Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Over-Winter Oceanographic Profiles in Jones Sound, Canadian Arctic Archipelago, November 1961 - June 1962: Temperature, Salinity, Oxygen, and Nutrients

Vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and inorganic nutrients (nitrate, phosphate, and silicate) were measured at five depths (2, 10, 25, 50, and 80 m) beneath the ice off the southern shore of Jones Sound, north of Devon Island, through the winter of 1961 – 62. Additional data were collected from the north side of the sound off Grise Fiord, Ellesmere Island, on 13 May 1962 and 12 May 1969. The over-winter data set is used here to characterize the transition of Arctic waters from autumn to late-spring–early summer. Minimum temperatures ( 33.2) were reached in late winter and early spring. Oxygen levels declined over the same fall-to-late-spring period and increased markedly in June. Nitrate, phosphate, and silicate concentrations all increased from their lowest values in fall to overall highest values in late spring, after which each nutrient showed evidence of biological uptake. A deep pycnocline, between 50 and 80 m, persisted from November to February, isolating a bottom-water layer that showed evidence of microbially mediated silicate regeneration (silicate concentrations increased, phosphate decreased, and nitrate concentrations were variable). In early spring (19 March to 1 May), nitrate concentrations dropped abruptly at all depths from more than 10 μM to less than 7 μM, apparently in response to the growth of ice algae. Temperature-salinity (T-S) analyses found little evidence of significant water-mass replacements during the study period, but interpretations of coherent variations in nutrient concentrations, as well as observed salinities slightly different from those expected on the basis of ice formation, suggest otherwise. Comparison of results from north of Devon Island with those from sampling off Grise Fiord in May 1962 indicate both higher salinities and lower nutrient concentrations at the latter site; however, data collected at the same site off Grise Fiord in May 1969 showed lower salinities and more variable nutrient concentrations than in 1962.
Scribbling Intervention for Depression, Anxiety and Stress

Depression, anxiety and stress are disorders with significant impact on quality of life and preventable death. The pervasiveness of these problems and their diversity requires that interventions be matched to the personality of the subject and to their context. There is a need for tools that have broad effects and are easy to use, accessible, and affordable. In this study we evaluate a scribbling intervention motivated by theories in art therapy. Many art therapy based interventions are not evidence based as quantitative studies are rarely performed. We use a crowdsourcing platform to recruit subjects and provide evidence for the efficacy of an art based intervention. Our results show that a short time spent scribbling can have a significant effect reducing depression, anxiety and stress, at least in the short term. It could be used as a soothing technique for people who suffer from these disorders.
Quality aspects of coffees and teas: Application of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to the elucidation of free radical and other processes.

Coffees and teas are beverages that are both exceptionally rich in antioxidant molecules, and are also both associated with beneficial health effects. Thus although the quality characteristics of these beverages are conventionally assessed on the basis of their sensory properties, their antioxidant contents represent an additional and increasingly valued attribute of quality based on their contributions to healthy diets. Both beverages are prepared by hot water extraction of a pure plant-derived product, and thus their compositions can potentially change quite rapidly as a result of oxidation in contact with air. Oxidative processes often proceed via free radical intermediates, and sometimes also result in the formation of stable radical end-products; thus EPR spectroscopy is a convenient technique for investigating some of the various free radical reactions that occur in these beverages. This paper reviews progress that has been made in elucidating free radical processes that occur during the preparation and storage of coffees and teas, and the results are discussed in terms of quality criteria of the beverages.
Dynamics of hemocyte subsets from ascidian Halocynthia aurantium in response to tissue damage: a comparative analysis of flow cytometry vs confocal microscopy data

The current study was aimed at investigating the dynamics of circulatory ascidian hemocytesubsets from Halocynthia aurantium in response to tunic damage. By using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, it was demonstrated that the relative amount of hemoblasts and hyaline amebocytes was increased 24 h after cutting ascidian tunic and subjacent muscle layer. By applying a broad panel of fluorescently labeled monoclonal antibodies against human adhesion molecules expressed by lymphoid and stem cells both assays allowed to detect two cross-reactive epitopes (CD54 and CD90) on the surface of ascidian hemocytes. Upon that, the expression of CD54-like epitope was found to be downregulated on ascidian cells after tissue damage, whereas binding to CD90-like epitope was upregulated in all examined cell subsets.
Regional detection of canopy nitrogen in Mediterranean forests using the spaceborne MERIS Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index

Canopy nitrogen (N) concentration and content are linked to several vegetation processes and canopy N concentration is a state variable in global vegetation models with coupled carbon (C) and N cycles. While there is ample C data available to constrain the models, widespread N data are lacking. Remote sensing and vegetation indices have been used to detect canopy N concentration and canopy N content at the local scale in grasslands and forests. In this paper we conducted a regional case-study analysis investigating the relationship between the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) Terrestrial Chlorophyll Index (MTCI) time series from ESA ENVISAT at 1 km spatial resolution and both canopy N concentration (%N) and canopy N content (g m −2 ) from a Mediterranean forests inventory in the region of Catalonia, NE of Spain. The relationships between the datasets were studied after resampling both datasets to lower spatial resolutions (20 km, 15 km, 10 km and 5 km) and at the initial higher spatial resolution of 1 km. The results at the higher spatial resolution yielded significant relationships between MTCI and both canopy N concentration and content, r 2 = 0.32 and r 2 = 0.17, respectively. We also investigated these relationships per plant functional type. While the relationship between MTCI and canopy N concentration was strongest for deciduous broadleaf and mixed plots ( r 2 = 0.25 and r 2 = 0.47, respectively), the relationship between MTCI and canopy N content was strongest for evergreen needleleaf trees ( r 2 = 0.20). At the species level, canopy N concentration was strongly related to MTCI for European Beech plots ( r 2 = 0.71). These results present a new perspective on the application of MTCI time series for canopy N detection, ultimately leading towards the generation of canopy N maps that can be used to constrain global vegetation models. Keywords: vegetation index, MERIS, foliar nitrogen concentration, foliar nitrogen content, plant functional types, Mediterranean forest, remote sensing
Pattern of Congenital Dislocation of the Hip in Arar City, Northern Saudi Arabia

Background : Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is one of the most widely discussed abnormalities in neonates. The etiology of DDH is unknown. There are many insights, however, from epidemiologic/demographic information. Aim of the study: To determine the incidence, risk factors and treatment modalities of congenital dislocation of the hip (CDH) in Arar city, Northern Saudi Arabia. Methods : This is prospective study involve 955(19100hips) infants referred to Arar central hospital. During the period from 1 January 2014, to 31 December 2016, each infant was evaluated by history taking, clinical and sonographic examination for hip abnormality. Results : The incidence of (CDH) was 3.1% (73.3% were females), 70.0% of the affected had positive family history and in 46.7% there was consanguinity between parents. In 80.0% there was regular follow up during pregnancy. 16.7% had history of oligohydramnios. Breech presentation was found in 26.7% and 15.0% delivered by caesarian section. First born children constituted 25.0%. The left hip joint was more affected( 41.6%) , the right hip joint affected in 28.3% and bilateral CDH were involved in 13.3%. In the studied cases, 40.0% of the infants were treated surgically, 30% conservatively, 16% by both and 14% were referred to higher centers. Conclusion and recommendations: CDH in Arar, Central hospital and by inference in Northern region of Saudi Arabia was found to be 3.1%. Awareness programs, routine neonatal hip joint examination at birth and up to one year of age as well as ultrasound examination of pelvis in high-risk babies are strongly recommended.
Species-Specific Impacts of Invasive Plant Success on Vertical Profiles of Soil Carbon Accumulation and Nutrient Retention in the Minjiang River Tidal Estuarine Wetlands of China

The increasing presence of successful invasive plant species can have an impact on wetlands capacity to store and release C. We have investigated the relationships between stocks of different soil organic carbon (SOC) along the soil vertical profile and invasive plant success in a China wetland. In stands dominated by the exotic invasive species Spartina alterniflora and the native invasive Phragmites australis soil organic-carbon concentrations (SOC) were higher (12% and 9%, respectively) than in plots of a native species, Cyperus malaccensis, whereas SOC content (g m−2) was 18% and 17% lower under P. australis than under S. alterniffolia and C. malaccensis, respectively. Soils under both invasive species had the concentrations and contents of light-fraction organic carbon (LFOC), light-fraction organic nitrogen (LFON) at 30–60 cm of soil depth and labile organic carbon (LOC) concentrations at 0–10 cm higher than soils under native species. The invasive species had higher total aboveground, total biomasses and lower shoot:root ratios than the native species. The success of both invasive species was associated with higher growth rates and accumulation of nutrients in biomass than in the native species and also accumulation of C in plant soil system. The stands currently dominated by the invasive species were recently occupied by monospecific stands of the native C. malaccensis, strongly suggesting that all or most of the current soil differences were due to the invasions. Higher sand fraction in C. malaccensis community and higher clay fraction in P. australis community relative to the native species, were correlated with higher soil N and P concentrations in invaded stands. The results suggest that different vegetation cover with distinct shoot/root ratio can change soil structure by favoring sedimentation of different particle size classes. Thus, despite both invasive species have some common traits, the results also showed that different invasive species with partially distinct impacts on soil and nutrient uses can succeed under the same conditions. The traits conferring invasive success are thus not necessarily species-specific. A clear change in the general accumulation of C, N and P in the plant-soil system was related to the invasive plant success in this wetland areas.
In Control of Life Chances? Visible Minority Immigrants and Sense of Mastery

A sense of mastery or control is an essential life skill for persons to be able to deal with everyday challenges. Comparing the sense of mastery between immigrants and native-born Canadians using the 2008 General Social Survey (GSS-2008) data set, we seek to understand whether being an immigrant, particularly a visible minority immigrant, predicts lower levels of sense of control over life chances. The findings demonstrate that being born outside of Canada lowered the scores on the mastery scale for both Whites and visible minorities; however, the penalty of being a visible minority and an immigrant was much higher.
Meeting ‘ Actual Demand ’ for Contraceptives in Ghana : Does Women ’ s Autonomy Matter ?

We address a basic conceptual gap in research on the relationship between women’s autonomy and contraceptive behaviour. To ascertain the influence of autonomy on meeting contraceptive demand, we define women’s actual demand for contraceptives considering their intentions, using data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. Our sample included nonpregnant married/cohabiting fecund women aged 15-49 who had knowledge and intention for contraceptive use but not desiring conception within two years. We investigated the influence of household decision-making and household economic autonomy on current contraceptive use, controlling for sexual activity and socio-demographic characteristics. About half the women studied had an unmet demand. Controlling for all other characteristics, two binary logistic regression models revealed that neither measure of autonomy is statistically associated with meeting women’s actual demand for contraceptives (α=.05). However, formal education, age, wealth and region of residence significantly predict contraceptive use. Autonomy does not predict met demand for contraceptives.
Geophagy in birds of Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea

Numerous New Guinea birds, mostly psittaciforms and columbiforms, have been recorded feeding on soil. This study documents geophagy in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area (CMWMA) in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. We present the first documented case of geophagy in the palm cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus and in up to 11 other species. Soil from the site where geophagy by palm cockatoos was recorded was highly weathered and acidic, with a mixture of kaolin, gibbsite, goethite and illite in the clay fraction. Analyses may support the hypothesis that soil is ingested to counterbalance the effects of toxic compounds in fruit. We suggest that the accessibility of the site (an exposed bank), rather than the nature of the soil itself, prompted its use by birds. At another site, a blue-coloured soil on which cassowaries fed was rich in vivianite (an iron phosphate) and contained an iron-rich smectite, and some kaolin and mica in the clay fraction. Why cassowaries feed on this particular soil is unclear, but they may obtain trace elements from it, or take advantage of its high iron or phosphorus content. Obtaining other elements, in particular calcium and sodium, may also be important. Alternatively, there may simply be an attraction to its blue colour, which also attracted the interest of local people and folklore. Birds were also reported to drink salt water within the CMWMA. Taken together, there may be quite different reasons for ingestion of minerals/soils among as many as 23 bird species from five families.
Annotated list of Tardigrada records from Ukraine with the description of three new species

A list of tardigrade species recorded from the Ukraine is provided; 18 are new records for this geographic area and three, Tenuibiotus bozhkae sp. nov., Xerobiotus euxinus sp. nov. and Hypsibius pallidoides sp. nov. are new to science. Characters for Tenuibiotus bozhkae sp. nov. include two small gibbosities on each hind leg; pharyngeal bulb with three macroplacoids and microplacoid; eggs with long conical processes. For Xerobiotus euxinus sp. nov. there is a narrow buccal tube, dorsal transverse ridges of the buccal armature appear joined together forming a continuous arc; pharyngeal bulb with two macroplacoids and microplacoid, lunules absent on the first three pairs of legs but present on the hind legs; no cuticular bar on the legs. Hypsibius pallidoides sp. nov. has a very narrow buccal tube; pharyngeal bulb with two macroplacoids and a very small, dot-shaped, septulum; claws similar to those of Hypsibius pallidus (i.e. the main branches of the external claws are inserted onto the secondary branch at a distance from the base); lunules and cuticular bar absent from the legs.
Physiological responses of largemouth bass to acute temperature and oxygen stressors

Abstract Temperature and oxygen gradients exist in nearly every water body, but anthropogenic activities can subject fish to rapid changes in these important environmental variables. These rapid changes in temperature and oxygen (generally referred to as temperature or oxygen shock) may have sub-lethal consequences depending upon the magnitude and the fish species. This study quantified physiological changes in largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede), exposed to two levels of heat and cold shocks and to two levels of hypoxic and hyperoxic shocks. Following a cold shock from 20 °C to 8 °C, plasma cortisol and glucose increased after 1 h and lactate dehydrogenase activity increased after 6 h. Plasma glucose and K+ concentrations increased 1 h after a heat shock from 20 °C to 32 °C but not after 6 h. Bass subjected to a hypoxic shock from 8 to 2 mg O2 L−1 showed decreased plasma K+ and increased plasma glucose and white muscle lactate. No changes in physiological parameters were observed in bass subjected up to 18 mg O2 L−1 hyperoxia. Results from this study suggest that largemouth bass can tolerate a wide range of temperature and oxygen shocks, but temperature decreases of 20 to 8 °C and hypoxia as low as 4 mg O2 L−1 should be avoided to minimise physiological perturbations.
Evaluating the benefits and risks of organic raw milk cheese. Challenges in the production of organic cheeses mad from raw milk

Raw milk offered for sale within and into the European Union has to be produced according to the requirements of Commission Directive 89/362/EEC and to meet quality standards described in Council Directive 92/46/EEC. Together the regulations say many things about the quality of milk and the hygienic means of production including guidance and requirements for: - The means of production, farm specifications etc. - Processes, milk handling - Animal health - Milk composition related to quality - especially antibiotics, cell count and bacterial content (Hillerton & Berry, 2004) Unpasteurized milk and the associated food products (yogurt, butter, cheese etc.) made from raw milk is safely produced and consumed in many areas around the world. Cheese making is a major industry worldwide, while most of the production comes from large scale industrial producers; a large part is still practiced on a relatively small scale which accounts for the rich diversity of cheeses available. Cheese is made from milk, which contains milk fat and coagulated proteins and preservation is largely achieved by controlling the pH and water activity (Little et al., 2008). In the European Union the production of both fresh and raw milk cheeses is allowed. Between 1995 and 2004 cheese production increased by nearly 15 %, with per capita consumption growing at an average rate of 1.5 % per year. Nearly 40 % of EU milk is consumed as cheese. Four Member States (Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands) produce more than 75 % of the cheese in the EU. The European dairy industry processes approximately 135 million tons of raw milk into a broad range of products, both for consumption and for use in the production of many food, feed and pharmaceutical products. The raw milk delivered by the EU-25’s 1.6 million dairy farmers, processed by the dairy industry, plays a vital role in rural areas (EU, 2006). About 700 000 tons of raw milk cheeses are produced annually in Europe, particularly in France, Italy and Switzerland (Beuvier & Grappin, 1997). The effort to preserve raw milk cheese production in certain countries of the European Union began in the early 1990’s. Between1990 and1992 the European Union debated the safety of raw milk cheese and was considering the mandatory pasteurization of all dairy products. Some of the northern European countries wanted to forbid the production of raw milk cheeses for sanitary reasons, pointing toward the reduced health risk from pasteurized milk cheeses. They were considering the mandatory pasteurization of all dairy products (Dixon, 2000). Cheese made from raw milk represents an important proportion of the traditional cheeses, particularly in South European countries (Beuvier & Grappin, 1997). In these arias a large variety of traditional cheeses are still produced using raw milk.
Pathological findings in a mouse model for Coxsackievirus A16 infection

Coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16) is the leading cause of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD), which usually presents as mild and self-limiting symptoms in young children. Rarely, CV-A16 has been reported to cause severe and fatal neurological complications but little is known about these complications. In the present study, 1-day and 7-day old mouse models of CV-A16 were developed using a clinical strain via subcutaneous inoculation. All infected mice exhibited clinical signs of infection, including reduced mobility, limb weakness and paralysis between 3 to 6 days post-infection. Pathologically, the main organs involved were the central nervous system (CNS), skeletal muscles and brown fat. In the CNS, viral antigens as demonstrated by immunohistochemistry, were localized mainly to neurons in the brain stem and spinal cord, suggesting that CV-A16 is neurotropic although inflammation is very mild. The skeletal muscles showed necrosis and myositis due to viral infection as evidenced by the dense viral antigens. Focal viral antigens were also detected in the brown fat. These preliminary pathological findings indicate that our mouse models can be further developed to be useful models for pathogenesis studies, and vaccine and anti-viral drug evaluation.
Antimicrobial Activities of some Local Medicinal Plants Against Post Harvest Yam Rot Pathogens in Humid South Eastern Nigeria

A laboratory trial on control of yam rot microbial pathogens with some selected medicinal plant extracts was carried out in the Crop Science laboratory of Michael Okopara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria. The ethanolic extract oils of the five medicinal plants namely: Moringa oleifera (both seed and leaf), Jatropha curcas, Aloe vera, Costus afar, and Tagetes erecta were used. The major pathogens isolated from the stored yams included both fungi and bacteria species however only three fungi species – Botryodiplodia, Fusarium and Aspergillus species were experimentally shown to be pathogenic. While Erwinia carotovora was the only bacteria species which was pathogenic to stored yam. Phytochemical analysis of the selected medicinal plant oils and extracts showed the presence of some anti-microbial agents in varying concentration including alkaloids (0.19 0.57%) flavonoid (0.25 0.63%), saponin 0.23 0.54%) and phenols (0.32%±0.06 0.65%). Other phytochemicals constituents obtained were tannin (0.17 0.76%), phytates (0.15 0.51%) and HCN 0.03 0.26%). The in vitro tests further showed antimicrobial activity of their crude extracts against the pathogens: the cold water extracts had inhibitory effects against the different pathogens with the following ranges of inhibition colony diameters: Aspergillus 0.00 10.7mm, Fusarium 6.7 12.3mm and Botryodiplodia 6.3 16.0mm. However some higher levels of control were achieved with the ethanolic extracts ranging from 6.7 22.3mm for Aspergillus and Fusarium and 6.3 24.7mm for Botryodiplodia. Similar inhibitory effects were also recorded in the in vivo tests with percentage control levels of between 14.42% and 69.04% for ethanol extracts and 0.93% to 46.98% for cold water extracts. It was therefore concluded that the test local plant possess some potentials as anti-microbial/bio-control agents against post harvest yam rot pathogens.