Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic diversity of marbled goby populations in the Anatolian coasts of the north-eastern Mediterranean

Abstract The demographic histories, genetic relationships and population structure of sedentary fish Pomatoschistus marmoratus (Risso, 1810), which was sampled from the north-eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea (including the Turkish coasts of the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, Levantine Sea and Sea of Marmara), were investigated by mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (652 bp) and cytochrome b (526 bp) regions. It was found that the population groups had high haplotype diversity while the nucleotide diversity was quite low for both gene regions. Phylogeographic analyses of the haplotypes indicated that the Levantine population (LEV) were genetically different from other populations. Also, the gene flow between LEV and the other populations was very limited. The results of the analyses of neutrality and mismatch distributions that were applied to the population groups were evaluated as a whole. It was determined that the haplogroup that represents the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara populations (BLAMAR) was stable, but the Levantine population (LEV) was under the sudden demographic expansion model following the population bottleneck. The genetic variance indices indicated sudden demographic expansion following population contraction. This was supported by star-shaped haplotype networks. The reason for this limited gene flow and differentiation between the Levantine population (LEV) and the others was linked with wind-driven offshore transport of the larvae and surface currents in these sub-basins. The timing of the differentiation, demographic histories of populations associated with geological and palaeo-climatic events and current ecological conditions were discussed.
Clinical and microbiological aspect of surgical affections associated with current epidemics in bovine

Egypt is endemic with Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), both impose a drastic effect on the economy. These viral diseases are often complicated with secondary bacterial infections; however, scarce data is available. In this study, utilizing microbiological and molecular procedures, we identified a number of secondary bacterial infections complicating FMD- and LSD-infected cases. Moreover, the antimicrobial resistance profile of the bacterial isolates was explored. The data showed that several bacterial pathogens including Serratia odorifera, Enterococcus faecium, Paenibacillus apiaries and Microbacterium hominis could be recovered from LSD-infected cases. On the other hand, FMD cases were found to be complicated with Pseudomonas mosselii, Bacillus cereus and Trueperella pyogens. However, Bacillus licheniformis was isolated from both disease conditions. The antimicrobial testing revealed that all pathogens are resistant to more than three antibiotics of different families, indicating the multi-drug resistant capabilities of these isolates. This baseline investigation confirms the presence of many secondary bacterial infections linked to LSD and FMD as well as the widespread antimicrobial resistance among the isolated pathogens, however, the contribution of these pathogens to the mortality rate in both conditions needs further studies.
On-board zero-discharge water treatment unit for well-boats: Arctic char as a case study

ABSTRACT An onboard zero-discharge water treatment process, aimed at the well-boat industry, is described and demonstrated as an alternative to current techniques. Two live-fish holding trials were carried out with Arctic char for 8 days (84 kg/m3) and 6 days (154 kg/m3). The trials were conducted in a zero-discharge pilot system with a unique water treatment unit relying on electrochemical water-treatment for oxidizing ammonia into N2(g), disinfecting the water, removing fine particles/organic matter and chlorine-species via activated-carbon filtration. No professional skills are required to operate the system. The TAN excretion rate of adult Arctic char under starvation at 5°C amounted to ~22 mgN/(kg·d). Sensory evaluation showed that Arctic char could be successfully held in a system based on the suggested technology without adverse effects relating to mortality and product quality. The costs of operating the system were assessed at 0.30 USD per one ton of standing stock per 24-h journey.
Inteligência Artificial e sociedade: avanços e riscos

RESUMO Este artigo tem como objetivo prover informações para que o leitor comum possa melhor entender os principais aspectos da IA, em que ela difere da computação convencional e como ela pode ser inserida nos processos organizacionais da sociedade humana. Além disso, busca evidenciar os grandes avanços e potenciais riscos que essa tecnologia, tal como qualquer outra, pode provocar caso os atores envolvidos na sua produção, utilização e regulação não criem um espaço de discussão adequado destas questões.
Connecting the dots: Neighbourhood House and institutional accessibility

Accessibility to public resources has been a major challenge to many service users. The fragmentation among different organizational stakeholders in social service generates a ‘wicked problem’ that creates an institutional barrier for service users in the community to navigate the maze of service networks. However, this institutional barrier has not been fully discussed and articulated in the social service literature. Based on the findings of a study on Neighbourhood House in Metro Vancouver, Canada, we argue that as a place-based community service organization it has successfully generated an institutional accessibility for service providers and service users to reach each other.
Bank lending in an emerging economy: How does central bank reserve accumulation matter?

Purpose - The paper examines the impacts of the central bank's foreign exchange reserves on bank lending, captured by the dimensions of quantity (loan growth) and quality (credit risk). Methods - This research analysis is based on bank-year observations in Vietnam during 2007–2019 and employs the two-step system Generalized Method of Moments in dynamic panels. Findings - This study finds that banks tend to increase their loan growth rate in response to reserves accumulation. Banks also expand loans and cash items on their asset structure while subsequently slashing total security investments and disaggregate government bond holdings. Our results also indicate that the central bank reserves accumulation is associated with less credit risk and more financial stability of the banking system. Implication - This paper supports the notion that reserve accumulation could be a complementary monetary policy tool for lending navigation and economic growth. Besides, reserve interventions may be used for financial stability, given the finding that it is found to curtail bank credit risk and financial instability. Originality - This paper contributes to the literature by focusing on critical aspects of bank lending, including quantity and quality, to paint a bigger picture of the benefits and costs of reserve accumulation and decompose bank asset portfolios into disaggregate components, thereby providing more insight into bank responses.
Transfer Learning Technique with VGG-16 for Near-Infrared Facial Expression Recognition

In this paper, we investigate a deep learning vgg-16 network architecture for facial expression recognition under active near-infrared illumination condition and background. In particular, we consider the concept of transfer learning whereby features learned from high resolution images of huge datasets can be used to train a model of relatively small dataset without loosing the generalization ability. The pre-trained vgg-16 network architecture with transfer learning technique has been trained and validated on the Oulu-CASIA NIR dataset comprising of six (6) distinct facial expressions, and average test accuracy of 98.11% was achieved. The validation on our test data using the confusion, the precision, and the recall matrix reveals that our method achieves better results in comparison with the other methods in the literature.
Inequality of Opportunity in Mexico and its Regions: A Data-Driven Approach

Abstract This research proposes a first approximation of Inequality of Opportunity (IOp) in Mexico based on a concept of ex-post compensation, fully consistent with Roemer’s approach. This framework considers the advantage reached by an individual to be determined by the circumstances and by the effort exerted. Following Brunori and Neidhöfer, we construct a data-driven procedure using regression trees to identify types based on circumstances. To identify effort, an algorithm estimates the distribution of outcome in each type based on coefficients of Bernstein polynomials. We present IOp indicators for both an ex-ante and an ex-post approach. Our results underline the differences, in terms of opportunities, faced by individuals, based on the territory in which they grew up, the household context, and personal characteristics. The education and the wealth of parents, and the area of residence at age of 14 are the principal circumstances that shape the trajectories, besides the skin tone or the region. Importantly, territorial variables are significant among the individuals in relative poor households at age of 14, but they hold less importance for the others. IOp is higher in rural areas, in the South and in the Center compared to other regions.
Research on APP Intelligent Promotion Decision Aiding System Based on Python Data Analysis and AARRR Model

With the development of AI technology and the current situation of the epidemic, online shopping is increasingly popular all over the world. The mobile phone terminals also occupy a larger share, and the use of various APPs has also emerged rapidly in line with the trend of the times. How big data technology is used to analyze the effective data generated by APPs? The paper conducts research from the following three aspects: (1)Finding out customer’s behavior patterns from the analyzed e-commerce data, and analyzing the reasons for customer churn rate and providing effective marketing strategies for merchants; (2) according to the time dimension, from different time dimension of customer behavior rules, find out customer purchase rules for merchants; (3) from the point of view of commodities, finding out customers’ preferences for different commodities, and give different marketing schemes for commodities with different preferences. Through the three aspects of the study, we use Python for data analysis, combined with AARRR model and traditional expert system, the arctic finally sets up an intelligent decision aid system recommended by APP, the system provides different marketing schemes for merchants. The experiment shows that through data analysis and simulation of the use of an APP, in the experimental environment, the APP can better serve customers under the same conditions, and the transaction rate has increased by 7.3%.
Climate and multiple dimensions of plant diversity regulate ecosystem carbon exchange along an elevational gradient

ecosystem carbon exchange Abstract. The impacts of warming on communities and ecosystems are predicted to be signi ﬁ cant in mountain ecosystems because physiological processes, including rates of carbon (C) cycling, are often more temperature-sensitive in colder environments. Plant biodiversity can also in ﬂ uence C exchange, yet few studies integrate how biotic and abiotic factors may directly or interactively impact ecosystem C ﬂ ux. Here, we examine the link between simultaneous changes in multiple dimensions of plant diversity and peak growing season ecosystem C uptake across a climatic gradient in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA. We found that taxonomic diversity (species richness), functional diversity (functional evenness), and phylogenetic diversity (mean pairwise distance) were signi ﬁ cantly and positively related to peak growing season ecosystem C uptake (i.e., net ecosystem exchange) when considered independently. However, when abiotic and biotic factors were integrated in a structural equation model, only plant phylogenetic diversity was signi ﬁ cantly related to C uptake. In addition, we found that actual evapotranspiration (AET — a measure that integrates precipitation and temperature) affected ecosystem C exchange indirectly via its impact on the three dimensions of plant diversity that we examined. These ﬁ ndings highlight complex relationships among key measures of biodiversity and ecosystem C uptake in a rapidly warming ecosystem, and the possible mechanisms that underlie relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. They also point to the need for integrating multiple dimensions of biodiversity into studies of community and ecosystem ecology.
Offline Handwritten Text Recognition Using Deep Learning: A Review

The area of offline handwritten text recognition(OHTR) has been widely researched in the last decades, but it stills an important research problem. The OHTR system has an objective to transform a document image into text data. Compared with online handwriting recognition, the dynamic information about the writing trajectories in OHTR is not available. Many advancements have been proposed in the literature, most notably the application of deep learning methods to OHTR. In this paper, we introduced how this problem has been handled in the past few decades, analyze the latest advancements and the potential directions for future research in this field.
Treatment of Air Filters Using the Antimicrobial Natural Products Propolis and Grapefruit Seed Extract for Deactivation of Bioaerosols

Two natural products; i.e., grapefruit seed extract (GSE) and propolis, were investigated for use in antimicrobial air filters. Staphylococcus aureus was investigated as a test bioaerosol, and was deposited on the antimicrobial filters, which were treated by spraying with various areal densities of GSE and propolis. The pressure drop and particle penetration were investigated to assess the filtration performance of the bioaerosol, and the bacterial-inactivation performance of the filters was evaluated by quantifying S. aureus. There was little change in the pressure drop as a function of the areal density of GSE up to 185.9 μg/cm2; however, a significant change in the pressure drop was found for the air filter coated with propolis at an areal density of 98.4 μg/cm2. The penetration levels of bioaerosols in both filters were uniform and in the range 1.4–2.0% (based on particle number), regardless of the areal density of the deposited GSE or propolis. The inactivation rates of the filters with identical deposition masses of GSE and propolis were similar in the ranges of 92.1–100%, 75.2–89.1%, and 54.4–75.5% at the control filters with colony numbers of 103, 104, and 105 CFU/mL, respectively. The bacterial inactivation rate could be described by an exponential function of the areal density of GSE/propolis per number of colonies. Copyright 2015 American Association for Aerosol Research
The Use of Horizontal Representation in Students’ Science Book on Energy Subject Matter and its Impact on Students’ Critical Thinking Skills and Visual Literacy

The purpose of this study was to identify the use of horizontal representation in the students’ science books in explaining scientific concepts, theories, and phenomena on energy in living system and its impact on students’ critical thinking skills and visual literacy. This study was conducted on a hundred junior high schools students in Bandar Lampung city and used quantitatively descriptive method. The data were collected using questionnaires and an assessment sheet. The result showed that learning material mostly used by students was student’s science books published by Indonesia’s Ministry of Education and Culture in 2017 which in the very high category (97%). The type of horizontal representation that mostly presented was image, which in the very high category (82.8%), while the others type of horizontal representation were in the very low category. The percentage of student activities and evaluation in the student book which in line with critical thinking skill indicators was in the medium category, and which in line with the visual literacy indicators was in the very low category (10%).
A New Model of The Student Attendance Monitoring System Using RFID Technology

The development of information technology today has been widely used to provide convenience, speed up, and streamline work. Presence system that is still applied is the type of precession using manual presence using paper media and is inefficient when viewed in terms of time, a recapitulation of data on the existence and accuracy or authenticity of the data presented. There is still often the habit of leaving a signature as proof of an employee’s presence. This study aims to provide a new model for conducting of presence, a presence system that uses RFID technology. RFID will utilize sensors to read data. The use of RFID is to facilitate lecturers and students in monitoring class attendance. On the RFID card, there is a radio frequency mounted affixed to the reading machine; the system will automatically send student data into the database. Thus, students can do it quickly, and data can also be agreed promptly and adequately. In addition, students and lecturers are also motivated to arrive early because the system can store and display data directly.
CONTEXT STORAGE USING CLOUD-BASED MONGODB WITH RULE-BASED RETE ALGORITHM

In this Context-aware computing era, everything is being automated and because of this, smart system’s count been incrementing day by day. The smart system is all about context awareness, which is a synergy with the objects in the system. The result of the interaction between the users and the sensors is nothing but the repository of the vast amount of context data. Now the challenging task is to represent, store, and retrieve context data. So, in this research work, we have provided solutions to context storage. Since the data generated from the sensor network is dynamic, we have represented data using Context dimension tree, stored the data in cloud-based ‘MongoDB’, which is a NoSQL. It provides dynamic schema and reasoning data using If-Then rules with RETE algorithm. The Novel research work is the integration of NoSQL cloud-based MongoDB, rule-based RETE algorithm and CLIPS tool architecture. This integration helps us to represent, store, retrieve and derive inferences from the context data efficiently.
Effects of Clay Minerals on Radiocesium Sorption Behavior onto Paddy Field Soils

放射性セシウム (137Cs, 半減期30年) は放射性廃棄処分や原子力事故の際の環境影響評価において重要な放射性核種である。 本研究では, 日本各地から採取した30試料の水田土壌を用いて, 137Csの収着挙動に対する土壌特性の影響を検討した。 各土壌試料の土壌-土壌溶液分配係数 (Kd) をバッチ収着実験から求めた。 更に, 土壌へ固定される137Csの割合を得るため, 逐次抽出実験を行った。 土壌特性として, pH, 陽イオン交換容量 (CEC) , 全炭素含量, 全窒素含量, 粘土含量を測定し, 更に, X線回折法を用いて, 土壌中の粘土鉱物の同定を行った。 特に, Csを強く固定するイライトの含量を, 相対量として得た。 全土壌について, 137CsのKd値は269～16 637L/kg (幾何平均2286L/kg) であった。 Kd値と各土壌特性との相関をSpearmanの順位相関 (相関係数Rc) を用いて解析したところ, Kd値と相関を示したものは粘土含量のみ (Rc=0.55, p<0.005) であった。 一方, 土壌への137Cs固定率は粘土含量より相対イライト含量と高い相関があった (Rc=0.68, p<0.001) 。 以上の結果から, 土壌への137Cs固定率の推定には粘土含量ではなくイライト含量が非常に重要であることが示唆された。
A Personalized Learning Approach based on Learning Speed

This learning is a process composed of several mechanisms oriented towards the acquisition of certain knowledge, whose actors are called learner and teacher, to improve the effectiveness and usefulness of learning we need to personalize the knowledge, skills and behaviors that allow for a change to a mode of education that gives diverse learning choices to the learners, where the experience is tailored to the learning preferences, specific interests and needs of each learner, we are talking here about personalized learning or adaptive learning, The best criterion that emphasizes personalized or adaptive learning is that it is valid for all levels of education. This includes students from Grade 1 through to adults studying for their career assessments, our work consists in proposing a new method of learning personalization in order to affect the learner towards the content that is appropriate to him, this method is based on the one hand, on the calculation of the learning speeds and on the other hand on the estimation of the average of these velocities using the Markov decision process. The result presented at the Test and result section shows the importance, the quality and the positive impact of this method compared to the other existing.
Development of Automated Disinfection Chamber for Curtailing Spread of COVID-19

Raji, A.A Abstract: Corona virus disease (COVID-19) has claimed more lives in recent times than any other known disease. It is a pandemic that the World is battling. Observation of precautionary measures remains one of the strongest means of curtailing the spread of the disease. These measures include social distancing, use of face mask and personal protective equipment, as well as proper sanitization with recommended disinfectant or sanitiser. This work, therefore, delves into the development of a disinfection chamber for spraying sanitiser liquid to the human body and large surfaces as well as parts infected with the virus via pump-nozzle. The chamber is 7ft tall and is made of wood and aluminium. The electronic part of the disinfection chamber comprises an infrared sensor for detecting the presence of humans in the chamber, PIC16F72 microcontroller which sends a signal to DC pump via the output relay for releasing the sanitiser for five seconds, and power supply unit which provides the required D.C supply to power the circuit. The performance test shows the disinfection chamber is functional and releases the sanitizing liquid for five seconds after which it cuts off to await the entrance of another person. The device is recommended for use in hospitals, campuses, offices, and so on.
(Un)Ethical Boundaries: Critical Reflections on What We Are (Not) Supposed to Do

Building on critical readings of the rationalities behind ethical committees and their guidelines, this article analyzes how their positivist, biomedical conception of the research process can have a negative impact on research participants who might perceive their voices erased by these institutional practices. Using examples from my recent research with gay men living with HIV in England and Italy, I show how research participants have contested the General Data Protection Regulation guidelines I was following in relation to the use of pseudonyms and the depersonalization of data and the sharing of interview transcripts. Questioning the fixity of the position of the researcher and the research participants assumed in ethical guidelines, the article explores the impact of the encounter with research participants on the researcher’s life course well beyond data collection and analysis, emphasizing the need for a different care ethics.
Living magnetorheological composites: from the synthesis to the in vitro characterization

A new type of magnetorheological (MR) material is reported that brings together conventional MR composites (MRCs) and biomaterials. Living MRCs based on carbonyl iron microparticles (CIPs) as magnetoactive filler, sodium alginate as elastomer and cells as biological components were prepared and characterized. The effect of CIPs concentration in isotropic alginate composites was examined by using thermogravimetric analysis, infrared spectroscopy, swelling and degradation tests in culture medium (Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium, DMEM). To self-assemble the CIPs within the polymer matrix, the cross-linking process took place under an external magnetic field (24 mT). The cytotoxicity experiments were performed with human mesenchymal stem cells and human fibroblasts loaded inside of the hydrogel. It was demonstrated that the living MRCs supported cell survival and proliferation. The rheological response of the MRCs was evaluated in dynamic oscillatory tests in the absence and presence of magnetic fields. The viscoelastic response of the living MRCs improved when a magnetic field was applied. This work demonstrates the possibility to use CIPs in the fabrication of living composites with MR response. Results could be of interest in smart biomedical applications.