Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Root Physiological Characteristics Associated with Drought Resistance in Tall Fescue Cultivars

Knowledge of root traits associated with drought tolerance is important for further understanding drought tolerance mechanisms of the whole plant. The experiment was designed to investigate effects of drought stress on root physiological activities of six cultivars (Kentucky.31, Falcon II, Houndog V, Phoenix, Rebel Jr., and Bonsai) of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) varying in drought resistance. Grasses were grown in well-watered or drying (nonirrigated) soil for 35 d in a greenhouse. Drying reduced root length and dry mass in the 0- to 20-cm layer for all six cultivars. Root length and dry mass in the 40- to 60-cm layer was enhanced for Houndog V, Falcon II, and Kentucky-31; was not affected for Phoenix and Bonsai; and was reduced for Rebel Jr. by soil drying. Water uptake rates for Falcon II and Kentucky-31 decreased with soil drying in the 0- to 20cm layer but increased in the 40- to 60-cm layer. Soil drying limited water uptake by Rebel Jr. in both layers. Drought stress increased root mortality in the 0- to 20-, 20- to 40-, and 40- to 60-cm layers, but the increase was most dramatic in the surface soil layer. The increase in root mortality in each soil layer was most severe for Rebel Jr. and least severe for Kentucky-31. Root death of tall fescue cultivars during drought was positively correlated with root desiccation, as evidenced by severe leakage of organic solutes from roots in drying soil. Carbohydrate supply to roots was not a contributor to root death during drought stress. This was supported by the increased or unaffected total nonstructural carbohydrates in both shoots and roots, and the increased C allocation to roots under soil drying conditions.
Modeling of ballistic nanoscale MOSFETs

We present a code for the quantum simulation of ballistic MOSFETs in two-dimensions, which has been applied to the simulation of a so-called “Well-tempered” MOSFET with channel length of 25 nm. Electron confinement at the Si/SiO2 interface and effective mass anisotropy are properly taken into account. In the assumption of negligible phonon scattering in nanoscale devices, transport is assumed to be purely ballistic. We show that our code can provide the relevant DC characteristics of the device, and can be a useful tool for the extraction of physics-based compact models of nanoscale MOSFETs.
Audio, video and audio-visual signatures for short video clip detection: experiments on Trecvid2003

In this paper, we present the association of audio and video signatures for short video clip detection. First, we present an audio signature based on the spectral flatness measure. Then we describe a spatio-temporal video signature, based on the evolution of gray level centroids over time. The major contribution of this work is the association of these two signatures in a so-called audiovisual signature by late integration of similarity measures obtained on both modalities. Our experiments conducted on a large video database (28 Gb/34 h extracted from TRECVID2003) show that our audio-visual signature is more robust than the audio-only or video-only signatures, and also permits better detection of video clips of shorter duration (about 2 seconds).
Snowshoe hare adrenal weights in relation to population density

Adrenal and body weights of snowshoe hares from three areas in which hare population densities differed markedly were determined in a search for evidence of adrenal enlargement in the course of the population cycle. In the first area hares were in a sudden decline after a peak. Dead hares were found there in some numbers. Hare populations in the other two areas were still rising (population peaks occurred 18 months after sampling), but hare density was considerably greater in the second as compared with the third area. There were no significant differences in absolute adrenal weight between any of the groups. Relative adrenal weights were also similar, except for significantly higher relative adrenal weights in hares found dead as compared with those shot, but this was apparently due merely to the lower body weights of animals found dead compared with those killed. There was no evidence of significant differences in relative adrenal weight according to sex or age. No gastric ulcers were found in 26 hares .
Role Based Smart Contract For Data sharing

The Internet has allowed many things to move fast, including sharing of data, files and others within a second. Many domains use applications range from IoT, smart cities, healthcare, and organizations to share the data when necessary. However, there are some challenges faced by existing systems that works on centralized nature. Such challenges are data breach, trustiness issue, unauthorized access and data fraud. Therefore in this work, we focus on using a smart contract which is used by blockchain platform and works on decentralized form. Furthermore, in this work our contract provides an access to the file uploaded onto the decentralized storage such as IPFS. By leveraging smart contract-role based which consist of a contract owner who can manage the users when access the certain resources such as a file and as well as use of decentralized storage to avoid single point of failure and censorship over secure communication channel. We checked the gas cost of the smart contract since most of contracts tends to be a high cost.
Trajectory Optimization over Uncertain Terrain using Stochastic Complementarity

Robust trajectory optimization for legged locomotion without perfect terrain information is a significant yet underexplored problem in the dynamic walking field. A majority of current methods require precisely specifying terrain geometry and friction characteristics, which are often prone to uncertainty. In this work, we devise a trajectory optimization that explicitly incorporates parametric uncertainty in the terrain geometry and in the friction coefficient. We demonstrate in simulation that our method produces open-loop controls which are more robust to variations in the contact parameters; moreover, as the uncertainty decreases, our trajectories converge to those generated under known terrain parameters.This study represents a step towards reasoning about terrain uncertainty in the discipline of trajectory optimization.
Carotenogenesis in the green alga Haematococcus pluvialis: Cellular physiology and stress response

The unicellular green alga Haematococcus pluvialis Flotow has recently aroused considerable interest due to its capacity to amass large amounts of the ketocarotenoid astaxanthin (3,3′-dihydroxy-β,β-carotene-4,4′-dione), widely used commercially to color flesh of salmon. Astaxanthin accumulation in Haematococcus is induced by a variety of environmental stresses which limit cell growth in the presence of light. This is accompanied by a remarkable morphological and biochemical ‘transformation’ from green motile cells into inert red cysts. In recent years we have studied this transformation process from several aspects: defining conditions governing pigment accumulation, working out the biosynthetic pathway of astaxanthin accumulation and questioning the possible function of this secondary ketocarotenoid in protecting Haematococcus cells against oxidative damage. Our results suggest that astaxanthin synthesis proceeds via cantaxanthin and that this exceptional stress response is mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) through a mechanism which is not yet understood. The results do not support in vivo chemical quenching of ROS by the pigment, although in vitro it was shown to quench radicals very efficiently. The finding that most of the pigment produced is esterified and deposited in lipid globules outside the chloroplast further supports this assumption. We have suggested that astaxanthin is the by-product of a defense mechanism rather than the defending substance itself, although at this stage one cannot rule out other protective mechanisms. Further work is required for complete understanding of this transformation process. It is suggested that Haematococcus may serve as a simple model system to study response to oxidative stress and mechanisms evolved to cope with this harmful situation.
Photosynthetic Production of Ulva rotundata Bliding Estimated by Oxygen and Inorganic Carbon Exchange Measurements in the Field

Abstract The photosynthetic performance of an estuarine population of Ulva rotundata Bliding was determined under natural radiation during a daily cycle. The primary production was estimated following two methods, oxygen evolution and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) uptake calculated from the pH change and alkalinity in the media after incubation in closed bottles. Maximum values of oxygen evolution (261 μmol O2 m−2 min−1) were reached during midday. The daily course of the DIC uptake rates was different since the maximum rate (248±10 μmol C m−2 min−1) was obtained later in the afternoon. In any case, no photoinhibition was detected by either O2 evolution or DIC uptake. Additionally, the parameters of photosynthesis vs. photon fluence density curves were similar in spite of the technique used. During the daily cycle, significant changes in CA activity and percentage of photosynthetic inhibition following the addition of an external CA inhibitor (acetazolamide) were produced. However, these changes appeared to have a limited effect on photosynthesis. On the other hand, chlorophyll a and b contents decreased drastically in the afternoon and there was not a good correlation between pigment content and photosynthesis rates. Taken into account the results obtained, the daily primary production of U. rotundata based on oxygen evolution was 20% higher than that based on DIC uptake (1.8 and 1.5 g C m−2 day−1, respectively).
Longitudinal Dynamics of Seston Concentration and Composition in a Lake Outlet Stream

Concentrations of suspended particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved organic carbon, bacteria, and chlorophyll a were measured in a lake outlet in western Montana, USA. Seven sites within the first 3 km downstream from the lake were sampled over 14 mo. Downstream change in concentration of each variable was tested for fit to a power function (C=aDb). Downstream changes in POC, bacteria, and chlorophyll a, sometimes fit a power function, and the value of the exponent b was positively correlated with discharge. At low discharge, a downstream decline in lake algae was accompanied by an increase in stream algae. At high discharge, concentrations of lake algae did not change downstream, and some stream algae increased. These patterns suggest that although initial concentrations of suspended organic carbon (seston) are determined by the lake, within a short distance, concentrations become regulated by stream processes. As discharge increases, lake products are transported farther downstream. Thus, the extent of the influence of the lake on seston composition expands and contracts longitudinally with increases and decreases in discharge.
IDENTIFICATION OF MASS OF TISSUE GROWTH IN BRAIN REGION UNDER THE FRAMEWORK OF IMAGE SEGMENTATION

-Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to image the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body in both health and disease. There are MRI scanners which uses strong magnetic field and field gradient to form images of the body. To detect any type of growth in the brain region we can use this technique. Growths can me natural and unnatural. In this project we propose an image segmentation method to identify or detect any unnatural growth in brain region taking input as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) image of the brain which has some unnatural growth. Whether the detected growth is tumor or cancer, this will be our future scope of the paper.
Efficient Processing of RDF Data Using Hadoop

Semantic Web concepts and technologies are getting wide acceptance among different groups interested in interoperable knowledge representation and reasoning. With emergence of cloud technologies for distributed storage and processing of huge amounts of data reasoning of large volumes of RDF data is becoming possible. We are using the MapReduce paradigm with Jena framework for representing and processing distributed semantic data in RDF format. In this paper we represent techniques of using Elephas library and its extensions and Hadoop framework to support efficient processing of RDF data stored in distributed storage.
Overall Synthesis of GSK356278: Quick Delivery of a PDE4 Inhibitor Using a Fit-for-Purpose Approach

The family of phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzymes hydrolyse cyclic nucleotides, cAMP and cGMP, leading to their inactivation as intracellular second messengers. Inhibition of these enzymes leads to an elevation of levels of cyclic nucleotides in the cell and prolongs their action on downstream signaling pathways. PDE4, of which there are four subtypes, is widely expressed throughout the brain but is also abundant in the periphery in inflammatory and immune cells, in the gastrointestinal tract, and in cardiac myocytes. GSK356278 1 is a potent, selective, and competitive inhibitor of PDE4 enzymes currently under investigation for the treatment of CNS disorders. The initial synthetic route developed by Medicinal Chemistry Department, used several hazardous and/or expensive reagents and harsh conditions and gave relatively low yields. By targeted process of research and development plus application of analytical techniques to identify byproduct and extensive route scouting, a novel synthetic route for 1 has been .
Development of microsatellite markers for noninvasive DNA samples of the eastern green lizard Lacerta viridis

We report the isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for the eastern green lizard (Lacerta viridis) usable for noninvasive samples. Ten polymorphic loci were obtained by screening 3000 recombinant clones and tested on 39 noninvasive DNA samples of individuals from different locations of the Danube area, Germany. Allelic richness ranged from three to nine alleles, the observed heterozygosity from 0.33 to 0.80, and the expected heterozygosity from 0.36 to 0.85. Our 10 loci, along with another 12 loci previously described, deliver effective analytical tools to analyse the genetic variability and to assess the social structure of eastern green lizard populations.
Adaptive Tuning of Temperature in Mellowmax using Meta-Gradients

Mellowmax is a recently proposed alternative softmax operator that has been used in deep reinforement learning in the context of action-selection, reducing overestimation, and removing the need for a target network. However, Mellowmax has an additional temperature parameter that must be tuned to obtain optimal results. Previous work relied on grid-search, which is comptuationally expensive, and ﬁxes a single temperature parameter setting for the entire learning process. We propose a novel online method that adaptively tunes the temperature parameter using meta-gradients. We show that we can use this method due to the diﬀerentiability of Mellowmax, and address practical issues on how to compute meta-gradients for temperature tuning in Mellowmax. Finally, we present the empirical results of our algorithm on a simple OpenAI gym domain, Acrobot.
ENERGY AND DELAY REDUCTION ALGORITHM FOR CLUSTER BASED CONGESTION CONTROL IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), delay has be reduced in delay sensitive applications at cost of increased energy consumption, since there is a tradeoff between delay and energy consumption in WSN. But most of works in WSN focus on reducing the energy rather than the delay. Hence the main aim of this work is to reduce both the delay and energy consumption in delay sensitive applications of WSN. In this paper, an efficient energy and delay reduction technique for cluster based congestion control model is proposed. In this technique, the cluster head (CH) is elected based on the energy level of the node. Each cluster member transmit the data and its remaining energy information to the corresponding cluster head as per the given time slot schedule. The delay in data transmission can be reduced by adaptively adjusting the active mode of the node based on the congestion status and distance of node. By simulation results, we show that the proposed technique reduces the energy consumption and delay of highly loaded sensor nodes.
Exploring Self-Silencing in Workplace Relationships: A Qualitative Study of Female Software Engineers

Self-silencing has been extensively studied in the context of the relational aspect of the female psyche. The previous research on self-silencing mostly emphasized on intimate partner relationships and not much is explored in the context of workplace relationships, that is, relationships with colleagues, team managers etc. The present study aims to explore the self-silencing phenomenon in workplace relationships among a sample of female software engineers (N=21) in India. A purposive sampling strategy was used to select the participants of the study. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect the data for the thematic analysis. At first, theoretical thematic analysis was done where Dana C. Jack’s (1991) self-silencing theory has been used as the theoretical lens. Then, inductive thematic analysis has been used for unravelling the mechanisms, antecedents, consequences involved in self-silencing inside the organization. The result revealed that the need to maintain relationships, need to conform to the traditional feminine roles, a sense of powerlessness, and some factors inherent to the culture of the organization functioned as the antecedents of self-silencing in the organizational setting. Self-silencing inside an organization is also found to affect the female software engineers’ psychological wellbeing and their growth in career. Moreover, it hampers the growth of the organization since negative experiences inside organizations go unreported and women self-silence their views and opinions in group meetings leading to organizational ignorance.
Climate, plant phenology and variation in age of first reproduction in a temperate herbivore

Density-independent weather effects can have important consequences for the demography of terrestrial herbivores because precipitation, temperature and insolation influence plant phenology, forage quality and biomass production, which in turn affects the habitat carrying capacity. Since forage digestibility influences intake and weight gain, life-history traits of young, growing animals are likely to reflect variation in the prevailing weather. This paper specifically investigates spatial and temporal variation in age at maturation in female red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Norway in relation to climate variables known to influence primary production. Our findings are corroborated by analysing differences in age at maturation in 21 cohorts of red deer on the Isle of Rum, Scotland. In Norway the majority of females ovulated as yearlings and calved for the first time as 2-year-olds. The proportion calving for the first time at two years varied from 0.23 to 0.67 between regions and fluctuated from 0.46 to 0.76 between cohorts. On Rum, where age of maturation was delayed at least a year, the proportion calving for the first time as 3-year-olds varied between cohorts from 0.0 to 0.89. In a subset of yearlings culled in Norway at the time of conception, the spatial and temporal differences in ovulation rates were related to the geographical and annual variation in body weight. 5. Both the spatial and temporal variation in the proportion of 2-year-olds calving in Norway, and cohort differences in the proportion calving as 3-year-olds on Rum, were negatively related to variation in May-June degree days 12 months earlier. Although primary production on the preferred herb-rich Agrostis-Festuca grasslands was positively correlated with temperature in May and June on Rum, the proportion of females calving as three years old, was negatively correlated with annual differences in May June primary production. We argue that retarded phenological development, during periods of cooler weather, enhances diet quality because leaf :stem ratios and digestibility of plant parts decline more slowly. Thus, weight gain during the early summer growth spurt should be rapid during cool May-June weather, increasing the probability of conception in the autumn. Since density-independent variation in food availability also influences fitness components which commonly have a more pronounced influence on population demography, for example offspring survival, we argue that our results highlight the potential importance of variation in weather on herbivore abundance.
Winterfat (Eurotia lanata (Pursh) Moq.) seedbed ecology: Low temperature exotherms and cold hardiness in hydrated seeds as influenced by imbibition temperature

Thermal analyses of freezing events in hydrated lettuce (Lactuca sativaL.) seeds show a correlation between low temperature exotherms (LTEs) (evidence of ice crystal formation) and seed death. Yet, weather patterns common to the Northern Great Plains of North America regularly create conditions where non-dormant seeds of native plants hydrate with snow melt and are subsequently exposed to -30 °C or colder conditions. To determine if such weather patterns decimate dispersed seeds, we measured the effects of freezing on fully hydrated winterfat (Eurotia lanata(Pursh) Moq. ) seeds harvested from the Northern Plains at two USA and one Canadian location. Survival of hydrated seeds to -30 °C at a cooling rate of 2.5 °C h-1was similar to that of seeds not subjected to cooling, even though both a high temperature exotherm (HTE) and an LTE were observed. Although the LTE was not related to winterfat seed survival, freeze-stressed seeds had reduced germination rates and reduced seedling vigour, particularly for the collection with the lightest seeds. The temperature of LTEs was similar among seed collections with a mean of -17.6 °C, but was warmer when the seeds were imbibed at 0 °C compared to 5, 10 or 20 °C. We found a significant correlation between the HTE and LTE temperatures. The difference and the correlation may be due to the higher moisture content of seeds imbibed at 0 °C. After pericarp removal, only one exotherm in the range of the LTE was observed. This was also true for the naked embryo. We conclude that an LTE indicates ice formation in the embryo, but that it does not signal the death of a winterfat seed.
Chlorophyll in Copepod Faecal Pellets: Changes in Pellet Numbers and Pigment Content during a Declining Baltic Spring Bloom

Zooplankton stock as well as faecal pellet numbers were monitored over 2 weeks during May in the central Baltic. Considerable changes in concentrations of chlorophyll and its derivates in copepod faecal pellets as well as in surface sediments were found during this period. The maximum concentration of 1.05 ngchl. a faecal pellet-1, measured on 12 May, decreased by the end of the month to 0.08 ngchl. a faecal pellet-1. This decrease was positively correlated with the disappearance of intact diatoms inside faeces. A flux of 1.53mgchl. a-m-2-day-1 via faecal pellets was calculated for the deep water layer (60–80 m) in mid May. This decreased to 0.005mgchl. a m-2 day-1 by the end of May. Chi. a accounted for up to 10 % of total pigments in samples from the top centimetre of the sediment surface. The means of transportation of faecal pellets as well as their function as a food supply to deeper ecosystems are discussed.