Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ENHANCEMENT OF DROUGHT TOLERANCE IN RICE (Oryza sativa L.) USING OXO-PHYTODIENOATE REDUCTASE 7 (OPR7) GENE

Drought represents one of the major challenges that face agriculture in Egypt especially rice. Therefore, development of drought tolerant rice cultivars is an essential step to overcome the drought stress and yield loss. Embryonic calli derived from mature grains of two Egyptian rice cultivars G178 and Sk106 have been transformed by Oxo-phytodienoate reductase 7 (OPR7) gene using Agrobacterium– mediated transformation system. The results of transgenic plantlets analysis showed that OPR7 gene was successfully integrated into some transgenic T0 and T1 plantlets of both rice cultivars. Moreover, OPR7 gene expression in genetically modified plants was confirmed by real time PCR. The examination of the photosynthetic pigmentation, proline content and relative water content revealed higher levels in the drought treated transgenic plants than the non transgenic plants.
A Review of the Historical Evolutionary Process of Dry and Water Maze Tests in Rodents

This research provides an overview of the historical advances of the maze tests that are widely used to assess the cognitive impairments in rodents. Particularly, this study focuses on the issue of learning and memory behavioral tests, including dry and water mazes. Several types of mazes have been used in this setting, but their real advantages and applications depend on the type selected by the researcher. We answered some of the basic questions that any interested researcher in such studies may be faced with. The reviewed topics are as follows: the definition of maze learning, the role of the memory in the maze learning, the differences between several types of mazes, and foremost the rationale behind the maze constructions and designs.
Data-Driven Prediction Method for Power Grid State Subjected to Heavy-Rain Hazards

This study presents a machine learning-based method for predicting the power grid state subjected to heavy-rain hazards. Machine learning models can recognize key knowledge from a dataset without any preliminary knowledge about the dataset. Hence, machine learning methods have been utilized for solving power grid-related problems. Two sets of historical data were used herein: Local weather data and power grid outage data. First, we investigated the heavy-rain-related outage distribution and analyzed the correlated characteristics between weather and outages to characterize the heavy rain events. The analysis results show that multiple weather effects are significant in causing power outages, even under heavy-rain conditions. Furthermore, this study proposes a cost-sensitive prediction method using a support vector machine (SVM) model. The accuracy of the model was improved by applying a cost-sensitive learning algorithm to the SVM model, which was subsequently used to predict the state of the grid. The developed model was evaluated using G-mean values. The proposed method was verified via actual data of a heavy rain event that occurred in South Korea.
Evaluation of the wound healing process in rat skin using a hexanoyl group‐modified alkaline‐treated gelatin porous film

The present study investigated the wound healing process in a rat skin wound model dressed with a hexanoyl group-modified alkaline-treated gelatin porous (HxAlGltn) film with angiogenesis-inducing and strong bioadhesive properties or a collagen sponge (CS). A circular 10-mm full-thickness skin defect was created on the backs of 8-week-old rats and then dressed with a HxAlGltn film (HxAlGltn group), collagen sponge (CS group), and no dressing (control group). Wound distances and areas were assessed macroscopically at specific time points after surgery, the lengths and thicknesses of the neo-epithelium histologically, and α -smooth muscle actin ( α -SMA), collagen type I, and fibronectin immunohistochemically. Wound distances and areas were significantly greater in the HxAlGltn group than in the CS and control groups. The expression of α -SMA in myofibroblasts was significantly weaker in the HxAlGltn group than in the other groups on day 7. Furthermore, angiogenesis was prominent on days 4 and 7 in the HxAlGltn group. No significant differences were observed in the length of the neo-epithelium between all groups, whereas the thickness of the neo-epithelium was greater in the HxAlGltn group than in the CS group. The present results suggest the potential of the HxAlGltn
Prevalence of chronic pain in opioid-maintained patients using the capture-recapture method: a nationwide population-based study.

Few studies all based on classical surveys have provided prevalence estimates of chronic pain (CP) in opioid-maintained patients (OMPs) but often had a limited patient sample size and a great variability in the prevalence estimates. This study sought to assess the prevalence of CP in the exhaustive population of OMPs using the capture-recapture method applied to the French nationwide healthcare database. Capture-recapture methods are increasingly used to estimate the prevalence of chronic conditions but have never been used in the specific context of CP in OMPs. Three large medical-administrative sources were used: the prescription drug database (A-list), the national hospital discharge database (M-list), and the pain center database (C-list). Between 2015-2016, 160,429 OMPs ≥15 years old were identified and age- and sex-matched with 160,429 non-OMPs. All patients treated with analgesic drugs for ≥6months (A-list) or diagnosed with CP (M and C-list) were included. Capture-recapture analyses were performed to yield CP estimates with their 95% confidence intervals [95% CI] using log-linear models. In 2015-2016, 12,765 OMPs and 2,938 non-OMPs with CP were captured. Most patients were male (67%) in OMPs and non-OMPs; median ages for OMPs and non-OMPs were 46 (interquartile range: 38-51) and 48 (41-53) years, respectively. The CP prevalence estimated in OMPs and non-OMPs ranged from 23.6% [14.9-46.2] to 32.1% [28.6-36.3] and from 7.28% [3.98-18.4] to 9.32% [7.42-12.1], respectively. This first study on CP in the exhaustive population of OMPs using the capture-recapture method demonstrated a high prevalence of CP in OMPs, three to four-fold than in the general population.
How Does Foreign Equity Right Impact Manufacturing Enterprise Innovation Behaviors? Mediation Test Based on Technology Introduction

The impacts of FDI (foreign direct investment) on the innovation of Chinese local enterprises have always been the focus of attention, but few studies have explored the impacts of foreign shareholding on enterprise innovation behaviors through the micro level. Based on the survey data regarding the manufacturing sector of China enterprises conducted by the World Bank in 2012, this paper conducts an empirical study on the relationship between foreign shareholding and enterprise innovation behaviors. The research findings include two aspects; that is, (1) foreign shareholding has significantly positive impacts on enterprise innovation behaviors; (2) technology introduction plays a complete mediating effect in foreign shareholding and enterprise innovation behaviors. On the basis of considering sample selective bias and endogenous problems, the propensity score matching (PSM) method is further applied to evaluate the impacts of foreign shareholding on enterprise innovation behaviors. After putting the endogenous problems and sample selective bias under control, the above conclusions are still robust. Thus, under the current complicated international situation, enterprises should be encouraged to attract foreign investment under moderate control, with a view to accelerating the promotion of enterprise innovation activities through the technology introduction brought about by foreign shareholding.
Development of a Multiphysics Real-Time Simulator for Model-Based Design of a DC Shipboard Microgrid

Recent and strict regulations in the maritime sector regarding exhaust gas emissions has led to an evolution of shipboard systems with a progressive increase of complexity, from the early utilization of electric propulsion to the realization of an integrated shipboard power system organized as a microgrid. Therefore, novel approaches, such as the model-based design, start to be experimented by industries to obtain multiphysics models able to study the impact of different designing solutions. In this context, this paper illustrates in detail the development of a multiphysics simulation framework, able to mimic the behaviour of a DC electric ship equipped with electric propulsion, rotating generators and battery energy storage systems. The simulation platform has been realized within the retrofitting project of a Ro-Ro Pax vessel, to size components and to validate control strategies before the system commissioning. It has been implemented on the Opal-RT simulator, as the core component of the future research infrastructure of the University of Genoa, which will include power converters, storage systems, and a ship bridge simulator. The proposed model includes the propulsion plant, characterized by propellers and ship dynamics, and the entire shipboard power system. Each component has been detailed together with its own regulators, such as the automatic voltage regulator of synchronous generators, the torque control of permanent magnet synchronous motors and the current control loop of power converters. The paper illustrates also details concerning the practical deployment of the proposed models within the real-time simulator, in order to share the computational effort among the available processor cores.
Free-diving underwater fish photography contests: a complementary tool for assessing littoral fish communities

Characterizing fish communities must be a priority to safeguard resources and determine critical changes. Here, species richness and the spatial and temporal evolution in the structure of fish assemblages were analysed based on photos taken in underwater free-diving contests. A total of 29 contests held from 2008 to 2015 at four different locations along the northeastern Spanish coast, including a marine protected area were analysed. Contests reward the number of species per participant and photographic quality. Species image frequency from each tournament were standardized to catch image rate. A total of 88 taxa were recorded, including 32 cryptobenthic species, the highest number recorded in the Mediterranean littoral system so far. Cluster analyses yielded four major groups. Catch image rates in the marine protected area were significantly higher for seven species of high commercial interest and for two big labrids of recreational interest, including an endangered species (Labrus viridis). Overall, the study showed that photographic free-diving contest data are a potential tool for determining species richness in littoral systems since contest rules promote competition between participants to obtain maximum fish diversity. We believe that this type of cost-effective data can be applied worldwide as a complementary way of monitoring littoral fish assemblage.
HypoSVI: Hypocenter inversion with Stein variational inference and Physics Informed Neural Networks

<p>High resolution earthquake hypocentral locations are of critical importance for understanding the regional context driving seismicity. We introduce a scheme to reliably approximate a hypocenter posterior in a continuous domain that relies on recent advances in deep learning. </p><p>Our method relies on a differentiable forward model in the form of a deep neural network, which is trained to solve the Eikonal equation (EikoNet). EikoNet can rapidly determine the travel-time between any source-receiver pair for a non-gridded solution. We demonstrate the robustness of these travel-time solutions are for a series of complex velocity models. </p><p>For the inverse problem, we utilize Stein Variational Inference, which is a recent approximate inference procedure that iteratively updates a configuration of particles to approximate a target posterior by minimizing the so-called Stein discrepancy. The gradients of this objective function can be rapidly calculated due to the differentiability of the EikoNet. The particle locations are updated until convergence, after which we utilize clustering techniques and kernel density methods to determine the optimal hypocenter and its uncertainty. </p><p>The inversion procedure outlined in this work is validated using a series of synthetic tests to determine the parameter optimisation and the validity for large observational datasets, which can locate earthquakes in 439s per event for 2039 observations. In addition, we apply this technique to a case study of seismicity in the Southern California region for earthquakes from 2019. </p>
Burnout and its Predictors: Testing a Model Among Public School Teachers

The present research assessed the predictors of burnout using a hypothesized model of burnout and its predictors. The sample of 1693 public school teachers from six districts of Punjab was employed. A self-developed instrument Emotional Burnout Scale (EBS; ? = .81) was used for assessing burnout rate among teachers with its three dimensions, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment; also authors developed an Institutional Factors Measuring scale to measure predictors of burnout (? = .80). It comprised six school-related factors including personal, administrative, environmental, insecurities, material goods, and training. These factors, along with demographic variables like marital status, experience, qualification, job status, school level were used to predict the three dimensions of burnout. The results showed paths in predicted direction among proposed model; the personal factor strongly predicted emotional exhaustion whereas environmental factor was found to be a strong predictor for depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment in teachers. Implications for practice are discussed.
Morphometrics and genetics variations of mullets (Pisces: Mugillidae) from Aceh waters. Indonesia

Yulianto D, Batubara IIAS, Nur FM, Rizal S, Siti-Azizah MN, Muchlisin ZA. 2020. Morphometrics and genetics variations of mullets (Pisces: Mugilidae) from Aceh waters, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 3422-3430. Mullets are one of the commercial groups of coastal fish living in Aceh waters, in Indonesia. Presently, there is limited information on the bioecology, especially on the genetics and morphometrics of these fishes. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the morphology and genetic variations of Liza macrolepis, Liza tade, and Moolgarda engeli mullets. This study was conducted from January 2018 to July 2019 in four locations along the northern and eastern coasts of Aceh. Data were obtained by measuring the morphometrics of a total of 180 samples of the species in equal ratios. The data were analyzed using the ANOVA and Discriminate function analysis (DFA). The ANOVA test showed that at least 75% of characters are not significantly different among the mullets. Meanwhile, the discriminant function analysis produces the two functions with Eigenvalue of 0.627 and 0.107 with 85.5% and 17.2% total variants, respectively. Function 1 discriminates the mullet samples into two groups; the first was L. tade, and the second belonged to L. macrolepis and M. engeli. In addition, a total of 18 samples of mullets consisting of 8 samples of the L. macrolepis, 2 samples of the L tade, and 8 samples of the M. engeli were successfully amplified from the 5' region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COX1) gene using a pair of primers (Fish F1 and Fish R1). Furthermore, a total of 7 haplotype sequences were produced from the ingroup where L. tade has one haplotype, L. macrolepis and M. engeli had three haplotypes, respectively. The genetic distance analysis showed that the interspecific distance was 0.38% and intraspecific was 8.2%. Therefore, the COI gene successfully discriminated against the mullet into three valid species.
Is Michał Kalecki's theory of investment applicable today? The case study of agricultural holdings in the EU countries

The purpose of the article is to recognise whether Michał Kalecki‘s investment theory works in the functioning of farms in the EU countries. We use the data of farms of the EU FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) system. The dynamic panel (the 1st difference generalised method of moments – GMM) estimator model was employed for analysis. The assessments were related to the economic size of farms. The results have allowed the partial confirmation of the validity of Kalecki's model to explain agricultural holdings adjustment mechanisms in the investment sphere. It is about medium-large (ES4) and large farms (ES5). In smaller farms (ES1–3) this mechanism was not recorded, and also in the largest agricultural holdings (ES6) where the development mechanism is more complex. Thus the size of farms determines different changes in investments activity in analysed groups of farms. Results suggest that a demand effect of investment expenditures, in the case of the examined group of farms, predominates to supply effect. It can be attributed to the fact that agriculture through the institutional system (the CAP – Common Agricultural Policy) and the peculiarities of this sector have weakened internal competition. We should be aware that the developmental mechanisms of agricultural holdings in the investment sphere are complex, and Kalecki’s theory may somewhat better understand these mechanisms.
Fast Warming Has Accelerated Snow Cover Loss during Spring and Summer across the Northern Hemisphere over the Past 52 Years (1967–2018)

With snow cover changing worldwide in several worrisome ways, it is imperative to determine both the variability in snow cover in greater detail and its relationship with ongoing climate change. Here, we used the satellite-based snow cover extent (SCE) dataset of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to detect SCE variability and its linkages to climate over the 1967–2018 periods across the Northern Hemisphere (NH). Interannually, the time series of SCE across the NH reveal a substantial decline in both spring and summer (−0.54 and −0.71 million km2/decade, respectively), and this decreasing trend corresponded with rising spring and summer temperatures over high-latitude NH regions. Among the four seasons, the temperature rise over the NH was the highest in winter (0.39 °C/decade, p < 0.01). More precipitation in winter was closely related to an increase of winter SCE in mid-latitude areas of NH. Summer precipitation over the NH increased at a significant rate (1.1 mm/decade, p < 0.01), which likely contribute to the accelerated reduction of summer’s SCE across the NH. However, seasonal sensitivity of SCE to temperature changes differed between the Eurasian and North American continents. Thus, this study provides a better understanding of seasonal SCE variability and climatic changes that occurred at regional and hemispheric spatial scales in the past 52 years.
Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire into Turkish, and to investigate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire.STUDY DESIGN: Psychometric properties of the Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire, which was developed according to standard scientific translation procedures, were analyzed on 206 volunteer women (31.79±8.79-year-old), after being tested for its comprehensibility and content validity. The participants were questioned about their physical and socio-demographic characteristics, obstetrical-gynecological histories and menstrual states, current medical complaints, and reasons for applying to the clinics. In addition to Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire, they completed the Turkish incontinence quiz, global pelvic floor bother questionnaire, pelvic floor distress inventory-20 and pelvic floor impact questionnaire. Retests were performed on 27 participants, after one week. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of the Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire were investigated. RESULTS: Internal consistencies of the Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire subscales (Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire-UI and Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire-pelvic organ prolapse) were high (Cronbach α=0.754 for both); item-total correlations were 0.127-0.576 and 0.217-0.509, respectively. Also, test-retest reliabilities of the subscales and the overall scale were high (Intraclass correlation coefﬁcient =0.949, 0.911 and 0.878, respectively). Turkish version prolapse and Incontinence knowledge questionnaire scores were highly correlated with incontinence quiz scores and weakly correlated with pelvic floor distress inventory-20 and pelvic floor impact questionnaire-7 scores (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that Turkish version prolapse and incontinence knowledge questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool to measure Turkish women’s knowledge and awareness about urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse.
Perceptual learning, talker specificity, and sound change

Perceptual learning is when listeners hear novel speech input and shift their subsequent perceptual behavior. In this paper we consider the relationship between sound change and perceptual learning. We spell out the connections we see between perceptual learning and different approaches to sound change and explain how a deeper empirical understanding of the properties of perceptual learning might benefit sound change models. We propose that questions about when listeners generalize their perceptual learning to new talkers might be of of particular interest to theories of sound change. We review the relevant literature, noting that studies of perceptual learning generalization across talkers of the same gender are lacking. Finally, we present new experimental data aimed at filling that gap by comparing cross-talker generalization of fricative boundary perceptual learning in same-gender and different-gender pairs. We find that listeners are much more likely to generalize what they have learned across same-gender pairs, even when the different-gender pairs have more similar fricatives. We discuss implications for sound change.
The Effect of Debate Technique towards Eleventh Grade Students’ Speaking Competency

Among the four pivotal skills, speaking signifies part of the most essential skill because its role primarily serves as a means of communication. Speaking is an interactive process of developing, creating, constructing and delivering meaning with goal of information exchanges between speaker and hearer. some students still faced some problems to communicate in English. Many students did not show their readiness in speaking English spontaneously. This study aimed at investigating the significant effect of debate technique on students’ speaking competency, this quasi-experimental research employed 70 student participants from two social science classes, who were randomly assigned to the experimental condition and to the control condition. The instruments used for collecting the data were performance of speaking test and rubric for students’ speaking assessment. The data were analysed by using descriptive and inferential analyses. The result of this study shows that the mean score of experimental group is 79.79, while the mean score of control group is 75.25. The result of t test shows that the value of Sig. (2-tailed) is . 000, which indicates a significant mean different. Therefore, this study concludes that debate technique affects students’ speaking competency. In addition to it, the contribution to the teaching of speaking as well as implications for future research are also discussed.