Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A French Conservation Action Plan for the Pyrenean Desman Galemys pyrenaicus

In 2008, the French Ministry of the Environment commissioned the production of a Conservation Action Plan for the Pyrenean Desman in France. This step was taken because of the Desman’s population status, its restricted and declining geographic distribution, the numerous threats and the lack of knowledge about its biology and its ecology. The French Mammal Society (SFEPM) and about 40 partners drew up this plan and identified 25 priority actions with three main objectives: 1) To improve knowledge of the Desman’s biology and ecology and of conservation threats (12 actions); 2) To protect Desman populations and habitats (3 actions); and 3) To structure a network of partners (volunteers and workers) involved in Desman conservation and to increase public awareness on the Desman and river protection (10 actions). The Conservatoire régional des espaces Naturels de Midi-Pyrénées coordinates this plan with a steering committee (≈30 partners) and a scientific committee (≈ 15 researchers). Approved in September 2009, the plan will last until 2015. It is supported by the European Commission and 7 other financial partners
Curriculum Learning-Based Fuzzy Support Vector Machine

To improve the robustness of SVM models to noise and outliers, fuzzy support vector machine (FSVM) has been proposed. However, many existing FSVM models have limitations such as their dependence on assumptions, limited optimization, and unreasonable handling of noise. To address these problems, we propose a novel approach called curriculum learning-based FSVM. Our approach employs a curriculum-learning strategy, where the model initially learns easy samples to avoid noise interference and obtain a good initial solution, before proceeding to learn all samples, including hard ones. To distinguish between easy and hard samples, we introduce an adaptive density-based clustering model, which is extended to kernel feature space. Moreover, we propose a slack variable-based fuzzy membership function to evaluate the importance of samples. Additionally, our model adaptively adapts the importance of samples based on feedback during the learning process. Finally, our experimental results on popular benchmarks demonstrate that our proposed model outperforms existing competitors in terms of accuracy and robustness.
Is rapid urbanization of low-elevation deltas undermining adaptation to climate change? A global review

Climate change is putting low-lying coastal zones at increased risk, through higher sea levels and changes in the weather. Deltas are subsiding, compounding such risks. Confirming past research, we find roughly 10 per cent of the world’s population and an even higher share of its urban population are located in coastal areas under 10 metres in elevation (LECZ10), with Asia dominating these statistics. However, according to our estimates for 2015, the deltaic LECZ10 is 2.6 times as densely populated and 1.7 times as built-up as the non-deltaic LECZ10. The deltaic LECZ10 accounts for only 0.35 per cent of the world’s land, but over 10 times the population share (279 million people). Population and built-up area growth rates remain higher in the deltaic LECZ10, and especially its cities. Indeed, for 1990–2015 the urbanization rate of the deltaic LECZ10 is double that in the non-deltaic LECZ10. Given the path dependency of urbanization, this risks locking in maladaptive settlement patterns.
Direct retrieval of line‐of‐sight atmospheric structure from limb sounding observations

Optimal estimation of atmospheric temperature and composition from limb sounding observations is extended to the direct retrieval of line‐of‐sight atmospheric structure that can be obtained in certain limb viewing geometries. The approach is to divide the dataset into slightly overlapping chunks of several atmospheric profiles and retrieve estimates for all profiles concurrently. The method is made efficient due to the sparse nature of the matrices involved. In the case where the number of radiance measurements is significantly larger than the length of the state vector, the computational effort scales linearly with the number of profiles in the chunk. Prototype simulations, done for the EOS MLS experiment, show that application of this method can give significant improvements in accuracy.
The Restless Urban Landscape: Economic and Sociocultural Change and the Transformation of Metropolitan Washington, DC

Abstract This study addresses recent changes in the built environment of U.S. metropolitan areas. The confluence of recent economic and sociocultural change has led to the emergence of a number of distinctive new urban settings. This process is interpreted as part of a broader, epochal change in the dynamics of contemporary capitalism. The particular implications of this transformation for the supply and demand of elements of the built environment involve changes in the organization and product mix of developers and construction companies, in the roles and professional orientations of architects and planners, and in commodity aesthetics and patterns of consumption among a “new bourgeoisie. ” The imprint of these changes on the built environment is illustrated with reference to the example of the Washington metropolitan area. Among the new settings and landscape elements identified here are private master-planned communities, high-tech corridors, mixed-use developments, “festival” settings, gentrified neigh.
Therapeutic Plasma Exchange and Multiple Sclerosis Dysregulations: Focus on the Removal of Pathogenic Circulatory Factors and Altering Nerve Growth Factor and Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Plasma Levels

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is predominantly an immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system (CNS) of unknown etiology with a possible genetic predisposition and effect of certain environmental factors. It is generally accepted that the disease begins with an autoimmune inflammatory reaction targeting oligodendrocytes followed by a rapid depletion of their regenerative capacity with subsequent permanent neurodegenerative changes and disability. Recent research highlights the central role of B lymphocytes and the corresponding IgG and IgM autoantibodies in newly forming MS lesions. Thus, their removal along with the modulation of certain bioactive molecules to improve neuroprotection using therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) becomes of utmost importance. Recently, it has been proposed to determine the levels and precise effects of both beneficial and harmful components in the serum of MS patients undergoing TPE to serve as markers for appropriate TPE protocols. In this review we discuss some relevant examples, focusing on the removal of pathogenic circulating factors and altering the plasma levels of nerve growth factor and sphingosine-1-phosphate by TPE. Altered plasma levels of the reviewed molecular compounds in response to TPE reflect a successful reduction of the pro-inflammatory burden at the expense of an increase in anti-inflammatory potential in the circulatory and CNS compartments.
Sectoral Wage Differentials in Bangladesh: A Comparison Between the Government and Other Ownerships

Most of the studies of wage discrimination in Bangladesh have calculated the gap between pairs of sectors, while this study uses multiple sectors using multinomial logit estimation where the sector selection is endogenous. The employment sector is divided into six heterogeneous sectors depending on ownership status. Using QLFS 2016–2017 data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the probability of being employed in a certain sector is initially estimated by the sector choice equation, and then we estimate both the conditional and unconditional wage gaps between government and other sectors. The estimation result of the sector choice shows that the probability of being included in the government sector mostly depends on educational qualification, and the rural population is mostly included in marginal sectors like individual proprietorship. The decomposition of wage discrimination indicates that government employees have a wage advantage over every other sector, except for females. The decomposition result also suggests that the wage gap is mostly driven by discrimination, with NGOs showing the most discrimination in wages offered, followed by the individual sector. Monitoring the wage structure and implementation of the minimum wage is our main policy recommendation, along with others.
The Feasibility of Make My Day—A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of a Stroke Prevention Program in Primary Healthcare

Incorporating and sustaining engaging everyday activities (EEAs) in everyday life holds potential for improving health and wellbeing; thus, there is reason to explore EEAs as a behavioral change technique in stroke prevention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the stroke prevention program Make My Day (MMD) for people with moderate-to-high risk for stroke in a primary healthcare setting, where EEAs are utilized to promote healthy activity patterns. A randomized controlled pilot trial was designed to evaluate the feasibility of MMD. Twenty-nine persons at risk for stroke were recruited and randomized into either an intervention group (n = 14) receiving MMD or a control group (n = 15) receiving brief health advice and support with goal setting. The results suggest that MMD is feasible, with timely recruitment, overall high response rates and study completion, and sensitivity to change in key outcome measures. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the application of EEAs can be useful for promoting behavioral change in stroke prevention. Recommendations for improvements for a full-scale trial include recruiting a relevant sample, using reliability- and validity-tested outcome measures, and implementing strategies to limit missing data.
From the Philippines to The Field Museum: A Study of Ilongot (Bugkalot) Personal Adornment

The Philippine Collection at The Field Museum contains over 10,000 objects, including hundreds of objects of personal adornment. As an intern at The Field Museum in the summer of 2012, I got to experience the collection first-hand and began examining six ornaments from the Ilongot peoples of the Philippines. At the beginning of the 20 th century, the Ilongot wore ornaments to visually communicate social meaning about themselves, their villages, and their relationships. The Ilongot were a headhunting society with fearsome warriors who beheaded their enemies. These hunters wore delicately crafted earrings and headdresses to mark their masculinity and skill. Ornaments further marked the strength and importance of alliances and trading agreements and visibly demonstrated their wearers’ social standing, wealth, and cultural power at ceremonies. When collectors carried the objects from the Philippines to The Field Museum, they unavoidably projected their own cultural constructions onto the objects. In this way, the historical context and racial climate of the collecting culture is an important component in understanding the stories these objects have to tell. In addition, the ways museums choose to use and display the objects places further constructions upon them. Museums must practice active engagement both with members of the culture that produced the objects and with museum visitors to display the meaning that objects can communicate.
Accounting for atmospheric boundary layer variability on flux estimation from RS observations

A Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model is coupled to a remote‐sensing‐based SVAT that accounts for soil and vegetation in order to study the feedback effects between surface state and spatial variability in fluxes, through the induction of spatial variability in the lower atmosphere. As such, this study focuses on sensible heat flux exchange. The simulations indicated that changes are introduced to the flux distributions mainly at higher surface temperatures. A scale‐dependent method is presented to account for feedback effects. This showed the most significant correlation between surface and air temperature at scales from 500 to 1000 m and modulated the spatial variance of sensible heat flux. This suggests that feedback effects act to limit the spatial variability in fluxes, and ignoring them will cause the largest errors at the extremes.
Impact of global warming on streamflow drought in Europe

[1] Recent developments in climate modeling suggest that global warming is likely to favor conditions for the development of droughts in many regions of Europe. Studies evaluating possible changes in drought hazard typically have employed indices that are derived solely from climate variables such as temperature and precipitation, whereas many of the impacts of droughts are more related to hydrological variables such as river flow. This study examines the impact of global warming on streamflow drought in Europe by comparing low-flow predictions of a hydrological model driven by high-resolution regional climate simulations for the end of the previous century and for the end of this century based on the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A2 greenhouse gas emission scenario. For both time slices, low-flow characteristics were derived from the simulated streamflow series using extreme value analysis. More specifically, we employed the methods of block maxima and partial duration series to obtain minimum flows and flow deficits and fitted extreme value distributions by the maximum likelihood method. In order not to mix drought events with different physical causes the analysis was performed separately for the frost and nonfrost season. Results show that in the frost-free season streamflow droughts will become more severe and persistent in most parts of Europe by the end of this century, except in the most northern and northeastern regions. In the frost season, streamflow drought conditions will be of less importance under future climate conditions.
A narrative review of retinal vascular parameters and the applications (Part I): Measuring methods

The retina is often used to evaluate the vascular health status of eyes and the whole body directly and noninvasively in vivo. Retinal vascular parameters included caliber, tortuosity and fractal dimension. These variables represent the density or geometric characteristics of the vascular network apart from reflecting structural changes in the retinal vessel system. Currently, these parameters are often used as indicators of retinal disease, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease. Advanced digital fundus photography apparatus and computer-assisted analysis techniques combined with artificial intelligence, make the quantitative calculation of these parameters easier, objective, and labor-saving.
Antibiotic-tolerant Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar.vicia in Egyptian Soil

: Extensive use of antibiotics and their mismanagement significantly contribute to the emergence of soil microorganisms that are resistant to antibiotics, especially in the root zone. In this study, twenty-one isolates of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar vicia were isolated from three cultivars of faba-bean that is cultivated in the El Shenab area of Aswan Governorate. For these isolates, morphological, cultural, and biochemical characteristics were examined. 21 isolates of the soil bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum were screened for their response to three widely used antibiotics by using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) test. The isolates were grown in a yeast mannitol ager (YMA) medium, which contains different concentrations (100 – 1000 ppm ) of three antibiotics commonly used in Egypt (amoxicillin, cefotaxime, and tetracycline) individually. Six resistant isolates were obtained. The isolates (40A, 40B, and 843B) were the most resistant of the six isolates to antibiotics with high efficiency under the concentration of 1000 ppm for the three antibiotics. The percentage of tolerance and inhibition of the antibiotic for these three isolates was Amoxicillin (72%, 65%, and 45%), Cefotaxime (60%, 55%, and 47%), and Tetracycline (65%, 55%, and 51%) respectively. The three isolates showed high efficiency in breaking down antibiotics. These isolates can be used in agricultural farms that contain antibiotics.
Effects of Zinc Source and Level on the Intestinal Immunity of Xueshan Chickens under Heat Stress

Simple Summary The intestinal tract is an important part of the immune system and forms a congenital barrier against food antigens and pathogenic microorganisms. In poultry, heat stress can induce intestinal mucosal injury, damage intestinal tight junctions and microvillous structures, and trigger an inflammatory response and enterogenic infection. As an essential trace element, zinc has been shown to mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress on broilers. However, how the dietary supplementation of different sources and levels of zinc can improve the heat stress capacity of Chinese landraces remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effects of different levels of zinc sulfate (ZnS) and zinc proteinate with moderate chelation strength (Zn-Prot M) on the intestinal immune function under heat stress in Xueshan chickens, which comprise an important local breed in China. Abstract Heat stress can cause intestinal inflammation, impaired barrier integrity, and decreased immunity in poultry. While zinc is known to mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress, how the dietary supplementation of different sources and levels of it can improve the heat stress capacity of Chinese landraces remains unclear. This study investigated Xueshan chickens, which are an important local breed in China. The effects of different levels of ZnS and Zn-Prot M on their intestinal immune function under heat stress were compared. We found that different levels of ZnS and Zn-Prot M could effectively reduce the secretion level of IL-6 in the serum, and 60 mg/kg was optimal. Compared with ZnS, Zn-Prot M significantly increased duodenal villus height and VH/CD ratio, thus Zn-Prot M was more effective than ZnS. Both ZnS and Zn-Prot M significantly down-regulated TNF-α, IL-1β, and MyD88 in 102-day-old duodenum, and IL-1β, IL-6, and NFKBIA in jejunum and ileum at 74, 88, and 102 days old, with 60 mg/kg Zn-Prot M determined as optimal. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that Zn-Prot M is superior to ZnS in improving intestinal immunity in Xueshan chickens, and 60 mg/kg is the optimal addition dose.
Identity and Memory in Post-Soviet Central Asia

1. Selectivity in Recalling Soviet Past in Uzbekistan: Re-collecting, Reflecting and Re-imagining 2. Power, Social Life, and Public Memory in Uzbekistan 3. Recollections of Trauma and Public Responses to the Political Violence of State Policies in the Stalinist Era in Uzbekistan 4. The impact of World War II /Greater Patriotic War in Uzbekistan 5. Death of Stalin: Time of Despair and Hope 6 Post-Soviet Nostalgia in Central Asia: Oral Accounts of Everyday Life in Soviet Uzbekistan 7. Hybrid Ethnic Identities in Soviet Uzbekistan 8. Religiosity and Soviet 'modernisation' in Central Asia: Locating religious traditions and rituals in recollections of antireligious policies in Uzbekistan 9. Placing the Mahalla between Public and Private Life
Microbiota-Dependent Upregulation of Bitter Taste Receptor Subtypes in the Mouse Large Intestine in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity

Bitter taste receptors (Tas2rs in mice) detect bitterness, a warning signal for toxins and poisons, and are expressed in enteroendocrine cells. We tested the hypothesis that Tas2r138 and Tas2r116 mRNAs are modulated by microbiota alterations induced by a long-term high-fat diet (HFD) and antibiotics (ABX) (ampicillin and neomycin) administered in drinking water. Cecum and colon specimens and luminal contents were collected from C57BL/6 female and male mice for qRT-PCR and microbial luminal 16S sequencing. HFD with/without ABX significantly increased body weight and fat mass at 4, 6, and 8 weeks. Tas2r138 and Tas2r116 mRNAs were significantly increased in mice fed HFD for 8 weeks vs. normal diet, and this increase was prevented by ABX. There was a distinct microbiota separation in each experimental group and significant changes in the composition and diversity of microbiome in mice fed a HFD with/without ABX. Tas2r mRNA expression in HFD was associated with several genera, particularly with Akkermansia, a Gram-negative mucus-resident bacterium. These studies indicate that luminal bacterial composition is affected by sex, diet, and ABX and support a microbial dependent upregulation of Tas2rs in HFD-induced obesity, suggesting an adaptive host response to specific diet-induced dysbiosis.
Determinants of Green Innovation in Family Firms

Family firms represent a unique kind of company and extent research characterizes them to be rather risk-averse in their commitment to innovation but consider them to be more efficient in their innovation efforts in contrast to non-family firms. Although family firms have a widespread impact on the worldwide economy, there has been limited research on the heterogeneity in their innovation behavior in both family firm and innovation literature. The growing body of research on green innovation indicates that it is a distinct type of innovation due to its unique characteristics and common knowledge on general innovation in family firms cannot be transferred to their behavior with respect to green innovation. Therefore, we aim to investigate why family firms engage in green innovation and which factors determine their green innovation performance. To investigate this new phenomenon and contribute to theory, we conduct a multiple-case study based on a sample of German family firms from different industries by collecting and analyzing data from both publicly available sources and interviews conducted with the top management of these firms. Thereby, these firms cover the spectrum family firm heterogeneity in this field ranging from high to low green innovation performance and their approach to green innovation supports our argumentation. Our findings suggest that family firms develop and adopt green innovation due to their SEW aspirations, as these lead them to think and invest for the long term. If they engage in the development and implementation of green innovation, however, their success depends on their familiness, namely their social capital, human capital, and financial capital, as these resources are crucial to successfully manage the complexity of the green innovation development process. This study is equally important for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers as it highlights the key obstacles and requirements for family firms to successfully develop and implement green innovation.