Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification and expression analysis of chemosensory genes in the tea green leafhopper, Empoasca onukii Matsuda

Tea green leafhopper, Empoasca onukii Matsuda, is one of the major dominant insect pests affecting tea plantations in Asia. Previous studies have demonstrated that E. onukii was significantly attracted by the tea volatiles and repelled by the non‐host plant volatiles. However, the olfactory mechanisms of insect perception of these semiochemicals are still unknown. Odorant‐binding proteins (OBPs) and chemosensory proteins (CSPs) are involved in the initial biochemical recognition steps in semiochemical perception. In this study, a total of 33 OBPs and 24 CSPs were identified in the antennae and body transcriptomes of E. onukii. Among them, 9 OBPs and 17 CSPs were newly identified. Phylogenetic analysis was conducted to compare OBPs and CSPs among Hemiptera insects. Semi‐quantitative RT‐PCR and real‐time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that 24 EonuOBP and 13 EonuCSP genes were mainly or uniquely expressed in the antennae. In addition, one OBP (EonuOBP49) and four CSPs (EonuCSP4, 7, 12 and 18) were more highly expressed in the body than in the antennae. Overall, the present work had provided foundational data to study the physiological roles of the OBPs and CSPs in the tea green leafhopper both in vitro and in vivo.
A New Geometric Metric in the Shape and Size Space of Curves in 
 
 
 
 R 
 n

Shape analysis of curves in Rn is an active research topic in computer vision. While shape itself is important in many applications, there is also a need to study shape in conjunction with other features, such as scale and orientation. The combination of these features, shape, orientation and scale (size), gives different geometrical spaces. In this work, we define a new metric in the shape and size space, S2, which allows us to decompose S2 into a product space consisting of two components: S4×R, where S4 is the shape space. This new metric will be associated with a distance function, which will clearly distinguish the contribution that the difference in shape and the difference in size of the elements considered makes to the distance in S2, unlike the previous proposals. The performance of this metric is checked on a simulated data set, where our proposal performs better than other alternatives and shows its advantages, such as its invariance to changes of scale. Finally, we propose a procedure to detect outlier contours in S2 considering the square-root velocity function (SRVF) representation. For the first time, this problem has been addressed with nearest-neighbor techniques. Our proposal is applied to a novel data set of foot contours. Foot outliers can help shoe designers improve their designs.
Analyzing the Function of PTK7 in Cell Migration

Cell migration is very important for embryonic development and maintenance of the adult organism. During development cell migration processes are involved in gastrulation, convergent extension movements and neural crest cell migration. PTK7 (protein tyrosine kinase 7) regulates embryonic cell migration and its expression correlates with the metastatic potential of different tumor cell lines, suggesting that it might play a role in tumor cell migration. In vertebrates PTK7 is required for cell movements like neural tube closure and neural crest migration. As the human ortholog of PTK7 was identified in colon carcinoma cell lines we wanted to analyze whether it also affects tumor migration and invasion. To investigate the function of PTK7 in the context of tumor cells and metastatic behavior we established inducible expression of PTK7 in the low-invasive breast cancer cell line MCF7. Analyzing the morphology of these cells and performing functional assays revealed that PTK7 overexpression led to an increase in filopodia-like cell protrusions and increased the invasiveness of MCF7 cells. As a very similar filopodia phenotype for overexpression of Ror2 was previously described we analyzed the relationship between PTK7 and Ror2 in vitro and in vivo in Xenopus neural crest migration. Indeed, we could show an interaction of PTK7 and Ror2 in immunoprecipitation experiments, which is also conserved in Xenopus neural crest migration. As it was shown for Xenopus PTK7 and its Drosophila ortholog otk (offtrack) to bind Wnt proteins we confirmed that PTK7 functions as a Wnt co-receptor to bind canonical Wnt3a and inhibits canonical Wnt signaling. With the knowledge we gained and the tools, which were established, our work opens further possibilities to study aspects of cell migration and invasion in development and cancer metastasis.
Users' Power Multiplexing Limitations in NOMA System over Gaussian Channel

Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is one of the promising techniques to ensure very high spectral efficiency in 5G mobile communications and beyond. In contrast to the orthogonal multiple access (OMA) technique, the NOMA shows outstanding performances in terms of throughput, user fairness, low latency and compatibility with the current and future communication systems. In this paper, we analyze the capacity region in NOMA system and the limited number of multiplexed users under a given power allocation vector (i.e. symmetric/asymmetric channel). In addition, we compare the downlink capacity of the OMA/NOMA systems. Moreover, we have investigated the effect of large constellation order on the power allocation and bit error rate (BER). Comparisons between the coded and uncoded schemes are also presented.
Efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation for patients with alcohol dependence

Patients with alcohol dependence show cognitive impairment of cognitive functions. Cognitive rehabilitation is a behavioral treatment that uses drill and practice, compensatory and adaptive strategies to facilitate improvement in targeted cognitive areas like memory, attention and problem solving, cognitive flexibility, planning, and executive functioning. The main aim of the present study was investigating the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation program for cognitive impairment, in terms of attention, memory, and executive functioning of chronic alcohol dependence patients. The data was collected from 40 patients of long term alcohol dependence (20 patients in intervention and 20 in control group) and selected using purposive sampling technique from Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS). They were screened for hand preference and severity of alcohol dependence though Hand Preference Battery and Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ-C). Further, AIIMS Comprehensive Neuropsychological Battery in Hindi was administered before and after intervention. Only intervention group received cognitive rehabilitation. Result shows intervention group improved after cognitive rehabilitation than the control group who did not receive the intervention.
In honor of conservation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: description of two new damselflies of the genus Forcepsioneura discovered in private protected areas (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)

Two new Brazilian Protoneurinae damselflies,Forcepsioneurareguasp. nov. (holotype male deposited in DZRJ: Brazil, Rio de Janeiro State, Cachoeiras de Macacu municipality, RPPN Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu) andForcepsioneuraserrabonitasp. nov. (holotype male deposited in DZRJ: Brazil, Bahia State, Camacan municipality, RPPNs Serra Bonita) , are described, illustrated and diagnosed based on males and females. The bluish and smallerF.reguasp. nov. has been confused with at least three previously described species, being very similar to the type species ofForcepsioneura,F.garrisoniLencioni, 1999, but lacking a defined tubercle-like process on the posterolateral margin of the median lobe of the prothorax in both sexes, which allows it to be distinguished from all other known species. The shape of the cercus of the male ofF.serrabonitasp. nov. is similar to that ofF.grossiorumMachado, 2001 andF.luciaMachado, 2000, two species with very short ventrobasal process. However, it differs from them mainly by the mediobasal process of the cercus, which is rounded in dorsal view and almost not visible in lateral view. The taxonomic status ofForcepsioneurais discussed and a comparison with the other species of the genus is provided. Based on size, habitat and coloration,Forcepsioneuracan be informally divided into two groups: (1) large, orange-black and montane species, includingF.grossiorum,F.itatiaiae(Santos, 1970),F.luciaandF. serrabonitasp. nov.; (2) small, bluish and lowland species, includingF.garrisoni,F.haerteliMachado, 2001,F.reguasp. nov. andF.sancta(HageninSelys, 1860). Our findings highlight the urgency in directing collecting efforts to unexplored areas, as well as the importance of private preserves that harbor the type localities as guardians of the threatened and diverse Atlantic Forest diversity. Together these two localities surveyed account for more than 210 species of odonates, representing almost 24% of the number of Brazilian species. Brazil has the greatest number of known species of odonates in the world. This study shows that further research is required in order to fully understand the diversity ofForcepsioneura.
FeGAN: Scaling Distributed GANs

Existing approaches to distribute Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) either (i) fail to scale for they typically put the two components of a GAN (the generator and the discriminator) on different machines, inducing significant communication overhead, or (ii) they face GAN training specific issues, exacerbated by distribution. We propose FeGAN, the first middleware for distributing GANs over hundreds of devices addressing the issues of mode collapse and vanishing gradients. Essentially, we revisit the idea of Federated Learning, co-locating a generator with a discriminator on each device (addressing the scaling problem) and having a server aggregate the devices' models using balanced sampling and Kullback-Leibler (KL) weighting, mitigating training issues and boosting convergence. Through extensive experiments, we show that FeGAN generates high-quality dataset samples in a scalable and devices' heterogeneity tolerant manner. In particular, FeGAN achieves up to 5× throughput gain with 1.5× less bandwidth compared to the state-of-the-art GAN distributed approach (named MD-GAN), while scaling to at least one order of magnitude more devices. We demonstrate that FeGAN boosts training by 2.6× w.r. t. a baseline application of Federated Learning to GANs, while preventing training issues.
Nivolumab in pre-treated advanced non-small cell lung cancer: long term follow up data from the Dutch expanded access program and routine clinical care

Background For advanced non-small cell lung cancer anti-PD-1 treatment has become standard care in first and second line treatment in recent years. Because many of the clinical trials with anti-PD-1 drugs have only recently been completed, long term follow up data of patients treated with these agents is scarce, even more so of patients treated in real life clinical care. We present long term follow up of patients treated with nivolumab. Methods Two hundred forty-eight patients with pre-treated, advanced NSCLC who received nivolumab between August 2015 and December 2018 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Overall survival and progression free survival rates were calculated for the total cohort and for subgroups defined by clinical characteristics, responses to treatment, and other parameters. Data on further lines of treatment and characteristics of long term survivors were also collected. Results Median overall survival in the total cohort was 8.1 months, median progression free survival was 2.8 months. Overall survival after two and three years was 23.8% and 17.1%, respectively. Good ECOG performance scores, absence of liver metastases, experiencing treatment-related toxicity, and response to nivolumab were significantly associated with longer overall survival and progression free survival. Three-year survival rate among patients with an objective response was 55.3%. Survival for more than two years without subsequent therapy after nivolumab was observed in 13.3% of patients. Conclusions The results from our study confirm that long term survival rates of patients treated with nivolumab for advanced NSCLC in a real world clinical setting are comparable to survival rates shown in clinical trials.
Badass gully morphodynamics and sediment generation in Waipaoa Catchment, New Zealand

Large (>0.1 km2) gully–mass movement complexes (badass gullies) are significant contributors to the sediment cascade in New Zealand's steepland East Coast Region catchments. The scale of change taking place in these gully systems allows significant evolution in morphology and sediment dynamics to be tracked at annual to decadal timescales. Here we document changes in two adjacent badass gullies in Waipaoa catchment (Tarndale and Mangatu) to infer sediment generation processes and connectivity using a morphological budgeting approach. A baseline dataset for this study is provided by a LiDAR‐derived digital elevation model (DEM) in 2005. We produced new DEMs and orthophoto mosaics using photogrammetry in 2017, 2018, and 2019 to quantify gully morphodynamics and associated volumes of sediment erosion and deposition in both systems as they co‐evolved. Results indicate ongoing rapid development of both gully complexes. Severe erosion took place at the gully heads with lowering and migration (up to 25 m vertically and laterally) of the topographic divide separating the two gullies between 2005 and 2019. Over the same period, net lowering of each gully system was ~250 mm year−1. Key sediment‐generating processes included surface erosion, deep‐seated landslides, and debris flows. Longer term, the overall contribution of sediment from both badass gullies to the Waipaoa catchment has been declining. In the mid‐20th century, both gullies yielded in excess of 300 kt year−1. From 2005 to 2019, 80 kt year−1 was yielded from Tarndale and 110 kt year−1 from Mangatu. Our most recent surveys demonstrated considerable variability in sediment yield, ranging from 76 kt year−1 (2017–2018) to 291 kt year−1 (2018–2019). The annual variability observed reflects the complex morphodynamics of discrete hillslopes and tributary fans in these badass gully systems and underlines the importance of integrating decadal and annual surveys when assessing system trajectory. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Scientists in Organizations: Productive Climates for Research and Development

Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. Érudit offre des services d'édition numérique de documents scientifiques depuis 1998. Note : les règles d'écriture des références bibliographiques peuvent varier selon les différents domaines du savoir. Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter à l'URI
Performance and egg quality parameters of laying hens submitted to different rearing densities

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different rearing densities during brooding (0 to 2 weeks) and growth (3 to 15 weeks) on performance and egg quality of laying hens (Hy-line W-36) during production phase (18 to 42 weeks). In the brooding phase, a total of 3250 day-old chicks were allocated in wire cages, distributed in a completely randomized design composed of 5 treatments (63.57; 66.38; 69.44; 72.80 and 76.50 cm²/bird) with 10 replications each. At the beginning of the growth phase, floor space in each treatment was increased. Therefore, a total of 750 birds were selected from the original treatments, which represented 237.57, 265.52, 300.92, 347.22, and 410.35 cm²/bird. At the end of the growing phase, 390 pullets were transferred to production facilities and distributed, according to their original treatment, in conventional cages with 430.76 cm²/bird (13 birds/cage). For this phase, only 6 replications per treatment were adopted. Experimental data were subjected to analysis of variance and, in the case of significant differences, means were analyzed using polynomial regression test. Body weight, weight gain and uniformity were compared during the brooding and growth phases. First-egg weight, age at first egg, age at 50% daily production, weights of egg, albumen, yolk and shell, egg mass, yolk diameter, yolk height, yolk index, albumen height, percentages of shell, albumen and yolk, shell thickness, Haugh unit, and egg specific gravity were analyzed during the production stage. In conclusion, raising pullets on 63.57 cm2/bird (71 birds/cage) does not affect chicks’ performance during the brooding phase. However, for the growth phase, the recommendation is to provide 410.35 cm2/bird, which corresponded to 11 birds/cage in this research. For the production period, the recommendation is to utilize pullets raised on 265.52 cm2/bird, which corresponded to 17 birds/cage on this research.
Yönetici Düzeyindeki Gemi Adamlarının Elektronik Seyir Teknolojileri Kullanımının Teknoloji Kabul Modeli İle İncelenmesi

Teknoloji Kabul Modeli (TKM), gerceklesen teknoloji kullaniminin davranissal niyetlerle iliskili oldugunu ve bunun da teknolojiyi kullanma konusundaki tutum ve algilanan fayda tarafindan belirlendigini ortaya koyar. Teknolojilerin kabul ve kullanimini etkileyen faktorleri arastiran cok sayida calisma yapilmis ve bircok model ile incelenmistir. Bu calismalar degerlendirildiginde TKM’nin siklikla tercih edilen bir model oldugu gorulmektedir. Bunlarin yani sira literaturde TKM’ye farkli degiskenler ilave edip modelin aciklayiciligini artiran calismalar da mevcuttur. Bu arastirmada gemi kaptani ve guverte zabitlerinin gemilerdeki elektronik seyir teknolojilerini kabul ve kullanimlarinin ne durumda oldugunu ve bu teknolojilerin kabullerini etkileyen faktorlerin neler oldugunu analiz etmek ve ileride gemilere uygulanmasi dusunulen teknolojilere verilecek tepkileri de ongormek amaciyla literaturde dogrulugu, gecerliligi ve aciklama gucu yuksek olarak kabul edilen TKM tercih edilmistir. Bu noktadan hareketle calismanin amaci, gemilerde yonetici duzeyinde gorev yapan gemi adamlarindan kaptan ve guverte zabitlerinin elektronik seyir teknolojilerini kullanim ve kabullerini etkileyen faktorleri TKM kapsaminda incelemek ve ortaya cikartmaktir. Arastirmanin amacina yonelik olarak Istanbul merkezli ve uluslararasi deniz tasimaciligi yapan 21 gemi isletmesine ait gemilerde calisan 170 gemi adamindan anket teknigi ile ulasilan veriler, SPSS 21 ve AMOS 21 istatistiksel paket programlariyla yapisal esitlik modeli kullailarak analiz edilmistir. Analiz bulgulari TKM literaturunde yer alan sonuclar ile benzerlik gostermis ve TKM’nin yonetici duzeyindeki gemi adamlarinin elektronik seyir teknolojilerini kullanma davranislarini aciklamada yeterli oldugu belirlenmistir. Bunun yani sira arastirma bulgulari, TKM’de yer alan degiskenlerin, gemi kaptanlarinin ve guverte zabitlerinin elektronik seyir teknolojilerini kullanim ve kabulune yonelik gerceklesen davranislarindaki degisimin %28’ini acikladigini gostermektedir.
Pricing for a product with network effects and mixed logit demand

We consider a pricing problem for a single product that experiences network effects. Demand is described by a consumer choice model in which each individual chooses between purchasing the product and not purchasing the product. We assume that there are multiple segments in the population of potential buyers, and that individuals' intrinsic values for the product and sensitivities to the network effect (ie, the extent to which their values are affected by how many others buy the product) vary across segments. The demand model may be viewed as a version of the mixed multinomial logit model, modified to incorporate network effects. We formulate and analyze an optimization problem that aims to find the seller's revenue‐maximizing price. In settings with an arbitrary number of demand segments, we present a simple, effective heuristic solution approach. In settings with two segments, we obtain a solution method that outputs provably near‐optimal prices. We close with an extensive numerical study.
Nutraceutical and Antioxidant Properties of the Seeds, Leaves and Fruits of Carica papaya: Potential Relevance to Humans Diet, the Food Industry and the Pharmaceutical Industry - A Review

Pawpaw (Carica papaya Linn) seeds, peels and leaves are well known for their medicinal and potent pharmacological values. The plant belongs to the family Caricaceae and its fruit is commonly known for its food and nutritional values. Though the roots, bark, peel, pulp and the seeds had been shown to have medicinal properties, little is known about their nutritional properties. During the last few years, there had been series of research to explore further pharmacological and medicinal properties as well as it nutritional qualities of these plants parts, thus giving rise to it nutraceutical abilities. Scientific attempts have also been made over the decades to authenticate its nutraceutical properties. While nutritional constituents such as oil, proteins, and minerals haven been characterised from its seeds, little is known about other parts of the plant. Though the nutraceutical properties of papaya as drug or quasi-food product are not well understood or value, still it is an important gift of nature that is readily available in our eco-world and worth exploring. This review focuses on previous studies by various researchers on the medicinal, nutraceutical properties as well as the antioxidant potential of these plant parts and suggestions for further studies as regarding the optimisation of the potential of this plant.
Cytological evidences of the role of Meta-topolin and Benzyladenin in barley root tips

The responses of mitotic activity affecting root growth to benzyladenine (BA) and meta-topolin (mT) which is thought to be alternative of BA were studied with time and dose dependent experiments in Hordeum vulgare Tarm-92. The all concentrations of mT caused an induction on mitotic index. 10-5 mT was the most effective stimulator, increasing division frequency from 16 to 26 BA treatment exhibited variations; the low concentrations (10-5 M and 10-6 M) increased the mitotic index but the higher concentration (10 -4 M) decreased. The values of mitotic index reflected to the elongation of roots, coordinately. BA and mT are both affected chromosomal behavior and caused abnormalities such as unoriented metaphase, chromosome bridges, 2 nucleate cells, micronuclei formation.
Understanding Defensive Stocks with Company Fundamentals and Dividend Policy Variables as Moderation

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Return on Equity, Firm Size, Debt Equity Ratio and Price Earning Ratio on return defensive stocks with Dividend Policy as Variable Moderation in Manufacturing Companies. The study population was manufacturing sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2018. There were 61 companies sampled using purposive sampling techniques. The analytical method uses multiple linear analysis and moderated Regression analysis. The results showed the Firm Size variable had a significant positive effect and the DER variable had no significant positive effect while the ROE and PER variables had no significant negative effect on return defensive stocks. The MRA test states that the Dividend Payout Ratio variable strengthens the effect of Firm Size on return defensive stocks while the ROE, DER and PER variables are weakened by the effect on return defensive stocks by dividend policy. Future studies are expected to use other variables that might increase or decrease stock returns. Article Information Article History: Received February 2020 Approved March 2020 Published September 2020