Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
NET RETURNS TO CASSAVA-BASED CROP MIXTURES IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA

The study was carried out in Imo State, Nigeria. The primary objective of the study was among others to estimate the net returns to cassava based crop mixtures in the area. The multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was used in selecting a sample of ninety six respondents from the area. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and farm budget technique. The result of the analysis show that the net returns to cassava/yam/maize/melon crop mixture was N124,776.58, while the returns per naira invested by the farmer was 46k. The cassava varieties cultivated are TMS 419, TMS 30572, TMS 30555, TMS 4(2) 1425, TMS 98/002, NR 8083, NR 8082, NR 84292, NR 8212, IMO Best, and 98/0581. It was recommended that extension agents should encourage farmers to grow cassava/yam/maize/melon crop mixture since it gave both the highest net return and return per naira invested.
Ablation Plume Dynamics of DIVE Ablation at Water-Air Interfaces

Medical lasers can significantly contribute to minimal invasive procedures in surgery, since lasers can basically cut at the level of a single cell. However, ablation of tissue with a laser involves damage of the surrounding tissue, induced by thermal effects and shock wave propagation. The Picosecond InfraRed Laser (PIRL) drives the ablation of tissue faster than thermal and shock wave propagation can occur in the surrounding tissue. Furthermore, the pulses are within a suitable energy regime and have a picosecond pulse length so that ionization of the tissue is avoided. The infrared PIRL wavelength of 2.96 μm is highly absorbed by the water, which leads to a phase transition from liquid to gas phase. This phase transition drives the formation of a plume consisting of the material from the ablated sample. Important characteristics of the ablation plume are spatial distribution, velocity and density profile, which are providing information about the plume. In this thesis, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer was set up and a computer code for the analysis developed and used. To verify the functionality of the interferometer and the analysis code a known sample was analyzed, firstly. Afterwards, the spatial distribution of the plume has been evaluated as well as the velocity of the plume. Therefore, a pump-probe experiment was set up, where the PIRL creates the plume which is analyzed by a nanosecond laser based interferometer. The interferometer is working at a spatial resolution of 3 μm and temporal resolution of a few nanoseconds. For resolving the dynamics, the plume was imaged at different times after creation concluding in a velocity of vplume = 1.16 km/s.
Du croquis de fouille au Web Sig. Le Système d’information géographique d’Amathonte (Chypre)

Introduction Nes en milieu anglo-saxon dans les annees 1960, les Systemes d’information geographique (Sig) constituent un outil technique et scientifique qui permet de mettre en relation des donnees avec des informations spatiales. Les Sig peuvent se definir de differentes manieres mais ce qu’il importe de retenir, sans se plonger dans des analyses trop techniques et abstraites, c’est la copresence et l’interaction de trois elements fondamentaux : l’espace et ses representations (on parlera t.
Report on The Web Search Revolution Symposium

This report describes a one-day symposium held at RMIT University that celebrated two milestone anniversaries in Web search: the launch in 1993 of JumpStation, the first modern web search engine; and the 25 th anniversary since Google was incorporated as a company in 1998. The report describes the keynote presentations from Microsoft Research leader, Susan Dumais and University of Washington professor, Chirag Shah as well as three panel sessions involving leading researchers across Australia in both academia and industry. The symposium explored the impact and future directions of the web search revolution.
Nonlinear and threshold‐dominated runoff generation controls DOC export in a small peat catchment

We used a relatively simple two‐layer, coupled hydrology‐biogeochemistry model to simultaneously simulate streamflow and stream dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in a small lead and arsenic contaminated upland peat catchment in northwestern Germany. The model procedure was informed by an initial data mining analysis, in combination with regression relationships of discharge, DOC, and element export. We assessed the internal model DOC processing based on stream DOC hysteresis patterns and 3‐hourly time step groundwater level and soil DOC data for two consecutive summer periods in 2013 and 2014. The parsimonious model (i.e., few calibrated parameters) showed the importance of nonlinear and rapid near‐surface runoff generation mechanisms that caused around 60% of simulated DOC load. The total load was high even though these pathways were only activated during storm events on average 30% of the monitoring time—as also shown by the experimental data. Overall, the drier period 2013 resulted in increased nonlinearity but exported less DOC (115 kg C ha−1 yr−1 ± 11 kg C ha−1 yr−1) compared to the equivalent but wetter period in 2014 (189 kg C ha−1 yr−1 ± 38 kg C ha−1 yr−1). The exceedance of a critical water table threshold (−10 cm) triggered a rapid near‐surface runoff response with associated higher DOC transport connecting all available DOC pools and subsequent dilution. We conclude that the combination of detailed experimental work with relatively simple, coupled hydrology‐biogeochemistry models not only allowed the model to be internally constrained but also provided important insight into how DOC and tightly coupled pollutants or trace elements are mobilized.
Tumor-Associated Macrophage Targeting of Nanomedicines in Cancer Therapy

The tumor microenvironment (TME) is pivotal in tumor growth and metastasis, aligning with the “Seed and Soil” theory. Within the TME, tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play a central role, profoundly influencing tumor progression. Strategies targeting TAMs have surfaced as potential therapeutic avenues, encompassing interventions to block TAM recruitment, eliminate TAMs, reprogram M2 TAMs, or bolster their phagocytic capabilities via specific pathways. Nanomaterials including inorganic materials, organic materials for small molecules and large molecules stand at the forefront, presenting significant opportunities for precise targeting and modulation of TAMs to enhance therapeutic efficacy in cancer treatment. This review provides an overview of the progress in designing nanoparticles for interacting with and influencing the TAMs as a significant strategy in cancer therapy. This comprehensive review presents the role of TAMs in the TME and various targeting strategies as a promising frontier in the ever-evolving field of cancer therapy. The current trends and challenges associated with TAM-based therapy in cancer are presented.
In ﬂ uence of hydroperiod on aquatic food-web structure and energy production in a ﬂ oodplain wetland: implications for environmental ﬂ ow management

Context . Environmental water is often used to manage ﬂ oodplain wetlands that support many taxa, both terrestrial and aquatic. It is important to optimise the managed hydroperiod to maximise the provision of aquatically derived resources from wetlands. Aims . To test the hypothesis that increasing hydroperiod affects food-web structure and energy production in ﬂ oodplain wetlands. Methods . Fatty acids and stable isotopes of δ 13 C and δ 15 N were used to de ﬁ ne food-web structure, and estimate total energy production throughout a managed inundation event in a wetland in the northern Murray – Darling Basin. Key results . Food-web complexity increased with an increasing hydroperiod in line with predictable patterns of community assemblage development, before reducing sharply immediately prior to drying. Energy availability increased with an increasing hydroperiod and there was a strong correlation ( ρ = 0.669, P = 0.0001) between energy availability and fatty acid concentration, which was in turn related to patterns of taxon occurrence. Conclusions and implications . Hydroperiod exerts a strong in ﬂ uence on aquatic invertebrate community trophic dynamics and energy provision. Planned ﬂ ows should support maturation and stabilisation of the invertebrate community to optimise energy provision to consumers.
Surface-Wave Analysis in the Taipei Basin from Strong-Motion Data

A new spectral moist convection model that employs both the least assumptionsin moist physics and a very accurate solution method is presented.The temperature and pressure in the model are diagnostically determinedfrom thermodynamics.There is no need to predict water vaporand condensate separately;rather,they are diagnostically separated fromthe predicted total airborne water.The model allows a modular separationof dynamics and thermodynamics;the link between dynamics and thermodynamicsis through the pressure gradient force.The modular separationallows the possibility of having a detailed,fine resolution,nonhydrostaticcloud model and a coarse resolution,hydrostatic model which can be runside by side with the identical moist thermodynamics.The height coordinateof the nonhydrostatic model can also extend into the hydrostatic regime.The only differences between the hydrostatic and nonhydrostaticmodels are spatial resolution and the way vertical motion is computed.Wehave performed numerical experiments in the nonhydrostatic model foracoustic adjustment and moist convection.The discontinuity in thermodynamicsdue to phase change is modified in the model by the”gradual saturation”technique.
Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy – Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy – Diagnosis and Management: Diagnosis and Management: A Consensus Statement

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a liver disease specific to pregnancy, characterised by pruritus and increased total serum bile acids (TSBA), with an Australian incidence of 0.6-0.7%. The pathophysiology involves genetic, hormonal and environmental factors. It is associated with stillbirth and preterm birth, and warrants multidisciplinary involvement, particularly when it is severe (TSBA ≥ 40 µmol/L) or very severe (TSBA ≥ 100 µmol/L), or with early onset (prior to 36 weeks’ gestation). The benefit versus risk of an iatrogenic preterm birth for ICP pregnancies remains uncertain. The evidence base for management is limited. This is the first Australian and New Zealand consensus statement on the diagnosis and management of ICP, released under the auspices of the Society of Obstetric
Laminar and Neurochemical Organization of the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus of the Human, Monkey, Cat, and Rodents

The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is a brainstem structure that receives input from the auditory nerve. Many studies in a diversity of species have shown that the DCN has a laminar organization and identifiable neuron types with predictable synaptic relations to each other. In contrast, studies on the human DCN have found a less distinct laminar organization and fewer cell types, although there has been disagreement among studies in how to characterize laminar organization and which of the cell types identified in other animals are also present in humans. We have reexamined DCN organization in the human using immunohistochemistry to analyze the expression of several proteins that have been useful in delineating the neurochemical organization of other brainstem structures in humans: nonphosphorylated neurofilament protein (NPNFP), nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), and three calcium‐binding proteins. The results for humans suggest a laminar organization with only two layers, and the presence of large projection neurons that are enriched in NPNFP. We did not observe evidence in humans of the inhibitory interneurons that have been described in the cat and rodent DCN. To compare humans and other animals directly we used immunohistochemistry to examine the DCN in the macaque monkey, the cat, and three rodents. We found similarities between macaque monkey and human in the expression of NPNFP and nNOS, and unexpected differences among species in the patterns of expression of the calcium‐binding proteins. Anat Rec, 297:1865–1884, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
El modelo de partido cartel y el sistema político brasileño (The Cartel Party Model and the Brazilian Political System)

RESUMEN El articulo analiza el actual sistema de partidos en Brasil bajo la lente conceptual del partido cartel de Katz y Mair, valiendose de algunos de sus indicadores, pero sin pretender hacer una comprobacion sistematica y global de la tesis. Se exploran tres conjuntos de indicadores: a) los vinculos de los partidos con la sociedad y el Estado; b) la competencia y la colusion entre los partidos principales; c) la organizacion y la estructura decisoria interna. Las conclusiones discuten la rentabilidad del modelo de cartelizacion con el objetivo de comprehender los patrones y transformaciones del sistema politico brasileno y senalan las dificultades empiricas e inconsistencias teoricas y conceptuales del modelo, planteando una reelaboracion teorica que lo restrinja a su nucleo esencial. Palabras clave : Brasil, partido cartel, partidos politicos, sistemas de partidos, organizacion. ABSTRACT The article analyzes the current Brazilian party system under the conceptual lens of Katz and Mair’s cartel party theory (1995, 2009), using some of its indicators, but without trying a systematic and comprehensive test of the thesis. Three sets of indicators are explored: a) the party linkages with society and state; b) competition and collusion among the major parties; c) organization and internal decision-making structure. The conclusions discuss the efficacy of cartelization model to understand the patterns and changes of the Brazilian political system, and point out the empirical difficulties and the theoretical and conceptual inconsistencies of the model, proposing a theoretical reelaboration which restricts it to its essential core.
Synthesis, Characterisation, in vitro antibacterial and in silico docking studies of Schiff bases of p-nitro benzaldehyde

Schiff base ligands have more pharamaceutical applications and are widely used in pharmaceutical industries. Herein, two kinds of Schiff base ligands were synthesized using p-nitrobenzaldehyde with (L1) 1H-1,2,4-triazol-3-amine and (L2) 1,4 phenylene diamine backbone. Synthesised ligands were characterized utilizing ultraviolet visible spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy, Carbon 13C NMR and Proton 1H. Then in vitro antimicrobial activity, PASS analysis, Drug likeness and in silico docking studies of synthesized ligands (L1 and L2) were carried out. With the help of PASS and bioactive score results, docking studies were done using two different proteins (PDB ID:6D9T and PDB ID:6HZQ) by Auto dock 4.2. 6 program. BNBBDA has good affinity with target protein S. aureus (PDB ID:6D9T) and PNBTAA has with protein E.coli (PDB ID:6HZQ). The findings demonstrated that the compounds are the ideal candidates for the subsequent steps of drug discovery.
Bioinformatics Original Paper Improved Peak Detection in Mass Spectrum by Incorporating Continuous Wavelet Transform-based Pattern Matching

Motivation: A major problem for current peak detection algorithms is that noise in mass spectrometry (MS) spectra gives rise to a high rate of false positives. The false positive rate is especially problematic in detecting peaks with low amplitudes. Usually, various baseline correction algorithms and smoothing methods are applied before attempting peak detection. This approach is very sensitive to the amount of smoothing and aggressiveness of the baseline correction, which contribute to making peak detection results inconsistent between runs, instrumenta-tion and analysis methods. Results: Most peak detection algorithms simply identify peaks based on amplitude, ignoring the additional information present in the shape of the peaks in a spectrum. In our experience, 'true' peaks have characteristic shapes, and providing a shape-matching function that provides a 'goodness of fit' coefficient should provide a more robust peak identification method. Based on these observations, a continuous wavelet transform (CWT)-based peak detection algorithm has been devised that identifies peaks with different scales and amplitudes. By transforming the spectrum into wavelet space, the pattern-matching problem is simplified and in addition provides a powerful technique for identifying and separating the signal from the spike noise and colored noise. This transformation, with the additional information provided by the 2D CWT coefficients can greatly enhance the effective signal-to-noise ratio. Furthermore, with this technique no baseline removal or peak smoothing preprocessing steps are required before peak detection, and this improves the robustness of peak detection under a variety of conditions. The algorithm was evaluated with SELDI-TOF spectra with known poly-peptide positions. Comparisons with two other popular algorithms were performed. The results show the CWT-based algorithm can identify both strong and weak peaks while keeping false positive rate low. Availability: The algorithm is implemented in R and will be included as an open source module in the Bioconductor project.
Gene expression Elucidation of Directionality for Co-Expressed Genes : Predicting Intra-Operon Termination Sites

Motivation: In this paper, we present a novel framework for inferring regulatory and sequence-level information from gene co-expression networks. The key idea of our methodology is the systematic integration of network inference and network topological analysis approaches for uncovering biological insights. Results: We determine the gene co-expression network of Bacillus subtilis using Affymetrix GeneChip® time series data and show how the inferred network topology can be linked to sequence-level information hard-wired in the organism’s genome. We propose a systematic way for determining the correlation threshold at which two genes are assessed to be co-expressed by using the clustering coefficient and we expand the scope of the gene co-expression network by proposing the slope ratio metric as a means for incorporating directionality on the edges. We show through specific examples for B. subtilis that by incorporating expression level information in addition to the temporal expression patterns, we can uncover sequence-level biological insights. In particular, we are able to identify a number of cases where (i) the co-expressed genes are part of a single transcriptional unit or operon and (ii) the inferred directionality arises due to the presence of intra-operon transcription termina-
Annual distribution of rainfall erosivity in western Andalusia, southern Spain

ABSTRACT: One of the models for estimating erosion rates with the greatest acceptance and widest application is the Universal Soil Loss Equation. In this model, the erosive power of the precipitation is considered by an erosivity factor. In this work, an analysis of rainfall erosivity in four locations (Cordoba, Sevilla, Huelva, and Cadiz) of western Andalusia (southern Spain) is shown. The EI30 and EI60 rainfall erosivity indices were obtained by taking 10-minute resolution data series of rainfall and then correlating them. The relation obtained was then applied to longer hourly precipitation data series, in order to calculate and fit the accumulated erosivity curves for different probabilities at each place. The differences that appeared when separating the rainfall events by one or by six continuous dry hours were studied. The erosivity values obtained were approximately 25% to 30% higher when using six hours of separation. A clear difference in the distribution of erosivity throughout the year was detected between the coastal and the inland locations. Also, the relations for calculating rainfall erosivity with daily precipitation were obtained. Finally, the exponential expression of the kinetic energy fitted for the south of Portugal was verified for Huelva, and it was observed that erosivity results exceeded by approximately 16% to 19% those obtained by applying the Universal Soil Loss Equation. However, the global behavior of erosivity was similar, making both methods equally applicable in the study region.
The clove essential oil and its combination with galangal oil exhibit antibacterial activity, potential as antiseptic agent

Essential oils are known and have been tested for their antimicrobial properties. Previous studies have tested the antimicrobial activity of clove and galangal essential oils alone. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the antimicrobial activity of clove and galangal essential oils alone as well as their combinations. The screening of antimicrobial activity was performed by disc diffusion assay against Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria. Both essential oils showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli at 10% (v/v) concentration. Furthermore, five combinations of clove and galangal essential oils were made and tested at 1:1, 7:3, 9:1, 3:7, and 1:9 ratio. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) of three combinations with the highest activity were performed against Escherichia coli. The MIC and MBC of clove oil is at 2.5% (v/v) and 5% (v/v) while the MIC and MBC of Galangal oil is at 5% (v/v) and 10% (v/v). All three combinations showed MIC and MBC value is at 5% (v/v) and 10% (v/v) respectively. In addition, based on SNI EN 1276:2019 assay, the clove and galangal essential oil as well as their combinations meet the requirement as antiseptic agent against E. coli.
Traffic sign detection based on classic visual recognition models

This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of various object detection high-level architectures, including Faster R-CNN, R-FCN, SSD, and YOLO, in recognizing traffic signs. Since traffic sign recognition is a critical element of driver-assistance and autonomous driving systems, this study explores how five distinct architectures for feature extracting (ResNet V1 50, ResNet V1 101, Inception V2, Inception-ResNet-V2, and Darknet-19) can enhance the performance of these meta-architectures. To evaluate the models, the authors fine-tuned a pre-trained object recognition algorithm on the German Traffic Sign Detection Benchmark (GTSDB) dataset. While the Faster R-CNN Inception Resnet v2 proved to be the most accurate among the models, the unbalanced distribution of mandatory, prohibitory, and danger signs in the GTSDB dataset may have caused biased results in object detection. Overall, the result obtained from this study can help improve the accuracy of driver-assistance and autonomous driving systems by providing insights into the performance of various object detection models in recognizing traffic signs.
Facial emotion classification based on the modified VGG and MobileNet

Emotion classification is an essential area of face recognition, which is widely applied recently, especially in information security. This study focus on model performance to explore a more efficient one that can produce a more precise prediction. In this paper, this study implement two distinct models, which are modified to classify emotions. The adaption models are added by one convolutional layer, one flatten layer, followed by activation layer and loss function layer. In order to estimate and compare them more straightforwardly, the metrics such as precision, loss, accuracy, recall and auc are introduced. Also, data augmentation to enlarge data sample size is achieved by rotation, width and length shift as well as horizontal lift. In the end, VGG16 shows a better performance with 0.9238 accuracy and 0.7780 loss in training, whereas MobileNet is slightly less outstanding with 0.9009 accuracy and 1.0280 loss in training. This study deal with choices of specific emotion classification models and attain a conclusion that VGG16 performs better in the given dataset.