assembly of the inflammasome adaptor protein ASC, commonly referred to as the “ASC speck”. Different models of the overall structure of the ASC speck, as well as the entire NLRP3 inflammasome, have been reported in the literature. While many experiments involve overexpression or in vitro reconstitution of recombinant ASC, the cytoplasmic endogenous ASC speck remains difficult to study due to its relatively small size and structural variability. Here, we use a combination of fluorescence imaging techniques including dual-color 3D super-resolution imaging (dSTORM and DNA-PAINT) to visualize the endogenous ASC speck following NLRP3 inflammasome activation. We observe that the complex varies in diameter between ∼800 and 1000 nm and is composed of a dense core from which filaments extend into the periphery. We used a combination of anti-ASC antibodies as well as much smaller nanobodies for labeling, and find that the larger antibodies reliably label the lower-density periphery whereas the nanobody, which has a lower binding affinity, is more efficient in labeling the dense core. Imaging whole cells using dSTORM, furthermore, allowed us to sort the imaged structures into a pseudo-time sequence suggesting that the endogenous ASC speck becomes denser but not much larger during its formation. The reported results add an important piece of information towards a comprehensive understanding of the supramolecular structure of the endogenous inflammasome complex. Significance The assembly of ASC into a supramolecular complex referred to as the ASC speck is a critical step in the NLRP3 inflammasome response. Despite significance research, the organization and formation of the endogenous ASC speck remain elusive. We used a combination of differently sized ASC labels with super-resolution microscopy to address the organization of the ASC speck at the nanoscale. Our results allow inference of the supramolecular structure of the unperturbed, endogenous speck and characterize how it changes during ASC recruitment. We find that the complex varies in size and is composed of a dense core from which filaments extend into the periphery. Notably, our results further indicate that during inflammasome formation, ASC specks become denser but only slightly larger.
DNA dynamics dictates p53 functional outcome

The tumor suppressor protein p53 is activated in response to cellular stress. An unresolved question in the field is how p53 is able to parse its myriad functions in a timely manner in accordance with the severity of the stress signal. Here we show across the genome that p53 target genes belonging to pathways acting early in the stress response have REs that are significantly more flexible than REs of genes involved in pathways that need to be more strictly regulated, or whose functional outcome occurs later in the response to stress. We validated these findings by several complementary experimental approaches, for six p53 REs belonging to pathways that operate at different times post p53 induction. Our results demonstrate that the flexibility of p53 REs contributes significantly to the temporal expression of p53 target genes and thereby to life versus death decisions in the p53 system.