Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Avoid Touching Your Face: A Hand-to-face 3D Motion Dataset (COVID-away) and Trained Models for Smartwatches

World Health Organisation (WHO) advises that humans must try to avoid touching their eye, nose and mouth, which is an effective way to stop the spread of viral diseases. This has become even more prominent with the widespread coronavirus (COVID-19), resulting in a global pandemic. However, we humans on average touch our face (eye, nose and mouth) 10-20 times an hour [22] [12], which is often the primary source [15] of getting infected by a variety of viral infections including seasonal Influenza, Coronavirus, Swine flu, Ebola virus, etc. Touching our face all day long is a quirk of human nature [13] and it is extremely difficult to train people to avoid touching their face. However, wearable devices and technology can help to continuously monitor our movements and trigger a timely event reminding people to avoid touching their face. In this work, we have collected a hand-to-face multi-sensor 3D motion dataset and named it COVID-away dataset. Using our dataset, we trained models that can continuously monitor human arm/hand movement using a wearable device and trigger a timely notification (e.g. vibration) to warn the device users when their hands are moved (unintentionally) towards their face. Our trained COVID-away models can be easily integrated into an app for smartwatches or fitness bands. Our evaluation shows that the Minimum Covariance Determinant (MCD) model produces the highest F1-score (0.93) using just the smartwatch’s accelerometer data (39 features). Both the dataset and trained models are openly available on the Web at https://github.com/bharathsudharsan/COVID-away.
Exploring the Psychological Processes That Underlie Interpersonal Forgiveness: Replication and Extension of the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness

When, why, and how does interpersonal forgiveness occur? These questions guided recent research that compared the relative abilities of empathy versus motivated reasoning models to account for the influence of relationship closeness on interpersonal forgiveness. Consistent support was provided for the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness. This model hypothesizes that, following relationship transgressions, relationship closeness leads to a desire to maintain a relationship. Desire to maintain a relationship leads to motivated reasoning. And motivated reasoning fosters interpersonal forgiveness. The goal of the present research was to examine two concerns that emerged from the initial support for the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness. First, were the measures of motivated reasoning and interpersonal forgiveness conflated, thus reducing the potential for empathy to account for interpersonal forgiveness? Second, did the analytic estimation used reduce the power to detect the mediational role of empathy? The present research examined these questions. When motivated reasoning was measured by thought listings (in addition to the original questionnaire items) and when the analytic estimation provided greater power, the Model of Motivated Interpersonal Forgiveness was replicated.
Rpv29, Rpv30 and Rpv31: Three Novel Genomic Loci Associated With Resistance to Plasmopara viticola in Vitis vinifera

Plasmopara viticola (Berk. et Curt.) Berl. and de Toni, the agent of downy mildew, is one of the most important pathogens of European grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). Extensive evaluation of cultivated grapevine germplasm has highlighted the existence of resistant phenotypes in the Georgian (Southern Caucasus) germplasm. Resistance is shown as a reduction in disease severity. Unraveling the genetic architecture of grapevine response to P. viticola infection is crucial to develop resistant varieties and reduce the impact of disease management. The aim of this work was to apply a genome-wide association (GWA) approach to a panel of Georgian-derived accessions phenotyped for P. viticola susceptibility and genotyped with Vitis18kSNP chip array. GWA identified three highly significant novel loci on chromosomes 14 (Rpv29), 3 (Rpv30) and 16 (Rpv31) associated with a low level of pathogen sporulation. Rpv29, Rpv30, and Rpv31 loci appeared to be associated with plant defense genes against biotic stresses, such as genes involved in pathogen recognition and signal transduction. This study provides the first evidence of resistant loci against P. viticola in V. vinifera germplasm, and identifies potential target genes for breeding P. viticola resistant grapevine cultivars.
An Identification Based Framework Examining How and When Salient Social Exchange Resources Facilitate and Shape Thriving at Work

Drawing upon social exchange and social identity theories, this study proposes a model to explain how resources produced from salient social exchanges at work influence employee thriving. To advance the literature and provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between social exchange resources and thriving at work, we examined resources produced from exchanges with two salient groups: supervisors and coworkers. We propose that leader–member exchange (LMX) and coworker helping and support relate to employee thriving at work through organizational identification and coworker relational identification, respectively. We also suggest that LMX and coworker helping and support moderate the influence of thriving on three facets of employee performance: task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and workplace deviance. Our work extends existing theory on relational resources and thriving at work by showing the mechanisms through which LMX and coworker helping and support relate to thriving, and how they enhance or inhibit the relationships between thriving and work-related outcomes.
Evaluation of effectiveness of some mitochondrial genes in biosystematics and phylogeographic studies of house mouse (Mus musculus ) subspecies

The identification of the efficiency of some mtDNA genes of Mus musculus species complex (house mouse) for biosystematics research was studied in this approach. Recent studies have made use of different mitochondrial genes including NADH dehydrogenase genes, cytochrome b gene, cytochrome oxidase genes, D-loop region and whole mtDNA genome to study the house mouse species. Usage of each of these genome regions has its own advantages and disadvantages. Identification of appropriate genomic regions is very important for molecular biosystematic research. We have shown here that NADH dehydrogenase and Cytochrome oxidase genes (particularly COX2) are especially useful in biosystematics studies and subspecies identification,whereas D-loop region is the best candidate for biogeographic and phylogeographic studiesof subspecies of this species efficiency-wise as well as economically. These candidates areintroduced considering that the first two gene complexes are highly conserved whereas the latteris well receptive to gaining and preserving the mutations through time.
Byzantine Lattice Agreement in Synchronous Message Passing Systems

We propose three algorithms for the Byzantine lattice agreement problem in synchronous systems. The ﬁrst algorithm runs in min { 3 h ( X ) + 6 , 6 √ f a + 6 } ) rounds and takes O ( n 2 min { h ( X ) , √ f a } ) messages, where h ( X ) is the height of the input lattice X , n is the total number of processes in the system, f is the maximum number of Byzantine processes such that n ≥ 3 f + 1 and f a ≤ f is the actual number of Byzantine processes in an execution. The second algorithm takes 3 log n +3 rounds and O ( n 2 log n ) messages. The third algorithm takes 4 log f + 3 rounds and O ( n 2 log f ) messages. All algorithms can tolerate f < n 3 Byzantine failures. This is the ﬁrst work for the Byzantine lattice agreement problem in synchronous systems which achieves logarithmic rounds. In our algorithms, we apply a slightly modiﬁed version of the Gradecast algorithm given by Feldman et al [10] as a building block. If we use the Gradecast algorithm for authenticated setting given by Katz et al [12], we obtain algorithms for the Byzantine lattice agreement problem in authenticated settings and tolerate f < n 2 failures.
Distributed Planar Reachability in Nearly Optimal Time

We present nearly optimal distributed algorithms for fundamental reachability problems in planar graphs. In the single-source reachability problem given is an n -vertex directed graph G = ( V, E ) and a source node s , it is required to determine the subset of nodes that are reachable from s in G . We present the ﬁrst distributed reachability algorithm for planar graphs that runs in nearly optimal time of e O ( D ) rounds, where D is the undirected diameter of the graph. This improves the complexity of e O ( D 2 ) rounds implied by the recent work of [Li and Parter, STOC’19]. We also consider the more general reachability problem of identifying the strongly connected components (SCCs) of the graph. We present an e O ( D )-round algorithm that computes for each node in the graph an identiﬁer of its strongly connected component in G . No non-trivial upper bound for this problem (even in general graphs) has been known before. Our algorithms are based on characterizing the structural interactions between balanced cycle separators. We show that the reachability relations between separator nodes can be compressed due to a Monge-like property of their directed shortest paths. The algorithmic results are obtained by combining this structural characterization with the recursive graph partitioning machinery of [Li and Parter, STOC’19].
Soil organic matter, nutrient distribution, fungal and microbial biomass and enzyme activities in a forest beech stand on the Apennines of southern Italy

The aim of this study was to analyse the amount and qualitative characteristics of organic matter (OM) in the litter horizon (considering leaf litter at different decomposition stages) and underlying soil to a 30-cm depth in a beech stand on the Apennines in southern Italy. Distribution of major nutrients as well as fungal and microbial biomass were also evaluated, in addition to beech leaf nutrient content monitor from full expansion to abscission in order to estimate annual nutrient input to soil from litterfall and nutrient retranslocation before abscission. OM was significantly higher in leaf litter. C/N ratio and the Na, Mn, Fe levels also decreased along the decomposition continuum, whereas N and S contents slowly decreased with soil depth. Generally, leaf nutrient content was also significantly lower in dead leaves, indicating efficient retranslocation to persistent organs. Fungal biomass was the highest in leaf layers, with no significant changes between spring and autumn samplings. Enzyme activities did not differ significantly along the decomposition continuum but marked decreases were found in the upper soil layer; these remained relatively constant, with the exception of laccase, at deeper soil depths. No seasonal effect on enzyme activities and OM content was found.
Plankton Index of Biotic Integrity (P-IBI) for assessing ecosystem health within the Ouémé River basin, Republic of Benin

This study aims at assessing the impact of organic pollution on plankton communities of the Ouémé River using a Plankton Index of Biotic Integrity (P-IBI) as a tool for ecological heath assessment. Plankton and other environmental data were collected monthly from October 2014 to September 2015. An Organic Pollution Index (OPI) was calculated to classify the sampling sites, and 18 plankton candidate metrics were used to discriminate among the observed organic pollution levels. From this analysis, seven significant metrics were selected for setting up biotic integrity indices. An indicative value (IndVal) was calculated for each plankton species to identify indicator species characteristic of observed ecological statuses. The OPI shows significant organic pollution at sites, such as Kaboua, Vossa and Atchakpa-rejet, and less organic pollution at Kpassa. The plankton Index of Biotic Integrity (P-IBI) value shows significant correlation (r > 0.75) with organic pollution. Three ecological states were identified: Kaboua and Vossa were in fair condition; Kpassa, Toué, Atchérigbé and Affon in very good condition; and all other sites in good condition. Three phytoplankton and four zooplankton species were significantly associated with good conditions, whereas 108 phytoplankton species and 40 zooplankton species were significantly associated with fair conditions within the River basin.
On the phylogeny and classification of living birds

The first comparisons between molecules were made a century ago by the early serologists, but the molecular age of evolutionary biology truly began with the determination of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick (1953). As the coding relationships among DNA, RNA and proteins became clear it was apparent that these molecules contain potential evolutionary information and methods to exploit them were soon in use. At Cornell University in 1956 I began to use electrophoresis to compare blood and egg-white proteins (e.g., Sibley 1960, 1970). These studies solved few problems, but they provided experience and contacts with persons who were developing improved procedures. I tried the "agar column" method of DNA-DNA hybridization in 1963, without success. It was the hydroxyapatite technique, perfected in the late 1960's, that made DNA hybridization useful for phylogenetic research and I began to use this method at Yale University in 1974, with the collaboration of Jon Ahlquist. Between early-1975 and mid-1986, we made more than 26,000 DNA-DNA comparisons among ca. 1700 bird species, representing all of the orders and 168 of the 171 families in Wetmore's (1960) classification. A new classification was proposed (Sibley et al. 1988). Sibley and Ahlquist (1990) provide details of the history, methods and data. A book on the distribution and taxonomy of the bird species of the world (Sibley and Monroe 1990) used the DNA-based classification and a supplement was published in 1993. A brief update (Sibley 1991) included comments and corrections for several group names. Monroe and Sibley (1993) is a list of living species with brief distributional information and corrections to date.
Cloning and expression of the Drosophila melanogaster CuZn superoxide dismutase gene

Aging and disease processes may be due to deleterious and irreversible changes produced by free radical reactions. The enzyme copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZn SOD; superoxide: superoxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.15.1.1) performs a protective function by scavenging superoxide radicals. In order to determine whether additional SOD activity affects longevity and oxygen metabolism in Drosophila, our approach was to clone the Sod gene and introduce additional copies of the gene back into the genome via P element mediated transformation. The effects of increased SOD activity on Drosophila life span and oxygen free radical metabolism were investigated. The CuZn SOD cDNA and gene were cloned from Drosophila melanogaster. The sequence of the Sod cDNA and gene revealed an additional C-terminal triplet coding for valine not found in the mature SOD protein. The nucleotide sequence of the coding region has 56% and 57% identity when compared to the corresponding human and rat Sod genes, respectively. A probe of the cloned gene hybridizes to position 68A4-9 on Drosophila polytene chromosomes. In wild-type Drosophila the Sod cDNA hybridizes to a 0.7-0.8 kb transcript which is greatly diminished in a SOD 'null' mutant that produces only 3.5% of the SOD protein. A 1.8 kb EcoRI gene fragment containing the Sod gene was cloned into the P vector pUChsneo and microinjected into Drosophila embryos. Five transformed lines, each of which contain an additional copy of the Sod gene at different chromosomal sites were constructed. The chromosomal positions of the transposed Sod sequence were determined by in situ hybridization of the Sod gene to salivary gland polytene chromosomes.
Spread of Information and Diseases via Random Walks in Sparse Graphs

We consider a natural network diffusion process, modeling the spread of information or infectious diseases. Multiple mobile agents perform independent simple random walks on an $n$-vertex connected graph $G$. The number of agents is linear in $n$ and the walks start from the stationary distribution. Initially, a single vertex has a piece of information (or a virus). An agent becomes informed (or infected) the first time it visits some vertex with the information (or virus); thereafter, the agent informs (infects) all vertices it visits. Giakkoupis et al. (PODC'19) have shown that the spreading time, i.e., the time before all vertices are informed, is asymptotically and w.h. p. the same as in the well-studied randomized rumor spreading process, on any $d$-regular graph with $d = \Omega(\log n)$. The case of sub-logarithmic degree was left open, and is the main focus of this paper. First, we observe that the equivalence shown by Giakkoupis et al. does not hold for small $d$: We give an example of a 3-regular graph with logarithmic diameter for which the expected spreading time is $\Omega(\log^2 n/ \log \log n)$, whereas randomized rumor spreading is completed in time $\Theta(\log n)$, w.h. p. Next, we show a general upper bound of $\tilde O(d \cdot diam(G) + \log^3 n/d)$, w.h. p., for the spreading time on any $d$-regular graph. We also provide a version of the bound based on the average degree, for non-regular graphs. Next, we give tight analyses for specific graph families. We show that the spreading time is $O(\log n)$, w.h. p., for constant-degree regular expanders. For the binary tree, we show an upper bound of $O(\log n \cdot \log \log n)$, w.h. p., and prove that this is tight, by giving a matching lower bound for the cover time of the tree by $n$ random walks. Finally, we show a bound of $O(diam(G))$, w.h. p., for $k$-dimensional grids, by adapting a technique by Kesten and Sidoravicius.
GROWTH INDICES, NUTRITIVE VALUE AND CHEMICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GREEN MUSSEL

Green mussels (Perna viridis L.) of the family Mytilidae are commercially important bivalve molluscs. The mussels were reported to occur on almost all rocky beaches along the Sind and Baluchistan coasts of Pakistan. The intertidal portion of the exposed rocky shore at Paradise Point, the present study site, harbours a large population of P. viridis. The present investigation provides first-hand basic information about many aspects of bioecology of P. viridis from northern Arabian Sea. The present dissertation consists of seven chapters dealing with population structure, growth, condition index, biochemical composition, amino acids, metal concentration and associated fauna of mussel bed. A comprehensive review of the literature on mussels, together with the objective and importance of the present study is also given in the chapter, "General Introduction" . The population of green mussels at Paradise Point remained stable most of the year with recruitment in July and November. Allometric studies demonstrated that relationship between length and width of shell changed with the season; in some months length increased isometrically with the width and in others the shell length increased faster than width. Increase in shell length was faster than shell weight in all seasons. Shell length increased faster than shell height. A clear seasonal trend in length to dry tissue weight was observed. Dry tissue weight increased isometrically with length in one half of the year but showed negative allometry in the other part. Observations on condition index showed that peak value was found in November which was twice the minimum value noted in March. The condition index increased with increase in size of the mussel in winter. Results of nutritive assessment indicated 58 to 66.5 percent protein, 4.6 to 9.8 per8ent lipids and 14.7 to 29.2 percent carbohydrates. The protein of P. viridis contained all essential amino acids; arginine and aspartic acid were present in highest and lowest amounts, respectively. The average concentrations of Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni and Pb were 404, 16.7, 112.5, 4.4, 9.8 and 2.2 p.g/g dry tissue weight, respectively. Concentrations of heavy metals in mussels of four different sites were quiet different from each other. Higher levels were found in mussels of Sandspit and Native Jetty where pollutant load was very high. The mussel community of Paradise Point consisted of fifty seven species of invertebrates belonging to eight phyla, and nine species of algae. Ninety five percent of fauna belonged to three phyla, Arthropoda - 52.5%, Mollusca - 31.8% and Annelida10.5 %. Species richness and diversity were high in winter months (February and November).
Dinoflagellate resting cysts in recent marine sediments from the Gulf of Gemlik (Marmara Sea, Turkey) and seasonal harmful algal blooms

Abstract: Thirty-four dinoflagellate cyst taxa were found in surface sediment (0–2 cm) at five stations (60–100-m water depth) in the Gulf of Gemlik, Marmara Sea, during four seasons from August 2011 to May 2012. Lingulodinium machaerophorum, Operculodinium centrocarpum and Selenopemphix quanta dominated cyst assemblages in the polluted gulf, where nutrient-rich surface water was stratified during most seasons and bottom water was hypoxic. Twelve cyst taxa were incubated and produced motile cells that reproduced and survived 14–15 days. Highest cyst species number (33) occurred in summer; maximum number of cysts (living and empty) per cm3 wet sediment was in spring, with the annual range from 1520 (fall) to 108,000 (spring). Nine taxa (Brigantedinium simplex, L. machaerophorum, O. centrocarpum, S. quanta, Spiniferites mirabilis, Spiniferites ramosus, cysts of Alexandrium sp., Scrippsiella trifida and S. trochoidea) were found in all seasons at all stations. The harmful dinoflagellates L. machaerophorum and cysts of S. trochoidea and Alexandrium sp. were the most abundant species. The cyst of the toxic species, Cochlodinium sp. , is reported for the first time from Turkey. Other HAB species included A. tamarense, Protoceratium reticulatum, Heterocapsa triquetra and Gymnodinium catenatum/nolleri. Relative abundance of potentially toxic dinoflagellates (74%–92% of total cysts cm−3) was always higher than nontoxic species, and percentage abundance of cysts cm−3 produced by autotrophs (19/34 total species) almost always exceeded those of heterotrophs. Although distributions of the resting cyst taxa were significantly influenced by surface temperature, dissolved oxygen and total water depth, surface salinity was the strongest predictor for cyst occurrences.
F2 screen for rare resistance alleles

The refuge plus high-dose resistance management strategy for transgenic crops producing Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner crystal protein toxins (Bt crops) assumes that resistance is rare and functionally recessive. We propose an F 2 screening procedure to estimate the frequency of rare resistance alleles in natural insect populations and acquire them for further testing. The procedure preserves genetic variation in isofemale lines and concentrates the resistance alleles in homozygous genotypes where they can be detected, whether they are recessive or dominant. Bayesian statistics for estimating allele frequency and credibility intervals, and the probability that the screen will not detect a resistance allele are derived. Compared with other methods for detecting and estimating resistance alleles, the F 2 screen will be efficient and accurate, extend the sensitivity of allele-frequency estimation for recessive traits by more than an order of magnitude compared with a discriminating-dose assay, and detect all resistance traits segregating in the initial sample of field-collected insects rather than a subset that responds most rapidly to laboratory selection.