Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Architecture and Association of Fruit Yield and Quality Traits in Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L.)

Information regarding genetic base, nature and strength of association and effect of different yield component and quality traits on final yield is prerequisite of a crop improvement program. Twenty one genotypes of tomato were sown in triplicated complete randomized design to access this information. All traits showed considerable genetic variation with variable environmental influence. Additive gene action was involved in expression of days to 50% flowering, vine length, number of fruits per plant and fruit weight. Dominance played major role for number of fruit clusters per plant and lycopene contents. Number of fruit clusters per plant, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, fruit firmness and lycopene contents had strong positive association with fresh fruit yield per plant at genotypic level. Number of fruit clusters per plant had maximum direct effect on fresh fruit yield followed by fruit weight, number of fruits per plant and days to 50% flowering. It was concluded that number of fruits per plant is more important for varietal development while for hybrid breeding, number of fruit clusters per plant should be main concern along with fruit firmness and lycopene contents.
Plastic zone evolution near a crack tip and its role in environmentally assisted cracking

This paper analyzes the effects of crack tip plastic strains and compressive residual stresses, created by fatigue pre-cracking, on environmentally assisted cracking of pearlitic steel subjected to localized anodic dissolution and hydrogen assisted fracture. In both situations, cyclic crack tip plasticity improves the behavior of the steel. In the respective cases, the effects are supposed to be due to accelerated local anodic dissolution of the cyclic plastic zone (producing chemical crack blunting) or to the delay of hydrogen entry into the metal caused by residual compressive stresses, thus increasing the fracture load in aggressive environment.
Water and nitrogen use efficiency of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) at different nitrogen and water levels

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) spread across Europe and other regions is becoming a serious health and economic threat. A pot experiment was conducted in 2011 to determine effect of various nitrogen (N) (10, 100 kg/ha) and water supply regime on resource use efficiency of ragweed. Ragweed plants increased their dry matter production with increased water and N availability. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was decreased with N addition and was not influenced by water availability. Mean nitrogen residence time (MRT) was longer at low N and water levels. In contrast, nitrogen productivity (NP), NUE and water use efficiency (WUE) were all increased with enhanced water supply. A trade-off between parameters of NUE was attributed to differential response of NP and MRT to soil fertility and water supply. Our results confirmed that ragweed displayed high adaptation to unproductive sites. However, ragweed’s greater plasticity in response to water availability compared to N availability suggest, that water supply plays important role in its invasion success and in combination with disturbance ragweed might further spread into more productive environments.
Brief communication: Rapid assessment of damaged residential buildings in the Florida Keys after Hurricane Irma

Abstract. On 10 September 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys and caused significant damage. Informed by hydrodynamic storm surge and wave modeling and post-storm satellite imagery, a rapid damage survey was soon conducted for 1600+ residential buildings in Big Pine Key and Marathon. Damage categorizations and statistical analysis reveal distinct factors governing damage at these two locations. The distance from the coast is significant for the damage in Big Pine Key, as severely damaged buildings were located near narrow waterways connected to the ocean. Building type and size are critical in Marathon, highlighted by the near-complete destruction of trailer communities there. These observations raise issues of affordability and equity that need consideration in damage recovery and rebuilding for resilience.
Optimisation of Engine Performance Variables Using Taguchi and Grey Relational Analysis

The objective of the work is to apply higher percentage of neat vegetable oil in diesel engine without any fuel treatment. From previous literatures it is well known that the use of neat vegetable oil more than 20% direct to engine operational problems and lube oil dilution. The use of higher percentage of neat Paradise Tree oil (50% by volume 50PTO) in the form of paradise tree oil and diesel blend in an engine using modified engine operating variables are studied in this project. The universal engine operating Variables like compression ratio (CR), intake air temperature (IAT), injection pressure and injection timing were optimised using Taguchi and Grey Relational method. The optimised variables were analysed using ANOVA, to know the influence and percentage contribution of involved variables on expected response variables such as BTE, CO, HC, Smoke and NO. Besides a thorough engine test was conducted using 50PTO to study its performance, emission and combustion characteristics. The results of the experiments proved that the application of 50PTO performed well and emissions were less. The results of the experiments were used to develop a non linear regression equation for various response variables.
Inelastic Buckling Analysis of Frames with Semi-Rigid Joints

An improved method for evaluating effective buckling length of semi-rigid frame with inelastic behavior is newly proposed. Also, generalized exact tangential stiffness matrix with rotationally semi-rigid connections is adopted in previous studies. Therefore, the system buckling load of structure with inelastic behaviors can be exactly obtained by only one element per one straight member for inelastic problems. And the linearized elastic stiffness matrix and the geometric stiffness matrix of semi-rigid frame are utilized by taking into account 4th terms of taylor series from the exact tangent stiffness matrix. On the other hands, two inelastic analysis programs(M1, M2) are newly formulated. Where, M1 based on exact tangent stiffness matrix is programmed by iterative determinant search method and M2 is using linear algorithm with elastic and geometric matrices. Finally, in order to verify this present theory, various numerical examples are introduced and the effective buckling length of semi-rigid frames with inelastic materials are investigated.
Effects of Energy and Carbohydrate Intake on Serum High-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol Levels

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is a lipoprotein which has anti-atherogenic property by reverse cholesterol transport from the peripheral tissues to liver. Low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) level is associated with the development of coronary artery diseases. We previously studied effects of energy and carbohydrate intake on serum HDL-C to make “Dietary Reference Intakes for Japanese 2015”, and reported the results by reviewing papers by 2012. Here we review meta-analyses about the effects of energy and carbohydrate intake on serum HDL-C levels which were published from 2012 to 2018, to make “Dietary Reference Intake for Japanese 2020”, by using PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar. Effects of energy restriction on HDL-C may depend on backgrounds of subjects studied, the ratio of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Low carbohydrate diet may increase HDL-C, which may be due to reduction of body weight and/or amelioration of insulin resistance. Regarding intake of free sugar, further studies including effects of free sugar intake on other risk factors in addition to HDL-C should be performed. Fructose intake may exert no effect on HDL-C; however, the fructose intake equal to or less than 100 g/day may be recommended considering unfavorable effects on triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). J Endocrinol Metab. 2018;8(2-3):27-31 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem504w
AUTOMATED MULTI-SOURCE REMOTE SENSING IMAGE REGISTRATION BASED ON PHASE CONGRUENCY

Automated registration of multi-source remote sensing data, e.g., optical, SAR, LiDAR data, could be difficult due to their heterogeneity. This paper proposes a method based on the concept of phase congruency, a measure of feature significance robust to change in illumination and contrast. We first calculate the phase congruencies respectively for the input image and the reference image to reduce local illumination and contrast difference caused by the heterogeneity or radiometric variation. Minimum moment of phase congruency is used to select feature points in the input image, followed by a normalized cross correlation to determine their correspondences in the reference image. Prior georeferencing information and image pyramid guide the above matching process, which is then refined by means of least squares matching (LSM) method. The proposed method uses random sample consensus (RANSAC) to remove the large correspondence errors caused by e.g., shadow and shielding. Finally, image registration is achieved by determining a projective transformation between the two images based on the final set of correspondences. The proposed method is evaluated with multi-source remote sensing images, including optical images, SAR images and LiDAR data. The registration quality is evaluated by using manually collected check points. The results demonstrate that the proposed method is robust and can achieve a registration accuracy which can be comparable to that produced by manual registration.
European VLBI Network imaging of 6.7 GHz methanol masers

Methanol masers at 6.7 GHz are well known tracers of high-mass star-forming regions. However, their origin is still not clearly understood. We aimed to determine the morphology and velocity structure for a large sample of the maser emission with generally lower peak flux densities than those in previous surveys. Using the European VLBI Network we imaged the remaining sources (17) from a sample of sources that were selected from the unbiased survey using the Torun 32 m dish. Together they form a database of a total of 63 source images with high sensitivity, milliarcsecond angular resolution and very good spectral resolution for detailed studies. We studied in detail the properties of the maser clouds and calculated the mean and median values of the projected size (17.4 au and 5.5 au, respectively) as well as the FWHM of the line (0.373 km s$^{-1}$ and 0.315 km s$^{-1}$ for the mean and median values, respectively), testing whether it was consistent with Gaussian profile. We also found maser clouds with velocity gradients (71 per cent) that ranged from 0.005 km s$^{-1}$ au$^{-1}$ to 0.210 km s$^{-1}$ au$^{-1}$. We tested the kinematic models to explain the observed structures of the 6.7 GHz emission. There were targets where the morphology supported the scenario of a rotating and expanding disk or a bipolar outflow. Comparing the interferometric and single-dish spectra we found that, typically, 50-70 per cent of the flux was missing. This phenomena is not strongly related to the distance of the source. The EVN imaging reveals that in the complete sample of 63 sources the ring-like morphology appeared in 17 per cent of sources, arcs were seen in a further 8 per cent, and the structures were complex in 46 per cent cases. The UC HII regions coincide in position in the sky for 13 per cent of the sources. They are related both to extremely high and low luminosity masers from the sample.
Fitting formulae of the reduced-shear power spectrum for weak lensing

Context. Weak gravitational lensing is a powerful probe of large-scale structure and cosmology. Most commonly, second-order correlations of observed galaxy ellipticities are expressed as a projection of the matter power spectrum, corresponding to the lowest-order approximation between the projected and the three-dimensional power spectrum. Aims. The dominant lensing-only contribution beyond the zero-order approximation is the reduced shear, which takes into account not only lensing-induced distortions but also the isotropic magnification of galaxy images. This involves an integral over the matter bispectrum. We provide a fast and general way to calculate this correction term. Methods. Using a model for the matter bispectrum, we fit elementary functions to the reduced-shear contribution and its derivatives with respect to cosmological parameters. The dependence on cosmology is encompassed in a Taylor-expansion around a fiducial model. Results. Within a region in parameter space comprising the WMAP7 68% error ellipsoid, the total reduced-shear power spectrum (shear plus fitted reduced-shear correction) is accurate to 1% (2%) for l < 10 4 (t < 2 × 10 5 ). This corresponds to a factor of four reduction in the bias compared to the case where no correction is used. This precision is necessary to match the accuracy of current non-linear power spectrum predictions from numerical simulations.
Circulating Tumor Cells: Detection Methods and Potential Clinical Application in Breast Cancer

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are defined as tumor cells circulating in the peripheral blood of patients, shed from either the primary tumor or a metastatic site. The presence of CTCs in the peripheral blood of cancer patients was recognized more than a century ago. (1) In patients with breast cancer, metastasis is the main reason for cancer mortality. Although the survival rate has increased, thanks to early detection and improved adjuvant therapy, the occurrence of distant metastases remains high. Distant relapse after definitive local treatment indicates that there might be undetected spread of the tumor at the time of primary local treatment. It has been shown that cells can be shed from the tumor at all stages of the disease, and these cells may remain in the patient's circulation for lengthy periods after initial treatment of the primary tumor. (2,3) For this reasons, researchers have been interested in CTCs because these cells could represent an important link to the process of metastasis. In addition, CTCs may become a valuable tool to refine prognosis. Several clinical trials have established the correlation between the presence of CTCs at diagnosis and decreased progression free survival and overall survival in patients with breast cancer. (4,5) Furthermore, a potential role of CTCs for the prediction of responsiveness of systemic chemotherapy in adjuvant setting has been rapidly expanding. Finally, CTCs are a potential source of biological information that can be used to predict responsiveness to various targeted agents. In this way, a paradigm shift may be introduced in the treatment strategy, from the present one that is based only on primary tumor characteristics to the future one that considers molecular characterization of CTCs as well. Here we will discuss the technical aspects of different detection methods and possible clinical application of CTCs in patients with breast cancer.
Effects of Nestling Age and Burrow Depth on CO₂ and O₂ Concentrations in the Burrows of Bank Swallows (Riparia riparia)

Gas samples were taken from the nest chambers of bank swallows (Riparia riparia) and analyzed for CO₂ and O₂ content. The mean CO₂ content was 2.62% with a maximum value of 5.58%, and the mean O₂ content was 17.83% with a minimum value of 14.61%. There was a positive and significant correlation of increasing CO₂ content with both increasing nestling age and increasing total metabolizing mass (adults plus young). With increasing metabolizing mass there is a linear increase in CO₂ content, which suggests no active regulation of gas concentrations. Burrow depth also affected CO₂, particularly in burrows with older nestlings. The effect of depth is most likely due to the relative importance of convective exchange rather than to diffusion. The increase in CO₂ was proportional to the decrease in O₂ with a ratio of CO₂:O₂ equal to 0.86.
State Ownership and Corporate Governance in China: An Executive Career Approach

China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) now comprise over 60 percent of the largest 500 companies in China and more than 10 percent of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world. Despite their importance to China’s domestic economy and foreign investment strategy, many governance characteristics of the SOEs remain a black box, one of which is the SOEs’ executive composition and recruitment development. This Article shifts away from the typical focus on how the things function (e.g. ownership structure and board of directors) to who the people in charge are, which is an important approach to understanding corporate governance and economic development in countries with weak legal institutions. It investigates the legal guidelines of SOE executive recruitment and the evolution of educational, political and career attributes of the CEOs of China’s large SOEs over the past decade. This Article utilizes legal, historical, sociological, and comparative methods to explain the change and stability of the executive composition in China’s large SOEs. The executive recruitment shows an orientation toward politically-bounded and firm-specific professionalism as well as some faint potential of bottom-up and competition-driven marketization. The recruitment guidelines and empirical findings in this Article raise questions about the adequacy and capacity of existing international laws and enforcement in coping with the rise of Chinese SOEs, the challenges to improving Chinese corporate governance, and the underlying forces that form apparent similarities in elite composition across countries.
ANALYSIS OF VANCOMYCIN RESISTANCE AMONG METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS IN HIV PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM RESPIRATORY ILLNESS

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is responsible for a wide number of life threatening infections globally. The association of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in respiratory illness is considered as a serious threat for HIV patients. The vancomycin is widely used drug for the treatment of MRSA. The increased risk of vancomycin resistance among MRSA is a global challenge. In this study the level of vancomycin resistance with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was observed among MRSA strains, isolated from HIV patients suffering from respiratory illness. Total 62 throat swab samples were collected and cultured on mannitol salt agar plates, 54 samples (87%) were cultured successfully. Among them, 43 samples (79.60%) were characterized as Staphylococcus aureus by biochemical tests. 5 samples (11.60%) were considered as MRSA showing MIC > 6mcg for cefoxitin antibiotic. MecA gene was detected in all MRSA positive strains by PCR. The MIC values of vancomycin and cefoxitin for MRSA strains were analyzed by E test (Epsilometer test) using Vancomycin-Cefoxitin E-test strips (Ezy MIC strips, Himedia). The MIC values for vancomycin were found between 0.75 to 3.0 mcg/ml, while cefoxitin MICs were observed between 8.0 to 24.0 mcg/ml for MRSA isolates. Only 1 MRSA sample (20%) was found vancomycin Intermediate while remaining 4 samples (80%) were found sensitive to vancomycin. *Corresponding Author
Modelling the dynamics of intertidal mudflat and salt marshes within estuaries

The aggregated modelling concept, ASMITA, is used to study gross changes in estuary and tidal inlets over centuries. This paper presents the extension of ASMITA with elements representing salt marshes, where vegetation causes increased sedimentation. First results show that this extension makes ASMITA simulations more realistic, but further validation and calibration against empirical data are required. The model simulations confirm that channels in estuaries marsh and upper flats will disappear giving an increase in lower flats. This change is partly suppressed by the presence of marsh vegetation. Under high rates of sea level rise salt marshes will drown when the estuary boundaries are constrained (coastal squeeze).
The effect of yeast cell wall preparations on salmonella colonisation , gastrointestinal health and performance of broiler chickens

i Frequently used abbreviations.iii List of Tables.iv List of Figures.vii Chapter 1: Literature review – The application of mannan oligosaccharides in animal health and nutrition 1.1) Introduction. 1 1.2) What are mannan oligosaccharides? 2 1.3) How does mannan oligosaccharides function? 2 1.4) The use of MOS as a replacement for antibiotics. 6 1.5) The effect of MOS on chickens. 9 1.6) The effect of MOS on other animal species. 15 1.7) Conclusion. 21 1.8) Motivation for conducting this study. 22 Chapter 2: The effect of feeding Bio-Mos, mannose or a soluble mannan preparation on the colonization of Salmonella Typhimurium in broiler chickens 2.1) Materials and methods. 25 2.1.1) Chickens. 25 2.1.2) Standard inoculums. 25 2.1.3) Bacteria. 25 2.1.4) Experimental design. 26 2.1.5) Husbandry. 27 2.1.6) Sampling and sample analysis. 27 2.1.7) Procedures for autoclaved shavings. 29 2.1.8) Procedures for autoclaved feed. 29 2.1. 9) Procedures for fresh caecal culture preparation. 29 2.1.10) Treatments used in the different trials. 29 2.1.11) Data analysis. 31 2.2) Results. 32 2.2.1) Trial 1; 05-006. 32 2.2.2) Trial 2; 05-013. 34 2.2.3) Trial 3; 05-019. 36 2.2.4) Trial 4; 05-025. 37 2.2. 5) Trial 5; 05-031. 39 2.2. 6) Trial 6; 05-033. 41 2.2. 7) Trial 7; 05-044. 43 2.2. 8) Trial 8; 05-048. 45 2.3) Discussion. 49 2.4) Conclusion. 53 Chapter 3: The effect of Bio-Mos, with or without the addition of a soluble mannan preparation, on the performance and gastrointestinal health of broiler chickens 3.1) Materials and methods. 54 3.1.1. ) General experimental procedures. 54 3.1.1.1) Experimental design . 54 3.1.1.2) Chickens . 54 3.1.1.3) Husbandry . 55 3.1.1.4) Treatments . 55 3.1.1.5) Sampling and sample analysis. 55 3.1.1.6) Response variables. 56 3.1.1.7) Data analysis. 58 3.1.2) Histology. 59 3.1.2.1) Processing of fresh tissue samples. 59 3.1.2.2) Alcian-Blue/ Periodic Acid Schiffs staining technique. 59 3.2) Results. 62 3.2.1) Feed conversion ratios. 62 3.2.2) Histology. 64 3.2.2.1) Villus height, villus width, crypt depth and muscle thickness. 64 3.2.2.2) Goblet cell measurements. 65 3.2.3) VFA analysis. 66 3.2.4) VRBA Plates. 68 3.3) Discussion. 70 3.4) Conclusion. 74 Chapter 4: Conclusion. 75 Chapter 5: References. 76 Appendix: a) Preparation of Microbial media. 88 b) Preparation of staining media. 90
Teacher training through social networking platforms: A case study on Facebook

Numerous studies have attempted to explain the role of social networking platforms within educational environments, though none of them has reported on their potential for enhancing professional development in education. The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore the reflections of prospective teachers who were assigned to design and conduct instruction on Facebook. Seven groups of prospective teachers ( n =25) attending a teacher training program in Turkey participated in the study. Reflections of these prospective teachers on online teaching through Facebook were elicited by means of reflective papers. As an outstanding result of the online teaching project in the current study, the prospective teachers gained positive experiences in utilising Facebook for designing and implementing online teaching activities that are in accordance with the constructivist learning paradigm. However, sustaining learner involvement, enhancing interaction, and problems resulting from group work processes were observed as destructive issues throughout the online teaching project.