Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conversion and Validation of Uniplex SNP Markers for Selection of Resistance to Cassava Mosaic Disease in Cassava Breeding Programs

Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is a major viral disease adversely affecting cassava production in Africa and Asia. Genomic regions conferring resistance to the disease have been mapped in African cassava germplasm through biparental quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and genome-wide association studies. To facilitate the utilization of these markers in breeding pipelines to support selections, proof-of-concept technical and biological validation research was carried out using independent pre-breeding and breeding populations. Kompetitive Allele-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (KASP) assays were designed from three single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers linked to a major resistance locus on chromosome 12 (S12_7926132, S12_7926163) and a minor locus on chromosome 14 (S14_4626854). The designed assays were robust and easy to score with >99% genotype call rate. The overall predictive accuracy (proportion of true positives and true negatives) of the markers (S12_7926132 and S14_4626854) was 0.80 and 0.78 in the pre-breeding and breeding population, respectively. On average, genotypes that carried at least one copy of the resistant allele at the major CMD2 locus had a significantly higher yield advantage. Nevertheless, variation was observed in prediction accuracies for the major locus (S12_7926132) among sub-families from the two populations, suggesting the need for context-specific utilization, for example, by screening for co-segregation of favorable SNP alleles with resistance in the parents being used for crosses. Availability of these validated SNP markers on the uniplex KASP genotyping platform represents an important step in translational genetics toward marker-assisted selection to accelerate introgression of favorable resistant alleles in breeding populations.
Small mammals in the human-dominated landscape in the northern Western Ghats of India

The Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot is under huge anthropogenic pressure, with unique flora and fauna facing severe threats from habitat fragmentation, loss, and degradation. The northern Western Ghats has been poorly studied for its small mammal fauna, hence we examined small mammals near Pune from 2014 to 2017. Live trapping was carried out in irrigated and rainfed agriculture fields, forests, and grasslands at low, mid, and high elevations. A total of 538 individuals were trapped, representing 17 species of rodents and one shrew. Most abundantly captured species were Millardia kondana (23%), Mus saxicola (19%), Suncus murinus (17%), and Mus booduga (13%). Species richness and abundance of small mammals varied across the habitats. High elevation grasslands were species-rich relative to low elevation grasslands and forests. Our observations indicate that human disturbances play a role in determining the richness and abundance of small mammals in the area, where populations are under threat from urbanization, tourism, agriculture, grazing, and fire. Habitat and species specific conservation measures need to be taken, coupled with in-depth species–habitat relationship studies, for the conservation of small mammal diversity of the northern Western Ghats.
Coprological prevalence of parasitic worms in Asiatic Lion and Leopard at Sakkarbaug Zoological Park, Gujarat, India

A total of 129 samples were examined out of which, 20 (15.50%) samples were positive. Samples had eggs of Paragonimus westermani (Kerbert, 1878), Spirometra felis (Manson, 1882), and Strongyloides spp. (Grassi, 1879). Similar study was conducted by Parsani et al. (2001) of captive animals at Municipal Corporation Zoo, Rajkot, Gujarat. They had examined 28 faecal samples out of which 17 (60.71%) were positive. In our study, 20 (15.50%) samples were positive for parasitic worm infection.
What's In It For Us? Benevolence, National Security, and Digital Surveillance

: This article challenges suggestions that citizens should accept digital surveillance technologies (DSTs) and trade their privacy for better security. Drawing on data from nine EU countries, this research shows that citizens’ support for DSTs varies not only depending on the way their data are used but also depending on their views of the security agency operating them. Using an institutional trustworthiness lens, this research investigates three DST cases—smart CCTV, smartphone location tracking, and deep packet inspection—that present escalating degrees of privacy risk to citizens. The findings show that the perceived benevolence of security agencies is essential to acceptability in all three cases. For DSTs with greater privacy risk, questions of competence and integrity enter citizens’ assessments.
A Study of Adversarial Attacks and Detection on Deep Learning-Based Plant Disease Identification

Transfer learning using pre-trained deep neural networks (DNNs) has been widely used for plant disease identification recently. However, pre-trained DNNs are susceptible to adversarial attacks which generate adversarial samples causing DNN models to make wrong predictions. Successful adversarial attacks on deep learning (DL)-based plant disease identification systems could result in a significant delay of treatments and huge economic losses. This paper is the first attempt to study adversarial attacks and detection on DL-based plant disease identification. Our results show that adversarial attacks with a small number of perturbations can dramatically degrade the performance of DNN models for plant disease identification. We also find that adversarial attacks can be effectively defended by using adversarial sample detection with an appropriate choice of features. Our work will serve as a basis for developing more robust DNN models for plant disease identification and guiding the defense against adversarial attacks.
Adjunctive Therapy with Ascorbic in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: A Multicenter Propensity Score Matched Study

Background: Due to its supposed clinical efficacy, relative safety, and low cost, ascorbic acid represents an appealing option for clinicians to utilize in the context of a global health pandemic of COVID-19 patients.Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using ascorbic acid as adjunctive therapy in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Methods: This was a multi-center, non-interventional, retrospective cohort study. All critically ill adult patients admitted to ICU with a confirmed COVID-19 between March 1st to December 31st, 2020 were included in the final analysis. The study was conducted at two large governmental tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The purpose was to investigate the association between clinical outcomes with ascorbic acid use as an adjunctive therapy in COVID-19 after propensity score matching using baseline severity scores, systemic use of corticosteroids and study centers. Results: A 739 patients were included in this study; 296 patients were included after propensity score matching. There was no association between the administration of ascorbic acid and in-hospital mortality nor 30-day ICU mortality (OR (95%CI): 0.77 (0.476, 1.234), p-value=0.2738 and OR (95%CI): 0.73 (0.438 ,1.204), p-value=0.215 respectively). Using ascorbic acid was associated with lower incidence of thrombosis compared with the non-ascorbic acid group (6.1% vs. 13% respectively); OR (95%CI): 0.42 (0.184, 0.937), p-value=0.0342). Conclusion: Ascorbic acid use as an adjunctive therapy in COVID19 critically ill patients was not associated with mortality benefits; but associated with lower incidence of thrombosis. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.
Estimation Of Water Requirement Of Lycopersicon Esculentum Mill

Crop water requirements of Roma tomato that planted on different spacing for four treatment and its replications in Nyagatare district Kinihira village have been computed with CROPWAT 8.0 using the meteorological parameters. The water requirement was computed using evapotranspiration (ET0), effective rainfall, Net Irrigation demand, the Gross Irrigation demand and irrigation interval for crops grown in different treatment of different spacing have been computed. Based on the rainfall data, effective rainfall and soil characteristics of the experiment site, it was shown that the total net irrigation requirement of tomato in experiment site as presented in CROPWAT 8.0 is 286.2mm and the total gross irrigation requirement is 408.8mm. The total water loss during irrigation is obtained by taking the total gross irrigation requirement minus the total net irrigation requirement and found to be122.6mm. As per CROPWAT 8.0, Tomato water requirement in whole growing stages is 620.3mm . This total water required by tomato at experimental site was supplied to crop by rainfall as effective rainfall (211.5mm) and the remaining portion (408.8mm) was supplied to crop through irrigation. A wide spectrum of scenarios has been discussed in the paper along with the guidelines for future management of water resources.
Medical and pharmacokinetic effects of nanopolyphenols: A systematic review of clinical trials

A significant percentage of the population has been turning to herbal remedies either as a sole treatment option or in combination with other drugs. Efforts to increase the production of therapeutic remedies from these scaffolds have therefore ampli-fied. A fundamental aim when developing new drugs is to develop drugs that have virtually no or less adverse effects than those currently available while being effica-cious. Several approaches have been undertaken to use nanotechnology to develop nanoencapsulated polyphenols for use in therapeutics in an attempt to improve their physicochemical properties, bioavailability, and efficacy. This review covers the types of nanopolyphenols that have been evaluated in clinical trials against various medi-calconditionsandtheiroutcomes.Medicalconditionscoveredincludecardiometabolic diseases, inflammatory diseases, and cancer and in almost all instances the nanoencapsulated polyphenol produced a positive outcome. Similar outcomes were also reported for pharmacokinetic analyses. The review protocol was registered in the PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews as CRD42020172642.
The Role of Parental Style and Self-efficacy as Predictors of Internet Addiction among Israeli-Palestinian College Students in Israel

Prior studies have suggested the importance of individual characteristics among youths (e.g., self-efficacy) and parents (e.g., parenting style) that may mediate the risk of the youth engaging in compulsive, addictive behaviors like Internet addiction (IA). The current work was the first to examine the associations of IA with self-efficacy and parenting styles among a unique sample of Muslim college students in Israel. Participants (n = 500) reported on their symptoms of IA, self-efficacy, and their parents’ parenting practices. Consistent with the study hypotheses, authoritative parenting style and self-efficacy were correlated with fewer symptoms of IA (r = −0.34, p < 0.01; r = −0.49, p < 0.01, respectively), whereas permissive and authoritarian parenting styles were correlated with elevated indicators of IA (r = 0.41, p < 0.01; r = 0.46, p < 0.01, respectively). These findings are consistent with previous literature in Western samples, suggesting the cross-cultural importance of these personal attributes for reducing the risk of addictive Internet use.
Fire Resistance Behaviour of Geopolymer Concrete: An Overview

Even though, an innovative inorganic family of geopolymer concretes are eye-catching potential building materials, it is quite essential to comprehend the fire and thermal resistance of these structural materials at a very high temperature and also when experiencing fire with a view to make certain not only the safety and security of lives and properties but also to establish them as more sustainable edifice materials for future. The experimental and field observations of degree of cracking, spalling and loss of strength within the geopolymer concretes subsequent to exposure at elevated temperature and incidences of occurrences of disastrous fires extend an indication of their resistance against such severely catastrophic conditions. The impact of heat and fire on mechanical attributes viz., mechanical-compressive strength, flexural behavior, elastic modulus; durability—thermal shrinkage; chemical stability; the impact of thermal creep on compressive strength; and microstructure properties—XRD, FTIR, NMR, SEM as well as physico-chemical modifications of geopolymer composites subsequent to their exposures at elevated temperatures is reviewed in depth. The present scientific state-of-the-art review manuscript aimed to assess the fire and thermal resistance of geopolymer concrete along with its thermo-chemistry at a towering temperature in order to introduce this novel, most modern, user and eco-benign construction materials as potentially promising, sustainable, durable, thermal and fire-resistant building materials promoting their optimal and apposite applications for construction and infrastructure industries.
The form and evolution of international migration networks, 1990–2015

Asian Demographic Research Institute, School of Sociology and Political Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria Department of Sociology and Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Institute for Circular Economy Development, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Department of Sociology, Center for Demography and Social Ecology and eScience Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Yoik in Sami elderly and dementia care – a potential for culturally sensitive music therapy?

ABSTRACT Introduction: The positive impact of familiar, individualized and patient-preferred music in dementia care is acknowledged in the literature. However, traditional indigenous music practices in care contexts are less studied. This study focuses on yoik, a traditional vocal music of the indigenous Sami people of Fennoscandia. The aims of this exploratory study were to investigate key participants’ experiences with yoik in care settings, as well as their thoughts with regard to a future study of yoik as a non-pharmacological intervention in Sami elderly and dementia care. Method: Qualitative in-person in-depth interviews with close relatives of persons in need of care, as well as healthcare professionals were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The participants shared that they had observed positive effects whenever yoik was applied in Sami elderly and dementia care, even in persons without a known yoik familiarity. No unwanted effects were reported. The participants supported the idea of a possible clinical investigation of yoik as culturally sensitive music therapy in the future. They recommended that yoik should be implemented on a regular basis in Sami elderly and dementia care. Conclusion: The participants agreed that yoik has potential as a non-pharmacological intervention in Sami elderly and dementia care, and that further investigation is warranted.
Window of Economic Opportunity or Door of Exclusion? Nandoni Dam and Its Local Communities

The construction of Nandoni Dam started in 1998 and was completed in 2005. The main promises made to affected communities living around the dam were that they would receive water and there would be economic opportunities for them. Water-based recreation and ecotourism at the dam were seen as the main vehicle for economic opportunities; it was envisaged that these would not only create local employment but would also improve local lives and livelihoods. The paper focuses on the rhetoric of economic opportunities and poverty alleviation and the perceived reasoning that the creation of the dam is the way forward for rural development. To achieve this aim, the study combined qualitative and quantitative methods. The claim that the creation of the dam would result in increased economic benefits for local residents is firmly rooted in business interests. The adoption of business or economic approach by government through the Department of Water and Sanitation has created conditions for segregation within society. The study also found that the creation of Nandoni Dam benefits those who are rich and elite, government officials, and politicians at the expense of the local population, and this has long-lasting detrimental impacts on their lives and livelihoods. The study concludes by giving an overview of lessons learned from the case study and suggestions for best practice that can enhance the long-term sustainability of dam projects.
Exclusionary School Discipline during Childhood and Adolescent Police Encounters

ABSTRACT A growing body of literature demonstrates exclusionary discipline (e.g., suspension, expulsion) elevates the risk of arrest and incarceration. Even so, the bulk of research to date overlooks the influence of exclusionary discipline during childhood on police contact experiences that may not result in a formal arrest. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), we find that, regardless of early delinquent involvement, early exclusionary discipline increases the risk of being stopped by police. Further analyses demonstrate that among youth reporting police stops (N = 918), early exclusionary discipline increases the risk of 1) a younger age at first stop, 2) multiple stops, and 3) experiencing officer intrusiveness during the stop. Finally, stopped youth with a history of exclusionary discipline reported more traumatic responses to police stops, and experiences of officer intrusiveness explain a significant portion of this association. Implications for school and criminal justice policies are discussed.
Tensor decomposition to compress convolutional layers in deep learning

Abstract Feature extraction for tensor data serves as an important step in many tasks such as anomaly detection, process monitoring, image classification, and quality control. Although many methods have been proposed for tensor feature extraction, there are still two challenges that need to be addressed: (i) how to reduce the computation cost for high dimensional and large volume tensor data; (ii) how to interpret the output features and evaluate their significance. The most recent methods in deep learning, such as Convolutional Neural Network, have shown outstanding performance in analyzing tensor data, but their wide adoption is still hindered by model complexity and lack of interpretability. To fill this research gap, we propose to use CP-decomposition to approximately compress the convolutional layer (CPAC-Conv layer) in deep learning. The contributions of our work include three aspects: (i) we adapt CP-decomposition to compress convolutional kernels and derive the expressions of forward and backward propagations for our proposed CPAC-Conv layer; (ii) compared with the original convolutional layer, the proposed CPAC-Conv layer can reduce the number of parameters without decaying prediction performance. It can combine with other layers to build novel Deep Neural Networks; (iii) the value of decomposed kernels indicates the significance of the corresponding feature map, which provides us with insights to guide feature selection.
Local Institutions in Climate Change Adaptation by Smallholder Farmers: A farm level study in Homabay County, Kenya.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of local institutions in climate change adaptation by smallholder farmers in Homabay County, Kenya. The study employed cross-sectional survey design in which data was collected from smallholder farmers in one survey round. Quantitative data was collected from 398 smallholder farmers, while 48 key informant interviews and 12 focus group discussions were used to collect qualitative data to buttress information from farmers. Data was analysed using frequencies, percentages, cross-tabulations and chi-square at 0.05 significance level. The study established that local institutions and social networks had a positive influence on climate change adaptation by smallholder farmers. Local institutions and social groups enable smallholder farmers to deploy specific climate change adaptation practices. Local institutions pursue adoption of effective adaptation strategies relevant to local needs of the smallholder farmers. They also provide information on climate change adaptation options and give some external support to enable farmers cope with climate change. The study recommended the need to promote institutional partnership to enhance climate change adaptation at local level. Partnerships among local institutions are associated with area specific adaptation practices and communal pooling. The study also recommended the need to enhance the capacity of local institutions as the impacts of climate change are likely to intensify with time. Support in the form of new information and technology aimed at improving effective coping mechanisms and financial support will be necessary.
Global analysis of short- versus long-term drainage basin erosion
rates

Abstract. Measuring erosion rates, analysing their temporal variations, and exploring environmental controls are crucial in the field of geomorphology because erosion through sediment transport in drainage basins shapes landforms and landscapes. Thus, important insights into landscape controls can be gleaned from analyses of erosion rates measured over different timescales. Suspended sediment flux and in situ cosmogenic radionuclides have been widely used for estimating short- and long-term erosion rates of drainage basins, respectively. Even though analyses of erosion rates have been conducted across the globe, there are still gaps in understanding of the links between environmental controls and erosion rates between timescales, especially the influence of climate, which is complex and covaries with other factors. To begin unpicking controls on landscape evolution across the globe, we compiled short- and long-term erosion rates (estimated from suspended sediment yield and in situ beryllium-10, 10Be, respectively) and analysed their relationships with climate, topography, and anthropogenic activity. The results show that: 1) A non-linear relationship exists between aridity and long-term erosion rates, resulting from the balance between precipitation and vegetation cover; 2) Long-term erosion rates are higher in mid- and high-latitude regions with high humidity, reflecting glacial processes during ice ages; 3) Long-term erosion rates are positively related to the steepness of drainage basins, showing that both climate and topography are the common factors; 4) Human activities increase short-term erosion rates which outweigh natural controls; and 5) The ratios of short- to long-term erosion rates are negatively related to basin area, reflecting the buffering capacity of large basins. These results highlight the complex interplay of controlling factors on land surface processes and reinforce the view that timescale of observation reveals different erosion rates and principal controls.