Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Latest emulsion detector for cosmic ray observation: high sensitive emulsion film and high speed readout system

A nuclear emulsion is used in a high-resolution 3D tracking device. AgBr crystals of 0.2 μm size that are penetrated by a charged particle grow, via a chemical development process, into 0.8 μm silver grains that can be observed as a track by using a microscope. Recent fully automated readout systems have enabled not only high-resolution measurements but also large-scale experiments (accelerator and balloon-borne experiments, cosmic ray muon radiography, etc.). Since 2010, properties of the emulsion detector have drastically changed. We have introduced a system of nuclear emulsion gel production to the laboratory in Nagoya University, Japan, and have started self-development and supply of the new gel, instead of relying on photographic film companies. We have also developed a next-generation readout system, the Hyper Track Selector (HTS). The scanning speed is designed to be 0.9 m2/h (100 times faster than the current system). GammaRay Astro-Imager with Nuclear Emulsion (GRAINE) is a cosmic gammaray observation project that uses a balloon-borne emulsion detector. The angular resolution of the emulsion gamma-ray telescope (0.08◦ @ 1–2 GeV) is one order of magnitude higher than that of the Fermi-LAT. In addition, it has polarization sensitivity using the pair creation mode. A search for exotic particles and measurements of short-lived particle production rates in cosmic rays at balloon altitudes will be also conducted. In the second GRAINE balloon-borne experiment in 2015 May, 50 m2 of the new highly sensitive emulsion films were used for the medium-scale gamma-ray telescope (aperture area 3600 cm2), with which we demonstrate the imaging performance. We present the status of the latest emulsion detector and readout system based on results of performance tests conducted for the GRAINE balloon-borne experiment in 2015.
Nobelist TD LEE Scientist Cooperation Network and Scientist Innovation Ability Model

Nobelist TD Lee scientist cooperation network (TDLSCN) and their innovation ability are studied. It is found that the TDLSCN not only has the common topological properties both of scale-free and small-world for a general scientist cooperation networks, but also appears the creation multiple-peak phenomenon for number of published paper with year evolution, which become Nobelist TD Lee’s significant mark distinguished from other scientists. This new phenomenon has not been revealed in the scientist cooperation networks before. To demonstrate and explain this new finding, we propose a theoretical model for a nature scientist and his/her team innovation ability. The theoretical results are consistent with the empirical studies very well. This research demonstrates that the model has a certain universality and can be extended to estimate innovation ability for any nature scientist and his/her team. It is a better method for evaluating scientist innovation ability and his/her team for the academic profession and is of application potential.
Associative diazotrophic bacteria from forage grasses in the Brazilian semi-arid region are effective plant growth promoters

Abstract. The study of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) can identify outstanding bacteria for crops. For forage grasses adapted to drylands, the selection of PGPB can increase the field performance of pastures. The aim of this study was to isolate, and characterise at molecular, biochemical and symbiotic levels, diazotrophic bacteria obtained from buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and Tifton 85 (Cynodon spp.) from Brazilian semi-arid region fields. Field-grown plants were collected, and the roots were surface-disinfected, crushed and inoculated in a semi-solid medium. After the formation and confirmation of microaerophilic pellicles, the bacteria were isolated and purified. All bacterial isolates were subjected to nifH gene amplification and identified by their partial 16S rRNA gene sequences. The bacteria were evaluated for the production of auxins and siderophores, calcium phosphate solubilisation, and diazotrophic ability as ‘in vitro’ plant growth-promotion traits. A plant inoculation assay was conducted to assess the plant growth-promotion abilities of the bacterial isolates. Twenty-one bacterial isolates harboured the nifH gene (nifH+), among which nine were obtained from sorghum, eight from buffel grass, and four from Tifton 85. The bacterial isolates were classified as Bacillus (8), Stenotrophomonas (7), Agrobacterium (4), Cellulomonas (1) and Paenibacillus (1). All were shown to be auxin producers, with 14 isolates showing diazotrophic capacity ‘in vitro’. Fourteen isolates increased plant N content, but the bacterial strains ESA 392 and ESA 398 (Bacillus), ESA 397 and ESA 407 (Stenotrophomonas), and ESA 401 (Agrobacterium) were shown to promote both plant growth and N nutrition. These strains are candidates for further assays to evaluate their agronomic performance under field conditions, aiming inoculant production for forage grasses in drylands.
Occurrence of aflatoxins in milk and their effects on reproduction

Οι αφλατοξίνeς eίναι τοξικοί μeταβολίτeς των μυκήτων Aspergillus flavus και Aspergillus parasiticus. Οι μύκητeς αυτοί προσβάλλουν τις ζωοτροφές και κάτω από κατάλληλeς συνθήκeς παράγουν τις αφλατοξίνeς (Β1, Β2, Gl, G2). Όταν οι τeλeυταίeς καταναλωθούν από τα ζώα, προκύπτουν διάφορeς παθολογικές καταστάσeις (αφλατοξινώσeις), μe συμπτώματα που ποικίλλουν ανάλογα μe το eίδος του ζώου, την ηλικία, το βαθμό προσβολής της ζωοτροφής και την ποσότητα της προσλαμβανόμeνης τροφής. Σήμeρα, οι αφλατοξίνeς απασχολούν όλο και πeρισσότeροτους eρeυνητές, αφού προσβάλλουν σe σημαντικό βαθμό τις ζωοτροφές σe πολλά μέρη του κόσμου. Οι πeριοχές μe το μeγαλύτeρο πρόβλημα eίναι eκeίνeς μe τροπικό ή υποτροπικό κλίμα, μιας και τα eπίπeδα υγρασίας και θeρμοκρασίας παίζουν σπουδαίο ρόλο στην ανάπτυξη των μυκήτων. Άμeση συνέπeια της λήψης αφλατοξίνης Β1 eίναι η απέκκριση στο γάλα της αφλατοξίνης ΜΙ, μeταβολίτη της Β1. Η ΜΙ eίναι δυνατό να ανιχνeυθeί στο γάλακαι σe ορισμένeς πeριπτώσeις σe eπίπeδα υψηλότeρα από τα ανώτατα eπιθυμητά όρια που ορίζeι η νομοθeσία κάθe κράτους, καθιστώντας το γάλα ακατάλληλο για κατανάλωση. Πολλές eίναι οι έρeυνeς που αναφέρονται στις eπιδράσeις των αφλατοξινών στο αναπαραγωγικό σύστημα. Η γeνeτήσια ωριμότητα, η ανάπτυξη και ωρίμανση των ωοθυλακίων, τα eπίπeδα των ορμονών, η κυοφορία, η ανάπτυξη του eμβρύου eίναι μeρικές από τις παραμέτρους που eίναι δυνατό να eπηρeαστούν από τις αφλατοξίνeς. Σe ό,τι αφοράτο γeννητικό σύστημα του αρσeνικού, οι πeρισσότeρeς αναφορές σχeτίζονται μe την πιθανή eπίδραση των αφλατοξινών στο μέγeθος και στο βάρος των γeννητικών οργάνων, στη σπeρματογένeση, στον αριθμό και στη μορφολογία των σπeρματοζωαρίων, καθώς και στα eπίπeδα των ορμονών.
Status of the fringing coral reefs in the southern Egyptian coast of the Red Sea

Study of the effect of human impact and sheltering condition on corals and fish assemblages was carried out in twenty nine reef sites at the area between Marsa Umm El-Grifate and Marsa Shuna, Red sea. Total living covers, total coral cover, and total recruitment colonies were recorded and exhibited higher percentages of occurrence on the exposed and un-impacted sites than on the sheltered and impacted ones. In contrary, the covers of algae, dead and bleached coral colonies were found to be higher on the sheltered and impacted reefs than on the exposed and un-impacted ones. In total, 117 fish species belong to 24 families were recorded. Although, carnivore fish were dominating the food web, the most abundant groups were found to be herbivore and planktivore fishes. Total fish abundance was higher in the shelter sites than in the exposed ones, while the abundance of herbivores, carnivores, and piscivores were higher in the sheltered and impacted sites than in the exposed and unimpacted ones. Total coral cover and total recruitments were negatively correlated to algal cover. Total fish abundance was positively correlated to total living cover and negatively correlated to total coral cover. Herbivores fish abundance was positively correlated to total coral cover and total recruitments, but it was negatively correlated to algal cover. Moreover, planktivores fishes were negatively correlated to the total coral cover and total recruitments. This study strongly recommended to organize the fishing activities along the southern Red Sea, in addition to regulate the rabid coastal development to this part of the Red Sea.
Protective Effects of Oroxylin A on Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation/Reperfusion-Induced PC12 Cells by Activating the Sonic Hedgehog Signal Pathway

Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of human death. The injury that is induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion in stroke remains unsolved. This study first investigated the effects of oroxylin A on oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion-induced PC12 cells. This was performed by dividing the cells into a control group, an oxygen-glucose deprivation and reperfusion (OGD/R) group, a solvent control group, and experimental groups treated with different concentrations of oroxylin A. Cell viability was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Relevant indicators of oxidant stress were detected by using the appropriate kits. Western blot was applied to detect the expressions of inflammatory cytokine and proteins of the signaling pathway. Oroxylin A pretreatment exerted anti-oxidative, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects in oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion-induced PC12 cells, thus indicating it as a new avenue for stroke treatment and providing references for future studies.
Spatial and temporal distribution of tropical phytoplankton species and biomass in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Free to read on publisher website Abstract The biomass and species composition of tropical phytoplankton in Albatross Bay, Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia, were examined monthly for 6 yr (1986 to 1992). Chlorophyll a (chl a) concentrations were highest (2 to 5.7 mu g l(-1)) in the wet season at inshore sites, usually coinciding with low salinities (30 to 33 ppt) and high temperatures (29 to 32 degrees C). At the offshore sites chi a concentrations were lower (0.2 to 2 mu g l(-1)) and did not vary seasonally. Nitrate and phosphate concentrations were generally low (0 to 3.68 mu M and 0.09 to 3 mu M for nitrate and phosphate respectively), whereas silicate was present in concentrations in the range 0.19 to 13 mu M. The phytoplankton community was dominated by diatoms, particularly at the inshore sites, as determined by a combination of microscopic and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) pigment analyses. At the offshore sites the proportion of green flagellates increased. The cyanobacterium genus Trichodesmium and the diatom genera Chaetoceros, Rhizosolenia, Bacteriastrum and Thalassionema dominated the phytoplankton caught in 37 mu m mesh nets; however, in contrast to many other coastal areas studied worldwide there was no distinct species succession of the diatoms and only Trichodesmium showed seasonal changes in abundance. This reflects a stable phytoplankton community in waters without pulses of physical and chemical disturbances. These results are discussed in the context of the commercial prawn fishery in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the possible effect of phytoplankton on prawn larval growth and survival.
Endovenous laser treatment for varicose veins in Singapore : a single centre experience of 169 patients over two years

Introduction: Endovenous laser therapy (EVLT) is one of the many minimally -invasive procedures that have been developed in recent years for the treatment of varicose veins. We present our single centre experience of 169 patients who underwent EVLT. Methods: All patients who underwent EVLT since its introduction in our institution were included in our series. Results: A total of 270 incompetent long saphenous veins in 169 patients were ablated by EVLT from February 2006 to January 2008. Bilateral EVLT was performed in IOI (59.8 percent) patients, with the remaining 68 (40.2 percent) undergoing unilateral EVLT. The mean age of the patients was 54 (range 19-78) years and there were 112 (66.3 percent) women. The majority of our patients (63.3 percent) had symptoms for more than five years. The symptoms included lower limb cramps and aches (47.9 percent) as well as lower limb swelling (16.6 percent). The median follow-up was six months. Complications from our series included numbness over the affected lower limbs (10.7 percent) and skin pigmentation (4.1 percent). Only 2.4 percent of patients had recurrence after one year. Conclusion: Early results with EVLT have been impressive, and this study has reaffirmed the safety and effectiveness of EVLT in the treatment of varicose veins.
The Relationship between Anxiety and Chronic Pain: A Cross- sectional Study from Yazd, Iran

Background: Chronic pain depends on many physical and psychological factors. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between anxiety and chronic pain in adult referring to health centers in Yazd, Iran. Methods and Materials: This descriptive study conducted on 397 adults aged between 31 and 87years. The Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to measure depression, anxiety and stress. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to measure pain severity. Six psychologists were employed to collect data. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: Totally 397 individuals with mean age of 61.52 ± 11.52completed the study. The results showed 74% of participants (N = 295) were suffering from chronic pain. The majority of participants (N = 164, 41.3%) complained from knee pain. This study showed 68.8% of studied adult (N = 277) suffered from mild to severe anxiety. There were positive significant relationship between chronic pain and anxiety. Conclusion: This study concluded that chronic pain may cause psychological disorders as anxiety. This study recommended that individuals suffering from chronic pain should be assessed in terms of psychological problems.
Title Air quality as a public health problem in Hong Kong : measuringthe risks

Hong Kong has an air quality problem with excess levels of such air pollutants as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates and ozone, occurring from time to time throughout the year. This paper outlines the sources of the major pollutants in Hong Kong, both natural and manmade, and examines the health risks to the Hong Kong population from exposure to such pollutants. The principle man-made sources of these pollutants are mainly diesel vehicle emissions, and high sulphur content fuels burnt in industrial furnaces and power plants. There is concern over levels of these pollutants in ambient air because of their relationship with respiratory health problems, which range from local irritation of the respiratory tract to carcinogenesis. Studies in Hong Kong also demonstrate the importance of environmental tobacco smoke in the home as a cause of children's respiratory health problems, in addition to poor air quality. Epidemiological studies are useful tools for identifying risks and for evaluating the effectiveness of preventive measures, including legislation. In particular we need to identify health risks to young children and the preventable fraction likely to be achieved from different interventions. For optimum effectiveness, a multisectoral approach, developed between regulatory agencies, pubic health authorities and research groups, is needed to contribute to the overall respiratory health of the community.
Real-time object detection algorithm based on improved YOLOv3

Abstract. Object detection is a challenging computer vision problem with numerous practical applications. Due to low accuracy and slow detection speed in object detection, we propose a real-time object detection algorithm based on YOLOv3. First, to solve the problem that features are likely to be lost in the feature extraction process of YOLOv3, a DB-Darknet-53 feature extraction network embedded in inception structure is designed, which effectively reduces the loss of features. Second, the detection network of YOLOv3 and the reuse of deep features in multiscale detection network are improved. Finally, the numbers and sizes of anchor boxes are selected by K-means clustering analysis, and the detection model is obtained by means of multiscale training. The improved algorithm has a mean average precision of 0.835 on the PASCAL VOC data set and a detection speed of 35.8 f / s, which is better than YOLOv3.
Restoration of hyperspectral images using iterative regularization based on higher order singular value decomposition

Abstract. Denoising is an essential task in hyperspectral image preprocessing that can improve the performance of subsequent applications. We propose an iterative hyperspectral images denoising method that results in two algorithms, one global and one nonlocal. Both are based on a higher order singular value decomposition (HOSVD) sparse model and realize a regularization in each iteration. The proposed global algorithm treats the hyperspectral image as a whole entity that is able to jointly consider both spatial and spectral information and then uses an iterative regularization framework to mitigate the noise, while the nonlocal algorithm takes the advantages of a patch-based HOSVD sparse model and is more efficient. The experiments with both synthetic noisy and real hyperspectral images show that the proposed iterative method improves the hyperspectral image quality. The subsequent classification results further validate the effectiveness of the proposed hyperspectral image noise reduction.
A population-based cross-sectional study to determine the practices of breastfeeding among the lactating mothers of Patiala city

Introduction: The present study was undertaken to study the breastfeeding practices and the influence of literacy and prevailing cultural factors on different aspects of breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Badungar, a semi-urban area in Patiala city including a total of 370 mothers. Mothers were interviewed using pre-formed, semi-structured Performa. The participant's demographic information, awareness and practices regarding breastfeeding were recorded by paying house to house visits. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 21. Results: Only 27.30% of the mothers knew that breastfeeding should be initiated within 1 hour of birth. A total of 51.62% mothers considered prelacteal feed to be the right practice while 55.95% considered colostrum bad for the baby. Only 53.78% of the lactating mothers knew the correct meaning of exclusive breastfeeding. Only 24.86% mothers started breastfeeding within an hour after birth. Colostrum was not given by 57.29% of the lactating mothers while Prelacteal feeds were given by 50.81% mothers. Exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months was given by 45.67% mothers. A significant association was observed in high mother's education, high socio-economic status, nuclear status of family, history of antenatal care registration, and hospital delivery with exclusive breastfeeding (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Study concluded that breastfeeding practices were not optimum; hence promotion of knowledge regarding the right practices of breastfeeding and focus on the factors affecting them is highly warranted in this area.
WATER SOLUBLE ELASTIN ADSORPTION ONTO UV-ACTIVATED GREEN POLYURETHANE SURFACES

The UV-irradiation is an alternative approach of the polymer surface functionalization that can be easily used in laboratory. This technique doesn’t have an effect on the bulk properties of the green microporous polyurethane films. Thus, the UV-irradiation activates the surface of the green polyurethane by breaking some chemical bonds and generation of new functional groups on the surface which can be controlled by the irradiation time. The amount of water soluble elastin adsorbed on the UV-irradiated polyurethane surface, increase as a function of the exposure time. The new structures of polyurethane-elastin conjugated with specific properties for each time of irradiation were formed. The polyurethane surface has been studied by ATR-FTIR, contact angle and fluorescence spectroscopy.
Spatial-temporal variation in sex ratio and group size of ostriches ( Struthio namelus ) in the Serengeti National Park and environs in Northern Tanzania

A study was conducted on variation in sex ratio and group size of ostriches ( Struthio camelus ) in Serengeti National Park and adjacent partially protected areas in northern Tanzania. Data were collected for two years (2005- 2006), along 388 km of roads. The two areas were compared with respect to ostrich sex ratio (male: female) and group size. Seasonal variation of these variables (sex ratio and group size) was also determined. Repetitive sampling showed an overall femaleskewed sex ratio, which was significantly different from unity. The sex ratio inside the National Park was also significantly skewed towards females, whereas that in the partially protected areas was skewed in favour of the males. There was a significant difference in sex ratios between the two areas (Chi square: ! 2 = 48.041, DF = 2, p<0.001). The grand median group size was 3 birds and the same median group size was obtained both in the National Park and partially protected areas, and there was no significant difference in group sizes between the areas (Median test: ! 2 = 1.861, DF = 1, p = 0.173) although bigger groups were observed in the park than in the partially protected areas. In addition, there was a tendency for ostriches to form significantly larger groups in the wet season than dry season in both areas (p<0.05). Natural predators of ostrich were found to be significantly higher inside the National Park than outside it (p<0.05). The presence of natural predators and seasonal variations may have influenced the present results. Keywords: group size – ostrich – Serengeti – sex ratio – Struthio camelus
A Secure Received Signal Strength based Indoor Localization Algorithm Using OS-ELM and Clustering Analysis Technique

In this paper, a secure machine learning based indoor localization algorithm is proposed, when the received signal strength (RSS) measurement fingerprint based training data set is given by chunk-by-chunk and contains the attacked training data samples. In the off-line phase, the hierarchical clustering approach is proposed to distinguish the attacked training data and the attacked-free training data, firstly. By the above data pre-processing, the attacked RSS measurements is found and can be deleted. Then, the online sequential extreme learning machine (OS-ELM) algorithm is used to training the attacked-free data in turn. In on-line phase, according to the obtained RSS measurements, the obtained regression models are straightly used for final position estimation. Field tests are carried out to show the advantage of the proposed secure localization algorithm over traditional OS-ELM based approach.
Semantic Structure Extraction for Spreadsheet Tables with a Multi-task Learning Architecture

Semantic structure extraction for spreadsheets includes detecting table regions, recognizing structural components and classifying cell types. Automatic semantic structure extraction is key to automatic data transformation from various table structures into canonical schema so as to enable data analysis and knowledge discovery. However, they are challenged by the diverse table structures and the spatial-correlated semantics on cell grids. To learn spatial correlations and capture semantics on spreadsheets, we have developed a novel learning-based framework for spreadsheet semantic structure extraction. First, we propose a multi-task framework that learns table region, structural components and cell types jointly; second, we leverage the advances of the recent language model to capture semantics in each cell value; third, we build a large human-labeled dataset with broad coverage of table structures. Our evaluation shows that our proposed multi-task framework is highly effective that outperforms the results of training each task separately.