Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NOVELTY SEEKING TO PREDICT TOURIST BEHAVIOR INTENTION IN RURAL DESTINATION

Tourists’ perceptions toward a destination image, novelty-seeking, tourist satisfaction, and behavior intention are vital for a successful destination marketing. The literature on travel and tourism reveals an abundance of studies on destination image, tourist satisfaction, and behavior intention even though their relationships with novelty-seeking have not been thoroughly investigated in the rural destination. Consequently, the aim of this study is to investigate the influence of destination image on novelty-seeking and satisfaction, which in turn affects the behavior intention of the tourist. The conceptual model was developed on the basis of theoretical and empirical research in the field of tourism; the empirical data were collected in a rural destination. A total of 380 questionnaires was returned and the data were analyzed by using SEM AMOS. The results showed that the destination image has a significant effect of novelty-seeking, satisfaction and behavior intention. Simultaneously, novelty-seeking has a significant effect on behavioral intention. Secondly, satisfaction has a significant effect on behavior intention. Several recommendations were also compiled for future studies.
Biological control of Meloidogyne spp. in glasshouse-grown chrysanthemum

Abstract Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are a major problem in soil-based glasshouse-grown chrysanthemums. To combat root-knot nematodes in the glasshouse, the soil is typically steamed every 5–6 production cycles. However, this method is expensive, environmentally unfriendly and reduces resistance and resilience of the soil against pathogens and pests. Here, we added biological pesticides/a basic substance and biostimulants both individually and in combination to determine individual or interactive effects against damage by root-knot nematodes in chrysanthemums. We found that the application of biological nematicides derived from garlic extract, the basic substance chitosan HCl and biostimulants comprised of sea minerals and plant oils correlated with reduced root-knot nematode damage. These effects may have been due to direct effects against the nematodes or through indirect effects such as increased resistance and resilience of the plants. Overall, the biostimulants increased the total number of free-living nematodes in the soil, which could lead to a beneficial increase in nutrient cycling in the soils. Our results demonstrate that biological reagents show promise in reducing root-knot nematode damage in glasshouse-grown chrysanthemum and may lead to more resistance and resilient soils.
Effects of Surface Protein Adsorption on the Distribution and Retention of Intratumorally Administered Gold Nanoparticles

The heterogeneous distribution of delivery or treatment modalities within the tumor mass is a crucial limiting factor for a vast range of theranostic applications. Understanding the interactions between a nanomaterial and the tumor microenvironment will help to overcome challenges associated with tumor heterogeneity, as well as the clinical translation of nanotheranostic materials. This study aims to evaluate the influence of protein surface adsorption on gold nanoparticle (GNP) biodistribution using high-resolution computed tomography (CT) preclinical imaging in C57BL/6 mice harboring Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumors. LLC provides a valuable model for study due to its highly heterogenous nature, which makes drug delivery to the tumor challenging. By controlling the adsorption of proteins on the GNP surface, we hypothesize that we can influence the intratumoral distribution pattern and particle retention. We performed an in vitro study to evaluate the uptake of GNPs by LLC cells and an in vivo study to assess and quantify the GNP biodistribution by injecting concentrated GNPs citrate-stabilized or passivated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) intratumorally into LLC solid tumors. Quantitative CT and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) results both confirm the presence of particles in the tumor 9 days post-injection (n = 8 mice/group). A significant difference is highlighted between citrate-GNP and BSA-GNP groups (** p < 0.005, Tukey’s multiple comparisons test), confirming that the protein corona of GNPs modifies intratumoral distribution and retention of the particles. In conclusion, our investigations show that the surface passivation of GNPs influences the mechanism of cellular uptake and intratumoral distribution in vivo, highlighting the spatial heterogeneity of the solid tumor.
Evaluation and testing of machine installed subsurface drip laterals

The placement depths subsurface drip laterals installed by developed machine are uniform as compared to manual installation, yet it may vary. To assess on the uniformity of installation, the placement depth with respect to the soil surface has been accessed and analysed for recently developed tractor operated subsurface drip lateral laying machine. A field experiment was laid at the ICAR-Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, India. Two types of drip laterals, pipe and drip tape, both of 16 mm diameter, were installed while each of them were placed at two depths of 15 and 20 cm by using the subsurface drip lateral laying machine. Each lateral and placement depths were thus considered as treatments which were replicated three times. Each lateral was considered as one treatment. A week after laying of experiment, the soil around the lateral pipe has carefully been dug without disturbing the lateral pipe and the depth from the surface was recorded by vertically placing a measuring scale. The observations so obtained were analysed using Christiansen’s Coefficient of Uniformity (CCU) and other similar parameters like Wilcox-Swailes Coefficient of Uniformity (WSCU), Statistical Coefficient of Uniformity (SCU) and Low Quarter Distribution Uniformity (SDUlq). In the study conducted, a widely used Christiansen's coefficient of uniformity has been computed to be 0.95 and 0.87 for the drip pipes placed at 15 and 20 cm depth respectively. The same coefficients have been worked out at 0.93 and 0.92 respectively for 15 and 20 cm depths for a drip tape.
Analysis of oxidative stress in Wistar rats submitted to high-intensity interval training

Physical exercise is a known factor that can promote oxidative stress and may result in cellular damage if not neutralized by antioxidant mechanisms. This study aimed to determine if the level of hepatic oxidative stress resulting from high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is affected by the frequency pattern (consecutive vs. non-consecutive) of the training sessions. Thirty-two Wistar rats were divided equally into four groups: two control groups, (CS1) and (CS2), remained sedentary throughout the experiment, and two test groups, (CT1) and (CT2), and were submitted to HIIT for 12 consecutive and non-consecutive (12 sessions, 3 times/wk over four weeks) days, respectively. There were no significant differences in markers of oxidative damage measured in hepatic tissue (TBARS) and markers of antioxidant activity (Sulfhydryl, FRAP), as well as markers of hepatic damage (AST and ALT) and antioxidant defense (Uric Acid) measured in plasma of both HIIT groups after training compared to the control groups. The results indicate that both HIIT performed for 12 consecutive and non-consecutive sessions did not promote hepatic oxidative damage in rats.
Mapping the local dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system

The aim of this work is to determine the varying dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system via electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) and to show how this method is useful to study natural photonic crystals. We mapped the dielectric constant of the cross section of the posterior wing of the damselfly Chalcopteryx rutilans with nanometric resolution. We obtained structural information on its constitutive nanolayers and the absolute values of their dielectric constant. By relating the measured profile of the static dielectric constant to the profile of the refractive index in the visible range, combined with optical reflectance measurements and simulation, we were able to describe the origin of the strongly iridescent wing colors of this Amazonian rainforest damselfly. The method we demonstrate here should be useful for the study of other biological nanostructured systems.
DNAPL Surface Chemistry: Its Impact on DNAPL Distribution in the Vadose Zone and its Manipulation to Enhance Remediation

The primary hypothesis of this work is that surface-active chemicals and/or microorganisms present in the unsaturated zone can significantly alter interfacial phenomena governing the migration of DNAPLs, thereby affecting the accessibility of a DNAPL during remediation efforts. The surface-active materials are present in complex NAPL mixtures and are produced through microbial metabolic processes. The overall goal of this proposed research is to understand the role of and changes in interfacial phenomena on the accessibility of DNAPL in the vadose zone.
Numerical and analytic techniques to study capacitive RF discharges

Capacitively coupled RF plasma sources are used extensively in the microelectronics industry for commercial production as well as laboratory research and development. This paper deals with the physics of the processes involved and development, both theoretical and analytical, that have helped in understanding the discharge processes. The review begins with a description of the RF discharge. A literature survey provides the experimental efforts that have been directed towards investigating the physics of the capacitively coupled discharges. Measurements of the various plasma parameters are dealt with. Analytical and numerical methods that have been successfully used to model the discharge processes are treated in considerable detail. The paper concludes with a brief comparison of the various techniques.
Supplementary material: The Group Loss for Deep Metric Learning

In the main work, we showed the robustness analysis on the CUB-200-2011 [16] dataset (see Figure 4 in the main paper). Here, we report the same analysis for the Cars 196 [9] dataset. This leads us to the same conclusions as shown in the main paper. We do a grid search over the total number of elements per class versus the number of anchors, as we did for the experiment in the main paper. We increase the number of elements per class from 5 to 10, and in each case, we vary the number of anchors from 0 to 4. We show the results in Fig. 1. Note, the results decrease mainly when we do not have any labeled sample, i.e., when we use zero anchors. The method shows the same robustness as on the CUB-200-2011 [16] dataset, with the best result being only 2.1 percentage points better at the Recall@1 metric than the worst result.
The Role of the Flannel Flower Bouquet Workshop in Enhancing Creativity and Promoting Entrepreneurship Amongst Orphans

This paper describes the community service program carried out to enhance the creativity and entrepreneurship of orphans in the Assalam Shobuur orphanage. The program was conducted in six days and was divided into two sub-activities: a flannel flower bouquet workshop; and an entrepreneurship workshop focusing on business promotion. The flannel flower bouquet workshop offered tutorials while the entrepreneurship workshop used lecture methods, case studies, and brainstorming. The workshops were run for twenty orphan children who lived in that orphanage, and have successfully improved the subjects’ knowledge of entrepreneurship. Keywords: orphan, workshop, creativity, entrepreneurship
Temperature and concentration distribution of H2 and H atoms in hot-filament chemical-vapor deposition of diamond

The temperature and concentration distributions of hydrogen in a hot‐filament chemical‐vapor deposition reactor of diamond have been measured simultaneously by coherent anti‐Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). The bright background from the filament was rejected by using CARS and gating on the detector as well as spatial filtering. The CARS spectra provided direct and accurate measurements of the H2 temperature and concentration distributions. The concentration distribution of atomic hydrogen was also determined by assuming a constant pressure condition and equilibrium between translational and rotational degrees of freedom in the system. These temperature and concentration distributions are essential for the understanding and modeling of the diamond growth processes. It was found that the H‐atom distribution departed substantially from the thermal equilibrium prediction except very near the filament; however, a diffusion‐controlled model predicted the slope of this distribution throughout the measured region.
Efficacy of autologous epineurium small gap coaptation combined with platelet-rich plasma, nerve growth factor, and nerve fragments in the repair of damaged peripheral nerves

Purpose: To explore the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) combined with autologous epineurium small gap coaptation in the repair of damaged peripheral nerves. Methods: Fifty rabbits were randomly divided into five groups. The control group was treated using the traditional suture method. The remaining four groups were treated using the autologous epicardial small gap model. The autologous epithelium bridged the small gap in experimental group A, and 0.4 mL of nerve growth factor was injected into the small gap. Growth factor was administered in experimental group B, and an appropriate amount of shredded nerve fragments were added into the small gap in experimental group C. Meanwhile, 0.4 mL of PRP was injected into the small gap in experimental group D. Neuroelectrophysiological and histological assessments were performed 12 weeks after surgery. Results: The nerve conduction velocity in experimental group D was higher than in other groups. Compared to other groups, the nerves of the experimental group had small gaps, as well as no collapse or displacement. The diameter of the regenerative nerve was consistent with that of the normal nerves. In the experimental group, a higher number of myelinated nerve fibers were observed in the small gap, and the arrangement was more regular. Extensive angiogenesis was observed among the nerve fibers. More mature Schwann cells proliferated, and the cytoplasm was clear. Mitochondrial swelling was not obvious, and the epicardium and fascia were intact. Conclusion: PRP can significantly improve the microenvironment in the small gap and promote peripheral nerve regeneration and functional recovery.
Oxygen Reduction Reaction Using MnO2 Nanotubes/Nitrogen-Doped Exfoliated Graphene Hybrid Catalyst for Li-O2 Battery Applications

Nitrogen-doped thermally exfoliated graphene (NExG) synthesized by a simple one-step method combined with α-MnO2 nanotubes (NT) is employed as air cathode materials for lithium oxygen (Li-O2) battery applications. α-MnO2 NT/NExG composite is shown to demonstrate excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in an aprotic non-aqueous electrolyte Li-O2 cell resulting in 2.92 V at the current density of 100 mA g−1, discharge current density of 7.2 A g−1 at 2.2 V, and the maximum power density of 15.8 W g−1 based on carbon mass. This excellent performance of the composite suggests that not only α-MnO2 NT exhibits a remarkable catalytic activity for ORR, but also NExG with a large surface area and high electrical conductivity is capable of catalyzing ORR, demonstrating an outstanding hybrid effect in an aprotic non-aqueous electrolyte Li-O2 cell. © 2012 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/2.086302jes] All rights reserved.
A case report and literature review of systemic lupus erythematosus with sustained elevated serum amylase and lipase levels

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a common autoimmune disease that can cause multiple organ damage, but the sustained increase of serum amylase and lipase without any corresponding clinical manifestations and imaging changes is relatively rare. We reported a case of systemic lupus erythematosus with pancreatic, salivary gland, central nervous system, skin, and thyroid involvement along with multiple organ damage accompanied by continuously increasing serum amylase and lipase levels. The patient was a young female who had suffered from the disease for about 13 years. After a relapse, her amylase and lipase levels continued to increase without any corresponding clinical manifestations or imaging changes. We followed up with the patient and summarized the changes in her serum amylase and lipase levels, and here we review the literature and analyze the reasons for the increases.
Morphological evolution in relationship to sidewinding, arboreality and precipitation in snakes of the family Viperidae

Compared with other squamates, snakes have received relatively little ecomorphological investigation. We examined morphometric and meristic characters of vipers, in which both sidewinding locomotion and arboreality have evolved multiple times. We used phylogenetic comparative methods that account for intraspecific variation (measurement error models) to determine how morphology varied in relationship to body size, sidewinding, arboreality and mean annual precipitation (which we chose over other climate variables through model comparison). Some traits scaled isometrically; however, head dimensions were negatively allometric. Although we expected sidewinding specialists to have different body proportions and more vertebrae than non-sidewinding species, they did not differ significantly for any trait after correction for multiple comparisons. This result suggests that the mechanisms enabling sidewinding involve musculoskeletal morphology and/or motor control, that viper morphology is inherently conducive to sidewinding (‘pre-adapted’) or that behaviour has evolved faster than morphology. With body size as a covariate, arboreal vipers had long tails, narrow bodies and lateral compression, consistent with previous findings for other arboreal snakes, plus reduced posterior body tapering. Species from wetter environments tended to have longer tails, wider heads and reduced anterior tapering. This study adds to the growing evidence that, despite superficial simplicity, snakes have evolved various morphological specializations in relationship to behaviour and ecology.
Patient selection for trans-catheter mitral valve repair versus replacement: ongoing indications and glimpse to the future

© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Patient selection for trans-catheter mitral valve repair vs. replacement: ongoing indications and glimpse to the future
Effects of Semantic Segmentation Visualization on Trust, Situation Awareness, and Cognitive Load in Highly Automated Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles could improve mobility, safety, and inclusion in traffic. While this technology seems within reach, its successful introduction depends on the intended user’s acceptance. A substantial factor for this acceptance is trust in the autonomous vehicle’s capabilities. Visualizing internal information processed by an autonomous vehicle could calibrate this trust by enabling the perception of the vehicle’s detection capabilities (and its failures) while only inducing a low cognitive load. Additionally, the simultaneously raised situation awareness could benefit potential take-overs. We report the results of two comparative online studies on visualizing semantic segmentation information for the human user of autonomous vehicles. Effects on trust, cognitive load, and situation awareness were measured using a simulation (N=32) and state-of-the-art panoptic segmentation on a pre-recorded real-world video (N=41). Results show that the visualization using Augmented Reality increases situation awareness while remaining low cognitive load.
Turbulence-Induced Noise Effects on High-Frequency Combustion Instabilities

Abstract A statistical approach is introduced for describing influences of turbulence on high-frequency combustion instability in liquid-propellent rocket motors. The Rayleigh criterion is generalized to account for turbulence-related spatial variations of the combustion response. Special attention is given to the distinguished limit in which the acoustic oscillations are rapid compared with the turbulent fluctuations, which in turn are rapid compared with the linear growth rate of the instability. It is shown that nonlinear acoustics of the instabilities need to be considered to describe the influences of turbulence. When this nonlinearity involves supercritical bifurcation, the turbulence lends to decrease the most probable intensity of the instability. When it involves subcritical bifurcation, the turbulence can produce a bimodal probability density function for the intensity of the instability, with appreciable probabilities of high-amplitude and low-amplitude acoustic oscillations but small probabili.
Department of Neurology

Neuroimaging of neurodegenerative disorders. Students can work in a neuroimaging laboratory that is focused on the translational discovery of neuroimaging biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. The laboratory focuses on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. We are investigating the eﬀects of neurodegenerative diseases on the brain network level using functional (blood oxygen level dependent imaging, arterial spin labeling), structural (volumetrics, diﬀusion tensor imaging), and metabolic (PET amyloid and tau) methods. Multiple projects that involve bioengineering, neuroimaging and infectious disease are available, depending on the interest of the student.
Investigation of Factors Influencing Speaking Performance of Saudi EFL Learners

Equal focus needs be placed on teaching all four basic skills of language learning: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. However, it is observed that due attention is not devoted to developing speaking skills in Saudi EFL learners; this task is especially challenging as English is not widely used or spoken in their day-to-day communication. The current study aims to investigate the psychological factors which affect learners’ speaking performance by: (a) examining the strategies learners use for developing speaking skills, (b) identifying obstacles confronted by learners in developing speaking skills, and (c) suggesting ways to facilitate the acquisition of English speaking skills. The research seeks answers to these questions: (1) What are some psychological factors affecting speaking skills of students? (2) Why do learners find speaking in English so difficult? I distributed a questionnaire among 200 female and male participants majoring in various fields at Majmaah university in Saudi Arabia. I employed SPSS to analyze the accumulated data and displayed the results in descriptive tables. The results reveal that affective factors impacting students’ performance in speaking skills are shyness, peer pressure, anxiety, and fear of making mistakes. Other factors that hinder speaking performance are paucity of necessary vocabulary, lack of exposure to the target language, and scarce opportunities to practice speaking outside the classroom. The study contributes to the existing English language learning (ELL) literature through its focus on the affective factors impacting speaking performance in Arabic-speaking EFL learners.