Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
STRAIN IMPROVEMENT OF ALKALINE PROTEASE FROM TRICHODERMA REESEI MTCC-3929 BY PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL MUTAGEN

The purpose of the present investigation is to enhance alkaline protease production by subjecting indigenous protease producing strain Trichoderma reesei MTCC-3929 to improvement by random mutagenesis by ultra-violet (UV) irradiation and N-Methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitroso guanidine (NTG) treatment. Mutants were screened as protease producers on the basis of zone of clearance on skimmed milk agar plates. UV-8 mutant showed 9 mm clear zone diameter and activities of 199.6 and 552.6 U/ml for submerged fermentation (Smf) and solid state fermentation (SSF), respectively. UV-8 further mutated by NTG to produced NTG-17 mutant with zone of clearance 13mm diameter. Compared to wild strain, NTG-17 mutant was found to produce 2.6 and 2.2-fold more activities in SmF and SSF, respectively. Thus these findings have more impact on enzyme economy for biotechnological applications of microbial proteases.
Development of a dynamic population model as a decision support system for codling moth (Cydia pomonella L) management.

In 2004 RIMpro-Cydia was developed as a dynamic population model that simulates the within-year biology of a local codling moth population. The model is meant to be used by growers and advisors to optimize the control of codling moth populations in organic and integrated managed orchards. The model is based on literature data and unpublished research data. Fractional boxcar trains are used to mimic the dispersion in the developmental processes. The model is run in real time on the data input of local weather stations, starting on 1 January. The output of the model was compared with the results of field observations in three years in an untreated orchard. In the years 2005 to 2007 the progress in egg deposition as predicted by the model was in general agreement with the field data. The start of the egg deposition period was predicted well. The end of the egg deposition period was predicted when in the field about 10% of the eggs was still to be laid. There was no consistency in the relation between cumulated pheromone trap catches and the cumulative egg deposition as calculated from the field data.
Recommendations for enhancing the quality of flexible online support for online teachers

Flexible online support of teaching and learning at university is increasingly used in preference to face-to-face and blended formats to provide self-directed and just-in-time resources for teaching staff. Few have been evaluated to date. This paper outlines a pilot evaluation framework using the University of Newcastle‘s online resource, ―Teaching in the Online Environment‖. The framework utilises web analytics (keyword search data) combined with data mining to evaluate this online staff development resource. In this paper we discuss the methodological challenges and benefits associated with our approach and make recommendations applying our findings to improve the Teaching in the Online Environment resource.
Robust control strategy for pneumatic drive system via enhanced nonlinear PID controller

This paper presents the pneumatic positioning system controlled by Enhanced Nonlinear PID (NPID) controller. The characteristic of rate variation of the nonlinear gain that are readily available in NPID controller is utilized to improve the performance of the controller. A Self-regulation Nonlinear Function (SNF) is used to reprocess the error signals with the purpose of continuously generating the values for the rate variation. Subsequently, the controller has successfully been implemented on dynamically changing loads and pressures. The comparison with the other available method such as. NPID and conventional PID are performed and evaluated. The effectiveness of this method with Dead Zone Compensator (DZC) has also been successfully demonstrated and proven through simulations and experimental studies. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.11591/ijece.v4i5. 6853
A rapid quantitative method to measure growth of plant cell suspension cultures

A rapid and accurate method for the determination of cell mass of soybean (Glycine max) and Paul's Scarlet rose (Rosa sp.) cells is reported using sonication and optical density. Results may be obtained within 20 min and would be of particular use in providing cell mass (i.e., dry weight) information quickly.
A Robust High Performance Face Recognition using Decorrelation of Local Features by Discrete Cosine Transforms

This paper proposes a novel method of face recognition using de-correlation of local features using Discrete Cosine Transforms (DCT). The impulse for the proposed idea is with the fact that histograms DC constituent of local Gabor binary patterns constitute low frequency components which will sparsely help in actual recognition, because information in face resides in low frequency bands and is similar to all the images and also when these histograms are concatenated, it becomes difficult to differentiate and segregate actual frequency variations which add value for accurate recognition. A high correlation exists in between these histograms. This high correlation affects the recognition accuracy, hence de-correlation is achieved with the help of DCT application for individual histogram bins which aids in identification of actual frequency variations and highlights the changes in between two histograms thus improving the recognition accuracy. This method employs a non-statistical procedure which avoids training step for face samples thereby avoiding generalizability problem which is caused due to statistical learning procedure. The performance modeling is carried out by varying both internal and external factors of face recognition system and improvement is shown considerably high in terms of recognition accuracy and reduction in storage space by storing train images in compressed domain.
Reverse transcription–detection of immobilized, amplified product in a one-phase system (RT–DIAPOPS) for the detection of potato virus Y

An RT–DIAPOPS (reverse transcription–detection of immobilized, amplified product in a one-phase system) assay was developed for the detection of potato virus Y (PVY). The sensitivity of the assay was 0·5 pg when virions were added directly to the RT reaction. The assay was capable of detecting all isolates investigated, representing several taxonomic groups of PVY. The RT–DIAPOPS offers an attractive alternative to RT–polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as it does not depend on gel electrophoresis to detect virus-specific PCR products. Finally, as amplicons are covalently attached to a solid phase, it minimizes the risk of contamination.
Investigating ground vibration to calculate the permissible charge weight for blasting operations of Gotvand-Olya dam underground structures / Badania drgań gruntu w celu określenia dopuszczalnego ciężaru ładunku wybuchowego przy pracach strzałowych w podziemnych elementach tamy w Gotvand-Olya

Ground vibration, air vibration, fly rock, undesirable displacement and fragmentation are some inevitable side effects of blasting operations that can cause serious damage to the surrounding environment. Peak Particle Velocity (PPV) is the main criterion in the assessment of the amount of damage caused by ground vibration. There are different standards for the determination of the safe level of the PPV. To calculate the permissible amount of the explosive to control the damage to the underground structures of Gotvand Olya dam, use was made of sixteen 3-component (totally 48) records generated from 4 blasts. These operations were recorded in 3 directions (radial, transverse and vertical) by four PG-2002 seismographs having GS-11D 3-component seismometers and the records were analyzed with the help of the DADISP software. To predict the PPV, use was made of the scaled distance and the Simulated Annealing (SA) hybrid methods. Using the scaled distance resulted in a relation for the prediction of the PPV; the precision of the relation was then increased to 0.94 with the help of the SA hybrid method. Relying on the high correlation of this relation and considering a minimum distance of56.2 mto the center of the blast site and a permissible PPV of 178 mm/s (for a 2-day old concrete), the maximum charge weight per delay came out to be212 Kg.
Molecular gas content and SFR in Hickson compact groups: enhanced or deficient?

Aims. We study the effect of the extreme environment in Hickson Compact groups (HCGs) on the molecular gas mass, MH2 , and the star formation rate (SFR) of galaxies as a function of atomic hydrogen (HI) content and evolutionary phase of the group. Methods. We have selected a redshift limited (D<100 Mpc) sample of 88 galaxies in 20 HCGs with available atomic hydrogen (HI) VLA maps, covering a wide range of HI deficiencies and evoluti onary phases of the groups, and containing at least one spiral galaxy. We derived the far-infrared (FIR) luminosity (LFIR) from IRAS data and used it as a tracer of the star formation rate (SFR). We calculated the HI mass (MHI), LFIR and MH2 deficiencies. Results. The mean deficiencies of LFIR and MH2 of spiral galaxies in HCGs are close to 0, indicating that the ir average SFR and molecular gas content are similar to those of isolated galaxies. However, there are indications of an excess in MH2 (∼ 50%) in spiral galaxies in HCGs which can be interpreted, assuming that there is no systematic difference in the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, as either an enhanced molecular gas content or as a higher concentration of the molecular component towards the center in comparison to galaxies in lower density environments. In contrast, the mean MHI of spiral galaxies in HCGs is only 12% of the expected value. The specific star formation rate (sSFR = SFR/stellar mass) tends to be lower for galaxies with a higher MH2 or MHI deficiency. This trend is not seen for the star formation effi ciency (SFE=SFR/MH2), which is very similar to isolated galaxies. We found tentative indications for an enhancement of MH2 in spiral galaxies in HCGs in an early evolutionary phase and a decrease in later phases. We suggest that this might be due to an enhancement of the conversion from atomic to molecular gas due to on-going tidal interactions in an early evolutionary phase, followed by HI stripping and a decrease of the molecular gas content because of lack of replenishment. Conclusions. The properties of MH2 and LFIR in galaxies in HCGs are surprisingly similar to those of isol ated galaxies, in spite of the much higher def(MHI) of the former. The trends of the sSFR and def(MH2 ) with def(MHI) and the evolutionary state indicate, however, that the ongoing interaction might have some effect on the molecular gas and SF.
Acoustic Emission Monitoring of Industrial Facilities under Static and Cyclic Loading

Acoustic emission (AE) testing is traditionally carried out on non-operating objects. Such requirement is associated both with the Kaiser effect, leading to the necessity for exceeding the test load above the working one and with a high level of noise during object operation. However, AE testing could be performed under operating conditions, if the AE data acquisition period is increased and a specialized method is developed, which should take account of the effect of various noise, features of the object loading under operating conditions, the effect of damaging factors and possible destruction mechanisms. This paper investigates the possibility to carry out structural health monitoring (SHM) of hydrotreaters, highway bridges, high-temperature pipelines, gas adsorbers, roller bearings of rotary kilns and draglines on the basis of AE method. Architecture of SHM-system and specific data analysis procedures are proposed.
Signs of noise-induced neural degeneration in humans

Animal studies demonstrated that noise exposure causes a primary and selective loss of auditory-nerve fibres with low spontaneous firing rate. This neuronal impairment, if also present in humans, can be assumed to affect the processing of supra-threshold stimuli, especially in the presence of background noise, while leaving the processing of low-level stimuli unaffected. The purpose of this study was to investigate if signs of such primary neural damage from noise-exposure could also be found in noise-exposed human individuals. It was investigated: (1) if noise-exposed listeners with hearing thresholds within the “normal” range perform poorer, in terms of their speech recognition threshold in noise (SRTN), and (2) if auditory brainstem responses (ABR) reveal lower amplitude of wave I in the noise-exposed listeners. A test group of noise/music-exposed individuals and a control group were recruited. All subjects were between 18-32 years of age and had pure-tone thresholds ≤ 15 dB HL from 250-8000 Hz. Despite normal pure-tone thresholds, the noise-exposed listeners required a significantly better signal-to-noise ratio to obtain SRTN, compared to the control group. The ABR results showed significantly lower amplitude of wave I, in the left-ear, of the test group listeners. Significantly higher wave III and normal wave V were also found in the left ear of the test group listeners suggesting a compensated neural gain in the brainstem. Overall, the results from this study seem to suggest that noise exposure affects supra-threshold processing in humans before pure-tone sensitivity, raising suspicion to the hypothesis of primary neural involvement.
Aplikasi Berbasis Android untuk Pembelajaran: Potensi dan Metode Pengembangan

Almost half of adults (43%) in Indonesia have smartphones. Smartphone market share in Indonesia around 83.99% dominated by the Android operating system. Google specially designs the Android operating system -that uses the Linux kernel base- for a touch-screened smartphone. The massive use of Android-based phones has led many researchers to develop mobile learning (m-learning), Android-based learning media, Android-assisted learning model, and Android app for classroom management. This article will discuss how the potential use of Android in mathematics learning and methods we can use in developing Android applications.
Physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of dried Waragashi

In this study, effects of drying temperature on the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of Waragashi were investigated. Three types of produced Waragashi were investigated. The first one (V1) was obtained after coagulation of milk, the second called coloured Waragashi (V2), was obtained by boiling V1 for three minutes in aqueous solution of Sorghum vulgaris panicle (15 g/L) and the third one, refined Waragashi (V3) was obtained by boiling for three minutes, the Waragashi V1 into aqueous solution of S. vulgaris panicle (15 g/L), salt (10 g/L) and potash (3 g/L). The three fresh Waragashis contained 64.26, 57.34 and 54.04% moisture, respectively, for white Waragashi (V1), colored Waragashi (V2) and refined Waragashi (V3), while dried samples varied between 12.28 and 15.57%. The corresponding dried Waragashi were firmer than the fresh ones. Moreover, the colored cheeses (V2) were firmer (60.08 ± 5.40N and 206.4 ± 13.70 N) than the refined one (38.57 ± 3.10 N and 55.89 ± 5.89 N). After 48 h of drying, all samples showed a decrease of micro-organisms (mesophilic total bacteria, lactic bacteria, yeasts and moulds, Enterobacteria and Staphylococcus spp.) counts. However, drying at 45°C preserve more the physico-chemical characteristics of Waragashi. Key words: Waragashi, cheese, drying, physico-chemical characteristics, microbiological quality.
A Novel Voltage Modulation Technique of the Space Vector PWM

In this paper, a novel voltage modulation scheme is described. With the effective voltage concept, the actual switching times for each inverter arm are deduced directly as a simple form. With the help of the presented zero sequence voltage allocation algorithm, the proposed PWM method has the high performance voltage generation capability exactly same as the conventional space vector PWM method with reduced effort. As well as giving a detailed explanation of the new PWM algorithm, the paper presents the comparison results with the conventional method such as space vector PWM and sinusoidal PWM method. In the proposed PWM method, the execution time can be reduced more than 25% as compared with the conventional space vector PWM method, and memory size will be minimized to 15% of the conventional PWM method.
Health Risk of Heating Fuel Choice: A Simultaneity Causality Analysis

Combustion-generated pollutants, principally those from solid-fuels including biomass and coal when cooking and heating, bring out a significant public health hazard in both developed and developing countries. Most of the existing studies addressing this issue focus on developing countries, and on exposure when cooking rather than heating. By using Kentucky rural data, this research explores the health risk associated with heating fuel choice. Given the simultaneity between heating fuel choice and prevalence of asthma and allergy, we obtain the instrumental variable (IV) estimate for Logit models through the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). After correcting for simultaneity bias, we do not find strong evidence supporting the causal relationship between polluting heating use and the prevalence of asthma, allergy, and other respiratory disease. Some demographic and lifestyle factors do have significant effects on the prevalence of these diseases.
Evidence for former glacial lakes in the High Peak and Rossendale Plateau areas, north west England.

This paper discusses the evidence for the existence of ice-contact lakes around Rawtenstall in the Rossendale Forest and the Goyt valley and its tributaries in the High Peak during the last (Devensian) glaciation. Morphological evidence for shorelines and overflow channels exists, but is of limited value and cannot be dated. However, evidence from archive borehole records and new boreholes indicates that lake sediments occur extensively in both areas and contain rhythmically laminated silt and clay which is likely to be varved. The High Peak Lake formed in a proglacial position and was short-lived due to rapid ice retreat. However, Lake Rawtenstall was a lateral ice-contact lake and is likely to have existed for much longer; sediments here could potentially be used to construct a varve chronology which spans the last Glacial Maximum.
Fostering pre-service teachers' motivation-related practical wisdom through a mentoring procedure

This article introduces a procedure aimed at fostering pre-service teachers’ reflective thinking and practical wisdom and encouraging them to adopt a theory-based view of promoting learners’ motivation while taking into account learners’ different motivational profiles. The procedure is based on a study about the promotion of science-related motivation among students with different motivational orientations by employing an inquiry-based science teaching approach and out-of-school learning, as well as supporting learners’ basic psychological needs, in order to provide relevant and meaningful conditions for learning. The procedure for pre-service teacher education encompasses lessons intended to familiarize student teachers with theoretical perspectives, authentic case studies of learners with different motivational orientations, support for lesson planning, and reflection on the implemented plans. The described procedure may be used in teacher education during mentoring sessions in practicum periods.
Long-term effect of a short pulse of dietary supplementation with algae on the quality of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) frozen fillets

This study raises the question of the potential long-term effects of a feeding pulse with diets containing algal biomass on the quality of frozen turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) fillets. A feeding trial was carried out with this aim, in which juvenile turbot were fed during 60 d with six different experimental diets, two of which were enriched with the macroalgae Ulva rigida (U diets), the other two with a microalgae blend (M diets), plus a non-supplemented control diet (CT), and finally, a commercial aquafeed (COM). Two inclusion levels were considered in algae-enriched diets (50 and 100 g kg-1) so that they were designed as U5 and U10 for U. rigida, and M5 and M10 for microalgae-enriched diets. The duration of the feeding pulse with the functional diets was 60 days, and then, all specimens were fed with a COM diet for a further 150-d period until reaching a body size close to the commercial standard (approximately 750 g). Subsequently, fish were sacrificed; fillets were removed from the pigmented flank and kept at -20 °C for 5 months. Then, fillets were thawed and the muscle proximal composition and fatty acid profile were analyzed, and fillet quality parameters were assessed during a 10-d co\ld storage period at 4°C. The possible deferred effects of algae-enriched diets on fillet quality were compared with a control diet without algae (CT) and with a commercial diet (COM). Roughly, the results obtained indicated that a 60-d administration pulse of algae-enriched diets induced some long-term changes in both the nutritional and organoleptic quality of turbot fillets. In this regard, the algae-enriched aquafeeds improved the muscle antioxidant response throughout the cold storage period, prolonging the shelf life of thawed turbot fillets. In addition, in terms of consumers’ acceptability, this feeding pulse on pre-growing stage of the productive cycle was able to modify the skin and muscle pigmentation of fish of commercial size. Namely, the U10 diet increased the protein content, improved muscle texture, reduced fillet total lipid content, and favored muscle selective retention of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. On the other hand, the strategy based on the early administration of a diet rich in fishmeal (CT) for 60 d, followed by feeding with commercial feed, also affected positively the quality of fillets, with values comparable to U10 specimens. Thus, the results obtained indicate that a two-month feeding pulse with algae-supplemented diets during pre-growing phase may represent a promising strategy to improve the nutritional and organoleptic quality of frozen turbot fillet, as well as to extend their shelf life during the post-thawing cold storage.
TESTING CORRELATION BETWEEN VERTICAL CRUSTAL MOVEMENTS AND GEOID UPLIFT FOR NORTH EASTERN POLISH BORDER AREAS

Long time span of observations from GNSS permanent stations can be used in the development of models of vertical crustal movements. The absolute vertical crustal movement related to the ellipsoid consists of the observed movement with relation to the mean sea level, the eustatic movement and the geoid uplift. The geoid uplift can be determined from GRACE and GOCE satellite missions observations. The calculated parameters can be compared with the theoretical ones. The aim of this study is to check the correlation between vertical crustal movements and a geoid uplift determined from satellite data. GNSS data and satellite observations for north eastern Polish border areas were used as a case study. GNSS data were obtained from permanent stations of ASG-EUPOS and LITPOS systems, which are the Polish and Lithuanian multifunctional systems respectively. Changes of the ellipsoidal heights from more than 5 years of observations were used as input data. Temporal variations of geoid were calculated based on the geopotential models from satellite observations. The obtained results give an overview of a possibility of the proposed method usage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3846/enviro.2017. 206