Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
D3-Guard: Acoustic-based Drowsy Driving Detection Using Smartphones

Since the number of cars has grown rapidly in recent years, driving safety draws more and more public attention. Drowsy driving is one of the biggest threatens to driving safety. Therefore, a simple but robust system that can detect drowsy driving with commercial off-the-shelf devices (such as smart-phones) is very necessary. With this motivation, we explore the feasibility of purely using acoustic sensors embedded in smart-phones to detect drowsy driving. We first study characteristics of drowsy driving, and find some unique patterns of Doppler shift caused by three typical drowsy behaviors, i.e., nodding, yawning and operating steering wheel. We then validate our important findings through empirical analysis of the driving data collected from real driving environments. We further propose a real-time Drowsy Driving Detection system (D3-Guard) based on audio devices embedded in smartphones. In order to improve the performance of our system, we adopt an effective feature extraction method based on undersampling technique and FFT, and carefully design a high-accuracy detector based on LSTM networks for the early detection of drowsy driving. Through extensive experiments with 5 volunteer drivers in real driving environments, our system can distinguish drowsy driving actions with an average total accuracy of 93.31% in real-time. Over 80% drowsy driving actions can be detected within first 70% of action duration.
OBSERVATIONS OF FLORIDA MANATEES(TRICHECHUS MANATUS LATIROSTRIS) AROUND SELECTED POWER PLANTS IN WINTER

Sixty-four aerial surveys were flown during cold, winter weather between December 1982 and February 1772 to provide an index of trends in abundance of the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)around five Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) plants. The surveys documented high winter use of warm-water discharges at four of the plants (Canaveral, Riviera. Port Everglades, and Fort Myers). The total number of manatees sighted at the five primary plants surveyed during a single survey ranged from 6 to 765 manatees (x= 330 ± 45 manatees per survey): thus, up to 41% of the total Florida manatee minimum population of 1.850 animals may be found on cold days at FPL plants. The number of calves sighted at the plants during winter has decreased; similarly, for three consecutive years (winter 1989–1970 through winter 1991–1992), the percentage of the manatees that are calves sighted at the plants has decreased. Although data from the surveys of FPL plants do not necessarily reflect what may be happening with manatees located elsewhere in Florida, a possible reduction in calf numbers, coupled with increasing numbers of dead calves being documented by scientists involved in manatee carcass salvage work, is cause for concern in this slow-reproducing, endangered species.
Pederpes finneyae, an articulated tetrapod from the tournaisian of Western Scotland

Synopsis The Tournaisian tetrapod Pederpes finneyae is described in detail, from the holotype and only specimen. The specimen derives from the Ballagan Formation, Tournaisian CM palynozone and is the earliest post‐Devonian tetrapod known from articulated remains. It is preserved almost complete except for the tail, some skull regions and a few limb extremities. The animal resembles Whatcheeria deltae from the Viséan of Iowa, especially in the skull morphology, although the two differ in characters such as the lateral line expression, dermal ornament expression, proportions of the sub‐orbital portion of the jugal and several other dermal skull characters. The postcranial skeleton of Pederpes shows several unique features, including the structure of the leading edges of the cleithrum and clavicle, the form of the rib flanges and a possible supernumerary digit on the manus. The humerus is also unusual in possessing a spike‐like latissimus dorsi process, most like that of Baphetes. An investigation of the phylogenetic position of the whatcheeriids is carried out by comparing the results from two recently published databases. The clade lies very close to the base of the tetrapod stem group, although according to the dataset employed, the whatcheeriids compete with Crassigyrinus for the next most basal node after the Devonian forms. Possible whatcheeriids also occur in the Viséan of Australia and the Tournaisian of Ireland and less certainly elsewhere, making the whatcheeriids a long‐lasting clade, widely distributed in time and space.
Differences in the Activation Mechanism between the α and β Subunits of Human Meprin

Abstract Meprins are zinc-endopeptidases of the astacin family, which are expressed as membrane-bound or secreted forms in renal and intestinal brush-border membranes of mouse, rat and man. There are two types of meprin subunits, α and β, which form disulfide-bonded homo- and heterodimers; further oligomerization is mediated by non-covalent interactions. Both subunits are translated as proenzymes that have to be activated by removal of an N-terminal propeptide. In the gut, the most probable activator is trypsin. In addition, plasmin has been shown to activate the human α subunit in colorectal cancer tissue. In the present study we have overexpressed the human meprin α subunit and a His-tagged soluble tail-switchmutant of meprin β in Baculovirus-infected insect cells. The recombinant homo-oligomeric proteins were purified by gel filtration and affinity chromatography with yields of up to 10 mg/l cell culture medium and analyzed with regard to their activation mechanism. While both α and β homo-oligomers are activated by trypsin, only meprin α homo-oligomers are processed to their mature form by plasmin. These results indicate a different accessibility of the propeptide in meprin homo-oligomers and suggest an explanation for the appearance of meprin hetero-oligomers consisting of active α, but latent β subunits.
Evaluation of knowledge based threading method for the prediction of peptides binding to MHC class I alleles

Prediction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) epitope in the protein sequence is an important step for peptide based vaccine designing. Binding of peptides to Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I molecules is a pre-requirement for their recognition by CTLs. Development of predictive algorithms based on sequence profile requires a very large number of experimentally binding peptide data. In the present study , a knowledge based threading method is used to predict MHC binding peptides, which relies on the structural conservation observed in crystallographically solved peptide-MHC complexes (templates), upon which the peptide candidates are threaded. The compatibility of the peptide to bind with a particular MHC molecule is evaluated using a pairwise amino acid contact potential. Here, we describe the evaluation of threading method in terms of accuracy/correlation coefficients for the prediction of peptides binding to five MHC class I alleles. The values of HLA-A*0201, HLA-B*5301, HLA-B*2705, H-2Db and H-2Kb are 0.90/0.86, 0.96/0.91, 0.93/0.87, 0.94/0.87 and 0.88/0.77, respectively. Significant correlations were obtained between predicted and experimental binding energy values, consistent with the results for distinction between binders and nonbinders. Spearman rank correlation coefficients for MHC molecules with hydrophilic binding pockets are found to be improved in comparison to the results obtained by the previous algorithm. Therefore, the threading algorithm can be extended to a large number of MHC alleles for the prediction of T cell epitope using data generated through molecular modeling of peptide-MHC complex.
Cloning and characterization of 29 tetranucleotide and two dinucleotide polymorphic microsatellite loci from the endangered marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus)

We developed 31 novel, polymorphic microsatellite loci in the marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), a critically endangered seabird. Variability was tested on 15 individuals from the Santa Cruz, California population, with each locus characterized by two to 12 alleles. Observed levels of heterozygosity ranged from 0.13 to 0.93. These loci provide a valuable means of assessing the population structure and demographic parameters of this species, which may be critical to its conservation across a fragmented habitat.
Thionins (PR protein-13) mediate pearl millet downy mildew disease resistance

Thionins (PR protein-13) are a class of Cys-rich polypeptides of about 5 kDa, and have revealed their role of the defense in pearl millet to Sclerospora graminicola. The purified 5 kDa thionins show a pI of 8.2 and have anti-mildew activity tested on S. graminicola. The high level of transcript expression of thionins in resistant compared to susceptible cultivars was observed. Immunofluorescence studies have shown intense fluorescence in epidermal regions, confirming its involvement in arresting pathogen ingress and in vascular regions, confirming its systemic translocation during interaction. Epidermal peeling of resistant cultivars showed that thionin protein was present in higher quantities at the papillar region of the cell wall in seedlings.
Himalayan medicinal plant diversity in an ecologically complex high altitude anthropogenic landscape, Dolpo, Nepal

The conservation of high-altitude medicinal plants is of concern throughout the Himalayan region, because they are important for traditional health care and in large-scale collection for trade. Because little is known regarding their conservation status in relation to the diversity of land-use patterns and habitats, this paper explores patterns of species composition and diversity of medicinal plants in five different pasture types in a traditionally-managed high-altitude landscape in northwest Nepal. Environmental variables, including human activities, strongly affected species composition, diversity and cover-abundance of medicinal plant species. Species richness of rare and commercially threatened medicinal plants (CTMP) showed patterns similar to overall medicinal plant species richness. Sub-alpine meadows, which have intermediate levels of human pressure related to grazing and relatively high levels of resource availability in terms of rainfall and soil nutrients, were richer in medicinal-plant species than alpine meadows. The coexistence of various plant communities under different human management regimes also enhanced landscape-level species diversity by maintaining some species restricted to particular habitat or pasture types. A number of medicinal plant species reported to be resistant to grazing were most abundant in heavily grazed sites. This pattern suggests that medicinal plant species may be positively influenced, to a certain extent, by human activities (mainly grazing). The combination of grazing and high levels of harvesting, however, had a negative impact on diversity and cover-abundance of rare and CTMP species. Maintenance of medicinal plant diversity and cover-abundance is critically dependent on managing grazing and resource harvesting to maintain levels that are both ecologically and economically sustainable. Forage for livestock and medicinal plants for local health care cannot be managed independently; a systems approach is needed, incorporating social management to accommodate the needs of different users. This could be achieved by maintenance of a mosaic landscape, in which different use patterns and pressures, reflecting the values attached to resources by different users and favouring different types of biodiversity, co-exist.
Pollen germination in Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. f.: differences between the polyplicate pollen producing genera of the Gnetales

Pollen grains of the seed plant genera Ephedra L. and Welwitschia Hook. f. (Gnetales) are of similar size, shape, and have a polyplicate exine with alternating thicker and thinner regions. Ephedra pollen is considered inaperturate and the exine is shed during germination, leaving the male gametophyte naked. The shed exine curls up and forms a characteristic structure with transverse striations. Such upcurled exines have been found in situ in Early Cretaceous seeds with affinities to Ephedra. The purpose of this study was to document the germination of Welwitschia pollen and investigate whether they also discard their exine during this process. The pollen grains of Welwitschia are monoaperturate with a distinct, distal sulcus. During germination, the sulcus splits open and the gametophyte expands to a spherical form that extends out of the exine. The pollen tube starts to grow one or two hours later and as in Ephedra, it is displaced towards one side. The exine is not shed but remains as a “cap” that partly covers the male gametophyte. Thus, in this respect the germination process is distinctly different from that in Ephedra and this study demonstrates that discharging the exine during pollen germination is unique to Ephedra, among the polyplicate pollen producing genera in the Gnetales.
Dexamethasone Inhibition of Rat Hepatoma Growth and α-Fetoprotein Synthesis

Abstract The effect of dexamethasone on hepatoma growth and differentiation, as well as the production of α-fetoprotein (AFP) and albumin, was investigated. Treatment of rats with dexamethasone strongly reduced (by 83 to 98%) the serum levels of AFP in rats bearing Morris hepatomas 7777, 8994, 7288c, and 9618A 2 . Reduced AFP levels were due in part to a large reduction in tumor load in dexamethasone-treated rats. Hepatoma weights, on the average, were reduced by 64 to 90% relative to controls, while a large bowel transplantable tumor was affected only slightly. Lower serum AFP levels in rats with hepatomas 7777, 8994, and 9618A 2 also resulted from reduced AFP synthesis, as indicated by lower cytoplasmic AFP levels. Cytoplasmic albumin levels were higher in dexamethasone-treated rats bearing hepatomas 7777, 8994, and 7288c than they were in rats which did not receive dexamethasone. RNA dot hybridization also indicated that dexamethasone reduced the amount of AFP mRNA in hepatoma 7777 while increasing albumin mRNA. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of tumor cytosol proteins showed that dexamethasone reduced synthesis of all AFP variants which could be detected by this technique. A number of abundant hepatoma-associated and liver-associated proteins were not significantly affected by dexamethasone.
One Taxon or Two: Are Frasera umpquaensis and F. fastigiata (Gentianaceae) Distinct Species?

Abstract Frasera fastigiata and F. umpquaensis are large, long-lived, perennial herbs with hollow stems, whorled leaves, large nectaries hidden by fringed hoods, and synchronized flowering. They differ in flower color and their ranges are disjunct. Some authors have treated them as conspecific due to their overall morphological similarity. The taxa can be distinguished by isozyme band patterns and by morphological traits including corolla color, relative lengths of corolla and calyx, and calyx lobe shape. Both isozyme differences and morphological differences are not completely fixed, but plants with one atypical feature can be identified by their combination of traits. The taxa should be recognized as distinct species.
Short-term polyamine response in TMV-inoculated hypersensitive and susceptible tobacco plants

The short-term polyamine response to inoculation, with tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), of TMV-inoculated NN (hypersensitive) and nn (susceptible) plants of Nicotiana tabacum (L.) cv. Samsun was investigated. Free and conjugated polyamine concentrations, putrescine biosynthesis, evaluated through arginine decarboxylase (ADC) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activities, and putrescine oxidation, via diamine oxidase (DAO) activity, were analysed during the first 24 h from inoculation. Results were compared with those of mock-inoculated control plants. In NN TMV-inoculated plants undergoing the hypersensitive response (HR), free putrescine and spermidine concentrations had increased after 5 h compared with controls; polyamine conjugates also tended to increase compared with controls. In both virus- and mock-inoculated plants, ADC and ODC activities generally increased whereas DAO activity, which was present in controls, was detectable only in traces in inoculated tissues. In TMV-infected susceptible plants, free putrescine and spermidine concentrations were lower at 5 h relative to controls, as were polyamine conjugates. No differences were revealed in ADC and ODC activities whereas DAO activity was not detectable. These results further support the hypothesis that polyamines are involved in the response of tobacco to TMV and that, only a few hours after inoculation, the response of hypersensitive plants is distinct from that of susceptible ones.
Evaluation of hypoglycaemic activity of ethanol extract of Gongronema latifolium (Asclepiadaceae) leaves

The mechanism of anti-diabetic activity of Gongronema latifolium was evaluated. The ethanol extract of the leaves of G. latifolium were fractionated using solvents of increasing polarity, namely n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate and ethanol. Phytochemical screening of the dried fractions were carried and then acute toxicity tests on mice carried out. The induction of diabetes mellitus was achieved with 150 mg/kg b.w for mild diabetes and 300 mg/kg b.w for the severe condition. The effects of the crude ethanol extract (CEE) and its fractions on alloxan-induced hyperglycaemia were monitored. The result obtained reveals that crude ethanol extract significantly and dose-dependently reduced hyperglycaemia. The fractions of the ethanol extract equally reduced hyperglycaemia but the level of reduction was affected by the phytochemical content. This suggests that an intact pancreas is required for the hypoglycaemic action which is the mechanism of action of the sulphonylureas. Keywords: Anti-diabetic, Gongronema latifolium , hyperglycaemia, hypoglycaemia, phytochemical screening. African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(27) 2750-2754
Demographic versus genetic (RAPD) variation between and within two populations of the clonal plant Paris quadrifolia L. (Liliaceae).

The two populations of Paris quadrifolia L. were studied in isolated habitats in a currently fragmented landscape. Both populations were located in deciduous forests, the first (A) – on fresh mineral and acidic soil, and the second (B) – on wet organogenic, less acidic and more fertile soil. We hypothesized that genetic variation should be higher within population of more fecund plants, and that genetic distance between the two populations that occupy different isolated habitats in a fragmented landscape should be high. Demographic characteristics of populations were studied in the 2000–2005 period. In patches of both populations, 22 permanent plots measuring 1m2 each were designated. For molecular testing 41 samples from both populations were selected. The share of generative shoots was higher in the population A than population B (0.35 and 0.20, respectively). However, the fecundity of ramets expressed as the number of seeds in the ripe fruit was lower in A than in the B population (15 versus 21 seeds). The germination ability was significantly higher for the seeds from A than from the B population (79% versus 44%). The survival of the juveniles was high in both populations (54 and 76%). The Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis with the application of five primers permitted identifying 91 loci. The estimation of genetic diversity was based on polymorphic loci, the share of which was average 44%. Nei’s gene diversity (h) was higher in the A than B population (0.28 versus 0.22). The genetic diversity between the populations was not large (GST = 0.14). Clonal diversity was very high, G/N ratio = 1, and cluster analysis showed intermingling between samples from both the populations. There were quite a small genetic distance (D = 0.10), and a rather high level of gene flow (Nm = 1.51) between the populations from currently isolated habitats. The obtained results indicate that the genetic diversity was lower within population of more fecund plants from more productive habitat.
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent one: introduction to the performance measurement symposium

The performance literature often draws the distinction between ‘objective’ and ‘subjective’ measures (OECD, 2006). For example, citizens’ fear of crime is said to be ‘subjective’ because it rests on the expression of individual opinion while crime incidence statistics are seen as objective. The relative utility of objective and subjective approaches is in fact a classic debate in social measurement. In the 1970s, there was a clear divide between the Scandinavian and the Anglo-American schools of the social indicator movement (Cobb and Rixford, 1998). Following the Nordic perspective, quality of life was assessed through measures of real deprivation such as income, quality of housing, schooling, etc. The Americans, on the other hand, defined quality of life based on citizens’ experiences. Since the 1970s, the debate has changed in two respects. First, the positions seem no longer attributable to geographical circumscriptions. Rather, it has become a debate between scientific positions. On the one hand, there is the Popperian tradition that assumes an objective truth independent of the knowing subject. It implies that performance is a reality that can be uncovered through measurement. On the other hand, the Kuhnian tradition assumes that truth in science is a socially constructed paradigm. Performance in this view is intersubjective rather than objective, and measurement is an integral part of the definition of performance. Generally speaking, it seems that the Popperian tradition is more widespread in economics while the Kuhnian approach has more adherents in public administration and political science. We do not believe, however, that this is fundamentally a difference between disciplines. Economic concepts such as supply, demand, cost and benefits of measurement can be combined with concepts such as power, symbolism and social construction. The difference, however, lies in whether measurement in
Comparison of lipid changes in chicken frankfurters made by soybean and canola oils during storage

Summary Two batches of frankfurters containing about 55% c hicken meat with two different oils (including cano la and soybean) were manufactured. Batch 1 included canola oil and Batch 2 included soybean oil in the products. Various analyses were performed to detect the lipid changes of both batches during storage. Fatty acid composition analysis using gas chromatography showed little change in the fatty acids of either b atch over time. From a nutritional viewpoint, Batch 1 wa s more acceptable over time than Batch 2. Chemical analysis included oxidation reactions, such as pero xide and TBA (Thiobarbituric acid) value and free f atty acid analysis. Each chemical experiment had differe nt trends at each time, but both batches had values lower than the maximum levels at all times. With regard t o microbial analysis, psychrotrophic bacteria in bo th batches showed a decreasing order until day 30, and then growth increased. In Batch 1, a significant difference was observed only on day 1, but the diff erences were more significant in Batch 2, and there were significant differences on days 15, 30 and 45. Also , Lactobacillus counts were not significant after the cooking process until the end of storage (growth wa s not detectable after the cooking process). At the end of storage, we concluded that Batch 1 had a higher qua lity and storage stability than Batch 2 and canola oil could be a good substitution for soybean oil in mea t products. The data were analyzed with GLM (repeated measures). Differences were reported as significant at P<0.05. Also, the statistical software was SPSS ver. 11.5.