Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the effect of radioactive cobalt-60 and ultraviolet rays on Giardia lamblia infectivity to mice

Background: Giardia lamblia is a flagellated unicellular eukaryotic micro-organism that commonly causes diarrheal disease worldwide. Although giardiasis is usually self-limited, it can develop into chronic and life-threatening disease. Most waterborne outbreaks (74.8%) were associated with drinking water as Giardia cysts are known to be resistant to chlorine at concentrations typically applied for water treatment. Objective: To evaluate the effect of radioactive cobalt-60 and 254 nm ultraviolet (UV) irradiation on infectivity of Giardia cysts to mice. Material and Methods: The study was conducted using 60 BALB/c mice divided into 6 groups with 10 mice in each. Group 1 received Giardia cysts treated with cobalt-60 (dose 0.25 KGy). Group 2 received cysts exposed to UV irradiation (wave length 254 nm). Groups 3-6 served as controls. Techniques used for evaluation of the infectivity of Giardia cysts included direct stool examination, duodenal aspiration with examination of the aspirate for the presence of Giardia cysts or trophozoites and histopathological examination of the small intestine of each mouse. Results: Infectivity of Giardia cysts was reduced to 50% by experimental irradiation with cobalt-60 and 20% by UV, as shown by histopathological examination. Conclusion: Low dose radioactive cobalt-60 and 254 nm UV radiations may be used as a control measure to prevent giardiasis, and as a mean of water treatment; but further studies are recommended for employment of both methods together or using smaller doses of each, thus benefitting from them both with less side effects.
Long-duration, false-colour spectrograms for detecting species in large audio data-sets

Long-duration recordings of the natural environment have many advantages in passive monitoring of animal diversity. Technological advances now enable the collection of far more audio than can be listened to, necessitating the development of scalable approaches for distinguishing signal from noise. Computational methods, using automated species recognisers, have improved in accuracy but require considerable coding expertise. The content of environmental recordings is unconstrained, and the creation of labelled datasets required for machine learning purposes is a time-consuming, expensive enterprise. Here, we describe a visual approach to the analysis of environmental recordings using long-duration false-colour (LDFC) spectrograms, prepared from combinations of spectral indices. The technique was originally developed to visualize 24-hour “soundscapes. ” A soundscape is an ecoacoustics concept that encompasses the totality of sound in an ecosystem. We describe three case studies to demonstrate how LDFC spectrograms can be used, not only to study soundscapes, but also to monitor individual species within them. In the first case, LDFC spectrograms help to solve a “needle in the haystack” problem—to locate vocalisations of the furtive Lewin’s Rail (Tasmanian), Lewinia pectoralis brachipus. We extend the technique by using a machine learning method to scan multiple days of LDFC spectrograms. In the second case study, we demonstrate that frog choruses are easily identified in LDFC spectrograms because of their extended time-scale. Although calls of individual frogs are lost in the cacophony of sound, spectral indices can distinguish different chorus characteristics. Third, we demonstrate that the method can be extended to the detection of bat echolocation calls. By converting complex acoustic data into readily interpretable images, our practical approach bridges the gap between bioacoustics and ecoacoustics, encompassing temporal scales across three orders of magnitude. Using the one methodology, it is possible to monitor entire soundscapes and individual species within those soundscapes.
Digestibility and feeding behavior of cattle fed soybean hulls to replace corn in high concentrate diets

The objective of this study was to evaluate the replacement of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of ground corn (GC) with pelleted soybean hulls (SH) in the concentrate portion of cattle diets. The evaluation was conducted using five 13-month-old Nellore steers cannulated in the rumen, with a mean body weight of 265.00 + 11.60 kg. The steers received a diet composed of 90% concentrate and 10% sugarcane bagasse as the only source of roughage. The statistical design used was a 5x5 Latin square. There was no effect (p > 0.05) of replacement levels or interaction (p > 0.05) between replacement levels and sampling time on ruminal pH, which ranged from 5.8 to 6.0. The apparent digestibility of DM, CP, EE, CHOT and CHONF were not influenced (p > 0.05) by the replacement levels, showing mean values of 67.88 + 2.02; 67.43 + 2.89; 68.29 + 4.11; 70.54 + 1.68 and 80.21 + 1.85%, respectively. The NDF digestibility increased linearly (p 0.05) of replacement levels on time spent feeding (F) and total idle time (TI), with mean values of 10.51 and 4.61% of the day, respectively. However there was a quadratic effect (p < 0.05) of soybean hull inclusion on the time spent ruminating. It was concluded that although the replacement of corn with soybean hull does not improve the ruminal pH of steers fed diets with a high proportion of concentrate, pelleted soybean hulls improve the digestibility of the fibrous fraction of the diet and increase the time spent ruminating, indicating that this ingredient can be included in high-concentrate diets to improve economic efficiency.
A Survey on Cryptographic Algorithms Using Fractal Structures

Data security has become an important issue in recent times. Confidential data needs to be protected from unauthorized users. Various image encryption techniques have been proposed for the secure transmission of images to protect the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of images. Fractal images can be used as a strong key for the encryption due to the random and chaotic nature of fractals. The infinite boundaries of fractals provide highly complex structure that leads to confusion and it becomes a tedious task for an unauthenticated user to crack the exact secret fractal key. In this paper, a review of various techniques used for image encryption using fractal geometry has been illustrated. All these techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of execution time, key generation time and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio.
Molecular characterization of Endothia gyrosa isolates from Eucalyptus in South Africa and Australia

Endothia gyrosa is a canker pathogen best known as the causal agent of pin oak blight in North America, and causes cankers on other woody hosts such as Castanea spp. and Liquidambar spp. In South Africa, Australia and Tasmania, a fungus identified as E. gyrosa has been recorded on Eucalyptus spp. Some morphological differences exist between the North American fungus and the isolates from Eucalyptus. Phylogenetic relationships between E. gyrosa from North America and E. gyrosa from South Africa and Australia, as well as that of the related fungi Cryphonectria parasitica and C. cubensis ,w ere studied using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA operon. Endothia gyrosa isolates from South Africa produced the same RFLP banding patterns as those from Australia, which differed markedly from North American isolates of E. gyrosa . I n ap hylogram based on the DNA sequences, the Australian and South African isolates of E. gyrosa resided in a single, well resolved clade, distinct from North American isolates. Isolates of C. parasitica grouped in the same clade as the South African and Australian isolates of E. gyrosa, but C. cubensis was distantly related to them. The molecular data suggest that the E. gyrosa isolates from South Africa and Australia represent a distinct taxon, and probably belong to the genus Cryphonectria.
SEROPREVALENCE OF AMOEBIASIS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Introduction: Infection due to Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica) is one of the major health problems in developing countries. Demonstration of circulating antibodies to E. histolytica is widely used as a marker of immunodiagnosis for amoebiasis. The present study was carried out to determine the seroprevalence of amoebiasis and relationship between sex, age and E. histolytica. Material and methods : During one year retrospective study period, 168 serum samples from suspected cases of amoebiasis were collected. All sera were tested for presence of IgG antibodies against E. histolytica using ELISA method. Results: Out of 168 suspected patients, 94 were positive for IgG antibodies against E. histolytica by ELISA. The overall prevalence of E. histolytica was 55.9%. Among the seropositive cases, majority were males and in the age group of 31-40 years (23.4%). Infection was more prevalent in male hosts (57.5%) as compared to female hosts (50%) and had highest prevalence (100%) in age group of 0-10 years. Conclusion: Serological surveys may help to determine the endemicity of the
Optically addressed pressure sensors for transient gas dynamics: calibration of a preliminary design

The design of pressure sensors based on interferometric measurements of diaphragm deflection for transient gas dynamics experiments is discussed. Quasi-steady calibration results from one such sensor are presented. Results from a dynamic calibration of the same sensor are also described. Predictions of diaphragm behaviour based on a clamped circular diaphragm model are within about 30% of the results obtained from the static and dynamic calibrations. However, a strong temperature sensitivity is also apparent. Future development will focus on reducing the temperature sensitivity of the sensor in transient applications.
Influence of the period of year on the chemical composition and digestibility of pasture and fodder selected by goats in caatinga

SUMMARY This study aimed to verify the influence of months on chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of pasture and forage selected by goats in the semiarid region of Brazil’s Pernambuco state. Six male goats fistulated in the rumen were used in a completely randomized design. Forage collection was conducted in herbaceous and shrub/tree layers, in order to simulate goat grazing, and materials were separated into leaves and branches. Extrusa and pasture collections were held in November, January and February/March. There was collection month (P <0.05) effect for pasture on dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), with average values of 458.27g/kg NM and 155.46, 521.30 and 390.13g/kg DM, respectively. For the stem (P <0.05) for DM, Organic matter (OM), mineral matter (MM), ethereal stratum (EE), ADF, acid detergent unavailable protein (AIP), total carbohydrates (TCHO) and dry matter in vitro digestibility (DMIVD), with average values of 487.47g/kg NM and 930.80, 69.07, 20.67, 440.30 and 63.78g/kg DM, respectively. About the extrusa, there was collection time effect (P <0.05) on the DM, OM, MM, CP, EE, AIP, TCHO, Non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC) and DMIVD, with average values of 84.53g/kg DM, 863.03, 136.97, 152.90, 33.60, 14.07, 676.37 and 55.35g/kg DM, respectively. Rainfall changes in the rainy season in the caatinga altered pasture quality, causing changes in the diet selected by goats, mainly in DM, CP, CNF and DMIVD. Keywords: food, extrusa, native pasture, semiarid region
Energy emissions from brittle fracture: Neutron measurements and geological evidences of piezonuclear reactions

Neutron emission measurements, by means of 3 He devices and neutron bubble detectors, were performed during three different kinds of compression tests on brittle rocks: (i) under displacement control, (ii) under cyclic loading and (iii) by ultrasonic vibration. The material used for the tests was Green Luserna Granite. Since the analyzed material contains iron, our conjecture is that piezonuclear fission reactions involving fission of iron into aluminum, or into magnesium and silicon, should have occurred during compression damage and failure. This hypothesis is confirmed by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) tests conducted on Luserna Granite specimens. It is also interesting to emphasize that the present natural abundances of aluminum (≈8%), and silicon (28%) and scarcity of iron (≈4%) in the continental Earth's crust should be possibly due to the piezonuclear fission reactions considered above.
QoSModeling for End-to-End Performance Evaluation over Networks withWireless Access

This paper presents an end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) model for assessing the performance of data services over networks with wireless access. The proposed model deals with performance degradation across protocol layers using a bottom-up strategy, starting with the physical layer and moving on up to the application layer. This approach makes it possible to analytically assess performance at different layers, thereby facilitating a possible end-to-end optimization process. As a representative case, a scenario where a set of mobile terminals connected to a streaming server through an IP access node has been studied. UDP, TCP, and the new TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC) protocols were analyzed at the transport layer. The radio interface consisted of a variable-rate multiuser and multichannel subsystem, including retransmissions and adaptive modulation and coding. The proposed analytical QoS model was validated on a real-time emulator of an end-to-end network with wireless access and proved to be very useful for the purposes of service performance estimation and optimization.
Higher-mode textile patch antenna with embroidered vias for on-body communication

This study presents a wearable textile higher-mode microstrip patch antenna (HMMPA) that has been designed to radiate omni-directionally at 2.4 GHz Industrial Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. Emphasis is given to the fabrication process of the textile vias with conductive sewing thread that plays an important role in generating the optimal mode for on-body radiation. The embroidery technique enabled a side-fed low-profile antenna which could be placed directly against the body. The proposed textile HMMPA antenna performance is compared with a probe-fed HMMPA antenna fabricated with rigid copper radiating parts, for both free space and on-body conditions. The on-body antenna performance has been tested by performing near-field measurements of the antenna on a full-body specific anthropomorphic mannequin phantom in an anechoic chamber. Results show that the proposed textile HMMPA antenna with vias made from conductive thread can radiate on-body with good efficiency while minimising the radiation in the broadside direction.
Geochemical and isotopic investigations on groundwater residence time and flow in the Independence Basin , Mexico

a Centro de Estudios del Agua, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada No. 2501, C.P. 64849, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico b Centro Interamericano de Investigaciones de Recursos del Agua, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Cerro de Coatepec S/N, C.P. 50130, Toluca, Edo. de México, Mexico c Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada d Austrian Research and Testing Centre Arsenal, Environment Division, Faradaygasse 3, A-1030 Vienna, Austria }
Foreign Capital and Gender Differences in Promotions: Evidence from Large Brazilian Manufacturing Firms

This paper examines whether there exists obstacles hindering women's ascension in the largest firms of the Brazilian manufacturing industry. In particular, we check whether gender matters in the time it takes to get a promotion to a managerial position. Once we control for covariate-dependent censoring, we find significant evidence that foreign-owned firms feature less gender differences in promotions than domestic firms. The same applies in other dimensions of career progress, namely, wage growth and promotion likelihood. It turns out that wage gains after promotion contribute to generating wage differential between males and females only within domestic firms. This is consistent with statistical discrimination and with the self-selection that results from employees optimally choosing which jobs to apply for. Jobs in domestic firms offer more flexibility in terms of hours per week, whereas multinationals compete for the most career-concerned workers.
PREPARATION OF CARBON NANOTUBES BY CVD PROCESS OVER NANOPARTICLES OF NI-CE-ZR MIXED OXIDES

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared by the catalytic chemical vapor deposition of C 2 H 2 at 550°C in 120 minutes using nanoparticles of Ni-Ce-Zr mixed oxides. The CNTs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The results revealed that CNTs with diameter of about 45 nm are obtained. Utilization of Ni-Ce mixed oxides or NiO2 respectively afforded CNTs with helical and curved morphologies and diameters of about 50 and 90 nm. No CNTs were formed either in the absence of catalyst or exclusion of Ni from Ce-Zr mixed oxides. Details of the catalyst type and its impact on CNTs morphologies will be presented.
Title Visualization of Hydrazine Decomposition in a Catalyst Bed by Using Neutron Radiography

Most mono-propellant thruster technologies were developed in the 1960s. Those basic principles and fundamental mechanisms, such as the catalyst and propellant, are still in use without major technical innovation. However, much remains to be clarified in terms of the mechanisms and quantitative limitations of the hydrazine decomposition phenomena inside the mono-propellant thruster. Therefore, in order to enhance the reliability of the propulsion systems, it should be promising to perform the direct observation of the physical and chemical phenomena occurring in the catalyst bed of the mono-propellant thruster. For that purpose, a visualization of the mono-propellant thruster was performed by using high frame-rate neutron radiography technique. The experiments were conducted at the Kyoto University Research Reactor and the hydrazine injection behavior to the catalyst bed was visualized clearly. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Paul Scherrer Institut.
An architecture of unknown attack detection system against zero-day worm

We have introduced the ZASMIN (Zeroday-Attack Signature Management Infrastructure) system, which is developed for novel network attack detection. This system provides early warning at the moment the attacks start to spread on the network and to block the spread of the cyber attacks by automatically generating a signature that could be used by the network security appliance such as IPS. This system have adopted various of new technologies -- suspicious traffic monitoring, attack validation, polymorphic worm recognition, signature generation -- for unknown network attack detection. Because its hardware-based accelerator is also capable to deal with giga-bit speed traffic, it can be applicable to Internet backbone or the bottle-neck point of high-speed enterprise network without any loss of traffic. In this paper, after we setup the ZASMIN to real testbed, we have analyzed the results of the ZASMIN about detection of unknown attack.
Are Unit Export Values Correct Measures of the Exports' Quality?

It has become common to measure the quality of exports using their unit export value (UEV). Applications of this method include studies of intra-industry trade (IIT) and analyses of industrial ‘competitiveness. ’ This literature seems to assume that export quality and export price (the most natural interpretation of UEV) are not merely correlated but that they follow each other one-for-one. We put this assumption under scrutiny from both a theoretical and empirical point of view. In terms of theory, we formalize this assumption as a hypothesis of the proportionality of equilibrium prices and equilibrium qualities. We discuss several cases for which this hypothesis is theoretically doubtful (nonlinear utility and cost functions; strong and asymmetric horizontal product differentiation). We also suggest a method of verifying the hypothesis for cases in which it cannot be easily rejected theoretically. This method is then applied to German imports in the period of 1994–2009. We find that the implications of the proportionality hypothesis are largely contradicted by the data.
Genetic variability of the symbiotic dinoflagellates from the wide ranging coral species Seriatopora hystrix and Acropora longicyathus in the Indo-West Pacific

The scleractinian coral species, Seriatopora hystrix and Acropora longicyathus, are widely distributed throughout the latitudinal range of the tropical west Pacific. These 2 coral species live in a mutually beneficial relation with symbiotic dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae), which are passed to their progeny by vertical transmission (zooxanthellate eggs or larvae) and horizontal transmission (eggs or larvae that acquire symbionts from the environment), respectively. For S. hystrix, vertical transmission might create biogeographically isolated and genetically differentiated symbiont populations because the extent of its larval migration is known to be limited. On the other hand, horizontal transmission in corals such as A. longicyathus may result in genetically connected symbiont populations, especially if its zooxanthellae taxa are widely distributed. To examine these hypotheses, symbionts were collected from colonies of S. hystrix and A. longicyathus living in the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), South China Sea (Malaysia) and East China Sea (Ryukyus Archipelago, Japan), and were examined using restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequence analysis of large and small subunit rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis assigned the symbionts to 1 of 3 taxonomically distinct groups, known as clades. Symbionts from Australian and Japanese S. hystrix were placed in Clade C, and Malaysian S. hystrix symbionts in the newly described Clade D. Seven of 11 Australian and all Japanese and Malaysian colonies of A. longicyathus had symbiotic dinoflagellates that also grouped with Clade C, but symbionts from the remaining Australian colonies of A. longicyathus grouped with Clade A. Analysis of molecular variance of Clade C symbionts found significant genetic variation in 1 or more geographic groups (69.8%) and to a lesser extent among populations within geographic regions (13.6%). All populations of Clade C symbionts from S. hystrix were genetically differentiated according to geographic region. Although Clade C symbionts of A. longicyathus from Japan resolved into a distinct geographic group, those from Australia and Malaysia did not and were genetically connected. We propose that these patterns of genetic connectivity correlate with differences in the dispersal range of the coral or symbiont propagules and are associated with their respective modes of symbiont transmission.
Saving and real interest rates in developing countries

Raising real interest rates has been cited as a way to increase private saving,and thus provide the resources for growth. But this may not be a viable approach in the poorest developing countries in which most people live at subsistence level. In these situations, consumption is not very responsive to fluctuations in real interest rates and financial liberalization my not be the catalyst to higher higher saving rates.