Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biostatistics of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda in maize plants in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia

Russianzi W, Anwar R, Triwidodo H. 2021. Biostatistics of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda in maize plants in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3463-3469. Fall Armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is an invasive species that has become important pest of maize in Indonesia since 2019. This research was aimed to study the biology and demographic statistics of FAW in maize at Bogor. Daily observations of 132 FAW individuals from egg to death were carried out as the basis for compiling biology and life table. The demographic statistics of FAW were calculated using the Jackknife approach from the basic life table data. ImagoFAW actives at night. Mating activity occurs between 06.00 pm – 04.00 am, while egg-laying activity occurs between 06.00 pm-10.00 pm. Most hatching occurs between 00.00 am 02.00 am. FAW has 6 larvae instars and there is no difference in stage between larvae that develop into male and female, which is around 15 days. The male pupae stage was longer than the female pupae, 8.78 ± 0.12 days and 7.81 ± 0.15 days. Male and female imagoes have the same life cycle, which is about 10 days. The life cycle of FAW was 32.26 ± 0.41 days, with a preoviposition period of 2.56 ± 0.45 days. Fecundity of FAW reaches 1012.62 ± 99.12 eggs per female imago. The population of FAW in Bogor has an intrinsic growth rate of 0.154 ± 0.001 individuals/day, with gross reproduction rate of 0.154 ± 0.001 individuals per generation, and net reproduction rate of 104.781 ± 0.155 individuals per imago per generation and a generation time of 30.114 ± 0.002 days.
Electroacoustic Spectroscopy of Nanoparticle-Doped Hydrogels

This paper probes the nanoparticle (NP) interaction with hydrogels using electroacoustic spectroscopy at MHz frequencies. We measured dynamic electrophoretic mobility spectra of silica NPs in polyacrylamide gels for a variety of NP sizes and gel concentrations. The spectra are exquisitely sensitive to NP entrapment, size, and charge as well as to gel rheology and gelation kinetics. For NPs that are large compared to the gel mesh size, many of these influences can be quantified using electrokinetic theory, which furnishes the apparent NP ζ-potential and a complex gel shear modulus at MHz frequencies. The methodology provides new insights into the NP–hydrogel interaction, since it noninvasively probes the nanostructure and the combined influences of particle and gel properties. Electroacoustic spectroscopy may therefore be a valuable new tool for characterizing soft nanocomposites—one that complements other noninvasive methods, such as bulk rheometry and microrheology.
Design of a compact UWB MIMO‐diversity antenna incorporating fractal inspired isolation structure with band notch characteristics

In this communication, a new compact ultra‐wideband (UWB) multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna with band notch characteristics is presented for wireless application. It comprises of two unique monopole antenna elements sharing a similar ground plane. To reduce the coupling between antenna elements, a modified T‐shaped stub equipped with Minkowski fractal shape elements are introduced on the ground plane which in turn establish a good isolation between radiating elements. A band notch is achieved at 5.45 GHz by adding two additional rectangular stubs at 45° where symmetric slots have been etched. The efficiency and gain of the antenna drops significantly at the centre of the notch band which indicates good interference suppression. Results show that the designed antenna delivers widest impedance bandwidth (−10 dB) throughout the operating band of 3.1–20 GHz (of 146% impedance bandwidth) which covers UWB as well as Ku‐band. The antenna also produces ‐18 dB isolation for most of the operating band and ‐16 dB up to 6 GHz. The optimized antenna is fabricated and tested showing |S11| characteristics below −10 dB from 3.1 to 20 GHz band. The dimension of the proposed antenna is 18 × 26 × 1.6 mm3. Results show that the simulated characteristics are in good agreement with the measured counterpart. The designed MIMO antenna is an appropriate candidate for UWB and other wireless applications.
Hospitality, asylum and education: around Emmanuel Levinas’s Talmudic readings

ABSTRACT In reference to the article by Hanan Alexander ‘Education in nonviolence’, the text takes up the issue of reading Emmanuel Levinas’s Talmudic texts for the philosophy of education. It intends to positively answer the question about the value and potential of such inspiration, focusing on concepts from two of Levinas’s Talmudic readings. The first part of the text is devoted to the characteristics of the intellectual output of the thinker. The second part analyses and discusses Alexander’s commentary on one of Levinas’s Talmudic readings, ‘Toward the Other’. Alexander aims to show the specificity of the idea of education in nonviolence, heavily indebted to the Jewish tradition and thought. The third part of the text is an extension of Alexander’s comment, focuses on another Talmudic reading by Levinas, ‘Cities of Refuge’, and aims to outline the philosophical underpinnings of the idea of the pedagogy of asylum.
On the Importance of Gauge-Undercatch Correction Factors and Their Impacts on the Global Precipitation Estimates

Precipitation gauges are critical for measuring precipitation rates at regional and global scales and are often used to calibrate precipitation rates estimated from other instruments such as satellites. However, precipitation measured at the gauges is affected by gauge-undercatch that is often larger for solid precipitation. In the present work, two popular gauge-undercatch correction factors are assessed: one utilizes a dynamic correction model and is used in the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) Monitoring product and the other one employs a fixed climatology and is used in the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) product. How much the choice of correction factors can impact the total estimate of precipitation was quantified over land at seasonal, annual, regional, and global scales. The correction factors are also compared as a function of the environmental variables used in their development, among those are near-surface air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, elevation, and precipitation intensity. Results show that correction factors can increase the annual precipitation rate based on the gauges by ~9.5 % over the global land (excluding Antarctica), although this amount can vary from ~6.3% (in boreal summer) to more than 10% (in boreal winter), depending on the season and the method used for gauge-undercatch correction. Annual variations of correction factors can also be large, so the use of the fixed climatology correction factors requires caution. Given their magnitudes and differences, selection of appropriate correction factors can have important implications in refining the water and energy budget calculations.
A Prognostic Model to Assess Long-Term Survival of Patients on Antiretroviral Therapy: A 15-Year Retrospective Cohort Study in Southwestern China

Abstract Background Because there is no assessment tool for survival of people with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH) who received antiretroviral therapy (ART) in rural southwestern China, we aimed to formulate and validate a simple-to-use model to predict long-term overall survival at the initiation of ART. Methods In total, 36 268 eligible participants registered in the Guangxi autonomous region between December 2003 and December 2018 were enrolled and randomized into development and validation cohorts. Predictive variables were determined based on Cox hazard models and specialists’ advice. Discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility were measured, respectively. Results The prognostic combined 14 variables: sex, age, marital status, infectious route, opportunistic infection, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related symptoms, body mass index, CD4+ T lymphocyte count, white blood cell, platelet, hemoglobin, serum creatinine, aspartate transaminase, and total bilirubin. Age, aspartate transaminase, and serum creatinine were assigned higher risk scores than that of CD4+ T lymphocytopenia count and having opportunistic infections or AIDS-related symptoms. At 3 time points (1, 3, and 5 years), the area under the curve ranged from 0.75 to 0.81 and the Brier scores ranged from 0.03 to 0.07. The decision curve analysis showed an acceptable clinical net benefit. Conclusions The prognostic model incorporating routine baseline data can provide a useful tool for early risk appraisal and treatment management in ART in rural southwestern China. Moreover, our study underscores the role of non-AIDS-defining events in long-term survival in ART.
Grafting of organic layers via bipolar electrochemistry

In this thesis, the concept of bipolar electrochemistry, which allows carrying out electrochemical reactions on a free-standing conductive object in an electric field, was employed to generate Janus-type objects with a hybrid organic-inorganic composition. As a proof-of-concept micrometer-sized glassy carbon beads were modified asymmetrically via the bipolar electrochemical reduction of aryl diazonium salts. The grafted organic layers can be probed either with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) or with fluorescent molecules. The results show that one-half sphere of the beads was modified selectively and with high precision. This concept was then generalized to vertically aligned carbon nonotubes (VACNTs). They were prepared via chemical vapor deposition using porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) as template. The bipolar electrografting of an organic layer onto the inner surface of the VACNTs was performed by using the tubes that were still embedded in the pores of the AAO membrane as the starting material. The grafted results can be visualized by coupling them with AuNPs. After the AAO removal, the results reveal a grafting of organic layers only at one end of the tubes along the inner wall. For both cases, fine tuning of the deposition time and/or the electric field used for the reduction of diazonium salts can control the geometric area of the grafting. This technique opens up applications of these objects in the fields of controlled drug delivery and storage.
Material and Dimensional Analysis of Bimetallic Pipe Bend with Defined Bending Radii

This paper deals with material and dimensional bending analysis of bimetallic pipes with defined bending radii. Basic characteristics of selected nickel superalloys with analysis of Inconel 625 and 16Mo3 steel in terms of primary mechanical properties and chemical composition are presented. In the practical part where the bimetallic tube is analyzed in terms of material properties is also performed geometric dimensional analysis, for which test specimens with different bending radii are made. The capillary test preceded dimensional analysis to remove cracks on the outer bend surfaces of the bimetallic tube. The geometric dimensional analysis itself is carried out using a 3D scanner and also includes external dimensional inspection in longitudinal section with changes in the curvature of bimetallic pipe bends for different bending radii. The article concludes with an overall evaluation of the achieved results, especially with regard to the deviations of rounding in individual sections of the external dimension.
Disentangling the role of income level on premium brand perceived quality, awareness, association, and loyalty: A comparative study within Thailand and Indonesia

The level of income is one of the specific consumer conditions that susceptible to influence their brand decision-making. Unfortunately, studies on the influence of income mainly focused on price without considering the relationship between brand and consumers. This study aims to examine how brand perceived quality, awareness, association, and loyalty related to the level of income in emerging countries like Thailand and Indonesia. Premium and high-class coffee chain brands choose as the object of this study as the exponential growth of the coffee culture in both countries. A total of 283 respondents have completed an online questionnaire and verified it to be processed into the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and LSD post hoc test for multiple comparison statistical analysis. The result of this study shows that although high-income and low-income consumers in Thailand tend to have the same perceived quality toward the premium coffee brand, in general, there is a significant difference in the mean of brand perceived quality, awareness, and association between various consumers income level in Thailand. Interestingly, this study found that there is no significant difference in the mean of premium coffee brand perceived quality, awareness, association, and loyalty within the group of income levels in Indonesia. This indicates that Indonesians tend to ignore how much money they have in their pocket when it comes to coffee as the coffee culture becoming a new habit and lifestyle.
Cadmium and Lead Differentially Affect Growth and Metal Accumulation in Guar (Cyamopsis Tetragonoloba L.) Varieties

Phytoremediation is a strategy to employ plants to recover high quantities of metals in the soil into the harvestable parts, such as shoots and roots. High levels of Cd and lead (Pb) in the soil cause several stress symptoms in plants, including a decrease in growth, reduced root growth, and carbohydrate metabolism. In this study, Saravan and HGS-867 as local landrace and Indian guar variety were selected to investigate the effect of the application of Pb (0, 40, 150, and 200 mg/l) and the cadmium (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg/l) on phonological, yield parameters and phytoremediation assessment. The results showed that Pb translocation factor (TF) was significant in Pb×Cd and Pb×Cd×G (genotype) treatments at 1% and in Pb×G at 5%. Pb bioconcentration factor (BCF) was significant in all treatments except Cd and Cd×G at 1%. Mean comparison of the data showed that the number of flowers, leaves, and clusters in plant decreased significantly with increasing Pb content. With increasing Cd concentration, the number of branches, height, the number of seeds, clusters, and leaves for each plant decreased significantly at the level of 1%. The maximum TF was observed in Pb at 40 mg/l in the HG-867 variety. Also, the Saravan landrace in Cd (100 mg/l) showed the highest amount of BCF (Cd). With increasing the concentrations of Pb and Cd, the gum percentage decreased significantly. The results of Pearson's correlation analysis indicated that plant height, number of pods/plant, root length, biomass, and pod length had a positive correlation with seed yield and a negative correlation with TF (Pb) and BCF (Pb). The results suggest that according to TF, BCF, and BAC, C. tetragonoloba L. can be effectively used as a good accumulator.
Advanced Trainee-Led Physician Clinical Examination Workshop: Improving Training and Culture

Background: Near-to-peer teaching involves more experienced learners acting as tutors for junior colleagues and has significant theoretical benefits for both teachers and learners [1-3]. Aim: Development, implementation, and assessment of a weekend examination preparation workshop by Royal Australasian College of Physicians Advanced Trainees (ATs) for Basic Physician Trainees (BPTs), using a near-to-peer framework. Methods: A two-day offsite course was designed by ATs. Day 1 - subspecialty short-case demonstrations, followed by small-group examination practice. Shared downtime was organized for the evening. Day 2 - two exemplar long-case presentations by ATs with consultant examiner feedback, followed by interactive small-group sessions focusing on presenting long-cases. Results: A post-course survey was completed by 72% of BPTs (13/18) and 88% of ATs (8/9). Responses demonstrated that all BPTs would recommend this workshop to peers. 84% (11/13) found the course material very useful. 62% (5/8) ATs felt their leadership and teaching skills had significantly improved. BPTs reported that the AT long-case demonstrations were highly useful. Negative feedback included the venue, course timing, and lack of patients with clinical signs. Conclusion: This innovative AT-led examination preparation workshop significantly enhanced training culture and candidate well-being. ATs benefited with increased confidence in their ability to lead and teach.
False-Positive Maternal Serum Screens in the Second Trimester as Markers of Placentally Mediated Complications Later in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background Multiple-marker, maternal serum screening (MSS) has been the cornerstone of prenatal diagnosis since the 1980s. While combinations of these markers are used to predict fetal risk of Down syndrome and other genetic conditions, there is some evidence that individual markers may also predict nongenetic pregnancy complications, particularly those related to placental dysfunction. The objective of this meta-analysis was to investigate the utility of false-positive, second-trimester MSS for Down syndrome as a marker of placentally mediated complications amongst singleton pregnancies globally. Methods Electronic searches of PubMed, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, and grey literature to 2019 were performed to identify observational studies comparing risk of pregnancy complications amongst pregnancies with false-positive MSS versus controls. A random-effects model of pooled odds ratios by outcome of interest (stillbirth, preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, and preterm birth) and subgrouped by type of MSS test (double-, triple-, and quadruple-marker MSS) was used. Results 16 studies enrolling 68515 pregnancies were included. There were increased odds of preeclampsia (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.09-1.51) and stillbirth (OR 2.46, 95% CI 1.94-3.12) amongst pregnancies with false-positive MSS. There was no significant association with preterm birth or growth restriction. Conclusions There is some evidence of an association between false-positive, second-trimester MSS for Down syndrome and increased odds of preeclampsia and stillbirth. Future large-scale prospective studies are still needed to best determine the predictive value of false-positive MSS as a marker of placentally mediated complications later in pregnancy and evaluate potential clinical interventions to reduce these risks.
Financial Innovation in Digital Payment with WeChat towards Electronic Business Success

Financial innovation and advances in payment systems are important not only to boost remittances but also to foster the successful development of electronic businesses around the world. As such, many leading companies in electronic commerce are putting a great deal of effort into the development of their payment system to attract more users and compete with other leading companies in the market. WeChat is a social communication tool that introduced a payment function widely adopted as a third-party payment in China nowadays. The purpose of this study was to adopt WeChat as a case study to identify the influential factors that impact consumers’ intention to adopt it as digital payment. We identified several core influential factors including service quality, perceived risk, perceived security, perceived ease of use, social influence, compatibility, and age. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed to investigate how influential factors affect the adoption of this third-party digital payment platform. The results revealed that all identified factors have a significant influence on consumer’s intention to use digital payment, except age. This study also provided useful advice for digital payment improvement and recommendations to enhance digital payment for the success of electronic business operations. The paper provides new insight into the factors influencing consumers’ intention to use mobile digital payment.
Reproductive outcomes of testicular and ejaculated sperm for ICSI in patients with previous ICSI failures: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review aims to compare and evaluate the outcome of using either testicular sperm (Testi-ICSI) or ejaculated sperm (Ejac-ICSI) in intracytoplasmic sperm injections in patients with recurrent ICSI failure. The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed were used to search for relevant papers up till October 2020. Four cohort studies and two case series studies were included. Four studies investigated males with high sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF) and were classiﬁed as ''high SDF'', which included 247 couples and 2712 injected oocytes. The other three studies provided paired data to an unselected population of infertile men with either untested SDF or when anomalous SDF was not used as the basis for deciding to use Testi-ICSI, and were classiﬁed as ''noclassify'' in this study. This subgroup consisted of a total of 290 couples and 1061 injected oocytes. There was a higher level of clinical pregnancy rates (CPRs) in the ''high SDF'' subgroup when Testi-ICSI was used as compared to Ejac-ICSI, at 43.4% and 20.8% respectively, with a pooled odds ratio (OR) of 2.87 (95% conﬁdence interval (CI) 1.44–5.71; P = 0.003). Furthermore, in the ''high SDF'' subgroup, Testi-ICSI use was associated with better take home baby rates (38%) as compared to Ejac-ICSI (16%), with a pooled OR of 3.24 (95% CI 1.20–8.76; P = 0.02). In the ''noclassify'' group, there was no statistically signiﬁcant difference in the CPRs and take home baby rates of Testi-ICSI and Ejac-ICSI, although there was a trend of better CPRs and take home baby rates with Testi-ICSI use. Utilization of Testi-ICSI in recurrent ICSI failure couples, where males were conﬁrmed to have high SDF in their ejaculated sperm, were correlated with greater CPRs and take home baby rates. However, Testi-ICSI may not result in better ICSI outcomes among men with untested SDF or when anomalous SDF was not the main factor inﬂuencing the decision to utilize Testi-ICSI.
α2-3 Sialic acid binding and uptake by human monocyte-derived dendritic cells alters metabolism and cytokine release and initiates tolerizing T cell programming

Summary Dendritic cells (DCs) are key in the initiation of the adaptive T cell responses to tailor adequate immunity that corresponds to the type of pathogen encountered. Oppositely, DCs control the resolution phase of inflammation and are able to induce tolerance after receiving anti-inflammatory cytokines or upon encounter of self-associated molecular patterns, such as α2-3 linked sialic acid (α2-3sia). Objective: We here investigated whether α2-3sia, that bind immune inhibitory Siglec receptors, would alter signaling and reprogramming of LPS-stimulated human monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs). Methods and Results: Transcriptomic analysis of moDCs stimulated with α2-3sia-conjugated dendrimers revealed differentially expressed genes related to metabolic pathways, cytokines, and T cell differentiation. An increase in genes involved in ATPase regulator activity, oxidoreductase activity, and glycogen metabolic processes was detected. Metabolic extracellular flux analysis confirmed a more energetic moDC phenotype upon α2-3sia binding as evidenced by an increase in both glycolysis and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. TH1 differentiation promoting genes IFNL and IL27, were significantly downregulated in the presence of α2-3sia. Functional assays confirmed that α2-3sia binding to moDCs induced phosphorylation of Siglec-9, reduced production of inflammatory cytokines IL-12 and IL-6, and increased IL-10. Surprisingly, α2-3sia-differentiated moDCs promoted FoxP3+CD25+/-CD127- regulatory T cell differentiation and decreased FoxP3-CD25-CD127- effector T cell proliferation. Conclusions: In conclusion, we demonstrate that α2-3sia binding to moDCs, phosphorylates Siglec-9, alters metabolic pathways, cytokine signaling, and T cell differentiation processes in moDCs and promotes regulatory T cells. The sialic acid-Siglec axis on DCs is therefore, a novel target to induce tolerance and to explore for immunotherapeutic interventions aimed to restore inflammatory processes.