Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Guía y claves para el reconocimiento de las subfamilias, géneros y especies de Syllidae registradas a lo largo de la costa de Chile, archipiélago Juan Fernández e isla de Pascua (Annelida: Phyllodocida: Syllidae)

An updated review of polychaete species of the family Syllidae registered so far in the southeastern Pacific Ocean along the coast of Chile, from the locality of Arica (18o28’ S) in the northern border to Cape Horn (55o56’ S) at the southern end, in Juan Fernández Archipelago (33°40’ S, 79°00’ W) and Easter Island (27°09’ S, 109°23’ W) is presented. Keys to the determination of the subfamilies, genera and species of syllids registered in Chile are provided. A chronological list of the authors who have reviewed specimens for each 8 G. SAN MARTÍN et al. of the species considered valid is included. All collecting localities of each species in chronological and latitudinal order, with the author’s name and the date of the publication in which the locations were identified are included. Information on morphology, biology, ecology and systematics of syllids in general is provided. The number of syllids registered so far along the Chilean coast is 63 species, of these 56 species have been recorded to the continental coastal littoral of Chile, five species in Juan Fernández Archipelago and eight species in Easter Island, in 25 genera, distributed in five subfamilies, in the three areas considered within the limits of the Chilean sea. Of the 63 species of syllids recorded so far along the coast of Chile, including the austral channels and fjords, the Juan Fernández Archipelago and Easter Island, 32 record the coast of Chile as type locality, two the Juan Fernández Archipelago, and of them 22 species are considered endemic to Chile.
The Control of Volume Expansion and Porosity in Carbon Block by Carbon Black (CB) Addition for Increasing Thermal Conductivity

The graphite block as a phase change materials (PCMs) was manufactured by graphitization of a carbon block. Carbon blocks were prepared by filler (cokes or graphite) and binder (pitch). The binder-coated filler was thermally treated for carbonization. The gases generated from the evaporation of low molecular weight components in the binder pitch during the carbonization process were not released to the outside. Consequently, porosity and volume expansion were increased in artificial graphite, and thereby the thermal conductivity decreased. In this study, to prevent the decrease of thermal conductivity in the artificial graphite due to the disadvantages of binder pitch, the carbon block was prepared by the addition of carbon black, which can absorb low molecular weight compounds and release the generated gas. The properties of the prepared carbon blocks were analyzed by SEM, TGA, and thermal conductivity. The addition of carbon black (CB) decreased the porosity and volume expansion of the carbon blocks by 38.3% and 65.9%, respectively, and increased the thermal conductivity by 57.1%. The CB absorbed the low molecular weight compounds of binder pitch and induced the release of generated gases during the carbonization process to decrease porosity, and the thermal conductivity of the carbon block increased.
Uncertainty in geographical estimates of performance and fitness

Thermal performance curves (TPCs) have become key tools for predicting geographical distributions of performance by ectotherms. Such TPC‐based predictions, however, may be sensitive to errors arising from diverse sources. We analysed potential errors that arise from common choices faced by biologists integrating TPCs with climate data by constructing case studies focusing on experimental sets of TPCs and simulating geographical patterns of mean performance. We first analysed differences in geographical patterns of performance derived from two pairs of commonly used TPCs. Mean performance differed most (up to 30%) in regions with relatively constant mean temperatures similar to those at which the TPCs diverged the most. We also analysed the effects of thermal history by comparing geographical estimates derived from (a) a broad TPC based on short‐term measurements of insect larvae (Manduca sexta) with a history of exposure to thermal variation versus (b) a narrow TPC based on long‐term measurements of larvae held at constant temperatures. Estimated mean performance diverged by up to 40%, and differences were magnified in simulated future climates. Finally, to quantify geographical error arising from statistical error in fitted TPCs, we propose and illustrate a bootstrapping technique for establishing 95% prediction intervals on mean performance at each location (pixel). Collectively, our analyses indicate that error arising from several underappreciated sources can significantly affect the mean performance values derived from TPCs, and we suggest that the magnitudes of these errors should be estimated routinely in future studies.
Language Attitudes in a Lingua Franca: The Case of Black South African College Students

In a context of transformation where South African students have started to confront issues of alienation and access to higher education institutions, the role of language is not a minor issue. This study explores the implicit language attitudes of a sample of 80 young L1 South African indigenous language speakers toward Standard South African English and black accented English in a university context. In using a mixed-methodological approach that investigates the interrelation between participants’ Implicit Association Test (IAT) results toward the two selected accents and their linguistic background, language exposure, and social distance levels, this study found mixed results with important sociolinguistic implications. More specifically, the notion of intersectionality (race and gender), the relevant role of the language of instruction in the development of language attitudes, and further correlations between the above-mentioned sociolinguistic variables provided valuable insight with significant social implications as well as methodological considerations.
Zebrafish: Development of a Vertebrate Model Organism

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a small‐bodied tropical, freshwater fish species originally from South Asia. The ease of care, year‐round prolific breeding, and transparent, external development have made these fish a popular model vertebrate for many fields of biology. Over the past 40 years, the development of methods for genetic and developmental manipulation have driven a rapid rise in their use in research. This review provides an orientation to the zebrafish as a model system, from its ecology and life history to its early use in research and adoption as a key genetic model for vertebrate development. Its current uses and key techniques that highlight future areas of development of the system are also discussed. Finally, an introduction to the essentials of zebrafish use and care are presented, highlighting the ease of adoption of this system for teaching and research use. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Clustering of Type 2 Diabetes Genetic Loci by Multi-Trait Associations Identifies Disease Mechanisms and Subtypes

Background Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a heterogeneous disease for which 1) disease-causing pathways are incompletely understood and 2) sub-classification may improve patient management. Unlike other biomarkers, germline genetic markers do not change with disease progression or treatment. In this paper we test whether a germline genetic approach informed by physiology can be used to deconstruct T2D heterogeneity. First, we aimed to categorize genetic loci into groups representing likely disease mechanistic pathways. Second, we asked whether the novel clusters of genetic loci we identified have any broad clinical consequence, as assessed in four independent cohorts of individuals with T2D. Methods and Findings In an effort to identify mechanistic pathways driven by established T2D genetic loci, we applied Bayesian nonnegative matrix factorization clustering to genome-wide association results for 94 independent T2D genetic loci and 47 diabetes-related traits. We identified five robust clusters of T2D loci and traits, each with distinct tissue-specific enhancer enrichment based on analysis of epigenomic data from 28 cell types. Two clusters contained variant-trait associations indicative of reduced beta-cell function, differing from each other by high vs. low proinsulin levels. The three other clusters displayed features of insulin resistance: obesity-mediated (high BMI, waist circumference), “lipodystrophy-like” fat distribution (low BMI, adiponectin, HDL-cholesterol, and high triglycerides), and disrupted liver lipid metabolism (low triglycerides). Increased cluster GRS’s were associated with distinct clinical outcomes, including increased blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and stroke risk. We evaluated the potential for clinical impact of these clusters in four studies containing participants with T2D (METSIM, N=487; Ashkenazi, N=509; Partners Biobank, N=2,065; UK Biobank N=14,813). Individuals with T2D in the top genetic risk score decile for each cluster reproducibly exhibited the predicted cluster-associated phenotypes, with ~30% of all participants assigned to just one cluster top decile. Conclusion Our approach identifies salient T2D genetically anchored and physiologically informed pathways, and supports use of genetics to deconstruct T2D heterogeneity. Classification of patients by these genetic pathways may offer a step toward genetically informed T2D patient management.
Anotação do transcriptoma parcial de Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) darlingi Root, 1926

Insetos transmissores de doencas tem sido estudados para caracterizacao de diversos aspectos biologicos e evolutivos. Sequenciamentos de genomas inteiros tem permitido comparacoes entre sequencias genicas de especies diferentes, fornecendo dados moleculares. Citam-se os mosquitos Anopheles gambiae (subfamilia Anophelinae), principal vetor da malaria na Africa, cujo genoma contem 278.253. 050 pares de bases (pb), o Aedes aegypti, transmissor do Dengue, com 1.310. 090.344 pb e Culex quinquefasciatus, vetor de arboviroses, com 579.042. 118 pb, ambos da (subfamilia Culicinae). No Brasil, o Anopheles darlingi (subfamilia Anophelinae) e o principal vetor da malaria, cuja bibliotecas de ESTs (Expressed SequenceTags) parcial de adultos e larvas previamente obtidas foram analisadas no presente trabalho. Sequencias genicas de An. gambiae, Ae. aegypti e Cx. quinquefasciatus foram analisadas quanto a presenca de genes em comum e genes ortologos, nesses mosquitos em comparacao com An. darlingi. ESTs (568 Unigenes) de An. darlingi foram mapeadas virtualmente em cromossomos de An. gambiae. Em seguida, foram realizadas analises de expressao diferencial genica, o que permitiu quantificar estatisticamente os niveis de expressao de cada gene, no transcriptoma de An. darlingi. As sequencias de An. darlingi foram mapeadas nos termos ontologicos do Gene Ontology (GO) e as sequencias diferencialmente expressas, com bons valores estatisticos que indicam ortologia, foram analisadas manualmente, segundo a literatura. Os resultados mostraram que, 61% das sequencias de An. darlingi sao ortologas em An. gambiae e o mapeamento cromossomico in silico mostrou que os 568 Unigenes de An. darlingi estao representados em 793 regioes cromossomicas do An. gambiae, corroborando estudos evolutivos de que as duas especies sao proximas evolutivamente. As sequencias de An. darlingi analisadas no programa GO foram associadas a 1.249 niveis e subniveis de ontologias que descrevem um gene de acordo com sua funcao e localizacao celular. Analises de expressao diferencial de alguns produtos genicos mostraram-se mais intensas em larvas do que em adultos de An. darlingi. Realizaram-se, ainda, a analise filogenetica do gene da Glutationa-S-Transferase (GST) de An. darlingi, um gene de resistencia a inseticidas bem conservado em termos evolutivos em An. gambiae, Ae. aegypti e Cx. quinquefasciatus. A arvore filogenetica agrupou o gene da GST de An. darlingi com An. gambiae como especies irmas, estando estas proximamente relacionadas evolutivamente do que em relacao ao Ae. aegypti e Cx. quinquefasciatus. O Phlebotomus papatasi, constou como grupo externo, para enraizamento dessa arvore. A anotacao manual de ESTs de An. darlingi auxiliou na compreensao da expressao genica e aspectos evolutivos desse mosquito em relacao ao An. gambiae, Ae. aegypti e Cx. quinquefasciatus, alem de fornecer dados importantes para estudos posteriores sobre funcoes genicas individuais de An. darlingi transmissor da malaria no Brasil.
Virulence gene induction of Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli by Caenorhabditis elegans, Acanthamoeba castellanii and Arabidopsis thaliana

Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli is an emerging food pathogen in industrial countries. Their natural reservoir is the colon of ruminants, especially cows. In humans, EHEC can lead to life-threatening diseases like haemolytic-uremic syndrome. Most victims are small children. The mechanisms of human infection of EHEC are well known, but it remains unclear how the bacteria are spread in the environment, traveling from one host to another. In this work, a total number of 65 promoter regions of genes of EHEC O157:H7 have been investigated concerning their possible activation in contact with different alternative host or vector organisms. Among these 65 genes were the genes encoded on the locus of enterocyte effacement, a pathogenicity island that EHEC have in common with EPEC. As possible interaction partners, the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the waterborne protozoa Acanthamoeba castellanii and the thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana were chosen. Promoter regions were defined the 100bp upstream regions for the LEE-encoded genes and 500bp upstream regions for all other tested genes. Promoter-luxCDABE fusions were generated on a plasmid and transformed into EHEC cells. The transformed EHEC were brought in contact with the chosen organisms in 96-well plates and emitted luminescence was monitored using a Victor3 multilabel counter. The results of this study indicate that an interaction similar to that occurring in human infection could take place in the C. elegans model. In contact with the amoeba A. castellanii only little activation of promoter regions was observed. However, the interaction increases with dead A. castellanii, indicating that, in this interaction process, the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli are effectively rejected by living amoebae. The most interesting outcome this work is the ability of EHEC to cause a virulence-associated phenotype in the only plant submitted to the assays, A. thaliana. In addition to that, the luminescence emitted by transgenic EHEC was highest in contact with this test organism, and most of the tested promoter regions were activated. From these findings I conclude that the type of interaction between EHEC and C. elegans is similar to that taking place in mammalian hosts, making C. elegans a suitable model organism which might serve as a vector for EHEC in the environment. The amoeba A. castellanii does not seem to play an important role in the spreading of EHEC. Contact with the thale cress A. thaliana leads to a strong genetic response in EHEC, involving several virulence factors. In addition to that, EHEC cause a phenotype in infected A. thaliana plants. The activation of genes is even stronger than with mammals. This indicates that A. thaliana is a new host organism for EHEC.
The Effect Of Online Shopping Services On Customer Satisfaction:The Mediation Role Of Return Management

Teknolojik gelismelerin ve toplumlarin refah seviyesinin artmasi sebebiyle gunumuz isletmelerinin temel stratejisi musteri odakli olmaktir. Varligini uzun sure devam ettirmek isteyen isletmeler musterilerini memnun ederek uzun sureli karli iliskiler kurulmasini saglayacak isletme politikalari gelistirmektedir. Musterilerin ozellikle online alisverislerde daha rahat ve guvenli bir sekilde alisveris yapmasi, bu politikalarin, alisverislerde taraflarin sorumluluklarinin ve musteri bilgilerinin gizliligi gibi hususlarin isletme tarafindan acik bir sekilde beyan edilmesi ile mumkun olmaktadir. Tuketicilerin almak istedigi urunun internette yer alan urune uymamasi, urun bilgilerinin yanlisligi gibi nedenlerden dolayi sikayetler ortaya cikmakta ve bu durum da musteri memnuniyetsizligine sebep olmaktadir. Beklentileri karsilanmayan musteriler bu gibi durumlarda satin almis oldugu urunleri iade etmek istemektedirler. Bu nedenle dagitim ve lojistik faaliyetlerinin onemi artmakla birlikte iade yonetimi ile musteri memnuniyeti arttirilmak istenmektedir. Soz konusu hususlar nedeniyle bu calismanin amaci isletmelerin online alisveris hizmetlerinin musteri memnuniyeti uzerine etkisinde iade yonetiminin aracilik etkisini tespit etmektir. Elektronik ticaret sitelerinde perakende alisveris islemi gerceklestiren Konya ilindeki 436 tuketiciye basit tesadufi ornekleme yoluyla online ortamda anket uygulamasi yapilmis ve elde edilen veriler SPSS 23.0 ve SPSS AMOS 22.0 paket programlari araciligiyla analiz edilmistir. Arastirmada korelasyon analizi ile isletmelerin online alisveris hizmetlerinin musteri memnuniyeti, isletmelerin online alisveris hizmetlerinin iade yonetimi, iade yonetiminin musteri memnuniyeti ile aralarinda pozitif yonlu ve istatistiksel bakimdan anlamli bir iliski tespit edilmistir. Ayrica calismada isletmelerin online alisveris hizmetlerinin musteri memnuniyeti arasindaki iliskide iade yonetiminin aracilik etkisini tespit etmek amaciyla dogrulayici faktor analizi ile yapisal esitlik modeli kullanilmis ve kismi aracilik etkisi tespit edilmistir.
Climate change may reduce the spread of non‐native species

Invasive species are considered a major threat to ecosystem functioning and native biodiversity. Their negative impacts on ecosystems and the provisioning of ecosystem services have been widely documented. South Africa faces one of the most significant challenges from invasive species globally, and the South African government spent an estimated US $100 million to mitigate impacts of non-native species between 1995 and 2000 alone. Here, we modeled the current climatic niche of 162 non-native trees and shrubs within South Africa and explored potential shifts in their distribution with projected climate change. Our results indicate that over half of these species will experience a decrease in their suitable climate over the next decades, although not uniformly so and ranges are predicted to expand into some regions. We also compared recent vs. historical introductions and showed similar patterns, indicating that possible violation of equilibrium assumptions in our distribution models likely does not strongly influence our findings. We suggest that climate change may therefore provide a window of opportunity for more effective invasive species control within South Africa, but that large range shifts are likely for many non-natives in the future, and new invasive threats might emerge.
Selective mask formation and gallium nitride template fabrication on patterned sapphire substrates for light-emitting diodes

Patterned sapphire substrates are composed of multiple planes, leading to the undesirable polycrystalline growth of gallium nitride (GaN) during template deposition. However, patterned sapphire substrates and templates with good crystalline quality would be useful for increasing the light extraction efficiency in light-emitting diodes. In this study, a silicon dioxide (SiO2) mask was selectively introduced onto the lenses of a patterned sapphire substrate to suppress the growth of polycrystalline GaN. The SiO2 mask prevented the negative influence of the patterned sapphire substrate on GaN growth under various conditions. High-resolution x-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the GaN template grew as a single crystal in the presence of the SiO2 mask. Furthermore, the compressive stress generated in the GaN template was relieved due to the suppression of polycrystalline growth.
Application of Compressed Sensing in NB-IoT-Based Structural Health Monitoring of Rail Tracks

Ultrasonic guided-wave testing is one of the most widely used technology for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of rail tracks. Currently, cable is the main tool of signal transmission for guided wave-based track monitoring systems. The installation of cables can significantly increase the system cost and restrict the flexibility of system deployment. In recent years, the NB-IoT technology has been gradually app ied to the field of SHM, it offers long-range wireless communication among a large-scale sensor networks at the cost of minimum construction and maintenance. One primary obstacle hindering the integration of NB-IoT and guided wave-based track monitoring system is that the limited channel bandwidth of NB-IoT leads to significant transmission delay when transmitting the ultrasonic guided-wave signal sampled at Nyquist rate. In this paper, a Compressed Sensing (CS) framework for NB-IoT based rail-track monitoring system is proposed. The proposed CS framework utilizes the sparsity feature of the ultrasonic lamb-wave signal to enable sub-Nyquist sampling and maintain the feature of the measured signal at a low compression rate. To validate the proposed CS framework, the propagation time of lamb-wave is selected as the performance metrics. The experimental results show that compared with the traditional sampling method, the propagation time of lamb wave in rail track can be accurately extracted when the sampling rate is set to 100kHz, therefore, the channel bandwidth of NB-IoT can meet the delay-free data transmission of a single ultrasonic sensor.
Field trial on animal-based measures for animal welfare in slow growing broilers reared under an alternative concept suitable for the German market

Broiler chickens are usually reared in deep litter systems without any enrichment, and animal welfare related issues occur on a regular basis. Publicizing the problems has led to better consumer awareness and the demand for animal-friendly produced food. We established and tested an alternative rearing concept to improve bird welfare by introducing an intermediate product between organically and conventionally produced meats to the German market. Within the frame of this project 6 rearing periods per concept and farm were evaluated in parallel on 3 to 4 predetermined days per rearing period. Ross 308 broilers (conventional farm) were reared according to the minimum requirements regulated by law and the slower growing Cobb SassoTM 175A broilers (alternative farm) were housed with provision of perches, straw bales, pecking stones and a winter garden with lower stocking densities. Broilers of both strains showed an increasing prevalence and severity of foot pad alterations with increasing age and exposure duration in the barn. Shortly before slaughter, 2.5% of the alternative broilers (day 40) and 16.8% of the conventional broilers (day 35) showed various degrees of foot pad dermatitis. The variable farm/strain had a significant effect (P < 0.001) on the occurrence of hyperkeratosis and foot pad dermatitis. Live weight had a significant effect (P < 0.001) on the prevalence of hock burn in both strains. Obvious lameness (0.8%) and immobility (0.5%) could only be identified in conventional broilers. The results of this study indicate a higher animal well-being of slower growing broilers reared under enriched environmental conditions compared to conventionally reared broilers of this study. However, because of the study design and the confounding of farm/rearing concept and strain these results can only be seen as hypothesis generating and should be investigated in further studies.