Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Population divergence in chemical signals and the potential for premating isolation between islet‐ and mainland populations of the Skyros wall lizard (Podarcis gaigeae)

When sexually selected traits diverge because of different local selective environments, premating isolation might arise as a correlated response. However, sexually selected traits might also diverge by stochastic forces. Here, we show that odour‐based mate preferences and scent composition have diverged between islet‐ and mainland populations of Skyros wall lizard, Podarcis gaigeae. We quantified the degree of scent‐mediated premating isolation between populations. Islet lizards preferred scent from islet lizards, whereas the mainland populations were less discriminatory. The pheromone compositions differed more between islets than between islet‐ and mainland populations and did not differ significantly between mainland populations. There was a tendency for population divergence in pheromones to be positively correlated with neutral genetic divergence. This might indicate a role for genetic drift in evolutionary change in these signals and partial decoupling between signals and preferences. Our results suggest that chemical signals and associated mate preferences can diverge through stochastic and selective forces and influence premating isolation.
Vertical jump in female and male volleyball players: a review of observational and experimental studies

The main purpose of this article was to review a series of studies (n=32; 24 observational and eight experimental) examining vertical jump (VJ) performances in female and male volleyball players. The main findings of this review are (a) players of better performing teams have higher VJ values; (b) strength and conditioning programs that emphasize plyometric training can increase VJ performance; and (c) it is important to continue conditioning sessions throughout the season in order to maintain VJ performance. Three research limitations associated with the testing protocols and the strength and conditioning programs used in the studies were outlined: (a) the use of multiple testing protocols; (b) lack of experimental studies; and (c) lack of data on the effect of VJ performance on achieving success in actual games. Four recommendations for volleyball and strength and conditioning coaches were given: (a) Plyometric training should be included in the annual training program; (b) Interruptions in the conditioning program during the season should be avoided; (c) Overtraining during the pre‐season should be avoided; and (d) VJ performance should be tested throughout the entire season.
The Strategy for Predicting Future Exacerbation of Asthma Using a Combination of the Asthma Control Test and Lung Function Test

Background. Various factors have been reported to be useful for predicting future exacerbations. Objective. This study was intended to determine a usefulness of a combination of a patient-based questionnaire, such as the Asthma Control Test (ACT) score with objective assessments, such as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and/or exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), for predicting future exacerbations in adult asthmatics. Methods. We therefore enrolled 78 subjects with mild to moderate asthma, who were clinically stable for 3 months who all had been regularly receiving inhaled steroid treatment. All subjects underwent a routine assessment of asthma control including the ACT score, spirometry, and FENO, and then were followed up until a severe exacerbation occurred. The predictors of an increased risk of severe exacerbation were identified and validated using decision trees based on a classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. The properties of the developed models were the evaluated with the area under the ROC curve (AUC) (95% confidence interval [CI]). Results. The CART analysis automatically selected the variables and cut-off points, the ACT score ≤23 and FEV1 ≤ 91.8%, with the greatest capacity for discriminating future exacerbations within one year or not. When the probalility was calculated by the likelihood ratio of a positive test (LP), the ACT score ≤23 was identified with a 60.3% probability, calculated by 1.82 of LP, whereas the combined ACT score ≤23 and the percentage of predicted FEV1 ≤ 91.8% were identified with an 85.0% probability, calculated by an LP score of 5.43, for predicting future exacerbation. Conclusion. These results demonstrated that combining the ACT score and percentage of predicted FEV1, but not FENO, can sufficiently stratify the risk for future exacerbations within one year.
Automated quantitative determination of hepatitis C virus viremia by reverse transcription-PCR

An automated reverse transcription-PCR was developed for the quantitative detection of hepatitis C virus. The quantitation is based on the coamplification and labelling with digoxigenin-dUTP during PCR of two similar templates, the viral genome and a modified RNA which acts as a mimic target. Known amounts of the mimic RNA sequence were introduced into the clinical samples. The automated quantitation of the two coamplified and labelled products depends on the use of two biotinylated caputre probes which are complementary, respectively, to a deleted sequence and to an inserted sequence introduced by site-directed mutagenesis in a wild viral cloned cDNA. This method proved to be simple, reproducible, and useful for quantitate hepatitis C virus viremia in chronically infected patients. This easy-to-perform, automated assay could also be used for the accurate determination of human immunodeficiency virus viremia or other RNA molecules.
Traditional and market food access in Arctic Canada is affected by economic factors

Abstract Objectives. This study aimed to evaluate the access that Indigenous women have to traditional and market foods in 44 communities across Arctic Canada. Study design. This secondary data analysis used a cross-sectional survey of 1771 Yukon First Nations, Dene/Métis and Inuit women stratified by age. Methods. Socio-cultural questionnaires were used to investigate food access and chi-square testing was used to ascertain the distribution of subject responses by age and region. Results. There was considerable regional variation in the ability to afford adequate food, with between 40% and 70% saying they could afford enough food. Similarly, regional variation was reflected in the percentage of the population who could afford, or had access to, hunting or fishing equipment. Up to 50% of the responses indicated inadequate access to fishing and hunting equipment, and up to 46% of participants said they could not afford to go hunting or fishing. Conclusions. Affordability of market food and accessibility to hunting and fishing in Arctic Canada were major barriers to Indigenous women’s food security. (Int J Circumpolar Health 2006: 65(4): 331–340. )
Beyond Psychosis Risk: Early Clinical Phenotypes in Mental Disorder and the Subthreshold Pathway to Safe, Timely and Effective Care

tion of ‘normality’. It is challenging to rigidly define the boundary between this ‘normality’ and the earliest clinical phenotypes of mental disorder with a need for care. A key question is how critical or feasible it is to create such a precise definition. Both contributors to the current debate in Psychopathology agree that the ultra-high risk concept has been a genuine advance, one which justifies its inclusion in the DSM-5 at least as a condition requiring further study. In my view, Carpenter [3] has dealt effectively with most of the arguments against its full inclusion, which generally relate to the poor quality and resourcing of mental health care rather than the validity of the approach. We know, as Nelson [4] points out, that the universal neglect of mental health care, and particularly the failure to fund psychosocial care, will often lead to premature treatment with medications as well as potentially enhancing stigma through late intervention in tertiary settings. However, the latter, as we know from our experience in Australia, are problems that can be solved [5] . Furthermore, these genuine fears of overtreatment and harm need to be balanced against the current reality of undertreatment, which is the norm. The case for full inclusion, however, was probably undermined not so much by the poor reliability found in the flawed field trial, but by the reducing The past two decades have witnessed a genuine paradigm shift, which has enabled the earliest clinical phenotypes of psychotic illness to be defined, and for the prediction and indicated prevention of fully-fledged psychotic disorder to become a realistic possibility [1] . This development has not been without controversy. Ambivalence, within not only the general public but also the mental health professions, concerning the safety and value of mental health care as currently delivered has meant that moving to treat mental disorders in their earliest clinical stages has led to intense debate. This debate, while distorted at times by ideological forces and vested interests, is nevertheless a healthy and necessary one. However, it has wider implications for early intervention beyond psychosis. The key and potent concept here is indicated prevention, where subthreshold symptoms, buttressed where possible with key biomarkers, can be used not only to define a need for care in their own right but also a substantial but not inevitable risk of more serious disorder [2] . This is different from selective prevention, where asymptomatic patients, such as those with elevated fasting blood glucose and ‘prediabetes’, are at elevated risk of future fully-fledged illness. In defining subthreshold mental states that justify a need for care, we need to consider the complex issue of the boundary with the rather fuzzy noPublished online: July 24, 2014
Biologic therapy in the management of asthma

Purpose of reviewCurrent asthma management relies on inhaled corticosteroids, but some asthma is not well controlled with inhaled steroids alone or in combination with long-acting bronchodilators or leukotriene pathway inhibitors. The field of biologic therapy has grown dramatically in the past two decades, with current availability of three molecules, with two distinct and highly selective approaches to interfering with the allergic and eosinophilic airway inflammation common to most asthma. This review summarizes current and future options for incorporating biologic therapy into the overall management of asthma. Recent findingsTwo new biologic agents have been recently introduced in the United States market, supported by well controlled, randomized clinical trials. These trials have provided insight into the types of patients who are most likely to benefit from these novel agents. SummaryIn asthma patients with frequent exacerbations, the addition of a biologic agent targeting the interleukin-5 pathway, or immunoglobulin E, can significantly reduce exacerbations and improve asthma control. The clinical predictors of utility of specific agents overlap with one another, highlighting the importance of clinical judgment in the overall management of this complex disorder.
The Distribution of Firm Size in India: What Can Survey Data Tell Us?

We use establishment-level data from Indian manufacturing to describe the distribution of firm size in terms of employment, and discuss implications for public policy. A unique feature of our analysis is the use of nationally representative establishment-level data from both the registered (formal) and unregistered (informal) components of the Indian manufacturing sector. We also examine how the distribution of firm size varies across states coded by recent literature as having either flexible or inflexible labor regulations. We find little difference in the size distribution of firms between states believed to have flexible labor regulations versus those with inflexible labor regulations. However, restricting attention to labor-intensive industries, we find a greater prevalence of larger-sized firms in states with flexible labor regulations. This suggests that labor regulations may indeed be affecting firm size adversely. More generally, our paper serves to illustrate the point that establishment-level survey data represent a very rich source for work on public policy issues.
The role of family planning in achieving safe pregnancy for serodiscordant couples: commentary from the United States government’s interagency task force on family planning and HIV service integration

Introduction: People living with HIV (PLHIV) have the right to exercise voluntary choices about their health, including their reproductive health. This commentary discusses the integral role that family planning (FP) plays in helping PLHIV, including those in serodiscordant relationships, achieve conception safely. The United States (US) President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is committed to meeting the reproductive health needs of PLHIV by improving their access to voluntary FP counselling and services, including prevention of unintended pregnancy and counselling for safer conception.
Detection of malevolent changes in digital video for forensic applications

In this paper we present a new method for the detection of forgeries in digital videos, using the sensor's pattern noise. The camera pattern noise is a unique stochastic high frequency characteristic of imaging sensors and the detection of a forged frame in a video is determined by comparing the correlation between the noise within the frame itself and the reference pattern noise with an empirical threshold. The reference pattern is created for the identification of the camera and the authentication of the video too. Such a pattern is defined as self building because it is created from the video sequence during the time develop, with a technique applied frame per frame, by averaging the noise extracted from each frame. The method has been inherited from an existing system created by Fridrich et al.1 for still images. By using this method we are able to identify if all the scenes of a video sequence have been taken with the same camera and if the number and/or the content of the frames of the video have been modified. A large section of the paper is dedicated to the experimental results, where we demonstrate that it is possible to perform a reliable identification even from video that has undergone MPEG compression or frame interpolation.
Small 4 elements bi-directional antenna for indoor MIMO base station

A composite antenna of a notch antenna and a loop antenna has been developed for indoor MIMO base station. The composite antenna has dual polarized radiation patterns pointing to two different directions. The horizontally polarized wave is given by the notch element in x-axis direction while the vertically polarized wave is given by the loop element in y-axis direction. The combination of the two composite antennas produces dual polarized radiation patterns in bi-direction and has a good isolation between the elements. This MIMO antenna is designed for 4G applications with the resonance frequency at 3.5 GHz.
Oil Nationalisation and Managerial Disclosure: The Case of Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, 1933-1951

The principal aim of this thesis is to contribute towards the understanding of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC, now British Petroleum) practices in Iran and thereby providing a clear picture of how nationalisation evolved on 1st May 1951 and how it was perceived by the stock market. Nationalisation brought into sharp focus issues affecting key AIOC stakeholder groups, including Iranian employees, Iranian government and UK investors which became the subject of claim and counter-claim from the AIOC board and Iranian nationalist opinion. As a consequence of these disputed claims, a propaganda battle became a crucial ingredient of the crisis, not least because a key objective of the AIOC management was to maintain investor confidence in the face of a major threat to its asset base but also reflecting the AIOC’s ability to defend itself from the claims made by the Iranian government about unfairness in the sharing of proceeds, and discrimination against Iranians. In fact, this was crucial in absolving the company from any blame for the international crisis. As a result, in considering the above effects, by using AIOC as a case study, contrasts are drawn between the AIOC’s management’s public view of the crisis and the actual events as documented in the literature, official papers, and financial records. It is worth noting that this research will examine the extent to which the company exploited and manifested Iranian rights by drawing on evidence from major neglected documents. Furthermore, this research will examine the degree to which imperialism has been applied to the Iranian society. The study shows that the AIOC was not prepared to give up any of its control over the Iranian oil resources nor to improve the concession for the Iranians. With that rationale, the AIOC failed to fulfil its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) obligations towards the Iranian employees and the company’s treatment of Iran was unfair in terms of profit sharing. The study also highlights that the AIOC management did a good job in maintaining the investors’ confidence and in defending the company from the Iranian claims at a time of the nationalisation crisis.
Les spécificités de la gestion des résultats des entreprises tunisiennes à travers une analyse qualitative

The specificities of earnings management by the Tunisian companies using a qualitative analysis The objective of this paper is to identify the reasons that motivate Tunisian firms to manage earnings and to examine the techniques used for this purpose. The methodology is based in qualitative approach using the interviews and accounting documents. The results show that the minimization of taxation is the major reason for not listed firms to use earnings management. For listed firms, the major reason is to avoid a loss or maintain the earnings. For these purposes, the firms not only profit to the flexibility to accounting policies but also they have recourse to financing and investing transactions.
The effect of sodium chloride supplementation in the drinking water on water and feed intake and egg quality of laying hens under cyclic heat stress Einfluss eines

The effects of high ambient temperature on chicken were investigated by many experiments. In laying hens, heat stress resulted in decrease in egg quality, egg weight, shell thickness (WARREN, 1939; WILSON, 1949; SMITH, 1978; SAFFAR and ROSE, 2002; MASHALY et al., 2004) and egg production (URUGLU et al., 2001). High temperature results in increase in body temperature of birds (HEYWANG, 1938; LEE et al., 1945; WILSON, 1949; BOONE and HUGHES, 1971; DONKOH, 1989; SMITH, 2001), decrease in body weight (SMITH, 1978; BONNET et al., 1997), depression in feed intake (WILSON, 1949; EMMANS, 1974; KAMAL, 1975; COBB, 1991; LI et al., 1992; MAY and LOTT, 1992; BIRD et al., 1988), and increase in water consumption (WILSON, 1949; PORTSMOUTH, 1979; MAY and LOTT, 1992). Drinking is closely associated with feeding (HILL et al., 1979 loc. cit. APPLEBY et al., 1992). Water: feed ratio of laying hens ranged from 1.8 to 2.0 at normal temperature (20°C) (SINGLETON, 2004), and it was 1.5 in broilers at 22°C (DEEB and CAHANER, 1998). It increased from 1.74 at 21.1°C to 2.08 at 28°C (BELL, 2002), and it was about 2.8 in laying hens at 34°C (DAI and BESSEI, 2007). Numerous methods of reducing the negative effects of high ambient temperature were studied over the years. Water intake has been shown to be a management factor of major importance to the heat stressed hens (BALNAVE and BRAKE, 2005) and survival of chicken in hot environment depends on the consumption of large volumes of water (FOX, 1951). The increase in water consumption benefits the bird by increasing amount of heat dissipated by respiratory tract (BELAY and TEETER, 1993) and maintenance body water balance (BORGES et al., 2003). BESSEI et al. (1998) revealed that birds with excess water consumption under moderate conditions, maintained high feed intake and egg production under heat stress while birds with low water intake reduced egg production. High water intake, however, lead to increasing excretion of minerals through digestive tract, and the increased respiratory activity changes the balance of minerals in the blood.
Credit Cards: Facts and Theories

We use data from several waves of the Survey of Consumer Finances to document credit and debit card ownership and use across US demographic groups. We then present recent theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of credit and debit card behavior. Utilization rates of credit lines and portfolios of card holders present several puzzles. Credit line increases initiated by banks lead households to restore previous utilization rates. High-interest credit card debt co-exists with substantial holdings of low-interest liquid assets and with accumulation of retirement assets. Although available evidence disputes ignorance of credit card terms by card holders, credit card rates do not respond to competition. There is a rising trend in bankruptcy and delinquency, partly attributable to an increased tendency of households to declare bankruptcy associated with reduced social stigma, ease of procedures, and financial incentives. Co-existence of credit card debt with retirement assets can be explained through self-control hyperbolic discounting. Strategic default motives contribute partly to observed co-existence of credit card debt with low-interest liquid assets. A framework of 'accountant-shopper' households, in which a rational accountant tries to control an impulsive shopper, seems consistent with both types of co-existence and with observed utilization of credit lines.
Complement Factor H Variant Increases the Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the elderly whose etiology remains largely unknown. Previous studies identified chromosome 1q32 as harboring a susceptibility locus for AMD. We used single-nucleotide polymorphisms to interrogate this region and identified a strongly associated haplotype in two independent data sets. DNA resequencing of the complement factor H gene within this haplotype revealed a common coding variant, Y402H, that significantly increases the risk for AMD with odds ratios between 2.45 and 5.57. This common variant likely explains ∼43% of AMD in older adults.
A Real Problem of Government Purchasing

There have been many scandals related to government purchasing in Japan. In this time of deflationit seems that the number of scandals is increasing because the amount of purchasing (including by the public sector)is decreasing. They say that the companies decided to compete in hard races and do anythingeven illegal thingsfor the sake of contracts. In the morning we read in the newspaper that the mayor was arrested for getting a bribe for the contract to build the new library and in the evening we find that bid prices were exactly equal to government estimated prices in a fifth of auctions whole year . The typical crime is that some company gives a bureaucrat a bribe for a contract and is rewarded for it. A bribe is given for information on the estimated priceor for arranging biddingor for a nomination of the auction. The price cartels are occasionally accused not only with government purchasing but in general markets as wellin the private sector. These sorts of crimes are investigated and proved by police officers or the Fair Trade Commission. Among various illegal actionsthere is one of
Institutional change in India’s capital markets

An attempt is made in this paper to understand thefunctioning of capital markets in Indiafrom the perspective of the need to strengthen the financial sector. A well functioning market is defined as one which performs the information processing function effectively and thereby channels capital wisely. This abstract picture is linked up with Indian institutional realities and contemporary debates about public policy in connection with financial markets.