Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), Traveler Behaviors, and International Tourism Businesses: Impact of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Knowledge, Psychological Distress, Attitude, and Ascribed Responsibility

The international tourism industry is among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Due to this tourism crisis, this research attempted to uncover the possible influence of the corporate social responsibility efforts of the international tourism businesses and of the knowledge of COVID-19 on the US travelers’ decision formation for international tourism products. A quantitative approach and survey methodology were used. The findings revealed that corporate social responsibility improves travelers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. In addition, the travelers’ knowledge perception of COVID-19 was significantly associated with their psychological distress. Decreasing this psychological distress related to overseas tourism was of importance to boost a positive attitude toward international traveling, which directly leads to increased behavioral intentions. Testing for the metric invariance revealed that an association between the corporate social responsibility and intentions was only significant when the travelers strongly felt an ascription of responsibility for the COVID-19 outbreak and the pandemic. The theoretical uses and the practical values of this research are discussed.
Group effects of a non‐native plant invasion on rodent abundance

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is the most prolific invading plant in western North America. Investigations determining the impact of this invasion on population state variables and community dynamics of rodents have largely occurred at the community or species level, creating a knowledge gap as to whether rodents affiliated by a shared taxonomy or other grouping are differentially affected by cheatgrass invasion. We examined rodent abundance along a gradient of cheatgrass cover using various groupings of two nocturnal rodent taxa comprising the majority of the rodent community in the Great Basin Desert. In the summers of 2010–2013, rodents were sampled and vegetation was measured on the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground in the Great Basin Desert of Utah, USA. We separately examined estimates of rodent abundance for all combined species within the Cricetidae and Heteromyidae families, the most numerically dominant species, and uncommon species pooled in relation to cheatgrass invasion severity. We detected an expected negative linear relationship between invasion severity and abundance for all cricetid groupings, including the most numerically dominant species, the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Unexpectedly, heteromyid abundance exhibited an initial positive relationship, reached a threshold, and then exhibited a negative relationship, a phenomenon driven by Ord’s kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii), the most numerically dominant species. We speculate this non-linear finding was caused by a combination of trophic and nontrophic pathways. Our findings provide new insight as to the potential for differential effects of cheatgrass on rodents in arid portions of the western United States. We suggest that future investigations on cheatgrass, and plant invader effects in general, consider parsing animal communities of interest by various taxonomic and/or ecological groupings rather than focusing exclusively on individual species or entire communities.
On-farm welfare assessment in meat goat does raised in semi-intensive and extensive systems in semiarid regions of Ceará, Northeast, Brazil

The aim of this study was to apply a protocol based on the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) protocols for small ruminants in Brazilian Northeast farms to evaluate the welfare of meat goat, comparing animals kept on semi-intensive (S) and extensive (E) farms. Fifteen farms located in the Metropolitan Region of Quixada and Quixeramobim, Ceara, Brazilian Northeast, were recruited. Assessments were performed at group and individual level. Significant differences between S and E farms was set at P<0.05 to all tests. At group level, there was a significant difference between groups, with more goats from E farms affected by heat stress and more animals from S farms presenting oblivion. Resource-based indicators, type of drinkers and access to shelter, differed significantly between S and E systems, with goats on S farms allocated in places with access to water more frequently during night period and protected from wind. Type of facility was more complex for animals on S farms (n=2) than on all E farms due to internal divisions, with S farms presenting feeders, drinking fountains, salt shakers, and slatted or cemented floor. At individual level, abscess and ocular discharge were more frequently observed on S farms and ears lesions were more frequent on E farms, probably due to distinct management of goats. Similarities between results showed that farmers in both production systems faced problems related to heat stress, lack of forage and health issues
Projected 21st‐century distribution of canopy‐forming seaweeds in the Northwest Atlantic with climate change

Climate change is predicted to alter the distribution and abundance of marine species, including canopy‐forming seaweeds which provide important ecosystem functions and services. We asked whether continued warming will affect the distribution of six common canopy‐forming species: mid‐intertidal fucoids (Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus vesiculosus), low‐intertidal Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), subtidal laminarian kelps (Saccharina latissima, Laminaria digitata) and the invasive Codium fragile.
Concentration of pineapple juice by reverse osmosis

Queensland pineapple production for the year ending 31 March, 1986, was 142000 t (ABS 1988). Pineapple juice provides the major processing outlet, accounting for about 70% of the State's fruit juice output. Most juice is concentrated by vacuum evaportion to reduce storage and transport costs. In recent years, reverse osmosis (R.O.) has found increasing application for concentrating food liquids, particularly dairy products (Schmidt, 1987). Advantages include lower energy consumption and better product quality retention. There have been a number of publications on fruit juice concentration by R.O. These have included apple juice (Sheu and Wiley 1984; Chua et al 1987; Paulson 1985), orange juice (Papanicolaou et al 1984), mandarin juice (Fukutani and Ogawa 1983, tomato juice (Robe 1983; Watanabe 1982; Gheradi et al 1986), grapefruit and lemon juices (Braddock et al 1988). However, information on pineapple juice concentration by R.O. is lacking. The aim of this research was to measure the effects of juice pre-treatment, operating temperature, membrane type, flow rate, pressure and degree of concentration on pineapple juice R.O.
Cooperative Edge Computing of Data Analytics for the Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) networks are increasingly used for edge data analytics, i.e., collecting and analyzing data at the network edge. However, the IoT devices are typically resource-constrained and cannot support fast and accurate execution of such tasks, while the involvement of distant cloud servers is often impractical and entails huge communication overheads. To address this problem, we develop a framework for enabling the devices to collaboratively execute their tasks, exploiting their proximity and resource complementarity. Our mechanism relies on an auction-based algorithm that optimizes the execution accuracy and delay for all tasks, without requiring information about the performance priorities of nodes. The algorithm yields the optimal task – node assignment, and the necessary reimbursements for ensuring the devices’ cooperation, by using the auction for dual subgradient evaluations. We further extend this mechanism for multi-stage analytics and explain how it can be implemented in a decentralized fashion, namely without an auctioneer. We conduct a battery of testbed experiments with representative data analytic applications that show gains both in accuracy and delay compared to heuristic and greedy policies, and verify the minimal computation and communication overheads of our solution.
Asgard archaea: Diversity, function, and evolutionary implications in a range of microbiomes

Elucidating the diversity of the Archaea has many important ecological and evolutionary implications. The Asgard superphylum of the archaea, described recently from metagenomic data, has reignited the decades-old debate surrounding the topology of the tree of life. This review synthesizes recent findings through publicly available genomes and literature to describe the current ecological and evolutionary significance of the Asgard superphylum. Asgard archaea have been found in a diverse range of microbiomes across the globe, primarily from sedimentary environments. Within these environments, positive correlations between specific members of the Asgard archaea and Candidate Division TA06 bacteria have been observed, opening up the possibility of symbiotic interactions between the groupings. Asgard archaeal genomes encode functionally diverse metabolic pathways, including the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway as a carbon-fixation strategy, putative nucleotide salvaging pathways, and novel mechanisms of phototrophy including new rhodopsins. Asgard archaea also appear to be active in nitrogen cycling. Asgard archaea encode genes involved in both dissimilatory nitrate reduction and denitrification, and for the potential to use atmospheric nitrogen or nitrite as nitrogen sources. Asgard archaea also may be involved in the transformation of sulfur compounds, indicating a putative role in sulfur cycling. To date, all Asgard archaeal genomes identified were described as obligately anaerobic. The Asgard archaea also appear to have important evolutionary implications. The presence of eukaryotic signature proteins and the affiliation of Asgard archaea in phylogenetic analyses appears to support two-domain topologies of the tree of life with eukaryotes emerging from within the domain of archaea, as opposed to the eukaryotes being a separate domain of life. Thus far, Heimdallarchaeota appears as the closest archaeal relative of eukaryotes.
Covid-19: Impact on the Indian economy

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented shock to the Indian economy. The economy was already in a parlous state before Covid-19 struck. With the prolonged country-wide lockdown, global economic downturn and associated disruption of demand and supply chains, the economy is likely to face a protracted period of slowdown. The magnitude of the economic impact will depend upon the duration and severity of the health crisis, the duration of the lockdown and the manner in which the situation unfolds once the lockdown is lifted. In this paper we describe the state of the Indian economy in the pre-Covid-19 period, assess the potential impact of the shock on various segments of the economy, analyse the policies that have been announced so far by the central government and the Reserve Bank of India to ameliorate the economic shock and put forward a set of policy recommendations for specific sectors.
Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning Framework Based on Chained Secure Multiparty Computing

Federated learning (FL) is a promising new technology in the field of IoT intelligence. However, exchanging model-related data in FL may leak the sensitive information of participants. To address this problem, we propose a novel privacy-preserving FL framework based on an innovative chained secure multiparty computing technique, named chain-PPFL. Our scheme mainly leverages two mechanisms: 1) single-masking mechanism that protects information exchanged between participants and 2) chained-communication mechanism that enables masked information to be transferred between participants with a serial chain frame. We conduct extensive simulation-based experiments using two public data sets (MNIST and CIFAR-100) by comparing both training accuracy and leak defence with other state-of-the-art schemes. We set two data sample distributions (IID and NonIID) and three training models (CNN, MLP, and L-BFGS) in our experiments. The experimental results demonstrate that the chain-PPFL scheme can achieve practical privacy preservation (equivalent to differential privacy with $\epsilon $ approaching zero) for FL with some cost of communication and without impairing the accuracy and convergence speed of the training model.
Individual biosafety barrier in dentistry: an alternative in times of covid-19. Preliminary study

The return to dental practice in pandemic times is a new challenge due to the generation and dispersion of droplets and aerosols that may contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the etiological agent of covid-19. In the last months some droplet and aerosol containment strategies have been circulating on the internet, however, until now there is no evidence in the literature to prove the effectiveness of such barriers. Thus, using a microbial dispersion model with the fast handpiece, the aim of this preliminary study was to compare the dispersion caused by the the dental drill (DD) alone or in association with an individual biosafety barrier (IDBD / DD), which consisted of a layer of PVC film combined to a layer of polypropylene mounted on a frame. The dental drill was activated for one minute having had the water from the reservoir been replaced with a suspension of Lactobacillus casei Shirota. Petri dishes containing MRS agar were positioned at 50, 100 and 150 cm from the headboard of the dental chair at different angles (90 and 0 degrees). At 50 cm, the mean (standard deviation) of L. casei Shirota for DD was 13,554.59 (493.48) CFU, while for IDBD / DD was 570.67 (60.54) CFU (p <0.0001), establishing a 96% reduction. Considering these preliminary results, the individual biosafety barrier proved effective in reducing dispersion from the dental drill in this study model, which suggests that this barrier may be a viable option to optimize biosafety in the dental environment.
Crisscross-Shaped ±45° Dual-Polarized Antenna With Enhanced Bandwidth for Base Stations

In this communication, a ±45° dual-polarized antenna for 690–960 MHz base station applications is proposed. The proposed antenna has a crisscross-shaped radiator which is fed by four triangular-shaped couplers. The ±45° dual polarization is achieved by vector synthesis of the currents on the radiator. To further broaden the impedance bandwidth (IBW), a miniaturized lowpass filter is designed and integrated with the baluns of the proposed antenna. With the lowpass filter, a new resonance is introduced and harmonic suppression is also realized. The experimental results which agree with the simulations show that wide harmonic suppression bandwidth which can cover the interference bands (1.69–2.69 GHz and 3.3–3.8 GHz) is obtained. In the operating frequency band (690–960 MHz), a voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR) of less than 1.5, a polarization isolation (ISO) of more than 35 dB, a half-power beamwidth (HPBW) of 66.8° ± 1.5°, and the gains of 8.3 dBi ± 0.2 dBi are obtained by the proposed antenna.
Biodiversité des macrochampignons sauvages comestibles de la forêt humide du Sud-Cameroun

Pour les communautés de forêts humides du Cameroun – Bantu, pygmées Baka et Bagyeli –, les champignons sauvages comestibles (CSC) ont toujours été considérés comme de substantielles sources alimentaires et médicinales. Cependant, peu d’informations sont disponibles sur la diversité et l’écologie des CSC du Cameroun. Aussi une étude a-t-elle été entreprise pour connaître la diversité et acquérir les connaissances endogènes des principaux champignons sauvages comestibles et médicinaux de la forêt humide de ce pays. À partir d’excursions mycologiques, d’enquêtes structurées et semi-structurées conduites dans une vingtaine de sites de cinq régions du Grand-Sud-Cameroun, les espèces de CSC ont été collectées et décrites. Quatre-vingt-quatorze taxons de CSC ont été identifiés, appartenant à 32 familles et 41 genres, dont environ 61,7 % de saprotrophes, 21,3 % de taxons ectomycorhiziens (ECM) et 17 % d’espèces du genre Termitomyces, les plus fréquemment collectées et consommées. Cette forte diversité fongique s’est traduite par un éventail varié d’habitats et de niches écologiques. Les CSC les plus appréciés sont les saprotrophes Armillaria camerounensis et Volvariella volvacea, ainsi que toutes les espèces de Termitomyces et de chanterelles. La plupart de CSC sont collectés pour la consommation. La vingtaine d’espèces de CSC ectomycorhiziens sont symbiotiquement associées aux racines de 13 genres d’essences forestières appartenant aux familles des Cesalpiniaceae et Phyllantaceae. In fine, deux principaux services écosystémiques de production sont fournis par les CSC du Cameroun : l’approvisionnement alimentaire et médicinal, et l’octroi de revenus. Des besoins de recherche s’imposent en faveur de l’étude de la biodiversité et des médicinaux des CSC de la forêt humide du Cameroun, et de la valorisation des déchets agricoles pour la culture du champignon de paille V. volvacea.
Distribution of Dietary Protein Intake in Daily Meals Influences Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy Via the Circadian Clock

Meal distribution of protein throughout the day is usually skewed. However, its physiological implications and the effects of better protein distribution on muscle volume are largely unknown. Here, using the two-meal-per-day-feeding model, we found that protein intake at the early active phase, according to the circadian clock, promoted overloading-induced muscle hypertrophy. We found that mice that were fed branched chain amino acid (BCAA)-supplemented diets at the early active phase demonstrated skeletal muscle hypertrophy. However, distribution-dependent effects were not observed in ClockΔ19 mice. Additionally, we examined the relationship between distribution of protein in meals and muscle functions such as skeletal muscle index and grip strength. In humans, higher muscle functions were observed in subjects who took dietary proteins mainly at breakfast than at dinner. These data suggest that protein intake at breakfast could be better for the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass.
Bone Regeneration Therapy of Atraumatic Necrosis of Femoral Head

Femoral head necrosis is a mobility disorder and till now no satisfactory solution has been reported. The principal contributing factor in the pathogenesis of the disease is insufficient blood supply to the femoral head resulting in necrosis of the femoral head. Various preventive measures required to treat femoral head necrosis include revascularization, adequate supply of osteogenic cells and establishing enough strength to avoid collapse. Among all, cell transplantation therapy is considered the most favourable treatment strategy for femoral head necrosis. However, the results merely depend on the etiology and the clinical stage of femoral head necrosis. Thus, it is better to make a treatment plan according to the epidemiology, disease status and stage. The main objective of this communication is to study the treatment of femoral head necrosis with cell replacement therapy and also its effects by focusing on the disease stages.
Effect of Substrate Scaling on Microstrip Patch Antenna Performance

The Maxwell field equations (MFEs), as ecumenical model of electromagnetic phenomena, are scale-invariant under Lorentz Transformation (LT). To apply LT, some considerations are required which are not all practically available or technologically attainable; hence, the scale-invariant feature may not be reached effectively. Paving the way to focus on this issue, the effect of substrate thickness scaling as an uncontrollable parameter, is explored on eight identical patch antennas with different substrate thicknesses. In this way, the resonant frequency and complex value of return loss are measured. The effect of manufacturing tolerances of dielectric thickness on resonant frequency deviation and return loss magnitude are carefully studied, too. Also the unwanted distortive effect of selected electrical connection, say as a female SMA connector, is investigated at higher frequencies. The obtained results are comparatively analyzed which confirm the practical bottlenecks in meeting the antenna parameters scaling.
Instantaneous areal population density of entire Atlantic cod and herring spawning groups and group size distribution relative to total spawning population

The wide‐area group behaviour of spawning Atlantic cod and herring is investigated. By a combination of Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing (OAWRS) and conventional sensing methods, first‐look images of the instantaneous population density are obtained of entire Atlantic cod spawning groups, stretching for tens of kilometres in the Nordic Seas. This structural information made it possible to quantify the spawning group size distribution of cod over a roughly 30‐year period from conventional line‐transect data acquired annually by vertical echo sounding in the Nordic Seas. The size distribution is found to be consistent with the log‐normal probability density often found in growth processes that depend on many independent parameters. Nordic Seas cod populations are found to distribute into many vast behavioural groups during spawning with relatively stable mean size despite larger variations in total annual population. When sustained at pre‐industrial levels, the total spawning population is found to greatly exceed the mean spawning group size. As an apparent consequence of this large differential, when the total population, or overall scale, declined to within a standard deviation of this mean cod spawning group quantum, or inner‐group‐behavioural scale, return to pre‐industrial levels required decades. Findings for Atlantic herring are similar, where summing the spawning group populations measured in a single instantaneous OAWRS image per day over the 8‐day peak spawning period enabled accurate enumeration of the entire Georges Bank herring spawning population to within 7% of the independent NOAA estimate for 2006. These results may be relevant to other oceanic fish.
Increasing the dose of GnRH at a synchronized timed AI increases pregnancy rates in Bos indicus influenced cattle

Compared to Bos taurus cattle, Bos indicus influenced cattle have a history of decreased pregnancy rates following artificial insemination (AI). These decreased pregnancy rates among Bos indicus influenced cattle may be attributed to their higher excitability response to stressful situations, which can result in increased circulating cortisol that can delay or suppress ovulation. This experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of an increased GnRH dose at a synchronized timed artificial insemination (TAI) on pregnancy rates in Bos indicus influenced cattle. Over two years, Bos indicus influenced heifers (n = 50) from four locations, Bos taurus heifers (n = 123) and lactating Bos indicus influenced cows (n = 83) were inseminated with conventional semen using the CO-Synch+CIDR protocol. Heifers were inseminated between 48 to 56 h and mature cows between 56 to 66 h of last PGF2α administration. Non-lactating Brahman cows (n = 32) were also synchronized in the above manner and inseminated between 56 to 66 h with sexed Bos indicus influenced semen. All cows were randomly selected to receive either 100 μg (n = 144) or 200 μg (n = 144) of GnRH at insemination and examined via ultrasonography for pregnancy ~30 days post-TAI. The administration of 200 μg of GnRH at the time of AI to Bos indicus influenced cattle significantly (P < 0.004) increased pregnancy rates (0.43 ± 0.05) compared with 100 μg of GnRH (0.21 ± 0.04). This pattern of increased pregnancy rates in the 200 μg GnRH group occurred at all locations and in all cow types. Among Bos taurus heifers, the increased dose of GnRH at the time of AI did not affect pregnancy rates; 200 μg (0.49 ± 0.06) compared with a 100 μg dose (0.55 ± 0.06). These results indicate that increasing the dose of GnRH at the time of AI can increase synchronized pregnancy rates in Bos indicus influenced cattle, but not among Bos taurus heifers.