Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic sex detection of individuals of Ceratitis capitata by means of computer vision in a biofactory.

BACKGROUND The sterile insect technique (SIT) is acknowledged around the world as an effective method for biological pest control of Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann). Sterile insects are produced in biofactories where one key issue is the selection of the progenitors that have to transmit specific genetic characteristics. Recombinant individuals must be removed as this colony is renewed. Nowadays, this task is performed manually, in a process that is extremely slow, painstaking and labour intensive, in which the sex of individuals must be identified. The paper explores the possibility of using vision sensors and pattern recognition algorithms for automated detection of recombinants. RESULTS An automatic system is proposed and tested to inspect individual specimens of C. capitata using machine vision. It includes a backlighting system and image processing algorithms for determining the sex of live flies in five high-resolution images of each insect. The system is capable of identifying the sex of the flies by means of a program that analyses the contour of the abdomen, using fast Fourier transform features, to detect the presence of the ovipositor. Moreover, it can find the characteristic spatulate setae of males. Simulation tests with 1000 insects (5000 images) had 100% success in identifying male flies, with an error rate of 0.6% for female flies. CONCLUSION This work establishes the basis for building a machine for the automatic detection and removal of recombinant individuals in the selection of progenitors for biofactories, which would have huge benefits for SIT around the globe.
Low resolution tool tracking for microsurgical training in a simulated environment

In this work, we propose a method that detects and tracks the tip of tools used in microsurgical training. This method can be used to provide valuable metrics regarding the surgeon's hand movement. It can benefit the training of surgeons, given the steep learning curve in microsurgery. Unlike past research, our tool tracking algorithm does not rely on color based measurements. Thus, it can be used in a broader domain. Also, our approach is robust to surrounding environments with non-static background, where background subtraction techniques are not suitable. Experimental results show that the proposed tool localization method has high accuracy and is statistically reliable.
Draft Genome Sequence of Clostridium sp. Maddingley, Isolated from Coal-Seam Gas Formation Water

ABSTRACT Clostridium sp. Maddingley was isolated as an axenic culture from a brown coal-seam formation water sample collected from Victoria, Australia. It lacks the solventogenesis genes found in closely related clostridial strains. Metabolic reconstructions suggest that volatile fatty acids are the main fermentation end products.
Enhanced effect of gap junction uncouplers on macroscopic electrical properties of reperfused myocardium

Transient inhibition of gap junction (GJ)‐mediated communication with heptanol during myocardial reperfusion limits infarct size. However, inhibition of cell coupling in normal myocardium may be arrhythmogenic. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the consequences of GJ inhibition may be magnified in reperfused myocardium compared with normal tissue, thus allowing the inhibition of GJs in reperfused tissue while only minimally modifying overall macroscopic cell coupling in normal myocardium. Concentration–response curves were defined for the effects of heptanol, 18α‐glycyrrhetinic acid, halothane, and palmitoleic acid on conduction velocity, tissue electrical impedance, developed tension and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release in normoxically perfused rat hearts (n= 17). Concentrations lacking significant effects on tissue impedance were added during the initial 15 min of reperfusion in hearts submitted to 60 min (n= 43) or 30 min (n= 35) of ischaemia. These concentrations markedly increased myocardial electrical impedance (resistivity and phase angle) in myocardium reperfused after either 30 or 60 min of ischaemia, and reduced reperfusion‐induced LDH release after 1 h of ischaemia by 83.6, 57.9, 51.7 and 52.5% for heptanol, 18α‐glycyrrhetinic acid, halothane and palmitoleic acid, respectively. LDH release was minimal in hearts submitted to 30 min of ischaemia, independently of group allocation. In conclusion, the present results strongly support the hypothesis that intercellular communication in postischaemic myocardium may be effectively reduced by concentrations of GJ inhibitors affecting only minimally overall electrical impedance in normal myocardium. Reduction of cell coupling during initial reperfusion was consistently associated with attenuated lethal reperfusion injury.
The nexus between nationally determined contributions and technology needs assessments: a global analysis

ABSTRACT The role of technology in combatting climate change through mitigation and adaptation to its inevitable impacts has been acknowledged and highlighted by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In the developing world, this has received particular attention through the technology needs assessment (TNA) process. As Parties put forward their national pledges to combat climate change, the scarcity of resources makes it important to assess (i) whether national processes designed to tackle climate change are working together and (ii) whether existing national processes should be terminated with the initiation of new ones. This study presents an assessment of the existing TNA process and its linkages to the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. The conclusions stem from an assessment of the TNAs completed to date, as well as 71 NDCs from developing countries at various stages of the TNA process. The analyses show that further developing the TNAs could play a vital role in filling gaps in the existing NDCs, specifically those relating to identifying appropriate technologies, their required enabling framework conditions and preparing implementation plans for their transfer and diffusion. Key policy insights The full potential of the TNAs has still to be rolled out in many countries. Developing countries can maximize the potential of their TNAs by further developing them to explicitly analyse what is needed to implement existing NDCs, including by better aligning their focus, scope and up-to-dateness with the priority sectors included in the NDCs. Requests of developing countries for international assistance, through technology transfer, will be better guided by the completion of the TNA process. Policies for strengthening the NDCs will benefit from the results of completed, ongoing and future TNA processes.
Genomic selection of crossing partners on basis of the expected mean and variance of their derived lines

In a line or a hybrid breeding program superior lines are selected from a breeding pool as parental lines for the next breeding cycle. From a cross of two parental lines, new lines are derived by single-seed descent (SSD) or doubled haploid (DH) technology. However, not all possible crosses between the parental lines can be carried out due to limited resources. Our objectives were to present formulas to characterize a cross by the mean and variance of the genotypic values of the lines derived from the cross, and to apply the formulas to predict means and variances of flowering time traits in recombinant inbred line families of a publicly available data set in maize. We derived formulas which are based on the expected linkage disequilibrium (LD) between two loci and which can be used for arbitrary mating systems. Results were worked out for SSD and DH lines derived from a cross after an arbitrary number of intermating generations. The means and variances were highly correlated with results obtained by the simulation software PopVar. Compared with these simulations, computation time for our closed formulas was about ten times faster. The means and variances for flowering time traits observed in the recombinant inbred line families of the investigated data set showed correlations of around 0.9 for the means and of 0.46 and 0.65 for the standard deviations with the estimated values. We conclude that our results provide a framework that can be exploited to increase the efficiency of hybrid and line breeding programs by extending genomic selection approaches to the selection of crossing partners.
Nearspace vehicle control based on RBFNN

With the assumption that NSV suffers the violent changes of aerodynamic paameters and the outside disturbance in hypersonic condition, we present the integrator backstepping approach based on fully tuned radial basis function neural network (FTRBFNN). The strict proof of the approach's stability is provided simutanously. The performance analysis for the approach demonstrate that the FTRBFNN has better ability of restaining disturbance than RBFNN, and the integrator term in backstepping approach eliminate the static traking error efficiently.
The Development of Social Capital Through International Students’ Involvement in Campus Organizations

This study examines campus organization involvement as a mechanism for social capital development. Researchers used analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine variations in network size, strength, and composition for international students involved in different types of campus organizations. The researchers also examined the relationship of campus organization involvement to international students’ sense of attachment to the university. Students who participated in major-based organizations or leadership programs had larger, less dense, more diverse networks that lead to social networks which are particularly advantageous to social mobility. Students who participated in campus organizations related to their own cultural heritage had networks built of friends from all cultures, creating a greater sense of belonging and attachment to the university. Implications of social capital for practice and future research are discussed.
Role of mitochondria biogenesis in the metabolic memory associated with the continued progression of diabetic retinopathy and its regulation by lipoic acid.

PURPOSE Termination of hyperglycemia does not arrest the progression of diabetic retinopathy, and retinal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) remains damaged, resulting in a continuous cycle of mitochondrial dysfunction. This study is to investigate the role of mitochondria biogenesis (regulated by nuclear mitochondrial signaling) in the metabolic memory phenomenon. METHODS Mitochondria DNA copy number, functional integrity, and biogenesis (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α [PGC1], nuclear respiratory factor 1 [NRF1], mitochondrial transcriptional factor [TFAM]) were analyzed in the retina from streptozotocin-diabetic rats maintained in poor or good control for 12 months (PC and GC respectively), or in PC for 6 months followed by 6 months of GC (Rev). The effect of direct inhibition of superoxide on prior insult was investigated by supplementing lipoic acid (LA) during their 6 months of GC (R+LA). Binding of TFAM with chaperones (heat shock proteins 70 and 60, Hsp70 and Hsp60 respectively) was quantified by coimmunoprecipitation. The key parameters and the number of mitochondria (by transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy) were confirmed in isolated retinal endothelial cells. RESULTS Six months of GC in the rats in Rev group did not provide any benefit to diabetes-induced decreased mtDNA copy number, increased gene transcripts of PGC1, NRF1, and TFAM, and decreased mitochondrial TFAM. The binding of TFAM with the chaperones remained subnormal. Supplementation of LA (R+LA), however, had a significant beneficial effect on the impaired mitochondria biogenesis, and also on the continued progression of diabetic retinopathy. Similar results of reversal of high glucose insult were observed in isolated retinal endothelial cells. CONCLUSIONS Dysregulated mitochondria biogenesis contributes to the metabolic memory, and supplementation of GC with therapies targeted in modulating mitochondria homeostasis has potential in helping diabetic patients retard progression of retinopathy.
The determinants of exchange rates and the movements of EUR/RON exchange rate via non-linear stochastic processes

Abstract Modeling exchange rate volatility became an important topic for research debate starting with 1973, when many countries switched to floating exchange rate system. In this paper, we focus on the EUR/RON exchange rate both as an economic measure and present the implied economic links, and also as a financial investment and analyze its movements and fluctuations through two volatility stochastic processes: the Standard Generalized Autoregressive Conditionally Heteroscedastic Model (GARCH) and the Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditionally Heteroscedastic Model (EGARCH). The objective of the conditional variance processes is to capture dependency in the return series of the EUR/RON exchange rate. On this account, analyzing exchange rates could be seen as the input for economic decisions regarding Romanian macroeconomics - the exchange rates being influenced by many factors such as: interest rates, inflation, trading relationships with other countries (imports and exports), or investments - portfolio optimization, risk management, asset pricing. Therefore, we talk about political stability and economic performance of a country that represents a link between the two types of inputs mentioned above and influences both the macroeconomics and the investments. Based on time-varying volatility, we examine implied volatility of daily returns of EUR/RON exchange rate using the standard GARCH model and the asymmetric EGARCH model, whose parameters are estimated through the maximum likelihood method and the error terms follow two distributions (Normal and Student’s t). The empirical results show EGARCH(2,1) with Asymmetric order 2 and Student’s t error terms distribution performs better than all the estimated standard GARCH models (GARCH(1,1), GARCH(1,2), GARCH(2,1) and GARCH(2,2)). This conclusion is supported by the major advantage of the EGARCH model compared to the GARCH model which consists in allowing good and bad news having different impact on the volatility. The EGARCH model is able to model volatility clustering, persistence, as well as the leverage effect.
Organizational Transparency and Power in Firm Ownership Networks

Abstract When public institutions do not support information disclosure and contract enforcement, controlling owners may compensate by setting up ownership networks that facilitate the exchange of resources and alignment of interests. We examine how firms’ controlling owners draw power from ownership networks to provide access to resources for or to expropriate resources from their firms. Horizontal power originates from network centrality and is associated with resource access whereas vertical power originates from principal-principal agency conflicts and is associated with exploitation of minority shareholders. We highlight the impact of horizontal and vertical power through their interaction effects with transparency and disclosure (TD) practices on fixed investments and performance in Russian firms. We find that TD and horizontal power or connectedness are substitutes, while whereas TD and vertical power are complements in their effects on fixed investment and firm performance. Without a strong commitment to TD, powerful owners may thus deprive the firm of productive investments.
Why do children stay out of school in Indonesia

Municipal and household-level determinants for Indonesian children out of school are studied using multilevel analysis of 221,392 children in 136,182 households in 497 municipalities. The higher the poverty rate and public education expenditure per capita, the higher the likelihood that children drop out. However, a high(er) mean of municipality education expenditure significantly reduces children’s likelihood to never attend school while a high(er) poverty rate significantly increases the likelihood that children will never attend school. At the household level, expenditure, spending on education, and head of household’s educational background have a significant effect on reducing the number of children out of school.
Mask Cut Optimization in Two-Dimensional Phase Unwrapping

This letter proposes an improved mask cut method for 2-D phase unwrapping. The method is designed to generate thin mask cuts to balance the residues. Network flow ideas are taken to build the strategy of mask cut generation. The predecessor index is recorded for every pixel during searching, and the path from the current residue to its last residue ancestor is traced by the predecessor index information. This path is taken as an optimal path from residue to residue. All the pixels on these paths compose the final mask cuts. The proposed method successfully prevents most of the unnecessary pixels from going into the mask cuts. Comparing with the original mask cut method, experimental results show that the proposed method generates thinner and more accurate mask cuts than that generated by the original method. A significant improvement on the unwrapping result is achieved by the proposed method.
Public perceptions of homelessness in Humboldt County

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iv TABLE OF CONTENTS . v INTRODUCTION . 1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE . 5 The Old and New Homelessness . 5 Homelessness from 2008 to Present . 10 Current Patterns in Homelessness . 15 The Criminalization of Homelessness . 16 Public Perceptions of Homelessness . 18 Homeless Identities . 21 Criminalization and Chronicity of Homelessness . 24 Prosocial Homeless Policy Changes . 26 Root Causes of Homelessness . 28 Structural Explanations of Homelessness . 29 Individualistic Explanations of Homelessness . 30 The Medicalization of Homelessness . 32 The Media Effect on Public Perceptions . 34 Media Influences on Public Perceptions of Homelessness . 36 The Media, Stigmatization and Anti-Homeless Laws . 36 Humboldt County, California . 37 vi Humboldt County and Homelessness . 39 Humboldt County and the Criminalization of Homelessness . 41 METHODS . 44 Data Collection . 44 Data Analysis/Content Analysis . 46 Grounded Theory . 47 DATA ANALYSIS . 50 Homelessness as a Public Nuisance/Problem . 51 Homelessness as an Environmental Problem . 55 Homelessness as a Stigmatized Identity . 58 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION . 64 Limitations and Future Research . 68 Conclusion . 69 REFERENCES . 71
Evidence-Based Toxicology: “Sound Science” in New Disguise

Abstract The “evidence-based toxicology” proposed by Guzelian et al. departs radically from state-of-the-art toxicology by claiming that risks for humans can only be determined on the basis of human evidence. Just like the previous proposal of “sound science,” “evidence-based toxicology” poses a heavy burden of proof On any effort to control exposures in order to reduce health risks to those exposed. The alleged connection between “evidencebased toxicology” and evidence-based medicine is misconceived, since the strict criteria for use of scientific data in evidence-based medicine concerns proof of therapeutic effects, while in “evidence-based toxicology” these criteria are applied to proof of harmful effects. The slogans “sound science” and “evidencebased toxicology” have both been put forward by persons with a history of extensive involvement with the tobacco industry.
Magnetic Resonance Sounding: New Method for Ground Water Assessment

The advantage of magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) as compared to other classical geophysical methods is in its water selective approach and reduced ambiguity in determination of subsurface free water content and hydraulic properties of the media due to the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) principle applied. Two case examples are used to explain how hydrogeological parameters are obtained from an MRS survey. The first case example in Delft (the Netherlands) is a multiaquifer system characterized by large signal to noise ratio (S/N = 73), with a 24 m thick, shallow sand aquifer, confined by a 15 m thick clay layer. For the shallow aquifer, a very good match between MRS and borehole data was obtained with regard to effective porosity nc∼28% and specific drainage Sd∼20%. The MRS interpretation at the level deeper than 39 m was disturbed by signal attenuation in the low resistivity (∼10 Ωm) media. The second case of Serowe (Botswana) shows a fractured sandstone aquifer where hydrogeological parameters are well defined at depth >74 m below ground surface despite quite a low S/N = 0.9 ratio, thanks to the negligible signal attenuation in the resistive environment. Finally, capabilities and limitations of the MRS technology are reviewed and discussed. MRS can contribute to subsurface hydrostratigraphy description, hydrogeological system parameterization, and improvement of well siting. The main limitations are survey dependence upon the value of the S/N ratio, signal attenuation in electrically conductive environments, nonuniformity of magnetic field, and some instrumental limitations. At locations sufficiently resistive to disregard the signal attenuation problems, the MRS S/N ratio determines how successfully MRS data can be acquired. Both signal and noise vary spatially; therefore, world scale maps providing guidelines on spatial variability of signal and noise are presented and their importance with respect to the MRS survey results is discussed. The noise varies also temporally; therefore, its diurnal and seasonal variability impact upon the MRS survey is covered as well.
Effects of aging on mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle of American Quarter Horses

Li C, White SH, Warren LK, Wohlgemuth SE. Effects of aging on mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle of American Quarter Horses. J Appl Physiol 121: 299 –311, 2016. First published June 9, 2016; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01077. 2015. —Skeletal muscle function, aerobic capacity, and mitochondrial (Mt) function have been found to decline with age in humans and rodents. However, not much is known about age-related changes in Mt function in equine skeletal muscle. Here, we compared fiber-type composition and Mt function in gluteus medius and triceps brachii muscle between young (age 1.8 0.1 yr, n 24) and aged (age 17-25 yr, n 10) American Quarter Horses. The percentage of myosin heavy chain (MHC) IIX was lower in aged compared with young muscles (gluteus, P 0.092; triceps, P 0.012), while the percentages of MHC I (gluteus; P 0.001) and MHC IIA (triceps; P 0.023) were increased. Mass-specific Mt density, indicated by citrate synthase activity, was unaffected by age in gluteus, but decreased in aged triceps (P 0.023). Cytochrome-c oxidase (COX) activity per milligram tissue and per Mt unit decreased with age in gluteus (P 0.001 for both) and triceps (P 0.001 and P 0.003, respectively). Activity of 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase per milligram tissue was unaffected by age, but increased per Mt unit in aged gluteus and triceps (P 0.023 and P 0.001, respectively). Mt respiration of permeabilized muscle fibers per milligram tissue was unaffected by age in both muscles. Main effects of age appeared when respiration was normalized to Mt content, with increases in LEAK, oxidative phosphorylation capacity, and electron transport system capacity (P 0.038, P 0.045, and P 0.007, respectively), independent of muscle. In conclusion, equine skeletal muscle aging was accompanied by a shift in fiber-type composition, decrease in Mt density and COX activity, but preserved Mt respiratory function.