Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of salinity stress on biochemical constituents and ArHsp22 gene expression in Artemia franciscana

The present study analysed the effect of salinity stress on survival, biochemical constituents such as soluble protein, amino acid, trehalose and fatty acid, as well as real time expression of the Artemia heat-shock protein 22 (ArHsp 22) gene in Artemia franciscana. Results of the study revealed that Artemia can withstand sudden salinity increase up to 200 ppt without any mortality up to 6 h. Significantly higher mortality percentage was recorded at 24 h of incubation at 200 ppt. Short-term exposure to hypersaline conditions significantly reduced the protein content in Artemia while the protein biosynthesis enhanced after 24 h of incubation at 150 ppt salinity. Long term exposure to 200 ppt salinity did not show any further increase in amino acid content as observed at 100 and 150 ppt conditions, indicating reduced rate of amino acid metabolism and stress. Salt stress induced the synthesis of total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in Artemia especially the 22:6n-3 and 20:5n-3 after 24 h of incubation at 150 ppt . Exposure to higher salinity induced trehalose production which indicated its vital role in combating salt stress in Artemia. The present study also indicated that short-term salt stress can significantly enhance the ArHsp22 gene expression in Artemia adults.
Audiological evaluation in geriatric age group

AIM: To evaluate the hearing thresholds in individuals aged above 65 years attending the Government General Hospital and among the people attending the hearing screening done in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. The study also includes the review of the literature on ARHL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 185 individuals aged above 65 years are evaluated for hearing thresholds with the help of pure tone audiometry and speech audiometry. Among the 185 individuals 102 are patients attending the Department of ENT for the complaints of loss of hearing. The remaining 83 individuals are from the survey conducted to screen for hearing loss in the city of Thiruvananthapuram for the population aged above 65 years. Demographic data about the 185 individuals is collected. Pure tone audiogram and speech audiometry is done in all the patients. CONCLUSIONS: PTA and SRT values are similar in both the groups. Early old age groups presented with mild to severe types of deafness and loss in lower frequencies. Late old aged people showed profound hearing loss and increased thresholds in higher frequencies. SRT estimation seemed more sensitive than calculating PTA in the persons above 85 years. Females showed 5 to 10 dB lower PTA values than males in all ages.
Classificação automática de documentos usando subespaços aleatórios e conjuntos de classificadores

Nowadays, due to the large volume of text available in digital media, the automatic document categorization becomes an important modern Information Retrieval task. In this paper we describe a new approach to the problem, based on the classical vector space model for text treatment and on the use of Pattern Recognition techniques. As texts collections produce huge dimensional vector spaces, we attack the problem using several preprocessing techniques, and a set of k-Nearest-Neighbors classifiers, each of them dedicated to a sub-space of the original space. The final classification is obtained by a combination of the results of the individual classifiers. We apply our approach to documents extracted from the TIPSTER and REUTERS databases. The obtained results and some conclusions are presented. Palavras-chave: Recuperacao de Informacoes, Classificacao Automatica de Documentos, Aprendizagem de Maquina Baseada em Instâncias. Subespacos Aleatorios. Conjuntos de Classificadores.
Macroeconomic games on time scales

We use simple concepts and results of time scales calculus to allow for more dynamics in games focusing on those with inefficient equilibria. We first allow players to move on discrete homogeneous time scales to capture the fact that economic agents’ decisions may be infrequent. We then examine arbitrary heterogeneous time scales to allow for time-varying frequency as well as probabilistic actions. In both cases we derive conditions under which the inefficient outcome is eliminated from the set of possible equilibria, i.e. under which efficiency is guaranteed. AMS (MOS) Subject Classification. 39A05, 91A25, 91B64.
Factors Influencing Consumer’s Intention towards Online Grocery Shopping

Online platform nowadays has started to replace the traditional market and require consumers to change their buying habits and patterns extensively. Thus, the trend of having grocery delivered to the doorstep has been introduced to Malaysian consumers especially who lives in urban area. Previous studies have shown that online groceries are not consistently purchased by the consumers due to several reasons such as inconsistent quality and lack of sensory characteristics. However, there are still number of consumers who continuously shops groceries through online platform. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine factors influencing consumer’s intention to shop groceries online. The primary data were collected using structured questionnaire in the form of online survey with 521 respondents in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis and factor analysis. The findings of the study showed that majority of the online grocery shoppers are female with the age ranged between 26-35 years old. Besides that, results from factor analysis revealed that perceived usefulness, satisfaction, perceived risk, perceived information accessibility and perceived ease of use are among factors that influenced consumer’s intention towards online grocery shopping. Therefore, this study can be used to assist online grocery retailers to formulate effective strategies to gain more consumers’ confidence to make use of online grocery shopping.
Efficacy of peanut root nodulating symbiotic bacteria in controlling white stem rot

Stem rot with the causal agent Sclerotium rolfsii is a major disease of peanut in Guilan province, Iran. The aim of this investigation was to determine the inhibitory effect of native isolates of peanut root nodulating symbiotic bacteria on this fungus based on in vitro and in vivo studies. Several bacterial strains were isolated and purified from peanut roots collected from different fields. Eight of them were detected as the main symbiotic nodulating strains. These eight isolates were identified as Bradyrhizobium based on 16S rDNA gene analysis and different biochemical tests. The inhibitory effect of these strains on the radial growth of S. rolfsii was studied in vitro using sealed plate and dual culture methods. Strains significantly inhibited radial growth of the fungus on the PDA medium. Br9, Br18 and Br16 were recognized as strong inhibitors and Br14 as weak strain in dual culture method and used in greenhouse experiments. Ability of the selected strains in controlling the stem rot disease, reducing the disease parameters and enhancing the peanut growth parameters was investigated in greenhouse conditions. The strains significantly decreased the white rot index and increased peanut dry matter (P ≤ 0.01) in greenhouse.
Technology Innovation Role in Modern Business Marketing Strategies in MSMs

This study focuses on Medium-Sized Multinationals (MSMs) that belong to the sectors of mechanics and electronics, and operate in dynamic international business markets. This work aims to investigate how international marketing strategies are based and maybe in some cases actually heavily dependent on the capacity to form and enhance skills in design, engineering and production activities, and on the propensity to invest more resources in R&D activities as well as in activities that are more strictly speaking production based (manufacturing). This study highlights different innovation processes’ approaches in the same unit of the analyzed MSMs. The study is based on the empirical analysis of the most representative business cases among those analyzed in the mechanical and electronic areas of the Marche Region. It creates new challenges for both theoretical treatments of the MNE, for practitioners and for policy makers.
Obstacles and benefits of the implementation of a reduced-rank smoother with a high resolution model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean

Abstract. Most of oceanographic operational centers use three-dimensional data assimilation schemes to produce reanalyses. We investigate here the benefits of a smoother, i.e. a four-dimensional formulation of statistical assimilation. A square-root sequential smoother is implemented with a tropical Atlantic Ocean circulation model. A simple twin experiment is performed to investigate its benefits, compared to its corresponding filter. Despite model's non-linearities and the various approximations used for its implementation, the smoother leads to a better estimation of the ocean state, both on statistical (i.e. mean error level) and dynamical points of view, as expected from linear theory. Smoothed states are more in phase with the dynamics of the reference state, an aspect that is nicely illustrated with the chaotic dynamics of the North Brazil Current rings. We also show that the smoother efficiency is strongly related to the filter configuration. One of the main obstacles to implement the smoother is then to accurately estimate the error covariances of the filter. Considering this, benefits of the smoother are also investigated with a configuration close to situations that can be managed by operational center systems, where covariances matrices are fixed (optimal interpolation). We define here a simplified smoother scheme, called half-fixed basis smoother, that could be implemented with current reanalysis schemes. Its main assumption is to neglect the propagation of the error covariances matrix, what leads to strongly reduce the cost of assimilation. Results illustrate the ability of this smoother to provide a solution more consistent with the dynamics, compared to the filter. The smoother is also able to produce analyses independently of the observation frequency, so the smoothed solution appears more continuous in time, especially in case of a low frenquency observation network.
Test Takers' Writing Activities During the TOEFL iBT® Writing Tasks: A Stimulated Recall Study

This study aimed to describe the writing activities that test takers engage in when responding to the writing tasks in the TOEFL iBT® test and to examine the effects of task type and test-taker English language proficiency (ELP) and keyboarding skills on the frequency and distribution of these activities. Each of 22 test takers with different levels of ELP (low vs. high) and keyboarding skills (low vs. high) responded to 2 TOEFL iBT writing tasks (independent and integrated) on the computer. Each participant then provided stimulated recalls about the writing activities they used when performing each writing task. Stimulated recalls were coded and the results were compared across tasks and test-taker groups. The findings indicated that the participants engaged in various construct-relevant activities, such as interacting with the writing task and resources, planning, generating, evaluating, and revising. Additionally, test takers' writing activities varied significantly across tasks and to a lesser extent across test-taker groups. Participants' writing activities varied most across writing tasks and, to a lesser extent, across English proficiency groups. Low keyboarding skills seem to have affected mainly activities on the independent writing task. To better understand the role of keyboarding skills in performance on the TOEFL iBT writing tasks and to address the test's extrapolation inference, future studies need to compare the writing performance of test takers with different levels of second language (L2) proficiency and keyboarding skills in test and nontest settings.
Generating Blurred Dataset with Different Blurriness Degree Variances

Many researchers in image and video processing field test the effectiveness of the proposed or existing methods depended on the assumption that the brightness or illumination in scene is static among all sequenced images or frames. So they used synthetic dataset with frames contain approximately static blurriness degrees. This is not practical in the real world. In this paper, a method of generating synthetic blurred video dataset with frames containing different blur variances to solve this problem. The result showed that the proposed algorithm has ability to produce useful blurred dataset with having different blurriness values.
An introduction to statistical issues in High throughput screens

We describe the nature and goals of high-throughput screening experiments, focusing on the challenges they present from the view-point of statistical analysis. We suggest graphical displays to facilitate quality control. We describe sources of systematic variation and methods to correct for it. We consider the problem of ranking compounds with respect to their effects on one cell type and we suggest a couple of procedures, depending on the available number of replicates. Finally, we explore the use of a hierarchical framework for hypothesis testing, to study the effects of compounds in multiple cell lines.
Direct Observation of Active Nickel Oxide Cluster in Nickel–Borate Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation by In Situ O K-Edge X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

In situ O K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy was applied to investigate the electronic and structural change in the nickel–borate (Ni–Bi) electrocatalyst during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). An absorption peak was observed around 528.7 eV at 1.0 V versus Ag/AgCl in a potassium borate aqueous solution, which relates with the formation of nanoscale order domains of edge-sharing NiO6 octahedra in the Ni–Bi electrocatalyst. XAFS spectra were measured with variation of the electrode potential from 0.3 up to 1.0 V. The measured absorption peaks suggest that the quantity of NiO6 octahedra increased in correlation with the OER current; however, when the potential was changed downward, the XAFS absorption peak assigned to NiO6 octahedra remained constant, even at the electrode potential for no OER current. This difference implies that the water oxidation catalysis proceeds at the domain edge of NiO6 octahedra. The XAFS technique provides the first successful direct probing of the act.
A Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process Model for Selecting the Best Biogas Usage: A Case Study of Tehran Province, Iran

Problems arising from global warming and increasing energy demand all around the world caused emerging alternative energy resources to be inevitable. Biomass is one of renewable energies that can help in decreasing such problems. Biogas as a popular bioenergy carrier can be used in different ways. In this paper, a decision making model based on fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is proposed for choosing best method based on technical, economic, social and environmental criteria in Tehran Province , Iran. The evaluated alternatives include direct burning for heating, conversion to electricity, upgrading to vehicle fuel quality, upgrading to bio-methane for injection into gas grid, and combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) generation. The evaluation process is performed on experts’ answered questionnaires basis using fuzzy analytic hierarchy procedure. The results indicate that electricity is the best alternative among the proposed options for biogas usage methods in Tehran Province, Iran.
Frontline employees’ innovative service behavior as key to customer loyalty:insights into FLEs’ resource gain spiral

Many service firms require frontline service employees (FLEs) to follow routines and standardized operating procedures during the service encounter, to deliver consistently high service standards. However, to create superior, pleasurable experiences for customers, featuring both helpful services and novel approaches to meeting their needs, firms in various sectors also have begun to encourage FLEs to engage in more innovative service behaviors. This study therefore investigates a new and complementary route to customer loyalty, beyond the conventional service-profit chain, that moves through FLEs' innovative service behavior. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study introduces a resource gain spiral at the service encounter, which runs from FLEs' emotional job engagement to innovative service behavior, and then leads to customer delight and finally customer loyalty. In accordance with COR theory, the proposed model also includes factors that might hinder (customer aggression, underemployment) or foster (colleague support, supervisor support) FLEs' resource gain spiral. A multilevel analysis of a large-scale, dyadic data set that contains responses from both FLEs and customers in multiple industries strongly supports the proposed resource gain spiral as a complementary route to customer loyalty. The positive emotional job engagement-innovative service behavior relationship is undermined by customer aggression and underemployment, as hypothesized. Surprisingly though, and contrary to the hypotheses, colleague and supervisor support do not seem to foster FLEs' resource gain spiral. Instead, colleague support weakens the engagement-innovative service behavior relationship, and supervisor support does not affect it. These results indicate that if FLEs can solicit resources from other sources, they may not need to invest as many of their individual resources. In particular, colleague support even appears to serve as a substitute for FLEs' individual resource investments in the resource gain spiral.
Application of Tessellation in Architectural Geometry Design

Tessellation plays a significant role in architectural geometry design, which is widely used both through history of architecture and in modern architectural design with the help of computer technology. Tessellation has been found since the birth of civilization. In terms of dimensions, there are two- dimensional tessellations and three-dimensional tessellations; in terms of symmetry, there are periodic tessellations and aperiodic tessellations. Besides, some special types of tessellations such as Voronoi Tessellation and Delaunay Triangles are also included. Both Geometry and Crystallography, the latter of which is the basic theory of three-dimensional tessellations, need to be studied. In history, tessellation was applied into skins or decorations in architecture. The development of Computer technology enables tessellation to be more powerful, as seen in surface control, surface display and structure design, etc. Therefore, research on the application of tessellation in architectural geometry design is of great necessity in architecture studies.
D.3.2 – State of the art of purpose-based, usage control approaches

Federation of plugs makes users real owners of their data i.e., there is no a third party provider that hosts personal data with a service agreement. This allows end-users to define their own policies for their data and services. Therefore, data can be shared with personal policies specifying what can be done and what is forbidden, without depending on a collaboration provider. Consequently, it prevents information asymmetry problems and abusive usage of personal data. Our work focuses on the problem of: "How to ensure usage control in community-regulated federations"? This problem is related to usage control (UCON) [PS02b, Zha06], a model that emerged recently as a so- lution for modern applications to preserve access control in open, distributed, heterogeneous, and network- connected environments. The particularities of UCON are continuity of access decision evaluation and mutability of several properties (i.e., attributes of subjects or objects) considered during the access deci- sion. We consider that the evaluation of access decision should take into account policies of involved subjects (not only providers but also identified subjects) and eventual conflicts between concurrent users should be resolved. In this open, untrusted and federated network, we need another asset to guarantee a continuous access control. This asset is provenance [CCT09, MCF+11, CAB+14], which generally is identified as a meta-data that records the ancestry, derivation, or history of some object, explaining it’s current state. We can use this information/meta-data for a more compact perception of the context, in which access may be granted or denied.
TISSUE ENGINEERING AND APPLICATION OF SYNTHETIC BIOMATERIALS

This review presents some key issues in the current tissue engineering research with focus on design and processing of synthetic scaffolding biomaterials. The main strategy in tissue engineering involves tissue regeneration by basic, tissue-specific cells that are seeded into specially designed polymeric matrices scaffolds. The main guiding principle in scaffold development is that the scaffolding material should resemble the natural extra-cellular matrix of the target tissue. The scaffold should biologically degrade over time leaving engineered functional tissue without toxic effects from degradation products. The state of the art polymer engineering can provide design routes for macromolecular networks with molecular-scale control over polymer structure with tailored biologically-responsive properties, such as hydrophilicity, mechanical strength, surface chemistry/morphology and biological degradation profile. Some important future aspects of tissue engineering are also presented here.
IMPACT OF JUTE MILL WASTE WATER ON SEED GERMINATION AND VIGOUR INDEX OF CICER ARIETINUM L. AND PISUM SATIVUM L.

The main objective of this paper is to determine the effects of jute mill waste water on seed germination and seedling growth of Cicer arietinum and Pisum sativum plants under laboratory conditions. The ef fect of jute mill waste water was compared to that of control (distilled water). Jute mill waste water at different concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40, 80 and 100 %) influenced the seed germination and vigour index of C. arietinum and P. sativum . It was conclu ded that jute mill waste water has significantly played a profound role on the germination and growth of seeds and seedlings of Cicer arietinum and Pisum sativum.
Novel Calcium Sensor Based on (2-(2-Hydroxyphenyl)imino)-1,2-diphenylethanone

In this work, a novel calcium PVC-based membrane sensor based on 2-[(2-hydroxyphenyl)imino]-1,2-diphenylethanone (HD) as a new ionophore is presented. The sensor displays a linear dynamic range between 1.0×10 - 1 and1.0×10 - 6 M, with a near Nernstian slope of 28.5 ′ 0.5 mV per decade and a detection limit of 8.0 x 10 - 7 M. The best performance was obtained with a membrane composition of 30% poly(vinyl chloride), 62% nitrobenzene, 5% sodium tetraphenyl borate and 3% HD. The potentiometric response of the proposed electrode is independent of the pH of the solution in the pH range of 4.0-11.5. The sensor possesses the advantages of short conditioning time, fast response time (<20 s), and especially, very good selectivity towards alkali and alkaline earth, and some mono, di and trivalent cations, such as Li + , Na + , K + , Mg 2 + , Sr 2 + , Ba 2 + . Ag + , Cu 2 + , Al 3 + , La 3 + and Ce 3 + ions. The electrode can be used for at least 10 weeks without any considerable divergence in the potentials. It was used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of Ca(II) ions with EDTA.