Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Testing of microbial additives in the rooting of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) stem cuttings.

Laboratory-produced alginate-bead inoculum of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi Cortinarius sp. and Gomphidius glutinosus, fungal commercial products ECtoVit® and tRiChoMiL®, bacterial commercial product BactoFil B®, and commercial rooting stimulator VEtozEN® were applied to a peat-perlite (1:2, v:v) rooting substrate of Norway spruce stem cuttings collected from 4-year-old nursery-grown seedlings immediately before the insertion of cuttings into the substrate. the application of beads free of fungi and the substrate without an additive were the other treatments. the cuttings were rooted in vessels (60 cuttings per vessel, 180 per treatment) placed in a glasshouse and arranged in a randomized complete block design. the cuttings were estimated for one growing season (approximately for 26 weeks) after their insertion into the rooting substrate. Rooting % of the cuttings ranged from 45 (myceliumfree beads) to 75 (control) according to treatments, 64 on average. No significant differences among treatments were found in % of ECM morphotypes, total ECM colonization of roots (%), and growth parameters of shoots and roots of the cuttings. the applied microbial additives were not sufficiently efficient to form treatment-related ectomycorrhizas that were formed by naturally occurring ECM fungi. inoculation by the ECM fungus Cortinarius sp. and application of trichomil had a partial stimulative effect on the shoot growth of cuttings. Shoot and root growth parameters were not significantly correlated with total ECM colonization, except for a negative dependence of the root number in trichomil treatment. A higher concentration of K but lower concentrations of Ca and Mg in Ectovit treatment than in the other treatments were detected.
Comparative analysis of nitrogen metabolism-related genes in two inbred maize lines with different low-nitrogen tolerance

Maize is an important crop and its nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has been an issue for plant scientists and breeders for many years. To meet the demand of genetic diversity in cultivating local elite maize cultivars, researchers need to isolate germplasms with a high NUE. In this study, 30 maize inbred lines were screened under hydroponic conditions, and three inbred lines that tolerate low nitrogen concentration were identified. A comparative analysis of genes involved in N uptake, transport, and assimilation between two lines with different tolerances revealed that the low-nitrogen-tolerant inbred line MBST exhibited higher expressions of nitrate and ammonium transporters, especially ZmNRT3.1B, than less tolerant B73. This suggests that the MBST line had a more efficient high-affinity transporter system. We also showed that low-nitrogen conditions down-regulated the expressions of master genes, ZmNLPs, which were negatively correlated with the expressions of the nitrate transporters ZmNRTs. This indicates the existence of regulators that antagonize the function of ZmNLPs. Some genes related to N assimilation and carbon metabolism were also more expressed in MBST. This research shows that the low-nitrogen-tolerant line, MBST, transported nitrate and ammonium more effectively than the B73 line. The NUE was also higher in MBST than in B73.
Phenotypic Divergence In Tomato Germplasm

Phenotypic divergence was quantified by multivariate analysis among the 70 genotypes collected from different agro-climatic regions and was available in the gene bank of Energypac Agro Ltd., Gazipur, Bangladesh. Based on the phenotypic value of 11 characters, 70 genotypes were grouped into five clusters. The genotypes of tomato were distributed in different clusters suggesting that no association was found between geographical and phenotypic diversity. Cluster II consisted of maximum twenty three genotypes (32.86%) followed by cluster III of sixteen genotypes (22.85%). Cluster IV and Cluster V comprised of thirteen (18.57%) and ten genotypes (14.29%), respectively. Cluster I consisted of eight genotypes (11.43%). The highest intra-cluster divergence (0.061) for cluster I was invariably smaller than the lowest inter-cluster divergence between cluster IV and cluster V (2.83), thus authenticating the clustering pattern formed in this study. The intra-cluster divergence ranged from 0.007 to 0.061, whereas the inter-cluster divergence ranged from 2.83 to 8.34 between clusters IV and V and clusters III and V, respectively. The four characters that played the greatest role in differentiation were locule number per fruit, pericarp thickness, fruits per plant and days to 50% flowering. Twenty homozygous parents (15 female and five male) were selected from five clusters using range test among genotypes within cluster. From cluster I parents TM409, TM386 and TM528 and from cluster III parents TM403 and TM349 were selected as male. Parents TM356, TM361, TM368, TM371, TM377, TM384, TM422 and TM423 from cluster II; parents TM388, TM390, TM392 and TM410 from cluster IV and parents TM382, TM419 and TM360 from cluster V were selected as female.
Phylogeographic studies of plants in China: Advances in the past and directions in the future

Abstract Phylogeography has been one major focus of evolutionary biology in recent years, with many important advances in Chinese species. In this issue, we collected 11 phylogeographic studies of plants by Chinese laboratories. We further synthesized the main findings and patterns emerging from these and previous phylogeographic studies in China and asked where phylogeographic research should be directed in the coming years. Numerous examples have shown that phylogeographic patterns in China did not show an expected expansion–contraction pattern at large scale, mirroring the geological records showing that no unified ice sheet had developed in China during the Quaternary Period. Instead, regional expansions and intraspecific divergences are very common in most studied species during the Quaternary oscillations. Different intraspecific lineages or alleles (haplotypes) were detected in multiple localized refugia, from where regional or local expansions are likely to have started. Hybridizations and introgressions are frequent between intraspecific lineages or between different species. We also reviewed computational methods for phylogeographic analyses. Despite the great progress made in recent years, there remains much to discover about the spatial–temporal dimensions and underlying speciation mechanisms of Chinese plants. Phylogeographic studies represent a key knot that connects the genus phylogeny (macroevolution) and speciation and adaptation (microevolution). Therefore, we advocate that: (i) phylogeographic studies of plants in China should be directed to the closely related species or a monophyletic group (for example, a genus or a section) in the coming years; and (ii) population genetic data based on direct sequencing multiple loci, especially those from nuclear genome and statistical tests should be widely adopted and enforced. The recovered intraspecific divergences and phylogeographic patterns of multiple‐species may allow us to better understand the high plant diversity in China and set up concrete hypotheses for studying plant speciation and diversification mechanisms in this region.
A Modified Tunable – Q Wavelet Transform Approach for Tamil Speech Enhancement

ABSTRACT In this paper, a new speech enhancement approach using the modified Tunable-Q Wavelet Transform (TQWT) for Tamil speaker recognition systems is proposed. Different forms of the existing wavelet transforms like continuous wavelet transform and discrete wavelet transform provide little ability to tune the Q factor and redundancy of the wavelet and have less reconstruction property. TQWT is fully discrete, has perfect reconstruction property and is modestly overcomplete. The Q-factor and redundancy can be easily tuned. Speech signals vary in both time and space. The entire speech signal is divided into different parts. Depending on the oscillatory contents of the speech signal, different Q factors are applied for each part instead of applying a single Q factor for the entire data. This gives more accuracy in decomposition. The proposed method is evaluated on several speakers and under various noise conditions including babble, street and exhibition noises. In order to tune the quality factor (Q) of the TQWT and to obtain good reconstruction property, speech enhancement has been conducted with varying values of Q. The reconstruction error, cost function, Signal to Noise Ratio(SNR) and Mean Opinion Score(MOS) show that the new approach highly improves the performance of speech enhancement based on the modified TQWT. Hardware implementation is also done using TMS320C6713 DSK and the results are similar to simulation.
Breeding Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus graellsii and Herring Gulls Larus argentatus: coexistence or competition?

While Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus graellsii numbers increase substantially at the German North Sea coast since the late 1980s, Herring Gull Larus argentatus numbers have been roughly stable since the mid-1980s. In order to investigate whether a different ecology might explain the current trends, we studied diet, colony attendance, reproductive output and aggressive behaviour in a mixed-colony on Amrum, southeastern North Sea, in 1994 and 1995. During incubation Lesser Black-backed Gulls fed mainly upon crustaceans and molluscs which were taken from the intertidal zone. During chick-rearing, they took mainly crustaceans and fish which were gathered mostly as trawler discards. The main food of Herring Gulls throughout the reproductive season were molluscs and crustaceans which were obtained from the intertidal zone. Numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the colony mainly varied with season and time of day, those of Herring Gulls with tide and season. Numbers of Herring Gulls commuting to the open sea roughly equalled those commuting to the Wadden Sea. Lesser Black-backed Gulls generally flew to the open sea but hardly towards the Wadden Sea. Nest attendance was significantly higher in Lesser Black-backed Gulls than in Herring Gulls during the chick-rearing period. Hatching success and fledging success tended to be higher in Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Lesser Black-backed Gulls won interspecific aggressive interactions significantly more often than Herring Gulls in the chick-rearing period. Our study indicates that Lesser Black-backed Gulls currently enjoy a few ecological advantages compared with Herring Gulls, particularly because they feed on food of apparently higher quality. We conclude that Lesser Black-backed Gulls have filled an empty niche rather than have out-competed Herring Gulls during the past decades
Losing the Right to Stay: Revocation of Refugee Permits in Norway

Following the record number of asylum seekers to Europe in 2015, Norway intensified its practice of revoking migrants’ residence permits and citizenships, which primarily affected refugees and their families, and reflects a broader international trend of increased use of temporary protection. This article explores the effects of revocation on individuals, their families and wider communities by analysing how revocation is experienced and its consequences for integration processes. Drawing on the concepts of deregulariation, temporality and integration, our analysis builds on interviews with migrants from Somalia and Afghanistan living in Norway. We find severe consequences for individuals affected by revocation processes and discuss spillover effects, most notably what we refer to as disintegration. Our conclusions point to the need for futher analytical scrutiny of both the consequences of intensified revocation practices and their purported effectiveness as a measure to regulate immigration.
Have SFAS 166 and SFAS 167 Improved the Financial Reporting for Securitizations?

Critics have alleged that securitization accounting prior to 2010 was among the causes of the recent financial crisis. In response to this criticism, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) implemented two new accounting standards, SFAS 166 and SFAS 167, to improve the financial reporting for securitizations. Bank regulators have stated their belief that SFAS 166/167 will result in a consolidated balance sheet (and risk‐based capital ratios based thereupon) that better reflects a bank's exposure to risk related to securitized assets. We document that, by ceding retained power or influence through the servicing/special servicing functions to third parties, SFAS 166/167 resulted in real effects to the extent that banks (particularly those that were weakly capitalized) achieved their accounting objectives in the post‐SFAS 166/167 period through legitimate transaction structuring in line with the intent of the new rules. Further, we use capital market participants’ assessments of risk retention by sponsoring banks as a benchmark, and provide evidence consistent with bank regulators’ beliefs. In particular, following SFAS 166/167, equity investors of sponsoring banks do not consider (consider) as risk relevant securitized assets that receive off‐balance sheet (on‐balance sheet) treatment. Securitized assets that are consolidated under SFAS 166/167 exhibit the same risk relevance as assets that are not securitized, despite contractual provisions that would seem to imply substantial risk transfer.
Professional networking for undergraduate students: a scaffolded approach

ABSTRACT Online social networking has changed how individuals communicate and associate. It facilitates building new relationships and maintenance of existing relationships. As the nature of work and career is changing, developing and maintaining relationships is essential for securing employment. Making social connections from the early stages of tertiary education is important to building and maintaining social capital. Graduate employability is an increasingly important outcome for universities and they have a key role in educating students regarding professional networking skills. The present study was designed to evaluate the development of such skills through in-class activities across a four-year programme. A pre-test-post-test design was used to compare data from 102 students on their awareness, confidence and use of LinkedIn (the largest professional networking platform). Prior to scaffolded in-class activities, students in years one and three reported little confidence and fourth-year students were the most confident using LinkedIn, although most students appreciated the importance of LinkedIn to their professional development and employment prospects. Following the in-class activities, all measures increased, up to five-fold in some year levels. Student responses to the open-ended survey questions complemented the quantitative analysis. The data suggests that embedding tasks that enhance professional networking into the curriculum can improve understanding of these platforms amongst students.
Influence of Customized Supplement on Voluntary Feed Intake and Nutrient Metabolism in Crossbred Calves

The present study was carried out to ascertain the effect of dietary inclusion of a customised supplement to farmers’ based diet on voluntary feed intake and nutrient metabolism in crossbred calves. In order to carry out the experiment, fifteen crossbred calves (18 months old; 166.53±4.93 kg mean BW) were randomly allocated to 3 groups (5 calves in each group) as CON, Treat and SBR, in a CRD for 30 days. The calves in CON (control) group were fed on cereal straw based diet with concentrate mixture as per the farmers’ practices, whereas, the calves in Treat were fed according to CON with additional customized supplement @ 0.25% of BW. The calves in SBR group were fed standard diet as per Kearl (1982). The intake (gd-1) of DM and OM was significantly Pandlt;0.01 higher in SBR than Treat and CON groups, while DM and OM intake as % of BW in Treat group has an intermediate position between SBR and CON groups. The concentrate intake (gd-1) was significantly Pandlt;0.001 higher in SBR followed by Treat and CON group, respectively. However, intake of wheat straw and green maize was found to be identical Pandlt;0.05 among all the groups. The digestibility coefficient of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF was significantly Pandlt;0.05)higher in Treat and SBR groups than CON. The N-retention as per cent of intake and absorbed-N was significantly Pandlt;0.001 higher in Treat and SBR groups than CON. The Ca and P retention gd-1 was significantly Pandlt;0.001 higher in SBR group followed by Treat and CON groups. The intake gd-1 and density % of DCP and TDN were significantly Pandlt;0.001 higher in SBR group followed by Treat and CON groups. Thus, it can be concluded that supplementation of the customised supplement (@ 0.25% of BW) to CON diet significantly improved the voluntary feed intake and nutrient metabolism in crossbred calves.
Descrição do canto de anúncio e dimorfismo sexual em Proceratophrys concavitympanum Giaretta, Bernarde & Kokubum, 2000

Here is described the advertisement call, the males and data of sexual dimorphism in Proceratophrys concavitympanum, collected in Aripuana (Mato Grosso) and Espigao do Oeste (Rondonia), Brazil. The males were observed calling along small streams in primary forest of Amazonian Rainforest. The advertisement call of Proceratophrys concavitympanum described here is compared to calls of others Proceratophrys species.
Adenosine receptor‐like molecules and related signaling transduction pathways regulate hemocyte adhesion in abalone (Haliotis diversicolor)

Blood cell adhesion is the very first step to perform those cellular defenses like phagocytosis and encapsulation. We report here that caffeine and other adenosine receptor (AdoR) agonists influenced hemocyte adhesion in abalones (Haliotis diversicolor). Caffeine (AdoR antagonists), CHA, and R‐PIA (both AdoA1R agonists), as well as IB‐MECA (AdoA3R agonist) can inhibit the hemocyte adhesion while CGS21680 (AdoA2AR agonist) activates hemocyte adhesion. The adhesion inhibition result of adenosine treatment is similar to AdoA1R agonists. Adenosine receptors have been recognized as the members of G‐protein coupled receptor family, and the major intracellular signaling transduction pathways downstream the receptors are cAMP‐PKA pathway and PLC. In this study, the treatment of dbcAMP, PMA (PKC activator), or A23187 (calcium ionophore) that increased the hemocyte adhesion. Although AdoA1R agonists decreased the intracellular cAMP concentration, additional loaded dbcAMP could not recover the inhibitory effect of AdoA1R agonists on hemocyte adhesion. In addition, either PLC inhibitor (U73122) or PI3K inhibitors (wortmannin or LY294002) could inhibit the hemocyte adhesion. Together, the results suggest there are adenosine receptors or adenosine receptor‐like molecules on abalone hemocytes which are involved in abalone hemocyte adhesion. The hemocyte adhesion that inhibited by activation of AdoA1R should be regulated by signaling pathways like PLC‐PKC pathway or PI3K, and the cAMP‐PKA pathway is also involved, but may not be the major signaling pathway that control hemocyte adhesion. Abbreviations AdoR, adenosine receptor; AdoA1R, adenosine A1 receptor; AdoA2AR, adenosine A2A receptor; AdoA3R, adenosine A3 receptor
Promoting Students’ Interest, Attitude and Intrinsic Motivation Towards Learning STEM Through Minimalist Robot Education Programme

Intrinsic motivation is one of the main driving forces for students’ interest and attitude towards learning STEM subjects such as Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Unfortunately, students’ interest and attitude towards STEM subjects are on the decline. A continued decline, if unchecked, will affect the number of students’ enrolment into the STEM fields. This study was conducted to investigate the students’ interest, attitude and intrinsic motivation towards learning STEM subjects by appraising the pro educational modules that include assembling and dismantling the minimalist robots and by providing software training to the students. The results of hypothesis testing of P-value generated via Statistical Packages of Social Sciences (SPSS) v2.5 indicate the effectiveness of Minimalist Robot Education Programme. The students’ interest, attitude and intrinsic motivation show a significant difference towards the learning of STEM. The findings also show that all the alternative hypotheses: (1) students’ interest towards learning STEM is increased as a result of participating in the Minimalist Robotic Education Programme; (2); students’ attitude towards learning STEM increased as a result of participating in the Minimalist Robotic Education Programme
An Intelligent Low-Power Low-Cost Mobile Lab-On-Chip Yeast Cell Culture Platform

Cells are the fundamental unit of life activities, and the basis of studying life phenomena. It is very important to observe the growth state of yeast cells for exploring the law of life movement, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, drug screening and so on. This study proposes a kind of intelligent low-cost portable cell culture platform using the microfluidic channel and the special machine learning circuit. The platform can independently complete the whole work of living cell culture and monitoring. For realizing the reusable and low-power deep learning circuit, a complement optimization neural network algorithm for hardware optimization and corresponding multi-clock-domain reusable multi-level precision neural network accelerator circuit were proposed, which can reduce the circuit area and power of convolution operation in all precisions by average 18.11% and 23.5% respectively. Besides, a dynamic multi-level precision control method based on the battery level is proposed to dynamically adjust the precision of machine learning operation, in order to balance the working time and segmentation accuracy of the culture platform. In addition, a microcolumns-based three-port input microfluidic structure was designed for better yeast culture effect. The experiment showed that the culture platform can realize yeast cell culture and achieve almost the same segmentation accuracy as the large biological laboratory with low-power and low-cost. Compared with the previous work, the cost of mass production was reduced by 88.95%, and the equipment volume was 27.1% smaller. At the same time, it can achieve the best balance of working time and working accuracy under the condition of limited power of equipment according to the needs of users.
Viabilidade da consorciao de pimento com repolho, rcula, alface e rabanete

This work was carried out in Jaboticabal, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, from September 2003 to January 2004, to evaluate the feasibility of an intercropping system of pepper with cabbage, rocket, lettuce and radish, in relation to their monocultives. The experiment consisted of 15 treatments, corresponding to 10 intercropping and five monocultives. The experimental design was a radomized block with six replications. The hybrid Magali R and Kenzan were used, respectively, for pepper and cabbage; and cultivars Vera, Cultivada and Crimson Gigante, respectively, for lettuce, rocket and radish. Yields of pepper and cabbage in intercropping did not differ significantly to that obtained in monocultive. The largest fresh mass of the aerial part of lettuce (438.86 g/plant) was observed in lettuce and pepper intercropping cultivation. In the other cultivations, 323.05 g/plant was obtained of lettuce. Increase in yield of commercial roots of radish was observed in radish and pepper intercropping, however, it was significantly larger to the intercropping cultivation of the pepper+cabbage+radish only. The fresh mass of the aerial part of the rocket showed statistical difference between pepper+rocket+lettuce and pepper+rocket+cabbage intercropping. Except for pepper+cabbage intercropping with land efficient use (LEU) of 1.92, all the intercropping cultives showed LEU higher than 2.0, with highwest LEU (2.64) obtained with pepper+lettuce intercropping. The better results obtained with intercropping in relation to production of food per area, demonstrate the viability of policultives and better land efficient use.