Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phylogeny and fatty acid profiles of Aliinostoc vietnamicum sp. nov. (cyanobacteria) from the soils of Vietnam

A new cyanobacterial species of Aliinostoc, A. vietnamicum sp. nov., is recorded in the tropical forest soil from the Cát Tiên National Park, Vietnam. The analysis is based on morphological characters, 16S rDNA phylogeny, ITS secondary structure, and fatty acid composition analysis. Aliinostoc vietnamicum differed from the other species of the genus by the size and shape of vegetative cells, size of akinetes and heterocytes, and presence of granular polyphosphate inclusions in vegetative cells. The evolutionary distance matrix based on the 16S rRNA gene shared 96.2–98.2% similarities with other Aliinostoc sequences. The phylogeny inferred by maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference placed A. vietnamicum in the Aliinostoc clade, within the Nostocaceae. For the first time, fatty acid composition analysis was obtained for a member of the genus Aliinostoc with cultivation time experiments. α‐linolenic (27.54–37.75%), palmitic (13.87–22.65%), and stearic (10.08–20.27%) acids were the dominant fatty acids when cultured during the exponential growth phase, as well as during stationary. This is the first finding of a strain with such a high content of stearic acid among cyanobacteria with Nostoc‐like morphology.
Online peer-led group reflective practice in higher education: a seminar-based project evaluation

ABSTRACT This study explores the effects of online Peer-Led Group Reflective Practice (PLGRP) on students undertaking their master’s degree in the UK, during the Covid-19 pandemic. First, it provides an overview of the online seminar-based project called Holistic Academic and Research Reflective Practice (HARRP) which fostered the PLGRP pedagogical approach presented and evaluated here. Next, it delves into the reflective pedagogical approaches that informed the project design, before looking at its effects on students. A qualitative methodology enabled the implementation of an open-ended questionnaire which helped capture students’ thoughts on the project. Results of a thematic analysis suggest that online PLGRP provided opportunities for students to develop their academic and researcher reflexivity, researcher competence as well as their independent and interdependent learning skills. Issues around lack of time to attend seminars and lack of familiarity with working in peer-led reflective groups enabled further suggestions and improvements to the HARRP project. The contribution of this study lies in the way in which PLGRP approach is designed and operationalised with the purposes of helping students make sense of their academic and research journey individually and in groups. This study also shows how individual and peer-led group reflective practices shape one another.
Effectiveness of educational intervention on reducing oxidative stress caused by occupational stress in nurses: A health promotion approach

BACKGROUND: Nursing is one of the most stressful occupations. Educational intervention regarding stress management can play an important role in reducing occupational stress among nurses The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of educational intervention on reducing oxidative stress caused by occupational stress in nurses: A health promotion approach in a hospital in western Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present interventional study was performed in 2019 among 92 nurses working at the Kosar Hospital located in the city of Sanandaj in the country of Iran. Occupational stress was evaluated using the Osipow Occupational Stress Questionnaire. Oxidative stress was measured by taking blood samples and measuring the enzymatic activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde, and catalase (CAT) using SOD, malondialdehyde (MDA), and CAT kits. Educational intervention was carried out in the second stage. Three months after the intervention, data were taken again. RESULTS: The results of the present study indicated that there was a significant difference in occupational stress between before and after the educational intervention (P < 0.05). A significant reduction in MDA (P = 0.038) and SOD (P = 0.048) was observed after educational intervention, but this was not the case for CAT (P = 0.592). There was no significant correlation between occupational stress with oxidative stress parameters before and after the educational intervention (P < 0.05). No significant difference in occupational stress was observed between men and women. Among the oxidative stress parameters under evaluation, MDA was higher among men compared to women and this was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Educational intervention regarding occupational stress is effective in reducing oxidative stress among nurses. The group meetings teach stress management to the participants and enable them to better manage their stress by utilizing their own capabilities. Thus, attention to this issue is vital in maintaining the mental and physical health of nurses and, in turn, improves the quality of care rendered.
A Selective Reduction of Osteosarcoma by Mitochondrial Apoptosis Using Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles

Background In recent years, using hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HANPs) for tumor therapy attracted increasing attention because HANPs were found to selectively suppress the growth of tumor cells but exhibit ignorable toxicity to normal cells. Purpose This study aimed to investigate the capacities of HANPs with different morphologies and particle sizes against two kinds of osteosarcoma (OS) cells, human OS 143B cells and rat OS UMR106 cells. Methods Six kinds of HANPs with different morphologies and particle sizes were prepared by wet chemical method. Then, the antitumor effect of these nanoparticles was characterized by means of in vitro cell experiments and in vivo tumor-bearing mice model. The underlying antitumor mechanism involving mitochondrial apoptosis was also investigated by analysis of intracellular calcium, expression of apoptosis-related genes, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the endocytosis efficiency of the particles in tumor cells. Results Both in vitro cell experiments and in vivo mice model evaluation revealed the anti-OS performance of HANPs depended on the concentration, morphology, and particle size of the nanoparticles, as well as the OS cell lines. Among the six HANPs, rod-like HANPs (R-HANPs) showed the best inhibitory activity on 143B cells, while needle-like HANPs (N-HANPs) inhibited the growth of UMR106 cells most efficiently. We further demonstrated that HANPs induced mitochondrial apoptosis by selectively raising intracellular Ca2+ and the gene expression levels of mitochondrial apoptosis-related molecules, and depolarizing mitochondrial membrane potential in tumor cells but not in MC3T3-E1, a mouse pre-osteoblast line. Additionally, the anti-OS activity of HANPs also linked with the endocytosis efficiency of the particles in the tumor cells, and their ability to drive oxidative damage and immunogenic cell death (ICD). Conclusion The current study provides an effective strategy for OS therapy where the effectiveness was associated with the particle morphology and cell line.
Detection and Classification of Lesions in Breast Ultrasound using a Deep Convolutional Neural Network

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of a deep convolutional neural network (dCNN) to (i) detect (ii) segment and (iii) classify lesions in conventional breast ultrasound images in accordance with the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS), mimicking the human decision-making process for subsequent clinical procedures. Materials and Methods: 3278 conventional breast ultrasound images from 1078 individual patients depicting lesions were manually segmented and classified by two radiologists according to the BI-RADS standard. A U-Net based multiclass segmentation network was trained with 2510 images and validated with a dataset of 768 images. The performance of the network on detection (precision, recall, f-score), segmentation (IoU) and classification (confusion matrices) was evaluated on a final test dataset consisting of 154 images which was not part of the training and validation dataset. The performance of the dCNN compared to human readers was quantified and evaluated using interrater agreement (Cohen’s Kappa). Results: For lesion detection, the network reached 70% (65%) precision and 70% (81%) recall with respect to the annotating radiologist 1 (2). In comparison, the precision and recall scores between two radiologists amounted to 69% and 86%, respectively. The networks segmentation accuracy of lesion shapes yielded an IoU of 75.1% (74.5%) with respect to radiologist 1 (2). The interrater agreement for lesion classification between the dCNN and radiologist 1 (2) was substantial (moderate) for 3 classes and almost perfect (substantial) for binary classification (benign and malignant). In comparison, the interrater agreement between the radiologists was measured as moderate to substantial for 3 and 2 classes, respectively. Conclusions: In this study we demonstrated that a dCNN can be successfully trained to (i) detect, (ii) segment and (iii) classify lesions in accordance with the BI-RADS classification system in conventional breast ultrasound images. The performance of the dCNN is comparable to the performance of radiologists with more than two years’ experience in breast imaging. Our dCNN
Pest categorisation of Colletotrichum aenigma , C. alienum , C. perseae , C. siamense and C. theobromicola

Abstract The EFSA Plant Health Panel performed a pest categorisation of Colletotrichum aenigma, C. alienum, C. perseae, C. siamense and C. theobromicola, five clearly defined fungi of the C. gloeosporioides complex causing anthracnose. The pathogens are widely distributed in at least three continents. C. aenigma and C. siamense are reported from Italy and C. alienum from Portugal, including the Madeira Islands, with a restricted distribution. C. perseae and C. theobromicola are not known to be present in the EU. However, there is uncertainty on the status of the pathogens worldwide and in the EU because of the taxonomic re‐evaluation of the genus Colletotrichum and the lack of specific surveys. The pathogens are not included in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 and there are no reports of interceptions in the EU. With the exception of C. perseae, which has a very limited number of hosts, the other four Colletotrichum species have relatively wide host ranges. Therefore, this pest categorisation focused on those hosts for which there is robust evidence that the pathogens were formally identified by a combination of morphology, pathogenicity and multilocus sequence analysis. Host plants for planting and fresh fruits are the main entry pathways into the EU. Host availability and climate suitability factors occurring in some parts of the EU are favourable for the establishment of the pathogens. No yield losses have been reported so far in the EU but in non‐EU areas of their current distribution, the pathogens have a direct impact on cultivated hosts that are also relevant for the EU. Phytosanitary measures are available to prevent the further introduction and spread of C. aenigma, C. alienum and C. siamense into the EU as well as the introduction and spread of C. perseae and C. theobromicola. C. aenigma, C. alienum, C. perseae, C. siamense and C. theobromicola satisfy the criteria that are within the remit of EFSA to assess for these species to be regarded as potential Union quarantine pests.
E ﬀ ects of nano guano, nano phosphate rock, and SP ­ 36 fer ti lizers on maize growth and phosphorus uptake in incep ti sol Ilmu Pertanian (Agricultural Science)

Nanotechnology fer ti lizers are fer ti lizers associated with objects measuring 1 nm to 100 nm capable of controlling or manipula ti ng at an atomic scale. Phosphorus is one of the essen ti al nutrients needed by plants in large amounts. Maize is a strategic commodity requiring op ti mal nutrients. Incep ti sol is soil that has rela ti vely low fer ti lity and chemical proper ti es. The addi ti on of P nutrients to the soil plays an important role in improving soil quality. This study aimed to compare the types of P fer ti lizers of nano guano, nano phosphate rock, and SP ­ 36 with various doses of P 2 O 5 and determine the most e ﬀ ec ti ve type. This research was arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) with two factors. The ﬁ rst factor is the type of fer ti lizer, consis ti ng of nano guano, nano phosphate rock, and SP-36. The second factor is the dose of P 2 O 5 with four treatment levels, namely 0 kg.ha ­ 1 , 50 kg.ha ­ 1 , 100 kg.ha ­ 1 , and 150 kg.ha ­ 1 . The results showed that nano phosphate rock was the most e ﬀ ec ti ve fer ti lizer for maize in Incep ti sol. The op ti mum dose of P fer ti lizer was 100 kg.ha ­ 1 , which was able to produce the highest plant height (215.67 cm) and phosphorus uptake (0.4765 g/plant). This was arranged in a factorial Completely Randomized Design The ﬁ rst factor is the types of phosphate fertilizer, nano guano, nano rock, SP-36. The second factor is the doses P 2 O 5 ti ng 0, 100, and 150 kg.ha
GENETIC SURVEY OF PINUS RADIATA. 2: POPULATION COMPARISONS FOR GROWTH RATE, DISEASE RESISTANCE, AND MORPHOLOGY

Pinus radiata D.Don provenances (populations) were compared to age 12 years on two contrasting sites in Kaingaroa Forest in the central North Island of New Zealand. Differences between populations were detected in most traits, including growth rate, tree-form variables, other morphological traits, and susceptibility to fungal diseases, but variation in economic traits overlapped strongly among almost all populations. The Californian mainland populations (Ano Nuevo, Monterey, and Cambria) showed very similar growth, although for diameter Monterey had evidently begun to draw ahead and Cambria to fall behind. Trees of the Guadalupe Island population were on average about 10% shorter than Monterey; Cedros Island averaged about 30% shorter, and could not compete. The New Zealand populations (Kaingaroa and Nelson) grew more uniformly and averaged about 10% taller and 20% greater diameter than Monterey; Kaingaroa slightly outgrew Nelson. Resistances to dieback and needle-casts were highest in the New Zealand populations, followed by Ano Nuevo and Monterey. Cedros appeared to be the worst adapted to local conditions. Ano Nuevo generally showed the worst tree form in stem crookedness, branching, and forking. Kaingaroa was superior, particularly as the trees got older. Cambria had relatively straight butts and boles, but became otherwise inferior. Guadalupe tended initially to have straight stems and tidy "multinodal" branching, but this superiority declined with age. In Cedros, the competition masked an inherently squat growth habit. Population rankings for branch-cluster frequency changed appreciably with age. Population-site such mostly negligible, the main interactions evidently reflecting specific establishment conditions. Local differentiation within mainland populations was usually minuscule. Variation among natural populations was complex and multidimensional, resemblances between populations differing among traits. The Monterey and Ano Nuevo appeared the most similar, the island ones, especially Cedros, appeared quite distinct. The island populations were of New Zealand material included a release from the "neighbourhood inbreeding" of natural stands.
Archaeology Saves the Bay: The Sustainability of the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Fishery

This paper addresses the progression of oyster harvesting practices in the Chesapeake Bay watershed through three distinct periods—the Late Archaic, Middle Woodland, and Historic— framed within ideas derived from historical ecology, resilience theory, and sustainability. A critical examination of approximately 4000 oyster shells from Site 44YO0797, an archaeological site located along the York River, indicates that Native fishers harvested Chesapeake oysters sustainably on a millennium timescale. Common resource management practices allowed Native oysterers to actively foster resilience within the fishery through harvest habitat variation over time (i.e., focus shifting from offshore to nearshore reefs). The Chesapeake oyster fishery thrived until the onset of Colonization, when intensified oyster ventures drove the fishery to collapse. For this analysis, five key attributes were measured on every complete left valve in the collection to access for reef health and harvest location: height, height-to-length ratio (HLR), percent parasitism, percent attachment scars, and left valve concavity (LVC). The results indicate larger offshore oysters were found most often in the Archaic period and smaller, nearshore oysters in the Middle Woodland period. The Historic period provided mixed results, with the presence of both offshore and nearshore oysters, presumably due to the large yields demanded by the commercial fishery. Native Americans more actively harvested nearshore oysters, leaving offshore oysters for limited harvest, only for special feasting events, so they could regrow and replenish other reef structures. Moving into the Historic period, the focus of harvest shifted from quality to quantity; harvest location became less important. This attitude and a lack of communal management was a crucial cause of the early 20-century oyster fishery collapse. Oysters are a species critical to ecosystem resilience, yet at the rate, human harvesting is progressing, soon the species will go extinct. My research reflects that current management initiatives need to recognize the implications that past practices and environmental conditions have for future oyster reef restoration.
Braum: Analyzing and Protecting Autonomous Machine Software Stack

Autonomous machines, such as Autonomous Vehicles (AV), are vulnerable to a variety of different faults such as radiation-induced soft/transient errors, adversarial attacks, and software bugs, which all jeopardize the reliability of autonomous machines. How vulnerable the AV software stack is to different error sources, however, remains an open question. This paper performs comprehensively fault injections to study how the AV software stack behaves under different error sources. We show that algorithms in an AV software stack inherently possess different forms of masking mechanisms. Based on the characteristic of the inherent fault tolerance mechanisms, we formalize the notion of Fault Tolerance Level (FTL), which quantifies how faults in an algorithm can be masked and/or attenuated without affecting the actuator commands, providing opportunities to relax fault protection. Leveraging the FTL formulation, we propose a dynamic protection system, which, at the high level, spends the limited protection budget (e.g., spatial/temporal redundancy) on the most vulnerable parts of the AV software (i.e., with the lowest FTL). Using Autoware as a case study, we show that our system reduces the error rate of AV software stack by more than 90% with negliaible performance overhead.
Are we heading towards a BBR-dominant internet?

Since its introduction in 2016, BBR has grown in popularity rapidly and likely already accounts for more than 40% of the Internet's downstream traffic. In this paper, we investigate the following question: given BBR's performance benefits and rapid adoption, is BBR likely to completely replace CUBIC just like how CUBIC replaced New Reno? We present a mathematical model that allows us to estimate BBR's throughput to within a 5% error when competing with CUBIC flows. Using this model, we show that even though BBR currently has a throughput advantage over CUBIC, this advantage will be diminished as the proportion of BBR flows increases. Therefore, if throughput is a key consideration, it is likely that the Internet will reach a stable mixed distribution of CUBIC and BBR flows. This mixed distribution will be a Nash Equilibrium where none of the flows will have the performance incentive to switch between CUBIC and BBR. Our methodology is also applicable to other recently proposed congestion control algorithms, like BBRv2 and PCC Vivace. We make a bold prediction that BBR is unlikely to completely replace the CUBIC on the Internet in the near future.
S TARVING ( OR F ATTENING ) THE G OLDEN G OOSE : G ENERIC E NTRY AND THE I NCENTIVES FOR E ARLY -S TAGE P HARMACEUTICAL I NNOVATION

While the overall level of drug development activity has increased, our estimates suggest a sizable, robust, negative relationship between generic penetration and early-stage pharmaceutical innovation. A 10% increase in generic penetration is associated with an approximately 8% decline in early-stage innovations in the same therapeutic market. When we restrict our sample to novel innovations, we find that a 10% increase in generic penetration is associated with a roughly 6% decline in early-stage innovations in the same market. Our estimated effects appear to vary across therapeutic classes in sensible ways, reflecting the differing degrees of substitution between generics and branded drugs. Finally, we document that with increasing generic penetration, firms are shifting their R&D activity towards more biologic-based products and away from chemical-based products. We conclude by discussing potential implications of our results for long-run welfare, policy, and innovation.
Impact of seasonal urban greening variability on land surface temperature in Benin (West Africa)

Akakpo Bokon Alexis (  ab_akakpo@yahoo.fr ) WASCAL, Climate Change and Human Habitat, Doctoral Research Programme, Federal University of Technology, PMB 65, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8537-3540 Okhimamhe A. Appollonia WASCAL, Climate Change and Human Habitat, Doctoral Research Programme, Federal University of Technology, PMB 65, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria Orekan A.O. Vincent University of Abomey-Calavi, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Geography Department, Laboratory of Biogeography and Environmental Expertise, BP 677 Abomey-Calavi, Benin Republic
It’s Never Too Late to Start Again Examining Levels of Engagement of Female Students in a Rural Vocational Program

This qualitative phenomenological study describes the experiences of female students in a rural Alberta vocational training centre through semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate five key ways that instructors and institutions can approach instruction to maximize the opportunity for early and sustained student engagement: a sense of belonging and feeling of community, relationships with instructors, consistent and clear organization and structure, the recognition of student success, and the opportunity to explore new skills and careers. Abstract This qualitative phenomenological study describes the experiences of female students in a rural Alberta vocational training centre through semi‑structured interviews. The findings indicate five key ways that instructors and institutions can approach instruction to maximize the opportunity for early and sustained student engagement: a sense of belonging and feeling of community, relationships with instructors, consistent and clear organization and structure, the recognition of student success, and the opportunity to explore new skills and careers. A A key finding of this study is the importance of female students to explore non‑traditional careers—a factor on engagement and student This study also affirmed the role of organization and structure, recognition of success, and the importance of relationships within the learning environment in a new population of rural adult female learners.
A good image model eases restoration - on the contribution of Rudin-Osher-Fatmi's BV image model

What we believe images are determines how we take actions in image and lowlevel vision analysis. In the Bayesian framework, it is known as the importance of a good image prior model. This paper intends to give a concise overview on the vision foundation, mathematical theory, computational algorithms, and various classical as well as unexpected new applications of the BV (bounded variation) image model, first introduced into image processing by Rudin, Osher, and Fatemi in 1992 [Physica D, 60:259-268].