Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Updated Review of Research on Heliocheilus albipunctella (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), in Sahelian West Africa

In the Sahelian region of West Africa, pearl millet, which is a major subsistence food crop supporting families’ livelihoods, is regularly attacked by the millet head miner/spike worm, Heliocheilus (=Raghuva) albipunctella de Joannis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). The pest infestation levels, damage ratings, and yield losses vary within and among countries because of differences in millet cultivars, the planting period, the onset time and seasonal distribution of rains, synchronization of moth flight with head development stages, and pest control practices. Egg laying by moths and the distribution of larval populations are governed by the development stages of millet head and the soil type. Rainfall patterns affect the distribution of diapaused pupae. The implications of this information for future pest control strategies are discussed in this review. Control measures including the planting of pest tolerant/resistant cultivars, the application of chemical pesticides, and the abundance of natural enemies have had significant impacts on larval mortality but have limited application. In recent years, augmentative releases of the larval ectoparasitoid, Habrobracon hebetor Say (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), have been tested in a pilot project in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. Because of the success of the program and the increasing demand for parasitoids farmers cooperatives are being engaged in producing parasitoids for the large-scale distribution of ‘ready-to-use’ bags containing braconids. This would sustain continuous availability and generate profitable businesses. To achieve this goal, farmers’ economic problems and technical challenges need to be resolved at the village level, and marketing avenues need to be established.
Genetic Transformation in Aromatic Indica Rices Mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the World’s most economically important food crop and the staple food for more than one third of the world’s population mainly in the tropics (FAO, 2005). Rice consumers are increasing at the rate of 1.8 per cent every year. But the rate of growth in rice production is declining. It is estimated that rice production has to increase by 50 per cent by 2025 (Khush and Virk, 2000). The increasing demand for rice provide chances for biotechnologists to develop efficient, quick and reproducible transformation protocols to meet the demand (Mahendranath et al., 2018). One of the major constraints in rice production is the damage caused by biotic and abiotic stresses. Around 37 per cent of crops worldwide are lost due to pests and diseases, of which the damage caused by insect pests alone accounts to 13 per cent (Gatehouse et al., 1999). To meet the growing demand for rice, biotechnological intervention for genetic improvement is Aromatic rice is profitable farming venture and having high consumer demand. The main concerns about aromatic rice are low yield and susceptibility to pests and diseases. A rapid and reproducible genetic transformation protocol was optimized for three aromatic rice varieties using the established plant regeneration protocol. Mature embryos were inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA 105 carrying binary vector pCAMBIA 1305.1 with GUS (reporter gene) and hpt (hygromycin resistance) gene and the transformation experiment was performed by optimizing the parameters infection time and co cultivation periods. Callus induction was obtained when the seeds namely Pusa Basmati 1, (58.6%) Pusa Sugandh 4(56%) and Pusa Sugandh 5 (55.6%) were cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2.5 mg l -1 IAA + 0.5 mg l -1 kinetin + 1.0 gl -1 CH + 30 g l -1
Combined Activation of Guanylate Cyclase and Cyclic AMP in Lung Fibroblasts as a Novel Therapeutic Concept for Lung Fibrosis

Remodelling of the peripheral lung tissue and fibrotic foci are the main pathologies of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a disease that is difficult to treat. TGF-β activation of peripheral lung fibroblasts is indicated as the major cause of tissue remodelling in IPF and is resulting in fibroblast hyperplasia and deposition of extracellular matrix. Soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulators combined with cyclic AMP (cAMP) activators have been reported to reduce proliferation and matrix deposition in other conditions than IPF. Therefore, this drug combination may present a novel therapeutic concept for IPF. This study investigated the effect of BAY 41-2272 and forskolin on remodelling parameters in primary human lung fibroblasts. The study determined TGF-β induced proliferation by direct cell counts after 3 days; and deposition of collagen type-I, type III, and fibronectin. BAY 41-2272 significantly reduced TGF-β induced fibroblast proliferation, but did not reduce viability. This inhibitory effect was further supported by forskolin. Both BAY 41-2272 and forskolin alone reduced TGF-β induced collagen and fibronectin de novo synthesis as well as deposition. This effect was significantly stronger when the two compounds were combined. Furthermore, the TGF-β induced expression of fibrilar α-smooth muscle actin was reduced by BAY 41-2272 and this effect was strengthened by forskolin. In addition, BAY 41-2272 and forskolin reduced TGF-β induced β-catenin. All effects of BAY 41-2272 were concentration dependent. The findings suggest that BAY 41-2272 in combination with cAMP stimulation may present a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce tissue remodelling in IPF.
Grape Seed Extract Exerts an Anti-Apoptotic Effect and Attenuates the Decrease in Striatal Tyrosine Hydroxylase in Rotenone-Treated Mice

The potential neuroprotective effect of grape seed extract (GSE) was evaluated in the rotenone-induced Parkinson’s disease in mice. Rotenone was administered at the dose of 1.5 mg/kg subcutaneously (sc) three times per week for 2 weeks alone or in combination with GSE at doses of 13.5 and 27 mg/kg, sc, daily. The control group received the vehicle. The brain levels of the lipid peroxidation product malondialdehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH), nitric oxide (nitrite), and paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) were determined. Histopathology, caspase-9 immunohistochemistry in different brain regions, and tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity (TH-ir) in the substantia nigra were performed. Behavioral testing included rearing activity, locomotor activity, and stair test paradigms. Results indicated significantly increased lipid peroxidation and nitric oxide contents along with a significant decrease in GSH level and marked inhibition of PON-1 activity in the striatum and in the rest of the brain tissue in rotenone-treated mice. Rotenone caused significant decreases in rearing and locomotor activities and impaired motor strength. Treatment with GSE at 27 mg/kg resulted in decreased MDA and nitric oxide by 22.8%/17.9% and 38.5%/45.5%, respectively, in the striatum and the rest of the brain. GSH was increased by 20.8% and 26%, while PON-1 activity increased by 204% and 142.9% after GSE treatment in the striatum and in the rest of the brain tissue, respectively, compared with the corresponding rotenone control values. GSE given at 27 mg/kg almost completely corrected the decrease in motor activity and motor strength caused by rotenone. Neuronal degeneration and the increase in caspase-9 expression caused by rotenone in different brain regions as well as the loss of substantia nigra TH-ir were markedly reduced by GSE. These data indicate that GSE was effective in improving brain oxidative stress and in preventing the behavioral deficits and neurodegeneration induced by rotenone in the mouse brain. It is suggested that GSE might be useful as an adjunctive treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Contextual explanations of radical right-wing party support in Sweden: a multilevel analysis

ABSTRACT With the aim of studying the role of contextual factors for explaining within-country variation in the vote share of the radical right-wing party, the Sweden Democrats, in the 2014 Swedish election, we specify and test hypotheses pertaining to social marginality, ethnic threat, the contact hypothesis, and the halo effect. We study the variation in the electoral share of the Sweden Democrats at two different levels simultaneously by performing multilevel analyses to account for the ways in which voting districts are clustered within municipalities. The main finding from our analyses is the support for the ethnic threat hypothesis, where the vote share of the Sweden Democrats is significantly higher in those areas that have seen an increase in the foreign-born population, and to some extent also in ethnically diverse areas, contradicting previous research on ethnic minority presence in fine-grained contexts. The expectation that the vote share for the Sweden Democrats should be higher in socioeconomic marginalized districts is partly supported, but we find no evidence of a halo effect, where ethnically homogeneous areas that are geographically close to heterogeneous districts were expected to have a higher vote share for the Sweden Democrats.
Effect of Different Anticollagenolytic Agents on Dentin Erosion before and After Casein Phospho Peptides-Amorphous Calcium Fluoride Phosphate Application

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effect of two anticollagenolytic agents, chlorohexidine and Aloe vera on dentin microhardness and their effect as pretreatments on the remineralization potential of CPP-ACFP. Materials and Methods: For this study, 40 extracted sound human premolars were subjected to artificial erosion and randomly divided to two equal groups (20 premolars each) according to immersion in the tested anticollagenolytic agents (A); group (A1) Aloe vera and group (A2) Chlorhexidine. Each group was further subdivided into two equal subgroups (10 premolars each) according to microhardness measurement (B); group (B1): before CPP-ACFP application and group (B2): after CPP-ACFP application. Results: Results showed no statistically significant difference between Aloe-Vera and CHX; both statistically increased dentin microhardness. After immersion, AFCP showed statistically significantly higher mean microhardness than no AFCP application (P-value = 0.003) for Aloe vera and (P-value = 0.012) for CHX. Conclusion: Aloe vera and CPP-ACFP produced synergistic effect for enhancing dentin remineralization in erosive lesions.
When expectations are not met: unraveling the computational mechanisms underlying the effect of expectation on perceptual thresholds

Expectations and prior knowledge strongly affect and even shape our visual perception. Specifically, valid expectations speed up perceptual decisions, and determine what we see in a noisy stimulus. Bayesian models have been remarkably successful to capture the behavioral effects of expectation. On the other hand several more mechanistic neural models have also been put forward, which will be referred as “predictive computation models” here. Both Bayesian and predictive computation models treat perception as a probabilistic inference process, and combine prior information and sensory input. Despite the well-established effects of expectation on recognition or decision-making, its effects on low-level visual processing, and the computational mechanisms underlying those effects remain elusive. Here we investigate how expectations affect early visual processing at the threshold level. Specifically, we measured temporal thresholds (shortest duration of presentation to achieve a certain success level) for detecting the spatial location of an intact image, which could be either a house or a face image. Task-irrelevant cues provided prior information, thus forming an expectation, about the category of the upcoming intact image. The validity of the cue was set to 100, 75 and 50% in different experimental sessions. In a separate session the cue was neutral and provided no information about the category of the upcoming intact image. Our behavioral results showed that valid expectations do not reduce temporal thresholds, rather violation of expectation increases the thresholds specifically when the expectation validity is high. Next, we implemented a recursive Bayesian model, in which the prior is first set using the validity of the specific experimental condition, but in subsequent iterations it is updated using the posterior of the previous iteration. Simulations using the model showed that the observed increase of the temporal thresholds in the unexpected trials is not due to a change in the internal parameters of the system (e.g. decision threshold or internal uncertainty). Rather, further processing is required for a successful detection when the expectation and actual input disagree. These results reveal some surprising behavioral effects of expectation at the threshold level, and show that a simple parsimonious computational model can successfully predict those effects.
The Keyboard Knows About You: Revealing User Characteristics via Keystroke Dynamics

One of the causes of several problems on the internet, such as financial fraud, cyber-bullying, and seduction of minors, is the complete anonymity that a malicious user can maintain. Most methods that have been proposed to remove this anonymity are either intrusive, or violate privacy, or expensive. This paper proposes the recognition of certain characteristics of an unknown user through keystroke dynamics, which is the way a person is typing. The evaluation of the method consists of three stages: the acquisition of keystroke dynamics data from 118 volunteers during the daily use of their devices, the extraction and selection of keystroke dynamics features based on their information gain, and the testing of user characteristics recognition by training five well-known machine learning models. Experimental results show that it is possible to identify the gender, the age group, the handedness, and the educational level of an unknown user with high accuracy.
Sensitivity Analysis for Pretreatment Confounding With Multiple Mediators

The causal mediation literature has developed techniques to assess the sensitivity of an inference to pretreatment confounding, but these techniques are limited to the case of a single mediator. In this article, we extend sensitivity analysis to possible violations of pretreatment confounding in the case of multiple mediators. In particular, we develop sensitivity analyses under three alternative approaches to effect decomposition: (1) jointly considered mediators, (2) identifiable direct and indirect paths, and (3) interventional analogues effects. With reasonable assumptions, each approach reduces to a single procedure to assess sensitivity in the presence of simultaneous pre- and posttreatment confounding. We demonstrate our sensitivity analysis techniques with a framing experiment that examines whether anxiety mediates respondents’ attitudes toward immigration in response to an information prompt.
Statistical Language Backs Conservatism in Climate-Change Assessments

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience March 2019 / Vol. 69 No. 3 • BioScience 209 BioScience 69: 209–219. © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. doi:10.1093/biosci/biz004 Statistical Language Backs Conservatism in Climate-Change Assessments
Functional outcome of posterior cruciate ligament avulsion injuries treated with open reduction and cannulated cancellous screw fixation

Introduction: Isolated bony posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) avulsion fractures are infrequent, estimated to account for 3% - 20% of knee ligament injuries. Various surgical techniques have been described for PCL avulsion injuries in the past including alternatives to avoid potentially injurious exposure of popliteal fossa. The purpose of our study was to evaluate functional outcome of PCL fractures of tibia fixed with open reduction and cannulated cancellous screw. Material and Methods: Twenty four patients were included in the study. Fixation was done through posteromedial approach using 4mm cannulated cancellous screws. Functional outcome was evaluated using Lysholm knee score. Results: Out of 24 patients 18 were males and 6 were females. The mean age was 31 years. Majority of the patients (80%) achieved full functional ROM with no laxity. 8.3% had an extensor lag and 12% had grade 1 laxity. The mean preoperative and postoperative Lysholm score were 26.33 and 91 respectively. The difference between the preoperative and the postoperative Lysholm score was statistically significant ( P <0.001). Conclusion: The PCL avulsion injuries from tibia treated with open reduction and CC screw fixation through the posteromedial approach achieves anatomical reduction, restores PCL tension and prevents posterior translation of tibia. The study resulted in excellent functional and radiological outcome.
Prevalence, First Molecular Identification and Characterization of Theileria lestoquardi in Sheep in Alhuda National Sheep Research Station, Al Gezira State, Sudan

Aims: The present study investigated the presence of T. lestoquardi in Alhuda National Sheep Research Station using three diagnostic techniques, identified and characterized the parasite. Methodology: Forty-five animals from three Sudanese sheep ecotypes were selected randomly during September 2013. Blood and sera samples were examined by microscopy, indirect Original Research Article Ahmed et al.; AJOB, 7(2): 1-9, 2018; Article no.AJOB. 45972 2 fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR product was sequenced to confirm the identity of the parasite. Results: Microscopic examination (ME) revealed the presence of Theileria spp. piroplasms in 31 animals out of 45 (68.9%). Sixteen sera samples out of the 45 were tested for antibodies against T. lestoquardi, fourteen of these (87.5%) were found positive by IFAT. PCR targeting Theileria lestoquardi merozoite/piroplasm surface antigen (Tlms) was positive in 4/45 (8.9%). Prevalence of the disease was significantly higher (P<.05) in females and in >1 year age group by ME. Sequence analysis confirmed the species identity when compared with reference sequences retrieved from GenBank Database and indicated 99% homology. Multiple sequence alignment of Alhuda strain with other T. lestoquardi sequences obtained from Sudan and Iran revealed five silent base pair substitutions. Phylogenetic tree showed clustering of Alhuda strain (accession no. KY965145) with other T. lestoquardi sequences in one distinct clade. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on molecular identification and characterization of T. lestoquardi from Al Gezira State, Sudan. The disease could adversely affect the animal population in the state therefore epidemiological surveys are required to build up data necessary for designing efficient control programs.
Novel mixture of chloroxylenol and copper alters Candida albicans biofilm formation, biochemical characteristics, and morphological features

ABSTRACT The use of disinfectants has drastically increased in response to the growing public awareness of risks of microbial infection. However, this practice has a negative impact on the environment as it results in dumping large volumes of antimicrobial and microbicidal compounds in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Chloroxylenol (PCMX) is a phenolic compound that poses public health and environmental risks art high concentrations. Here, a novel disinfectant was proposed to increase the lethality of PCMX by adding copper (Cu) to it. However, it was necessary to demonstrate that this mixture is fungicidal and not merely fungistatic, and that the addition of Cu does, in fact, increase PCMX lethality. We evaluated the fungicidal efficacy of PCMX/Cu on Candida albicans. PCMX/Cu synergy was explored on biofilm formation, biochemistry, and morphology of C. albicans. Inhibition increased with PCMX increased concentration. The combination of Cu and PCMX disrupted fungal ultrastructure, biofilm formation, and biochemical characteristic.
Integrating CAD, 3D-printing technology and oral communication to enhance students’ physics understanding and disciplinary literacy

How do engineering physics students come to understand and share their physics learnings as a result of careful integration of oral communication with engineering skills like computer aided design and 3D-printing technology? Based in a sociocognitive theory of situated communication pedagogy, the action research conducted in this study set out to answer this research question in an introductory first-year course in engineering physics. A re-design intervention was planned, overseen, and evaluated by a teaching team comprising three physicists and a communication specialist. The findings—supported by student surveys, reflective field notes from the teachers’ observations, and a focus group interview with students—strongly indicate that the students’ structured oral engagement with disciplinary content confer learning benefits and promote the development of disciplinary (physics) literacy.
AN INVESTIGATION OF VIETNAMESE EFL TEENAGE LEARNERS’ KNOWLEDGE OF COMMON ENGLISH IDIOMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR IDIOM INSTRUCTION

This article explores the EFL teenage learners’ knowledge of common English idioms in a Vietnamese context. Seventy-six teenage students between 14 to 17 years old, including 33 males and 43 females participated in an idiom test. The test consisted of 50 idioms selected from common English proficiency test books and the lists of common idioms by Grant (2007) and Liu (2003). Descriptive statistics showed that the students had very limited idiomatic knowledge. This finding uncovers the needs for idiom instruction. Based on the literature, the current paper proposes an instructional direction for improving their knowledge of idioms. Article visualizations:
Effect of different tenderizers with vacuum tumbling on quality of spent Japanese quail

A study was conducted to standardize the method for quality improvement of spent Japanese quail carcasses with ginger extract (5.0%), papain (0.05%) and sodium bi carbonate (2.5%) in conjunction with vacuum tumbling (1.5 hr). The treated samples were evaluated for various physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics along with 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling and control samples. pH, water holding capacity, cooking loss, collagen content and collagen solubility values were significantly (P<0.05) increased and fragmentation values were significantly (P<0.05) decreased in samples treated with tenderizers with 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling as compared 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling and control samples. The results of sensory attributes of this experiment showed that all the sensory attributes scores were significantly (P<0.05) higher for samples treated with 5.0% ginger extract with 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling, except tenderness. The overall acceptability significantly (P<0.05) higher for samples treated with 5.0% ginger extract with 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling followed by 2.5% sodium bi carbonate with 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling and 0.05% papain with 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling samples. Therefore, 5.0% ginger extract with 1.5 hr vacuum tumbling was more effective for quality improvement of spent Japanese quail carcasses in a shorter marination period.