Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carbonate porosity creation by mesogenetic dissolution: Reality or illusion?

Many authors have proposed that significant volumes of porosity are created by deep-burial dissolution in carbonate reservoirs. We argue, however, that this model is unsupported by empirical data and violates important chemical constraints on mass transport. Because of the ubiquitous presence and rapid kinetics of dissolution of carbonate minerals, the mesogenetic pore waters in sedimentary basins can be expected to be always saturated and buffered by carbonates, providing little opportunity for the preservation of significantly undersaturated water chemistry during upward flow, even if the initial generation of such undersaturated pore water could occur. A review of the literature where this model has been advanced reveals a consistent lack of quantitative treatment. In consequence, the presumption of mesogenetic dissolution producing a net increase in secondary porosity should not be used in the prediction of carbonate reservoir quality.
Study of rheological behaviour of wines

Abstract This study deals with rheological properties of various wine varieties. Samples of the following wines were used for this experiment: André, Cabernet Moravia, Laurot, Saint Laurent, Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Müller Thurgau, and Riesling Italico. These samples were obtained from wine produced from the grapes collected in the Czech Republic (Morava region, subregion Velke Pavlovice). In the first phase, the chemical composition of the samples was determined. The following chemical parameters were determined: total acidity, pH, content of the alcohol, reduced sugars, free SO2, total SO2, and volatile acids. In the second phase of the study, the physical properties of the samples were determined and the samples of the wines were subjected to rheological tests. These tests consisted in determination of apparent viscosity in relation to temperature, hysteresis loop tests, and apparent viscosity related to time. The dependence of the shear rate on the shear stress was described with the Herschel-Bulkley mathematical model. The experiment yielded the following findings: seven out of the eight samples behaved as non-Newtonian fluids at low temperature (5°C); non-Newtonian behaviour was changed into Newtonian at the temperature higher than 10°C; non-Newtonian behaviour was characterised as thixotropic behaviour; the degree of thixotropy is relatively small and reaches 1.85 Pa s-1 ml-1.
Bacterial Contamination of Soybean Curd (Tofu) Sold in Thailand

1 National Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8642, Japan 2 Graduate School of Life and Environmental Science, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan 3 Center for Advanced Research in Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh 4 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, 39 Muh1, Thanyaburi Pathum Thani, 12110, Thailand
AHLs Regulate Biofilm Formation and Swimming Motility of Hafnia alvei H4

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) in the regulation of swimming motility of Hafnia alvei H4 and its biofilm formation on 96-well plate, glass and stainless-steel surfaces. The luxI gene, which codes for an enzyme involved in AHL synthesis, was deleted to generate a luxI mutant (ΔluxI). The mutant produced no AHL, and the relative expression of the luxR gene was significantly (P < 0.05) decreased. In addition, qRT-PCR analysis showed that the relative expression of the luxR gene in ΔluxI was stimulated by the presence of exogenous AHLs (C4-HSL, C6-HSL, and 3-o-C8-HSL) added at concentrations ranging from of 50–250 μg/ml. Among the three AHLs, C6-HSL had the strongest effect. The ability of ΔluxI to form biofilm on 96-well plate, glass and stainless-steel surfaces was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) compared with the wild type (WT), but was increased when provided with 150 μg/ml C4-HSL, whereas C6-HSL and 3-o-C8-HSL had no effect. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the biofilm revealed less bacteria adhering to the surface of stainless-steel and fewer filaments were found binding to the cells compared with the WT. Furthermore, ΔluxI also exhibited significant (P < 0.05) decrease in the expression of biofilm- and swimming motility-related genes, flgA, motA and cheA, consistent with the results observed for biofilm formation and swimming motility. Taken together, the results suggested that in H. alvei H4, C4-HSL may act as an important molecular signal through regulating the ability of the cells to form biofilm, as well as through regulating the swimming motility of the cell, and this could provide a new way to control these phenotypes of H. alvei in food processing.
PERMAFROST INVESTIGATIONS WITH GIS Ð A CASE STUDY IN THE FLETSCHHORN AREA, WALLIS, SWISS ALPS

To quantify the impact of predicted climatic change on the distribution of Alpine permafrost it is vital to know its present-day conditions and distribution patterns. This knowledge will allow comparisons with the situation in the future. In the study area, an inventory of periglacial landforms Ð such as rock glaciers, perennial snow patches and spring temperatures Ð has been established from interpretation of aerial photographs and field analyses. All data were integrated into a GIS-System. The field data were then used as indicators to verify two existing digital permafrost models. The evaluation of the models showed that they correspond well with the empirical data at high altitudes, whereas the accuracy of the estimations diminishes towards lower altitudes. Especially at a local scale, further information such as seismic soundings, geo-electrical measurements etc., is needed to make exact statements about the local permafrost distribution.
Environmental parameters and antimicrobial susceptibility of enterobacteriaceae isolated from estuarine waters of São Vicente, São Paulo state, Brazil

Diseases transmitted by water consists a serious public health problem and enterobacteria are the main group of microorganisms responsible for outbreaks in humans. Such pathogenic bacteria proliferate in water polluted by domestic and industrial sewage and reach the population through seawater contact. The aim of the present work was to study environmental parameters as well as to identify Enterobacteriaceae species and their antimicrobial susceptibility in water samples collected from the estuarine area of Sao Vicente city (Sao Paulo State, Brazil). Strains were identified by using traditional biochemical tests described in literature and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out using the disk diffusion method. Out of 26 samples, Escherichia coli was the most frequent species (40.1%), followed by Citrobacter, Enterobacter and Klebsiella. The most effective drugs against the tested microorganisms were gentamycin, netilmicin, ciprofloxacin and cefepime. Since these bacteria are commonly found in seashore contaminated by sewage effluents, it can be concluded that estuarine waters of Sao Vicente are polluted and potentially capable of causing diseases and spreading pathogenic bacteria to human communities.
Seasonal variations in scorpion activities (Arachnida: Scorpiones) in an area of Caatinga vegetation in northeastern Brazil

Seasonal variations in scorpion activity were investigated during a 24 month period in an area of Caatinga (dryland) vegetation in the state of Paraiba, Brazil. The total number of scorpions captured was correlated with climatic variables and prey abundance. Scorpions were captured monthly using pitfall traps; their potential prey was captured using malaise, beating trays and pitfalls. A total of 104 scorpions were captured, representing four species: the bothriurids Bothriurus asper (Pocock, 1893) (n = 74; 71.2%) and B. rochai (Mello-Leitao, 1932) (n = 20; 19.2%), and the buthids Rhopalurus rochai (Borelli, 1910) (n = 4; 3.8%) and Tityus stigmurus (Thorell, 1876) (n = 1; 1.0%). The sex ratios (male:female) of the two most abundant species were 14:1 for B. asper and 7:1 for B. rochai. The abundance of scorpions captured was significantly correlated with precipitation, real evapotranspiration, and abundance of invertebrates (mainly insects). Scorpion activities, especially those of B. asper and B. rochai, may be closely related to their reproductive cycles. Reproduction apparently reaches its maximum when there is an abundance of food, which in the Caatinga is strongly associated with rainfall patterns.
Time Series Nonparametric Regression Using Asymmetric Kernels with an Application to Estimation of Scalar Diffusion Processes

This paper considers a nonstandard kernel regression for strongly mixing processes when the regressor is nonnegative. The nonparametric regression is implemented using asymmetric kernels [Gamma (Chen, 2000b), Inverse Gaussian and Reciprocal Inverse Gaussian (Scaillet, 2004) kernels] that possess some appealing properties such as lack of boundary bias and adaptability in the amount of smoothing. The paper investigates the asymptotic and finite-sample properties of the asymmetric kernel Nadaraya-Watson, local linear, and re-weighted Nadaraya-Watson estimators. Pointwise weak consistency, rates of convergence and asymptotic normality are established for each of these estimators. As an important economic application of asymmetric kernel regression estimators, we reexamine the problem of estimating scalar diffusion processes.
Interactive comment on “Development cycle 2 of the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy2)” by P. Jöckel et al

We have chosen supplementary material for TIMER and CHANNEL, because these infrastructure submodels require a rather extensive documentation for the users in addition to the main ideas presented in the text. For the other submodels, we have chosen the main text for documentation, because a much shorter description is sufficient to be able to apply these. Moving parts of it to yet another supplement will further increase the amount of text a user has to read. Many things need to be doubled in this case, because we feel that the main ideas and illustrating examples should remain in the main text and cannot be easily (i.e., without creating additional overhead) detached from the description of the underlying techniques and namelist control. For this reason, we are very hesitant to basically move / double all submodel descriptions, but we would be interested to hear the opinion of the editor.
Physico chemical Characterization of Playgrounds Soils of public Schools in Owerri Metropolis, Imo State, Nigeria

Soil characteristics and metals contents are important components for playground safety, but these are lacking in third world countries. In the present study thirty six soils samples from nine preselected public schools playgrounds were characterized using standards methods. Results revealed poorly equipped and maintained playgrounds with pH < 7 for all playground soils indicating acidic soils while organic matter ranged from Ikenegbu primary school (0.2 %) to World Bank Primary school (2.8%), sodium adsorption ratio ranged from Model Nursery school (0.41 (Cmolkg-1)05) to Shell camp primary (0.77 (Cmolkg-1)05). Other physicochemical characteristics had values comparable to those of typical acid sand derived soils whose textural class is sandy loam. Electrical conductivity varied widely amongst playgrounds ranging from Housing Estate primary school (3.2 S/cm) to Shell Camp Primary school (9.5 S/cm) indicating presence of some soluble inorganic salts. These soils characteristics therefore constitute major favorable conditions for the release of toxic metals in the soil or runoffs.
Did Nazis save more? Household saving and ideology in pre-war National Socialist Germany

It is commonly thought that the rapid increase in household saving during the early years of National Socialism was partly driven by ideological factors. On this view, the popularity of the regime allowed it to exert 'moral suasion' on households to save more than they might have done in the absence of such indoctrination. This paper employs the previously unpublished raw data from a household budget survey conducted in 1937 to identify ideological heterogeneity at the household level. Assuming that households' responsiveness to the regime's saving propaganda was a function of their exogenous ideological commitment to National Socialism, the paper tests the hypothesis that Nazi households saved more than others. The new evidence presented here does not confirm this hypothesis.
Drug-use patterns and severe adverse events with disease-modifying drugs in patients with multiple sclerosis: a cohort study based on German claims data

Purpose: To describe drug-use patterns in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) and to estimate the incidence of severe adverse events (SAEs) of treatment. Methods: We conducted a cohort study within the German Pharmacoepidemiological Research Database between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2013. MS patients on DMDs were described in terms of clinical characteristics and drug-use patterns. Next, we assessed the incidence of AEs in new users of fingolimod, natalizumab, glatiramer acetate, and IFNβ1a. Results: Among approximately 11 million insured members of German Statutory Health Insurance, the DMD-user cohort comprised 15,377 patients with MS, with a mean age of 39.6 years and 68% females. Nearly half of all DMD users had a diagnosis of depression, with prevalence ranging from 40.1% for IFNβ1a to 62.3% for immunoglobulins. The overall rate of MS relapses per patient and year was 0.34 (95% CI 0.33–0.34). During an average follow-up of 1,650 days, the majority (42.4%) of MS patients were adherent to DMD treatment (“continuous single users”), followed by patients interrupting treatment (39.5%, “interrupters”). Switch of DMD treatment (11.9%) was less frequent, and only 5.6% discontinued treatment. Treatment discontinuation was most common in users of natalizumab (7.5%) and IFNβ1b (7.0%). The most frequent SAE was hospitalization for depression, followed by any infectious disease and any malignancy. The incidence rate of all adverse events did not significantly differ across different DMDs. Conclusion: Treatment discontinuation with DMDs and treatment switch were rare. Causes of rather frequent DMD-treatment interruption have to be evaluated in further studies based on primary data collection. Active safety monitoring of new DMDs based on claims data requires large data sets to detect rare AEs and availability of up-to-date data.
Determinants of Participation in Credit Market Among the Farmers in Northern Nigeria

As Nigeria continues to strive hard to enhance its key economic indicators, economic growth alone will not be sufficient in tackling absolute poverty in the country. In fact, poverty eradication requires more fundamental issues being addressed, especially access to agricultural credit by the rural poor as a major factor. Agricultural credit is more than just other resources such as fertilizer and machineries where it provides access to all other resources. It improves farm productivity and farm performance, which lead to a remarkable improvement in farm income and farmers’ welfare. Therefore, this study will examine the key determinants of demand for agricultural credit in Nigeria. The study is aimed at estimating and identifying the socio-economic variables that are responsible for influencing farmers’ decision to participate in credit market. In order to achieve the objectives, primary data will be sourced through random sampling. This involves the random selections of the localities and the sgrass root participants. Our finding expected to reveal that some socio-economic and demographic variables will play a major role in determining the demand and participation in agricultural credit market. Consequently, the demand model in this study contributes to the development of policy and programming by shedding light on the choice to be made and indicating the magnitude and direction of responses that can be expected from changes in key agricultural policy.
A dual-functional HER2 aptamer-conjugated, pH-activated mesoporous silica nanocarrier-based drug delivery system provides in vitro synergistic cytotoxicity in HER2-positive breast cancer cells

Purpose: As well as functioning as a ligand that is selectively internalized by cells overexpressing human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2), HApt can exert cytotoxic effects by inducing cross-linking and subsequent translocation of HER2 to cytoplasmic vesicles, such downregulation of HER2 inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis. We aimed to exploit the potential of HApt as both a targeting agent and antagonist to maximize the efficacy of mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN)-based drug release systems for HER2-positive breast cancer. Materials and methods: We fabricated novel HApt aptamer-functionalized pH-sensitive β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)-capped doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (termed MSN-BM/CD-HApt@DOX) for targeted delivery and selective targeting of HER2-positive cells. MSN-functionalized benzimidazole (MSN-BM) was used to load and achieve pH stimuli-responsive release of the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DOX). β-cyclodextrin was introduced as a gatekeeper for encapsulated DOX and HApt as a selective HER2-targeting moiety and biotherapeutic agent. Results: Physical and chemical characterizations (FT-IR, XRD, TEM and BET) confirmed successful construction of MSN-BM/CD-HApt@DOX nanoparticles. In vitro release assays verified pH-sensitive DOX release. MSN-BM/CD-HApt@DOX (relative DOX concentration, 3.6 μg/mL) underwent HER2-mediated endocytosis and was more cytotoxic to HER2-positive SKBR3 cells than HER2-negative MCF7 cells. MSN-BM/CD-HApt@DOX also exhibited better uptake and stronger growth inhibition in SKBR3 cells than the control MSN-BM/CD-NCApt@DOX functionalized with a scrambled nucleotide sequence on CD. Overall, intracellular delivery of DOX and the biotherapeutic agent HApt resulted in synergistic cytotoxic effects in HER2-positive cancer cells in comparison to either DOX or HApt alone. Conclusion: MSN-BM/CD-HApt@DOX enables HER2-mediated targeting and biotherapeutic effects as well as pH-responsive DOX drug release, resulting in synergistic cytotoxic effects in HER2-overexpressing cells in vitro. This novel nanocarrier could potentially enable specific targeting to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy for HER2-positive cancer.
Breeding strategies to reduce environmental footprint in dairy cattle

Animal breeding should be considered as a permanent and cumulative approach to reducing the environmental footprint of dairy cattle production systems within an overall national and global mitigation strategy. Current international dairy cattle breeding goals do not explicitly include environmental traits, but observed improvements in milk production and both fertility and longevity contribute substantially to improving the environmental footprint relative to output. Ideally, however, environmental related traits, most notably greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen excretion, should be explicitly included in national breeding goals with their own economic weight. Access to routine phenotypic observations for the environmental traits or other information including genomic information or information on heritable correlated traits is required for inclusion in the selection index. There is, however, a considerable paucity of information on the genetic parameters for, in particular, greenhouse gas emissions in dairy cattle; these parameters include genetic variance estimates, as well as genetic and phenotypic (co)variances with other performance traits. Large studies with well phenotyped animals across a range of environments are needed to estimate such parameters and also investigate the extent, if any, of genotype-by-environment interactions across contrasting environments. Considerable genetic variation in milk urea nitrogen, as a proxy for nitrogen excretion in the urine, exist and suggest that breeding programmes to improve nitrogen use efficiency will be fruitful. However, because of the antagonistic genetic correlations between milk urea nitrogen and milk production, genetic gain in milk yield is expected to be compromised within a breeding goal that includes milk urea nitrogen.
Lamiaceae: An Insight on Their Anti-Allergic Potential and Its Mechanisms of Action

The prevalence of allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, food allergy and atopic dermatitis has increased dramatically in recent decades. Conventional therapies for allergy can induce undesirable effects and hence patients tend to seek alternative therapies like natural compounds. Considering the fact above, there is an urgency to discover potential medicinal plants as future candidates in the development of novel anti-allergic therapeutic agents. The Lamiaceae family, or mint family, is a diverse plant family which encompasses more than 7,000 species and with a cosmopolitan distribution. A number of species from this family has been widely employed as ethnomedicine against allergic inflammatory skin diseases and allergic asthma in traditional practices. Phytochemical analysis of the Lamiaceae family has reported the presence of flavonoids, flavones, flavanones, flavonoid glycosides, monoterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenoids, essential oil and fatty acids. Numerous investigations have highlighted the anti-allergic activities of Lamiaceae species with their active principles and crude extracts. Henceforth, this review has the ultimate aim of compiling the up-to-date (2018) findings of published scientific information about the anti-allergic activities of Lamiaceae species. In addition, the botanical features, medicinal uses, chemical constituents and toxicological studies of Lamiaceae species were also documented. The method employed for data collection in this review was mainly the exploration of the PubMed, Ovid and Scopus databases. Additional research studies were obtained from the reference lists of retrieved articles. This comprehensive summarization serves as a useful resource for a better understanding of Lamiaceae species. The anti-allergic mechanisms related to Lamiaceae species are also reviewed extensively which aids in future exploration of the anti-allergic potential of Lamiaceae species.
Innovative treatment using tilapia skin as a xenograft for partial thickness burns after a gunpowder explosion

Abstract Tilapia skin has non-infectious microbiota, high amounts of type I collagen, and similar morphological structure to human skin, so it has been suggested as a potential xenograft for the management of burn wounds. A 23-year-old male patient, with no comorbidities, arrived at our burn treatment center after a thermal injury caused by contact with flames from a gunpowder explosion. Superficial partial thickness burns were present in his right upper limb and deep partial thickness burns were present in his left upper limb. Tilapia skin was applied to the lesions, leading to complete reepithelialization within 12 and 17 days of treatment, respectively. No dressing changes were needed and no side effects were observed. Tilapia skin carries the promise of an innovative, easy-to-apply and highly available product that can become the first nationally studied animal skin registered by the National Sanitary Surveillance Agency for use in the treatment of burns.