Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Area and habitat relationships of birds in Great Lakes coastal wet meadows

Although relationships of birds to patch area and habitat characteristics have been dominant themes in avian ecology over the past few decades, relatively little is known about these relationships in wetland-dominated landscapes of the Great Lakes coastline. During 1997 and 1998, we surveyed birds and measured habitat characteristics along transects in wet meadows associated with the northern Lake Huron shoreline (NLHS) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Using a suite of multivariate techniques, we related abundance and presence/absence of individual species to wet meadow area and habitat characteristics. Nine species were positively associated with increasing wet meadow area, which underscores the importance of large wetlands to avian conservation in the region. Bird variables also were related to habitat characteristies. Higher values of bird variables were generally associated with a suite of characteristics: more robust and dense grass/sedge vegetation, structural diversity in the horizontal and vertical planes, and increased frequency of willow shrubs. Individual species that require particular aspects of these characteristics for nesting or foraging were associated with principal components containing those aspects. In the NLHS, large wet meadows that possess these characteristics would support the greatest diversity and benefit the majority of species. However, conservation efforts that focus only on these traits will not be sufficient for all species because habitat requirements for some species are very specific (e. g., open water for mallard), and for others, habitat preferences may change from year to year in response to lake-level changes. While our results provide important insights, continued research is needed to further the successful conservation and management of birds in Great Lakes coastal wetlands.
The potential for contamination of intravenous infusions by airborne skin scales

SUMMARY Skin scales may be attracted onto the surface of administration set connector needles before insertion into infusion containers. Viable microorganisms associated with skin scales may therefore gain access to the infusion by this route. A technique is described for creating an environment of airborne skin scales. This environment is used to examine the attraction of skin scales onto the surface of administration set connector needles and three other materials. After exposure, skin scales are found adhering to the surface of each material examined. The attraction of skin scales onto administration set connector needles is dependent on the time of exposure to the environment. Results suggest that intravenous infusions can be contaminated by this route when the infusion and administration set is assembled.
Sarcolemmal and mitochondrial KATP channels and myocardial ischemic preconditioning

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is the phenomenon whereby brief periods of ischemia have been shown to protect the myocardium against a sustained ischemic insult. The result of IPC may be manifest as a marked reduction in infarct size, myocardial stunning, or incidence of arrhythmias. While many substances and pathways have been proposed to play a role in the signal transduction mediating the cardioprotective effect of IPC, overwhelming evidence indicates an intimate involvement of the ATP‐sensitive potassium channel (KATP channel) in this process. Initial hypotheses suggested that the surface or sarcolemmal KATP (sarcKATP) channel mediated the cardioprotective effects of IPC. However, much research has subsequently supported a major role for the mitochondrial KATP channel (mitoKATP) as the one involved in IPC‐mediated cardioprotection. This review presents evidence to support a role for the sarcKATP or the mitoKATP channel as either triggers and/or downstream mediators in the phenomenon of IPC.
Spatio-temporal data streams: An approach to managing moving objects

Spatio-temporal database is a new type of database that manages spatio-temporal objects and supports corresponding query languages. Term moving objects databases is today used as a synonym for spatio-temporal databases managing spatial objects with continuously changing location and/or extend. DSMS (Data Stream Management System) is an extension of a DBMS (Database Management System) that efficiently manages potentially unbound data streams as well as standard relations and supports continuous queries in addition to standard one-time queries. By combining these two systems, we get a system that manages moving objects whose position is determined by one or more data streams. In this paper we present a data model consisting of data types and operations needed to support spatio-temporal data in data streams. Defined data model is illustrated through an SQL-like query language.
A nonlinear filter-based model for concurrent dual-band power amplifiers

This paper proposes a nonlinear filter-based model with low complexity for concurrent dual-band digital predistortion. The model saves remarkable number of multiplication and needs low precision of calculation, and can be easily realized on hardware platforms. Moreover, this model achieves almost the same linearization performance as the 2D-DPD model. A broadband GaN HEMT power amplifier is used to verify the model. The dual 20MHz band signal with 8 dB PAPR spacing 140MHz are tested at 2.55GHz. The proposed model uses only 18 complex multiplexers. With predistortion, ACPR can be improved from -38dBc to -50dBc.
Cognitive Functioning in Healthy Older Adults Aged 64–81: A Cohort Study into the Effects of Age, Sex, and Education

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to determine a possible differential effect of age, education, and sex on cognitive speed, verbal memory, executive functioning, and verbal fluency in healthy older adults. A group of 578 healthy participants in the age range of 64–81 was recruited from a large population study of healthy adults (Maastricht Aging Study). Even in healthy individuals in this restricted age range, there is a clear, age-related decrease in performance on executive functioning, verbal fluency, verbal memory, and cognitive speed tasks. The capacity to inhibit information is affected most. Education had a substantial effect on cognitive functioning: participants with a middle or high level of education performed better on cognitive tests than did participants with a low level of education. Women performed better than men on verbal memory tasks. Therefore, education and sex must be taken into account when examining an older individual's cognitive performance.
Cost evaluation of reconfigurable optical Add/Drop multiplexers

Reconfigurable Optical Add/drop Multiplexers, ROADMs, are key enablers of the modern-day optical communication services to support the remote provisioning of the optical links and realize the reconfigurable optical network topologies. According to different features supported by ROADMs, there are some tradeoffs for the optical network designers in choosing the architecture which is suitable for their application. In this paper, main characteristics of the ROADM are stated. Then, ten different architectures of ROADMs are investigated. Finally, the ROADM architectures are evaluated in terms of the important design costs in order to give a practical insight for network planning. The comparison of ten different architectures is performed based on three objectives: the characteristics provided by ROADM architectures, the optical power loss and the implementation price.
Accounting for data encapsulation in the measurement of object‐oriented class cohesion

Intuitively, in a certain class, a pair of methods that share an attribute of an object type is potentially more cohesive than those that share an attribute of a primitive type because the attribute of a reference type could implicitly refer to multiple data. Existing class cohesion measures ignore the implicit access to or sharing of attributes due to the encapsulation feature. As a result, the obtained cohesion values can be inaccurate and could lead to incorrect quality indications. This paper aims at demonstrating how to account for data encapsulation (DE) in cohesion measurement and reports empirical studies that investigate the impact of considering DE in cohesion measurement on cohesion values and the abilities of cohesion measures to predict class fault proneness. To differentiate between attributes and parameters of different types, we propose a weight assignment algorithm. The weight that is assigned to an attribute or a parameter of a type depends on the number of encapsulated attributes of the type. Seven cohesion measures are extended to consider the assigned weights in cohesion measurement. The results of the empirical study show that the cohesion values and the corresponding fault‐proneness prediction results can significantly change when accounting for DE in cohesion measurement. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Three-dimensional location estimation of trajectories of point targets using a projection-based transformation method

A new computational approach for determining the parameters that characterize the locations of trajectories of point targets in a 3-D space is described. The targets of concern are dim, unresolved point targets moving along straight paths across the same field of view. Since the target's signal-to-noise ratio is low and the spatial extent of the target is less than a pixel, one must rely on integration over a target track that spans many image frames. The proposed method estimates these parameters by transforming the entire set of time-sequential images of a constant field of view into the projection space by using a modified Radon transform. Since the 3-D (spatiotemporal) data can be decomposed into 2-D multiple-view representations along arbitrary orientations, the Radon transform enables us to analyze the 3-D problem in terms of its 2-D projections. When this generalization of the Hough transform-based algorithm using the Radon transform is applied to a set of real infrared images, it produces promising estimation results even under noisy conditions. The noise in the images is assumed to be additive white Gaussian.
A Phase Separation Model for the Nanopatterning of Diatom Biosilica

Diatoms are encased in an intricately patterned wall that consists of amorphous silica. Species-specific fabrication of this ornate biomineral enables taxonomists to identify thousands of diatom species. The molecular mechanisms that control this nanofabrication and generate the diversity of patterns is not well understood. A simple model is described, in which repeated phase separation events during wall biogenesis are assumed to produce self-similar silica patterns in smaller and smaller scales. On the basis of this single assumption, the apparently complex patterns found in the valves of the diatom genusCoscinodiscus can be predicted. Microscopic analysis of valves in statu nascendi from three different Coscinodiscusspecies supports the conclusions derived from the model.
Morphology of retinal ganglion cells in the ferret (Mustela putorius furo)

The ferret is the premiere mammalian model of retinal and visual system development, but the spectrum and properties of its retinal ganglion cells are less well understood than in another member of the Carnivora, the domestic cat. Here, we have extensively surveyed the dendritic architecture of ferret ganglion cells and report that the classification scheme previously developed for cat ganglion cells can be applied with few modifications to the ferret retina. We confirm the presence of alpha and beta cells in ferret retina, which are very similar to those in cat retina. Both cell types exhibited an increase in dendritic field size with distance from the area centralis (eccentricity) and with distance from the visual streak. Both alpha and beta cell populations existed as two subtypes whose dendrites stratified mainly in sublamina a or b of the inner plexiform layer. Six additional morphological types of ganglion cells were identified: four monostratified cell types (delta, epsilon, zeta, and eta) and two bistratified types (theta and iota). These types closely resembled their counterparts in the cat in terms of form, relative field size, and stratification. Our data indicate that, among carnivore species, the retinal ganglion cells resemble one another closely and that the ferret is a useful model for studies of the ontogenetic differentiation of ganglion cell types. J. Comp. Neurol. 517:459–480, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Dual inhibition of c‐abl and PDGF receptor signaling by dasatinib and nilotinib for the treatment of dermal fibrosis

Abelson kinase (c‐abl) and platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) are key players in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antifibrotic potential of dasatinib and nilotinib, 2 novel inhibitors of c‐abl and PDGF, which are well tolerated and have recently been approved. Dasatinib and nilotinib dose‐dependently reduced the mRNA and protein levels of extracellular matrix proteins in human stimulated dermal fibroblasts from SSc patients (IC50 of 0.5–2.0 nM for dasatinib and 0.8–2.5 nM for nilotinib). In a mouse model of bleomycin‐induced dermal fibrosis, dasatinib and nilotinib potently reduced the dermal thickness, the number of myofibroblasts, and the collagen content of the skin in a dose‐dependent manner at well‐tolerated doses. These data indicate that dasatinib and nilotinib potently inhibit the synthesis of extracellular matrix in vitro and in vivo at biologically relevant concentrations. Thus, we provide the first evidence that dasatinib and nilotinib might be promising drugs for the treatment of patients with SSc. —Akhmetshina, A. , Dees, C. , Pileckyte, M. , Maurer, B. , Axmann, R. , Jüngel, A. , Zwerina, J., Gay, S. , Schett, G. , Distler, O. , Distler, J. H. W. Dual inhibition of c‐abl and PDGF receptor signaling by dasatinib and nilotinib for the treatment of dermal fibrosis. FASEB J. 22, 2214–2222 (2008)
Archaebacteria Then … Archaes Now (Are There Really No Archaeal Pathogens?)

In 1977, Carl Woese and George Fox argued that although methanogens looked like bacteria, they had very different cell wall structures and unique methanogenesis-related coenzymes and RNase T1 digestion of methanogen 16S rRNAs generated oligonucleotides so different from those from bacterial 16S rRNAs and from eukaryotic 18S rRNAs that methanogens should be placed in a third phylogenetic urkingdom, the Archaebacteria (81). They conceded that “almost nothing is known regarding their molecular biology” but concluded that “there is no reason at present to consider methanogens as any closer to eubacteria than to the cytoplasmic component of the eukaryote. ” This started a scientific debate that has continued with unabated vigor for over 20 years. In 1977, methanogens were the only Archaebacteria, and not many more were predicted (81), but by 1980 the archaebacterial urkingdom had already grown to include halophiles and thermoacidophiles, and the presence of an RNA polymerase with a complex subunit configuration similar to eukaryotic RNA polymerases had been added to the list of definitive archaebacterial features (29). The 16S rRNA sequence data were by then presented in the now familiar phylogenetic tree format, and the three urkingdoms were shown arising independently from a common, less complex ancestor designated the progenote. It was tempting to comment here on the past and present arguments for and against the urkingdom concept, the number of urkingdoms, the branching relationships in the 16S rRNA phylogenetic tree, and the nature of the progenote, the universal and last common ancestors of all life (6, 9, 30, 32, 39, 49, 50, 54, 78, 81–83). But instead, from my perspective it seemed more appropriate to review how the revolutionary/heretical archaebacterial proposal has been investigated experimentally. What has been done, what were the driving forces for the research undertaken, what do we know now, what have complete archaeal genome sequences contributed, and what’s next?
Flight path planning using GA and fuzzy logic considering communication constraints

In this paper, we address an offline path planning algorithm for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The planned path meets some objectives such as minimum distance, collision free and maximum power of communication system, while there are some no-fly zones in the area. The optimality in the communication system is the main priority, because all the control commands and information are transmitted through this link. The final path is obtained considering criteria for communications constraints and the planning process guaranties a better connectivity of the communication between UAV and transmitters. The information of radio signal propagation (RSP) of different transmitters is computed by SPLAT software with respect to each terrain. Genetic algorithm is employed to plana path on latitude and longitude plane. This algorithm is tested in a real environment three-dimensional terrain in different strategy of forbidden regions and target area. The proposed algorithm is implemented in MATLAB and the satisfactory simulation results are illustrated.
How important are columnar cacti as sources of water and nutrients for desert consumers? A review

Succulent CAM plants, such as columnar cacti, are important physiognomic elements of many arid lands. Although, these plants are often ecologically important because they provide abundant resources in the form of nectar and fruit, their contribution to the energy, nutrient and water budgets of consumers has not been quantified. We describe an isotopic approach that allows quantifying the ecological importance of CAM succulents. We first briefly review our work on the interaction between saguaros, an archetypical CAM succulent, and the desert doves that feed on its fruit. We then describe the potential importance of saguaro fruit as a function of its abundance, macronutrient composition, and seasonal availability. We argue that the resources provided by saguaros do much to satisfy the energy and water requirements of the birds that reside in hot subtropical deserts during the summer. We then describe the carbon isotope composition of saguaros and of the plant community in which they are imbedded and use two species of desert doves to illustrate how stable isotopes can reveal the importance of a single plant as a source of carbon and water for consumers. The second section of this review presents new data on the importance of saguaros for the entire community of birds that inhabit the Sonoran Desert during the summer. We show how the resources of saguaro reach across dietary guilds and account for a large proportion of the diet of many insectivorous species as well as that of granivorous and frugivorous species. We demonstrate that many of these species probably obtain significant water as well as nutrients from saguaro fruit. Finally, we point out the current limitations of using deuterium as a water tracer in animal systems.
Study on the proportional allocation of electric vehicles with conventional and fast charge methods when in distribution network

This paper studies the hierarchical classification of electric vehicles (EV) by analyzing the differences of charging behaviors of different types of EVs. According to the different proportions of conventionally-charged EVs and fast-charged EVs, four indexes (the increment of peak load, the duration of peak load, the maximum smoothing index of load curve and the average smoothing index) are proposed to evaluate the impact on the distribution network. Then a method is established to configure the proportion of EV in different charging methods. Finally, based on the field data of a distribution network and the IEEE-34 node example, the optimal proportion of EV in different charging methods are made combined with the Monte Carlo simulation of charging load. Results show that suitable ratio of EV with different charging methods can make the load curve smoother and the grid's difference between peak and valley loads decrease significantly.
The site of action of AHR-2666 in frog sartorius muscle.

AHR-2666, 3-( m -chlorophenoxy)-1-methylearbamoylpyrrolidine, a skeletal muscle relaxant, produces a dose-related, reversible decline in isometric twitch tension. While AHR-2666 (pKa = 0.19 ± 0.04) does not bring about contracture in concentrations of 0.4 to 1.2 mM, it antagonizes both the potassium contracture and contractures produced by the addition of caffeine (7.5-50 mM) to the Ringer's solution. AHR-2666 appears to act as a competitive inhibitor of caffeine in frog sartorius muscle. The increased 45Ca efflux produced by 10 mM caffeine is completely blocked by AHR-2666 (0.4 mM): higher concentrations of caffeine are less completely antagonized. By itself, AHR-2666 has no effect on either the uptake or release of 45Ca from resting muscle. The muscle action potential was inhibited parallel with that of the twitch. The data suggest that the peripheral muscle relaxant effects of AHR-2666 are similar to those of the local anesthetics.
Scaling of heat transfer augmentation due to mechanical distortions in hypervelocity boundary layers

We examine the response of hypervelocity boundary layers to global mechanical distortions due to concave surface curvature. Surface heat transfer and visual boundary layer thickness data are obtained for a suite of models with different concave surface geometries. Results are compared to predictions using existing approximate methods. Near the leading edge, good agreement is observed, but at larger pressure gradients, predictions diverge significantly from the experimental data. Up to a factor of five underprediction is reported in regions with greatest distortion. Curve fits to the experimental data are compared with surface equations. We demonstrate that reasonable estimates of the laminar heat flux augmentation may be obtained as a function of the local turning angle for all model geometries, even at the conditions of greatest distortion. This scaling may be explained by the application of Lees similarity. As a means of introducing additional local distortions, vortex generators are used to impose streamwise structures into the boundary layer. The response of the large scale vortices to an adverse pressure gradient is investigated. Surface streak evolution is visualized over the different surface geometries using fast response pressure sensitive paint. For a flat plate baseline case, heat transfer augmentation at similar levels to turbulent flow is measured. For the concave geometries, increases in heat transfer by factors up to 2.6 are measured over the laminar values. The scaling of heat transfer with turning angle that is identified for the laminar boundary layer response is found to be robust even in the presence of the imposed vortex structures.