Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insect Life: Invasion of the Red Imported Fire Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, hereafter referred to as the imported fire ant , has received much press coverage since its introduction into the United States approximately 75 years ago. This is not because Qf its fascinating biology, which I will cover, but to the fear and frustration of citizens who have come in contact with this insect. The news media have recognized the public's frustration and, while providing important information, have tended to exaggerate and fan the fires of frustration and fear. Following the United States Department of Agriculture's recognition that imported fire ants were a problem in 1950, many newspaper headlines have appeared that have given the impression that not only are these ants dangerous, they are marching across the South and will soon invade your area. Some of the more sensational ones include, “Possibly lethal hordes of fire ants plague sadden Texas areas” (Washington Post , 30 October 1981); “But insects ‘are winning’: officials fighting to check fire ants march through Texas” (Los Angeles Times , 5 December 1981); “War on fire ants still suffers stinging losses” (Chicago Tribune , 13 June 1982); and “Woman puts up tough fight before dying from fire ant stings” (Houston Chronicle , 23 November 1990). Further, pictures like the cover of The Magazine of San Antonio (May 1980) taken from a poster advertising the movie Empire of the Ants (American International Pictures 1977) or the paperback book, The Fire Ants (Wernick 1976) suggest these ants are at least the size of a squirrel, not unlike the ants featured in the movie Them (Warner Brothers 1954). The ants are the subject of many magazine articles (Michel 1984, Glass-Godwin 1992, Killion and Vinson 1995). Imported fire ants also have received magazine cover status in such publications as Smithsonian (July 1990) and Texas Monthly Magazine (August 1988). They even have entered our popular culture as indicated by their inclusion in several cartoons such as Bloom County (Breathed 1981) or Mother Goose and Grimm (Peter 1989). However, the cover of Texas Monthly Magazine probably stated best what most people in the infested region consider this creature, (i.e., “Public Enemy Number One”). But, is this designation deserved? To examine this question I first will cover the fire ant's biology and then some of the problems.
Financial and Banking Services Market

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can bring in much needed capital, particularly in emerging markets, help improve manufacturing and trade sectors, bring in more efficient technologies, increase local production and exports, create jobs and develop local skills, bring about improvements in soft and hard infrastructure and overall be a contributor to sustainable economic growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With all these desirable features, it becomes relevant to ascertain the factors which attract FDI to an economy or a group of adjacent economies. This paper explores the determinants of FDI in six Former Soviet Union (FSU): Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Russia, Moldova and Kazakhstan. After an extensive literature review of theories and empirical research and using a set of cross-sectional data over the period 1995–2017, an ARDL model is estimated © Vijay Shenai, Artem Shcherbyna, Sergei Voronin, Dmitriy Olkhovskyy, 2020. Shenai Vijay, PhD (Economics), Professor at University of Lincoln, UK. Email: kvshenai11@gmail.com. Shcherbyna Artem, PhD (Economics), Associate Professor at Department of Finance, Kyiv National Economic University, Ukraine. Voronin Sergei, MBA, Volgograd State Technical University, Russia. Olkhovskyy Dmitriy, MPA, Kharkiv National University of Economics, Ukraine. J o u r n a l o f E u r o p e a n E c o n o m y Vol. 19. No 1 (72). January–March 2020 ISSN 2519-4070 141 with FDI/GDP as the dependent variable. Inflation, exchange rate changes, openness, economy size (GDP), Income levels (GNI per capita), Infrastructure (measured by the number of fixed line and mobile subscription per 100 persons) are tested as independent variables for explanatory power in long run and short run relationships. Over the period, higher inflows of FDI in relation to GDP appear to be have been attracted to the markets with better infrastructure, smaller markets and higher income levels, with lower openness, depreciation in the exchange rate and higher income levels though the coefficients of the last three variables are not significant. The results show the type of FDI attracted to investments in this region and are evaluated from theoretical and practical view points. Policy recommendations are made to enhance FDI inflows and further economic development in this region. Such a study of this region has not been made in the past.
Identification and Evaluation of the Expansin Genes in Salix purpurea Genome

Expansin is an indispensable cell wall protein, involved in plant growth and resistance to stress. Based on the sequencing genome data, a total of 34 expansin genes were identified on 14 chromosomes in Salix purpurea, which were grouped into 4 subfamilies. The analysis of the physicochemical properties showed that most expansin proteins were in weakly alkaline, had a higher aliphatic index and more stable protein structure. The gene sequence was more conservative among the members in the same subfamily with the amino acid identity between 34.2% and 99.4%, while that was between 15.0% and 39.8% among the members in the different subfamilies. Also, the same subfamily genes had similar exon-intron structures, but the different subfamily genes showed that much differently. The codon usage analysis revealed that there are 5 high-frequency codons in Salix purpurea expansin genes. The codon usage bias was much affected by natural selection. The synteny analysis showed that the expansin genes divided in corresponce to whole-genome duplication events in willow. The results here would help us to understand well the role and status of expansin genes in the growth and development of Salix purpurea. It will be helpful for further study on the expansins functions.
Electrical and optical design and characterisation of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5diyl)/fullerene-based heterojunction polymer solar cells

Electrical and optical properties of poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5diyl) (P3HT-2,5diyl) used as the main component in a bulk heterojunction polymer/fullerene solar cell were investigated. The HOMO level of the polymer was estimated at about 4.7–5.1 eV, from the observed space charge limited current (SCLC) studies in ITO/P3HT-2,5diyl/Au hole-only devices, which conﬁrmed the formation of ohmic contacts between the polymer and the Au and ITO electrodes. The values calculated for hole mobility and density range from 1 : 4 (cid:1) 10 (cid:2) 6 cm 2 /(V s) and 5 : 3 (cid:1) 10 14 cm (cid:2) 3 at 150 K to 8 : 5 (cid:1) 10 (cid:2) 5 cm 2 /(V s) and 1 : 1 (cid:1) 10 15 cm (cid:2) 3 at 250 K, respectively. A HOMO–LUMO gap of 2.14 eV was estimated from an absorption spectrum of the polymer. Photoinduced charge transfer from polymer to PCBM was evidenced by strong photoluminiscence quenching, which was observed when the polymer was mixed with [6,6]-phenyl-C 61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). Charge carrier transport properties of the polymer/fullerene solar cells were studied by analysing the dependence of J – V characteristics on temperature and illumination intensity. A linear decrease of the open-circuit voltage with increasing temperature, with a local maximum around 320 K, was observed. The short-circuit current density increased with temperature, having a maximum around 300 K and decreased thereafter. Efﬁciency and ﬁll factor presented maxima around 3 mW/cm 2 white light intensity, and this was attributed to the poor bulk transport properties of the active layer. Typical values recorded for the solar cell at 300 K under white light of 100 mW/cm 2 intensity were: open-circuit voltage 0.48 V, and current density 1.28 mA/cm 2 , with an efﬁciency of 0.2% and ﬁll factor of 30.6%. # 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Comparison of the obturation density of gutta percha using cold lateral condensation and varying continuous wave of condensation techniques

COMPARISON OF THE OBTURATION DENSITY OF GUTTA PERCHA USING COLD LATERAL CONDENSATION AND VARYING CONTINUOUS WAVE OF CONDENSATION TECHNIQUES Jamie Michele Day, D.D.S. This study compared the density of gutta percha when using cold lateral condensation (CLC) and continuous wave of condensation (CWC) under varying temperature and plugger depths. Seventy acrylic blocks were instrumented. The blocks were weighed and assigned to seven groups. Group 1 was obturated with CLC. The remaining six groups were obturated with CWC. Groups 2-4 were obturated by advancing the plugger to 3 mm short of the working length at 100C, 200C, and 300C, respectively, and then backfilled. In groups 5-7 the plugger was advanced to 5 mm short of working length. The blocks were weighed again after obturation. Data were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s tests. Results indicated a significantly greater density of gutta percha when using CWC compared to CLC and when the plugger was advanced to 3 mm short of working length (p<.05). No significant differences were noted between the three different temperatures (p>.05).
Beamforming Design and Performance Analysis of A Multicarrier MIMO Cellular System with Co-channel Interference

: This paper addresses the beamforming design for the base station (BS) and mobile statt tion (MS) in multicarrier multipletinput multipletoutput (MIMO) mobile cellular comtt munication systems. The transmit and receive beamformers at both the BS and MS are derived under cotchannel interference (CCI) conditions in a Rayleigh fading environtt ment. A closedtform expression for the maximum output signalttotinterference ratio (SIR) is achieved for interferencetlimited system. The quadratic form included in the maximum output SIR is analyzed, and the probability density function (PDF) of its largtt est eigenvalue is determined for RayleightRayleigh scenario (the BS and the cotchantt nel interferers are subject to Rayleigh fading). Finally, the paper presents closedtform expressions for the PDF and the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the output SIR and the system outage probability.
Deep iterative vessel segmentation in OCT angiography

This paper addresses retinal vessel segmentation on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) images of the human retina. Our approach is motivated by the need for high precision image-guided delivery of regenerative therapies in vitreo-retinal surgery. OCT-A visualizes macular vasculature, the main landmark of the surgically targeted area, at a level of detail and spatial extent unattainable by other imaging modalities. Thus, automatic extraction of detailed vessel maps can ultimately inform surgical planning. We address the task of delineation of the Superficial Vascular Plexus in 2D Maximum Intensity Projections (MIP) of OCT-A using convolutional neural networks that iteratively refine the quality of the produced vessel segmentations. We demonstrate that the proposed approach compares favourably to alternative network baselines and graph-based methodologies through extensive experimental analysis, using data collected from 50 subjects, including both individuals that underwent surgery for structural macular abnormalities and healthy subjects. Additionally, we demonstrate generalization to 3D segmentation and narrower field-of-view OCT-A. In the future, the extracted vessel maps will be leveraged for surgical planning and semi-automated intraoperative navigation in vitreo-retinal surgery. Published by The Optical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal
The Effects of Dietary Protein Level on Productive Performance and Egg Quality of Four Strains of White Leghorn Hens

Abstract The effects of a mid-laying period reduction in dietary protein level on productive performance was studied with 576 individually caged Single Comb White Leghorn hens from four strains. The hens on treatments 1 and 2 received diets that contained by calculation 17 and 15% protein, respectively, between 143 and 507 days of age, while those on treatment 3 received 17 and 13% protein diets from 143 to 325 and 326 and 507 days, respectively. For treatment 4, diets containing 15 and 13% protein were given during the same periods as for treatment 3. Egg quality measurements were taken on eggs laid over 5-day intervals when the birds were 182, 252, 316, 380, 436, and 485 days of age. Dietary protein level had no significant effects on feed intake, mortality, body weight, egg production, egg grade, specific gravity, egg weight, Haugh units, or blood spots. Protein intake had no effect on the 507-day body weights and on hen-day egg production, except for a small decrease for treatment 4, although the intakes of protein, leucine, and lysine were lower for treatments 3 and 4 between 326 and 507 days of age than the NRC requirements. Level of dietary protein had no effect on kg feed/dozen eggs but had a significant (P
Detecção de embarcações em imagens de sensores orbitais ópticos baseada em características contextuais e comparação de formato de contorno

RESUMO: Neste artigo é apresentado um método de detecção de embarcações, baseado em características de contexto e características de comparação de formato de contorno dos alvos (embarcações), detectados em imagens provenientes de sensores ópticos orbitais, a partir da aplicação de filtros de detecção de bordas. O método utiliza essas características como descritores e os submete a um processo de classificação por rede neural artificial. Foi avaliado quanto à precisão, abrangência e medida F1. Em estudo de caso em que foram utilizadas imagens com resolução espacial de 5 metros, a média dos resultados do método para a medida F1 foi de 94,9%, sendo que a precisão média foi de 92,19% e a abrangência média foi de 100%, i.e., todas as embarcações de médio a grande porte presentes nas imagens foram detectadas. As falhas de precisão ocorreram em virtude de falsos positivos provocados por pequenas ilhas. O método conseguiu detectar embarcações fundeadas juntas e atracadas ao cais. ABSTRACT: This paper presents a ship detection method based on context characteristics and contour shape comparison characteristics of targets (ships), detected on images from orbital optical sensors, by applying edge detection filters. The method uses these characteristics as descriptors and applies them to a classification process based on artificial neural network. It was evaluated by precision and recall and F1-measure. On a case study using images with 5 meters spatial resolution, the average method result was 94.9% for F1-measure, 92,19% for precision and 100% for recall, i.e., all ships of medium and large size were detected on the images. Failures on precision have occurred due to false positives caused by small islands. The method was able to detect ships in harbor and ships that are at anchor beside another one.
The Design of Novel Protein Kinase Inhibitors Using the Naturally Occurring Isojacareubin Scaffold As A Lead

Therapeutic areas for Protein Kinase inhibitors include cancer. A study has indicated that isojacareubin, a plant-derived natural product, inhibits Protein Kinase C. This study aimed to design in silico protein kinase inhibitors using isojacareubin as a molecular template. Virtual screening and de novo design were carried out during the study. A total of three hundred hits were produced from virtual screening using the best binding conformer of isojacareubin. Two hundred molecules were generated de novo from each seed structure of isojacareubin. Lipinski Rules compliant molecules were chosen from each study, and thus, were orally bioavailable. The binding affinities (pKd) of the Lipinski Rules compliant molecules produced ranged from 7.16 to 10.00. The molecules require further validation through in silco molecular dynamics and confirmed through in vitro assays.
An Empirical Study into the Individual-Level Antecedents to Employee-Driven Innovation

Innovation refers to the series of steps organizations take to transform ideas into improved products, services, or processes, as a way of competing to differentiate themselves in the marketplace (Baregheh et al., 2009). Up to this point, innovation studies have been primarily concerned with innovations that mainly emanate from research and development (R&D) departments. Recently, the roles of ordinary employees in innovation processes have become a focal point in innovation literature (Aasen et al., 2012; Deslee & Dahan, 2018; Voxted, 2018). It has become imperative to regard all employees, irrespective of their role or capacity, as the “innovation capital” or asset of every organization (Kesting & Ulhøi, 2010). As a result, organizations today expect more creativity, innovation, and involvement from employees in the rapidly changing business environment. This has led to a focus on the potential of ordinary employees as contributors to innovation (Price et al., 2012; Wihlman et al., 2014; Engen & Magnusson, 2015).
The Effect of Urbanization on the Life History and Color of Black Widow Spiders

Some species thrive in the wake of human disturbance and can out-compete others, often resulting in decreased biodiversity. Latrodectus hesperus (Western Black Widow Spider) is a superabundant urban pest-species known for its brightly colored red hourglass on the opisthosoma. Here we present a field survey of Western Black Widow population ecology, body condition, and hourglass coloration. We found significant spatial and tempo- ral variation across our 8 urban populations in various ecological variables, body condition, and hourglass coloration. Body condition was neither a reliable predictor of hourglass size nor coloration. Rather, the size and spectral qualities of the hourglass were correlated with ecological variables. Thus, our findings offer support for the contention that urbanization creates spatial heterogeneity.
Does E-Coli play an important role in neonatal sepsis in preterm prelabour rupture of membrane?

Aim: The aim of this study was to detect the most common causative organism causing neonatal sepsis in women suffered preterm prelabour rupture of membranes and if it is different from that of the maternal genital swab.Materials and Methods: This study was carried out on 200 pregnant women with PPROM at gestational age between 23 weeks plus 6 days to 28 weeks. Genital swabs were taken for microbiological study and all women were managed conservatively. After delivery, buccal and nasal swab were taken from the neonates and the detected organism(s) were correlated with those detected from the mothers' swabs. Also, neonatal outcome was studied regarding incidence of neonatal sepsis, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) admission and neonatal mortality.Results: From the 200 enrolled cases and their neonates, there were thirty-three neonates (16.5%) that were admitted to the NICU with twenty-one neonates (67.8%) of them suffering neonatal sepsis. Only thirteen neonates (61.9%) of those who had suffered sepsis shared the same organisms with their mothers. The other eight cases (38.1%) had different organisms. The most frequent organism regarding maternal vaginal swabs was Escherichia coli followed by Group B Streptococci sharing the same frequency with non-hemolytic Streptococci, Staphylococcus aureus and Group A streptococci sharing the same frequency with Klebsiella species.Conclusion: E-coli is the most common causative organism for neonatal sepsis in PPROM before 28 weeks of gestation.
Pathway of Concrete Improvement Via Nano-Technology

Nanotechnology is the science that deals with matter at the scale of 1 billionth of a meter (i.e., 10− 9 m = 1 nm), and is also the study of manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular scale. The use of nanotechnology can modify some properties of concrete. In this review we discuss the application of different nanomaterials to enhance conventional concrete properties. Each ultrafine materials act as agent to reduce formation of micro pores, provide dense microstructure and increase mechanical properties. Thus, the main trends in the use of nanomaterials are highlighted, highlighting the advantages generated by the addition of nanoparticles to concrete
The African Elephant (Loxodonta africana): Mini-Review of an Endangered Species

Humankind is responsible for conditioning the distribution of species, including the African elephant. From its great physical form to its fascinating social behaviour, Loxodonta africana can trigger an admiration in some and be undervalued by others, often ending up being a victim of human activities. Increasingly, the apparent impossibility of the coexistence of these two species represents a problem for the conservation of the large African mammal. Here it was reviewed the published bibliography about the African savannah elephant (L. africana), between July 2015 and December 2019. The Web of Science (WoS) database enabled the search for the words “Loxodonta africana”. From this research, we obtained 310 articles, 149 of them were analysed. Elephants have characteristics that define its uniqueness that are constantly reported, such as: its cognition and extraordinary memory, factors that influence its movements and its distribution, its specific vocalization and the strong dependence on social connections. Threats to the conservation of the species and the urgency of interventions are also an important subject of discussion. Poaching for ivory represents a major obstacle on conservation and has been drastically reducing the number of elephant populations and causing future consequences for those who thrive. Law enforcement in reducing/prohibit poaching has proven to be insufficient, so there is an urgent need to combat the demand for ivory. Also, it is necessary to bypass the conflict, promote tolerance and enable cohabitation. We believe that educating human populations to better understand the species may be the difference to guarantee a future for the species. Conservationists may be the enablers of these educational actions, however, to make the difference, it is necessary to know the species in detail. Mastering knowledge in these behavioural areas will contribute to improve mitigation strategies, which could make the difference to guarantee a future for the species.
Bilinear Generalized Vector Approximate Message Passing

We introduce the bilinear generalized vector approximate message passing (BiG-VAMP) algorithm which jointly recovers two matrices U and V from their noisy product through a probabilistic observation model. BiG-VAMP provides computationally efficient approximate implementations of both max-sum and sumproduct loopy belief propagation (BP). We show how the proposed BiG-VAMP algorithm recovers different types of structured matrices and overcomes the fundamental limitations of other state-of-the-art approaches to the bilinear recovery problem, such as BiG-AMP, BAd-VAMP and LowRAMP. In essence, BiG-VAMP applies to a broader class of practical applications which involve a general form of structured matrices. For the sake of theoretical performance prediction, we also conduct a state evolution (SE) analysis of the proposed algorithm and show its consistency with the asymptotic empirical mean-squared error (MSE). Numerical results on various applications such as matrix factorization, dictionary learning, and matrix completion demonstrate unambiguously the effectiveness of the proposed BiG-VAMP algorithm and its superiority over stateof-the-art algorithms. Using the developed SE framework, we also examine (as one example) the phase transition diagrams of the matrix completion problem, thereby unveiling a low detectability region corresponding to the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime.