Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transformation of crown gall resistant and susceptible Vitis genotypes by Agrobacterium vitis

Transformation of crown gall-susceptible and -resistant Vitis genotypes by Agrobacterium vitis strain CG49 was studied using uid A (GUS) in the p35SGUSINT construct. When greenhouse-grown material propagated through tissue culture was inoculated with CG49(p35SGUSINT) in vitro, the highly crown gall-susceptible V. vinifera Cabernet Sauvignon displayed GUS activity on 53 % of inoculated explants vs. 5 % for the resistant V. amurensis and 0 % for the resistant Couderc 3309. Response of Cabernet Sauvignon suggested a strong effect of shoot polarity on transformation. Inoculation of basal vs. apical explant surface in Cabernet Sauvignon indicated transformation in 88 % of basal inoculated explants with no transformation from apical inoculation. Basal inoculations indicated no transformation of V. amurensis and transformation in 10 % of Couderc 3309 explants. Inoculation of intact plants with CG49(p35SGUSINT) produced GUS-positive sites at 56 % of inoculated sites in Cabernet Sauvignon, 10 % of V. amurensis inoculated sites and 9 % of Couderc 3309 inoculated sites. Resistance to crown gall in these genotypes appears to be due to reduced susceptibility to transformation by A. vitis rather than post-transformation phenomena. These studies were complicated by production of GUS-positive spots from in vitro inoculations using wild-type CG49. Resident microorganisms producing b-glucuronidase may proliferate after tissue degradation by A. vitis -induced cell disruption. Use of in vitro internodal explants from tissue culture-propagated vines greatly reduced GUS expression from control CG49 inoculations and these were readily distinguished (by appearance and location) from GUS-positive spots resulting from transformation with uid A.
Effects of different drying processes on the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of gac fruit powder

Gac fruit, Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng contains extraordinarily high levels of carotenoids, especially β-carotene and lycopene, and a comparatively high content of -tocopherol (vitamin E) and of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The aim of this study was therefore to develop an understanding of suitable conditions for the processing of Gac fruit and the preparation of Gac fruit powder. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of 1) pre-treatments; blanching, ascorbic acid and bisulfite, and 2) drying techniques; air, vacuum, freeze and spray drying, on the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of powders produced from Gac arils. In addition, Gac arils (mixed with added maltodextrin) and untreated Gac skin and yellow pulp were air-dried and their properties were evaluated. The shelf life of a number of the Gac powder products was periodically evaluated during an extended storage period. The moisture sorption isotherms of various Gac powders were also constructed. Furthermore, the stability of three different types of Gac fruit powders was also tested when used in food and beverage products. Results showed that freeze drying of fresh Gac aril without any pre-treatment produced powders of high quality as determined by colour (hue angle of 33.93, total carotenoid content (TCC) of 7.24 mg/g and total antioxidant activity (TAA) of 0.39 mmole TE/g). However, pre-treatment of fresh Gac fruit aril with 1% (w/v) ascorbic acid or bisulfite solution before vacuum drying at 40C for 45 hours was just as effective as freeze drying in preserving colour (hue angle of 34.18 and 36.25, respectively), TCC (7.28 and 6.99 mg/g, respectively) and TAA of 0.36-0.40 mmole TE/g. Pre-treatment with 1% (w/v) ascorbic acid or bisulfite solution before air drying at 40C for 48 hours was also effective (TCC of 6.36 and 6.11 mg/g, respectively and TAA of 0.33 mmole TE/g) but not to the extent of vacuum or freeze drying. In respect of the spray drying process, taking into account the dilution effect of the added maltodextrin, the addition of 10% maltodextrin to the feed mixture and drying at 120C effectively preserved the physicochemical and antioxidant properties of the powder (hue angle of 66.85, TCC of 2.77 mg/g and TAA of 0.14 mmole TE/g). In addition, in a comparison of fresh and frozen arils, both were found to be equally useful for production of Gac powder in terms of preservation of colour (hue angle of 33.93 and 31.28, respectively), TCC (7.24 and 6.27 mg/g, respectively) and TAA (0.39
Application of artificial intelligence in Geodesy – A review of theoretical foundations and practical examples

Abstract Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the key technologies in many of today's novel applications. It is used to add knowledge and reasoning to systems. This paper illustrates a review of AI methods including examples of their practical application in Geodesy like data analysis, deformation analysis, navigation, network adjustment, and optimization of complex measurement procedures. We focus on three examples, namely, a geo-risk assessment system supported by a knowledge-base, an intelligent dead reckoning personal navigator, and evolutionary strategies for the determination of Earth gravity field parameters. Some of the authors are members of IAG Sub-Commission 4.2 – Working Group 4.2. 3, which has the main goal to study and report on the application of AI in Engineering Geodesy.
Ecto-and Endo-parasites of domestic birds in Owan west, east and Akoko-Edo in Edo state of Nigeria

Twenty-three (23) live domestic birds comprising of 13 chickens (Gallus gallus domestica), 6 ducks (Anas sparsa), and 4 pigeons (Columbia livie) distributed across 3 Local Government Council Areas (LGAs) in Owan West, East and Akoko-Edo of Edo State, Nigeria, was screened for ectoand endo-parasites. In addition, two hundred (200) faecal samples from 200 domestic birds distributed across the 3 LGAs were investigated for endoparasites. From the 23 live birds, nine species of ectoparasite (Mallophaga-lice), were recovered, of which Menopon gallinae recorded the highest prevalence (23.33%), while Coclutogaster heterographus recorded the least (3.33%). 162 of the 223 birds (23 live birds + 200 faecal samples) investigated were positive for endoparasites recording an overall prevalence of 72.65%. From these hosts, 25 species of endo-helminths comprising of 9 species of cestode; 13 species of nematode; 3 species of trematode and some protozoan sporocysts were recovered. Raillietina tetragona recorded the highest overall prevalence (20.40%), while Amidostomum anseris recorded the least with a prevalence of 0.20%. All 13 live chickens (100%) and 2 pigeons (50%) were observed to be infected with endoparasites. They included: 8 species of cestode; 3 species of nematode and a trematode species. R. tetragona recorded the highest overall prevalence (24.69%) while A. anseris recorded the least with a prevalence of 0.94%. A total of 147 (73.50%) of the 200 faecal samples investigated recorded various species of endoparasites. They included: 12 species of nematode (63.39%); 6 species of cestode (29.46%); 2 species of trematode (6.25%) and some unsporulated protozoan sporocysts (0.89%). Heterakis gallinarum recorded the highest prevalence (21.88%) while A. anseris recorded the least (0.45%). These observations showed that the recorded ecto-and endo-parasites are major consequences of the bird’s migratory and feeding habits.
Emergent Group Properties in Financial Markets

In the present we have analyzed the data from 480 companies of the S&P500 using the Random Matrix Theory and the Inverse Participation Ratio, we analyzed the eigenvalues and its respective eigenvectors in order to find structural behaviour in market. We take off the non-random part from the correlation matrix and use the new correlation matrix to calculate the risk for a given portfolio, showing good results as were expected. Also, we give a complex network perspective of the companies, building a network with the Spanning Tree Algorithm, in order to obtain some useful different measure of group behaviour.
Calibration and analysis of a direct contact membrane distillation model using the GLUE method

Membrane distillation is an interesting technology to separate non-volatile inclusions from an aqueous feed stream. However, to realise market breakthrough the economics of the technology need further improvement through module design and operational optimisation. Mathematical models have proven useful to pursue this objective. In this contribution, the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) method was applied to calibrate a model for direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The model uses the Dusty Gas Model (DGM) for the mass transfer inside the membrane and a Nusselt equation based heat transfer submodel for the channels. The analysis revealed important interactions between parameters of the membrane and also showed that a satisfactory fit could only be obtained using an adaptation of the experimentally precalibrated Nusselt equation.
Antioxidant enzymes as biomarkers for copper tolerance in safflower ( Carthamus tinctorius L . )

Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan Department of Food Science and Technology, University College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan. Visiting Professor, Division of Environment and Evolutionary Biology, University of Glasgow, Scotland, U.K G12 8QQ. Department of Biosciences, Comsat Institute of Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Electron inelastic mean free paths versus attenuation lengths in solids

The electron inelastic mean free path is of basic importance in theoretical and applied radiation physics and surface physics. It can be calculated using the dielectric function for the valence band and atomic generalized oscillator strengths for inner shells of a solid. Although the experimentally determined attenuation length is conceptually different from the theoretically calculated mean free path, they are frequently used interchangeably in a loosely defined manner. For electrons with energies below a few keV, elastic scattering plays an important role in connecting these two quantities. This work employed elastic scattering cross sections derived using the partial wave expansion method with a solid potential to evaluate the path length distribution of an electron transmitted through a solid film. Both the analytical multiple-scattering formulation and the numerical Monte Carlo simulation have been applied in this investigation. A comparison between electron inelastic mean free paths and attenuation lengths was made.
Genetics and competing strategies in a threshold model for mail processing

Multi-agent algorithms inspired by the division of labour in social insects are applied to a problem of distributed mail retrieval in which agents must visit mail producing cities and choose between mail types under certain constraints.The efficiency (i.e. the average amount of mail retrieved per time step), and the flexibility (i.e. the capability of the agents to react to changes in the environment) are investigated both in static and dynamic environments. New rules for mail selection and specialisation are introduced and are shown to exhibit improved efficiency and flexibility compared to existing ones. We employ a genetic algorithm which allows the various rules to evolve and compete. Apart from obtaining optimised parameters for the various rules for any environment, we also observe extinction and speciation. From a more theoretical point of view, in order to avoid finite size effects, most results are obtained for large population sizes. However, we do analyse the influence of population size on the performance. Furthermore, we critically analyse the causes of efficiency loss, derive the exact dynamics of the model in the large system limit under certain conditions, derive theoretical upper bounds for the efficiency, and compare these with the experimental results.
Multiple Authorities Attribute-Based Verification Mechanism for Blockchain Mircogrid Transactions

Recently, advancements in energy distribution models have fulfilled the needs of microgrids in finding a suitable energy distribution model between producer and consumer without the need of central controlling authority. Most of the energy distribution model deals with energy transactions and losses without considering the security aspects such as information tampering. The transaction data could be accessible online to keep track of the energy distribution between the consumer and producer (e.g., online payment records and supplier profiles). However this data is prone to modification and misuse if a consumer moves from one producer to other. Blockchain is considered to be one solution to allow users to exchange energy related data and keep track of it without exposing it to modification. In this paper, electrical transactions embedded in blockchain are validated using the signatures of multiple producers based on their assigned attributes. These signatures are verified and endorsed by the consumers satisfying those attributes without revealing any information. The public and private keys for these consumers are generated by the producers and endorsement procedure using these keys ensures that these consumers are authorized. This approach does not need any central authority. To resist against collision attacks, producers are given a secret pseudorandom function seed. The comparative analysis shows the efficiency of proposed approach over the existing ones.
Noncausal Telemetry Data Recovery Techniques

Cost e‐ciency is becoming a major driver in future space missions. Because of the constraints on total cost, including design, implementation, and operation, future spacecraft are limited in terms of their size, power, and complexity. Consequently, it is expected that future missions will operate on marginal space-to-ground communication links that, in turn, can pose an additional risk on the successful scientiflc data return of these missions. For low data-rate and low downlinkmargin missions, the bufiering of the telemetry signal for further signal processing to improve data return is a possible strategy; it has been adopted for the Galileo S-band mission. This article describes techniques used for postprocessing of bufiered telemetry signal segments (called gaps) to recover data lost during acquisition and resynchronization. Two methods, one for a closed-loop and the other one for an open-loop conflguration, are discussed in this article. Both of them can be used in either forward or backward processing of signal segments, depending on where a gap is speciflcally situated in a pass.
USING SIMULATION TOOLS IN A UNIVERSITY LABORATORY COURSE: ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF A HEALTH-CARE CENTER IN LUSAKA , ZAMBIA

As part of a building-technology laboratory class, students were asked to evaluate the performance of a proposed health-care center for Lusaka, Zambia. The building was designed to be constructed at modest cost, operated at very low cost and as independently as possible of utility services, and comfortable throughout the year with no active heating or cooling. The evaluation consisted of a combination of scale-model measurements and simulation. Daylighting was simulated with a simple CAD model and a radiosity- based program, with attention to surface properties. Wind-driven airflows were measured in a 1:24 scale model of the cluster of buildings that comprise the health-care center, converted to air-change rates, and scaled to the full-size buildings. Buoyancy-driven flows were simulated in a nodal-analysis program. Airflow rates were imported into a one-node dynamic thermal-analysis program to estimate diurnal temperatures and evaluate thermal comfort. Retention of rainwater for use in toilets, evaporative cooling of ventilation air, and generation of electricity from photovoltaic panels were also calculated. Results indicated that interior spaces were generally well lit during daylight hours and that peak indoor temperatures were no higher than the outdoor peak values, which vary from 21 to 30 oC seasonally.
Farsi e-Orthography : An Example of e-Orthography Concept

Farsi, also known as Persian, is the official language of Iran and Tajikistan and one of the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan. Farsi enjoys a unified Arabic script as its writing system. The fact of using Arabic scripts, a Semitic Language, for representation of Farsi, an Indo-European Language, leads to problems when analyzing, and retrieving Farsi e-text. In this paper we briefly introduce Farsi writing system, and highlight problems when analyzing Farsi electronic texts especially during retrieving Farsi e-texts. Then we introduce the concept of eorthography. We discuss how e-orthography could be used to improve search results while using keyword based search engines.
Empirical analysis of the influence of voters and politicians in the public choice of Portuguese municipalities universidade portucalense

When estimating a specification combining different influences on local public choice, three public issues of different ideological attributes were compared for two periods of Portuguese local government intervention: the beginning and the ending of one electoral cycle. The most exciting results of the paper are the significance of ideology at local level and the decline of its importance in the ending of the electoral cycle. There is also some evidence on the political influence of interest groups, especially in low visible issues. On the general issue, majority is also influent and fiscal illusion is found. Some preliminary panel data results including two electoral cycles are analyzed. JEL CLASSIFICATION: H42; H73; R51 KEYWORDS: Median Voter; Interest Groups; Ideology; Local Government, Opportunistic Political Cycle
Biclustering Analysis for Pattern Discovery: Current Techniques, Comparative Studies and Applications

Biclustering analysis is a useful methodology to discover the local coherent patterns hidden in a data matrix. Unlike the traditional clustering procedure, which searches for groups of coherent patterns using the entire feature set, biclustering performs simultaneous pattern classification in both row and column directions in a data matrix. The technique has found useful applications in many fields but notably in bioinformatics. In this paper, we give an overview of the biclustering problem and review some existing biclustering algorithms in terms of their underlying methodology, search strategy, detected bicluster patterns, and validation strategies. Moreover, we show that geometry of biclustering patterns can be used to solve biclustering problems effectively. Well-known methods in signal and image analysis, such as the Hough transform and relaxation labeling, can be employed to detect the geometrical biclustering patterns. We present performance evaluation results for several of the well known biclustering algorithms, on both artificial and real gene expression datasets. Finally, several interesting applications of biclustering are discussed.
Chapter 8 Increased healthcare utilisation among atopic children compared to non-atopic children in general practice

Purpose: To investigate the use of general practice resources (i.e. consultation visits, telephone contacts and home visits) in children with physician-diagnosed atopic disorders compared with non-atopic children. Method: All children (aged 0-18 years) listed in a representative general practice database were selected in 2014. Children diagnosed with atopic eczema, asthma, allergic rhinitis or ‘having all three atopic disorders’ were matched on age and gender with non-atopic controls within the same practice. For all these different groups, the number and frequency of children contacting the general practitioner (GP) were calculated. Results: Of the children with atopic eczema (n=15,202), 80% consulted the GP compared with 67% of their matched controls. Also, of the asthmatic children (n=7,754) 80% consulted the GP compared with 65% of their matched controls, and for children with allergic rhinitis (n=6,710) this was 82% (controls: 66%). Children with all three atopic disorders consulted the GP most often in 2014 (91%), compared with 68% of their matched controls. On average a child with atopic eczema contacted the GP 2.8 times a year (controls: 1.9), for asthmatic children the contact frequency was 3.0 (controls: 1.9), and for allergic rhinitis 3.2 (controls: 1.9). For having all three atopic disorders the contact frequency was 4.3 (controls: 2.0). Consultations related to the atopic disorders investigated only explain a smaller part of the increased healthcare utilisation in atopic children. Conclusions: Atopic children use more general practice resources compared to non-atopic children, although this is not explained by regular follow-up visits of the atopic children. 2 Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam
Associations of benthic fauna with different rock types, and evidence of changing effects during succession

The importance of the substratum to benthic species can vary depending on the material of its construction. Intertidal boulder reefs with different rock types often have distinct benthic assemblages, and their ecology is structured strongly by succession. Therefore, dynamics causing assemblage variability may involve an interaction of factors involved in succession with features of the substratum. The current experiments monitored 11 month successional trajectories of benthic invertebrates on 2 rock types (siltstone and limestone) with differing physical charac- teristics. Unmanipulated boulders in siltstone and limestone reefs had different assemblages, but when bare boulders of the non-native rock type were transplanted into reefs, assemblages devel- oping on non-native boulders were in most ways similar to those on boulders of the reef's native rock type. A substratum-dependent variation in successional trajectories was observed for one taxon, the true limpet Notoacmea spp. Under specific conditions of rock type at the individual boulder scale and the wider reef scale, evidence was found of a consistent peak in abundance dur- ing early succession. Notoacmea spp. was also positively associated not only with siltstone reefs but also with individual siltstone boulders, suggesting an effect of rock type at the boulder scale. Although processes occurring at scales encompassing whole reefs mostly dictate how these assemblages are associated with rock type, some species are affected by rock type at the boulder scale, and the effect can vary during succession. For such species, successional processes and environmental factors need to be considered synergistically to understand spatial and temporal population variability.
A Psychometric Analysis of the Greek Career Adapt-Abilities Scale in University Students

Based upon substantial research on career adaptability, and on specific cross-cultural validation research of the Career Adapt-abilities Scale (CAAS) (Savickas & Porfeli, 2012) we recruited a sample of Greek university students (Ν = 452) in order to test further the Greek form of the scale. Confirmatory Factor Analysis models showed that the four-factor structure was supported for the Greek form, comprising four dimensions: concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. The original six items per dimension structure was also maintained. Internal consistency estimates were satisfactory, and test-retest reliability reached acceptable levels. Indications of convergent validity were found as CAAS positively correlated with self-esteem. To further explore for the construct validity of the scale score differences by gender and year of studies were also examined. Overall, the observed differences were found to be in the expected direction. This validity study indicates that CAAS may be safely applied to the Greek students.