Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emerging Threats to Forests: Resilience and Strategies at System Scale

Forests provide multiple ecosystem services that are critical to sustain societies and ecosystems. Protecting the forest systems become imperative as human demand for forest products and services increase. In addition to current stressors, several emerging threats pose serious implications on the survival and sustainability of forest ecosystems. These include climatic change, invasive species, natural disasters, land use change, and pest/diseases that can severally impact the ability of forest to sustain ecosystem services. There is a need for using a systems-based framework to increase resilience of forest systems to cope with these threats. We review literature on these threats and propose a systems-framework for forest resilience. While strategies for each threat are often easier, comprehensive strategies that can handle multiple threats and specific to forest type is required. There is also a need for further research into forest resilience and landscape-scale response and resilience.
Assessment of groundwater contamination by leachate near a municipal solid waste landfill

+exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) tolerance levels for drinking water in 62.5, 100, and 37.5% of the groundwater samples, respectively with pH and Fe exceeding WHO limits in 75% of the samples. Significant negative correlations of -0.839, -0.590, and -0.590 were shown by Na + , TDS, and EC respectively to distance from landfill. A high population of Enterobacteriaceae ranging from 4.0 × 10 3 ± 0 to 1.0575 × 10 6 ± 162,705 CFU/ml was also detected in the groundwater samples, indicating contamination. The results show that the leachate from the landfill has a minimal impact on the groundwater resource and this can be attributed to the existing soil stratigraphy at the site consisting of clay which is deduced to have a significant influence on the natural attenuation of leachate into groundwater.
Siderophores in marine coastal waters and their relevance for iron uptake by phytoplankton: experiments with the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Natural marine bacteria populations collected from nearshore waters produce different types of siderophores depending on the degree of iron limitation. These siderophores can facilitate iron uptake in the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Water samples from 15 stations along the Italian coast of the northwest Adriatic Sea were collected and filter fractionated (3.0, 0.8 and 0.2 μm). Siderophore production in the fractions was determined using cross-feeding experiments with siderophore-auxotrophic bacteria. At most stations sampled, bacteria collected in the 3.0 and 0.8 μm filters produced siderophores which stimulated growth in Morganella morganii, the indicator strain for α-keto/α-hydroxy acids. The results suggest that MGF ('Morganella-Growth Factor') production is common among filamentous and appendaged bacteria or strains associated with particles. Natural bacteria populations grown in iron-deficient media stimulated growth of all the indicator strains in the cross-feeding tests. Examples of known MGF which supply iron to M. morganii were tested for their ability to act as iron source for the marine diatom P. tricornutum. Iron uptake from 55 Fe-MGFs was measured in P. tricornutum cells grown in Fe-sufficient and Fe-deficient media. Unchelated iron ( 55 FeCl 3 ) and 55 FeEDTA were used as controls. The uptake of iron from the 55 Fe-MGF and 55 FeCl 3 by Fe-deficient cells was higher (109 to 150 pgFe mg -1 ) than from 55 FeEDTA (34 pgFe mg -1 ). Similarly, Fe-sufficient P. tricornutum took up iron from the 55 Fe-MGF and 55 FeCl 3 to the same extent (∼50 pgFe mg -1 ) while minimal uptake (8 pgFe mg -1 ) was measured from FeEDTA. In growth experiments where iron-deficient diatom cells were incubated in media containing different sources of iron, e.g. FeCl 3 , Fe-MGF and FeEDTA, a greater increase in number was observed in cells supplied with Fe-MGF. Further experiments also show that the uptake of Fe from MGF was enhanced by light and that a reduction step was involved in the uptake process. MGF also promoted the uptake of colloidal ferrihydrites. This study gives further evidence that siderophores produced by bacteria can be utilized by phytoplankton as an iron source. We therefore suggest that these substances play an important role in increasing the availability of iron to phytoplankton in coastal waters and thus are major factors defining the chemistry of iron in the marine environment.
Pathogenesis-Related Proteins in Barley Localization and accumulation patterns in response to infection by Bipolaris sorokiniana

Santen, K. 2007. Pathogenesis-related proteins in barley. Localization and accumulation patterns in response to infection by Bipolaris sorokiniana. Doctoral dissertation. ISSN 1652-6880, ISBN 978-91-576-7385-5 Plants in nature are generally resistant to most of the pathogens they encounter. However, many fungal pathogens can cause severe diseases and significant yield losses in crops. Plants defend themselves against pathogens through a combination of constitutive and inducible defenses. The induced plant defense is particularly characterized by an increased accumulation of pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs). Since the discovery of PRs in 1970, several PR families have been identified. The specific function of many PRs is still unknown, although several are postulated to play a role in preventing pathogen invasion. The aim of my research was to study spatial and temporal localization of PRs and accumulation of their corresponding mRNAs to better understand the role and possible function of PRs in plant defense. As a model system I studied the interaction between barley and the hemibiotrophic fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana, which causes severe yield losses worldwide. The studies are mainly focused on three PRs (PR-1, PR-3 and PR-5). These PRs accumulated in both leaves and roots of barley seedlings as a response to infection of the respective tissues. However, the accumulation of PRs in roots was dependent on whether young or old root segments were infected. A stronger response was found when young root segments were inoculated in comparison to old roots. All three PRs appear to be part of a preformed defense since both PR-1 and PR-5 were constitutively present in both xylem and phloem tissues and the root epidermis, and PR-3 showed a high constitutive presence mainly in the epidermis of leaves and to some extent in the phloem. In response to infection, all three proteins were highly induced in the ground tissues and to some extent in the vascular tissues. PR-1, PR-3 and PR-5 mRNAs accumulated in a biphasic pattern in leaves from both leafand root-infected seedlings. This biphasic accumulation pattern of transcripts was not detectable in roots. These results suggest that different induction strategies may be active in barley seedlings depending on the primary site of infection by B. sorokiniana. PR-1, PR-3 and PR-5 were all recovered over the cell walls of interand intracellular hyphae of B. sorokiniana indicating that they may influence fungal growth.
Adherence to process of care quality indicators after percutaneous coronary intervention in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective observational cohort study

Background Public reporting of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) outcomes has been established in many jurisdictions to ensure optimal delivery of care. The majority of PCI report cards examine in-hospital mortality, but relatively little is known regarding the adherence to processes of care. Methods A modified Delphi panel comprising cardiovascular experts was assembled to develop a set of PCI quality indicators. Indicators such as prescription of aspirin, dual antiplatelet therapy, statins and smoking cessation counselling were identified to represent high-quality PCI care. Chart abstraction was performed at 13 PCI hospitals in Ontario, Canada from 2009 to 2010 with at least 200 PCI patients randomly selected from each hospital. Results Our study sample included 3041 patients, of whom 18% had stable coronary artery disease (CAD) and 82% had an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Their mean age was 63±12.4 years and 29% of patients were female. Prior to PCI, 89% were prescribed aspirin, and after PCI 98.7% were prescribed aspirin, 95.1% were prescribed dual antiplatelet therapy for 12 months after drug-eluting stents, and 94.9% were prescribed statins. The lowest performing quality indicator was smoking cessation counselling, observed in only 42% of current and past smokers (18% in patients with stable CAD and 47% in ACS). Conclusions Our study demonstrates high levels of adherence to most quality indicators for patients undergoing PCI procedures in Ontario. In conclusion, smoking cessation counselling was not consistently performed across hospitals and represents an opportunity for future quality improvement efforts.
Academic Implications of Alcohol Use

Alcohol use, a universal phenomenon among youth, keeps raising questions and attracting researches on its hold among them. The issue of alcohol use is viewed differently by different cultures and ages for different reasons. However, there seems to have less differences of opinion as regards its use by students. In most cases use of alcohol by students is disapproved by most societies. This paper is an attempt to study the impact and implications of alcohol use by college students of West Siang district on their academic achievements and social relations. Adopting explanatory sequential and nested research design and mixed method approach this study attempted to unearth how alcohol use by college students affect their academic achievements in relation to Grade Point Average (GPA), their discontinuing from studies, and their ambitions in life. In all these grounds the findings showed that alcohol users were more likely to lower their GPA, discontinue from studies and lose sight of their ambitions in life, which indicate a lessened interest in studies. The study also showed that there is neither any predictors to say that alcohol use is associated with any particular class of students nor that its use enhances in social relations and peer admiration.
2.27-W Q-switched self-doubling Yb:YAB laser with controllable pulse length

We report 95% conversion from the optimized Q-switched fundamental output to green output in the self-frequency doubling material Yb:YAB. Maximum average green powers of 2.27 W were obtained at 520-522 nm. The diode-to-green conversion efficiency was 26%. Operating at 10 kHz we obtained pulse widths ranging from 100 ns to 2 µs. The pulse duration was critically dependent on the strength of the nonlinear coupling and on the time that the acousto-optic Q switch was open. Numerical modeling of the system is found to predict the observed pulse-lengthening effect as well as high-average-power second-harmonic generation over a broad wavelength range.
Origin of antiferromagnetism in CoO: A density functional theory study

We have investigated the origin of antiferromagnetism of CoO in the rocksalt structure using spin-polarized density functional theory calculations. We find that in the rocksalt structure, the superexchange interaction between the occupied and unoccupied eg states plays the dominant role, which leads to an antiferromagnetic ground state, but the system also has a strong direct exchange interaction between the partially occupied minority spin t2g states that leads to the unusual situation that the ferromagnetic phase is more stable than most antiferromagnetic configurations.
Adsorption isotherms of the red mombin powder produced in spouted bed dryer

Isotermas de adsorção do pó de seriguela produzido em secador de leito de jorro R E S U M O A seriguela é um fruto sazonal e susceptível a reações de deterioração devido ao seu elevado teor de água, o que evidencia a necessidade de utilização de processos que prolonguem sua vida útil e a disponibilize durante todo o ano, inclusive a mercados distantes dos locais de produção. Assim, objetivou-se produzir a polpa de seriguela em pó em secador de leito de jorro, analisá-la quanto aos parâmetros físicos e químicos e avaliar seu comportamento higroscópico nas temperaturas de 20, 30 e 40 °C, com ajustes dos modelos de GAB, Oswin e Peleg aos dados experimentais. Os resultados das análises físicas e químicas evidenciaram tempo de molhagem intermediário, de 0,39 g min-1, solubilidade superior a 60% e média fluidez com fator de Hausner e índice de Carr compreendido entre 1,26-1,34 e 0,21-0,25, respectivamente. As partículas de pó se apresentaram com formato esférico, superfície lisa e algumas irregularidades, com tendência de formação de aglomerados. As isotermas tiveram comportamento sigmoidal do tipo II, com o modelo de Peleg detendo, em todas as temperaturas, os melhores ajustes aos dados experimentais com coeficientes de determinação superiores a 0,99 e desvios percentuais médios inferiores a 2,0%.
Tidal currents in the northwestern Adriatic: High‐frequency radio observations and numerical model predictions

The results of a two-year long deployment of high frequency radars along the Italian coast of the northern Adriatic are analyzed, to characterize the surface tidal currents. M2 and K1 ellipses are aligned with the basin axis and exhibit large eccentricities in the middle of the basin, decreasing toward the Italian coast. Comparisons are made with a 3D finite-element non-linear numerical model of the tides. Complex correlations between modeled and observed tidal currents show a remarkable agreement in the middle of the basin, with magnitudes reaching 0.985 and average phases of -6.4 deg. However the magnitudes drop to 0.5 within 20-30 km from the Italian coast, where the modeled currents amplitudes are underestimated by 2cm/s and the phases lag the observed phases by 60 deg. This shallow region (less than 30-m deep) is characterized by low-salinity water originating at the Po River and laterally sheared coastal flows. The radars may have captured the influence of stratification or mean sheared flows, both absent from the model. The model parameterization of bottom friction may also inadequately represent the effects of real bottom friction on the vertical current shear.
Monitoring of Lead in Topsoil, Forage, Blood, Liver, and Kidneys in Cows in a Lead-Polluted Area in Slovenia (1975–2002) and a Case of Lead Poisoning (1993)

The paper presents the results of a prolonged research in a lead-polluted area. Extensive systematic studies of lead concentrations in topsoil, forage, blood, liver, and kidney in cows on farms within 1–10 km around the lead mine and smelter were carried out. After installation of a filter in 1978, lead concentrations began to decrease. However, when toxic levels of lead were within normal reference values, the authorities stopped to finance the project. In 2002, the research was concluded. A review of studies showed that the protective filter was effective; during the period 1975–2002 mean lead in forage dropped from 584.0 ± 324.0 to 5.5 ± 2.9 mg/kg, and the mean blood lead levels dropped from 1.251 ± 0.580 to 0.069 ± 0.041 mg/kg. Three years after the filter was installed the amount of lead in the liver and kidneys had normalized. Closely related to our research was also a case of cow lead poisoning.
Recent Advances in the Generic Ridigity of Structures

Nous presentons ici un apercu des theoremes et des conjectures qui decrivent les graphes qui produisent des structures generiquement rigides dans un espace a n dimensions. Les structures prises en consideration comprennent les charpentes constituees de corps rigides et de barres, les charpentes constituees de corps rigides articules sur charnieres, et les charpentes constituees de barres et de joints. Cet article se veut un resume des presentations de travaux faites par un certain nombre de personnes, en aout 1983, a l’atelier de Bielefeld sur les applications de la theorie des matroides.
Analyzing the relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction among the employees of PNU ( Ardabil branch)

One of the important characteristics of effective communication between managers and employees is the concept of emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is, in fact, a major determinant of difference between managers who are successful more and those who are successful less. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and its components (self- motivations, self-awareness, self- controlling, empathy and social skills) and job satisfaction of the employees of Ardabil PNU. The method of this study is descriptive – analytic method based on correlation branch and is among field investigations by questionnaires and based on purpose belongs to applied researches. The statistical population of this research was employees of Payam Noor University of Ardebil city, which included 30 subjects, and all 30 subjects were selected as sample. descriptive statistics was used to descript of variables and distribution of each variable and hypothesis were tested using Pearson correlation coefficient, . The results showed that there is a significant relationship between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction. Moreover, there are significant relationships between components of self-awareness and job satisfaction, self-controlling and job satisfaction, empathy and job satisfaction as well social skills and job satisfaction.
The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in reading Chinese: Evidence from ERPs

The time course of semantic and syntactic processing in reading Chinese was examined by recording event-related brain potentials (ERPs) as native Chinese speakers read individually presented sentences for comprehension and performed semantic plausibility judgments. The transitivity of the verbs in Chinese ba/bei constructions was manipulated to form three types of stimuli: Congruent sentences (CON), sentences with semantic violation (SEM), and sentences with combined semantic and syntactic violation (SEM+SYN). Compared with the critical words in CON, those in SEM and SEM+SYN elicited an N400-P600 biphasic pattern. The N400 effects in both violation conditions were of similar size and distribution, but the P600 in SEM+SYN was bigger than that in SEM. Overall, the lack of a difference between SEM and SEM+SYN in the earlier time window (i.e., N400 window) suggested that syntactic processing in Chinese does not necessarily occur earlier than semantic processing.
Somatic cell count and milk yield on physicochemical components of milk from free-stall housed cows

Quantificar e qualificar os fatores que podem influenciar a composicao do leite tem sido de extrema importância para ganhos tanto em quantidade como em qualidade no leite produzido. O estudo foi realizado visando avaliar a influencia da producao leiteira sobre a composicao fisico-quimica do leite e analisar as correlacoes entre a producao leiteira e a contagem de celulas somaticas (CCS) sobre os teores de gordura, proteina, lactose, solidos totais e nitrogenio ureico no leite de vacas Holandesas. 3.544 dados referentes a 467 vacas foram avaliados. Na analise, os animais foram distribuidos em grupos I (5 a 15 kg leite dia-1), II (15 a 30 kg leite dia-1) e III (acima de 30 kg leite dia-1), de acordo com sua producao diaria. Animais do grupo I apresentaram maior (P 0,05) entre a CCS e o teor de gordura, proteina e solidos totais. Menores producoes leiteiras estao significativamente associadas a alta CCS, o que por sua vez, alem de trazer prejuizos tambem significativos a qualidade do leite produzido, compromete o estado sanitario do ubere das vacas.
Standardization Of Bael /Blended Extruded Products

The present investigation was undertaken to develop powder from bael fruit, to study the sensory, functional and nutritional qualities of bael fruit powder & to utilize fruit powder for value added products. The process for the preparation of powder was standardized. The sensory evaluation of fruit powder indicated that the bael powder was liked moderately by the panelist. Bael powder was incorporated (10% & 20%) in extruded products extruded products (vermicelli, pasta, macaroni). Sensory characteristics indicated that all the products were organoleptically acceptable in terms of color, appearance, flavor, texture, taste and overall acceptability. An attempt was also made to check the field acceptability of this bael powder based products, which proved successful and received a positive response from the respondents.
Towards Acceptance M-Learning Approach in Higher Education in Saudi Arabia

Mobile learning (m-learning) is one of the most critical technological environment of distance learning in higher education institutes. The m-learning provides a widespread access to mobile devices networks and the possibility to learn regardless of time and place, unlike other learning services that depend on the location of the user. The research objectives of this study is investigate and determine the possibility of acceptance in m-Learning and examine the main factors that affect using m-Learning in higher education students in Saudi Arabia. The method tool is quantitative approach using questionnaire method to collect around 400 participants of universities students who are study in e-learning system in various collages in the universities. The survey was distributed electronically via self-selected and social network channels.The study is applied Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. The framework focuses to determine the factors that influence the students’ intention to use M-Learning via smart mobile devices. The numbers of distance learning in some Saudi universities are increased gradually in the last five years. Also, the Saudi electronic university in Saudi Arabic has been established 2011.The smart phone devices are one of popular usage in Saudi audience and eMarketer reports, it was reached around 73% of publication of internet user to in Saudi Arabia and third global country for using the smartphone depending on the number of population. It is beneficial to determine the factor that influencing to accept of M-Learning in education field generally and in higher education in particular.
Male-Female Labor Market Participation and the Extent of Gender-Based Wage Discrimination in Turkey

A gender differential in wages is considered to be discriminatory if the differential cannot be explained by gender differences in productivity. Numerous studies have been performed to measure the extent of gender wage discrimination in countries across the world, and most report a substantial amount of wage differential after adjusting for productivity differences. This differential has been attributed to labor market discrimination against women. Using data from 2003 and 2010 Household Budget Surveys conducted by Turkish Statistical Institute, this study examines the male-female earnings differentials and measures the extent of pay discrimination in Turkey. To analyze the components of the earnings gap, two methodologies are employed: The standard Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition method and the Juhn–Murphy–Pierce decomposition method. The results of the study indicate that in both years, a significant portion of the observed wage differential is attributable to wage discrimination which records a rise over the period.