Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen Fixation Activity by Periphytic Blue-Green Algae in a Seagrass Bed on the Great Barrier Reef

Acetylene reduction activity, an index of nitrogen fixation, by epiphytic and epibenthic algae and coral debris was measured in seagrass beds around Green Island, Australia. Epiphytic blue-green algae showed a high activity, ranging from 56.1 ± 31.9 to 729 ± 105 mmol (g chl a) -1 d-1 on a chlorophyll basis, or 3.9 μmol N2 m-2 d-1 to 16 mmol N2 m-2 d-1 on an areal basis. The activities on an areal basis were comparable to those reported in a Fijian seagrass bed, whereas activities on a chlorophyll basis were higher on Green Island than on Fiji. A relatively high activity was observed on the leeward side of the island, partly due to the high seagrass biomass and partly due to the high epiphyte biomass. This trend of high activity on the leeward side of the island suggested that the biomass and/or activity of nitrogen fixing blue-green algae could be affected by unknown mechanism (s) related to the island environment. Algae on (or in) coral debris, which were abundant around live corals, were able to reduce acetylene. Discipline: Fisheries / Environment Additional key words: acetylene reduction, stable isotope ratio JARQ 34, 6973 (2000)
7 Web Usability Today: Theories, Approach and Methods

The aim of this work is to introduce the constant transformation and evolution of the usability concept. An overview of methods, techniques and theories concerning usability is supplied. The reported review starts from the description of traditional ergonomic methods and models, coming to the suggestion of innovative theoretical and methodological proposals. We claim that usability should always take context into account when studying artifacts such as hardware and software, as they are not to be considered as mere tools, unrelated to the concrete situation in which they are used. Thus, usability has to be implemented within a cultural framework, from which actions take their meaning.
Irrigation improves plant vitality in specific stages of mango tree development according to photosynthetic efficiency

The plant fruiting process requires more energy and availability of soil water. Consequently, identifying the appropriate time for additional water supplying for cultivation of mango is an important part of successful crop handling for production of fruit with high quality. Therefore, we studied effects of additional water supplied by irrigation on chlorophyll fluorescence parameters in a field experiment during phenological stages of Mangifera indica L. cv. Uba. Our results showed that the irrigation at specific periods of plant development improved fluorescence parameters (resulting in high values of the performance index), preventing damage of the photosynthetic apparatus, which positively influenced the supply of photoassimilates to fruit load. Furthermore, the results suggest that the additional water supply by irrigation in rainfed mango trees is recommended for maintaining high photosynthetic performance just during fruit development and fruit maturation.
Design and Simulation for a Real-time Ethernet Protocol under a Self-similar Traffic

Traditional Ethernet is not suitable for application in industry field which has strict requirements for real-time because of its indeterminacy. A real-time Ethernet media access control (MAC) protocol is proposed. This protocol provides a predictable upper bound for the sum of queuing and transmission delay of real-time frames. The protocol of non-real-time nodes does not need to change and it is compatible with traditional Ethernet MAC protocol. The non-real-time nodes can directly access network without any modification. The arrival of data frames was assumed to be satisfied Poisson distribution in previous network simulations, but it does not reflect the actual situation of networks. So a self-similar traffic model is proposed and the new real-time MAC protocol is simulated under the model. The feasibility and effectiveness of this protocol is verified by simulation results.
Homeoprotein Neuroprotection of Embryonic Neuronal Cells

Abstract Most homeoprotein transcription factors have a highly conserved internalization domain used in intercellular transfer. Internalization of homeoproteins ENGRAILED1 or ENGRAILED2 promotes the survival of adult dopaminergic cells, whereas that of OTX2 protects adult retinal ganglion cells. Here we characterize the in vitro neuroprotective activity of several homeoproteins in response to H2O2. Protection is observed with ENGRAILED1, ENGRAILED2, OTX2, GBX2, and LHX9 on midbrain and striatal embryonic neurons, whereas cell-permeable c-MYC shows no protective effects. Therefore, five homeoproteins belonging to three different classes (ANTENNAPEDIA, PAIRED, and LIM) share the ability to protect embryonic neurons from midbrain and striatum. Because midbrain and striatal neurons do not express the same repertoire of the four proteins, a lack of neuronal specificity together with a general protective activity can be proposed. Interestingly, hEN1 and GBX2 provided protection to primary midbrain astrocytes but not to non-neural cells, including mouse embryo fibroblasts, macrophages or HeLa cells. For the four proteins, protection against cell death correlated with a reduction in the number of H2O2-induced DNA break foci in midbrain and striatal neurons. In conclusion, within the limit of the number of cell types and homeoproteins tested, homeoprotein protection against oxidative stress-induced DNA breaks and death is specific to neurons and astrocytes but shows no homeoprotein or neuronal type specificity.
Remodelling of the nuclear envelope during KSHV lytic infection

Kaposi’s sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human tumour virus and key aetiological agent for several malignancies including Kaposi’s sarcoma. KSHV exhibits a biphasic life cycle split between a persistent latent period with minimal gene expression and a lytic period with an expression cascade that culminates in the release of nascent virions. Crucially, the lytic phase has been shown to be important for tumorigenesis and the spread of Kaposi’s sarcoma. The Nuclear Pore Complex (NPC) is a protein mega-complex that regulates nucleocytoplasmic transport. It is formed by multiple copies of individual nucleoporins that combine into a sophisticated protein gateway. The regulation of nuclear access makes it a target for viruses that subvert the NPC in order to hijack the cell for viral replication. Whilst herpesvirus can induce changes at the NPC, little is known about KSHV NPC remodelling. This study presents an investigation of how KSHV targets the NPC during its lytic infection highlighting the targeting a specific nucleoporin, Nup98, and an attempt at broader interactomic analysis using proximity dependent biotin identification. Nup98 is specifically downregulated early during lytic infection by the E3 ubiquitin ligase activity of viral protein RTA. This appears to be related to the repression of expression at viral ORF50 promoters when Nup98 is overexpressed in the nucleoplasm. This study also highlights how depletion of Nup98 is detrimental to the virus, leading to failed virion egress. In summary, this project highlights how KSHV specifically targets one population of Nup98 but requires NPC-bound Nup98 to sequester a cellular mRNA for CHMP7 protein to ensure virion egress. It also provides the first attempt at using interactomic techniques to create a comprehensive, semi-quantitative profile of changes to the NPC during KSHV lytic infection that can pave the way for further interaction studies and the development of targeted antivirals for KSHV.
Inhibition of Aspergillus fumigatus Biofilm and Cytotoxicity Study of Natural Compound Cis-9-Hexadecenal

Clinical limitations and drug-resistance are the basis of the search for new antifungal therapeutics against biofilm forming pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. Cis-9-hexadecenal is a natural compound present in various plants extracts, but its antifungal activity against A. fumigatus is still unexplored. The aim of present study was to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of cis-9-hexadecenal on A. fumigatus, specifically its biofilm and to assess its cytotoxicity. Broth micro-dilution method revealed that cis-9hexadecenal inhibited 90% of planktonic growth of A. fumigatus at 0.078 mg/ml. In-vitro combinatorial effect between drug amphotericin B and cis-9-hexadecenal was studied by checkerboard assay. Cis9-hexadecenal, in combination to amphotericin-B had additive effect and showed enhanced drug efficacy against A. fumigatus. The effect of cis-9-hexadecenal on pre-formed biofilm was analyzed through 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and scanning electron microscopy. In MTT assay, minimum biofilm-eradicating concentration-80 of cis-9-hexadecenal was 0.156 mg/ml. Scanning electron micrograph showed absence of extracellular matrix and tangled hyphae in cis-9-hexadecenal treated biofilm whereas these structures were present in both untreated and amphotericin-B treated biofilm. Drug-likeness was predicted through in-silico ADMET studies. The study envisaged that cis-9-hexadecenal followed Lipinski’s rule but had a higher Log P value indicating that it’s not hydrophilic. The compound can be modified to enhance the absorption and permeation. Cell cytotoxicity study exhibited that cis-9-hexadecenal was not toxic to normal human lung epithelial cell line L-132 upto 0.62 mg/ml. The study concluded that cis-9-hexadecenal might be explored further as a potential therapeutic molecule for A. fumigatus associated diseases.
Parasitic helminths infecting Eucinostomus melanopterus and Eugerres plumieri (Perciformes: Gerreidae), from Boca del Rio, Veracruz, México

A helminthological examination was carried out on 14 specimens of Eucinostomus melanopterus (flagfin mojarra) and 19 Eugerres plumieri (striped mojarra), of which a total of 461 helminths were collected. As a result, and 12 taxa were registered (five species, five genus and tow family), as follows: four monogeneans, five digeneans (four adults, one metacercaria), one cestode (larva) and tow nematodes (larvae). The highest prevalence was for Neodiplectanum mexicanum (29 %) infecting E. melanopterus and Aristocleidus hastatus (37 %) infecting E. plumieri . Both hosts shared 50 % of recorded species, and none of the identified helminthes represents a zoonotic risk.
A Calculus of Realizers for EM1-Arithmetic

We propose a realizability interpretation of a system for quantifier free arithmetic which is equivalent to the fragment of classical arithmetic without nested quantifiers, which we call EM1arithmetic. We interpret classical proofs as interactive learning strategies, namely as processes going through several stages of knowledge and learning by interacting with the “environment” and with each other. With respect to known constructive interpretations of classical arithmetic, the present one differs under many respects: for instance, the interpretation is compositional in a strict sense; in particular the interpretation of (the analogous of) the cut rule is the plain composition of functionals. As an additional remark, any two quantifier-free formulas provably equivalent in classical arithmetic have the same realizer.
Real-time intrusion detection alert correlation

Alert correlation is a process that analyzes the alerts produced by one or more intrusion detection systems and provides a more succinct and high-level view of occurring or attempted intrusions. Even though the correlation process is often presented as a single step, the analysis is actually carried out by a number of components, each of which has a specific goal. Unfortunately, most approaches to correlation concentrate on just a few components of the process, providing formalisms and techniques that address only specific correlation issues. In addition, existing systems do not have the real-time performance needed to perform online alert correlation. This dissertation presents a general correlation model that includes a comprehensive set of components and a real-time correlation tool based on this model. The tool has been applied to a number of intrusion detection datasets to identify how each component contributes to the overall goals of correlation and to validate the real-time performance of the tool. The results of these experiments show that the correlation tool is effective in achieving alert reduction and abstraction while operating in real-time.
Mixed fermentation of soybean meal by protease and probiotics and its effects on the growth performance and immune response in broilers

ABSTRACT Soybean meal (SBM) contains several anti-nutritional factors, which limit the use of soy protein. Exogenous enzyme supplementation and microbial fermentation can reduce anti-nutritional factors and increase the bioavailability of nutrients in SBM. In this study, we investigated the optimal parameters for the solid-state fermentation (SSF) of SBM by protease in combination with probiotics and evaluated its effect on the growth performance and immune response in broilers. Protease in combination with Bacillus subtilis significantly increased the degradation of soybean protein and soybean allergens in a dose-dependent manner during the SSF of soybean meal. Broilers fed 10% fermented SBM (FSBM), which was produced with protease and B. subtilis, consumed more daily feed on average during the entire feeding period than the SBM group did (P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with 10% FSBM attenuated IL-4 mRNA expression in the spleen and bursa of Fabricius of broilers (P < 0.05). Furthermore, 10%-FSBM-fed broilers had significantly lower serum anti-soybean IgG levels than SBM-fed broilers (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the supplementation of B. subtilis and protease during the SSF of SBM reduces anti-nutritional factors. Moreover, dietary supplementation of 10% FSBM could inhibit the allergic immune response in broilers.
Chemical contents and blue mould susceptibility in Swedish-grown cider apple cultivars

Content of polyphenols in cider apples is of utmost importance; while procyanidins are the only true tannins, other phenolic compounds can act as precursors for cider aroma (Lea, 1995; Wojdylo, 2008). Moreover, human health effects have been indicated for some phenolic compounds in apple like phloridzin (Schulze et al., 2014). A thorough screening of the chemical contents of cider apple cultivars could therefore be used as a basis for developing more healthy beverages. A suitable level of acidity is required to obtain sufficient flavour and to avoid bacterial infection during the fermentation. To ensure sufficient fermentation, a comparatively high sugar content is also desirable. Most craft ciders are produced from a careful blend of cider and dessert cultivars, which together offer the desired levels of tannins, acid and sugar. Chemical content in dessert apple is affected by various environmental factors like orchard location and management (Tahir and Nybom, 2013). A similar environmental impact is expected for cider apples. In a recent trial with four English cider cultivars in Washington, USA, chemical content was compared to data obtained for the same cultivars when previously grown at Long Ashton in England (Alexander et al., 2016). Amount of tannins in the Washington-produced juice was almost halved compared to that in England, possibly due to differences in, e.g., rootstock, pruning, irrigation and fertilization. In addition, significant year-by-year variation in the Washington orchards could be attributed to weather conditions. Part of the fruit yield is usually lost during harvest and storage due to fungal diseases like blue mould, Penicillium expansum (Pianzzola et al., 2004). Commonly, harvesting in cider apple orchards consists of allowing the fruit to drop to the ground – sometimes after vigorous shaking of the trees. This procedure results in numerous potential entry points German Society for Horticultural Science
Agroecologia e produção orgânica na agricultura familiar no território extremo sul da Bahia

Sustentando os pressupostos da agroecologia, os pequenos produtores(as) organizados em suas associações e movimentos têm buscado outra matriz produtiva no cultivo de alimentos livres de agrotóxicos para uso da população. Este trabalho objetivou contribuir com o uso sustentável dos recursos naturais e com a oferta de alimentos saudáveis para consumo, visando desenvolvimento sustentável, qualidade de vida e ambiente da população da região do extremo sul da Bahia. Verificou-se a necessidade de estudos sobre práticas agroecológicas para o cultivo e produção de alimentos orgânicos, com vistas ao aprofundamento teórico-prático acerca de técnicas e formas de uso da terra, sob a perspectiva da agroecologia. Para tanto, Implantou-se uma feira permanente no Departamento de Educação Campus X (DEDC X), Universidade do Estado da Bahia (UNEB), buscando nos atores a compreensão do sistema orgânico de produção na base agroecológica, como possibilidade de integração entre capacidade produtiva, uso, conservação da biodiversidade e demais recursos naturais, como o equilíbrio ecológico, eficiência econômica e justiça social. Onde, foi possível também ampliar na universidade o debate sobre a temática do campo brasileiro, no tocante ao acesso à terra, agroecologia (como alternativa ao modelo do agronegócio), fortalecendo o conhecimento levando a discussão ao ensino, à pesquisa e à extensão.
The effect of meal temperature on heart rate in Rhodnius prolixus

Rhodnius prolixus is able to cool down the ingested blood during feeding on a warm-blooded host. This is possible because of a counter-current heat exchanger located in its head, which transfers heat from the warm blood to the insect haemolymph and can dissipate through the head cuticle. Given the key role haemolymph circulation in thermoregulation, we investigated the modulation of the activity of the heart during the warmed meal intake. We evaluated the impact of meal temperature on the heart rate and found that feeding led to an increase in the frequency of heart contractions, which increases with increasing food temperature. We also found that females have a higher heart rate during feeding compare to males. HIGHLIGHTS Feeding increases the heart rate of Rhodnius prolixus The higher the meal temperature, the higher the heart rate becomes Females have a higher heart rate than males
Mobile Cloud-Data Processing And Energy Efficient Fault Tolerant Data storage

Smartphones have gained enormous popularity over the past few years. Resourcentensive applications (e.g., video and image storage and processing or map-reduce type) still remain off bounds since they require large computation and storage capabilities recent research has attempted to address these issues by employing remote servers, such as clouds and peer mobile devices.For mobile devices deployed in dynamic networks (i.e., with frequent topology changes because of node failure/unavailability and mobility as in a mobile cloud), however, challenges of reliability and energy efficiency remain largely unaddressed. The first to address these challenges in an integrated manner for both data storage and processing in mobile cloud, an approach is call k-outof-n computing.In this solution, mobile devices successfully retrieve or process data, in the most energy-efficient way, as long as k out of n remote servers are accessible. Through a real system implementation it proves the feasibility of this approach. Extensive simulations demonstrate the fault tolerance and energy efficiency performance of this framework in larger scale networks. Keywords— Smartphones , Cloud ,Mobile Phone ,Mobile Cloud ,Real System Keywords— Smartphones , Cloud ,Mobile Phone ,Mobile Cloud ,Real System
Determination of Antibiotic Resistance of Salmonella and Molecular Confirmation of Drug Resistance Salmonella Species Isolated From Raw Chicken and Quail Eggs from Selected Farms in Jos, Nigeria

: Determination of antibiotic resistance of Salmonella and molecular confirmation of drug resistance Salmonella species isolated from raw chicken and quail eggs from selected poultry farms in Jos Local Government Area was carried out. A total of 360 egg samples were randomly collected, one hundred and eighty (180) each from quail and chicken respectively from three Local Government Areas namely; Jos north. Jos south and Jos east were sampled. The samples were examined for the presence of Salmonella species using standard microbiological and biochemical techniques. They were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by disc diffusion method. Results showed that out of the 360 samples, only 3(1.7%) from chicken egg shells were positive for Salmonella. Positive result for Salmonella was not obtained from quail egg shells nor contents. Isolates from results were further subjected to susceptibility testing to eleven (11) commonly used antibiotics. Three (3) were 100% resistant to Streptomycin, Erthromyc in and Oxacillin. The isolates were also 67% resistant to Ampicillin, Ciprofloxacin and Chloramphenicol. All the three (3) isolates were successfully amplified using specific primers for PCR method. The results showed presence of Salmonella species in only chicken egg shells. Poultry eggs should be properly washed before consuming it raw so as to reduce infections by this organism.
LDRD Final Report: Improving Human/System Interactions in Systems-of-Systems

The main premise of this LDRD is to allow a decision-maker that has little familiarity with modeling and simulation to be able to interact with simulations in a naturalistic manner similar to ways in which humans communicate about ideas to others. We report on a user-centric Human-System Interface (HIS) prototype, based on the taxonomy of observed human interactions integrated with 3-D tangible interface coupled with voice and gesture recognition. We have demonstrated a “Tangible Table,” based on gesture and speech, as a means of allowing humans to interact with simulations of System-of-Systems (SoS). A number of applications are limited primarily by their HSI. Unlike machines, humans are adept at conveying information between themselves using a variety of techniques, including speech, gesture, using props (tangibles), and drawing. By coupling technologies that mimic these interactions, we are developing interface technologies for complex systems that are both intuitive and user-centric in design. Our focus was on the development of an HSI for Modeling and Simulation (M&S), especially analytic tools. We used Sandia's Umbra simulation framework and added Object Oriented containers to support the easy creation of hierarchical systems representations; we implemented the concepts of Architectural Description Languages utilizing XML, based on Carnegie Mellon University’s ACME.