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Dynamic heart rate computation from facial images obtained from video sequences has random artifacts and noises. A novel method is formulated by assuming that two video durations will contain the heart rate signals that are strongly correlated to each other while the random artifacts and noises are not correlated to each other. Canonical Component Analysis (CCA) is used to recover the heart-rate signals by determining the maximum correlation of the two video durations. The identified heart signal is then passed to a bandpass filter (0.8 - 4Hz) followed by Fast Fourier Transform to obtain the heart rate. Two experiments related to increasing and decreasing heart rate variations are carried out to determine the effectiveness of the proposed method. Eight subjects participated in each experiment, where their facial images were captured for a minute while they were cycling. Their heart rates varied from 83 to 153 beats per minute (BPM). The results of the proposed method are compared to a method using independent component analysis (ICA). The root mean square errors (RMSE) for the proposed method and ICA based-method that used 5-second video duration for the first and second experiments are 3.70 BPM and 2.33 BPM and 14.36 BPM and 9.72 BPM, respectively.

The continued and increasing development of antimicrobial resistant bacteria among the foodborne pathogens had caused worldwide to be alarmed. Being the earliest to develop antimicrobial resistance, Staphylococcus aureus is constantly monitored for any new resistance development. The resistance development is often linked to wastewater and the treatment plants where the pressure of antibiotic is the highest. Hence, this study investigated on the prevalence of high antimicrobial resistant S. aureus in the wastewater eluted from a poultry slaughterhouse. A total of thirty wastewater samples were collected from a poultry slaughterhouse in Semenyih, Selangor. Most probable number (MPN)-plating method was employed to enumerate the S. aureus count in the wastewater. The results indicated that S. aureus was highly present whereby all samples (100%) were positive and the concentration ranged between 11 – 2.1 x 104 MPN/ml. Isolated S. aureus strains were screened for their antimicrobial susceptibility using the Kirby-Bauer Disk Diffusion Test method to classify their antimicrobial resistance eleven antibiotics. The MAR index measured was between 0.18 and 0.91, inferring that the strains are highly antimicrobial resistance. All S. aureus strains were 100% resistant to ampicillin (25 μg) and cefazolin (30 μg). 94.1% of the strains were resistant to penicillin (10 μg) which phenotypically indicated these strains are Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Notably, 17.6% of the strains developed resistance to vancomycin and was categorized as Vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA). There is a need to take drastic preventive measures to control the resistance development in S. aureus to conserve public health.

This article resulted from an American Education Research Association (AERA) conference presentation that consisted of a dialogue between three scholar-siblings of color who use methodological pathways that intentionally center relationality, mutuality, and care in educational research. The authors do this work understanding that familial ways of knowing and being are resources that contribute to the survival and thriving of BIPOC communities in the face of white supremacist structures. The authors' conversation discusses how they disrupt the white western gaze by relying on the critical mass of Black, Indigenous, and other scholars of color who refuse exploitive methods and, instead, charted new methodological pathways that (re)center cultural, familial, and tribal ways of knowing. Given the authors' positionalities, the communities and families that collectively raised them, and the extended scholarly family who have nurtured and supported them in their efforts to push against extractive research practices, the authors attend to the ways knowledge is shaped at the intersections of race and gender. This dialogue contends that there are sophisticated knowledges, ways of knowing, and ways of being rooted in the experience of marginalized families caring for one another and fighting for each other's rights.

Evolutionary variation in the wing pigmentation of butterflies and moths offers striking examples of adaptation by crypsis and mimicry. The cortex locus has been independently mapped as the locus controlling color polymorphisms in 15 lepidopteran species, suggesting that it acts as a genomic hotspot for the diversification of wing patterns, but functional validation through protein-coding knockouts has proven difficult to obtain. Our study unveils the role of a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) which we name ivory, transcribed from the cortex locus, in modulating color patterning in butterflies. Strikingly, ivory expression prefigures most melanic patterns during pupal development, suggesting an early developmental role in specifying scale identity. To test this, we generated CRISPR mosaic knock-outs in five nymphalid butterfly species and show that ivory mutagenesis yields transformations of dark pigmented scales into white or light-colored scales. Genotyping of Vanessa cardui germline mutants associates these phenotypes to small on-target deletions at the conserved first exon of ivory. In contrast, cortex germline mutant butterflies with confirmed null alleles lack any wing phenotype and exclude a color patterning role for this adjacent gene. Overall, these results show that a lncRNA gene acts as a master switch of color pattern specification and played key roles in the adaptive diversification of wing patterns in butterflies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the electron transport mechanism in graphene is heavily impacted by the strain and the ferromagnetic metal stripe as well as several other avenues, in this paper we investigate the effects of the strained barrier induced by the strain and the magnetic field generated by the ferromagnetic metal stripe on the valley polarization through numerical calculation. When the strength and the width of the strained barrier as well as the magnitude of the magnetic field are changed, the rapid variation of the valley polarization is observed. This study will be helpful for devising and manufacturing new-style valleytronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NiFe-based nanomaterials have emerged as highly promising catalysts to replace platinum, ruthenium and iridium for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), in “green hydrogen” production process through water splitting. Using iron (2+) sulfate and nickel acetate as the raw materials, with the molar ratio of Ni acetate to iron (2+) sulfate controlled at 8:5, the concentration of metal-ion was 0.6 mol/L, and precursor fibers rich in Ni2+, Fe2+, and SO4 2− were prepared using electrospinning technology, with polyvinyl alcohol acting as the colloid. Subsequently, composite nanorods rich in the elements of Ni, Fe, S, and C were successfully obtained at a heat treatment temperature of 1000°C in an Ar gas atmosphere. The results demonstrate that the nanorod samples possessed a surface diameter of ~200 nm, and the main phases of the nanorods after heat treatment at 1000°C included FeNi3 alloy, (Fe,Ni)9S8, Ni4S3, and amorphous C. Electrochemical performance tests conducted in a 1.0 mol/L KOH solution exhibited excellent oxygen evolution reaction properties of the catalysts prepared using FeNi3/(Fe,Ni)9S8/Ni4S3/C nanorods as the materials. The overpotential was about 258.6 mV of the catalyst material at 10 mA.cm0−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In August, 2015, Serena Williams, one of the most successful female athletes of all time, was body shamed in a New York Times article. The incident highlights the issue of unequal treatment of male and female athletes – while a muscular frame enhances masculinity for male athletes, a muscular physique invites body shaming for female athletes. In this study, symbolic interactionist theories regarding the generalized other are called into question. While George Mead’s theorizing exhibits a nonproblematic role taking of the generalized other in a cooperative manner, this study reports the presence of paradoxical generalized others, and consequently, the incongruent role taking of a latent generalized other by individuals. This study investigates if the issue of body image exists among college female athletes, if college female athletes experience the dilemma of choosing between outstanding performance with a muscular frame or maintaining traditional female appearance. To provide answers to the question, female athletes in a midwest university were invited to fill out a survey. The survey results confirm the existence of a paradox between performance and appearance among some college female athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter provides the historical and intellectual context of studying inequality and domination using the symbolic interactionist perspective. Lonnie Athens’ radical interactionism was identified as a useful framework to research the omnipresent and insidious inequality found in everyday life. Chapters presented in this volume represent a follow up of Volume 41 of Studies in Symbolic Interaction, edited by Athens, where he laid the ground work for the research of domination and subordination. Chapters in this volume demonstrate the advancements made in studying inequality in symbolic interactionist research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieving high-quality white light emitting diodes (LED), a series of novel red-emitting phosphors NaMg3In1-zYz(Mo1-yWyO4-xFx)5: 0.10Eu3+ (x = 0–0.20, y = 0–0.05, z = 0–0.20) have been obtained via solid-state reaction process. The luminescent properties of NaMg3In(MoO4)5: 0.10Eu3+, and the effect of partial substituting Y3+/W6+/F− ions on the structure and properties of this phosphor were investigated on detailed. The crystal structure of these phosphors was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microcopy, energy-dispersive spectra, and Raman spectra. The luminescence properties and decay properties of those samples were also studied. The luminescent intensity and internal quantum efficiency of NaMg3In(MoO4)5: 0.10Eu3+ phosphor partially substituted by Y3+/W6+/F− ions was 1.59 and 2.76 times than that of the sample without partial substitution, due to the distort of local crystal field surrounding the Eu3+ ions. By employed the as-synthesized NaMg3In0.85Y0.05 (Mo0.96W0.04O3.84F0.16)5: 0.10Eu3+ phosphor as red component, a high-performance white LED with a low 4543 K correlated color temperature and high color-rendering index Ra = 90.0 has been fabricated with a 395 nm near-UV chip, commercial green and blue phosphors. These results implied that NaMg3In(MoO4)5: 0.10Eu3+ phosphor partially substituted by Y3+/W6+/F− ions could be used as a potential red-emitting candidate for white light-emitting-diodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how Black and Latinx youth organizers navigate intersectionality and positionality as they campaigned for community and educational justice. Studies have shown the value of youth organizing for Black and Latinx populations but there is limited knowledge of how members navigate their differences to deepen solidarity efforts. The research questions are (1) how do youth organizers negotiate their positionality in terms of privileges and vulnerabilities? and (2) how do youth organizers show up for each other when addressing issues that do not affect everyone the same? We draw on a longitudinal, mixed-methods study that follows multiple cohorts of youth organizers, which revealed that young people in youth organizing spaces had a sophisticated understanding of their own identities and positionality in relation to their campaigns and other youth who did not share the same identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial timber plantations and their processing have been promoted by the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) government to generate rural employment and reduce economic reliance on the agriculture sector. Using a comparative case-study approach at two wood-processing factories, this paper seeks to understand the existing roles of women in wood processing and how they compare with men in terms of employment, compensation and developmental opportunities, as well as the broader socio-economic factors that enable their employment. Findings show that women were well-represented in the workforce in both cases because management valued purported gendered attributes such as patience [ot-thon] and attention to detail [la-iat]. Demand for employment by rural women of all ages reflects the broader forces of agrarian transition in Lao PDR, including the desire for regular off-farm income to meet the expectations of a contemporary lifestyle. Gender balance in the factory workplace was found to be enhanced by mechanisation, which increased the roles under which women may be employed, and by access to certified markets by companies, which required adherence to international labour standards, including conditions such as maternity leave and carer's leave. The prominent role of women in wood processing in Lao PDR contrasts with that in Australia because extended families can provide unpaid childcare and other domestic support to working families that ameliorates inflexible work practices, which exist in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are perennially entrenched institutions so hard to reform? This article proposes a theory of institutional rebound based on China's reforms to break the three "iron-institutions" in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). I argue that reforms triggered the rise of informal institutions, which impeded further reforms and made old rules rebound. When SOE cadres had denser political connections, they actively manipulated the rules to maintain privileges. When managers and workers had fewer political resources, they used performative resistance to delay reforms and penalize reform advocates. The pressure to complete reforms drove cadres to first target the powerless, replacing them with cronies, before having to move to the more powerful. The article combines in-depth interviews, secondary sources, and topical modeling of newspaper and journal articles across three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Butterfly color patterns provide visible and biodiverse phenotypic readouts of the patterning processes. Although the secreted ligand WntA has been shown to instruct the color pattern formation in butterflies, its mode of reception remains elusive. Butterfly genomes encode four homologs of the Frizzled-family of Wnt receptors. Here, we show that CRISPR mosaic knockouts of frizzled2 (fz2) phenocopy the color pattern effects of WntA loss of function in multiple nymphalids. Whereas WntA mosaic clones result in intermediate patterns of reduced size, fz2 clones are cellautonomous, consistent with a morphogen function. Shifts in expression of WntA and fz2 in WntA crispant pupae show that they are under positive and negative feedback, respectively. Fz1 is required for Wnt-independent planar cell polarity in the wing epithelium. Fz3 and Fz4 show phenotypes consistent with Wnt competitive-antagonist functions in vein formation (Fz3 and Fz4), wing margin specification (Fz3), and color patterning in the Discalis and Marginal Band Systems (Fz4). Overall, these data show that the WntA/Frizzled2 morphogen-receptor pair forms a signaling axis that instructs butterfly color patterning and shed light on the functional diversity of insect Frizzled receptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional wisdom holds that conflict is highly likely during a power transition between declining and rising powers. The spread of global supply chains has provided new economic weapons for great powers waging these conflicts, but the businesses that constitute global supply chains can make it harder or easier for them to do so. A structural theory of business-state relations shows how power transitions affect a state's ability to exercise economic statecraft. As a dominant power and a rising power approach parity, they face structural incentives to use economic statecraft to decouple their economies. The resulting threat to businesses' profits changes business-state relations: high-value businesses within the dominant power tend to oppose their state's use of economic statecraft, whereas low-value businesses within the rising power tend to cooperate with their state's use of economic statecraft. The Anglo-German power transition from 1890 to 1914 and the U.S.-China power transition since 1990 illustrate the theory. The findings shift scholarly debates on the use of economic statecraft in modern great power competition and have policy implications for weaponizing supply chains against rising powers like China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]