Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Zostera marina L. Extract

Methanol crude extract of the sea grass Zostera marina L. and organic solvent fractions (n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water) were screened for antioxidant activity (total phenolic contents, DPPH scavenging activity, and reducing power) and antimicrobial activity against three human skin pathogens, two bacteria and a yeast; Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Candida albicans. Total phenolic contents and 2, 2diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity were highest in the ethyl acetate fraction with 968.50 μg gallic acid equivalent per milligram of extract, and ca. 95% scavenging activity on the DPPH radicals at 10 mg ml –1 . In antimicrobial activity tests, MICs (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) of each Zostera marina extract partitioned ranged from 1mg to 8 mg ml –1 (extract/ 10% DMSO) against all three human skin pathogens. The MICs of the ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions were the same with 1 mg ml –1 against S. aureus and C. albicans. The ethyl acetate fraction of Z. marina does protect against free radicals and may be used to inhibit the growth of human skin pathogens.
Tools for Reduced Precision Computation

The use of reduced precision to improve performance metrics such as computation latency and power consumption is a common practice in the embedded systems field. This practice is emerging as a new trend in High Performance Computing (HPC), especially when new error-tolerant applications are considered. However, standard compiler frameworks do not support automated precision customization, and manual tuning and code transformation is the approach usually adopted in most domains. In recent years, research have been studying ways to improve the automation of this process. This article surveys this body of work, identifying the critical steps of this process, the most advanced tools available, and the open challenges in this research area. We conclude that, while several mature tools exist, there is still a gap to close, especially for tools based on static analysis rather than profiling, as well as for integration within mainstream, industry-strength compiler frameworks.
Flexibility in phenology and habitat use act as buffers to long-term population declines in UK passerines

Ecological responses to environmental change are wide-ranging, from alterations in the timing of life-history events to range and population changes. Explaining the variation across species in these responses is essential for identifying vulnerable species and for developing adequate conservation or mitigation strategies. Using population trend data from the UK Breeding Bird Survey, this study examined the association between long-term population trends (1994–2007) and phenological, life-history and resource-use traits of UK passerine species. Phenology, as well as productivity and resource use were signifi cantly associated with long-term population trends. Average laying date and fi rst clutch laying period were key predictors, with higher population growth rates associated with earlier laying dates and longer laying periods. Th is suggests that fl exibility in the duration of reproductive periods buff ers species against environmental changes. Average laying period was particularly important for migrant species. Flexibility in laying dates for these species is constrained by their arrival dates; mean change in arrival date over a twenty-fi ve year period strongly predicted population trends amongst migrant species. Besides the key role phenological fl exibility plays in buff ering population declines, we also showed that more productive, generalist species were less likely to have declining populations than species with specialized habitat requirements, particularly those associated with farmland and urban areas and those reliant on highly seasonal food items (i.e. invertebrate eaters). Th ese results underscore the need for a multi-faceted approach to understanding the mechanisms governing population trends. Additionally, species ’ sensitivity to environmental change is likely to depend on interactions between species-specifi c phenology, habitat and resource-use traits
Dietary survey in Hungary, 2009. Part II: Vitamins, macro- and microelements, food supplements and food allergy

The fourth countrywide nutrition survey was initiated and co-ordinated by the Hungarian Food Safety Office jointly to the yearly Household Budget Survey of Hungarian Central Statistical Office in 2009. The dietary assessment was performed by trained interviewers and skilled dieticians using a complex questionnaire system, containing three-day diary, short food frequency questionnaire and questions on taking of dietary supplements and on prevalence of food allergy. The data records were processed and the questionnaires were validated, the results obtained on the micronutrient intakes of the adult population are shown in this article. From fat soluble vitamins, the average daily intakes of vitamins A and D were lower than the national recommendations in case of both genders, meaning low intake for around 60% (in case of retinol) and 80–90% (in case of calciferols) of adults. The intakes of some water soluble vitamins belonging to B group, vitamin C and folates were low as well. Regarding the macroelements, .
Reciprocal associations between shyness, self-esteem, loneliness, depression and Internet addiction in Chinese adolescents

Abstract Background The present study aimed to test reciprocal longitudinal associations among shyness, self-esteem, loneliness, depression, and Internet addiction. Method A total of 1047 junior middle school students participated in the study. Shyness, self-esteem, loneliness, depression and Internet addiction were assessed at two time-points separated by 12-months. Structural equation modeling was used to test for reciprocal longitudinal associations. Results Cross-lagged analysis revealed that (i) baseline shyness significantly and positively predicted Internet addiction 12 months later; (ii) baseline Internet addiction positively predicted later self-esteem; (iii) baseline loneliness positively predicted later Internet addiction, and baseline Internet addiction also positively predicted later loneliness; (iv) and, finally, baseline depression positively predicted later Internet addiction, and baseline Internet addiction also positively predicted later depression. No other lagged effects were significant. Conclusions The results suggested that shyness is an antecedent to Internet addiction, whereas self-esteem is the outcome of Internet addiction. Results also suggest loneliness and depression are antecedents to Internet addiction.
Insecticidal activity of nanoemulsion of Piper aduncum extract against cabbage head cartepillar Crocidolomia pavonana F. (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

Botanical insecticide nanoemulsion formulation is an insecticide with spontaneous emulsion system. Nanoemulsion formulation is an oil phase-in-water dispersion stabilized by a surfactant molecule which has size ranging from 50 nm to 500 nm. The oil phase consists of Piper aduncum extracts and bioethanol, while the water phase consists of aqudest and emulsifiers. The experiment was conducted in Insect Bioecology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Andalas Padang from October 2018 to March 2019. The purpose of this research was to obtain nanoemulsion from P. aduncum extract and to observe the activity of P. aduncum nanoemulsion against C. pavonana. Nanoemulsion formulation was prepared using spontaneous emulsification method then followed by toxicity test against C. pavonana larvae. Nanoemulsion formulations with high insecticidal activity were analyzed using Zetasizer Nano (ZS) Malvern for particle size and zeta potential. The results showed that particle size of AT.1 and BA.1 nanoemulsions were 141.1 nm and 172.5 nm respectively, and they were categorized as nano particles. AT.1 and BA.1 nanoemulsions caused mortality of C. pavonana larvae with LC95 value were 0.85% and 0.76%, respectively. Besides the toxic effect, the AT.1 and BA.1 nanoemulsions were also interfered growth and development of C. pavonana larvae.
First African record of the Miocene Asian mouse-deer Siamotragulus (Mammalia, Ruminantia, Tragulidae): implications for the phylogeny and evolutionary history of the advanced selenodont tragulids

New remains of the small tragulid Dorcatherium songhorensis Whitworth, 1958 from the Early Miocene fossil site of Napak XXI (Uganda) include the first significant sample of postcranial bones from this species ever described. The limb bones of this tragulid are very similar to that described in the Miocene Asian long-legged tragulids of the genus Siamotragulus Thomas et al., 1990, a type previously unknown in the African Miocene. A cladistic analysis links D. songhorensis to a Siamotragulus clade as its basal offshoot, so we propose the name Siamotragulus songhorensis (Whitworth, 1958) for this species. Also, the Siamotragulus clade belongs to a monophyletic group that includes Afrotragulus Sánchez et al., 2010 and the extant Asian genera Moschiola and Tragulus. This inclusive clade is characterized by both a derived selenodont dentition and an advanced postcranial skeleton. Additionally Siamotragulus shows some cursorial refinements reflected in its postcranial skeleton including the pecoran-like metatarsals III–IV. Siamotragulus songhorensis shows that the genus Siamotragulus was not endemic to Asia as previously thought, and that a highly diverse guild of tragulids, including different members of the advanced selenodont clade, inhabited Africa as early as the Early Miocene (19–20 Ma).
Emergence of functional neuromuscular junctions in an engineered, multicellular spinal cord-muscle bioactuator

Three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic systems hold great promise for the study of biological systems in vitro as well as for the development and testing of pharmaceuticals. Here, we test the hypothesis that an intact segment of lumbar rat spinal cord will form functional neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) with engineered, 3D muscle tissue, mimicking the partial development of the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Muscle tissues are grown on a 3D-printed polyethylene glycol (PEG) skeleton where deflection of the backbone due to muscle contraction causes the displacement of the pillar-like “feet. ” We show that spinal cord explants extend a robust and complex arbor of motor neurons and glia in vitro. We then engineered a “spinobot” by innervating the muscle tissue with an intact segment of lumbar spinal cord that houses the hindlimb locomotor central pattern generator (CPG). Within 7 days of the spinal cord being introduced to the muscle tissue, functional neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) are formed, resulting in the development of an early PNS in vitro. The newly innervated muscles exhibit spontaneous contractions as measured by the displacement of pillars on the PEG skeleton. Upon chemical excitation, the spinal cord-muscle system initiated muscular twitches with a consistent frequency pattern. These sequences of contraction/relaxation suggest the action of a spinal CPG. Chemical inhibition with a blocker of neuronal glutamate receptors effectively blocked contractions. Overall, these data demonstrate that a rat spinal cord is capable of forming functional neuromuscular junctions ex vivo with an engineered muscle tissue at an ontogenetically similar timescale.
The Effects of Temperature Treatment on Photosynthesis of Pitch Pine from Northern and Southern Latitudes

Pitch pine (Pinus rigida Mill.) seedlings were grown at constant temperatures of either 21 C or 29 C. Photosynthetic temperature and light response curves were determined after 59, 107, and 153 days. Rates of CO2 uptake decreased with age, and the response to changes in light and temperature became less pronounced. Growth temperatures had no effect on the photosynthetic temperature optimum, and populations from Quebec, New Jersey, and Tennessee all had the same temperature optimum and response pattern. For the Tennessee population, growth at 21 C depressed the rate of photosynthesis at all temperatures at both 59 and 107 days, but stimulated it at 153 days. The Quebec population showed no effect of premeasurement temperature at 59 or 153 days, and the New Jersey population was intermediate in this respect. Photosynthetic plasticity, defined as the difference between photosynthetic rates of seedlings grown at 21 C and those grown at 29 C, was related inversely to the degree of seasonal variation under which the populations had evolved.
PKU Pitfalls: Attacks on PKU-based Memory Isolation Systems

Intra-process memory isolation can improve security by enforcing least-privilege at a ﬁner granularity than traditional operating system controls without the context-switch overhead associated with inter -process communication. A single process can be divided into separate components such that memory belonging to one component can only be accessed by the code of that component. Because the process has traditionally been a fundamental security boundary, assigning different levels of trust to components within a process is a fundamental change in secure systems design. However, so far there has been little research on the challenges of securely implementing intra-process isolation on top of existing operating system abstractions. We identify that despite providing strong intra-process memory isolation, existing, general purpose approaches neglect the ways in which the OS makes memory and other intra-process resources accessible through system objects. Using two recently-proposed memory isolation systems, we show that such designs are vulnerable to generic attacks that bypass memory isolation These attacks use the kernel as a confused deputy, taking advantage of existing intended kernel functionality that is agnostic of intra-process isolation. We argue that the root cause stems from a fundamentally different security model between kernel abstractions and user-level, intra-process memory isolation. Finally, we discuss potential mitigations and show that the performance cost of extending a ptrace -based sandbox to prevent the new attacks is high, highlighting the need for more efﬁcient system call interception
Clades within the 'higher land birds', evaluated by nuclear DNA sequences

In this study we investigated the phylogenetic relationships within the ‘higher land birds’ by parsimony analysis of nucleotide DNA sequences obtained from the two nuclear, protein-coding genes, c-myc and RAG-1. Nuclear genes have not previously been used to address this phylogenetic question. The results include high jackknife support for a monophyletic Apodiformes (including the Trochilidae). This arrangement was further supported by the observation of an insertion of four amino acids in the c-myc gene in all apodiform taxa. Monophyly was also inferred for each of the two piciform groups Galbulae and Pici. Within Pici, the Capitonidae was found to be paraphyletic, with the New World barbets more closely related to the Ramphastidae than to the Old World barbets. Another clade with high jackknife support consists of the Upupidae, Phoeniculidae and Bucerotidae. The families Momotidae and Todidae, and Coraciidae and Brachypteraciidae, respectively, also form well supported monophyletic clades. The results are inconclusive regarding the monophyly of the orders Coraciiformes and Piciformes, respectively.
How robust are Bayesian posterior inferences based on a Ricker model with regards to measurement errors and prior assumptions about parameters

We present a Bayesian approach of a Ricker stock-recruitment (S/R) analysis accounting for measurement errors on S/R data. We assess the sensitivity of posterior inferences to (i) the choice of Ricker model parameterizations, with special regards to management-related ones, and (ii) prior parameter distributions. Closed forms for Ricker parameter posterior distributions exist given S/R data known without error. We use this property to develop a procedure based on the RaoBlackwell formula. This procedure achieves integration of measurement errors by averaging these closed forms over possible S/R data sets sampled from distributions derived from a stochastic model relating field data to the S and R variables. High-quality Bayesian estimates are obtained. The analysis of the influence of different parameterizations and of the priors is made easier. We illustrate our methodological approach by a case study of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Posterior distributions for S and R are computed from a markrecaptur.
Alternative Education Settings in the United States

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders who display disruptive behaviors in general education settings are increasingly being educated in alternative education settings. Alternative education settings can vary widely, but they typically have smaller classroom sizes and educational staff who are trained to teach students who were not successful in their previous educational settings. This Current Topics column provides (a) an introduction to how students are placed in those settings, (b) a description of common alternative educational settings, and (c) an overview of effective educational, behavioral, and mental health services available to children and youth in alternative educational settings.
Intelligent Prediction of Private Information Diffusion in Social Networks

In the information age, leaked private information may cause significant physical and mental harm to the relevant parties, leading to a negative social impact. In order to effectively evaluate the impact of such information leakage in today’s social networks, it is necessary to accurately predict the scope and depth of private information diffusion. By doing so, it would be feasible to prevent and control the improper spread and diffusion of private information. In this paper, we propose an intelligent prediction method for private information diffusion in social networks based on comprehensive data analysis. We choose Sina Weibo, one of the most prominent social networks in China, to study. Firstly, a prediction model of message forwarding behavior is established by analyzing the characteristic factors that influence the forwarding behavior of the micro-blog users. Then the influence of users is calculated based on the interaction time and topological structure of users relationship, and the diffusion critical paths are identified. Finally, through the user forwarding probability transmission, we determine the micro-blog diffusion cut-off conditions. The simulation results on Sina Weibo data set show that the prediction accuracy is 86.9%, which indicates that our method is efficient to predict the message diffusion in real-world social networks.
Stark Individual Differences: Face Recognition Ability Influences the Relationship Between Confidence and Accuracy in a Recognition Test of Game of Thrones Actors

Growing evidence suggests face identifications made with high confidence are typically accurate (Wixted & Wells, 2017). However, few studies capture the complexities of real-world face recognition (e.g., non-experimental setting, varied contexts). Moreover, individual differences in face recognition ability may moderate the confidence-accuracy relationship (Grabman et al., 2019). In this study, we reanalyzed data from 32 participants who watched six seasons of the television show Game of Thrones for entertainment as the series aired (Devue et al., 2019). Participants provided confidence ratings on a 168-item old-new recognition test of actors and completed a standard test of face recognition ability. Highest confidence ratings were remarkably accurate -- even considering retention-intervals of >3 years and large changes in appearance. However, confidence was generally a better indicator of accuracy for stronger, as compared to weaker, face recognizers.
The impact of riparian habitat quality on the foraging and activity of pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus spp.)

A naturally functioning riparian zone is essential for the ecological health of a river, filtering pollutants, supplying organic matter and providing a structural habitat for wildlife. Most lowland rivers would also naturally flood the riparian zone at regular intervals, thereby providing direct inputs of nutrients and water that create additional habitats and breeding opportunities for riverine species. We examined the relationship between the quality of the riparian habitat and foraging and activity of bats (Chiroptera), which are good indicators of ecosystem health. Twenty paired sites in the Rivers Lee and Colne catchments in England were selected to test the hypothesis that degradation in the quality of riparian habitat reduces foraging and activity in bats; paired sites were similar in terms of size, flow rate and water chemistry but differed in the quality of their riparian zones. AnaBat detectors were used to measure bat activity from 30 min before dusk to 30 min after sunrise on the same night at paired sites because recording frequency-divided bat echolocation calls in real time allows large amounts of data to be collected over long time periods in a digitized format. Significantly more feeding buzzes were recorded in sites with better quality riparian zones; no differences in overall bat activity were found between the two habitat types. Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus pygmaeus accounted for 96% of bat passes. Pipistrellus pygmaeus was significantly more active in high quality sites than P. pipistrellus; there was no difference between the two species in poor quality sites. We show that the quality of riparian buffer zones is important for the activity and feeding behaviour of pipistrelle bats.
A Systematic Literature Review of Intelligent Data Analysis Methods for Smart Sport Training

The rapid transformation of our communities and our way of life due to modern technologies has impacted sports as well. Artificial intelligence, computational intelligence, data mining, the Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning have had a profound effect on the way we do things. These technologies have brought changes to the way we watch, play, compete, and also train sports. What was once simply training is now a combination of smart IoT sensors, cameras, algorithms, and systems just to achieve a new peak: The optimum one. This paper provides a systematic literature review of smart sport training, presenting 109 identified studies. Intelligent data analysis methods are presented, which are currently used in the field of Smart Sport Training (SST). Sport domains in which SST is already used are presented, and phases of training are identified, together with the maturity of SST methods. Finally, future directions of research are proposed in the emerging field of SST.