Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biomechanical Properties and Agro-Morphological Traits for Improved Lodging Resistance in Ethiopian Teff (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trottor) Accessions

Susceptibility to lodging is a major constraint on teff production in Ethiopia, but efforts to develop lodging-resistant cultivars have not been successful. We studied the mechanical properties of teff culms and associated agro-morphological traits in field experiments with 320 teff accessions at two sites in northwestern Ethiopia during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons. The results showed significant variability in both mechanical properties and agro-morphological traits among accessions. Traits contributing to lodging resistance, such as internode diameter, pushing resistance, and base failure moment, were significantly positively correlated with each other and with plant height. Similarly, the correlation of those traits with lodging index was significant and positive. In contrast, tiller number showed a significant negative correlation with lodging index. The peduncle–panicle length, which generally accounted for 59% of the plant height, should be a target when breeding for semi-dwarfism. Root system development, which reached a depth of more than 1 m in tall and 57 cm in dwarf teff accessions, signifies the presence of genetic variabilities for future root lodging studies in teff, and it may also explain why teff performs well in drought-prone areas of Ethiopia. Breeding programs for lodging resistance might focus on accessions with good standing ability (high base failure moment) and introgression of stem strength with a semi-dwarf phenotype. Alternatively, selection for a large internode diameter, increased pushing resistance and base failure moment, and a reduced tiller number should be considered.
Racial experiences of pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT Teachers in the United States are primarily White and female. Thus, the education system is built on whiteness and maintains white supremacy. One approach to disrupting racist outcomes is to increase the number of people of color pursuing teaching. Yet, the ways that pre-service teachers (PSTs) are racialized often results in PSTs of color experiencing harm during teacher preparation. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomonological study was to explore the racialized lived experiences of PSTs in a predominantly White teacher preparation program whose stated mission is to work to develop racially conscious educators who work toward equity and justice. Participants were PSTs (n = 15) enrolled in a teacher preparation program in the Midwest who were placed into two focus groups, one that identified as people of color and one as White. Focus groups discussed: their racialized lived experiences (1) with faculty (2) with curriculum (3) with other PSTs (4) with cooperating teachers, and (5) with P-12 students. Results from both groups suggest a lack of race content. PSTs of color reported feelings of exclusion and limited racial consciousness of White peers and faculty. Implications are discussed.
Jigsaw teaching method for collaboration on cloud platforms

ABSTRACT This study explores a jigsaw-based learning method for collaboration on cloud platforms. We implement and test the method on a Masters course with 42 students from 17 countries. Regression analysis results revealed that the jigsaw method influenced individual learning in the group, usefulness of Google Classroom and slides influenced group learning, and cultural differences influenced collaboration. Collaboration also affected classroom community. Teachers can benefit from our findings by increasing usage of the jigsaw method and cloud platforms to foster learning through collaboration. Moreover, teachers can turn cultural differences into an advantage and help students enhance social connections. Moreover, improvements in collaboration could foster students’ classroom community.
Investigations of Volatile Organic Compounds in Berries of Different Actinidia kolomikta (Rupr. & Maxim.) Maxim. Accessions

The taste of fruit is determined not only by the ratio between sugars and acids but also by a specifi c blend of different volatile components. There is an increasing interest in natural fl avourings that may be used in food and nutraceutical products instead of synthetics [Henare, 2016]. Fruit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) represent a large group of chemical substances with a low molecular weight and a high vapour pressure under ambient conditions. In general, VOCs in fruits account for a very small part of the total weight [Dudareva et al., 2006; Jiang & Song, 2010]. VOCs are released from different parts of plants and play an important role in plant interactions with the biological environment [Rodríguez et al., 2013]. The fruit fl avour properties of different plant species and cultivars depend on the unique blend of VOCs [Jiang & Song, 2010]. According to Negre-Zakharov et al. [2009], there are four major classes of VOCs, which are classifi ed by their metabolic origin, namely, terpenoids, phenylpropanoids/benzenoids, fatty acids derivatives, and amino acid derivatives. Within the genus Actinidia Lindl. , various chemical substances determine the distinct fl avour and the fragrance
An Indonesian Adaptation of the E-Learning Usability Scale

This paper investigates how the instruments of E-Learning Usability Scale adapted in the Indonesian context. The need for adapting the original version arises while assessing the usability of e-learning in a higher degree in Indonesia, namely Student-Centered e-Learning Environment or (SCELE). In the process of usability evaluation, a questionnaire is needed. E-learning Usability Scale (EUS), which is created by Sandoval (2016) will be used as the usability scale. However, the EUS was originally built in the English version and it has not been developed in the Indonesian version. Overall, there are five steps to adapt the usability scale to Indonesian culture which are forward translation, synthesis of the translation from the first step, back translation, consulting to the experts, and reliability testing. The results show that Croncbach’s Alpha of the adaptation Indonesian of EUS was 0.922. It can be concluded that the proposed version is reliable to be used by usability researchers. In the future, the adapted version that is proposed in this study is beneficial to help usability researchers, academicians and practitioners in Indonesia while conducting usability testing for e-Learning applications.
Extrinsic and intrinsic dynamics in movement intermittency

What determines how we move in the world? Motor neuroscience often focusses either on intrinsic rhythmical properties of motor circuits or extrinsic sensorimotor feedback loops. Here we show that the interplay of both intrinsic and extrinsic dynamics is required to explain the intermittency observed in continuous tracking movements. Using spatiotemporal perturbations in humans, we demonstrate that apparently discrete submovements made 2-3 times per second reflect constructive interference between motor errors and continuous feedback corrections that are filtered by intrinsic circuitry in the motor system. Local field potentials in monkey motor cortex revealed characteristic signatures of a Kalman filter giving rise to both low-frequency cortical cycles during movement, and delta oscillations during sleep. We interpret these results within the framework of optimal feedback control, and suggest that the intrinsic rhythmicity of motor cortical networks reflects an internal model of external dynamics which is used for state estimation during feedback-guided movement.
Sequencing and Polymorphism detection in growth hormone gene in Najdi Sheep and their association with milk production

This study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between growth hormone (GH) gene polymorphism and milk production in Najdi sheep. Two hundred Najdi ewes were used to determine the daily milk yield (DMY). The complete CDS of the Najdi sheep GH gene is1950 in length, GenBank acc. no. KU310891.1. Najdi sheep GH protein consists of 217 amino acids GenBank ALT22407.1 with conversion amino acid arginine number 121 to amino acid lysine (R121K). A novel five SNPs were detected in Najdi sheep GH gene (G871A, A1259C, G1383A, A1486G and A1509G). A significant association between the detected SNPs genotypes and daily milk yield was found in this study. The regression analysis indicated the positive effect of genotype and SNPs on DMY. Individuals carrying homozygote mutant alleles had the highest DMY. Consequently, these SNP may be useful indicators in the selection of ewes for milk production.
The Incidence of Clinical Mastitis and Distribution of Microorganisms in Yangtze Dairy Farm

Aims: Mastitis is a frequently occurring and economically important disease for dairy industries worldwide. This study was conducted to research the incidence of clinical mastitis and the distribution of organisms isolated from clinical cases in dairy cows of Yangtze Dairy Farm. Study Design: 782 dairy cows were examined clinically from March to May 2017. The clinical mastitis milk samples were collected and the microorganisms were isolated and identified. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Yangtze Dairy Farm and the sample analysis was done at the Laboratory of Clinical Veterinary of Yangtze University. Methodology: The animals were physically examined and the clinical mastitis milk samples were collected aseptically before antibiotic treatment. Milk samples were plated onto a blood agar and a MacConkey agar plate. The plates were examined for growth, morphology, pigmentation, hemolytic features, and the numbers of each colony type at 24, 48, and 72 h after inoculation. Identification of bacteria was done by Gram staining, inspection of the colony morphology, haemolytic reaction, and biochemical testing. Results: The average incidence of clinical mastitis at cow and quarter levels in the study period were found to be 4.86% (38/782) and 1.63% (51/3128), respectively. The commonly recovered Original Research Article Li et al.; AJAAR, 7(3): 1-6, 2018; Article no.AJAAR. 41954 2 organisms were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Yeast, coagulase-negative staphylococci, coagulase-positive staphylococci (other than S. aureus), Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, Proteus spp. , and Corynebacterium spp. Among the isolated pathogens, E. coli, S. aureus and Yeast were the most prevalent that accounted 31.25%, 18.75% and 10.42%, respectively. Conclusion: The incidence of clinical mastitis in Yangtze Dairy Farm was 4.86% in cow and 1.63% in quarter level, respectively. The major isolated pathogens were E. coli, S. aureus, and Yeast.
Impact of Agents’ Errors on Performance, Reliance and Trust in Human-Agent Collaboration

Trust in automation is often strongly tied to an agent’s performance. However, our understanding of imperfect agents’ behaviours and its impact on trust is limited. In this paper, we study the relationship between performance, reliance and trust in a set of human-agent collaborative tasks. Participants collaborated with different automated agents that performed similarly but made errors in different ways; namely mistakes (error of prioritization), lapses (error of omission) and slips (lowered accuracy). We conducted a 4x2 within-subjects experiment (n=24) varying the agent behaviours (no error, slips, mistakes and lapses) and task difficulty (easy/hard) during a real-time collaborative game. Our results show that, at the same level of agent performance, agents’ errors are perceived differently and change the way participants interact with agents. For instance, slips and mistakes are more harmful to performance than lapses while slips are more harmful to reliance than mistakes.
Feature Selection in Cross-Project Software Defect Prediction

Advances in technology have increased the use and complexity of software. The complexity of the software can increase the possibility of defects. Defective software can cause high losses. Fixing defective software requires a high cost because it can spend up 50% of the project schedule. Most software developers don’t document their work properly so that making it difficult to analyse software development history data. Software metrics which use in cross-project software defects prediction have many features. Software metrics usually consist of various measurement techniques, so there are possibilities for their features to be similar. It is possible that these features are similar or irrelevant so that they can cause a decrease in the performance of classifiers. In this study, several feature selection techniques were proposed to select the relevant features. The classification algorithm used is Naive Bayes. Based on the analysis using ANOVA, the SBS and SBFS models can significantly improve the performance of the Naïve Bayes model.
Anti‐insect defenses of Achnatherum robustum (sleepygrass) provided by two Epichloë endophyte species

Many pooid grasses (Poaceae) harbor Epichloë species (Hypocreales), endophytic fungi that often produce toxic alkaloids which may provide anti‐insect protection for their hosts. Two natural populations of Achnatherum robustum (Vasey) (sleepygrass), in the Lincoln National Forest, Cloudcroft, and Weed (NM, USA), are infected with the endophyte species Epichloë funkii (KD Craven & Schardl) JF White and Epichloë sp. nov. We tested whether: (1) these endophytes affect survival, growth, and development of the insect herbivore Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) (fall armyworm), (2) larval diets alter adult fecundity (assessed as number of larvae or eggs produced by females and number of spermatophores that males transfer to females when enclosed in pairs within each feeding group), and (3) infections affect leaf consumption in larval no‐choice and choice experiments. Individual larvae were reared on Epichloë infected vs. uninfected clipped leaves from the Cloudcroft and Weed population plants. Overall, armyworm survival was not affected when fed infected sleepygrass from either population. However, larvae that fed on Weed‐infected plants were smaller and had longer development than larvae that fed on uninfected and Cloudcroft‐infected plants. Males fed on Weed‐infected leaves had reduced mating success. Interestingly, pupal mass increased when larvae fed on either the infected leaf types. However, heavier females from both infected diets did not lay more eggs than lighter females from uninfected diets. In a no‐choice test, larvae on Weed‐infected plants diet consumed more leaf biomass than larvae from three other groups. In choice tests, larvae avoided feeding on leaves infected with either of the endophytes relative to uninfected leaves. Thus, the two Epichloë may provide direct protection to sleepygrass from insect herbivory by deterrence. The Weed population endophyte may provide stronger indirect protection than the Cloudcroft endophyte by reducing insect fitness or increasing risks of predation and parasitism through delayed development, even though larvae may consume more leaf biomass.
Enhancing packing density and maximum elongation of 2D stretchable wavy circuit: Effect of section tilting

Abstract Wavy pattern circuits are widely used in flexible displays, wearable devices, and biosensor research. In this study, we propose a tilted 2D stretchable wavy circuit design to enhance circuit integrity and reduce electric resistance of stretchable devices. The experimental and finite element analysis revealed that the tilting wavy circuit section increased the maximum stretch ratio of the circuit and provided stable conductance during elongation. In addition, increasing the tilt angle has advantages in increasing the density of the circuit in the unit area without decreasing the maximum elongation of the wavy circuit, which will eventually increase the level of integrity. By realizing a tilted wavy section with different fabrication methods, we assure that the tilted wavy circuit design will eventually lead to the development of high-resolution stretchable devices with high power efficiency
Electro-textile wearable antennas in wireless body area networks: materials, antenna design, manufacturing techniques, and human body consideration—a review

The latest progress in the emerging wireless technology has resulted in the development of wearable antennas made of various fabrics. This unique antenna is an integral part of the wireless body area network (WBAN). A wide range of applications are made by the wearable antennas in the fields of the Internet of Things, sport, defense, public safety, telemedicine, navigation, and tracking. The focus point of the current review is the recent progress of electro-textiles research with special attention on the materials properties, criteria, and manufacturing techniques. Existing as well as upcoming materials specifically and potentially used for electro-textile fabrication are discussed. Various manufacturing techniques are discussed to match the importance of material selection. The current work highlights the performance when the antennas tagging are applied in WBAN objects and illustrates how the human body affects the performance of the wearable antenna and vice versa. The findings of this review by introducing the best materials, techniques, and designs could be used in future to provide high-performance materials for body-centric applications.
WFA-labeled perineuronal nets in the macaque claustrum

ABSTRACT Background: The claustrum (CLA) has been discussed as central to integrated conscious percepts, although recent evidence has emphasized a role in detecting sensory novelty or in amplifying correlated cortical inputs. Objective: We report that many neurons in the macaque CLA are ensheathed in perineuronal nets (PNNs), which contribute to synaptic stability and enhance neuronal excitability, among other properties. Design: We visualized PNNs by Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (WFA) immunohistochemistry, and quantified these in comparison these to parvalbumin+ (PV) subsets and total neurons. Results: PNNs ensheath about 11% of the total neurons. These are a range of large, medium, and small neurons, likely corresponding to PV+ and/or other inhibitory interneurons. The PNNs were themselves heterogeneous, consisting of lattice-like, weakly labeled, and diffuse subtypes, and showed some regional preference for the medial CLA. Conclusion: The abundant neuronal labeling by PNNs in the CLA suggests an important and nuanced role for inhibition, consistent with recent physiological studies of claustrocortical circuitry. For comparison, diversified inhibition in the reticular nucleus of the thalamus (a pan-inhibitory nucleus, with extensive cortical input) exerts a spectrum of control at different local and global spatiotemporal scales. Further investigation of PNN+ neurons in the macaque CLA offers a potentially important new approach to CLA function, relevant to the human brain both in normal and diseased conditions.
Environmental tuning of the genetic control of seed performance : a systems genetics approach

The environmental conditions under which plants grow affect the quality of seeds produced in a genotype-dependent manner. In nature, genotype-by-environment interactions are often observed however little is known about the underlying mechanisms. The combined use of genetic tools and omics data can help to explore the influence of the environment on the genetic control of seed performance. The research presented in this thesis explores genotype-by-environment interaction at the phenotypic with an effort to connect phenotypic changes to changes observed at the metabolome and transcriptome in a systems genetics approach. For this purpose, an Arabidopsis thaliana recombinant inbred lines population derived from the cross between the parental lines Bay-0 and Sha was grown under different conditions, namely standard, high light, high temperature and low phosphate conditions from flowering until seed harvest. The germination properties of the seeds produced under the different environments were investigated and the seed germination QTLs identified displayed large QTL-by-environment interaction. Quantitative changes in primary metabolites in response to the maternal environment were investigated by GC-TOF-MS. Further, mQTLs under the different environments were identified. RNA-seq of the same lines enabled to explore changes in gene expression across genotypes and environments as well as differences in the eQTL landscape under the different maternal environment. The findings of this research show that seed quality is largely influenced by genotype-by-environment interactions which result in large changes at the molecular level. The data generated provide many opportunities to further study.
Reach to Grasp Planning for a Synergy-Controlled Robotic Hand based on Pesudo-Distance Formulation

In the past several years, grasp analysis of multi-fingered robotic hands has been actively studied through the use of posture synergies. In these grasping planning algorithms, a formulated optimization is usually performed in the hand’s low-dimensional representation together with the hand’s position and orientation. The optimization terminates at a stable grasp, often after repeated trials with different initial guesses. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the generated grasp leads to a smooth reach-to-grasp trajectory since the grasping planning process mostly concerns hand poses with the fingers proximal to the object. A unified theoretical framework of a gradient-based iterative algorithm is hence proposed in this paper to plan a reach-to-grasp task, predicting the grasp quality and adjusting the hand’s posture synergies, position and orientation during the approaching phase to achieve a stable grasp. The grasp quality measurement is adopted from a highly efficient pseudo-distance formulation. Stable power grasp and precision pinch can be consistently and intentionally planned with different contact conditions specified in the formulation, which means that an intention for planning a power grasp would not generate a pinch result. Several numerical simulation case studies are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Increased current flow enhances the risk of organic carbon loss from Zostera marina sediments: Insights from a flume experiment

Hydrodynamic processes are important for carbon storage dynamics in seagrass meadows, where periods of increased hydrodynamic activity could result in erosion and the loss of buried carbon. To estimate hydrodynamic impacts on the resuspension of organic carbon (Corg) in seagrass‐vegetated sediments, we exposed patches (0.35 × 0.35 cm) of Zostera marina (with different biomass, shoot densities, and sediment properties) to gradually increased unidirectional (current) flow velocities ranging from low (5 cm s−1) to high (26 cm s−1) in a hydraulic flume with a standardized water column height of 0.12 m. We found that higher flow velocities substantially increased (by more than threefold) the proportion of Corg in the suspended sediment resulting in a loss of up to 5.5% ± 1.7% (mean ± SE) Corg from the surface sediment. This was presumably due to increased surface erosion of larger, carbon‐rich detritus particles. Resuspension of Corg in the seagrass plots correlated with sediment properties (i.e., bulk density, porosity, and sedimentary Corg) and seagrass plant structure (i.e., belowground biomass). However, shoot density had no influence on Corg resuspension (comparing unvegetated sediments with sparse, moderate, and dense seagrass bed types), which could be due to the relatively low shoot density in the experimental setup (with a maximum of 253 shoots m−2) reflecting natural conditions of the Swedish west coast. The projected increase in the frequency and intensity of hydrodynamic forces due to climate change could thus negatively affect the function of seagrass meadows as natural carbon sinks.