Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COVID‐19: Concerns and behaviours in Croatia

Objectives The COVID‐19 pandemic has created uncertainty that has heightened fear and worry worldwide, thus elevating the potential for a growth in anxiety. This study aims to examine changes in levels of COVID‐19 concern and safety behaviours among persons living in Croatia during the period in which the first COVID‐19 case was identified and when the country recorded its first fatality. These changes were examined with respect to gender and family circumstances. Design The repeated cross‐sectional data were conducted over two time points over the 3 weeks (N 1 = 888; N 2 = 966). Methods Participants completed online questionnaire regarding various COVID‐19 concerns and safety behaviours aimed at disease prevention. Results Findings demonstrate dramatic increase in concern and safety behaviours among participants during the 3 weeks between the first identified case and the first fatality. The results suggest that parents, and mothers especially, represent the most concerned group, regardless of age. People with chronic health conditions also expressed greater concern and safety behaviour than healthy participants, but with small effect size. Conclusion These findings highlight the importance of developing clear guidelines for alleviating the negative effects on mental health through effective communication strategies that minimize fear and emphasize positive behavioural change. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? In times of pandemic, people react with elevated levels of anxiety and some will adjust their behaviours in order to protect themselves as well as their family and friends. Some of the measures introduced to protect the spread of the COVID‐19 disease have induced an atmosphere of fear, which in turn can lead to an increase in maladaptive anxiety and a greater burden on mental health. What does this study add? By conducting the research in two waves representing two critical time points in the developing COVID‐19 situation in Croatia, we were able to trace a large increase in anxiety levels and safety behaviours among the general population. There is a discordance between those who are at most risk from serious consequences of the disease and those who are at greatest risk for maladaptive anxiety. Parents, and mothers in particular, represent the most concerned group, regardless of age. Lockdown measures have allowed us to ensure the safety of those vulnerable for serious COVID‐19 illness. Now, we must focus on preserving the mental health of our whole community.
Transformation of Bacillus licheniformis protoplasts by plasmid DNA

Summary: A simple and efficient protoplast regeneration and PEG-induced transformation procedure was developed for Bacillus licheniformis. The protoplast stabilizing osmoticum was 0.5 M sucrose in the regenerating media, and the restoration of cell wall was carried out at pH 8.4. The mean frequency of regeneration was 83%. The transformation efficiency was studied with four different strains and five plasmids, and ranged from 3.5×105to 7.2×106transformants per λg plasmid DNA depending on the plasmid, and on the donor and recipient strains used. Endonuclease digested and ligated plasmid DNA could also be used to transform the protoplasts, but at a lower frequency.
The movement patterns of lacertid lizards: speed, gait and pauses in Lacerta vivipara

Lacerta vivipara moving across an open space at their normal activity temperature alternate bursts of locomotion with short pauses which tend to occur at the extremes of the limb cycle, i.e. when individual limbs are maximally adducted or retracted and the spinal cord is maximally flexed in the lateral plane. The movement bursts and pauses in adult lizards have mean durations of 0–30 and 012 s, respectively, and within bursts the lizards move at a mean speed of 14–6 cm s-1. Movement in juvenile lizards is 2–5 times faster (relative to body length) and the pauses are of longer duration (mean = 019 s), giving the locomotion of juveniles a more jerky appearance. Lizards which are chasing crickets increase the speed and the duration of locomo-tory bursts, although the pauses persist. Lizards which are searching for a previously perceived cricket increase pause duration (mean = 0–40 s). Lizards which are fleeing from a sudden disturbance move at almost twice (juveniles) or 3–7 times (adults) the speed of foraging animals: the pauses persist, although at much reduced frequency. Increases in speed result from increases in both stride length (Λ) and stride frequency (n); the ratio Λ/n appears to remain constant at 006. The significance of these observations is discussed, although the functions of the pauses cannot yet be explained.
Scaling effects on the neuromuscular system, twitch kinetics and morphometrics of the cod, Gadus morhua

Size related changes in muscle twitch kinetics, morphometrics and innervation have been examined in cod, Gadus morhua. Fish size ranged from 9 cm to 45 cm in total length (L). Twitch contraction time (time to 90% relaxation), scaled in proportion to L0.29. Scaling of morphometric parameters was essentially geometric. Mean cross‐sectional area and weight of the myotomal muscle scaled in proportion to L2.05 and L3.08 respectively. These results are discussed in the light of alterations in length specific swimming performance and kinematics as fish grow. During growth, the number of endplates terminating on each fast fibre increased, from around 10 on fibres 2 mm in length (∼10 cm fish) to 20 on 10 mm fibres (—40 cm fish). However, mean spacing between endplates increased from around 0.25 mm to 0.50 mm. The functional significance of polyneuronal innervation in teleost fast muscle fibres is discussed.
Can Course Format Drive Learning? Face-to-Face and and Lecture-Lab Models of the Fundamentals of Communication Course.

Combining traditional classroom instruction and online instruction, or hybrid/blended learning, has emerged as a popular option to mitigate rising enrollments and non-traditional student needs while maintaining the known advantages to the face-to-face learning format. We evaluated the effectiveness of a Fundamentals of Communication course (also known as the “hybrid” course) taught in the traditional face-to-face format and in the hybrid/blended learning format, which included the equivalent of one credit taught face-to-face and two credits taught online (graded together as one course). Students in the blended format had stronger performances in two areas of their speeches (introduction and overall impression), had higher attendance, and had higher engagement for all types of engagement. However, there were no differences between groups in exam grades, overall course performance, or the amount of growth in self-report competence measures. Overall, results indicate that the blended lecture-lab format of the class can be at least as effective as a fully face-to-face version of the course when designed well, and course format can drive student engagement. 1 Broeckelman-Post et al.: Course Format Published by eCommons, 2020 80
Effects of dietary oxidized oil and vitamin E on the growth, blood parameters and body composition of juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua (Linnaeus 1758)

The effects of oxidized dietary lipid and the role of vitamin E on the growth performance, blood parameters and body composition of juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were evaluated over a 9-week feeding period. Four isonitrogenous experimental diets containing fresh or oxidized fish oil with or without added vitamin E (α-tocopherol or mixed tocopherols) were fed to juvenile cod. The oxidized lipid used had a peroxide value of 94 mEq kg−1 oil. No significant (P>0.05) differences in growth performance (weight gain and specific growth rate) or feed utilization (feed consumption and feed efficiency ratio) were observed when oxidized dietary lipid was used. The hepatosomatic index (HSI), viscerosomatic index (VSI) and haematocrit did not show any significant (P>0.05) differences among the treatments. However, erythrocyte osmotic fragility (EOF), referred to as susceptibility to haemolysis, of fish fed oxidized oil without added vitamin E was high in comparison with those fed unoxidized oil. Supplementation with α-tocopherol appeared to decrease haemolysis, but mixed tocopherols had no significant (P>0.05) effect on EOF. The proximate composition of fish whole body was also affected by diet treatment. Fatty acid composition of liver total lipid reflected that of dietary lipid. Variations in tissue (liver and muscle) fatty acid composition among the treatments followed the same trend as those of the dietary fatty acids. Fish fed fresh oil had a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in muscle and liver lipid than those fed oxidized oil. The results suggest that oxidized dietary oil affected juvenile Atlantic cod in certain tissues and that these effects could be alleviated by supplementation of sufficient amounts of vitamin E in the diet.
Some Larval Trematodes from the Coast in the Region of Roscoff, Finistère

Seven species of cercariae and four of metacercariae collected at Roscoff, Finistère, during August, 1931, are described. They have been referred to appropriate systematic groups and wherever possible, probabilities concerning life histories are suggested. Four of the cercariae and two of the metacercariae are recorded as new to science.
Atributos florais em um sistema de polinização especializado: Calathea cylindrica (Roscoe) K. Schum. (Marantaceae) e abelhas Euglossini

Pollination specialization is promoted by floral features that favor pollinator fidelity and hinder the access to resources by other visitors. We investigated the pollination mechanism of one understory herb in southeastern Brazil. Calathea cylindrica flowers year-round and its flowers are peculiar because of the fusion and modification of some elements, asymmetry, secondary pollen presentation, hidden nectar, and a long and narrow tube, which is closed before pollinator visit. Pollination occurs by means of an explosive mechanism, and once it is triggered, the floral parts do not return to their initial position. Thus, there is only a single possibility for pollen transference. Pollinators are female Euglossini bees and all flowers have already been visited by mid-morning. Specific movements with enough force are necessary for the visitors to access the nectar. Bagged flowers secreted around 13 µL of nectar with 32% of sugar concentration. Nectar secretion continues after removals, but in small volumes. Continual flowering, high production of nectar and secretion after pollination may promote pollinator fidelity. The complex floral structure, the secretion in which the flower base (nectar chamber) is dipped, and the narrow tube with inner hairs make the access to nectar difficult and may work as barriers for other visitors. Altogether, these factors seem to regulate the highly specialized pollination system of Calathea cylindrica.
FUEL-MINING EXPORTS AND GROWTH IN A DEVELOPING STATE: THE CASE OF THE UAE

This study examines the causal effects of traditional UAE exports on economic growth over the period 1981-2012, using a neoclassical production function augmented with fuel-mining exports and imports of goods and services. To investigate the existence of a long-run relationship between fuel-mining exports and economic growth, the study applies the Johansen cointegration test, while the direction of the short-run causality is examined by applying the Granger causality test in a vector error correction model framework. In addition, a modified Wald test in an augmented vector autoregressive model, developed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995), is used to investigate the existence of a long-run causality between the variables. The cointegration analysis confirms the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables, while fuel-mining exports are found to have a negative impact on economic growth. Moreover, the study finds that fuel-mining exports do not cause economic growth in the short-run or the long-run.
Detection of Phytoplasma Infection in Rose, with Degeneration Symptoms

In 1998 a severe disease was observed on rose cvs. ‘Patina’, ‘Papillon’ and ‘Mercedes’ cultivated in a commercial greenhouse in Poland. The symptoms included stunted growth, bud proliferation, leaf malformation and deficiency of flower buds. Sporadically some plants yielded flower buds transformed into big-bud structures and degenerated flowers. The presence of phytoplasma in roses with severe symptoms as well as in recovered plants and Catharanthus roseus experimentally infected by grafting and via dodder was demonstrated by nested polymerase chain reaction assay with primers pair R16F2/R2 or R16F1/R0 and R16(I)F1/R1 amplifying phytoplasma 16S rDNA fragment. The polymerase chain reaction products (1.1 kb) used for restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis after digestion with endonuclease enzymes AluI and MseI produced the same restriction profiles for all samples. The restriction profiles of phytoplasma DNA from these plants corresponded to those of an aster yellows phytoplasma reference strain. Electron microscope examination of the ultra-thin sections of the stem showed wall thickenings of many sieve tubes of the diseased roses and single phytoplasma cells within a sieve element of the phloem of experimentally infected periwinkles. This paper is the first report on aster yellows phytoplasma in rose identified at a molecular level.
STUDIES ON THE LIFE HISTORY OF LYMPHOCYTES

The life history, within the rat, of lymphocytes responsive to histocompatibility isoantigens in the mixed lymphocyte interaction was examined by the use of in vivo labeling with tritiated thymidine and radioautography. Lymphocytes in the peripheral blood and H-ARC (mitotic figures in the MLI) were compared with respect to the frequency of labeled cells and the median grain count. The following conclusions were drawn from this study: (a) Although some can be considered long-lived, the majority of H-ARC are the products of recent divisions in the body. (b) Adult thymectomy does not eliminate the production of long-lived lymphocytes, some of which are H-ARC. Hence, in addition to direct origin in the thymus, H-ARC, as well as other lymphocytes of the long-lived lymphocyte population, may derive from already existing thymus-derived cells in the circulation and thymus-dependent areas of the secondary lymphoid tissues. (c) Sublethal X-irradiation (600 R) in combination with adult thymectomy does not eliminate the capacity to produce some long-lived lymphocytes, however, few if any are H-ARC. (d) H-ARC and other long-lived lymphocytes appear to go through a series of rapid multiple divisions before they enter the circulation. Thereafter, long-lived lymphocytes appear to undergo intermittent single divisions which decrease both the frequency and median grain count of labeled cells gradually with time. On the other hand, labeled H-ARC maintain a more stable grain count despite a rapid decrease in frequency with time. This is taken to indicate that H-ARC are less likely to undergo occasional single divisions during their life-span, but may undergo periodic rapid sequential divisions. A speculative model is developed from these data on the life history of H-ARC which may be of predictive value in future studies and which can be tested against known facts.
Inheritance of Protein, Texture, and Yield in Wheat 1

FRONDOSA and Frontiera, two varieties of wheat introduced from Brazil, have been widely used in soft red winter wheat breeding programs as sources of leaf rust resistance. Many high-yielding, good agronomic strains have been selected from this material. However, these selections are higher in protein and harder in texture than typical soft wheat. These selections are the dominant varieties of the southeast United States despite objection to these features. Some of the released varieties are Coastal, Atlas 66, Atlas 50, Anderson, Taylor, Taylor 49, Tayland, and Coker 47-27.
Lightweight Attention Convolutional Neural Network for Retinal Vessel Image Segmentation

Retinal vessel image is an important biological information that can be used for personal identification in the social security domain, and for disease diagnosis in the medical domain. While automatic vessel image segmentation is essential, it is also a challenging task because the retinal vessels have complex topological structures, and the retinal vessels vary in size and shape. In recent years, image segmentation based on the deep learning technique has become a mainstream method. Unfortunately, the existing methods cannot make the best use of the global information, and the model complexity is high. In this article, a convolutional neural network integrated with the attention mechanism is proposed. The overall network structure consists of a basic U-Net and an attention module, and the latter is used to capture global information and to enhance features by placing it in the process of feature fusion. Experiment results on five public datasets show that the proposed scheme outperforms other existing mainstream approaches, and most of the performance indicators are in the leading positions. More importantly, the proposed method has a significant reduction in the number of parameters.
Preparation and Characterization of Acid Hydrolysis Products of the Tomato Glycoalkaloid α-Tomatine

As part of an effort to define the biological roles of carbohydrate groups of the tomato glycoalkaloid α-tomatine in plants and animals, experiments were carried out to optimize the acid hydrolysis of the tetrasaccharide side chain of α-tomatine to products with three, two, one, and zero sugar groups. This was accomplished by following the time course for hydrolysis in 1 N HCl at 100 °C, isolating the hydrolysis products by chromatography on an aluminum oxide column, and determining the number and nature of hydrolysis products, including free sugars, with the aid of thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of alditol acetate sugar derivatives. The results show that a 20-min hydrolysis time appears useful for the formation of a mixture of the monosaccharide δ-tomatine, the disaccharide γ-tomatine, and the trisaccharide β1-tomatine. Efforts to isolate the other possible trisaccharide, β2-tomatine, were unsuccessful, apparently because xylose is degraded during the hydrolysis. A 70-.
Possible mechanisms underlying fluctuations in the Far Eastern sardine population inferred from time series of two biological traits

A cycle of fluctuation in the Far Eastern sardine, Sardinops sagax, population is accompanied by an abrupt drop and recovery of fish size and lipid content of parent fish, which may reflect a phase variation from coastal to oceanic and its reverse. The cycle begins with the survival success of a smaller number of eggs produced by high-quality parents, which is triggered by a global climate change (density-independent process), and finally ends in the survival failure resulting from an overexpansion of an enormous number of fish produced by low-quality parents (density-dependent process).
Public leadership and participation: understanding the experiences of South African local government officials’ engagement within informal settlements in the Western Cape

ABSTRACT Studies of public leadership increasingly recognize the importance of collaboration as a mechanism for delivering public policy. Despite theoretical and empirical developments in this direction, insufficient attention has been given to developing country contexts. The literature is also analytically superficial with regard to the involvement of citizens and communities. This article uses qualitative evidence from a South African Western Cape municipality to explore how officials engage informal settlements in service delivery. The article discusses how officials mobilize communities, navigate relations, and frame agendas for the purposes of public engagement. This provides an entry to understand officials’ practices and leadership influence.
Alternative Measures of Employee Commitment: Assessment of Predictive Validity for Performance and Turnover

ABSTRACT Two studies assessed the factor structures and predictive validities of alternative measures of workplace commitments. With the assisted living company and MTurk samples, Study 1 examined factor structures of the affective (AC), normative (NC), and continuance commitment (CC) scales and the unitary commitment scale. The internal structures of the AC and unitary commitment scales were sound, but problems were revealed in the structures of the NC and CC scales. Study 2 compared predictive validities of these scales to a simple one-item measure of attachment. Customer service employees of an energy company completed a commitment questionnaire. Subsequently, supervisors rated their job performance. The company provided objective performance metrics and 7 months of turnover records. Relative weight analyses revealed that predictive validities of the NC, CC, and unitary commitment scales were almost entirely subsumed by the AC scale and the attachment item when all measures competed to explain variance in outcomes. Considering the prevalence of use of the established measures, researchers should be aware of their deficiencies.
Color Difference and Thermal Stability of Flexible Transparent InGaN/GaN Multiple Quantum Wells Mini-LED Arrays

We present studies of the color uniformity and thermal stability of a flexible and transparent ${32}\times {32}$ mini-LED array on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate up to a brightness rating of 5000 nits at room temperature, whose brightness is required for outdoor display applications. Surprisingly, even at 5000 nits, the temperature variation on the surface of the LED array is less than 9 °C, despite the relatively low thermal diffusivity of the polymer substrates. The average surface temperature was 33 °C. This indicates that the heat dissipation of the fabricated LED array is superior with even a polymer substrate. Further, the narrow electroluminescent (EL) emissions from the mini-LED array help to realize wider color gamut than Rec. 2020 color gamut in display applications. The color differences from the EL spectra were calculated at three different brightness. The calculated values are far less than the color discrimination threshold of the human eye corresponding to 0.005 at all testing brightness and meet the display industry requirement for color difference.
Evaluation of plant extracts for the control of groundnut leaf spot

Abstract Benomyl, mahogany bark extract (MBE) and neem leaf extract (NLE) were evaluated under field conditions at Minna (9° 41′ N, 6°31′E, 400 m above sea level), Nigeria during the 2002 – 2003 and 2003 – 2004 wet seasons for control of late leaf spot [Phaeoisariopsis personata (Berk & Curt) V. Arx] of groundnut. Benomyl was sprayed thrice at the rate of 0.6 kg a.i./ha in 400 litres of water, while each plant extract was applied six times, at a concentration of 25% (w/v). All the treatments were effective against the pathogens. On average, benomyl, MBE and NLE reduced leaf spot severity by 66.9, 54.1 and 49.1%, respectively, compared with the untreated control. Haulm yield was 22.4, 18.2 and 14.9% higher in the plots treated with benomyl, MBE and NLE, respectively, compared with the untreated control. Benomyl, MBE and NLE increased pod yield by 37.3, 31.6, and 25.2%, respectively, compared with the untreated control.