Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Endogenous polyamine content and photosynthetic performance under hypo-osmotic conditions reveal Cymodocea nodosa as an obligate halophyte

Endogenous polyamine (PA) content in the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa was moni- tored at different embryo and seedling developmental stages. Total PA concentration, including putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd) and spermine (Spm), and the Put (Spm + Spd) �1 ratio decreased during embryo development, from the immature fruit to the mature seed stage (with a sharp decline in the free PA fraction), and subsequently increased during germination and seedling development from the cotyledon to seedling stage, indicating an important role during zygotic embryogenesis and seed germination. In particular, total levels of Put and Spm significantly decreased from the fruit to the mature seed, to be restored after germination. Spd levels remained constant during all the developmental stages studied. When seedlings were subjected to hypo- osmotic stress (i.e. salinity decrease from 36 to 5 psu), fluorescence levels decreased, reaching a minimum photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm) at 5 psu (0.582 ± 0.025, mean ± SE), indicating that seedlings were under high stress. Contrary to expectations, this was followed by a slight decrease in total PA content (showing a significance difference between 5 psu and higher salinities in bound-insoluble PA) and the accumulation of the PA cadaverine (Cad) at 5 psu (indicating cell death), which revealed the inability of this species to face the abiotic stress promoted by long-term salinity decrease. These 2 physiological indicators may suggest that C. nodosa is an obligate halo- phyte because it requires an environment with relatively high and stable salinity for its survival. Moreover, exogenous application of Spd significantly improved Fv/Fm values at the lowest salinity treatment (5 psu: 0.670 ± 0.012), which suggests a protective role of Spd in maintaining the photo- synthetic apparatus of C. nodosa seedlings under long-term hypo-osmotic stress.
Magical Bricks and the Bricks of Birth *

Four mud-bricks inscribed with spells from Chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead are often found in the burial chambers of royal and elite tombs dating from the New Kingdom. These bricks can be shown to represent the four bricks that supported women during childbirth. The use of bricks in a mortuary context is thus metaphorical, replicating the equipment of an earthly birth in order to ensure the deceased's rebirth into the other world. Such bricks may also have been used in the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ritual, both at funerals and in temple foundation ceremonies. In connection with their role at birth, bricks also appear at the judgment a person faced after death. Like other artifacts surrounding birth in Egypt, bricks of birth had parallels in ancient Mesopotamia.
SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATORS ON RECTANGULAR, CIRCULAR AND CYLINDRICAL DIELECTRIC RESONATOR ANTENNA

In this paper, theoretical and simulation studies on rectangular and annular dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) made of TiO2 was reported. The ceramic was fabricated by solid state reaction at 1200◦C. The structural and dielectric properties were investigated by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and network Analyzer. The XRD results showed the presence of rutile phase and the microstructure comprised of fine grain (0.2–0.5 μm) and large grain 1.0–1.5 μm. The rectangular and annular shape TiO2 DRA with high dielectric constant (e = 84) and low loss tangent (0.080) were fed with 50Ω microstrip transmission line and comparision between the various shape were investigated. The return loss, input impedance and radiation pattern TiO2 DRA was studied. Design simulation results using CST Microwave Studio 2008 also was presented.
The World Turned Upside Down: Exploring Alternate History with Young Adults

The purpose of this article is to discuss the theoretical, educational and creative aspects of an alternate history creative writing project with young adults, based on Terry Pratchett’s fantasy novel Nation (2008). First, we focus on the potential of the project as a platform for studying how close teenage audiences are to ideal readers of utopian texts who, as Kenneth Roemer (2003) characterizes them, ‘approach literary utopias as opportunities to discover questions, ambiguities, and contradictions out of which they imagine their own models of utopia’ (p. 2). We also see the proposed project as a useful tool both to promote the knowledge of world history and to provoke a reflection on contributions of individuals to larger historical processes. Moreover, we discuss the project as a means to develop those English language skills necessary for students to construct narratives, express causality, and formulate hypothesis or predictions. Finally, we confront the assumptions underpinning the project with students’ reactions to the novel, as recorded during an initial workshop, and with their creative work in English following the workshop.
ECDYSONE RECEPTOR ISOFORM A (ECR-A): CLONING AND DEVELOPMENTAL EXPRESSION PATTERN DURING VITELLOGENESIS IN THE HEMIMETABOLOUS INSECT PERIPLANETA AMERICANA

The ecdysone receptor (EcR) regulates various cellular responses to ecdysteroids during insect development and adult life. Insects have multiple EcR isoforms with different N-terminal A/B domains that contain the isoform specific activation function (AF)-1 region. Although distinct physiological functions of the EcR isoforms have been characterized in higher holometabolous insects, they remain unclear in basal direct-developing insects, in which only A isoform has been identified. The molecular basis of ecdysone actions have been analysed in great detail in holometabolous insects such as fruit flies, mosquitoes, and moths, but rarely in primitive insects. The primitive hemimetabolous insect Periplaneta americana was used, as a model, to isolate and characterize the cDNAs of ecdysone receptor isoform-A (PamEcR-A) from the female fat body tissues. The cloned PamEcR-A includes an open reading frame of 1704 nucleotides that shares a high degree of homology with other insect EcR-A. To shed light on the role of PamEcR-A during adult female vitellogenesis, the tissues expression pattern of EcR-A was studied using semi-quantitative RT-PCR and it was found to be varied depending on tissue type. In adult female fat body, the transcript was abundant at all vitellogenic stages with high expression level at the end of vitellogenesis (day10). The PamEcR-A expression was quite different from the complex expression patterns of EcR isoforms observed in holometabolous insects during vitellogenesis. However, the EcR role in development may be similar in holometabolous and hemimetabolous insects, its vitellogenic role seemed to be different. The present work will pave the way for several other investigations to understand the ecdysteroid-dependent genetic hierarchy inhibiting vitellogenesis in the American cockroach.
Mechanism For Grasping Deformable and Undefined Shape Object

When the objects are deformable and of undefined shapes and size like sacks (borrie’s), it would be difficult to grasp it with the help of robot. This paper describes the grasping mechanism for the deformable objects like the bags, sacks etc which have an undefined shapes, size and dimensions. The end-effectors mechanism has been developed which will fullfill the above requirement. Here the principle of friction is used to lift the sacks between the two rollers. The sacks are get suck between the rollers randomly due to the friction between the surface of sacks and roller material. The sacks are held firmly and transported to the required place easily, where the roller move outward so the sacks are withdrawn out of the end effectors rollers. The endeffector described in this article can grab and hold filled sacks from any point on the sack, regardless of the sack’s orientation. Experimental evaluation of the endeffector has proven the design and implementation remark.
Title Design of linkage mechanisms of partially rigid frames usinglimit analysis with quadratic yield functions

A method is presented for generating linkage mechanisms consisting of frame members. A quadratic programming problem is solved to obtain an infinitesimal mechanism allowing a hinge rotating about an axis in arbitrarily inclined direction. The problem is equivalent to a plastic limit analysis problem with quadratic yield functions with respect to member-end moments and axial force. The directions of hinges are obtained from the ratios of member-end moments along the local axes. A finite mechanism is generated by carrying out geometrically nonlinear analysis and adding hinges, if necessary. Effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through examples of 3dimensional mechanisms.
Analysis of Efficient Biometric Index using Heart Rate Variability for Remote Monitoring of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Abstract Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) associated health problems are undiagnosed due to the expensive and realistic limitations of overnight PSG examination. In this research, an accurate and resource-efficient biometric index is proposed for remote monitoring of the OSA patients having universal property at all body postures. Methods:In this study, the analysis of 44 subjects determines that the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) parameters including time and frequency domains such as ratio of Standard Deviation of NN interval (SDNN) and Root-Mean-Squared of the Successive Differences (RMSSD), termed as SRR; and LHR (ratio between normalized Low to High-Frequency power) can be taken into consideration to develop reasonable accurate and cost-efficient indexes for OSA levels measurement. Results: The experimental results elaborate that the OSA is considered to be severe (SRR ≥ 1.8, LHR ≥ 1.6), moderate (1.45<SRR ≥ 1.8, 0.9< LHR ≥ 1.6), mild (0.4<SRR ≥ 1.45, 0.2< LHR ≥ 0.9), and normal (0.4 ≥ SRR, 0.1 ≥ LHR). Additionally, it is observed that SRR and LHR indexes have an accuracy of 95.83% and 91.66% respectively for diagnosing OSA. Conclusion: This study concludes that SRR is easy to compute, guarantee a high degree of accuracy, resource efficient and ensure better correlation (with RDI and AHI) than LHR. Therefore, this study suggests that SRR obtained from wearable devices can be utilized as a convenient index for remote monitoring of OSA levels.
Effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Learning: How do Middle School Students Learn to Maximise the Efficacy of a Water Turbine?*

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is an inductive pedagogy that best enables learners to construct knowledge, to develop high level reasoning skills, and to increase interest and learning motivation with the use of the contemporary technology-based learning environments. In IBL, students’ self-directed learning is centred on multi-parametric problems that do not have a single correct answer, but they need to find the most desirable behaviour/attitude. Therefore, clear evidence of IBL heterogeneous learning achievements measurement, based on reliable and valid instrument, is still lacking. This paper describes the design and experience of the new student-centred IBL model of open learning at the technology education course, which enables a high level of active self-directed learning. In a treatment group were ninety-one students who experienced IBL in a three-day course activity, while in the control group were three hundred and thirty students. Identical forms of technological literacy tests were carried out as pre- and post-tests. Quantitative research methodology was used to analyse the collected data. The multifaceted nature of IBL and its impact were successfully measured with a technological literacy test. The findings of this study showed that IBL is an effective teaching approach in technology education. The effect size was judged to be large and positive in technological knowledge acquisition, in problem-solving skills development, and in critical thinking and decision-making abilities development. A proposed model suits both females and male students equally. Therefore, a high possibility exists for the use of the new IBL model for technology education.
Contrasting neural nets with regression in predicting performance in the transportation industry

Compares and contrasts traditional regression models with a neural network model, in order to predict performance in the transportation industry. No regression model has emerged as obviously superior in previous work conducted on predicting transportation performance. Therefore, a neural network model was investigated as an alternative to regression. It was found that a neural net model outperformed the corresponding random effects specification, but did not perform as well as the fixed effects specification. <<ETX>>
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THE CRACK 2D BY THE FINITE ELEMENT INCORPORATED THE DISCONTINUITY

I)~termining stress intensity factors is important in fracture mechanics. The extended finite element method (XFEM) provides a robust and accurate to determine factors. This paper describes some results from the analysis of cracked plates using XFEM. Extended finite elements a llow the entire crack to be represented independently of the meshing. The elements employ discontinuous functions and the facture mechanics two dimensional asymptotic crack tip displacement fields. The Fortran source code of Cast3M applies these elements to a set of examples. The obtained stress and deformation fields are used to compute stress intensity factors via interaction integrals. The results are compared with these obtained from conventional FEM to demonstrate the advantages of the employing the new elements.
Growth of Audouin's gull chicks: the role of prehatch and posthatch factors*

We compared the growth rates of Audouin´s Gull ( Larus audouinii ) chicks from the Ebro Delta and Columbretes Islands. Chicks from the Columbretes Islands were reared in captivity and fed ad libitum. Wild chicks from the Ebro Delta weighed more than chicks hatched from Columbretes eggs but attained a lower weight at fledging. Chicks from Columbretes eggs hatched with a longer wing length but rates did not differ between samples during the early stages of growth. Eggs from the Ebro Delta were significantly larger than eggs from Columbretes. Hence, differences in growth appeared not to be related to differences in egg size (prehatch factor) but only in parental quality (posthatch factor) through the amount of food delivered to chicks. These differences could be due to the incapacity of parents to provide enough food during the last stages of chick development, in part because of reduced food availability at the Ebro Delta during the study period. Alternatively, differences could be attributed to a trade-off between present and future reproduction. Demographic consequences of reduced food availability for the 1993 Ebro Delta cohort should be explored in future work.
Gross and net erosion of tungsten in the outer strike-point region of ASDEX Upgrade

We have investigated net and gross erosion of W in the outer strike-point (OSP) region of ASDEX Upgrade with the help of marker probes during low-density/high-temperature L-mode discharges. Post mortem analyses indicate net-erosion rates of 0.04–0.13 nm s−1, with the highest rates measured close to the OSP. Re-deposition was some 30–40% of gross erosion, which is lower than what has earlier been obtained spectroscopically (∼50–60%), possibly due to the special plasma conditions of our experiment and intense flux of W atoms originating from the main chamber. Gross erosion was also estimated by passive emission spectroscopy, and around the OSP the results matched with post mortem data. However, the spectroscopic erosion profile in the poloidal direction was much steeper than the post mortem one. Preliminary ERO simulations have predicted net erosion of the same order of magnitude as experimental results but reproducing the poloidal erosion/re-deposition profiles requires further work.
Phylogenetic diversity and community structure of sponge-associated bacteria from mangroves of the Caribbean Sea

To gain insight into the species richness and phylogeny of the microbial communities associated with sponges in mangroves, we performed an extensive phylogenetic analysis, based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism profiling and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences, of the 4 sponge species Aplysina fulva, Haliclona hogarthi, Tedania ignis and Ircinia strobilina as well as of ambient seawater. The sponge-associated bacterial communities contained 13 phyla, including Poribacteria and an unclassified group not found in the ambient seawater commu- nity, 98% of which comprised Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Although the sponges themselves were phylogenetically distant and bacterial community variation within the host species was observed, microbial phyla such as Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi and the unclassified group were consistently observed as the dominant populations within the communities. The sponge-associated bacterial communities resident in the Caribbean Sea mangroves are phyloge- netically similar but significantly distinct from communities found in other biogeographical sites such as the deep-water environments of the Caribbean Sea, the South China Sea and Australia. The inter- specific variation within the host species and the distinct biogeographical characteristics that the sponge-associated bacteria exhibited indicate that the acquisition, establishment and formation of functional sponge-associated bacterial communities may initially be the product of both vertical and horizontal transmission, and is then shaped by the internal environment created by the sponge species and certain external environmental factors.
Influence of seed development and seed position on oil, fatty acids and total tocopherol contents in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is one of the most important oil crops in the world due to its excellent oil quality. This research was conducted to evaluate changes in the contents of oil, fatty acids and total tocopherol of sunflower seeds obtained from different maturity stages and positions on the head. The heads were harvested sequentially 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 days after flowering (DAF) in 2002 and 2003. The oil content of sunflower seeds increased significantly with seed development, reaching a maximum value of 45.8% at 35 DAF in 2002 and 47.9% at 30 DAF in 2003, after which it started to decline gradually up to 45 DAF. With regard to fatty acid composition, the general trend for linoleic acid was the opposite of that for oleic acid. Oleic acid decreased significantly, while linoleic acid increased significantly during the seed maturity process in both years. Palmitic and stearic acids showed different accumulation patterns depending on the year. In changes in total tocopherol a gradual decrease was detected from 10 to 35 DAF, after which a gradual increase was determined. The position of the seeds on the head had little effect on the oil content, but had a strong effect on the fatty acid contents. Linoleic acid decreased and oleic acid increased linearly from the side to the center seeds. The highest total tocopherol content was found in the side seeds of the head.
The Improvement of Speech by Using Reconstructed Speech

In recent years, speech recognition has become one of the most important areas of research. The current system has been used to extract features from Mel-frequency cestrum coefficient (MFCC) if the signal is degraded by noise, it cannot create a system with high ability of recognition. In this paper we present an approach in which the speech recognition systems will be capable to do the recognition operations with higher capability. To achieve this goal we create the speech recognition by combining MFCC and analysis–modification–synthesis (AMS) methods and multiply it in input noise signal. Three experiment were investigated, in the first experiment, sub-bands weighted and non-weighted are studied, In a second experiment, the input signal was compared with the sum sub-bands weighted in the third trial, we compared the all of the band input signal with the whole band input signal, and the reconstructed weight signal was multiplied. The results showed that we can improve the reconstructed weighted signal by multiplying it in the input signal and also the ratio of the sum of the weighted sub-bands to the duration of the multiplication of all of the input signal bands by the reconstructed weighted signal had a lower mean squared error (MSE) value.
A multi‐instrument view of tail reconnection at Saturn

Three instances of tail reconnection events at Saturn involving the ejection of plasmoids downtail have been reported by Jackman et al. (2007) using data from Cassini’s magnetometer (MAG). Here we show two newly discovered events, as identified in the MAG data by northward/southward turnings and intensifications of the field. We discuss these events along with the original three, with the added benefit of plasma and energetic particle data. The northward/southward turnings of the field elucidate the position of the spacecraft relative to the reconnection point and passing plasmoids, while the variability of the azimuthal and radial field components during these events indicates corresponding changes in the angular momentum of the magnetotail plasma following reconnection. Other observable effects include a reversal in flow direction of energetic particles, and the apparent evacuation of the plasma sheet following the passage of plasmoids.
Assessing trustworthiness of digital information

This paper reports the key findings of an empirical study conducted with undergraduate students to identify and assess the core constructs of online trust, with a focus on health digital information. This study suggests the use of a trust scale in further research into the potential impact of the system and information design on the users’ trust and use of digital information.
Origin and Selection of Stem Cells for Cardiac Repair after Myocardial Infarction

Despite state-of-the-art methods for the early diagnosis and treatment, heart failure resulting from myocardial infarction (MI) continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Most of the existing treatment modalities against heart failure are symptom-based, short-term and do not prolong survival. Stem cell-based therapy is promising strategy to lead to cardiac repair after MI. Over the last decade, stem cells with diverse origin, identity, and plasticity have been utilized for the regeneration and repair of damaged myocardium after MI, both in animal models and humans. The major challenges and dilemmas in stem cell therapy after MI included- ethical concerns and alloreactivity (with embryonic stem cells), malignant transformation and vector contamination (with inducible progenitor cells), coronary restenosis (with mobilization of bone marrow stem cells), and cardiac arrhythmias and structural heterogeneity due to non-coupling of cardiac and non-cardiac skeletal cells (with skeletal myoblasts). Therefore, as much as the progress made in the field of cardiac regenerative therapy, questions have been asked on what constitutes the most appropriate source for the stem cells. In particular, the identity, characteristics and ability of the stem cells to retain their fate while being propagated ex vivo have invited a passionate discussion among cell-biologists, geneticists and clinicians. This review summarizes the diverse origin of the stem cells and discusses recent advances made for the identification, selection and propagation of stem cells for the regeneration or repair of damaged myocardium after MI.