Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Multimedia Data Compression Scheme for Disaster Prevention in Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks

Recent years have seen a significant increase in demand for multimedia data over wireless sensor networks for monitoring applications that utilize sensor nodes to collect multimedia data, including sound and video. However, the multimedia streams generate a very large amount of data. When data transmission schemes for traditional wireless sensor networks are applied in wireless multimedia sensor networks, the network lifetime significantly decreases due to the excessive energy consumption of specific nodes. In this paper, we propose a data compression scheme that implements the Chinese remainder theorem to a wireless multimedia sensor network. The proposed scheme uses the Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) to compress and split multimedia data, and it then transmits the bit-pattern packets of the remainder to the base station. As a result, the amount of multimedia data that is transmitted is reduced. The superiority of our proposed scheme is demonstrated by comparing its performance to that of an existing scheme. The results of our experiment indicate that our proposed scheme significantly increased the compression ratio and reduced the compression operation in comparison to those of existing compression schemes.
A new species of Triplinerviae goldenrod in eastern Canada (Asteraceae: Astereae): Solidago brendiae

A new species of Solidago is described from collections made in Maritime Canada. Fernald (1915, 1950) treated some of these plants as S. lepida var. elongata, which is native to far western North America. Comparison of these entire to sharply and co arsely serrate narrower leaved specimens that are sparsely hairy to glabrate with S. canadensis and the broader leaved and sometimes more hairy specimens of the S. lepida complex from Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island indicate that Fernald was correct in recognizing two closely related races native to the Canadian Maritime s that are similar to the mostly western S. lepida, but they are treated here as varieties of S. fallax. Fernald was incorrect in thinking that the narrower leaved race belonged in S. elongata. These three eastern taxa are diploid while the S. l pida infrequently occurring in the Maritimes is hexaploid. A ll four taxa are usually more stipitateglandular and have more leafy inflorescences with ascending br anches than in sometimes similar S. canadensis. The following new name and combinations are proposed: Solidago brendiae Semple, sp. nov., Solidago fallax (Fernald) Semple, comb. et stat. nov., and Solidago fallax var. molina (Fernald) Semple, comb. nov.
Effect of Organic Fertilizer Source and Rate on Growth and Nutrient Leachate Profile of Greenhouse-grown Cucumber

Fertility management of seedlings and transplants is considered a key challenge in organic greenhouse production. This study was conducted to determine response of greenhouse-grown cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and nutrient release profile to two organic fertilizers and their combinations applied at three different concentrations in organic substrate. The organic fertilizers used were a turkey litter–based compost (TC) and a dairy manure vermicompost (VC). In addition, two control treatments [no fertilization (CK), conventional liquid fertilizer (CF)] were included. For TC, substrate leachate pH decreased for the first 17 days after addition and then increased, whereas electrical conductivity (EC), and calcium (Ca) and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3−-N) concentrations increased and then declined. For VC, EC decreased continuously over time from days 0 to 52, whereas pH increased. The Ca and NO3−-N concentrations decreased over time to 24 days and then did not change further. For TC/VC combinations, EC was stable for the first 17 days and then declined. For all organic fertilizer applications, potassium concentration was stable for the first 17 days and then decreased, whereas most of the sodium, ammonium-nitrogen, and chloride were no longer leached by 24 days. The VC and TC/VC combinations did not affect cucumber seed germination rate, seedling survival rate, seedling height, and leaf greenness (SPAD) as compared with CF. The stem length, leaf number, dry weight (DW), root index, and SPAD readings of cucumber transplants increased with increasing TC and VC fertilizer applications. The TC/VC combinations increased the biomass of cucumber transplants compared with CK, and did not differ from CF. The results of this study indicated that the 28.32 lb/yard3 of VC (high rate) or the 9.44 lb/yard3 of VC combined with 4 lb/yard3 of TC (medium rate) can be substituted for CF for the cultivation of cucumber seedlings. Based on DW, the 12 lb/yard3 of TC (high rate) or the 4 lb/yard3 of TC combined with 9.44 lb/yard3 of VC (medium rate) fertilizers were suitable replacements for CF for the cultivation of cucumber transplants.
Role of traditional cooking methods in controlling S. aureus and L. monocytogenes in shrimp

This study was planned out to evaluate the effectiveness of different traditional cooking methods on the viability of L. monocytogenes and S. aureus by contaminating unpeeled whole shrimp samples with 2.4x 106 cfu/g for L. monocytogenes and 4x106 cfu/g for S.aureus. Also the effect of refrigeration at 4c°on the viable count of S. aureus and L. monocytogenes, was studied, S. aureus and L. monocytogene counts were 1x106and 3x106 cfu/g after one day and 2.7x107 and 2x105 cfu/g after two days of refrigeration, respectively. This indicated that the refrigeration temperature decreased S. aureus count but increased L. monocytogenes count. While, the traditional cooking by boiling for inoculated shrimp revealed that, the boiling in different stages at zero day, first and second day of refrigeration decreased the count to <10 cfu/g for both. Microwave oven treatment of the samples resulted in destruction of both S. aureus and L. monocytogenes cells decreasing the count from about 106cfu/g to <10cfu/g. With the exposure of inoculated shrimp to different traditional cooking temperatures within one min for each temperature of 60°c decreased L. monocytogenes count to be 1.7x102 cfu/g, and S. aureus count to 2x104 cfu/g. At 80°c temperature effect on L. monocytogenes count decreased to be <10 cfu/g and S. aureus count to be 3x10
Binned Relative Environmental Change Indicator (BRECI): A tool to communicate the nature of differences between environmental niche model outputs

Niche models are now widely used in many branches of the biological sciences and are often used to contrast the distribution of favourable environments between regions or under changes in environmental conditions such as climate change. Evaluating model performance and selecting optimal models is now accepted as best-practice, and a number of methods are available assist this process. One aspect of ENM application which has not received as much attention is developing methods to communicate the degree and nature of changes between model outputs (typically as raster maps). The method described in this paper, Binned Relative Environmental Change Index (BRECI), seeks to address this shortfall in communicating model results.
Designing AutoTutor to be an Effective Conversational Partner

AutoTutor is an automated computer literacy tutor that participates in a conversation with the student. This paper describes the conversational features that have been incorporated into AutoTutor to improve his performance as a conversational partner. We depict AutoTutor's dialog move options in the Dialog Advancer Network (DAN). The DAN illustrates how AutoTutor adapts his dialog moves to the preceding student turn as well as how AutoTutor gives the floor back to the student. We also discuss how AutoTutor conforms to conversational norms, provides appropriate emotional responses, and appears interested in the student's conversational input.
Survey research on communication and language for English language learners and native English speakers enrolled in a college course on statistical literacy

The purpose of this study was to examine in what ways language is a factor that affects the learning process of students in an introductory statistics class. This research used a questionnaire survey instrument called: CLASS, Communication, Language And Statistics Survey that was applied to a total of 137 college students from a large southwestern public university, 83 of these students were self-identified as native English speakers (NOELL) and 53 were self-identified as English learner speakers (ELL) and one was dropped. This research found that in statistical instruction, there are some particular differences in behavior and learning process in the ELL students that differ from NOELL students. ELL students need more time to answer questions and they pretend to understand (e.g. nodding with the head) when the teacher is looking at them. NOELL students think that context will help to understand the meaning of a statistical result.
Global patterns of body size evolution are driven by precipitation in legless amphibians

Body size shapes ecological interactions across and within species, ultimately influencing the evolution of large-scale biodiversity patterns. Therefore, macroecological studies of body size provide a link between spatial variation in selection regimes and the evolution of animal assemblages through space. Multiple hypotheses have been formulated to explain the evolution of spatial gradients of animal body size, predominantly driven by thermal (Bergmann’s rule), humidity (‘water conservation hypothesis’), and resource constraints (‘resource rule’, ‘seasonality rule’) on physiological homeostasis. However, while integrative tests of all four hypotheses combined are needed, the focus of such empirical efforts needs to move beyond the traditional endotherm-ectotherm dichotomy, to instead interrogate the role that variation in lifestyles within major lineages (e.g., Classes) play in creating neglected scenarios of selection via analyses of largely overlooked environment-body size interactions. Here, we test all four rules above using a global database spanning 99% of modern species of an entire Order of legless, predominantly underground-dwelling amphibians (Gymnophiona, or caecilians). We found a consistent effect of increasing precipitation (and resource abundance) on body size reductions (supporting the water conservation hypothesis), while Bergmann’s, the seasonality and resource rules are rejected. We argue that subterranean lifestyles minimize the effects of aboveground selection agents, making humidity a dominant selection pressure – aridity promotes larger body sizes that reduce risk of evaporative dehydration, while smaller sizes occur in wetter environments where dehydration constraints are relaxed. We discuss the links between these principles with the physiological constraints that may have influenced the tropically-restricted global radiation of caecilians.
PERFORMANCE INTIMA-MEDIA THICKNESS OF CAROTID ARTERY AND FLOW MEDIATED DILATION OF BRACHIAL ARTERY FOR ASSESSING ATHEROSCLEROSIS PROGRESSION

Material and methods: 90 men were studied with the range of ages of 40-60 years in three groups. Vascular ultrasongraphy was performed to analyze endothelium-dependent vascular dilation in the brachial artery and IMT in the common carotid artery. Results: Our study showed that first, there were significant differences in IMT and flow mediated dilation (FMD) among the three groups (p-value < 0.05). Second, there was significant negative correlation between FMD of the left brachial artery (LBA) and IMT of the left common carotid artery (LCCA) in mild stenosis and severe stenosis groups (R=-0.37; p-value < 0.05, R=-0.55; p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: This study showed that FMD on the LBA with accompaniment of IMT on the LCCA could be useful tools to evaluate atherosclerosis progression. Â© 2014 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved. Introduction: Endothelial dysfunction and increased intima-media thickness (IMT) are early findings in the development of atherosclerosis that can be evaluated non-invasively by ultrasonography. The aim of this study was to investigate endothelial function and IMT, and the relation between these processes and atherosclerosis progression in three groups (control, mild stenosis and severe stenosis in the carotid artery).
Service-centric networking

© 2015, IGI Global. All rights reserved. This chapter introduces a new paradigm for service centric networking. Building upon recent proposals in the area of information centric networking, a similar treatment of services - where networked software functions, rather than content, are dynamically deployed, replicated and invoked - is discussed. Service-centric networking provides the mechanisms required to deploy replicated service instances across highly distributed networked cloud infrastructures and to route client requests to the closest instance while providing more efficient network infrastructure usage, improved QoS and new business opportunities for application and service providers.
Evaluation of the acaricidal activity of 63 commercialized pesticides against Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae)

The acaricidal activity and residual effects of 63 commercialized pesticides against the Cheongju strain of Haemaphysalis longicornis in Korea were examined. Twenty‐two pesticides (4 carbamates, 5 organophosphates, 10 pyrethroids, 1 amitraz, 1 diamide, and 1 unclassified pesticide) caused greater than 80% mortality in H. longicornis adults under laboratory conditions using the spray method. These 22 pesticides were used to treat grassland under field conditions for investigation of the residual effects, and 100% mortality in H. longicornis adults was observed with all the carbamates (carbosulfan, benfuracarb, fenobucarb, and carbaryl) and γ‐cyhalothrin after 3 days of pesticide treatment. γ‐Cyhalothrin exhibited 56.7% mortality after 10 days of treatment, which was the longest residual effect of treated grass on H. longicornis adults. With regard to the residual effects on H. longicornis under field conditions, most of the 22 pesticides exhibited higher mortality in nymphs than in adults. In particular, benfuracarb exhibited 96.7% acaricidal activity until 10 days after treatment.
Convergence Behavior of RIP and OSPF Network Protocols

Routing is the heartbeat of the Internet. Several routing protocols exist nowadays but the most common ones are Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF). The prime objectives of this project are to investigate the consequences of deploying RIP and OSPF simultaneously on a network and the performance improved by changing the timers of RIP. This project will introduce the characteristics of IP addressing. The similarities and differences between Variable Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) and Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) will be reviewed. Moreover, the advantages of the classless, over the classful, nature of a routing protocol will be rationalized as well. The compositions of a routing table will also be discussed. The section will end with a detailed examination of RIP and OSPF. Experiments involving seven Cisco routers will be performed. The three cases of interests are: • impact of a failure Ethernet link to the OSPF convergence • impact of a broken Frame Relay (FR) Virtual Circuit (VC) to the RIP convergence • impact of a broken FR VC to the redistribution convergence The RIP's timers will be changed in each of the three cases to inspect any performance improvement.
Distribution features of resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus on dairy farms

Research of opportunistic microbiocenosis in livestock enterprises of the Ural region was conducted. Dairy farms located in areas with different levels of technogenic contamination of agrobiocenoses with metals Cu, Cd, Fe, Zn, Hg, As, Pb and radionuclides 90Sr, 237Cs 210Pb were studied. The proportion of S. aureus strains in the opportunistic microbiocenosis of different farm departments was analyzed, and the selected strains were also tested for sensitivity to the antibiotics most frequently used in the industry. It was found that on all the studied farms predominate S. aureus strains with reduced sensitivity to antibiotics, the most common in animal husbandry practice. It was discovered that the proportion of strains of S. aureus resistant to rifampicin, cefazolin and tetracycline is increasing in areas with discernible technogenic contamination of agrobiocenosis. The share of multi-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, resistant to 3 or more classes of antibiotics, was also maximum in ecologically unfavorable areas. Keywords— dairy farming, opportunistic microflora, Staphylococcus aureus, resistance to antibiotics.
Non-crossover gene conversions show strong GC bias and unexpected clustering in humans

Although the past decade has seen tremendous progress in our understanding of fine-scale recombination, little is known about non-crossover (NCO) gene conversion. We report the first genome-wide study of NCO events in humans. Using SNP array data from 98 meioses, we identified 103 sites affected by NCO, of which 50/52 were confirmed in sequence data. Overlap with double strand break (DSB) hotspots indicates that the events are likely of meiotic origin. We estimate that a site is involved in a NCO at a rate of 5.7×10-6/bp/generation, consistent with sperm-typing studies, and infer that tract lengths span at least an order of magnitude. Observed NCO events show strong allelic bias at heterozygous AT/GC SNPs, with 68% (58–78%) transmitting GC alleles (P=5×10-4). Strikingly, in 4 of 15 regions for which there are also resequencing data, multiple disjoint NCO tracts cluster in close proximity (~20–30 kb), a phenomenon not previously seen in mammals.
Why are health authorities concerned about home treatment of patients with sleep apnoea?

Educational aims To give an overview of the variability of home treatment for CPAP To give insight into the reason for this variability Summary Although individual costs are low, the long-term treatment of patients with sleep apnoea has a large overall cost. In trying to assess the economic price of treatment of these patients, authorities need to consider many different aspects of the treatment, including the diagnosis, indications and patient compliance. However, this is complicated by the variability within these aspects. Although the number of patients has seen a steady increase, variability in diagnosis is dictated by efficient management of waiting lists. Variability of indications is more difficult to explain, although differences in diagnostic criteria and provision of service may have influence here. Finally, variability in compliance is a key aspect and must be considered during prescription of treatment.
MOLECULAR DIAGNOSIS OF RICKETTSIAE INFECTING CAMELS AND IXODID TICKS IN EGYPT

Rickettsioses including their pathogens, vectors, and hosts have an epidemiological importance and zoonotic importance. The objective of the present article was to define the prevalence and genotypic properties of Rickettsia in camels and their ticks in Egypt. Sixty one blood samples and 99 adult ticks were taken from camel hosts from Cairo, Giza and Sinai, during a period extending from 2013 to 2014. Based on the morphological identification of both male and female tick specimens, 91.9 % of the collected ticks were Hyalomma dromedarii. The prevalence of Rickettsia in camels using Gimenez staining technique and PCR was 0 and 41 %, respectively. The rickettsiae infection in ticks recorded 10.1 and 1.01 %, by Gimenez stain and PCR, respectively. Further, the phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on the sequences of OmpA and gltAgenes and three intergenic spacers (mppA, dksA and rpmE) of Rickettsia species. The phylogenetic analyses revealed a novel strain of Rickettsia africae in Hyalomma marginatum that was collected from camel in Sinai province. In addition, the phylogenetic analysis based on Clustal omega suggested that Rickettsia sequences which detected in camels were R. africae. Moreover, the highest Rickettsial infection rate was recorded in age groups of 17 to 19 years (80.0 %), Abady camel breeds (56.8 %) and ticks-infested camels (42.8 %). Concerning hematological changes, macrocytic anemia and leucopenia were recorded in camels with rickettsioses. The molecular characterization of Rickettsia detected in camels and their tick vectors will help in a better understanding of the epidemiological approach of rickettsioses in Egypt.
Does the neuronal noise in cortex help generalization?

One remarkable feature of neuronal activity in the mammalian cortex is the high level of variability in response to repeated stimuli. First, we used an open dataset, the Allen Brain Observatory, to quantify the distribution of responses to repeated presentations of natural movies. We find that even for their preferred moment in the movie clip, neurons have high variability which cannot be well captured by Gaussian or Poisson distributions. A large fraction of responses are better fit by log-normal or Gaussian mixture models with two components. These distributions are similar to activity distributions during training of deep neural networks using dropout. This poses the interesting hypothesis: is the role of cortical noise to help in generalization during learning? Second, to ensure the robustness of our results we analyzed electrophysiological recordings in the same areas of mouse visual cortex, again using repeated natural movie presentations and found similar response distributions. To make sure that the trial-by-trial variations we observe are not due exclusively to the result of changes in state, we constructed a population coupling model, where each neuron’s activity is coupled to a low-dimension version of the activity of all other simultaneously recorded neurons. The population coupling model can capture global, brain-wide activity fluctuations that are state-dependent. The residuals from this model also show non-Gaussian noise distributions. Third, we ask a more specific question: is the noise in the cortex more likely to move the representation of the stimulus in-class versus out-of-class? To address this question, we analyzed the responses of neurons across trials from multiple sections of different movie clips. We observe that the noise in the cortex better aligns to in-class variations. We argue that a useful noise for learning generalizations is to move from representations of different exemplars in-class, similar to cortical noise.
Investigating the Application of Automated Writing Evaluation to Chinese Undergraduate English Majors: A Case Study of WriteToLearn

This study investigated the application of WriteToLearn on Chinese undergraduate English majors’ essays in terms of its scoring ability and the accuracy of its error feedback. Participants were 163 second-year English majors from a university located in Sichuan province who wrote 326 essays from two writing prompts. Each paper was marked by four human raters as well as WriteToLearn. Many-facet Rasch measurement (MFRM) was conducted to calibrate WriteToLearn’s rating performance in scoring the whole set of essays against those of four trained human raters. The accuracy of WriteToLearn’s feedback on 60 randomly selected essays was compared with the feedback provided by human raters. The two main findings related to scoring were that WriteToLearn was more consistent but highly stringent relative to the four trained human raters in scoring essays and that it failed to score 7 essays. In terms of error feedback, WriteToLearn had an overall precision and recall of 49% and 18.7% respectively. These figures did not meet the minimum threshold of 90% precision for it to be a reliable error detecting tool set by Burstein, Chodorow, and Leacock (2003). Furthermore, it had difficulty in identifying the errors made by Chinese undergraduate English majors in the use of articles, prepositions, word choice and expression.