Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Space Use and Habitat Selection by Bobcats in the Fragmented Landscape of South-Central Iowa

Abstract Historically, bobcats (Lynx rufus) were found throughout the Corn Belt region, but they nearly disappeared from this area due to habitat loss and unregulated harvest that occurred during the century after European settlement. Reports of bobcat occurrences have been increasing in Iowa, USA, and biologists would like to understand the mechanisms enabling bobcats to recolonize this fragmented agricultural landscape. We determined space use and habitat selection of bobcats by radiocollaring 68 bobcats in south-central Iowa during 2003–2006. We triangulated 12,966 locations and recovered an additional 1,399 3-dimensional locations from Global Positioning System collars. We used a fixed kernel estimator to calculate 95% utilization distributions (UDs) for home ranges and 50% UDs for cores. Annual home range area of males (x̄ = 58.6 km2, 95% CI = 49.2–69.9) was nearly 3 times that of females (x̄ = 19.9 km2, 95% CI = 17.0–23.3). Females used smaller home ranges during April–September when they were suspected to have kittens with them (x̄ = 16.8 km2, 95% CI = 13.7–20.7), as compared to October–March (x̄ = 24.1 km2, 95% CI = 19.0–30.7), whereas home ranges of males did not differ between seasons. Similarly, core area of males (x̄ = 7.7 km2, 95% CI = 6.2–9.6) was larger than that of females (x̄ = 2.3 km2, 95% CI = 1.9–2.7). Females used significantly smaller cores in April–September (x̄ = 1.8 km2, 95% CI = 1.4–2.3) as compared to October–March (x̄ = 2.8 km2, 95% CI = 2.2–3.7), whereas males did not. For both sexes, compositional analysis indicated that forest habitat was ranked higher than all other habitat classes at both the landscape and local scale. Standardized habitat selection ratios illustrate that female and male bobcats selected forest habitat about twice as frequently as any other habitat class, including grassland and Conservation Reserve Program land. Predictive models indicated that home range and core area was smaller in landscapes where perennial forest and grassland habitats were less fragmented. Predictive models indicated home ranges were more irregular in shape in landscapes where row crop patches were less aggregated within home ranges. Our results have practical implications for wildlife managers regarding expected bobcat habitat use and distribution as the species becomes more abundant in the agricultural landscape of the Midwest.
Phencomycin, a new antibiotic from a Streptomyces species HIL Y-9031725.

Strain HIL Y-9031725 was isolated from a soil sample collected in India. The strain was identified as belonging to the genus Streptomyces using the methods described by Shirling and Gottlieb.2) A loopful of mature slant culture of Streptomyces Y-9031725 was inoculated into Erlenmeyer flasks (500 ml capacity) containing 100 ml of seed medium consisting of glucose 1.5%, soyabean meal 1.5%, corn steep liquor 0.5%, CaCO3 0.2% and NaCl 0.5%, pH 6.5 before autoclaving. The flasks were cultivated at 27°C on a rotary shaker at 240rpm for 72 hours. The resultant seed culture (9%) was inoculated into 15 liter fermenter containing 10 liters of production medium consisting of glucose 1.5%, soybean meal 1.5%, corn steep liquor 0.5%, CaCO3 0.2% and NaCl 0.5%, pH 6.5 before autoclaving. Desmophen (4 ml) was added as an antifoaming agent to the contents of the fermenter. The fermentation was carried out at 27°C under stirred conditions at 150rpmwith aeration at a rate of 10 liters/minute for 45 hours. The production of the antibiotic was monitored by its antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus 209P. The culture filtrate (8 liters), obtained after separating mycelium by centrifugation, was passed through a column of HP-20 (400 ml). The column was washed with demineralized water (5 liters) and eluted with 50: 50 watermethanol (5 liters) and 20 : 80 watermethanol (8 liters) respectively. The active eluates wereconcentrated under reduced pressure to 200ml. It was then acidified to pH 5 and extracted with ethyl acetate (3 x 150ml). The combinedethyl acetate extracts were concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure. The crude material (850mg), thus obtained, was subjected to a silica gel (200 ~ 300 mesh, 150 g) column and eluted with dichloromethane ethyl acetate mixture. The active eluates, which eluted out in 0.5 ~ 1 % ethyl acetate in dichloromethane, were concentrated to dryness followed by crystallization in dichloromethane to obtain pure phencomycin (1) (150mg).
Precipitation processes in the Middle East

A regional climate model, RegCM2, is used to investigate the relative importance of storm tracks and topography in generating precipitation in the Middle East. The model is run for five years (1990 thru 1994) at 25km horizontal resolution forced at the boundaries by the ECMWF-TOGA analysis. Six subregions that exhibit precipitation regimes disparate from one-another are identified and examined. The models ability to reproduce these precipitation regimes was tested with mixed results. RegCM2 is better able to capture the scale of the interannual variability than the ECMWF analysis. In order to assess the hypothesis that precipitation is controlled by both storm-track location and the presence of topography, we performed multi-variate regressions between monthly precipitation and relevant indices. Results indicate that the storm track indices are best correlated with the seasonal cycle of precipitation. The topographic indicator is better correlated with precipitation anomalies suggesting that the number and intensity of storms is less important in explaining interannual variations than whether they produce upslope flow, i.e. the storm location.
Application of compressive sensing theory in infrared imaging systems

Compressive Sensing (CS) is a recently emerged signal processing method. It shows that when a signal is sparse in a certain basis, it can be recovered from a small number of random measurements made on it. In this work, we investigate the possibility of utilizing CS to sample the video stream acquired by a fixed surveillance camera in order to reduce the amount of data transmitted. For every 15 continuous video frames, we select the first frame in the video stream as the reference frame. Then for each following frame, we compute the difference between this frame and its preceding frame, resulting in a difference frame, which can be represented by a small number of measurement samples. By only transmitting these samples, we greatly reduce the amount of transmitted data. The original video stream can still be effectively recovered. In our simulations, SPGL1 method is used to recover the original frame. Two different methods, random measurement and 2D Fourier transform, are used to make the measurements. In our simulations, the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) ranges from 28.0dB to 50.9dB, depending on the measurement method and number of measurement used, indicating good recovery quality. Besides a good compression rate, the CS technique has the properties of being robust to noise and easily encrypted which all make CS technique a good candidate for signal processing in communication.
The Psychological Adjustment of Children with Asthma: Study of Associated Variables

As part of a larger research project aimed to understand the impact of asthma in the psychological adjustment of children, this study focuses in the identification of factors associated with this process. The sample of this study consisted of 89 children, aged 8 to 12 with physician diagnosed asthma. To assess children's adjustment, the Portuguese versions of the following instruments were used: School-age Temperament Inventory (McClowry, 1995) Schoolagers Coping Strategies Inventory (Ryan-Wenger, 1990); Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory – PedsQL (Varni, Seid & Kurtin, 2001); The Self-perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985), Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach,1991); Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliot, 1990). The results revealed that negative reactivity predicts the level of anxiety/depression, task persistence and perceived coping efficacy predicts social skills and that self-esteem is a significant predictor of the perceived quality of life. A significant proportion of shared variance was also found what seems to confirm the existence of multi-determination in the process of adjustment. The main conclusion is that two dimensions of temperament (negative reactivity and task persistence), as well as perceived coping efficacy and self-esteem, play a significant role in influencing the psychological adjustment of children with asthma. Como parte de un proyecto de investigación más extenso cuyo objetivo es comprender el impacto del Asma en el ajuste psicológico de los niños, este estudio se centra en la identificación de los factores asociados a este proceso. La muestra de este estudio incluyó a 89 niños con edades comprendidas entre los 8 y 12 años y con diagnóstico médico de asma. Para medir el ajuste de los niños se utilizaron versiones en portugués de los siguientes instrumentos: School-age Temperament Inventory (McClowry, 1995) Schoolagers Coping Strategies Inventory (Ryan-Wenger, 1990); Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory – PedsQL (Varni, Seid & Kurtin, 2001; The Self-perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985), Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach,1991); Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliot, 1990). Los resultados revelaron que la reactividad negativa predice el nivel de ansiedad/depresión, la persistencia de tarea y la eficacia de afrontamiento percibida predicen habilidades sociales y que la autoestima es un predictor significativo de la calidad de vida percibida. Se encontró también una proporción significativa de la varianza compartida lo que confirma la existencia de multi determinación en el proceso de ajuste. La conclusión principal es que dos dimensiones de temperamento (reactividad negativa y persistencia en la tarea), así como la eficacia de enfrentamiento percibida y la autoestima, juegan un papel significativo en el ajuste psicológico de los niños con asma.
Garantías de crédito y eficiencia en la pyme española, 1996-2003

En el marco de las aportaciones y el debate economicos sobre la relevancia de la estructura de capital de las empresas, las imperfecciones de los mercados y el tamano empresarial, con frecuencia, los Gobiernos realizan esfuerzos para facilitar la financiacion a largo plazo de las empresas. En este trabajo se examina (1996-2003) una de las medidas mas tradicionales de apoyo a las Pyme: La concesion de avales a traves del sistema espanol de garantias reciprocas. La convivencia de dos medidas publicas que facilitan el acceso a recursos ajenos a largo (avales de SGR y linea Pyme del Instituto de Credito Oficial/ICO) induce a contemplar los tres colectivos de empresas que origina esta casuistica: las que solo utilizan avales, las que utilizan avales y apoyo del ICO, y las que unicamente reciben este ultimo apoyo. Se definen, ademas, dos grupos de control: empresas que obtienen financiacion ajena sin apoyos publicos y empresas que se autofinanciacion. El analisis permite establecer modelos explicativos de los distintos comportamientos de los grupos (tamanos y sectores) segun el acceso a la financiacion ajena a largo. En conjunto, se estudian 23.328 empresas (5.785.344 datos), a traves de los valores que presentan 31 ratios economico-financieras, de las que tres son consideradas variables de eficiencia (rentabilidades economica y financiera y productividad). Los resultados ofrecen nuevas y sugerentes ideas, tanto en la esfera empresarial como en la de las politicas de promocion.
A comparison of asthma deaths and near-fatal asthma attacks in South Australia.

Studies seeking to identify factors predictive of asthma mortality have relied on information obtained from relatives, other close acquaintances, and doctors who cared for the deceased. We wanted to determine whether asthmatics who have suffered a near-fatal asthma attack (NFA) are similar to asthmatics who have died of asthma with respect to important features, because studies of NFA asthmatics may provide a better insight into causes of asthma death. Such studies would avoid the difficulties associated with seeking information secondhand from proxy informants. Two groups were studied: asthmatics who had suffered a near-fatal asthma attack resulting in a visit to the accident and emergency departments of teaching hospitals (n = 154), and asthmatics certified as dying of asthma who, following panel review, were confirmed to have died from this disease (n = 80). For each case in the two groups, an interview questionnaire was administered to a close acquaintance (household or family member) and to the general practitioner. Both groups shared many important characteristics. Similarities related to: frequency of symptoms; frequency of hospital and intensive care unit admissions for asthma; use of asthma crisis plans; compliance with prescribed medications; quality of personal asthma management; and asthma severity. The two groups also showed similar psychiatric profiles, and similar use of asthma medications on a regular basis and with increased symptoms. However, NFA cases tended to be younger, were more likely to be male, and less likely to have concurrent medical conditions. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The effect of etidronate on the periodontium of ovariectomized rats.

BACKGROUND Bisphosphonates are indicated for the treatment of osteoporosis. However, they could have an adverse effect on specific sites, such as the bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of etidronate on the resorption and apposition sides of the periodontium in ovariectomized rats. METHODS Twenty-four female Wistar rats were randomly subjected to either ovariectomy or sham operation. After 8 weeks, six animals of each group were sacrificed. The other 12 rats received 5 mg/kg/day etidronate subcutaneously during 4 weeks. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase reaction and immunohistochemical staining for receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB (RANK), RANK-ligand (RANKL), osteoprotegerin (OPG), and osteocalcin was performed. Immunoreactivity was evaluated using a semiquantitative analysis. RESULTS In ovariectomized rats, osteoclasts were noticed in the root socket of molars, including the apposition side of the periodontium, in which RANKL expression was significantly evidenced. In the etidronate-treated group, OPG expression was significantly expressed and osteoclasts that were noticed in the resorption side remained undetected in the apposition side even under ovariectomy. RANK was significantly expressed in ovariectomized rats treated with etidronate. Osteoid formation and osteocalcin expression were described on the alveolar bone surfaces in etidronate-treated rats, with or without ovariectomy. CONCLUSIONS Etidronate has specific site and bone cell actions in the periodontium. It inhibits the osteoclast differentiation induced by ovariectomy in the apposition side of the periodontium but maintains bone formation over all the socket surfaces. Such specificity may be related to the pathogenesis of the bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaw.
Seroprevalence of Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Viruses Types 1 and 2 Antibodies in Hepatitis C Virus-Positive Patients: Manitoba, Canada, 2012–2014

Human T-cell lymphotropic viruses types 1 and 2 are probably among the most neglected blood-borne pathogens that have experienced significant changes in their epidemiology since discovery, which could be attributed to globalization and intravenous drug use practices as well as enhanced screening recommendations; however, systematic prevalence studies, especially in high-risk populations in North America, are not updated.
Heart failure in elderly patients: distinctive features and unresolved issues

The prevalence of heart failure (HF) increases with age. While clinical trials suggest that contemporary evidence‐based HF therapies have reduced morbidity and mortality, these trials largely excluded the elderly. Questions remain regarding the clinical characteristics of elderly HF patients and the impact of contemporary therapies on their outcomes. This review presents the epidemiology of HF in the elderly and summarizes the data on the pathophysiology of the ageing heart. The clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes of elderly HF patients are explored. Finally, the main gaps regarding HF therapies in the elderly and the opportunities for future trials are highlighted.
MR imaging-guided localization and biopsy of breast lesions: initial experience.

PURPOSE To evaluate the usefulness of a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided system for localization and biopsy of mammographically and clinically occult breast lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS The 11 needle localizations and one cyst aspiration were performed with MR imaging guidance in 11 patients with breast lesions. Two MR systems were tested; both required the patient to lie prone with the breast compressed between medial and lateral plates. One system used a grid with 18-gauge holes placed at 5-mm intervals and two reference markers to position the needle; the other, a stereotaxic external needle guide and a software system to calculate coordinates. RESULTS Fibroadenoma, ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma, atypical ductal hyperplasia, fat necrosis, and sclerosing adenosis were found at histologic examination. In two cases, biopsies revealed multi-focal breast cancer where mammographic and clinical findings had indicated a single lesion. CONCLUSION MR imaging-guided needle localizations may be performed in a clinical setting with the systems described. Accurate localization of mammographically and clinically occult lesions will allow MR imaging to achieve a clinically significant role.
Falcon: Scaling IO Performance in Multi-SSD Volumes

With the high throughput offered by solid-state drives (SSDs), multi-SSD volumes have become an attractive storage solution for big data applications. Unfortunately, the IO stack in current operating systems imposes a number of volume-level limitations, such as per-volume based IO processing in the block layer, single flush thread per volume for buffer cache management, locks for parallel IOs on a file, all of which lower the performance that could otherwise be achieved on multi-SSD volumes. To address this problem, we propose a new design of per-drive IO processing that separates two key functionalities of IO batching and IO serving in the IO stack. Specifically, we design and develop Falcon1 that consists of two major components: Falcon IO Management Layer that batches the incoming IOs at the volume level, and Falcon Block Layer that parallelizes IO serving on the SSD level in a new block layer. Compared to the current practice, Falcon significantly speeds up direct random file read and write on an 8-SSD volume by 1.77× and 1.59× respectively, and also shows strong scalability across different numbers of drives and various storage controllers. In addition, Falcon improves the performance of a variety of applications by 1.69×.
Young children learn to produce passives with nonce verbs.

Younger and older children (mean ages = 2 years 11 months and 3 years 5 months) learned 2 nonce verbs in a full passive or active transitive construction. When asked patient-focused questions encouraging passive-voice replies (e.g., "What happened to the ball? ") or agent-focused questions encouraging active-voice replies (e.g., "What did Elmo do? "), children used a variety of strategies to meet the demands of the questions, usually without changing the construction in which the verb occurred. In Study 2 in which passive and active constructions were primed, 40% of the almost 3-year-old children used an active-introduced verb in a passive construction and 35% used a passive-introduced verb in an active transitive construction when discourse demands encouraged them to do so. Thus, before their 3rd birthdays, some children have an understanding of the passive and active transitive constructions general enough to support productive usages with newly learned verbs.
Preventing the Spread of Genital Warts: Using Fear Appeals to Promote Self-Protective Behaviors

A fear appeal campaign to decrease the spread of genital warts was conducted and evaluated. Theoretically guided by the Extended Parallel Process Model, this field study illustrated why fear appeal campaigns often appear to fail in public health arenas. Five hypotheses, which predicted when and under what conditions fear appeal campaigns would fail or succeed, were tested and supported. The results demonstrated that fear appeals can be powerful persuasive devices if they induce strong perceptions of threat and fear (which motivate action) and if they induce strong perceptions of efficacy with regard to a recommended response (which channels the action in a health protective direction). Recommendations to researchers and public health practitioners are offered.
Alternative treatment protocols in giardiasis: a pilot study.

The aim of the study was to test new treatment protocols for giardiasis, which are less toxic, cheaper, and easier to use than the conventional treatment. 48 children who had been diagnosed as having giardiasis in a health-screening program involving 2 schools, were randomized to receive four different treatment protocols. The children were split into 4 treatment groups: I, mebendazole 100 mg t.i. d. for 1 day; II, mebendazole 100 mg t.i. d. for 7 days; III, metronidazole 15 mg/kg as one dose for 7 days; and IV, ornidazole 40 mg/kg as a single dose. The results were evaluated by microscopic examination of stools. The responses to the treatments revealed that the effectiveness of ornidazole was 100%, metronidazole 92.9%, mebendazole for 7 days 58.3%, and mebendazole for 1 day 41.7%. Minor side-effects were seen in only 3 children receiving ornidazole: 1 had urticaria, while the other 2 suffered from vertigo and nausea. The results of this study show that ornidazole as a single dose can be used as an alternative protocol for treating giardiasis. Further studies should be done to determine the safest effective total single dose.
La méthodologie de la théorisation enracinée et les grandes enquêtes publiques

Les grandes enquetes publiques portent sur le parcours professionnel du communicateur social. Rarement toutefois elles furent abordees selon une approche inductive. Deux grandes investigations sont ici prises a temoin. La premiere est une expertise collegiale menee dans le cadre de la lutte contre la propagation de la dengue. L’autre traite de la tournee du Conseil de presse qui visait a faire le bilan de l’information au Quebec. Liees theoriquement de maniere surprenante, les deux grandes enquetes sont revues dans la perspective de la methodologie de la theorisation enracinee (MTE). Sequencees de facon operationnelle et examinees en detail, on y constate que la volonte, dans les deux exercices, de se rapprocher des preoccupations citoyennes place ces demarches dans une grande parente avec la MTE. La force de l’approche inductive y transparait de maniere non equivoque et la demonstration de la pertinence de son usage lors de pareilles enquetes devient evidente.
Cash Trade in Free-to-Play Online Games

The rapidly expanding ‘‘free-to-play’’ online game payment model represents a huge shift in digital game commercialization, with cash payments for virtual items increasingly recognized as central to ‘‘free game’’ participation. In this article, the authors look at implications of this trend for gameplay experiences (especially in terms of immersion, fairness, and fun) and describe a fundamental shift in player self-perceptions as consumers rather than members of a gaming community. This change is occurring at a time when the line separating game and physical worlds is becoming less distinct. The new business model entails a subtle but significant reduction in consumer rights awareness, which explains why some members of the greater gaming community are negotiating a new sense of fairness and arriving at a new consensus regarding legitimate gameplay.