Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agrobacterium-mediated transfer of -Glucoronidase gene (gusA) to water mint (Mentha aquatica L.)

Water mint is a medicinal aromatic perennial herb belonging to the family Labiateae. It is distributed mostly in the temperate and sub-temperate regions of the world. Water mint is valued for its multipurpose uses in the field of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and flavoring foods. Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation has yielded a stunning array of transgenic plants with novel properties. Transgenic mint plants with reporter genes have been obtained only in peppermint. Therefore it would be interesting to extend transformation experiments to other mint species such as Water mint. Establishing a reliable direct regeneration system is necessary in plant transformation programs. In vitro direct regeneration of Water mint was obtained from leaf disks. Best results were obtained when explants were cultured onto MS medium supplemented with 4 mg/lit BAP. Transformed plants were obtained by co-cultivation of leaf disks with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3850 harbouring a binary vector pBI121 that carried E. coli β-glucuronidase as reporter gene and nptII as selective marker gene for kanamycin resistance. The presence and expression of transgenes in transgenics was evaluated by GUS histoenzymatic assay and PCR. An overall transformation frequency of 12% was achieved. Key words: Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Mentha aquatica, transformation, β-glucuronidase gene.
21.7 A Fully Integrated 24GHz 8-Path Phased-Array Receiver in Silicon

Versatile multiple antenna systems provide a plethora of solutions for communications and radar, such as multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) diversity transceivers and synthetic aperture radars (SAR). Phased arrays constitute a special class of multiple antenna systems that imitate the behavior of directional antennas whose bearing can be adjusted via electrical means. Generally, a radiated signal arrives at spatially separated antenna elements at different times. Phased arrays compensate the time delays between the elements and combine the signals to enhance the reception from the desired direction, while rejecting emissions from other directions. Coherent addition of the signal and the uncorrelated nature of noise in an N-path phased array receiver improve the SNR by 10log10(N) [dB] at the array output.
Using Social Construction Theory as a Foundation for Macro-Level Interventions in Communities Impacted by HIV and Addictions

Many professionals working with people living with HIV and alcohol and other drug addictions rely heavily on micro and mezzo-level interventions. The authors argue that although these approaches are effective for helping people living with some social problems they are too narrow for working effectively with HIV-positive and alcohol and other drug-addicted individuals. The authors use social construction theory to analyze the social problems of HIV/AIDS and addictions and make recommendations for macro-level interventions that may help curtail the dual problems of HIV and addictions.
Religious Belief and the Queer Classroom: Measuring the Impact of Religious Affiliation on LGBTQ-Inclusive Education Practices

This study examines the influence of religious affiliation on lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, two spirit, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ)-inclusive practices. Using data from a national survey of educators from pre-kindergarten to grade 12, multivariate analyses of variance models were employed in order to test the effects of religious affiliation on several LGBTQ-inclusive outcome measures. Results show that religious affiliation does have a significant impact on the likelihood that educators will (or will not) practice LGBTQ-inclusive education, however, the pathways to such practices vary considerably across religious groupings. Recommendations are suggested in terms of intervention, inclusive teaching practices, visibility, and leadership.
Airline Business Models and Service Quality in the European Airline Industry

This paper aims at extending knowledge of the link between airline business models and service quality. It specifically asks whether low cost carriers (LCCs) are more punctual than traditional network carriers (TNCs). Previous research has not answered this question for the European case so far. Therefore, this paper complements existing research and adds transparency and accuracy to simple on-time performance (OTP) rankings that are available on the internet. It builds on empirical evidence from more than one million intra-European flights, including flights from 8 European TNCs and 5 European LCCs. Our statistical analyses indicate that LCCs are more punctual than TNCs. At the same time, we have to expect that the overall OTP advantage of LCCs is the result of a heterogeneous set of individual airlines’ performances. Thus, generalizing our findings to other airlines is problematic.
CORROSION OF INDUSTRIAL FRIT FURNACE REFRACTORIES: A POSTMORTEM STUDY

Microstructural and phase analyses of corroded frit furnace refractories forming the side walls and the bottom of an industrial frit furnace is reported in this study. Reflected light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction tools were used for the analyses. The microstructural analysis in combination with the saturation solubilities information in the phase diagrams was used to predict the corrosion behavior of the refractories. The frit and the refractory types were compared qualitatively for the dissolution potential and corrosion mechanisms. The dissolution of the refractory material was direct (congruent) for both the side wall refractories and bottom pavers. The first push exudation phenomenon was determined to be effective for the increase of porosity and pore dimensions which in turn caused accelerated wear rates when combined with corrosion. The corrosive potential of the transparent frit for corundum, mullite, and glassy phase in the refractories was determined to be excessive. The dissolution of these species in the molten transparent frit was predicted to start at temperatures between 1000-1340 o C while the operating temperature was 1470 o C. The decrease in the extent of corrosion by zirconia inclusion either in the refractories or in the molten glass compositions was qualitatively discussed.
Convergence Analysis of Sample Average Approximation of Two-Stage Stochastic Generalized Equations

A solution of two-stage stochastic generalized equations is a pair: a first stage solution which is independent of realization of the random data and a second stage solution which is a function of random variables.This paper studies convergence of the sample average approximation of two-stage stochastic nonlinear generalized equations. In particular an exponential rate of the convergence is shown by using the perturbed partial linearization of functions. Moreover, sufficient conditions for the existence, uniqueness, continuity and regularity of solutions of two-stage stochastic generalized equations are presented under an assumption of monotonicity of the involved functions. These theoretical results are given without assuming relatively complete recourse, and are illustrated by two-stage stochastic non-cooperative games of two players.
AnEfficient End to EndKey Establishment Protocol forWireless Sensor Networks

Sensor networks are eligible candidates for military and scientific applications such as border security and environmental monitoring. They are usually deployed in unattended or hostile environments; therefore, security is a major concern with these networks. A fundamental requirement is the capability to establish pairwise keys between sensors. Many key establishment protocols have been proposed to address the security issues in wireless sensor networks. However, most of these protocols have security and/or performance restriction. In this article, we propose a new key establishment protocol based on symmetric polynomials and random key pre-distribution. In our protocol, contrary to others, we use several symmetric polynomials to generate polynomial shares for a group of sensors, and the distribution of polynomial shares to each sensor is done using a combinatorial design. Since a limited number of shares are generated from a symmetric polynomial, the polynomial degree is very low. As a result, the common key between sensors can be generated without imposing significant overhead to them. Further, in the proposed protocol, key establishment between near sensors is provided via symmetric polynomials, while key establishment between far sensors is accomplished via random key pre-distribution. Using these two techniques simultaneously allows end to end key establishment between every pair of sensors with reasonable overhead. c © 2014 JComSec. All rights reserved.
Identification of QTL and candidate genes for Pb accumulation in maize at maturity stage

Pb stress.which were located on chromosome 2 and 6 respectively. The two genes were dramatically up-regulated during led to the identiﬁcation of two Pb-responsive genes from those QTLs, GRMZM2G137161 and GRMZM2G132995, in different tissues, including roots, stems, leaves, and kernels. Furthermore, RNA-seq data and qRT-PCR analysis correlated with stems. A total of 20 QTLs at logarithm of odds (LOD) ratio ≥3 were detected for Pb concentration tissues of maize were roots > leaves > stems > kernels. The Pb concentration of kernels was higher signiﬁcantly stems and leaves ( P < 0.01). The present study has demonstrated that the trend of Pb concentration in different tissues and all the DH lines (P < 0.01). Pb concentration of kernels displayed signiﬁcant positive relationships with leaves, and kernels were measured. There was a wide distribution of Pb concentration among the mentioned four ). Pb concentrations in roots, stems, -1 solution (500 mg kg2)3ﬁlled up with soil which was stressed with a Pb(NOidentiﬁed using 207 IBM10 DH at maturity stage. The IBM10 DH and parents were planted in pots which were important insights for protecting the environment. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for Pb accumulation in maize were L) may provide Zea maysthe genetic basis for the underlying mechanism of tolerance for lead responses in maize (Lead (Pb) has become one of the most abundant heavy metal pollutants of the environment. Understanding
Multiagent Reinforcement Learning with Regret Matching for Robot Soccer

This paper proposes a novel multiagent reinforcement learning (MARL) algorithm Nash- learning with regret matching, in which regret matching is used to speed up the well-known MARL algorithm Nash- learning. It is critical that choosing a suitable strategy for action selection to harmonize the relation between exploration and exploitation to enhance the ability of online learning for Nash- learning. In Markov Game the joint action of agents adopting regret matching algorithm can converge to a group of points of no-regret that can be viewed as coarse correlated equilibrium which includes Nash equilibrium in essence. It is can be inferred that regret matching can guide exploration of the state-action space so that the rate of convergence of Nash- learning algorithm can be increased. Simulation results on robot soccer validate that compared to original Nash- learning algorithm, the use of regret matching during the learning phase of Nash- learning has excellent ability of online learning and results in significant performance in terms of scores, average reward and policy convergence.
A Survey of the Heterogeneous Computing Platform and Related Technologies

A heterogeneous computing platform is an computing system that composed of different types of computing units. By fully using the computing ability of different types of computing units, the heterogeneous computing platform can achieve better performance and power efficiency than traditional homogeneous computing platform. In this paper, we firstly summarize and analyze the key factors that affect the performance of a heterogeneous computing platform. Next, we conduct a specific survey about these key factors from both software and hardware aspects and introduce some research results and key technologies at present. And then, we introduce the heterogeneous computing framework and make a comparison between OpenCL and HSA which are now both promising. At last, we analyze the future directions of the heterogeneous computing platform.
Switching frequency dependent averaged models for PWM DC-DC converters

This paper introduces a new averaging method for PWM DC-DC converters which yields averaged models that are switching frequency dependent. The new models are obtained by using periodic ripple functions to improve the averaging approximation. Two important benefits are the correction of DC offset error in steady-state, and the modeling of switching frequency effects on closed loop performance and stability. <<ETX>>
Influence of sex and type of school on the prevalence of overweight and obesity

Introducción: el sobrepeso y la obesidad infantiles han pasado a ser, en las últimas décadas, una epidemia que afecta especialmente a los países desarrollados. Cada vez son más las repercusiones negativas sobre la salud que tienen relación con la obesidad infantil. El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar las prevalencias de sobrepeso y obesidad de una ciudad del norte de España, así como identificar los factores que influyen en la misma y la relación existente con la tensión arterial.
47.Mapping Groundwater Pollution Risk using GIS-based index system of Beihai, Southwestern China

The protection and preservation of groundwater resources based spatial management has been increasingly important and compulsory in recent China. This study presents an approach for groundwater contamination risk mapping, based on vulnerability index system, contamination load index system, and function value of groundwater. The risk map is a product of probability of contamination and impact, using a spatial analyst tool within Geographical Information System (GIS) to interpolate and manipulate data of those index. This approach was applied on the Beihai City in southwestern China as a case study. The results show that areas of highest contamination risk occur in the southern parts of Beihai City. The majority of public wells are located in an intermediate risk zone and four wells are in a high risk zone. A better understanding of the sources and their binding behaviors of heavy metals may imply the elevated toxic potential from certain metal groups in the aquatic ecosystem, while the analysis of contaminates should be combined with biological evaluations of toxicity at specific sites in future work.
Tests on Alkali-Activated Slag Foamed Concrete with Various Water-Binder Ratios and Substitution Levels of Fly Ash

To provide basic data for the reasonable mixing design of the alkali-activated (AA) foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material for a floor heating system, 9 concrete mixes with a targeted dry density less than 400 kg/m3 were tested. Ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) as a source material was activated by the following two types of alkali activators: 10% Ca(OH)2 and 4% Mg(NO3)2, and 2.5% Ca(OH)2 and 6.5% Na2SiO3. The main test parameters were water-to-binder (W/B) ratio and the substitution level (RFA) of fly ash (FA) for GGBS. Test results revealed that the dry density of AA GGBS foamed concrete was independent of the W/B ratio an RFA, whereas the compressive strength increased with the decrease in W/B ratio and with the increase in RFA up to 15%, beyond which it decreased. With the increase in the W/B ratio, the amount of macro capillaries and artificial air pores increased, which resulted in the decrease of compressive strength. The magnitude of the environmental loads of the AA GGBS foamed concrete is independent of the W/B ratio and RFA. The largest reduction percentage was found in the photochemical oxidation potential, being more than 99%. The reduction percentage was 87% - 93% for the global warming potential, 81% - 84% for abiotic depletion, 79% - 84% for acidification potential, 77% - 85% for eutrophication potential, and 73% - 83% for human toxicity potential. Ultimately, this study proved that the developed AA GGBS foamed concrete has a considerable promise as a sustainable construction material for nonstructural element.
Geometric and dynamic distortions in anisotropic galaxy clustering

We examine the signature of dynamic (redshift-space) distortions and geometric distortions (including the Alcock-Paczynski effect) in the context of the galaxy power spectrum measured in upcoming galaxy redshift surveys. Information comes from both the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature and the broadband power spectrum shape. Accurate modeling is required to extract this information without systematically biasing the result. We consider an analytic model for the power spectrum of dark matter halos in redshift space, based on the distribution function expansion, and compare with halo clustering measured in N-body simulations. We forecast that the distribution function model is sufficiently accurate to allow the inclusion of broadband information on scales down to k ∼ 0.2h Mpc−1, with somewhat better accuracy for higher bias halos. Compared with a BAO-only analysis with reconstruction, including broadband shape information can improve unbiased constraints on distance measures H(z) and DA(z) by ∼ 30% and 20%, respectively, for a galaxy sample similar to the DESI luminous red galaxies. The gains in precision are larger in the absence of BAO reconstruction. Furthermore, including broadband shape information allows the measurement of structure growth, through redshift-space distortions. For the same galaxy sample, the distribution function model is able to constrain fσ8 to ∼ 2%, when simultaneously fitting for H(z) and DA(z). We discuss techniques to optimize the analysis of the power spectrum, including removing modes near the line-of-sight that are particularly challenging to model, and whether these approaches can improve parameter constraints. We find that such techniques are unlikely to significantly improve constraints on geometry, although they may allow higher precision measurements of redshift-space distortions.
Design and Development of Level ShiftedSPWM Techniques based Reduced switchMultilevel Inverter

Many industrial applications require variable speed drives. In recent days many researchers have focused on Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) based multilevel inverter drives for inverter quality improvement. Inverter performances are evaluated by calculating overall THD of output signals. In this paper a new multilevel inverter topology is described with reduced number of switches. Different Sinusoidal PWM schemes (PD, POD, APOD) has been employed to the reduced switch inverter and a comparative performance is analyzed of the inverter in terms of Total Harmonic Distortion. The reduced switch multilevel inverter has been designed and different SPWM schemes have been developed in MATLAB SIMULINK environment.
Design and characterization of flat lens antenna using aperture-coupled microstrip patches

A planar discrete lens antenna is a low profile, light weight and cost effective solution to conventional and curved dielectric lenses. The basic theory of operation of flat lens antenna unit cell is to collimate the feed spherical electromagnetic incident wave into planar wavefront at the back of the aperture. Therefore, the array unit cell must be designed to establish the required phase adjustment. Flat lens antenna elements which are based on aperture-coupled microstrip patches are presented. The lens contains 7×7 elements with a diameter of 71 mm and operates in the X-band frequency range. The lens was experimentally validated and good agreement between simulation and measurement results were obtained. The achieved measured peak gain is 15.85 dB. This gives 6 dB gain enhancement for the system. The antenna 1-dB gain bandwidth and power efficiency are 7.8% and 58% respectively. A very good transmission phase shift of 340° is achieved with transmission coefficient of better than 2.25 dB. In addition, the measured radiation pattern results show that the antenna system has good symmetry between E and H plane with a half-power beamwidth of 16.2° and 16.6° in E-plane and H-plane respectively. Moreover, the proposed lens element employs a simple and less fabrication complexity mechanism for phase shift correction. Finally, the obtained results show that the proposed flat lens antenna is an attractive choice for the applications of wireless airborne systems such as VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal).
Microsatellites and agronomic traits for assessing genetic relationships among 18 New Rice for Africa (NERICA) varieties

The Africa Rice Center (WARDA) has developed several interspecific rice varieties by crossing the high yielding Asian rice (Oryza sativa subsp. japonica) with the locally adapted African rice (Oryza glaberrima). Eighteen varieties were named with the prefix NERICA (New Rice for Africa) but their genetic difference and patterns of relationship is largely unknown. A total of 102 polymorphic microsatellite markers were used to genotype 18 NERICAs. A subset of seven NERICAs (NERICA 1 to 7) was further characterized for 10 agronomic traits. The microsatellites data revealed no genetic difference between NERICA 8 and 9. The absence of genetic distance and identical SSR haplotype distribution (banding pattern) observed between NERICAs 8 and 9 is highly likely to be due to lack molecular difference at the DNA level but the possibility for seed admixture remains to be explored. This study, however, revealed the presence of a wide range of genetic differences among all other NERICAs, with the highest being between NERICA 6 and 17. Cluster and principal component analyses of the SSR data revealed distinct separation of NERICA 1 to 7 from NERICA 8 to 18. The possible reasons for such separation and the implications for breeding programs are discussed
Influence of Social Capital on Livelihood Outcomes for the Internally Displaced Persons in Kenya: A Social Capital Approach

Social capital is increasingly recognized as important in influencing economic development, establishment of safe neighborhoods and wellfunctioning communities. There is growing evidence that communities with relatively higher stocks of social capital in form of grassroots associations appear to achieve higher levels of growth compared to societies with low stocks of social capital. This study sought to investigate the influence of social Capital on the livelihood outcomes for the internally displaced persons in Kenya. Membership to local level associations was used as a predictor of social capital. The study revealed that majority of the households that were affiliated to local level associations obtained essential services that influenced their livelihoods positively. Overall, the findings reveal that memberships in local associations (social capital) tend to insulate households from risks and other exigencies. The study recommends that government and other stakeholders such as non-governmental organizations should formulate projects and programs that seek to promote wider participation in local level associations particularly by the poor and those whose livelihoods are vulnerable.
Examining Regulatory Focus in the Information Processing of Imagery and Analytical Advertisements

The results of two experimental studies show that matching a promotion (prevention) focus with imagery (analytical) information in an advertisement results in higher advertising effectiveness, together with increased intention to purchase. Mediation analyses show that the impact of a regulatory focus—information matching in evaluation and purchase intention—is partially mediated by the fluency of processing. Matching is also found to increase message persuasiveness, and this effect is fully mediated by processing fluency. Furthermore, in response to imagery (analytical) information types, promotion (prevention)-focused subjects are found to engage imagery (analytical) processing styles to support their regulatory orientation.