Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Seven‐Year Results of Thinning and Burning Restoration Treatments on Old Ponderosa Pines at the Gus Pearson Natural Area

Abstract We examined the 7‐year effects of three restoration treatments on leaf physiology and insect‐resistance characteristics of pre‐settlement age ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) at the Gus Pearson Natural Area (GPNA) in northern Arizona. Restoration treatments were: (1) thinned in 1993 to approximate pre‐Euro‐American settlement stand structure, (2) thinned plus prescribed burned in 1994 and 1998, and (3) untreated control. Tree physiological and insect‐resistance characteristics were measured in year 2000, 7 years after thinning, using the same procedures as an earlier study performed in 1996. Consistent with the 1996 results, pre‐dawn water potential in 2000 was consistently lower in the control than both thinned treatments. Both thinned treatments continued to have increased foliar nitrogen concentration in leaves 7 years after treatment. However lower leaf nitrogen concentration in the thinned and burned compared with the thinned treatment suggests lower nitrogen availability to trees in repeatedly burned plots. Analysis of leaf gas exchange characteristics and carbon isotope content (δ13C) suggests continued stimulation of photosynthesis by both thinning treatments. Differences among treatments in resin volume, a measure of bark beetle resistance, depended on season of measurement. Trees in both thinning treatments continued to have increased leaf toughness, a measure of resistance to insect folivores. Our results show that many beneficial effects of restoration treatments on carbon, water, and nitrogen relations and insect‐resistance characteristics of pre‐settlement ponderosa pines continue to be expressed 7 years after treatment at the GPNA.
Title Body Mass Index and Mortality in Kidney Transplant Recipients : A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Permalink

Background: A higher body mass index (BMI) seems to be linked to survival advantage in maintenance hemodialysis patients. However, it is uncertain if this ‘obesity survival paradox’ is also observed in kidney transplant recipients. Hence, we systematically reviewed the literature on the impact of pre-transplantation BMI on all-cause mortality in this population. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Cochrane CENTRAL for relevant studies up to July 2013. Two investigators independently selected the studies using predefined criteria, abstracted the data from the included studies, and independently assessed each study’s quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. In addition to the qualitative synthesis, we quantitatively pooled the results of the studies with clinical, methodological, and statistical homogeneity. Results: We Received: June 19, 2014 Accepted: August 20, 2014 Published online: October 21, 2014 Nephrology American Journal of Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, MD, MPH, PhD Harold Simmons Center for Kidney Disease Research and Epidemiology Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine , 101 The City Drive South, City Tower, Orange, CA 92868–3217 (USA) E-Mail kkz @ uci.edu © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel 0250–8095/14/0404–0315$39.50/0
From Touches to Teamwork Constructs: Towards Automatically Visualising Collaboration Processes

This paper presents a rule-based approach to automatically associate low-level actions of team members -performed on a tabletop-based open-ended concept mapping application-with higher order sub-processes. We illustrate the approach by presenting and discussing two versions of the same visual representation of the identified sub-processes: visualisations completely crafted by humans versus those automatically crafted by our rule-based algorithm. We describe our lessons learnt and discuss the potential of our approach, challenges encountered and possible avenues for future work.
AN EFFICIENT AND COST EFFECTIVE PROTOCOL FOR IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF PINEAPPLE

An efficient and cost effective protocol for in vitro propagation of Pineapple (Ananas comosus var. Queen) has been developed. In the proliferation stage, agar based Murashige and Skoog (MS) media was supplemented with 3.0 mg/l benzyleaminopurine (BAP), 0.5 mg/l indole acetic acid (IAA) and 50 mg/l adenine sulphate as RBC design experiment. Two approaches were taken to reduce the chemical cost of micropropagation media. Analytical grade sucrose was successfully replaced by commercial sugar, completely during proliferation stage and up to 66% during rooting stage. Again during the rooting stage, agar based solid media was replaced by liquid media (MSmedia). Bio-degradable Coir and Luffa were used as supporting matrix. As supporting matrix in rooting media, Luffa was found to be more effective. The clonal fidelity of in vitro raised plantlets was confirmed by RAPD technique.
INNOVATIVENESS AND COMPETITIVENESS IN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: THE CASE OF SMES IN MAROS REGENCY

The purpose of study was to explain the effect of entrepreneurship orientation and innovation in improving the performance and competitiveness of creative industries in Maros Regency. The primary data used in this study were collected by using questionnaires. The data is then processed in the form of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Based on the analysis, it is found that the orientation of entrepreneurship which is reflected by the activities of research and development activities, technological leadership, and innovation will be able to improve the performance and competitiveness of creative industry. Performance as measured by the company's ability to increase sales will be able to create competitiveness. The study also found an insignificant effect between innovation with competitiveness and performance with competitiveness
Expansion of Zika virus circulation from Africa to the Americas, 1947-2018: a literature review.

OBJECTIVE to describe the temporal and geographical expansion of Zika virus (ZIKV) circulation in countries and territories, from the time it was first isolated until 2018. METHODS This was a non-systematic literature review covering the period from 1947 to 2018 using the MEDLINE database and World Health Organization estimates. RESULTS Since its isolation in 1947, ZIKV circulation spread through Africa, Asia and the Pacific before reaching the Americas in 2013, causing serious clinical manifestations; the highest seroprevalence rates were recorded in Yap (74%) and in Brazil (63%); genetic mutations, absence of immunity and high vector susceptibility may have influenced ZIKV transmissibility and help to explain the magnitude of its expansion. CONCLUSION The spread of ZIKV circulation in the Americas was the most extensive recorded thus far, possibly as a result of population and geographical characteristics of the sites where the virus circulated.
Transthoracic vs. transesophageal echocardiography in transcatheter aortic valve implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Traditionally, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) was performed under general anesthesia (GA) accompanied by intraprocedural transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). Recently, minimalist TAVI with monitored anesthesia care (MAC) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) has gained popularity. However, TTE imaging quality may be suboptimal compared to TEE and may increase the risks of paravalvular leak (PVL). We sought to compare TTE to TEE for PVL (primary outcome) and secondary safety outcomes in a study-level meta-analysis. Methods: Ovid versions of Medline and Embase were searched from 1946 to 2018 for studies comparing TTE to TEE in TAVI directly or MAC to GA in TAVI (must also specify echocardiography usage) and meta-analyzed in a random effects
Aspectos sociodemográficos e laborais associados ao distresse moral em enfermeiros brasileiros

Resumo Objetivo Analisar associações entre distresse moral e características sociodemográficas e laborais de enfermeiros brasileiros. Métodos Estudo transversal realizado em todo território brasileiro, no período de novembro de 2015 a maio de 2016, com uma amostra de 1227 enfermeiros, a partir da aplicação da Escala Brasileira de Distresse Moral em Enfermeiros (EDME-Br), por meio de questionário eletrônico. A análise empregou estatística descritiva e analítica. Resultados Associações estatisticamente significativas foram estabelecidas em todos os seis fatores, são eles: 1. Reconhecimento, poder e identidade pessoal; 2. Cuidado seguro e qualificado; 3. Defesa de valores e de direitos; 4. Condições de trabalho; 5. Infrações éticas; 6. Equipes de trabalho. As variáveis que apresentaram maior número de associações foram: carga horária; pós-graduação, natureza da atenção/complexidade do serviço, natureza, tipo e tempo do vínculo. Destacou-se o papel da experiência e da formação ampliada na maior percepção e/ou vivência do distresse moral. Conclusão A amplitude do estudo e a diversidade do contexto revelam especificidades quanto à ocorrência do distresse moral no cenário brasileiro, reforçando a necessidade de conhecer elementos que participam da experiência moral dos enfermeiros.
Algorithmic Self-Instructing Consciousness

Let we are outgoing from the thesis: if consciousness corresponds to the capacity to integrate information, then the system should be able to generate consciousness to the extent having a large repertoire of available states (information). Natural selection is an algorithm for generating adaptation and the question is, whether it may be utilized for cognition. Natural selection is capable to improve itself as a heuristic search algorithm. In neuronal information self-transfer is possible formation of a one-to-one topographic map between two neuronal layers, and reconstruction of the intra-layer topology of the parent in the offspring layer. The problem of neuronal transfer exists, from anatomical (activity-dependent) mechanisms, to self-instructing (activity-independent) algorithms. We establish a link between network topology and information integration showing how biologically inspired auto-adaptation improves the consciousness self-instructing.
Multiple Accretionary Orogenesis and Episodic Growth of Continents: Insights from the Western Kunlun Range, Central Asia

The Western Kunlun Range in northwestern Tibet records a history of enlargement of the Central Asian crust. In the Early Ordovician a south-dipping intra-oceanic subduction-accretion complex was accreted to the Tarim block, forming an Andean-type margin in the Late Ordovician. This margin grew southward (present-day coordinates) in the Early Silurian, with an accretionary complex on its southern side against which the Kudi gneiss-schist complex was attached. Clastic sediments continued to infill forearc/intra-arc basins on the top of the arc-accretionary complexes during Devonian-Carboniferous time. In the Early to Mid-Carboniferous, tectonic and magmatic quiescence is indicated by an absence of volcanic and plutonic rocks in the Kudi area, whereas subduction was still active in the western part of the range in the Gaz area near the present-day Pamir syntaxis. A Late Carboniferous-Permian to Early Mesozoic accretionary arc and forearc developed in front of the Andean-type margin, indicating that north-dipping subduction was renewed in the Late Carboniferous. Final collision of the Karakoram-North Qiangtang block to the western Kunlun orogenic collage by the Mid-Jurassic resulted in closure of Paleo-Tethys. The accretion and development of the Western Kunlun orogen contributed huge quantities of material for the crustal growth of Asia.
Early detection of cardiac function by tissue Doppler imaging in patients with mitral stenosis and sinus rhythm Mitral stenozlu ve sinüs ritimli hastalarda kardiyak fonksiyonlar›n erken dönemde doku Doppler görüntüleme ile belirlenmesi

Objectives: We evaluated the changes in left ventricular function by means of tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in patients with mitral stenosis (MS). Study design: Standard echocardiographic and TDI studies were performed in 26 patients (18 females, mean age 38±7 years) with severe MS [mitral valve area (MVA) <1.2 cm 2 ], in 32 patients (24 females, mean age 35±9 years) with mild to moderate MS (MVA ≥1.2 cm 2 ), and in 25 agematched healthy volunteers (17 females, mean age 39±6 years). All the patients were in sinus rhythm and none had hypertension or coronary artery disease. Systolic myocardial velocity, early and late diastolic velocities were measured in the basal lateral segment and basal interventricular septum from the apical four-chamber views. Results: Left ventricular dimensions, ejection fraction, end-diastolic and end-systolic diameters, and fractional shortening of the left ventricle were similar in all the groups. Patients with MS had significantly decreased peak systolic myocardial velocities in both the lateral wall and interventricular septum of the left ventricle. In addition, early diastolic velocity and the ratio of early/late diastolic velocities were significantly lower. E-wave deceleration time and late diastolic myocardial velocities were similar in three groups. Peak systolic myocardial velocities were significantly correlated with mitral valve areas measured at the septum (r=0.57, p<0.01) and the lateral wall (r=0.48, p<0.01) of the left ventricle. Conclusion: Our results show that, despite the presence of seemingly normal findings on standard echocardiography, TDI may provide evidence for left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with MS, representing early signs of myocardial abnormality.
Why Higher Takeover Premia Protect Minority Shareholders

Posttakeover moral hazard by the acquirer and free‐riding by the target shareholders lead the former to acquire as few sharcs as necessary to gain control. As moral hazard is most severe under such low ownership concentration, inefficiencies arise in successful takeovers. Moreover, share supply is shown to be upward‐sloping. Rules promoting ownership concentration limit both agency costs and the occurrence of takeovers. Furthermore, higher takeover premia induced by competition translate into higher ownership concen‐tration and are thus beneficial. Finally, one share‐one vote and simple majority are generally not optimal, and socially optimal rules need not emerge through private contracting.
Low-Cost Instrument for Tracing Current-Voltage Characteristics of Photovoltaic Modules

This paper presents a simple, robust and low-cost instrument for tracing currentand power-voltage characteristics of photovoltaic modules or low voltage strings using either an oscilloscope or a LabVIEW application developed for this purpose. It consists of a flexible electronic circuit, developed from a previous work, based on a fast varying load, built with a power MOSFET, which is controlled by means of a suitable gate-source voltage control signal in order to improve the tracing of currentand powervoltage characteristics on an oscilloscope. The new developments of this work include a low-cost DAQ system and an application developed in LabVIEW, which enhances the functionalities and flexibility of the current-voltage tracer. The robustness was strongly improved in view of field tests for fault diagnosis analysis. All details of the electronic circuit are shown in this paper and experimental results obtained with the new instrument are presented.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Dynamics of Chinese comparative advantage

We analyze the dynamics of Chinese comparative advantage as measured by export shares and the Balassa index using 3-digit and 4-digit sectors for the period 1970 – 1997. We use novel tools to identify periods of rapid structural change and the persistence of comparative advantage, such as Galtonian regressions, probability-probability (p-p) plots, and the Harmonic Mass index, to supplement the usual descriptive statistical methods and mobility indicators associated with Markov transition matrices.
ResourSim - Evaluating the end-user Device usage

The optimization of apps on nowadays mobile phones, tablets and smart watches is mainly done with the focus on the energy constraints, i.e., the device battery lifetime. For some applications, this is adverse to their requirements and use cases like for background communication apps without direct user interaction. The framework ResourSim, as proposed in this work, aims on evaluating and optimizing the usage of device resources regarding the requirements of background tasks and the human user. This is achieved by replaying usage traces from real humans and adding arbitrary background job usage patterns. Furthermore, it is evaluated, if a statistical battery model is suitable for reflecting the real battery behaviour in ResourSim.
Influence of cold–dry (harmattan) season on colonic temperature and the development of pulmonary hypertension in broiler chickens, and the modulating effect of ascorbic acid

: The influence of cold–dry (harmattan) season on colonic temperature (CT) and the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH), as well as the effect of ascorbic acid (AA), were investigated in Anak male broilers during the harmattan season (November–January) of 2010–2013. A total of 150 broiler chickens per season served as subjects. At the age of 4 weeks, the broilers were randomly divided into two groups consisting of three replicates of 25 birds each: group I, the control, was not administered AA; group II was AA-treated, administered with 200 mg/kg body weight of AA, every day at 7 am and 7 pm for a period of 3 weeks. The mortality rate and CT of the birds were recorded during the daytime and nighttime. Ten birds from each group were sacrificed at weeks 4, 5, 6, and 7 for the assessment of PH and ascites syndromes. The mean ambient temperature value of 24.3 ° C ± 0.1 ° C recorded in the daytime was higher ( P , 0.05) than the value of 17.2 ° C ± 0.1 ° C recorded during the nighttime. The average level of dust was 8.2 mg/m 3 . The control birds were hypothermic during the nighttime and had high mortality rates compared with the AA-treated birds. Broilers with obvious signs of ascites demonstrated a uniquely continuous increase in CT. At weeks 6 and 7 of age, 80% of the control broilers that were sacrificed exhibited an increase ( P , 0.05) in the weight of right ventricle to the weight of total ventricles, packed cell volume, and erythrocyte count with low hemoglobin content, which indicated PH syndrome. The remaining 20% of the control birds and those that died had ascites syndrome in addition to the PH syndrome. These syndromes were not observed in the AA-treated birds. In conclusion, the harmattan season induced PH in broilers with no obvious clinical signs; the harmattan may compromise the welfare, health, productivity, and meat quality of the birds, effects which were ameliorated by AA.
Impact Of The New Eu Novel Food And Feed Regulation On The Supply Chains For Animal Products

This communication examines how the new EU novel food and feed regulation would affect markets and trade in commodities, feed ingredients and animal products. Market and trade effects are derived from a multiregion, multicommodity, multistage, non-spatial, partial equilibrium model in which supply chains for animal products are segmented into GM and non-GM lines of products.
Design and Implementation of a Complex-conjugate Shaper and Baseline Restorer for a Silicon-based Neutron Detector Front-end

This thesis presents the design and implementation of a CMOS shaper with baseline restoration for use in the silicon-based neutron detector front-end to be used at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The system consists of a voltage-to-current (V-to-I) converter, a four-pole complex-conjugate semi-Gaussian current-input active filter, and a ground-sensing baseline restorer (BLR) operational transconductance amplifier (OTA). The first prototype chip Patara has been fabricated in the TSMC 0.35-micron process, and experimental results show that proper functionality was achieved. The shaper, which is influenced by a real pole prior to the V-to-I converter, has poles at approximately 2 MHz and approximates a Gaussian output shape for an input pulse with rise time near 20 nanoseconds. The output signal has a full-width half-maximum (FWHM) of around 270 nanoseconds and a settling time of 0.6 microseconds, allowing for a 1microsecond pulse-pair resolution. The shaper and baseline restorer have selectable polarity to accommodate input pulses of both polarities.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF Bacillus thuringiensis TOXINS : A

Structure-based protein engineering of Bacillus thuringiensis tS-endotoxins may direct the search for variants with broader susceptible species spectra, optimal potency, and stability properties. Here, we revised the more important characteristics of the Cry and Cyt proteins three-dimensional structure; it is possible to conclude that an obvious general model exists with specific properties according to its function and target organism.
Norm restricted maximum likelihood estimators for binary regression models with parametric link

Parametric link transformation families have shown to be useful in the analysis of binary regression data since they avoid thė problem of link misspecifaction. Inference for these models are commonly based on likelihood methods. Duffy and Santner (1988, 1989) however showed that ordinary logistic maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) have poor mean square error (MSE) behavior in small samples compared to alternative norm restricted estimators. This paper extends these alternative norm restricted estimators to binary regression models with any specified parametric link family. These extended norm restricted MLE's are strongly consistent and efficient under regularity conditions. Finally a simulation study shows that an empiric version of norm restricted MLE's exhibit superior MSE behavior in small samples compared to MLE's with fixed known link.
The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets - XXXVI. Planetary systems and stellar activity of the M dwarfs GJ 3293, GJ 3341, and GJ 3543

Context. Planetary companions of a fixed mass induce reflex motions with a larger amplitude around lower-mass stars, which adds to making M dwarfs excellent targets for extra-solar planet searches. The most recent velocimeters with a stability of similar to 1 m s(-1) can detect very low-mass planets out to the habitable zone of these stars. Low-mass small planets are abundant around M dwarfs, and most of the known potentially habitable planets orbit one of these cool stars. Aims. Our M-dwarf radial velocity monitoring with HARPS on the ESO 3.6 m telescope at La Silla observatory makes a major contribution to this sample. Methods. We present here dense radial velocity (RV) time series for three M dwarfs observed over similar to five years: GJ 3293 (0.42 M-circle dot), GJ 3341 (0.47 M-circle dot), and GJ 3543 (0.45 M-circle dot). We extracted these RVs through minimum (2)(X) -matching of each spectrum against a stack of all observed spectra for the same star that has a high signal-to-noise ratio. We then compared potential orbital signals against several stellar activity indicators to distinguish the Keplerian variations induced by planets from the spurious signals that result from rotational modulation of stellar surface inhomogeneities and from activity cycles. Results. Two Neptune-mass planets - m sin(i) = 1.4 +/- 0.1 and 1.3 +/- 0.1M\textlessINF\textgreaternept\textless/INF\textgreater - orbit GJ 3293 with periods P = 30.60 +/- 0.02 d and P = 123.98 +/- 0.38 d, possibly together with a super-Earth - m sin(i) similar to 7.9 +/- 1.4 M\textlessINF\textgreater& - with period P = 48.14 +/- 0.12 d. A super-Earth - m sin(i) similar to 6.1 M\textlessINF\textgreater& - orbits GJ 3341 with P = 14.207 +/- 0.007 d. The RV variations of GJ 3543, on the other hand, reflect its stellar activity rather than planetary signals.