Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Growing Conditions of Rice Donor Plants on Anther Culture in Vitro

An experiment was conducted to find the effect of three types of donor plants growing conditions (growth chamber, open space + growth chambers and open space) on callus induction and subsequent plant regeneration and productive shoot regeneration from the anthers culture in vitro of four rice hybrid (1-2, 2-1, 7-1, 13-3) developed by Primorsky Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture. Five variants of N6 medium (N6-1, N6-2, N6-3, Mix-1, N6-4) were used as basal medium. Mean value of callus induction frequency on three types of conditions ranged from 5.68% to 9.44% and the difference was non-significantly. In general, callus derived from donor plants grown on condition of open space + growth chambers showed significantly better performances for plant regeneration (0.23 green regenerants on anther and 3.77 green regenerants on callus) and productive shoot regeneration (0.06 productive regenerants on anther and 0.56 productive regenerants on callus). Favourable conditions for donor plant growth in open space positively affect on callus induction and regenaration. It is possible to get assured results on many hybrids, but not the highest. In growth chamber, frequency of callus induction can be the maximal only on some samples, few hybrids are resulted in deficiency of callus induction.
Applying Ecologically Based Invasive-Plant Management

Abstract The need for a unified mechanistic ecological framework that improves our ability to make decisions, predicts vegetation change, guides the implementation of restoration, and fosters learning is substantial and unmet. It is becoming increasingly clear that integrating various types of ecological models into an overall framework has great promise for assisting decision making in invasive-plant management and restoration. Overcoming barriers to adoption of ecologically based invasive-plant management will require developing principles and integrating them into a useful format so land managers can easily understand the linkages among ecological processes, vegetation dynamics, management practices, and assessment. We have amended a generally accepted and well-tested successional management framework into a comprehensive decision tool for ecologically based invasive-plant management (EBIPM) by 1) using the Rangeland Health Assessment to identify ecological processes in need of repair, 2) amending our framework to include principles for repairing ecological processes that direct vegetation dynamics, and 3) incorporating adaptive management procedures to foster the acquisition of new information during management. This decision tool provides a step-by-step planning process that integrates assessment and adaptive management with process-based principles to provide management guidance. In our case-study example, EBIPM increased the chance of restoration success by 66% over traditionally applied integrated weed management in an invasive-plant–dominated ephemeral wetland ecosystem. We believe that this framework provides the basis for EBIPM and will enhance our ability to design and implement sustainable invasive-plant management and restoration programs.
Title A hybrid time-domain discontinuous Galerkin-boundary integral method for 3-D electromagnetic scattering analysis

A scheme hybridizing discontinuous Galerkin time-domain (DGTD) and time-domain boundary integral (TDBI) methods for accurately analyzing transient electromagnetic scattering is proposed. Radiation condition is enforced using the numerical flux on the truncation boundary. The fields required by the flux are computed using the TDBI from equivalent currents introduced on a Huygens’ surface enclosing the scatterer. The hybrid DGTDBI ensures that the radiation condition is mathematically exact and the resulting computation domain is as small as possible since the truncation boundary conforms to scatterer’s shape and is located very close to its surface. Locally truncated domains can also be defined around each disconnected scatterer additionally reducing the size of the overall computation domain. Numerical examples demonstrating the accuracy and versatility of the proposed method are presented. Manuscript received September 16, 2013; revised January 02, 2014; accepted February 02, 2014. Date of publication February 20, 2014; date of current version May 01, 2014. This work was supported in part by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (GRF 713011, GRF 712612, and 711511), NSFC 61271158, US AR120018, and Hong Kong UGC AoE/P–04/08. P. Li and L. J. Jiang are with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (e-mail: liping@eee. hku.hk; jianglj@hku.hk). Y. Shi and H. Bağcı are with the Division of Computer, Electrical, andMathematical Sciences and Engineering and the Center for Uncertainty Quantification in Computational Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia (e-mail: yifei.shi@kaust.edu.sa; hakan.bagci@kaust.edu.sa). Color versions of one or more of the figures in this communication are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee. org. Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TAP.2014. 2307294
Mercury-induced DNA variations in the genome of Posidonia oceanica Delile

Abstract Posidonia oceanica Delile is a marine phanerogam, largely spread in the mediterranean basin, where forms large prairies. Since this plant can live on mercury rich sites, this species is used as a biological indicator of mercury contamination. With the aim to study genotoxic effect of mercury on this plant species, we analyzed genomic DNA of plants treated with 1 μM mercury for 15 days in aquarium. At the end of this treatment, plants accumulated elevated mercury concentrations in their leaves. After ultracentrifugation in a Cs2SO4 gradient, P. oceanica genomic DNA profile showed, beside the main peak, a light shoulder containing A-T rich DNA sequences. This shoulder is missing in the profile of DNA isolated from mercury treated plants. Gradient slot-blotting and hybridization with these variable DNA families, labelled with digoxigenin, indicated that these DNA sequences are at least partially lost in mercury treated plants. It was determined, by genomic DNA slot-blotting and hybridization, that DNA loss of A-T rich DNA sequences (forming the light shoulder) was around 48%.
Contribution of the largest events to suspended sediment transport across the USA

This work analyses the contribution of the largest events to suspended sediment transport on the continental scale. The analysis is based on the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Suspended Sediment and Ancillary database. Data were obtained from 1314 catchments, comprising more than 2 500 000 daily events. The total number of days in the dataset amounts to 10 000 years. Catchments are of different sizes and belong to distinct climatic environments; they are distributed for the analysis according to USA hydrological divisions (HDs). The main objective of the research is to examine the effect of the n‐largest event on the total suspended sediment load over recorded periods, and to discuss different behaviour between HDs. To accomplish this, the daily events at each catchment are ranked by magnitude, and then the percentage represented by the n‐largest event (e.g. 3‐largest, 5‐largest, 10‐largest, 15‐largest, 20‐largest, 25‐largest) is calculated from the total accumulated load. Results indicate that suspended sediment transported by the 25‐largest events represents on average more than 50 per cent of the total load. The California HD, mostly under Mediterranean climatic conditions, accounts for the highest percentage of sediment transport across conterminous USA, whatever n‐largest daily events are selected. There, the 3‐largest events contribute, on average, 38 per cent of the total sediment load, the 10‐largest events represent 61 per cent and the 25‐largest events produce more than 76 per cent of the total sediment transport. Overall, the contribution of largest daily events seems not to depend on the climatic conditions in small catchments (<100 km2) and, in addition, the percentage of suspended sediment increases over all HDs, while, at the same time, the catchment size decreases. Finally, we discuss differences between catchments across the USA, according to climatic and historical (i.e. land use) factors. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Multiscale analysis of multiple change points using unbalanced wavelets

We present a multiscale analysis of piecewise constant signals subject to noise. The objective is to find the locations of the change points. To this end, we first apply a continuous wavelet analysis and construct lines of local wavelet maxima, in a way similar to the well-known construction by Mallat and Hwang. The second stage of our approach is an extension towards unbalanced wavelet analyses in order to improve the statistical power of our detection.
Application of terrestrial laser scanning in 3d measurement and control in chemical industry park

In order to satisfy the demand of delicacy management in chemical industry park for spatial data acquisition, this paper uses terrestrial 3D laser scanning technology to quickly obtain massive 3D spatial data for measurement in the chemical industry park. Taking one chemical industry park in Chengdu as an example, before 3D laser scanning, it’s necessary to firstly implement field exploration and understand general conditions and internal facilities in the park, especially key measurement and control areas, and prepare a detailed scanning plan. Pre-processing of internal data can be implemented to obtain panoramic 3D data of the chemical industry park, further extract the data and conduct 3D modelling and relevant analysis, so as to achieve 3D measurement and control of the park. Results show that this method is characterized in simple operation, quick measurement, high accuracy and strong practicability. So, 3D laser scanning technology can be used for 3D measurement and control in chemical industry park, so as to quickly obtain 3D spatial data in the park and measure more accurately.
Plant regeneration system from cotyledons-derived calluses cultures of Stylosanthes guianensis cv

Tropical Crops Genetic Resources Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Tropical Crops Germplasm Resources Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Danzhou 571737, PR China. 2 College of Life Science, Qiongzhou University, Sanya 572000, PR China. 3 Key Laboratory of Protection and Development Utilization of Tropical Crop Germplasm Resources (Hainan University), Ministry of Education, Haikou 570228, PR China. 4 College of Agriculture, Hainan University, Danzhou 571737, PR China.
Switching Based Limit Cycle Control for Compliantly Actuated Second-Order Systems

This paper derives a stability statement for a novel, switching based limit cycle control. The stability proof is based on multiple Lyapunov functions and a new interpretation of contraction analysis. By showing that the dissipated energy on the cycle increases with increasing velocity, while the injected energy is constant, the emergence of an attractive limit cycle is shown. The approach applies for general, nonlinear, and compliantly actuated second-order systems, with positive definite plant parameters and non-aperiodic solutions. An analysis of the controller parameters reveals, that for the majority of parameters, global attractiveness of the limit cycle can be guaranteed.
Acid Resistance and Rapid Chloride Permeability of High Performance Concrete

This paper presents the results of a study conducted to evaluate the effect of steel slag aging on acid resistance and rapid chloride permeability of high performance concrete (HPC). Effect of different aging periods (6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36 and 42 months) of steel slag aggregates (SSA) on acid resistance and rapid chloride permeability of concrete was studied. Water cement ratio and cement/cementious materials contents are kept constant as 0.32 and 584 Kg/m3, respectively. It was observed that the aging process of SSA improves the acid resistance and rapid chloride permeability of HPC made with SSA. A minimum of 30 to 36 months aging of SSA is required to achieve the acid resistance and rapid chloride permeability of HPC at par with conventional concrete.
Badges in the Carpe Diem MOOC

Throughout March and April 2014, the Learning Transformations Unit at Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne, Australia) developed and delivered the Carpe Diem MOOC (CD MOOC) via the Blackboard CourseSites platform (coursesites.com). The CD MOOC, which attracted 1426 registrations, provided participants with the opportunity to learn about the Carpe Diem learning design process and to apply it to their own educational practice. We discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by the CD MOOC designers and moderators in offering participants the opportunity to obtain digital badges for recognition and reward of their participation and completion of tasks in the CD MOOC. Here we present findings of research into the impact of badges on the completion of learning tasks and the motivation of participants. We demonstrate that many of the CD MOOC participants, who were generally well-educated and mature professionals, were motivated by digital badges – some through to course completion.
Effect of Internet Financial Reporting on Stock Prices and Dividend Yield of Quoted Non-Financial Companies in Nigeria

The study examined the effect of internet financial reporting (IFR) on stock prices and dividend yield of quoted non-financial companies in Nigeria. The population of the study consisted fifty (50) non-financial companies listed in Nigerian Stock Exchange. Simple Random Sampling Techniques was adopted to choose a sample size of five companies used in the study. The study covers the period from 1995 to 2014. Secondary data was adopted for this study and it was extracted from the annual reports of the sampled companies. Data was analysed using Ordinary Least Square (OLS). Results revealed that Internet Financial Reporting has significant influence on stock prices (p<0.0005) and dividend yield (p<0.0005). This study concluded that internet reporting gives companies opportunity to assess investors and prospective investors who are widely dispersed across the globe and whose decision making in respect of investment in shares will affect the companies. The study also recommended that official regulation should be put in place and enforced to check fraudulent information disclosure that would deceive prospective investors; and punitive actions should also be taken against any erring company in order to protect investors’ decision. Keywords: Internet Financial Reporting, Financial Companies, Non-Financial Companies, Internet, Information, Investors
Network-Constrained Unit Commitment Based on Reserve Models Fully Considering the Stochastic Characteristics of Wind Power

The existing optimization approaches regarding network-constrained unit commitment with large wind power integration face great difficulties in reconciling the two crucial but contradictory objectives: computational efficiency and the economy of the solutions. This paper proposes a new network-constrained unit commitment approach, which aims to better achieve these two objectives, by introducing newly proposed reserve models and simplified network constraints. This approach constructs the reserve models based on a sufficiently large number of stochastic wind power scenarios to fully and accurately capture the stochastic characteristics of wind power. These reserve models are directly incorporated into the traditional unit commitment formulation to simultaneously optimize the on/off decision variables and system reserve levels, therefore, this approach can comprehensively evaluate the costs and benefits of the scheduled reserves and thus produce very economical schedule. Meanwhile, these reserve models bring in very little computational burden because they simply consist of a small number of continuous variables and linear constraints. Besides, this approach can evaluate the impact of network congestion on the schedule by just introducing a small number of network constraints that are closely related to network congestion, i.e., the simplified network constraints, and thus concurrently ensures its high computational efficiency. Numerical results show that the proposed approach can produce more economical schedule than stochastic approach and deterministic approach but has similar computational efficiency as the deterministic approach.
An overview of skin penetration enhancers: penetration enhancing activity, skin irritation potential and mechanism of action

A water-dispersible coformed fibrous nonwoven fabric structure comprising a primary reinforcing polymer material, preferably capable of being meltspun; a secondary reinforcing polymer material having an average fiber length less than or equal to about 15 mm and preferably having a softening point at least about 30 DEG C. lower than the softening point of the primary reinforcing polymer; and, an absorbent material, such as pulp or a superabsorbent. The fabric structure maintains desired tensile strength and softness while being water-dispersible and flushable. The fabric produced can be incorporated into an article and can be flushed down a commode. The fabric is flushable when placed in water, with agitation, if necessary, and will disperse into unrecognizable pieces without clogging conventional plumbing or piping. A method of producing the fabric structure comprises mixing the secondary reinforcing material and absorbent material and injecting this coform blend into a stream of meltspun primary reinforcing fibers. After a web structure has been established, the structure is exposed to thermal or ultrasonic energy sufficient to soften and bond the secondary reinforcing material fibers, but not to soften the primary reinforcing material fibers. An embossed pattern can be printed on the structure.
Reactor Configuration Development for ARIES-CS

New compact, quasi-axially symmetric stellarator configurations have been developed as part of the ARIES-CS reactor studies. These new configurations have good plasma confinement and transport properties, including low losses of α particles and good integrity of flux surfaces at high β. We summarize the recent progress by showcasing two attractive classes of configurations – configurations with judiciously chosen rotational transforms to avoid undesirable effects of low order resonances on the flux surface integrity and configurations with very small aspect ratios (~2.5) that have excellent quasiaxisymmetry and low field ripples. Keywords-stellarator; quasi-axisymmetry; fusion reactor; low aspect ratio; equilibrium flux surfaces
Tablet Game Design and Evaluation: A Practice-based Experimentation Approach

The aim of this project is to first design, develop and evaluate an iOS adventure game for tablet devices using Practice-based Experimentation (PBE) approach. The objective of creating a digital game is to explore how usability and visual aesthetic attributes of the interfaces affect users’ perception of usability and engagement. The new PBE methodology is adopted, involving two phases. First, during the practice phase, the games are designed from a user-centric approach iteratively, and modified into two visual aesthetic conditions, which serve as stimuli, to measure perception of usability and in the future to evaluate user engagement. In the second phase, the game interfaces are empirically evaluated using quantitative methods to measure users’ perceptions of usability on the visual quality of the interfaces. As per extant literature, the concepts of perception of usability and visual aesthetics have been a controversial topic. Existing research on user experience have not fully explored perceived usability and visual aesthetics, in the domain of tablet gaming. This research is in its preliminary stage as data have only been collected to examine the first research question concerning users’ perception of usability towards the variation of visual aesthetic quality of a tablet game user interface. The preliminary results indicate that there is no significant difference in perception of usability between the two modified visual interfaces. Keywords-Tablet gaming; user experience; user interface; Practice-based Experimentation.
Does size matter? Fecundity and longevity of spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) in relation to mating and food availability

Abstract Bigger animals tend to live longer than the small ones across species, but whether body size also has a robust relationship with survival within species remains to be determined. Here, the association between body size and fitness traits was examined through two food treatments (starvation and fed ad libitum) for both virgin and mated spider mites, Tetranychus urticae. The longevity of spider mites differed significantly across treatments, with feeding ad libitum increasing the survival of both males and females, mating decreasing male survival when starved and female survival when fed ad libitum. The body size of females but not of males increased with food. For each treatment, no clear correlations between body size and longevity were found. However, female fecundity was shown to have a positive relationship with body size. These results suggested that within species, for spider mites, there is no clear association between body size and longevity, but the fecundity increased with the body size, although this association is weak.
Maximum Principle for Forward-Backward Stochastic Control System Driven by Lévy Process

We study a stochastic optimal control problem where the controlled system is described by a forward-backward stochastic differential equation driven by Levy process. In order to get our main result of this paper, the maximum principle, we prove the continuity result depending on parameters about fully coupled forward-backward stochastic differential equations driven by Levy process. Under some additional convexity conditions, the maximum principle is also proved to be sufficient. Finally, the result is applied to the linear quadratic problem.
Inequality, the middle class and economic growth in Indonesia: Evidence from cross province analysis

There have been numerous studies conducted to investigate the link between inequality and economic growth. However, typically, these studies only relate inequality and economic growth to poverty. They do not consider another factor, such as the middle class which has vital roles, especially economic roles where for example it can be potential consumers for goods and services. Especially in the case of Indonesia, there is no study that takes into account the middle class as one of determinants of economic growth. Considering this lack of study and potentially important role of the middle class, this paper tries to contribute by including the size of the middle class as one of variables while examining the inequality-growth relationship. By utilizing a panel data set from 31 provinces in Indonesia covering the years 2005 to 2010, this paper aims to examine the link between inequality and economic growth as well as between the middle class and growth across provinces in Indonesia. To meet these objectives, pooled OLS, fixed effect panel data model and dynamic panel data model are applied. Based on a dynamic panel model which is the main specification on which this paper relies, the results show that there is a positive relationship between inequality and economic growth in Indonesia, implying higher level inequality can lead to higher economic growth. On the other hand, the result does not indicate that the middle class has an effect on economic growth in Indonesia. In addition, the result also supports the empirical evidence that a large population can be detrimental for achieving higher economic growth. Nevertheless, these results must be treated with caution due to the sensitivity of the results to choice of lag length and model specification in dynamic panel data model.