Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Has Volunteering Changed in the United States? Trends, Styles, and Motivations in Historical Perspective

This article considers whether there have been substantial changes in volunteering in the United States. Drawing on an extensive review of historical, ethnographic, and survey data, it focuses on trends, styles, and motivations of volunteers. The article describes how volunteer rates are cyclical and contingent on social and cultural changes, including events that serve as national traumas, such as wars, natural disasters, and the 9/11 attacks. Many features of volunteering have been consistent over time, but there have been some notable changes, including greater participation by the young and the old and a sharp decline in volunteer rates for people lacking a college education. Volunteers continue to be influenced by humanitarian and altruistic motives, and a desire to give back to organizations that benefit friends and family has become more prominent.
Morphological description of egg masses and hatchlings of Lolliguncula diomedeae (Cephalopoda: Loliginidae)

We describe the morphology of egg masses and hatchlings of the squid, Lolliguncula diomedeae (Hoyle, 1904) based on individuals hatched in the laboratory from two egg masses collected in the Gulf of California near Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and identified with molecular techniques. The characteristics of the egg mass are described and compared with other related species. Gross morphology, chromatophore pattern and the arrangement of arm and tentacle suckers of hatchlings are described. Among squids in the family Loliginidae, hatchlings of this species represent the second smallest described to date. The morphology of egg masses and paralarvae of related and sympatric species are compared, providing a tool for identification that may foster the understanding of the population dynamics and life history of this species.
Phylogenetic studies of New World species in the plant genus Psychotria (Rubiaceae)

As whole chloroplast genome sequencing has become more routine, the identification of variable plastid sequence markers for phylogenetic studies as well as DNA barcoding have also become more straightforward by direct comparison of cp genomes across species from related taxa. Here we report the chloroplast genome sequence of Psychotria marginata, the second species within the fourth largest angiosperm family Rubiaceae, to have its cp genome sequenced. The P. marginata chloroplast genome is completely collinear with that of C. arabica in terms of gene content and gene order. However, three genes, infA, accD and rpl33 were found to contain stop codons in the middle of their coding sequences, and thus may have lost their function in Psychotria. Pairwise comparison of P. marginata and C. arabica plastomes also allowed identification and testing of variable non-coding markers, and we developed 10 primer pairs flanking non-coding inter-genic regions or introns of the P. marginata cp genome. Sequence variations were assessed in 19 species of Psychotria and its sister taxa (Rudgea, Palicourea and Coffea), showing much higher inter-specific polymorphisms than the widely used trnL-trnF region. The maximum likelihood phylogeny constructed from three of the 10 loci and trnL-trnF showed significant improvement in statistical support of internal branches compared with previous genus-wide phylogenies inferred from rbcL and ITS sequences. In all, these markers revealed significantly higher variation suitable for lower-level phylogenetic studies as well as potential utility as genus-specific barcoding marker candidates in family Rubiaceae. 2.
Effect of Spacing and Plant Growth Regulators on Plant Growth Parameters, Seed Yield and Its Attributes in Okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]

The present investigation entitled “Effect of spacing and plant growth regulators on plant growth parameters, seed yield and its attributes of okra [Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench]” was conducted for two consecutive seasons (kharif 2015 and kharif 2016). Seeds of okra variety GJO 3 were treated with aqueous solution of growth regulators viz., GA3, IBA and NAA, each at 50, 100 and 150 ppm concentrations and without growth regulators (water soaking). The growth regulators were applied as seed soaking treatment for 8 hours. A treated seeds were grown in field with three plant spacing (S1 : 45 cm × 30 cm, S2 : 60 cm × 30 cm and S3 : 60 cm × 45 cm) during kharif 2015 and 2016 at the Sagdividi Farm, Department of Seed Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh in Split Plot Design (Factorial) replicated thrice. Three plant spacing were kept in main plots and seed treatments with growth regulators along with different doses and a control (water soaking) were kept in sub-plots. Observations were recorded on plant growth parameters viz., field emergence, plant height (cm), stem diameter (cm) and number of branches per plant; and seed yield and its attributes viz., days to flower initiation, number of fruits per plant, fruit length (cm), fruit thickness (cm), number of locules per fruit, number of seeds per fruit and seed yield per plant (g). All plant growth parameters, seed yield and its attributes studied were significantly influenced by different plant spacing and application of different plant growth regulators as seed treatment prior to sowing, except field emergence and days to flower initiation during both the years of experimentation (kharif 2015 and 2016) and fruit length in pooled over years due to spacing. Interactions effects of spacing and seed treatments (S x T) with growth regulators were found significant for field emergence, number of branches per plant, fruit length and fruit thickness during kharif 2015; for fruit length and fruit thickness during kharif 2016; and for field emergence in pooled over years. Wider spacing of 60 cm x 45 cm (S3) and seeds treated with GA3 150 ppm (T3) recorded significantly the maximum values for growth parameters viz., plant height, stem diameter and number of branches per plant; seed yield and yield attributes viz., seed yield per plant, number of fruits per plant, fruit thickness and number of seeds per fruit. A combination of wider plant spacing 60 cm x 45 cm and seed treatment of GA3 @ 150 ppm before sowing (S3T3) was found best suited combination, as it has good field emergence and produced significantly and/or comparatively the maximum plant height, stem diameter, number of branches per plant, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit thickness, number of seeds per fruit and seed yield per plant.
Exploring natural and engineered resistance to potyviruses

xii Abbreviations . xiii Chapter 1: General introduction 1.1 The importance of potyvirus research . 1 1.1.1 The impact of potyvirus diseases to global agriculture . 1 1.1.2 Potato Virus Y . 2 1.1.3 Plum Pox Virus . 3 1.1.4 Turnip Mosaic Virus . 4 1.2 The potyvirus genome and molecular structure . 6 1.3 Potyvirus transmission . 8 1.4 The potyvirus translation-replication process . 10 1.4. 1 Co-ordination of viral processes . 10 1.4. 2 Virus Replication Complexes . 11 1.5 Movement of potyviruses through the plant . 12 1.5. 1 Cell-cell (local) movement . 12 1.5. 2 Long distance (systemic) movement . 13 1.6 Genetic resistance to potyvirus infection . 14 1.6. 1 General principles of genetic resistance to pathogens . 14 1.6. 2 Dominant potyvirus resistance genes . 15 1.6. 3 Recessive potyvirus resistance genes . 17 1.7 Immune responses to potyvirus infection . 18 1.8 RNA silencing . 19 1.8. 1 General features of RNA silencing . 19
Marine fish intestine responds to ocean acidification producing more carbonate aggregates

Marine fish contribute to the carbon cycle by producing mineralized intestinal aggregates generated as by-products of their osmoregulation. Here we aimed at characterizing the control of intestinal aggregate production in the gilthead sea bream in response to near future increases of environmental CO2. Our results demonstrate that hypercapnia (800 and 1200 μatm CO2) elicits higher intestine epithelial HCO3− secretion and the subsequent parallel increase of intestinal aggregate production when compared to present values (400 μatm CO2). Intestinal gene expression analysis revealed the up-regulation of crucial transport mechanisms involved not only in the intestinal secretion cascade (Slc4a4, Slc26a3 and Slc26a6) of sea bream, but also in other mechanisms involved in intestinal ion uptake linked to water absorption such as NKCC2 and the Aquaporin 1b. These results highlight the important role of fish in the marine carbon cycle, and their potential growing impact of intestinal biomineralization processes in the scenario of ocean acidification.
Evaluation of the entry of white shrimp postlarvae (Decapoda: Penaeidae) to a nursery area in the southern Gulf of Mexico

The immigration of white shrimp Penaeus setiferus (Decapoda: Penaeidae) postlarvae (Pls) into the Terminos Lagoon was studied to determine the annual pattern of abundance and its relationship with temperature, salinity, tidal current velocity, and river discharge. Zooplankton samples were simultaneously obtained fortnightly at surface, mid-water, and bottom. The nets used were 50 cm in diameter, 1.5 m in length and 505 μm mesh size. The results indicated a postlarval seasonal immigration pattern, with the lowest average density values from March to May and October to November, and significantly higher values from June to September; maximum peaks occurred in June and September. High Pls densities were obtained between one and three hours after the tidal inflow started. Temperature and salinity varied little during each sampling period and had no apparent effect on immigration, but did have an effect on the seasonal abundance cycle. The multiple regression models indicated that the tidal current velocity and the temperature explained 86% of the variation in Pls abundance during immigration to the Terminos lagoon. The larval migration varied at different levels, with highest densities occurring at a medium depth of 5 m. The Pls entered an optimal range of tidal current velocity (between 0.6 and 0.9 m 3 s -1 ). The main entry mechanism was through the tide current of the Selective Tide Stream Transport, where the Pls could also select an optimum current velocity, avoiding the strata of higher turbulence that would imply higher energy expenditures.
Effect of somatic cell count on milk composition and mozzarella cheese quality

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of somatic cell count (SCC) on mozzarella cheese quality. Three categories of raw milk were selected: low (SCC 987 000 cells/ml). Cheeses were produced on the same day of milk collection and were vacuum packed in plastic bags and analysed weekly for 60 days at cold storage (4 °C). As somatic cell count increases, casein content, casein as a percentage of true protein, lactose content, and titratable acidity decrease significantly in raw milk. No significant differences were observed in moisture, fat, and total protein contents among mozzarella cheese samples from the different SCC categories. However, cheese samples produced from high SCC milk had significantly higher pH (6.83) compared to samples produced with low and medium SCC milk, 5.58 and 5.46, respectively. The extension of proteolysis was not significant for cheese samples made from raw milk with low SCC during the first 30 days of cold storage. Proteolysis levels increased significantly on the 15 th storage day for cheeses made with medium and high SCC, whereas significant increases were only observed on the 45 th storage day for cheeses made with low SCC.
Multi-Stage Hybrid Federated Learning Over Large-Scale D2D-Enabled Fog Networks

Federated learning has generated significant interest, with nearly all works focused on a “star” topology where nodes/devices are each connected to a central server. We migrate away from this architecture and extend it through the <italic>network</italic> dimension to the case where there are multiple layers of nodes between the end devices and the server. Specifically, we develop multi-stage hybrid federated learning (<monospace>MH-FL</monospace>), a hybrid of intra-and inter-layer model learning that considers the network as a <italic>multi-layer cluster-based structure. </italic> <monospace>MH-FL</monospace> considers the <italic>topology structures</italic> among the nodes in the clusters, including local networks formed via device-to-device (D2D) communications, and presumes a <italic>semi-decentralized architecture</italic> for federated learning. It orchestrates the devices at different network layers in a collaborative/cooperative manner (i.e., using D2D interactions) to form <italic>local consensus</italic> on the model parameters and combines it with multi-stage parameter relaying between layers of the tree-shaped hierarchy. We derive the upper bound of convergence for <monospace>MH-FL</monospace> with respect to parameters of the network topology (e.g., the spectral radius) and the learning algorithm (e.g., the number of D2D rounds in different clusters). We obtain a set of policies for the D2D rounds at different clusters to guarantee either a finite optimality gap or convergence to the global optimum. We then develop a distributed control algorithm for <monospace>MH-FL</monospace> to tune the D2D rounds in each cluster over time to meet specific convergence criteria. Our experiments on real-world datasets verify our analytical results and demonstrate the advantages of <monospace>MH-FL</monospace> in terms of resource utilization metrics.
Bond graph/Digraph matching procedure and symbolic determination of state space descriptor systems

In the context of structural analysis of descriptor systems (i.e. Eẋ(t) = Ax(t) + Bu(t), with E singular, also called singular systems, generalized state space systems, or di erential-algebraic systems [1, 2, 3]), this paper proposes an extension of existing procedures to determine the state-space descriptor form from the bond graph model, relaxing simpli ed assumptions. Using this state-space representation, we also propose to build the exact corresponding digraph of a (bi)causal bond graph. This correspondence is used to rigorously adapt, by means of the digraph tool, the graphical computation of the characteristic polynomial det (sE−A) or the determinant of the Rosenbrock matrix det (P(s)) directly from the bond graph model (not presented in this paper).
Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series DNA transfer by di ﬀ erent parts of a hand

Hands are a major vector for transfer of DNA detected at crime scenes. The DNA pro ﬁ les generated from touched objects are interpreted in respect to the person of interest ’ s association with the criminal event and/or crime scene. Di ﬀ erent parts of a hand will contact di ﬀ erent items in di ﬀ erent ways. In some circumstances it may be relevant to have an awareness of similarities and di ﬀ erences in: DNA yields, proportional contributions to mixture pro ﬁ les, and transfer, from di ﬀ erent parts of a hand. This preliminary study analyses DNA quantities and contributing origins of pro ﬁ les generated from 14 di ﬀ erent areas of a hand, and a corresponding handprint, after contact with a glass plate coated with dried saliva of a known individual, followed by contact with a DNA-free glass plate leaving the handprint. This was replicated by four individuals. Within the conditions of this test, di ﬀ erent parts of a hand appear to have proportionally more DNA, more non-self DNA, and may be more likely to pick-up and transfer non-self DNA, than others (especially ﬁ ngertips relative to other hand parts). This knowledge may be important when prioritizing samples to be targeted and when interpreting DNA pro ﬁ les from an activity level perspective. This study also identi ﬁ ed improvement opportunities in experimental design to enhance the value of future studies of this type.
Review

Six Sigma is a business management strategy used by many industries for quality improvement. The aim of the study is to conduct a bibliometric and relational study on Six Sigma research indexed in two well-known databases: Scopus and the Web of Science. Data collection involved 798 articles published in 392 academic journals between 1990 and 2017. Studies were classified based on research type (methodology used), authorship (type and country of affiliation), research field and keywords (cooccurrence and trend). Results show that literature on Six Sigma is dominated by the field of business and management followed by engineering and medicine. United States is the leading country in this topic in terms of documents, cites and coauthorships. Case studies and conceptual papers are clearly the most used methodologies, although there is a noticeable upward trend in surveys in the business and management area. Based on the articles’ keywords, it appears that Lean Six Sigma, the combination of the two management approaches, has recently become one of the most common terms, outpacing traditional terms such as Total Quality Management or continuous improvement. For the field to advance, further survey studies are needed as conceptually it has been deeply researched.
Epigenomic and functional dynamics of human bone marrow myeloid differentiation to mature blood neutrophils

Neutrophils are short-lived blood cells that play a critical role in host defense against infections. To better comprehend neutrophil functions and their regulation, we provide a complete epigenetic and functional overview of their differentiation stages from bone marrow-residing progenitors to mature circulating cells. Integration of epigenetic and transcriptome dynamics reveals an enforced regulation of differentiation, through cellular functions such as: release of proteases, respiratory burst, cell cycle regulation and apoptosis. We observe an early establishment of the cytotoxic capability, whilst the signaling components that activate antimicrobial mechanisms are transcribed at later stages, outside the bone marrow, thus preventing toxic effects in the bone marrow niche. Altogether, these data reveal how the developmental dynamics of the epigenetic landscape orchestrate the daily production of large number of neutrophils required for innate host defense and provide a comprehensive overview of the epigenomes of differentiating human neutrophils. Key points Dynamic acetylation enforces human neutrophil progenitor differentiation. Neutrophils cytotoxic capability is established early at the (pro)myelocyte stage. Coordinated signaling component expression prevents unwanted toxic effects to the bone marrow niche.
Dissociable effects of prediction and integration during language comprehension: Evidence from a large-scale study using brain potentials

Composing sentence meaning is easier for predictable words than for unpredictable words. Are predictable words genuinely predicted, or simply more plausible and therefore easier to integrate with sentence context? We addressed this persistent and fundamental question using data from a recent, large-scale (N = 334) replication study, by investigating the effects of word predictability and sentence plausibility on the N400, the brain’s electrophysiological index of semantic processing. A spatiotemporally fine-grained mixed-effects multiple regression analysis revealed overlapping effects of predictability and plausibility on the N400, albeit with distinct spatiotemporal profiles. Our results challenge the view that the predictability-dependent N400 reflects the effects of either prediction or integration, and suggest that semantic facilitation of predictable words arises from a cascade of processes that activate and integrate word meaning with context into a sentence-level meaning. Author note In accordance with the Peer Review Openness Initiative (Morey et al., 2016), all materials, data, analysis scripts and supplementary figures are publicly available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/47q3s).
Modeling Nightscapes of Designed Spaces – Case Studies of the University of Arizona and Virginia Tech Campuses

This paper examines two methods for modeling the interaction between designed spaces and nighttime light pollution. Nightscapes are becoming more important because of their potential effects on energy use and sustainability, public health, ecology, astronomy, safety and security, and placemaking. Despite its growing importance, however, consideration of the nightscape is often an afterthought in the design process. Except for engineering drawings of lighting systems and occasional atmospheric renderings of nighttime scenes, nightscapes are not depicted. Considerations for nighttime users and for energy savings through sustainable nightscape design practices are lacking. Although several factors may contribute to this omission, including a failure to address nightscape design in landscape architecture education, the lack of appropriate tools for studying the effects of various design alternatives on light pollution is a critical issue. This study compares two methods of modeling and depicting light pollution. The case study sites are the campuses of the University of Arizona and Virginia Tech both located in the United States. The author has been collecting lighting data for both campuses for the past few years. At the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Arizona, high-resolution nighttime aerial photographs were taken using a helicopter. By compositing these images, the nightscape of the entire campus was represented. In contrast, the nightscape of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia was modeled using a completely different method. Lighting data from approximately 2,000 sampling points on a 10-meter grid were collected on the ground using light meters. Using the ArcGIS spatial analyst tool, a comprehensive picture of the campus nightscape was acquired. The nightscape modeling method used on the Virginia Tech campus proved to be quicker, simpler, and less expensive compared to the method used for the University of Arizona campus. Undergraduate students taking a land analysis course collected and analyzed the data and were able to model the nightscape inexpensively. Another advantage of the method used at Virginia Tech is the ability to collect data that is difficult to gather with aerial images, such as exact locations of light fixtures, surface materials used on the ground or on the buildings, proximity to buildings, existence of different types of vegetation, and overhanging trees.
Nanotransporters for anticancer drugs, modifications, target molecules

diagnostic and therapeutic aims creating a new category of nano particles called theranostics. The main expectations and challenges in this regard relate to nano-magnetic properties, received bioengineering methods, with potential used in the transport of drugs, particularly anticancer drugs used in therapy determined using molecular targets. Unique physicochemical properties of magnetic nanoparticles promise hope for the development of modern cancer nanomedicine, acting, inter alia, technological breakthrough in the area of targeted drug delivery and gene therapy of cancer using magnetic hyperthermia, tissue engineering, marking the tumor cells and the molecular magnetic resonance imaging. Nanotechnology in medicine and health care was initiated over forty years ago with deliverance of the first therapeutic and diagnostic agents in a safer and more efficient manner [1]. Convergention of diagnosis and therapy carried out through exploitation of nanoparNanotransporters for anticancer drugs, modifications, target molecules Pavel Kopel1, Dorota Wawrzak2, Amitava Moulick1, Vedran Milosavljevic1 and René Kizek1