Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Composition of the Essential Oil and Insecticidal Activity of Launaea taraxacifolia (Willd.) Amin ex C. Jeffrey Growing in Nigeria

The rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) is a pest of stored grain products such as rice, wheat, and corn. Essential oils represent a green environmentally-friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides for controlling stored-product insect pests. Launaea taraxacifolia is a leafy vegetable plant found in several parts of Nigeria. The leaves are eaten either fresh as a salad or cooked as a sauce. The essential oil obtained from fresh leaves of L. taraxacifolia was obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Twenty-nine compounds were identified, accounting for 100% of the oil composition. The major component classes were monoterpene hydrocarbons (78.1%), followed by oxygenated monoterpenoids (16.2%), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (2.1%), oxygenated sesquiterpenoids (0.3%), and non-terpenoid derivatives (3.3%). The leaf essential oil was dominated by monoterpene hydrocarbons including limonene (48.8%), sabinene (18.8%), and (E)-β-ocimene (4.6%), along with the monoterpenoid aldehyde citronellal (11.0%). The contact insecticidal activity of L. taraxacifolia essential oil against Sitophilus oryzae was carried out; median lethal concentration (LC50) values of topical exposure of L. taraxacifolia essential oil were assessed over a 120-h period. The LC50 values ranged from 54.38 μL/mL (24 h) to 10.10 µL/mL (120 h). The insecticidal activity of the L. taraxacifolia essential oil can be attributed to major components limonene (48.8%), sabinene (18.8%), and citronellal (11.0%), as well as potential synergistic action of the essential oil components. This result showed L. taraxacifolia essential oil may be considered as a useful alternative to synthetic insecticides.
Comparison of bacterial diversity in large intestine of Xiangxi yellow cattle (Bos taurus) associated with different diet: Fresh Miscanthus sinensis and mixed forage

Ruminants harbour a complicate ecosystem consisting mostly of microorganisms which have the ability to digest the fibrous cell walls of plant materials from host's food. To discover the novel enzyme from ruminant's digestive tract for exploration of the new biofuel plant-Miscanthus sinensis, we comparatively analyzed the distribution of microbiome in the large intestine of two groups of local cattle fed with either M. sinensis[M. sinensis (+) group] or mixed forage [M. sinensis (-) group]. Two libraries of 16S rRNA gene from intestinal microbiome of two groups of local cattle were constructed respectively, and subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence analysis. After analyzing the sequences of 16S rRNA genes, our results indicated that the intestinal bacteria of M. sinensis (+) group were composed ofFirmicutes (48.89%), Bacteroidetes (6.67%), rumen bacteria (10%) and uncultured bacteria (34.44%), and the intestinal bacteria of M. sinensis (-) group were composed ofFirmicutes (52.87%), Bacteroidetes (1.27%), rumen bacteria (9.55%), uncultured rumen bacteria (4.46%) and uncultured bacteria (31.21%). As expected, we found that five species of potential cellulolytic becteria can only be detected in the library of M. sinensis(+). Besides, through phylogenetic tree analysis, we found that the ratio of uncultured genus which were lack of recognized sequences in M. sinensis (+) library and M. sinensis (-) library were 55.96 and 51.56%, respectively, indicating that the cattle fed onM. sinensis will produce more novel uncultured genus which probably have specific metabolic effect on decomposition of M. sinensis. Key words: Cattle, bacterial diversity, large intestine, Miscanthus sinensis, 16S rRNA gene library, phylogenetic analysis.
RNA polymerase II-binding aptamers in human ACRO1 satellites disrupt transcription in cis

ABSTRACT Transcription elongation is a highly regulated process affected by many proteins, RNAs and the underlying DNA. Here we show that the nascent RNA can interfere with transcription in human cells, extending our previous findings from bacteria and yeast. We identified a variety of Pol II-binding aptamers (RAPs), prominent in repeat elements such as ACRO1 satellites, LINE1 retrotransposons and CA simple repeats, and also in several protein-coding genes. ACRO1 repeat, when translated in silico, exhibits ~50% identity with the Pol II CTD sequence. Taken together with a recent proposal that proteins in general tend to interact with RNAs similar to their cognate mRNAs, this suggests a mechanism for RAP binding. Using a reporter construct, we show that ACRO1 potently inhibits Pol II elongation in cis. We propose a novel mode of transcriptional regulation in humans, in which the nascent RNA binds Pol II to silence its own expression.
Novel Occlusion Object Removal with Inter-frame Editing and Texture Synthesis

In this paper, an eﬀective occlusion object removal scheme based on inter-frame editing and texture synthesis is proposed, which can be used to realize the seamless ﬁlling for the undesired objects during taking photograph. The principle idea of the proposed scheme is to fully taking advantage of the information of recorded frames during the preparing time before pressing the shutter. First, by inter-frame editing, the moving region can be detected and extracted with the frame diﬀerence and OR operation. Since the desired foreground object is often stationary, thus, the extracted moving region, i
Silent 3D MR sequence for quantitative and multicontrast T1 and proton density imaging

This study aims to develop a silent, fast and 3D method for T1 and proton density (PD) mapping, while generating time series of T1-weighted (T1w) images with bias-field correction. Undersampled T1w images at different effective inversion times (TIs) were acquired using the inversion recovery prepared RUFIS sequence with an interleaved k-space trajectory. Unaliased images were reconstructed by constraining the signal evolution to a temporal subspace which was learned from the signal model. Parameter maps were obtained by fitting the data to the signal model, and bias-field correction was conducted on T1w images. Accuracy and repeatability of the method was accessed in repeated experiments with phantom and volunteers. For the phantom study, T1 values obtained by the proposed method were highly consistent with values from the gold standard method, R2 = 0.9976. Coefficients of variation (CVs) ranged from 0.09% to 0.83%. For the volunteer study, T1 values from gray and white matter regions were consistent with literature values, and peaks of gray and white matter can be clearly delineated on whole-brain T1 histograms. CVs ranged from 0.01% to 2.30%. The acoustic noise measured at the scanner isocenter was 2.6 dBA higher compared to the in-bore background. Rapid and with low acoustic noise, the proposed method is shown to produce accurate T1 and PD maps with high repeatability by reconstructing sparsely sampled T1w images at different TIs using temporal subspace. Our approach can greatly enhance patient comfort during examination and therefore increase the acceptance of the procedure.
Taxonomic studies in Dasypyrum (Poaceae)

Dasypyrum (tribe Triticeae) is revised. Two species are recognized: the annual D. villosum (2n = 14) and the perennial D. breviaristatum (2n = 28). The typification of D. villosum is discussed. The combination D. hordeaceum is demonstrated to be based on a later homonym and for that reason a new combination, D. breviaristatum, is made. A key and a map showing the distribution of the species are presented. Interspecific hybridization and the phylogenetic relationships of the genus are discussed.
Effects of 6 Weeks Direct Instruction and Teaching Games for Understanding Programs on Physical Activity and Tactical Behaviour in U-12 Soccer Players

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of 6 weeks direct instruction and teaching games for understanding (TGfU) programs on the decision-making and execution (post-interventions), as well, as on the physical activity (PA) levels during sessions. Thirty under-12 football players participated in this study (age: 10.3 ± 0.45 years) and were randomly assigned to TGfU (n = 15) or direct instruction (n = 15) group. Two sessions/week were implemented. Results revealed that TGfU promoted higher levels (p = 0.043; d = 2.99) of light PA (28.96%) compared with direct instruction (27.55%). Non-significant higher sedentary PA levels (p = 0.073; d = 2.62) were found in the control group (35.48%). In terms of tactical principles, conservation of the ball increased the percentage of moderate to vigorous physical activity in TGfU (43.60%) compared with direct instruction (38.05%). According to the Game Performance Evaluation Tool (GPET), significant improvements (p = 0.018, d = 3.78) of the attacking player with the ball in the percentage of change between groups in the unsuccessful execution in TGfU (% = −62.2) were observed compared with direct instruction (% = 14.2). TGfU seems to be more appropriate than direct instruction to increase the light PA levels during sessions while no significant differences were found between programs in moderate and vigorous intensities. Regarding the effects of programs in decisions, greater improvements in decisions with the ball were found in TGFU compared to DI.
Characterization of Rough PTFE Surfaces by the Modified Wilhelmy Balance Technique

The wetting of rough polymer surfaces is of great importance for many technical applications. In this paper, we demonstrate the relationship between the mean roughness values and the fractal dimension of rough and self-affine PTFE surfaces. We have used white light interferometry measurements to obtain information about the complex topography of the technical surfaces having different height distributions. Two different methods for the calculation of the fractal dimension were used: The height difference correlation function (HDC) and the cube counting method. It was demonstrated that the mean roughness value (Ra) correlates better with the fractal dimension Df determined by the cube counting method than with the Df values obtained from HDC calculations. However, the HDC values show a stronger dependency by changing the surface roughness. The advancing and receding contact angles as well as the contact angle hysteresis of PTFE samples of different roughness were studied by the modified Wilhelmy balance technique using deionized water as a liquid. The modified Wilhelmy balance technique enables the possibility for future analysis of very rough PTFE surfaces which are difficult to investigate with the sessile drop method.
Identification and requirements of enhancers that direct gene expression during zebrafish fin regeneration

ABSTRACT To identify candidate tissue regeneration enhancer elements (TREEs) important for zebrafish fin regeneration, we performed ATAC-seq from bulk tissue or purified fibroblasts of uninjured and regenerating caudal fins. We identified tens of thousands of DNA regions from each sample type with dynamic accessibility during regeneration, and assigned these regions to proximal genes with corresponding expression changes by RNA-seq. To determine whether these profiles reveal bona fide TREEs, we tested the sufficiency and requirements of several sequences in stable transgenic lines and mutant lines with homozygous deletions. These experiments validated new non-coding regulatory sequences near induced and/or essential genes during fin regeneration, including fgf20a, mdka and cx43, identifying distinct domains of directed expression for each confirmed TREE. Whereas deletion of the previously identified LEN enhancer abolished detectable induction of the nearby leptin b gene during regeneration, deletions of enhancers linked to fgf20a, mdka and cx43 had no effect or partially reduced gene expression. Our study generates a new resource for dissecting the regulatory mechanisms of appendage generation and reveals a range of requirements for individual TREEs in control of regeneration programs. Summary: RNA-seq and ATAC-seq profiling of the dynamic transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility landscape during zebrafish fin regeneration identifies new regulatory elements that direct regeneration-responsive gene expression.
Quantum Point Defects for Solid‐State Laser Refrigeration

Herein, the role that point defects have played over the last two decades in realizing solid‐state laser refrigeration is discussed. A brief introduction to the field of solid‐state laser refrigeration is given with an emphasis on the fundamental physical phenomena and quantized electronic transitions that have made solid‐state laser‐cooling possible. Lanthanide‐based point defects, such as trivalent ytterbium ions (Yb3+), have played a central role in the first demonstrations and subsequent development of advanced materials for solid‐state laser refrigeration. Significant discussion is devoted to the quantum mechanical description of optical transitions in lanthanide ions, and their influence on laser cooling. Transition‐metal point defects have been shown to generate substantial background absorption in ceramic materials, decreasing the overall efficiency of a particular laser refrigeration material. Other potential color centers based on fluoride vacancies with multiple potential charge states are also considered. In conclusion, novel materials for solid‐state laser refrigeration, including color centers in diamond that have recently been proposed to realize the solid‐state laser refrigeration of semiconducting materials, are discussed.
Mechanism of Thermal Atomic Layer Etch of W Metal Using Sequential Oxidation and Chlorination: A First-Principles Study

Thermal atomic layer etch (ALE) of W metal can be achieved by sequential self-limiting oxidation and chlorination reactions at elevated temperatures. In this paper, we analyze the reaction mechanisms of W ALE using the first-principles simulation. We show that oxidizing agents such as O2, O3, and N2O can be used to produce a WOx surface layer in the first step of an ALE process with ozone being the most reactive. While the oxidation pulse on clean W is very exergonic, our study suggests that runaway oxidation of W is not thermodynamically favorable. In the second ALE pulse, WCl6 and Cl2 remove the oxidized surface W atoms by the formation of volatile tungsten oxychloride (WxOyClz) species. In this pulse, each adsorbed WCl6 molecule was found to remove one surface W atom with a moderate energy cost. Our calculations further show that the desorption of the additional etch products is endothermic by up to 4.7 eV. Our findings are consistent with the high temperatures needed to produce ALE in experiments. In total, our quantum chemical calculations have identified the lowest energy pathways for ALE of tungsten metal along with the most likely etch products, and these findings may help guide the development of improved etch reagents.
The intraspecific diversity of tooth morphology in the large‐spotted catshark Scyliorhinus stellaris: insights into the ontogenetic cues driving sexual dimorphism

Teeth in sharks are shed and replaced throughout their lifetime. Morphological dental changes through ontogeny have been identified in several species and have been correlated with shifts in diet and the acquisition of sexual maturity. However, these changes were rarely quantified in detail along multiple ontogenetic stages, which makes it difficult to infer the developmental processes responsible for the observed plasticity. In this work, we use micro‐computed tomography and 3D geometric morphometrics to describe and analyze the tooth size and shape diversity across three ontogenetic stages (hatchling, juvenile, and sexually mature) in the large‐spotted catshark Scyliorhinus stellaris (Linnaeus, 1758). We first describe the intra‐individual variation of tooth form for each sex at each ontogenetic stage. We provide a tooth morphospace for palatoquadrate and Meckelian teeth and identify dental features, such as relative size and number of cusps, involved in the range of variation of the observed morphologies. We then use these shape data to draw developmental trajectories between ontogenetic stages and for each tooth position within the jaw to characterize ontogenetic patterns of sexual dimorphism. We highlight the emergence of gynandric heterodonty between the juvenile and mature ontogenetic stages, with mature females having tooth morphologies more similar to juveniles’ than mature males that display regression in the number of accessory cusps. From these data, we speculate on the developmental processes that could account for such developmental plasticity in S. stellaris.
Leukocyte Rho kinase activity and serum cystatin C affect cardiovascular events in acute coronary syndrome

Abstract Objective: This study was designed to investigate the effects of leukocyte Rho kinase activity and serum Cystatin C (Cys C) on cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: A total of 48 patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 23 patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), 25 patients with unstable angina (UA) and 20 patients with no-acute coronary syndrome as control from January 2017 to June 2018 in Tianyou Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology were selected in this study. Western blot was used to detect the leukocyte Rho kinase activity and Elisa kit was used to measure serum Cys C. Univariate and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the influencing factors of cardiovascular events in ACS patients. Results: The activity of leukocyte Rho kinase and serum Cys C were gradually reduced in the STEMI, NSTEMI and UA patients, but all significantly higher than that in No-ASC patients, and there was a positive correlation between leukocyte Rho kinase activity and serum Cys C in ACS patients (r = 0.516, P < .001). The activity of leukocyte Rho kinase was positively correlated with the levels of serum TNF-α (r = 0.634, P < .001), IL-6 (r = 0.578, P < .001), IL-8 (r = 0.582, P < .001) in ACS patients, and the level of Cys C was positively correlated with the levels of serum TNF-α (r = 0.634, P < .001), IL-6 (r = 0.578, P < .001), IL-8 (r = 0.582, P < .001) in ACS patients. Univariate and multivariate analysis showed that the leukocyte Rho kinase activity (HR = 2.994, 95%CI = 1.328–6.054, P < .0001) and the levels of serum Cys C (HR = 1.692, 95%CI = 1.028–2.124, P < .0001) were independent influencing factors of cardiovascular events in ACS patients. Conclusion: The leukocyte Rho kinase activity and serum Cystatin C are high in acute coronary syndrome patients, and are the independent influencing factors of cardiovascular events in ACS patients.
Accelerating Truss Decomposition on Heterogeneous Processors

Truss decomposition is to divide a graph into a hierarchy of subgraphs, or trusses. A subgraph is a k -truss ( k ≥ 2) if each edge is in at least k --- 2 triangles in the subgraph. Existing algorithms work by first counting the number of triangles each edge is in and then iteratively incrementing k to peel off the edges that will not appear in ( k + 1)-truss. Due to the data and computation intensity, truss decomposition on billion-edge graphs takes hours to complete on a commodity computer. We propose to accelerate in-memory truss decomposition by (1) compacting intermediate results to optimize memory access, (2) dynamically adjusting the computation based on data characteristics, and (3) parallelizing the algorithm on both the multicore CPU and the GPU. In particular, we optimize the triangle enumeration with data skew handling, and determine at runtime whether to pursue peeling or direct triangle counting to obtain a certain k -truss. We further develop a CPU-GPU co-processing strategy in which the CPU first computes intermediate results and sends the compacted results to the GPU for further computation. Our experiments on real-world datasets show that our implementations outperform the state of the art by up to an order of magnitude. Our source code is publicly available at https://github.com/RapidsAtHKUST/AccTrussDecomposition.
An Image Segmentation Method for Eliminating Illumination Influence

Image segmentation plays an important role in the ﬁelds of multimedia, image processing and computer vision. However, image segmentation is a diﬃcult problem in the process of image understanding and analysis. Erroneous segmentation results often occur, especially if an interfering light source is involved, because of the inﬂuence of shadow and light intensity. This paper presents a novel method based on color constancy to eliminate the inﬂuence of light intensity and position. The experimental results show that this method is more eﬀective than conventional image segmentation methods such as the Otu method, the K-Means method, and others
Do Corporate Social Responsibility Engagements Lead to Real Environmental, Social, and Governance Impact?

We construct an event-based outcome measure of firm-level environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact for public and private firms globally from 2007 to 2015 using data from RepRisk. Then we measure the societal impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagements using participation in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) as a proxy. We demonstrate a robust and striking difference between public and private firms: whereas private firms significantly reduce their negative ESG incident levels after UNGC engagements, public firms fail to do so and are more likely to engage in decoupled CSR actions—actions with no subsequent real impact. We then conduct a series of in-depth analyses to examine possible economic mechanisms. Our results are most consistent with shareholder–stakeholder conflicts of interest being the main moderator of decoupling. The intensity of this conflict is further moderated by three factors: ownership type, proximity to final consumers on the value chain, and specific ESG incident types. Other possible mechanisms, such as selective entry into UNGC and heterogeneities in media exposure, country representation, and entry timing, do not survive our analysis. Our results suggest that existing CSR engagements and one-size-fits-all CSR policy mandates might not necessarily lead to better societal outcomes, and a multi-tiered policy targeting different ownership and industry types might be more efficient at maximizing ex post ESG benefits.
A New BEAST: Bayesian Software Tools for Ecological Trend Analysis

Abstract Many software tools available to biologists are either case-specific or require the ability to write computer programs. The learning curve for newer Bayesian approaches is much steeper than traditional approaches, often requiring an investment of several years. This article introduces a new free software package, BEAST (Bayesian Ecological Analysis of Statistical Trends), for Bayesian estimation of population trends, which requires the user to do no programming. A wide range of single-species population dynamics models are supported, including single-stage population models, stage-structured population models, and age-structured population models. In addition to Bayesian parameter estimation, this software allows users to do population projections, and may be used as a teaching tool by agencies and universities. I provide an example of a theta-logistic population model of stock pigeon (Columba oenas) breeding pairs. The degree of density dependence for this population was found to be stronger when compared to maximum likelihood parameter estimates available from the literature. Short-term population projections indicate that the number of breeding pairs is relatively stable, indicating that the population is at (or near) carrying capacity. This result is in agreement with the most recent data available, which indicate the breeding counts have remained relatively constant.