Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microscopic Study on Expression of Yr-18 Gene Related to Adult Plant Resistance in a Near-isogenic Line of Spring Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) to the Stripe Rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici)

In this study, isolate SR99-UA (Race 70E 128) of wheat stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis West. f . sp. tritici Eriks) was used to inf ect susceptible spring wheat (cultivar Thatcher) and its near isogenic line possessing Yr -18 adult-plant resistance gene. Samples were taken at the f lag leaf stage and observed using light, transmission and scanning electron microscopes. No major dif f erences in the inf ection process were detected prior to haustorium f ormation, but sub-stomatal vesicles appeared to be f ormed af ter penetration, slightly earlier in susceptible than in the resistant genotypes. Higher numbers of haustoria were f ormed at any particular time in the susceptible cultivar than in the resistant near isogenic line 2-3 days af ter inoculation. In the early stages of inf ection, host cell necrosis was not observed in the susceptible host, but was occasionally seen in the resistant isogenic line. Fourteen days af ter inoculation, the number of necrotic cells of hypersensitive response were higher on the resistant genotype than on the susceptible cultivar at this time when many of the inf ected mesophyll cells of the resistant host had collapsed. The f irst clearly developing pustules were usually observed 12 days af ter inoculation on the susceptible cv. Thatcher and 14 days af ter inoculation on its resistant near isogenic line. Eighteen days af ter inoculation, the mean number of pustules produced, per unit of inf ected leaf area, was high on the susceptible cultivar but on the resistant genotype the pustules were much less in number, diminutive and poorly sporulating.
How to explain the participation effect: is it a question of different expectations and communication? A preliminary investigation

This experiment is a preliminary test to explain the participation effect observed in Bortolami and Mittone (2009). The aim of this new version is to test whether the contributory gap is more properly justifiable in terms of pure environmental choices, or, on the contrary, whether the gap is more strictly related to behavioural dynamics. To verify the former hypothesis, an environmental change regarding communication is introduced. To test the latter, empirical and normative expectations are explicitly considered.
Elemental Profile and 207Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 204Pb/206Pb, 87Sr/86Sr Isotope Ratio as Fingerprints for Geographical Traceability of Romanian Wines

Geographical wine traceability is an important topic in the context of wine authentification. Therefore, many researchers have addressed this subject by developing different methodologies based on multivariate analysis of organic and inorganic parameters and also by isotopic signature. The goal of this research was to assess the potential of elemental composition and isotopic signature of lead (207Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/206Pb and 204Pb/206Pb) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) of wines from three Romanian vineyards, in order to highlight reliable markers for wine geographical origin. The ICP-MS method was used for the concentration determination for 30 elements (Ag, Al, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, In, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Rb, Se, Sr, Tl, V, U, Zn, Hg). In this study 10 wines (2 red and 8 white) obtained from ‘Merlot’, ‘Fetească neagră’, ‘Fetească albă’, ‘Fetească regală’, ‘Băbească gri’, ‘Șarba’, ‘Aligote’, ‘Sauvignon blanc’, ‘Muscat Ottonel’, ‘Italian Riesling’ cultivars were investigated. The wine samples were obtained from micro-wine production under conditions of 2014, 2015, 2016 from Dealu Bujorului, Murfatlar and Ștefănești-Argeș vineyards. The high level of K (148.66±5.41-633.74±4.13 mg/L), Mg (88.23±0.84-131.66±3.42 mg/L), Ca (49.84±1.22-89.18±2.34) and Fe were observed in the wine samples analysed. Heavy metals like Hg, Pb, As and Cd (10.2-315 µg/L) were found below acceptable limits. Concentration of Na (1 mg/L), Cu (1 mg/L), As (0.2 mg/L), Cd (0.01 mg/L), Zn (5 mg/L) and Pb (0.15 mg/L) metals in analysed wine samples were under Maximum Permissible Limits (MPL), respectively as published by the Organization of Vine and Wine. The variation of the 207Pb/206Pb, 208Pb/206Pb, 204Pb/206Pb and 87Sr/86Sr ratio and K/Rb, Ca/Sr of the investigated wine clearly demonstrated that these variables are suitable traces for wine geographical origin determination. The proposed methodology allowed a 100% successful classification of wines according to the region of provenance.
A Survey of Compression and Encryption Techniques for SMS

This Mobile communication is one of the fastest means of communication between one senders to other. Although the data send through the mobiles via SMS is easy and fast but it involves a lot of security because the SMS message may contains some useful data which can eavesdropped easily. Hence to secure such private data from un-authorized users, these SMS should be made secure by applying some encryption technique. But by applying encryption technique on these SMS data increase the length of the message, hence the wastage of bandwidth gets increase. So to utilize the bandwidth of these encrypted messages compression technique is required so that the length gets reduced and hence bandwidth gets utilized. Here in this paper a brief survey of all the encryption and compression techniques used for the security of SMS is given. Also one of the efficient techniques is proposed in the paper for the secure transmission of SMS messages from sender to receiver.
Subgoal Identifications in Reinforcement Learning: A Survey

Designing an algorithm to build a program to solve all forms of problems is an attractive idea. The programmers don’t need to spend efforts on figuring out an optimal way to solve the problem, the algorithm itself will explore the problem and automatically finds the solution to the problem. This amazing feature of automatic programming is what makes reinforcement learning so appealing, and have the potential to apply on virtually every single task of our world. Reinforcement learning is a general framework to find an optimal solution for the given task. Its generalization reduces the effort of programmers on mapping a specific task into a reinforcement learning problem, but this feature is also the main performance bottleneck of reinforcement learning. Since there are not many constraints within the framework, the search space of the policy is exponentially proportional to the dimension of the state space. When mapping a high dimensional problem into a reinforcement learning problem, the conventional reinforcement learning algorithm becomes infeasible. Most of the real world problems are high-dimensional, and it is the major limitation for reinforcement learning. Therefore, how to find a way to reduce the search space and improve the search efficiency is the most important challenge. On dealing with a high dimensionality problem, there are two common approaches to improve the performance. One is to reduce the dimensionality; the other is to find a better optimization algorithm. The first approach has drawn much attention in recent years, and many interesting works have been proposed this way to boost the performance of reinforcement learning. This article is going to review some recent advances in the dimensionality reduction approach. Approaches for dimensionality reduction can be classified into two categories. One is value function approximation, and the other is abstraction. The first category approximate the utility function as a specific form of function, usually linear function, and the optimization of value function becomes much more efficient when dealing with linear functions. This approximation not only reduces the cost of optimization, but also provides the abilities to dealing with continuous-variable problems and generalizing the original policy to similar problems. The second category identifies the structure of the problem, represent the problem with higher-level concepts, and remove irrelevant parameters. Approaches within this category identify the sub-spaces of the state space that do not need to include other subspaces when solving the problem. For example, on solving a “make-coffee” problem, we can divide the problem into two sub-problems “reach the coffee maker” and “cook coffee with
Economic Assessment of the Impact of Packaging Design on Consumption

Packaging has become itself a sales promotion tool for commercial organizations. Consumers are exposed to more than 20,000 product choices within a 30-minute shopping session. The objective of this paper is to determine the effect of packaging design on consumer purchasing behavior, along with the identification of the main aspects that contribute to the packaging of a product. Packaging is believed to leave a certain positive or negative impression on the consumer which greatly affects the sales and the market share of a commercial organization. Thus, it is important to take into consideration the effect of the packaging of a product on the consumers’ buying behavior. By understanding how packaging affects the purchase decision, companies will be able to make the right decision when it comes to product packaging and presentation. This research identifies the relationship between the main variable, which is the consumer buying behavior, and the independent variables such as packaging elements and packaging quality. Upon distributing 150 structured questionnaires, primary research data was collected, and SPSS software was used to analyze and interpret the findings. The results of this research show the importance of having good packaging elements and quality in order to maintain a positive product image, and achieve a better market impact. Future research is proposed which can help in developing a better understanding of consumer buying response in relation to packaging elements and quality.
DESIGN OF STATE OBSERVER USING DECAY RATE LMI CONSTRAINTS FOR FAULT DETECTION IN MECHANICAL SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT Nowadays, one of the most important concerns for many companies is to maintain the operation of their systems without sudden equipment break down. Because of this, new techniques for fault detection and location in mechanical systems subject to dynamic loads have been developed. This paper studies of the influence of the decay rate in the design of state observers using LMI for fault detection in mechanical systems. This influence is analyzed by the performance index proposed by Huh and Stein for the condition of a state observer. An example is presented to illustrate the methodology discussed. Keywords: State observers, Decay rate, Performance index, Faults detection, LMI. RESUMO Hoje em dia, uma das mais importantes preocupacoes para muitas empresas e manter o funcionamento dos seus sistemas sem interrupcoes. Devido a isso, novas tecnicas de deteccao de falhas e localizacao em sistemas mecânicos sujeitos a cargas dinâmicas tem sido desenvolvidas. Este artigo estuda a influencia da taxa de decaimento no projeto de observadores de estado usando LMI para deteccao de falhas em sistemas mecânicos. Essa influencia e analisada pelo indice de desempenho proposto por Huh e Stein para a condicao de um observador de estado. Um exemplo e apresentado para ilustrar a metodologia discutida. Palavras-chave: Observador de estado, Taxa de decaimento, Indice de desempenho, Deteccao de falhas, LMI.
Theoretical and Experimental Characterization of Efficient Anti-Dust Coatings under Desert Conditions

Transparent titania coatings have self-cleaning and anti-reflection properties (AR) that are of great importance in optical and solar applications. In this work, an efficient and easy to scale up adsorptive self-assembly process is used to coat glass substrates with two TiO2 nanocolloids (TC-1 and TC-2) prepared via polyol method. TEM images of the nanoparticles show an average particle size of 2.6 and 167.7 nm of TC-1 and TC-2, respectively. The theoretical values for the coating thickness as well as for the antireflective index were compared with the experimental values obtained via elipsometer measurements. The self-cleaning properties were investigated by optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, contact angle, surface tension and UV-vis spectroscopy. The optical images show 56% reduction of dust deposition rate with lower adhesion force over the best performing coated surfaces TC-1 compared with bare glass substrates and TC-2 after 7 days of soiling.
Reduction of Female Proportion in Lower Growing Fish Separated from Normal and Feminized Seedlings of Hirame Paralichthys olivaceus

Each group of normal males and sex-reversed gynogenetic females (phenotypical male) of hirame Paralichthys olivaceus were crossed with normal females, and the obtained larvae and juveniles were reared at two different water temperatures of 18•Žand 23-25•Ž(only normal generation) during the sex determination period. When lower growing fish (about 20 mm in total length) appeared in their original populations, these were separated and reared in other tanks. The populations reared at 18•Ž without growth retention indicated the primary genetic sex ratio, while the populations reared at high temperatures showed clearly lower proportions of females. The lower growing fish showed lower
The Effect of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) on the Iranian Upper-Intermediate EFL Learners’ Listening Skill

Applying an appropriate approach to teaching language in general, and to improving and reinforcing listening as a fundamental skill in particular, has always been a concern for educators. This study attempts to investigate the effect of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as an approach to teaching and learning a foreign language on the improvement of listening skill. In this experimental research, 30 upper-intermediate EFL learners in the form of two intact classes in an English language institute were selected. Their proficiency level as upper-intermediate was confirmed by a TOEFL general proficiency test. Two intact classes were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups and then, an FCE listening pre-test was administered to them in order to ensure their homogeneity in listening comprehension. After that, two classes were instructed for 16 sessions (two months) with different approaches. In the experimental group, Computer-Assisted Language Learning was applied whereas in the control group, traditional approach to language teaching was followed. A listening post-test was administered to both groups at the end of the experiment. To compare the participants’ listening comprehension ability in the experimental and control groups an independent-samples t-test was conducted. The experimental group outperformed the control group in listening post-test. The results indicated that application of CALL do have a significant effect on improvement of learners’ listening proficiency.
Guarantee Valuation in Notional Defined Contribution Pension Systems

The notional defined contribution pension scheme combines pay-as-you-go fi- nancing and a defined contribution pension formula. The return on contributions is based on a notional rate which is linked to an external index set by law, such as the growth rate of GDP, average wages, or contribution payments. The volatility of this return may introduce a pension adequacy problem in the system and therefore guarantees may be needed. Here we focus on the guarantee of a minimum return on the contributions made to the pension scheme and we calculate its price in a utility indifference framework. We obtain a closed-form solution in a general dependence structure with exponential preferences and in presence of stochastic short interest rates.
Syntactic Complexity in Danish Radio News

Abstract The present article documents a diachronic decline in syntactic complexity in manuscript-based radio news on the primary Danish public service channel, DR, from 1946 to 2006. This decline corresponds to a general shift in radio news language from a traditional formal news style to a modern news style based on the principles of natural spoken language. It is, however, hard to assess whether the syntactic changes have had an effect on how easy or difficult it is to understand what is being said on DR – a topic that has been frequently and fervently debated in the Danish press.
The prevalence of lameness in the assessment of Transylvanian dairy herds by locomotion score and according to the farmers' estimates.

Lameness in dairy cows represents one of the most serious animal welfare problems. Monitoring on-farm lameness prevalence is important for dairy producers and veterinarians in their efforts to reduce lameness. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of lame dairy cows assessed by locomotion score and estimated by farmers. For the onfarm lameness assessment a five point locomotion score was used. A number of 751 dairy cows were assessed in the cold season in 10 Transylvanian dairy farms. The results were statistically processed using the SPSS software, version 17. Out of 751 assessed cows 33.49% presented normal locomotion; 40.38% presented slight lameness; 18.03% were moderately lame; 5.17% were lame and 2.93% presented severe lameness. The prevalence of lameness established using the locomotion score varied from 4.76% to 68% (median 23.38%), and that estimated by the farmers ranged between 0 and 15% (median 7.50%). There were statistically significant differences (P<0.05) between the prevalence of lameness assessed using the locomotion score and that estimated by the farmers. It follows from the findings of this study that the dairy farmers are not aware about the locomotion problems of their cows.
Virulence dynamics, phenotypic diversity, and virulence complexity in two populations of Puccinia triticina in Canada from 1987 to 1997

Populations of Puccinia triticina (causal agent of wheat leaf rust) in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan were analysed for frequency of isolates with virulence to leaf rust resistance genes Lr1, Lr2a, Lr2c, Lr3, Lr9, Lr16, Lr24, Lr26, Lr3ka, Lr11, Lr17, and Lr30 for the years 1987-1997. Winter wheats in the southern plains of the United States with resistance genes Lr24, Lr26, Lr11, Lr3ka, Lr17, and Lr16 selected virulent P. triticina phenotypes in the Manitoba and Saskatchewan population. The P. triticina population in Quebec and Ontario was comparatively stable, showing no directional trends in selection of virulence phenotypes. In the Manitoba and Saskatchewan population, diversity of virulence phenotypes changed relatively little despite the selection that occurred in this population. The average number of virulences per isolate in the Manitoba and Saskatchewan population increased from 1987 to 1994 during the period of selection for virulence to Lr24, Lr26, Lr3ka, and Lr11, and declined from 1995 to 1997 when selection for virulence to Lr16 and Lr17 occurred. The most complex virulence phenotypes were not necessarily selected in the Manitoba and Saskatchewan population because of how the resistance genes were deployed in the host population and the nonrandom distribution of virulences in the P. triticina population.
THE PHONETICS OF EMPHASIS

Research is reported in a framework linking phonetic exponents to communicative functions. From the heterogeneous field of ‘emphasis’, two areas are selected: ‘positive/negative expressive intensification’ of verbal meaning, e.g. it’s delicious! vs it stinks! German data are collected in controlled monologues and dialogues. On the hypothesis that ‘positive emphasis’ strengthens sonority, ‘negative emphasis’ weakens it, aspects of f0, acoustic energy, duration, voice quality are tested statistically.
Challenges on the A utomatic T ranslation of C ollocations

As a linguistic phenomenon, collocations have been the subject of numerous researches both in the fields of theoretical and descriptive linguistics, and, more recently, in automatic Natural Language Processing. In the area of Machine there is still improvements to be done, as major translation engines do not handle collocations in the appropriate way and end up producing literal unsatisfactory translations. Having as a starting point our previous work on machine translation error analysis (Costa et al., 2015), in this article we present a corpus annotated with collocation errors and their classification. To our believe, to have a clear understanding of the difficulties that the collocations represent to the Machine Translations engines, it is necessary a detailed linguistic analysis of their errors.
Diversity and Abundance of Butterfly Species in the Abiriw and Odumante Sacred Groves in the Eastern Region of Ghana

Sacred groves in Ghana have been adopted as one of the strategies to mitigate the loss of biodiversity. They are seriously under threat from anthropogenic activities. A six month survey of the butterfly fauna in the Abiriw and Odu mante sacred groves in the Akwapim North and South Districts, respectively of the Eastern Region of Ghana was conducted to characterize resident butterfly species diversity and abundance. The transect count method and charaxes traps were used to sample the butterflies. Analysis of butterfly diversity in these groves, which range in size fro m 400 m 2 to 250 m 2 , was used to evaluate their effectiveness in achieving conservation objectives. Co mmun ity diversity was characterized in terms of, (a) number of species accumulated versus sampling effort, (b) nonparametric richness estimates, (c) Simpson's and Shannon-Weiner Indices of Diversity, and (d) Co mplementarity of co mmunit ies. A total of 1169 ind ividual butterflies were trapped across all sites representing 89 species from 10 families. Butterfly species richness and evenness in the Abiriw g rove was higher than that of the Odumante grove, however, the Abiriw grove harboured a resident community that was not distinctive from the Odu mante grove. These findings add to the body of knowledge that indicates that large groves are the foundation of successful conservation programs. Nonetheless, it was observed that both groves harbour a number of species that appear vulnerable to dynamics of fo rest frag mentation based on changes in their relative abundance across sites. The findings are discussed in the context of potential indicator species and theoretical predictions of at-risk species.
PRESENCE OF AQUAPORINS IN DESICCATION PROCESS IN PEA SEEDS

A b s t r a c t . Desiccation of pea seeds has been re-examined by the gravimetric and spectroscopic methods in order to throw more light on the role of aquaporins in this process. Aquaporins are passiv e and remarkably efficient membrane channels that facilitate permeation of water in the plasma membrane in both plant and animal cells. There have been sev eral attempts to characterise the role of aquaporin s at the whole-plant level. In this paper the desiccatio n of pea seeds, preliminary imbibed at different ti me intervals and various conditions, was observed. Sub stantial differences were found in the short-time c omponent of the two-exponential decay of water loss i n pea seeds, which was been attributed to apoplasti c water transport. No significant differences in desi ccation kinetics were found in the long-time component. The effect of HgCl 2, which is recognised as non-specific water channel inhibitor, was checked. It was observed that the water uptake decreased in the pre sence of HgCl 2 in the imbibition medium and the presence of HgCl 2 did not influence the kinetics of desiccation sign ificantly. This observation was interpreted in terms of the osmoregulation model of water transport by aquaporins. K e y w o r d s : aquaporins (water channels), pea seeds, d esiccation, osmoregulation