Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Implication of Ions and Organic Solutes Accumulation in Amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L.) Salinity Resistance

Salinity is one of the major environmental constraints limiting agricultural productivity in the world. The effects of salt stress on growth, ions and organic solutes accumulation were investigated in two amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) cultivars: Rouge (salt-resistant) and Locale (salt-sensitive). Young plants of these cultivars were exposed, in hydroponic system, to three concentrations of NaCl: 0, 30 and 90 mM. Growth parameters, ions, free proline and soluble sugars concentrations were determined after 2 weeks of stress. NaCl effect resulted in plant growth reduction in both cultivars but plants of cultivar Rouge were less affected compared to that of cv. Locale. Na+, proline and soluble sugars concentrations increased significantly in leaves and roots under salinity while K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ concentrations decreased in both cultivars. Proline and soluble sugars increased significantly in leaves and roots of cultivar Locale whereas in cultivar Rouge, proline increase was significant only in roots and soluble sugars increase was significant only in leaves. The highest increase of Na+ concentration occurred in leaves of cv. Rouge coupled with the lowest reduction in K+ concentration. The highest increase of proline occurred in leaves of cultivar Locale whereas the highest increase of soluble sugars was observed in leaves of cultivar Rouge. The reduction of the Ca2+ concentration under salt stress was more accentuated in both leaves and roots of cultivar Rouge than cultivar Locale while cv. Rouge maintained higher content in Mg2+ either in leaves or in roots in the presence of NaCl than cultivar Locale. These results suggest an implication of Na+, K+ and Mg2+ in salt resistance in these cultivars and that soluble sugars may play an important role in salt-resistance in Amaranthus cruentus. However, proline appears as a symptom of injury in stressed plants rather than an indicator of resistance.
METACOGNITIVE ONLINE READING STRATEGIES IN READING ACADEMIC TEXTS AMONG ESL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The purpose of this study is to identify the types of metacognitive reading strategies used by Malaysia university students while searching for and reading academic texts online. The Metacognitive Online Reading Strategy questionnaire was administered to 361 final year students from two research universities in Peninsular Malaysia. The respondents’ metacognitive reading strategies were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings showed that a majority of the students used moderate to high level of metacognitive online reading strategy when reading academic texts on the Internet. The high proficiency students used metacognitive online reading strategy more frequently, diversely and consistently. The high, intermediate and low proficiency students differed from each other in terms of both frequency and type of metacognitive online reading strategy used. The results revealed that there was a significant difference between the students’ level of English proficiency and metacognitive online reading strategy: F (6, 712) = 6.62, p = 0.00*; Wilks’ Lambda= 0.897; partial eta squared = . 053. Based on the findings, a number of pedagogical recommendations for educators and suggestions for future research are provided.
Dual-Quaternion Julia Fractals12pt22pt-5pt

Fractals offer the ability to generate fascinating geometric shapes with all sorts of unique characteristics (for instance, fractal geometry provides a basis for modelling infinite detail found in nature). While fractals are non-euclidean mathematical objects which possess an assortment of properties (e.g., attractivity and symmetry), they are also able to be scaled down, rotated, skewed and replicated in embedded contexts. Hence, many different types of fractals have come into limelight since their origin discovery. One particularly popular method for generating fractal geometry is using Julia sets. Julia sets provide a straightforward and innovative method for generating fractal geometry using an iterative computational modelling algorithm. In this paper, we present a method that combines Julia sets with dual-quaternion algebra. Dual-quaternions are an alluring principal with a whole range interesting mathematical possibilities. Extending fractal Julia sets to encompass dual-quaternions algebra provides us with a novel visualize solution. We explain the method of fractals using the dual-quaternions in combination with Julia sets. Our prototype implementation demonstrate an efficient methods for rendering fractal geometry using dual-quaternion Julia sets based upon an uncomplicated ray tracing algorithm. We show a number of different experimental isosurface examples to demonstrate the viability of our approach.
Decoding Movement-Related Cortical Potentials Based on Subject-Dependent and Section-Wise Spectral Filtering

An important challenge in developing a movement-related cortical potential (MRCP)-based brain-machine interface (BMI) is an accurate decoding of the user intention for real-world environments. However, the performance remains insufficient for real-time decoding owing to the endogenous signal characteristics compared to other BMI paradigms. This study aims to enhance the MRCP decoding performance from the perspective of preprocessing techniques (i.e., spectral filtering). To the best of our knowledge, existing MRCP studies have used spectral filters with a fixed frequency bandwidth for all subjects. Hence, we propose a subject-dependent and section-wise spectral filtering (SSSF) method that considers the subjects’ individual MRCP characteristics for two different temporal sections. In this study, MRCP data were acquired under a powered exoskeleton environments in which the subjects conducted self-initiated walking. We evaluated our method using both our experimental data and a public dataset (BNCI Horizon 2020). The decoding performance using the SSSF was 0.86 (±0.09), and the performance on the public dataset was 0.73 (±0.06) across all subjects. The experimental results showed a statistically significant enhancement ( ${p} < {0.01}$ ) compared with the fixed frequency bands used in previous methods on both datasets. In addition, we presented successful decoding results from a pseudo-online analysis. Therefore, we demonstrated that the proposed SSSF method can involve more meaningful MRCP information than conventional methods.
University of Groningen Homogenization of High Contrast Brinkman flows

Modeling porous flow in complex media is a challenging problem. Not only is the problem inherently multiscale but, due to high contrast in permeability values, flow velocities may differ greatly throughout the medium. To avoid complicated interface conditions, the Brinkman model is often used for such flows [O. Iliev, R. Lazarov, and J. Willems, Multiscale Model. Simul. , 9 (2011), pp. 1350–1372]. Instead of permeability variations and contrast being contained in the geometric media structure, this information is contained in a highly varying and high-contrast coefficient. In this work, we present two main contributions. First, we develop a novel homogenization procedure for the high-contrast Brinkman equations by constructing correctors and carefully estimating the residuals. Understanding the relationship between scales and contrast values is critical to obtaining useful estimates. Therefore, standard convergence-based homogenization techniques [G. A. Chechkin, A. L. Piatniski, and A. S. Shamev, Homogenization: Methods and Applications, Transl. Math. Monogr. 234, American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2007, G. Allaire, SIAM J. Math. Anal. , 23 (1992), pp. 1482–1518], although a powerful tool, are not applicable here. Our second point is that the Brinkman equations, in certain scaling regimes, are invariant under homogenization. Unlike in the case of Stokes-to-Darcy homogenization [D. Brown, P. Popov, and Y. Efendiev, GEM Int. J. Geomath. , 2 (2011), pp. 281–305, E. Marusic-Paloka and A. Mikelic, Boll. Un. Mat. Ital. A (7), 10 (1996), pp. 661–671], the results presented here under certain velocity regimes yield a Brinkman-toBrinkman upscaling that allows using a single software platform to compute on both microscales and macroscales. In this paper, we discuss the homogenized Brinkman equations. We derive auxiliary cell problems to build correctors and calculate effective coefficients for certain velocity regimes. Due to the boundary effects, we construct a boundary correction for the correctors similar to [O. A. Oleinik, G. A. Iosif’yan, and A. S. Shamaev, Mathematical Problems in Elasticity and Homogenization, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1992]. Using residuals, we estimate for both pore-scales, ε, and contrast values, δ, to obtain our corrector estimates. We then implement the homogenization procedure numerically on two media, the first being Stokes flow in fractures with Darcy-like inclusions and the second being Darcy-like flow with Stokesian vuggs. In these examples, we observe our theoretical convergence rates for both pore-scales and contrast values.
Comparison of Three Techniques for Arthrocentesis of the Carpal Joint in Dromedary Camels: A Prospective Study

The aim of this prospective study was to determine the appropriate approaches for arthrocentesis of the carpal joint in dromedary camels and to compare between these approaches with regard to their success rate, feasibility, accuracy and ease of performance. Twenty-two cadaveric camel forelimbs obtained from 11 camel cadavers, and 4 living camels (6 joints) underwent arthrocentesis for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, were used in this study. For studying gross anatomy of the suggested approaches, 4 forelimbs were used. For CT anatomy 3 forelimbs (one/each technique) were scanned before and after injection of iodinated contrast medium. For in-vitro evaluation of the techniques 15 forelimbs were used (5/each technique). To test the ease of performance in the living camels, arthrocentesis of 6 joints in 4 camels was performed by a single operator while the animal sited in kneeling position (3 camels) and standing position (one camel). Based on the results, there were three feasible approaches for arthrocentesis of carpal joint in camel, the dorso-medial, dorso-lateral, and the lateral approaches. The dorso-medial approach was easily performed and more accurate than the other approaches. The dorso-medial approach was successful with accuracy index of 100% after the first attempts, whilst the dorso-lateral and the lateral approaches have lower rates of success. The procedure was well tolerated in all camels.
Is it really Greener in the Cloud? An investigation of energy trends in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has become a popular method of IT deployment in the last decade, most visibly through the rise of online services and social media. Recent reports claim that businesses can achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by shifting their processes to the cloud. These studies do not consider the change in user interaction with data when it is in the cloud, such as through mobile devices. This paper investigates this energy-saving claim by reviewing trends in and between four domains of this problem and identifying their key drivers in a business setting. These domains considered are on-site computing, cloud infrastructure, data transport, and device adoption. By mapping a causal loop diagram to explain how the dominant trends are linked between these domains, we conclude that overall energy consumption is likely increase when moving computing processes to the cloud.
A Causal Relationship Model of Thai Students Disciplined Minds

According to Williams and Williams (2011) creating an emotionally literate environment includes equipping students with essential life skills. Well-being or life satisfaction is the degree to which a student is content with his or her life including pleasure in daily activities, meaningfulness of life, the goodness of fit between desired and achieved goals, mood, selfconcept, perceived health, financial security, and social contact. According to UNICEF (2000), in all countries, quality content should include several pivotal areas including literacy, numeracy, and life skills.
Sharing Pressure and Involuntary Giving in Social Networks: Lab-Evidence from Tanzania*

We experimentally document the pressure for income sharing in social networks in developing countries. We find that the redistributive pressure exterted via the possibility of receiving a claim increases sharing while the possibility of hiding reduces it. Our results indicate that giving is largely involuntary and based on strong sharing social norms. We also find that the sharin pressure has a detrimental effect on the likelihood of undertaking profitable but risky investments.
The Effects of PTA on Educational Development in Public Secondary Schools in Esan North-East LGA, Edo State, Nigeria

The study reported in this paper examined the effects of Parents’ and Teachers’ Associations (PTA) on educational development in public secondary schools in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. Data were obtained from detailed survey of sample of 10 secondary schools principals out of the 45 available in the study area. This represented 22.2% of the study population. Interview schedule and an observation check list were used to collect data. The questions were both closed/open-ended. Data collected were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. The findings reveal that though PTA has a great influence in the development of the physical facilities in public secondary schools, as the provision exercise books textbooks, writing material and teaching aids, but to lesser in the funding of co-curricular activities. However, most respondents held a strong view that PTA funds have fallen short of sustaining the provision of school facilities, teaching aids and programmes absolutely, particularly with respect to poor financial environment in the study area. There is need therefore to increase funding of secondary schools generally from various sources in order to ensure that many students are able to access quality education. The study recommends among others that school Heads should create better forum to establish veritable rapport between schools and the PTA bodies, and that PTA members should be part of formulation and implementation in the education sector because of the key role they play in the sustenance of education in Nigeria
Interdisciplinary Program of Graduate Studies in Basic and Applied Cognitive Science

3 List of Figures 5 Plagiarism Statement 7 Introduction 8 Attentional Gate Model 9 AGM in Production and Reproduction Tasks 12 Video Games 14 Brain Training Software 18 Methodology 21 Participants 21 Assessment Tasks 22 Experimental Tasks 23 Results 31 Training Task Results 31 Temporal Tasks Results 36 Production Task Long Durations 36 Reproduction Task Long Durations 39 Production Task Short Durations 43 Reproduction Task Short Durations 45 Discussion 47 REFERENCES 56
Animal welfare, etológia és tartástechnológia Animal welfare, ethology and housing systems

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of long-term exposure of quercetin and acute dose of T-2 toxin on content of bilirubin and albumins of rabbits. Adult rabbits were divided into three experimental groups (E1, E2, E3) and the control group without quercetin addition. Quercetin was applied intramuscularly in various concentrations; 10 μg. kg in E1 group, 100 μg. kg in E2 group, and 1000 μg. kg in E3 group for 90 days, 3 times per week. T-2 toxin was applied at dose 0.08 mg per kg of body weight 72 hours before slaughter. Application of quercetin insignificantly decreased content of bilirubin and decreased content of albumins in experimental groups compared to the control group. In conclusion, as the bilirubin serves in organism as antioxidant with the ability to scavenge free radicals, our results could contribute to the positive effect of quercetin on antioxidant balance, however further studies are needed.
The effect of psychological empowerment on employees’ commitment in travel agencies: The moderating role of perceived job security

Psychological empowerment is becoming one of the most important issues in human resources management as it is thought to increase employees' commitment in business organizations. Meanwhile, the effect of psychological empowerment on organizational commitment could change according to other managerial aspects, such as perceived job security. Thus, the main objective of the current research is to explore the influence of psychological empowerment on employees' commitment to travel agencies in Egypt, and to investigate the moderating role of perceived job security. A quantitative approach was used for data collection. A questionnaire technique was chosen as the survey instrument to gather relevant data. A random sample of 714 employees of travel agencies in Egypt participated in the research. Data were analyzed firstly using descriptive statistics, then Pearson's correlations to identify associations between the study variables, and finally hierarchical moderation regression to ascertain the moderating effect of perceived job security on the relationship between psychological empowerment and organizational commitment. The findings demonstrated that the psychological empowerment constructs were significantly correlated with the employees' commitment. Besides this, perceived job security had a moderating effect on the relationship between psychological empowerment and employees' commitment. No study has previously attempted to examine the moderating role of perceived job security on the importance of psychological empowerment as a determinant of employees' commitment in travel agencies in Egypt, an important sector of the travel industry.
Anthropometric Study of Cephalic Index of adult Tiv and Idoma ethnic groups of North Central Nigeria

Cephalic index is useful in establishing ethnic differences and affiliations. The aim of this study was to calculate cephalic index from head measurements and determine the predominant anatomical head forms of Tiv and Idoma ethnic groups with inter-ethnic comparison. The sample consisted of 828 volunteers aged 18-32 years drawn from the two ethnic groups, out of whom 418 were Tiv (218 male, 200 female) and 410 were Idoma (222 male, 188 female). The protocol was approved by Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria and participants gave informed consent. Demographic data was collected through self-administered questionnaire and head length and head breadth was measured to calculate cephalic index. Data was analyzed using statistical package SPSS for windows version 20 (IBM Corporation, New York, USA). Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test for comparison of mean in two groups were used. Statistical significance was considered at p<0.05. The mean cephalic index in male and female Tiv subjects was 85.0±4.94 and 83.8±6.40 while that in male and female Idoma subjects was 84.5±5.28 and 82.7±6.58 respectively. The two ethnic groups exhibited sexual dimorphism with respect to cephalic index with males having significantly higher values than females (p<0.05). When cephalic indices of both ethnic groups were compared, there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). In both ethnic groups, brachycephalic head type was the most prevalent (47.4% and 41.7%) and dolichocephalic type was the least prevalent (0.7% and 2.9%) for Tiv and Idoma respectively. The result showed that on the basis of cephalic index and the predominant anatomical head type, there was similarity between the two ethnic groups. There is need to conduct genetic studies to backup these observed morphometric similarities.
In vitro Anti-candida Activity of Different Saudi Honeys and Honey Mixed with Taifi Rose Oil

ABSTRACT: Candida albicans is a common human yeast that infect several epithelial tissues including vagina. The increase of drug-resisting C. albicans encouraged the researchers to find alternative treatment. Honey medical signatures such as bactericidal, antifungal and anti-candida made it a possible candidate for disease treatment. In addition, rose essential oil possesses a wide range of biochemical activities in folkloric medicine including anti-microbial activities. The present research utilizes honey alone or in conjunction with Taifi rose (Rosa damascena) oil as anti-candida agent to treat vaginal candidiasis. Three local monof oral honeys from different flower sources and/or geographic origins were tested with four concentrations (50, 80 and 95%), while two concentrations of the Taifi rose oil (1 and 2%). anti-candida activity of honey alone or in conjunction with Taifi rose oil was determined as well as phenolic and flavonoids contents were determined. Also, GC-MS analysis of volatile oils and alkaloids were evaluated. The results of this study indicated that acidity is within the allowed range for commercialization and long-lasting storage. All honeys tested inhibited completely the C. albicans growth at concentrations 80% and 95% either incubation after 48 or 72 h. Also, only Markh and Manuka honeys were completely inhibited C. albicans growth at 50% concentration. Also, C. albicans growth inhibited completely at 2% Taifi rose oil after the incubation periods of 48 and 72 h. The phenolic compounds and flavonoids were analysed by mass spectrometry analysis which revealed the Markh honey showed the presence of gallic acid and quercetin that proved to have antifungal activity. It could be concluded that mixed Markh honey and Taifi rose oil treatment was capable to inhibit C. albicans growth completely. Further research is required to determine the anti-candida activity of the mixture of Markh honey and Taifi rose oil in the human body as a new therapeutic drug to treat vaginal candidiasis.
Effect of lipid source; Linseed or soybean in diets, on rumen and blood fatty acids profiles in Damascus goats

Recently, most studies have focused on increasing the n-3 poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in animal’s products (Atti et al., 2013), because of it’s potential health benefits and positive effects on human health (Yang et al., 2009). The rumen is a complex ecosystem in which all nutrients consumed anaerobically by microorganisms such as bacteria, protozoa, and fungi (Castillo-Gonzalez et al., 2014). The study of the impact of PUFA supplementation on ruminal bacteria should be made by examining specific bacterial species rather than the total number of bacteria (Liu et al., 2012). Dietary oils reduce cellulolytic bacteria, protozoa count, and total ruminal volatile fatty acids (VFA) (Yang et al., 2009). Lipids supplementation influences the fatty acids concentrations as well as the types of ruminant products. The rumen bacteria convert linoleic acid (C18:2) and linolenic acid (C18:3) into stearic acid (C18:0) through biohydrogenation (Harfoot & Hazlewood, 1988). The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomer cis 9, trans 11C18:2 (C9,t11-CLA) is formed as an intermediate Abstract