Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Expression of the Artemisia annua beta-caryophyllene synthase in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 results in cyanobacterial sesquiterpene accumulation

Reinsvold, Robert Eric. Expression of the Artemisia annua β-Caryophyllene Synthase in, Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 Results in Cyanobacterial Sesquiterpene Accumulation, Published Masters of Science thesis, University of Northern Colorado 2010. The sesquiterpene β-caryophyllene is a ubiquitous component of many plant resins and has been used in the cosmetic industry to provide a woody, spicy aroma. Recent clinical studies have shown its potential effectiveness as an antibiotic, anesthetic, and anti-inflammatory agent. Additionally, there is significant interest in sesquiterpene accumulation in phototrophic microorganisms for the production of biofuels. Currently, the isolation of β-caryophyllene relies on purification methods from oleoresins extracted from large amounts of plant material. The design of a cyanobacterium platform that produces β-caryophyllene may provide a more sustainable and controllable means of production, allowing for an increase in yield without the potential deleterious effects to natural sources. To this end, the β-caryophyllene synthase gene (QHS1) from Artemisia annua (Chinese wormwood) was stably inserted via double homologous recombination into the genome of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803, under the control of the strong endogenous psbAII promoter. Gene insertion into Synechocystis was confirmed through polymerase chain reaction assays and sequencing reactions. Transcription and expression of QHS1 was confirmed using reverse transcription PCR assays and production of β-caryophyllene was confirmed in the transgenic strain using gas chromatography with flame ionization detection and mass-spectrometry detection.
Utilisation des marqueurs pour la caracterisation des ressources genetiques

Résumé. Un aperçu des méthodes de caractérisation des ressources génétiques basées sur les marqueurs moléculaires est présenté. La variabilité génétique entre races s’exprime généralement, à partir d’un ensemble de fréquences alléliques, sous la forme d’indices de fixation et de diversité génique, ainsi que de distances génétiques entre races. Ces dernières peuvent être converties en phylogénie, classification ou mesure globale de diversité. La richesse allélique est une information complémentaire intéressante à prendre en compte. La planification expéri-mentale des études de diversité et leur fiabilité statistique sont brièvement discutées.
View-consistent 4D Light Field Depth Estimation

We propose a method to compute depth maps for every sub-aperture image in a light field in a view consistent way. Previous light field depth estimation methods typically estimate a depth map only for the central sub-aperture view, and struggle with view consistent estimation. Our method precisely defines depth edges via EPIs, then we diffuse these edges spatially within the central view. These depth estimates are then propagated to all other views in an occlusion-aware way. Finally, disoccluded regions are completed by diffusion in EPI space. Our method runs efficiently with respect to both other classical and deep learning-based approaches, and achieves competitive quantitative metrics and qualitative performance on both synthetic and real-world light fields
Effects of intensive culture and feeding isoprotein diets with different fat and carbohydrate contents on cortisol, total protein and protein fractions contents, AspAT and AlAT activities, and on body composition and weight increments in carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) fingerlings.

The experiment was run on carp individuals in their sec­ ond year of life. The fish were randomly divided into two groups fed two different isoprotein diets, one with increased fat level (Group I) and the other with increased carbohydrate level (Group II). Cortisol, total protein and protein fraction contents, AspA T and AlAT activities, and body composition and weight increments were monitored. Statistically signifi­ cant differences between the two experimental groups were found in cortisol content, albumin level, blood AspAT and AlA T activities as well as in dry weight, total protein, and fat contents of the fish body.
Brotate and Tribike: Designing Smartphone Control for Cycling

The more people commute by bicycle, the higher is the number of cyclists using their smartphones while cycling and compromising traffic safety. We have designed, implemented and evaluated two prototypes for smartphone control devices that do not require the cyclists to remove their hands from the handlebars—the three-button device Tribike and the rotation-controlled Brotate. The devices were the result of a user-centred design process where we identified the key features needed for a on-bike smartphone control device. We evaluated the devices in a biking exercise with 19 participants, where users completed a series of common smartphone tasks. The study showed that Brotate allowed for significantly more lateral control of the bicycle and both devices reduced the cognitive load required to use the smartphone. Our work contributes insights into designing interfaces for cycling.
Measurements of Prompt Photon Photoproduction at HERA

Measurements of inclusive prompt photon and prompt photons, together with an accompanying jet, in photoproduction at HERA have been made with the ZEUS detector, using an integrated luminosity of 38.4 pb-1. We have performed two analyses in the study of prompt photon production. First inclusive cross section measurements for prompt photon production have been presented as a function of the pseudorapidity and the transverse energy (etagamma, ETgamma)of the photon, for ETgamma > 5 GeV in the gammap centre-of-mass energy range 134-285 GeV. Comparisons are made with predictions from Monte Carlo models having leading-logarithm parton showers, and with next-to-leading order QCD calculations, using currently available parameterisations of the photon structure. For positive etagamma (proton direction) there is good agreement, but for negative etagamma all predictions fall below the data. None of the available variations of the model parameters was found to be capable of removing the discrepancy with the data. The results indicated a need to review the present theoretical modelling of the parton structure of the photon at high xgamma regions. A study of the intrinsic parton transverse momentum, kT, of the quarks in the proton, as modelled within the framework of the PYTHIA Monte Carlo, has been performed using the kinematical properties of events with a measured jet as well as a prompt photon. A fit to the data gives a value of = 1.39 +/- 0.36+0.12-0.23GeV. This result is compared with earlier high-energy proton-scattering measurements. A rising trend of with interaction energy is confirmed.
Adaptive Driver-Automation Shared Steering Control via Forearm Surface Electromyography Measurement

Shared steering control has been developed to reduce driver workload while keeping the driver in the control loop. A driver could integrate visual sensory information from the road ahead and haptic sensory information from the steering wheel to achieve better driving performance. Previous studies suggest that, compared with adaptive automation authority, fixed automation authority is not always appropriate with respect to human factors. This paper focuses on designing an adaptive shared steering control system via sEMG (surface electromyography) measurement from the forearm of the driver, and evaluates the effect of the system on driver behavior during a double lane change task. The shared steering control was achieved through a haptic guidance system which provided active assistance torque on the steering wheel. Ten subjects participated in a high-fidelity driving simulator experiment. Two types of adaptive algorithms were investigated: haptic guidance decreases when driver grip strength increases (HG-Decrease), and haptic guidance increases when driver grip strength increases (HG-Increase). These two algorithms were compared to manual driving and two levels of fixed authority haptic guidance, for a total of five experimental conditions. Evaluation of the driving systems was based on two sets of dependent variables: objective measures of driver behavior and subjective measures of driver workload. The results indicate that the adaptive authority of HG-Decrease yielded lower driver workload and reduced the lane departure risk compared to manual driving and fixed authority haptic guidance.
Influence of the Roughage Level in the Finishing Diet on Carcass Characteristics and Fatty Acid Composition of Carcass Fat in Fattening Japanese Black Steers

黒毛和種去勢牛の肥育後期における粗飼料の給与水準が,枝肉の性状および枝肉脂肪の脂肪酸組成に及ぼす影響を検討するため,同一種雄牛の息牛8頭を肥育した. 粗飼料としては質の安定したイナワラのみを用い,その給与水準が全飼料TDN中の25%(R25区)および15%(R15区)の2区を設定し,320日間肥育した後,全頭同時に屠殺し枝肉性状と枝肉脂肪の脂肪酸組成を測定した. イナワラを抑制したR15区ではR25区に比べ,皮下脂肪の厚さが有意に厚く,脂肪交雑と枝肉歩留が高い傾向を示した. また肉色が有意に淡く,肉の光沢,しまりが有意に高かった. 枝肉脂肪の脂肪酸組成ではR15区は皮下脂肪においてC18:0(炭素数:二重結合の数)が有意に低く,不飽和脂肪酸/飽和脂肪酸の比率が有意に高く,胸最長筋においてはC16:1が有意に高く,C18:0が有意に低く,また腎臓周囲脂肪においてはC18:0が有意に低く,C18:1,不飽和脂肪酸,不飽和脂肪酸/飽和脂肪酸の比率が有意に高い値を示した. 以上の結果はR15区の方が肉質等級が高く,また脂肪酸組成からみた肉質も好ましいものであることを意味し,肥育後期におけるイナワラ給与水準が,脂肪交雑や皮下脂肪の厚さなど枝肉の脂肪蓄積量に影響を及ぼすこと,同時に脂肪酸組成が変化するなど枝肉脂肪の質の変化に対しても影響を及ぼすことを明らかにし,肥育後期の粗飼料水準の設定が,肉牛肥育上の重要な技術のひとつであることを示唆した.
Effect of salinity on water relations of two growth forms of Suaeda calceoliformis.

1. Suaeda calceoliformis, a succulent annual halophyte which occurs at Big Salt Marsh (Stafford Co., Kansas, USA), has erect and prostrate growth forms. 2. The two growth forms have similar leaf osmotic potentials over a wide range of salinities (0-5% NaCl), while leaf water (ψ) and pressure (ψ p ) potentials are higher for prostrate individuals. 3. To determine the basis for differences in ψ and ψ p between the two growth forms, pressure-volume (PV) curves were constructed for individuals of each growth form at 3 and 5% NaCl
Multiple F0 Estimation in Vocal Ensembles using Convolutional Neural Networks

This paper addresses the extraction of multiple F0 values from polyphonic and a cappella vocal performances using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). We address the major challenges of ensemble singing, i.e., all melodic sources are vocals and singers sing in harmony. We build upon an existing architecture to produce a pitch salience function of the input signal, where the harmonic constant-Q transform (HCQT) and its associated phase differentials are used as an input representation. The pitch salience function is subsequently thresholded to obtain a multiple F0 estimation output. For training, we build a dataset that comprises several multi-track datasets of vocal quartets with F0 annotations. This work proposes and evaluates a set of CNNs for this task in diverse scenarios and data configurations, including recordings with additional reverb. Our models outperform a state-of-the-art method intended for the same music genre when evaluated with an increased F0 resolution, as well as a general-purpose method for multi-F0 estimation. We conclude with a discussion on future research directions.
Pest control by mites (Acari): present and future

This essay reviews advances in the systematics of mite families containing members that are acarine biocontrol agents (ABAs), including the Phytoseiidae which have several strains or races. Additions to the roster of mites that affect pests (including weeds and pathogens), and of pests that may be, or are, significantly affected by ABAs, were noted. The various pest-debilitating mechanisms used by ABAs, including predation, parasitism, parasitoidism, parasiticcastration, competition as well as reductions in weed and phytopathogenic fungal growth are listed. Theaffected targets include agricultural, veterinary and medical pests, as well as weeds, nematodes and fungi. The effect of intra-guild predation on the ABAs’ ability to affect pests is discussed, along with other organisms that increase the controlling impact of ABAs. The influence of host plants, including their architecture, leaf surfaces, domatia, pollen, genetically modified plants (GMOs) and volatiles are then reviewed. Then come mite feeding on soil-inhabiting pests and the newly-discovered effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. ABA feeding on weeds and on nematodes is briefly discussed next, along with the few known ABA diseases. The effect of plant-protection chemicals are then considered, followed by new techniques for the better implementation of ABAs. These include mass rearing, modes of distribution, long-term maintenance and the application of molecular methods to determine quantitative and qualitative feeding rates. This review ends with suggestions for further research, including more collecting and assaying of ABAs (especially indigenous species), determining the effects of secondary predators and of light regimes in greenhouses, and increasing studies on the role of volatiles of plant and nematode source, and of ABAs as vectors of pest diseases.
Correlates of risky behaviors among young and older men having sexual relations with men in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Omega Study Group.

OBJECTIVE To assess characteristics associated with 1) age and 2) recent unprotected anal sex with casual partners among men having sexual relations with men (MSM) participating in the Omega Cohort, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. METHODS The Omega Cohort is a study of the incidence and psychosocial determinants of HIV infection among MSM living in Montreal. MSM complete a questionnaire and are tested for HIV every 6 months. RESULTS Thirteen percent of young MSM ( or = 30 years of age, n = 455) reported recent unprotected anal sex with casual partners. The predictors of this latter behavior were: not living with a male sexual partner, unprotected anal sex with regular partner, > 5 casual partners, alcohol/drug use before anal sex, and having difficulties with procedures needed for safe sex. Among young MSM, additional predictors were: to have been living in Montreal for less than 1 year and to have exchanged money for sex. Among older MSM, additional predictors were: female sexual partners, unprotected anal sex with an HIV-infected partner, and feeling invulnerable to AIDS. CONCLUSION Young Omega participants do not have more risky behaviors than older participants. Some predictors of recent risk behaviors with casual partners were different between the two groups. Prevention programs should be adapted consequently.
A Random Antenna Subset Selection Jamming Method against Multistatic Radar System

Multistatic radar system (MSRS) is considered an effective scheme to suppress mainlobe jamming, since it has higher spatial resolution enabling jamming cancellation from spatial domain. To develop electronic countermeasures against MSRS, a random array subset selection (RASS) jamming method is proposed in this paper. In the RASS jammer, elements of the array antenna are activated randomly, leading to stable mainlobe and random sidelobes, different from the traditional jammer that applies the complete antenna array enjoying constant mainlobe and sidelobes. We study the covariance matrix of jamming signals received by radars, and derive its rank, revealing that the covariance matrix is of full rank. We also calculate the output jamming to signal and noise ratio (JSNR) after the subspace-based jamming suppression methods used in MSRS under the proposed jamming method, which demonstrates that the full rank property invalidates such suppression methods. Numerical results verify our analytical deduction and exhibit the improved countermeasure performance of our proposed RASS jamming method compared to the traditional one.
Technical Report: Gone in 20 Seconds - Overview of a Password Vulnerability in Siemens HMIs

Siemens produce a range of industrial human machine interface (HMI) screens which allow operators to both view information about and control physical processes. For scenarios where an operator cannot physically access the screen, Siemens provide the SM@rtServer features on HMIs, which when activated provides remote access either through their own Sm@rtClient application, or through third party VNC client software. Through analysing this server, we discovered a lack of protection against brute-force password attacks on basic devices. On advanced devices which include a brute-force protection mechanism, we discovered an attacker strategy that is able to evade the mechanism allowing for unlimited password guess attempts with minimal effect on the guess rate. This vulnerability has been assigned two CVEs - CVE-2020-15786 and CVE-2020-157867. In this report, we provide an overview of this vulnerability, discuss the impact of a successful exploitation and propose mitigations to provide protection against this vulnerability. This report accompanies a demo presented at CPSIoTSec 2020.
Sensitization and Antibody Formation after Injection of Tubercle Bacilli and Paraffin Oil.∗

Conclusions 1. The addition of paraffin oil to killed tubercle bacilli promotes sensitization and antibody-formation in both guinea pigs and rabbits. 2. In rabbits, killed tubercle bacilli incorporated in paraffin oil produce sensitization and antibody-formation with greater intensity than BCG. 3. Twenty months after the injection of killed tubercle bacilli in paraffin oil into guinea pigs, evidence of sensitization still persists and complement-fixing antibody is present in the serum.
Sex chromosomes polymorphisms in Oryzomys aff. subflavus (Cricetidae, Rodentia) from Central Brazil

SUMMARYSpecimens of Oryzomys aff. subflavus collected in Central Brazil displayed a karyotype with 2n = 58 and FN = 70, not described previously. Sex chromosomes polymorphisms were identified: the X could be a large submetacentric (Xa), a large subtelocentric (Xb) or a large subtelocentric smaller than Xb (Xc) and the Y appeared as a medium submetacentric (Ya), a medium subtelocentric (Yb) or a medium acrocentric (Yc). G- and C-banding, as well as chromosomal measurements were used to establish the rearrangements involved in the sex chromosomes variability.
Issues arising from genetic change: Ruminants

In nutritional terms productivity in dairy cows is best expressed in multiples of their energy requirements for maintenance, which is directly related to Metabolic Body Weight (MBW). Energy requirements can further be specified as those for free energy (fME), ketogenic energy (kME), glucogenic energy (gME) and aminogenic energy (aME). For maintenance, energy is required in an approximate ratio fME:gME:aME of 85:5:10.For a production level of 6x maintenance the required ratio of fME:kME:gME:aME is approximately 18:31:29:22, hence 70% of the required ME has to be delivered as specific nutrients. During their productive life, dairy cattle alternate periods with high and periods with low risk of an inadequate nutrient supply. A period of high risk is between 10 days pre-partum and 90 days postpartum. High risk in this period means a high susceptibility for metabolic and reproductive disorders, many of which are interrelated. Negative Energy Balance (NEB) in early lactation is a metabolic status that is almost inevitable in high yielding dairy cows. In severe cases this is an important predisposing factor for metabolic disorders (paturient paresis, fatty liver, ketosis, displaced abomasum) and reproductive disorders (undetected heat, delayed ovarian cycle, reduced fertility, increased between calving interval). Adequate nutrient supply is required from 2 weeks pre-partum onwards. Critical issues are energy density, distribution between structural and non-structural carbohydrates and distribution between fME, kME, gME and aME. Practical solutions, which can help alleviate the metabolic and reproductive problems, could be a nutrient based feed evaluation system, a lower peak yield combined with an improved persistence and maybe a deliberately increased calving interval.
Laboratory selections of populations in the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri (McGREGOR), with hexythiazox and their cross resistance spectrum

Laboratory selection experiments for resistance and for susceptibility with hexythiazox were conducted using Haibara strain of citrus red mite, Panonychus citri MCGREGOR collected from a citrus orchard at Haibara Agricultural Research Station (Nippon Soda Co., Ltd.) in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The mites had been selected with hexythiazox 17 times in the orchard. A high level of hexythiazox resistance developed with 6 successive laboratory selections for resistance, and the resistance ratios at LC 50 were 23,000 and 4450 compared with the unselected strain and parental generation for laboratory selection, respectively. After 5 selections for susceptibility, the strain became more susceptible to hexythiazox, and the susceptibility ratio at LC 50 was 0.59. In the resistant strain, the levels of the resistance were high at all developmental stages including eggs laid by treated adult females. No synergistic effects of piperonyl butoxide with hexythiazox were observed on the activity against eggs and eggs laid by treated females in the resistant strain. Among 20 miticides investigated about their efficacies against the hexythiazox resistant strain, clofentezine, flufenoxuron and flucycroxuron showed low activities to the resistant strain.
THE GENDER APPROACH TO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FACTORS OF AGEING AND OLD AGE EXPERIENCE IN KENYA

The central aim of this paper is to discuss the gender aspects of ageing as a process, and old age experience based on a study of Bungoma District, Kenya. The basic argument is that although ageing is a biological process, its experience is largely dependent on the social and cultural dimensions of the society. The study employed the interview schedule as the key instrument of data collection, supplemented by key informant interviews, observation methods, reviews of secondary data and case study method. The sampling procedures used were both probability and non-probability. The deductive approach to interpretation of data was also used. It emerged that whereas there is a difference in longevity between men and women owing to the variation in life expectancy, other social factors are equally important. These include class ethnicity, caste, eating and working habits and family circumstances. Depending on the stability of the above factors certain similarities and differences in old age experience are evident across the gender line. The study also highlighted how cultural practices influence the gender experience in old age, especially the social practice of avoidance between the parents and their sons-inlaw and the daughters-in-law. The issue of widowhood in vividly examined.
Improving the Accuracy of Automatic Facial Expression Recognition in Speaking Subjects with Deep Learning

When automatic facial expression recognition is applied to video sequences of speaking subjects, the recognition accuracy has been noted to be lower than with video sequences of still subjects. This effect known as the speaking effect arises during spontaneous conversations, and along with the affective expressions the speech articulation process influences facial configurations. In this work we question whether, aside from facial features, other cues relating to the articulation process would increase emotion recognition accuracy when added in input to a deep neural network model. We develop two neural networks that classify facial expressions in speaking subjects from the RAVDESS dataset, a spatio-temporal CNN and a GRU cell RNN. They are first trained on facial features only, and afterwards both on facial features and articulation related cues extracted from a model trained for lip reading, while varying the number of consecutive frames provided in input as well. We show that using DNNs the addition of features related to articulation increases classification accuracy up to 12%, the increase being greater with more consecutive frames provided in input to the model.