Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Survey on Salient Region Detection Using Diffusion Based Uniqueness

Detection of visually salient image regions is useful for applications like object segmentation, adaptive compression, and object recognition. Visual saliency is the perceptual quality that makes an object, person, or pixel stand out relative to its neighbours and thus capture our attention. Visual attention results both from bottom-up visual saliency as well as top-down methods. Bottom-up salient region detection methods can be broadly classified into uniqueness, compactness and background based and furthermore uniqueness based methods can be roughly divided into local and global contrast based techniques. Thus bottomup salient region detection method is introduced that integrates compactness and local contrast cues. Furthermore, in order to produce a pixelaccurate saliency map that more uniformly covers the salient objects output is propagated through the diffusion process.
Self-handicapping mediates between impulsiveness and self-discipline

Self-handicapping, while not a very acknowledged tendency, is very prevalent today. Especially among students of any grade level, the behavior prevents many from reaching their full potential. The purpose of this experiment was to see how Selfhandicapping mediated between Impulsiveness and Self-discipline which can later be used by teachers to help students with this phenomenon. A short survey was given to psychology undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga whose age ranged from 18-44 and were predominantly Caucasian. Self-handicapping was found to mediate between Impulsiveness and Self-discipline (r = .512) compared to Impulsiveness and Self-discipline (r= .288) without using self-handicapping as a mediator. The implications that can be taken from this study include using the results in an educational setting to pinpoint selfhandicapping tendencies. Despite limitations in the study, it was conducted in an environment that was cohesive to the environment in which it would be applied.
Evaluation of Commercial Trout Feeds: Feed Consumption, Growth, Feed Conversion, Carcass Composition and Bio-economic Analysis

Feed consumption (FC), growth, condition factor (CF), feed conversion (FCR), tissue composition and the bioeconomics of production were examined in juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fed three commercial steam pelleted feeds over 22 weeks. Fish were held in six 300 l fiberglass tanks with two replicates of 50 fish (initial weight ca.16.5 g and CF ca. 1.24) per treatment. The trial was run at ambient temperature (10.8-23.3oC) under natural summer-autumn photoperiod (40o55'N 40o12'E) and the fish were fed to apparent satiation twice per day. All feeds exhibited characteristics of a typical ? standard? trout grower and among the main nutrient components only protein contents slightly differed from manufacturer? s declarations. Mean weights of the fish at the end of the trial were 383.6, 359.6 and 366.9 g, the final weight of the fish given feed A being significantly higher than those given feeds B and C (P<0.05). CF increased during the course of trial and was ca 1.6 at termination with small differences among groups. Mean daily feed consumption varied from 1.1 to 4.4% of body weight (bw), but overall means of the groups showed slight variations, 2.11-2.22% of bw. FCR and the protein efficiency ratios (PER) were within the ranges 1.04-1.12 and 2.03-2.08 and did not differ significantly among groups. Feed did not influence on dressing percentage, but it seemed to affect on lipid content of the tissue. Feed cost of kg weight gain was highest for feed C, while it was similar for other two feeds.
Stochastic heterogeneity mapping around a Mediterranean salt lens

We present the first application of Stochastic Heterogeneity Mapping based on the band-limited von Karman function to a seismic reflection stack of a Mediterranean water eddy (meddy), a large salt lens of Mediterranean water. This process extracts two stochastic parameters directly from the reflectivity field of the seismic data: the Hurst number, which ranges from 0 to 1, and the correlation length (scale length). Lower Hurst numbers represent a richer range of high wavenumbers and correspond to a broader range of heterogeneity in reflection events. The Hurst number estimate for the top of the meddy (0.39) compares well with recent theoretical work, which required values between 0.25 and 0.5 to model internal wave surfaces in open ocean conditions based on simulating a Garrett-Munk spectrum (GM76) slope of −2. The scale lengths obtained do not fit as well to seismic reflection events as those used in other studies to model internal waves. We suggest two explanations for this discrepancy: (1) due to the fact that the stochastic parameters are derived from the reflectivity field rather than the impedance field the estimated scale lengths may be underestimated, as has been reported; and (2) because the meddy seismic image is a two-dimensional slice of a complex and dynamic three-dimensional object, the derived scale lengths are biased to the direction of flow. Nonetheless, varying stochastic parameters, which correspond to different spectral slopes in the Garrett-Munk spectrum (horizontal wavenumber spectrum), can provide an estimate of different internal wave scales from seismic data alone. We hence introduce Stochastic Heterogeneity Mapping as a novel tool in physical oceanography.
Surface motion of mountain glaciers derived from satellite optical imagery

A complete and detailed map of the ice-velocity field on mountain glaciers is obtained by cross-correlating SPOT5 optical images. This approach offers an alternative to SAR interferometry, because no present or planned RADAR satellite mission provides data with a temporal separation short enough to derive the displacements of glaciers. The methodology presented in this study does not require ground control points (GCPs). The key step is a precise relative orientation of the two images obtained by adjusting the stereo model of one bslaveQ’ image assuming that the other bmasterQ image is well georeferenced. It is performed with numerous precisely-located homologous points extracted automatically. The strong ablation occurring during summer time on the glaciers requires a correction to obtain unbiased displacements. The accuracy of our measurement is assessed based on a comparison with nearly simultaneous differential GPS surveys performed on two glaciers of the Mont Blanc area (Alps). If the images have similar incidence angles and correlate well, the accuracy is on the order of 0.5 m, or 1/5 of the pixel size. Similar results are also obtained without GCPs. An acceleration event, observed in early August for the Mer de Glace glacier, is interpreted in term of an increase in basal sliding. Our methodology, applied to SPOT5 images, can potentially be used to derive the displacements of the Earth’s surface caused by landslides, earthquakes, and volcanoes. D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. PACS: 92.40. V; 07.87; 06.30. B
Adaptive frequency shifts of echolocation sounds in Miniopterus fuliginosus according to the frequency-modulated pattern of jamming sounds

ABSTRACT When flying in a group, echolocating bats have to separate their own echoes from pulses and echoes belonging to other individuals to extract only the information necessary for their own navigation. Previous studies have demonstrated that frequency-modulated (FM) bats change the terminal frequencies (TFs) of downward FM pulses under acoustic interference. However, it is not yet clear which acoustic characteristics of the jamming signals induce the TF shift according to the degree of acoustic interference. In this study, we examined changes in the acoustic characteristics of pulses emitted by Miniopterus fuliginosus while presenting jamming stimuli with different FM patterns to the bat flying alone. Bats significantly altered their TFs when responding to downward (dExp) and upward (uExp) exponential FM sounds as well as to a constant-frequency (CF) stimulus, by approximately 1–2 kHz (dExp: 2.1±0.9 kHz; uExp: 1.7±0.3 kHz; CF: 1.3±0.4 kHz) but not for linear FM sounds. The feature common to the spectra of these three jamming stimuli is a spectrum peak near the TF frequency, demonstrating that the bats shift the TF to avoid masking of jamming sounds on the TF frequency range. These results suggest that direct frequency masking near the TF frequency range induces the TF shift, which simultaneously decreases the similarity between their own echolocation sounds and jamming signals. Summary: Miniopterus fuliginosus adapt their echolocation sounds according to the spectrum pattern of the jamming sounds.
Advances in Applied Zoo Animal Welfare Science

ABSTRACT Nonhuman animal welfare science is the scientific study of the welfare state of animals that attempts to make inferences about how animals feel from their behavior, endocrine function, and/or signs of physical health. These welfare measurements are applicable within zoos yet inherently more complex than in farms and laboratories. This complexity is due to the vast number of species housed, lack of fundamental biological information, and relatively lower sample sizes and levels of experimental control. This article summarizes the invited presentations on the topic of “Advances in Applied Animal Welfare Science,” given at the Fourth Global Animal Welfare Congress held jointly by the Detroit Zoological Society and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2017. The article focuses on current trends in research on zoo animal welfare under the following themes: (a) human–animal interactions and relationships, (b) anticipatory behavior, (c) cognitive enrichment, (d) behavioral biology, and (e) reproductive and population management. It highlights areas in which further advancements in zoo animal welfare science are needed and the challenges that may be faced in doing so.
Regulation of Root Angle and Gravitropism

Regulation of plant root angle is critical for obtaining nutrients and water and is an important trait for plant breeding. A plant’s final, long-term root angle is the net result of a complex series of decisions made by a root tip in response to changes in nutrient availability, impediments, the gravity vector and other stimuli. When a root tip is displaced from the gravity vector, the short-term process of gravitropism results in rapid reorientation of the root toward the vertical. Here, we explore both short- and long-term regulation of root growth angle, using natural variation in tomato to identify shared and separate genetic features of the two responses. Mapping of expression quantitative trait loci mapping and leveraging natural variation between and within species including Arabidopsis suggest a role for PURPLE ACID PHOSPHATASE 27 and CELL DIVISION CYCLE 73 in determining root angle.
Prevalence of Neck Pain among Athletes: A Systematic Review

Many studies have investigated the prevalence of neck pain (NP) and its risk factors in the general population. However, the prevalence of NP among athletes has not yet been systematically investigated. We aimed to systematically review the prevalence of NP in athletes. A comprehensive search was conducted in September 2015 using PubMed, Ovid SP Medline, ISI, and Google Scholar. We included studies in English that reported the prevalence of NP in an athletic population during a defined period of time. We assessed the risk of bias in studies due to various definitions of NP, response rates, and reliability of the study instruments. Two reviewers independently assessed the studies’ quality and performed data extraction. Of 1,675 titles identified, eight articles were assessed for risk of bias, and six with low or moderate risk were included. NP was shown to be prevalent in athletes, with a 1-week prevalence ranging from 8% to 45%, a 1-year prevalence ranging from 38% to 73%, and a lifetime prevalence of about 48%. The prevalence of NP in athletes is high. More studies regarding the prevalence and risk factors of NP may be useful for planning educational programs and developing appropriate rehabilitation protocols and preventive guidelines. Researchers are encouraged to perform epidemiologic studies in athletes with a low risk of bias.
Students’ responds in using Beboo to learn Static Fluid concept

Beboo is a bilingual (English-Indonesia) interactive e-Book with virtual laboratory feature. Beboo has been developed in Static Fluids Concept for teaching package. It contains many contents like pressure, hydrostatic pressure, Pascal law, Archimedes law, capillarity, viscosity and surface tension. In experiment process, this e-Book supports the virtual laboratory, U-Pipe system. Beboo is designed to succeed the international program in senior high school level in Indonesia as the learning source. Twenty-four students have been used Beboo in the classroom. This particular research explored the student responds to this e-Book. Students have been tried the U-pipe virtual laboratory and determined the density of the fluid from that activity. As the result, students found Beboo to be a positive learning experience with all the content, language, media and learning aspects state in a good and very good category. It means the student can use and simulate the experiment to determine the density of the fluid. However, students have a problem in language aspect. The data showed this aspect state in lowest respond percentage (73%) than others.
Still Suspicious: The Suspicious-Coincidence Effect Revisited

Imagine hearing someone call a particular dalmatian a “dax. ” The meaning of the novel noun dax is ambiguous between the subordinate meaning (dalmatian) and the basic-level meaning (dog). Yet both children and adults successfully learn noun meanings at the intended level of abstraction from similar evidence. Xu and Tenenbaum (2007a) provided an explanation for this apparent puzzle: Learners assume that examples are sampled from the true underlying category (strong sampling), making cases in which there are more observed exemplars more consistent with a subordinate meaning than cases in which there are fewer exemplars (the suspicious-coincidence effect). Authors of more recent work (Spencer, Perone, Smith, & Samuelson, 2011) have questioned the relevance of this finding, however, arguing that the effect occurs only when the examples are presented to the learner simultaneously. Across a series of 12 experiments (N = 600), we systematically manipulated several experimental parameters that varied across previous studies, and we successfully replicated the findings of both sets of authors. Taken together, our data suggest that the suspicious-coincidence effect in fact is robust to presentation timing of examples but is sensitive to another factor that varied in the Spencer et al. (2011) experiments, namely, trial order. Our work highlights the influence of pragmatics on behavior in experimental tasks.
Cooperative Function of TraJ and ArcA in Regulating the F Plasmid tra Operon

Conjugation is a major mechanism for dissemination of antibiotic resistance and virulence among bacterial populations. The tra operon in the F family of conjugative plasmids encodes most of the proteins involved in bacterial conjugation. This work reveals that activation of tra operon transcription requires two proteins, TraJ and ArcA, to bind cooperatively to adjacent sites immediately upstream of the major tra promoter PY. The interaction of TraJ and ArcA with the tra operon not only relieves PY from silencers but also directly activates it. These findings provide insights into the regulatory circuit of the F-family plasmid-mediated bacterial conjugation. ABSTRACT The F plasmid tra operon encodes most of the proteins required for bacterial conjugation. TraJ and ArcA are known activators of the tra operon promoter PY, which is subject to H-NS-mediated silencing. Donor ability and promoter activity assays indicated that PY is inactivated by silencers and requires both TraJ and ArcA for activation to support efficient F conjugation. The observed low-level, ArcA-independent F conjugation is caused by tra expression from upstream alternative promoters. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that TraJ alone weakly binds to PY regulatory DNA; however, TraJ binding is significantly enhanced by ArcA binding to the same DNA, indicating cooperativity of the two proteins. Analysis of binding affinities between ArcA and various DNA fragments in the PY regulatory region defined a 22-bp tandem repeat sequence (from −76 to −55 of PY) sufficient for optimal ArcA binding, which is immediately upstream of the predicted TraJ-binding site (from −54 to −34). Deletion analysis of the PY promoter in strains deficient in TraJ, ArcA, and/or H-NS determined that sequences upstream of −103 are required by silencers including H-NS for PY silencing, whereas sequences downstream of −77 are targeted by TraJ and ArcA for activation. TraJ and ArcA appear not only to counteract PY silencers but also to directly activate PY in a cooperative manner. Our data reveal the cooperativity of TraJ and ArcA during PY activation and provide insights into the regulatory circuit controlling F-family plasmid-mediated bacterial conjugation. IMPORTANCE Conjugation is a major mechanism for dissemination of antibiotic resistance and virulence among bacterial populations. The tra operon in the F family of conjugative plasmids encodes most of the proteins involved in bacterial conjugation. This work reveals that activation of tra operon transcription requires two proteins, TraJ and ArcA, to bind cooperatively to adjacent sites immediately upstream of the major tra promoter PY. The interaction of TraJ and ArcA with the tra operon not only relieves PY from silencers but also directly activates it. These findings provide insights into the regulatory circuit of the F-family plasmid-mediated bacterial conjugation.
Virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Pullorum isolates compared using cell‐based and chicken embryo infection models

ABSTRACT To reveal differences in virulence among strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Pullorum (S. Pullorum), we used 2 cell‐based infection models and a chicken embryo infection model in this study. S. Pullorum strain S06004 was used to infect 4 different avian cell lines (HD‐11, DF‐1, LMH, DT‐40), and the results showed that the infection of S06004 in both LMH and HD‐11 cells was more stable than in DF‐1 and DT‐40 cells. Therefore, the HD‐11 and LMH cell lines were used as the appropriate macrophage and epithelial cell models, respectively, to study the infection of S. Pullorum. Fifty strains isolated during the years 1962 to 2010 were then analyzed to compare their infection rates in HD‐11 and LMH cells. The result showed that the infection rates of most strains were very similar to that of S06004, except for S9876 which displayed the highest infection rate among these strains. Based on the cell infection results, 10 strains were selected to be used in the chicken embryo infection model. Sixteen‐day‐old SPF chicken embryos were infected with the pathogen at a dose of 103 CFU/100 &mgr;L via allantoic cavity inoculation. The strains C79‐13, 7101, and S06013 caused death of more than 80% embryos, whereas S09C12 and 6703 resulted less than 20% death. Thus, this study established cell‐based infection models to screen S. Pullorum strains in vitro, and a chick embryo model to evaluate their in vivo virulence.
Surgical review of the anatomical variations of the internal jugular vein: an update for head and neck surgeons

BACKGROUND The internal jugular vein is one of the major vessels of the neck. The anatomy of this vessel is considered to be relatively stable. It is an important landmark for head and neck surgeons as well as the anaesthetists for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. METHODS We present two case reports of the posterior tributary of the internal jugular vein and review the surgical literature regarding anatomical variations of the vein. FINDINGS A total of 1197 patients from 27 published papers were included in this review. Of these patients, 99.6% had neck surgery and the rest were cadaveric dissections. Anatomical variations of the internal jugular vein were found in 2% of the patient cohort (n = 40). The majority of these patients had either bifurcation or fenestration of the vein. The posterior tributary of the internal jugular vein is unusual and is scarcely reported in the literature (three cases). Knowledge of variations in the anatomy of the internal jugular vein assists surgeons in avoiding complications during neck surgery and preventing morbidity. Two rare cases of posterior branching of the internal jugular vein and experience of other surgeons are demonstrated in this extensive review.
Immune modulation, growth performance, and nutrient retention in broiler chickens fed a blend of phytogenic feed additives.

This study aimed to assess the effect of a commercial blend of phytogenic feed additives (PA), comprising 5% carvacrol, 3% cinnamaldehyde, and 2% capsicum oleoresin on the modulation of immune biomarkers of broiler chickens, their growth performance, dietary energy, and nutrient retention. Four-hundred day-old birds were assigned to one of four dietary treatments. Two control diets based on either wheat (WC) or maize (MC) were each given with and without PA at 100 g/t. Growth performance variables including feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded. Dietary N-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (MEn), dry matter (DMR), nitrogen (NR), and fat retention (FR) coefficients were also determined. Gene expression of immune biomarkers (cytokines) were determined in caecal tonsil tissue from 21 d old birds. Expression of IL2, IL18, IL10, and IL17C in the caecal tonsils were upregulated (P < 0.05) in the birds fed MC-based diets compared to the WC fed birds. Feeding PA supplemented diets downregulated the expression of CD40LG (P < 0.001), IFNG, and IL6 (P < 0.05). There was a cereal type × PA interaction (P < 0.05), as expression of IFNB was downregulated in the birds fed PA supplemented MC but not WC. However, expression of IL12B was downregulated in birds fed PA supplemented WC but there was no significant (P > 0.05) change in expression levels in birds fed MC diets. Feeding MC diets gave greater FI (P < 0.001) and ME (P < 0.05), but lower FCR (P < 0.05) compared to birds fed WC diets. The WG and nutrient retention coefficients were not affected (P > 0.05) by cereal type. Supplementary PA improved FI (P < 0.05), WG (P < 0.001), FCR (P < 0.05), MEn (P < 0.05), MEn: GE ratio (P < 0.05), and FR (P < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary inclusion of PA improved overall growth performance variables, energy, and nutrient retention and intestinal cytokine expression.
Mechanisms of invasion and motility of high-grade gliomas in the brain

High-grade gliomas are especially difficult tumors to treat due to their invasive behavior. This has led to extensive research focusing on arresting glioma cell migration. Cell migration involves the sensing of a migratory cue, followed by polarization in the direction of the cue, and reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton to allow for a protrusive leading edge and a contractile trailing edge. Transmission of these forces to produce motility also requires adhesive interactions of the cell with the extracellular microenvironment. In glioma cells, transmembrane receptors such as CD44 and integrins bind the cell to the surrounding extracellular matrix that provides a substrate on which the cell can exert the requisite forces for cell motility. These various essential parts of the migratory machinery are potential targets to halt glioma cell invasion. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms of glioma cell migration and how they may be targeted in anti-invasion therapies.