Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Human Health Risk Assessment: A Critical Review

Concerns over the threats posed by a large number of molecules, collectively termed as endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and generally known to alter and disrupt hormone systems and physiological functions, have often been expressed in academic and scholarly debates. From the perspective of classical toxicology, EDCs have genomic mechanisms of actions and exert agonistic or antagonistic effects on steroid receptors. They are also able to alter reproductive function by binding to estrogen or androgen receptors, and the neuroendocrine system by binding to the thyroid receptor. Recently, EDCs have been shown to have equally complex nongenomic mechanisms, altering steroid synthesis or steroid metabolism. As environmental contaminants, these molecules proved disruptively harmful for many wildlife species, particularly those from or depending on the aquatic ecosystem. An increasingly growing body of research has voiced further concerns that human populations are not immune from the dangers of EDCs. Studies from this line of research caution that EDCs can alter hormonal balance and that a whole range of breast and prostate cancers, endometriosis, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias have been linked to exposure to EDCs. This particular area has raised a lot of controversy and the literature on this subject often presents opposing, and sometimes conflicting, perceptions and perspectives. Accordingly, the authors aimed to contribute to the committed academic search for better appreciation of the topic. They first discuss the major natural and synthetic chemicals with endocrine disrupting properties to which humans and wildlife may be exposed. They then describe the key endocrine mechanisms of action and conclude by addressing the main observed effects in human and wildlife populations.
Analisis work engagement karyawan frontline high-contact dan low-contact di industri jasa

Work engagement (positive working mind and emotion) in frontline employees (FLEs) plays an important role that will affect the capability of the organization in serving its customer. The goal of this research is to examine whether there were differences in the influence of service climate, job satisfaction, and affective commitment toward work engagement in high-contact and low-contact frontline employees in Jakarta and Tangerang; and whether there were influences of work engagement toward adaptability behavior as well as career commitment among high-contact and lowcontact frontline employees. Questionnaire is administered to 200 FLEs from multiple high and low contact service industries in Jakarta and Tangerang. Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) is used to test hypotheses. The author found there were almost no differences among high-contact and low-contact frontline employees except on the job satisfaction, where there was no significant influence toward work engagement in frontline low-contact employee which was in contrast with the frontline high-contact employee. This research will enrich the discourse on the relationship between job satisfaction and work engagement. This finding provides empirical evidence on a limited scale that in certain segmentation, especially for low-contact workers, job satisfaction did not have a positive influence on work engagement.
Using different body size measures can lead to different conclusions about the effects of climate change

Declining animal body size has been proposed as a general response to increasing global temperatures that should be observed across a broad biogeographical scale. However, published studies have shown large variation in both the magnitude and direction of body size trends. We aim to investigate how the way body size is measured (body mass, structural size, body condition) may contribute to differences in body size trends between studies.
Budget Committee and Intergovernmental Transfer: Evidence from South Korea

This paper revisits the claim that members of legislative committees direct more earmark spending to their constituents. In South Korea's legislature, a national law regulating the budget committee provides an unusual source of exogenous variation in membership: members of the committee are rotated each year owing to 1‐year term limits. Using data from 226 local governments, and both within‐district and within‐member variations in membership, we find that districts represented by a budget committee member secure roughly 3% more subsidies than those represented by a nonmember.
Cadmium Concentration in Grains of Japanese Wheat Cultivars : Genotypic Difference and Relationship with Agronomic Characteristics

The contamination of cadmium (Cd) into the food chain can be harmful because Cd causes chronic health problems. To evaluate the breeding potential reducing the Cd concentration in wheat grain, we compared Cd concentrations in 237 wheat genotypes including Japanese landraces, Japanese cultivars and introduced alien cultivars for breeding using grain samples collected from upland fields in 2004−5 and 2005−6 growing seasons. The Cd concentration in wheat grain significantly varied with the growing seasons and with the experimental fields. Cultivars bred in northern Japan, including the recent Japanese leading cultivar ‘Hokushin’, tended to have a low Cd concentration in grain compared with that bred in central and southern Japan. Simple correlation analysis between Cd concentration in grain and agronomic characteristics revealed that the Cd concentration in grain showed significant negative correlations with stem number, culm length and spikelet number per spike, and showed significant positive correlation with SPAD value (chlorophyll content) of flag leaf. Stepwise multipleregression analysis showed that the genotypic variation of Cd concentration in grain was associated with the culm length and spiklet number per spike. This study clarified the geographical pattern of genotypes with different Cd concentrations in grain in Japanese wheat cultivars. Cultivars originating from northern Japan may be useful genetic resources to develop cultivars with a low Cd concentration in grain to be grown in the areas where Cd accumulation in wheat grain is a problem.
Endüstriyel IoT Bulut Uygulamaları için Düşük Maliyetli Modbus/MQTT Ağ Geçidi Tasarımı ve Gerçekleştirilmesi

Gunumuzde, bulut teknolojileri endustriyel alanlarda kullanilan cihaz ve makinelerden toplanan verilerin gercek zamanli olarak takip edilmesinde onemli cozumler sunmaktadirlar. Sahada elde edilen verilerin bulut platformlarina aktarilabilmesi icin farkli turden ag gecitlerinden yararlanilmaktadir. Bu calismada endustriyel alanlarda kullanilabilecek dusuk guc tuketimine sahip, dusuk maliyetli nesnelerin interneti (Internet of Things, IoT) temelli bir ag gecidi prototipi tasarimi sunulmaktadir. Bulut platforma aktarilacak verilerin sahadan ag gecidi uzerine alinmasi icin endustriyel veri iletisiminde siklikla kullanilan Modbus protokolu kullanilmistir. Ag gecidinde toplanan verilerin bulut platformuna kablosuz ortamda aktarimini saglamak icin IoT uygulamalarinda sikca kullanilan Mesaj Kuyruk Telemetri Ulastirma Protokolu (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport, MQTT) protokolu kullanilmistir. Tasarlanan ag gecidi, veriler uzerinde farkliligi algilayabilecek bir algoritma ile programlanmistir. Verilerin hizli bir sekilde gorsellestirilmesi ve depolanmasi icin IBM Watson IoT Platformu tercih edilmistir. Ayrica calismada tasarlanan ag gecidinin performans analizi icin MQTT sunucusu olarak Mosquitto kullanilmistir. Deneysel test calismalarinda, farkli boyutlarda yuklere sahip veri mesajlarinin farkli seviyelerde servis kalitesinde (Quality of Service, QoS) uctan uca gecikme sureleri ve istatistiksel sonuclari verilmistir.
Status of an urban feral Red-Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) population in Sydney a decade on

Introduced species have made a major contribution to the degradation of aquatic wetlands throughout the world and particularly in Australia. One species, Red-Eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans, classified among the world's top 100 most invasive pest species, has established populations in Australia, most extensively in South-eastern Queensland. A decade ago a small established population was identified in a wetland in Southern Sydney in Yeramba Lagoon. We re-visited this population a decade on to determine its status and the impact on the two resident native freshwater turtle species, Chelodina longicollis Eastern Long Necked Turtle and Emydura macquarii dharuk Sydney Basin Turtle. We captured similar numbers of red-eared sliders as a decade before but increased number of the two native species. There was therefore no indication that the feral species was currently at a competitive advantage over the native species.
Prevalence of multidrug resistance and extended spectrum beta-lactamases among uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolates in a tertiary care hospital in South India: An alarming trend

Background and Aims: Escherichia coli is the most common etiological agent in both community acquired and hospital acquired urinary tract infections. Emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) among E. coli isolates is quite alarming. The aim of this study was to define the current prevalence of MDR and extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) production among E. coli isolates from urine samples in our hospital. Materials and Methods: Urine samples from 1225 patients were processed for wet mount followed by culture and sensitivity. All the samples were inoculated on to Hi Media Hi chrome agar plates (HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India) and growth showing significant bacteriuria (≥10 5 cfu/ml) were further identified by the standard biochemical procedures and antibiotic sensitivity done as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. Detection of ESBL was done by the combined disc method. Percentage of antibiotic resistance and sensitivity and Chi-square test were used. Results: Out of 1225 samples processed, significant bacterial isolates were obtained in 357 (29.1%). The total number of E. coli isolated were 179 (50.1%) of which multidrug resistant E. coli isolates were 148 (82.6%) and 71 (39.66%) were ESBL producers. High degree of resistance was observed to amoxycillin (93.2%) and amoxycillin-clavulanic acid (90.5%). More than 80% sensitivity was seen only to imipenem (98.4%), amikacin (83.3%) and nitrofurantoin (86.6%). Conclusion: Multidrug resistant strains of E. coli are widely prevalent in the community. Antibiotics like imipenem require hospitalization, parenteral administration, drug monitoring for toxicity, all of which incur high cost to the patient and have to be used judiciously.
Evaluation of inclusion of hay, dampened hay, and silage in receiving diets of newly weaned beef calves

ABSTRACT Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of receiving-diet roughage form and source on growth performance of newly received calves. Materials and Methods An oat crop was harvested as hay or silage and fed as oat hay (OH), dampened oat hay (OHW; 4:1 hay:water), or oat silage (SIL) as the roughage source in soybean hull–based receiving diets to 7-mo-old steer calves across 2 yr (replicates per treatment: yr 1 = 6; yr 2 = 7). Results and Discussion No differences in cumulative ADG (P = 0.24) or G:F (P = 0.47) were observed, but OH steers consumed less DM (P = 0.02) in yr 1. Cumulatively, no differences in ADG were observed in yr 2 (P = 0.21); however, SIL-fed steers consumed less DM (P Implications and Applications Oat forage in silage form did not adversely affect acceptance of receiving diets for calves, and forage as silage resulted in more uniform feed mixing.
Geographical displacement and timing of molt of the remiges in male Wood Ducks

Captive wild-strain male Wood Ducks, Aix sponsa, reared in Mississippi and transported to Michigan and Illinois in 1993 and 1994 were used to test the effect of geographical displacement and age on timing of molt of the remiges. Males transported to both northern sites initiated remex molt later (P = 0.0001) in 1993 than males remaining in Mississippi. In 1994, males continued to molt later at northern sites than in Mississippi, but earlier molting at both northern sites in 1994 than in 1993 resulted in no detectable differences (P = 0.31) in molting date. Although there were no differences (P > 0.05) in date of remex molt between adult and yearling males in 1992 and 1993, molt occurred earlier (P = 0.0006) each year for birds remaining in Mississippi during 1992–1994. Timing of remex molt in male Wood Ducks may be influenced by photoperiodic, environmental, and social cues associated with geographical displacement, but other factors (e.g., genetics) may also influence annual timing.
An Object-Based Bidirectional Method for Integrated Building Extraction and Change Detection between Multimodal Point Clouds

Building extraction and change detection are two important tasks in the remote sensing domain. Change detection between airborne laser scanning data and photogrammetric data is vulnerable to dense matching errors, mis-alignment errors and data gaps. This paper proposes an unsupervised object-based method for integrated building extraction and change detection. Firstly, terrain, roofs and vegetation are extracted from the precise laser point cloud, based on “bottom-up” segmentation and clustering. Secondly, change detection is performed in an object-based bidirectional manner: Heightened buildings and demolished buildings are detected by taking the laser scanning data as reference, while newly-built buildings are detected by taking the dense matching data as reference. Experiments on two urban data sets demonstrate its effectiveness and robustness. The object-based change detection achieves a recall rate of 92.31% and a precision rate of 88.89% for the Rotterdam dataset; it achieves a recall rate of 85.71% and a precision rate of 100% for the Enschede dataset. It can not only extract unchanged building footprints, but also assign heightened or demolished labels to the changed buildings.
Robustness Improvement of Single-Phase Inverters Under Weak Grid Cases by Adding Grid Current Feedforward in Delay-Based Phase-Locked Loop

For inverters, a phase-locked loop (PLL) is usually needed for the grid synchronization. Typically, for the single-phase inverters, the orthogonal-signal-generators based PLLs (e.g., delay-based PLL) can be used. However, if the grid at the point of common coupling (PCC) exhibits a large grid impedance, the inverter may not work well or even be unstable. In order to work satisfactorily in the very weak grid, this study aims to formulate a robust PLL. At first, by modeling the inverter output impedance and considering the frequency coupling effect, the stability of the typical delay-based PLL has been analyzed and the reason for the performance degradation has been explained. Then, based on analyzing the differences of PLL blocks under different PCC conditions, the robust PLL with the grid current feedforward is discussed. Compared with the typical PLL, the improvement of the system behaviors in the weak grid cases is mainly attributed to the extra term on the numerator of output impedance, which is introduced by the current feedforward of the proposed PLL. The selection of control parameters has been emphasized for maintaining the high robustness. At last, selected comparative waveforms have verified that the single-phase inverter can perform well even with the large grid impedance, without the grid impedance estimation.
Can Companies Survive a Multi-Brand Crisis? Research on Consumer Scapegoating

Compared with single-brand crises, multi-brand crises have broader and deeper influence. However, there is only a limited amount of research regarding this field, especially for the phenomenon of consumer scapegoating. This research aims to further explore the consumer scapegoating effect and its psychological mechanism in the context of a multi-brand crisis. Through two experimental studies, this research discusses the influence of a multi-brand crisis and also the emergence of a scapegoat brand on two brand categories, the crisis brand category and the competing brand category. Furthermore, the current research also explores the mechanism of the consumer scapegoating effect. Results show that when a multi-brand crisis happens, consumer brand trust in the crisis brand category decreases because of assimilation, and consumer brand trust in the competing brand category increases because of contrast effect. Besides, from the perspective of the crisis brand category, the emergence of a scapegoat brand could be treated by consumers as a signal that the crisis is over, especially for a severe crisis. Results also support that cognitive dissonance mediates the process that the emergence of a scapegoat brand leads to an increase in consumer brand trust in the crisis brand category and a decrease of consumer brand trust in the competing brand category.
Developing ORYZA 1N for Medium- and Long-Duration Rice: Variety Selection under Nonwaterstress Conditions

There is a need to increase the rice production in nonwaterstressed rice-growing areas during the wet season in Asia by the use of a suitable combination of a medium- or long-duration variety and appropriate nutrient management strategy. The crop growth simulation model ORYZA 1N was used for variety selection and N optimization in nonwaterstress conditions. Selection was made from 12 released rice varieties of 115 to 150 d duration. The model was calibrated using input data from field experiments that were conducted during the wet season (June–November) of 2001 at the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack, India. In the medium-duration varieties (115–130 d), there was good agreement between simulated and observed leaf area index, biomass, and grain yield. The simulated biomass of longduration varieties (135–150 d) showed large deviation from observed biomass at flowering. In the wet season of 2000, the model accurately predicted the grain yield, biomass, and leaf area index of medium- and long-duration varieties. When the ORYZA 1N model was used to simulate the effect of planting dates on rice yield, it predicted the decline in yield with late planting. It was recommended that farmers consider planting new variety Ranjit in the favorable lowlands that do not have water stress during the wet season and should apply 80 kg N ha 21 in four equal splits at transplanting, active tillering, panicle initiation, and flowering. Technology verification trials of this practice conducted during the wet season of 2002 produced 5.51 Mg ha 21 of rice, compared with 4.36 Mg ha 21 grown with the conventional practices of area farmers.
Trends and variability of precipitation extremes in the Peruvian Altiplano (1971–2013)

Precipitation extremes have been investigated throughout the last decades in different regions of the Andes. However, little attention has been paid to the Altiplano region (Central Andes), especially to the Peruvian Altiplano (PA) that represents a complex area and is highly vulnerable to extreme events, such as floods and droughts, driven by the strong variability of precipitation. This study focuses on the analysis of 11 extreme precipitation indices (EPIs) in the period 1971–2013. In this context, commonly used statistical trend and break analyses were applied and a false discovery procedure was used in order to reduce the number of artificial significant tests. Additionally, the relative dominance of precipitation frequency and intensity in interannual precipitation datasets was determined. Finally, the correlation between EPIs and six oceanic‐atmospheric indices were analysed. The results indicate that there is no significant global trend towards wet or dry conditions in the PA, although a signal of a more slightly decrease of precipitation is presented in the Southern PA. Additionally, interannual variability of total precipitation is mainly dominated by precipitation frequency. The Central Tropical Pacific sea surface temperature plays a major role for the maximum and average length of wet periods as well as for total precipitation. This finding is particularly relevant for the southwestern PA. Our results have important implications for risk management and adaptation planning related to extreme hydrological events in the PA.
Quantifying the Economic Cost of Reducing GHG Emissions through Changes in Household Demand: A Linear Multi-Sectoral Approach for European Countries

The mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions can be approached in various ways: from the supply side, by using improvements in technologies and input uses; and from the changes in the demand for products, by influencing consumer behavior to achieve a more sustainable consumption pattern. Either way it can be approached using multi-sectoral data based on an input–output or on a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) framework, although a suitable database and the proposal of appropriate indicators are needed. A suitable database is developed through the estimation of new SAMs for the latest possible period, that of year 2015. This paper focuses on the demand approach: that of changes in the demand for products. It analyzes the different impacts among activities and commodities of a change in domestic household consumption patterns, compares the potential reductions in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions obtained through the reduction of specific demands, and considers the consequent reduction in output and employment. For this purpose, a linear multi-sectoral analysis is employed that focuses on the main EU member states. Despite major differences between countries, the results show that a decrease in emissions through demand-reduction policies exerts greater negative effects on those less polluting sectors with a higher intensity in the labor force, and offers a more suitable option for those highly polluting sectors with a lower concentration of the work factor. Richer countries that are based on service sectors therefore suffer a sharper drop in employment using this kind of policy.
The status of the swallowtail butterfly in Britain

1 Since the early 1950s, when the British swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon britannicus) became extinct at Wicken Fen, this subspecies has been confined to marshes around the Norfolk Broads. Here too, however, its abundance appears to be declining. 2 The ecology of the butterfly has been studied in Norfolk and at Wicken (by small‐scale introductions) and the main factors determining its abundance are described. 3 A morphometric study of museum specimens has shown that populations of the butterfly in Norfolk and at Wicken differed in a number of size and shape characters. These differences were most marked between 1890 and 1920, but subsequently were almost lost. 4 Studies of the status and performance of the butterfly's food plant, Peucedanum palustre have shown that it is smaller, produces less seed, and is shorter‐lived at Wicken than in Norfolk. 5 In the light of these findings, the possibility of successfully re‐establishing the butterfly at Wicken, and the possible causes of the decline of the species in Norfolk are discussed.