Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of seed coating with synthetic polymer and additives on storability of soybean seeds under mid hill condition of Himachal Pradesh

An experiment was conducted during 2013-14 at Palam pur to study the effect of seed coating with polyme r, fungicides and insectiside on seed quality of soybean var. Harasoya. The seed was coated with polymer, fungicides, insectici de, polymer-fungicides and polymer-insectiside combinations and stored in poly thene bags for 12 months. Irrespective of seed coat ing with synthetic polymer and additives, seed deteriorated and the vigour dec lined with increased fungal infection and insect in festation after twelve months of seed storage. Seed coated with polymer @ 3.0 ml per kg of seed and flowable thiram @ 2.4 ml per kg of seed (T3) maintained the highest soybean seed germination (84.0%), seedl ing length (28.8 cm), field emergence (76.5%), see dling dry weight (0.435 g) and seedling vigour index (2419) upto 12 months ove r th untreated control (T 0). Seed coated with polymer @ 3.0 ml per kg of seed and imidachloprid @ 6 ml per kg of seed (T 7) had lowest insect infestation (0.50%) and seed co ated with polymer @ 3.0 ml per kg of seed and flowable thiram @ 2.4 ml per kg of seed (T3) exhibited lowest seed infection (1.25%) as compar ed to untreated control (T0) at the end of 12 months of storage.
Linkages Between Chinese Stock Price Index and Exchange Rates-An Evidence From the Belt and Road Initiative

This paper selects the daily data of the exchange rates of Chinese Yuan (CNY) over the currencies of 14 countries along the Belt and Road, Shanghai composite index and Shenzhen composite index to study the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative on the linkages between exchange rates and Chinese stock index based on the flow-oriented model and the stock-oriented model. To reflect the fluctuations in daily data and reduce the central bank’s interference with the exchange rate, two fuzzy techniques are used to process data, that is, the centroid based measure and the integral based measure. Then we judge the relationship between exchange rate and stock index through the Pearson correlation coefficient and the Granger causality test. Besides, we further compare the results and their differences by the classic crisp method and our two fuzzy techniques, which enable us to judge their correlation more accurately, and provide a reference for a wider application of the proposed fuzzy methods. We find that there is a correlation between exchange rate and stock index under certain conditions, and the Belt and Road initiative strengthens the relationship between the Chinese foreign exchange market and the stock market, more importantly, the fuzzy techniques are effective to judge this relation.
NatureCollections: Can a Mobile Application Trigger Children's Interest in Nature?

In this study, we investigate whether and how a mobile application called NatureCollections supports children’s triggered situational interest in nature. Developed from an interest-centered design framework, NatureCollections allows children to build and curate their own customized photo collections of nature. We conducted a comparison study at an urban community garden with 57 sixth graders across 4 science classrooms. Students in two classrooms (n = 15 and 16) used the NatureCollections app, and students in another two classrooms (n = 13 and 13) used a basic Camera app. We found that NatureCollections succeeded in focusing students’ attention–an important aspect of interest development– through sensory engagement with the natural characteristics in their surroundings. Students who used NatureCollections moved slower in space while scanning their surroundings for specific elements (e.g., flowers, birds) to photograph. In contrast, students who used the basic Camera app were more drawn to aesthetic aspects (e.g., color, shape) and tended to explore their surroundings through the device screen. NatureCollections supported other dimensions of interest development, including personal relevance, social interactions, and positive experiences for continued engagement. Our findings further showed that the NatureCollections app facilitated students’ scientific discourse with their peers.
Kinetics of Solute Gain and Water Loss During Osmotic Dehydration of Orange Slices

The effect of the osmotic solution (sucrose and dextrose syrups) on the kinetics and process yield was evaluated on osmotic dehydration of orange (Valencia Late var.). Processes were carried out at 30 C, using 35, 45, 55 and 65 Brix solutions and by applying a vacuum pulse (100 mbar for 10 min) at the beginning of the process. Kinetics of sugar gain-water loss and mass changes were analysed by separately considering peel and pulp fractions of orange slices. Mass transport properties of orange slices in osmotic treatments were different for pulp and peel fractions due to the different contributions of the mechanisms involved. Faster water and solute transport were observed in the peel impregnated with the osmotic solution. Sugar gain in sucrose solutions was enhanced in comparison with dextrose treatments, whereas diffusional water loss was faster in samples treated with dextrose. These effects made the process yield higher for sucrose treatments. An increase in the osmotic solution concentration implied higher mass transport rates, but did not notably affect process yield.
HER2-Overexpressing Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Associated with Increased Risk of Ipsilateral Invasive Recurrence, Receptor Discordance with Recurrence

The impact of HER2 status in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) on the risk of progression to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) has been debated. We aim to use a national database to identify patients with known HER2 status to elucidate the effect of HER2 overexpression on ipsilateral IDC (iIDC) development. We performed survival analysis on patient-level data using the U.S. NCI's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program. We identified patients diagnosed with DCIS who underwent lumpectomy and had known HER2 status. Competing risks analysis was performed. A total of 1,540 patients had known HER2 status and met inclusion criteria. Median age at diagnosis was 60, median follow-up time was 44.5 months. A total of 417 (27.1%) patients were HER2 positive and 1,035 (67.2%) were HER2 negative. Twenty-two (1.4%) patients developed iIDC and 27 (1.8%) developed ipsilateral in situ or contralateral disease. The estimated cumulative incidence of iIDC at 5 years was 1.9% for all patients, 1.2% for HER2-negative and borderline patients, and 3.9% for HER2-positive patients. On multivariate competing risks regression, two factors were significant for iIDC: radiation (protective) therapy within 24 months (HR, 0.05; P = 0.00006) and HER2 overexpression (increased likelihood; HR, 2.72; P = 0.044). Patients with HER2-positive DCIS were more likely to have recurrences with receptor discordance. HER2 may serve as a prognostic factor for invasive recurrence and was the only lesion-related factor to significantly relate to iIDC development. It may also be associated with receptor discordance of recurrences. Further large studies will be needed to confirm these results.
Multidimensional Evaluation of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Treatment for Sleep Apnea in Different Clusters of Couples

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most efficient treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Little is known about the impact of spousal relationship profiles on CPAP adherence. We aimed to identify clusters of couples of OSA patients, and their association with CPAP adherence 120 days after CPAP initiation. In a multicenter prospective study, OSA patients recently prescribed CPAP were enrolled with their spouses. Data about spousal relationships were collected at inclusion and at day 120. Latent class analysis was performed to determine homogeneous groups of spousal relationships. The 290 participants were predominantly males (77%), median age was 53 years and interquartile range (IQR) 46–62, median body mass index (BMI) was 32 kg/m2 (IQR: 28.6–35.9) and median apnea–hypopnea index: 43 events per hour (IQR: 33–58). Three couple clusters were identified: (1) older retired couples, (2) young working couples, and (3) mature active couples. Patients in the older retired couples cluster presented the highest CPAP adherence (p < 0.01) independently of initial complaints, OSA severity, and degree of improvement under CPAP. In a large cohort of OSA patients in whom clusters of couples were determined, there was a significant difference in CPAP adherence at day-120 after CPAP initiation.
Failure of Achieving Tacrolimus Target Blood Concentration Might Be Avoided by a Wide Genotyping of Transplanted Patients: Evidence from a Retrospective Study

Precise tacrolimus treatment in transplanted patients is achieved in the clinical setting by performing therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and consequently adjusting therapy. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the variability in tacrolimus blood levels throughout 2 years of observation in 75 transplanted patients and to investigate if tacrolimus blood levels correlate with presence of genetic polymorphisms, thus modifying tacrolimus pharmacokinetics. CYP3A5*1 (G6986A), CYP3A4*1B (A392G), CYP3A4*22, ABCB1 (C3435T; C1236T; G2677A/T), SLCO1B1 (T521C), polymorphisms were analyzed. Based on the effect of their genotypes, patients were stratified into 5 groups: (1) reduced tacrolimus metabolism (RM), (2) increased metabolism (IM), (3) transporters polymorphisms (TM), (4) metabolism and transporter polymorphisms (AM) and (5) no mutations (Wild Type, WT). The percentage of the samples out of therapeutic range was significantly higher in the IM group than in the WT group (p = 0.001), as well as compared to the TM group (p = 0.004). Only IM pattern (p = 0.015) resulted as an independent predictor of number of tacrolimus blood levels out of therapeutic range. RM pattern (p = 0.006) was inversely related to the administered dose. Therefore, genotyping could become a standard practice before tacrolimus prescription thus decreasing side effects, increasing efficacy and reducing the economic burden for the national health system.
Experimental Study on Glass and Polymers: Determining the Optimal Material for Potential Use in Terahertz Technology

The optical properties of polymers and glasses useful for terahertz applications are experimentally characterized using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). A standard system setup utilizing transmission spectroscopy is used to measure different optical properties of materials including refractive index, relative permittivity, loss tangent, absorption coefficient, and transmittance. The thermal and chemical dependencies of materials are also studied to identify the appropriate materials for given terahertz applications. The selected materials can then be utilized for applications such as in waveguides, filters, lenses, polarization preserving devices, metamaterials and metasurfaces, absorbers, and sensors in the terahertz frequency range.
Analogues of WAY 100635 as radiotracers for in vivo imaging of 5‐HT1A receptors

Two diastereoisomeric analogues of the potent 5-HT 1A antagonist WAY 100635 have been synthesized and radiolabelled with 11 C; namely trans-and cis-N-[2-[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl]-N-(2-pyridinyl)-cyclohexanecarboxamide (3 and 4). Both [ 11 C]-3 and [ 11 C]-4 were obtained in modest yields at high specific activities by O-[ 11 C]-alkylation of their respective alkoxide precursors with [ 11 C]-iodomethane. The labelled diastereoisomers were isolated by reverse-phase HPLC and isolated as radiochemically pure formulations for in vivo experiments. Biodistribution studies in rats showed moderate brain uptake for [ 11 C]-4 with little differentiation of uptake between regions rich in 5-HT 1A receptors (e.g. hippocampus) and receptor poor regions (e.g. cerebellum). However the diastereoisomeric [ 11 C]-3 possessed better brain uptake with moderate differentiation between 5-HT 1A receptor rich and poor regions at early time points (5-30 min post-injection). The results suggest that [ 11 C]-3 may have potential as an in vivo imaging agent for 5-HT 1A receptors .
Variabilidade genética em caracteres morfológicos, agronômicos e citogenéticos de populações de maracujazeiro-doce(Passiflora alata Curtis)

The sweet passion fruit (Passiflora alata Curtis) is polymorphic with high variability in size, shape, weight, thickness of cortex, color of pulp and number of seeds in the fruit. The propagation by seeds increases the heterosis of the cultivated plants. The aim of this paper was to evaluate agronomic, morphological and cytogenetics aspects and identify native population of passion fruit. The introductions Mogi-Guacu and Grande showed better characteristics.
Relationships between Pulmonary Hypertension Risk, Clinical Profiles, and Outcomes in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with heart failure (HF) contributes to a poorer prognosis. However, in those with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), the true prevalence and role of PH is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the profile of DCM patients at various levels of PH risk, determined via echocardiography, and its impact on outcomes. The 502 DCM in- and out-patient records were retrospectively analyzed. Information on patient status was gathered after 45.9 ± 31.3 months. Patients were divided into 3 PH-risk groups based on results from echocardiography measurements: low (L, n = 239, 47.6%), intermediate (I, n = 153, 30.5%), and high (H, n = 110, 21.9%). Symptom duration, atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachyarrhythmia, ejection fraction, right atrial area, and moderate or severe mitral regurgitation were found to be independently associated with PH risk. During the follow-up period, 83 (16.5%) DCM patients died: 29 (12.1%) in L, 31 (20.3%) in I, and 23 (20.9%) in H. L-patients had a significantly lower risk of all-cause death (L to H: HR 0.55 (95%CI 0.32–0.98), p = 0.01), while no differences in prognosis were found between I and H. In conclusion, over one in five DCM patients had a high PH risk, and low PH risk was associated with better prognoses.
Segmentation, retardation and mass approximation of birefringent particles on a standard light microscope

This study presents a simple technique for the approximation of retardation, thickness and mass of birefringent particles with a retardation from 8 to 231 nm retardation. Tuning of the imaging system (standard light microscope equipped with a left and a right circular polarizer) to match grey values of polymer retarder films of known retardation with rendered grey values allows for a robust calibration and accurate approximation of retardation. In addition, a technique for accurate particle segmentation using a Canny–Deriche algorithm was used to minimize the bias on mass estimated from different thresholding techniques. The technique was tested using microscopic calcitic plates called coccoliths produced by the marine algal group coccolithophores, and the results compare well with published coccolith mass estimates obtained from volumetric analysis.
Breeding and mortality of Oriental White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis in Punjab Province, Pakistan

Populations of Oriental White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis and Long-billed Vulture G. indicus declined in India between the mid 1980s and late 1990s. Regional reports from India described declines of 95–100% across a wide area. This study was conducted to investigate the breeding success and pattern of mortality in two vulture colonies (Dholewala and Changa Manga) within Punjab Province, Pakistan between December 2000 and June 2001. Breeding success was found to be 62% in Dholewala and 59% in Changa Manga. A total of 668 sick and dead vultures were collected of which 591 were less than one month post mortem. No significant variation was found in the weekly mortality rate of adult and subadult vultures during the study period spanning winter through summer. A peak in mortality rate was observed during late April and early May that corresponded to mortality of newly fledged juveniles. Minimum annual mortality rate in the adult breeding population was calculated to be 11.4% and 18.6% in Dholewala and Changa Manga respectively. In a subsample of dead vultures (n = 185) visceral gout was found in 80% of adults, 63% of subadults, 19% of juveniles and 13% of nestlings. These mortality rates were consistent with a rapid population decline. Results imply that the mortality factor responsible for the decline in Gyps vultures described in India is also present in Pakistan and will potentially lead to a population decline of a comparable magnitude.
Factors affecting the swimming endurance and catchability of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

The swimming endurance of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), native to the cold waters off the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, was investigated under laboratory conditions. Using a swimming flume, endurance was tested at swimming speeds ranging from 0.6 to 1.3 m·s-1 using water temperatures from 0.0 to 9.8°C ( mean = 3.2°C, SD = 2.8) and fish lengths from 41.0 to 86.0 cm ( mean = 57.8 cm, SD = 10.5). The results revealed that swimming speed was the only significant factor affecting the endurance of cod. The maximum sustained swimming speed (Ums) was predicted to be 0.66 m·s-1. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted using failure time analysis. The hazard, or risk of exhaustion, was found to increase rapidly with increasing swimming speed, i.e., there was a decrease in the probability of cod achieving a given swimming endurance. Probability curves for the endurance of cod were calculated for different swimming speeds. The findings suggest that the catching efficiency of commercially targeted cod.
Epidemiology of Phytoplasma Diseases in Papaya in Northern Australia

Using molecular tools, the spread of phytoplasma diseases in a papaya plantation was investigated for 3 years to identify phytoplasma strains affecting papaya, insect vectors and alternative plant hosts. Five phytoplasma strains (SPLL-V4, TBB, CaWB, StLL and WaLLvar) were associated with papaya yellow crinkle disease and one phytoplasma strain (PDB) was associated with papaya dieback disease. The most prevalent strains were TBB and SPLL-V4 which occurred in 94% of infected papaya. There was a significant correlation between phyllody and TBB, and virescence and SPLL-V4, although other phytoplasma types could also be associated with either phyllody or virescence. No mixed infections were detected in diseased papaya. Disease progress curves for TBB and SPLL-V4 showed a sigmoid response reaching a maximum disease incidence of 16% after 24 months. The rate of disease spread was best described by a logistic model which showed that TBB spread at a slightly higher rate than SPLL-V4. Ten phytoplasma strains were detected in 14 alternative plant species; however, TBB and SPLL-V4 were present in only a few individual plants of some of these species, so these alternative hosts would probably not have provided a significant infection source to papaya. Very few phytoplasmas were detected in leafhoppers collected over 3 years with TBB and SPLL-V4 only detected in Orosius spp.
Association of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and degree of myopia using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography

Objective The objective of this study was to assess the effect of myopia on the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness by spectral-domain (SD) optical coherence tomography (OCT). Background Myopia is the most common ocular abnormality worldwide, and its high subtype is among the leading causes of blindness. Several studies proposed it as a potential risk for glaucoma. However, it is unclear how both are related. RNFL thickness, currently used for glaucoma monitoring, can be the missed link. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of myopia on the peripapillary RNFL thickness by SD-OCT, thus correlating it to glaucoma. Patients and methods Eighty-six eyes of 86 participants were included in this cross-sectional observational study and categorized into low, moderate, and high myopia groups. Study participants underwent thorough ophthalmological examination, autorefractometer, axial length measurement, and perimetry. Peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured in each quadrant using Spectralis SD-OCT. The effects of spherical equivalent, axial length, age, and sex on peripapillary RNFL thickness were evaluated using Pearson's correlation test. Results The mean age was 38.81 ± 7.76 years (range: 25–55 years), mean spherical equivalent was –5.31 ± 3.34 D (range: −0.41 to −12.5 D), with an average axial length of 25.73 ± 1.14 mm (range: 24.0–28.2 mm). The mean RNFL thickness was thinner in highly and moderately myopic eyes (81.77 ± 6.09 and 85.10 ± 5.10 mm, respectively, P = 0.0001) compared with low myopic eyes (98.14 ± 5.59). A significant correlation was noted between spherical equivalent and axial length with peripapillary RNFL thickness (P < 0.05). However, no correlation was noted between age and sex with peripapillary RNFL thickness (P > 0.05). Conclusion High myopia should be considered in the interpretation of OCT data because of thinning of RNFL thickness, and normative database corrected for refractive error and axial length should be incorporated.
Few-Shot Learning For Remote Sensing Scene Classification

Scene classification has become an important research topic in remote sensing (RS) field. Typical solution relies on labeling a large enough set of the RS scenes manually using expert opinion if needed, then training the algorithm on this set to learn how to correctly classify other new scenes. The best performance deep learning models required a large labeled dataset for training. Accordingly, there is great need to develop intelligent machine learning algorithm that can learn to classify RS datasets containing new unseen classes from few labeled samples only. This problem is known as few-shot machine learning. In this work we develop a deep few-shot learning method for the classification of RS scenes. The proposed method is based on prototypical deep neural networks combined with SqueezeNet pre-trained CNN for image embedding. In this paper, we report preliminary results using the two RS scene datasets UC Merced and optimal31.
Mono- and digalactosyldiacylglycerol composition of dinoflagellates. VII. Evidence against galactolipid production and plastid presence in the heterotrophic, basal dinoflagellate, Oxyrrhis marina

The heterotrophic genus Oxyrrhis contains two species, O. marina and O. maritima, which occupy positions basal to the dinoflagellate lineage. Oxyrrhis is also related to apicomplexan parasites, which have recently been shown to have a non-photosynthetic, relic plastid referred to as the apicoplast. A recent study by Slamovits & Keeling (2008) demonstrated the presence of plastid-targeted proteins within O. marina. We hypothesized that if O. marina does indeed have plastids, then mono- and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG and DGDG, respectively), which are the two most prominent plastidial membrane lipids, would be present. Therefore, we examined three isolates of O. marina to determine if they can produce MGDG and DGDG. We observed that O. marina, when fed the chlorophyte Dunaliella tertiolecta, possessed forms of MGDG and DGDG containing a C18:3 fatty acid at the sn-1 position and most containing a C16:3-4 fatty acid at the sn-2 position; these were derived solely from the prey itself. Examination of published expressed sequence tag (EST) and transcriptome databases of O. marina for the genes encoding MGDG and DGDG synthases, two enzymes integral to the incorporation of galactose in the final forms of these lipids, failed to reveal their presence. Taken together, these results indicate that O. marina does not produce a non-photosynthetic, relictual plastid. However, the presence of plastid-targeted proteins may indicate that O. marina maintains, however briefly, plastids acquired from its prey in a form of kleptoplasty that has been observed previously in dinoflagellates.