Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The viability of Anacamptis laxiflora (Orchidaceae) seeds and the symbiotic germination

Abstract The orchids are in danger of extinction due to the destruction of their habitats and uncontrolled collection. The most effective way of protecting plants’ gene resources against these gradually increasing threats is seed banks. A viability test was conducted with two different scarification methods for Anacamptis laxiflora (Lam.) seeds preserved at 4 °C since 1988. The seeds were exposed to 5% Ca(ClO)2 at different periods in the year they were collected (1988) and seed coats were scarified. They were washed with sterile water, incubated for 12 h in TZ in the dark at 28 °C. Seeds with red stained embryos were evaluated as viable. Since the highest live seed rate (62%) was obtained in 8 h of 5% Ca(ClO)2 application, this period was applied in 20th and 30th years. In addition, in the 30th year, the seeds were incubated in moisturized cocopeats for 5 days and then the viability test was conducted with TZ. The viability rate of embryo containing seeds was 81,63%. Seeds inoculated with Rhizoctonia solani AG A were germinated at a rate of 91.16%. Seed packages were buried in their habitats and it was found that the seeds died completely two years after they were buried.
The Relationship among Personality, Interest, and Life Satisfaction of Facebook Users

Gunumuzde, e-ticaret sistemleri tarafindan toplanan veriler, musterilerin geleneksel istatistiksel ve demografik bilgilerinin otesindedir. Saglanan yorumlar, begeniler, etiketler, fotograflar vb. sayesinde bir uygulamanin kullanicilari hakkinda daha fazla bilgi sahibi olmak mumkun olmaktadir. Kullanici davranislarini ve ozelliklerini analiz etmek amaciyla, bu calismada, myPersonality veri setinin kisilik, Zeka Katsayisi,Yasam Memnuniyeti Olcegi puanlarina sahip kullanicilari iceren 3 altkumesi, kullanicilarin begendigi kayitlar ile birlestirilerek, on iki ilgi kategorisine ayrilimis ve Apriori algoritmasi kullanarak test edilmistir. Sonuc olarak, turetilmis iliskilendirme kurallari sayesinde, Facebook kullanicilarinin kisisel ozellikleri ile ilgi kategorileri arasindaki iliskiler elde edilmistir.
Dynamic environment reconstruction using a pitch-and-go laser scanner

ABSTRACT Deal with the dynamic environment problem, in this paper, we propose a novel scheme contains moving object detection and environment reconstruction for the interactive robot using a pitch-and-go laser scanning system. We first propose a point clouds subtraction method to separate the point clouds data to static and dynamic parts. To reconstruct the static environments, the 6D transforms between different robot poses are first estimated by a normal distribution method and then optimized with the pose graph. Moreover, for the dynamic objects in the dynamic point clouds, we propose a mean axis descriptor to recover their motion distortions so that they can be recognized. Therefore, we contribute to the interactive robots not only the reconstructed static environments but also the recovered dynamic human targets. The experimental performances on both the public RGB-D datasets and the real dynamic scenes observed by slow-scanning LIDAR indicate that the proposed methods are accurate and efficient. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Anti bias education practice in pre-school education in rural Malaysia

This study will aim at describing the Preschool Education Anti-Bias practice in rural Malaysia. It explores two key aspects. Firstly, teacher demographics which influenced anti-bias education teaching practice in pre-school. A few factors are scrutinized namely gender, academic educational background and teacher service period. Both methods and teachers’ classroom teaching strategy are examined. Researchers concentrate on teacher application to develop interest, knowledge and pupil understanding of anti-bias educational practice. This study is a qualitative case study. Research respondents consist of 2 groups. A total of 4 pre-school teachers and 16 pupils will be involved as study participants. Data collection will be done through interview, lesson observation and document analysis. Triangulation technique and expert examination will be used to ensure trustworthiness and credibility.
Examining Creativity as an Individual Difference in Second Language Production

As our understanding of individual differences in second language acquisition continues to develop and expand, cognitive creativity is emerging as a promising area of research (Dörnyei & Ryan, 2015). Previous studies have exhibited evidence of relationships between creativity and various second language measures, e.g. course grades (Ottó, 1998), narrative structure (Albert & Kormos, 2004, 2011), and use of questions and coordination (McDonough, Crawford, & Mackey, 2015). This dissertation makes a novel contribution to such research by investigating whether communication strategies are associated with learners’ cognitive creativity. Seventy-eight university students in Turkey completed the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking as well as interactive and narrative speaking tasks in L2 English. The interactive speaking task prompted use of communication strategies by requiring each learner to elicit from their partner the name of a common object, person, or place by describing the item without using five prohibited words. For the narrative speaking task, participants used a comic strip to tell a simple story. Analyses revealed relationships between overall creativity, use of direct communication strategies, and use of indirect communication strategies in the interactive task. Several relationships between creativity and communication strategy use in the narrative task emerged as well, i.e. overall creativity and indirect appeals for help. Multiple regression analysis confirmed that creativity accounted for 13.6% of direct and indirect strategy use in the interactive speaking task, and that English proficiency was not a predictor of communication strategy use. Also of interest, in contrast to the findings of previous studies, the current research
Symbolically Mediated Interaction and Perspective-taking: A Social-relational Perspective on Social Cognitive Development

It is widely agreed that perspective-taking plays an important role in the development of children's understanding of themselves and others as social agents with their own beliefs, desires, goals, and representations of the world. However, how perspective-taking is realized and how the ability of perspective-taking develops is a matter of dissensus. The two theories currently dominating social cognition research, theory-theory, and simulation-theory construe perspective-taking as modeling, thus as an individual and inferential process. Interactionist theories prioritize interpersonal interaction but deny perspective-taking a constitutive role by arguing for a basic, immediate understanding of self and others in interaction. Cognitivist accounts downplay the role of interaction, while interactionist accounts overemphasize the role of subsymbolical processes. What is central to perspective-taking and its development, but missing in either approach is symbolically mediated interaction. The social-relational perspective dating back to Lev Vygotsky and George Herbert Mead cuts across this schism and offers valuable insight into how perspective-taking develops through symbolic activity within a social context. Adopting the basic elements of the social-relational framework, the present work argues that understanding of self and others depends on the development of perspective-taking ability through symbolically mediated interaction. Perspectives are primarily differentiated, assumed, and coordinated within social interaction and subsequently through the individual, cognitive operation of perspective-taking. Symbolic mediation facilitates this transition from the social enaction of perspective-taking to mental construal and coordination of perspectives by transforming the structure of action. Higher order mental processes are not presupposed but constituted by social interaction through the child's internalization of the perspectival structure of symbolic communication.
Particle Number Asymmetry Generation in the Universe

The origin of the asymmetry of the universe is the one of unresolved problem of the fundamental physics in both cosmology and particle physics. From the standard model point of view, it is insufficient to accommodate such a problem. Therefore, this indicates a need to extend the standard model. In this thesis, we develop a mechanism to generate particle number asymmetry (PNA) which is realized with a Lagrangian including a complex scalar field and a neutral scalar field. The complex scalar carries U(1) charge which is associated with the PNA. It is written in terms of the condensation and Green’s function, which is obtained with two-particle irreducible (2PI) closed time path (CTP) effective action (EA). In the spatially flat universe with a time-dependent scale factor, the time evolution of the PNA is computed. We start with an initial condition where only the condensation of the neutral scalar is non-zero. The initial condition for the fields is specified by a density operator parameterized by the temperature of the universe. With the above initial conditions, the PNA vanishes at the initial time and later it is generated through the interaction between the complex scalar and the condensation of the neutral scalar. We investigate the case that both the interaction and the expansion rate of the universe are small and include their effects up to the first order of the perturbation. The expanding universe causes the effects of the dilution of the PNA, freezing interaction and the redshift of the particle energy. As for the time dependence of the PNA, we found that PNA oscillates at the early time and it begins to dump at the later time. The period and the amplitude of the oscillation depend on the mass spectrum of the model, the temperature and the expansion rate of the universe. In addition to the discussion on BAU, we also estimate the numerical value of the PNA over entropy density.
Pay Now or Pay Later: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Online Payments

Consumers have the choice between different payment methods when shopping. Previous research has shown that the payment choice has a strong influence on customer behavior. However, little is known about international differences regarding payment method selection. We fill this gap by comparing adoption of online payment methods across countries and demographics. Our conceptual framework develops on Hofstede's cultural dimensions to explain these payment differences. The analysis is based on 140,000 actual online purchases from an international fashion online store across 14 European countries. Results show that culture explains the differences well and has a much higher impact on consumer choice than demographics. International marketing managers at online retailers can use our findings to decide in which countries to introduce payment methods in demand.
Radiological locations of mental foramen in local population

Objective: To evaluate the accurate radiographic location of the mental foramen and its prevalence by gender and different age groups.Methodology: This Cross-sectional study was conducted at dental department at ISRA University Hospital Hyderabad, from September 2014 to Feb 2015. We studied 70 patients. All patients > 18 years age and both sex and presence of the canine, first premolar, second premolar and first molar in the images were included. Detailed patients’ history was taken and detailed clinical examination was done. Patients were subject to relevant investigation panoramic digital images. All the data was recorded in the proforma.Results: Out of total 70 patients included in this study 30 were male (42.85%) and 40 females (57.14%); with male to female ratio of 1:1.3. The mean age was 22+3.20 years. Mental foramen on radiographic were visible below first premolar in 35(50%) cases followed by mental foramen at below 2nd premolar in 30(42.85 %) cases and below first premolar in 5(7.14%) cases. Variation in the inferior alveolar canal observed. Variation in the inferior alveolar canal was Bifid canal only in two patients.Conclusion: Mental foramen on radiographic were visible below first premolar 50%, below 2nd premolar 42.85% and below first premolar in 7.14%. While no significant relationship was found with gender and age.
Research on the Behavior of College Students’ Online Tourism Booking Based on TAM

With the rapid progress of social economy, online tourism booking has newly become a highlight for China’s tourism trade and its development. College students, who have abundant disposable time, gradually build up as great tourist forces adept at using network resources. By both literature research and empirical research, this paper explores the factors affecting college students’ online tourism decision-making. By establishing college students’ online tourism booking behavior model based on TAM, and empirically analyzing 161 pieces of data based on SPSS22.0 and PROCESS macro plug-in, the hypotheses and modified model are verified. According to the results, perceived usefulness is still the most important factor in the college students’ online tourism booking behavior model, while perceived ease of use is another essential one. Usage attitude and usage intention are combined into a common factor—“usage attitude and intention” affecting the model; Negative Internet word-of-mouth plays a moderating role in the relationship between perceived usefulness and usage attitude and intention, and perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use together act as an intermediary in the model.
Model-Free Real-Time Autonomous Control for a Residential Multi-Energy System Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

Multi-energy systems (MES) are attracting increasing attention driven by its potential to offer significant flexibility in future smart grids. At the residential level, the roll-out of smart meters and rapid deployment of smart energy devices call for autonomous multi-energy management systems which can exploit real-time information to optimally schedule the usage of different devices with the aim of minimizing end-users’ energy costs. This paper proposes a novel real-time autonomous energy management strategy for a residential MES using a model-free deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based approach, combining state-of-the-art deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) method with an innovative prioritized experience replay strategy. This approach is tailored to align with the nature of the problem by posing it in multi-dimensional continuous state and action spaces, facilitating more cost-effective control strategies to be devised. The superior performance of the proposed approach in reducing end-user’s energy cost while coping with the MES uncertainties is demonstrated by comparing it against state-of-the-art DRL methods as well as conventional stochastic programming and robust optimization methods in numerous case studies in a real-world scenario.
InStrain enables population genomic analysis from metagenomic data and rigorous detection of identical microbial strains

Coexisting microbial cells of the same species often exhibit genetic differences that can affect phenotypes ranging from nutrient preference to pathogenicity. Here we present inStrain, a program that utilizes metagenomic paired reads to profile intra-population genetic diversity (microdiversity) across whole genomes and compare populations in a microdiversity-aware manner, dramatically increasing genomic comparison accuracy when benchmarked against existing methods. We use inStrain to profile >1,000 fecal metagenomes from newborn premature infants and find that siblings share significantly more strains than unrelated infants, although identical twins share no more strains than fraternal siblings. Infants born via cesarean section harbored Klebsiella with significantly higher nucleotide diversity than infants delivered vaginally, potentially reflecting acquisition from hospital versus maternal microbiomes. Genomic loci showing diversity within an infant included variants found in other infants, possibly reflecting inoculation from diverse hospital-associated sources. InStrain can be applied to any metagenomic dataset for microdiversity analysis and rigorous strain comparison.
The Narratives which connect... : a qualitative research approach to the Narratives which connect terapists' personal and private lives to their family theraphy practices

The major aim of this research project is to look into some meaningful and important connections between Norwegian family therapists’ personal and private lives and how their clinical practice may be created and constructed. These questions are asked: How do we understand that so little research has been done on the links between the psychotherapist’s own personal and private life and her/his clinical practice? How does the therapist's own life history and personal and private experiences influence the way he/she understands and practises systemic family therapy? What are the influences of being a systemic family therapist on the therapist's own life and how she/he thinks about the way she/he lives it? I have used Grounded Theory as the framework for this research and have interviewed seven family therapists using semi-structured interviews. In addition, Thematic Analyses are used to analyse the videos of the first family therapy session of my first four research participants. , the research shows that both the practice of family therapy and the therapist’s personal life may be influenced. Family therapy education in Norway is challenged by these findings of how personal and private influences may affect clinical practice. I suggest that it is time to make personal and professional development programmes compulsory in Norwegian family therapy training. In summing up the project, I have developed a middle range theory named “The map of resonance” where I use the concept resonance to understand both the relationship between the therapist’s personal ideas and professional practice and between the therapist and the client I develop some ideas about pitfalls for therapist, and suggest how PPD-work and supervision can ensure professional development both in education and in general practice. The perspectives from a supervisors angle are also included. The project shows that personal and private experiences sometimes form a main framework for understanding sequences of family therapy practice. This realization should not be overlooked in the future and calls for further development.
Serotonin signaling by maternal neurons upon stress ensures progeny survival

Germ cells are vulnerable to stress. Therefore, how organisms protect their future progeny from damage in a fluctuating environment is a fundamental question in biology. We show that in Caenorhabditis elegans, serotonin released by maternal neurons during stress ensures the viability and stress tolerance of future offspring by enabling the transcription factor HSF1 to alter chromatin in soon-to-be fertilized germ cells by recruiting the histone chaperone FACT, displacing histones, and initiating protective gene expression. Without maternal serotonin signaling by neurons, FACT is not recruited by HSF1 in germ cells, transcription occurs but is delayed, and progeny of stressed C. elegans mothers fail to complete development. Serotonin acts through a signal transduction pathway conserved between C. elegans and mammalian cells to facilitate HSF1 to recruit FACT. These studies uncover a novel mechanism by which stress sensing by neurons is coupled to transcription response times of germ cells to protect future offspring.
A working memory intervention weakens the reconsolidation of a threat memory and its biases processing towards threat

BACKGROUND Threat-conditioning (TC) memory plays a central role in anxiety disorders, but not in a simple way. This memory impacts on complex cognitive systems by modifying behavioral responses with a bias to fearful stimuli and overestimating potential threats. In this study we proposed a global approach analyzing the scope of disrupting TC memory reconsolidation in the implicit memory, the declarative contingency and the cognitive biases. METHODS Day 1: Subjects were trained on TC. Day 2: after Threat-memory reactivation, one group performed a high demanding working memory task (HWM) and the other a low demanding working memory task (LWM). The last group, only performed the HWM task. Day 3: TC memory was tested by an extinction session followed by reinstatement. Finally, all subjects completed tasks targeting stimuli representation, valuation and attentional bias towards threat. RESULTS Disrupting reconsolidation of TC memory with a HWM weakened the implicit memory retention and faded the representation and valuation towards threat but it had no effect on attentional bias. Moreover, we revealed that subjects’ performance during the working memory task was specifically associated in TC memory retention. CONCLUSIONS Our findings reveal a strong impairment of the threat-memory restabilization and associated emotional biases. This may result from the competition between defensive survival and central-executive control networks. Our results fits with Experimental Psychopathology approach, disentangling the relation between the implicit memory, cognitive, valenced systems and the possibility to weaken both the threatening memory and the systems associated with the maintenance of anxiety profile.
Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the high altitude Brazilian treefrog Pithecopus megacephalus (Anura, Phyllomedusidae)

Abstract The first complete mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) for the family Phyllomedusidae (genus Pithecopus) is presented. It is a circular molecule with 17713 pb including 13 protein coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes, and a control region (D-loop). Pithecopus megacephalus was close to the only other phyllomedusid whose complete mtDNA sequence is available, but had the cytb gene 147 pb smaller.
Establishing a competency framework for the integration of workplace Information Technology knowledge and skills within an Internal Audit education programme and training

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iv LIST OF TABLES . xvii LIST OF FIGURES . xix LIST OF ANNEXURES . xxi ABBREVIATIONS USED . xxii CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND . 1 1.
Fairness, Social Support, and School Violence: Racial Differences in the Likelihood of Fighting at School

When students feel their teachers or school rules are unfair, support from adults at school mitigates the deleterious impact of perceived injustice on school violence. We test whether there is racial variation in this strain-coping mechanism–antisocial behavior relationship. We document a relationship between perceived school fairness and adult support on fighting among racial minorities but not White students. Among White students, stronger perceptions of school fairness are associated with reduced probabilities of fighting regardless of social support. Among racial minorities, social support buffers the harmful impact of perceived injustice on fighting. Findings show that fair treatment is especially important in the context of low support and support is especially important in the context of unjust treatment for racial minorities.
Conceptualizations of linguistic politeness in Latin

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of conceptions of linguistic politeness in ancient Rome. Using lexical analysis, it scrutinizes first-order data recoverable from the Latin sources at our disposal, in order to determine the notions and dimensions of politeness that Romans were sensitive to. This kind of approach is helpful, primarily, when developing a suitable theoretical framework for dealing with the particular expressions of linguistic politeness in Latin. Moreover, it provides us with additional explanations of the historical dimension of politeness and of the creation and development of notions of politeness in Europe.