Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BREEDING BREAD WHEAT FOR LOW PHYTIC ACID USING FULL DIALLEL CROSSES

Phytic acid (Myo-inositol 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 hexa-kisphophate) is a storage form of phosphorus and can accumulate to levels as high as 35% in the wheat kernel. Phytic acid acts as an anti-nutritional macromolecule (antinutrient) in the wheat kernel. Due to its inhibitory role, a high concentration of phytic acid is undesirable as it hinders the bioavailability of some essential nutrients such as Fe, Mg, Ca, Zn and Cu, etc. To see the inheritance of phytic acid in wheat, phytic acid concentration was initially determined in kernels of 10 wheat genotypes to identify two contrasting genetic groups for diallel analysis. Based on pre-screening results of 10 wheat genotypes, five wheat genotypes (3 with high and 2 with low phytic acid concentration) were crossed in all possible combinations during 2007-08 to generate a 5 × 5 full diallel set for studying the inheritance of phytic acid and other agronomic traits. All 20 F1 hybrids and 5 parental genotypes were planted using a randomized complete block design with three replicates during 2008-09 at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences for all traits, providing justification for diallel analysis. According to Hotelling’s t 2 test and regression analysis, the additivedominance model was adequate for phytic acid, plant height, flag leaf area, partially adequate for days to heading and grain filling duration. Values of D greater than H1 and H2 for flag leaf area and plant height indicated their additive nature, whereas values of D less than H1 and H2 for grain filling duration and phytic acid concentration accounted for non-additive control of these traits. The narrow and broad sense heritability estimates varied widely among traits for days to heading (0.07, 0.32), flag leaf area (0.31, 0.55), grain filling duration (0.24, 0.91), plant height (0.12, 0.28) and phytic acid concentration (0.01, 0.86). The values for phytic acid concentration ranged from 0.56 to 3.43% among F1 hybrids and 1.06 to 3.67% for parental genotypes. The F1 hybrids, Ps-2005 × Ghaznavi (0.56%), AUP-4006 × Ps2004 (0.74%), Janbaz × Ps-2004 (0.89%) and Janbaz × Ps-2005 (1.01%), had the lowest concentration of phytic acid. This research confirms that F1 hybrids with low phytic acid concentration could yield desirable segregants.
Influence of socio-economic status on attitudes towards premarital sex (PMS) among secondary school students in western Kenya : case study of Bungoma county, Kenya

A neighbourhood lacking descent environment in qualitative terms is paying a hidden cost. The study examined The need to predict and design preventive measures against HIV/AIDS has provided the valuable impetus for sexual behaviour and intervention studies in the last few decades. Previous research on young peoples' premarital sexual (PMS) activity has shown a wide spectrum of factors that facilitate premarital sexual activity. However, Poverty or economic depravity in particular, has been strongly linked to premarital sexual activity among young people especially girls. This study examined the premarital sexual attitudes and behaviour of secondary school students in relation to socio-economic background of their families in the larger Bungoma district, Kenya. Purposive and systematic random sampling methods were used to select the study area and the 284 respondents, respectively for the study. EPI INFO Version 6 computer software was used for data analysis. Results revealed that girls were more sexually experienced than boys of the same age and academic level. Further analysis showed that gender influenced the attitude of the youth towards PMS. Although the general attitude of the youth towards premarital sex (PMS) was favourable (generally favoured delayed initiation of sexual activities), the expressed attitude was however inconsistent with the behaviour as a large proportion (52%) of the youth had had experience with PMS. These incongruities in expressed attitudes and behaviour were more obvious when attitudes towards PMS were regressed against family socio-economic background.
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria Pseudomonas: A Review

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), a group of root associated bacteria, intimately interact with the plant roots and consequently influence plant health and soil fertility. They offer an excellent combination of traits useful in disease control and plant growth promotion. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were first defined by Kloepper and Schroth (1978) as the soil bacteria that colonize the roots of plants. Amongst the PGPRs, fluorescent pseudomonads have emerged as the largest and potentially the most promising group of PGPR with their rapid growth, simple nutritional requirements, ability to utilize diverse organic substrates and mobility. Fluorescent pseudomonads produce highly potent broad spectrum antifungal molecules against various phytopathogens, thus acting as effective bio control agents.
Pathogenicity, functional significance and clinical phenotype of mismatch repair gene MSH2 variants found in cancer patients

9 INTRODUCTION 11 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 13 Cancer 13 Cancer genetics 14 Oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes 14 Hereditary cancer 15 DNA maintenance 17 Origins of mutagenesis 17 DNA repair pathways 17 Mismatch repair 22 MMR in Escherichia coli 23 MMR in eukaryotes 24 Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer 31 Genetics of HNPCC 31 Clinical characteristics of HNPCC patients 33 Muir-Torre syndrome 35 Nontruncating mutations in HNPCC 35 Frequency of nontruncating mutations in MMR genes 35 Functional analysis of nontruncating MMR gene variants 36 AIMS OF THE PRESENT STUDY 39 MATERIALS AND METHODS 40 MSH2 mutations and associated families (I-IV) 40 Functional assays (I-IV) 43 Protein expression and coimmunoprecipitation (I-IV) 43 Protein purification (III-IV) 45 Mismatch repair assays (I-IV) 46 Bandshift assays (III-IV) 49
RUNNING HEAD: Internet Reading Literacy 1 WebLEC: A Test to Assess Adolescents’ Internet Reading Literacy Skills WebLEC: Una Prueba para Evaluar la Competencia Lectora en Internet de los Adolescentes

Background: Reading on the Internet requires specific skills (e.g., navigation), apart from comprehension abilities, but there is no test in Spanish to assess these skills in adolescents. The goal of this study is to fill this gap with a test called WebLEC, inspired by PISA framework (OECD, 2009). Method: WebLEC was validated with secondary education students (n = 941). It includes 28 items of three types (access & retrieve, integrate & interpret, and reflect & evaluate) applied to four reading scenarios (e.g., web portal, search engines, Internet forums, and Wikipedia). WebLEC provides a general reading literacy index, plus two navigation indices. Results: The validity and reliability of WebLEC was confirmed, and a scale to RUNNING HEAD: Internet Reading Literacy 3 diagnose reading literacy skills is provided. Conclusions: WebLEC assesses adolescents’ Internet reading literacy skills. Given the growing importance of the Internet in ordinary life and learning situations, assessing these skills is the first step in implementing instructional interventions to foster Internet reading.
Prevalence of mosquitoes (diptera: culicidae) in and around Bangladesh Agricultural University campus of Mymensingh in Bangladesh

Mosquitoes are the small insects belonging to the order diptera. They are familiar parasitic vectors of a number of transmissible and life menacing diseases. The study was conducted at the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) campus and its surrounding areas in Mymensingh, Bangladesh from January to June, 2013 detect adult mosquito species and their status. Adult mosquitoes were collected using light traps (LTs), insect collecting nets, and human bait (HB) from households, cattle sheds, rice field, botanical garden, dairy farm and poultry farm and staff residential quarters. A total of 2,750 adult mosquitoes were collected from these places. Ten species of mosquitoes under two genera were identified. Among the two genera Culex (84.3%) was the leading group dominated over Anopheles (15.7%) in all areas. In case of Culex species, the most prevalent mosquito species was the Cx . quinquefasciatus (39%) followed by Cx . fuscocephala (23.7%), Cx . tritaeniorhynchus (15.8%), Cx . gelidus (4.0%), Cx . whitmorei (1.2%), Cx . vishnui (0.3%) and Cx . whitei (0.3%). On the other hand, among Anopheles species, An. bengalensis (11.1%) was found in the highest percentage followed by An. vagus (3.8%) and An. jayporiensis (0.8%). Among the studied areas, the highest prevalence of mosquitoes were collected from cattle sheds (40.7%), followed by households of Balashpur (16.2%), Boyra (14.9%) and Kewatkhali (12.4%). Though Culex species was found as dominant species in all areas, the highest percentage (96.7%) was found in staff residential area in BAU campus, whereas, the highest prevalence of Anopheles species (28.7%) was found in cattle shed. We found that two genera were prevalent together in almost all areas, however, though Culex was the dominant one. In conclusion, our survey provided useful information on the prevalence of mosquito species regarding the distribution and diseases control. Progressive Agriculture 26:60-66, 2015
Land cover mapping of Greater Mesoamerica using MODIS data

A new land cover database of Greater Mesoamerica has been prepared using moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS, 500 m resolution) satellite data. Daily surface reflectance MODIS data and a suite of ancillary data were used in preparing the database by employing a decision tree classification approach. The new land cover data are an improvement over traditional advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) based land cover data in terms of both spatial and thematic details. The dominant land cover type in Greater Mesoamerica is forest (39%), followed by shrubland (30%) and cropland (22%). Country analysis shows forest as the dominant land cover type in Belize (62%), Cost Rica (52%), Guatemala (53%), Honduras (56%), Nicaragua (53%), and Panama (48%), cropland as the dominant land cover type in El Salvador (60.5%), and shrubland as the dominant land cover type in Mexico (37%). A three-step approach was used to assess the quality of the classified land cover data: (i) qualitative assessment provided good insight in identifying and correcting gross errors; (ii) correlation analysis of MODIS- and Landsat-derived land cover data revealed strong positive association for forest (r2 = 0.88), shrubland (r2 = 0.75), and cropland (r2 = 0.97) but weak positive association for grassland (r2 = 0.26); and (iii) an error matrix generated using unseen training data provided an overall accuracy of 77.3% with a Kappa coefficient of 0.73608. Overall, MODIS 500 m data and the methodology used were found to be quite useful for broad-scale land cover mapping of Greater Mesoamerica.
Validity domain of the Benney equation including the Marangoni effect for closed and open flows

The Benney equation including thermocapillary effects is considered to study a liquid film flowing down a homogeneously heated inclined wall. The link between the finite-time blow-up of the Benney equation and the absence of the one-hump travelling-wave solution of the associated dynamical system is accurately demonstrated in the whole range of linearly unstable wavenumbers. Then the blow-up boundary is tracked in the whole space of parameters accounting for flow rate, surface tension, inclination and thermocapillarity. In particular, the latter two effects can strongly reduce the validity range of the Benney equation. It is also shown that the subcritical bifurcation found for falling films with the Benney equation is related to the blow-up of solutions and is unphysical in all cases, even with the thermocapillary effect though in contrast to horizontally heated films. The accuracy of bounded solutions of the Benney equation is determined by comparison with a reference weighted integral boundary layer model. A distinction is made between closed and open flow conditions, when calculating travelling-wave solutions; the former corresponds to the conservation of mass and the latter to the conservation of flow rate. The open flow condition matches experimental conditions more closely and is explored for the first time through the associated dynamical system. It yields bounded solutions for larger Reynolds numbers than the closed flow condition. Finally, solutions that are conditionally bounded are found to be unstable to disturbances of larger periodicity. In this case, coalescence is the pathway yielding finite-time blow-up.
Method for Measurement of Single-Injector Heat Transfer Characteristics and Its Application in Studying Gas-Gas Injector Combustion Chamber

In the development of a Liquid Propellant Rocket Engine (LPRE), injector is always the element which requires the longest development period. An injector always especially in the initial design phase needs hundreds and thousands of tests to get a choice. These numerous tests, in turn, require reliable and accurate measurement method to give the basic support. The strength, the life cycle, and the cooling system effectiveness are highly dependent on heat transfer into and out of the system (Tramecourt et al., 2005). Heat transfer characteristics, combined with combustion efficiency, and combustion instability, are the three key parameters needed to be investigated in developing a new injector in a combustion chamber. The heat transfer characteristics generally contain the temperature and heat flux on the hot-gas-wall in the combustion chamber. The combustion efficiency and combustion instability can be observed easily by measuring the chamber pressure. However, it is always very hard to measure the temperature and heat flux on hot-gas-wall of the chamber in the hot-tests due to the extreme environment in LPRE chambers (temperature > 3000K, pressure > 10atm). Additionally, considerable efforts have been dedicated to model combustion in combustion chambers to understand and predict the heat transfer to the chamber walls (Zurbach, 2006), whereas the validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) design tools requires reliable experimental data assessment. This acquires a comprehensive set of data in the same facility, including wall heat fluxes along with inflow measurements (Tucker et al., 2005). To obtain the exact wall heat flux data, a reliable measurement method, in turn, is also required. Though a number of efforts had contributed to design new injectors and study on heat transfer of injectors, studies focusing on the measurement method are less well documented. In recent years, Pennsylvania State University, University of Florida and NASA MSFC etc. made many attempts on studying the heat transfer characteristics of some injectors in heat sink chambers (Conley et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2006; Marshall et al., 2005; Santoro & Pal, 2005; Vaidyanathan et al., 2007, 2010b). They applied coaxial thermocouple to measure two point temperatures at the same axial location and difference radial locations in a heat-sink copper combustion chamber, and then used the temperatures to calculate the local heat flux
Solubility of αS1-, β- and κ-casein in water-ethanol solutions

The solubility and the selectivity of αS1-, β- and κ-casein isolation from an industrially produced spray-dried sodium caseinate as a function of temperature (20–40 °C) and of ethanol volume fraction (0–0.6) at pH 5.0–7.5 were studied. Reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and nitrogen balance were used as analytical methods. At 20 °C, casein solubility as a function of pH (5–7) and of the ethanol volume fraction (0–0.6) is quite well represented by an equation describing the ionisation process. αS1-, β- and κ-casein solubility and β- and κ-casein extraction selectivity decrease both with a rise in the ethanol volume fraction to 0.45–0.50 and with temperature increase. For αS1-casein, the selectivity increases to 67% for an ethanol volume fraction of 0.47 at 29 °C. This fraction could be used as an emulsifying agent or for cream liqueur production or further purification. AbstractαS1- pH(5.0 ®∼ 7.5) (20 °C ®∼ 40 °C) (0 -s∼ 0.6) 20° C pH (5 ®∼ 7) (0 ®∼ 0.6) αS1-(0.45 ®∼ 0.50) 29 °C 0.47 67%RésuméLa solubilité et la sélectivité de séparation des caséines αS1, β et κ, à partir d’un caséinate de sodium industriel, en fonction de la température (20–40 °C) et de la fraction volumique d’éthanol (0 à 0,6) à pH 5,0–7,5, ont été étudiées. La Chromatographie liquide de phase inverse haute performance et le bilan d’azote ont été utilisés comme méthodes analytiques. La solubilité de la caséine à 20 °C, en fonction du pH (5–7) et de la fraction volumique d’éthanol (0 à 0,6), est assez bien représentée par une équation qui décrit le processus d’ionisation. La solubilité des caséines αS1, β et κ et la sélectivité d’extraction des caséines β et κ diminuent avec l’augmentation de la fraction volumique d’éthanol à 0,45–0,50 et de la température. La sélectivité pour la caséine αS1 augmente jusqu’à 67 % à 29 °C pour la fraction volumique d’éthanol de 0,47. Cette fraction caséique pourrait être utilisée comme émulsifiant ou pour la fabrication de crèmes liqueurs, ou être purifiée davantage.
Heritability of dominant-aggressive behaviour in English Cocker Spaniels

A total of 51 seven-week-old English Cocker Spaniel puppies were measured for dominantâ€“aggressive behaviour using the Campbell Test. The dogs consisted of a F full sibs and half sibs from matings of 4 sires with 10 dams. The purpose of this study was to determine if the variability observed in this behavioural characteristic has an additive genetic component and if so, to estimate heritability (h ). Coat colour and sex were examined as fixed effects. According to the results of the study: (1) there are highly significant differences between sexes; with males being more dominant than females, regardless of coat colour; (2) there are highly significant differences in aggressive behaviour depending on coat colour with greater to lesser dominance found in golden, black and particolour coats in that order; (3) there is no interaction between sex and colour when exhibiting greater or lesser dominance; (4) heritability, estimated on sire components, is a b
A Systematic Relationship between the Representations of Convectively Coupled Equatorial Wave Activity and the Madden–Julian Oscillation in Climate Model Simulations

AbstractThe relationship between a model’s performance in simulating the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and convectively coupled equatorial wave (CCEW) activity during wintertime is examined by analyzing precipitation from 26 general circulation models (GCMs) participating in the MJO Task Force/Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Atmospheric System Study (GASS) MJO model intercomparison project as well as observations based on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). A model’s performance in simulating the MJO is determined by how faithfully it reproduces the eastward propagation of the large-scale intraseasonal variability (ISV) compared to TRMM observations. Results suggest that models that simulate a better MJO tend to 1) have higher fractional variances for various high-frequency wave modes (Kelvin, mixed Rossby–gravity, and westward and eastward inertio-gravity waves), which are defined by the ratios of wave variances of specific wave modes to the “total” variance, and 2) exhibit.
A novel flush technique to simulate natural dispersal of spermatozoa in the female reproductive tract and expedite motility assessment of fresh ejaculated Merino (Ovis aries) sperm

CITATION: Boshoff, N. H. , et al. 2018. A novel flush technique to simulate natural dispersal of spermatozoa in the female reproductive tract and expedite motility assessment of fresh ejaculated Merino (Ovis aries) sperm. South African Journal of Animal Science, 48(3):469-476, doi:10.4314/sajas.v48i3. 7.
Note: Planetary Impact Rates from Ecliptic Comets

We have re-evaluated the impact rates for the planets from ecliptic comets (ECs) using the integrations in Levison & Duncan (1997). We nd that the current impact rates on the giant planets are actually about 4 times smaller than LD97's values due to di erences in methods of calculating the relevant timescales. The newly calculated impact rates are listed in Table 1. However, if the objects leaving the Kuiper belt were primarily on high inclination orbits, then the impact rates on the giant planets are larger than those in Table 1 by a factor < 2. We discuss the detail dynamics of objects hitting the giant planets in detail, including measurements of the impact velocities. We nd that 21% of the objects that hit Jupiter in our simulations were bound to the planet before the impact. The fraction of bound impactors for Saturn is much lower. Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus have a signi cant apex-antapex asymmetry for the unbound impactors.
DE-IDENTIFICATION FOR PRIVACY PROTECTION IN SURVEILLANCE VIDEOS

Advances in cameras and web technology have made it easy to capture and share large amounts of video data over to a large number of people. Also, an increasing number of video cameras observe public spaces like airports, train stations, shopping malls, streets, and other public places today. Video surveillance is an important tool to prevent, detect and reduce crime and disorder. It is also widely used to monitor people’s conduct, detect their presence in an area and/or possibly study their actions too. However, many civil rights and privacy groups have expressed their concern that by allowing continual increases in surveillance of citizens, we will end up in a mass surveillance society, with extremely limited, or non-existent political and/or personal freedoms. With the widespread use of surveillance today, we are becoming used to “being watched”. As time goes on, the more accustomed we become to video surveillance, we are not as likely to fight to maintain our right to privacy. Critics believe that in addition to its obvious function of identifying and capturing individuals who are committing undesirable acts, surveillance also functions to create in everyone a feeling of always being watched, so that they become self-policing. At the same time prices of hardware have fallen, and the capabilities of systems have grown dramatically. The day is not far when it would be easy to convert even the lowcost video surveillance units into “intelligent” human recognition systems. These raise concerns on the unintentional and unwarranted invasion of the privacy of individuals caught in the videos. The data collected during video surveillance consist mainly of images and sounds which allow identification of people captured, whether directly or indirectly, in addition to monitoring their conduct. While there may be a possible security need to identify the individuals in these videos, identifying the action suffices in most cases. The actor needs to be identified only rarely and only to authorized personnel. The privacy concerns related to the processing and distribution of the collected videos are genuine and will grow with wider adaptation of video technology. To address these concerns, automated methods to de-identify individuals in these videos are necessary. De-identification does not aim at destroying all information involving the individuals. Its ideal goals are to obscure the identity of the actor without obscuring the action. There is a natural trade-off between protecting privacy and providing sufficient detail. The goal is to protect the privacy of the individuals while providing sufficient feel for the human activities in the space being imaged. The policies on the privacy issues are still unclear and are fast evolving. The need of the hour is to be cautious as digital data has the potential to be replicated with little control, especially when placed on the cloud. This thesis outlines the scenarios in which de-identification is required and the issues