Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Manipulation of Natural Enemies in Agroecosystems: Habitat and Semiochemicals for Sustainable Insect Pest Control

Plants are not capable of running away from their enemies, i.e., the herbivores that may eat them. However, under certain circumstances, plants can rely on the natural enemies of insect herbivores for protection. These natural enemies include other insects that are predators and parasitoids. To help protect plants from damage caused by insect herbivores, practical methods have been developed and evaluated to conserve and augment natural enemies of several agricultural pests. These strategies include improving the suitability of the crop landscape for natural enemies by manipulating the resources available for these insects, and the use of semiochemicals to attract predators and parasitoids. This chapter will review recent studies exploring the potential for manipulating the behavior of natural enemies through vegetational diversification of crop habitats and the use of semiochemicals to enhance biological control in agroecosystems, and we will discuss how these might be combined to improve crop protection.
Can Video Games be Valid Predictors of Success for the Private Pilot Phase Check

A study was conducted at a Midwestern university to determine whether or not video game performance can be an accurate predictor of success on the private pilot phase check. In this study, there were thirty-three potential participants enrolled in AT 145, the private pilot flight training course. Twenty-three (70%) students agreed to participate. These volunteer participants were asked to complete a video game (Super Mario Galaxy). The final score and time to finish a pre-selected level were recorded. These scores were correlated with the aggregated scores that the participants earned during their private pilot phase checks. Although a survey of literature suggested there might be a correlation between video game performance and pilot performance, the results of this study showed no significant correlation.
The Critical Role of Sleep Spindles in Hippocampal-Dependent Memory: A Pharmacology Study

An important function of sleep is the consolidation of memories, and features of sleep, such as rapid eye movement (REM) or sleep spindles, have been shown to correlate with improvements in discrete memory domains. Because of the methodological difficulties in modulating sleep, however, a causal link between specific sleep features and human memory consolidation is lacking. Here, we experimentally manipulated specific sleep features during a daytime nap via direct pharmacological intervention. Using zolpidem (Ambien), a short-acting GABAA agonist hypnotic, we show increased sleep spindle density and decreased REM sleep compared with placebo and sodium oxybate (Xyrem). Naps with increased spindles produced significantly better verbal memory and significantly worse perceptual learning but did not affect motor learning. The experimental spindles were similar to control spindles in amplitude and frequency, suggesting that the experimental intervention enhanced normal sleep processes. Furthermore, using statistical methods, we demonstrate for the first time a critical role of spindles in human hippocampal memory performance. The gains in memory consolidation exceed sleep-alone or control conditions and demonstrate the potential for targeted, exceptional memory enhancement in healthy adults with pharmacologically modified sleep.
Applying career competencies in career management

Changes in the labour market mean that individuals are increasingly required to take more responsibility for their own careers. In order to do so, they have to develop the skills and abilities necessary to secure employability. However, many employees need help in managing their careers (Kidd et al., 2004). One effective way of supporting individuals in their career development is though career guidance emphasising competencies. This article follows a previous article (Haase at al; ADM, 2012) and presents a recent study into the development of career competencies in police officers.
Cloud based firewall on OpenFlow SDN network

Security is a major problem in networking. Corporates and Service providers spend much money on highly priced firewalls to implement security. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a new structure that can save Corporates and service providers money, reduce provisioning time from days to minutes, provides centralized management, allow programmability in the implicit Network. SDN accomplishes this by decoupling the control plane from the data plane. This paper demonstrates the benefits of implementing a Cloud based firewall on OpenFlow SDN network, which is a way of implementing SDN. The firewall has the capability of identifying application layer traffic, like social Medias and other websites and excluding some Denial-of-Service Attacks. This paper handles the implementation information and give a performance analysis of the firewall component.
Measurements of clothing evaporative resistance using a sweating thermal manikin: an overview

Evaporative resistance has been widely used to describe the evaporative heat transfer property of clothing. It is also a critical variable in heat stress models for predicting human physiological responses in various environmental conditions. At present, sweating thermal manikins provide a fast and cost-effective way to determine clothing evaporative resistance. Unfortunately, the measurement repeatability and reproducibility of evaporative resistance are rather low due to the complicated moisture transfer processes through clothing. This review article presents a systematical overview on major influential factors affecting the measurement precision of clothing evaporative resistance measurements. It also illustrates the state-of-the-art knowledge on the development of test protocol to measure clothing evaporative resistance by means of a sweating manikin. Some feasible and robust test procedures for measurement of clothing evaporative resistance using a sweating manikin are described. Recommendations on how to improve the measurement accuracy of clothing evaporative resistance are addressed and expected future trends on development of advanced sweating thermal manikins are finally presented.
On relationship between proposed lower bound and well-known bounds for cyclic codes

There have been useful lower bounds for the minimum distance of a cyclic code, BCH bound, Hartmann-Tzeng bound, Roos bound and Shift bound. The authors proposed a lower bound of minimum distance by discrete Fourier transform (DFT) in 2010. The relationship between BCH bound, Hartmann-Tzeng bound and Roos bound, BCH bound, Hartmann-Tzeng bound and Shift bound are known, respectively. However, it's unknown the relationship between Roos bound, Shift bound and Proposed bound. In this paper, we discuss this relation with the cyclic codes.
DNA damage and repair in eukaryotic cells.

DAMAGE IN DNA AFTER IRRADIATION CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO FIVE KINDS: base damage, single-strand breaks, double-strand breaks, DNA-DNA cross-linking, and DNA-protein cross-linking. Of these, repair of base damage is the best understood. In eukaryotes, at least three repair systems are known that can deal with base damage: photoreactivation, excision repair, and post-replication repair. Photoreactivation is specific for UV-induced damage and occurs widely throughout the biosphere, although it seems to be absent from placental mammals. Excision repair is present in prokaryotes and in animals but does not seem to be present in plants. Post-replication repair is poorly understood. Recent reports indicate that growing points in mammalian DNA simply skip past UV-induced lesions, leaving gaps in newly made DNA that are subsequently filled in by de novo synthesis. Evidence that this concept is oversimplified or incorrect is presented. -Single-strand breaks are induced by ionizing radiation but most cells can rapidly repair most or all of them, even after supralethal doses. The chemistry of the fragments formed when breaks are induced by ionizing radiation is complex and poorly understood. Therefore, the intermediate steps in the repair of single-strand breaks are unknown. Double-strand breaks and the two kinds of cross-linking have been studied very little and almost nothing is known about their mechanisms for repair. -The role of mammalian DNA repair in mutations is not known. Although there is evidence that defective repair can lead to cancer and/or premature aging in humans, the relationship between the molecular defects and the diseased state remains obscure.
Quantification of GC-biased gene conversion in the human genome

Many lines of evidence indicate GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC) has a major impact on the evolution of mammalian genomes. However, up to now, this process had not been properly quantified. In principle, the strength of gBGC can be measured from the analysis of derived allele frequency spectra. However, this approach is sensitive to a number of confounding factors. In particular, we show by simulations that the inference is pervasively affected by polymorphism polarization errors, especially at hypermutable sites, and spatial heterogeneity in gBGC strength. Here we propose a new method to quantify gBGC from DAF spectra, incorporating polarization errors and taking spatial heterogeneity into account. This method is very general in that it does not require any prior knowledge about the source of polarization errors and also provides information about mutation patterns. We apply this approach to human polymorphism data from the 1000 genomes project. We show that the strength of gBGC does not differ between hypermutable CpG sites and non-CpG sites, suggesting that in humans gBGC is not caused by the base-excision repair machinery. We further find that the impact of gBGC is concentrated primarily within recombination hotspots: genome-wide, the strength of gBGC is in the nearly neutral area, but 2% of the human genome is subject to strong gBGC, with population-scaled gBGC coefficients above 5. Given that the location of recombination hotspots evolves very rapidly, our analysis predicts that in the long term, a large fraction of the genome is affected by short episodes of strong gBGC.
Fast low-level pattern matching algorithm

This paper focuses on pattern matching in the DNA sequence. It was inspired by a previously reported method that proposes encoding both pattern and sequence using prime numbers. Although fast, the method is limited to rather small pattern lengths, due to computing precision problem. Our approach successfully deals with large patterns, due to our implementation that uses modular arithmetic. In order to get the results very fast, the code was adapted for multithreading and parallel implementations. The method is reduced to assembly language level instructions, thus the final result shows significant time and memory savings compared to the reference algorithm.
Scaling and maintenance of corneal thickness during aging

Corneal thickness is tightly regulated by its boundary endothelial and epithelial layers. The regulated set-point of corneal thickness likely shows inter-individual variations, changes by age, and response to stress. Using anterior segment-optical coherence tomography, we measure murine central corneal thickness and report on body size scaling of murine central corneal thickness during aging. For aged-matched mice, we find that corneal thickness depends on sex and strain. To shed mechanistic insights into these anatomical changes, we measure epithelial layer integrity and endothelial cell density during the life span of the mice using corneal fluorescein staining and in vivo confocal microscopy, respectively and compare their trends with that of the corneal thickness. Cornea thickness increases initially (1 month: 114.7 ± 3.0 μm, 6 months: 126.3 ± 1.6 μm), reaches a maximum (9 months: 129.3 ± 4.4 μm) and then reduces (12 months: 127 ± 2.9 μm, 13 months: 119.5 ± 7.6 μm, 14 months: 110.6 ± 10.6 μm), while the body size (weight) increases with age. We find that endothelial cell density reduces from 2 months old to 8 months old as the mice age and epithelial layer accumulates damages within this time frame. Finally, we compare murine corneal thickness with those of several other mammals including humans and show that corneal thickness has an allometric scaling with body size. Our results have relevance for organ size regulation, translational pharmacology, and veterinary medicine.
Scripting Languages Emerge in Standards Bodies

Scripting languages have become part of many of the ongoing standards activities related to multimedia. MPEG-4 has considered the inclusion of downloading mechanisms and a set of languages that could include a scripting language. MPEG III has considered the use of DSM-RSF as the reference script language for example decodings. One of the subgroups of the Digital Audio/Visual Council (Davic) could define a scripting language as part of the set-top box application programming interface. And the Hypermedia Languages Special Working Group of ISO JTC1/SCI8/WG8 (the same group responsible for SGML, HyTime, and other broadly applied document processing standards) is developing the Standard Multimedia/Hypermedia Scripting Language.
Zoned in the USA: the origins and implications of American land-use regulation

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Career Compromises: Framings and Their Implications.

The authors investigated the effects of 3 framings of career compromise (I. Gati, 1993): in terms of alternatives, aspect importance, and within-aspect preferences. Three groups of Israeli young adults (ns = 95, 108, and 154) and 71 school counselors were presented with hypothetical stories about individuals whose career decision involved a compromise. The results of 4 studies, using both between-subjects and within-subject designs, and both rating scales and forced choices, supported the hypothesis: The alternatives framing was associated with a greater extent of compromise and greater difficulty in making a career decision than were the 2 aspect framings. No differences were found between aspect importance and the within-aspect preference framings. The implications for research and counseling are discussed.
A study of the surface plasmon enhancement using ARC on thin film Si solar cell performance

Trapping light inside the solar cells can significantly boost their efficiency by minimizing the reflection losses at the front interface as well as the absorption losses in the solar cell by increasing the path length of incoming light. This study focuses on light trapping using antireflection coating (ARC). One of the simplest and most efficient types of ARC is called the quarter-wave transformer. Its great results make it a good and cheaper alternative for using metallic nanoparticles (MNPs). However, using MNPs with appropriate parameters might have a positive effect on the overall enhancement. In this work it was found that placing the NPs on the ARC surface give the best results compared to the other positions, whereas decreasing the overall refractive index of the device improves its behavior.
Empirical Determination of Frequency Representation in Spherical Harmonics-Based HRTF Functional Modeling

This paper considers a functional modeling of a head-related transfer function (HRTF) where the spatial-portion is constrained to be expanded using spherical harmonics and the frequency-portion is expanded in terms of standard closed-form orthonormal functions, which may be user selected. We derive an objective evaluation metric to compare the relative energy efficiencies of candidate functional models using empirical HRTF database measurements and robust estimation techniques. Among four sets of closed-form orthonormal functions the complex exponentials are identified as the most efficient to represent the frequency-portion in the spherical harmonics-based HRTF functional model. The proposed model is evaluated across three HRTF data sets: 1) CIPIC database, 2) the MIT KEMAR (Knowles Electronics Mannequin for Acoustics Research) database, and 3) the ANU KEMAR database.
MRI for Local Staging of Colon Cancer: Can MRI Become the Optimal Staging Modality for Patients With Colon Cancer?

BACKGROUND: Colon cancer is currently staged with CT. However, MRI is superior in the detection of colorectal liver metastasis, and MRI is standard in local staging of rectal cancer. Optimal (local) staging of colon cancer could become crucial in selecting patients for neoadjuvant treatment in the near future (Fluoropyrimidine Oxaliplatin and Targeted Receptor Preoperative Therapy trial). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of MRI for local staging of colon cancer. DESIGN: This was a retrospective study. SETTINGS: The study was conducted at the Maastricht University Medical Centre. PATIENTS: In total, 55 patients with biopsy-proven colon carcinoma were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All of the patients underwent an MRI (1.5-tesla; T2 and diffusion-weighted imaging) of the abdomen and were retrospectively analyzed by 2 blinded, independent readers. Histopathology after resection was the reference standard. Both readers evaluated tumor characteristics, including invasion through bowel wall (T3/T4 tumors), invasion beyond bowel wall of ≥5 mm and/or invasion of surrounding organs (T3cd/T4), serosal involvement, extramural vascular invasion, and malignant lymph nodes (N+). Interobserver agreement was compared using &kgr; statistics. RESULTS: MRI had a high sensitivity (72%–91%) and specificity (84%–89%) in detecting T3/T4 tumors (35/55) and a low sensitivity (43%–67%) and high specificity (75%–88%) in detecting T3cd/T4 tumors (15/55). For detecting serosal involvement and extramural vascular invasion, MRI had a high sensitivity and moderate specificity, as well as a moderate sensitivity and specificity in the detection of nodal involvement. Interobserver agreements were predominantly good; the more experienced reader achieved better results in the majority of these categories. LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by its retrospective nature and moderate number of inclusions. CONCLUSIONS: MRI has a good sensitivity for tumor invasion through the bowel wall, extramural vascular invasion, and serosal involvement. In addition, together with its superior liver imaging, MRI might become the optimal staging modality for colon cancer. However, more research is needed to confirm this. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww. com/DCR/A309.
The Pedagogy-Technology Interface in Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training

In this paper, we examine the relationship between pedagogy and technology in Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training (CAPT) courseware. First, we will analyse available literature on second language pronunciation teaching and learning in order to derive some general guidelines for effective training. Second, we will present an appraisal of various CAPT systems with a view to establishing whether they meet pedagogical requirements. In this respect, we will show that many commercial systems tend to prefer technological novelties to the detriment of pedagogical criteria that could benefit the learner more. While examining the limitations of today's technology, we will consider possible ways to deal with these shortcomings. Finally, we will combine the information thus gathered to suggest some recommendations for future CAPT.
Can Competition Spoil Reciprocity? - A Laboratory Experiment

This paper investigates how group membership and competition among trustors interact with trust and trustworthiness in a laboratory one-shot trust game. To analyze these effects, we apply a 2x2 design. We induce group membership by letting subjects play coordination games with clear focal points, leading to higher investments and trustworthiness. Introducing competition leads to a decrease in trustworthiness, especially among partners. We argue that once competition comes into play, trustees perceive trustors’ investments as the outcomes of a competitive bidding process rather than good intentions, which reduces reciprocity.
Abstract: Design and Implementation of a Problem-based Digital Textbook

This paper proposes a problem-based digital textbook (DT) by defining an instructional model of problem-based learning (PBL) for DTs. The objective was to develop a DT that stimulates self-directed learning through the support of a wide range of student-centered learning activities to enhance the overall learning experience and effectiveness. As an application, a problem-based DT that performs PBL according to the proposed instructional model was developed for the subject of general computing used by high schools in South Korea. For the experiment, the DT was applied to practical classes for one semester at a commercial high school and there were generally very positive responses and enhanced problem-solving achievement.
Monoamine Oxidase A Gene Polymorphisms and Bipolar Disorder in Iranian Population

Background: Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a common and severe mood disorder. Although genetic factors have important rolesin the etiology of bipolar disorder, no specific gene has been identified in relation to this disorder. Monoamine oxidase gene is suggested to be associated with bipolar disorder in many studies. Objectives: This study aimed to investigatethe role of MAOA gene polymorphisms in the etiology of bipolar disorder in Iranian population. Patients and Methods: This study is a case-control study, with convenient sampling. Three common polymorphisms, a CA microsatellite, a VNTR, and a RFLP were typed in 156 bipolar patients and 173 healthy controls. Patients were chosen from Imam Hossein General Hospital, Psychiatry Ward (Tehran/Iran). Controlsamples for this study consisted of 173 healthy individuals recruitedby convenient sampling. Allelic distributions of these polymorphisms were analyzed in bipolar and control groups to investigate any association with MAOA gene. Results: Significant associations were observed regarding MAOA-CA (P = 0.016) and MAOA-VNTR (P = 0.004) polymorphisms in the bipolar females. There was no association between MAOA-RFLP and bipolar disorder. Conclusions: The obtained results confirm some previous studies regardinga gender specific association of MAOA gene with the bipolar disorder.