Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phytoextraction potential of cadmium and lead contamination using Melia azedarach and Populus alba seedlings

Vegetative growth, biomass, chemical content and uptake of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in Melia azedarach L. (chinaberry) and Populus alba L. (white poplar) seedlings were investigated using a 2-year pot experiment. The results indicated that P. alba and M. azedarach are tolerant to contaminated soil by Cd or Pb without any toxicity symptoms. Vegetative growth and chemical properties of M. azedarach are negatively affected by Cd more than Pb whereas, biomasses are negatively affected by Pb little than Cd. Likewise, vegetative growth and chemical properties are negatively affected by Cd more than Pb however, biomasses are negatively affected by Cd and Pb with the same significant level. Both species accumulate more concentrations of Cd and Pb in their roots than in leaves and stem. As a result, P. alba and M. azedarach are considered suitable phytoremediators for contaminated soils by Cd or Pb. Keywords: Phytoremediation, contamination, heavy metals, cadmium, lead, Populus alba, Melia azedarach . African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol 13(53) 4726-4732
On optimality of the empirical distribution function for the estimation of the invariant distribution function of a diffusion process

In this work we present some results on the optimality of the empirical distribution function as estimator of the invariant distribution function of an ergodic diffusion process. The results presented were obtained in different previous works under conditions that are are rewritten in a unified form that make comparable those results. It is well known that the empirical distribution function is an unbiased and uniformly consistent estimator for the invariant distribution function of an ergodic diffusion process. It is also an efficient estimator in the sense that the risk of this estimator attains an asymptotic minimax lower bound. In this paper we review some results on the problem of the efficiency of the empirical distribution function considering three types of risk function. The first one is in a semi-parametric set-up. The second one is the integrated mean square error and the third is based on the sup norm. Key words: invariant distribution function, efficiency, lower bound, efficient estimator.
Detección e identificación de defectos en granos de arroz empleando visión artificial

Se presenta un método para detectar e identificar defectos en granos de arroz pulidos a partir de su imagen digitalizada utilizando un sistema experto. El registro de la imagen de la muestra se realiza con un escáner de escritorio. La muestra empleada se diseñó de tal forma que contenga ejemplares con los defectos más comunes. Se emplearon técnicas de procesamiento digital de imágenes para identificar diferentes tipos de defectos visibles en granos de arroz que afectan a la calidad de la muestra. Finalmente los resultados obtenidos con el empleo de la metodología desarrollada, son coincidentes con los realizados manualmente por un perito. El método propuesto presenta ventajas respecto de la identificación en forma manual como ser la disminución de los tiempos de análisis, la repetibilidad de los resultados, elimina la subjetividad en la identificación, registra y almacena la información, utiliza equipamiento de fácil acceso y bajo costo relativo.
Primary and secondary organic aerosol origin by combined gas-particle phase source apportionment

Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA), a prominent fraction of particulate organic mass (OA), remains poorly constrained. Its formation involves several unknown precursors, formation and evolution pathways and multiple natural and anthropogenic sources. Here a combined gas-particle phase source apportionment is applied to wintertime and summertime data collected in the megacity of Paris in order to investigate SOA origin during both seasons. This was possible by combining the information provided by an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS). A better constrained apportionment of primary OA (POA) sources is also achieved using this methodology, making use of gas-phase tracers. These tracers made possible the discrimination between biogenic and continental/anthropogenic sources of SOA. We found that continental SOA was dominant during both seasons (24–50% of total OA), while contributions from photochemistry-driven SOA (9% of total OA) and marine emissions (13% of total OA) were also observed during summertime. A semi-volatile nighttime component was also identified (up to 18% of total OA during wintertime). This approach was successfully applied here and implemented in a new source apportionment toolkit.
Effect of Linoleic Acid Supplimentation on Growth of Broiler

In order to examine the effect of different levels of linoleic acid supplementation, study was carried out to evaluate the performance of broiler chicken in response to linoleic acid supplement at the Poultry Experiment Station, Department of Poultry Husbandry, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam. 150 Broiler chicken birds were equally divided in to five groups; A, B, C, D and E where the linoleic acid was supplemented in feed at the rates of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 % in feed, respectively. The feed intake of broiler chicken fed with 0.2% linolenic acid supplemented ration was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of 0, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8% addition of linolenic acid in ration. Significant (P<0.05) impact of different levels (0.8, 0.6, 0.4 and 0.2%) of linolenic acid supplementation was noted on weight gain, FCR, final weight, carcass yield and weight of giblets; liver, heart and gizzard of broiler chicken, except dressing percent which is not affected by the supplementation of linoleic acid with basal diet.
FACTORS INFLUENCING INTENTION TO USE ELECTRONIC TAX FILING

PurposeElectronic tax filing is an emerging area of e-governance. This research reviews the model of e-filing adoption that identifies adoption factors and personal factors that impact citizen acceptance of electronic filing and presents a refined integrated conceptual framework in this field. Design/Methodology/Approach – A review of available literature was summarized to identify the factors influencing the behavior intention using Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model so that most studied factors will be taken into consideration for future empirical research. Findings – The majority of the earlier studies showed that the performance expectancy (PE), Effort expectancy (EE), Social influence (SI) and Facilitating conditions (FI) are the most studied variables and most important variables affecting the behavior intention of the taxpayers to use electronic tax filing. Paper typeReview
The Biology of Vibrio vulni fi cus

Vibrio vulnificus, carrying a 50% fatality rate, is the most deadly of the foodborne pathogens. It occurs in estuarine and coastal waters and it is found in especially high numbers in oysters and other molluscan shellfish. The biology of V. vulnificus, including its ecology, pathogenesis, and molecular genetics, has been described in numerous reviews. This article provides a brief summary of some of the key aspects of this important human pathogen, including information on biotypes and genotypes, virulence factors, risk factor requirements and the role of iron in disease, association with oysters, geographic distribution, importance of salinity and water temperature, increasing incidence associated with global warming. This article includes some of our findings as presented at the “Vibrios in the Environment 2010” conference
Attention capture during visual search: The consequences of distractor appeal, familiarity, and frequency

ABSTRACT Visual distractions can lure our attention and impede our everyday performance, especially if they are highly meaningful and appealing to the observer. The current research assessed how semantically rich, personally relevant distractors (i.e., cartoon characters), either appealing or neutral, capture attention and whether the frequency with which we encounter these distractors can impact the effects. Participants were slower to identify a target letter in the presence of a neutral distractor relative to an appealing distractor, reflecting covert attentional capture. However, this effect reversed when appealing distractors appeared less frequently than neutral distractors. Collectively, the evidence suggests that the amount of capture observed overall likely depends on the interplay between a distractor’s semantic salience (i.e., the amount of meaningful knowledge an observer has about the distractor), its affective salience (i.e., how the observer feels about the distractor), and how frequently it is encountered.
PART TWO The Primates 8 The Cebines Toward an Explanation of Variable Social Structure

Capuchins (genus Cebus) and squirrel monkeys (genus Saimiri), which together make up the subfamily Cebinae, are among the most widely recognized species of New World primates. Some may recognize capuchins as the hat-tipping, money-collecting partner of the organ grinder or may have seen them in movies or television ads spreading a deadly strain of the Ebola virus or as the “spokesperson” for any number of products, both of which have little to do with being a capuchin or a primate. Although perhaps not quite as recognizable as their capuchin cousins, squirrel monkeys are also well known because of their prominence in the illegal pet trade and their use in biomedical research; they are one of the most commonly used laboratory primates, second only to rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) (Kinzey 1997c). Although these two primate genera have much in common and can often be observed in the same forests in Central and South America, they comprise a very diverse subfamily, particularly in respect to their morphology and behavioral ecology.
GROUP SPARSE OPTIMIZATION BY ALTERNATING DIRECTION METHOD Report Title

This paper proposes efficient algorithms for group sparse optimization with mixed l2,1-regularization, which arises from the reconstruction of group sparse signals in compressive sensing, and the group Lasso problem in statistics and machine learning. It is known that encoding the group information in addition to sparsity will lead to better signal recovery/feature selection. The l2,1-regularization promotes group sparsity, but the resulting problem, due to the mixed-norm structure and possible grouping irregularity, is considered more difficult to solve than the conventional l1-regularized problem. Our approach is based on a variable splitting strategy and the classic alternating direction method (ADM). Two algorithms are presented, one derived from the primal and the other from the dual of the l2,1-regularized problem. The convergence of the proposed algorithms is guaranteed by the existing ADM theory. General group configurations such as overlapping groups and incomplete covers can be easily handled by our approach. Computational results show that on random problems the proposed ADM algorithms exhibit good efficiency, and strong stability and robustness. GROUP SPARSE OPTIMIZATION BY ALTERNATING DIRECTION METHOD WEI DENG, WOTAO YIN, AND YIN ZHANG∗ Abstract. This paper proposes efficient algorithms for group sparse optimization with mixed `2,1-regularization, which arises from the reconstruction of group sparse signals in compressive sensing, and the group Lasso problem in statistics and machine learning. It is known that encoding the group information in addition to sparsity will lead to better signal recovery/feature selection. The `2,1-regularization promotes group sparsity, but the resulting problem, due to the mixed-norm structure and possible grouping irregularity, is considered more difficult to solve than the conventional `1-regularized problem. Our approach is based on a variable splitting strategy and the classic alternating direction method (ADM). Two algorithms are presented, one derived from the primal and the other from the dual of the `2,1-regularized problem. The convergence of the proposed algorithms is guaranteed by the existing ADM theory. General group configurations such as overlapping groups and incomplete covers can be easily handled by our approach. Computational results show that on random problems the proposed ADM algorithms exhibit good efficiency, and strong stability and robustness.
DecisionMaking in Prostate Cancer Screening Using Decision Aids vs Usual Care A Randomized Clinical Trial

RESULTS Of 4794 eligible men approached, 1893 were randomized. At each follow-up assessment, univariate and multivariable analyses indicated that both decision aids resulted in significantly improved PCa knowledge and reduced decisional conflict compared with UC (all P <.001). At 1 month, the standardized mean difference (Cohen’s d) in knowledge for the web group vs UC was 0.74, and in the print group vs UC, 0.73. Decisional conflict was significantly lower for web vs UC (d = 0.33) and print vs UC (d = 0.36). At 13 months, these differences were smaller but remained significant. At 1 month, high satisfaction was reported by significantly more print (60.4%) than web participants (52.2%; P = .009) and significantly more web (P = .001) and print (P = .03) than UC participants (45.5%). At 13 months, differences in the proportion reporting high satisfaction among print (55.7%) compared with UC (49.8%; P = .06) and web participants (50.4%; P = .10) were not significant. Screening rates at 13 months did not differ significantly among groups.
Association of MTHFR, IL-6 and ICAM-1 gene Polymorphisms with Coronary Artery Disease in South-Indian Ethnic Subset: A Case-Control Study

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity all over the world. Among these cardiovascular deaths, half result from coronary artery disease (CAD). Increased prevalence of CAD is associated with increased levels of inflammatory markers. Phenotypic variations of these markers may depend on physiological stress or genetic variations. Materials and Methods: Single nucleotide polymorphism analysis of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) genes was done by PCR-DNA sequencing method. Results: Statistically significant elevation of inflammatory markers- homocysteine, hsCRP and fibrinogen were found in CAD group (p≤0.05). Multiple sequence alignment showed a single nucleotide mutation i.e., c.677 C>T (p. A222V) in exon-4 of MTHFR in 10% of CAD group and was associated with an increased risk of CAD (OR: 12.21). Mutations observed in exon-4 of IL-6 gene (in 26% of cases) was significantly associated with an increased risk of CAD (OR: 36.36). ICAM-1 (exon-6) mutation i.e., c.1405 A>G (p. K469E) was observed in 18% of patients and an increased risk of CAD (OR: 23.12). Conclusion: Polymorphisms observed in MTHFR, IL-6 and ICAM-1 genes in South- Indian ethnic population which are associated with elevated levels of inflammatory markers â€“ homocysteine, hsCRP and fibrinogen appear to be predisposing factors for atherosclerosis.
Immersive Teleoperation of the Eye Gaze of Social Robots Assessing Gaze-Contingent Control of Vergence, Yaw and Pitch of Robotic Eyes

This paper presents a new teleoperation system – called stereo gaze-contingent steering (SGCS) – able to seamlessly control the vergence, yaw and pitch of the eyes of a humanoid robot – here an iCub robot – from the actual gaze direction of a remote pilot. The video stream captured by the cameras embedded in the mobile eyes of the iCub are fed into an HTC Vive R Head-Mounted Display equipped with an SMI R binocular eye-tracker. The SGCS achieves the effective coupling between the eye-tracked gaze of the pilot and the robot's eye movements. SGCS both ensures a faithful reproduction of the pilot's eye movements – that is perquisite for the readability of the robot's gaze patterns by its interlocutor – and maintains the pilot's oculomotor visual clues – that avoids fatigue and sickness due to sensorimotor conflicts. We here assess the precision of this servo-control by asking several pilots to gaze towards known objects positioned in the remote environment. We demonstrate that we succeed in controlling vergence with similar precision as eyes' azimuth and elevation. This system opens the way for robot-mediated human interactions in the personal space, notably when objects in the shared working space are involved.
Impact of sexually transmitted infections on women health

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are the infections that can be transmitted from one sex partner, who already has such infection, to another. The causes of STIs in human are very well elucidated and their causative agents are identified as bacteria, parasites and viruses. The worldwide epidemiology of more than 20 types of STIs has been established, which includes diseases like Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Genital herpes, HIV/ AIDS, HPV, Syphilis and Trichomoniasis. Though STIs affect both men and women indiscriminately, however, the pathophysiology of disease is more obvious among women. Other than abstinence, the most effective way to prevent the transmission or acquisition of STIs is to use a condom during sexual intercourse. Condoms are effective in decreasing the transmission of HIV. However, once contacted, STIs caused by bacteria or parasites can be treated with antibiotics. STIs caused by a virus may not virtually have any cure though the medicines may keep the disease under control. Correct usage of preventive measures greatly reduces but does not completely eliminate the risk of catching or spreading STIs.
Preparation and Evaluation of Proniosomal Gel of Neem Seed Oil

Niosomes are non-ionic surfactant vesicles which act as drug carrier systems. In the present study, we carried preparation and evaluation of proniosomal gel of neem seed oil. The proniosomal gel was prepared using span 40, soya lecithin and cholesterol, using neem seed oil as the active pharmaceutical ingredient. Alcohol and phosphate buffer pH 7.4 were used in formulation as pharmaceutical excipients. The resulting formulations were evaluated and observed by transmission electron microscopy. Evaluation of formulation yielded optimum results like uniform size distribution 75-80% drug entrapment and microbiological data. It is concluded that it is viable to prepare an acceptable pronisomal gel of neem seed oil for therapeutic applications.
The influence of ammonia and amines on grass silage intake and intake behaviour in dairy cows.

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. The influence of ammonia and amines on grass silage intake and intake behaviour in dairy cows M Van Os, Jp Dulphy, R Baumont, M Jailler, Jm Ballet
A fast in situ approach to estimating wafer warpage profile during thermal processing in microlithography

Wafer warpage can affect device performance, reliability and linewidth control in various processing steps in microelectronics manufacturing. Early detection will minimize cost and processing time. We have previously demonstrated an on-line approach for detecting wafer warpage and the profile of the warped wafer. The proposed approach demonstrates that the profile of the wafer can be computed during thermal processing steps in the lithography sequence. However, the approach is computationally intensive and information is made available at the end of the thermal processing step. Any attempts at real-time correction of the wafer temperature are thus not possible. In this paper, we proposed an in situ approach to detect wafer warpage and its profile midway through the thermal process. Based on first principles thermal modelling, we are able to detect and estimate the profile of a warped wafer from available temperature measurements. The proposed approach can be implemented on conventional thermal processing systems. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and repeatability of the approach. A 75% improvement in computational time is achieved with the proposed approach.
Algorithm for positive realization of transfer functions

The aim of this brief is to present a finite-step algorithm for the positive realization of a rational transfer function H(z). In comparison with previously described algorithms we emphasize that we do not make an a priori assumption on (but, instead, include a finite step procedure for checking) the nonnegativity of the impulse-response sequence of H(z). For primitive transfer functions a new method for reducing the pole order of the dominant pole is also proposed.
Impact of the Pulsed Electric Field Treatment on Bioactive Food Compounds: Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability

Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) treatment is a non-thermal food processing technology that mostly applied to low viscosity high acidity food samples. Due to its non-thermal nature, it is preferred over thermal processing technologies since it has a superiority to preserve physical, chemical, biochemical and sensory properties of food with extended shelf life. Studies focused on preservation of bioactive and health-related compounds usually involve effect of PEF on water soluble vitamins, total antioxidant capacity, total phenolic compounds, phenolic substances, organic acids, and anthocyanins and are limited on how bioaccessibility and bioavailability of these compounds are changed by PEF processing. Thus, effects of PEF processing on bioaccessibility and bioavailability of food components with both in vivo and in vitro studies emphasizing on future needs are emphasized in this review.
Determination of Perception of Community of Inquiry.

Community of inquiry (CoI) is the conceptual framework which describes critical prerequisite factors for deep and meaningful learning in online learning environments. Based on the literature concerning the CoI framework, it can be observed that studies in which three factors in the model (cognitive, social and teaching presence) were investigated have been increased as scales to determine perception towards CoI have been developed, which thus made it possible to work on relatively larger sampling groups effectively and to increase generalizability of findings. In this context, within the scope of the present research, by investigating different data collection tools developed by different researchers, studies aiming to determine CoI perception by means of a scale were investigated in detail. Research results reveals that CoI survey instrument developed by Arbaugh et al. (2008) has been widely accepted in the literature; and that the instrument has been adapted to number of languages such as Turkish, Korean and Arabic; and employed in diverse disciplines such as education, business and health care. Key words: Community of inquiry, cognitive presence, social presence, teaching presence.
An Enhanced Ant Colony-based Approach for Query Optimization

One of the mandatory processes for all those types of applications is the inquiry process of the stored huge amounts of data. Such process is either a predefined or an ad-hoc query. From the logical point of view, the query process depends mainly on many algebraic operations, including selection, projection and joining operations. The most important one of them is the join operation, which represents the key factor of the inquiry process to retrieve the related information from different data tables. Many approaches have been proposed aiming to reduce the cost of join operations. Yet, there is still a need for more query optimizing processes in order to reduce the query response time. This paper proposes an enhanced optimal query processing approach for inner and outer join, where the proposed model exploits an adopted Ant Colony Optimization.