Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Metabolism and Nitric Oxide (NO) Content in Roots and Shoots of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Plants under Arsenic-Induced Stress

Arsenic (As) is a highly toxic metalloid for all forms of life including plants. Rice is the main food source for different countries worldwide, although it can take up high amounts of As in comparison with other crops, showing toxic profiles such as decreases in plant growth and yield. The induction of oxidative stress is the main process underlying arsenic toxicity in plants, including rice, due to an alteration of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism. The aim of this work was to gain better knowledge on how the ROS metabolism and its interaction with nitric oxide (NO) operate under As stress conditions in rice plants. Thus, physiological and ROS-related biochemical parameters in roots and shoots from rice (Oryza sativa L.) were studied under 50 μM arsenate (AsV) stress, and the involvement of the main antioxidative systems and NO in the response of plants to those conditions was investigated. A decrease of 51% in root length and 27% in plant biomass was observed with 50 μM AsV treatment, as compared to control plants. The results of the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) isozymes, catalase, peroxidase (POD: total and isoenzymatic), and the enzymes of the ascorbate–glutathione cycle, besides the ascorbate and glutathione contents, showed that As accumulation provoked an overall significant increase of most of them, but with different profiles depending on the plant organ, either root or shoot. Among the seven identified POD isozymes, the induction of the POD-3 in shoots under As stress could help to maintain the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) redox homeostasis and compensate the loss of the ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity in both roots and shoots. Lipid peroxidation was slightly increased in roots and shoots from As-treated plants. The H2O2 and NO contents were enhanced in roots and shoots against arsenic stress. In spite of the increase of most antioxidative systems, a mild oxidative stress situation appears to be consolidated overall, since the growth parameters and those from the oxidative damage could not be totally counteracted. In these conditions, the higher levels of H2O2 and NO suggest that signaling events are simultaneously occurring in the whole plant.
Object detection of aerial image using mask-region convolutional neural network (mask R-CNN)

The most fundamental task in remote sensing data processing and analysis is object detection. It plays an important role in classification and very useful for various applications such as forestry, urban planning, agriculture, land use and land cover mapping, etc. However, it has many challenges to find an appropriate method due to many variations in the appearance of the object in image. The object may have occlusion, illumination, viewpoint variation, shadow, etc. Many object detection method has been researched and developed. Recently, the development of various machine learning-based methods for object detection has been increasing. Among of them are methods based on artificial neural network, deep learning and its derivatives. In this research, object detection method of aerial image by using mask-region convolutional neural network (mask-R CNN) is developed. The result shows that this method gives a significant accuracy by increasing the image training and epoch time.
Stakeholder collaboration to support accountability in village fund management and rural development

The village government has an substantial responsibility in managing human resources to produce regional economic benefits. This research aims to identify the stakeholder collaboration to support accountability in village fund management and rural development. This study used an interactive approach with data collection methods such as structured interviews, documentation, and observation. The object of the study is village officials in Pranggang Village, Plosoklaten District, Kediri Regency, East Java Province. The results of the study showed that the village government has not optimally carried out its role in involving more stakeholders. Collaborative stakeholders in managing village funds involved village government officials, activity management team and community. They play a positive role in bringing about village accountability in managing village funds. An increased community participation contribute to program evaluation activities and effectiveness in the village financial management. The accountability of the village funds utilization has met the Home Affairs Ministerial Regulation number 113 of 2014. In addition, social accountability has been applied in various forms of effective interactions between the community and village government. Much efforts are required to improve the quality of human resources through more stakeholder engagement, training activity and community empowerment. JEL Classification : H72; H83; O20
Phosphocholine Steroid Conjugates: Are these Compounds the Mammalian Cardiotonic Steroids?

Cardiotonic glycoside toxins, originally isolated from plants or amphibians, have been proposed as mammalian cardiotonic hormones. This paper is a review and update of the discovery of [i] a new class of steroid hormones, [ii] the path for their biosynthesis and [iii] some preliminary data on their function. The compounds are phosphoester conjugates and share a characteristic structural feature, a lactone ring, with [a] one class of synthetic potassium sparing diuretics and with [b] plant and amphibian cardiotonic steroids. Purification was initially monitored by cross reaction with steroid sulfate assays and later with digoxin-specific assays. Six compounds were purified by HPLC to near homogeneity and characterized by Tandem mass spectroscopy (MS-MS) and 31P-NMR. Three were digoxin-like materials (DLM) with 23 carbon atoms. The two extra carbon atoms form a spiral lactone E-ring. Several additional spiral lactones have been identified by MS-MS. In a pilot study, based on MS analysis, we evaluated phosphocholine steroid levels in individual serum samples in patients with pre-eclampsia (n=20). The control group of normotensive pregnant women (n=20) was used to estimate the mean and standard deviation. Twelve of the women with pre-eclampsia had a z-score over 2 for at least one of the four phosphocholine steroids. In contrast, only 1 sample from the normotensive women had a z-score over 2. The observation that there are two patterns, one with elevated phosphocholine steroid levels and one without the elevation, suggests that there may be two different underlying causes of pre-eclampsia. We now need to extend the study to determine which pattern predicts progression to life-threatening hypertension in pregnant women. This pilot study illustrates that it is possible to evaluate individual endogenous cardiotonic hormones without relying on antibodies developed to plant or amphibian toxins.
Critical Thinking and It is Role in Facing Coronavirus

This research addresses the role of the Critical thinking skill in helping individuals face the crisis that arise; and we have taken the spread of Corona virus as a model to build upon this study. This research uses the descriptive method to test the validity of research hypotheses based on correlations or influence between research variables. We adopted the random sampling to carry out with this study.In this study, we have used the questionnaire as a tool to study the sample that consisted of 500 citizens from all Lebanese governorates. The analysis of the field study showed that there is significant correlation between the respondents having the skill of Critical thinking, the anxiety resulting from the spread of Corona virus, and the role of this skill in adhering to the instructions issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Interior during the spread of this virus.It was proven in this research that Critical thinking skills were higher in women than it is for men; despite the result of the statistical analysis showing that women suffer more than men from anxiety and stress due to the spread of Corona virus.The ranking of the Lebanese provinces for the possession of Critical thinking skill was as follows: Beirut Governorate, Nabatiyeh Governorate, Mount Lebanon Governorate, South Lebanon Governorate, Bekaa Governorate, North Lebanon Governorate, Akkar Governorate, and Baalbek Hermel Governorate.
The Virtual Construction Site: Knowledge Management in Virtual Environments

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential of the virtual construction site as a tool of knowledge management on technological processes of construc-tion production at the university. A digital paradigm that ensures the unity of in-novative and smart technologies in construction education and improves knowledge management tools has become the methodological basis. The authors present the criteria for the effectiveness of teaching technological processes with the help of virtual construction site (digital, professional, personal). The guide-lines for teaching students to make a technological map in construction are pro-posed. The levels of knowledge of modern digital technologies are presented. The practical significance of the study is to present the experience of teaching techno-logical processes using digital content. The social significance lies in the for-mation of a sustainable orientation of students towards the digitalization of con-struction production. Originality of research consists in substantiation of virtual construction site as the effective tool of knowledge management.
Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue Dye Using TiO2 and Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 as Photocatalysts

This paper is focused on obtained two catalysts such as TiO2 nanoparticles and Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 nanocomposite for adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dyes from aqueous solution. The morphology, structure and chemical proprieties of synthesized materials were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms and Zeta potential. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under UV light in the presence of different synthesized catalysts was analyzed with Spectrometer UV-Vis. The photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue was studies by focusing of photoactivity performance of Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 in comparation with TiO2. An attempt has been made to study the effect of process parameters through amount of the catalysts and initial concentrations of methylene blue. In all cases was found that the kinetics of the MB photocatalytic degradation under UV light was fitted to the Langmuir–Hinshelwood. Even if the photocatalytic degradation study revealed that Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 and TiO2 degraded about 90 % of methylene blue within 60 min, the magnetic nanocomposite Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 serves as better catalyst compared with TiO2 nanoparticles. An important role in the photocatalytic degradation of MB is adsorption characteristic of TiO2 and Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 surface. The photocatalytic performance of Fe3O4/SiO2/TiO2 remained greater than TiO2 after 4 cycles of use.
Structural Health Monitoring of Timber Using Electromechanical Impedance (EMI) Technique

Nowadays, the electromechanical impedance method has been widely used in the field of structural healthy monitoring, especially for the concrete and steel materials. However, the electromechanical impedance studies on damage detection for timber are limited due to the anisotropic and ununiform biomaterial properties. As a low-cost and environment-friendly building material, timber has been widely used in the construction. Thus, it is beneficial to develop electromechanical impedance technique for structural healthy monitoring of timber so as to ensure the stability and safety of the entire timber structures. In this paper, two damage factors, i.e., the damage location factor and the damage size factor of timber specimens are investigated by using the electromechanical impedance method. The method is implemented by using a patch of Lead Zirconate Titanate transducer both as an actuator to generate stress waves and a sensor to detect stress waves after propagating across the timber specimens. Then, the damage index-root mean square deviation is employed to evaluate the damage severity of the timber specimens. The results indicate that the damage index changes consistently with the change of damage location and size factors, and the proposed method using electromechanical impedance technique can efficiently estimate the damage and its severity.
Quantile Causal Discovery

Causal inference using observational data is challenging, especially in the bivariate case. Through the minimum description length principle, we link the postulate of independence between the generating mechanisms of the cause and of the effect given the cause to quantile regression. Based on this theory, we develop Quantile Causal Discovery (QCD), a new method to uncover causal relationships. Because it uses multiple quantile levels instead of the conditional mean only, QCD is adaptive not only to additive, but also to multiplicative or even location-scale generating mechanisms. To illustrate the effectiveness of our approach, we perform an extensive empirical comparison on both synthetic and real datasets. This study shows that QCD is robust across different implementations of the method (i.e., the quantile regression), computationally efﬁcient, and compares favorably to state-of-the-art methods.
Evaluating Invasive EEG Implantations in Medically Refractory Epilepsy with Functional Scalp EEG Recordings and Structural Imaging Data

Seizures in patients with medically refractory epilepsy (MRE) epilepsy cannot be controlled with drugs. For focal MRE, seizures originate in the epileptogenic zone (EZ), which is the minimum amount of cortex that must be treated to be seizure free. Localizing the EZ is often a laborious process wherein clinicians first inspect scalp EEG recordings during several seizure events, and then formulate an implantation plan for subsequent invasive monitoring. The goal of implantation is to place electrodes into the brain region covering the EZ. Then, during invasive monitoring, clinicians visually inspect intracranial EEG recordings to more precisely localize the EZ. The EZ is then surgically removed. Unfortunately surgical success rates average at 50%. Such grim outcomes call for analytical assistance in creating more accurate implantation plans from scalp EEG. In this paper, we introduce a method that combines imaging data (CT and MRI scans) with scalp EEG to derive an implantation distribution. Specifically, scalp EEG data recorded over a seizure event is converted into a time-gamma frequency map, which is then processed to derive a spectrally annotated implantation distribution (SAID). The SAID represents a distribution of gamma power in each of the eight cortical lobe/hemisphere partitions. We applied this method to 4 MRE patients who underwent treatment, and found that the SAID distribution overlapped more with clinical implantations in success cases than in failed cases. These preliminary findings suggest that the SAID may help in improving EZ localization accuracy and surgical outcomes.
Fish are not alone: characterization of the gut and skin microbiomes of Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides), Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), and Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus)

The objective of this study was to characterize the gut and skin microbiomes of three common freshwater fishes including two important sport fishes, Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides and Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus as well as the distantly-related Spotted Gar Lepisosteus oculatus. Skin and gut samples were collected in August and November 2014, and May 2015. All samples were sequenced as paired-end reads of the 16S rRNA gene via the Illumina MiSeq platform. More than 5M reads were analyzed representing 4,130 and 2,744 OTUs from gut and skin samples, respectively. Approximately 51.84% of the total OTUs were shared between the skin and gut bacterial communities. Good’s coverage was higher than 98% in all samples. Spotted Gar exhibited the most diverse skin microbiome, while Largemouth Bass was the least diverse species in terms of both the skin and gut microbiome compositions. The highest diversity in the gut microbiome was observed in Bluegill; however, the bacterial communities of Spotted Gar were the most variable across seasons. Seasonal changes in bacterial community structures were also observed. For both the skin and the gut microbiomes, sampling date was found to exert a stronger influence on microbial composition than the species itself; however, season had a lesser impact on the gut microbiome than in the skin indicating the gut microbiomes are more stable. This study provides baseline data on the bacterial symbiont communities of three iconic freshwater fish species in North America. Our data could be used in future studies to identify environmental stressors that result unbalanced microbiomes and loss of homeostasis.
In Search of Authentic Peer Leaders: Finding, Nurturing, and Affirming

Luthans and Avolio (2003) have posited that we need methods to develop authentic leaders. One method is to form learning communities on college campuses. Within these communities, peer leaders influence the development of newly admitted peers. The question is: why do some students become peer leaders and others do not? We believe that the answer lies somewhere in their core values. By the time people enter college, they are predisposed to value certain end-states and modes of conduct. Therefore, it is important to determine these predispositions so that leadership development opportunities such as peer leadership can be made available to those who are ready for this type of development. However, at this point we do not know which core values make a difference. This gap in the knowledge is what led to this study. The findings identify the core values of both peer leaders and non-peer leaders. In most cases, these values are the same for both groups. However, the core value of a sense of accomplishment stands out as being significant in determining who will select this type of leadership development opportunity. The paper expands on how to find, nurture, and affirm these select students.
Stable Robotic Grasping of Multiple Objects using Deep Neural Networks

SUMMARY Optimal grasping points for a robotic gripper were derived, based on object and hand geometry, using deep neural networks (DNNs). The optimal grasping cost functions were derived using probability density functions for each local cost function of the normal distribution. Using the DNN, the optimum height and width were set for the robot hand to grasp objects, whose geometric and mass centre points were also considered in obtaining the optimum grasping positions for the robot fingers and the object. The proposed algorithm was tested on 10 differently shaped objects and showed improved grip performance compared to conventional methods.
Innovation Disclosure in Times of Uncertainty

A recent literature shows that many firms feature missing R&amp;D expenses in their accounting statements. This study explores how economic policy uncertainty affects the decision to disclose innovation&#8208;related information. Empirical analyses on a panel of U.S. listed companies show that policy uncertainty increases the likelihood of missing R&amp;D (as opposed to both positive and zero R&amp;D). This result is more pronounced for firms that enjoy a leadership position in their industry, firms in states subject to a weaker legal protection of internal knowledge, and firms that rely more on government demand. During uncertain times, firms also file patents that exhibit a greater textual vagueness. Finally, the evidence suggests that missing R&amp;D helps firms alleviate the negative impact of policy uncertainty on market value.
Comparison of the effects of "hot" and "cold" Chinese medicinal plants on the production of inflammatory mediators by RAW 264.7 cells

The hot/cold balance system plays an important therapeutic role in traditional Chinese medicine and is applied in food selectio n by East Asians. Foods traditionally considered “hot” have been demonstrated to have the ability to enhance basal prostaglandin E 2 production. Conversely, foods considered “cold” can suppress prostaglandin E 2 production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cells. Therefore, this study attempted to further confirm the previous hypotheses by selecting four Chinese medicinal plants and compa ring their natural hot or cold characteristic influences on the production of inflammatory mediators. Herbs traditionally regarded a s hot (Coptis chinensis and Scutellaria baicalensis ) or cold (Zingiber officinale and Cinnamomum cassia ) were extracted with hot water and applied to RAW 264.7 cells in the presence or absence of LPS. Supporting the previous hypothesis, hot water extracts from the “ hotherbs”, Zingiber officinaleand Cinnamomum cassia , induced PGE2 production and COX-2 expression by unactivated cells. In contrast, LPS-induced PGE 2 production and COX-2 expression was inhibited dose-dependently by hot water extracts of the “cold-herbs”, Coptis chinensis and Scutellaria Baicalensis . All of the subject herbs had a strict inhibitory effect on NO production and iNOS expression. These results implied that COX-2 but not iNOS expression might serve as an indicator of hotness or coldness of medicinal plants .
Impact of Social Media Marketing on Consumer’s Purchase Intentions: The Mediating role of Customer Trust

Successful marketing and promotion strategies achieve customer development, profitability, and long-term company success. Present markets become more competitive through changing markets, globalization, and innovative technology, which have rapidly changed the business world. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are pushing marketing companies toward a new direction using social media marketing. Social media has penetrated so deeply into millions of people’s lives worldwide that it has also attracted marketers’ attention. This study will help determine how it influences Pakistani consumers’ purchase intentions. This research used a quantitative method based on primary data. The data was collected from Faisalabad, and the sample size was 250 participants. Among the 250 questionnaires, 190 are useable. The results show that trust and social media influence significantly affect consumers’ purchase intentions. Data analysis reveals that social media marketing has a greater influence than trust in purchase intentions through social networking sites. Therefore, improving websites’ quality enhances customers’ trust. Hence, trust plays an important role in e-commerce by directly influencing the purchasing intentions of customers.
Semantic Web and Interactive Knowledge Graphs as an Educational Technology

Technologies of knowledge representation, inductive reasoning, and semantic annotation methods are considered in relation to knowledge graphs that are focused on the domain of nuclear physics and nuclear power engineering. Interactive visual navigation and inductive reasoning in knowledge graphs are performed using special search widgets and an intelligent RDF browser. As a toolkit for ontologies refinement and enrichment, a software agent for the context-sensitive searching for new knowledge in the WWW is presented. In order to evaluate the measure of compliance of the found content with respect to a specific domain, the binary Pareto relation and Levenshtein metrics are used. The proposed semantic annotation methods allow the knowledge engineer to calculate the measure of the prox-imity of an arbitrary network resource in relation to classes and objects of specific knowledge graphs. Operations with remote semantic repositories are implemented on cloud platforms using SPARQL queries and RESTful services. The proposed software solutions are based on cloud computing using DBaaS and PaaS service models to ensure scalability of data warehouses and network services. Examples of using the proposed technologies and software are given.