Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interaction of entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema glaseri (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae), cultured in irradiated hosts, with ‘F1 sterility’: Towards management of a tropical pest, Spodoptera litura (Fabr.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Abstract Efficacy of the entomopathogenic nematode (EPN), Steinernema glaseri, (Steiner) cultured in radio-sterilized host, was studied vis-à-vis radiation-induced F1 sterility on a tropical lepidopteran pest, Spodoptera litura (Fabr.). To ensure safe transport of S. glaseri EPNs in vivo, host radio-sterilization was done; and the parasitising performance of S. glaseri infective juveniles (IJs), cultured in irradiated last instar S. litura larvae (with either 40 or 70 Gy of gamma rays) was evaluated on F1 sterile insects (progeny of male moths treated with 100 Gy, 130 Gy). S. glaseri EPNs cultured in radio-sterilized larvae at 40 Gy, had better infective potential than those cultured in sterilized host larvae at 70 Gy. F1 sterile larval hosts (progeny from 100 or 130 Gy treated parents) were equally acceptable to the EPNs cultured in radio-sterilized hosts, although the nematode harvest was reduced on F1 sterile hosts at 130 Gy. Infectivity of IJs derived from F1 sterile host was almost similar on F1 sterile larvae and normal larvae of S. litura, although their parasitisation efficacy on the F1 sterile hosts was relatively less than the controls. The IJs performance was little influenced by irradiation of IJs’ parent host and current host's irradiation history individually, but both the parameters together did not have any further negative interaction on the performance of IJs. The present results indicate that S. glaseri harvested from F1 sterile larval hosts (progeny from 100 or 130 Gy treated parents) retained a reasonably high degree of infectivity on normal and F1 sterile S. litura hosts (61–83% of controls). Two highly promising operational modes of integrating S. glaseri EPNs with ‘F1 sterility’ to suppress S. litura populations (initial releases of EPNs to strongly suppress the density of the pest followed by use of F1 sterility vs. simultaneous use of both techniques) are discussed.
RELATIVE SAFETY MARGINS OF CODE-CONFORMING VERTICALLY IRREGULAR HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS

This study assesses the margins of safety of code-compliant vertically irregular high-rise buildings at different performance levels. The vertically irregular reinforced concrete high-rise buildings in the UAE, which is selected as a case study to represent regions of medium seismicity, are surveyed. A set of 50-story benchmark structures is selected and fully designed according to modern building codes to represent well-engineered high-rise buildings with a diversity in irregularity features. Verified fiberbased simulation models are developed and 40 earthquake records representing two seismic scenarios are selected for inelastic analysis. Incremental dynamic analyses are deployed to provide insight into the local and global response of the benchmark structures. The results indicate that the safety margins of well-designed high-rise buildings with a variation in vertical stiffness or with a geometric irregularity are not inferior to those of the regular counterparts at different performance levels. Despite the adopted overstrength factor in design as per the code recommendations, the results reflect the lower safety margins of the structure that exhibits a lateral strength/weak story irregularity and confirm the need for mitigation strategies to reduce the expected seismic losses of this class of buildings. Investigating the inelastic seismic response of a set of reference structures with diverse irregularity features at different levels of earthquake intensity renders the results of this systematic study indicative of response trends regarding the safety margins offered by modern seismic codes for irregular high-rise buildings. INTRODUCTION A large number of real high-rise buildings are practically irregular since the perfect structural regularity rarely exists. The architectural design of modern residential and office buildings (many of which have integrated commercial and parking spaces) have become more complex. The experience from previous earthquakes have shown that the seismic behavior of buildings with irregular distributions of stiffness, strength or mass along their height can be significantly different in comparison to the regular counterparts. The vertical irregularity is introduced due to abrupt variations in the stiffness, strength or mass of the lateral force resisting system. Therefore, simple analysis and design methods, which are often used for regular buildings, could be inefficient. Modern seismic design codes distinguish between irregularity in plan and in elevation (e.g. ASCE-7, 2010; CEN, 2004). The tendency to separate irregularity also characterizes the scientific literature related to the seismic response of this class of structures. 1 Associate Professor, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, UAE, amanmwafy@uaeu.ac. ae; also Professor of Structural Engineering, Zagazig University, Egypt (on leave) 2 Graduate Student, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, UAE, 201080070@uaeu.ac. ae 3 Associate Professor, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, UAE, bilal.elariss@uaeu.ac. ae
NCI200125_Layout 1

A kidney injury (AKI) plays a major role in the clinical outcomes of critically ill patients. It is estimated that AKI affects approximately 35% of intensive care patients and 4% to 7% of all hospitalized patients. The results of the Beginning and Ending of Supportive Therapy (BEST) Kidney multicenter trial showed that the mortality rate of patients with AKI who require renal replacement therapy is approximately 60%. Acute kidney injury that persists to chronic kidney disease (CKD) alters the health, lifestyle, and life expectancy of affected patients. A recent estimate of the anticipated annual cost of care in the United States for CKD and end-stage renal disease patients was $28 billion. Progress in the area is evolving rapidly, but more progress is still needed. Standardized definitions and staging criteria, along with documented relationship to patient mortality and morbidity, and renal biomarkers are the most prominent advances in acute renal management in the last 5 years (R. Mehta, personal oral communication, July 2010). This article provides an Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common disease in the acutely ill patient population, as a singular diagnosis or a complication of sepsis, causing significant mortality and morbidity. Progress in diagnosis, treatment, and research in AKI has been limited by the lack of a universally accepted clinical definition. The clinical definition of AKI onset and progression, early diagnostic indicators, and understanding the unique pathophysiology of AKI are requisite to early treatment and management and ultimately positive patient outcomes. This article reviews the advances in defining and staging AKI on the basis of international consensus statements. An update on the most recent concepts affecting renal pathophysiology in AKI is also presented. Current clinical tools used in diagnosing and monitoring AKI, including the development of renal biomarkers, are discussed.
Prevalence of Virulent Rhodococcus equi in Soil Environment on a Horse-Breeding Farm in Tennessee, U. S. A.

Virulent Rhodococcus equi is an important pathogen in foals aged 1 to 3 months, but its incidence in Tennessee, U. S. A. , is poorly understood. Ten soil samples were collected from a Tennessee walking horse farm in Tennessee. The presence of R. equi was investigated and 107 isolates were tested for the presence of 15- to 17-kDa antigens (VapA) by immunoblotting and PCR. R. equi was isolated (103-104 colony forming units/g) from 8 of the 10 soil samples. Twenty-four VapA-positive isolates were detected from 7 of the 8 culture-positive samples with a prevalences ranging from 6.7 to 50%. Of the 24 virulent isolates, 21 contained an 85-kb type I plasmid, and 3 contained an 85-kb type III plasmid which had been uniquely isolated from soil isolates in Texas. There was no evidence of R. equi infection on the farm, but the virulent form was widespread in the soil environment of the farm.
Water Security and Inclusive Water Governance in the Himalayas

1 Nepal Open University, Lalitpur, Nepal. Email: h.dhungana@gmail.com 2 Southasia Institute of Advanced Studies, Kathmandu, Nepal and Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitpur, Nepal. Email: maskeygyanu@gmail.com The demand for greater community control over natural resources have been profound in recent decades in Nepal and beyond. These demands go together with calls for social justice, which remains a coveted goal in the struggles over resources and development. However, social justice remains an elusive idea in regard to what it is and how it can be achieved in societies characterized by inequalities based on caste, ethnicity, class and gender. Accordingly, it is far from clear what specific policy and legal provisions work well in particular historical, social and political contexts. This article surveys the theoretical debate of social justice generally, and the way it helps understand local peoples’ experiences and claims around natural resources and development projects. Drawing upon the literature, it highlights the pluralist framework of social justice in terms of the ideas of redistribution, recognition and participation, and employs that framework for the analysis of three diverse cases from in Nepal: a) hydropower project development in Lamjung, b) rights of fishing communities in Kailali, and c) program on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). The analysis shows that, while Nepal’s constitution and political rhetoric acknowledges the rights and entitlements to disadvantaged groups, it has not abetted the need for local struggles for Nepal J urnal of Social Science and Public Policy 2019 Vol 5 ( 1 ), pp. 7-31 Published by NPRN Hosted by SIAS Available at www.nepalpolicynet. com NEw
Graphic techniques for the constructive identification of masonry vaults

Architecture use to be represented by the “iconography” of the floor plant, incorporating the projections of the ceiling by means of dashed lines. Sometimes, the expressivity of architecture is produced by the vaulted covering. The representation of the plane of the roof is a problem because the points are inaccessible for direct measuring. It has been done three campaigns to draw the gothic cathedral of Tortosa (Spain), using the following techniques: tachymetry (2000), photogrammetry and tachymetry (2012) and laser scanning (2013). The paper presents the methodology and results of the 2012 campaign, focused on the assessment of the heptagonal apse. By means of technological resources available to any professional, it has been obtained an accurate “iconography” of the vaulting. Geometrical anomalies of the masonry vaults are defined and analyzed by means of computer processing of the data using a 3D model, with an accuracy impossible to reach before. These results reveal new information about the construction process of the gothic apse. Chapter 7 Preservation of historic buildings and structures 1003
CURRENT TRENDS IN COMPLEX HUMAN ACTIVITY RECOGNITION

Recognition of human activities is a challenging task due to human’s tendency to perform activities not only in a simple way, but also in a complex and multitasking way. Many research attempts address the recognition of simple activities, but little work targets the recognition of complex activities. Currently research on complex activity recognition using sensors is growing in many application domains. This paper provides an analysis of the most prominent complex sensor-based activity recognition. We analyze the structure and working methodology of the existing complex activities recognition systems, discuss their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, we evaluate existing proposals from three different perspectives including overall system evaluation, performance evaluation, and dataset evaluation.
A Semi-supervised Learning Approach to Forecast CPU Usages under Peak Load in an Enterprise Environment

The aim of a semi-supervised neural net learning approach in this paper is to apply and improve the supervised classifiers and to develop a model to predict CPU usages under unpredictable peak load (under stress conditions) in a large enterprise applications environment with several hundred applications hosted and with large number of concurrent users. This method forecasts the likelihood of extreme use of CPU because of a burst in web traffic mainly due to web-traffic from large number of concurrent users. This model predicts the CPU utilization under extreme load (stress) conditions. Large number of applications run simultaneously in a real time system in an enterprise large IT system. This model extracts features by analysing the work-load patterns of the user demand which are mainly hidden in the data related to key transactions of core IT applications. This method creates synthetic workload profiles by simulating synthetic concurrent users, then executes the key scenarios in a test environment and use our model to predict the excessive CPU utilization under peak load (stress) conditions. We have used Expectation Maximization method with different dimensionality and regularization, attempting to extract and analyse the parameters that improves the likelihood of the model by maximizing and after marginalizing out the unknown labels. With the outcome of this research, risk mitigation strategies were implemented at very short duration of time (3 to 4 hours) compared to one week taken in the current practice. Workload demand prediction with semi-supervised learning has tremendous potential tin capacity planning to optimize and manage IT infrastructure at a lower risk.
Overview of NASA’s Solar Electric Propulsion Project

NASA is continuing to develop and qualify a state of the art 13 kW-class Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) for NASA exploration missions through a contract with Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR). An objective of the AEPS project is accelerate the adoption of high power electric propulsion technologies by reducing the risk and uncertainty of integrating Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technologies into space flight systems. NASA and AR have recently initiated testing of engineering hardware including the Hall Current Thruster (HCT), Power Processing Unit (PPU), and Xenon Flow Controller (XFC) at both the component and system levels. The successful completion of these tests will provide the required information to advance the AEPS system towards Critical Design Review. In support of the AEPS contract, NASA and JPL have been performing risk reduction activities to address specific concerns of this higher power Hall thruster propulsion system. These risk reduction activities have included long duration wear testing of the Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) Hall thruster and cathode hardware, thermal cycling of TDU cathode heaters and coils, plasma plume measurements, and performed early circuit testing of the AEPS PPU design. In addition to the propulsion system development, the SEP project is developing the Plasma Diagnostic Package (PDP) and the SEP Testbed. The PDP is designed for use in conjunction with a high-powered electric propulsion (EP) system to characterize in-space operation. The SEP Testbed system is being developed to demonstrate 1 SEP Project Lead Engineer, NASA GRC Electric Propulsion System Branch, Peter.Y. Peterson@nasa.gov. 2 PPE Ion Propulsion System Lead, NASA GRC Electric Propulsion Systems Branch, Daniel.A. Herman@nasa.gov. 3 SEP Test Lead, NASA GRC Electric Propulsion Systems Branch, Hani.Kamhawi-1@nasa.gov. 4 SEP Team Member, NASA GRC Electric Propulsion Systems Branch. 5 SEP Power Processing Lead, NASA GRC Power Management and Distribution Branch, Dragos.Dinca@nasa.gov 6 SEP Team Member, NASA GRC Power Management and Distribution Branch. 7 SEP PDP Project Lead Engineer, NASA GRC Science And Space Technology Systems Branch, Kenneth.M. Criswell@nasa.gov 8 SEP Thruster Lead, JPL Electric Propulsion Group, Richard.R. Hofer@jpl.nasa.gov. 9 SEP Team Member, JPL Electric Propulsion Group. 10 SEP AEPS System Engineering Lead, JPL Electric Propulsion Group, Charles.E. Garner@jpl.nasa.gov 11 SEP AEPS XFC Lead, JPL Propulsion and Fluid Flight Systems Group, Matthew.K. Kowalkowski@jpl.nasa.gov
EU Policies Towards Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus:

Independent States (NIS), the support of the economic and political transformation of the NIS towards markets, democracy and the rule of law, has confronted the EU with a series of challenges. This is no less true with regard to the management of the prospective direct neighbourhood exactly with the countries under consideration – Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine – in the course of the EU enlargement to East Central Europe (ECE). However, this part of the Union’s policy has never enjoyed the highest priority. The internal reform and the gradual development of the European Union, as well as the management of the forthcoming enlargement, for all sorts of reasons, have been and remain the immediate preoccupation of the EU and its member states. Later in the 1990s, the stabilization and peace-building in the western Balkans have shifted the focus of the EU policy further away from the NIS which is, inter alia, reflected in the significant redirection of the assistance funds. Within the CARDS assistance program for the western Balkans, the EU has allocated €4.65 billion for the period from 2000 until 2006. For the same period of time, it has allocated €3.14 billion for the TACIS assistance programme addressing the problems of the Soviet successor states and of Mongolia. EU Policies Towards Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus
Rate Control Based on Similarity Analysis in Multi-view Video Coding

As with previous single-view video coding, in order to promote the application of multi-view video coding, multi-view video coding also needs to study the appropriate rate control algorithm. Bit rate control has always been a difficult research topic in multi-view video coding. In multi-view video coding, there are 6 types of coded image, so the previous rate control algorithm for single-view video cannot be directly applied to multi-view video coding. The bit rate control is divided into a four-layer structure for bit rate control of multi-view video coding. Among them, the frame-layer code rate control considers the layer B frame and other factors to allocate the code rate, and the basic unit-layer code rate control uses different quantization parameters according to the content complexity of the macroblock. The average error between the actual bit rate and the target bit rate of the bit rate control algorithm can be controlled by 2.39%.
Synthesis of dl -Matairesinol Dimethyl Ether, Dehydrodimethylconidendrin and Dehydrodimethylretrodendrin from Ferulic Acid

Dehydrodiferulic acid (II), a dimeric lactone obtainable from ferulic acid (I) by oxidative coupling, was converted into two types of Iignans. Hydrogenolysis of II coupled with three subsequent operations gave dl-matairesinol dimethyl ether (IIIb). Acid-catalyzed cyclization of II followed by seven steps afforded dehydrodimethylconidendrin (X) and dehydrodimethylretrodendrin (XI).
Top Management Team Characteristics, Competitive Environment and Strategy Implementation

Competing favorably in the market requires finding a perfect fit between a firm’s resources and the business environment. Strategy is the stewardship by top management that aligns organizational resources and capabilities to the environment with the ultimate goal of achieving superior and sustainable performance. The current study was designed to determine the influence of competitive environment on the relationship between top management team characteristics and strategy implementation. The study adopted the descriptive cross-sectional survey design. Data was obtained by administering structured questionnaire mailed to top managers in tea factory companies in Kenya. The moderation test was carried out using the product term of the standardized scores for top management team characteristics and competitive environment respectively. Data was processed through regression analysis. While we demonstrate that top management team characteristics had significant influence on strategy implementation, the results of moderation tests were not statistically significant. Consequently, our hypothesized moderating influence of competitive environment on the relationship between top management team characteristics and strategy implementation was not supported. Our findings raise theoretical questions on whether competitive environment is more relevant during strategy formulation process or execution stage. We conclude that companies implementing strategy in stable competitive environment have predictable implementation of planned strategy. We further conclude that external insulation from competition by umbrella marketing agency reduces the influence of factors within the competitive environment on the relationship between top management team characteristics and strategy implementation. However, the temporary insulation of the firm from competition exposes it to competitive disadvantage in the event that the marketing agency is destabilized by forces both from within and external to it.
EXPLORING THE HUBNESS-RELATED PROPERTIES OF OCEANOGRAPHIC SENSOR DATA

In this paper we examine how the high dimensionality of oceanographic sensor data impacts the potential use of nearest-neighbor machine learning methods. In this paper, we focus on one particular consequence of the curse of dimensionality – hubness. We examine the hubness of oceanographic data and show how it can be used to visualize and detect both prototypical sensors/locations as well as ambiguous and potentially erroneous ones. We proceed to define an easy classification problem on the data, showing that the recently developed hubness-aware classification methods may help to overcome some of the hubness-related issues in the data.
Life Cycle of Designing a System for Assessing of Performance

Nowadays the design and implementation of an effective system for assessment of personnel is important for the competitiveness of the organization. This article is dedicated to the models of Systems Development Life Cycle and the stages through which its design is passing. The system for evaluation of the personnel is considered in the context of information system. The stages in the design of a system for evaluation of personnel are adapted to The Systems Development Life Cycle.