In this essay, I revisit Neural Networks (NNs) through the lens of evolutionary dynamics. From the two most important features of NNs, I recover the two most general equations of evolutionary dynamics. These two equations may thus serve as a connection between NNs and a body of knowledge that has been built over multiple centuries and has found application across a vast range of disciplines. This connection may therefore also help explain why NNs with the two features in question are applicable across a much broader range of domains than initially envisioned.

This article explains how resistance alleles have become rare or have disappeared from honey bee populations in Europe (and probably also in North America). Honeybees have the highest recombination frequency of all animals, indicating that pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and microsporidia are an important source of selection. To respond to new virulent strains of pathogens, honeybees need to have access to rare alleles that could foster immunity against a new pathogen. By mating in a large panmictic population, new rare alleles can be recruited, which can then be combined into new genotypes through recombination with useful alleles of other genes. Bee breeders, by selecting small samples from a large population tend to select common alleles and lose the rare ones. Rare alleles can become important when a new virulent pathogen arrives. The loss of rare alleles makes bees vulnerable to disease and parasites and explains, together with the problems caused by modern agriculture, why managed bees have high mortality rates.

Chickens have extensive phenotypic variation. The Wuhua yellow chicken (WHYC) is an important traditional yellow-feathered chicken in China, characterized by white tail feathers, white flight feathers, and strong disease resistance. However, the genomic basis of traits associated with WHYC is still poorly understood. In this study, whole genome resequencing was performed with an average coverage of 20.77-fold to investigate heritable variation and identify selection signals in WHYC. Reads were mapped onto the chicken reference genome (Galgal5) with a coverage of 85.95%. After quality control, 11,953,471 SNPs and 1,069,574 InDels were obtained. In addition, 41,408 structural variants and 33,278 copy number variants were found. A comparative genomic analysis of WHYC and other yellow-feathered chicken showed that selected regions were enriched in genes involved in transport and catabolism, immune system, infectious diseases, signal transduction, and signaling molecules and interaction. Several genes associated with disease resistance were identified, including IFNA, IFNB, CD86, IL18, IL11RA, VEGFC, and ATG10. Furthermore, PMEL and TYRP1 may contribute to the coloring of white feathers in WHYC. These findings improve our understanding of the genetic characteristics of WHYC and may contribute to future breed improvement.

Quercus leucotrichophora leaves were collected for assessment of nutritive composition between four seasons i.e. spring season (March-April), summer season (June-July), autumn (September-October), winter December-January) respectively, in 2017. The experiment was conducted within the laboratory of Shoolini University campus. Leaves samples were collected from 12 different provenances starting from 1189 to 2578 m a.s.l. Crude protein, ash content, ether extract, phenol content, total sugar and tannin content were expressively higher within middle to higher altitudinal populations. Crude fiber, ether extract, acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre, saponin content were higher in winter month while crude protein, ash content, phenol content, tannin content were higher in autumn season. Total sugar was higher in summer season and nitrogen free extract was higher in spring season. Q. leucotrichophora leaves were harvested at the right stage of maturity (winter months) offers considerable potential as good quality forage for livestock to meet the deficiency of nutritive components.

Sediment accumulation in a dam reservoir is a common happening environmental problem throughout the world. Topographic conditions, land use land cover change, the intensity of rainfall, and the soil characteristics are the major driving factors for sedimentation to occur. The effect of sedimentation in a dam reservoir is very visible in the watershed as a result of hilly topographic conditions, high rainfall intensity, thin land cover, and less soil infiltration capacity. In this paper, an integrated RUSLE and GIS technique was implemented to estimate a mean annual sediment yield based on spatial and temporal variations in Nashe dam reservoir situated in Fincha catchment, Abaya River basin, Ethiopia. Spatial and temporal estimation of mean annual sediment yield was estimated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model and GIS. Historical 6-year (2014-2019) rainfall for the temporal variations and other physical factors such as soil erodibility, slope and length steepness, management and land used land cover, and support practice for spatial variations were used as sediment driving factors. The mean annual sediment yield ranges from 0 to 2712.65 t ha-1 year-1 was seen. Spatially, Very high, high, moderate, low, and very low sediment yield severity with total area coverage with 25%, 10%, 30%, 15%, and 20% in 2017, 2015, 2019, 2014, and 2018 respectively. The information about the spatial and temporal variations of the severity of sediment yield in RUSLE model has a paramount role to control the entry of sediment into the dam reservoir in this watershed. The results of the RUSLE model can also be further considered along with the watershed for planning strategies for dam reservoirs in the catchment.

Stream chemistry effectively integrates watershed ecosystem processes on both spatial and temporal scales. Streams of coastal areas integrate a more homogeneous, flat topography wherein there can be interactions between the stream and the body of water into which it drains, especially where tidal fluxes occur. The present study assessed water quality of Thompson Bayou, which comes to the campus of the University of West Florida in a wetland after flowing through 4 km of commercial and private property with associated impacts on water quality. Sampling was carried out for one year at eight discrete sites along Thompson Bayou from the UWF campus to the Escambia River. We used a portable field meter to measure temperature, pH, dissolved O2 (DO), and specific conductivity (SC). Except for temperature, all variables exhibited a spatial pattern of significant variation with distance, with consistent increases in DO and SC as the stream approached the river. These variables also exhibited a temporal pattern of significant seasonal variation, including—and especially—temperature. Data suggest that spatial and temporal patterns of water quality of Thompson Bayou are determined by (1) processing of water by the wetland, (2) interactions of the stream channel with upland forest stands, and (3) the tidal hydrology of the Escambia River.

The aim of this study was to analyze whether the respiratory variation in ECG standard lead II R-wave amplitude (ΔRDII) could be used to assess intravascular volume status following inferior vena cava (IVC) clamping. This clamping causes an acute decrease in cardiac output during liver transplantation (LT). We retrospectively compared ΔRDII and related variables before and after IVC clamping in 34 recipients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) analyses were used to derive a cutoff value of ΔRDII for predicting pulse pressure variation (PPV). After IVC clamping, cardiac output significantly decreased while ΔRDII significantly increased (P = 0.002). The cutoff value of ΔRDII for predicting a PPV >13% was 16.9% (AUC: 0.685) with a sensitivity of 57.9% and specificity of 77.6% (95% confidence interval 0.561 – 0.793, P = 0.015). Frequency analysis of ECG also significantly increased in the respiratory frequency band (P = 0.016). Although significant changes in ΔRDII during vena cava clamping were found at norepinephrine doses < 0.1 μg/kg/min (P = 0.014), such changes were not significant at norepinephrine doses > 0.1 μg/kg/minP = 0.093). ΔRDII could be a noninvasive dynamic parameter in LT recipients presenting with hemodynamic fluctuation. Based on our data, we recommended cautious interpretation of ΔRDII may be requisite according to vasopressor administration status.

Concretizing the mechanisms of Bergmann rule, we found saw-tooth pattern in body size variation in ground beetle Pterostichus oblongopunctatus. We sampled beetles in 2010 – 2018 at the forest undisturbed plots on the broad territory in Russia. Investigating regions covered territory, extending to 3 degrees latitude and 19 degrees longitude. We measured six traits in every of 3294 caught individual. ANOVA showed that latitude, and sex affected significantly body size of the species studied. Mean values of each trait changed significantly from one studied region to another in females and males as well. Sexual size dimorphism in species was female-biased. We performed models in R to estimate the steepness of body size variation in both sexes. In overwhelming majority of cases that parameter was equal in both sexes. So the hypothesis, that male′s variation is steeper in latitude gradient was not confirmed.

Seventy-three male specimens of ”Platorchestia platensis”from Japan were inspected on 13 morphological characters. Most characters revealed high variation. The coxa and propodus of gnathopod 2 and the carpus of pereopod 7 indicated that the specimens comprised two species: Platorchestia pacifica Miyamoto and Morino, 2004 and Demaorchestia joi (Stock and Biernbaum, 1994) sensu lato. Both species were rediagnosed.　Demaorchestia hatakejima Lowry and Myers, 2022 was synonymized to P. pacifica. A key to allied species in Platorchestia and Demaorchestia from Japan and the surrounding countries was given.

Vanilla pompona is the third most important commercial species of the genus Vanilla, but its morphometric variation is little known. In orchids, infraspecific variation is expressed in the labellum. This study had the objective of analyzing the floral variation of V. pompona collections from localities in Veracruz, Puebla, Jalisco and Oaxaca, Mexico. During the flowering period, we obtained 55 collections of V. pompona flowers, and in the dissected labellum of each flower 54 lines and 7 angles were measured and portrayed with the ImageJ program. With the data obtained, we performed an analysis of variance, a principal components analysis, and a cluster analysis. The results showed significant differences among the collections and localities in the means of the lines of the basal, middle, and apical regions of the labellum. Also, six morphotypes were obtained, and we found that variation was associated with factors such as the environment, geographic barriers, and pollinator pressure. Moreover, we observed variation in flowering dates in one locality of Veracruz. We concluded that there is infraspecific variation within and between the collection localities of V pompona of the Atlantic region (Puebla and Veracruz) and the Pacific region (Jalisco and Oaxaca), Mexico.

The target of an antibody plays a significant role in the success of antibody-based therapeutics and diagnostics, and to an extent, that of vaccine development. This importance is focussed on the target binding site – epitope, where epitope selection as a part of design thinking beyond traditional antigen selection using whole cell or whole protein immunisation can positively impact success. With purified recombinant protein production and peptide synthesis to display limited/selected epitopes, intrinsic factors that can affect the functioning of resulting antibodies can be more easily selected for. Many of these factors stem from the location of the epitope that can affect accessibility of the antibody to the epitope at a cellular or molecular level, direct inhibition of target antigen activity, conservation of function despite escape mutations, and even non-competitive inhibition sites. Through the incorporation of novel computational methods for predicting antigen changes to model-informed drug discovery and development, superior vaccines and antibody-based therapeutics or diagnostics can now be more easily designed to mitigate failures. With detailed examples, this review highlights the new opportunities, factors and methods of predicting antigenic changes for consideration in sagacious epitope selection.

Dairy cattle predicted by genomic breeding values to be heat tolerant are known to have less milk production decline and lower core body temperature increases in response to elevated temperatures. In a study conducted at the University of Melbourne’s Dookie Robotic Dairy Farm during summer, we identified the most 20 heat-susceptible and 20 heat-tolerant cows in a herd of 150 Holstein Friesian lactating cows based on their phenotypic responses (changes in respiration rate, surface body temperature, panting score, and milk production). Hair samples were collected from the tip of the cows' tail following standard genotyping protocols. The results indicated variation in feed saved and HT genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) (P≤0.05) across age, indicating a potential for their selection. As expected, the thermotolerant group had higher GEBVs for HT and feed saved but lower for milk production. In general, younger cows had superior GEBVs for Balanced Performance Index (BPI), Type Weighted Index (TWI) and Australian Selection Index (ASI), whilst older cows were superior in fertility, feed saved (FS) and HT. The study demonstrated highly significant (P≤ 0.001) negative correlations (-0.28 to -0.74) between HT and GEBVs for current Australian Dairy cattle selection indices (BPI, TWI, ASI, HWI) and significant (P≤ 0.05) positive correlations between HT and GEBVs for traits like FS (0.45) and fertility (0.25). Genomic selection for HT will help improve cow efficiency and sustainability of dairy production under hot summer conditions. However, a more extensive study involving more lactating cows across multiple farms is recommended to confirm the associations between the phenotypic predictors of HT and GEBVs.

Advancement in biotechnology and genomics research have promoted access to DNA markers and their use in breeding programs. Genome-wide association study (GWAS), Genomic selection (GS) and Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS) are some of the applications of DNA markers in plant breeding. Researchers have suggested combining these individual applications for better selection accuracies. This study examines the potential advantages of incorporating GWAS-results into MAS and GS as well as the validity of the different methods for combining these approaches. From this study, it was concluded that number of QTNs have greater effects on prediction accuracies compared to heritability estimates. Also, the increase in prediction accuracy from the invalid method of incorporating GWAS results into GS and MAS model is similar to results recorded with using the valid approach. However, greater difference may be observed in another scenario which can lead to spurious results when used to make breeding decisions.

The NOD2 gene, involved in innate immune responses to bacterial peptidoglycan, has been found to be strongly associated with Crohn’s Disease, with an Odd Ratio ranging from 3 to 36. Families with 3 or more CD affected patients were related to high frequency of NOD2 gene variations as R702W, G908R, 1007fs and were reported in EPIMAD Registry. However, some rare CD multiplex families were described without identification of common NOD2 linked-to-disease variations. In order to identify new genetic variation(s) with a major effect on Crohn’s disease (CD), whole exome sequencing was performed in available subjects comprising 4 patients on 2 generations affected with Crohn’s disease without R702W and G908R variation, and 3 unaffected related subjects. A new rare and not yet reported missense variation of the NOD2 gene, the N1010K, was detected and co-segregated across affected patients. In silico evaluation and modeling highlighted evidences for a deleterious effect of the N1010K variation regarding CD. Moreover cumulative characterization of N1010K and 1007fs as compound heterozygous state in two more severely CD family members strongly suggesting that the N1010K should be a new risk factor involved in Crohn’s disease genetic susceptibility.

A review of the concept of "fitness" as it is used in evolutionary theory.

Understanding morphological and genetic diversity of forest trees is essential to facilitate their conservation, sustainable management and genetic improvement for addressing the economic and environmental demands and challenges. We have examined variation in morphometric seed and pod traits and seed germination of multipurpose and widely distributed forest tree Albizia lebbek (Indian siris) from 12 provenances covering the species’ range in northern India and its relationships with bioclimatic factors. Highly significant inter-provenance variation was observed in seed size (seed length (SL), seed width (SW), SW/SL, SL×SW), seed mass (1000 seed weight), pod size (pod length (PL), pod width (PW), PW/PL), seed germination, number of seeds per pod, and insect infected seeds (IIS). The provenance effect contributed a major portion to the total phenotypic variance. Morphometric variation in all traits except for IIS was not clinal related to longitude, latitude, altitude or rainfall. There was an indication of the presence of ecotypic variation. IIS showed clinal variation with significant negative correlation with latitude. Most seed size and pod size traits showed positive correlations with several temperature bioclimatic factors and negative correlations with several precipitation bioclimatic factors. Our results have significance for genetic improvement, population genetics and genomics studies and conservation and sustainable management of A. lebbek genetic resources.

The role of chemical communication in social relationships of birds is receiving growing attention but our knowledge is still scarce compared to other taxa. Previous evidence suggests that chemical cues emitted by birds may carry information about their characteristics that may be useful in a sexual selection context. However, experimental studies are needed to investigate the role of bird chemical cues in signalling quality of potential partners. We performed an experimental study aimed to disentangle whether female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, use chemical cues to assess the body condition and body size of potential partners. We offered focal females the scent of two males differing in body condition and body size. Our results show that females can assess the body condition of potential partners using olfaction. However, contrary to expected in a mate choice context, our results show that females avoided the scent of the male with greater body condition and body size. Our results therefore suggest that, despite performing the study during breeding period, social interactions may be mediating the avoidance of the scent of the conspecific of the opposite sex with better body condition and body size in this gregarious species.

The proposed research study explore the decision tool for cropwise variability of NDVI using RS techniques and GIS tool as a crucial indicators for monitoring vegetation status.A small case study for Parbhani district of Maharashtra, India was conducted using Landsat-9 satellite images of the Rabi season in the year 2022-23 were processed using ArcGIS 10.7 software to derive the NDVI values. During the analysis, the maximum NDVI in the study area was recorded at 0.5857 on February 03, 2023, while the minimum was observed as -0.1018 on February 19, 2023. For specific crops, the average NDVI ranged from 0.1183 to 0.3189 for wheat, 0.1679 to 0.2891 for jowar, and 0.1163 to 0.3367 for gram. The mean NDVI values for wheat, jowar, and gram crops during the Rabi season of 2022-23 were 0.218, 0.219, and 0.217, respectively.Furthermore, the average NDVI values exhibited an increasing from the initial stage to the mid-crop growth stage, followed by a decrease during the end-season stage for wheat, jowar, and gram crops. Interestingly, the mean NDVI values of major Rabi crops, wheat, jowar, and gram for the year 2022-23, is approximately similar to the mean NDVI values observed for of year 2022-23.

Vavuniya District is located in the lowland dry zone district of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, which is still unexplored with a natural forest cover of 1,238 km2. Literature relates to the avifaunal birds is still a gap in the Vavuniya, as there are already studies about the diversity of water avifaunal species. In addition to that, the habitat diversity within the study area was discussed using a prepared checklist and the community indices like the Shannon-Weiner index (H’), Simpson’s diversity index (D), Simpson’s evenness (E), and Species richness (R) across various habitat ecosystems: Woodland-Paddy land (H1); Woodland-Water catchment area (H2); Forest (H3); Grassland with inundated land ecosystem (H4); and Manage garden with Occasional trees (H5); of the Pampaimadu premise, University of Vavuniya. The study area is located 10 km from the center of Vavuniya along the A30 highway, with the dry-mixed evergreen forest as vegetation. The checklist resulted in the observation of 93 avifaunal species belonging to 47 families (including 9 endemics, and 5 nationally threatened species). Family Columbidae (Rock Pigeon: Columba livia (n=123)) is found (68%) to be observed with the highest frequency and evenly distributed across different habitats but the family Ardeidae is found extensively dominating in H5 (39%). H1 is with the highest H` (3.5) and D (0.96); while H3 has the highest R (2.52) and E (0.62). Many anthropogenic disturbances, such as habitat alterations, intentional wildfire, and road mortality are the key threats encountered by the avifaunal species in the study area.

There is tremendous interest, in the economic literature, for the determinants of firms’ capital structure decisions. A rich body of empirical works now exists that purports to identify firm- and country-level factors affecting firms’ financing patterns. In addition, more recently, a new stream of studies has emerged that investigates cross-regional variation in small firms’ capital structure. While small firms’ leverage does seem to vary across regions, at least in countries where significant regional differences in economic and financial development and in the quality of institutions exist, not much yet is known about variation in debt maturity, in debt in relation to equity, and between different types of small firms. The present paper aims to fill this gap through an empirical analysis of cross-regional variation in the capital structure of a sample of about 30,000 Italian small firms over a 13-year period, including the aftermath of the credit crunch that followed the 2007-8 global financial crisis. The findings confirm the view that small firms in underdeveloped regions are more financially constrained, but also amend some of the results shown in the literature, in particular by showing how small firms in Italy’s Southern regions have higher levels of equity and fixed assets than small firms in other regions.

Abies beshanzuensis, an extremely endangered species, attracts serious concerns on genetic diversity recovery and population protection. However, little genetic information was known about it till now. In this study, intra-/intergenomic ITS variation, secondary structure, and molecular phylogeny of A.beshanzuensis were determined by nrDNA-ITS marker, and results indicated that, ITS region featured rich polymorphism in ITS1 and highly conservative in 5.8S/ITS2 among intra-/inter-genome, implying rich genetic diversities and the occurrence of non-concerted evolution in ITS region. Predicated 5.8S structure possessed Helices-Loops with 3 motifs (M1/M2/M3) and 5 helices B4-B8, and ITS2 could form conservative Clover-like structure with 5 ribotypes, manifesting genetically structural generalities and individualities. Thirteen ITS pseudogenes were also identified from 76 samples (or clones). Molecular phylogeny revealed that, A.beshanzuensis shared genetically closer relationships with A.fanjingshanensis, A.chensiensis, A.yuanbaoshanensis among genus Abies. The available original data provided rich genetic information on ITS sequence, structure and molecular phylogeny of A.beshanzuensis, which not only updated the databases of ITS sequences as well as secondary structures essential for phylogenetic reference and DNA barcoding analyses, but also contributed to deep exploration of population diversities, origin and evolution as well theoretical direction for population recovery and protection of A.beshanzuensis.

Structural variations (SVs) play a key role in the pathogenicity of hematological malignancies. Optical genome mapping (OGM) is an emerging technology that enables genome-wide detection of all classes of SVs at a high resolution and sensitivity. Identification of cryptic SVs leading to gene disruption or predicted novel gene fusions could be important drivers for cancer development and/or portend a prognostic relevance, which could be used to modify the treatment plan. A cohort of 106 consented cases that had a successful OGM analysis performed were included in the study. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and treatment data were collected. Routine diagnostic and prognostic testing were done on the peripheral blood and bone marrow aspirate as indicated. Additional samples of peripheral blood and/or bone marrow were sent for OGM testing. OGM led to a change in risk stratification in 17/66 (25.75%) of patients with hematological malignancies, the majority of these patients (15/66, 22.72%), having their risk stratification upgraded with a resulting change in treatment of 14 patients. This study highlights the ability of OGM to detect rare, cryptic and clinically relevant variants that potentially impact disease diagnosis, risk stratification and actionable treatment targets.

As the most important city in China, Beijing has experienced an economic soar, large-scale population growth and eco-environment changes in recent 20 years.Evaluating climate and human-induced vegetation changes could reveal the relationship of vegetation-climate-human activities and provide important insights for the coordination of economic growth and environmental protection. Based on a long-term MODIS vegetation index dataset, meteorological data (temperature, precipitation) and impervious surface data, the Theil-Sen regression and the Mann-Kendall method are used to estimate vegetation change trend in this study and the residual analysis is utilized to distinguish the impacts of climate factors and human activities on vegetation restoration and degradation from 2000 to 2019 in Beijing. Our results show that the increasing vegetation areas account for 80.2\% of Beijing. The restoration of vegetation is concentrated in the urban core area and mountainous area, while the degradation of vegetation is mainly concentrated in the suburbs. In recent years, the vegetation in most mountainous areas has changed from restoration to significant restoration, indicating that the growth of mountain vegetation has continued to restore. We also found that in the process of urban expansion, vegetation browning occurred in 53.1\% of the urban built-up area, while vegetation greening occurred in the rest part. We concluded that precipitation is the main climatic factor affecting the growth of vegetation in Beijing mountain areas through correlation analysis. Human activities have significantly promoted the vegetation growing in the northern mountainous area thanks to the establishment of environmental protection areas. The negative correlation between vegetation and the impervious surface tends to gradually expand outwards, which is consistent with the trend of urban expansion. The positive correlation region remains stable, but the positive correlation is gradually enhanced. The response of vegetation to urbanization demonstrated a high degree of spatial heterogeneity. These findings indicated that human activities played an increasingly important role in influencing vegetation changes in Beijing.

A novel method of investigating the temperature dependent variation of aspects of the complex refractive index n* in samples in the THz range using continuous, non-polarised, synchrotron radiation is presented. The method relies on the use of ATR apparatus, and retains the advantage of minimal sample preparation, which is a feature of ATR techniques. The method demonstrates the viability of rapidly monitoring temperature reflectance whilst continuously heating or cooling samples by using a temperature variable Thermal Sample Stage. The method remains useful when the refractive index of the sample precludes attenuated total reflection study. This is demonstrated with the water reflectance experiments. The temperature dependent ATR reflectance of tissue-representative fats (lard and Lurpak® butter) was investigated with the novel approach. Both are within the ATR range of the diamond crystal in a “true” ATR mode. Lard showed no clear temperature variation between -15 0C and 24 0C at 0.7 to 1.15 THz or 1.70 to 2.25 THz. Lard can be regarded as having invariable, constant, dielectric properties within mixtures when biological substances are being assessed for temperature dependent dielectric variation within the stated THz ranges. Lurpak® butter (water content 14.7%) displayed temperature dependent reflectance features with a steady decline in reflectivity with increasing temperature. This is in line with the temperature-dependent behaviour of liquid water. There is no rapid change in reflectance, even at -20 0C, suggesting that emulsified water retains liquid-water-like THz properties at freezing temperatures.

Information about the variations and correlations between the physical properties of seeds is essential for designing and modeling seed processing operations. The aim of this study was to determine the variations in the basic physical properties of seeds of selected spruce species and to identify the correlations between these attributes for the needs of the seed sorting processes. Terminal velocity, thickness, width, length, mass and the angle of external friction were determined in the seeds of 11 spruce species. The measured parameters were used to calculate three aspect ratios, geometric mean diameter, sphericity index and specific mass of each seed. The average values of the basic physical properties of the analyzed seeds were determined in the following range: terminal velocity – 5.25 to 8.34 m s-1, thickness – 1.10 to 2.32 mm, width – 1.43 to 3.19 mm, length – 2.76 to 5.52 mm, the angle of external friction – 23.1 to 30.0°, and mass – 2.29 to 18.57 mg. The seeds of Jezo spruce and Meyer's spruce were most similar to the seeds of other spruce species, whereas oriental spruce seeds differed most considerably from the remaining seeds. Our findings indicate that spruce seeds should be sorted primarily with the use of mesh sieves with longitudinal openings to obtain fractions with similar seed mass and to promote even germination.

This paper proposes a novel model for a PV cell with parameters variance dependency on temperature and irradiance included. The model relies on commercial available data, calculates the cell parameters for standard conditions and then extrapolates them for the whole operating range. An up-to-date review of the PV modeling is also included with series and parallel parasitic resistance values and dependencies discussed. The parameters variance is analyzed and included in the proposed PV model, where the self-heating phenomenon is also considered. Each parameter variance is compared to the results from different authors. The model includes only standard components and can be run on any SPICE-based simulator. Unlike other approaches that consider the internal temperature as a parameter, our proposal relies on air temperature as an input and computes the actual internal temperature accordingly. Finally, the model is validated via experiments and comparisons to similar approaches are provided.

Abstract Octreotide is the first synthetic peptide hormone, consisted of eight amino acids, that mimics the activity of somatostatin, a natural hormone in the body. During the past decades, advanced instrumentation and crystallographic software established X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) as a valuable tool for extracting structural information of biological macromolecules. The latter was demonstrated by the successful structural determination of octreotide at a remarkably high d-spacing resolution (1.87 Å) (PDB code: 6vc1). This study focuses on the response of octreotide to different humidity levels and temperatures, with a particular focus on the stability of the polycrystalline sample. XRPD measurements were accomplished employing an Anton Paar MHC-trans humidity-temperature chamber installed within a laboratory X’Pert Pro diffractometer (Malvern Panalytical). The chamber is employed to control and maintain precise humidity and temperature levels of samples during XRPD data collection. Pawley analysis of the collected data sets revealed that the octreotide polycrystalline sample is remarkably stable and no structural transitions were observed. The compound retains its orthorhombic symmetry (space group: P212121, a = 18.57744(4) Å, b = 30.17338(6) Å, c = 39.70590(9) Å, d~ 2.35 Å). However, a characteristic structural evolution in terms of lattice parameters and volume of the unit-cell is reported mainly upon controlled relative humidity variation. In addition, an improvement of signal-to-noise ratio in the XRPD data under a cycle of dehydration/rehydration is reported. These results underline the importance of considering the impact of environmental factors, as humidity and temperature, in the context of structure-based drug design, thereby contributing to the development of more effective and stable pharmaceutical products.

Bayesian nonlinear mixed effects models for data in the form of continuous, repeated measurements from a population, also known as Bayesian hierarchical nonlinear models, are a popular platform for analysis when interest focuses on individual specific characteristics and relevant uncertainty quantification. Due to the limitation of computational power, this framework was relatively dormant until the late 1980s, but in recent years, the statistical research community saw vigorous development of new methodological and computational techniques for these models, the emergence of software, and wide application of the models in numerous industrial and academic fields. This article presents an overview of the formulation, interpretation, and implementation of Bayesian nonlinear mixed effects models and surveys recent advances and applications.

Cotton is the most important natural fiber cash crop, which has high commodity economic benefits and provides an important material foundation for China's construction. With the improvement of textile technology and living standard, higher requirements are put forward for raw cotton quality. Traditional cotton breeding methods need typing and selection. With the development of biotechnology and the research of genomics, genomic selection has been widely used in cotton breeding. Genomic selection is a new breeding method, which can be selected and bred by constructing a prediction model and using high-density molecular markers covering the whole genome. In this study, the application of various genomic selection models in cotton fiber quality was explored, which provided more reliable information for genetic breeding improvement in the future, thus helping to improve the efficiency of actual cotton breeding.

Agronomic traits such as biomass yield and abiotic stress tolerance are genetically complex and challenging to improve by conventional breeding strategies. Genomic selection (GS) is an alternative approach in which genome-wide markers are used to determine the genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV) of individuals in a population. In alfalfa, previous results indicated that low to moderate prediction accuracy values (<70%) were obtained in complex traits such as yield and abiotic stress resistance. There is a need to increase the prediction value in order to employ GS in breeding programs. In this paper we reviewed different statistic models and their applications in polyploid crops including alfalfa. Specifically, we used empirical data affiliated with alfalfa yield under salt stress to investigate approaches which use DNA marker importance values derived from machine learning models, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of marker-trait association scores based on different GWASpoly models, in weighted GBLUP analyses. This approach increased prediction accuracies from 50% to more than 80% for alfalfa yield under salt stress. This is the first report in alfalfa to use variable importance and GWAS-assisted approaches to increase the prediction accuracy of GS, thus helping to select superior alfalfa lines based on their GEBVs.

Background: The genetic variants identified by three large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of educational attainment were used to test a polygenic selection model. Methods: Average frequencies of alleles with positive effect (polygenic scores or PS) were compared across populations (N=26) using data from 1000 Genomes. A null model was created using frequencies of random SNPs. Results: Polygenic selection signal of educational attainment GWAS hits is high among a handful of SNPs within genomic regions replicated across GWAS publications. A polygenic score comprising 9 SNPs predicts population IQ (r=0.88), outperforming 99% of the polygenic scores obtained from sets of random SNPs (Monte Carlo p= 0.011). Its predictive power remains unaffected after controlling for spatial autocorrelation (Beta= 0.83). The largest polygenic score (161 SNPs) exhibits similar predictive power (Beta=0.8). Random polygenic scores are moderate predictors of population IQ (thanks to spatial autocorrelation), and their predictive power increases logarithmically with the number of SNPs, indicating an exponential reduction in noise. Conclusion: This study provides guidance for using GWAS hits together with random SNPs for testing polygenic selection using Monte Carlo simulations.

Cabbage (B. oleracea var. capitata) contains three FLC homolog genes (BoFLC1, BoFLC2, and BoFLC3) and one pseudogene (BoFLC5) that responds to low temperatures necessary for flowering. We isolated three BoFLC-encoding genes from early-, mid-, and late-flowering cabbage plants. Leaf samples were collected for RNA extraction and expression analysis. Gene structure analysis and phylogenetic comparison were performed for intra- or interspecific relationships of the BoFLC homologs. Gene expression related to flowering regulators (BoGI, BoCOOLAIR, and BoVIN3) was analyzed. While BoFLC genes commonly have seven exons and six introns of 3,361–4.384 bp, variations in insertion or deletion were evident between the early- and late-flowering genotypes. Repressed expression of BoFLC 1, 2, and 3 genes under chilling temperatures appeared to occur from 8 weeks after vernalization. Higher expression levels of GI, COOLAIR, and VIN3 were initiated 7 weeks after chilling (WAT) treatment in the early flowering genotype. The vernalization trigger repressed the expression of BoFLC homologs. This study provides molecular insights into BoFLC homologs between early- and late-flowering cabbage genotypes, in which structural variations in BoFLC1 appeared to be important as a binding motif to flowering regulating factors such as BoGI, BoCOOLAIR, and BoVIN3 for which motif analysis is further implemented.

This study aimed to analyse the variation of recreational water quality in Plettenberg Bay in an attempt to comprehend the effects of pollution on the environment, and more specifically the potential impacts on the quality of surface water used for recreational activities. Plettenberg Bay is a major destination for tourists in South Africa, with recreational water activities representing an important attraction. For this study, data were obtained from Bitou Municipality, the local au-thority in charge of the water monitoring program in Plettenberg Bay. The selected datasets contained water quality data collected by the Bitou Municipality waterworks department in three sampling sites in Plettenberg Bay. The samples were tested for six water quality parameters namely, Ammonia, Suspended Solids, Conductivity, Nitrates/Nitrites, pH, and E coli. Water quality trends appeared stabile over the five years, with only a few parameters showing variation in their concentration levels. It is recommended that the Bitou Municipality increase the sampling frequency to allow a clearer understanding of water quality variation and to minimise potential uncertainties.

The atmospheric concentrations of sodium, aluminum, silicon, sulphur, chlorine, potassium, calcium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, bromine and lead were measured in air filters at the Finnish Meteorological Institute station, in Helsinki, Finland, during a period of 44 years (1962-2005). The mean annual concentrations were calculated and are presented from the lowest values to the highest ones Cr&lt;Ni&lt;Ti&lt;Br&lt;V&lt;Mn&lt;Cu&lt;Zn&lt;Cl&lt;Al&lt;Fe&lt;K&lt;Ca&lt;Na&lt;Pb&lt;Si&lt;S. Most of the elements (Fe, Si, Ti, K, Ca, Zn, Br, Pb, V, Ni, S, Cr, Na, Al, Cl) present higher values during spring and winter season while in summer the elements (Ti, Ca, S, Na) are found in higher concentrations. There is a strong correlation between the elements (V-Ni, Si-Pb, Fe-Ca, V-Cr, Si-K, K-Ca, Fe-Ti, K-Na, Si-Ca, V-S), indicating their common source. The identification of the sources of trace elements was performed based on positive matrix factorization analysis, using SoFi software. Four PM sources were identified: road dust (due to usage of leaded fuel), heavy oil combustion/secondary sulfates, traffic emissions and natural dust (soil). For the total of 44 years studied, significant decreases in concentrations were observed for all trace elements, most of which were over 50%: Na (-74%), Al (-86%), Si (-88%), S (-82%), K (-82%), Ca (-89%), Ti (-80%), V (-89%), Cr (-82%), Mn (-77%), Fe (-77%), Ni (-61%), Zn (-72%), Pb (-95%). The current data are consistent with previous air studies covering the whole territory of Finland. Finally, a significant decline has been observed in the majority of the elemental concentrations since the end of 70s, underlying the effectiveness of different environmental policies that have been applied during the last decades.

Genome-wide sequencing data play an important role in evaluating the genomic level differences between superior and poor-quality crop plants and improving our understanding of molecular association with desired traits. We analyzed the obtained 92,921,066 raw reads from genome-wide resequencing of Cucumis sativus var. hardwickii through in-silico approaches and mapped to the reference genome of Cucumis sativus to identify the genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and Single nucleotide variations (SNV). Here, we report 19, 74,213 candidate SNPs including 1,33,468 insertions and 1,43,237 deletions and 75 Indels genome-wide. A total of 2228224 identified variants were classified into four classes including 0.01% sequence alteration, 5.94% insertion, 6.37% deletion and 87.66% SNV respectively. These variations can be a major source of phenotypic diversity and sequence variation within the species. During the present study these variants were also utilized to resolve orthologous relationships among the genomes of C. melo and C. sativus var. hardwickii. Overall, the discovery of SNPs and genomic variants may help predict the plant response to certain environmental factors and can be utilized to improve crop plants' economically important traits.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the major cause of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Since 1998, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) has been used for identifying the genotypes of strains of S. pneumoniae and helped reveal a diversity of local and regional epidemiological patterns for IPD, resulting in an archived MLST dataset of over 74,000 isolates. However, the global patterns of MLST sequence type (ST) and allele type (AT) distributions remain largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of AT and ST distributions of S. pneumoniae. We extracted S. pneumoniae MLST data from PubMLST.org and conducted various population genetic and phylogenetic analyses. Our analyses demonstrated both shared and unique distributions of STs and ATs among continental and national/regional populations. Among the 17915 STs in the dataset, 36 STs representing 15263 isolates were broadly shared among all six continents, consistent with recent gene flow and clonal dispersal of this pathogen. The analysis of molecular variance revealed that &gt;96% genetic variations were found within individual continental and national/regional populations. However, though low (&lt;4%), statistically significant genetic differentiation among continental and national populations were observed. Comparisons between non-clone-corrected and clone-corrected datasets showed that localized clonal expansion contributed significantly to the observed genetic differentiations among continents and countries/regions. Temporal analyses of the isolates showed that implementation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine impacted the distributions of STs. Linkage disequilibrium analyses identified evidence for non-random recombination in all continental populations of this species. We discussed the implications of our analyses to the global epidemiology and future vaccine developments for S. pneumoniae.

The effect of biotic (e.g., growth characteristics) and a-biotic (e.g., crown closure) factors on cone production, fertility variation and gene diversity was evaluated in two consecutive years in 130 year old natural populations of Taurus cedar also called cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani A. Rich.). The a-biotic factors viz., altitude, temperature, aspect and rainfall varied; while some of them can be managed by cultural operations like management of crown and stand density. Impact of crown closure on cone production, fertility variation and related parameters were observed in Taurus cedar’s natural populations sampled from southern Turkey. Maximum cone production of 29 and 40/tree was recorded with full crown closure in two consecutive years by large differences among individuals within crown closure class. For instance, cone productions were between 10 and 67 in full crown closure of first year. The sibling coefficient, which is a measure of the fertility variation in a stand, was the highest (1.16) for full crown closure in the first (meaning 86% fertile trees) and the second year (1.55, 65%), while it was the lowest for medium crown closure (1.09, 92%) in both years. Gene diversity decreased from a degraded patch (0.987) to that with full crown closure (0.984). Results of variance analysis showed significant (p≤0.05) difference between crown closure classes for cone production within second year, and between years. Significant positive (p0.05) correlations were noted between years for cone production (r=0.22), and between cone production and crown closure in first and second years (r=0.29). However, growth characteristics had no effective on cone productions in individual crown closure classes, while there were significant (p0.05) correlations between diameter at breast height and cone production for both years (r= 0.15 and 0.17) in pooled populations.

Climate change has had a significant impact on many ecosystems worldwide, prompting native population species to adapt to the current weather patterns eventually. Pre-existing genetic variation in populations explains part of this adaptation. Still, recent studies have shown that new stable phenotypes can be generated through epigenetic modifications in just a few generations, thereby contributing to the stability and survival of plants in their natural habitat as they eventually adjust to the surrounding impacts. The state of chromatin inside plant cells varies, allowing cells to fine-tune their transcriptional profiles to better adapt to stimuli from the external environment. Within a cell, chromatin state changes such as post-transcriptional histone modifications and variations, DNA methylation, and non-coding RNA activity are all examples of chromatin state alterations that may epigenetically dictate certain transcriptional outputs. Recent advances in the field of ‘Omics’ in major crops has made it easier to identify epigenetic changes and their impact on plant responses to environmental stresses. These epigenetic mechanisms thus play an important role in improving crop adaptation and resilience to changing environments. This variation that has emerged can thus be exploited in crop breeding, ultimately leading to the generation of stable climate-resilient genotypes.

Aim: The aim of the paper is to assess the usefulness of sectoral means in financial analyses of enterprises. Research methods: The article uses an inductive-deductive approach to assess the suitability of sectoral means used in analyses of financial standings of enterprises. The method of analysis and logical construction was used for literature review. The methods of descriptive statistics such as, arithmetic means, standard deviation and coefficient of variation were used in order to analyze the data and draw conclusions based on the results. Contribution: The assessment of the usefulness of sectoral means in the context of their variability seems to be a crucial aspect for the analysis of a company’s financial situation. When assessing the financial standing of an enterprise, it is necessary to use a comparative analysis method, based on, inter alia, a comparison in space. This type of comparison requires the use of sectoral means, whose assessment is extremely important to drawing reliable and correct conclusions of the financial situation of a company.

Introduction Pharmacovigilance may detect safety issues after marketing of medications, and this can result in regulatory action such as direct healthcare professional communications (DHPC). DHPC can be effective in changing prescribing behaviour, however the extent to which prescribers vary in their response to DHPC is unknown. This study aims to explore changes in prescribing and prescribing variation among GP practices following a DHPC on the safety of mirabegron, a medication to treat overactive bladder (OAB). Methods This is an interrupted time series study of English GP practices from 2014-2017. NHS Digital provided monthly statistics on aggregate practice-level prescribing and practice characteristics (practice staff and registered patient profiles, Quality & Outcomes Framework indicators, and deprivation of the practice area). The primary outcome was monthly mirabegron items as a percentage of all OAB drug items. The exposure was a DHPC issued by the European Medicines Agency in September 2015. Variation between practices in mirabegron prescribing before and after the DHPC was assessed using the systematic component of variation (SCV). Multilevel segmented regression with random effects quantified the change in level and trend of prescribing after the DHPC. Practice characteristics were assessed for their association with a reduction in prescribing following the DHPC. Results This study included 7,408 practices. During September 2015, 88.9% of practices prescribed mirabegron and mirabegron composed a mean of 8.2% (SD 6.8) of OAB items. Variation between practices was classified as very high and the median SCV did not change significantly (p=0.11) in the 6 months after the September 2015 DHPC (12.4) compared to before (11.6). Before the DHPC, there was a monthly trend of 0.294 (95%CI, 0.287, 0.301) percentage points increase in mirabegron percentage. There was no significant change in the month immediately after the DHPC (-0.023, 95% CI -0.105 to 0.058) however there was a significant reduction in trend (-0.036, 95% CI -0.049 to -0.023). Higher numbers of registered patients and patients aged ≥65 years, and practice area deprivation were associated with having a significant decrease in level and slope of mirabegron prescribing post-DHPC. Conclusion Variation in mirabegron prescribing was high over the study period and did not change substantively following the DHPC. There was no immediate prescribing change post-DHPC, although the monthly growth did slow. Knowledge of the degree of variation in and determinants of response to safety communications may allow those that do not change prescribing to be provided with additional supports.

Colostrum is a natural product, issued by both mammals and humans in first week of lactation. Among different species, donkey colostrum is considered as having, besides a valuable composition in nutrients and immune factors, an outstanding similitude with human colostrum. In this context, and taking into account the scarcity of available data concerning the interaction between climate factors and colostrum quality, a trial was conducted aiming to identify the possible influence of environmental factors on donkey colostrum nutritional traits. A stock of 16 jennies from 2 farms located in the County of Cluj, during a 7 days postpartum period was analyzed. During experimental period the daily temperature, humidity, and wind velocity data were collected. Strong positive correlations may be reported between fat and lactose, and fat and protein respectively, while moderate to strong correlation is emphasized between lactose and protein content of donkey colostrum. Testing the influence of environmental temperature, relative humidity, and wind velocity influence upon nutritional content of donkey colostrum, results the neglectable influence of the wind velocity, the negative influence of the heat stress upon all studied colostrum components, and complex influence of relative humidity, which has positive influence on fat and lactose increase when it increases, while its increase has negative influence on protein content of donkey colostrum.

In order to investigate the size distributions and seasonal variations of carbonaceous aerosols (OC and EC), the carbonaceous species were collected and then analyzed by using a 9-stage Anderson-type aerosol sampler and DRI Model 2001A Thermal/Optical Carbon Analyzer on the typical industrial city Nanjing in Yangtze River Delta, China in the summer, autumn and winter of 2013 and spring of 2014. OC, EC, SOC and POC exhibited obvious seasonal variations, with the highest level in winter (39.1±14.0, 5.7±2.1, 23.6±11.7 and 14.1±5.7 μg•m^-3) and the lowest level in summer (20.6±6.7, 3.3±2.0, 12.2±3.8 and 8.4±4.1 μg•m^-3), and were mainly centralized in PM_1.1 in four seasons. The concentrations of OC in PM_1.1 varied in the order of winter > autumn > spring > summer, while EC ranked in the order of autumn > winter > summer > spring. In the PM_1.1-2.1 and PM_2.1-10, the concentrations of OC and EC decreased in the sequence of winter > spring > autumn > summer. The size spectra of OC, EC and SOC had bimodal distributions in four seasons, except for EC with four peaks in summer. The size spectra of POC varied greatly with seasons, exhibiting bimodal distribution in winter, trimodal distribution in spring and summer, and four peaks in autumn. The OC/EC ratios were 7.0, 6.3, 7.6 and 6.9 in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively, which demonstrated the abundance of secondary organic aerosols in Nanjing. The sources of carbonaceous aerosol varied significantly with seasons, and were dominated by vehicle exhaust, coal and biomass burning in PM_2.1, and dominant by dust, coal and biomass burning in PM_2.1-10.

The variability of ozone over Egypt has been studied in this work. Higher values of coefficient of variation (COV) at eight stations occur at winter while lowest values occur at summer. The COV is function of latitude in annual, winter and spring where it decreases gradually from the north to south of Egypt. The trend analysis of ozone over the eight stations indicates negative trends over northern stations for both annual and seasonal time series with the greatest one at winter. The horizontal distribution of ozone trend values is negative over all Egypt in winter while it positive over middle and south Egypt in the other seasons. The long-term variability of the behavior of the annual ozone shows positive trend values in ozone are the dominant features during the period 1979- 1989 at the most stations. Negative trend values in ozone are the dominant features during the period 1990- 2014 at all stations. The Mann–Kendall test confirms that there is an abrupt change towards decreasing of ozone occurs in 1981, 1984, 2012, 1999, 2000, 1998 and 2010, while a change towards increasing of ozone appears in 2006, 2014, 1993 and 1989.

The main objective of this work is to investigate the temporal variation of PM10 concentrations within the urban area of Athens during the years 2001-2015. For this purpose, the time series of the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10μm (PM10) is recorded for a 15-year period (2001-2015) in two different monitoring stations located in the urban area of Athens. The results show a totally different behavior of PM10 concentrations between the Athens city center and the suburban areas. It seems that in the city center the main sources of PM10 are traffic and heating systems especially during the cold period of the year. Furthermore, in the city center a significant seasonal variation was found with high concentrations during the cold period of the year and lower concentrations during the warm period of the year. Moreover, it was found that during the weekends, there is a decrease in PM10 concentrations probably due to the fact that majority of people do not use their vehicles. Finally, for both locations a significant temporal decreasing trend of the mean annual PM10 concentrations was found which indicates that during the last years, there have been improvements towards a better air quality.

Electricity demand forecasting has been a real challenge for power system scheduling in the different levels of the energy sectors. Various computational intelligence techniques and methodologies have been employed in the electricity market for load forecasting; although, scant evidence is available about the feasibility of each of these methods considering the type of data and other potential factors. This work introduces several scientific, technical rationale behind intelligent forecasting methods, based on the work of previous researchers in the field of energy. The fundamental benefits and main drawbacks of the aforementioned methods are discussed in order to depict the efficiency of each approach in various situations. In the end, a proposed hybrid strategy is represented.

Self-selecting the intensity of aerobic training is a perspective that allows practitioners to develop autonomy (choice of pace), improve physical fitness and achieve weight loss. To compare the effect of four aerobic training protocols on cardiometabolic and psycho-affective responses in physically inactive adult men and women. The sample consisted of 11 individuals aged 56 ± 10 years and BMI 29.2 ± 2.4 kg/m2 performed four different treadmill aerobic training protocols, including: 1-individual with self-selected intensity (ISS), 2-individual with prescribed intensity (IPI) (64-76% of HR max), 3-small group with self-select. selected intensity (SGS) and 4-small group prescribed intensity (SGP) (64-76% of HR max). Heart rate (HR), lactate (LACT), perceived exertion (RPE), affective response (FS), activation scale (FAS), enjoyment (PACES) and intention to repeat the session (INT) were analyzed. Statistical analysis used ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test (p&lt;0.05). HR, LACT and RPE analyzes did not show significant differences between protocols. The FS showed a smaller decline in the SI protocol (p&lt;0.05), and the intention to repeat the training session was greater in the SI protocol (p&lt;0.05). Conclusion: The data allow us to conclude that the SI training protocol produced superior results in affective response, pleasure and intention to repeat the session.

. Various elements such as evolutions in IoT services resulting from sensoring by vehicle parts and advances in small communication technology devices have significantly impacted the mass spread of mobility services that are provided to users in need of limited resources. In particular, business models are progressing away from one-off cost towards longer term cost as represented by shared services utilizing kick-boards or bicycles and subscription services for vehicle software. Advances in shared mobility services as described are calling for solutions that can enhance reliability of data aggregate by users leveraging mobility services in the next-generation mobility areas. However, mining process to renew status, ensures continued network communication and block creation demands high performance in public block chain. This thesis proposes random certificate node selection mechanism in block network that creates blocks via node that has tokens issued for block creation and lets only specific nodes selected by encrypting token information acquires token.

Significant attribute selection in machine learning is one of the key aspects aimed at simplifying the problem and reducing its dimensionality, and consequently speeding up computation. This paper proposes new algorithms for selecting not only relevant features but also for evaluating and selecting a subset of relevant objects in a dataset. Both algorithms are mainly based on the use of a fuzzy approach. The research presented here yielded preliminary results of a new approach to the problem of selecting relevant attributes and objects, and, in fact, to selecting appropriate ranges of their values. Detailed results obtained on the Sonar dataset show the positive effects of this approach. Moreover, the observed results may suggest the effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of identifying a subset of truly relevant attributes from among those identified by traditional feature selection methods.

In Taiwan, peanuts are classified by hand. The kernel quality is judged based on the appearance of peanuts. The identification takes considerable time and labor. Fatigue can induce misrecogni-tion or grade cognition instability due. Peanut defects are generally divided into health, underde-velopment, insect bite, and rupture. This study employed two imaging methods push-boom FX10 and Snapshot. Deep learning was used to detect peanut defects. A push-broom instrument was used for testing. There were 1,560 peanuts, including 240 good and 240 bad ones. There were a total of 1,080 good peanuts and bad peanuts in the test set data, the band selection was used, and a CNN model was built. Based on the results from three methods, 3DCNN could classify with 97%accuracy. The Snapshot was used to achieve the real-time design of a lightweight CNN model. Finally, five bands were selected using PCA, and the screening could be accurate and efficient. The maximum overall accuracy was about 98.5%. Kappa was 97.3% with real-time recognition. This will be a major advantage in the future practical application and commercialization processes. This technique can reduce labor costs, achieve intelligent detection and intelligent grading, and bring breakthroughs to smart agriculture for other crops as well.

Malaria remains an important cause of death, especially in sub-Saharan Africa with about 228 million malaria cases worldwide and an estimated 405,000 deaths in 2019. Currently, malaria is diagnosed in the health facility using a microscope (BS) or rapid malaria diagnostic test (MRDT) and with area where these tools are inadequate the presumptive treatment is performed. Apart from that self-diagnosis and treatment is also practiced in some of the households. With the high-rate self-medication on malaria drugs, this study aimed at computing the most significant features using feature selection methods for best prediction of malaria in Tanzania that can be used in developing a machine learning model for malaria diagnosis. A malaria symptoms and clinical diagnosis dataset were extracted from patients’ files from four (4) identified health facilities in the regions of Kilimanjaro and Morogoro. These regions were selected to represent the high endemic areas (Morogoro) and low endemic areas (Kilimanjaro) in the country. The dataset contained 2556 instances and 36 variables. The random forest classifier a tree based was used to select the most important features for malaria prediction. Regional based features were obtained to facilitate accurate prediction. The feature ranking as indicated that fever is universally the most influential feature for predicting malaria followed by general body malaise, vomiting and headache. However, these features are ranked differently across the regional datasets. Subsequently, six predictive models, using important features selected by feature selection method, were used to evaluate the features performance. The features identified complies with malaria diagnosis and treatment guideline provided with WHO and Tanzania Mainland. The compliance is observed so as to produce a prediction model that will fit in the current health care provision system in Tanzania.

Supplier selection is an important part of supply chain management (SCM) for any organisation to achieve their objectives. The problem has attracted great interest from academics and practitioners. The selection process starts with determining the most important criteria out of a wide range. Many academic researchers apply multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques for supplier selection. However, the complexity of such approaches may increase significantly, especially when considering a large number of suppliers and selection criteria. This paper proposes an integrated approach combining machine learning classification with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to select and evaluate the most suitable supplier. A Decision Tree (DT) classifier is used to select the most important criteria, instead of applying AHP on the complete set of criteria. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated using data from Libyan companies. Results show that decision trees can successfully lead to a most important subset of selection criteria, which would lead to a less complex application of AHP.

A previous study involving whole genome sequencing of the white shark suggested unique molecular evolution accounting for gigantism and the enhanced longevity of sharks including positive selection of dozens of protein-coding genes potentially involved in genome stability. We performed a reanalysis on some of the genes and identified serious flaws in their results. In this short article, we scrutinize one of the serious problems we identified, report other concerns, and point out a potential bias in analyzing iconic shark species in general.

The genetic variants identified by three large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of educational attainment were used to test a polygenic selection model. Average frequencies of alleles with positive effect (polygenic scores or PS) were compared across populations (N=26) using data from 1000 Genomes. The PS of 161 GWAS significant SNPs in a recent meta-analysis was highly correlated to population IQ (r=0.863) and to the polygenic score of four alleles independently associated with general cognitive ability. High correlations with PISA scores for a subsample were observed.SNP p value predicted correlation to population IQ and factors from the two previous GWAS (r= -.25). Factor analysis produced similar estimates of selection pressure for educational attainment across the three datasets. Polygenic and factor scores computed using the top 20 significant SNPs showed very high correlation to population IQ (r=0.88; 0.9). Similar findings were obtained using 52 populations from another database (ALFRED). The results together constitute a replication of preliminary findings and provide strong evidence for recent diversifying polygenic selection on educational attainment and underlying cognitive ability.

Resistance against amitraz in varroa mite populations has become a subject of interest in recent years due to increasing reports of reduced field efficacy of amitraz treatments, especially from some beekeepers in France and the United States. The loss of amitraz as a reliable tool to effectively reduce varroa mite infestation in the field could severely worsen the position of beekeepers in the fight to keep varroa infestation rates in their colonies at low levels. In this publication, we present data from French apiaries, collected in the years 2020 and 2021. These data include field efficacy of an authorized amitraz-based varroa treatment (Apivar®) and results of laboratory sensitivity assays of varroa mites exposed towards the reference LC90 concentration of amitraz. In addition, a total of 240 varroa mites from Eastern, Central, and Southern regions in France that were previously classified as either “sensitive” or “resistant” towards amitraz in a laboratory sensitivity assay were genotyped. The genetic analyses of mite samples are focused on the β−adrenergic-like octopamine receptor, which is considered as the main target site for amitraz in varroa mites. Special attention was given to a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at position 260 of the ORβ-2R-L gene that had previously been described by Hernández Rodríguez et al. (2021) as associated to the resistance to amitraz in French varroa mites. Our findings confirm that amitraz resistance occurs in patches or “islands of resistance” with a less severe reduction in treatment efficacy compared to pyrethroid resistance or coumaphos resistance in varroa mites. The results of our genetic analyses of varroa mites call into question the hypothesis of the SNP at position 260 of the ORβ-2R-L gene being directly responsible for amitraz resistance development.

The emergence of the H3N2 influenza virus in 1968 marked a significant event as it crossed the species barrier. Since then, ongoing mutational dynamics have led to the formation of antigenic clusters, prompting the World Health Organization to advocate for regular updates to H3N2 vaccines. Research in the Western Pacific region underscores the necessity for heightened awareness and effective control strategies. Stemming from avian influenza A, the 1968 H3N2 influenza pandemic resulted in the deaths of one million people globally, with its seasonal variants primarily affecting older individuals and causing severe illness due to antigenic drift. To address the challenge of vaccine efficacy against H3N2 mutations, researchers are exploring innovative strategies such as precise antigenic material administration, controlled release patterns, understanding immune system mechanisms, and glycan engineering. This review comprehensively examines various aspects of the Influenza A (H3N2) virus, encompassing its virological characteristics, evolutionary trends, global epidemiology, vaccination strategies, antiviral interventions, and emerging diagnostic approaches. It underscores the impact of antigenic variation on vaccine design and effectiveness, seasonal outbreak patterns, pandemic potential, and the interplay between viral factors and host immune responses. Moreover, the review evaluates antiviral therapies and the issue of drug resistance, emphasising the necessity for multidisciplinary approaches involving researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to comprehend H3N2 and enhance public health interventions.

Xinjiang, as a climate-sensitive region in northwest China, holds significant importance in studying extreme weather events for agricultural production and socioeconomic development. Based on data from 52 meteorological stations and 23 extreme climate indicators in Xinjiang from 1960 to 2021, the 5a moving average, linear trend estimation, climate tendency rate, and GIS spatial analysis methods are used to analyze the distribution and change characteristics of extreme climate. The results revealed that from 1960 to 2021, TXx, TNx, TXn, TNn, FD, ID, TN10p, TX10p, and WSDI showed a significant upward trend, while SU, TR, TN90p, TX90p, and CSDI showed a significant downward trend. What is more, the range of changes in the extreme temperature indexes from 1990 to 2021 is higher than that of 1960 to 1989. The high-value areas of extreme indexes are primarily concentrated in the northern part, while the high-value areas of cold event indexes are mainly distributed in the southern part. The upward/downward trends all accounting for over 80.00% of the entire region. The Rx1day, Rx5day, PRCPTOT, R95p, R99p, R10, R20, and R25 showed a significant growth trend from 1960 to 2021, and the range of change in the extreme precipitation indexes from 1990 to 2021 was lower than that from 1960 to 1989. Moreover, their high-value areas and high climate tendency areas are mainly concentrated in the northern and western parts of Xinjiang, with upward trends all accounting for over 71.00% of the entire region. The research results provide theoretical foundations for formulating climate risk strategies in the northwest region of China.

The diversity of leaf characteristics, including leaf color, is a prominent subject of study in plant science. Leaf color is predominantly determined by the synthesis and functionality of chlorophyll, a key component of photosynthesis. The regulation of chlorophyll synthesis and degradation involves complex gene interactions, and disruptions in these processes can lead to abnormal chlorophyll synthesis and impact leaf color. This study focuses on Bambusa multiplex f. silverstripe, a natural variant with various leaf colors, including green, white, and green-white leaves. The variations in leaf color are attributed to genetic factors and their influence on gene expression. By employing RNA-seq, we investigate the molecular mechanisms behind chlorophyll anomalies and genetic factors in Silverstripe. Our findings shed light on the complexity of gene interactions and regulatory networks that underlie leaf color diversity and provide valuable insights for future research and plant breeding.

Mouse wild-derived strains (WDS) combine the advantages of classical laboratory stocks and wild animals, and thus appear as promising tools for diverse biomedical and evolutionary studies. We employed 18 WDS representing three non-synanthropic species (Mus spretus, M. spicilegus, and M. macedonicus) and three house mouse subspecies (M. musculus musculus, M. m. domesticus, M. m. castaneus) which are all important human commensals to explore whether the number of major urinary protein (MUP) genes and their final protein levels in the urine are correlated with the level of commensalism. Contrary to expectations, MUP copy number (CN) and protein excretion in the strains derived from M. m. castaneus, which is supposed to be the strongest commensal, were not significantly different from the non-commensal species. Regardless of an overall tendency for higher MUP amounts in taxa with higher CN, there is no significant correlation at the strain level. Our study thus suggests that the expansion of the Mup cluster, which appeared before the house mouse diversification, is unlikely to facilitate commensalism with humans in the three house mouse subspecies. Finally, we found considerable variation among con(sub)specific WDS, warning against generalisations of results based on a few strains.

The fractal dimension of geomagnetic variations at the Baigazan magnetic station at Russian Altay for 2011-2013 was calculated using the Higuchi method. The daily variation of Higuchi Fractal Dimension (HFD) for the D,H,Z-components of the geomagnetic field has been investigated, its contribution to the variability of HFD is from 30 to 40 percent of the total variance. A correlation analysis of the fractal dimension of the variations of the D,H,Z-components with Auroral Electrojet (AE) index and solar wind characteristics was carried out. A negative correlations with logarithms of AE-index, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength and solar wind velocity were found. About 25 percent of the fractal dimension variance is controlled by the variability of these characteristics. Pair and partial correlation coefficients for these parameters were calculated for every month of 2011-2013.

This work investigated the effects of manufacturing variations including coil resistance, initial pod mass, and e-liquid color on coil lifetime and aerosol generation of Vuse ALTO pods. Random samples of pods were used until failure (where e-liquid was consumed, and coil resistance increased to high value indicating a coil break). Initial coil resistance, initial pod mass, and e-liquid net mass ranged between 0.89 to 1.14 [], 6.48 to 6.61 [g], and 1.88 to 2.00 [g] respectively. Coil lifetime with light color e-liquid was (mean) = 149, (standard deviation) = 10.7 puffs while pods with dark color e-liquid was = 185, = 22.7 puffs with a difference of ~36 puffs (p &lt;0.001). Total mass of e-liquid consumed until coil failure was = 1.93, = 0.035 [g]. TPM yield per puff of all test pods for the first session (brand new pods) was = 0.0123, = 0.0003 [g]. During usage, TPM yield per puff of pods with light color e-liquid was relatively steady while it was continuously decreasing for pods with dark e-liquid. Coil lifetime and TPM yield per puff were not correlated with either variation in initial coil resistance or variation in initial pod mass. The absence of e-liquid in the pod is an important factor in causing coil failure. Small bits of the degraded coil could be potentially introduced to the aerosol. There is a potential correlation of e-liquid color with both coil lifetime and TPM yield per puff. Change of e-liquid color might have been a result of oxidation which changed some nicotine into nicotyrine.

The research aims to discover the natural occurrence of patulin (PAT) in selected citrus fruits from the central cities of Punjab and Pakistan's Northern cities. Total 2970 samples of twelve citrus fruits; kinnow, orange, grapefruits, bitter orange, mausami, red blood, pineapple, sweet orange, rough lime, sweet lime, kagzi lime and lemon were examined using liquid chromatography fitted with UV detector. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification limit was 0.04 and 0.12 µg/kg, respectively. The results have shown that 56% of samples of citrus fruits from Punjab's central cities, Pakistan, were discovered to be infected from PAT. The elevated amounts of PAT ranging from 0.04 to 1150 µg/kg were found in citrus fruit samples from Multan cities. Furthermore, 31.7% of samples of citrus fruits from Northern cities of Pakistan were discovered to be infected with PAT, and the elevated amounts were found ranging from 0.04-320 µg/kg from Swat city. About 22.1% of samples of citrus fruits have levels of PAT greater than the suggested limits established by the European Union (EU). PAT's dietary intake levels ranged from 0.10-1.11 µg/kg bw/day from the central cities of Punjab, Pakistan, and 0.13-1.93 µg/kg bw/day were documented from Northern cities of Pakistan.

The research aims to discover the natural occurrence of patulin (PAT) in selected citrus fruits from the central cities of Punjab and Pakistan's Northern cities. Total 2970 samples of twelve citrus fruits; kinnow, orange, grapefruits, bitter orange, mausami, red blood, pineapple, sweet orange, rough lime, sweet lime, kagzi lime and lemon were examined using liquid chromatography fitted with UV detector. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification limit was 0.04 and 0.12 µg/kg, respectively. The results have shown that 56% of samples of citrus fruits from Punjab's central cities, Pakistan, were discovered to be infected from PAT. The elevated amounts of PAT ranging from 0.04 to 1150 µg/kg were found in citrus fruit samples from Multan cities. Furthermore, 31.7% of samples of citrus fruits from Northern cities of Pakistan were discovered to be infected with PAT, and the elevated amounts were found ranging from 0.04-320 µg/kg from Swat city. About 22.1% of samples of citrus fruits have levels of PAT greater than the suggested limits established by the European Union (EU). PAT's dietary intake levels ranged from 0.10-1.11 µg/kg bw/day from the central cities of Punjab, Pakistan, and 0.13-1.93 µg/kg bw/day were documented from Northern cities of Pakistan

Soil temperature reflects the impact of local factors，such as vegetation，soil and the atmosphere of a region. Therefore, it is important to understand the regional variation of soil temperature. However, lack of observations with adequate spatial and/or temporal coverage, it would be difficult to use the observation data to study the regional variation. Based on the observation data from Nanchang and Ganzhou stations and ERA-Interim/Land reanalysis data, this study analyzed the temporal-spatial distribution characteristics of soil temperature over Poyang Lake Basin. The results showed close correlations between observation data and reanalysis data at different depths. Reanalysis data could mainly reproduce the temporal-spatial distributions of soil temperature over the Poyang Lake Basin, but generally underestimate their magnitudes. Temporally, there is an obvious warming trend in the basin. Seasonally, the temperature raised fastest in spring and slowest in summer, except for the ST4, which rising fastest in spring and slowest in winter. In terms of depths, the temperature of ST1 rises fastest. For the other layers, the warming trend is almost similar. An abrupt change of annual soil temperature at all depths occurred in 1997, and annual soil temperatures at all depths were abnormally low in 1984. Spatially, annual soil temperature decreased with latitude, except for the summer ST1. Because of the high temperature and precipitation in summer, the ST1 are higher around the lake and the river. The climatic trend of soil temperature presents the general increase trend from south to north, opposite to the distribution of soil temperature. The findings provide a basis for understanding and assessing the variation of the soil temperature over the Poyang Lake Basin.

The present study uses the 3 years of data from a vertically pointed profile Radar (VPPR) at the mountain site (Huancayo at 3.2 km msl; HYO) in Peru to investigate the precipitation characteristics/patterns including diurnal variation, bright band (BB) characteristics and vertical structure of rain (VSR). VPPR provides continuous 1­min profiles of radar reflectivity (Ze), rain rate (RR), liquid water content (LWC) and Doppler velocity. At the same time, field campaign data are used to investigate the role of the surface and atmospheric variables in generating the rainfall and organization of the cloud systems over HYO. The precipitation shows the bimodal distribution; frequent and higher RR during afternoon and nighttime. The BB height also shows a diurnal pattern and BB height is higher during the afternoon and nighttime compared; and follows the diurnal heating of the Andes. More than 70% BB height lies between ~4.3­4.7 km and only 20% BB has altitude higher than 5 km. The austral summer monsoon (December to March months) have higher intense vertical profiles (higher Z e ) compared to pre monsoon seasons (September to November) and shows the nega­tive gradient for most of the altitude. The RR and LWC show the opposite characteristics, and both have a positive gradient below the 6 km altitude and then negative gradient above 6 km altitude. The raindrop size distribution (DSD) parameters show most of the variation below the freezing level, and a higher concentra­tion of large sized of hydrometeors are observed for higher RR, however the dominant modes of Dm are less than 1 mm. The changes in the VSR in DSD parameters are significant for the RR>20 mm/h, whereas for RR<2 mm/h the vertical structure in DSD parameters do not have much differences during monsoon and premonsoon seasons. Satellite and reanalysis data reveal the short periods of convective activity with higher ac­ cumulated rainfall over HYO compared to stratiform precipitation, which is more common in the nighttime and sustain for many hours. Wet spells (higher rainy days) have low pressure circulation, which favours the transport of moisture from the Amazon to the central Sierra of Peru, while the anticyclonic circulation at high levels favours the divergence at higher pressure levels and, enhances the convective in the region. During the dry spells, low level weaker circulation at the west of Brazil, restricts the transport of moisture to the central Sierra, while the circulation at high levels does not favor rain processes. The improved understanding of the tropical Andes precipitation would be very important for assessing climate variability and changes as well as to forecast precipitation using the numerical models.

Abstract: Research Highlights: This study is among the first to investigate ozone levels in urban forests in China. It establishes that urban forest air quality in Yuanshan Forest Park, Shenzhen, is suitable for recreational activities and identifies spatial, seasonal, and diurnal O3 patterns and relationships with micrometeorological parameters, suggesting the possibility of manipulating relevant forest characteristics to reduce O3 levels. Background and Objectives: An understanding of O3 levels of urban forest environments is needed to assess potential effects on human health and recreational activities. Such studies in China are scarce. This study investigated urban forest O3 levels to improve understanding and support residents engaging in forest recreational activities. Materials and Methods: We monitored O3 levels in 2015–2016 for three urban forests representing common habitats (foothill, valley, and ridge) in Yuanshan Forest Park, Shenzhen, and for an adjacent square. Results: The overall mean daily and daily maximum 8-h mean (MDA8) O3 concentrations were highest for the ridge forest and lowest for the valley forest. Each forest’s O3 concentrations were highest in summer. Diurnally, forest O3 concentrations peaked between 13:00 and 17:00 and reached a minimum between 03:00 and 09:00. The correlation between forest O3 concentrations and air temperature (AT) was strongly positive in summer and autumn but negative in spring. In each season, O3 concentration was negatively correlated with relative humidity (RH). No MDA8 or hourly O3 concentrations in the forests exceeded National Ambient Air Quality Standard Grade I thresholds (100 and 160 μg m−3, respectively). Conclusions: O3 accumulation is present in ridge urban forest in all seasons. Foothill and valley urban forests have better air quality than ridge forestation. Urban forest air quality is better in spring and autumn than in summer and is better from night-time to early morning than from noon to afternoon.

Molenaar’s manifesto on psychology as idiographic science brought the N = 1 times series perspective firmly to the attention of developmental scientists. The rich intraindividual variation in complex developmental processes requires the study of these processes at the level of the individual. Yet, the idiographic approach is all but easy in practical research. One major limitation is the collection of short interval times series of high quality data on developmental processes. In this paper we present a novel measurement approach to this problem. We developed an online practice and monitoring system which is now used by thousands of Dutch primary school children on a daily or weekly basis, providing a new window on cognitive development. We will introduce the origin of this new instrument, called Math Garden, explain its setup, and present and discuss ways to analyze children’s individual developmental pathways.

Fire detection from satellite sensors relies on an accurate estimation of the unperturbed state of a target pixel, from which an anomaly can be isolated. Methods for estimating the radiation budget of a pixel without fire depend upon training data derived from the location's recent history of brightness temperature variation over the diurnal cycle, which can be vulnerable to cloud contamination and the effects of weather. This study proposes a new method that utilises the common solar budget found at a given latitude in conjunction with an area's local solar time to aggregate a broad-area training dataset, which can be used to model the expected diurnal temperature cycle of a location. This training data is then used in a temperature fitting process with the measured brightness temperatures in a pixel, and compared to pixel-derived training data and contextual methods of background temperature determination. Results of this study show similar accuracy between clear-sky medium wave infrared upwelling radiation and the diurnal temperature cycle estimation compared to previous methods, with demonstrable improvements in processing time and training data availability. This method can be used in conjunction with brightness temperature thresholds to provide a baseline for upwelling radiation, from which positive thermal anomalies such as fire can be isolated.

Synechococcus sp. PCC 11901 reportedly demonstrates the highest, sustained growth of any known cyanobacterium under optimized conditions. Due to its recent discovery our knowledge of its biology, including the factors underlying sustained, fast growth, is limited. Furthermore, tools specific for genetic manipulation of PCC 11901 are not established. Here, we demonstrate that PCC 11901 shows faster growth than other model cyanobacteria, including the fast-growing species Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973, under optimal growth conditions for UTEX 2973. Comparative genomics between PCC 11901 and Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 reveal conservation of most metabolic pathways but PCC 11901 has a simplified electron transport chain and reduced light-harvesting complex. This may underlie its superior light utilization, reduced photoinhibition and higher photosynthetic and respiratory rates. To aid biotechnology applications we developed a vitamin B12 auxotrophic mutant but were unable to generate unmarked knockouts using two negative selectable markers, suggesting that recombinase- or CRISPR-based approaches may be required for repeated genetic manipulation. Overall, this study establishes PCC 11901 as one of the most promising species currently available for cyanobacterial biotechnology and provides a useful set of bioinformatics tools and strains for advancing this field, in addition to insights into the factors underlying its fast growth phenotype.

Natural selection is commonly seen not just as an explanation for adaptive evolution, but as the inevitable consequence of “heritable variation in fitness among individuals”. Although it remains embedded in biological concepts, such a formalisation makes it tempting to explore whether this precondition may be met not only in life as we know it, but also in other physical systems. This would imply that these systems are subject to natural selection and may perhaps be investigated in a biological framework, where properties are typically examined in light of their putative functions. Here we relate the major questions that were debated during a three-day workshop[1] devoted to discussing whether natural selection may take place in non-living physical systems. We start this report with a brief overview of research fields dealing with “life-like” or “proto-biotic” systems, where mimicking evolution by natural selection in test tubes stands as a major objective. We contend the challenge may be as much conceptual as technical. Taking the problem from a physical angle, we then discuss the framework of dissipative structures. Although life is viewed in this context as a particular case within a larger ensemble of physical phenomena, this approach does not provide general principles from which natural selection could be derived. Turning back to evolutionary biology, we ask to what extent the most general formulations of the necessary conditions or signatures of natural selection may be applicable beyond biology. In our view, such a cross-disciplinary jump is in large part impeded by reliance on individuality as a central yet implicit and loosely defined concept. Overall, these discussions thus lead us to conjecture that understanding, in physico-chemical terms, how individuality emerges and how it can be recognised, will be essential in the search for instances of evolution by natural selection outside of living systems. [1] Natural Selection Beyond Life? Observing the physico-chemical world through Darwinian glasses; 12-15 November 2019 - Institut d'Etudes Scientifiques, Cargèse, France

Molecular analysis of growing teratoma syndrome has not been extensively studied. Here, we report a 14-year-old boy with a growing mass during treatment for a mixed germ cell tumor of the pineal region. Tumor markers were negative; thus, growing teratoma syndrome was suspected. A radical resection via the occipital transtentorial approach was performed, and histopathological examination revealed a teratoma with malignant features. Methylation classifier analysis confirmed the diagnosis of teratoma, and DMRT1 loss and 12p gain were identified by copy number variation analysis, potentially elucidating the cause of growth and malignant transformation of the teratoma. The patient remains in remission after intense chemoradiation treatment as a high-risk germ cell tumor.

Open bidding is widely used in Sinopec's material procurement due to its advantages of openness, transparency, and cost savings. However, there have been many complaints about collusive bidding in recent years. Collusive bidding will pose significant challenges to fair competition and increase project costs for material procurement. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an analysis model to identify and prevent the collusive bidding. In this paper, we propose a statistical model for identifying collusive bidding using the coefficient of variation cv, the ratio of high to low average quotation rP and the deviation rate of quotation δ as indicators, based on the statistics of the historical quotations for material A. Through a case study of the framework agreement bidding for material B, we identified the collusion behavior of bidders effectively, thereby verifying the applicability of this statistical model.

Knowledge of water availability in terms of spatial (i.e., depth) and temporal variability of soil water is essential to describe soil water infiltration and storage processes accurately. Therefore, performing simulations of soil water dynamics can be a valuable tool to evaluate different land uses and their impact on water availability. Consequently, this study aimed to model the volumetric soil water content (θ, cm3 cm-3) under agroforestry systems (AFS) with cocoa. For this purpose, the θ was monitored at different depths (0-20, 20-40, 40-60, 60-80, 80-100 cm) in the soil profile of four plots (20 × 50 m) of cocoa under agroforestry systems. Environmental conditions significantly influenced the water balance of the cocoa crop. There were seven moments when evapotranspiration (ET0) was higher than 5 mm d-1. During those moments, the environment exhibited higher PAR values of 1041 µmol m-2 s-1, very low atmospheric relative humidity (RHa) levels (around 45%), higher ambient temperatures of 32.2 ºC and a vapor pressure deficit of 1.6 kPa whose θ levels reached 0.32 cm3 cm-3 and a water balance of -5.7 mm, which presented negative values during most of the study period. The θ obtained from the HYDRUS-1D model presented a slight bias as a high level of coherence between the observed values, based on the model's goodness-of-fit estimators. The above provides accurate simulations of soil water content at various depths, much-needed information for management schemes for cocoa cultivation under agroforestry systems.

As major natural disasters in grassland areas, fires and dust events seriously threaten human safety, property, and animal husbandry. Furthermore, these phenomena may be mutually reinforcing, which can lead to more severe cascading disasters. However, few studies have been on the mechanisms of grassland fire and dust events disaster chain. Therefore, we selected Dornod aimag (province), a typical temperate grassland, as the study area and analyzed the spatiotemporal variation patterns of grassland fires and dust weather, as well as the effect of grassland fires on dust weather based on MCD64A1 Burnt Area data and SYNOP dust data. The mechanism of grassland fires on dust weather was further investigated using the MOD13A3 vegetation index product and ERA5 wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation data. The results revealed that grassland fires and dust weather varied spatially across the study area. Furthermore, grassland fires occurred mainly in spring (April to May), summer (June), and autumn (October), while dust weather mainly occurred in spring (March to May). Moreover, autumn, winter, and spring cumulative grassland fires (both days and area) substantially affected the spring total dust weather days and dust storm days, particularly the spring cumulative dust storm days. Additionally, higher precipitation in the summer of 2014 resulted in higher vegetation coverage and more fuel in the autumn and winter of 2014, and even in the spring of 2015. As a result, the cumulative grassland fire days was higher, and the area was larger from September 2014 to April 2015, leading to a considerable increase in the cumulative dust storm days in May 2015. This study has important implications for disaster prevention and mitigation, ecological and environmental protection, and sustainable development in grasslands.

Trypanosomes are the extracellular protozoan parasites that cause human African trypanosomiasis disease in humans and nagana disease in animals. The disease is endemic in African countries where tsetse flies which act as a vector for the transmission of disease are present. The animals infected by these parasites become useless or workless and disease can become fatal if not treated. Old drugs used for treatment have many side effects and some are responsible for death in 5% of the patients. The parasite possesses a major surface protein known as variant surface glycoprotein. The immune system of the host develops antibodies against this antigen but due to antigenic variation, parasites evade the immune response. Currently, no vaccine is available that provides complete protection. Only partial protection using certain antigens in murine models was investigated. The tools of molecular biology and immunology have enabled a novel approach to the development of vaccines against trypanosomes. Immunization is the sole method for the control of disease because the eradication of the vector from endemic areas is an impossible task. Genetic vaccines can carry multiple genes encoding different antigens of the same parasite or different parasites. DNA immunization induces the activation of both cellular immune response and humoral immune response along with the generation of memory. This review highlights the importance of DNA vaccines and advances in the development of DNA vaccines against T. brucei.

For the purpose of clean energy hydropower development, the construction of reservoirs has been continuously promoted in the Jinsha River basin for many years, and how the reservoirs affect the water and sediment process is a very necessary topic to study. This study is based on the gauged water and sediment data (span from the 1960’s to 2020) at Shigu, Panzhihua, and Xiangjiaba stations downstream located in the trunk channel of the river, and uses Mann-Kendall trend test method and double cumulative curve method to comprehensively judge the variation trends of runoff and suspended sediment load and reveal their credible mutation years. The linear regression method is used to reveal the variation characteristics of the relationship between water and sediment before and after the abrupt change years. The results show that the variations in runoff at Shigu and Panzhihua stations have significant and relatively obvious increasing trends, respectively, and that at Panzhihua station has a mutation year of 1985. The runoff at Xiangjiaba Station slightly increased but not significantly. The variation of suspended sediment load showed a temporal and spatial differentiation. The variation of sediment discharge at Shigu Station showed an increasing trend with a mutation year of 1997. For Panzhihua Station, it showed an increasing trend before 1998, but has significantly decreased since 1998. The fluctuation of sediment transport at Xiangjiaba Station was significant before 1998, but the trend is unclear. In the period of 1998−2020, it showed a significant decreasing trend, especially since 2013, when the mean annual suspended sediment load only accounted for 0.61% of its multi-year average. The variations of mean annual sediment concentration and sediment inflow coefficient at the hydrological stations is consistent with the variation trend of sediment transport. Before 2013, the correlation between water and sediment was strong, but thereafter it was extremely weak. The two sudden years of 1998 and 2013 are consistent with the year when large reservoirs were built in the river basin. The construction of large reservoirs and their large amount of sediment retention are the key reasons for the sudden changes in the water-sediment relationship and the sharp decrease in sediment transport in the downstream reach of the reservoir dam. The climate and underlying surface changes in the study area are not significant, and their impact on the water and sediment processes in the watershed is limited.

Comparison with conventional reservoirs, the prediction of pressure in ultra-deep tight sandstone formations is difficult. The prediction of seismic pressure is more challenging than well logging pressure prediction. The main methods for seismic pressure prediction include equivalent depth method, Eaton method, Fillippone formula, and its modified versions. Among them, the Eaton method is widely used and has good effectiveness. However, this method relies on difficult-to-obtain normal compaction trend line, which leads to low prediction accuracy in space. To address this issue, a method combining the Eaton method and Collocated cokriging is proposed. The Eaton formula is used to predict formation pressure at the well, with compressional wave velocity as the covariate for predicting the main variable, formation pressure. By simulating the shear wave velocity based on seismic compressional wave velocity, the influence of various parameters on the prediction results is analyzed, and the accuracy of this method is verified by comparing it with other methods. The proposed method is then applied to predict formation pressure in the ultra-deep formations of the Junggar Basin. The simulation results show that the Collocated cokriging method achieves higher planar accuracy and better matches the experimental expectations in terms of prediction results. The application results also demonstrate the scientific effectiveness of the combined method, which has achieved good results in practical production applications.

Global warming has been increasing heat stress threat in animals which can be monitored by Temperature Humidity Index (THI). The present study describes the relationship of THI, calculated using 35 years period weather station data, and production performances of dairy cattle in a se-lected area of Bangladesh. The month January and June were identified as the coolest and hottest, respectively. Based on this outcome, every year in the month of January and June production performances of 10 crossbred cows with homogenous characteristics were monitored for a period of 5 years. The average THIMEAN value was found 17% higher in June as compared to January, and with this increment of THIMEAN average milk production was decreased 24.4% (p<0.05). The milk fat and protein content were also reduced (p<0.05) by 14.5 and 15.2%, respectively suggesting negative correlation as like as milk production. However, ash content was increased 15.3% that indicates a positive correlation. In addition, multiple regression analysis revealed each point increase in THIMEAN and rectal temperature, there was a decrease in milk yield 0.04 and 1.17 kg ECM, respectively. In contrary, each point increase in THIMEAN resulted 0.059 C increase of rectal temperature. Taken together, THIMEAN value calculated using metrological station data has distinct relationship with the production performances of lactating crossbred dairy cows.

Syntactic foam has proven to be a good material with a strong structural strength. Understanding filler particle size variation is important in composite material formation especially in syntactic foam because of their numerous applications such as aerospace, marine and structural purposes. In this present work, the effects of particle variation in different sizes (20-24µm, 25-44µm, 45-49µm, and 50-60µm) on the mechanical properties of the syntactic foam composites with focus on flexural strength, modulus, and fracture surfaces were investigated. The particle sizes were varied into five volume fractions (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25vol%). The results shows that highest flexural strength is 89MPa at 5 vol% fraction of 50-60µm particles size variation which is 69% increase than the neat epoxy. This implies that the incorporation of HGM filler volume fraction and size variation has a strong effect on the flexural strength and bending modulus of syntactic foam. The microstructure of the fracture surfaces and the viscoelastic properties was determined and reported accordingly.

B chromosomes (Bs) or supernumerary chromosomes are extra chromosomes in the species karyotype that can vary in their copy number. Bs are widespread. Usually, the Bs of specimens collected from natural populations are involved in studies. We applied another approach analyzing the Bs in animals of laboratory cultures. In this study, three species of the Macrostomum genus that underwent a recent whole-genome duplication (WGD) were involved. In laboratory lines of M. lignano and M. janickei, the frequency of Bs was less than 1%, while in the laboratory culture of M. mirumnovem, it was nearer 30%. Their number in specimens of the culture varied from 1 to 14. Mosaicism on Bs was discovered in parts of these animals. We analyzed the distribution of Bs among the worms of the laboratory cultures during long-term cultivation, the transmission rates of Bs in the progeny obtained from crosses of worms with different numbers of Bs, and from self-fertilized isolated worms. The DNA content of the Bs in M. mirumnovem was analyzed with the chromosomal in situ suppression (CISS) hybridization of microdissected DNA probes derived from A chromosomes (As). Bs mainly consisted of repetitive DNA. The cytogenetic analysis also revealed the divergence and high variation in large metacentric chromosomes (LMs) containing numerous regions enriched for repeats. The possible mechanisms of the appearance and evolution of Bs and LMs in species of the Macrostomum genus were also discussed.

In this paper we address one of the most important topics in the field of Social Networks Analysis: the community detection problem with additional information. That additional information is modeled by a fuzzy measure that represents the possibility of polarization. Particularly, we are interested in dealing with the problem of taking into account the Polarization of nodes in the community detection problem. Adding this type of information to the community detection problem makes it more realistic, as a community is more probably to be defined if the corresponding elements are willing to maintain a peaceful dialogue. The polarization capacity is modeled by a fuzzy measure based on the JDJpol measure of polarization related to two poles. We also present an efficient algorithm for finding groups whose elements are no polarized. Hereafter, we work in a real case. It is a network obtained from Twitter, concerning the political position against the Spanish government taken by several influential users. We analyze how the partitions obtained change when some additional information related to how polarized that society is, is added to the problem.

3D surface scans were carried out to determine the shapes of the upper sections of (skeletal) crania of adult Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra) from Great Britain. Landmark points were placed on these shapes by using a graphical user interface (GUI) and distance measurements (i.e., the length, height, and width of the crania) could be found by using the landmark points. These “GUI-based” distances were shown to be accurate and reliable in comparison to physical measurements taken on the crania directly by using a digital calliper. The crania of males were 6.85mm, 5.44mm, 1.66mm larger in terms of length, width and height, respectively, than females in our sample (P < 0.001), i.e., male otters had significantly larger skulls than females. Significant differences in size occurred also by geographical area in Great Britain (P < 0.05). Multilevel Principal Components Analysis (mPCA) indicated that sex and geographical area explained 31.1% and 9.6% of shape variation in “unscaled” shape data and that they explained 17.2% and 9.7% of variation in “scaled” data. The first mode of variation at level 1 (sex) correctly reflected size changes between males and females for “unscaled” shape data. Modes at level 2 (geographical area) also showed possible changes in size and shape. Clustering by sex and geographical area was observed in standardised component scores. Such clustering in cranial shape by geographical area might reflect genetic differences that are known to occur in otter populations in Great Britain, although other potentially confounding factors (e.g. population age-structure, diet, etc.) might also drive regional differences. Furthermore, sample sizes per group were small for geographical comparisons. However, this work provides a successful first test of the effectiveness of 3D surface scans and multivariate methods such as mPCA to study the cranial morphology of otters.

Artemia franciscana, native to America, has recently colonized non-indigenous populations in Eurasia, Mediterranean regions and Australia. In present we sought to evaluate the potential effects of colonization of A. franciscana on genetic differentiation in the new environments in UAE. We used the COI marker to determine population genetic structure and identify the origins of exotic populations in UAE. Our findings have confirmed the colonization of both localities by A. franciscana. Genetic variation of invasive A. franciscana were exclusively lower than native population in Great Salt Lake and San Francisco Bay. Results have showed the studied population could not possibly have colonized directly from natural American localities, perhaps resulting from secondary introduction events from other non-indigenous populations. Genetic analysis have yielded different demographic patterns for invasive studied populations. Al Wathba Wetland Reserve (AWWR) population have represented demographic expansion. In contrast, Godolphin Lakes (GL) population was at demographic equilibrium. Neutrality tests have documented the excess of both recent and historical mutations in the COI gene pool of invasive AWWR Artemia throughout establishment in the new environment.

Estimating heat emission losses of heating systems is an important task of energy efficiency assessments in buildings. To this aim, the present international standards contain tabulated values for different emitter and control system configurations, without however explaining how to compute the effect of increased setpoint temperatures on the system losses. Moreover, the effects of each component are treated as independent, while e.g. vertical stratification and temperature control of the system are cross-related. In this paper we attempt to fill this gap by proposing a calculation method to calculate the product category specific setpoint variations for space heating emitters, accounting for the overall heat balance in the enclosure and including the cross-correlations of each component as well. The emission losses of a heating system are computed using a temperature setpoint variation method that is imposed on annual energy calculations. This complements the procedure presented in the Standard EN15316-2, also providing the possibility to use product-specific values of setpoint variations instead of tabulated values. As the main finding of the study, the calculation process is defined for a European Reference Room, namely for a specific enclosure that allows an accurate and transparent evaluation of the total setpoint variation. The product-specific values of setpoint variations are calculated from measured vertical stratification and control parameters with an annual simulation model of the European Reference Room. The total setpoint variations were simulated for a set of heat emitters and controllers in order to quantify and compare the energy performance of a new and an old type building located in Strasbourg. We find that the total setpoint variation required to overcome emission losses is up to 2.00 °C in the old building and 1.20 °C in the new building, corresponding respectively to an increase in total heating energy usage of up to 22% and 20%.

In this paper we provide amongst others some simple error bounds in approximating the weighted Riemann-Stieltjes integral $\int_{a}^{b}f\left(t\right) g\left(t\right) dv\left(t\right) $ by the use of three points formula \begin{equation*} f\left(b\right) \int_{c}^{b}g\left(s\right) dv\left(s\right) +f\left(a\right) \int_{a}^{d}g\left( s\right) dv\left( s\right) -f\left(x\right) \int_{c}^{d}g\left(t\right) dv\left(t\right) \end{equation*} where $x,$ $c,$ $d\in \left[a,b\right],$ $g,$ $v:\left[a,b\right] \rightarrow \mathbb{C}$ under bounded variation and Lipschitzian assumptions for the function $f$ and such that the involved Riemann-Stieltjes integrals exist.

Several long-term monitoring of aerosol datasets from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board Terra/Aqua, Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) are used to derive the dust aerosol optical depth (DOD) in Central Asia based on the Angstrom exponent parameter and/or the particle shape. All sensors agree very well on the interannual variability of DOD. The seasonal analysis of DOD and dust occurrences identified the largest dust loading and the most frequent dust occurrence in the spring and summer, respectively. No significant trend is found during the research period in terms of both DOD and the dust occurrence. Further analysis of Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) aerosol products on a case-by-case basis in most dust months of 2007 suggested that the vertical structure is varying in terms of the extension and the dust loading from one event to another, although dust particles of most episodes have similar physical characteristics (the particle shape and size). Our analysis on the vertical structure of dust plumes, the layer-integrated color ratio and depolarization ratio indicates a varied climate effect (e.g., the direct radiative impact) by mineral dust, dependent on the event being observed in Central Asia.

The goal of our study was to identify signatures of selection in the Turopolje pigs and other commercial pig breeds. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of five datasets, including one local pig breed (Turopolje) and four commercial pig breeds (Large White, Landrace, Pietrain, and Duroc), using strict quality control measures. Our final dataset consisted of 485 individuals and 54,075 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). To detect selection signatures within these pig breeds, we utilized the XP-EHH and XP-nSL methodologies, which allowed us to identify candidate genes that have been subject to positive selection. Our analysis consistently highlighted the PTBP2 and DPYD genes as commonly targeted by selection across all studied breeds. Both of these genes are associated with muscular development in pigs and other species. Furthermore, in the Large White breed a number of genes were detected by the two methods, such as ATP1A1, CASQ2, CD2, IGSF3, MAB21L3, NHLH2, SLC22A15, VANGL1. In Duroc breed a different set of genes was detected, such as ARSB, BHMT, BHMT2, DMGDH, JMY. The function of these genes was related to body weight, production efficiency and meat quality, average daily gain and other similar traits. Overall, our results have identified a number of genomic regionsthat are under selective pressure between local and commercial pig breeds. This information can help to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying pig breeding, and ultimately contribute to the development of more efficient and sustainable pig production practices. Our study highlights the power of using multiple genomic methodologies to detect genetic signatures of selection, and provides important insights into the genetic diversity of pig breeds.

Solar concentration is the ability to harness solar radiation to increase the temperature of a receiver. The receiver is the component into which a heat transfer fluid can be flowed for an ORC system and produce electricity, or it can be used for high-temperature thermal storage, or even to implement thermochemical cycles. The choice of material is critical to ensure optimal performance and long-lasting operation. It is also essential that such material can operate at high temperatures and high thermal gradients. In short, material identification involves high thermal stresses that result in structural deformation. Different metal alloys were used to verify that the yield strength limit was not exceeded due to thermal stress induced by concentrated solar radiation. The problem was implemented in Matlab starting from the general heat equation. The purpose is to test whether thermal stress exceeds the yield strength, which is the condition in which elastic bonds in the material are changed, causing deformation. The best material identified was Inconel 740H, which had a high yield strength value and the lowest temperature difference. Under extreme working conditions, it can withstand thermally induced shocks.

Strawberry is produced in tropical regions using imported cultivars adapted to temperate and subtropical climates. These cultivars, under tropical conditions, produce below their genetic potential. Through multivariate analyses, the objective was to evaluate and select short-day strawberry genotypes based on intraspecific crosses, product characteristics, and fruit quality. The genotypes were obtained from the cross between 'Camino Real' (female parent) and the first-generation genotypes RVCA16, RVCS44, RVFS06, RVFS07, and RVDA11 (male parent), obtained in previous selections. The experimental design consisted of augmented blocks with standard controls, consisting of first-generation genotypes and commercial cultivars. The fruits were harvested and evaluated for productivity and post-harvest characteristics: Total Fruit Mass (MTF); Total Number of Fruits (TFN); Average Fruit Mass (AFM); Commercial Fruit Mass (CFM); Fruit Commercial Number (CFN); Average Commercial Mass of Fruits (ACFM); Total Soluble Solids (TSS); Firmness (F); Brightness (L); Hue Angle (°Hue); Chroma (C). The selection index of Mulamba and Mock (1978) was used with an intensity of 3% to obtain superior genotypes and submitted to multivariate analysis for comparative purposes. Of the 1500 genotypes evaluated, it was possible to select 44 genotypes with characteristics superior to the 13 controls. The RVDA11CR59 genotype showed better values for the attributes of interest, but the RVCS44CR population, from the cross between 'Camino Real' × RVCS44 ('Camarosa' × 'Sweet Charlie'), obtained the highest number (16) of individuals among those selected. Significant traits had high heritability but were not necessarily reflected in high selection gain. Coefficients of genetic variation were high, indicating sufficient genetic variability to select genotypes for these traits. When multivariate analyses were used, it was possible to group the selected genotypes into the same cluster according to the similarity and balance in the responses to the evaluated variables, demonstrating that these analyses help other parameters choose superior genotypes. The multivariate analysis allowed the selection of more balanced genotypes for production and post-harvest traits for tropical climates.

Online speech enhancement is of great interest, because of its diverse areas of application. The Demucs architecture has been recently shown to achieve a high level of performance, even with small audio segments, while requiring a relatively small amount of computational resources. However, an issue that it bears, as well as most of state-of-the-art speech enhancement techniques, is that of target speech selection: it is assumed that only one speech source is present. However, in real-life scenarios, more than one speech source may be present, in it is uncertain which speech source within the fed mixture should be enhanced. Thus, it is of interest to complement speech enhancement techniques (such as Demucs-based) with a target selection scheme, so as to ensure that only the source of interest is enhanced. In this work, two target selection strategies are explored: 1) an embedding-based strategy, using a codified sample of the target speech, and 2) a location-based strategy, using a beamforming-based pre-filter to select the target that is in front of a 2-microphone array. It is shown that while both strategies improve the performance of the Demucs-based technique when one or more speech interferences are present, they both have their pros and cons. Specifically, while the beamforming-based strategy achieves overall a better performance compared to the embedding-based strategy, it is sensitive against the location variation of the target speech source which the embedding-based strategy does not suffer from.

By applying a running average (with a window-size= d), we could transform Discrete data to broad-range, Continuous values. When we have more than 2 columns and one of them is containing data about the tags of classification (Class Column), we could compare and sort the features (Non-class Columns) based on the R2 coefficient of the regression for running averages. The parameters tuning could help us to select the best features (the non-class columns which have the best correlation with the Class Column). “Window size” and “Ordering” could be tuned to achieve the goal. this optimization problem is hard and we need an Algorithm (or Heuristics) for simplifying this tuning. We demonstrate a novel heuristics, Called Simulated Distillation (SimulaD), which could help us to gain a somehow good results with this optimization problem.

MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) expression promotes inflammatory responses in macrophages. Activation of macrophages with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) elevates miR-155, while the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL10) reduces miR-155 levels. MiR-155 exists in two forms, miR-155-5p and miR-155-3p, produced from the precursor of miR-155 (pre-miR-155). MiR-155-5p is the most abundant strand in activated macrophages, but in response to LPS, the miR-155-3p level is upregulated first, followed by miR-155-5p later. We have previously identified CELF2 protein which interacts with pre-miR-155 and impairs miR-155-5p expression. We now show that CELF2 only regulates the miR-155-5p expression and that another protein FUBP1 controls miR-155-3p levels in response to LPS and IL10.

Biologists seek to identify a small number of significant features that are important, non-redundant, and relevant from diverse omics data. For example, statistical methods like LIMMA and DEseq distinguish differentially expressed genes between a case and control group from the transcript profile. Researchers also apply various column subset selection algorithms on genomics datasets for a similar purpose. Unfortunately, genes selected by such statistical or machine learning methods are often highly co-regulated, making their performance inconsistent. Here, we introduce a novel feature selection algorithm that selects highly disease-related and non-redundant features from a diverse set of omics datasets. We successfully applied this algorithm to three different biological problems: a) disease to normal sample classification, b) multiclass classification of different disease samples, and c) disease subtypes detection. Considering classification ROC-AUC, False-positive, and False-negative rates, our algorithm outperformed other gene selection and differential expression (DE) methods for all six types of cancer datasets from TCGA considered here for binary and multiclass classification problems. Moreover, genes picked by our algorithm improved the disease subtyping accuracy for four different cancer types over the state-of-the-art methods. Hence, we posit that our proposed feature reduction method can support the community to solve various problems, including the selection of disease-specific biomarkers, precision medicine design, and disease sub-type detection.

Tests of selection based on population differentiation were performed on two highly polygenic traits important for success and quality of life: body height and educational attainment (EA). Polygenic scores (PGS) of EA and height, computed across three public genomic databases revealed differences between populations (1000 Genomes, HGDP, gnomAD) that matched the average IQ and height of ethnic groups (r ~0.9). A moderately strong correlation between latitude and EA PGS (r= 0.67) implies the effect of climate (seasonality or winter temperature) on selection for cognitive ability. The effect of latitude was reduced (β= 0.28) but remained significant after adding the sub-continental group variable to the regression model.The global Fst index revealed population differentiation at height and EA loci, significantly deviating from random SNPs. Substantial Linkage Equilibrium (LD) Decay between YRI and CEU was found (r= 0.6) but there was no correlation between LD decay and population differences in polygenic scores for EA (r= 0.015, p= 0.45), and slight inflation of height PGS difference due to LD decay (r= -0.04, p= 0.0315). Selecting the SNPs most robust to LD decay (r>0.8) resulted in larger PGS gaps for EA, but smaller for height. Finally, it is shown that PGS differences are more sensitive to the significance of GWAS loci than Fst, reflecting the major limitations of Fst as an index of selection.

In recent years, research has focused on generating mechanisms to assess the levels of subjects' cognitive workload when performing various activities that demand high concentration levels, such as driving a vehicle. These mechanisms have implemented several tools to analyze cognitive workload where the electroencephalographic (EEG) signals are the most used due to its high precision. However, one of the main challenges in the EEG signals implementing is finding the appropriate information to identify cognitive states. Here we show a new feature selection model for pattern recognition using information from EEG signals based on machine learning techniques called GALoRIS. GALoRIS combines Genetic Algorithms and Logistic Regression to create a new fitness function that identifies and selects the critical EEG features that contribute to recognizing high and low cognitive workload and structures a new dataset capable of optimizing the model's predictive process. We found that GALoRIS identifies data related to high and low cognitive workload of subjects while driving a vehicle using information extracted from multiple EEG signals, reducing the original dataset by more than 50%, maximizing the model's predictive capacity-achieving a precision rate greater than 90%.

A new form of coronavirus called severe acute respiratory disease coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is currently causing a pandemic. A six-month evolutionary history of SARS-CoV-2 is witnessed by characterising the total genome of 821 samples using comparative phylogenomic approaches. Our analyses produced striking inclusive results that may guide scientists/professionals for the past/future of pandemic. Phylogenetic and time estimation analyses suggest the proximate origin of pandemic strain as Guangdong and the origin time as first half of September 2019, not Wuhan and December 2019, respectively. The viral genome experienced a substitution rate similar to other RNA viruses, but it is particularly high in some of the peptides encoding sequences such as leader protein, E gene, orf8, orf10, nsp10, N gene, S gene and M gene and nsp4, while low in nsp11, orf7a, 3C-like proteinase, nsp9, nsp8 and endoRNase. Most strikingly, the divergence rate of amino acid sequences is high proportional to nucleotide divergence. Additionally, specific non-synonymous mutations in nsp3 and nsp6 evolved under positive selection. The exponential growth rate (r), doubling time (Td) and R₀ were estimated to be 47.43 per year, 5.39 days and 2.72, respectively. Comparison of synapomorphies distinguishing the SARS-CoV-2 and the candidate ancestor bat coronavirus indicates that mutation pattern in nsp3 and S gene enabled the new strain to invade human and become a pandemic strain. We arrive at the following main conclusions: (i) six months evolution of viral genome is nearly neutral, (ii) origin of pandemic is not Wuhan and predates formal reports, (iii) although viral population is ongoing an exponential growth, the doubling time is evolving towards shortening, and (iv) divergence rate of total genome is similar to other RNA viruses, but it is prominently high in some genes while low in some others and evolution in these genes should be closely monitored as their protein products intervening to pathogenicity, virulence and immune response.

Feature selection is one of the main data preprocessing steps in machine learning. Its goal is to reduce the number of features by removing extra and noisy features. Feature selection methods must consider the accuracy of classification algorithms while performing feature reduction on a dataset. Meta-heuristic algorithms are the most successful and promising methods for solving this issue. The symbiotic organisms search algorithm is one of the successful meta-heuristic algorithms which is inspired by the interaction of organisms in the nature called Parasitism Commensalism Mutualism. In this paper, three engulfing binary methods based on the symbiotic organisms search algorithm are presented for solving the feature selection problem. In the first and second methods, several S-shaped and V-shaped transfer functions are used for binarizing the symbiotic organisms search algorithm, respectively. These methods are called BSOSS and BSOSV. In the third method, two new operators called BMP and BCP are presented for binarizing the symbiotic organisms search algorithm. This method is called EBSOS. The third approach presents an advanced binary version of the coexistence search algorithm with two new operators, BMP and BCP, to solve the feature selection problem, named EBSOS. The proposed methods are run on 18 standard UCI datasets and compared to base and important meta-heuristic algorithms. The test results show that the EBSOS method has the best performance among the three proposed approaches for binarization of the coexistence search algorithm. Finally, the proposed EBSOS approach was compared to other meta-heuristic methods including the genetic algorithm, binary bat algorithm, binary particle swarm algorithm, binary flower pollination algorithm, binary grey wolf algorithm, binary dragonfly algorithm, and binary chaotic crow search algorithm. The results of different experiments showed that the proposed EBSOS approach has better performance compared to other methods in terms of feature count and accuracy criteria. Furthermore, the proposed EBSOS approach was practically evaluated on spam email detection in particular. The results of this experiment also verified the performance of the proposed EBSOS approach. In addition, the proposed EBSOS approach is particularly combined with the classifiers including SVM, KNN, NB and MLP to evaluate this method performance in the detection of spam emails. The obtained results showed that the proposed EBSOS approach has significantly improved the accuracy and speed of all the classifiers in spam email detection.

The practice of spatial econometrics revolves around a weighting matrix, which is often supplied by the user on previous knowledge. This is the so called $\mathbf{W}$ issue. Probably, the aprioristic approach is not the best solution although, nowadays, there few alternatives for the user. Our contribution focuses on the problem of selecting a $\mathbf{W}$ matrix from among a finite set of matrices, all of them considerer appropriate for the case. We develop a new and simple method based on the Entropy corresponding to the distribution of probability estimated for the data. Other alternatives, which are common in current applied work, are also reviewed. The paper includes a large Monte Carlo to calibrate the effectiveness of our approach compared to the others. A well-known case study is also included.

Background: The genetic variants identified by three large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of educational attainment and the largest intelligence GWAS were used to test a polygenic selection model. Methods: Average frequencies of alleles with positive effect (polygenic scores or PS) were compared across populations (N=26) using data from 1000 Genomes. Factor analysis was used to extract a signal of polygenic selection. Results: A polygenic selection factor of educational attainment GWAS hits is high among a handful of SNPs within genomic regions replicated across GWAS publications and it is highly correlated to the genetic intelligence factor (r= 0.96). These factors are both highly predictive of average population IQ (r=0.9), and are robust to tests of spatial autocorrelation. Several Monte Carlo simulations yielded highly significant p values. Furthermore, the polygenic selection model shows high replicability, with the EA and intelligence factor scores being virtually identical to those from an older study (r=0.96-0.99). A larger sample of populations (N=53) produced similar results. Conclusion: This study shows robust results after accounting for spatial autocorrelation and Monte Carlo simulation using random SNPs and shows robust reproducibility of results from a previous study.

Day-ahead forecasting of electricity prices is important in deregulated electricity markets for all the stakeholders: energy wholesalers, traders, retailers, and consumers. Electricity price forecasting is an inherently difficult problem due to its special characteristic of dynamicity and non-stationarity. In this paper, we present a robust price forecasting mechanism that shows resilience towards aggregate demand response effect and provides highly accurate forecasted electricity prices to the stakeholders in a dynamic environment. We employ an ensemble prediction model in which a group of different algorithms participate in predicting the price for each hour of a day. We propose two different strategies, namely, Fixed Weight Method (FWM) and Varying Weight Method (VWM), for selecting each hour's expert algorithm from the set of participating algorithms. In addition, we utilize a carefully engineered set of features selected from a pool of features derived from information such as past electricity price data, weather data, and calendar data. The proposed ensemble model offers better results than both the Pattern Sequence-based Forecasting (PSF) method and our own previous work using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) alone do on the datasets for New York, Australian, and Spanish electricity markets.

Public goods are produced at all levels of the biological hierarchy, from the secretion of diffusible molecules by cells to social interactions in humans. However, the cooperation needed to produce public goods is vulnerable to exploitation by free-riders — the Tragedy of the Commons. The dominant solutions to this problem of collective action are that some form of positive assortment (due to kinship or spatial structure) or enforcement (reward and punishment) is necessary for public-goods cooperation to evolve and be maintained. However, these solutions are only needed when individual contributions to the public good accrue linearly, and the assumption of linearity is never true in biology. We explain how cooperation for nonlinear public goods is maintained endogenously and does not require positive-assortment or enforcement mechanisms, and we review the considerable empirical evidence for the existence and maintenance of nonlinear public goods in microbiology, cancer biology, and behavioral ecology. We argue that it is time to move beyond discussions about assortment and enforcement in the study of cooperation in biology.