Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Jasmonate-ZIM Domain Proteins Interact with the R2R3-MYB Transcription Factors MYB21 and MYB24 to Affect Jasmonate-Regulated Stamen Development in Arabidopsis[C][W]

Jasmonate is essential for diverse biological processes, including male fertility and plant defense in Arabidopsis. This work shows that the R2R3-MYB transcription factors MYB21 and MYB24 function as direct targets of JAZ proteins to mediate jasmonate-regulated stamen development. The Arabidopsis thaliana F-box protein CORONATINE INSENSITIVE1 (COI1) perceives jasmonate (JA) signals and subsequently targets the Jasmonate-ZIM domain proteins (JAZs) for degradation by the SCFCOI1-26S proteasome pathway to mediate various jasmonate-regulated processes, including fertility, root growth, anthocyanin accumulation, senescence, and defense. In this study, we screened JAZ-interacting proteins from an Arabidopsis cDNA library in the yeast two-hybrid system. MYB21 and MYB24, two R2R3-MYB transcription factors, were found to interact with JAZ1, JAZ8, and JAZ11 in yeast and in planta. Genetic and physiological experiments showed that the myb21 myb24 double mutant exhibited defects specifically in pollen maturation, anther dehiscence, and filament elongation leading to male sterility. Transgenic expression of MYB21 in the coi1-1 mutant was able to rescue male fertility partially but unable to recover JA-regulated root growth inhibition, anthocyanin accumulation, and plant defense. These results demonstrate that the R2R3-MYB transcription factors MYB21 and MYB24 function as direct targets of JAZs to regulate male fertility specifically. We speculate that JAZs interact with MYB21 and MYB24 to attenuate their transcriptional function; upon perception of JA signal, COI1 recruits JAZs to the SCFCOI1 complex for ubiquitination and degradation through the 26S proteasome; MYB21 and MYB24 are then released to activate expression of various genes essential for JA-regulated anther development and filament elongation.
The Economic Consequences Of Enso Events: The 1997-98 El Nino And The 1998-99 La Nina

Climate is the primary determinant of agricultural productivity. In many parts of the world, including the United States, one can trace much of the year-to-year variations in climate to the El Nino-Southern Oscillation phenomenon. In 1997-98 the world experienced a severe El event and this is being flowed by a strong 1998-99 La Nina. The work underlying this develops estimates of the economic consequences of these events on U.S. agriculture. Both phases result in economic damages -- a $1.5 to $1.7 billion loss for the El Nino and a $2.2 to $6.5 billion for La Nina. The major conclusion is that ENSO events do impose costs on agriculture and consumers.
Robust Execution of Plans for Human-Robot Teams

Humans and robots working together can efficiently complete tasks that are very difficult for either to accomplish alone. To collaborate fluidly, robots must recognize the humans' intentions and adapt to their actions appropriately. Pike is an online executive introduced previously in the literature that unifies intent recognition and plan adaptation for temporally flexible plans with choice. While successful at coordinating human-robot teams, Pike had limited robustness to temporal uncertainty about the durations of actions. This paper presents two extensions to Pike that make it much more robust to temporal uncertainty. First, we extend Pike to handle uncontrollable action durations by enforcing strong temporal controllability. We accomplish this by generalizing standard strong controllability algorithms for STNUs to plans with choice. Second, in case a realized duration exceeds even the specified bounds and makes the entire plan infeasible, we attempt to intelligently negotiate with a human to relax some of the temporal constraints and restore feasibility, rather than immediately failing and halting execution. This negotiation is guided by a state-of-the-art conflict directed relaxation algorithm, which has previously only been used offline.
BASE FLOW RECESSION RATES, LOW FLOWS, AND HYDROLOGIC FEATURES OF SMALL WATERSHEDS IN PENNSYLVANIA, USA 1

This paper examines the relationships between measurable watershed hydrologic features, base flow recession rates, and the Q7,10 low flow statistic (the annual minimum seven‐day average streamflow occurring once every 10 years on average). Base flow recession constants were determined by analyzing hydrograph recession data from 24 small (>130 km2), unregulated watersheds across five major physiographic provinces of Pennsylvania, providing a highly variable dataset. Geomorphic, hydrogeologic, and land use parameters were determined for each watershed. The base flow recession constant was found to be most strongly correlated to drainage density, geologic index, and ruggedness number (watershed slope); however, these three parameters are intercorrelated. Multiple regression models were developed for predicting the recession rate, and it was found that only two parameters, drainage density and hydrologic soil group, were required to obtain good estimates of the recession constant. Equations were also developed to relate the recession rates to Q7,10 per unit area, and to the Q7,10/Q50 ratio. Using these equations, estimates of base flow recession rates, Q7,10, and streamflow reduction under drought conditions can be made for small, ungaged basins across a wide range of physiography.
Blind Recognition of Touched Keys on Mobile Devices

In this paper, we introduce a novel computer vision based attack that automatically discloses inputs on a touch-enabled device while the attacker cannot see any text or popup in a video of the victim tapping on the touch screen. We carefully analyze the shadow formation around the fingertip, apply the optical flow, deformable part-based model (DPM), k-means clustering and other computer vision techniques to automatically locate the touched points. Planar homography is then applied to map the estimated touched points to a reference image of software keyboard keys. Recognition of passwords is extremely challenging given that no language model can be applied to correct estimated touched keys. Our threat model is that a webcam, smartphone or Google Glass is used for stealthy attack in scenarios such as conferences and similar gathering places. We address both cases of tapping with one finger and tapping with multiple fingers and two hands. Extensive experiments were performed to demonstrate the impact of this attack. The per-character (or per-digit) success rate is over 97% while the success rate of recognizing 4-character passcodes is more than 90%. Our work is the first to automatically and blindly recognize random passwords (or passcodes) typed on the touch screen of mobile devices with a very high success rate.
Optimizing the Thermal Read-Out Technique for MIP-Based Biomimetic Sensors: Towards Nanomolar Detection Limits

In previous work, the novel heat-transfer method (HTM) for the detection of small molecules with Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIP)-type receptors was presented. In this study we focus on optimization of this sensor performance, with as final aim to lower the detection limit by reducing the noise level. It was determined that the noise originates foremost from the power supply, which can be controlled by varying the PID parameters. Therefore, the effect of the individual parameters was evaluated by tuning P, I and D separately at a temperature of 37 °C, giving a first indication of the optimal configuration. Next, a temperature profile was programmed and the standard deviation of the heat-transfer resistance over the entire regime was studied for a set of parameters. The optimal configuration, P1-I6-D0, reduced the noise level with nearly a factor of three compared to the original parameters of P10-I5-D0. With the optimized settings, the detection of L-nicotine in buffer solutions was studied and the detection limit improved significantly from 100 nM to 35 nM. Summarizing, optimization of the PID parameters and thereby improving the detection limit is a key parameter for first applications of the HTM-method for MIP receptors in analytical research.
Performance evaluation of a peanut harvesting machine in Guilan province, Iran

The objective of this study is determination of the effect of soil moisture content, forward speed and conveyor slope on pods loss in peanut harvesting. For this purpose, the percent of exposed pods loss, unexposed pods loss, undug pods loss and damaged pods loss were obtained according to related standard. The results revealed the effect of soil moisture content and forward speed were significant on the pods different loss while, the effect of conveyor slope wasn’t significant for all variables. The Interaction effect of forward speed and soil moisture content was only significant on the percent of exposed pods loss. As a result of this study, the sensible reduction of the pods loss total is possible by reducing the unexposed pods loss that was only related to the soil moisture content. Thus, the soil moisture content in harvesting must be controlled. Also results were revealed the averages of exposed pods loss can decrease by using the minimum conveyor slope at the minimum forward speed and vice versa.
Dietary hypercholesterolemia aggravates contrast media-induced nephropathy.

BACKGROUND Contrast media administration can result in severe nephrotoxicity under pathological conditions such as diabetic nephropathy, congestive heart failure, dehydration, et al. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary hypercholesterolemia on contrast media-induced changes in renal function, blood flow, and histopathology. METHODS Rats were fed either on a normal rodent diet (group N) or a high-cholesterol supplemented diet (group H; 4% cholesterol and 1% cholic acid) for 8 weeks. Half of the animals (n = 6) from each diet group were then given a tail vein injection of 60% diatrizoate (6 ml/kg; group NC and group HC) and the other half were administered saline. Total serum cholesterol, triglyceride, serum creatinine, creatinine clearance rate, fractional excretion of sodium and potassium, and cortical nitric oxide production were determined one day following contrast media administration. Renal blood flow was determined by color Doppler flow imaging and pulsed-mode Doppler. Renal histopathology was observed by light microscopy. RESULTS Total serum cholesterol and resistance indices of renal blood vessels increased significantly, while creatinine clearance rate and production of nitric oxide in the renal cortex decreased markedly in group HC and group H when compared to group N and group NC. The creatinine clearance rate decreased significantly in group HC compared to group H. Serum creatinine levels and fractional excretion of sodium and potassium in group HC were significantly higher than those in the other three groups. Severe tubular degeneration and necrosis, protein cast accumulation, and medullary congestion were found in group HC. CONCLUSION Hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for contrast media-induced nephropathy. Hypercholesterolemia aggravates contrast media-induced nephrotoxicity through the reduced production of nitric oxide.
N2O emission in relation to plant and soil properties and yield of rice varieties

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Rainfed rice fields are considered to be a notable source of atmospheric N2O emission. To investigate the dynamics of N2O emission and the relationship of plant and soil properties with emission of N2O in rice, a field experiment was conducted. The five popularly grown rice varieties Luit, Disang, Kapilli, Siana and Phorma were grown in the fall season under rainfed conditions. N2O emission was measured at seven-day intervals starting from the day of transplanting for the whole crop growing season. We also measured soil parameters, e.g. soil pH, soil temperature, soil organic carbon, soil NO3−-N, and field water level; and plant growth parameters: root-shoot dry weight, root length and leaf area. Our results show that N2O emission from the plant varieties ranged from 1.24 μg to 379.40 μg N2O−N m−2 h−1. Seasonal N2O emission from the rice varieties ranged from 77 to 150 mg N2O−N m−2. Root dry weight, shoot dry weight, soil NO3−-N, root length, leaf area and field water showed relationships with N2O emission. Root and shoot weight, soil NO3−-N and field water were found to be the main factors influencing N2O emission. The varieties Phorma and Siana, with lower grain productivity but profuse vegetative growth, showed higher seasonal N2O emission.
Silurian volcanism in the central Welsh Borderland

Summary This study of Silurian volcanism considers three small intrusions near Bishop's Castle, Salop, as possible volcanic feeders. Acid magma intrusive into Silurian calcareous siltstones has resulted in microgranite dykes, hornsfelsed country rock and metasomatized breccia. The intrusions are of late Wenlock age or younger, but they are relatable to other Wenlock igneous rocks in the area, and are in contrast to nearby Carboniferous basaltic rocks.
Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) Transmission in Downlink Multi-cell NOMA Systems: Models and Spectral Efficiency Performance

We outline a general framework to use coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission technology in downlink multi-cell non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) systems considering distributed power allocation at each cell. In this framework, CoMP transmission is used for users experiencing strong receive-signals from multiple cells while each cell adopts NOMA for resource allocation to its active users. After a brief review of the working principles of different CoMP schemes, we identify their applicability and necessary conditions for their use in downlink multi-cell NOMA system. After that, we discuss different network scenarios with different spatial distributions of users and study the applicability of CoMP schemes in these network scenarios. To the end, a numerical performance evaluation is carried out for the proposed CoMP-NOMA systems and the results are compared with those for conventional orthogonal multiple access (OMA)-based CoMP systems. The numerical results quantify the spectral efficiency gain of the proposed CoMP-NOMA models over CoMP-OMA. Finally, we conclude this article by identifying the potential major challenges in implementing CoMP-NOMA in future cellular systems.
An Operational Application of Automatic Feature Extraction: The Measurement of Cracks in Concrete Structures

An understanding of the evolution of cracks in concrete structures due to long term natural deformation is important to civil engineers, but quantitative measurements can be difficult to make. However, digital imaging offers a potential solution. This short paper illustrates the operational application of automated image processing techniques for accurate, multi‐temporal crack measurements. The first part of this paper provides an overview of automatic feature extraction, essential for automatic crack detection. The latter part describes the methods developed for detecting and measuring cracks. Due to the long term nature of the application, operational results have yet to be finalised, although sample results are presented
Making your semantic application addictive: incentivizing users!

Since many semantic content creation methods and initiatives have been developed, a fully automatic process cannot be implemented. As a consequence, many application designers are interested in the question of how to motivate users to become a part of this endeavor, compensating the limitations of purely machine-driven content creation techniques. Methods from areas as diverse as community support, participation management, usability engineering, mechanism design, and social computing, can be applied to analyze semantically enabled applications, and design incentivized variants thereof. Building on top of these theories, we revisit fundamental design issues of semantic-content authoring technology focusing on the identification of a set of incentives that drives people to contribute, and on the ways such incentives can be translated into guidelines for technology and application designers. In order to show some best practices that designers should take into account encouraging large-scale user participation in semantic applications, we describe an experiment conducted with students of the Poznan University of Economics. Following the empirical findings and insights gained during the experimental operations, we propose some general guidelines, which provide software developers with a baseline to create semantics-based technologies and end-user applications that are not just functional, but facilitate and encourage user participation.
DNA metabarcoding illuminates dietary niche partitioning by African large herbivores

Significance Theory holds that sympatric large mammalian herbivores (LMH) must partition food resources to coexist, and traditional frameworks categorize LMH along a spectrum from grass-eating grazers to non–grass-eating browsers. Yet it has never been clear how finely LMH partition the enormous species diversity subsumed within these two broad plant types. By sequencing plant DNA from LMH fecal samples, we analyzed the diets of an LMH assemblage in Kenya. Diet composition was similar within species and strongly divergent across species, irrespective of feeding guild: Grazers ate similar total amounts of grass but different suites of grass species. These results suggest that species-specific plant traits may be key to understanding the dietary differences thought to underpin LMH diversity. Niche partitioning facilitates species coexistence in a world of limited resources, thereby enriching biodiversity. For decades, biologists have sought to understand how diverse assemblages of large mammalian herbivores (LMH) partition food resources. Several complementary mechanisms have been identified, including differential consumption of grasses versus nongrasses and spatiotemporal stratification in use of different parts of the same plant. However, the extent to which LMH partition food-plant species is largely unknown because comprehensive species-level identification is prohibitively difficult with traditional methods. We used DNA metabarcoding to quantify diet breadth, composition, and overlap for seven abundant LMH species (six wild, one domestic) in semiarid African savanna. These species ranged from almost-exclusive grazers to almost-exclusive browsers: Grass consumption inferred from mean sequence relative read abundance (RRA) ranged from >99% (plains zebra) to <1% (dik-dik). Grass RRA was highly correlated with isotopic estimates of % grass consumption, indicating that RRA conveys reliable quantitative information about consumption. Dietary overlap was greatest between species that were similar in body size and proportional grass consumption. Nonetheless, diet composition differed between all species—even pairs of grazers matched in size, digestive physiology, and location—and dietary similarity was sometimes greater across grazing and browsing guilds than within them. Such taxonomically fine-grained diet partitioning suggests that coarse trophic categorizations may generate misleading conclusions about competition and coexistence in LMH assemblages, and that LMH diversity may be more tightly linked to plant diversity than is currently recognized.
An imported dengue fever case by dengue virus 3 (DENV-3) infection in Gunma, Japan.

Yukio Morita*, Hayato Kogure, Mitsuru Sandoh, Gihei Kawashima, Yoshitake Sato, Sadao Nanba, Yoshihiro Shoda, Tomoyuki Suzuki, Masataka Shiono, Masae Shiobara, Masahiko Kato, Kunihisa Kozawa, Masahiro Noda, Nobuhiko Okabe and Hirokazu Kimura Gunma Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences; Department of Internal Medicine, General Ota Hospital, Society of Health Insurance of Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd.; Gunma Prefectural Ota Public Health Center, Gunma; and Department of Virology III and Infectious Disease Surveillance Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan
Speech Identification using GFCC, Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) and Wavelet Filter

his paper deals with the identification of speakers identity from the given set of values of speech from the database. The major problem during the identification of speech is noisy environment which degrades the system performance during its mismatch. So one can say identification using speaker recognition is the vital issue in research. This paper tells about the various used techniques like GFCC i.e. Gamma tone Frequency Cepstral Coefficients as its speech detection algorithm and Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to estimate the Gaussian model parameters. This paper basically focuses on improvement of speech identification in noisy environment using Wavelet filter which are added to de-noise the speech signals. These techniques are applied on store value of databases in Attendance system application. and the features of the speech are then matched from the database. Experiment are done 15 speech values saying phrases "Present Mam","Present sir","Yes mam","Yes sir"with 4 types of utterance for each phase. This Experiment shows better results for stored database oriented system and gives 85% of the correct recognition rate i.e. CORR and 73% results are given when wavelet filter are not used .
Approaches on the invasive alien taxa in Romania - Ambrosia artemisiifolia (ragweed) II.

In a previous paper we presented the localities in Romania where we identified populations of Ambrosia artemisiifolia. Between 2008! 2011, investigations were continuing. Our data clearly show that Ambrosia is present throughout the country. The territories heavily infested are railway embankments, along traffic routes, gravel pits, building sites, forest edges, industrial areas, cemeteries and recreational areas. It is quite common to find ragweed in many private gardens, or flower pots in urban areas. The few foci observed along riversides got there by household waste and construction waste. In many rural communities find it on the drainage ditches. Disturbed and neglected land (on city limits and outside the city), abandonment of land without subsequent turning of stubble and another wrong agricultural practice, absence of ruderal weed control are the main causes that favor the dissemination of our country. Intensity of anthropogenic influence is manifested mainly by transport of materials and soil movement during road rehabilitation and construction of highways. The recent observations show that could be expected to appear on agricultural fields, now being found only on the outskirts of cultivated land, at 5! 6 meters from high traffic roads. Ambrosia ben efits from human activities to spread. This implies a strong control strategy. The main objective of the fighting activities need to be to reduce damages caused by its pollen and to limit its expansion. If invasion by Ambrosia is left uncontrolled, increase of allergies could heavily augment the treatments. Knowledge about mechanical or chemical control of ragweed could be very important for road and rail services, agricultural institutions, farmers, staff responsible for managing natural areas, institutions that approves and oversees residential sites and factories, responsible personnel of the administrations from cities and rural localities. Reducing the population is more required than simply reducing its biomass. Individual measures often do not solve the real problem. In Timisoara, the fight against such a quarantine organism became in fact obligatory by administrative decision in 2007. A. artemisiifolia has been fought by grubbing and repeated cutting (in parks, along the main roads). This taxa respond to the cutting by producing more secondary branches. Under these conditions we determined and compared several eco! physiological parameters. SLA and SLW are good indicators of leaf toughness. LWL is useful measure of the physiological water status of plants. Leaves of Ambrosia are highly plastic in response to their growing conditions, varying greatly in morphology, anatomy and physiology.