Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of diverse germplasm of cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] against bruchid [Callosobruchus maculatus (Fab.)] and correlation with physical and biochemical parameters of seed

Abstract The current study was undertaken to identify the sources of tolerance to bruchid in cowpea, by screening a set of germplasm accessions as a source for natural resistance. A total of 103 diverse accessions of cowpea were evaluated for resistance to Callosobruchus maculatus Fab. under no-choice artificial infestation conditions. Significant differences among the cowpea accessions were observed for oviposition, adult emergence, exit holes and per cent seed weight loss (PSWL) caused by the bruchid infestation. The accessions showed variation in physical seed parameters viz., colour, shape, testa texture, length, width and seed hardness. Among the seed biochemical parameters studied, per cent sugar content ranged from 0.322 (IC330950) to 1.493 (IC249137), and per cent phenol content ranged from 0.0326 (EC390261) to 1.081 (EC528423). Correlation studies indicated that PSWL had significant positive correlation (r = 0.335) with exit holes, oviposition (r = 0.219), adult emergence (r = 0.534) and seed roundness (r = 0.219). Adult emergence had a significant negative correlation with seed hardness (r = −0.332). Correlation with biochemical parameters indicated that PSWL had a significant positive correlation (r = 0.231) with sugar content and a significant negative correlation with phenol content (r = −0.219). None of the accessions were found to be immune to bruchid infestation. However, out of studied accessions, EC528425 and EC528387 were identified as resistant based on PSWL and moderately resistant based on adult emergence. These resistance sources of cowpea germplasm can be used as potential donors for development of bruchid tolerant/resistant cultivars.
A decision support system to facilitate collaborative supply of food cooperatives

Abstract Food cooperatives are gaining popularity due to consumers’ desire to eat healthy and source locally. Mainly run by private citizens, such groups present an interesting additional income source to regional organic farmers. However, small order quantities and substantial logistics efforts challenge operations. To facilitate efficient and sustainable food transports from farms to food cooperatives, this work investigates impacts of collaborative logistics activities through the development of a simulation and optimization-based decision support system. Results of computational experiments considering fresh food transports in Austria highlight potentials of such joint activities. Particularly, if orders are infrequent and quantities small, collaboration results in a substantial reduction of travel distances and reduces the number of required vehicles. Nevertheless, delivered food quality may deteriorate as consolidating shipments results in longer travel durations as well as additional loading and unloading activities.
Characterization of Two Complete Chloroplast Genomes in the Tribe Gnaphalieae (Asteraceae): Gene Loss or Pseudogenization of trn T-GGU and Implications for Phylogenetic Relationships

The tribe Gnaphalieae is one of the largest and most complex in the Asteraceae family. The taxonomic delimitations of the tribe Gnaphalieae have been inferred by researchers; however, the exact relationships between it and other tribes remain in dispute, likely because of complicated evolutionary histories. To improve our understanding of this tribe, we investigated the complete chloroplast (cp) genomes of two Asian Gnaphalieae taxa, namely that within Anaphalis sinica and Leontopodium leiolepis, and used this information to infer their phylogenetic relationships and evolution. The cp genomes of A. sinica and L. leiolepis were found to be 152,718 bp and 151,072 bp long, respectively, with gene contents and orders that resembled those of other Asteraceae species. However, we determined that the trnT-GGU genes within the two Gnaphalieae cp genomes were either pseudogenized or lost. Because these gene features have also been identified in other Gnaphalieae genera, but not among other Asteraceae species, they reinforce the taxonomic boundary of the tribe Gnaphalieae as an independent group. Moreover, based on the trnT-GGU gene features in members of the HAP clade, we speculate that the parental lineages of the genera Anaphalis and Pseudognaphalium have an allopolyploid origin. Thus, mutations in the trnT-GGU gene may be used in future studies as indicators of generic and/or tribal relationships. Using 52 protein-coding genes, we performed a phylogenetic analysis which further indicated that, alongside the tribes Astereae and Anthemideae, the tribe Gnaphalieae is a monophyletic taxon. We also identified 63 and 81 SSRs in L. leiolepis and A. sinica cp genomic sequences, respectively. The results described here will be useful for inferring the evolutionary history of the tribe Gnaphalieae, and specific genomic information can be applied in conservation strategies for endangered edelweiss (Leontopodium R. Br. ex Cass.) and pearly everlasting (Anaphalis DC.) species. This work was supported by grants from the Scientific Research fund (KNA1-2-13, 14-2) of the Korea National Arboretum. The authors thank their colleagues I.S. Choi and D.P. Jin at the Plant Systematics Laboratory of Inha University; and Prof. J.H. Kim, Dr. H.T. Kim, and Dr. J.S. Kim in the Department of Life Science, Gachon University, for help with our experiments and other research activities. We also thank Dr. D.K. Yi of the Korea National Arboretum for assistance with the statistical analysis and for meaningful discussions. HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY 35(6):769-783, 2017 URL: http://www.kjhst. org
Symmetry and Signs of Self-Organized Criticality in Living Organisms

Symmetry methods have been of crucial importance to physics. Group theory and conservation laws have become the fundamental language of symmetries, going all the way from the realm of quantum mechanical phenomena to general relativity. However, these ideas have had less impact in the biological domain. In this paper we present a view of self-organized biological systems as characterized by and evolving towards critical points, in the language of phase transitions as seen in physical systems. Self-similar (or scale invariant) behavior seems to signal homeostatic dynamical equilibrium in living organisms. Deviations of this homeostatic balance is associated with illness and elderly.
A universal parallel scheduling approach to polyline and polygon vector data buffer analysis on conventional GIS platforms

With the increasing volume of spatial data, conventional vector data buffer analysis algorithms cannot meet the demands of fast data processing, so parallel computing is introduced to accelerate vector data analysis. However, it is difficult for these GIS platforms to adopt parallel approaches to conduct buffer analysis due to their conventional data format and vector buffer analysis algorithms. To address the problem, a universal parallel scheduling approach to buffer analysis on conventional GIS platforms is proposed in this study. First, the key impacting factor of buffer analysis computing time is identified. The relationship between the impacting factor and the buffer analysis computing time is analyzed to generate computational intensity transformation functions. Then, computational intensity grids (CIGs) of polyline and polygon are constructed by partially computing the computational intensity of a lattice. Using the corresponding CIGs, a two‐stage adaptive spatial decomposition method for parallel buffer analysis is developed. Firstly, the whole domain of the spatial vector dataset is divided into sub‐domains, with the computational intensity of each sub‐domain being equal as far as possible; secondly, the features are evenly assigned within the sub‐domains into parallel buffer analysis tasks for load balance. The experiments demonstrate that the approach presented in this article can effectively evaluate and spatially represent the computational intensity of buffer analysis for polylines and polygons. Compared with typical spatial adaptive decomposition methods and regular domain decomposition methods, the new approach accomplishes greater balanced decomposition of computational intensity for parallel buffer analysis and achieves near‐linear speedups. The new approach achieves excellent performance on three conventional GIS platforms, indicating that our approach is an effective parallel scheduling approach to vector data buffer analysis for conventional GIS platforms.
Ocean Tide Loading Effects on InSAR Observations Over Wide Regions

Recent and future Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) missions provide spatially wide and temporally continuous observations capturing relative ground motions over great distances which enable nationwide or continent‐wide deformation mapping. To achieve this, long wavelength errors, which increase with distance and are coupled with geophysical deformation, must be corrected. We predict the ocean tide loading (OTL) effect on Sentinel‐1 interferograms globally for all ascending and descending acquisitions, and they are largest in coastal regions. Then, interferograms over southwest Britain are investigated, with the OTL correction having a similar noise reduction effect as when correcting for tropospheric delay (27% standard deviation reduction for tropospheric delay and 46% for combined tropospheric delay and OTL). OTL corrections contribute considerably to the noise reduction of the InSAR time series, with the time series standard deviation reducing by 33% after correcting tropospheric errors and 52% after also applying OTL corrections.
Raman spectroscopic characterization of acid refluxed and surfactant‐assisted dispersed multiwalled carbon nanotubes on surface functionalized substrates

This communication focuses on the Raman spectroscopic characterization of a voltage‐controlled electrospray deposition (VCED) of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) dispersed from acid refluxed and SDBS (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate) assisted carbon nanotube (CNT) dispersion techniques. This versatile method resulted in the direct deposition of CNT films on the surface functionalized target substrates, that is—APTES (3‐aminopropyl‐triethoxysilane) treated metal (aluminum foil), semiconducting (bare Si), and insulators (microscopy grade glass, silicon dioxide, and polymethyl methacrylate or PMMA)—used in this study. During the voltage‐controlled deposition process itself, the spray area and thickness of the MWCNT films on a substrate can be easily manipulated. In this work, CNT thin films of 40‐70 nm to 3‐7 μm were produced as a function of deposition time, with excellent packing density and surface coverage. The precise thickness control of the CNT deposits on each target substrate was achieved by meticulously calibrating the mechanics of the voltage‐controlled spray system, for example, inter‐electrode distance between the target surface and the nozzle, electric field, and flow rate of the CNT solution feed, in addition to the concentration of the CNT solution and the deposition time. These overall experimental results bode well for use of this technique in a wider range of applications where CNTs films with controlled thicknesses are required.
Cultivar and growing degree day accumulation effects on forage partitioning, quality attributes, and nutrient yields, and water use efficiency of common vetch on the Tibetan Plateau

ABSTRACT The use of common vetch in smallholder crop-livestock systems has expanded widely in recent years, partly to relieve grazing pressure and improve seasonal supply of high-quality herbage. The aim of this work was to evaluate plant fraction biomass accumulation, forage quality attributes and nutrient yields, and water use efficiency (WUE) responses of a local and an improved cultivar of common vetch in a two-year study on the Tibetan Plateau. No differences were observed between the cultivars for dry forage yield, nutrient yields, and WUE. Regressions of forage quality attributes and nutrient yields on growing degree days were explained and coefficients of determination were high in all cases (R2 ≥ 0.833). These results demonstrate that air temperature information can be a useful tool for understanding forage quality attributes and nutrient yields of common vetch. The models from this study also provided in-field estimation of forage yield potential and nutrient components, which can guide farmers in appropriate use of common vetch forages.
The terminalia of the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera): specific glossary, dissecting methodology, techniques and previously unrecorded sexual dimorphism in some difficult groups

The terminology used for the morphological structures of the abdomen as well as male and female genitalia across the superfamily Scarabaeoidea is discussed, based on a literature review across the group. Issues relating to the orientation of the male terminalia and potential homologies between the ‘genital capsule’- and ‘spiculum gastrale’-bearing taxa are discussed and standardisation of terminology pertaining to some ambiguous terms is proposed. A Scarabaeoidea-specific glossary is presented, and synonyms across the literature are given. Schematic illustrations of the abdomen and terminalia are provided. Some new morphological structures are here described for the first time. A standardised dissection protocol for male and female Scarabaeoidea is proposed. Sexually dimorphic structures in the abdomen of Pleurosticti (Dynastinae, Rutelinae, Melolonthinae and Cetoniinae), Glaphyridae, Phaenomeridinae, Passalidae and Omorgus (Trogidae) are described and illustrated for the first time, providing future workers with the possibility to determine the sex of specimens based on external characters without the need for dissection.
Primnoidae (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) of the SW Indian Ocean: new species, genus revisions and systematics

The Indian Ocean is one of the least-studied areas of the world’s largest biome, the deep sea. On an expedition to five seamounts along the SW Indian Ocean Ridge in 2011, thousands of specimens from deep-sea habitats were procured. We propose five new species of Primnoidae, a predominantly deep-sea octocoral family. The new species include three from the genus Narella, and one new species each from Primnoa and Primnoeides; the latter genus is revised and we propose Digitogorgia as its junior synonym. We support the new species placement within Primnoidae through taxonomic descriptions and the most comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of any deep-sea coral family (81 species across 29 genera). We also present a rare example of polar submergence (from the Antarctic shelf into deeper more Northern waters).
Distribution Voltage in DC Micro-grid System based Solar PV Topologies Configuration in Sarawak, Malaysia

In Sarawak, the coverage of electricity is the lowest compared to other state in Malaysia. Due to the location that are remote from the electrical grid as well as the variable tropical climate in Sarawak, the community living in these rural places experienced limitation of accessibility to modern world due to the limited accessed to electricity. Therefore, diesel generator powers used for their daily electricity, however the usage of diesel generator cause a high electricity production cost and diesel transportation issues [1]. Other than that, different Abstract: In the past few decade, longhouse communities in the rural area of Sarawak has been experienced the limitation of electricity supplies. Due to geographic of Sarawak, supply electricity to these rural areas from utility grid through transmission lines also will only results in many losses, the initiation of utilize solar as prime sources is favourable solution. The implementation of DC microgrid system for this area will achieved, as the solar PV system is a DC source to generate electrical supply for appliances in longhouse communities. However, the tropical climate and geographical in Sarawak such as the inconsistent solar radiation, changing temperatures, high humidity and heavy rainfall will be the main restrain to implement solar DC microgrid system. Thus, this paper proposes a comprehensive study about the voltage distribution of DC microgrid configuration in order to investigate system the reliability and efficiency. The configuration of DC micro-grid model has been designed using MATLAB Simulink and an experimental presenting the Simulink also has been developed for validation purposes. The obtained simulation and experimental results confirm that the proposed configuration of the ring system with multiple-sources is more reliable and efficient than radial system with multiple-source configuration in terms of DC voltage distribution at different buses. Thus, the proposed configuration is more reliable according to voltage distribution at each buses.
Validation of a generalized laser safety analysis method for irregular pulse trains

The current laser safety standards do not address specifically how to account for repetitively pulsed lasers with irregular pulse trains. Variations in peak power, pulse duration, and duty cycle within a pulse train pose a number of problems when it comes to product classification or to assess the hazard of a given exposure. This study proposes to analyze irregular pulse trains by generalizing the determination of the number of pulses N used in the IEC 60825-1 or n in the ANSI Z136.1 standard. The proposed method for the determination of N applies to emission durations longer than 5 μs and was validated by generating a large number of theoretical pulse patterns and by comparing the retinal injury threshold, determined with a computer model, with the applicable emission limit. For 18 000 different pulse patterns, the ratio of the injury threshold to the emission limit was never less than 2, which is commonly considered as a sufficient safety margin. The smallest safety margin found for regular pulse patterns also equals 2. This study validates an analysis method for irregular pulse trains that can be included in the standards by simple generalization of the determination of the parameter N.
Optimum isotherm by linear and nonlinear regression methods for lead (II) ions adsorption from aqueous solutions using synthesized coconut shell–activated carbon (SCSAC)

Abstract Batch experiment was carried out to determine the optimum isotherm suitable to model the adsorption of Pb(II) ions onto synthesized coconut shell–activated carbon (SCSAC). In order to estimate the equilibrium parameters, the equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed using the following two-parameter isotherms: Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Harkins–Jura by applying linear and nonlinear regression methods. In addition, seven linearized isotherm models (including four linearized Langmuir models) and four nonlinear isotherm models were discussed in this study. The specific surface areas of both nonsynthesized CSAC and synthesized SCSAC-activated carbon were estimated by Sears Method to be 650 m2g−1 and 768 m2g−1, respectively. Likewise other properties like bulk density, particle density, porosity, ash content, Scanning Electron Micrographs (SEM) analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were also estimated. The error functions which includes the Sum of the Squares of the Errors (SSE), root mean square error (RMSE), Average relative error (ARE), Chi-square (X2), Marquardt’s Percent Standard Deviation (MPSD) and the correlation coefficient (R2) between the calculated and experimental data were also used to compare the suitability of different linearized and nonlinearized model parameters. In conclusion, Freundlich nonlinear isotherm was found to be in better agreement with optimum parameters having generated the maximum adsorption capacity Kf (110.10 Lmg−1), highest coefficient of determination R2 (0.9847) and lowest error functions. Hence, nonlinear isotherms of Freundlich and Harkin–Jura exibited greater performance than linear counterparts in the following order: Freundlich (nonlinear) > Harkin–Jura (nonlinear) > Freundlich (linear) > Harkins–Jura (linear) > Temkin (linear) > Temkin (nonlinear) isotherm models. This shows that transformation of nonlinear isotherm equations to linear forms implicitly alter their error structure.
Investigation of the cellular significance of long non-coding RNA NEAT1 and paraspeckles

The majority of the human genome is transcribed into RNA, a large component of which consists of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). For those lncRNAs that have been wellstudied, a wide variety of mechanisms in gene regulation have been revealed. NEAT1 (nuclear paraspeckle assembly transcript 1) is a lncRNA essential for the formation and maintenance of subnuclear structures termed paraspeckles. Paraspeckles are RNAprotein complexes that function by sequestering specific nuclear proteins and mRNAs to prevent them trafficking to their functional destinations, resulting in downstream effects on gene expression. Ablation of NEAT1 and paraspeckles is important for various aspects of female fertility in mice, as well as the ability of cultured cells to cope with various types of cellular stresses. However, not much is known of the importance of NEAT1 and paraspeckles at the cellular level. Here, the main focus is to address this by systematically examining the regulation of NEAT1 expression, as well as the effect of NEAT1 on cell function. In examining the upstream pathways that regulate NEAT1 transcription I found that as cells transition from pluripotency to a differentiated state, epigenetic silencing of NEAT1 is gradually lost, replaced with an epigenetic signature indicative of a highly active state of transcription. This explains why NEAT1 is expressed in differentiated, but not pluripotent cells. I also found that transcription factors associated with the human NEAT1 promoter are involved in a wide range of cellular processes, thus presenting a possible mechanism NEAT1 expression is generally both ubiquitous and dynamic. Under different stress conditions including serum starvation and the acidosis of culture media, NEAT1 levels and paraspeckle abundance was robustly induced in a subset of cell lines that were examined. In U2OS (human osteosarcoma cells), the upregulation of NEAT1 appeared to be primarily caused by direct transcriptional activation, mediated, at least in part by the action of p53 on the NEAT1 promoter. These findings link the transcriptional regulation of NEAT1 to the well-characterized p53 stress response pathway, and helps explain why NEAT1 expression is highly dynamic under conditions that are potentially stressful to cells.