Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Active Contour-Based Method for Finger-Vein Image Segmentation

Suffering from uneven illumination and variation of finger position, it is still a tough challenge to effectively distinguish the vein networks and nonvenous regions in a finger-vein image. Methods based on active contour have achieved an excellent result in medical image segmentation, despite facing several challenges such as vulnerable to the initial contour and prone to local minimum. In this article, we propose a novel method which is effective for finger-vein image segmentation based on active contour. Since venous and nonvenous areas in captured finger-vein images are hard to distinguish, we design a dehazing algorithm and an edge fitting term to improve the segmentation procedure. Moreover, we employ the kernel fuzzy C-means (KFCM) algorithm to conduct the initialization, which is able to solve the problem that the active contour-based methods are susceptible to initial contours. The experimental results show that compared with latest methods, the proposed method achieves a better performance in segmenting finger-vein images and is able to improve the recognition accuracy of finger-vein identification system.
Distinction between Mulloidichthys flavolineatus juveniles from Reunion Island and Mauritius Island (south‐west Indian Ocean) based on otolith morphometrics

Sagittal otoliths of the yellowstripe goatfish Mulloidichthys flavolineatus were analysed in order to compare Reunion Island fish stocks with those of Mauritius (south-west Indian Ocean). Conventional otolith morphometric variables (area, perimeter, length and width), shape indices (form factor, roundness, circularity, rectangularity, ellipticity and eccentricity) and Fourier shape analysis were compared between three sites; two in Reunion Island and one in Mauritius. Regional and site-specific differences were found for all the conventional otolith morphometric features. Regarding the shape indices, the differences between sites were best described by form factor, roundness, circularity and rectangularity. A classification by canonical discriminant analysis indicated significant differences between the three sampling sites. The combined use of morphometric variables (size and shape) and external outlines (shape analysis through Fourier series) showed the importance of otolith shape for intraspecific discrimination.
Impact of no-tillage agriculture on soil fauna diversity

Abstract In Fayoum Governorate, Egypt, the influence of tillage on the soil fauna was studied. For this reason, two plots (the first and the third) were not tilled, and were cultivated with various crops (tomatoes and different crop residues). The second study plot consisted of fallow land and was ploughed and cultivated with tomato with conventional tillage practices. Data of activity density of the soil fauna taxa were treated by multivariate statistical methods: correspondence analysis and ascending hierarchic classification. Comparisons indicated that higher activity densities of the herbivorous soil fauna taxa were generally associated with no-tillage practices. After the incorporation of the live green Lupinus termis and Trifolium alexandrinum in the soil, activity densities of some groups of soil fauna taxa increased such as Collembola and Orthoptera. Carnivorous soil fauna also increased after ploughing soils. Agricultural practices that adversely affect activity density as well as diversity of so.
Changes in egg size of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) treated with fenvalerate at sublethal doses and viability of the eggs

Fecundity and egg size were compared in adult of the females adult diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) treated and untreated with sublethal doses of fenvalerate in order to understand the physiological significance of insecticidal hormoligosis. The 4th stadium larvae were treated with fenvalerate at LD 2 5 or LD 5 0 . More eggs were laid by treated females at LD 2 5 than untreated females, although the difference was only marginally significant (p=0.07). However, the eggs laid by treated females at LD 2 5 and LD 5 0 were significantly smaller in size than those laid by the control. The reproductive effort (fecundity×egg size) did not differ between treated females and the control. The treatment of a sublethal dose (LD 5 0 ) against the parent affected the development and survival of offspring at immature stages of males. The hatchability of smaller eggs laid by treated females at LD 2 5 tended to be lower than those of controls under different humidity conditions, and the difference was apparent at a humidity of 29%. The survival rate of the offspring at immature stages was lower in the treatment group (LD 2 5 ) than in the control group, and development tended to be prolonged in the former group at temperatures higher than 20°C.
Prevalence and persistence of deformed wing virus (DWV) in untreated or acaricide-treated Varroa destructor infested honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies

Summary The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is a serious pest of the honey bee Apis mellifera. The naturally occurring virus known as deformed wing virus (DWV) has long been linked with the collapse of mite infested honey bee colonies. We therefore surveyed the prevalence and persistence of DWV in four heavily infested untreated colonies (Survey 1), and five heavily infested colonies that were treated with an acaricide (Survey 2). The presence of DWV in samples of adult bees, sealed brood and mites was detected using an Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Twenty individuals of each type were sampled monthly from each colony over the course of the study. During the summer, the proportion of adults, sealed brood and mites in which DWV was detected increased until either the colony died or was treated. When colonies were treated, thus removing mites from the colony, DWV became undetectable in the sealed bee brood at a similar rate to the loss of mites. The speed at which DWV became undetectable in adult workers depended, however, on the season, reflecting differences in life span between adult workers emerging in summer or winter. If treatment was delayed until October, DWV was still detected in adult bees during the winter even in the absence of mites. To reduce the viral load of the colony, therefore, mite treatment should be started no later than the end of August in order to remove the mites before production of the overwintering bees begins.
Cascaded HTGR Power-Level Control Only by Regulating Primary Helium Flow Rate

Reactor power-level control is a key technique of enhancing the safety, stability, and efficiency of nuclear plants. Currently, nearly all the power-level control methods are based on the scheme of inducing reactivity directly via control rods. However, the reactivity can also be injected indirectly via the negative temperature feedback effect, which results in the opportunity to develop indirect nuclear reactor power-level control methods. Motivated by this, a cascaded power-level control of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, which is composed of a helium temperature controller and a neutron flux controller, is proposed based on only regulating the primary helium flow rate. The temperature controller, which is in the inner loop, regulates the primary helium flow rate according to the setpoint of helium temperature. The flux controller, which is in the outer loop, revises the setpoint of the inner-loop controller so as to eliminate the error of reactor neutron flux. It is proved that the closed-loop system can be guaranteed to be globally asymptotically stable. Finally, numerical simulation results corresponding to the application to the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor pebble-bed module (HTR-PM) plant verifies the theoretical result while showing the satisfactory performance as well as the influence of the controller parameters.
Diatom sources of 13C-rich carbon in marine food webs

We used stable isotope measurements to investigate the possible nutritional importance of diatoms for consumers in planktonic food webs. Several lines of evidence indicated that rapidly growing diatoms had 13c-rich isotopic conlpositions in the Georges Bank (USA) ecosystem. Diatoms in spring blooms and in well-mixed summer waters were relatively rich in 13c, with 8I3c values An the 15 to -19%0 range, while other phytoplankton and most particulate organic matter collected over a 13 mo period had I3C-depleted values of -21 to -25 %. Culture experiments with nutrient-enriched seawater performed on Georges Bank and in Woods Hole Harbor (MA, USA) also showed a I3c distinction between fast-growing diatoms with l3C-rich contents and other algae that were depleted in I3C. Zooplankton from central Georges Bank where diatoms are abundant had relatively high b13C values, consistent with an important nutritional role for I3C-rich diatoms. We estimate that a minimum of 40 % of the carbon present in zooplankton consumers of central Georges Bank is derived from diatoms. Bloom diatoms from the North Atlantic, northeastern Pacific, and the nearshore Gulf of Mexico also had 13Crich compositions, indicating that diatoms can be a source of I3c-rich carbon in many marine food webs.
The Prehospital Ambulance Stroke Test Vs. The Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale: A Diagnostic Accuracy Study

Introduction Immediate diagnosis of stroke is crucial in reducing its morbidity and mortality rate. There are various pre-hospital assessment tools, such as the Prehospital Ambulance Stroke Test (PreHAST) and the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS) used to identify stroke early in the chain of care. The aim of this study is to compare the accuracy of PreHAST with CPSS in diagnosing stroke. Methods In this diagnostic accuracy study patients with suspicion of stroke were included in this study. In CPSS, the criterion used to indicate stroke are facial droop, speech and arm drift. In PreHAST it is eye position, visual field, facial palsy, right and left arms paresis, right and left legs paresis, sensory and speech. After data collection, sensitivity and specificity were calculated using standard formulae. Different cut-off points for the best diagnostic accuracy were examined in both CPSS and PreHAST. Results In this study, 883 patients were investigated. The results demonstrated that in CPSS, the highest specificity and sensitivity was for facial droop (84.9%) and arm drift (82.7%); and in PreHAST it was eye position (99.6%) and facial palsy (49.2%). The best predictor of stroke in CPSS with highest sensitivity (78.5%) and specificity (66%) was a cut-off point of 1.5 (AUC: 0.744) (p<0.01(. In PreHAST, the highest sensitivity (68.4%) was a cut-off point of 2.5 and the highest specificity (90.2%) was a cut-off point of 5.5 (AUC: 0.775) (p<0.01). Conclusion Both PreHAST and CPSS are useful screening tools in the pre-hospital diagnosis of stroke. In addition to high sensitivity, these tests provide a grading system in which higher cut-off points lead to higher specificity.
Accounting for photosynthetic efficiency of bean leaves with rust, angular leaf spot and anthracnose to assess crop damage

The relationships between the net photosynthetic rate of bean leaves and severity of rust, angular leaf spot and anthracnose were quantified at different temperatures of plant incubation, stages of disease development, and phenological stages of the crop, in two bean cultivars. Several experiments were performed in controlled environment chambers and in the field. The virtual lesion concept was used to quantify the reduction in photosynthetic efficiency of the green leaf tissue surrounding the lesions. The β parameter that expressed the ratio between areas of the virtual and visual lesions was estimated according to the model Px /P0 = (1 − x)β, where Px was the net photosynthetic rate of a leaf with severity x and P0 was the average net photosynthetic rate of healthy leaves. The β-value was 2·17 ± 0·02 (R2 = 0·88) for rust, 3·81 ± 0·04 (R2 = 0·91) for angular leaf spot, and 7·97 ± 0·13 (R2 = 0·94) for anthracnose. For each disease, the parameter β was consistent regardless of incubation temperature, stage of disease development, bean phenological stage and bean cultivar. In addition, the relationships between bean yield and the variables of area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC), healthy leaf area index duration (HAD) and healthy leaf area index absorption (HAA), published in the literature for rust, angular leaf spot and anthracnose, were recalculated with the virtual disease severity. Bean yield was more closely related to the new variables ‘photosynthesizing leaf area index duration’ (PAD) and ‘photosynthesizing leaf area index absorption’ (PAA) than to those variables previously published, but only for diseases with a large β-value and at high levels of disease severity.
Intra-organizational trust in public organizations – the study of interpersonal trust in both vertical and horizontal relationships from a bidirectional perspective

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to enhance our understanding of intra-organizational trust in public organizations by studying interpersonal trust in both vertical and horizontal relationships from a bidirectional perspective. Previous research has focused on trust at a single level of analysis, ignoring influences from other organizational levels, which has led to gaps in our understanding of trust. In addition, few studies take a bidirectional perspective where a trustor is simultaneously a trustee and vice versa. Through a case study, we contributed to filling this gap by studying the antecedents of trust – ability, benevolence and integrity.
Male-Male Competition Causes Parasite-Mediated Sexual Selection for Local Adaptation

Sexual selection has been suggested to accelerate local adaptation and promote evolutionary rescue through several ecological and genetic mechanisms. Condition-dependent sexual selection has mainly been studied in laboratory settings, while data from natural populations are lacking. One ecological factor that can cause condition-dependent sexual selection is parasitism. Here, we quantified ectoparasite load (Arrenurus water mites) in a natural population of the common bluetail damselfly (Ischnura elegans) over 15 years. We quantified the strength of sexual selection against parasite load in both sexes and experimentally investigated the mechanisms behind such selection. Then we investigated how parasite resistance and tolerance changed over time to understand how they might influence population density. Parasites reduced mating success in both sexes, and sexual selection was stronger in males than in females. Experiments show that male-male competition is a strong force causing precopulatory sexual selection against parasite load. Although parasite resistance and male parasite tolerance increased over time, suggestive of increasing local adaptation against parasites, no signal of evolutionary rescue could be found. We suggest that condition-dependent sexual selection facilitates local adaptation against parasites and discuss its effects in evolutionary rescue.
Polymorphism and evolutionary profile of mitochondrial DNA control region inferred from the sequences of Pakistani goats

Complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of 30 Pakistani domestic goats was sequenced to investigate the genetic diversity and organization. Twenty-two new haplotypes were observed and all were classified into mt-lineage A. Phylogenetic analysis revealed two distinct clusters in mt-lineage A, A1 and A2. A 17 bp deletion and a 76 bp insertion were detected in the L-domain and observed 10 and one animals, respectively, in 232 Pakistani domestic goats. These remarkable deletion/insertion events would be useful to investigate mtDNA diversity within the highly divergent mt-lineage A. In analysis of the control region feature, the caprine mtDNA was A/T rich as observed for other artiodactyls. Four conserved regions, Block A in the L domain, the C-domain, Block B and CSB1 in the R domain, were defined as well as in the other species.
The Impact of Parents and Teachers on Externalizing Behavior Among Latino/a Adolescents via Academic Achievement: Combining the Mental Health and Educational Perspectives

Given the Latino adolescents’ heightened risk of externalizing behaviors and academic disparities experienced by Latino adolescents, this study unifies the mental health and educational perspectives to better understand factors that impact the externalizing behavior among them. Eco-developmental theory was used to conceptualize the link between parenting factors, academic factors, and externalizing behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the effects of parental support, parental monitoring knowledge, and the adolescent–teacher relationship on externalizing behavior through academic achievement (mediator), in a pool of 508 Latino adolescents from the West Texas area. Findings show that maternal support, the adolescent–teacher relationship, and academic achievement to be negatively related to externalizing behavior. In addition, maternal support and the adolescent–teacher relationship were positively associated with academic achievement. Finally, the results demonstrated academic achievement as a mediating factor in the inverse relationship between adolescent–teacher relationship and externalizing behaviors. Implications are further discussed.
Measuring Possible Language Teacher Selves: A Scale Development Study.

The current study set out to build on the limited research on possible language teacher selves. The study aimed to develop a possible language teacher selves scale (PLTSS) for English as a foreign language (EFL) student teachers. The tripartite scale intending to measure the constructs of ideal, ought-to and feared language teacher selves was developed in two major stages. Data were collected from two distinct samples of senior Turkish EFL student teachers studying at twelve different universities in Turkey. In a preliminary study, tentative scale items were constructed based on a review of literature and qualitative data collected from a small sample and finalized through expert review and pre-piloting. The initial form of the scale was then administered to 296 senior student teachers of English. Following an exploratory factor analysis, the final form of the scale was constructed. The final form was administered to a different sample involving 274 student teachers. By this way, the scale was further validated through confirmatory factor analysis. The three scales under the PLTSS were checked for internal consistency reliability with both datasets. Findings revealed the sound psychometric properties of the PLTSS in terms of construct validity and internal consistency reliability.
BUFONID TOADS FROM THE LATE OLIGOCENE BEDS OF SALLA, BOLIVIA

Abstract Isolated fragmentary anuran remains from several fossil-bearing levels of the continental succession exposed in the Salla-Luribay basin, Eastern Cordillera, are described herein. The anuran material consists of poorly preserved postcranial bones that are referable to toads of the nearly cosmopolitan genus Bufo, now widely distributed in South America. Moreover, these remains strikingly resemble skeletal elements of extant South American species of the B. marinus group, most of which inhabit humid to semiarid lowlands. Based on the ilial morphology, two species appear to be represented in the Salla Beds: one close to B. arenarum and another, possibly new, that attained large size. This study does not confirm an earlier suggestion that a taxon closely related to the living South American aquatic leptodactylid Caudiverbera is represented in the Salla succession. This record supports an Early Tertiary, or even older, major diversification of bufonids.
Identification of a microsatellite marker associated with Pm3 resistance alleles to powdery mildew in wheat

The Pm3 resistance locus, located on chromosome 1A in wheat, confers race-specific resistance to the obligate biotrophic fungus Blumeria graminis (DC) E.O. Speer f. sp. tritici, the causal agent of powdery mildew. Several Pm3 alleles are still effective in controlling the disease in Europe. A genetic map was constructed to map the Pm3g allele in the recombinant inbred line progeny from the cross 'RE9001' (susceptible) × 'Courtot' (resistant). Two microsatellite markers were closely mapped to Pm3g. The PSP2999 marker, which cosegregates with this allele, was shown to detect the presence of the Pm3g resistance allele in other cultivars. A collection of 56 wheat cultivars or advanced lines carrying one Pm3 allele was used to assess the allele-specific amplification of the PSP2999 marker. The same amplification pattern was obtained for lines with Pm3a, Pm3b, Pm3e, Pm3f and Pm3g alleles. Twenty genotypes carrying Pm3d showed a specific amplification pattern. This marker allowed the detection of the Pm3d allele in highly resistant lines whose resistance gene combinations were unknown. It was concluded that PSP2999 is a useful marker to detect Pm3 alleles in parents and to manage them in breeding programmes.
The Future of Yak Farming from the Perspective of Yak Herders and Livestock Professionals

The declining number of yak farming families is perceived as a socio-political and economic concern in Bhutan. However, there is limited understanding of what influences herders’ plans and decisions on yak farming. We studied factors determining future perspectives of yak farming by interviewing yak herders and livestock professionals. We analysed relationships between herders’ characteristics and level of concerns, and future plans related to yak farming. Furthermore, relationships between level of concern and future plans were analysed. Most of the herder characteristics did not influence their future plans with yak farming. Age and level of perceived concern of the herders was associated with their wish for their children to continue yak farming in the future. Nevertheless, they expect that the number of yak farming families will decline in the next ten years. Additionally, most of the livestock professionals believe that the number of yak farming families will decline in the future. No differences were observed between the aggregated score of concern of herders and livestock professionals. The most important factors threatening the future of yak farming in Bhutan according to herders and livestock professionals are forage shortage, predation and no successor to take up yak farming.
Instruction, Student Engagement, and Learning Outcomes: A Case Study Using Anonymous Social Media in a Face-to-Face Classroom

With the wide availability of mobile devices and the growing interest in social media, numerous applications have emerged to support student engagement in the classroom. There is conflicting evidence, however, on whether the engagement benefits of such applications outweigh their potential cost as a source of disaffection. To investigate these issues, this article presents a case study on the usage of a social media app (SpeakUp) during a semester-long face-to-face university course, and its relations with the context and the learning outcomes. In this mixed-methods study, we gathered data from multiple sources (video recordings of the lessons, SpeakUp logs and messages, student questionnaires, and course assessments) in order to extract self-reported and observable behavioral and emotional indicators. Our findings reveal that simple measures of behavioral engagement were insufficient to predict academic performance. Nevertheless, our models significantly improved using relatively simple and unobtrusive indicators of both behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection. This article also indicates that the mere introduction of social media in educational settings does not guarantee a positive impact on learning. To promote an effective use of social media in the classroom (raising engagement while avoiding disaffection), teachers need to design the learning activities aligning the use of social media with the learning goals.