Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new freshwater species of Pinnularia (Bacillariophyta) from Hunan Province, China

﻿Abstract This study describes a new species of Pinnularia, P.hupingensissp. nov., on the basis of light and scanning electron microscope images. Pinnulariahupingensissp. nov. is characterised by its linear valve outline, extremely divergent striae, and very large hexagonal central area occupying ca. 1/5–1/8 of the valve length. The primary and secondary sides of the valve and the internal proximal raphe fissures are discussed. The new species is compared to similar taxa of the genus Pinnularia.
Hoisting the colors of Sanskrit

The Sanskrit Heritage Reader is a tool that transforms a Sanskrit text into a representation of all its possible segmentations as a word-by-word enunciation ( padapāṭha ), undoing the sandhi euphonic rules. It allows a human annotator to select relevant segmentations with the use of a man-machine graphical interface using a notion of colored segment. We discuss in this paper this notion of color, and argue about its linguistic status, similar to a notion of parts of speech, but also allowing to segment complex compounds into a linear representation of so-called pre-compounds. This permits to present the padapāṭha with segmented compounds, without having to decide prematurely of their exact internal morphology. Colors can be seen as the coarsest classification of morphemes allowing the regular representation of Sanskrit. The study reveals subtle diﬀiculties in Sanskrit analysis not usually discussed in grammars, which deal extensively with generativity ( vṛtti ), but rarely discuss text analysis ( śābdabodha ).
Meanings of Authentic Learning Scenarios: A Study of the Interplay Between Higher Education and Employability of Higher Education Graduates

The study is a part of the Erasmus+ project Skill-UP: Matching graduates’ skills and labour world demands through authentic learning scenarios . Higher education provides many different opportunities for students’ learning, though there are limited possibilities for them to learn through collaboration in authentic learning experiences. The article reports on a study which investigates meanings of authentic learning scenarios in higher education in relation to the employability of higher education graduates in a course within the bachelor’s programme in study and career guidance at Stockholm University, Sweden. Pre-and post-questionnaires on the employability skills of new graduates were completed by final year students. In a focus-group interview, higher education teachers discussed how they achieve authenticity in these learning scenarios. The course helped the students improve their employability skills such as creative thinking, teamwork, subject-specific skills, communication and interpersonal skills, and analytical thinking. The teachers’ conclusion was to keep the authentic learning scenario in the course and further develop the teaching instructions. We consider that authentic learning scenarios are of considerable benefit to higher education in relation to the employability of graduates. The conclusions drawn from the study are that the intervention with authentic learning experiences supports students to improve several employability skills. The teachers’ deduction is to keep the authentic learning scenarios in their teaching at university and further develop the teaching instructions which shows that the authentic learning scenarios can support university teachers to improve their course design in higher education by incorporating the model of authentic learning.
Novel method of bioremediation and characterization of bacterial communities on arsenic-impacted museum collections

Metal-based pesticides, including toxic arsenic salts, were widely used prior to the 1970s for the prevention of rodent and insect damage to museum collections. An estimated 80% of collections housed in U.S. and Canadian museums have exogenous metals present, and the use of bacteria in the removal of these metals is of interest. Research shows that Rhodopseudomonas palustris, a metabolically versatile proteobacterium, is able to volatilize arsenic via methylation resulting in the conversion of the metal into a gas which can be collected and removed. In this study, R. palustris tolerated concentrations of arsenic up to 250 ppm and showed the ability to remove up to 78% of arsenic from a starting concentration of 10 ppm soluble arsenic within 19 days. In order to optimize the potential application of bacterial volatilization of arsenic as a remediation technology for arsenic-treated museum specimens, the presence of in situ bacteria on the surface of museum collections needs to be addressed. High throughput sequencing revealed diverse bacterial communities associated with the museum specimens examined at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Bacterial community composition seemed strongly influenced by several factors including type of materials comprising the specimen, the presence of arsenic, and which museum Collection the specimen was housed in. Organisms of high abundance across the items sampled included the genera Ralstonia, Sediminbacterium, Acinetobacter and the family Enterobacteriaceae. Additionally, testing of surface-associated arsenic revealed a wide range of concentrations on arsenic-impacted items at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
An Eﬀicient PRBG Based on Chaotic Map and Engel Continued Fractions

In recent years, a variety of chaos-based cryptosystems have been proposed. Some of these systems are used in designing a pseudo random bit generator ( PRBG ) for stream cipher applications. Most of the chaotic systems used in cryptography have good chaotic properties like ergodicity, sensitivity to initial values and sensitivity to control parameters. However, some of them are not very suitable for use in cryptography because of their non-uniform density function, and their relatively small key space. To be used in cryptography, a PRBG may need to meet stronger requirements than for other applications. In particular, various statistical tests can be applied to the outputs of such generators to conclude whether the generator produces a truly random sequence or not. In this paper, we propose a PRBG based on the use of the standard chaotic map with large key space and the Engle Continued Fractions ( ECF ) map. The outputs of the standard map are used as the inputs of ECF-map. The chaotic nature of the standard map and the good statistical properties of the ECF map motivate us to design a new PRBG for stream cipher applications. The numerical simulation analysis indicates that our PRBG produces bit sequences possessing excellent statistical and cryptographic properties.
PROSODIC ALIGNMENT IN DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONAL FEEDBACK FUNCTIONS

Prosodic alignment is a phenomenon where the interlocutors’ speaking style converge along various (para-)linguistic dimensions. Previous work has suggested that in terms of pitch, local alignment exists between backchannels and the preceding utterance of the interlocutor. In this paper, we propose a new operationalization of local prosodic alignment and investigate whether such alignment exists between short feedback utterances and the preceding, as well as the following, utterance of the interlocutor. Furthermore, we investigate whether this alignment differs between different feedback functions, including continuers, agreement, disagreement, yes/no responses, disapproval, non-understanding, sympathy, and mild/strong surprise. From the Switchboard corpus, we analyzed 2,118 instances of short feedback utterances with the mentioned 10 communicative feedback functions. Although we find significant results, they are much weaker than what has been reported in previous work.
Pairing Modern and Paleolimnological Approaches to Evaluate the Nutrient Status of Lakes in Upper Midwest National Parks

Understanding what constitutes a reference (background) nutrient condition for lakes is important for National Park Service managers responsible for preserving and protecting aquatic resources. For this study we characterize water quality conditions in 29 lakes across four national parks, and compare their nutrient status to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) nutrient reference criteria and alternative criteria recently proposed by others. Where appropriate we also compare the nutrient status of these 29 lakes to state or tribal nutrient reference criteria or standards. For lakes that exceed reference criteria we investigate physical and chemical patterns, and for a subset of lakes compare modern nutrient conditions to paleolimnological (i.e., diatom‐inferred [DI]) nutrient reconstructions. Many lakes exceeded USEPA nutrient reference criteria, but met alternative less restrictive criteria. Modern nutrient conditions were also largely consistent with DI historic (pre‐1900) nutrient conditions. Lakes exceeding alternative nutrient criteria and with elevated nutrient levels relative to DI historic conditions were mostly small, shallow, and dystrophic; continued attention to their nutrient dynamics and biological response is warranted. Coupling modern and paleolimnological data offer an innovative and scientifically defensible approach to understand long‐term nutrient trends and provide greater context for comparison with reference conditions.
Data Stewardship in Clinical Computer Security: Balancing Benefit and Burden in Participatory Systems

The mass collection and reuse of social data requires a reimagining of privacy and consent, with particular attention to the (in)equitable distribution of benefits and burdens between researchers and subjects. Instru-menting frontline clinical services to collect and steward data might mitigate the exploitation inherent to data collection—with attention to how subjects can meaningfully participate in stewardship. We explore participatory data stewardship in the context of clinical computer security for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Via semi-structured interviews with IPV support workers, we explore how data are produced within the IPV care ecosystem at the Clinic to End Tech Abuse (CETA). We then conduct design provocations with clients of IPV services and their support workers, exploring possibilities for participatory data mechanisms like open records and dynamic consent. We find participation in data stewardship may benefit clients through improved agency, self-reflection, and control of self-narrative, and that incurred burdens may be alleviated by enlisting trusted stewards. We close with future work for CSCW interrogating how knowledge of digital-safety harms can and should be produced from clinical encounters, towards more equitable ways of knowing.
Methods for tagging an ectoparasite, the salmon louse Lepeophtheirus

Monitoring individuals within populations is a cornerstone in evolutionary ecology, yet individual tracking of invertebrates and particularly parasitic organisms remains rare. To address this gap, we describe here a method for attaching radio frequency identiﬁcation (RFID) tags to individual adult females of a marine ectoparasite, the salmon louse Lepeophtheirus salmonis . Comparing two alternative types of glue, we found that one of them (2-octyl cyanoacrylate, 2oc ) gave a signiﬁcantly higher tag retention rate than the other (ethyl 2-cyanoacrylate, e2c ). This glue comparison test also resulted in a higher loss rate of adult ectoparasites from the population where tagging was done using 2oc , but this included males not tagged and thus could also suggest a mere tank eﬀect. Cor-roborating this, a more extensive analysis using data collected over two years showed no signiﬁcant diﬀerence in mortality after repeated exposure to the
Driving and Inhibiting Factors to Tourist Interest in Visiting Lamalera

Purpose: This study aims to identify and examine the drivers that increase tourist interest in visiting Lamalera village as well as the inhibiting factors that discourage tourist interest in visiting Lamalera village. Methodology: The data collection procedures used in this study include observation and interview of local and foreign visitors who came to see the whaling tradition (Kotekelema) in the fishing village of Lamalera, Wulandoni sub-district. Result: This study concluded that the drivers of visitors' interest in Lamalera are the allure of whaling culture, the availability of transportation to tourist sites, and the amenities such as houses of worship and health care facilities. The inhibiting factors to the interest of visiting tourists in Lamalera are the unavailability of additional tourist attractions in addition to whaling culture in this place, the accessibility issue concerns very long travel routes, bad road conditions, poor network conditions, and access to insufficient information regarding Lamalera cultural tourist objects, the absence of prayer rooms, restaurants, public restrooms, souvenir stores, diving equipment, and the hospitality component of tourist services, which is deemed inadequate.
Propriétés macroécologiques des ammonites : distribution spatiale, phylogénie et similarité faunique

La thematique centrale de cette these, situee a l’interface entre macroecologie et macroevolution, consiste en l’analyse des dynamiques spatio-temporelles de distribution des ammonites du Pliensbachien inf. de la Tethys de l’Ouest. Deux problematiques sont abordees : comment la similarite compositionnelle des assemblages decroit-elle avec la distance geographique? Quel est le lien entre la taille des aires de repartition des especes et leur phylogenie, leur duree de vie, et leur position latitudinale? Grâce a une analyse des relations de SDD, nous montrons que plus l’environnement est homogene, plus les ammonites se dispersent librement ; et que leur dispersion sur de grandes distances n’est pas liee a leur morphologie, ce qui suggere qu’elle se faisait essentiellement via une derive planctonique aux cours des stades juveniles.Notre etude de l’etendue de la repartition des ammonites revele que cette caracteristique n’est ni stable, ni propre a un clade. Son heritabilite phylogenetique depend de la stabilite spatio-temporelle de l’environnement et varie selon l’estimateur de repartition et l’intervalle de temps consideres, et entre des especes d’un meme groupe contemporaines les unes des autres. De plus, l’etendue de repartition n’a pas d’effet sur la duree de vie des especes. Cette absence de correlation semble prevaloir chez les ammonoides, ce groupe etant connu pour presenter de grandes aires de repartition associees a des courtes durees de vie. Enfin, les etendues latitudinales des ammonites etudiees tendent a etre maximales aux basses latitudes et augmentent des moyennes vers les hautes latitudes, conformement a la Regle de Rapoport. Ceci suggere qu’elles etaient vraisemblablement temperature-dependantes et qu’un gradient de temperature des eaux existait au Pliensbachien inf. dans la province NW europeenne.
Cross-Linked Hyaluronan Derivatives in the Delivery of Phycocyanin

An easy and viable crosslinking technology, based on the “click-chemistry” reaction copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (click-crosslinking), was applied to graft copolymers of medium molecular weight (i.e., 270 kDa) hyaluronic acid (HA) grafted with ferulic acid (FA) residues bearing clickable propargyl groups, as well as caffeic acid derivatives bearing azido-terminated oligo(ethylene glycol) side chains. The obtained crosslinked materials were characterized from the point of view of their structure and aggregation liability to form hydrogels in a water environment. The most promising materials showed interesting loading capability regarding the antioxidant agent phycocyanin (PC). Two novel materials complexes (namely HA(270)-FA-TEGEC-CL-20/PC and HA(270)-FA-HEGEC-CL-20/PC) were obtained with a drug-to-material ratio of 1:2 (w/w). Zeta potential measurements of the new complexes (−1.23 mV for HA(270)-FA-TEGEC-CL-20/PC and −1.73 mV for HA(270)-FA-HEGEC-CL-20/PC) showed alterations compared to the zeta potential values of the materials on their own, suggesting the achievement of drug–material interactions. According to the in vitro dissolution studies carried out in different conditions, novel drug delivery systems (DDSs) were obtained with a variety of characteristics depending on the desired route of administration and, consequently, on the pH of the surrounding environment, thanks to the complexation of phycocyanin with these two new crosslinked materials. Both complexes showed excellent potential for providing a controlled/prolonged release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). They also increased the amount of drug that reach the target location, enabling pH-dependent release. Importantly, as demonstrated by the DPPH free radical scavenging assay, the complexation process, involving freezing and freeze-drying, showed no adverse effects on the antioxidant activity of phycocyanin. This activity was preserved in the two novel materials and followed a concentration-dependent pattern similar to pure PC.
Simulating Complete Points Representations for Single-View 6-DoF Grasp Detection

The utilization of single-view depth cameras for image capture is prevalent in the context of robotic grasping. However, the incomplete point cloud structure generated from a single-view depth image poses challenges in accurately predicting grasping configurations, due to the lack of some important shapes or contours of objects. In this letter, we present a novel approach that enhances the performance of the single-view point cloud 6-DoF grasp detector by leveraging the representations from another complete point cloud pre-trained grasp detector. In contrast to the previous two-stage approaches involving shape completion or multi-view capturing and subsequent grasp detection, our proposed method only utilizes complete point cloud data during the training phase and directly detects grasps with single-view point cloud data for inference. Our approach introduces an effective knowledge distillation framework for grasp detection that transfers the 3D complete representations from three levels: grasp point features, geometric structural relations, and grasp responses. Experimental results on the GraspNet-1Billion dataset demonstrate that our approach outperforms other state-of-the-art single-view grasp detection methods. Furthermore, the results from physical experiments validate the efficacy of our method on real-world unseen objects.
Virtual Laboratories in the Teaching of Mechanical Technology

The aim of this article is to familiarise the reader with the issue of virtual laboratories and to demonstrate their possible use on a concrete example. This example deals with the use of virtual laboratories in the teaching of mechanical engineering in high schools and universities. The Covid-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in the teaching process and its organisation. In this period, teaching usually took place online, which was implemented using resources such as Google Classroom or MS Teams. This article presents a sample task -a project on which students of the second and third year of study at a secondary technical school are working. The project has an interdisciplinary character, because during its implementation students apply and further develop skills and knowledge from several subjects, namely physics, mechanics, chemistry and CAD design. The project is dedicated to the design of a pulley casting for a steel rope.
The Modulation of Phospho-Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase and Phospho-Protein Kinase B Signaling Pathways plus Activity of Macrophage-Stimulating Protein Contribute to the Protective Effect of Stachydrine on Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Injury

Stachydrine, a prominent bioactive alkaloid derived from Leonurus heterophyllus, is a significant herb in traditional medicine. It has been noted for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant characteristics. Consequently, we conducted a study of its hepatoprotective effect and the fundamental mechanisms involved in acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury, utilizing a mouse model. Mice were intraperitoneally administered a hepatotoxic dose of APAP (300 mg/kg). Thirty minutes after APAP administration, mice were treated with different concentrations of stachydrine (0, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg). Animals were sacrificed 16 h after APAP injection for serum and liver tissue assays. APAP overdose significantly elevated the serum alanine transferase levels, hepatic pro-inflammatory cytokines, malondialdehyde activity, phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), phospho-protein kinase B (AKT), and macrophage-stimulating protein expression. Stachydrine treatment significantly decreased these parameters in mice with APAP-induced liver damage. Our results suggest that stachydrine may be a promising beneficial target in the prevention of APAP-induced liver damage through attenuation of the inflammatory response, inhibition of the ERK and AKT pathways, and expression of macrophage-stimulating proteins.
Mucosal Genes Encoding Clock, Inflammation and Their Mutual Regulators Are Disrupted in Pediatric Patients with Active Ulcerative Colitis

Patients with active ulcerative colitis (UC) display a misalignment of the circadian clock, which plays a vital role in various immune functions. Our aim was to characterize the expression of clock and inflammation genes, and their mutual regulatory genes in treatment-naïve pediatric patients with UC. Using the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Transcriptome and Metatranscriptome Meta-Analysis (IBD TaMMA) platform and R algorithms, we analyzed rectal biopsy transcriptomic data from two cohorts (206 patients with UC vs. 20 healthy controls from the GSE-109142 study, and 43 patients with UC vs. 55 healthy controls from the GSE-117993 study). We compared gene expression levels and correlation of clock genes (BMAL1, CLOCK, PER1, PER2, CRY1, CRY2), inflammatory genes (IκB, IL10, NFκB1, NFκB2, IL6, TNFα) and their mutual regulatory genes (RORα, RORγ, REV-ERBα, PGC1α, PPARα, PPARγ, AMPK, SIRT1) in patients with active UC and healthy controls. The clock genes BMAL1, CLOCK, PER1 and CRY1 and the inflammatory genes IκB, IL10, NFκB1, NFκB2, IL6 and TNFα were significantly upregulated in patients with active UC. The genes encoding the mutual regulators RORα, RORγ, PGC1α, PPARα and PPARγ were significantly downregulated in patients with UC. A uniform pattern of gene expression was found in healthy controls compared to the highly variable expression pattern in patients with UC. Among the healthy controls, inflammatory genes were positively correlated with clock genes and they all showed reduced expression. The difference in gene expression levels was associated with disease severity and endoscopic score but not with histological score. In patients with active UC, clock gene disruption is associated with abnormal mucosal immune response. Disrupted expression of genes encoding clock, inflammation and their mutual regulators together may play a role in active UC.
FIRST RECORD OF TWO PELAGIC OCTOPODS, ARGONAUTA ARGO AND TREMOCTOPUS VIOLACEUS CF. GRACILIS FROM THE ANDAMAN SEA, THAILAND

Two pelagic octopods, Argonauta argo Linnaeus, 1758 and Tremoctopus violaceus cf. gracilis (Eydoux & Souleyet, 1852) are new records from the Andaman Sea, Eastern Indian Ocean, Thai waters. Both species are known as oceanic-pelagic species. However, in 2007 the two species were collected from the coastal zone. This occurrence coincided with internal waves reported in the Andaman Sea.