Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Macrophytes as biological indicators of organic pollution in the Lepenci River Basin in Kosovo

Abstract Macrophytes represent one part of the biological quality elements defined by the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) as ‘macrophytes and phytobenthos’. The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of ecological status classification by the use of macrophytes for lowland rivers with different habitat conditions, corresponding to EWFD requirements. The classification of water quality is based on the Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs) which is proposed for the purpose of macrophyte-based classification for the WFD. To determine the ecological quality ratio, we calculated the following indices: River Macrophyte Nutrient Index (RMNI), River Macrophyte Hydraulic Index (RMHI), Macrophyte Index for Rivers (MIR), Number of macrophyte taxa which are not helophytes (NTAXA). Water sources that supply Lepenci River are located in alpine and subalpine areas of the Sharri mountain, which are considered as ecologically clean. Our results show that the water in spring area is clean but as a result of the anthropogenic activities downstream, the river becomes polluted by different pollution substances. This fact is also confirmed by the presence or absence of macrophytes that we used in this work as a biological indicator of water pollution. River Macrophyte Hydraulic Index (RMHI), has shown the highest value at SP6-Gërlicë, with a value of 8.74 that classifies this station downstream the river as the most polluted. The water flow velocity in this station is smooth and as such it is characterized with Macrophyte species associated with this type of water flow. According to the assessment of ecological status with RMNI index, the stations SP7-Kaçanik and SP8-Hani i Elezit, have good water quality and high ecological status and belong to first class (I), whereas the station with poorest water quality (fourth class) and poorest ecological status is rated SP5-Nikë. MIR index classify the quality of water as very good at S8-Hani i Elezit, whereas the values of this index at stations S5-Nikë and S6- Gërlicë indicate the bad water quality and poor ecological status. The largest number of macrophyte species that were not heliophytes was recorded in SP8-Hani i Elezit. We can conclude that the presence of macrophyte species in river varies from nutrient levels in water. Our results show that values of macrophyte based indices reflect the water quality in sampling stations therefore we can consider them as a reliable instrument for the assessment of the ecological status of the rivers.
Olive oil quality influenced by biostimulant foliar fertilizers

Foliar fertilization has been used as an important tool to meet the tree nutrient demand and to be an environmental beneficial with the use of little quantities. Actually modern fruit trees physiology is focused on the stimulation of plant cell development and fruit production using biostimulants. In olive trees, few products have been used for improving oil quality. For this purpose, two biostimulants products have been tested and used simple or combined with a third product rich in nitrogen. The treatments were classified to: T1 (rich in nitrogen) and biostimulants treatments as following T2 (combination of boron, magnesium, sulfur and manganese associated with seaweed) TNi (biostimulant combining a protein extract with a calcium base), T12 (combined application of T1 and T2) and finally T12Ni (combined application of T1, T2 and TNi) with a control treatment CON (without foliar fertilization). All these foliar nutrients were sprayed during two successive years on trees issued of Chemlali cultivar cultivated in rain-fed conditions of central Tunisia. Biochemical parameters of the olive oil, like physiochemical characteristics, fatty acid profile total polyphenols, ortho-diphenols, chlorophyllic and carotenoids pigments were analyzed annually after the application of these foliar compounds. All the olive oils issued from the treatments were classified as extra virgin and the physiochemical parameters were sensitive to foliar fertilization except for some parameters. Quantitative changes were observed in the pool of the fatty acids composition and the treatment TNi (rich in Received November 21, 2019 Accepted March 11, 2020 Available on line on March 20, 2020 Released April 30, 2020
Tourist expectation and satisfaction towards pedestrian walkway in Georgetown, a World Heritage Site

Recently, many cities in the world have incorporating walkability as a distinctive feature towards becoming a walkable tourism destination. A high-quality walkable environment has been greatly demanded by pedestrian use as it assures a sense of comfort and safety. In the context of Malaysia, the walkability concept is mostly applicable to any tourism places or the capital of a state long recognized as an urban heritage site. Despite this, there has been little research done in terms of the relationship between tourist expectation and tourist satisfaction towards walkability particularly in Georgetown, which is a World Heritage Site. The main objective of the study was to determine the relationship between tourist expectation and tourist satisfaction towards the existing pedestrian walkway in Georgetown. Research data were gathered via fieldwork observation and an online survey, whereby questionnaires were have distributed to 150 respondents made up of tourists who experienced walking in the study area. The outcomes demonstrated that tourist expectation in terms of the spatial features of the pedestrian walkway was relatively greater than tourist satisfaction. Hence, the findings of the study will be very useful for urban city planners in incorporating walkability to enhance the walking experience within the city.
Data-Driven Wind Speed Estimation Using Multiple Microphones

A deep neural network (DNN) based approach for estimating the speed of airflows using closely-spaced microphones is proposed. The spatial characteristics of wind noise measured with a smallaperture array are exploited, i.e., the low-frequency spatial coherence of wind noise signals is used as an input feature. The output is an estimate of the wind speed averaged over a specific time interval. The DNN is trained using synthetic wind noise, which overcomes the time-consuming data collection and allows to isolate wind noise from different acoustic sources. The dataset used for testing comprises wind noise measured outdoors with a circular linear array and a ground truth obtained using an ultrasonic anemometer. The obtained model is applied to generated and measured wind noise. The performance of the proposed method is assessed across a wide range of wind speeds and directions, using different time resolutions.
EFFECT OF DENSITY AND DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GREEN TEA ON PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE, AND SOME BLOOD BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF QUAIL

This research was conducted at the farm of the Animal Production Department/ College of Agriculture and Forestry/University of Mosul. A total of 624 unsexed quail birds (149 days) were randomly distributed in cages as follows: The 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th groups were included 44 birds/m 2 and they were fed a standard diet supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% green tea respectively. The 5 th , 6 th , 7 th , and 8 th groups were included 52 birds/m 2 and they were fed a standard diet supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% green tea respectively. The 9 th , 10 th , 11 th , and 12 th groups were included 60 birds/m 2 and they were fed a standard diet supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% green tea respectively. The results show a significant increase in live body weight, weight gain, improvement in feed conversion, production index and factor and albumen concentration within density 44 bird/m 2 . The same results were occurred, in addition to the decrease in cholesterol and triglycerides concentration, when adding the 1.5% green tea, while the feed consumption, mortality%, glucose, protein, lipid profile parameters, GOT, and GPT were decreased significantly (p≤0.05) in the same density and in the same level of adding tea that mentioned before. In the interaction between density and adding green tea, green tea traits improved most of the characters within the same density as compared with treatments without adding green tea.
The Prince William Sound Plankton Camera: a profiling in situ observatory of plankton and particulates

A novel plankton imager was developed and deployed aboard a profiling mooring in Prince William Sound in 2016–2018. The imager consisted of a 12-MP camera and a 0.137× telecentric lens, along with darkfield illumination produced by an in-line ring/condenser lens system. Just under 2.5 × 106 images were collected during 3 years of deployments. A subset of almost 2 × 104 images was manually identified into 43 unique classes, and a hybrid convolutional neural network classifier was developed and trained to identify the images. Classification accuracy varied among the different classes, and applying thresholds to the output of the neural network (interpretable as probabilities or classifier confidence), improved classification accuracy in non-ambiguous groups to between 80% and 100%.
Myotis ikonnikovi (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) and its relationships with similar species

Features characteristic for Myotis ikonnikovi are examined; the braincase shape, the baculum construction, and the location of the upper canine grooves are the most useful characters for its diagnostics. Recognition of mystacinus' and muricola' species groups is proposed, based on dental characters. Myotis mystacinus fujiensis Imaizumi, 1954 is recognised as a junior synonym of M. ikonnikovi Ognev, 1912.
Comparison of Allometric Equation and Destructive Measurement of Carbon Storage of Naturally Regenerated Understory in a Pinus rigida Plantation in South Korea

The forest understory plays an important role in the carbon and nutrient cycling and forest stability, but cost-efficient quantification of its biomass remains challenging. Most of the existing biomass allometric equations have been developed and designed only for mature forest trees (i.e., Diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 10 cm), and those for trees with DBH less than 10 cm are not readily available. In this study, we compared the biomass by plant component (i.e., foliage, branch, and stem) measured by a destructive method with those estimated by the existing biomass allometric equations for understory trees with DBH less than 10 cm in a Pinus rigida plantation. We also developed an allometric biomass equation for the identified understory tree species, namely, Quercus variabilis, Quercus acutissima, Quercus mongolica, Quercus serrata, and Carpinus laxiflora. The estimated biomass using allometric equations for foliage, branch, and stem was lower than the values obtained using the destructive method by 64%, 41%, and 18%, respectively. The biomass allometric equations developed in this study showed high coefficients of determination (mean R2 = 0.970) but varied depending on species and tree part (range: 0.824–0.984 for foliage, 0.825–0.952 for branch, and 0.884–0.999 for the stem, respectively). The computed biomass of the understory vegetation was 22.9 Mg ha−1, representing 12.0% of the total biomass of the P. rigida plantation. The present study demonstrates that understory trees with DBH less than 10 cm account for a considerable portion of carbon stock in forest ecosystems, and therefore suggests that more biomass allometric equations should be optimized for small-DBH trees to improve forest carbon stock estimation.
Real Values of Local Resistance Coefficients during Water Flow through Welded Polypropylene T-Junctions

The paper presents results of investigation of the local resistance coefficient ζ in welded polypropylene T-junctions with the internal diameter 13.2 mm. The investigations were performed on an independently constructed test rig. The scope of investigations encompassed the T-junctions, which were (1) properly warmed up and properly pressed, (2) poorly warmed up and poorly pressed, or (3) excessively warmed up and excessively pressed. The local resistance coefficients ζ determined by measurements according to the standard PN-EN 1267:2012(Designation of the Polish Standard) were compared to those determined with use of the nomograms recommended for designing water supply systems and installations. Real values of the coefficients ζ, obtained in measurements were significantly higher than those read from the nomograms. The local resistance coefficients ζ in welded polypropylene T-junctions depend on water flow velocity and the manufacturing precision of a T-junction joint.
Prevalence of HIV among Patients Patronizing a Private Laboratory in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria

This study was carried out to detect the presence of HIV-1/2 antibodies among patients patronizing Healthwise laboratories in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Two hundred subjects (74 males and 126 females) were used in this study. Samples of blood were collected randomly from Healthwise Laboratories Limited, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. The samples were collected and processed using standard laboratories procedures. Determine® HIV-1/2 Test cards, Global® HIV-1/2 kits and fourth-generation ELISA-based kits were used in a stepwise order for the detection of HIV-1 and HIV-2 in the blood. The overall prevalence rate of HIV-1/2 was 6.5%. Higher prevalence of HIV was found in the age group 10 years and above (6.6%) and in males (8.1%). Two risk factors (age and gender) relevant to the transmission of HIV were considered. None of the two risk factors seemed to be significantly associated (P > 0.05) with the prevalence of HIV-1/2 antibodies amongst the study population. The present study however, long-established the occurrence of HIV-1 and 2 antibodies in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. HIV can affect all age groups, both males and females. This calls for more concerted HIV prevention and awareness efforts in the state. Intensive health education campaigns and training on HIV prevention and control are advocated.
Recent Advances in Silica Glass Optical Fiber for Dosimetry Applications

In this paper, we review the highly promising silica glass, fabricated as doped and undoped optical fiber for intended use in radiation dosimetry. The dosimetry techniques reviewed here, underpinned by intrinsic and extrinsic defects in silica glass, focus on Thermoluminescence (TL), Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and Radioluminescence (RL), with occasional references to the much more established Radiation Induced Attenuation (RIA). The other focus in this review is on the various materials that have been reported earlier as dopants and modifiers used in silica glass optical fiber radiation dosimeters. This article also elaborates on recently reported optical fiber structures, namely, cylindrical fibers, photonic crystal fibers and flat fibers, as well as dimensions and shapes used for optimization of dosimeter performance. The various types of optical fiber radiation dosimeters are subsequently reviewed for various applications ranging from medical dosimetry such as in external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy and diagnostic imaging, as well as in industrial processing and space dosimetry covering a dynamic dose range from μGy to kGy. Investigated dosimetric characteristics include reproducibility, fading, dose response, reciprocity between luminescence yield to dose-rate and energy dependence. The review is completed by a brief discussion on limitations and future developments in optical fiber radiation dosimetry.
HEEL: A new clustering method to improve wireless sensor network lifetime

In wireless sensor networks, some resources such as memory and energy are limited. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in improving network lifetime. Node energy plays an important role in the network lifetime. Along with this remarkable growth in wireless sensor networks, however, there is an increasing concern over network lifetime. The principal purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of the effects of other parameters on selecting a cluster head. The methodological approach taken in this study is a mixed methodology typically based on the node's energy. The authors have operated four parameters to select the cluster head: Node energy, the energy of the node's neighbours, number of hops and number of links to neighbours. Each of these parameters has an impact in selecting the cluster head. They accurately observed hop size, energy of each sensor node, average energy of sensor neighbours, links to sensor nodes (HEEL) has better improvements in comparison of Node ranked Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (Nr-LEACH), Modified Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (ModLEACH), Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy-B (LEACH-B), Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), Power-Efficient Gathering in Sensor Information System (PEGASIS), energy-aware clustering scheme with transmission power control for sensor networks (EACLE) and hybrid energy efficient distributed clustering (HEED) algorithms in possible case of network lifetime and throughput.
Quelles plantes hôtes pour le Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus ? : Virus de la tomate

Le TYLCV affecte principalement la tomate, mais egalement d'autres especes cultivees (piment, haricot, tabac, lisianthus, etc.). Certaines adventices tres repandues, notamment en France, qui expriment ou non des symptomes, peuvent jouer un role de reservoir (morelle noire, datura, mauves). Cet article fait le point sur les hotes naturels (11 especes) et experimentaux (30 especes) du TYLCV, d'apres les donnees bibliographiques concernant 104 especes appartenant a 24 familles dicotyledones.
Microsurgical Resection of Intracranial Dermoid and Epidermoid Tumors

Objective: To Ascertain the outcome of microsurgical resection of intracranial dermoid and epidermoid tumors. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was carried out in Neurosurgical Department, Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Peshawar and followed for 3 years after microsurgical resection. All the patients with suspected intracranial Dermoid and epidermoid tumors (IDETs) on imaging study pre-operatively and later confirmed postoperatively (after histopathology) were enrolled. Patients having recurrent tumor, opting for nonsurgical management and those deem unfit for surgery were not included in the study. Results: 27 patients were included in the study with 12 (44.4%) males and 15 (56.6%) female. Age of the patients rangefrom 11 to 58 years.Mean age was 38.6 years. Epidermoid tumors were 19 (70.3%) in number and dermoid 8 (29.7%) in number. The most common presentation was increased intracranial pressure (ICP) and cranial nerve deficit. The lesion was located in infratentorial location in 15 (56.6%) patients, 12(44.4%) were supratentorialy located. Gross total removal (GTR) was performed in 21 (77.8%) patients, while in six patients (22.2%) subtotal removal (STR) was attempted. 1 (3.7%) patient died while 2 (7.4%) patients had permanent morbidity post operatively, all other patients (89%) improved. Recurrence occurred in 9.5% of GTR patients while in STR patients, 33.3% patients were noted with increase in residual tumor on neuroimaging. Conclusion: Microsurgical resection with GTR is possible for most IDET and gives good results with minimal complications.
Plant damage in urban agroecosystems varies with local and landscape factors

Biotic and abiotic factors at local to landscape scales in ﬂ uence insect pest and disease dynamics in agricultural systems. However, relative to studies focused on the importance of these drivers of crop plant damage in rural agricultural systems, few studies investigate plant damage from herbivore insects and plant diseases in urban agroecosystems, and consequently, most urban farmers lack knowledge on crop protection tactics. Here we use three common crop species within urban agroecosystems (community gardens) distributed across an urban landscape as a model system to ask how local, landscape, and microclimate factors relate to herbivore and disease plant damage. We hypothesized that plant damage would be lower in gardens with greater local vegetation complexity, landscape ‐ scale complexity, and less variable temperatures, but that the importance of factors is species ‐ and damage ‐ speci ﬁ c. By measuring Brassica , cucurbit, and tomato insect pest and disease damage across the growing season, we con ﬁ rmed that the importance of factors varies with crop species and by damage type. Both local complexity factors (e.g., number of trees and shrubs) and landscape complexity (percent natural cover in the landscape) relate to lower incidence of herbivore and disease damage on some crops, supporting our prediction that habitat heterogeneity at both local and landscape scales lowers plant damage. Greater temperature variability related to higher disease damage on tomatoes linking microclimate factors to disease prevalence. Yet, local complexity factors also related to higher incidence of plant damage for other crop species, indicating variable species ‐ level impacts of local management factors on plant damage. By measuring the abundance of fungus ‐ feeding lady beetles ( Psyllobora ) on cucurbits, we con ﬁ rmed a strong association between natural enemies and powdery mildew. We provide a case study on how changes in local to landscape ‐ scale factors relate to plant damage in urban agroecosystems and suggest how urban farmers and gardeners can apply this ecological knowledge to improve sustainable urban food production.
Weakly Supervised Crowd-Wise Attention For Robust Crowd Counting

Due to a wide range of various application scenes, robust crowd counting is still quite difficult and the performance is far from being satisfied. In this paper, we propose a novel robust crowd counting method by introducing a weakly supervised crowd-wise attention network. The proposed work improves the counting accuracy and robustness by: i) Weakly-supervised crowd segmentation. With a generated segmentation label using motion-guided region-growth, both the appearance feature of one-labeled image and motion features abstracted from its adjacent unlabeled frames, are combined to implement weakly supervised crowd region segmentation, with which active crowd region can be finely perceived from different background disturbances. ii) More accurate spatial attention. We generate a spatial attention map based on the active crowd segmentation, which is used to reweigh the appearance feature to achieve attention-based density estimation. Evaluation of the widely used World Expo’ 10 dataset shows that the proposed work can achieve state-of-the-art performance on both accuracy and robustness.