Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hominid cranial remains

List of figures. List of plates. List of tables. PART I: Background to the study of the Koobi Fora Hominid cranial remains. Introduction. 1: Review of relevant hominid taxa presently recognized in the Pilo-Pleistocene of East Africa. PART II: Descriptions and analyses. Introduction: skulls and crania. 2.1: Well-preserved skulls and crania. 2.2: Cranial vault fragments and maxilla. 3: Mandibles. 3.1: Well-preserved mandibles. 3.2: Fragmentary mandibles. 4: Isolated teeth. 5: Variation in early Homo from East Africa. PART III: Conclusions. 6: Plio-Pleistocene hominid evolution: the Koobi Fora evidence in context. PART IV: Reference tables. Reference tables. 7.1: Measurement definitions and techniques: notes and abbreviations. 7.2: Measurements definitions and techniques. 7.3: Reference tables 1-30. Author index. Specimen index. Subject index
Molecular identification and expression analysis of bactericidal permeability-increasing protein/ LPS-binding protein (BPI/LBP) from Black rockfish Sebastes schlegeli

Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) and lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (LBP) are important components of the mammalian innate defence system against Gram-negative infections. The BPI/LBP cDNA was identified from the black rockfish ConA/PMA or LPS stimulated leukocyte cDNA library. The full-length BR-BPI/LBP cDNA was 2118 bp long and contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 1422 bp that encoded 473 amino-acid residues. The 5' UTR had a length of 57 bp, and the 3' UTR 639 bp. The molecular weight and theoretical isoelectric point (pI) values were calculated 51.4 kDa and 9.72, respectively. Compared with other known BPI or BPI/LBP peptide sequences, the most conserved regions of the black rockfish BPI/LBP peptide were found to be the BPI1 N-terminal, BPI2 C-terminal domains and a LPS binding domain. Phylogenetic analysis based on the deduced amino acid sequence revealed a homologous relationship between the BPI/LBP sequence of black rockfish and that of other teleosts. The black rockfish BPI/LBP gene was predominantly expressed in the PBLs, head kidney, trunk kidney and spleen. The expression of the black rockfish BPI/LBP molecule was induced in the peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) from 1 to 24 h following LPS stimulation, with a peak at 12 h post-stimulation.
ENZYME LABELING OF STEROIDS BY THE ACTIVATED ESTER METHOD

Enzyme labeling of a steroid by the activated ester method has been investigated. The reaction of the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of a testosterone derivative with β-D-galactosidase provided a conjugate suitable for enzyme immunoassay. Dose-response curves with satisfactory sensitivity and range of measurement could be obtained by the use of conjugates prepared at a limited molar ratio of steroid to enzyme. The activated ester method proved to be useful for enzyme labeling of antigen because of its simplicity and excellent reproducibility.
Improvement of the Landau Theory of Phase Transitions

Thermodynamic potentials in the Landau theory are shown to be under a certain artificial restriction as to their symmetry properties. A new phenomenological theory which has not this fault is proposed and applied to some symmetry problems. It is concluded that there are 116 nonmagnetic species of phase transitions which can be of second order with no multiplication of the lattice constant. The new theory alters the faintness indices and the orders of state shift in Aizu's theories. Contradictions between experimental results and theoretical predictions the phase transition of Boracite are solved by the present theory.
Beetle-pathogen interactions in conifer forests

Part 1 Introduction: bark beetle-pathogen-conifer interactions - an overview, T.D. Schowalter and G.M. Filip the ecosystem view of forests advances in forest pest management bark beetles, pathogens and conifers. Part 2 Systematics: systematics of bark beetles, D. Bright status of bark beetle systematics present classification of the Scolytidae biology and taxonomy of fungi associated with bark beetles, T.C. Harrington fungal symbionts root pathogens predisposing trees to bark beetles. Part 3 Factors influencing interactions: abiotic and biotic predisposition, T.D. Paine and F.A. Baker abiotic predisposing factors biotic predisposing factors future trends environmental stress and whole-tree physiology, P.L. Lorio, Jr a basis for understanding stress effects, host tree ontogeny and phenology physiological changes associated with development water deficits, tree development and physiology mechanisms of tree defense factors affecting expression resistance strategies and mechanisms of host colonization by bark beetles, K.F. Raffa, et al the subcortical environment, scolytid strategies mechanisms of host colonization by bark beetles integration of scolytid strategies and mechanisms invertebrate and microbial associates, F.M. Stephen, et al organisms involved arrival sequence impact of natural enemies. Part 4 Effects of interactions: host response to bark beetle and pathogen colonization, T.E. Nebeker, et al response to initial colonization tree decline effects of pathogens and bark beetles on forests, D.J. Goheen and E.J. Hansen effects of bark beetle - pathogen interactions modelling interactions, C.G. Shaw III and B.B. Eav development and use of pest models the Western root disease model managing root disease and bark beetles, S. Hagle and R. Schmitz effects of part and current management practices management strategies for ecological balance synopsis, G.M. Filip and T.D. Schowalter synthesis of current knowledge recommendations for future research. Appendices: scientific and common names of trees and shrubs scientific and common names of insects scientific names of mites scientific names of pathogens and common names of resulting diseases.
Microalgae as a novel production platform for antibacterial proteins

Widespread antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria and the low specificity of these drugs cause a pressing need for the development of novel antibiotics. Endolysins are proteins that are produced by bacteriophage infected cells and digest the bacterial cell wall for phage progeny release. These efficient enzymes are highly specific for the target bacteria without affecting other species. Development of resistance against endolysins is rare, because they evolved to target molecules that are essential for bacterial viability. Taken together, this makes them promising novel antibiotics. The development of recombinant endolysins as antibacterial agents requires an inexpensive and safe production platform. Microalgae emerged as an alternative expression platform in the last years. This study investigated therefore the production of endolysins in two distinct microalgal systems, the eukaryotic green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. C. reinhardtii is an attractive production platform for therapeutic proteins, due to the lack of endotoxins and infectious agents and its GRAS status (Generally Recognised as Safe). Synechocystis is a prokaryotic system and is natural transformable. Both offer established techniques for the expression of foreign genes and can be cultivated in full containment in simple photobioreactors. Transgenic lines of C. reinhardtii and Synechocystis expressing endolysins specific to the human pathogens Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus were created. The S. pneumoniae-specific endolysin Pal has been purified in an active form and its specificity and efficiency in killing the target bacterium demonstrated in vitro. Another endolysin specific to Propionibacterium acnes, a bacterium involved in the skin condition acne vulgaris, was synthesised in Synechocystis. The synthesis of the endolysins in the microalgae was analysed under the influence of different expression elements and at different growth stages, and the yields of recombinant protein were quantified to evaluate microalgae as a production platform for antibacterial and other protein therapeutics.
High throughput RNA interference based screen for the identification of genes implicated in listeria monocytogenes infection

Systematic screening and characterization of gene function is a key challenge, especially after the sequencing of the human genome and those of many other organisms. High throughput screening technology using RNA-interference (RNAi) has been widely used by researchers to study gene function. RNA interference results in the silencing of expression of a desired target gene and a loss-of-function phenotype. This enables identification of genes involved in a cellular process. Here we demonstrate and validate a new high-throughput screening technology in which a cohort of siRNAs are mechanically spotted onto a chemically modified glass cover slip. This approach differs from others in that thousands rather than a few dozen well defined nuclei acid spots are simultaneously deposited on a support. To validate the process, we applied criteria to determine if the printed spots were uniform and also to verify if the nuclei acid activity within the printed spot was optimal. Using a computational-based approach, we were able to characterize: the spot size, relative distance between the spots, mean intensity of the printed spots, functionality of the nucleic acids through reverse transfection of two human cell lines (HeLa and U2OS) as well as spot to spot crossover.
Psychometric Evaluation of the Speeded Cloze-Elide Test as a General Test of Proficiency in English as a Foreign Language

In this study, the cloze-elide test was developed and administered under time constraints. This research is aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the speeded cloze-elide test and investigate its relationship with reading comprehension, C-Test, and multiple-choice cloze test. Processing speed is a vital indicator to distinguish high to low levels of language proficiency. The obtained test scores of the test takers' performance in the restricted time reveal their level of overall language proficiency. One-hundred fifty Iranian undergraduate English students were selected to participate in this study. A reading comprehension test, C-tests, multiple-choice cloze tests and speeded cloze-elide tests were presented to the students. The Cronbach's alpha reliability revealed that speeded cloze-elide test is highly reliable. Moreover, the principal component analysis resulted in the presence of one component which supports the unidimensionality of the data. The findings also illustrated that the C-Test is a slightly better measure of reading comprehension than multiple-choice cloze test and speeded cloze-elide test. Based on the analysis of data, time limitations increase the test validity and test reliability on the cloze-elide test.
Les mouches des fruits de Nouvelle-Calédonie (Diptera, Tephritidae) : systématique, comportement, dynamique et gestion des populations

Les Mouches des fruits de la famille des Tephritidae sont parmi les ravageurs les plus importants des cultures fruitieres et legumieres dans le monde. La faune des Tephritidae compte 30 especes en Nouvelle-Caledonie. Les especes de la sous-famille des Dacinae sont les seules a attaquer les fruits cultives. Les Dacinae comprennent deux genres en Nouvelle-Caledonie : Bactrocera et Dacus. Neuf especes ont radie dans le genre Bactrocera et le genre Dacus est monospecifique. Une etude preliminaire de phylogenie moleculaire des Dacinae endemiques semble indiquer que les deux especes polyphages endemiques Bactrocera curvipennis et B. Psidii auraient des origines exterieures, australienne pour la premiere et du Pacifique pour la seconde. Trois especes sont d’importance economique : les deux especes endemiques precitees et la Mouche du Queensland, B. Tryoni, introduite accidentellement a la fin des annees 60. C’est sur ces trois especes que se sont concentrees diverses etudes comportementales. Le rythme circadien et l’acoustique du comportement pre-copulatoire chez les mâles de ces trois especes nuisibles ont ete etudies. Ensuite, une etude sur l’attractivite de huit couleurs sur des spheres a ete menee. Puis, l’attractivite et la repulsion de 30 huiles essentielles ont ete evaluees dans des pieges en conditions semi-naturelles. La lutte contre les Mouches des fruits est basee en partie sur la destruction des mâles par la methode MAT ou Male Annihilation Technique par l’utilisation simultanee d’un puissant attractif odorant, le cue-lure et d’un insecticide de contact. L’attractivite du cue-lure a ete evaluee et comparee entre les trois especes d’importance economique. Enfin, l’etude des donnees de six annees de piegeage dans deux types de vergers a permis de connaitre les principaux facteurs influencant les fluctuations des populations de Mouches des fruits.
An Expert Opinion Survey for Transit Stop Planning

1 Transit stop plays a very important role in improving transit system performance, maintaining 2 traffic flow, and enhancing passengers’ safety and security perception. Different transit stop 3 factors are studied by researchers and are reported in transit agency manuals. While useful, very 4 few studies are conducted to determine the priority order of these factors. Further, transit 5 agencies provide best practices in a generalized form without categorizing them into city size. To 6 cover these gaps, an expert opinion survey was conducted among transit planners across Canada, 7 using Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) membership directory as survey population. 8 For content validity, Delphi method was applied for factor selection and the survey yields a 9 content validity index of 0.78. For construct validity, hypothesis testing was applied, and the 10 survey also passed construct validity test. For survey reliability, Cronbach’s alpha was applied, 11 and the survey yields an alpha value of 0.75. In general, the survey suggests that land-use is the 12 major factor which dictates the location and spacing of transit stop while real-time information is 13 the most important design factor for improving ridership. Further, the survey responses also 14 suggested that best practices for providing any amenity is context specific and are lower for 15 small cities than that for large cities. 16 17 18
Very small, light dipole harmonic tags for tracking small animals

[Extract] Tracking animals provides a detailed picture of their behaviour and can be important in understanding their ecology. Tracking is especially useful for elucidating the ecology of animals that are cryptic during all or parts of their life cycle (Heyer et al. 1994; Langkilde and Alford 2002; Reynolds and Riley 2002). Amphibians, for example, can be hard to study outside breeding aggregations, and wildlife telemetry can provide insight on otherwise unknown aspects of their biology (Heyer et al. 1994; Naef-Daenzer 1993; Naef-Daenzer et al. 2005; Rowley and Alford 2007a, b, c; Rowley et al. 2007).
Effect of Firms Characteristics on Financial Performance of Listed Insurance Companies in Nigeria

This study examines the Effect of Firms Characteristics and Financial Performance of Listed Insurance Companies in Nigeria. The data for the study were collected from the annual reports and accounts of Insurance companies quoted in the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) within the period of 2007 and 2016. Robust regression analysis was used to test the hypothesis in addition to some diagnostic tests conducted on the data. The results of the study revealed that liquidity and Age have significant negative impact on financial performance of insurance companies in Nigeria. The study recommends that companies are to convert significant part of their cash and cash equivalent into productive assets that can improve their financial performance. Keywords: Liquidity, Size, Age, Financial performance, Insurance Company
Cottonwood leaf beetle control with imidacloprid soaked cuttings

Dormant, unrooted cuttings from three eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides Marsh.) clones were soaked in either water or one of two concentrations of Admire® 2 Flowable (imidacloprid) insecticide. Half were planted immediately after soaking while the other half were stored for 12 weeks at -2? prior to planting. Trees from cuttings soaked in either the 0.053 or 0.106 percent imidacloprid solutions were significantly taller at each measurement date and had lower levels of insect feeding than trees from cuttings soaked in water. Insect feeding on shoot terminals was limited almost entirely to the control trees (water soaked). Treatment effects lasted for over 14 weeks, but insect population levels were low at the end of the growing season limiting damage. In a related observational study, imidacloprid treatment effects seemed to carry into June of the second growing season.
Peroxidized docosahexaenoic acid causes RPE dysfunction: implications for retinal ageing and AMD

The aim of this study was to gain important insights into the effects of peroxidized docosahexaenoic acid (pDHA) on the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and whether its effects can cause RPE cell dysfunction in a way similar to that observed in retinal ageing and the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Initially, the time-course of in vitro peroxidation of DHA was monitored, culminating in formation of products able to absorb light above 400 nm. Cultured RPE cells were then exposed to this pDHA, which was shown to be toxic, both in dark and light-exposed conditions. Various cell viability assays were carried out indicating RPE cell death after exposure to pDHA is likely to occur by apoptosis. The effects of pDHA were reduced in the presence of various agents - a-tocopherol, glutathione, N-acetylcysteine, and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). Measurements of singlet oxygen, transient and superoxide production were carried out to determine the photosensitizing properties of pDHA. The ability of PE to reduce the production of these species was investigated but it was shown to have no effect on their yield, although singlet oxygen lifetime was reduced. Finally, lysosomal enzyme activity, lysosomal integrity and accumulation of fluorescent and undegraded material were monitored after exposure to pDHA, demonstrating that pDHA was able to disrupt the ability of the RPE to fully degrade phagocytosed material. In summary, pDHA is able to affect RPE cell viability directly when exposed extracellularly, and can also affect essential normal functions of the RPE intracellularly. In conjunction with published findings that pDHA is present in the retina - both within and around the RPE - the data presented here support the theory that pDHA can play an important role in causing RPE dysfunction, resulting in a loss of the protective role these cells play for photoreceptors, as occurs in retinal ageing and AMD.
Soilless cultures for pharmaceutical use and biodiversity conservation.

Soilless cultures are nowadays an important tool for both (i) large scale synthesis of pharmaceutically active products, and for (ii) ex situ conservation of endemic and/or endangered plants that are also of horticultural importance. (i) Epilobium hirsutum explants were grown on both solid- and shaken liquid-medium, for multiplication and for greater biomass production, respectively. Secondary metabolites extracted from the biomass thus obtained were mainly polyphenols (galloylglucose and monomeric and dimeric ellagitannins), which are pharmaceutically important in prostate adenoma treatment, among others. Seedlings' dry biomass production increased from 1.5 g DW L -1 to 22 g DW L -1 after 15 days when nodes/inocula were grown on shaken liquid-medium, in light, and using different phytohormonal conditions. Secondary metabolites yield (polyphenols) of seedlings was equal to or higher (under some conditions) than for intact plants grown normally, in soil, under normal conditions. (ii) In vitro conservation on solid media resulted in a collection of 12 species that are endemic and/or endangered for Europe, and 7 species for Romania, respectively. Included in this collection are: Dianthus spiculifolius, D. nardiformis, D. henteri, D. glacialis subsp. gelidus, D. haematocalyx subsp. pindicola, D. seguieri, D. sternbergii, Achillea pyrenaica, Paradisea liliastrum. Dianthus petraeus subsp. simonkaianus was the species with the best multiplication rate (110 shoots/inoculum).
Households' vulnerability and responses to shocks: evidence from rural Kenya

Key words : Vulnerability, HIV/AIDS, weather shocks, risk management, coping strategies, rural households, gender. Empirical investigation on household’s responses to sources of vulnerability is important for designing and implementation of social policies. The design of an effective redistribution policy needs to take into consideration existing household and community systems, so as to build on the existing strengths without displacing households’ efforts. It is in this context that the current study investigates how farm households in rural Kenya respond to stressful events and the implications of the household’s risk management strategies on their welfare. The study examines two major sources of vulnerability for rural livelihoods: weather and HIV/AIDS. The importance of weather and HIV/AIDS lies in their impact on the most basic human need—food security. Weather uncertainties beget hunger. Hunger begets disease. When health-care provision is inadequate, hunger may interact with health problems to breed nutrition insecurity and therefore, more ill-health. For poor households, health problems present even a bigger threat to their livelihoods as their asset portfolio is highly skilled towards labour power. While many studies have focused on the extent to which households maintain stable consumption levels under stressful conditions, much less research is on the mechanisms by which consumption is smoothed. Using a framework that represents the interaction of a household’s portfolio with risk, this thesis explores both ex ante and ex post mechanisms for dealing with shocks and their accessibility to both male and females within a household. Ex post mechanisms include reliance on collective opportunities such as informal loans and gifts, while individual opportunities include asset and labour sales. While the results show that reciprocal transfers and labour markets are likely to play an important role in consumption smoothing, the effects of HIV/AIDS are similar to a common rainfall shock which is difficult to insure. The results show liquidity constraints to hamper the use of adult labour especially males’ as a consumption smoothing device. The ex ante mechanisms often involves building buffers. Buffer stocking often means sacrificing current consumption to secure future consumption. The sacrifice can be in form of holding less risky but low yielding assets or can mean securing consumption for some members of the households at the expense of those with less bargaining power. The study finds that households buffer stock in health and that a more uncertain future is associated with more liquid assets. The finding illustrates the existence of a link between risk, poverty and inequality. Demonstrating empirically the effect of risk and possible risk-coping strategies on inequality and poverty is a central challenge in the development literature. This thesis contributes to this literature and provides evidence at the intra-household level.