Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Response of garlic (Allium sativum L.) bolting and bulbing to temperature and photoperiod treatments

ABSTRACT This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of temperature and photoperiod treatments on the bolting and bulb formation of three local garlic cultivars (cvs) in two consecutive years. Naturally vernalized plants of cvs G107, G025 and G064 were transplanted into growth chambers and subjected to various combinations of temperature [T15/10, 15°C/10°C; T20/15, 20°C/15°C and T25/18, 25°C/18°C (day/night)] and photoperiod (L8, 8 h and L14,14 h) treatments. Plant growth, endogenous phytohormone and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) levels, along with the bolting and yield of garlic were evaluated. The experimental results from two consecutive years indicated that higher temperature (20°C or 25°C) and longer photoperiod (14 h) treatments significantly enhanced the garlic bolting, bulbing and cloving with a shorter growth period and a higher bulb weight. Moreover, the endogenous phytohormone and MeJA levels in the test plants were significantly increased by the higher temperature (25°C for the phytohormone level; 20°C for the MeJA level) and longer photoperiod [14 h, except for abscisic acid (ABA), which had the highest level at 8 h] conditions and were decreased by the lowest test temperature (15°C) and shorter photoperiod (8 h, except for ABA) conditions. This response coincided with that of the bulbing index, bolting rate, growth period and bulb weight. In addition, plants treated under the conditions of 20°C/15°C–14 h and 25°C/18°C–14 h produced the highest phytohormone levels (except for ABA) for cvs G025 and G064, respectively, and showed the best bolting and bulbing behavior. It is reasonable to assume that endogenous phytohormone (especially gibberellic acid) and MeJA levels are highly related to garlic bolting and bulbing, which might lead to the different responses of the three studied cultivars to the combination of temperature and photoperiod treatments. Furthermore, cvs G107 and G025 bolt well and have better bulb formation under 20°C–14 h conditions, while the conditions of 25°C–14 h are critical for the bolting and bulbing of cv. G064. Summary: We show that a higher temperature and longer photoperiod are essential for garlic bolting and bulbing. Varied endogenous phytohormone and MeJA levels might lead to the different responses of the studied cultivars to treatments.
Behavioral Signatures for Predicting Agents ’ Behavior

There are many situations in which two or more agents (e.g., human or computer decision makers) interact with each other repeatedly in settings that can be modeled as repeated stochastic games. In such situations, each agent’s performance may depend greatly on how well it can predict the other agents’ preferences and behavior. For use in making such predictions, we adapt and extend the Social Value Orientation (SVO) model from social psychology, which provides a way to measure an agent’s preferences for both its own payoffs and those of the other agents. The original SVO model was limited to one-shot games, and assumed that each individual’s behavioral preferences remain constant over time—an assumption that is inadequate for repeated-game settings, where an agent’s future behavior may depend not only on its SVO but also on its observations of the other agents’ behavior. We extend the SVO model to take this into account. Our experimental evaluation, on several dozen agents that were written by students in classroom projects, show that our extended model works quite well.
Text tiling: A quantitative approach to discourse segmentation

This paper represents TextTiling, a method for partitioning full-length text documents into coherent multiparagraph units. The layout of text tiles is meant to reflect the pattern of subtropics contained in an expository text. The approach uses lexical analyses based on tfidf, and information retrieval measurement, to determine the extent of the tiles, incorporating thesaural information via a statistical disambiguation algorithm. The tiles have been found to correspond will to human judgements of the major subtopic boundaries of science magazine articles.
Insulin Resistance in PCOS Patients Enhances Oxidative Stress and Leukocyte Adhesion: Role of Myeloperoxidase

Cardiovascular diseases and oxidative stress are related to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and insulin resistance (IR). We have evaluated the relationship between myeloperoxidase (MPO) and leukocyte activation in PCOS patients according to homeostatic model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR), and have explored a possible correlation between these factors and endocrine and inflammatory parameters. This was a prospective controlled study conducted in an academic medical center. The study population consisted of 101 PCOS subjects and 105 control subjects. We divided PCOS subjects into PCOS non-IR (HOMA-IR<2.5) and PCOS IR (HOMA-IR>2.5). Metabolic and anthropometric parameters, total and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, MPO levels, interactions between human umbilical vein endothelial cells and leukocytes, adhesion molecules (E-selectin, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) and proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α) were evaluated. Oxidative stress was observed in PCOS patients, in whom there was an increase in total and mitochondrial ROS production and MPO levels. Enhanced rolling flux and adhesion, and a decrease in polymorphonuclear cell rolling velocity were also detected in PCOS subjects. Increases in IL-6 and TNF-α and adhesion molecules (E-selectin, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) were also observed, particularly in the PCOS IR group, providing evidence that inflammation and oxidative stress are related in PCOS patients. HOMA-IR was positively correlated with hsCRP (p<0.001, r = 0.304), ROS production (p<0.01, r = 0.593), leukocyte rolling flux (p<0.05, r = 0.446), E-selectin (p<0.01, r = 0.436) and IL-6 (p<0.001, r = 0.443). The results show an increase in the rate of ROS and MPO levels in PCOS patients in general, and particularly in those with IR. Inflammation in PCOS induces leukocyte-endothelium interactions and a simultaneous increase in IL-6, TNF-α, E-selectin, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. These conditions are aggravated by the presence of IR.
Visuomotor deficits during locomotion in previously concussed athletes 30 or more days following return to play

Current protocols for returning athletes to play (RTP) center around resolution of physical symptoms of concussion. However, recent research has identified that balance and cognitive deficits persist beyond physical symptom recovery. Protocols that involve testing dynamic balance and visuomotor integration have been recommended as potential tools for better understanding of length of impairment following concussion. A dynamic, visuomotor paradigm was undertaken in the current study to assess decision making in athletes who had sustained a concussion >30 days before study participation and had been cleared to RTP (N = 10). Two obstacles created a gap that varied between 0.6 and 1.8× participants' individual shoulder width in open space. Participants made decisions to navigate through or deviate around the gap created by the two obstacles. The results revealed that previously concussed athletes were highly variable in their decision making and demonstrated variable Medial‐Lateral (ML) center of mass (COM) control when approaching the obstacles, when compared with nonconcussed, age‐matched controls. As such, they showed poor visuomotor control and decision making, as well as poor dynamic stability compared to controls. Visuomotor deficits were persistent in the sample of previously concussed individuals, well beyond deficits identified by current RTP standards. This study suggests that dynamic, visuomotor integration tasks may be of benefit to increase rigor in RTP protocols and increase safety of athletes returning to sport.
Bayesian Optimization with Robust Bayesian Neural Networks

Bayesian optimization is a prominent method for optimizing expensive-to-evaluate black-box functions that is widely applied to tuning the hyperparameters of machine learning algorithms. Despite its successes, the prototypical Bayesian optimization approach - using Gaussian process models - does not scale well to either many hyperparameters or many function evaluations. Attacking this lack of scalability and flexibility is thus one of the key challenges of the field. We present a general approach for using flexible parametric models (neural networks) for Bayesian optimization, staying as close to a truly Bayesian treatment as possible. We obtain scalability through stochastic gradient Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, whose robustness we improve via a scale adaptation. Experiments including multi-task Bayesian optimization with 21 tasks, parallel optimization of deep neural networks and deep reinforcement learning show the power and flexibility of this approach.
The Effect of Input Enhancement on Vocabulary Learning: Is There An Impact upon Receptive And Productive Knowledge?

This article reports on a quasi-experimental study investigating the effectiveness of two different teaching approaches, explicit teaching and explicit teaching combined with textual and aural input enhancement used to teach lexical items to elementary level learners of Turkish in a higher education context. Forty participants were divided into two equal groups and given a pre-test measuring productive and receptive knowledge of nine targeted lexical items naming common types of food and drink. Each group was then given sixty minutes instruction on ‘restaurant Turkish’, using a direct communicative approach. Group one (contrast group) received explicit teaching only, while group two (treatment group) received the same teaching but also used a menu where the target words were bolded (textual input enhancement) and listened to the target words modelled by the teacher three times (aural input enhancement). Following the treatment, tests measuring productive and receptive knowledge of the target items were administered. This process was repeated with a delay of two weeks following the treatment. Analysis of gain scores for receptive and productive tests made at the pre-, post- and delayed stage reveal larger gains for the treatment group in each test. These were statistically significant when compared with the contrast group’s scores for production at the immediate post- test stage. Within group tests showed that each treatment had a significant impact on receptive and productive knowledge of vocabulary targeted, with a larger short term effect on the treatment group. Previous studies in this area have tended to focus on the use of input enhancement in relation to the learning of grammatical forms but these results demonstrate some clear benefits when teaching lexis, which have clear implications for further research and teaching.
Theory and practice in SME performance measurement systems

Describes research undertaken to evaluate the appropriateness of strategic performance measurement (PM) system development processes for small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). An evaluation is undertaken of ten PM approaches found in the literature. To facilitate this evaluation a typology is presented which synthesises current theory. This evaluation resulted in the identification of a process, based on its congruency to the theoretical model, which is used for an empirical investigation. Empirical data from SMEs is collected and analysed using the typology. This indicates a discontinuity between current theory and the requirements of practitioners in small companies. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations to facilitate the development of appropriate PM processes for SMEs.
Ser360 and Ser364 in the Kinase Domain of Tomato SlMAPKKKα are Critical for Programmed Cell Death Associated with Plant Immunity

SlMAPKKKα, a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase, is a positive regulator of Pto-mediated effector-triggered immunity, which elicits programmed cell death (PCD) in plants. In this study, we examined whether putative phosphorylation sites in the conserved activation segment of the SlMAPKKKα kinase domain are critical for eliciting PCD. Three amino acids, threonine353, serine360 (Ser360), or serine364 (Ser364), in the conserved activation segment of SlMAPKKKα kinase domain were substituted to alanine (T353A, S360A, or S364A), and these variants were transiently expressed in tomato and Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Two alanine substitutions, S360A and S364A, completely abolished SlMAPKKKα PCD-eliciting activity in both plants, while T353A substitution did not affect its PCD-eliciting activity. SlMAPKKKα wild type and variant proteins accumulated to similar levels in plant leaves. However, SlMAPKKKα protein with the largest size was missed when either S360A or S364A substitutions were expressed, whereas proteins with the smaller masses were more accumulated than those of full-length of SIMAPKKKα and T353A. These results suggest that phosphorylation of SlMAPKKKα at Ser360 and Ser364 is critical for PCD elicitation in plants.
Social cognition assessment in relation to cognitive dysfunctions and brain lesions among stroke survivors

Families of brain injured patients often report change in the patient’s everyday social behaviour. However, efficient instruments for the assessment of social cognitive (SC) abilities of these individuals have been lacking. To fill this gap, a novel instrument was designed and administered to healthy controls and stroke survivors in order to ascertain its psychometric properties. Further theoretical insights into SC have been carried out in three levels. First, it aimed to identify commonalities among the SC elements. The analysis revealed four factors that explained 71% of the total variance: Social Cognition Control; Motivation; Interest in Others; and Mindreading. At the second level, the thesis addressed the associations and dissociations between SC elements and ‘general cognitive domains’. This analysis revealed that SC elements are mostly processed independently. However, level of education and spatial attention predicted the patients’ ability to identify others’ emotions, and disinhibition predicted impaired belief attribution and misunderstanding figurative language. Third, ‘Hodological analysis’ was conducted to explore association of SC syndromes with integrity of white matter pathways. This analysis revealed ten white matter pathways that cluster into distinct networks, and which uniquely were associated with three of the SC factors. Finally, a single case study of a stroke survivor demonstrated degrees of convergence/divergence vis-a-vis the track-wise lesion-deficit analysis from the group study, and the result were in favour of the use of multi-faceted SC test battery in stroke patients, and underscore the importance of single-case studies in this population as a complement to group-based analyses.
Emotion management and occupational therapy student learning on placement: A post-structuralist exploration

Introduction The role of emotion management and emotional labour has been extensively debated and theorised in nursing and medical literature, but until recently, there has been very little written from an occupational therapy perspective Method This doctoral research explored the emotional aspects of placement learning with a group of seven third-year occupational therapy students, using a post-structural theoretical framework and methodology. A creative arts–based qualitative methodology was employed. The researcher facilitated creative writing groups in which students produced stories and poems about placement experiences. The writing, the group discussions and the one-to-one conversations were analysed with post-structuralist and narrative theory. Findings The innovative method produced writing that evokes the placement experiences and captures the students’ endeavours to manage their emotions in order to ‘perform the professional’. The findings reveal the role of emotion management in the discourses of professionalism in the health and social-care environment. Conclusion The research raises questions for the occupational therapy profession about the hidden emotional aspects of our practice and proposes an alternative view of emotion management to that which is implied in the concept of emotional intelligence.
Daily Stress and Smoking.

This study examined daily minor stress and cigarette smoking in adult habitual smokers. In this study, 55 subjects monitored daily stress, daily state anxiety, and daily cigarette intake for 21 consecutive days. Subjects also completed measures of trait anxiety, self-reported smoking motives, recent major life events, and social support. These variables, along with gender, were used to predict associations between daily cigarette intake and scores on daily stress and anxiety inventories. Results of withinand between-subjects time series correlational analyses showed significant associations between scores on measures of daily stress and daily cigarette intake. While subjects as individuals showed marked variability in their associations between daily stress and cigarette consumption, these asssociations could not be predicted by any of the hypothesized predictor variables, including gender, trait anxiety, selfreported negative-affect-reduction smoking, recent life events, and social support. Results of this study are discussed with regard to research and theory in the areas of stress and cigarette smoking. Future research and clinical implications also are discussed.
Growth and bioenergetics of alkaliphilic Bacillus firmus OF4 in continuous culture at high pH

The effect of external pH on growth of alkaliphilic Bacillus firmus OF4 was studied in steady-state, pH-controlled cultures at various pH values. Generation times of 54 and 38 min were observed at external pH values of 7.5 and 10.6, respectively. At more alkaline pH values, generation times increased, reaching 690 min at pH 11.4; this was approximately the upper limit of pH for growth with doubling times below 12 h. Decreasing growth rates above pH 11 correlated with an apparent decrease in the ability to tightly regulate cytoplasmic pH and with the appearance of chains of cells. Whereas the cytoplasmic pH was maintained at pH 8.3 or below up to external pH values of 10.8, there was an increase up to pH 8.9 and 9.6 as the growth pH was increased to 11.2 and 11.4, respectively. Both the transmembrane electrical potential and the phosphorylation potential (delta Gp) generally increased over the total pH range, except for a modest fall-off in the delta Gp at pH 11.4. The capacity for pH homeostasis rather than that for oxidative phosphorylation first appeared to become limiting for growth at the high edge of the pH range. No cytoplasmic or membrane-associated organelles were observed at any growth pH, confirming earlier conclusions that structural sequestration of oxidative phosphorylation was not used to resolve the discordance between the total electrochemical proton gradient (delta p) and the delta Gp as the external pH is raised. Were a strictly bulk chemiosmotic coupling mechanism to account for oxidative phosphorylation over the entire range, the deltaGp/deltap ration (which would equal the H+/ATP ratio) would rise from about 3 at pH 7.5 to 13 at pH 11.2, dropping to 7 at pH 11.4 only because of the rise in cytoplasmic pH relative to other parameters. Moreover, the molar growth yields on malate were higher at pH 10.5 than at pH 7.5, indicating greater rather than lesser efficiency in the use of substrate at the more alkaline pH.
Logical Flaws In Indonesian Students’ Argumentative Essays

Writing argumentative essays becomes a challenge for both teachers and students as it relates to various aspects. One of them is on the teaching and learning of critical thinking skills comprising the awareness to avoid logical flaws. The real reflection of critical thinking can be traced through students’ ability to express their thought in the form of arguments which have no logical flaws. Good arguments must be supported by convincing claims and careful choice of wordings which is free from fallacious statements. This paper identifies the fallacious statements or logical flaws occurring in the argumentative writing of the students of an Islamic University in Indonesia. The findings show the faulty reasoning found in terms of the discussion on the topics, the flawed relations with the audience, and the relations with the characters involved in the arguments. The types of the logical flaws also concern the claims expressed. On claims of fact, the fallacies found include hasty generalization, irrelevancy, slippery slope, oversimplification and begging the question. Regarding pathos, the fallacy type covers ad populum, appeal to emotion premises and red herring. Meanwhile, the ethos fallacy occurs in straw man only. On claims of value, more faulty reasoning is found compared to the discussion on the topics which are considered less familiar. In the logos fallacy for instance, the whole types of fallacy are found. The pathos found involves appeal to emotion premises and red herring, while the ethos fallacy occurs in appeal to authority and ad hominem. On claims of policy, the similar tendency of ethos is also found while the pathos existing is in the form of appeal to emotion premises. Therefore, it is recommended that the students develop their critical thinking skills which involve constructing logical and flawless reasoning. Keywords: logical flaws, critical thinking, logos, ethos, pathos
STRUCTURAL REPRESENTATION OF THE PRONUNCIATION AND ITS USE FOR CALL

This paper applies the structural representation of the pronunciation for computer-aided language learning (CALL). This representation was proposed to remove non-linguistic features such as age, gender, speaker, etc from speech acoustics (N. Minematsu et al., 2005). The removal was performed by extracting only the interrelations of speech events and discarding their absolute properties such as formants and spectrum envelopes. All the extracted interrelations mathematically form the external phonological structure of the events. Using this representation, in S. Asakawa et al., (2005), the vowel structure of a language learner was extracted and it was shown that the structural development via training can be traced and visualized adequately. This structural visualization can be regarded as pronunciation portfolio (N. Minematsu et al., 2004). This paper shows that the new representation can classify the language learners adequately and indicate which vowels should be corrected by priority.