Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Status of Diphtheria Immunity Among Saudi Population

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of diphtheria by a crosssectional in Saudi population. The size of the population consisted of five-hundred healthy subjects from the western regions of Saudi Arabia from six months to 96 years age. ELISA assay kits was used to titers anti-diphtheria IgG. According to the widely used criteria, 31.7% of the total population was susceptible to diphtheria (IgG level <0.15 IU/ ml), 15.7% had basic protection (0.15–1.0 IU/ml), and 52.6% had full protection (>1.0 IU/ ml). The majority (82%) of the population from 6 months to 96 years had a protective level of IgG against diphtheria. The frequencies of susceptibility were relatively high in middle-aged periods (30.2 37.5% of subjects aged 21–50 years). Significantly, more females (20.7%) than males (15%) were unprotected against diphtheria. In conclusion, monitoring immunization status and administering the diphtheria vaccine as required are essential to ensure adequate and long-lasting antibody levels.
Lost in parameter space: a road map for stacks

Restriction site‐Associated DNA sequencing (RAD‐seq) has become a widely adopted method for genotyping populations of model and non‐model organisms. Generating a reliable set of loci for downstream analysis requires appropriate use of bioinformatics software, such as the program stacks. Using three empirical RAD‐seq datasets, we demonstrate a method for optimising a de novo assembly of loci using stacks. By iterating values of the program's main parameters and plotting resultant core metrics for visualisation, researchers can gain a much better understanding of their dataset and select an optimal set of parameters; we present the 80% rule as a generally effective method to select the core parameters for stacks. Visualisation of the metrics plotted for the three RAD‐seq datasets shows that they differ in the optimal parameters that should be used to maximise the amount of available biological information. We also demonstrate that building loci de novo and then integrating alignment positions is more effective than aligning raw reads directly to a reference genome. Our methods will help the community in honing the analytical skills necessary to accurately assemble a RAD‐seq dataset.
Genomic regions controlling seed weight, water absorption ratio, sprout yield, and storage protein fractions in soybean

ABSTRACT Physicochemical traits, such as 100-seed weight (100-SW), water absorption ratio (WAR), sprouting and storage protein fractions of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. ) seeds, contribute to the quality of soy products processed from them. In the present investigation, 108 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from LSb1 × NRC7 were genotyped using 105 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers across the genome. These RILs were phenotyped for 100-SW, WAR, sprout yield, hypocotyl length, and glycinin (11S), and β-conglycinin (7S) subunits of storage protein also. The study revealed common genomic regions governing multiple seed traits, besides the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for individual seed traits. Of the seven QTL identified for 100-SW and 10 for WAR, five QTL were novel for both the traits. All four QTL identified for sprout yield and two QTL for 11S/7S ratio were novel. Five QTL were identified for multiple seed traits. These genomic regions common to different seed traits should be useful for pyramiding desirable traits for 100-SW, WAR, sprout yield, and 11S/7S ratio in the same genetic background for developing soybean varieties suitable for processing food products.
Why are flowers sweeter than fruits or buds? Variation in extrafloral nectar secretion throughout the floral ontogeny of a myrmecophile

Extrafloral nectar provision during floral ontogeny in ant‐plants has not been widely studied. Extrafloral nectar secretion differed between leaves associated with buds, flowers, and fruits, and peaked during anthesis when pollinators were present. This ontogenetic variation may result from mixed selective pressures involving strategies for defense and mutualist management.
Morphological specializations of the teeth of red sea fish in relation to feeding habit

The studied are explored the morphology and ultrastructure the shape variation of both jaws and pharyngeal teeth of four red sea fishes, different in feeding habits. investigated by light microscope and scanning electron microscopy to determine the surface teeth structure. Five adult live specimens of each type of fish are collected from the red sea at Hurghada. They are Sphyraena qenie Klunzinger, 1870, feed primarily on the fish (piscivorous); Scarus frenatus Lacepede,1802 feed primarily on algae; Cephalopholis oligosticta Randall and Ben-Tuvia,1982, feeding mainly on fish and crustaceans. Lethrinus mahsena, Forsskal,1775, the bulk of its food primarily consists of crabs, sea urchins, echinoderms and crustaceans. The study cleared that the teeth of the four species are different in their shape morphologically and ultrastructurally. The differences may be considered as adaptive modifications primarily related to the food preferences.
Remnants of Communism and Present-Day Inequality

Communism substantially shaped the values and beliefs of those who grew up under its regime. We argue that, after the Soviet Union’s collapse and the rapid transition to democracy and capitalism, many older people in post-communist countries continued to abide by an “ethos of equality” that was part of their socialization. These individuals continue to believe that it is the government’s responsibility to establish social equality; hence, they should evaluate social and political institutions based on the level of inequality that exists in their country. Using the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey, we examined to what extent levels of social inequality moderated the effects of age on social views and personal outcomes in post-communist and non-communist societies. We found that, especially in highly unequal post-communist societies, older individuals were less satisfied with democracy and trusted societal institutions less than their younger counterparts, whereas this was much less likely to be the case in post-communist countries with low inequality. There was no link between age and social views in non-communist societies, regardless of levels of inequality. Other than suggested by some scholars, inequality did not have any implications for evaluations of one’s personal life. The discussion focuses on the implications of our findings and their contributions to current research on social inequality and on the legacy of communism.
Using the Social Influence of Electronic Word-of-Mouth for Predicting Product Sales: The Moderating Effect of Review or Reviewer Helpfulness and Product Type

The social engagement of eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) can reduce the threat of adverse selection in e-commerce. As studies that examine the social influence of eWOM are rare, the present work suggests the moderating effect of review or reviewer helpfulness and product type (experience or search goods) on the relationship between eWOM and product sales. The volume of eWOM, which is defined as the multiplication of the average length by the number of reviews, is shown to be moderated by review and reviewer helpfulness and search goods to affect product sales. Review ratings are moderated by reviewer helpfulness, and review extremity is positively (negatively) moderated by search (experience) goods and review helpfulness to affect product sales. As previous studies of differentiated sampling strategies that consider review helpfulness for predicting product sales using eWOM are lacking, this study compares the prediction power of business intelligence methods for different subsamples of products created according to high or low review and reviewer helpfulness levels. The subsample with high review or reviewer helpfulness demonstrates greater prediction performance than the subsample with low review or reviewer helpfulness when eWOM variables are used as predictors of product sales. Hence, preliminary filtering data preprocessing should consider review or reviewer helpfulness as a crucial criterion of the data quality. This will contribute to the sampling or preprocessing strategy used to predict product sales using eWOM.
Female sterilization failure, consequences and further contraception: a review of cases over ten years

Population explosion is a new crisis which developing countries like India are facing now a days. Promoting contraception among reproductive age group is the only way to overcome this crisis. Among various types of contraceptive choices, female sterilization is the most popular permanent method of pregnancy prevention worldwide. The procedure is commonly performed on healthy women at their request. Either tubal occlusion via application of mechanical device (clip or fallope ring) or tubal excision and separation can be used to achieve female sterilization depending upon the available resources. Laparoscopic sterilization using the Filshie clip is the principal method in Europe, Canada and Australia. Laparoscoic tubal ligation using fallope ring is among most common female sterilization method in India. Each year in USA, around 3,45,000 women undergo sterilization procedures and a total 10.3 million women rely on female sterilization for pregnancy control.
Reconstruction of Late Pleistocene-Holocene Deformation through Massive Data Collection at Krafla Rift (NE Iceland) Owing to Drone-Based Structure-from-Motion Photogrammetry

In the present work, we demonstrate how drone surveys coupled with structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry can help to collect huge amounts of very detailed data even in rough terrains where logistics can affect classical field surveys. The area of study is located in the NW part of the Krafla Fissure Swarm (NE Iceland), a volcanotectonic rift composed of eruptive centres, extension fractures, and normal faults. The surveyed sector is characterized by the presence of a hyaloclastite ridge composed of deposits dated, on a stratigraphic basis, to the Weichselian High Glacial (29.1–12.1 ka BP), and a series of lava flows mostly dating back to 11–12 ka BP. The integration of remotely sensed surveys and field inspections enabled us to recognize that this segment of the Krafla rift is made of grabens arranged en-échelon with a left-stepping geometry. A major graben increases in width in correspondence of the hyaloclastite cone; we interpret this geometry as resulting from the mechanical contrast between the stiffer lava succession and the softer hyaloclastites, which favours the development of concentric faults. We also measured a total extension of 16.6 m and 11.2 m along the fractures affecting the lava units, and a total extension in the hyaloclastites of 29.3 m. This produces an extension rate of 1.4 mm/yr in the Holocene lavas and 1.7 ± 0.7 mm/yr in the Weichselian hyaloclastite deposits. The spreading direction we obtained for this area is N97.7° E, resulting from the av. of 568 opening direction values.
Climatology of Dust‐Forced Radiative Heating Over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Surroundings

Dust aerosol can affect the atmospheric thermal structure and exert great melting potential on snow and ice sheets. In this study, the decadal climatology of dust‐forced radiative heating (DRH) in the atmosphere over Tibetan Plateau and its surroundings (TPS) was investigated using the Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SBDART) model along with the CALIPSO satellite observations from 2007 to 2016. After screening out other aerosols, the vertical distribution of dust aerosol was examined to accurately assess the DRH. The net DRH showed a significant warm effect mainly by dust loading, which covers from the center of dust sources to their adjacent transport regions. The maximum value of the DRH appeared at the near‐surface, while the DRH decreased with an increase in height. The climatic average DRH at the near‐surface reached 16.8 K/month at the Taklimakan Desert (TD) and 10.8 K/month at the Gangetic Plain in spring, 13.7 K/month at the Indus Plain in summer, which is 3–3.6 times warmer than the column‐averaged DRHs. This study also found the most significant influence of dust events on the Qaidam Basin in the TPS, in which the near‐surface DRH was 4.7 K/month during spring. It is also noteworthy that the intermonth and interannual variations of the DRH highlighted the significant warming effect of dust aerosols on the atmospheric thermal structure, especially at the near‐surface. In addition, we need to pay more attention to changes in snow‐related processes influenced by absorbing aerosols and the light‐absorbing impurities deposited in snow over the TPS.
B-Spline Level Set For Drosophila Image Segmentation

Segmentation of biological images is a challenging task, due to non convex shapes, intensity inhomogeneity and clustered cells. To address these issues, a new algorithm is proposed based on the B-spline level set method. The implicit function of the level set is modelled as a continuous parametric function represented with the B-spline basis. It is different from the discrete formulation associated with conventional level set. In this paper the proposed framework takes into account properties of biological images. The algorithm is applied to Drosophila images, and compared to conventional level set and Marker Controlled Watershed (MCW). Results show good performance in term of the DICE coefficient, for noisy and noiseless images.
The Growth Pattern of Chamaecyparis obtuse Stand along Longevity in Gyeongnam Province, South Korea

Tree growth is affected by environmental factors, climate condition and tree age. The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth patterns of Chamaecyparis obtusa (C. obtusa) stand in the Gyeongnam province. Data was collected from two cities and one county by using sample quadrats of 20 * 20 m. A total of 11 quadrats were used to collect tree height, diameter at the breast height (DBH), annual growth rings and soil data. The data analysis of soil moisture content, pH, organic matter (%), EC (cmol + /kg of soil), and available phosphorous was conducted. Growth ring was analyzed by using computer based software and the ages of the trees were identified. Average growth of height and DBH was computed from the surveyed data and annual growth of each tree was assessed by computer based reading of annual growth rings. The results of the study revealed that tree growth showed a reducing trend along the longevity. It was identified that soil pH, age, variation in annual average temperature, and altitude were the main factors related with growth of C. obtusa trees along the life of the stand.
Factors Explaining Grandparental Mediation of Children’s Media Use in Two National Contexts

This study aimed at revealing the factors determining grandparental mediation of their grandchildren’s screen viewing and interactive media use, based on online surveys conducted among 291 American and 356 Israeli grandparents who reported taking care of 2-to-7 years old grandchildren at least once a week. Past mediation, familiarity with children’s media, parental instructions and joint leisure activities were positively associated with mediation of both interactive and non-interactive media use, whereas country of residence was not significantly associated with mediation. These findings provide initial knowledge about the universal aspects of grandparental mediation in early childhood.
Analysis of Rosen type energy harvesting devices from porous piezoceramics with great longitudinal piezomodulus

This paper describes analytical and numerical modeling of the energy harvesting device based on composite piezoelectric materials. The device is a nonuniformly polarized porous piezoceramic compound plate such as a Rosen‐type piezoelectric transformer with single bimorph section. The effective properties of porous piezoceramics with great longitudinal piezoelectric strain coefficient d33 were calculated in the ACELAN‐COMPOS finite element package. An analytical applied theory for a piecewise uniformly polarized piezoelectric generator was developed and compared with the results of finite element simulation performed in ACELAN package. An efficient design of a cantilever‐based energy harvesting device is proposed. The analysis of the considered devices depending on the percentage of porosity of piezoceramics and boundary conditions is carried out. It is shown that with an increase in the percentage of porosity, the output characteristics of energy harvesting devices improve. In addition, different boundary conditions were studied for specific PEG made of porous ceramics with non‐homogeneous polarization to find more effective scheme of fixing.
Collision of vortex rings upon V-walls

Abstract A study on ${Re} =2000$ and 4000 vortex rings colliding with V-walls with included angles of $\theta =30^{\circ }$ to 120$^{\circ }$ has been conducted. Along the valley plane, higher Reynolds numbers and/or included angles of $\theta \leqslant 60^{\circ }$ lead to secondary/tertiary vortex-ring cores leapfrogging past the primary vortex-ring cores. The boundary layers upstream of the latter separate and the secondary/tertiary vortex-ring cores pair up with these wall-separated vortices to form small daisy-chained vortex dipoles. Along the orthogonal plane, primary vortex-ring cores grow bulbous and incoherent after collisions, especially as the included angle reduces. Secondary and tertiary vortex-ring core formations along this plane also lag those along the valley plane, indicating that they form by propagating from the wall surfaces to the orthogonal plane as the primary vortex ring gradually comes into contact with the entire V-wall. Circulation results show significant variations between the valley and orthogonal plane, and reinforce the notion that the collision behaviour for $\theta \leqslant 60^{\circ }$ is distinctively different from those at larger included angles. Vortex-core trajectories are compared to those for inclined-wall collisions, and secondary vortex-ring cores are found to initiate earlier for the V-walls, postulated to be a result of the opposing circumferential flows caused by the simultaneous collisions of both primary vortex-ring cores with the V-wall surfaces. These circumferential flows produce a bi-helical flow mode (Lim, Exp. Fluids, vol. 7, issue 7, 1989, pp. 453–463) that sees higher vortex compression levels along the orthogonal plane, which limit vortex stretching along the wall surfaces and produce secondary vortex rings earlier. Lastly, vortex structures and behaviour of the present collisions are compared to those associated with flat/inclined walls and round-cylinder-based collisions for a more systematic understanding of their differences.
Bioinformatics for High Throughput Sequencing

Volume 4 • Issue 4 • 1000e108 J Data Mining Genomics Proteomics ISSN: 2153-0602 JDMGP, an open access journal Over 12 years have passed since the publication of the first rough draft of the sequence of the human genome, and almost 10 years since a complete DNA sequence of the euchromatic part of the human genome was published by a large international consortium [1,2]. While the assembly of the initial maps was costly and labor-intensive, it has been a very important step towards understanding biological functions and interactions, phenotypes, diversity, disease and interactions of an organism with its environment.
Time-resolved dual root-microbe transcriptomics reveals early induced Nicotiana benthamiana genes and conserved infection-promoting Phytophthora palmivora effectors

Background Plant-pathogenic oomycetes are responsible for economically important losses on crops worldwide. Phytophthora palmivora, a broad-host-range tropical relative of the potato late blight pathogen, causes rotting diseases in many important tropical crops including papaya, cocoa, oil palm, black pepper, rubber, coconut, durian, mango, cassava and citrus. Transcriptomics have helped to identify repertoires of host-translocated microbial effector proteins which counteract defenses and reprogram the host in support of infection. As such, these studies have helped understanding of how pathogens cause diseases. Despite the importance of P. palmivora diseases, genetic resources to allow for disease resistance breeding and identification of microbial effectors are scarce. Results We employed the model plant N. benthamiana to study the P. palmivora root infections at the cellular and molecular level. Time-resolved dual transcriptomics revealed different pathogen and host transcriptome dynamics. De novo assembly of P. palmivora transcriptome and semi-automated prediction and annotation of the secretome enabled robust identification of conserved infection-promoting effectors. We show that one of them, REX3, suppresses plant secretion processes. In a survey for early transcriptionally activated plant genes we identified a N. benthamiana gene specifically induced at infected root tips that encodes a peptide with danger-associated molecular features. Conclusions These results constitute a major advance in our understanding of P. palmivora diseases and establish extensive resources for P. palmivora pathogenomics, effector-aided resistance breeding and the generation of induced resistance to Phytophthora root infections. Furthermore, our approach to find infection relevant secreted genes is transferable to other pathogen-host interactions and not restricted to plants.
Trends in Avian Roadside Surveys over a 20-Year Period on Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands1

Abstract: We used roadside surveys to examine abundance trends and spatial patterns for 11 terrestrial bird species from 1991 to 2010 on Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands. Relative abundances of the White-throated Ground-Dove, Mariana Fruit-Dove, Collared Kingfisher, Micronesian Starling, and Micronesian Myzomela all increased during the study period. Abundances of the Golden White-eye and Rufous Fantail followed a curvilinear trend that increased during the first half of the survey period (1991–2000) and decreased in the second half (2001–2010). Abundances of the remaining species (Island Collared-Dove, Bridled White-eye, Nightingale Reed-Warbler, and Eurasian Tree Sparrow) showed no significant trends. The most numerous species (over 40 individuals detected per survey), in decreasing order of abundance, were the Bridled Whiteeye, Rufous Fantail, Golden White-eye, Micronesian Starling, and Micronesian Myzomela. The total abundance of birds increased on average by 0.27 birds per year, per survey station, island-wide. Three stations out of 47 (6.4%) recorded a significant loss of total birds over the time period, and bird numbers increased significantly at only one station (2.1%). Stations at which we detected declines were clustered in the northern, less-populated, region of Saipan. We explored the relationship between typhoon frequency/severity and bird abundance to explain trend patterns but found no significant correlation. We suggest ways to improve roadside surveys as a management tool to aid in detecting avian declines that are of conservation concern.
Computational Evaluation of Control Surfaces Aerodynamics for a Mid-Range Commercial Aircraft

Computational fluid dynamics is employed to predict the aerodynamic properties of the prototypical trailing-edge control surfaces for a small, regional transport, commercial aircraft. The virtual experiments are performed at operational flight conditions, by resolving the mean turbulent flow field around a realistic model of the whole aircraft. The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach is used, where the governing equations are solved with a finite volume-based numerical method. The effectiveness of the flight control system, during a hypothetical conceptual pre-design phase, is studied by conducting simulations at different angles of deflection, and examining the variation of the aerodynamic loading coefficients. The proposed computational modeling approach is verified to have good practical potential, also compared with reference industrial data provided by the Leonardo Aircraft Company.