Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Sessile Whitefly Nymphs (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) on Leaf-Chewing Larvae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The wide distribution, polyphagy, and the often severe effects of whiteflies, Bemisia spp. , on their host plants cause a great potential for interspecific interactions between whiteflies and other insect herbivores. Feeding of the silverleaf whitefly, B. argentifolii Bellows & Perring, on collards, Brassica sp. , induced high levels of pathogenesis-related proteins (e.g., chitinase, b-1,3-glucanase, peroxidase, and lysozyme) that are considered to play defensive roles against phytopathogens and insect pests. Total protein contents, however, were comparable with those of control plants. Development of cabbage looper larvae, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), was 20.8% slower on whitefly-infested leaves than on control leaves; relative growth rate was reduced by 18% ( P ≪ 0.01). Final larval weight and survival were not affected by whiteflies. When feeding on whitefly-infested leaves, larvae were found more frequently on the adaxial side of the leaf, which is whitefly-free. The data suggest that early-instar cabbage looper larvae are negatively affected by whitefly infestations, but older instars become omnivores, consuming plant material as well as immature whiteflies. In the field, only 4% of the loopers survived to pupation on whitefly-infested plants, but 18% survived on the whitefly-free plants. The data emphasized the importance of the looper’s larval stage in interspecific interaction and stressed the potentially significant effect of whiteflies on other herbivores in agroecosystems.
In Vitro Models for Biochemical Investigations on Programmed Cell Death

Isolated rat thymocytes treated with methylprednisolone (MPS), cultured human synovial (McCoy's) cells exposed to cold shock and human mammary adenocarcinoma (BT-20) cells treated with Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF), all showed DNA fragmentation and the morphological and biochemical features of cell death characteristic of a process known as apoptosis. DNA fragmentation in MPS-treated thymocytes and in cold shock-exposed McCoy's cells was preceded by a marked increase in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration resulting either from a sustained influx of Ca2+ from the extracellular medium or from the release of Ca2+ from intracellular pools. On the other hand, in TNF-treated BT-20 cells, DNA fragmentation was not associated with any early, marked increase in the cytosolic free Ca2+ level. In all three models, however, DNA fragmentation was efficiently prevented by intracellular Ca2+ chelators, calmodulin inhibitors and activators of protein kinase C (PKC). These results suggest that the activation of common mechanisms involving Ca2+ and PKC may be essential for the development of apoptosis.
Malus cv. Baskatong as an indicator of pollen spread in intensive apple orchards

SummaryThe Malus cv. Baskatong, possessing a dominant gene for red leaf colour, was used to assess the range of a pollinizer in intensive apple orchards. In 1980 in the centre of each of six orchards, a Baskatong pollinizer was planted. All orchards had more cultivars to provide for cross-pollination. For three to seven years, seeds were gathered from trees surrounding the ‘Baskatong’ pollinizer at ten distances from 2.5 to 40 m and in 8-12 directions. After stratification, the seeds were germinated in a glasshouse and green and red seedlings were counted. ‘Baskatong’ pollen was tested for suitability by controlled hand pollinations on six apple cultivars. Flowering periods of ‘Baskatong’ and all of the apple cultivars involved were assessed over three years. ‘Baskatong’ pollen gave good fruit and seed. The ‘Baskatong’ flowering period did not fully cover those of the apple cultivars, because its bloom period was shorter. Nevertheless, red seedlings arose from the seed samples in all orchards, although no.
Simulation to Teach Safe Patient Handling and Mobility for Home Caregivers

Safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) programs are needed in the home care environment. As patient-lifting technology and devices become more widely available for use in the home setting, caregivers need opportunities to learn how to properly use these devices. Nonmedical caregivers employed by personal support services agencies (PSSAs) and home caregivers have very limited access to opportunities for SPHM training in rural areas of Tennessee. Safe patient handling and mobility training utilizing simulation with an interprofessional approach was developed and provided to 17 nonmedical and family home caregivers. The training was evaluated utilizing Kirkpatrick’s Four-Level Training Evaluation Model. Participants completed anonymous surveys immediately following the training and 4 to 6 weeks after the training. Survey I (n = 17): Respondents indicated increased knowledge of safe patient handling (94%) and applied knowledge of safe patient handling in training (90%). Survey II (n = 6): Most respondents (67%) indicated that they had applied the knowledge and skills that they had learned in the training. Two respondents (33%) indicated that they had not yet had the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they learned. The survey also showed that all respondents believed that the knowledge and skills they had learned helped to decrease the risk of personal injury and injury to patients. Safe patient handling and mobility training utilizing simulation with an interprofessional approach was effective in promoting safety of nonmedical and family caregivers in the home setting. Based on the success of this program, more training opportunities should be implemented to improve patient and caregiver safety.
The rearing of Phlebotomus sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae). II. Development and behavior of Panamanian sandflies in laboratory culture.

Observations on the immature stages and adults, in laboratory cultures, of 33 of the 65 known Panamanian Phlebotomus sandflies, of which 24 species have been reared to the adult stage, include the following: (i) General observations on larval food; temperature; feeding habits and other behavior of larvae; feeding habits of adults ; copulation ; fertility of eggs ; longevity ; diapause and quiescence, (ii) Detailed observations on the six principal man-biting species, notes on 27 other species, with tables showing numbers of eggs per female and the times of development from oviposition to adult and for individual stages.
Structural Mapping of Inhibitors Binding Sites on P-glycoprotein: Mechanism of Inhibition of P-Glycoprotein by Herbal Isoflavones

Aims: Understanding the pattern of inhibitors binding to p-glycoprotein (Pgp). Study Design: Pgp is an ATP dependent transporter protein, responsible for multi-drug resistance in metastatic tumors. It removes toxins by exporting a variety of structurally unrelated compounds outside the cells, which make Pgp a promising target for designing anti cancer supplementary therapeutic molecules. Isoflavones are present in soyabean and other herbal extracts. The idea was to explore inhibitor binding sites on Pgp to find hotspots which eventually may prove useful in designing compounds with higher specificity and affinity. Place and of Study: School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, between February 2012 and December 2012. Methodology: The biochemical nature of binding of isoflavones to Pgp has been extensively studied, but the atomic details of their interactions were not understood. Therefore, we have used in silico methods to study binding eight isoflavones bind to site 2 by forming van der Waals and H-bonded interactions. Both the sites are highly hydrophobic in nature and are contributed mainly by side chain of non polar residues present on twelve transmembrane  -helices. Site 1 has minimum dimension of 7. 5Å and maximum as 22Å whereas, site 2 is wider and deeper than site1. One sidewall of the site 2 is formed by polar amino acid residues of helix H12, which makes several hydrogen bonds with ligands. Conclusion: Structure analysis revealed that addition of polar group to hydrophobic ligand may enhance its binding affinity for Pgp, which may be used for designing potent inhibitors to find lead compounds for drug design.
A New Cormorant from the Miocene of California

In June of the year 1928, Mr. Dan J. Poyer of Calabasas, California, placed in my hands two slabs of a fine grained shale, from his rock quarry, which contained the major portion of an avian skeleton very beautifully preserved. One slab was the property of Dr. Frederick Kellogg of Los Angeles, the other was presented by Mr. Poyer to the University of California at Los Angeles. The two specimens (figs. 58 and 59) represent the obverse and reverse of the same individual split along a bedding plane of the shale, and they are mutually supplementary. Mr. Poyer's quarry is located near Calabasas, nw. 34 of sec. 18, T. 1 N. , R. 17 W. , in what is designated as the Modelo formation by Kew, and considered to be of late Miocene or early Pliocene age. Accompanying the bird remains in the quarry are numerous fish remains of various sizes and some very beautiful specimens of marine algae. The matrix is of light grayish tone and the fossil is rich brownish or even black where the tarsal envelope, the foot webs, and the feathers have left their imprints recorded. The bird is a totipalmate closely approximating the modern cormorants. In size it falls between the smaller Phalacrocorax pelagicus and the larger Phalacrocorax penicillatus, approaching closely an adult female specimen of the latter species. In a study of the osteological characters, however, there appear a number of points of divergence from the available specimens of recent species. For reception of the Miocene bird a new specific category is proposed as follows.
O&M Indoor Virtual Environments for People Who Are Blind

BACKGROUND: Knowing their current position in the surroundings constitutes one of the biggest challenges faced by people with visual disabilities when they move around. For them, it is difficult to be aware of the direction in which they are going, and the location of nearby objects and obstacles. In this context, obtaining relevant spatial information is always very significant to these individuals. Hence, the research in the development of assistive technologies for needs and perspectives of people who are blind has been a promising area in terms of the orientation and mobility (O&M) challenges. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to systematically examine the literature on &M virtual environments designed to support indoor navigation to identify techniques for both developing and evaluating the usability and cognitive impact of these applications. METHODS: A systematic literature review (SLR) was performed, considering population, intervention, outcomes, and study design as eligibility criteria. After a filtering process from 987 works retrieved from six databases, we extracted data from 51 papers, which meet the study selection criteria. RESULTS: The analysis of the 51 papers describing 31 O&M indoor virtual environments, indicated that O&M virtual environments to support indoor navigation are usually designed for desktop, adopt spatial audio as way to support orientation, and use joystick as primary interaction device. Regarding evaluation techniques, questionnaires, interviews, user observation, and performance logs are commonly used to evaluate usability in this context. In tests involving users, the participants are usually adults aged 21–59 years, who individually spend about 90 minutes split in usually two evaluation sessions. Most papers do not report any strategies to evaluate the cognitive impact of O&M virtual environments on users’ navigational and wayfinding skills. Thirteen papers (25.49%) reported the conduction of experiments or quasi-experiments and demonstrated pieces of evidence associated with a positive cognitive impact resultant from O&M indoor virtual environments usage. Finally, only four papers (7.84%) reported the development of indoor maps editors for O&M virtual environments. CONCLUSION: Our SLR summarizes the characteristics of 32 O&M virtual environments. It compiles state-of-the-art for indoor simulations in this domain and highlights their challenges and impacts in O&M training. Also, the absence of clear guidelines to design and evaluate O&M virtual environments and the few available computer editors of indoor maps appear as research opportunities.
Snail-trematode interactions and parasite community dynamics in aquatic systems: a review

-The study of parasite communities has traditionally focussed on helminth communities in vertebrate hosts. However, the literature reveals a substantial body of information which shows that infraand component trematode communities in snails frequently are highly structured and very dynamic in character. A variety of forces, both internal and external to the snail, affect the manner in which these communities are organized and function. While snail-trematode and trematode-trematode interactions are variable, it appears that some generalizations are beginning to emerge. It is clear that a combinatior' of host immunity, resource partitioning within infracommunities, patch dynamics associated with parasite transmission, temporal factors involved with snail ontogeny, the presence of autogenic and allogenic parasite species within a given habitat, and the potential for interspecific antagonism, collectively, operate to create the special nature of trematode communities in molluscan intermediate hosts.
HMM-Based Framework to Measure the Visual Fidelity of Tone Mapping Operators

Recent advancements in the image capturing techniques and post processing software generate High Dynamic Range (HDR) images. Such images retain maximum information of the scene by capturing more realistic visual contents, which are often missed in traditional image capturing techniques. In this regard, tone mapping operators (TMOs) play a significant role in displaying HDR image contents on a traditional Low Dynamic Range (LDR) display. These operators tend to introduce artifacts in the original HDR image to change its brightness and contrast in such a way that it can destroy the important textures and information of the image. The assessment of these TMOs is a challenging topic to select best the best technique considering different perceptual and quality dimensions. In this paper, we propose to compare TMOs through their impact on visual behavior in comparison with HDR condition. This study is the first of its kind to utilize hidden markov model (HMM) as a similarity measure to evaluate perceived quality of TMO. The findings suggest that the proposed HMM-based method which emphasizes on temporal information produce better evaluation metric than the traditional approaches which are based only on visual spatial information.
Signal approximation with Pascal’s triangle and sampling

This brief explores the approximation properties of a unique basis expansion based on Pascal’s triangle, which realizes a sampled–data driven approach between a continuous–time signal and its discrete–time representation. The roles of certain parameters, such as sampling time interval or model order, and signal characteristics, i.e., its curvature, on the approximation are investigated. Approximate errors in one and multiple–step predictions are analyzed. Furthermore, time–variant approximations under the thresholds of signal curvature are employed to narrow errors and provide flexibilities.
A 0.1-pJ/b/dB 28-Gb/s Maximum-Eye Tracking, Weight-Adjusting MM CDR and Adaptive DFE with Single Shared Error Sampler

This paper presents a forwarded-clock receiver (RX) that consists of a weight-adjusting sign-sign Mueller-Müller clock and data recovery (CDR) and an adaptive decision-feedback equalizer (DFE) with a single shared error sampler. Only two samples per bit are utilized for both CDR and adaptive DFE, which minimizes clocking power consumption. In addition, a maximum-eye tracking algorithm is proposed to enhance the vertical eye margin without any extra high-speed analog circuitry. The RX fabricated in a 28nm CMOS technology achieves BER less than 10−12 with a 20dB-loss channel. It occupies an active area of 0.108 mm2, and consumes 56.65 mW at 28 Gb/s.
A Proactive Voltage-Droop-Mitigation System in a 7nm Hexagon™ Processor

A proactive clock-gating system (PCGS) in a 7nm Qualcomm<sup>¯</sup> Hexagon™ digital signal processor (DSP) predicts supply voltage (V<inf>DD</inf>) droops based on microarchitectural events and a power-delivery-network (PDN) model and adapts clock frequency (F<inf>CLK</inf>) to reduce the V<inf>DD</inf> droop. Silicon measurements demonstrate 10% higher F<inf>CLK</inf> or 5% lower V<inf>DD</inf>.
Optimization-Based Investigation of Bioinspired Variable Gearing of the Distributed Actuation Mechanism to Maximize Velocity and Force

Transmission between high speed and high force motions is a classic, but challenging problem for most engineering disciplines as well as robotics. This study optimizes the performances (i.e., both velocity and force) of the distributed actuation mechanism (DAM) based on the novel concept of continuously variable gearing, which is inspired by muscle movement. To quantify continuously variable gearing in the DAM, the structural gear ratio (defined as joint speed/motor speed) is mathematically derived in terms of the slider position and the joint angle. Then, for a DAM-based three-revolute joint manipulator, a multi-objective optimization problem is formulated to determine the maximum end-effector velocity according to varying payloads. An optimization framework consisting of the analysis and optimization modules is constructed to verify the proposed concept with a comparison of an equivalent joint actuation mechanism (JAM)-based three-revolute joint manipulator. The numerical results demonstrate that the bioinspired variable gearing of the DAM allows for a significant enhancement of end-effector velocity and force, depending on a given task.
Using Blockchain to Improve Collaborative Business Process Management: Systematic Literature Review

BlockChain Technology (BCT) has appeared with strength and promises an authentic revolution on business, management, and organizational strategies related to utilization of advanced software systems. In fact, BCT promotes a decentralized architecture to process management and the collaborative work between entities when these ones are working together in a business process. This paper aims to know what proposals exist to improve any stage of business process management using BCT because this technology could provide benefits in this management. For this purpose, this paper presents a systematic literature review in area of Collaborative Business Processes (CBP) in BCT domain to identify opportunities and gaps for further research. This paper concludes there is a rapid and growing interest of public bodies, scientific community and software industries to know opportunities that BCT offers to improve CBP management in a decentralized manner. However, although the topic is in early stages, there are very promising lines of research and relevant open issues, but there also is lack of scientific rigor in validation process into the different studies.
Effect of Extrusion on Feed Characteristics and Broiler Chicken Performance

Abstract Broiler feeds of identical formulas were fed to straight run broilers in the form of either non-heat treated mash, pellets, or extruded pellets to test the effect of feed processing on production parameters. Young broilers at ≤ 2wk old which were fed crumbled starter rations extruded prior to crumbling weighed more than birds fed crumbled starter rations that were pelleted prior to crumbling. However, when broilers received rations not crumbled following processing, birds fed extruded diets weighed less than those fed pelleted diets. Extruded feeds weighed less per unit volume than pelleted feeds. This density difference may account for the differences in body weights observed. The traditional ether extraction procedure detected a smaller percentage of the fat present in extruded feeds than did acid hydrolysis procedures. In addition, the extrusion process caused some protein and amino acid destruction. Therefore, extruded rations should be formulated at slightly higher nutrient density to compensate for nutrient destruction and loss of nutrient digestibility.
Path Planning for Robot Based on IACO-SFLA Hybrid Algorithm

In order to solve the problem of slow convergence, low efficiency and easily getting into local optimal solution in robot path planning which is based on basic ant colony algorithm, a new algorithm combining improved ant colony algorithm(IACO) with shuffled frog leaping algorithm(SFLA) is proposed. In the novel ant colony algorithm, dynamic state transition strategy, dynamic global pheromone updating strategy and dynamic pheromone evaporation factor updating strategy are used to ensure the accuracy of solution and the convergence speed of the algorithm. Furthermore, conditional fallback strategy is adopted to ensure the global search ability of the novel algorithm. Numerical experiments show that the optimal path can be more effectively generated by using the improved leapfrog algorithm and the simplified operator in the last step.
The filtering based parameter estimation for two-input single-output bilinear-in-parameter systems

This paper discusses the parameter estimation for a class of two-input single-output bilinear-in-parameter systems with colored noise. Using the over-parameterization model and decomposition technique, the gradient iterative algorithm based on data filtering is derived for the two-input single-output bilinear-in-parameter system. The basic idea is to decompose a two-input single-output bilinear-in-parameter system into several subsystems and estimate the parameters of each subsystem, respectively. The algorithm avoids estimating the correlated noise to enhance the accuracy of parameter estimation, and provides a reference for improving the identification accuracy of multi-input single-output bilinear-in-parameter system with colored noise. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Learning-Based Parking-Slot Detection

The vision-based parking-slot detection has caught much attention in the academic research and actual applications for its promising performance. In this paper, we propose a vision-based parking-slot detection algorithm, which can detect parallel parking-slots and vertical parking-slots simultaneously by detecting their T-shaped markings. Further more, we can also detect some standard 45-degree and 60-degree inclined parking-slots. Our method is based on the adaboost algorithm in machine learning, and achieve more than 95% accuracy on our test set. The proposed method has a certain tolerance for lighting changes and poor clarity of some parking-slots. At the same time, we propose a secondary detection method based on deep learning for the case where the two internal corners of the parallel parking- slot don’t use standard marking lines, and determine if the parking-slot is occupied.
Bidirectional Multi-tier Cognitive Swarm Drone 5G Network

The use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as a dynamic node in point to point communication of 5G and beyond 5G cellular networks is an emerging technology. It provides a reliable and efficient mode of wireless communication network in the sky. Existing architectures include single tier and multi-tier drone architecture. Major challenges in multi-tier architecture is in establishing an air traffic control system and in efficient resource sharing between the drones. To overcome the challenges associated with the multitier drone and cellular drone networks, a bidirectional multitier cognitive swarm drone network (BMCSDN) is proposed and investigated in terms of spectrum efficiency and allocation of optimized altitude and power for down link transmission. The proposed method uses the cognitive swarm drone (CSD) concept and provides enhancement of capacity and coverage with optimized transmission efficiency. The work also analyses the effect of interference when all CSDs transmit and receive with static and dynamic frequency allocations.