Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Colchicine-induced mutation for new line development of tropical maize (Zea mays L.)

This research aimed to identify colchicine-induced tropical Yellow Corn characters and their potential in superior traits development. Single cross was applied to colchicine mutant line with tester line, INOAXM2 yellow and white seeds, to observe and test the characters enrichment of colchicine mutant, while pure line tester of sweet corn (OP-SBX) was used to observe the enhancement of germination and growth rate. Analysis of various quantitative data was determined using F test at the level of 5%, continued with Least Significant Difference Test (LSD) at the level of 5%. Potential characters and its inheritance pattern were determined by a descriptive statistical approach. Overall, germination and growth test of mutant show significant improvement when mutant crossed with tester lines. According to qualitative characters analysis of mutant line and its single way, it is found that glum colour is influenced by the male parent (Paternal Effect), while seed colour is determined by the female (Maternal Effect). From mutant M1 to M4, quantitative mutant (INFM) characters showed significant differences between lines within one generation and revealed improvements in single cross progeny. Single cross between colchicine line and tester mutant (IONAXM2) presents significant differences in all cobs characters (cob length, number of seeds in a row, number of rows, cob dry weight, and weight of 100 seeds (g) and reveals higher value compared to other lines. Mid-parent heterosis of single cross progeny of mutants was high for cob dry weight, those were 202.38% and 166.67%. The chromosomes observation of pink and yellow seeds of colchicine mutants revealed the presence of diploid, triploid, and euploid chromosomes, which verify chromosomal changes inside colchicine mutant lines.
Institutional Investors and Infrastructure Investing

Institutional investors expect infrastructure to deliver long-term stable returns but gain exposure to infrastructure predominantly through finite-horizon closed private funds. The cash flows delivered by infrastructure funds display similar volatility and cyclicality as other private equity investments, and their performance similarly depends on quick deal exits. Despite weak risk-adjusted performance and failure to match the supposed characteristics of infrastructure assets, closed funds have received more commitments over time, particularly from public investors. Public institutional investors perform worse than private institutional investors. ESG preferences and regulations explain 25$\%$–40$\%$ of their increased allocation to infrastructure and 30$\%$ of their underperformance.
How Do Business Owners Respond to a Tax Cut? Examining the 199A Deduction for Pass-through Firms

We consider the short-run responses of businesses and their owners to the introduction of Section 199A, a deduction implemented in 2018 that reduced the effective tax rate on pass-through business income. We study the deduction using several datasets derived from de-identified tax records of individuals and businesses. Overall, we do not find an increase in 2018 in business income likely to be eligible for the deduction, either in the time series or among firms with greater exposure to the deduction due to plausibly exogenous characteristics. We additionally examine specific hypothesized margins of adjustment. We find that partnerships (one type of pass-through business) reduce compensation paid to owners, in line with the incentives created by 199A, but that S corporations (another type of pass-through business) mostly do not. Additionally, we do not find that workers – whether new hires or current employees – switch from employee to contractor status to claim the new deduction. Finally, we find no evidence of changes in real economic activity as measured by physical investment, wages to non-owners, or employment of nonowners, though this analysis is underpowered in the short-run.
A Nanoscale Photonic Crystal Cavity Optomechanical System for Ultrasensitive Motion Sensing

Optomechanical nanocavities open a new hybrid platform such that the interaction between an optical cavity and mechanical oscillator can be achieved on a nanophotonic scale. Owing to attractive advantages such as ultrasmall mass, high optical quality, small mode volume and flexible mechanics, a pair of coupled photonic crystal nanobeam (PCN) cavities are utilized in this paper to establish an optomechanical nanosystem, thus enabling strong optomechanical coupling effects. In coupled PCN cavities, one nanobeam with a mass meff~3 pg works as an in-plane movable mechanical oscillator at a fundamental frequency of πΩm/2π=4.148 MHz. The other nanobeam couples light to excite optical fundamental supermodes at 1542.858 and 1554.464 nm with a Qo larger than 4 × 104. Because of the optomechanical backaction arising from an optical force, abundant optomechanical phenomena in the unresolved sideband are observed in the movable nanobeam. Moreover, benefiting from the in-plane movement of the flexible nanobeam, we achieved a maximum displacement of the movable nanobeam as 1468 fm/Hz1/2. These characteristics indicate that this optomechanical nanocavity is capable of ultrasensitive motion measurements.
Clinical management of treatment failure in patients with oropharyngeal tularemia: A retrospective evaluation

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by Francisella tularensis pathogen. It can be transmitted via wild animals, infected water, and contaminated food. In our study, 13 patients who were admitted to our clinic with a neck mass were retrospectively evaluated for symptoms, findings, diagnosis, applied treatments, and the causes of delay in treatment. The ages of patients diagnosed with tularemia ranged from 19–70 years, with a mean age of 48.5 years. All patients resided in the countryside and all had been repeatedly administered penicillin and macrolide group antibiotics before referral to our clinic. The patients consulted our clinic with a delay of 8 to 30 days (average 11.5 days) after the onset of the first symptom. Six (46.1%) patients had deep lymphadenopathy, while lymphadenopathy in seven (53.8%) was superficial. Suppuration was observed in all adenopathies located superficially to the lymph, while skin fistulization was present in three patients. The diagnosis was made by a serum microagglutination test. Doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, and streptomycin group antibiotics were used in the treatment. No complications due to treatment were observed in the early period. In conclusion; the diagnosis of tularemia is not straightforward at the initial admission of the patients since the symptoms of tonsillopharyngitis, fever, and cervical adenopathy are similar in oropharyngeal tularemia and upper respiratory tract infections. Therefore, the antibiotics administered to the patients are not effective. In endemic regions, tularemia should be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with tonsillopharyngitis and adenopathy in the neck.
Procedure for Processing Biometric Parameters Based on Wavelet Transformations

: The problem of the article is related to the improvement of means of covert monitoring of the face and emotions of operators of information and control systems on the basis of biometric parameters that correlate with two-dimensional monochrome and color images. The difficulty in developing such tools has been shown to be largely due to the cleaning of images associated with biometric parameters from typical non-stationary interference caused by uneven lighting and foreign objects that interfere with video recording. The possibility of overcoming these difficulties by using wavelet transform technology, which is used to filter images by combining several identical, but differently noisy monochrome and color images, is substantiated. It is determined that the development of technology for the use of wavelet transforms is primarily associated with the choice of the type of basic wavelet, the parameters of which must be adapted to the conditions of use in a particular system of covert monitoring of personality and emotions. An approach to choosing the type of basic wavelet that is most effective in filtering images from non-stationary interference is proposed. The approach is based on a number of the proposed provisions and efficiency criteria that allow to ensure when choosing the type of basic wavelet taking into account the significant requirements of the task. A filtering procedure has been developed, which, due to the application of the specified video image filtering technology and the proposed approach to the choice of the basic wavelet type, allows to effectively clean the images associated with biometric parameters from typical non-stationary interference. The conducted experimental studies have shown the feasibility of using the developed procedure for filtering images of the face and iris of operators of information and control systems.
Consequences of COVID-19 Lockdown on Children and Their Pets: Dangerous Increase of Dog Bites among the Paediatric Population

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has not only put our national health systems to the test, but it also notably hit the economy, the society and the psychology of the people. Our pets have been subjected to the pandemic related stress too. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the stress induced on domestic dogs resulted in an increase of dog bites in the paediatric population. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on all patients admitted to our paediatric emergency department for dog bite from January 2014 and December 2020. We compared the total mean dog bites of the years 2014–2019 and the mean number per single month with the respective 2020 data. The bites were divided between bites from family dogs and bites from stranger dogs. Continuous data were analysed using single sample t test while categorical values with chi-squared test, considering statistically significant a p value < 0.05. Results: From January 2014 to December 2019, we recorded a mean of 41 ± 5.9 dog bites (range: 30–46) of which a mean 13 ± 2.6 (range: 10–17) were due to family dogs (32%) and a mean of 28 ± 2.4 (range: 25–31) were due to stranger dogs (68%); the male-to-female ratio was 3:2 and 43% of the injuries concerned the head and face, 26% the lower limbs, 25% the upper limbs, 3% the genitalia and 3% the torso. From January 2020 to December 2020, 30 children were admitted for dog bites: 22 were from family dogs (73%) and 8 from stranger dogs (27%); the male-to-female ratio was 14:11 and 72% of the injuries concerned the head and face, 16% the upper limbs, 8% the lower limbs and 4% the torso. The 2020 data’s higher number of family dog bites compared with the mean of those in the 2014–2019 period was statistically significant (p < 0.01) such as the 2020 data’s lower number of stranger dog bites when compared with the mean number of stranger dog bites in the 2014–2019 period (p < 0.01). Between 2014 and 2019, a mean of 9 ± 2 (range: 6–12) of the wounds needed to be sutured (22%), while 32 ± 3 (range: 28–35) wounds were discharged after application of Steri Strips (78%). On the other hand, in 2020, 21 wounds needed to be sutured (70%), and 9 received just Steri Strips application (41%). The frequency distribution of the treatments required (stitches vs. Steri Strips) between the 2014 to 2019 period and the 2020 period was statistically significant (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The number of family dog bites in children increased in 2020, especially during the lockdown period. Paediatricians should pay a lot of attention now more than ever to educate parents on the importance of always supervising children who are playing with dogs.
Remotely Sensed Derived Land Surface Temperature (LST) as a Proxy for Air Temperature and Thermal Comfort at a Small Geographical Scale

Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) and Urban Cool Islands (UCIs) can be measured by means of in situ measurements and interpolation methods, which often require densely distributed networks of sensors and can be time-consuming, expensive and in many cases infeasible. The use of satellite data to estimate Land Surface Temperature (LST) and spectral indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has emerged in the last decade as a promising technique to map Surface Urban Heat Islands (SUHIs), primarily at large geographical scales. Furthermore, thermal comfort, the subjective perception and experience of humans of micro-climates, is also an important component of UHIs. It remains unanswered whether LST can be used to predict thermal comfort. The objective of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of remotely sensed data, including a derived LST, at a small geographical scale, in the case study of King Abdulaziz University (KAU) campus (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia) and four surrounding neighborhoods. We evaluate the potential use of LST estimates as proxy for air temperature (Tair) and thermal comfort. We estimate LST based on Landsat-8 measurements, Tair and other climatological parameters by means of in situ measurements and subjective thermal comfort by means of a Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) model. We find a significant correlation (r = 0.45, p < 0.001) between LST and mean Tair and the compatibility of LST and Tair as equivalent measures using Bland-Altman analysis. We evaluate several models with LST, NDVI, and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) as data inputs to proxy Tair and find that they achieve error rates across metrics that are two orders of magnitude below that of a comparison with LST and Tair alone. We also find that, using only remotely sensed data, including LST, NDVI, and NDBI, random forest classifiers can detect sites with “very hot” classification of thermal comfort nearly as effectively as estimates using in situ data, with one such model attaining an F1 score of 0.65. This study demonstrates the potential use of remotely sensed measurements to infer the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and subjective thermal comfort at small geographical scales as well as the impacts of land cover and land use characteristics on UHI and UCI. Such insights are fundamental for sustainable urban planning and would contribute enormously to urban planning that considers people’s well-being and comfort.
A comparative analysis of heavy metals present in cigarette and cigarette leachate

Smoked cigarette and butts are the most common forms of litter globally. The local water bodies and their compartments have been severely polluted by the accumulation of these litters and the cumulative effect of many cigarette butts littered in a centralised area may present a significant threat to the living organisms. It is essential to study the leaching behaviour of cigarettes to understand how the heavy metals are leached out into the aquatic ecosystem. In this context, we determined the concentration of different metals (such as Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Sn, Zn & Hg) leached from the different brands of unsmoked and smoked cigarette and cigarette butts by using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. The results revealed that the amounts of heavy metal are higher in butt samples (USB and SB) of both cigarette and leachate irrespective of brands, compared to the tobacco part of the cigarette and the concentrations of certain toxic heavy metals in cigarettes were significantly different between cigarette brands tested. These results suggest that cigarette litter was found to be one of the major sources of metal contamination in the aquatic ecosystem and apparent leaching may increase the risk of toxicity to aquatic organisms.
Spring-planted cover crops for weed control in soybean

Replacing tillage with cover crops (CC) for weed management in corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ] systems with mechanical weed control has many soil health benefits but in the western Corn Belt, CC establishment after harvest is hampered by cold temperatures, limited labor and few compatible CC species. Spring-planted CC may be an alternative, but information is lacking on suitable CC species. Our objective was to evaluate four spring-planted CC with respect to biomass production and weed suppression, concurrent with CC growth and post-termination. Cover crop species tested were oat (Avena sativa L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), brown mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. ] and yellow mustard (Brassica hirta Moench). They were compared to no-CC treatments that were either tilled pre- and post-planting of soybean (no-CC tilled) or not tilled at all (no-CC weedy). CC were planted in late March to early April, terminated 52–59 days later using an undercutter, and soybean was planted within a week. The experiment had a randomized complete block design with four replications and was repeated for 3 years. Mustards and small grains produced similar amounts of biomass (1.54 Mg ha−1) but mustard biomass production was more consistent (0.85–2.72 Mg ha−1) than that of the small grains (0.35–3.81 Mg ha−1). Relative to the no-CC weedy treatment, mustards suppressed concurrent weed biomass in two out of 3 years, by 31–97%, and small grains suppressed concurrent weed biomass in only 1 year, by 98%. Six weeks after soybean planting, small grains suppressed weed biomass in one out of 3 years, by 79% relative to the no-CC weedy treatment, but mustards did not provide significant weed suppression. The no-CC tilled treatment suppressed weeds each year relative to the no-CC weedy treatment, on average 87%. The ineffective weed control by CC reduced soybean biomass by about 50% six weeks after planting. While spring-planted CC have the potential for pre-plant weed control, they do not provide adequate early season weed suppression for soybean.
A Neural-Network Quality Control scheme for improved Quantitative Precipitation Estimation accuracy on the UK weather radar network

In this work, we present a new Quantitative-Precipitation-Estimation (QPE) quality-control (QC) algorithm for the UK weather radar network. The real-time adaptive algorithm uses a neural network (NN) to select data from the lowest useable elevation scan to optimize the combined performance of two other radar data correction algorithms: ground clutter mitigation (using CLEAN-AP) and vertical profile of reflectivity (VPR) correction. The NN is trained using 3D tiles of observed uncontaminated weather signals that are systematically combined with ground-clutter signals collected under dry weather conditions. This approach provides a way to simulate radar signals with a wide range of clutter contamination conditions and with realistic spatial structures while providing the uncontaminated “truth” with respect to which the performance of the QC algorithm can be measured. An evaluation of QPE products obtained with the proposed QC algorithm demonstrates superior performance as compared to those obtained with the QC algorithm currently used in operations. Similar improvements are also illustrated using radar observations from two periods of prolonged precipitation, showing a better balance between overestimation errors from using clutter-contaminated low-elevation radar data and VPR-induced errors from using high-elevation radar data.
Knowledge and Utilization of Health Informatics among Medical Doctors in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika-Zaria

The strategic visions in the health care system now underpin application of Information Communication Technology for effective care delivery. Recognising the potentials of ICT for Health, the Nigerian government as part of its policy derive towards achieving effective health care delivery by the year 2020, adopted use of ICT for effective healthcare delivery. Part of the target was establishment of ICT/Health informatics units in teaching hospitals in the country. This study assessed level of knowledge and utilization of health informatics among medical doctors in Ahmadu Bello University, Shika-Zaria. Premised on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, this study adopted descriptive survey method and structured questionnaire as its instrument of data collection. Findings revealed that 91.4% (n=201) of the 220 sampled medical doctors in ABUTH are aware of health informatics and that 68.2% (n=150) have knowledge of how to use it. The most prominent areas of health informatics among the medical doctors are ‘Management Information System’, ‘Electronic Health Record System’ and ‘Electronic Medical Record’. However, only 58.6% (n=129) of the medical doctors in BUTH Shika- Zaria are actually utilizing health informatics. Internet (n=133, 60.5%) and interpersonal sources (n= 71, 32.3%) were found to be the major sources of information of knowledge and utilization of health informatics among the medical doctors. The study therefore recommends that ABUTH, Shika-Zaria should put in place more mechanism for creating awareness on use of health informatics varieties and a strong need for time-series research to examine future development in respect to knowledge and utilization of health informatics in Nigerian health institutions.
Auditory Verbal Hallucination-Specific Functional Brain Networks in Schizophrenia: A Study Based on Graph Theory

Background Although mounting previous studies have characterized auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) related brain network abnormalities in the patients with schizophrenia, AVH related brain network alterations based on graph theory was rarely reported. In addition, the relationship between the features of AVH related brain networks based on graph theory and clinical features of schizophrenia patients with AVH is unclear. Our study to explore associations among network metrics, and clinical features in schizophrenia patients with AVH. Method Thirty-one schizophrenia patients without AVH, 17 patients with AVH, and 31 healthy controls were examined by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Graph theory method was performed to analyze the topological properties of functional network in three groups. Results Our results showed that schizophrenia patients with AVH displayed decreased local network efficiency, clustering coefficients, and nodal efficiency of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Local network efficiency was positively correlated with AVH characteristics. Conclusion The topological properties of brain functional networks are disrupted in schizophrenia patients with AVH, suggesting a role of functional brain networks in the pathogenesis of AVH.