Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic variation within and among fragmented populations of endangered medicinal plant, Withania coagulans (Solanaceae) from Pakistan and its implications for conservation

Withania coagulans is an under-utilized, endangered medicinal plant that can be found scarcely as fragmented populations in South Asia. Theoretically, the fragmented population should show low diversity within population and higher diversity among population with low rate of gene flow. To test this hypothesis, we conducted diversity analysis of 7 populations of W. coagulans from the districts of Kohat and Karak in NWFP (North West Frontier Province), Pakistan using PBA (P450 based analogue) markers. Our results showed contrary findings from the hypothesis for fragmented population. The findings showed higher diversity within population and lower diversity among population like larger unfragmented populations even though the population size was less than 100 in all populations. Percentage of polymorphic bands (PPB) in these populations was 50 to 71.95% with gene diversity (H) of 0.192 to 0.298. AMOVA (Analysis of molecular variance) test showed that there was low genetic diversity among populations (17%) and high genetic diversity within population (83%). FST value showed low genetic differentiation (0.0911) and high gene flow (Nm 2.494) among populations. Isolation by Distance Model revealed no correlation between genetic and geographic distances as well as ecotypes (soil variation) vs genetic distances. Presumably, the larger fragments, formed long time ago due to geological changes, were reduced into smaller fragments recently due to the human pressure. the fruits of the plant are exploited for commercial purposes and the whole plant is used as fodder and fuelwood thus threatening the current survival of the limited fragmented populations. Conservation measures for the species existence are also discussed and recommended.
The Impact of Service System Design and Flow Experience on Customer Satisfaction in Online Financial Services

Prior research examines customer satisfaction in retailing and e-commerce settings, yet online financial services have received little research attention. To understand customer satisfaction with this fast-growing service, this study investigates the role of flow experience, a sensation that occurs as a result of significant cognitive involvement. The study examines how service system characteristics affect the cognitive states of the flow experience, which determines customer satisfaction. The flow construct and total experience design suggest a structural model that is empirically tested using responses from a large sample of online investors. In support of the model and most of the hypotheses it suggests, the empirical results clarify the important antecedents and consequence of flow experience in online financial services and suggest the viability of using a dual-layer experience construct to investigate customer satisfaction.These findings can help researchers and service providers understand when, where, and how flow experience is formulated in online financial services.
Nisin-selectable food-grade secretion vector for

A nisin-resistant Lactococcus lactis strain TML01 was isolated from crude milk. A gene with 99% homology to the nisin-resistance gene, nsr, was identified. The food-grade secretion plasmid, pLEB690 (3746 bp), was constructed based on this novel nsr gene enabling primary selection with up to 5 μg nisin/ml. The functionality of pLEB690 as a secretion vector was shown by expressing and secreting the pediocin AcH gene papA in L. lactis. pLEB690 is therefore a functional food-grade secretion vector potentially useful for the food industry.
Analysis of the electromagnetic waves in an overmoded finite length slow wave structure

The electromagnetic fields of the higher order axial resonant modes in a slow wave structure are analyzed and found to have considerably different characteristics from those of the conventional fundamental mode. Here, the reflections at both ends produce axial resonant modes corresponding to axisymmetric transverse magnetic (TM) modes. The period of field modulation of some of the higher order axial modes is shorter than that of the usual mode in a cylindrical waveguide, which could be of practical interest for higher power, higher frequency operation of backward wave oscillators. A perturbation technique is used to ascertain the field distribution inside the resonant cavity, and the numerical results thus obtained are compared to some experimental data. >
Ratio E/E' and culprit artery predict ventricular remodeling after STEMI.

Background: ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) is one of the most severe manifestations of atherosclerosis; prognosis is determined by remaining left ventricular function and the importance of systolic function has been well established. The aim of this study was to determine the E/E’ ratio, to predict the adverse ventricular remodeling (VR) in patients presenting with STEMI. Methods: From March 2011 to January 2012 we prospectively enrolled patients presenting with STEMI in the admission unit. Echocardiography was performed at presentation and 6 months after STEMI. VR was defined as the increase ≥ 20% of the left ventricular end diastolic volume. Uni and multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted. Results: Sixty-six STEMI patients (60.8 ± 10.3 years, 81% male) were recruited. In 56% the culprit artery was left anterior descending (LAD), right coronary artery in 39% and circumflex in 5%. VR was predicted by LAD as culprit artery (92%, p<0.001, rho 0.528), Septal E’ Velocity (p<0.001, rho 0.370) and the ratio E/E’ (p<0.001, -0.663). Six months after the STEMI patients with VR had lower left ventricular ejection fraction, and higher end systolic and diastolic volume. ROC analysis suggested an optimal cutoff for a E/E' ratio of ≥ 12 (S:91%, E:77%) at baseline to predict adverse VR. Multivariate analysis showed that the ratio E/E’, septal E´ velocity, culprit artery, and Killip Kimbal classification were predictors of adverse VR after STEMI (rho 0.750). Conclusion: E/E´ ratio ≥ 12 and LAD as the culprit artery are important predictors for adverse ventricular remodeling and should be considered for early medical treatment.
Productivity and nutritional value of African Star managed with different leaf blade mass

Pasture management with levels of leaf blades may favor significant increase in production, and the leaves indicated an important role in plant-animal relationship, caused by photosynthesis efficiency and better quality in animal diet. Current study identifies which leaf blade mass of the African star (Cynodon nlemfuensis var. Nlemfuensis) provides better productivity and nutritional value. Treatments comprised different leaf blade masses: 800, 1200, 1600 and 2000 kg of dry matter ha-1. The experimental design was completely randomized, with four treatments and three repetitions, totaling 12 plots with 100 m2 each. Results indicated increase in production, in the leaf/stem ratio and in the interval days according to increase in leaf blade mass. Daily accumulation rate was similar to treatments. Crude protein decreased and fiber increased with rise in leaf blade mass and the highest forage productions were reported in the treatments 1200 and 1600 kg ha-1 leaf blade mass.
Hepatic artery reconstruction for advanced hilar cholangiocarcinoma : surgical indication expanded

Objective: To outline our experience with reconstruction of the hepatic artery during radical resection of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, and to discuss the clinical significance of this challenging surgery. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed clinical data of 16 patients with advanced hilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent left hepatectomy with simultaneous resection and reconstruction of the right hepatic artery with or without portal vein reconstruction, focusing on the type of hepatic artery reconstruction and surgical outcome. Results: Right hepatic artery was reconstructed with end-to-end anastomosis (n=10), using the autologous greater saphenous vein graft interposition (n=1), the autologous left hepatic artery graft interposition (n=2), the reserved left hepatic artery (n=1), or the gastroduodenal artery (n=2), among which 6 patients underwent portal vein reconstruction simultaneously. Post-operative pathology showed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in 6 patients, moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma in 8 and well differentiated adenocarcinoma in 2. R0 resection was achieved in 15 patients. There was no postoperative liver failure, biliary-enteric anastomotic leakage or perioperative deaths. Conclusions: Reconstruction of the hepatic artery can improve the radical resection rate of advanced hilar cholangiocarcinoma and control the postoperative complications, which is safe and feasible in selected patients.
Wafer-scale graphene/ferroelectric hybrid devices for low-voltage electronics

Preparing graphene and its derivatives on functional substrates may open enormous opportunities for exploring the intrinsic electronic properties and new functionalities of graphene. However, efforts in replacing SiO2 have been greatly hampered by a very low sample yield of the exfoliation and related transferring methods. Here, we report a new route in exploring new graphene physics and functionalities by transferring large-scale chemical-vapor deposition single-layer and bilayer graphene to functional substrates. Using ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3 (PZT), we demonstrate ultra-low-voltage operation of graphene field effect transistors within ±1 V with maximum doping exceeding 1013 cm− 2 and on-off ratios larger than 10 times. After polarizing PZT, switching of graphene field effect transistors are characterized by pronounced resistance hysteresis, suitable for ultra-fast non-volatile electronics.
Evaluating Impacts of Recent Arctic Sea Ice Loss on the Northern Hemisphere Winter Climate Change

Wide disagreement among individual modeling studies has contributed to a debate on the role of recent sea ice loss in the Arctic amplification of global warming and the Siberian wintertime cooling trend. We perform coordinated experiments with six atmospheric general circulation models forced by the observed and climatological daily sea ice concentration and sea surface temperature. The results indicate that the impact of the recent sea ice decline is rather limited to the high‐latitude lower troposphere in winter, and the sea ice changes do not significantly lead to colder winters over Siberia. The observed wintertime Siberian temperature and corresponding circulation trends are reproduced in a small number of ensemble members but not by the multimodel ensemble mean, suggesting that atmospheric internal dynamics could have played a major role in the observed trends.
Biosurfactant Production and Potential Correlation with Esterase Activity

Biosurfactants (microbial surfactants) are surface active compounds produced extracellularly or as part of the cell membrane by several bacterial and fungal species. They have the unique property of reducing the surface and interfacial tension of liquids. Biosurfactants have applications in the field of agriculture, petroleum, microbial enhanced oil recovery, biomedical sciences, cosmetics, food processing and pharmaceuticals. The global biosurfactants market has grown gradually. Regardless of their greater biodegradability and reduced toxicity, cost competitiveness still remains the major concern for biosurfactant production. However, recombinant or metabolically engineered hyper producing strains combined with optimized cultivation conditions have made it possible for many companies to reap the benefits of ‘green’ biosurfactant technology. Simultaneously, biosurfactants and bioemulsifiers showing esterase activities and having potential applications are reported to form stable oil-water emulsions with hydrophobic substrates such as hexadecane and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Biosurfactant production and release of esterases by the microbial cells is shown to be synchronized and symbiotically beneficial in some species. Several bacterial biosurfactant and esterase genes have been identified, cloned and expressed for their enhanced production. This review article emphasizes on the present worldwide scenario of biosurfactant production, correlation between biosurfactant production and esterase activity, recent developments in this line of research and future prospects.
A Review of Bio Inspired Computing and its Applications

Bio Inspired computation is the part of Artificial intelligence which was inspired by the biological behaviors of biological systems. Swarm intelligence is the collective behavior of an organized group in day-to-day life. Common examples of swarm intelligence include ant colony, bee colony, etc. and some are non-swarm intelligence like bat algorithm, etc. This study mainly focuses on application areas of various bio inspired computing based swarm and non-swarm intelligence. This review also discusses the newly developed algorithms. Specific application areas of such algorithms have been discussed in this research. This research highlighted the future scope of present algorithms
Production of High-purity Magnetite Nanoparticles from a Low-grade Iron Ore via Solvent Extraction

We produced magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) and a Mg-rich solution as a nano-adsorbent and a coagulant for water treatment, respectively, using a low-grade iron ore. The ore was leached with aqueous hydrochloric acid and its impurities were removed by solvent extraction of the leachate using tri-n-butyl phosphate as an extractant. The content of Si and Mg, which inhibit the formation of MNPs, was reduced from 10.3 wt% and 15.5 wt% to 28.1 mg/L and < 1.4 mg/L, respectively. Consequently, the Fe content increased from 68.6 wt% to 99.8 wt%. The high-purity Fe 3+ solution recovered was used to prepare 5-15-nm MNPs by coprecipitation. The wastewater produced contained a large amount of Mg 2+ and can be used to precipitate struvite in sewage treatment. This process helps reduce the cost of both sewage and iron-ore- wastewater treatments, as well as in the economic production of the nano-adsorbent.
Elevated ammonium concentrations and low light form a dangerous synergy for eelgrass Zostera marina

We studied the effect of ecologically relevant ammonium concentrations and light on several morphological and physiological properties, nitrogen metabolism and carbon reserves of eelgrass Zostera marina L. Eelgrass was grown under mesocosm conditions at 3 levels of ammo- nium enrichment (target concentrations of 0, 10 and 25 µM) and 2 levels of light (low and high light). High ammonium supply combined with low light had a negative effect on several morpho- logical and physiological response parameters, while no such effects were found when ammo- nium was supplied under high light. N enrichment caused an increase in the content of total N, intracellular ammonium, free amino acids and residual N in the plants and this response was more pronounced under low-light conditions than under high light. The soluble proteins content de - crea sed, in contrast with external ammonium enrichment. The accumulation of free amino acids and residual N in NH4 + -enriched plants was followed by a substantial drop in carbohydrate reserves (sucrose and starch), which was larger in plants grown under low-light conditions. Our results indicate that N enrichment increases the demand for C skeletons and energy, and that pho- tosynthesis cannot supply enough C and energy to cover that demand under low-light conditions. Eelgrass plants exposed to reduced light conditions, for example close to their depth limit or when covered by drift macroalgae, may thus be especially susceptible to enhanced ammonium concen- trations. Our study demonstrates that ammonium toxicity may explain why eelgrass and other sea- grasses deteriorate under nutrient-rich, low-light conditions.
Aneris : A Logic for Node-Local , Modular Reasoning of Distributed Systems

Building network-connected programs and distributed systems is a powerful way to provide availability in our digital, always-connected era. As always, however, with great power comes great complexity. As such, reasoning about distributed systems is well-known to be quite difficult. In this paper we present Aneris, a state-of-the-art separation logic, capable of node-local reasoning about concurrent and distributed systems. The logic is higher-order, concurrent, with higher-order store and network sockets, built entirely in the Coq proof-assistant. We use our logic to verify a load-balancer, that use threading to distribute load amongst servers, and to verify an implementation of the two-phase-commit protocol with a verified replicated logging service as client. The two examples certifies that Aneris is well-suited for both horizontal and vertical modular programming and modular reasoning.
Adaptive Real-Time Rendering of Planetary Terrains

As virtual worlds applications get more and more demanding in terms of world complexity and rendering quality, rendering virtual terrains and planets in real-time introduces many challenges. In this paper, we provide a full-featured solution for rendering of arbitrary large terrain datasets in the context of client-server streaming. Our solution automatically adapts to arbitrary network bandwidths and client capabilities, ranging from high-end computers to mobile devices. We address the problem of rendering highly complex terrain databases comprising several hundred gigabytes of data, which therefore cannot be entirely loaded in memory nor rendered in real-time. The contributions of this paper solve important issues for high quality terrain rendering: adaptive texture mapping, inexpensive removal of geometry cracks and support of planetary terrains.
Terrigenous Fe input and biogenic sedimentation in the glacial and interglacial equatorial Pacific Ocean

Many ocean regions important to the global carbon budget, including the equatorial Pacific Ocean, have low chlorophyll concentrations despite high levels of conventional nutrients. Iron may instead be the limiting nutrient, and elevated input of terrigenous Fe during windy glacial episodes has been hypothesized to stimulate oceanic productivity through time and thus regulate the oceanic and atmospheric CO2 balance. To test whether particulate Fe input is related to the accumulation of biogenic matter in one important low chlorophyll-high nutrient area, that is, the equatorial Pacific Ocean, we present results from a suite of sediment cores that collectively record biogenic deposition through the last six glacial-interglacial cycles (~ 600,000 years). Our data set includes new chemical data on total Fe, terrigenous, and biogenic components in three cores as well as previously published mineralogic records of colJan input to the region. Chemical, spectral, and stratigraphic analysis indicates that (1) terrigenous input to the region shows no consistent pattern of either glacial or interglacial maxima, (2) the accumulation of particulate Fe is closely related to the accumulation of terrigenous matter (linear r 2 = 0.81 - 0.98), (3) there are no coherent spectral relationships between Fe input and glacial periodicity (i.e., 5180) in any of the orbital frequency bands, (4) the linear and cross-spectral correlations between Fe or colJan input and CaCO3 concentration are most commonly the strongest observed relationships between Fe and any biogenic component, yet indicate a largely inverse pattern, with higher Fe being associated with low CaCO3, (5) there is no consistent linear r 2 correlation or spectral coherence between the accumulation of Fe and that of CaCO3, Corg, or opal. Thus in total there is no relationship between terrigenous Fe input and sedimentary sequestering of 'carbon. Additionally, although we cannot specifically address the potential for changes in solubility of the terrigenous fraction that may be driven by a terrigenous compositional change, the Fe/Ti ratio (which monitors first-order mineralogic changes) records only slight variations that also are linearly and spectrally unrelated to glacial periodicity, the bulk Fe flux, and the accumulation of any biogenic component. Finally, we find that the paleoceanographic flux of Fe is several order-of-magnitudes larger than modem observations of colJan Fe input, suggesting that the long-term importance of Fe input by dust storms (which deliver Fe on the order of the sedimentary burial) may be underestimated. The removal of particulate terrigenous Fe from the recently discovered source within the Equatorial Undercurrent, however, remains unquanfified and may also prove significant.
Identification and Characterisation of a Pectinolytic Enzyme from Paenibacillus xylanolyticus

Pectinolytic enzymes play an important role in the processing of lignocellulosic materials because of their ability to improve the access of cellulases to their substrate by removing pectins. The strain Paenibacillus xylanolyticus 2-6L3 was isolated from mature compost obtained from agro-industrial wastes, and the enzyme pectate lyase from P. xylanolyticus 2-6L3, named PaenxylPel, was partially purified and subjected to structural and functional characterisation. The enzyme exhibited an optimum temperature between 60 and 70 °C and optimal pH value of 9.0 for its pectinase activity on pectin from citrus fruit. PaenxylPel showed a thermoresistance and pH resistance higher than those of other pectate lyases so far described, with half-lives of 48 and 24 h at 60 and 70 °C, respectively, a retention of around 80% of activity after 96 h at 40 and 50 °C, and a half-life of about 15 days at pH 8.0. PaenxylPel followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics toward pectin from citrus fruit, pectin from sugar beet pulp, high-ester pectin extracted from citrus peel (> 50% esterified), and polygalacturonic acid (PLA). The ability to act on both PLA and highly methylated pectins, together with a double peak in the graph of optimum pH at pH 5 and 9, suggest that pectate lyase from P. xylanolyticus shows an unusual activity, combining traits of pectate lyase and pectin lyase. This is the first manuscript on the pectinolytic activity of P. xylanolyticus.
Detection of Self-Mutating Computer Viruses

This paper presents self-mutating computer viruses as an emerging threat, along with a brief background on obfuscation transformations which are used by virus writers to achieve self-mutation and virus detection as a practical defense. A new static analysis approach which was claimed by the authors, Christodorescu and Jha to be resilient against obfuscated viruses is evaluated, along with a discussion about several problems that were found during an investigation of their experiment. Finally, a future experiment that can be used to determine the viability of their approach is proposed and discussed.
Digital Measurement of Maturity Indices of Mangoes using Selected Image Features

Maturity is the most important factor to determine the storage-life and quality of fruits like mangoes. Fruit maturity can be recognized by different attributes and among them skin color is the most significant criteria for judging maturity. Typically, human experts visually detect the fruit color to identify the maturity stages which is very prone to error. In this paper, a method of digital image processing has been proposed to classify mangoes into six maturity stages according to the United States department of agriculture (USDA) standard classification. The experimentation considers sample images of more than 100 mangoes of different stages. A total of 24 image features are extracted and then correlation based and information gain based evaluation has been performed in order to select the most informative feature sets. Categorization is done using the decision tree which provides up to 96% classification accuracy