Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extinction debt on oceanic islands

Habitat destruction is the leading cause of species extinctions. However, there is typically a time-lag between the reduction in habitat area and the eventual disappearance of the remnant populations. These “surviving but ultimately doomed” species represent an extinction debt. Calculating the magnitude of such future extinction events has been hampered by potentially inaccurate assumptions about the slope of species–area relationships, which are habitat- and taxon-specific. We overcome this challenge by applying a method that uses the historical sequence of deforestation in the Azorean Islands, to calculate realistic and ecologically-adjusted species–area relationships. The results reveal dramatic and hitherto unrecognized levels of extinction debt, as a result of the extensive destruction of the native forest:>95%, in<600 yr. Our estimations suggest that more than half of the extant forest arthropod species, which have evolved in and are dependent on the native forest, might eventually be driven to extinction. Data on species abundances from Graciosa Island, where only a very small patch of secondary native vegetation still exists, as well as the number of species that have not been found in the last 45 yr, despite the extensive sampling effort, offer support to the predictions made. We argue that immediate action to restore and expand native forest habitat is required to avert the loss of numerous endemic species in the near future.
Traders' Broker Choice, Market Liquidity and Market Structure

Hedgers and a risk-neutral informed trader choose between a broker who takes a position in the asset (a capital broker) and a broker who does not (a discount broker). The capital broker exploits order flow information to mimic informed trades and offset hedgers' trades, reducing informed profits and hedgers' utility. But the capital broker has a larger capacity to execute hedgers' orders, increasing market depth. In equilibrium, hedgers choose the broker with the lowest price per unit of utility while the informed trader chooses the broker with the lowest price per unit of the informed order flow. However, the chosen broker may not be the one with whom market depth and net order flow are higher. ; We relate traders' broker choice to market structure and show that the capital broker benefits customers relatively more in developed securities--i.e., markets where there are many hedgers with low levels of risk aversion and endowment risk, where the information precision is high and the asset volatility is low. The discount broker benefits customers relatively more in volatile markets where there are few hedgers with high levels of risk aversion and endowment volatility, and where information is imprecise. We derive testable predictions from our model and successfully explain up to 70 percent of the daily variation in the number of discount brokers and capital brokers (or, dual traders in futures markets).
Evaluation of models for somatic cell score lactation patterns in Holsteins *

Milk somatic cell score (SCS) typically reaches a minimum early in lactation and then rises. Nonlinear mixed effects models were used to describe this trajectory while accounting for between and within-cow variation. A total of 2387 SCS records from 217 Holsteins were analyzed. Four nonlinear and two linear functions were studied. Approximate maximum likelihood estimates indicated that cows free of intramammary infection had sharper SCS decreases after calving, and lower overall levels. Lactations starting between October and December had the highest fall of SCS levels at the beginning of lactation, and the smallest increases thereafter. In general, there was significant variation between cows’ individual trajectories. For some parameters and models, however, this variation was small. A four-parameter model suggested by Morant and Gnanasakthy was supported better by the data than the other five functional forms.  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
The detection of Chlamydia trachomatis by DNA amplification methods in urine samples from men with urethritis

Our objective was to compare 3 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) amplification methods for the diagnosis of chlamydial infection with an enhanced enzyme immunoassay (EIA) method for antigen detection in urine samples, from men with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) attending a busy inner city genitourinary medicine centre. Urethral swabs and urine samples were collected from 346 male patients with NGU attending the clinic. All swabs and urines were tested for chlamydial infection (CT) using the EIA (Dako PCE immunoassay). Three aliquots of the urine samples were stored immediately at -70°C for subsequent testing by: Amplicor polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Hoffmann-La Roche, Switzerland); the amplified Chlamydia trachomatis assay (AMP CT) using transcription mediated amplification (TMA) (GenProbe, USA); and BDProbeTecET using the strand displacement assay (SDA) (Becton Dickinson, USA). The positive rate for the 3 amplified assays PCR, TMA and SDA (on urine) was 88/346 (25.4%), 80/346 (23.1%) and 88/346 (25.4%), respectively compared to 56/346 (16.2%) by EIA on urethral swabs, the current means of diagnosis in this laboratory. Thirty-one samples were positive in 2 or more of the amplification assays but negative in the EIA, 50 positives (53% sensitivity) detected in the urine samples by the EIA assay were detected by all 3 of the amplified assays. Three samples were positive by PCR only, 5 were positive by TMA only and 7 were positive by SDA only. DNA amplification assays are superior to standard immunoassays for the diagnosis of C. trachomatis infections in urine samples. Urine samples are suitable for use in these amplified assays to detect C. trachomatis. Freezing of samples before testing reduces the rate of inhibition reported in other published studies.
Oxidized low density lipoprotein elevates platelet serotonin release

DNA microarray studies identified two molecular categories as germinal center B-cell and activated B-cell types. Gene expression profiling has provided useful criteria for sub classification in an attempt to better identify groups of patients with different prognosis and responses to treatment regimens. If gene profiling becomes a rule in clinical trial, cancer patients may receive therapies that are optimally suited to the pathobiology of their tumors [5].
The product of the candidate prostate cancer susceptibility gene ELAC2 interacts with the γ‐tubulin complex

ELAC2 is a novel candidate cancer susceptibility gene located on chromosome 17p: Carriers of mutations in ELAC2 display a higher risk of developing prostate cancer. Overexpression of ELAC2 in tumor cells causes a delay in G2‐M progression characterized by accumulation of cyclin B levels. Consistent with a function in mitosis, further biochemical analysis revealed that ELAC2 physically interacts with the γ‐tubulin complex. This is the first biologic insight into the function of this new putative cancer susceptibility gene, providing clues of how perturbation of ELAC2 might promote tumorigenesis through irregular cell division. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Migration and its challenges for trade unions in Europe

Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva. nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
Molecular basis of mucopolysaccharidosis type II: Mutations in the iduronate‐2‐sulphatase gene

A number of mutations in the X‐chromosomal human iduronate‐2‐sulphatase gene have now been identified as the primary genetic defect leading to the clinical condition known as Hunter syndrome or mucopolysaccharidosis type II. The mutations that are tabulated include different deletions, splice‐site and point mutations. From the group of 319 patients thus far studied by Southern analysis, 14 have a full deletion of the gene and 48 have a partial deletion or other gross rearrangements. All patients with full deletions or gross rearrangements have severe clinical presentations. Twenty‐nine different “small” mutations have so far been characterised in a total of 32 patients. These include 4 nonsense and 13 missense mutations, 7 different small deletions from 1 to 3 bp, with most leading to a frameshift and premature chain termination, and 5 different splice‐site mutations also leading to small insertions or deletions in the mRNA. A 60 bp deletion, that results from a new donor splice‐site, has been observed in five unrelated patients with relatively mild clinical phenotypes. This information will not only be useful for MPS II patient and carrier diagnosis, but also will aid in the understanding of the structure and function of iduronate‐2‐sulphatase, and possibly in correlating genotype with phenotype. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Resource Allocation for D2D-Enabled Vehicular Communications

The widely deployed cellular network, assisted with device-to-device (D2D) communications, can provide a promising solution to support efficient and reliable vehicular communications. Fast channel variations caused by high mobility in a vehicular environment need to be properly accounted for when designing resource allocation schemes for the D2D-enabled vehicular networks. In this paper, we perform spectrum sharing and power allocation based only on slowly varying large-scale fading information of wireless channels. Pursuant to differing requirements for different types of links, i.e., high capacity for vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) links and ultrareliability for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) links, we attempt to maximize the ergodic capacity of the V2I connections while ensuring reliability guarantee for each V2V link. Sum ergodic capacity of all V2I links is first taken as the optimization objective to maximize the overall V2I link throughput. Minimum ergodic capacity maximization is then considered to provide a more uniform capacity performance across all V2I links. Novel algorithms that yield optimal resource allocation and are robust to channel variations are proposed. Their desirable performance is confirmed by computer simulation.
Adaptive Rate-Limit Control for Energy Storage Systems

An adaptive energy management control with an integrated variable rate-limit function is described for an energy storage system (ESS). The proposed control protects the primary power source(s) in the system as effectively as possible from sudden load transients within the constraints of the available stored energy. The control can be designed to use the available energy more aggressively during load changes in the low- or high-power regions while offering the lowest possible rate-of-change of the main source power or offers a fixed minimum rate-of-change in power for a given total load and amount of energy. The control design is described in detail and demonstrated experimentally when applied to a supercapacitor ESS within an aircraft test facility.
Social Alliances: Company/Nonprofit Collaboration

Companies are increasingly seeing corporate social responsibility as a key to long-term success and are collaborating with nonprofit organizations in various ways to establish themselves as good corporate citizens. This article delves into a promising form of company/nonprofit collaboration called social alliances, which are long-term, collaborative efforts between companies and nonprofits that are designed to achieve strategic objectives for both organizations. The characteristics, factors, and circumstances that enable or impede social alliances are examined through an investigation of 11 social alliances involving 26 organizations. Though social alliances may be fraught with problems, they can be designed, structured, nurtured, and maintained in a manner that will enable them both to contribute to solving pressing social problems and to fulfilling important strategic objectives for companies and nonprofits.
The Response of Bank Retail Rates to Money Market Rates in the BRIC Economies: An Application of the Disaggregated GETS Model

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interest rate transmission mechanism for the emerging BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). We analyze the way interbank rates are transmitted to the bank retail rates, and we test the symmetry hypothesis. A disaggregated general-to-specific model is applied for estimating interest rate pass-through and examining whether retail rates respond symmetrically or asymmetrically to upward/downward interbank rate changes. Overall, our empirics show evidence of sluggish and incomplete pass-through from market rates to bank loan and deposit rates. We show that banks' speed of upward and downward adjustment behavior is symmetric in both loan and deposit markets.
Early prediction of the duration of protests using probabilistic Latent Dirichlet Allocation and Decision Trees

Protests and agitations are an integral part of every democratic civil society. In recent years, South Africa has seen a large increase in its protests. The objective of this paper is to provide an early prediction of the duration of protests from its free flowing English text description. Free flowing descriptions of the protests help us in capturing its various nuances such as multiple causes, courses of actions etc. Next we use a combination of unsupervised learning (topic modeling) and supervised learning (decision trees) to predict the duration of the protests. Our results show a high degree (close to 90%) of accuracy in early prediction of the duration of protests.We expect the work to help police and other security services in planning and managing their resources in better handling protests in future.
Stamping surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for label-free, multiplexed, molecular sensing and imaging

Abstract. We report stamping surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (S-SERS) for label-free, multiplexed, molecular sensing and large-area, high-resolution molecular imaging on a flexible, nonplasmonic surface without solution-phase molecule transfer. In this technique, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin film and nanoporous gold disk SERS substrate play the roles as molecule carrier and Raman signal enhancer, respectively. After stamping the SERS substrate onto the PDMS film, SERS measurements can be directly taken from the “sandwiched” target molecules. The performance of S-SERS is evaluated by the detection of Rhodamine 6G, urea, and its mixture with acetaminophen, in a physiologically relevant concentration range, along with the corresponding SERS spectroscopic maps. S-SERS features simple sample preparation, low cost, and high reproducibility, which could lead to SERS-based sensing and imaging for point-of-care and forensics applications.
Aging and matrix biology.

This introduction to a theme issue of Pathologie Biologie on the extracellular matrix starts with a brief overview of the advances made over the last few years and of the increasing specialization they have resulted in. A review is then presented of cell-matrix interactions, with emphasis on those mediated by the elastin-laminin receptor during physiologic processes and during aging and age-related diseases. The activated human lymphocyte expressing the elastin-laminin receptor is used as an example. When exposed to low levels of elastin peptides (kappa-elastin, 75 kappa D, 1-10 micrograms/ml, i.e., 1.4 to 14.10(-8)M), this receptor mediates increases in cell growth and in the production of serine-elastase. Levels of about 100 micrograms/ml are associated with cell death due to necrosis and to apoptosis. This example illustrates the key role played by epigenetic phenomena in aging of cells and tissues.
Livelihoods-based impact assessment in the rice–wheat farming system of South Asia

This article reports on an ex-ante impact study in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia. The study, guided by a livelihoods approach, developed a spatial-mapping methodology based on secondary data for 18 variables which served as indicators of the five livelihood classes of assets (natural, physical, financial, social, and human). The overall livelihood-asset index showed a significant and strong negative correlation (R = –0.65, P = 0.00) with the national poverty line, with poverty peaking in districts where the assets base was lowest, and vice versa. The livelihood-assets approach has broader application, for example for ex-post impact assessment.
Analysis on Vertical Integration of Telecom Operators

In resent years, there have been significant changes in China’s telecom VAS industrial chain. The telecom operators have been taking steps to develop their own VASs and bypass the independent VAS providers. This article analyzed the reasons and motivation of telecom operators’ vertical expansion from the perspectives of neoclassical economics, new institutional economics and enterprise competence theory. And this article also tried to build a game model to analyze the influence of operators’ vertical expansion on industrial chain and social welfare. Based on the above studies, this article arrived at a conclusion that the regulator should correctly guide the telecom operators’ vertical expansion, because this strategy of telecom operators is economical and efficient for the industry, and will bring considerable benefits to the industrial chain and social welfare in China.
Globalization and World financial Turmoil - A Test for Israel's Economic Policy

The World financial turmoil,that beset emerging economies during much of 1997 and culminated after the Russian crisis in the second half of 1998,presents an interesting test case for economic policy in an open economy.Israel's policy response was radical,and -with the benefit of hindsight -successful in maintaining and reinforcing stability,when the odds of many emerging economies,such as Israel,were clearly at risk.Indeed several emerging markets suffered a severe setback in output,a deep and sometimes contagious fall in the value of stocks and a sharp depreciation in their exchange rates,when the world financial crisis evolved.National policy mistakes were punished by rapid capital flight,spearheaded by foreign investors and accompanied by a loss of these countries'international creditworthiness. What can we learn from Israel's experience in the late 1990s? Lesson #1:Macroeconomic stability must be maintained continually. Lesson #2:Enhance the Flexibility of the Exchange Rate Regime Lesson #3:A nominal appreciation can be consistent with a real depreciation
Uveitis incidence in Jichi Medical University Hospital, Japan, during 2011–2015

Purpose To investigate uveitis incidence of new patients who visited Jichi Medical University Hospital, Tochigi, north of Tokyo, during 2011–2015, and to compare the results with previously reported data from other facilities. Methods We retrospectively analyzed clinical records of new patients with uveitis from April 2011 to March 2015 and compared the uveitis incidence with those from other hospitals. Results A total of 502 patients were enrolled in the study; definite diagnoses were made in 262 patients (52.2%). The top 4 diseases were sarcoidosis, 47 patients (9.4%); Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada (VKH) disease, 35 patients (7.0%); herpetic iritis, 29 patients (5.8%); and Behçet’s disease, 21 patients (4.2%). Conclusion The most commonly diagnosed diseases in our study were sarcoidosis, VKH disease, herpetic iritis, and Behçet’s disease. Compared with the latest nationwide survey in Japan, our results showed similar trends.
Notice of RetractionThe reality reason and realization form of enterprise choosing vertical integration: Take Mingshan tea industry as example

Because conditions and emphasis are different, the explanations of enterprises' vertical integration motivation are many and varied. Most of the scholars analyze this problem on merger's position and regard merger's benefits the direct reason for vertical integration. By taking Mingshan tea industry as example, this paper analyses that at the infancy age of the industry, because of the limited scope of the market, the main part of the vertical integration is not only the merger, benefits of the be-merger are also very important, and their cooperation is the only way to go. The profit of the be-merger will be contributed to vertical integration.
Customer Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry

Focusing on the hotel industry, this study builds a functional definition of customer satisfaction and a practical approach to facilitate its measurement. Field research conducted in the United States and Japan support these new approaches. Contributions from the literature provide a theoretical basis for the development of a customer satisfaction model. The variables of this model were converted into a survey instrument (customer comment card) and tested at a large urban hotel.
Factors Associated With Academic Performance Among Second-Year Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Students

Background: Research into occupational therapy education and its outcomes for students is growing. More research is needed to determine the factors of importance for occupational therapy students’ academic outcomes. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with academic performance among second-year undergraduate occupational therapy students in Norway. Methods: Occupational therapy students (n = 111) from two education programs completed questionnaires asking for sociodemographic, work-related, and education-related information. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to examine factors independently associated with the students’ academic performance. Results: A higher age was associated with better average academic performance among the students, whereas having higher education experience before entering the occupational therapy program was associated with poorer average academic performance. Conclusions: Students of a higher age may have life experience that easily translates into good academic results, and they may represent an under-used resource for improving the academic climate and understanding subsequent exam results among undergraduate occupational therapy students. However, prior higher education experience from disciplines different from occupational therapy, and that hold different expectations toward students, may hinder good academic performance in occupational therapy coursework. Comments Dr. Bonsaksen reports no potential conflicts of interest.
Differences between caregivers and noncaregivers in psychological health and physical health: a meta-analysis.

Providing care for a frail older adult has been described as a stressful experience that may erode psychological well-being and physical health of caregivers. In this meta-analysis, the authors integrated findings from 84 articles on differences between caregivers and noncaregivers in perceived stress, depression, general subjective well-being, physical health, and self-efficacy. The largest differences were found with regard to depression (g = .58), stress (g = .55), self-efficacy (g = .54), and general subjective well-being (g = -.40). Differences in the levels of physical health in favor of noncaregivers were statistically significant, but small (g = .18). However, larger differences were found between dementia caregivers and noncaregivers than between heterogeneous samples of caregivers and noncaregivers. Differences were also influenced by the quality of the study, relationship of caregiver to the care recipient, gender, and mean age of caregivers.