Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tigers, markets and palm oil: market potential for conservation

Abstract Increasing demand for cooking oil and biofuels has made palm oil, > 80% of which is grown in South-east Asia, the dominant globally traded vegetable oil. However, this region is host to some of the world’s most biodiverse and threatened tropical forests. Strategic engagement with commercial operations is increasingly recognized to be an essential part of the solution for raising funds for conservation initiatives, raising consumer consciousness and potentially stemming environmental degradation. Linking market incentives towards conservation is also of critical importance because it is becoming widely recognized that conservation needs to begin to address the wider countryside (outside protected areas) where human–wildlife interactions are frequent and impacts are large. Using the Sumatran tiger Panthera tigris sumatrae as both a threatened species in its own right and emblematic for wider species diversity, we show that western consumers are willing to pay a significant premium for products using palm oil grown in a manner that reduces impacts on such species. Results suggest that the price premium associated with a ‘tiger-friendly’ accreditation may provide a useful additional tool to raise conservation funds and, within the right institutional context, serve as an inducement to address the problem of habitat and species loss.
Sympatric speciation: when is it possible?

This paper is written to compare the results of theoretical investigations of sympatric speciation with the relevant experimental data. We understand sympatric speciation as a formation of species out of a population whose spatial structure is not important genetically. A necessary prerequisite for speciation is an action of disruptive selection on sufficiently polymorphic traits. The present analysis confirms the view that such a selection is ecologically realistic. The genetical part of speciation begins with a development of reproductive isolation between those individuals that are opposed in some characters. It is shown that selection for reproductive isolation may be quite strong. Extinction of intermediate individuals, which completes speciation, proceeds under a wide range of conditions, including those when the newly formed species differ in quantitative characters, though most of the genes arc likely to remain the same in both species. The whole process seems possible if differences in several (up to 10) loci are sufficient to adapt the forming species to different niches and to establish reproductive isolation. It is shown that populations with bimodal distributions of some genetically determined quantitative characters can have a considerable life-time. Such distributions may be formed either as a transition stage of sympatric speciation or represent a stationary state under conditions close to those necessary to complete speciation. They are very important for experimental investigations. Sympatric speciation always follows the same principal course; it does not contradict the idea of a genome coadaptedness. The occurrence of sympatric speciation is different for different taxa depending rather on how frequently populations are subjected to the appropriate kind of selection than on their ability to obey it.
Selection of Mutant Cell Lines Resistant to Infection by Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia pneumoniae

ABSTRACT The lytic outcome of natural infection by Chlamydia trachomatis was exploited to select CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells, following chemical mutagenesis, that were deficient in their ability to sustain productive chlamydial infection. Four distinct mutant cell phenotypes with defects in either attachment or postattachment mechanisms that are required for infection by C. trachomatis and Chlamydia pneumoniae were characterized.
Effects of a thermostable phytase on the growth performance and bone mineralization of broilers

SUMMARY An experiment was conducted to assess the effects of a novel thermostable phytase in male broiler chicks (Ross 308) fed available P (AP)-deficient diets on growth performance and bone mineralization. The treatments consisted of 8 experimental diets: 1 positive control diet containing an adequate level of AP, 1 negative control diet deficient in AP, and 6 diets with the same level of AP as in the negative control but supplemented with different levels of phytase (250, 500, 750, 1,000, 1,250, and 1,500 phytase units/kg of diet). The addition of phytase significantly improved (P 0.05) were found in FCR and bone mineralization among the broilers fed different levels of phytase and those fed the positive control diet. In conclusion, normal growth performance and bone mineralization were maintained in broilers fed AP-deficient diets supplemented with thermostable phytase.
Hemogasometria venosa de equinos finalistas de provas de enduro de 90 km

Front of exercise, the organic systems may suffer water-electrolyte and acid-base imbalances, particularly in the case of blood gases, demonstrating variations from different causes, whether respiratory and/or metabolic. Understanding the physiological adaptations to exercise is essential in the search for the optimum performance. In this way, this study measured the venous blood gases (pO2, pCO2), as well as the oxygen saturation (SatO2) in healthy equines, Arabian horses finalists in 90km endurance races. A total of fourteen Arabian horses were evaluated, nine males and five females, between six and 12 years old, finalists in 90km endurance races. There was a significant reduction in pO2, pCO2 and SatO2 after the exercise, however, the values remained within the normality range, and did not change the athletic performance of the animals, indicating a temporary alteration, assuming thus a character of physiological response to the exercise performed. The equines, finalists in 90 Km endurance races, demonstrated efficient ventilatory process, without any alterations in the athletic performance, being adapted to the type of exercise imposed.
Transit Bus Electrification Evaluation from GPS Speed Traces

Through the USAID-NREL partnership, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has evaluated the potential for transit bus electrification in Mexico City and two locations in León, Mexico to inform future vehicle and infrastructure purchases. NREL collected IHz GPS data between September to October of 2017 from the existing transit buses as inputs to the Future Automotive Systems Technology Simulator (FASTSim) tool. NREL used the data and FASTSim models to provide detailed operational performance requirements of electric buses operated within the context of the three locations and highlighted bus operations that are candidates for electrification.
360 Panorama Synthesis from a Sparse Set of Images on a Low-Power Device

A full 360<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\circ$</tex-math></inline-formula> × 180<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\circ$</tex-math></inline-formula> image provides an unlimited field of view (FOV) and an immersive experience for the users without any loss of information of the surrounding. In this study, a deep learning based approach is proposed to synthesize a 360<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\circ$</tex-math></inline-formula> image from a sparse set of images captured with a limited FOV. The proposed network consists of a cascade of the FOV estimation network and the panorama synthesis network. We propose a hierarchical generative network to synthesize high quality 360<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\circ$</tex-math></inline-formula> panorama images. The design of progressive multi-scale generator and multiple discriminator reduces the high frequency artifact which is commonly observed in image synthesis using generative networks. The network is further compressed to run on a low-power device such as a smartphone using our proposed size and latency optimization. Experimental result demonstrates that the proposed method produces 360<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^\circ$</tex-math></inline-formula> panorama with satisfactory image quality of up to 512 × 1024 resolution. It is also shown that the proposed method outperforms the alternative method and can be generalized for non-panoramic scenes and real images captured by a smartphone camera.
Determinants of smallholder commercialization of horticultural crops in Gemechis District, West Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia

Transforming the subsistence-oriented production system into a market-oriented production system as a way to increase the smallholder farmer’s income and reduce rural poverty has been in the policy spotlight of many developing countries, including Ethiopia. However, there are no adequate studies in Ethiopia, particularly, in study area of West Hararghe zone that focusing on the determinants of smallholder commercialization in horticultural crops. This study has identified household level determinants of the output side commercialization decision and level of commercialization in horticultural crops in Gemechis district, West Hararghe zone, Oromia National Regional State of Ethiopia. The study used cross-sectional data obtained from a sample of 160 smallholder horticultural farmers selected randomly from four peasant associations in the district. A double hurdle model was applied to analyze the determinants of the commercialization decision and level of commercialization. In first hurdle, the result of Probit Regression Model revealed that, gender, distance to the nearest market, and cultivated land played a significant role in smallholder commercialization decision. In the second hurdle, the result of Truncated Regression Model revealed that, household education, household size, access to irrigation, cultivated land, livestock, and distance to the nearest market were the key determinants of the level of commercialization. Synthesis of double hurdle model result showed that farm size and distance to the nearest market were cross-cutting determinants of smallholder horticultural crops commercialization. The study recommends the need for designing appropriate intervention mechanisms focusing on the abovementioned factors so as to improve the performance of horticultural crops commercialization.
Potential of Napier millet, Pennisetum purpureum × P. glaucum, as a trap crop for managing Chilo partellus populations on maize

As a part of a habitat management strategy aimed at controlling Chilo partellus Swinhoe, Napier millet (Pennisetum purpureum × P. glaucum) was evaluated as a trap crop surrounding maize during 2008 and 2009 at Ludhiana, North India. Napier millet borders surrounding maize were compared to chemically protected maize and control maize plots for their effects on C. partellus oviposition, plant infestation and grain yield. Further experiments were carried out to determine whether adult experience could affect subsequent oviposition on test plants. Maize plots surrounded by Napier millet had fewer plants with borer eggs than control maize plots, although the results were significant only for the 2009 season. Percentage plant infestation and percentage dead hearts were less in Napier millet surrounded maize plots than in control maize plots during both seasons. Different treatments did not vary in terms of grain yield during the 2008 season, whereas maize plots surrounded by Napier millet had higher grain yield than control maize plots during the 2009 season. The preference of C. partellus females for Napier millet did not alter following experience with maize.
Usage and Spending on Mobile Games: A Comparison Between Australian Single-Player Gamers and Multi-Player Gamers

Mobile games are games that can be played on smartphones or tablets. When the industry first started, iconic games like Tetris and Snake were developed by the mobile phone manufacturers. But today, there are millions of games on offer, created by third-party developers. This has created a whole industry thanks to the emergence of smartphone technology. Mobile games fall under many categories, yet all of them can be classified into two types: single-player mode games and multi-player mode games. This study aims to research the differences between Australian single-player games and multiplayer games in terms of their consumer usage and spending behavior. The study surveyed Australian Android mobile users and conducted paired sample t-test analysis on the collected data. The study has found that despite measuring no statistical difference between players’ overall spending behavior, multiplayer gamers spend significantly more time and money playing mobile games than single-player gamers. This suggests that multi-player game players are a more profitable segment of the gaming market than single-player game players.
SecureAIS - Securing Pairwise Vessels Communications

Modern vessels increasingly rely on the Automatic Identification System (AIS) digital technology to wirelessly broadcast identification and position information to neighboring vessels and ports. AIS is a time-slotted protocol that also provides unicast messages–usually employed to manage self-separation and to exchange safety information. However, AIS does not provide any security feature. The messages are exchanged in clear-text, and they are not authenticated, being vulnerable to several attacks, including forging and replay. Despite the existing contributions in the literature propose some strategies to overcome the exposed weaknesses, some are insecure, others do not comply with the standard, while the remaining few ones would introduce an unacceptable overhead–that is, they would require a relevant number of AIS-time slots, because of the limited payload available for each time-slot. In this paper, we propose SecureAIS, a key agreement scheme that allows any pair of vessels in reach of an AIS radio to agree on a shared session key of the desired length, by requiring just a fraction of the AIS time-slots of competing solutions. Further, the scheme is fully standard compliant and does not require any modification to the available hardware. The proposed scheme integrates the Elliptic Curve Qu-Vanstone (ECQV) implicit certification scheme and the Elliptic Curve Diffie Hellman (ECDH) key agreement technique, requiring moderate computational overhead while enjoying an optimal usage of the available bandwidth. When configured with the highest security level of 256 bits, SecureAIS allows two AIS transceivers to agree on a shared session key in 20 time-slots, against the 96 time-slots required by the competing solution based on traditional X.509 certificates. The proposed solution has been implemented and tested in a real scenario, while its security has been formally evaluated through the ProVerif tool. Finally, the source code of our Proof-of-concept using GNURadio and Ettus Research X310 has been also released as open-source to pave the way to further research by both Industry and Academia in maritime communication security.
Mechanisms of gelation of sardine proteins: influence of thermal processing and of various additives on the texture and protein solubility of kamaboko gels

Summary Surimi prepared from freshly caught sardines was mixed with NaCl and other additives and used to prepare kamaboko gels. Protein-protein interactions involved in the setting (at 4 or 37°C) and/or the cooking (at 90°C) gelation steps were investigated (i) by assessment of kamaboko texture as a result of the type and concentration of additive added; (ii) by partial solubilization of kamaboko gels in buffers containing mercaptoethanol, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and/or urea, followed by determination of the soluble protein constituents by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cooked gels of high elasticity and of varying rigidity and gel strength were obtained in the 73–80% water range. Adequate gel texture required a NaCl content of 1.7–3.5% and a pH range of 6.4–8.4. Low concentrations of reducing agents (mercaptoethanol, dithiothreitol, cysteine) or of divalent cations (Ca2+, Mg2+) improved the texture of gels obtained by setting at 37°C with and without subsequent cooking at 90°C. On the other hand, the addition of N-ethyl maleimide or of ethylene diamine tetra-acetate led to texture deterioration after cooking. These data demonstrate the involvement of disulphide bonds and of electrostatic interactions in surimi gelation. Gel solubilization experiments indicate that the aggregation of myosin heavy chains through various types of protein-protein interactions may be responsible for the elastic gel network formed during setting at 37°C (30 min) or 4°C (24h). Strengthening of the gel network after cooking appears to be due to additional disulphide and hydrophobic interactions.
Channel Hardening in Cell-Free and User-Centric Massive MIMO Networks With Spatially Correlated Ricean Fading

The irruption of the cell-free (CF) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network topology has meant taking one step further the concept of massive MIMO as a means to provide uniform service in large coverage areas. A key property of massive MIMO networks is channel hardening, by which the channel becomes deterministic when the number of antennas grows large enough relative to the number of serviced users, easing the signal processing and boosting the performance of simple precoders. However, in CF massive MIMO, the fulfillment of this condition depends on several aspects that are not considered in classical massive MIMO systems. In this work, we address the presence of channel hardening in both CF massive MIMO and the recently appeared user-centric (UC) approach, under a spatially correlated Ricean fading channel using distributed and cooperative precoding and combining schemes and different power control strategies for both the downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) segments. We show that the line-of-sight (LOS) component, spatially correlated antennas and UC schemes have an impact on how the channel hardens. In addition, we examine the existent gap between the estimated achievable rate and the true network performance when channel hardening is compromised. Exact closed-form expressions for both the hardening metric and achievable DL/UL rates are given as well.
Weed–Corn Competition Parameters in Late-Winter Sowing in Northern Italy

Abstract In recent years, interest has increased in late-winter sowing of corn in northern Italy because of many agronomic advantages. However, cold and rainy weather slows initial crop growth, which can favor weed infestation. There is, therefore, a need for appropriate timing of weed control tactics based on an understanding of the competitive relationship and dynamics between crop and weeds. Five experiments were conducted over 4 yr, with a series of treatments increasing either duration of interference or length of weed-free period. Yield data were fitted with sigmoidal equations to find the critical point (CP) and critical period of weed control (CPWC). Although the CP is determined only by the competition between weed and crop, the CPWC is also market dependent. To quantify the effect of weed flora on the CP, a multiple regression model was tested, taking into account weed density, inflection point, and slope parameter of the Gompertz model of the cumulated infestation. The results confirmed that the late-winter sowing date increases the importance of late winter– and early spring–emerging weeds. In general, the precompetitive period was longer in the late winter–sown corn than in traditional midspring-sown corn. The delayed start of the CPWC makes control more difficult with a preemergence herbicide, which raises questions on the utility of this agronomic technique. Multiple regression analysis showed that the position of CP can be estimated with the density, earliness, and competitiveness of the infestation. Furthermore, the slope/inflection point ratio of the Gompertz model appears to be independent of sowing date. Results suggest that the weed–crop competition mechanism can be represented with simply the weed flora dynamic parameters and that a combination of crop–weed competition studies and emergence prediction models can predict the position of CP and give useful information about the CPWC and weed management. Nomenclature: Corn, Zea mays L. cv. ‘PR33 J24’
Septoria and stagonospora diseases of cereals: A compilation of global research

More than 2000 form-species of fungi, mostly plant parasites, comprise the genera Septoria and Stagonospora. The two most important pathogens in wheat production are Mycosphaerella graminicola (Septoria tritici) and Phaeosphaeria nodorum (Stagonospora nodorum). Primary inoculum for the wheat diseases caused by these pathogens is most often airborne ascospores, but may also be windand rain-borne conidia. Field diagnoses may be augmented and made more exact by use of rapid immunological tests and molecular genetic methods. Infection processes of S. tritici and S. nodorum are similar, but penetration by S. tritici is known only via stomata. Patterns of occurrence of the two pathogens have changed dramatically in recent years. Septoria tritici has become more important in northern Europe, and S. nodorum incidence has increased in parts of North Africa. Changes in cultivars and cultural practices are thought to be responsible for the shifts in pathogens and diseases. Genetics of resistance in the wheat host and virulence in the pathogen populations continues to be unclear. Some gene-for-gene interactions have been shown, but in field situations resistance is generally observed as nonspecific and pathogen populations vary most in aggressiveness. and nomenclature was published in 1997 (Cunfer, 1997) and 1999 (Cunfer and Ueng, 1999). I believe that we should urge from this venue, as did those attending the Fourth International Workshop on Septoria of Cereals (July 4-7, 1994, IHAR, Radzikow, Poland), that all workers accept and use the latest
On the origin and development of Artemisia (Asteraceae) in the geological past

Fossil records combined with phytogeographical data reveal that Artemisia L. possibly originated from the existing arid or subarid area of temperate Asia in the mid-Tertiary. The earliest recorded Asteraceae pollen grains are mostly ornamented with medium to long spines, whereas Artemisia L. with short spinules is recorded slightly later. It may be deduced that the latter evolved from the former. Pollen morphological data confirm the coexistence of the two pollen patterns in the subtribe Artemisiinae containing Artemisia L. The development and evolution of the genus suggest three major stages in its history. Artemisia L. did not become abundant until the Middle to Late Miocene in spite of its earlier presence in the Late Palaeogene. Its representation remained low even though there are many records of the genus in the Late Miocene around the world. The Pliocene was an important time for the development of angiosperm herbs including Artemisia L. , and the Quaternary has been a major period for the diversification and further worldwide expansion of the genus. The origin and subsequent development of Artemisia L. are considered to be closely related with increased environmental variation, including global climate changes and some important tectonic movements. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 145, 331–336.