Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spermatozoa of Chondrostean Fish Species: Structure, Motility and Fertilzing Ability

University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, Vodnany 389 25, Czech Republic. Fax +42-387774634 e-mail: linhart@vurh.jcu. cz Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, Wuhan, Hubei, China Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Pereyaslavskaya str. , 23, 61015 Kharkov, Ukraine Institute of Biotechnology AS CR, 142 20 Prague, Czech Republic Station Marine, CNRS, UMR 7009, 06230 Villefranche sur Mer, France Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research PAS, Tuwima 10, 10-747 Olsztyn, Poland
Soil strength from geophysical measurements for soft clays

Copyright i? ½ 2015 by the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE). Knowledge of seabed soils is essential if offshore and nearshore structures are to be safely designed and properly built. A large part of the commercial and operational risk involved relates to uncertainties about the soil properties at the site. It is therefore important to perform sufficient investigation to evaluate these risks thoroughly. Geophysical surveys are required to understand the nature and characteristics of the seabed. Site specific correlations between soil strength and various geophysical measurements can be developed, but a controlled laboratory study is required to highlight variability in these correlations for a range of geotechnical material. This work presents the development of a framework for correlating sediment strength, undrained shear strength, for soft clays to geophysical measurements, primarily shear wave and body wave velocities. Small strain measurements using elastic waves provide valuable soil information without altering the soil fabric. The small strain shear modulus (Gmax) is an indicator of many soil properties such as density, soil stiffness, sample disturbance, and can be calculated using the shear wave velocity (Vs) values measured by bender elements. Influence of variables such as soil density, confining stress, and stress history on shear modulus are also examined.
A Study on the Impact of Airline Corporate Reputation on Brand Loyalty

This study analyzes the impact of airline corporate reputation on brand loyalty. An empirical analysis is carried out via a questionnaire survey of Korean airline passengers. The results from 250 respondents are then investigated using structural equation modeling. Airline corporate reputation is shown to have a significant influence on brand image, price, perceived service quality, and brand preference. In addition, price, perceived service quality, and brand preference have a statistically significant influence on behavioral loyalty and attitudinal loyalty.
Forward Sensitivity Approach to Dynamic Data Assimilation

The least squares fit of observations with known error covariance to a strong-constraint dynamical model has been developed through use of the time evolution of sensitivity functions—the derivatives of model output with respect to the elements of control (initial conditions, boundary conditions, and physical/empirical parameters). Model error is assumed to stem from incorrect specification of the control elements. The optimal corrections to control are found through solution to an inverse problem. Duality between this method and the standard 4D-Var assimilation using adjoint equations has been proved. The paper ends with an illustrative example based on a simplified version of turbulent heat transfer at the sea/air interface.
USE OF EXPLICIT FILTERING , SECOND-ORDER SCHEME AND SGS MODELS IN LES OF TURBULENT CHANNEL FLOW

In large eddy simulations (LES) using low-order finite-difference-type methods, the numerical error can be large in comparison to the effect of the sub-grid scale (SGS) model. In this paper, we study two approaches to explicit filtering which can reduce the numerical error involved. In the first approach, the non-linear convection term of the Navier–Stokes equations is filtered explicitly, and in the second one, the small-scale shear stress is devided into sub-filter (SFS) and sub-grid (SGS) components, and filtering is provided via the model. The aims are to clarify the effect of SGS modelling in the first approach and to compare the two approaches. For SGS and SFS modelling, the standard and dynamic Smagorinsky models and the scale-similarity model are applied. When the convection term is filtered explicitly, the effect of modelling on the simulation results reduces and differences between the models are rather small. Filtering with a smooth three-dimensional filter has a strong effect on the flow statistics, and none of the models is able to compensate for this. Although the high frequencies are damped efficiently, the total simulation error does not decrease. When filtering is provided only via modelling, improved results are obtained if both SGS and SFS modelling are applied. However in this approach, all terms in the equations do not have the same frequency content, and the high frequencies that are badly described by the discrete gird are not damped as efficiently as when the convection term is explicitly filtered.
What are markers for breast cancer stem cells

Breast cancer stem cells were firstly discovered by Al-Hajj et al. (2003). Many scientists interested in targeting them as an important solution to "remove" the root of breast cancer. However, more and more publications showed that breast cancer stem cells are the heterogenous population that expression of some markers can be different between them. Particularly, some different markers were considered as markers of breast cancer stem cells. Therefore, what are gold standards of these cells? In this publication, we discussed some conflicts about markers of breast cancer stem cells and suggested some gold standards for breast cancer stem cells.
Some Effects of English Loanword Adaptation into SiLozi

This study under linguistics, sought to examine the Morphophonological effects of the English loanword adaptation into SiLozi a lingua franca of the Western province of Zambia which is a media of instruction in grades one to three for systematisation. Like many African languages, SiLozi does not have the potential to give equivalents to words of English origin unless through borrowing. Schools being the pivot of development, there was an inconsistency in the same education system concerning the adaptation of English loanwords. The study was carried out in selected primary schools of Mongu district in Zambia. The data were collected with the use of voice recorders during on-going lessons for grades one to three in Creative and Technology Studies, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and in SiLozi subjects in order to capture all English loanwords used in the SiLozi medium of instruction. The main results revealed that feature changing, deletion, insertion and metathesis phonological rules were applied on the English terms in order to nativise them.
SOLVING THE QUESTION OF WHETHER TO OUTSOURCE OR NOT TO OUTSOURCE ROUNDWOOD TRANSPORTATION FUNCTION BASED ON THE TRANSACTION COST THEORY

In these days of leaner management stuff and tight budgets, the basic questions for both Finnish forest industry companies and in-house transportation contractors are: When do you outsource your transportation function, and when do your transportation entrepreneurs work internally? The more difficult part of the answer depends on how large your company is, the nature of your logistics/technologies, and how you operate internally. The transportation entrepreneurs felt that the most interesting form of outsourcing would be the formation of a joint venture responsible for sales and marketing of their services. Then each shareholder in the joint venture would sign their own contracts with the venture to share the work. However, entrepreneurs thought that extended-responsibility contracting (i.e., taking on internally responsibility for more duties related to transportation of wood) was only a way to transfer the customer's planning duties and wood-procurement responsibilities (as well as the associated costs) to the entrepreneurs without providing adequate compensation. If the aim is outsourcing the roundwood transportation function, decision-makers in the Finnish forest industry should modify the current working environment so that larger, more organized consortia of timber suppliers would become more profitable than they presently are.
Exploring the skills, knowledge and attitudes of successful female entrepreneurs in Ghana

Article history: Received September 28, 2012 Received in revised format 19 November 2012 Accepted 20 November 2012 Available online November 27 2012 The Indigenous Ghanaian woman entrepreneur, this study found exhibits many similarities with their counterparts in other countries in terms of their personality traits. However, they differed in other aspects such as their educational backgrounds and modes of entrepreneurial skills acquisition. Through their entrepreneurial activities the women have made substantial contributions to the economic growth of Ghana in terms of innovation, job creation, and reduction in poverty and unemployment. Using a survey methodology, this study concludes that to succeed as a female entrepreneur in Ghana, one requires some specific knowledge, skills and attitudes. © 2013 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
The PERMA well-being model and music facilitation practice: Preliminary documentation for well-being through music provision in Australian schools

The aim of this study was to consider how we can invest in music-making to promote well-being in school contexts. Web-based data collection was conducted where researchers identified 17 case studies that describe successful music programs in schools in Australia. The researchers aligned content from these case studies into the five categories of the PERMA well-being model: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment, in order to understand how each well-being element was realised through the music programs. The results indicate that the element of the PERMA well-being model that relates to relationships was described most often. Collaboration and partnership between students, teachers, and staff in schools, and local people in the community such as parents, local entrepreneurs, and musicians were repeatedly identified as a highly significant contributing factor in the success of the music program. The school leaders’ roles in providing opportunities for students to experience musical participation and related activities (engagement) and valuing these experiences (meaning) were also crucial in the facilitation of the music programs. The findings of this study indicate that tailored music and relationship-centred music programs in schools not only increase skills and abilities of the students, but also improve the psychosocial well-being of the students and the community.
Impact of Financial Leverage on Firms’ Profitability: An Investigation from Cement Sector of Pakistan

This research is an attempt to establish a stochastic relationship between Financial leverage and Profitability of cement sector operating in Pakistan. For this purpose 18 cement manufacturers out of 21 are incorporated in the study and six years annual data from 2005 to 2010 regarding financial leverage and profitability of the said firms were taken into consideration. The sample size for eighteen firms for six years consists of 108 observations. An Ordinary Least Square model is applied on the data to establish a causal relationship between the variables. The study finds that financial leverage has a statistically significant inverse impact on profitability at 99% confidence interval.
Airway Obstruction and Inducible NO Synthase (iNOS)

Thus, new therapies that target the symptoms of asthma are urgently needed. An increasing number of conflicting reports have demonstrated detrimental, protective, and sometimes neutral roles of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) in the pathogenesis of asthma [6]. However, it is unquestionably established that iNOS is expressed in lungs of asthmatic individuals with a subsequent production of NO and generation of the reactive metabolite ONOO [7,8].
Traces of charge density waves in NbS 2

Among transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD), NbS 2 is often considered as the archetypal compound that does not have a charge density wave (CDW) in any of its polytypes. By comparison, close isoelectronic compounds such as NbSe 2 , TaS 2 , and TaSe 2 all have CDW in at least one polytype. Here we report traces of CDW in the 2H polytype of NbS 2 , using diffuse x-ray scattering measurements at 77 K and room temperature. We observe 12 extremely weak satellite peaks located at ±13.9 • from a * and b * around each Bragg peak in the (h,k,0) plane. These satellite peaks are commensurate with the lattice via 3 q − − q = = a * , where q is the 120 • rotation of q, and define two √ 13 a × √ 13 a superlattices in real space. These commensurate wave vectors and tilt angle are identical to those of the CDW observed in the 1T polytype of TaS 2 and TaSe 2. To understand this similarity and the faintness of the peaks, we discuss possible sources of local 1T polytype environment in bulk 2H-NbS 2 crystals.
Capabilities and Levels of Supply Chain Integration in Malaysian SMEs: A Preliminary Analysis

The purpose of this study is to analyse a preliminary data through the descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and reliability test. The analysis is based on a quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey from a total of 135 Malaysian SMEs’ manufacturing companies. This analysis reveals a good result of EFA, and reliability test. The most critical limitation of this study is its narrow focused on the manufacturing sector in Malaysian SMEs, thus, preventing the generalisation to other sectors and also to other countries that may gain the benefits from the responsiveness of both capabilities and levels of supply chain integration. Also, this study may contribute to the body of knowledge by providing new data and empirical insights into the relationship between CCC, SCOC, levels of supply chain integration, and business performance in Malaysian SMEs.
Drought Leads to Collapse of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Populations Reintroduced to the Chihuahuan Desert

Abstract Recently, a conservation strategy developed to restore populations of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) suggested reintroducing animals into the Chihuahuan Desert grasslands of the southwestern United States. Rainfall in desert habitats is lower and more variable compared to rainfall near the center of the prairie dog's range. Additionally, peak rainfall comes months after prairie dogs reproduce in these desert systems. Thus, southwestern populations may be less prolific and fluctuate more than those found in northerly climes. Using mark–recapture and mark–resight techniques, we estimated reproduction and monthly survival from 577 individuals inhabiting 6 reintroduced colonies from 2003 to 2005 in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. During 2003 precipitation was 64% of the long-term average, whereas both 2004 and 2005 had near-average precipitation. Probability that a female became pregnant, number of juvenile prairie dogs emerging from maternity burrows, and date of emergence were all correlated to adult female body mass. Adult monthly survival decreased from >0.95 during spring to 0.70 in summer 2003, following a rapid loss in adult body mass that coincided with low precipitation. In 2003 monthly juvenile survival was near zero on 2 of the 3 largest colonies and growth rates of juveniles were half that of subsequent years. Estimated population size declined by 68% (range = 18–91%) from 2003 to 2004, and 5 of 6 populations declined an average of 75% from their original introduction size. Prairie dog populations in desert environs may have a high risk of extirpation caused by weather patterns indicative of desert climates. Our results are important for those managers involved in the conservation of prairie dogs and we suggest that regional differences should be carefully considered prior to any reintroduction effort.
Demystifying Nonparticipation in Microfinance: Case for Bangladesh

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors affecting nonparticipation of the rural poor in MFIs in Bangladesh. To this aim, the study investigated the measurement and predictive structure of decomposed multiple components of attitudes (fear and preference), subjective norms reference (religious leaders, spouse and friends) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) (resources, knowledge and illness) in the domain of microfinance and its nonparticipation. The study postulated eight factors from the microfinance literature which are modeled together in examining nonparticipation of the rural poor in MFIs in Bangladesh. Data were collected based on stratified random sampling procedure through face to face interview from the respondents of 280 nonparticipating rural poor from six major areas of Bangladesh. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) along with AMOS was employed in analyzing data. Among the eight variables only four variables such as fear of getting into risk of loan, individual preference of taking loan, insufficient resources and ill-health or vulnerability to crises were appeared statistically significant for influencing the poor villagers’ intention to participation in MFIs in rural arena. Besides, intention and all the three constructs of PBC were found statistically significant to directly influence the participation behavior of the rural poor in Bangladesh. Keywords : Microfinance, MFIs, Barriers of participation, Rural poor, Bangladesh
Effect of reef framework and bottom sediment on nutrient enrichment in a coral reef of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea

Inorganic nutrients and chlorophyll a concentrations were measured bi-weekly in a transect across a coral reef in the Gulf of Aqaba over a period of 1 yr. The nutrient and chlorophyll concentrations were compared to those in adjacent offshore waters (400 m depth). In reef and off- shore waters, nutrient (ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and silicate) and chlorophyll a data showed seasonal changes, with high concentrations in winter and low concentrations in summer. However, throughout the summer, nutrient concentrations in the coral reef waters significantly exceeded those in the offshore waters, while this difference was less pronounced in winter. This dif- ference was caused by nutrient release from regenerative spaces in the reef framework and coral sand. In the reef framework water (i.e. cavity water), nutrient concentrations were 1.2- to 2.3-fold higher than those in the surrounding waters, corresponding to fluxes of 14.5 mmol m -2 d -1 for ammo- nium, 7.7 mmol m -2 d -1 for nitrate, 0.9 mmol m -2 d -1 for nitrite, and 1.3 mmol m -2 d -1 for phosphate. In the less permeable reef sediments, nutrient concentrations exceeded those of the free-stream waters by factors of 15 to 80. Here, the calculated diffusive fluxes were 0.06 mmol m -2 d -1 for ammonium, 0.03 mmol m -2 d -1 for nitrate, 0.01 mmol m -2 d -1 for nitrite, 0.01 mmol m -2 d -1 for phosphate, and 0.07 mmol m -2 d -1 for silicate. Our results highlight the importance of the reef framework and coral sand for the trapping and mineralization of particulate organic matter and the regeneration of nutrients in oligotrophic coral reef waters.
Are Historical Biogeographical Events Able to Promote Biological Diversification

One of the goals of evolutionary biology is understanding how biological diversifica - tion change across spatial and temporal scales. Theoretically, it has been established that external (i.e., dispersals) and internal (i.e., origin of a key innovations) factors can modulate shifts in rates of species diversification. However, the role of historical events as trigger of species diversification rates have not been well understood in empirical studies. I reviewed the literature linking historical biogeographic events and species diversification in many groups. Many of studies conclude that dispersals can be associ - ated with exceptional changes in species diversification rates in insular and mainland areas. I discuss the limitations of some approaches used to discover the link between historical biogeography and macroevolution. I propose some predictions under biogeographic scenarios to gain understanding in how historical events promote biological diversification. I suggest that future studies linking biogeography and macroevolution should incorporate ecologically-relevant traits to discern the mechanisms underlying these historical associations. Although new developments in phylogenetic comparative methods have been done, still is necessary more traditional field-based ecological and evolutionary research. The link between biogeography and diversification still remains narrative and a comprehensive approach is necessary to establish how diversification was triggered by historical events. a review of studies evaluating the link between biogeographical events and biological diversification. For biogeographical events, I to dispersal and vicariance, competing hypotheses in historical biogeography years 60]. Dispersal refers to movements of a lineage to a new region geographical (or ecological) barrier. Vicariance refers to the fragmentation of an ancestral geographical range and the emergence of geographical (or ecological) barriers. Here, I first discuss how these two biogeographical events can promote shifts in species diversifi cation (e.g., increases in speciation rates or decreases in extinction rates) or diversification dynamics (from time-dependent to density-dependent cladogenesis). Also, I discuss some limitations of methods used to discover this historical link. I establish some basic specific predictions about the expected evolutionary trajectories of ecologically relevant traits under a dispersal or vicariance scenario and how these predictions might be tested using phylogenetic comparative methods. Finally, I provide some possible avenues for an integration of
Hepatic resection for two giant hepatocellular carcinoma after oral direct-acting antiviral therapy: Is there a relationship?

Introduction: Direct-acting antiviral drugs have been recently introduced for management of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Those medications have achieved a dramatic improvement of sustained virologic response (SVR) reaching almost 90%. However, reports regarding the increased risk of occurrence or recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic HCV patients who achieved SVR after direct-acting antiviral drugs are controversial.Methods: We report two cases of giant HCCs complicating chronic HCV infection after direct-acting antiviral drugs-based therapies and were managed by major hepatic resection.Results: Two male patients with chronic HCV infection received several regimens oral direct acting antiviral drugs with a SVR for 3 and 6 months, respectively. They complained of progressive right hypochondrial pain and abdominal enlargement. Two large HCCs were diagnosed (16.2 cm * 17.6 cm * 16.9 cm, and 18 cm * 13 cm * 16.5 cm in dimensions) with markedly elevated serum alpha feto-protein (36,000 and 7,000 ng/ml, respectively). Due to the presence of adequate residual liver volume, the decision was to proceed for surgical resection. Central hepatectomy and extended right hemi-hepatectomy were performed, respectively. Patients had smooth postoperative course and were discharged after 10 and 9 days, respectively.Conclusion: The relationship between direct-acting antiviral drugs and HCC is controversial. Those cases add support to the accumulating literature suggesting the relationship of HCC development in chronic HCV patients receiving direct-acting antiviral drugs. Further prospective studies with adequate long term follow up are needed to prove or disprove this relationship.