Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth models and the expected distribution of fluctuating asymmetry

Multiplicative error accounts for much of the size-scaling and leptokurtosis in fluctuating asymmetry. It arises when growth involves the addition of tissue to that which is already present. Such errors are lognormally distributed. The distribution of the difference between two lognormal variates is leptokurtic. If those two variates are correlated, then the asymmetry variance will scale with size. Inert tissues typically exhibit additive error and have a gamma distribution. Although their asymmetry variance does not exhibit size-scaling, the distribution of the difference between two gamma variates is nevertheless leptokurtic. Measurement error is also additive, but has a normal distribution. Thus, the measurement of fluctuating asymmetry may involve the mixing of additive and multiplicative error. When errors are multiplicative, we recommend computing log E(l) − log E(r), the difference between the logarithms of the expected values of left and right sides, even when size-scaling is not obvious. If l and r are lognormally distributed, and measurement error is nil, the resulting distribution will be normal, and multiplicative error will not confound size-related changes in asymmetry. When errors are additive, such a transformation to remove size-scaling is unnecessary. Nevertheless, the distribution of l − r may still be leptokurtic. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 80, 57–65.
γδ T Cell Regulation of IFN-γ Production by Central Nervous System-Infiltrating Encephalitogenic T Cells: Correlation with Recovery from Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis1

Interferon-γ has been shown to be important for the resolution of inflammation associated with CNS autoimmunity. Because one of the roles of γδ T cells is the regulation of inflammation, we asked whether γδ T cells were able to regulate CNS inflammation using the autoimmune disease mouse model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We show that the presence of γδ T cells was needed to promote the production of IFN-γ by both CD4 and CD8 T cells in the CNS before the onset of EAE. This regulation was shown to be independent of the ability of γδ T cells to produce IFN-γ, and was specific to T cells in the CNS, as no alterations in IFN-γ production were detectable in γδ T cell-deficient mice in the spleen and lymph nodes of mice with EAE or following immunization. Analysis of TCRγδ gene usage in the CNS showed that the only TCRδ V gene families present in the CNS before EAE onset are from the DV7s6 and DV105s1 gene families. We also show that the primary IFN-γ-producing cells in the CNS are the encephalitogenic T cells, and that γδ T cell-deficient mice are unable to resolve EAE disease symptoms like control mice, thus exhibiting a long-term chronic disease course similar to that observed in IFN-γ-deficient mice. These data suggest that CNS resident γδ T cells promote the production of IFN-γ by encephalitogenic T cells in the CNS, which is ultimately required for the recovery from EAE.
Utilization of Antibacterial Substances from Lactic Acid Bacteria for Extension Shelf-life of Chilled Crab Meat

Six isolates screened from fifty samples of fermented fishery products including Pla-ra, Plasom, Pla-chao, Pla-chom and Kung-chom, were described as KPL-1, KPL-2, KPL-3, KPL-4, KPL-5 and KPL-6 and found to inhibit indicator organisms such as Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8041, Pediococcus pentosaceus ATCC 33316 and Listeria ivanovii DSM 4553, of which the KPL-4 isolate showed a maximum activity of 1,600 AU/ml. The six isolates were identified as Enterococcus faecalis based on morphological and biochemical characteristics. The antibacterial performance from the KPL-4 was decreased 50 percent by trypsin and pepsin, stable after heat treatment at 60 °C for 15 min and 100°C for 30 min, while inactive at 121°C for 15 min. The molecular weight of the antibacterial compound was 3,800 dalton. The KPL-4 crude extracts of various concentrations including undiluted ones exhibited significant difference (P≤0.05) in reduction of total microorganisms as well as Listeria ivanovii in crab meat, with the 10% crude extracts showing most effective. Chilled crab meat treated with 10% crude extracts and kept for 10 days at 0°C had lower total viable count of bacteria than the untreated (P≤0.05) between treatments. Using antibacterial substances from lactic acid bacteria could decrease total viable count of bacteria and extend shelf-life of chilled crab meat for at least 10 days.
CRITERION FOR THE SELECTION OF HIGH YIELDING MAIZE (ZEA MAYS ) GENOTYPES

The study was conducted at NARC, Islamabad, Pakistan during the year 2009 to estimate heritability and genetic advances regarding yield and yield contributing traits using fourteen maize (Zea mays) genotypes (BS-01, Agati 2002, Margalla, EV-1097, EV-1098, Sadaf, EV-6098, EV-5098, EV-7004Q, Soan-3, Islamabad Gold, Islamabad White, Raka Poshi and Sahiwal-2002). The experiment was laid out in RCBD with three replications. Data were recorded for plant height, ear height, ear length, leaf area, number of leaves per plant, 100-grain weight and grain yield per plant. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant mean sum of squares for all the characters studied. The highest heritability estimates were observed for 100-grain weight (97.39%). All the other traits were observed to have heritability estimates ranging from 97.39 (100 grain weight) to 47.06% (number of leaves/plant). Range of genetic advance for different traits ranged from 1.26 (ear length) to 2674.45 (grain yield). The highest genetic advance was recorded for grain yield. Maximum level of phenotypic coefficient of variation was found for grain yield per ha (19.52%) but it was minimum (8.07) for plant height among all the studied traits. Genotypic coefficient of variation for different traits ranged from 6.11 (ear length) to 18.83 (grain yield). All the other traits had their value of genotypic coefficient of variation in this range. Hence, it is recommended that selection may be based on genotypes possessing potential traits like plant height, ear height, leaf area, and grain yield for yield enhancement.
An Approach to Reggaeton’s Songs: A Co-Educational and Pedagogical Proposal with Teenagers

Currently there is a great variety of musical styles that coexist in our society. We can access music in very different ways and with immediacy never before imagined. For teenagers, music is a key element in defining their identity, socializing and taking refuge in their inner world. This communication focuses on the analysis of songs from the Reggaeton music genre and the way in which students receive them. The co-educational proposal carried out in a private secondary school in Barcelona will be explained. Its main objectives will be, on the one hand, to foster a critical spirit in the students towards these types of songs and, on the other hand, to offer an education in terms of equality that deconstructs myths and stereotypes.
FMRPPhosphorylationRevealsanImmediate-Early SignalingPathwayTriggeredbyGroupImGluRand MediatedbyPP2A

Fragile X syndrome is a common form of inherited mental retardation and is caused by loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), a selective RNA-binding protein that influences the translation of target messages. Here, we identify protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) as an FMRP phosphatase and report rapid FMRP dephosphorylation after immediate group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) stimulation (! 1 min) in neurons caused by enhanced PP2A enzymatic activity. In contrast, extended mGluR activation (1‐5 min) resulted in mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-mediated PP2A suppression and FMRP rephosphorylation. These activitydependentchangesinFMRPphosphorylationwerealsoobservedindendritesandshowedatemporalcorrelationwiththetranslational profile of select FMRP target transcripts. Collectively, these data reveal an immediate-early signaling pathway linking group I mGluR activitytorapidFMRPphosphorylationdynamicsmediatedbymTORandPP2A.
Draft genome assemblies using sequencing reads from Oxford Nanopore Technology and Illumina platforms for four species of North American Fundulus killifish

Abstract Background Whole-genome sequencing data from wild-caught individuals of closely related North American killifish species (Fundulus xenicus, Fundulus catenatus, Fundulus nottii, and Fundulus olivaceus) were obtained using long-read Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) PromethION and short-read Illumina platforms. Findings Draft de novo reference genome assemblies were generated using a combination of long and short sequencing reads. For each species, the PromethION platform was used to generate 30–45× sequence coverage, and the Illumina platform was used to generate 50–160× sequence coverage. Illumina-only assemblies were fragmented with high numbers of contigs, while ONT-only assemblies were error prone with low BUSCO scores. The highest N50 values, ranging from 0.4 to 2.7 Mb, were from assemblies generated using a combination of short- and long-read data. BUSCO scores were consistently >90% complete using the Eukaryota database. Conclusions High-quality genomes can be obtained from a combination of using short-read Illumina data to polish assemblies generated with long-read ONT data. Draft assemblies and raw sequencing data are available for public use. We encourage use and reuse of these data for assembly benchmarking and other analyses.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain: The overlooked issue of rater selection in psychotherapy observer ratings

Abstract Objective: Psychotherapy process research relies heavily upon trained raters to identify and code therapist and client behaviors. Raters are often selected out of convenience or availability with little research to inform what qualities are desirable for this role. In this study, we evaluated several rater characteristics as potential predictors of raters’ performance. Method: We provided training to 39 undergraduate students to serve as raters in a psychotherapy process study. We assessed baseline characteristics, personality characteristics, executive functioning, and interviewers’ assessment of students’ rating potential as predictors of rater agreement with gold standard ratings (i.e., consensus judgements from a panel of CBT-trained clinicians). We also assessed these variables as predictors of the risk of raters dropping out prior to completing assigned ratings. Results: Higher conscientiousness, higher neuroticism, and a lower year in college predicted greater agreement with the gold standard ratings. Lower year in college also predicted lower risk of dropout. Conclusion: These findings provide empirical support for key characteristics as predictors of rater performance. Such evidence raises the possibility of using these characteristics to select raters and thereby enhance the psychometric properties of psychotherapy ratings.
Food Ordering Application for Canteen using React Native

- Food ordering applications have changed a lot in restaurant sectors. People order online more than dine in options. Nowadays different schools, colleges and offices consist of canteens which provide food for the people in the respective institutions. Taking advantage of the upgradation in technology, this project aims to implement a digital touch to the way canteen function, in order to increase the speed of the service provided. This project aims at replacing the traditional food ordering system in canteens by using a mobile application. The user can order the required food from the canteen through the app and pay for it. Later the user can go and takeaway the order from the canteen by scanning the QR encrypted bill. The QR code generated is scanned with another app and the data is verified with database. With this the time taken to stand in queue in canteen can be saved. The customer can rate the order depending upon his experience. The customer’s details and order history are saved in a main database. This solution speeds up the food ordering process and is also an attractive, error free method thanks to the digital aspects involved.
Comparing App-based and Lecture-based Methods of Sexual Satisfaction Education: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common complications of spinal cord injury with potentially negative impacts on sexual satisfaction. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effects of app-based and lecture-based sexual education on the sexual satisfaction of disabled men with spinal cord injury. Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted on disabled men with spinal cord injury in 2019. The participants were selected using a convenience sampling method from the Welfare Organization of Birjand city. A demographic form and Larson’s Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire were completed before the intervention. Then, the participants were randomly assigned to two groups (app-based and lecture-based groups). In the app-based group, the sexual education content was prepared as an Android app that was accessible for the group participants for two months. Similar content was communicated to the lecture-based group in the form of lectures during ten 60- to 90-min sessions over two months. Six weeks after the end of the intervention, Larson’s Questionnaire was completed again for both groups. Data were analyzed using the Fisher’s exact test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, paired t-test, and independent t-test. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: In both groups, the mean scores of sexual satisfaction significantly increased after the intervention (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, the mean change in the sexual satisfaction score was significantly more in the app-based group (18.16 ± 3.31) than in the lecture-based group (7.52 ± 4.59) (P < 0.05). Conclusions: App-based sexual education can be more effective than lecture-based sexual education in improving the sexual satisfaction of disabled men with spinal cord injury.
Simulation of Human Activity Intensity and Its Influence on Mammal Diversity in Sanjiangyuan National Park, China

The rapid pace of development in western China has brought about inevitable concerns for environmental conditions and their management. The Sanjiangyuan National Park strives to address concerns for sustainable water resources management and biodiversity management, especially for the protection of endangered flora and fauna. In this study, a machine learning model (MaxEnt) was used to predict the human activity intensity and its effects on species in Sanjiangyuan protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The model used human settlements as input and datasets such as terrain factors, climate, and artificial structures as environmental factors. The results showed that human activity intensity was significantly different between the East and the West. The area with the highest human activity intensity was Yushu County in the south area, and Xinghai-Zeku County in the east. By comparing the mammal richness with human activity intensity, we found human–wildlife coexistence in Sanjiangyuan. A detailed analysis on the CITES protected species showed that many important species, such as snow leopards, red pandas, and small Indian civets, occupied areas with high human activity intensity. The national park protects 3/4 CITES species with 1/3 in the area of the Sanjiangyuan region, owing to the relatively low human activity intensity.
Nanotechnology Applications in Africa: Opportunities and Constraints

There has been an increasing demand for in expensive, accurate, movable and reliable nanomaterials for nanoelectronics devices and other applications. Deoxyribonucleic acid has robust nature, therefore it selffabrication with indole can produce highly organised functional nanostructures that are of great interest for chemical industry applications. This research work is concerned with the synthesis, spectroscopic, microscopic and electrical characterisation of hybrid polyindole (Pln) DNA templated nanowires. Polyindole (PIn) has been templated on λ-DNA via oxidative polymerisation of indole using FeCl3 to produce conductive PIn/DNA nanowires. The formation of PIn/DNA nanowires were verified by FTIR, UV-vis and XPS spectroscopy techniques. AFM, SEM and TEM techniques were used to characterise the nanowires dimensions. AFM studies revealed an average height of 1.60 nm for free DNA and the Pln/DNA nanowires have diameters in the range 2–15 nm with the dominance of 3-4 nm mean diameter range. The electrical properties of Pln/DNA nanowires as drop-cast films were investigated by twoterminal current voltage (I-V) measurements on a probe station. The nanowires were drop-cast (5 μL of as-prepared dispersion) onto platinum microband electrodes. The conductance of these films at 20 o C was of the order of 10-100 μS. In addition, the conductance of PIn/DNA nanowires exhibits Arrhenius behaviour (Ea = 0.80 + 0.06 eV) as a function of temperature. The above results have revealed the potentials of the Pln/DNA nanowire in nanoelectronics applications.
A physical algorithm for precipitable water vapour retrieval over land using passive microwave observations

ABSTRACT Precipitable water vapour (PWV) plays an important role in weather prediction, hydrological cycles and climate change. In this study, a physics-based algorithm was proposed to retrieve PWV over land using satellite passive microwave observations near 165.50 GHz and 183.31 GHz, which have higher spatial resolution and lower sensitivity to land surface emissivity than low-frequency channels. The algorithm uses a perturbation formulation of simplified radiative transfer equation to derive PWV and at-surface brightness temperature (BT) in 165.50 GHz simultaneously. It directly derives the at-surface BT instead of land surface temperature, so the algorithm needs no prior information of surface emissivity. Sensitivity analysis and retrieval experiments from simulated data were carried out for Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) onboard the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite. The results showed that the algorithm using ATMS channels 17, 18 and 19 measurements can significantly reduce the PWV retrieval errors caused by surface emissivity uncertainty. The coefficient of determination (R 2), root-mean-square error (RMSE), and bias of the retrieved PWV from ATMS data by the proposed algorithm and SuomiNet Global Positioning System (GPS) PWV were 0.90, 0.43 cm and −0.02 cm, respectively. In addition, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) cloud products were used to evaluate the effects of cloud on the PWV retrievals. The results showed that the presence of cloud does not decrease the accuracy of the PWV retrievals.
Exploring KPIS Utilization Effects on Decision Making for the Architectural Design Process in Industrial Buildings

Abstract The paper presents the influence of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) on decision making during the architectural design process. In the beginning, the researcher selected a functional complex of industrial nature for the test and defined five criteria for evaluating the architectural design and then created two categories of result and process indicators to explore the decision making during the design process through Verbal Protocol Analysis (VPA). Two groups of subjects attended the VPA, while one group received the indicators; the other one did not receive the indicators. The protocols were transcribed and encoded to make the comparison more efficient. At the same time, the jury evaluated the sketches separately to check the previous results. The study indicates that the indicators were affecting the decision making and design process and design product simultaneously. First of all, framing decisions were made more organized and mature and at the same time increased in numbers, the key decisions were evaluated easier and in some cases divided into smaller decisions related to one or more criteria and then merged into a final concept, the enabler decision making was done more efficiently and faster because of better thought key decisions and the use of indicators for control. The design process, although still has iterative nature. However, iteration was done in smaller cycles due to the use of result indicators for evaluation and process indicators to lead the process. Indicators facilitate idea generation, and the whole process is without difficulties. The design quality assessment by the jury shows the improvement in the final quality of design outcome in specific aspects related to indicators.
Climate Adaptation in Maintenance Operation and Management of Buildings

The aim of this paper is to analyze the basic criteria, trends, applications, and developments related to climate adaptation in building maintenance and operation management (MOM) practices in Norway. Investigations conducted as part of the study include an analysis of current literature addressing climate adaptation in relation to MOM practices, supplemented by a review of existing research projects and initiatives in this field. Three case studies involving different Norwegian building owner organizations were examined in order to investigate the current status of the application and extent of climate adaptation practices in relation to MOM. The study has revealed a significant gap between theory and practice when it comes to integrating MOM in relation to climate adaptation. The concept of climate adaptation is only addressed as a high-level strategic issue. The case studies thus emphasize the need for a structured process that can enable the incorporation of climate adaptation in current MOM practices. This proposes a generic and structured climate-adaptive MOM framework that will enable the incorporation of climate adaptation in into corporate MOM practices at different scales and organizational levels. Implementation of this flexible and transferable framework is expected to provide a basis for accruing further knowledge on climate adaptation. Further work with the framework should include the introduction of more tangible and tailored tools and processes, including checklists or scoring systems accompanied by relevant climate adaptation factors and plans.
Recent progress and perspectives in Digital Holographic Microscopy

Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM), is a new imaging technique allowing to provide quantitative phase images with a high accuracy and stability making possible to explore a large variety of relevant processes, occurring on the μs to day time scale, in the fields including material research as well as cell biology. As a non invasive and real time imaging technique, DHM is particularly well suited for high throughput screening
Detailed atmospheric ice accretion surface measurement using micro‐computed tomography

Surfaces exposed to atmospheric cold temperature and humid environments are prone to ice accretion. Airplanes, electrical power transmission cables, and wind turbines are typical examples for which icing has to be considered. The measurement of the resulting ice shapes is a challenging process. While macroscopic characteristics of the ice geometry can be observed using photography and optical scanning techniques, microscopic measurements are difficult to conduct because grooved surface partially occludes the geometry of chasms. To overcome this optical inaccessibility, we propose a method to carry out detailed high‐resolution measurements of the accretion surface with micro‐computed tomography. This approach provides a unique visualization of the empty spaces in the feather region. The information obtained by this technique can improve the understanding of ice accretion physics and its computational modeling.