Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Response to Freezing and High Temperatures of Detached Cladodes from Opuntia Species

Extreme temperatures are among stress factors than can affect Opuntia species. We experimented with detached cladodes, testing their potentiality to endure the actions of freezing and high temperatures. Cladodes of two provenances of Opuntia ficus-indica L. f. inermis (Web.) Le Houer. and O. spinulifera Salm-Dyck f. nacuniana Le Houer. , f. nov. were treated with temperatures of –5oC and –10oC combined with 5 and 10 hours exposure. On the other hand, O. spinulifera and O. robusta Wendl. were treated with a temperature of –10oC for 18 hours. In a different trial, the last two species were subjected to high temperature (52oC) from 3 to 26 days. Each experiment followed a completely randomized design with four replications comprising four cladodes each. At the end of each treatment, cladodes were planted in pots and grown under field conditions during 8 to 9 months. Response to extreme-temperature treatments was evaluated through the number and the dry weight of cladodes produced per plant. Under freezing treatments, although some differences in frost tolerance were found among species, they were tolerant to a temperature of –10oC for 10 hours. O. robusta and O. spinulifera resisted –10oC for 18 hours and appear to be the species most tolerant to freezing treatments. Cladodes of O. spinulifera and O. robusta from the heat-stress treatment were not affected when they were exposed to continuous heat (52 ±2oC) for 5 days. Cladodes under more than 8-day heat treatment lost completely the capacity to sprout under field conditions.
Across borders: The concept and applications of Eugenics in the CCL and the NDC

This study presents analyses based on a previous study on the subject ontogeny of Eugenics in the New Classification Scheme for Chinese Libraries (CCL) and the Nippon Decimal Classification (NDC). In the bibliographic records using the CCL and the NDC, I ask (1) what are the concepts in the titles of the works about Eugenics? (2) What are the subject headings frequently assigned to the works about Eugenics? Answers to the questions not only identify underrepresented aspects of Eugenics in the schemes but also provide insights into the meanings and usages of the term Eugenics in different contexts. Further, these results encourage us to reflect on the relationship between cataloging practices and classification principles and warrants.
THE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF THE COTTONWOOD LEAF BEETLE, CHRYSOMELA SCRIPTA (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE), ON TISSUE CULTURED HYBRID AIGEIROS (POPULUS × EURAMERICANA) SUBCLONES IN WISCONSIN

Abstract Adults and larvae of the cottonwood leaf beetle, Chrysomela scripta Fab. , defoliated tissue cultured Aigeiros (Populus × euramericana (Dode) Guinier) subclones and destroyed apical tips. Fecundity was 510 ± 153 eggs . Four generations occurred between May and September in southern Wisconsin. Maximal insect numbers and damage occurred in the third generation. The minimal developmental threshold was 10.8 °C with a mean 257 ± 26 day-degree (°C) required per generation. Important biological control agents included Coleomegilla maculata, which consumed up to 25% of the eggs, and Shizonatus latus, a pteromalid parasite, which destroyed up to 26% of the pupae.
The characterization of cytoplasmic ribosomal protein genes in microsporidian Nosema bombycis Genome

Microsporidia are obligate intracellular, eukaryotic parasites of medical and commercial importance, which can infect almost all animals including humans. However, their ribosomes are not of the 80S type as other eukaryotes, but like the prokaryotic 70S ribosome. In order to get the global composition of ribosomal protein genes of Nosema bombycis , the pathogen of Pebrine, and their comparative genomics’ characteristics, a genome-wide survey in N. bombycis genome was performed. From the results, we identified 130 CDSs corresponding to 73 ribosomal protein genes. Among them, three ribosomal protein genes ( RPL19 , RPS4 and RPS18 ) with short introns (23 or 24 bps) were verified by N. bombycis ESTs, and they have the same structure among microsporidia. The novel arrangements of ‘AAATTT-like signal – CCC/GGG-like motif – transcription start site’ are present in the upstream sequences of ribosomal protein genes, and several regulatory elements that may have synergy with introns of ribosomal protein genes for its high transcriptional frequency were detected too. 76.7% ribosomal protein genes of N. bombycis were located in syntenic blocks, indicating that their gene order was conserved among microsporidian species. And phylogenic trees show its ancient eukaryotic position too. The characterization of the total ribosomal proteins contributes a first step to ribosomal proteins’ transcription regulation, evolution of microsporidia. Keywords: Microsporidian, ribosomal protein, Nosema bombycis , transcription regulation, evolution African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 11(31), pp. 7819-7835, 17 April, 2012
Determination of Biogenic Amines in Herby Cheese

Herby cheese (Otlu peynir) is widely produced and consumed in eastern parts of Turkey, and is generally made from sheep milk. The biogenic amines and organic acids content, microbiological, and chemical properties of Herby cheese were determined on 30 samples obtained from retail markets in East Anatolia Region, Turkey. The most important biogenic amines were tyramine (range 18.0–1125.5 mg kg−1), followed by cadaverine varied from not detected to 1844.5 mg kg−1. Histamine content generally was found higher than 100 mg kg−1. The concentration of amines in some cheeses was much higher than the toxic dose limits. Generally, total amine content was found high in samples that had high nitrogen fraction and organic acids value. Levels of biogenic amines were significantly correlated with the organic acids of Herby cheese. The basic organic acid was found the lactic acid ranging from 585.4 to 26480.3 mg kg−1, followed by butyric acid varying between 314.8 and 7329.6 mg kg−1 values. Lipolysis and nitrogen fraction were determined high in ripened Herby cheese samples. Coliform counts of samples showed lower than 100 cfu g−1 in the samples. Significant (p < 0.01) positive correlation was observed between acetic acid and phenylethylamine, putrescine, cadaverin, histamine, and tyramine.
Immunohistochemical expression of p53 and Ki 67 and its histopathological correlation in lesions of cervix

Introduction: Cervical lesions constitute one of the major health problems in Indian women accounting for major morbidity and mortality. To study p 53 and Ki 67 immunoexpression is cervical lesions is an interesting area of research. Aims: To study immunohistochemical expression of p53 and Ki 67 in lesions of cervix and its correlation with various histopathological diagnosis and assess their utilIty in segregating high risk cases and to explore its use as diagnostic tool in suspicious cases. Materials and Methods: Retrospective and prospective study was undertaken in Department Of Pathology in our institute from 1st January 2014January 2016.60 cervical biopsies with known histopathological diagnosis were randomly selected and stained for immunohistochemistry expression of p 53 and Ki 67 and results were correlated with various parameters. Data was analyzed using appropriate statistical tests . Age difference was examined using on way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi square test is applied, and for quantitative data student [t] test is applied. P value is considered significant if p<0.05. Results: 42.5% benign and 50 % of neoplastic cervical lesion had p53 positivity. For Ki 67, among chronic non specific cervicitis, a score of 2 and 3 was observed in 8 and 3 cases respectively. The chronic cervicitis cases with score 3 in retrospect had histomorphology suspicious of dysplasia but were inconclusive ,a high proliferative score helped us to objectify our findings and reclassified as 2 cases of CIN2 and 1 of CIN 3 respectively . Theses results were statistically significant (p<0.01). A single case of CIN 2 stained for Ki-67 had a score of 2 correlating with its histological diagnosis. Conclusions: Ki 67 is a helpful marker to objectify cases with inconclusive histomorphological pattern and p53 may help segregate cases into high and low risk for follow up.
The effects of food-supply on Southeast Asian forest birds

Southeast Asian forests are being lost at an alarming rate. This unprece- dented deforestation is resulting in avifauna losses. Despite this, Southeast Asian avi- fauna remains poorly studied. A few studies measured the food-supply and correlated it with the Southeast Asian forest bird ecology. These correlative studies (qualitative as well as quantitative) show that food-supply can affect the bird diversity, abun- dance/density, breeding ecology, body condition, ranging behaviour and/or flocking behaviour. However, there has been no experimental study conducted to determine the effects of food-supply on the forest bird ecology. In this geographic area, exciting research avenues remain available to study the avian feeding ecology and to explore a relationship between food-supply and forest bird ecology. Descriptive, correlative as well as experimental data on these aspects are required to enhance the knowledge of avian ecology as well as for avian conservation purposes.
The Minimum Rank Objective Function with Hysteresis

Hysteresis delays the effect of changes in link metric on parent selection. Such delay makes the topology stable despite jitters in link metrics. The Routing Protocol for Low Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) allows the use of objective functions to construct routes that optimize or constrain a routing metric on the paths. This specification describes the Minimum Rank Objective Function with Hysteresis (MRHOF), an objective function that minimizes the node rank in terms of a given metric, while using hysteresis to prevent excessive rank churn. The use of MRHOF with RPL results in nodes selecting stable paths that minimize the given routing metric to the roots of a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG).
Self-Rated Smell Ability Enables Highly Specific Predictors of COVID-19 Status: A Case–Control Study in Israel

Background: Clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 poses an enormous challenge to early detection and prevention of COVID-19, which is of crucial importance for pandemic containment. Cases of COVID-19 may be hard to distinguish clinically from other acute viral diseases, resulting in an overwhelming load of laboratory screening. Sudden onset of taste and smell loss emerge as hallmark of COVID-19. The optimal ways for including these symptoms in the screening of suspected COVID-19 patients should now be established. Methods: We performed a case-control study on patients that were PCR-tested for COVID-19 (112 positive and 112 negative participants), recruited during the first wave (March 2020 - May 2020) of COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Patients were interviewed by phone regarding their symptoms and medical history and were asked to rate their olfactory and gustatory ability before and during their illness on a 1-10 scale. Prevalence and degrees of symptoms were calculated, and odds ratios were estimated. Symptoms-based logistic-regression classifiers were constructed and evaluated on a hold-out set. Results: Changes in smell and taste occurred in 68% (95% CI 60%-76%) and 72% (64%-80%), of positive patients, with 24 (11-53 range) and 12 (6-23) respective odds ratios. The ability to smell was decreased by 0.5 {+/-} 1.5 in negatives, and by 4.5 {+/-} 3.6 in positives, and to taste by 0.4 {+/-} 1.5 and 4.9 {+/-} 3.8, respectively (mean {+/-} SD). A penalized logistic regression classifier based on 5 symptoms (degree of smell change, muscle ache, lack of appetite, fever, and a negatively contributing sore throat), has 66% sensitivity, 97% specificity and an area under the ROC curve of 0.83 (AUC) on a hold-out set. A classifier based on degree of smell change only is almost as good, with 66% sensitivity, 97% specificity and 0.81 AUC. Under the assumption of 8% positives among those tested, the predictive positive value (PPV) of this classifier is 0.68 and negative predictive value (NPV) is 0.97. Conclusions: Self-reported quantitative olfactory changes, either alone or combined with other symptoms, provide a specific and powerful tool for clinical diagnosis of COVID-19. The applicability of this tool for prioritizing COVID-19 laboratory testing is facilitated by a simple calculator presented here.
Sustained Cellular Immune Dysregulation in Individuals Recovering from SARS-CoV-2 Infection

SARS-CoV-2 causes a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations and significant mortality. Studies investigating underlying immune characteristics are needed to understand disease pathogenesis and inform vaccine design. In this study, we examined immune cell subsets in hospitalized and non-hospitalized individuals. In hospitalized patients, many adaptive and innate immune cells were decreased in frequency compared to healthy and convalescent individuals, with the exception of B lymphocytes which increased. Our findings show increased frequencies of T-cell activation markers (CD69, Ox40, HLA-DR and CD154) in hospitalized patients, with other T-cell activation/exhaustion markers (CD25, PD-L1 and TIGIT) remaining elevated in hospitalized and non-hospitalized individuals. B cells had a similar pattern of activation/exhaustion, with increased frequency of CD69 and CD95 during hospitalization, followed by an increase in PD1 frequencies in non-hospitalized individuals. Interestingly, many of these changes were found to increase over time in non-hospitalized longitudinal samples, suggesting a prolonged period of immune dysregulation following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Changes in T-cell activation/exhaustion in non-hospitalized patients were found to positively correlate with age. Severely infected individuals had increased expression of activation and exhaustion markers. These data suggest a prolonged period of immune dysregulation following SARS-CoV-2 infection highlighting the need for additional studies investigating immune dysregulation in convalescent individuals.
High Voltage Surge Arresters

The performance of zinc oxide (ZnO) surge arresters has been considered in the present work, in particular, the effects of preconditioning on their protective level. The work involved development of laboratory experimental set-ups and theoretical modelling. The effect of single and double impulse stresses on ZnO surge arresters has been investigated using the constructed double impulse test facility which provides means of testing surge arresters with two successive 50kV, 5kA impulses of similar, and for the first time, opposite polarities. The time interval between both impulses can be as low as 10 ms. Tests on two types of 15kV rated ZnO surge arresters show that the application of double impulses of similar shape and amplitudes with the same or opposite polarities and 10 ms or longer time intervals has no significant effect on the protective performance of ZnO surge arresters. However, a characterisation of the ZnO material based on single impulse test data suggests that the V-I characteristic of the material may have a dynamic response resulting in departure from the static curve. A computer simulation of the single impulse test circuit is included.
Protein kinase C substrate activators: potential as novel antidepressants

Depression and mood disorders are major public health concerns. Emerging evidence suggests that abnormal functions of protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes, ubiquitous in the central nervous system, may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of major depression and mood disorders. PKC activity and expression in the brain regions that are involved in mood regulation are reduced in suicide victims and are sensitive to stress‐related damage. PKC isozyme dysfunction may contribute to mood dysfunction, while PKC activators exhibit antidepressant pharmacology. Restoration of PKC activity thus represents an important therapeutic goal in antidepressant therapy. PKC substrate activators, therefore, may have important therapeutic value for the treatment of depression, especially when fine‐tuning of selective isoform activity can be effectively achieved pharmacologically. The success of antidepressant therapy with bryostatin‐1‐like agents that act on PKC signaling cascades depends on whether such agents at their effective doses would significantly disrupt or interfere with other vital functions that rely on a narrow range of PKC activities. Drug Dev. Res. 65:156–169, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Characterization of the spatial distribution of latrines in reintroduced mountain gazelles: do latrines demarcate female group home ranges?

Mountain gazelle Gazella gazella in Saudi Arabia are listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN. At present, the species' survival is secured by extensive captive-breeding programmes and reintroductions into protected areas. Two reintroduction attempts (Ibex Reserve and Uruq Bani Ma'Arid protected areas) in Saudi Arabia have been undertaken in the past two decades. Post-monitoring of released individuals is essential for the success of such reintroduction programmes; however, cryptic species like mountain gazelles are extremely difficult to observe directly. As radio-tracking is a cost-intensive and invasive post-monitoring technique, we asked: how can reintroduced or remnant pockets of natural gazelle populations be monitored indirectly? Here, we propose the use of latrine mapping as an effective, cost-efficient and non-invasive tool to survey the social organization of reintroduced mountain gazelles as an indicator for repatriation success. In this study, we used released radio-collared animals to characterize the spatial distribution of latrines within female group home ranges. Distance to the next latrine, latrine size, as well as numbers of fresh faecal pellet groups per latrine or presence of urination marks were used as dependent variables for step-wise backward multiple regressions and were correlated with various ecological factors. Most dependent variables were correlated with distance or direction from the nearest tree, but not indicative of home-range cores. Only latrine densities were distinctly higher in core areas of female group home ranges, and no pattern of peripheral marking was detected. Hence, latrine density is a good indicator of home-range use in female group home ranges. Mapping latrines and determining latrine densities are therefore the methods of choice to survey mountain gazelle populations.
Seasonal and temporal variations in population dynamics of the Carcinus maenas (L.): the effect of an extreme drought event in a southern European estuary

The temporal and spatial variability in population dynamics of the European crab Carcinus maenas (L.) was studied between June 2003 and September 2007 in the Mondego estuary. An extreme climate event (extreme drought) occurred in 2004 and 2005 with a low freshwater flow discharge into the estuary, leading to an increase in salinity. Juveniles' recruitment was continuous throughout each year with a high proportion of young recruits being recorded in the spring of 2005. The proportion of green crabs clearly increased from the mouth to the upstream areas and the proportion of crabs actually in moult followed the same pattern. Parasitization by the endoparasitic barnacle, Sacculina carcini was observed, principally at the mouth of the estuary. The C. maenas population showed a regular size–frequency distribution and structure for both sexes during the study. Secondary production (P) of C. maenas estimated for the 4-year study period was different between years though, P/B ratios were similar during the whole study period. During the drought period, catches of the crab recruits were higher, particularly in the spring, probably due to the increase in salinity, which emphasizes the importance of these extreme events in controlling the abundances of coastal populations.
Learning human actions in video

This dissertation targets the recognition of human actions in realistic video data, such as movies. To this end, we develop state-of-the-art feature extraction algorithms that robustly encode video information for both, action classification and action localization. In a first part, we study bag-of-features approaches for action classification. Recent approaches that use bag-of-features as representation have shown excellent results in the case of realistic video data. We, therefore, conduct an extensive comparison of existing methods for local feature detection and description. We, then, propose two new approaches to describe local features in videos. The first method extends the concept of histograms over gradient orientations to the spatio-temporal domain. The second method describes trajectories of local interest points detected spatially. Both descriptors are evaluated in a bag-of-features setup and show an improvement over the state-of-the-art for action classification. In a second part, we investigate how human detection can help action recognition. Firstly, we develop an approach that combines human detection with a bag-of-features model. The performance is evaluated for action classification with varying resolutions of spatial layout information. Next, we explore the spatio-temporal localization of human actions in Hollywood movies. We extend a human tracking approach to work robustly on realistic video data. Furthermore we develop an action representation that is adapted to human tracks. Our experiments suggest that action localization benefits significantly from human detection. In addition, our system shows a large improvement over current state-of-the-art approaches.
Fast L1-Minimization Algorithms For Robust Face Recognition

L1-minimization refers to finding the minimum L1-norm solution to an underdetermined linear system b=Ax. Under certain conditions as described in compressive sensing theory, the minimum L1-norm solution is also the sparsest solution. In this paper, our study addresses the speed and scalability of its algorithms. In particular, we focus on the numerical implementation of a sparsity-based classification framework in robust face recognition, where sparse representation is sought to recover human identities from very high-dimensional facial images that may be corrupted by illumination, facial disguise, and pose variation. Although the underlying numerical problem is a linear program, traditional algorithms are known to suffer poor scalability for large-scale applications. We investigate a new solution based on a classical convex optimization framework, known as Augmented Lagrangian Methods (ALM). The new convex solvers provide a viable solution to real-world, time-critical applications such as face recognition. We conduct extensive experiments to validate and compare the performance of the ALM algorithms against several popular L1-minimization solvers, including interior-point method, Homotopy, FISTA, SESOP-PCD, approximate message passing (AMP) and TFOCS. To aid peer evaluation, the code for all the algorithms has been made publicly available.