Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Note on "Optimum and mismatched detection against K-distributed plus Gaussian clutter"

We derive the optimum radar receiver to detect fluctuating and non-fluctuating targets against a disturbance which is modeled as a mixture of coherent K-distributed and Gaussian-distributed clutter. In addition, thermal noise, which is always present in the radar receiver, is considered. We discuss the implementation of the optimum coherent detector, which derives from the likelihood ratio test under the assumption of perfectly known disturbance statistics, and evaluate its performance via a numerical procedure, when possible, and via Monte Carlo simulation otherwise. Moreover, we compare the performance of the optimum detector with those of two detectors which are optimum for totally Gaussian and totally K-distributed clutter respectively, when they are fed with such a mixed disturbance. We conclude that, though the optimum detector has a larger computational cost, it provides sensibly better detection performance than the mismatched detectors in a number of operational situations. Thus, there is a need to derive suboptimum target detectors against the mixture of disturbances which trade-off the detection performance and the implementation complexity.
Functional properties of 'native' and modified wheat germ protein isolates and fractions

Osborne-type protein fractions and alkaline wheat germ protein isolate were produced and the latter was modified by urea-treatment, reduction and re-oxidation. The effects of modification on the protein subunit structure and on functional properties were investigated. Emulsifying activity, emulsion stability, solubility and aromatic surface hydrophobicity of 'native' and modified products were determined. Usually, the functional properties of the wheat germ protein isolate and the fractions were lower compared to casein. The comparison of Osborne-fractions, showed that albumins and glutelins have better functional properties than those of alkaline isolation and the globulin fraction. The results of the modification processes used in this work show, that only the elimination of hydrogen bonds have significant effects on solubility, emulsifying stability and surface hydrophobicity. These results indicate that hydrogen bonds play a main role in the formation of wheat germ protein structure.
Growth dynamics of a laminated microbial mat in response to variable irradiance in an Antarctic lake

Summary Laminated microbial mats are important ecosystem components of perennially ice-covered Antarctic dry valley lakes. In order to understand better their response to changing environment, we made observations and carried out a manipulation experiment to determine their response to variations in irradiance in Lake Hoare (77°38′ S, 162°53′ E). Ice transparency was the most variable parameter that affected benthic light dose, both spatially and between years. Patterns of lamina accrual corresponded to irradiance history, with laminae that were initiated in high transmission years thicker than those from low transmission years. A shading experiment confirmed that accrual of lamina thickness, calcite precipitation and ash-free dry mass were determined by irradiance, but photosynthetic biomass and phototrophic species composition were less affected. Buried laminae decomposed only slowly over time, with potentially viable phototrophs many laminae down into the microbial mat. Decay rate increased only slightly with shading. We conclude that the microbial mats in Lake Hoare are characterised by remarkable stability, with slow accumulation rates and turnover of biomass over time. Photosynthetic biomass and species composition appeared to be stable across long time periods, with interannual variation in lamination pattern due to differential accumulation of extracellular polysaccharide and representing the visible expression of annual growth conditions.
Studies on the utilization of full-fat soybean and solvent extracted soybean meal in a complete diet for rainbow trout.

An experimental feeding trial was conducted with rainbow trout to compare the nutritive value of five commercially avaiable soybean meals (puffed full-fat soybean, toasted full-fat soybean, hexane extracted soybean, extruded hexane extracted soybean and alcohol extracted soybean) as a partial replacement for Peruvian fish meal in a practical ration. The dietary level of Peruvian fish meal was reduced from 35% to 10% and the level of soybean meal increased from 0% to 50%, replacing up to 75% of the Peruvian fish meal protein, with no adverse effects on overall growth performance or feed utilizatin efficiency. There was no apparent difference between treatments on the basis of the five soybean meals tested. The results are discussed in the light of possible anti-nutritional factors present within soybean.
Studies on emasculation and pollination time in hybrid seed production of okra (Abelmoschus esculantus L. Moench).

Field experiments were conducted during November 2012 to March 2013 at K. R. C. College of Horticulture, Arabhavi of Belgaum district (Northern Dry Zone-3) to ascertain the peak period of stigma receptivity of seed parent (Arka Anamika) and time of pollination in hybrid seed production of okra hybrid. The pooled data indicated that the pollination at 9.00 am to 12.00 noon on same day after emasculation with temperature of 22–23.24° C, 70% RH exhibited higher fruit set (63.48%), number of hybrid seeds per fruit (52.27), 100 seed weight (0.57g), total hybrid seed weight per plant (36.37 g) and seed quality parameters such as germination (92.67%), seedling shoot length (12.95 cm), seedling root length (8.02 cm), seedling dry weight (0.313 g) and seedling vigour index (1943) as compared to either earlier or later day of emasculation and pollination.
Spermatophore production and sperm utilisation in the smooth newt Triturus v vulgaris

This study investigates spermatophore production and sperm utilisation in the smooth newt Triturus v. vulgaris. Chapter one outlines the natural history of the species and describes the physiology of reproduction and the sexual behaviour of male and female smooth newts. Chapter two describes the general methodology. Chapter three investigates the relationship between sperm accessory materials and spermatophore production. Spermatophore base height was correlated with male body size. The size of the glands that secrete the spermatophores was best predicted by body size, crest height and time post deposition. Chapter four determines the gametic strategies exhibited by males. Males may be optimising their spermatophore output by depositing spermatophores of similar size and sperm content, but production may be limited by the availability of sperm and sperm accessory materials. Chapter five examines the relationship between male body size and seasonal spermatophore production. Spermatophore production was correlated with body size, although crest height was the best predictor. Chapter six investigates sperm utilisation in females. Female smooth newts may require courtship as well as insemination to induce ovulation and they may need to remate during the season in order to lay a full clutch. Chapter seven investigates sperm utilisation due to polyspermy. Between 1 and 20 sperm may enter the ovum, although some ova were found to contain much higher numbers. Chapter eight discusses the results from the preceding chapters. Male reproductive success may be limited by spermatophore production and by females' utilisation of sperm. Female reproductive success is related to an individual's fecundity, but this study has shown that it may be also partly determined by the number of mates obtained and the timing of insemination. Mating patterns in smooth newts may be influenced by females' requirements for sperm as well as by males' seeking multiple mates to enhance their reproductive success.
Representative Elementary Volume of Rock Using X-Ray Microcomputed Tomography: A New Statistical Approach

Rock heterogeneity is a key parameter influencing a range of rock properties such as fluid flow and geomechanical characteristics. The previously proposed statistical techniques were able to rank heterogeneity on a qualitative level to different extents; however, they need to select a threshold value for determination of representative elementary volumes (REV), which in turn makes the obtained REV subjective. In this study, an X-ray microcomputed tomography (μCT) technique was used to obtain images from different porous media. A new statistical technique was then used to compute REV, as a measure of heterogeneity, without the necessity of defining a threshold. The performance of the method was compared with other methods. It was shown that the calculated sum of the relative errors of the proposed method was lowest compared to the other statistical techniques for all tested porous media. The proposed method can be applied to different types of rocks for more accurate estimation of a REV.
The Question of Participation: Toward Authentic Public Participation in Public Administration

How can the processes of public participation be improved? This study uses interviews and focus-group discussions to look for some answers. The results suggest that improving public participation requires changes in citizen and administrator roles and relationships and in administrative processes. Specifically, we need to move away from static and reactive processes toward more dynamic and deliberative processes. The article suggests some practical steps to achieve these changes.
Physiological Responses of Bt cotton under Drought Stress

Drought stress is one of the most important factor affecting global agriculture, approximately 40% of the world’s land area is under drought stress (Zhang et al., 2014a). It causes decrease in chlorophyll content (Ommen et al., 1999) which results in the reduction of photosynthesis (Moussa 2006). Water deficit stress also induces increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) like superoxide radical and hydrogen peroxide (Mittler 2002). These ROS damage the membranes causing lipid peroxidation (Smirnoff 1993). Proline accumulation has been reported to play adaptive roles in plant stress tolerance (Zhang et al., 2014b). Plants protect cellular and subcellular systems from the cytotoxic free radicals with anti-oxidative enzymes such as peroxidase, and catalase International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 7 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Bufo bufo Superspezies – Erdkröten-Artenkreis– taxon bufo (Linnaeus, 1758) – Erdkröte– taxon gredosicola L. Müll er und Hellm ich 1935 – Gredoserdkröte– taxon spinosus Daudin, 1803 – Riesenerdkröte– taxon verrucosissimus (Pallas, 1811) – Kolchische Erdkröte

Einfuhrung. Erdkroten des Bufo bufo Artenkreises besiedeln ganz Europa mit Ausnahme von Irland sowie angrenzende Gebiete in Afrika und Asien. So verwundert es nicht, dass Erdkroten schon zweihundert Jahre vor ihrer wissenschaftlichen Erstbeschreibung in der Literatur der Renaissance erwahnt werden (Gesner 1554, 1560). Im Barock beschreibt Anonymus (1702) Erdkroten wie folgt: “Die Krot …. ist gestaltet wie ein Frosch/ doch etwas groser und dicker. Es sind aber der Kroten zweyerlei: nemlich Bufo Terrest ……. Die Erdkrot/ welche gros/ unrein/ und in Garten/ Gestauden und andern faulen Orten gefunden wird/ und niemal ins Wasser kommet. ”
Outcomes of Surgical Management of Floating Knee Injuries

Introduction: Floating knee, referred to as ipsilateral fractures of the femur and tibia, is usually associated with several complications and mortality. This study was designed to present our experience with treatment of this injury. Demographic parameters like age, sex, mechanism of injury, associated injuries, method and results of treatment, and complications of floating knee are discussed Material and Methods: This Prospective study was performed between January 2014-July 2016. All patients with floating knee injuries who were admitted to the PMCH fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. The information about the 20 cases of floating knee injuries were gathered, particularly the demographic parameters, mode of injury, bones involved, condition of skin, other associated injuries and their neurovascular status. The patients were followed for a minimum of one year duration and functional outcome was assessed. Result: Most of the patients were between 21-30years of age (45%). The floating knee injuries were more common in males (85%). FraserType I fracture was observed in 70% of cases. Roadtraffic accidents(RTA) was the most common cause of such injuries. 18 out of 20(90%) cases were having associated injuries while only 10%were cases of isolated floating knee. The most common early and late complications were infection and knee stiffness respectively. The final outcome as per Karlstrom criteria was excellent and good in 11 out of 14 cases of Fraser type I fracture and in 3 out of 6 cases of Fraser type II fracture, and this was statistically significant (P=0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed that the complication rate associated with floating knee injuries remain high and the prognosis mostly depends on type of injury and associated injuries. This study also advocates early aggressive approach for management of these injuries.
Assessment of mould growth within elements of exterior constructions

The installation of external, internal or cavity wall insulation may be an efficient measure to reduce the energy consumption of a building. Applying internal wall insulation may be the only feasible solution for some cases. However, unintended consequences such as moisture accumulation within the building elements may occur. This study constitutes part of exploratory research which aimed to examine whether air sampling through impaction and culture-based analysis can be utilised for the assessment of mould growth within building elements. The present paper aims to determine whether the location of mould within confined spaces affects the sampling results. Towards this end, a CFD analysis was carried out and was complemented by two series of scale experiments. The results from both procedures were then compared and useful conclusions regarding the flow pattern and the potential relationship between the mould's location and the sampling results were extracted.
Prediction of Strawberry Yield and Farm Price Utilizing Deep Learning

The currently deployed prediction models for strawberry fresh produce (FP) are based on either conventional machine learning (ML) or on simple deep learning (DL) models that are mostly applied for yield prediction. In this paper, we propose more comprehensive DL models that are applied for the first time to predict strawberry yield. The strawberry price is predicted as well directly from weather input parameters and yield. The strawberry price prediction is achieved using compound DL models such as Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network (CNN-LSTM). It is found that by adding attention, the performance of the compound models usually improves. After utilizing an aggregated performance measure to find the best model, the Attention-CNN-LSTM model proved to be the best compared to the rest of the deployed conventional ML models as well as the compound and simple DL models. The aggregated measure shows that this model is capable of precisely predicting strawberry prices five weeks ahead while maintaining the lowest prediction error and the highest model correlation.
Identification and Characterization of Two Quiescent Porin Genes, nmpC and ompN, inEscherichia coli BE

ABSTRACT The genomic DNA of the BE strain of Escherichia coli has been scrutinized to detect porin genes that have not been identified so far. Southern blot analysis yielded two DNA segments which proved highly homologous to, yet distinct from, theompC, ompF, and phoE porin genes. The two genes were cloned and sequenced. One of them, designatedompN, encodes a porin which, due to low levels of expression, has eluded prior identification. The functional properties (single-channel conductance) of the OmpN porin, purified to homogeneity, closely resemble those of the OmpC porin fromE. coli K-12. The second DNA fragment detected corresponds to the nmpC gene, which, due to an insertion of an IS1 element in its coding region, is not expressed inE. coli BE.
Keeping Track of the Time: Emending the Counterfactual Analysis of Causation

I will focus on the most well developed analysis, David Lewis's (1973, 1986a) version, although the emendation that I suggest can be modified and applied to other counterfactual analyses. ' The analysis for deterministic causation states that for any two actual, distinct events c and e, e depends counterfactually on c iff, had c not occurred, e would not have occurred.2 Causation is the ancestral of counterfactual dependence: c causes e iff there is a chain of counterfactual dependencies running from c to e. The probabilistic version of the analysis (1986a: 175-84) states that e depends probabilistically on c iff, given c, there is a chance x of e's occurring, and if c were not to occur, there would be a chance y of e's occurring, where x is much greater than y. Causation is again taken as the ancestral, this time of probabilistic dependence, so c causes e iff there is a chain of probabilistic dependencies running from c to e. The chance of the effect's occurring is assessed immediately after the cause occurs, and the truth value of the counterfactual at each step is evaluated based upon that chance.
Trade Volatility in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three: Impacts and Determinants

This paper investigates trade volatility in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three (ASEAN+3) and its links with output volatility, export diversification, and free trade agreements. To achieve this research objective, we apply several econometric estimators to data from all ASEAN+3 member states over the period 1990–2016. We first find evidence of a positive relationship between output volatility and trade volatility. Second, we reveal that the way export diversification is measured can influence its impacts on bilateral export volatility. Moreover, the relationship between income volatility, trade volatility, and export diversification seems to depend on country size and the level of economic development.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy as a Single Treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Pilot Randomized-Controlled Study

Recent guidelines share the recommendations that psychotherapy plays a central role in the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD). In recent years, interpersonal psychotherapy adapted for treating BPD (IPT-BPD) was added to specific psychotherapies and was tested in combination with pharmacotherapy. The present study is aimed to assess the efficacy of IPT-BPD revised (IPT-BPD-R) as single treatment in a sample of BPD patients. Results obtained in a group of patients receiving IPT-BPD-R were compared with those observed in a control group in waiting list plus clinical management (WL/CM). Forty-three BPD subjects were randomly allocated to one of the two arms. Patients were assessed at baseline and after 10 months with the following assessment instruments: Clinical Global Impression Scale, Severity item (CGI-S), Social Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS), Borderline Personality Disorder Severity Index (BPDSI), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, version 11 (BIS-11), Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS), and Self Harm Inventory (SHI). Statistical analysis was performed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) or chi-square test to compare baseline characteristics of the two treatment groups. Comparison of score changes at the end of the trial between the two groups was calculated for each rating scale with the analysis of variance for repeated measures. Seven patients (16.3%) discontinued the treatment in the first month of the trial for non-adherence. We found a significant effect within subjects (trial duration) for all rating scales, except for the MOAS. A significant effect between subjects (treatment modality) was found for CGI-S; SOFAS; BIS-11 total score and subscale “non-planning impulsivity”; BPDSI total score and items “interpersonal relationships,” “impulsivity,” and “identity. ” So, results showed differences between groups in favor of psychotherapy in terms of reduction of severity of general psychopathology, improvement of social and occupational functioning, and decrease of global BPD symptoms and three specific domains. On the other hand, we did not find any differences between groups for self-harm behaviors and aggressive behaviors.
Early-Onset Diabetes as Risk Factor for Pancreatic Cancer: miRNA Expression Profiling in Plasma Uncovers a Role for miR-20b-5p, miR-29a, and miR-18a-5p in Diabetes of Recent Diagnosis

The high prevalence of early-diabetes in patients with pancreatic cancer (PanC) implies that its recognition could help identify people at high risk of developing PanC. Candidate microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with recent diabetes were screened from our previous miRNA expression profiling on 10 pools of plasma from PanC patients and non-PanC controls, both including also subjects with early- and late-diabetes. The droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) was used to re-test candidate miRNAs in a new independent cohort of 69 subjects (40 PanC, 29 non-PanC) with early- (17 PanC, 13 non-PanC) or late-diabetes (23 PanC, 16 non-PanC), and in 100 non-diabetic healthy subjects (HS). miRNA levels were evaluated for differences between subjects enrolled into the study and for their diagnostic performance, also compared to the CA 19-9 determinations. MiR-20b-5p, miR-29a, and miR-18a-5p were selected from the previous miRNA expression profiling. The ddPCR confirmed the increase of miR-20b-5p and miR-29a levels in PanC with early- compared to those with late-diabetes. Conversely, miR-20b-5p, miR-29a, and miR-18a-5p were over-expressed in both PanC and non-PanC with recent diabetes compared to HS, and each miRNA achieved a similar diagnostic performance in distinguishing either PanC or non-PanC with early-diabetes from HS (miR-20b-5p: AUC = 0.877 vs. AUC = 0.873; miR-29a: AUC = 0.838 vs. AUC = 0.810; miR-18a-5p: AUC = 0.824 vs. AUC = 0.875). Despite miR-20b-5p and miR-29a expressions were also higher both in PanC and non-PanC with late-diabetes with respect to HS, the diagnostic accuracy in PanC with late-diabetes vs. HS reached by each miRNA (miR-20b-5p: AUC = 0.760; miR-29a: AUC = 0.630) was lower than the ones achieved in PanC with early-diabetes vs. HS. Furthermore, miR-20b-5p achieved a higher diagnostic accuracy to discriminate non-PanC with early-diabetes from HS (AUC = 0.868; SP = 81%; PPV = 32.1%) compared to the CA 19-9 (AUC = 0.700; SP = 40.0%; PPV = 15.5%), and the joint (miR-20b-5p and CA 19-9) discrimination ability was higher than the one achieved by the CA 19-9 tested alone (AUC = 0.900, p = 0.003). Our data highlighted the association between miR-18a-5p and early-diabetes, and suggested for miR-20b-5p and miR-29 a role in identifying early diabetes in PanC, albeit not as an early manifestation of cancer. MiR-20b-5p as more informative marker than CA 19-9 in distinguishing non-PanC with recent diabetes from HS was also uncovered.