Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Indirect Regeneration and Somatic Embryogenesis from Leaf and Stem Explants of Crassula ovata (Mill.) Druce An Ornamental Medicinal Plant.

This research aims to investigate callus induction, somatic embryogenesis and indirect plant regeneration of Crassula ovata (Mill.) Druce – the famous ornamental plant. Experiment no.1: Callus induction was obtained from leaf and stem explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various plant growth regulators (PGRs). Effects of different PGRs, plant regeneration and subsequent plantlet conversion were also assessed. Indirect plant regeneration was achieved from the callus of stem explants by the addition of 1.5 mg/L Kinetin (KN) alone. Best shoot induction was achieved (6.5 shoots/per explant) after 60 days. For successful rooting, regenerated plantlets were sub-cultured on the same MS media supplemented with 1.5 mg/L KN alone. The rooted plantlets were acclimatized and the survival rate was 90%. Experiment no.2: Results revealed that 0.5 mg/L 2,4-D alone and in combination with 1.0 mg/L 6-Benzyladenine (BA) gave 89.8% callus from the stem explants as compared to leaf explants. Callus proliferation and somatic embryo formation were also evaluated by ‘Double Staining Method’ and different stages of somatic embryogenesis were revealed by scanning electron microscope. Full Strength MS medium produced the highest number (49.6%) of cotyledonary stage somatic embryos (SEs). Mature cotyledonary stage SEs developed into plantlets after 12 weeks of culture. Wellrooted plantlets were successfully acclimatized at the survival rate of 85%. Indirectly regenerated plants did not show any detectable variation in morphological and growth characteristics when compared with the donor plant. Keywords—Callus induction, Crassula ovata, Double Staining, Indirect plant regeneration, Somatic embryogenesis.
Metamaterials and extraordinary transmission structures applied to microwave, millimeter and terahertz waves devices

Los metamateriales aparecen en los primeros anos del siglo XXI como materiales artificiales que presentan un comportamiento electromagnetico de alguna manera exotico. Al mismo tiempo, se descubre un nuevo fenomeno denominado transmision extraordinaria. Ambas disciplinas conllevaron a una revision profunda del electromagnetismo basico aunando dos comunidades cientificas que ultimamente permanecian desligadas, las microondas y la optica. Ademas, tanto los metamateriales como la transmision extraordinaria fueron explotados para desarrollar nuevos dispositivos para un amplio abanico de aplicaciones tales como seguridad, comunicaciones o espectroscopia. En esta Tesis se investiga el uso de dispositivos inspirados en estructuras metamaterial y el fenomeno de transmision extraordinaria operando a frecuencias de microondas, ondas milimetricas y terahercios. El contenido de la Tesis se puede dividir en tres partes diferenciadas que se relacionan con cada uno de los rangos frecuenciales estudiados, es decir, microondas, ondas milimetricas y terahercios. La primera parte de la Tesis esta dedicada a investigar como los metamateriales pueden mejorar las prestaciones de un sistema de antenas para aplicaciones radar en el rango de las microondas. La segunda parte trata de forma teorica y experimental diferentes estructuras periodicas bidimensionales que trabajan en el rango de las ondas milimetricas con el fin de estudiar los limites entre el fenomeno de transmision extraordinaria y regimenes ordinarios, disenar dispositivos unidireccionales y sintonizables y metasuperficies con una respuesta angular no convencional. Finalmente, la tercera parte de la Tesis, hace extensible el uso de estructuras periodicas bidimensionales para aplicaciones de sensado a frecuencias de terahercio.
Nonlinear Compensation of a New Noncontact Joystick Using the Universal Joint Mechanism

This paper demonstrates a new noncontact electronic joystick using a single Hall sensor that detects a horizontal vector in the magnetic field. Furthermore, in this paper, the nonlinear characteristics between the output of the Hall sensor and the movement of the joystick bar are modeled and compensated to be linear. The dynamic horizontal vector of the magnetic flux is detected by the Hall sensor while a permanent magnet is rotated with the joystick bar, which has a 2-D detecting area. With the nonlinear modeling equations, the Hall sensor output became linear and accurate for the 2-D joystick movement. Through real experiments, it is shown that the single Hall sensor structure mechanism is superior to the dual sensor structure in sensing 2-D motion without offset.
Metabolism of the phospholipid precursor inositol and its relationship to growth and viability in the natural auxotroph Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Phospholipid metabolism in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe was examined. Three enzymes of phospholipid biosynthesis, cytidine diphosphate diacylglycerol synthase (CDP-DG), phosphatidylinositol (PI) synthase, and phosphatidylserine (PS) synthase, were characterized in extracts of S. pombe cells. Contrary to an earlier report, we were able to demonstrate that CDP-DG served as a precursor for PI and PS biosynthesis in S. pombe. S. pombe is naturally auxotrophic for the phospholipid precursor inositol. We found that S. pombe was much more resistant to loss of viability during inositol starvation than artificially generated inositol auxotrophs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The phospholipid composition of S. pombe cells grown in inositol-rich medium (50 microM) was similar to that of S. cerevisiae cells grown under similar conditions. However, growth of S. pombe at low inositol concentrations (below 30 microM) affected the ratio of the anionic phospholipids PI and PS, while the relative proportions of other glycerophospholipids remained unchanged. During inositol starvation, the rate of PI synthesis decreased rapidly, and there was a concomitant increase in the rate of PS synthesis. Phosphatidic acid and CDP-DG, which are precursors to these phospholipids, also increased when PI synthesis was blocked by lack of exogenous inositol. The major product of turnover of inositol-containing phospholipids in S. pombe was found to be free inositol, which accumulated in the medium and could be reused by the cell.
Frequency Control Support of a Doubly-Fed Induction Generator Based on the Torque Limit

This paper proposes a torque limit-based inertial control scheme of a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) that supports the frequency control of a power system. If a frequency deviation occurs, the proposed scheme aims to release a large amount of kinetic energy (KE) stored in the rotating masses of a DFIG to raise the frequency nadir (FN). Upon detecting the event, the scheme instantly increases its output to the torque limit and then reduces the output with the rotor speed so that it converges to the stable operating range. To restore the rotor speed while causing a small second frequency dip (SFD), after the rotor speed converges the power reference is reduced by a small amount and maintained until it meets the reference for maximum power point tracking control. The test results demonstrate that the scheme can improve the FN and maximum rate of change of frequency while causing a small SFD in any wind conditions and in a power system that has a high penetration of wind power, and thus the scheme helps maintain the required level of system reliability. The scheme releases the KE from 2.9 times to 3.7 times the Hydro-Québec requirement depending on the power reference.
Genetic parameters of pathogen-specific incidence of clinical mastitis in dairy cows

The objective of this study was to estimate heritabilities for and genetic correlations among different pathogen-specific mastitis traits. The traits were unspecific mastitis, which is all mastitis treatments regardless of the causative pathogen as well as mastitis caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Escherichia coli, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS), Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus uberis. Also groups of pathogens were investigated, Gram-negative v. Gram-positive and contagious v. environmental pathogens. Data from 168 158 Danish Holstein cows calving first time between 1998 and 2006 were used in the analyses. Variances and covariances were estimated using uni- and bivariate threshold models via Gibbs sampling. Posterior means of heritabilities of pathogen-specific mastitis were lower than the heritability of unspecific mastitis, ranging from 0.035 to 0.076 for S. aureus and S. uberis, respectively. The heritabilities of groups of pathogen ranged from 0.053 to 0.087. Genetic correlations among the pathogen-specific mastitis traits ranged from 0.45 to 0.77. These estimates tended to be lowest for bacteria eliciting very different immune responses, which can be considered as the overall pleiotropic effect of genes affecting resistance to a specific pathogen, and highest for bacteria sharing characteristics regarding immune response. The genetic correlations between the groups of pathogens were high, 0.73 and 0.83. Results showed that the pathogen-specific traits used in this study should be considered as different traits. Genetic evaluation for pathogen-specific mastitis resistance may be beneficial despite lower heritabilities than unspecific mastitis because a pathogen-specific mastitis trait is a direct measure of an udder infection, and because the cost of a mastitis case caused by different pathogens has been shown to differ greatly. Sampling bias may be present because there were not pathogen information on all mastitis treatments and because some farms do not record pathogen information. Therefore, improved recording of pathogen information and mastitis treatments in general is critical for a successful genetic evaluation of udder health. Also, economic values have to be specified for each pathogen-specific trait separately.
SVM-based prediction of the product formation for industrial 2-keto-L-gulonic acid cultivation

2-keto-L-gulonic acid (2-KGA), a key precursor in the synthesis of L-ascorbic acid, is produced by mixed fermentation of Bacillus megaterium and Gluconobacter oxydans with L-sorbose as substrate. For such mixed cultivation, the mechanistic modelling is difficult because the interactions between the two strains are not well known yet. Therefore, data-driven modelling is studied in this paper. The rolling learning-prediction (RLP) based on support vector machine (SVM) is practiced to predict the product formation. To satisfy the online application demand, pseudo-on-line prediction is carried out using the data from commercial scale 2-KGA cultivation. The prediction approach receives data in sequence and the historical database of the SVM is updated with statistical analysis of the product formation after the termination of a batch. The robustness of the prediction approach is further tested by adding extra noises to the process variables.
A Single PLP‐Dependent Enzyme PctV Catalyzes the Transformation of 3‐Dehydroshikimate into 3‐Aminobenzoate in the Biosynthesis of Pactamycin

Natural amino donation: A PLP-dependent aminotransferase PctV, encoded in the pactamycin biosynthetic gene cluster, was found to catalyze the formation of 3-aminobenzoate from 3-dehydroshikimate with L-glutamate as the amino donor. The PctV reaction comprises a transamination and two dehydration reactions. This is the first report of a simple 3-ABA synthase in nature.
Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension in Rural Areas of Davanagere

Objective: To study the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the rural areas of Davanagere. Type of Study: Cross-sectional community-based study. Setting: Villages belonging to six sectors of the Davanagere Taluk. Materials and Methods: General population above 18 years. Methodology: A community-based sample was chosen by a multistage sampling technique. Subjects were screened for hypertension by a house-to-house survey. Subjects with systolic blood pressure more than 140 and diastolic blood pressure more than 90 mm of Hg, on hypertensive treatment, and history of hypertension were classified as hypertensives. The data thus obtained was compiled and analyzed. Results: The prevalence rate of hypertension in the study population was 18.3% (95% CI, 16.7-19.9%). Prevalence of hypertension was more in males 19.1% (95% CI, 16.7-21.5%) than in females 17.5% (95% CI, 14.9-20.1%); 11.6%, 5.6%, and 1.2% of the total subjects had Grade I, Grade II, and Grade III, respectively. Only 33.8% of them were aware of their hypertensive status. Hypertensives of 32.1% were on treatment, and 12.5% adequately controlled their BP. About 6.9% of the total hypertensives had severe hypertension. Statistical Analysis: Proportions, One way Analysis of Variance, Chi-square test.
A Novel Vertical Impact Ionisation MOSFET (I-MOS) Concept

This paper presents experimental results of a novel vertical impact ionisation MOSFET (I-MOS). The device consists of a vertical gated triangular barrier diode (TBD), also know as planar doped barrier MOSFET (PDBFET). At low drain-source voltages the behaves like a conventional MOSFET. Drain-source voltages of more than 1.5 V activate gate controlled impact ionization in the sub-50 nm n-channel device, resulting in a subthreshold swing of 20 mV/decade at room temperature. The device shows an excellent ION/IOFF ratio of 2.5 times 108 in this mode
A kinematic study of pulsation in the dorsal blood vessel of the blackworm, Lumbriculus variegatus

The aquatic oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus has a segmented, dorsal blood vessel (DBV) that acts as a peristaltic pump to move blood through the animal’s closed circulatory system. We conducted a kinematic study using videography and computational modeling as a first step toward understanding the control of DBV pulsation. Results suggested that pulse rates were highest in the posterior segments, while interpulse intervals and intersegmental delays were longest in the midbody segments. Differences in the interpulse interval distributions across regions suggest that some peristaltic waves initiated in the posterior segments do not propagate all the way to the anterior segments. A simple model consisting of a chain of excitable neuromuscular units replicated these kinetics. This model may be useful in future research aimed at understanding the modulatory effect of biogenic amines on peristalsis of the DBV. Moreover, research into the mechanisms of peristalsis of the DBV may lead to insights into disorders of peristalsis in human and veterinary medicine.
Methyl iodide-induced fetal hypothyroidism implicated in late-stage fetal death in rabbits

Methyl iodide (MeI) induces fetotoxicity in New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits when maternal exposure occurs during a susceptible window late in gestation (gestation days [GD] 23–26). To identify the possible mode of action, comprehensive maternal and fetal bioanalysis and thyroid structure/function assessments were conducted in MeI-exposed (25 ppm by whole-body inhalation) and unexposed time-mated NZW rabbits (10/group) during GD 21–27. Key developmental events were observed within this window in unexposed fetuses, including the appearance of colloid in the thyroid follicular lumen and the detection of serum T3 beginning on GD 22. Fetal T4 and T3 levels were diminished following maternal MeI exposure compared to baseline values. Fetal TSH was significantly increased following 4 days of maternal MeI exposure. MeI-induced changes in the fetal thyroid included reduced colloid formation, epithelial follicular hypertrophy, and epithelial cytoplasmic vacuolation. Time-course investigations using 20 ppm MeI revealed highly concentrated levels of iodide in fetal versus maternal serum. Direct maternal administration of sodium iodide by intravenous infusion during GD 23–26 induced similar effects on fetal thyroid structure and function as MeI, identifying iodide as the putative agent. Elevated S-methylcysteine adduct concentrations were noted in fetal hemoglobin, indicating that some unreacted MeI may be delivered directly to the fetus. However, the weight of evidence from these studies suggests that late-stage fetal death following maternal exposure to MeI during GD 23–26 is the result of preferential accumulation of iodide in the fetal compartment causing disruption of the fetal hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis at a critical time in the development of the rabbit fetal thyroid.
How do people with COPD or diabetes type 2 experience autonomy? An exploratory study

Purpose. To develop an empirically grounded conceptualization of personal autonomy in the context of chronic physical illness and to investigate the impact of two chronic illnesses on autonomy. Method. Grounded theory study consisting of 13 in-depth interviews with older adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or diabetes mellitus type 2 (diabetes). Results. The results indicate that autonomy involves taking account of current circumstances as the frame of reference in which people can arrange their lives. Chronic illness disturbed autonomy by limiting opportunities and by prompting a reappraisal of the value that people placed on different activities or aspects of life. The participants responded to this disturbance differently, in ways that did not always restore autonomy. Limited opportunities occurred more often with COPD, while reappraisal occurred more often with diabetes. Conclusions. Personal autonomy in the context of chronic physical illness might be conceptualized as correspondence between the way people's lives are actually arranged and the way people want their lives to be arranged, considering the circumstances. Health professionals could stimulate their clients to prevent and overcome impasses in the realisation of autonomy, while broad self-management interventions might improve people's skills for coping with the impact of chronic illness on autonomy.
Las creencias de autoeficacia docente del profesorado universitario

La teoria social cognitiva de Albert Bandura constituye el referente teorico sobre el que se apoya esta tesis que, en lineas generales, persigue el objetivo de explorar las creencias de autoeficacia docente del profesorado universitario en las dimensiones basicas de la ensenanza: la planificacion de las clases, la implicacion de los estudiantes en su aprendizaje, la interaccion con los alumnos y la evaluacion del aprendizaje y de la propia funcion docente. Con tal finalidad, se elabora un instrumento de evaluacion de la autoeficacia para ensenar dirigido a profesores de este nivel. El marco teorico se inicia con una revision ciertamente exhaustiva sobre la importancia de los procesos de reflexion del profesorado como un vehiculo esencial para mejorar la ensenanza y, en consecuencia, el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Tras revisar una buena parte de los estudios realizados en este sentido, el interes se centra en el analisis de las creencias pedagogicas del profesorado y, especificamente, en la percepcion que tienen los docentes sobre su capacidad percibida para ensenar. Tras exponer las lineas maestras de la teoria social cognitiva, el discurso se focaliza en una descripcion exhaustiva del significado y el impacto que este tipo de creencias puede ejercer en la practica docente del profesorado universitario. Por otra parte, se estudian otras variables que resultan de interes dada su relacion con el sentimiento de autoeficacia para ensenar, algunas de caracter mas bien academico (percepcion de preparacion, responsabilidad asumida por el aprendizaje, satisfaccion con la tarea docente, etc.) y otras que describen los distintos perfiles de los profesores participantes (anos de experiencia docente, categoria academica, etc.). Ademas, se concede una especial atencion a dos aspectos concretos de la autoeficacia: las fuentes de informacion sobre la propia eficacia docente y la percepcion de eficacia
The Association Between Reduced Inflammation and Cognitive Gains After Bariatric Surgery

Objective Bariatric surgery is associated with improved cognitive function, although the mechanisms are unclear. Elevated inflammation is common in obesity and associated with impaired cognition. Inflammation decreases after bariatric surgery, implicating it as a possible mechanism for cognitive improvement. The objective of this study was to examine whether reduced inflammation is a possible mechanism for postoperative cognitive improvement in bariatric surgery patients. Methods Participants were 77 bariatric surgery patients who completed cognitive testing before surgery and 1 year postsurgery. Cognitive domains assessed were attention/executive function, language, and memory. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) was assessed at both time points. Results Patients exhibited preoperative cognitive impairment, although improvements 1 year postsurgery were seen in both attention/executive function (mean [M; standard deviation {SD}]baseline = 53.57 [8.68] versus M (SD)follow-up= 60.32 [8.19]) and memory (M [SD]baseline= 44.96 [7.98] versus M [SD]follow-up= 51.55 [8.25]). CRP was elevated at baseline and fell into the normative range postsurgery (M [SD]baseline= 0.9 [0.7] versus M [SD]follow-up= 0.2 [0.3] mg/dl). Preoperative CRP was not associated with baseline cognitive function (&bgr; values = −0.10 to 0.02) and changes in CRP also did not correspond to changes in cognition postsurgery (&bgr; values = 0.02–0.11; p values > .05 for all domains). A trend was detected for smaller improvements in memory among participants with elevated baseline CRP (>0.30 mg/dl) versus those with normal levels (group × time: p = .083). Conclusions Improvements in high-sensitivity CRP were not associated with postoperative cognitive benefits. Future studies are needed to explore other inflammatory markers and potential mechanisms of cognitive improvement after bariatric surgery, including improved glycemic control and neurohormone changes.
Detecting eye position and gaze from a single camera and 2 light sources

We introduce a new method for computing the 3D position of an eye and its gaze direction from a single camera and at least two near infra-red light sources. The method is based on the theory of spherical optical surfaces and uses the Gullstrand model of the eye to estimate the positions of the center of the cornea and the center of the pupil in 3D. The direction of gaze can then be computed from the vector connecting these two points. The point of regard can also be computed from the intersection of the direction of gaze with an object in the scene. We have simulated this model using ray traced images of the eye, and obtained very promising results. The major contribution of this new technique over current eye tracking technology is that the system does not require to be calibrated with the user before each user session, and it allows for free head motion.