Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Priming with Small Molecule-Based Biostimulants to Improve Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Biostimulants became a hotspot in the fight to alleviate the consequences of abiotic stresses in crops. Due to their complex nature, it is challenging to obtain stable and reproducible final products and more challenging to define their mechanism of action. As an alternative, small molecule-based biostimulants, such as polyamines have promoted plant growth and improved stress tolerance. However, profound research about their mechanisms of action is still missing. To go further, we tested the effect of putrescine (Put) and its precursor ornithine (Orn) and degradation product 1,3-diaminopropane (DAP) at two different concentrations (0.1 and 1 mM) as a seed priming on in vitro Arabidopsis seedlings grown under optimal growth conditions, osmotic or salt stress. None of the primings affected the growth of the seedlings in optimal conditions but altered the metabolism of the plants. Under stress conditions, almost all primed plants grew better and improved their greenness. Only Orn-primed plants showed different plant responses. Interestingly, the metabolic analysis revealed the implication of the N- acetylornithine and Orn and polyamine conjugation as the leading player regulating growth and development under control and stress conditions. We corroborated polyamines as very powerful small molecule-based biostimulants to alleviate the adverse abiotic stress effects.
Two-stage algorithm for efficient transmission expansion planning with renewable energy resources

In this study, a ‘two-stage’ deterministic algorithm an for efficient transmission expansion planning with renewable energy (RE) resources under the assumption that existing conventional generators provide the reserve to mitigate RE generation forecast error has been proposed. Zero-RE penetration has been considered as a ‘reference scenario’, as well as cost-minimisation objective has been considered as a planning criterion in Stage 1. In the proposed algorithm, Stage 2 is required to be solved only if the network performance degrades in relation to the reference scenario. In Stage 2, congestion cost is also incorporated as a sub-objective. Here, the locational marginal prices of the unit scheduling problem obtained from the solution of Stage 1 have been used to calculate the congestion cost. In addition to being computationally tractable, the proposed algorithm guarantees performance improvement in the network. The planning horizon is divided into smaller blocks to facilitate delayed investment. When implemented on an IEEE 24-bus reliability test system, the proposed algorithm generated minimum cost plan with better performance.
Um Modelo de Contexto para Apoiar a Acessibilidade em Ferramentas de Video Chamadas

Com o advento da pandemia de Covid-19, o uso de videochamadas tornou-se indispensável para a continuidade das atividades diárias. Nesse cenário, existe uma lacuna relacionada à acessibilidade para a inclusão de pessoas com deficiência. O objetivo deste trabalho é propor uma ferramenta para complementar as plataformas de videochamada, fornecendo instruções e automatizando algumas tarefas inerentes à participação de pessoas com deficiência visual. Para tanto, foi desenvolvido um modelo de contexto, estruturado a partir de um estudo com usuários, onde foram estacados os principais problemas relacionados à acessibilidade em plataformas de videochamada. Por meio dessa abordagem é possível disponibilizar informações acessíveis relacionadas aos aspectos de seu vídeo, como enquadramento da imagem e nível de brilho.
Physicochemical properties of teas sold in Abuja, Nigeria, and evaluation of their caffeine content using HPLC

Tea is commonly consumed in Nigeria. Caffeine, a major constituent in tea, has some beneficial pharmacological properties, but can negatively affect human health if consumed excessively. The objective of the study was to evaluate some physicochemical properties and caffeine content of teas marketed in FCT, Abuja, Nigeria. Ten commercial brands of teas (8 black teas and 2 green teas) were assessed for weight variation, moisture content and pH tests using standard methods. Extraction of caffeine was carried out and the identity determined by thin layer chromatography and melting points, respectively. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for analysis of caffeine was developed, validated, and applied to determine caffeine content in the tea brands. Results of the weight, moisture content and pH tests of the samples ranged from 2.07–2.33 g, 5.65–11.0 % and 4.9–5.5, respectively. Caffeine was isolated from all the samples and showed same Rf value (0.46) with that of the reference standard. Melting points ranged from 236.0–238.5 °C. Caffeine content ranged from 12.25–21.76 mg/g for black teas and 13.35–15.05 mg/g for green teas. The study provides information on the stability, acidity and caffeine content in some commercially available tea brands.
The Comparison of Three Predictive Indexes to Discriminate Malignant Ovarian Tumors from Benign Ovarian Endometrioma: The Characteristics and Efficacy

This study aimed to evaluate the prediction efficacy of malignant transformation of ovarian endometrioma (OE) using the Copenhagen Index (CPH-I), the risk of ovarian malignancy algorithm (ROMA), and the R2 predictive index. This retrospective study was conducted at the Department of Gynecology, Nara Medical University Hospital, from January 2008 to July 2021. A total of 171 patients were included in the study. In the current study, cases were divided into three cohorts: pre-menopausal, post-menopausal, and a combined cohort. Patients with benign ovarian tumor mainly received laparoscopic surgery, and patients with suspected malignant tumors underwent laparotomy. Information from a review chart of the patients’ medical records was collected. In the combined cohort, a multivariate analysis confirmed that the ROMA index, the R2 predictive index, and tumor laterality were extracted as independent factors for predicting malignant tumors (hazard ratio (HR): 222.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): 22.27–2215.50, p < 0.001; HR: 9.80, 95% CI: 2.90–33.13, p < 0.001; HR: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.03–0.75, p = 0.021, respectively). In the pre-menopausal cohort, a multivariate analysis confirmed that the CPH index and the R2 predictive index were extracted as independent factors for predicting malignant tumors (HR: 6.45, 95% CI: 1.47–28.22, p = 0.013; HR: 31.19, 95% CI: 8.48–114.74, p < 0.001, respectively). Moreover, the R2 predictive index was only extracted as an independent factor for predicting borderline tumors (HR: 45.00, 95% CI: 7.43–272.52, p < 0.001) in the combined cohort. In pre-menopausal cases or borderline cases, the R2 predictive index is useful; while, in post-menopausal cases, the ROMA index is better than the other indexes.
An Anaerobic Environment Drives the Harboring of Helicobacter pylori within Candida Yeast Cells

Simple Summary Helicobacter pylori is a pathogen that is associated with a number of gastric pathologies and has adapted to the gastric environment. Outside this organ, stress factors such as oxygen concentration affect the viability of this bacterium. This study aimed to determine if changes in oxygen concentration promoted the entry of H. pylori into the interior of yeast cells of the Candida genus. Co-cultures of H. pylori and Candida strains in Brucella broth plus 5% fetal bovine serum were incubated under microaerobic, anaerobic, or aerobic conditions. Bacteria-like bodies (BLBs) were detected within yeast cells (Y-BLBs) by optical microscopy, identified by molecular techniques, and their viability evaluated by SYTO-9 fluorescence. Co-cultures incubated under the three conditions showed the presence of Y-BLBs, but the highest Y-BLB percentage was present in H. pylori J99 and C. glabrata co-cultures incubated under anaerobiosis. Molecular techniques were used to identify BLBs as H. pylori and SYTO-9 fluorescence confirmed that this bacterium remained viable within yeast cells. In conclusion, although without apparent stress conditions H. pylori harbors within Candida yeast cells, its harboring increases significantly under anaerobic conditions. This endosymbiotic relationship also depends mostly on the H. pylori strain used in the co-culture. Abstract Helicobacter pylori protects itself from stressful environments by forming biofilms, changing its morphology, or invading eukaryotic cells, including yeast cells. There is little knowledge about the environmental factors that influence the endosymbiotic relationship between bacterium and yeasts. Here, we studied if oxygen availability stimulated the growth of H. pylori within Candida and if this was a bacterial- or yeast strain-dependent relationship. Four H. pylori strains and four Candida strains were co-cultured in Brucella broth plus 5% fetal bovine serum, and incubated under microaerobic, anaerobic, or aerobic conditions. Bacteria-like bodies (BLBs) within yeast cells (Y-BLBs) were detected by microscopy. H. pylori was identified by FISH and by PCR amplification of the 16S rRNA gene of H. pylori from total DNA extracted from Y-BLBs from H. pylori and Candida co-cultures. BLBs viability was confirmed by SYTO-9 fluorescence. Higher Y-BLB percentages were obtained under anaerobic conditions and using H. pylori J99 and C. glabrata combinations. Thus, the H. pylori–Candida endosymbiotic relationship is strain dependent. The FISH and PCR results identified BLBs as intracellular H. pylori. Conclusion: Stressful conditions such as an anaerobic environment significantly increased H. pylori growth within yeast cells, where it remained viable, and the bacterium–yeast endosymbiotic relationship was bacterial strain dependent with a preference for C. glabrata.
Comparision of 3g Wireless Networks and 4g Wireless Networks

By examining the two papers on 4G and 3G, namely wireless networks: opportunities and challenges by Hassan Gobjuka, Verizon, 919 hidden bridge irving, Tx 75038 and wireless network: opportunities and challenges emphasis us to throw light on the differences between the two networks. This task is being done in order to list out the drawbacks and merits of these two evolutions of the networks and further to implement R&D research to bring out their sparks in this modern era. The differences are done on the following Index terms: Background difference, definitions, technologies progress, speed/ rate of transmission, switching technologies used, network, band width, design specification, QoS, service and billing, features and capabilities.
Effects of dietary emulsifier and lipid source on broiler meat quality, lipids, and serum antioxidant status

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the effects of diets containing acid soybean oil (ASO) as a substitute for degummed soybean oil (DSO), with or without an emulsifier, on the serum lipid composition, antioxidant protection, carcass yield, and meat quality of broilers. Seven hundred and four 1-day-old male chicks were distributed in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (with or without emulsifier × two lipid sources—ASO and DSO), with eight replicates. The dietary inclusion of ASO increased by 65.87% the serum activity of the superoxide dismutase at 21 days of age. The inclusion of the emulsifier reduced the tenderloin yield of the birds by 5.22% and the abdominal fat percentage by 10.20% at 49 days of age, interfering with serum low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride. There was an increase in the water-holding capacity, greater yellow intensity (b*) 15 min post mortem, and lower pH 24 h post mortem for meat from broilers fed diets containing DSO. Meat from broilers fed diets containing ASO with an emulsifier showed lower shear force. The emulsifier did not provide additional metabolizable energy, as reflected by the reduced chicken tenderloin yield. The use of ASO provided better serum antioxidant status, with no deleterious effects on the carcass and meat quality of broilers. Résumé Cette étude avait pour but d’évaluer les diètes contenant l’huile de soja acide comme substitut de l’huile de soja démucilaginée, avec ou sans agent émulsifiant, sur la composition des lipides sériques, la protection antioxydante, le rendement de carcasse et la qualité de viandes des poulets à griller. 704 poussins mâles âgés de 1 jour ont été distribués dans un design expérimental factoriel 2 x 2 (avec ou sans agent émulsifiant x deux sources de lipides – huile de soja acide [ASO — « acid soybean oil »] et huile de soja démucilaginée [DSO — « degummed soybean oil »]), avec huit réplicats. L’inclusion alimentaire d’ASO a augmenté de 65,87 % l’activité sérique de la superoxyde dismutase à l’âge de 21 jours. L’inclusion de l’agent émulsifiant a réduit le rendement de filet par 5,22 % et le pourcentage de gras abdominal de 10,20 % des poulets à l’âge de 49 jours, interférant ainsi avec le LDL sérique et les triglycérides. Il y a eu une augmentation de la capacité de rétention d’eau, une plus grande intensité jaune (b*) 15 minutes post mortem et un plus faible pH 24 heures post mortem pour la viande provenant des poulets ayant reçu les diètes avec DSO. La viande provenant des poulets ayant reçu les diètes avec ASO et agent émulsifiant a montré une plus faible force de cisaillement. L’agent émulsifiant n’a pas fourni une énergie métabolisable supplémentaire, selon le rendement plus faible en filet de poulet. L’utilisation d’ASO a fourni un meilleur état antioxydant sérique sans effets délétères sur la qualité de la carcasse et de la viande chez les poulets à griller. [Traduit par la Rédaction]
The perception, organization and results of Business Development in SMEs

Although the term ‘Business Development’ (BD) is well known among young and mature enterprises, there is no general consensus on its exact meaning and the concept has until now received limited attention in the managerial and academic literature. At the same time BD is seen as crucial for the development and execution of the company’s strategy and as an important contributing factor to growth processes. Without a common understanding of what the concept means it is difficult to assess what effective BD is and which of its activities contribute to the growth of a firm and increase its profitability. The limited number of studies towards the meaning of BD have primarily focused on large companies in the biotechnology industry or SMEs in the IT. Existing research has proposed several definitions of BD, described the BD process and even developed some best practices on how to structure BD. There is a lack of research however towards BD in SMEs from different industries. This research aims to contribute to the literature in the following ways: 1) by assessing current scientific literature on BD to identify current academic perspectives; 2) by interviewing SMEs on how they perceive and organize BD and what the results of their efforts are; and 3) by comparing the literature to the results from the interview and develop propositions abour relations between BD variables. Combined, these three contributions answer the main research question: What is Business Development in SMEs?
Quad‐fisheye Image Stitching for Monoscopic Panorama Reconstruction

Monoscopic panorama provides the display of omnidirectional contents surrounding the viewer. An increasingly popular way to reconstruct a panorama is to stitch a collection of fisheye images. However, such non‐planar views may result in problems such as distortions and boundary irregularities. In most cases, the computational expense for stitching non‐planar images is also too high to satisfy real‐time applications. In this paper, a novel monoscopic panorama reconstruction pipeline that produces better quad‐fisheye image stitching results for omnidirectional environment viewing is proposed. The main idea is to apply mesh deformation for image alignment. To optimize inter‐lens parallaxes, unwarped images are firstly cropped and reshuffled to facilitate the circular environment scene composition by the seamless ring‐connection of the panorama borders. Several mesh constraints are then adopted to ensure a high alignment accuracy. After alignment, the boundary of the result is rectified to be rectangular to prevent gapping artefacts. We further extend our approach to video stitching. The temporal smoothness model is added to prevent unexpected artefacts in the panoramic videos. To support interactive applications, our stitching algorithm is programmed using CUDA. The camera motion and average gradient per video frame are further calculated to accelerate for synchronous real‐life panoramic scene reconstruction and visualization. Experimental results demonstrate that our method has advantages in respects of alignment accuracy, adaptability and image quality of the stitching result.
Minimizing inside a triangle with GeoGebra

ABSTRACT In this article, we consider certain minimization problems. If and are the distances of a boundary or inner point to the sides of a given triangle, find the point which minimizes for positive integer n. These problems can be afforded easily with GeoGebra. We consider two examples, the first concerns an isosceles triangle and the second a scalene triangle. In both cases, we divide the triangle horizontally into line segments parallel to the base and look at a family of polynomial functions. Using GeoGebra, we observe in the case of isosceles triangle that the minimum point of each member of the family lies on the y-axis. Tracking these points vertically we discover the critical point which minimizes , In particular, we show that the sequence of these critical points converges to the incenter of the triangle. In the case of a scalene, we observe that the minima points of the polynomials lie on a curve, the minimum of which can be traced with GeoGebra and computed with basic calculus. Finally, we consider a discussion with some references concerning general solutions of ‘minimal sums of distances’ and ‘minimal sums of squared distances’.
Radio Map Extrapolation Using Compensated Empirical CDF Under Interference-Limited Observations

The radio map has attracted attention as a promising tool for accurately estimating radio propagation and determining communication parameters. Conventional radio maps are mainly used in wireless systems with a single target transmitter. However, in dense transmitter environments, such as cellular systems, interference-limited observations may become dominant, and thus, the received signal power from a target transmitter may be calculated to be higher than the actual value because of survivorship bias. As a result, the coverage area may be overestimated and communication parameters inappropriately determined. In this paper, we propose a radio map extrapolation method for multiple-transmitter environments. The proposed method compensates for the empirical cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the target power by taking into account the number of missing data in each mesh. The median target power was extrapolated based on the compensated empirical CDF. The emulation results using datasets over the 3.5 GHz band show that the proposed method can improve the mean error of the target power from 7 [dB] to 8 [dB], compared with the multiple imputation (MI) method, a non-compensated radio map, and kriging-based spatial interpolation.
Coordination Control of Multiple Electrical Excited Synchronous Motors and Its Application in High-Power Metal-Rolling Systems

This study focuses on the coordination control problem of multiple electrical excited synchronous motor systems. A robust coordination controller is designed on the basis of cross coupling and an interval matrix. The proposed control strategy can deal with load uncertainty. In addition, the proposed control strategy is applied to a high-power metal-rolling system. Simulation and experiment results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy achieves good dynamic and static performance. It also shows better coordination performance than traditional proportional–integral controllers.
Risk Factors of Severe Clostridioides difficile Infection; Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score, Antibiotics, and Ribotypes

We aimed to determine whether the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score predicts the prognosis of patients with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). In addition, the association between the type of antibiotic used and PCR ribotypes was analyzed. We conducted a propensity score (PS)-matched study and machine learning analysis using clinical data from all adult patients with confirmed CDI in three South Korean hospitals. A total of 5,337 adult patients with CDI were included in this study, and 828 (15.5%) were classified as having severe CDI. The top variables selected by the machine learning models were maximum body temperature, platelet count, eosinophil count, oxygen saturation, Glasgow Coma Scale, serum albumin, and respiratory rate. After propensity score-matching, the SOFA score, white blood cell (WBC) count, serum albumin level, and ventilator use were significantly associated with severe CDI (P < 0.001 for all). The log-rank test of SOFA score ≥ 4 significantly differentiated severe CDI patients from the non-severe group. The use of fluoroquinolone was more related to CDI patients with ribotype 018 strains than to ribotype 014/020 (P < 0.001). Even after controlling for other variables using propensity score matching analysis, we found that the SOFA score was a clinical predictor of severe CDI. We also demonstrated that the use of fluoroquinolones in hospital settings could be associated with the PCR ribotype in patients with CDI.
Evaluation of an Instrumented Sweating Manikin for Predicting Heat Stress in Firefighters' Turnout Ensembles

ROSS, KEVIN ANDREW. Evaluation of an Instrumented Sweating Manikin for Predicting Heat Stress in Firefighters’ Turnout Ensembles. (Under the direction of Roger Lee Barker) This research studies relationships between measurements of heat loss through firefighter turnout ensembles measured using a sweating thermal manikin and a guarded sweating hot plate. Measurement techniques and results are compared. These two measures of heat loss are also compared on their ability to explain thermal heat stress. The assessments of thermal heat stress were provided in a report from an earlier physiological study where human responses were evaluated during wear trials of firefighter protective gear. The focus of this research was on the role of the instrumented sweating manikin as a supplemental tool in predicting heat stress. Its human form makes it a logical intermediary tool between a flat skin model (hot plate) and human subject testing. Thus, it was decided to investigate its role by using it to evaluate six firefighter turnout ensembles where there was existing data available for comparison to both hot plate and physiological test results. The results of this study indicate that sweating thermal manikin measurements provide a fuller explanation and prediction of heat stress assessments in physiological wear trials than provided by a sweating hot plate. This is attributed to the ability of manikin tests to evaluate the effects of garments’ insulating air layers and the contribution of clothing design features to the total thermal burden. This research provides insights into the use of instrumented manikins as research tools and as means of providing information useful for predicting and explaining the results of physiological wear trials of firefighter protective clothing. Thermal manikins are also shown to be valuable tools for evaluating the distribution of heat loss through different areas of protective gear. BVALUATION OF AN INSTRUMENTED SWEATING MANIKIN FOR PREDICTING HEAT STRESS IN FIREFIGHTERS' TURI{OUT ENSEMBLES by KEVIN AIIDREW ROSS A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science