Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identification of regulatory networks and hub genes controlling nitrogen uptake in tea plants (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze).

Nitrogen (N) uptake, as the first step of N metabolism, is a key limiting factor for plant growth. To understand the gene expression networks that control N absorption and metabolism in tea plants, transcriptomes were analyzed in the young roots of two groups of tea plants with significantly different growth rates under different N treatments (0, 0.2 and 2 mM). Using pairwise comparisons and weighted gene co-expression network analyses (WGCNA), 16 co-expression modules were successfully constructed. Among them, a specific module (turquoise) was identified which substantially responded to the low N treatment. Based on KEGG analysis, the relative genes that enriched in the "N metabolism" pathways were used to construct gene co-expression networks of N metabolism. Finally, a high-affinity ammonium (NH4+) transporter designated CsAMT1.2 was identified as a hub gene in the N metabolism network in tea plant roots and the gene expression could be highly induced by N resupply. The gene functional analysis revealed that CsAMT1.2 could make functional complementation of MEP1, MEP2 and MEP3 genes in 31019b yeast cells and improved NH4+ uptake rate in 31019b at low NH4+ level. Thus, CsAMT1.2 was a key gene controlling N uptake in tea plants and might play a vital role in promoting NH4+ uptake from environment in tea roots. This study provided a useful foundation for improving the NUE in tea plantations.
Bi-Directional Decoder Model with Eﬃcient Fine-Tuning of Embedding for Named Entity Recognition

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is one of the important tasks in natural language processing. In this paper, we propose a novel method for NER in Japanese. It consists of three deep learning modules: a Character En-coder, Word Encoder and Tag Decoder, which are implemented by Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) or Bi-Directional LSTM (BiL-STM). Pre-trained character and word embed-dings are used as the input of our model. Our new idea is to combine a forward and back-ward LSTM at Tag Decoder. This enables us to consider named entity (NE) tags of both the previous and succeeding words in the clas-siﬁcation, while only a previous NE tag was taken into account in most of the past studies. We also introduce a separate ﬁne-tuning of the embedding that enables us to eﬃciently ﬁne-tune the parameters of the character and word embeddings. In this method, the parameters of embeddings and other model parameters are trained separately. In an experiment using a large Japanese named entity tagged corpus, the F1-score of our proposed method was 0.944, which was better than the baseline by 0.06 points.
Challenges of assessing the optic nerve in glaucoma

ABSTRACT Optic nerve examination is the mainstay for glaucoma diagnosis and follow-up. Specific features of the optic disc and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) need to be assessed in the context of the disease. Their description is qualitative and subjective and constitutes a challenge for the clinician. This review focuses glaucoma definitions and describes clinical examination protocols and their weaknesses. We also describe the imaging technologies that have been developed in an effort to achieve quantitative measurements which can be used to aid initial glaucoma diagnosis as well as follow-up, provided that their results are critically evaluated in combination with the clinical examination findings. We finally review imaging technologies’ evaluation in clinical as well as in population-based settings.
Perceived Career Barriers for Human Resources Professionals’ Career Development to Climb the Top of the Corporate Ladder

Presence of globalization enabled a competitive business environment where career development is becoming a hot topic among every professional. The importance of the Human Resource (HR) professionals in the top of the ladder is prominence with enhancing focus on people-oriented culture. Hence, the purpose of the study is to whether perceived career barriers are associated with the career development of HR professionals in the Sri Lankan context. The study identified perceived barriers namely; lack of culture fit, excluded from informal, lack of mentoring, poor organizational career management processes, difficulty of getting developmental assignments, and the difficulty of obtaining opportunities for geographic mobility. Two hundred sixty-four (264) questionnaires were collected, which developed using standard measures and analyzed using multiple linear regression and hierarchical regression to identify the significant impact of perceived barriers on career development. Findings revealed that there is a negative impact of perceived barriers on career development and difficulty getting developmental assignment is the most dominant perceived barriers, which hinder career development of HR professionals to climb the top of the corporate ladder.
Exponent of Convergence of Solutions to Linear Differential Equations in the Unit Disc

In this paper we investigate the [p,q]-exponent of convergence of f (i)−φ where f . 0 is a solution of linear differential equation with analytic or meromorphic coefficients with finite [p,q]-order in the unit disc and φ is a small function of f . By this investigation we can deduce the value distribution of the fixed points of f (i) by taking φ (z) = z. We will see the similarities and differences between T (r, f ) and M (r, f ) . Indexing terms/
Computer Decision Support to Improve Autism Screening and Care in Community Pediatric Clinics

An autism module was added to an existing computer decision support system (CDSS) to facilitate adherence to recommended guidelines for screening for autism spectrum disorders in primary care pediatric clinics. User satisfaction was assessed by survey and informal feedback at monthly meetings between clinical staff and the software team. To assess outcomes, such as changes in identification and referrals, we reviewed data captured from the CDSS. Between November 15, 2010 and July 26, 2012, 857 patients were eligible for screening. Of these, 66% (567/857) were screened as determined by the number of forms scanned into the system, of which 30% (171/567) had concerning Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers. However, pediatricians failed to respond to alerts for 73 children. Of the remaining 98 children, pediatricians felt 50 (68%) did not have an Autism spectrum disorder, 23 (32%) were referred for autism evaluation, eight (11%) were suspected but not referred and two (3%) were referred for audiology. Seventy percent of all users agreed that automation of the screening process helped them to adhere to recommended guidelines. Automating autism care into a CDSS resulted in moderate adherence to guidelines. Health information technology can facilitate the implementation of autism guidelines in busy pediatric clinics.
Principles of Embedded Networked Systems Design: Acknowledgments

Embedded network systems (ENS) provide a set of technologies that can link the physical world to large-scale networks in applications, such as monitoring of borders, infrastructure, health, the environment, automated production, supply chains, homes, and places of business. This book details the fundamentals for this interdisciplinary and fast-moving field. The book begins with mathematical foundations and the relevant background topics in signal propagation, sensors, detection and estimation theory, and communications. Key component technologies in ENS are discussed: synchronization and position localization, energy and data management, actuation, and node architecture. Ethical, legal, and social implications are addressed. The final chapter summarizes some of the lessons learned in producing multiple ENS generations. A focus on fundamental principles together with extensive examples and problem sets make this text ideal for use in graduate courses on electrical engineering and computer science. It will also appeal to engineers involved in the design of ENS.
Price Dependence between Different Beef Cuts and Quality Grades: A Copula Approach at the Retail Level for the U.S. Beef Industry

The objective of this study is to assess the degree and the structure of price dependence between different cuts of the beef industry in the USA. This is pursued using the statistical tool of copulas. To this end, it utilizes retail monthly data of beef cuts, within and between the quality grades of Choice and Select, over the period 2000–2014. For the Choice quality grade, there was evidence of asymmetric price co-movements between all six pairs of beef cuts under consideration. No evidence of asymmetric price co-movements was found between the three pairs of beef cuts for the Select quality grade. For the pairs of beef cuts formed between the Choice and Select quality grades, the empirical results point to the existence of price asymmetry only for the case of the chuck roast cut. JEL codes: Q11, C13, L66
MAPPING THE DAILY RISK OF FIRE IN CONTINENTAL PORTUGAL

Wildfires are a major concern in Europe, especially in Mediterranean countries, where warm and dry spring and summer conditions may lead to high levels of vegetation stress. During summer months, Mediterranean countries suffer frequent large-scale fire episodes with dramatic consequences for the ecosystems and population but late winter and spring fires should not be disregarded in some southern European areas. This is particularly true in Continental Portugal where time series of burnt area show a positive trend since the early 80’s together with a large inter-annual variability. We describe an operational procedure for assessing fire risk in Continental Portugal on a daily basis. The procedure is currently being developed within the framework of the Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis (LSA SAF) and consists of the following three main steps; i) characterising the background conditions associated to the heat and water stress of vegetation according to the late spring hydro-meteorological regime, ii) characterising on a daily basis the meteorological conditions that favour the onset and propagation of wildfires during the fire season, and iii) evaluating the fire risk taking into account both background and meteorological conditions. Heat and water stress of vegetation is evaluated by means of statistical models that relate the amount of burnt area during the fire season with averages of relevant meteorological parameters (e.g. temperature and precipitation) over spring. The impact on vegetation of meteorological conditions is evaluated based on information provided by the Canadian Fire Weather Index (FWI).
International Perspectives: Point-of-Care Chest Ultrasound in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: An Italian Perspective

Lung ultrasound outperforms conventional radiology in the emergency diagnosis of pneumothorax and pleural effusions. Neonatologists and pediatricians are now adapting lung ultrasound to their specific clinical issues. The normal image is relatively unchanged throughout the age span, whereas progressively fading B-lines (comet-tail artifacts) describe the fluid-to-air transition of the neonatal lung. Also, an homogeneous white (hyperechogenic) lung with pleural image abnormalities and absence of spared areas is accurate in diagnosing respiratory distress syndrome. The evidence of bilateral confluent B-lines in the dependent areas of the lung (‘‘white lung’’) and normal or near-normal appearance of the lung in the superior fields is highly sensitive and specific for transient tachypnea of the newborn. Infantile pneumonia has recently been proved to be accurately diagnosed by ultrasound after a short training period. In summary, chest ultrasonography is not yet ready to replace conventional chest radiology. However, when appropriately applied, a lung ultrasound scan can save time and radiation exposure to achieve a critical diagnosis.
Melanocyte Detection in Skin Whole-Slide Histopathological Images

Skin cancer is one of the most malignant types of cancer and melanoma is the most aggressive type among skin cancers. In melanoma diagnosis, analysis of images in cellular is important and melanocytic nuclei is the most important cellular-level indicators of skin melanoma. The segmentation of melanoytes could lead to more accurate diagnosis of melanoma. A previous study developed an unsupervised method to segment melanocytes by estimating the area of the "halo" region around a nuclei and using a area threshold to determine if the given nuclei is a melanocyte. However, according to our pathologist in contact, the assumption of the existence of the "halo" region around a melanocyte may not be valid. In this project, we aimed to develop a more accurate supervised classifier for detecting melanocytes from histopathological whole slide images (WSI). We used a nuclei detector based on AdaBoost, which have been tested on histopathologcal WSI dataset with successful performance. We used this classifier to extract nuclei from WSIs. Then, we obtained nuclei patches which has a nuclei’s centroid at the center of the patch. Finally, we trained a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a Dense CNN to classify whether a nuclei in the center of a patch is a melanocyte or not. We examined the effect of learning rate on model performance and compared the performance between the proposed CNN and Dense CNN. We were able to achieve classification accuracy of 75% and F1 score of 0.72, which proved the feasibility of our approach.
Activity recognition in adaptive assistive systems using artificial neural networks

Our research was oriented to develop technologies for independent daily life assistance of elderly or sick persons and to improve the quality of human life. We designed a complex assistive system that can learn and adapt due to the uses of artificial neural networks (ANN). This paper presents the system developed for human activity and health parameters monitoring (temperature, heart rate, acceleration) and focuses on studies and results obtained on arm posture recognition, body posture recognition and usual activities recognition like: lying on various sides, sitting, standing, walking, running, descending or climbing stairs etc. For pattern recognition from the possible biologically inspired algorithms we opted for the ANNs. One direction of research was the design and test of several Matlab ANN models in order to find the best performing architecture. Another research direction was related to the necessary preprocessing of raw data aiming to have a better recognition rate. We find that standard deviation could be used with very good results as a supplementary input data for neurons. We optimized the number of sensors and their placement in order to obtain the best trade-off between recognition rate and the complexity of the recognition system. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.eee. 22.1. 14112
Wavelength-selective 1x4 switch for 128 WDMchannels at 50 GHz spacing

We present a reconfignrable wavelengti-selective switch that independently distributes 128 input WDM channels to four output ports. The switch is based on bulk optics and MEMS micro-mirrors, exhibits 4 dB insertion loss and flat-top pass-bands, and is well suited for transparent switching of 10 Gb/s signals. 0 2002 Optical Society of America OCIS code: (OM). ISlO) Couplers, switches, and multiplexers, (230.3990) Microstructure devices, (060.2330) fiber optics communications The evolution towards transparent optical transport systems, with the use of enabling technologies as fiber amplifiers and WDM transmission, affords cost reduction and performance enhancements over legacy systems. Expensive electronic equipment, such as SONET ADM, is being replaced by optical add-drop multiplexers (OADM), which eliminate the unnecessary regeneration of express traffic channels. The dropped channels are typically detected locally for access or retransmitted onto another line system. Enabling the direct transfer of wavelengths from one line system to another without regeneration will extend the transparency region and reduce the overall network cost, Transparent switching in today's multi-channel optical communication systems is often accomplished by first demultiplexing (Demux) the ingress WDM channels into separate ports, traversing through a high-port-count optical switch fabric,'. ' and re-multiplexing (Mux) the channels into common egress fibers for transmission downstream. However, as the channel count and complexity of WDM networks increases, management of the multiple interconnecting fibers between the Demux, switching fabric, and Mux becomes more difficult. This solution also requires a high star-up cost. Integrating the Mux and Demux functionality into the switching device eliminates the need for these interconnecting- fibers, as bas been demonstrated for reconfigurable wavelength add-drop switches with free-space4. ' or arrayed waveguide grating6 (AWG) Mux/Demux technology, as well as optical cross connects with embedded AWG. ' In this paper, we demonstrate a new transparent switch fabric that distributes any optical wavelengths from an input port to one of four output ports - wavelength-selective 1x4 switch - implemented with free-space optics and micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) mirrors.
The C-terminus in GPCRs: from FRET to ensembles

G-protein coupled receptors, GPCRs, are a large class of proteins that act like antennae that help cells sense their environment. These receptors can detect and transmit information about a wide range of stimuli, and comprise about 50% of FDA approved pharmaceutical drug targets [1]. Across varying families and sub-families of receptors, the same scaffolding structure is repeated: a bundle of seven alpha-helices spanning the cellular membrane, with a binding pocket near the extracellular side and a binding crevice near the intracellular side. The elucidation of this particular structurefunction relationship, for stimuli as different as hormones and light, was awarded with the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2012 to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian K. Kobilka, currently BIH-Einstein visiting fellow at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin[2]. Recently, single-molecule, Försters-ResonanceEnergy-Transfer (FRET) experiments by the Kobilka lab[6] have shed light on specific structural features of the otherwise poorly characterized structure of the C-terminus (CT) of the β2-Adrengergic receptor (β2AR, Fig. 1). In this project, we intend to exploit this information by using adaptive sampling methods[4] to bias classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the β2AR. We will combine this enhanced sampling method with the use of Markov-State-models (MSMs[5]) to interpret and express the obtained structural and kinetic data of the β2AR-CT interplay, which is otherwise scarcely characterized. The first round of adaptive simulations (note that this is an extension application) has already produced an aggregated 10 μs of MD-simulation data, CT extracellular medium
Design of Intelligent Autonomous Wheeled Robot Using Rf Transmission

Embedded system is an emerging field with immense applications in Science and Engineering. The designed ROBOT is a portable machine. Communication between ROBOT and the Control Unit is performed through Radio Frequency (RF) Communication. The system basically has two modes. The automatic mode is the first mode and the user control mode is the second mode. ROBOT is controlled with the help of Microcontroller in the control unit and is programmed my means of microcontroller in it. The primary aim of the project is to design, develop and implement Automatic Wall Painting Robot which helps to achieve low cost painting equipment along with object recognition. The robotic system is remote controlled. Thus the aim is to provide a robotic system that can be used in industrial applications. In this paper the robot is controlled from the system using MATLAB so ftware
RESPONSIBLE RESEARCH PUBLICATION: INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR AUTHORS

Summary Editors are accountable and should take responsibility for everything they publish. Editors should make fair and unbiased decisions independent from commercial consideration and ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process. Editors should adopt editorial policies that encourage maximum transparency and complete, honest reporting. Editors should guard the integrity of the published record by issuing corrections and retractions when needed and pursuing suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct. Editors should pursue reviewer and editorial misconduct. Editors should critically assess the ethical conduct of studies in humans and animals. Peer reviewers and authors should be told what is expected of them. Editors should have appropriate policies in place for handling editorial conflicts of interest. Reference Kleinert S and Wager E (2011), Responsible research publication: international standards for editors. A position statement developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore, July 22-24, 2010. Chapter 51 in: Mayer T and Ste-neck N (e ds). Promoting Research Integrity in a Global Environment. Imperial College Press / World Scientific Publishing, Singapore (pp 317-28). (ISBN 978-981-4340-97-7).
Credit risk management and business intelligence approach of the banking sector in Jordan

Abstract Banking segment is one of the ultimate key segments that support the sustainable economic progress in Jordan. Hence, banks in Jordan are considered as tremendously significant financial establishments that pursue profit by providing various financial services to various customers through dealing with different kinds of risk. Therefore, loan decisions for such institutions are crucial because they can avert credit risk. However, loan sanction assessment at Jordanian banks is particularly based on credit officer’s intuition and sometimes a combination of credit officer’s judgment and traditional credit scoring models. Consequently, it is important to assess the riskiness of the banking sector in Jordan. Then again, banks kept data regarding their clienteles in data warehouses that can be looked as concealed knowledge assets that can be read and exercised via data mining tools. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) denote a recent development of statistical techniques and promising tools of data mining and data processing. The current study attempts to develop an artificial neural network model as a decision support system to credit approval evaluation at Jordanian commercial banks based on applicant’s characteristics; the proposed model can be utilized to aid credit officers make better decisions when evaluating future loan applications. A real-world credit application of cases of both granted and rejected applications from different Jordanian banks was employed to develop the artificial neural model. The experimental outcomes showed that artificial neural networks area promising addition to the existing classification methods.
Comparison of the health-risk behaviors of high school students in Anhui province with those in America

Objective This study exams effects of social factors on the prevalence rates of health risk behaviors among high school students and documents intervention survey. Methods The survey of Anhui province used a three stage cluster sample design and included 7,503 students in grades 9～12.The information of American students was from results of the national school based 1991 youth risk behavior survey. Results The health risk behaviors are less in high school students in Anhui province than those in America.The prevalence rate of cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking in male students is more than female significantly in Anhui province while there is no significantly difference between Amrican male and female students and that in grade 12 is the highest in grade 9～12 in Anhui province and America. Furthermore, the prevalence rate of the intentional injurey behavior is highest in grade 9 and no significantly difference in grade 10～12 in Anhui province while that is lowest in grade 12 and no significantly different in grade 9～12. Conclusions Prevention intervention should be aimed at health risk behavior and related social factors at the same time.