Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial Activity and Analysis of the Essential Oils of Selected Endemic Edible Apiaceae Plants Root from Caspian Hyrcanian Region (North of Iran)

Background: Different endemic species of Apiaceae that widely grow in Hyrcanian region have long been used as spices and herbal remedies. Chemical compositions and bioactivity of many of these plants have not been studied scientifically. The volatile constituents and antimicrobial activity of four edible Apiaceae plants—Elaeosticta glaucescens Boiss, Malabaila secacul (Mill.) Boiss, Caucalis platycarpos L. , and Eryngium caucasicum Trautv—roots were investigated. Methods: Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (GC–FID) methods were used for chemical investigation. Antimicrobial potential of the volatile compositions of these roots were investigated using the disc diffusion method on four microorganisms including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacillus subtilis. Results: The best minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of these species were revealed for B. subtilis and S. aureus (500 µg/mL for MIC and MBC) followed by E. caucasicum and C. platycarpus, respectively. The main compounds of E. caucasicum root essential oil were hexyl isovalerate (11.0%) and hexyl valerate (10.1%). E. glaucescens root essential oil was mainly composed of 3(10)-caren-4-ol, acetoacetic acid ester (9.8%), octyl isovalerate (8.9%), and octyl acetate (5.7%). In C. platycarpos root, hexyl isovalerate (9.2%) and n-octyl isobutyrate (8.5%) were constituted the major compositions of the essential oil while n-hexyl isobutyrate (8.5%) and hexyl hexanoate (7.8%) were predominant compounds in M. secacul. Conclusion: The essential oils of E. caucasicum and C. platycarpus roots were contained high amount of short chain fatty acid esters (SCFAE) and trans- pinocarvyl acetate. They exhibited moderate antibacterial activity.
Ultrathin-Body TiO2 Thin Film Transistors With Record On-Current Density, ON/OFF Current Ratio, and Subthreshold Swing via O2 Annealing

In this letter, we report ultrathin-body (~15 nm) TiO<sub>2</sub> thin film transistors (TFTs) with unprecedented electrical performance: ON-current density (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$I_{\text{on}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of 16.7 mA/mm, ON/OFF current ratio (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$I_{\text{ON}}/I_{\text{OFF}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.2 \times 10^{9}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and subthreshold swing (SS) of 101 mV/dec. The TiO<sub>2</sub> channel layer was deposited by thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD) followed by post-annealing in O<sub>2</sub> ambient. The material characterizations indicate the formation of anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> polycrystalline films and a lack of detectable oxygen vacancies, which could have acted as charging traps in channel and channel/dielectric interface, benefiting the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$I_{\text{ON}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and the SS. These high-performance ultrathin-body TiO<sub>2</sub> TFTs open a new venue in many applications such as high-resolution display and radiofrequency identification (RFID) tag, where high on currents and steep SS are required.
Storing copper in Streptomyces lividans: structural and biochemical properties of a copper storage protein

Copper (Cu) is essential to the growth and the morphological development of Streptomyces lividans. Understanding how Cu regulates the key development switches in this Gram-positive bacterium has been an area of extensive research. In particular, how Cu homeostasis and regulation are controlled and how metalation of enzymes important for morphological development is achieved have been previously investigated. To this end, this thesis reports the discovery of a cytosolic copper storage protein in S. lividans and offers new insight into intracellular Cu regulation, which is not under direct control of the Cu regulator protein CsoR (copper sensitive operon repressor). This copper storage protein belongs to a family of recently discovered cytosolic proteins known as Csp3. These members are exclusively found in the bacterial cytosol and comprise of a four-helix bundle that assemble into homotetramers and can bind between 70-80 Cu(I) ions through mainly Cys thiolate coordination. In Chapter 2 bioinformatic analyses reveals the phylogenetic distribution of Csp3 across Bacteria and Archaea and confirms the presence of Csp3 in S. lividans. Furthermore, the Csp3 in S. lividans is located in a gene environment that is sensitive to elevated Cu levels. Taxonomic distribution of these genes reveals a possible link to a novel transmembrane Cu export system that could facilitate removal of Cu from Csp3. X-ray structures of the apo and Cu(I) bound forms of the Csp3 from S. lividans have been determined and confirm a homotetramer assembly that can bind up to 80 Cu(I) ions (Chapter 3). The binding of Cu(I) ions in Csp3 is found to be cooperative with a Hill coefficient of 1.9 and Cu(I) can be transferred to Csp3 from a CopZ-like Cu(I) chaperone (Chapter 3). A Δcsp3 null-mutant in S. lividans reveals that Csp3 is operable at high Cu levels and this suggests it acts to provide an additional level of protection against Cu toxicity once the CsoR system becomes saturated (Chapter 3). The mechanism of Cu(I)-loading to Csp3 has also been investigated through X-ray crystallography, site-directed mutagenesis and stopped-flow reaction kinetics using aqueous Cu(I) and Cu(I) chelated by a donor. A clear role for a His residue (His107) leading to the formation of a tetranuclear [Cu4(μ2-S-Cys)4(Nδ1-His)] cluster is observed, followed by the loading of Cu(I) in a fluxional and dynamic manner (Chapters 4 and 5). Finally, over-expression studies of a putative transmembrane protein (SLI_RS17250) that is encoded by a neighbouring gene to the S. lividans Csp3 gene and could be part of a novel Cu export system, identified in Chapter 2, is described (Chapter 6).
Linearization of the effect of slit function changes for improving Ozone Monitoring Instrument ozone profile retrievals

Abstract. We introduce a method that accounts for errors caused by the slit function in an optimal-estimation-based spectral fitting process to improve ozone profile retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) ultraviolet measurements (270–330 nm). Previously, a slit function was parameterized as a standard Gaussian by fitting the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the slit function from climatological OMI solar irradiances. This cannot account for the temporal variation in slit function in irradiance, the intra-orbit changes due to thermally induced change and scene inhomogeneity, and potential differences in the slit functions of irradiance and radiance measurements. As a result, radiance simulation errors may be induced due to convolving reference spectra with incorrect slit functions. To better represent the shape of the slit functions, we implement a more generic super Gaussian slit function with two free parameters (slit width and shape factor); it becomes standard Gaussian when the shape factor is fixed to be 2. The effects of errors in slit function parameters on radiance spectra, referred to as pseudo absorbers (PAs), are linearized by convolving high-resolution cross sections or simulated radiances with the partial derivatives of the slit function with respect to the slit parameters. The PAs are included in the spectral fitting scaled by fitting coefficients that are iteratively adjusted as elements of the state vector along with ozone and other fitting parameters. The fitting coefficients vary with cross-track and along-track pixels and show sensitivity to heterogeneous scenes. The PA spectrum is quite similar in the Hartley band below 310 nm for both standard and super Gaussians, but is more distinctly structured in the Huggins band above 310 nm with the use of super Gaussian slit functions. Finally, we demonstrate that some spikes of fitting residuals are slightly smoothed by accounting for the slit function errors. Comparisons with ozonesondes demonstrate noticeable improvements when using PAs for both standard and super Gaussians, especially for reducing the systematic biases in the tropics and midlatitudes (mean biases of tropospheric column ozone reduced from -1.4∼0.7 to 0.0∼0.4 DU) and reducing the standard deviations of tropospheric ozone column differences at high latitudes (by 1 DU for the super Gaussian). Including PAs also makes the retrievals consistent between standard and super Gaussians. This study corroborates the slit function differences between radiance and irradiance, demonstrating that it is important to account for such differences in the ozone profile retrievals.
Assessment on the levels of selected essential and non-essential metals in sesame seeds (Sesamum indicum L.) collected from Sheraro Town, Northwest Tigray, Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of essential and non-essential metals in sesame seeds ( Sesamum indicum L.). Six sesame seed samples (three red and three white) were purchased randomly from six shops in Sheraro, Tigray, Ethiopia. The levels of Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb in the sesame samples were determined by FAAS. 5 g of dried and homogenized samples were digested using 30 mL of HNO 3 (70%) and 25 mL of HCl (37%) at 120 o C for 5 hours. The efficiency of the procedure was validated by spiking and the percent recovery for all studied metals varied from 90-120%. The mean levels of the metals (mg/kg) were found in the ranges 35.5-43.1, 58.1-67.0, 15.3-21.3, 0.202-0.262 and 0.08-0.114 for Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb, respectively. Analysis of variance at 95% confidence level indicated significant variations only for Cu and Zn. Thus, the sesame seeds analyzed are safe for human consumption. KEY WORDS : Sesamum indicum L. , Essential metals, Non-essential metals, FAAS, Shiraro, Tigray (Ethiopia) Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019 , 33(2), 191-202. DOI: https://dx.doi. org/10.4314/bcse.v33i2. 1
Effect of modified atmosphere package on apricot fruit storability

The aim of this work was to study the effect of modified atmosphere package (MAP) on apricot storability. Apricots (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivar Jumbo cot were harvested at commercial ripening stage. The fruits were treated with different storage treatments as following: i) control storage for 13 days at 1 °C, ii) stored fruit at 1 °C for 10 days then 3 days at shelf at 25 °C, iii) fruit stored in MAP at 1 °C for 13 days and iv) fruit stored in MAP at 1 °C for 10 days then 3 days at shelf at 25 °C. Data showed the positive effect of MAP in keeping the apricot fruit for long time with better quality than the control fruit. MAP showed positive effect by recording the lowest fruit weight loss, the highest firmness and lowest chilling injury and fruit decay.
Self-Consistent Field Theory Coupled with Square Gradient Theory of Free Surfaces of Molten Polymers and Compared to Atomistic Simulations and Experiment

A self-consistent field (SCF) theoretic approach, using a general excess Helmholtz energy density functional that includes a square gradient term, is derived for polymer melt surfaces and implemented for linear polyethylene films over a variety of temperatures and chain lengths. The formulation of the SCF plus square gradient approximation (SGA) developed is generic and can be applied with any equation of state (EoS) suitable for the estimation of the excess Helmholtz energy. As a case study, the approach is combined with the Sanchez–Lacombe (SL) EoS to predict reduced density profiles, chain conformational properties, and interfacial free energies, yielding very favorable agreement with atomistic simulation results and noticeable improvement relative to simpler SCF and SGA approaches. The reduced influence parameter invoked in the SGA to achieve accurate density profiles and interfacial free energies is consistent with the definition of Poser and Sanchez, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 1979, 69, 539–548. The .
Interactive Effect of Zinc and Phosphorus on Feba Bean Growth.

In Egypt ,many farmers have adopted large quantities of P-fertilization in planting their crops ,especially faba bean plant . Although, surveying literature indicated that P-application at high rates induce imbalance between macro and micro nutrients. For this reason, afield experiment was conducted in a private farm, Borg El-Nor at Aga District, Dakahlia Governorate. , under alluvial soil during the winter season of 2014/2015 to determine the effect of high doses of phosphorus fertilizer in the presence or absence of Zn foliar application under inoculation or without inoculation and investigate the interactive effects on growth parameters ,nutrient content and yield of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) Sakha1 at flowering and harvest stages. The combined effects of phosphorus, Zinc and Rhizobium were investigated by combining four P levels (0,13.08,26.16 and 39.42 kg P fed ) and two spraying rate of Zn (0 and 100 ppm Zn). Also, each treatment was studied twice; once in the presence of strains inoculants at the rate of 400 g / fed and the other without inoculation . The experimental design was split split plot with three replicates. The results show that the application of 26.16 kg P fed (P3) with the spraying of Zn under inoculation or without inoculation produced higher plant height , number of leaves, shoots fresh and dry weight, protein of grain , seed index and seed yield than that obtained for the control treatment. Moreover, increasing P-fertilization level to 39.34 kg P fed with Zn spraying, under inoculation or without inoculation ,resulted in significant decrease in all growth parameters except straw yield than the levels of 26.16 kg P fed . Also, the interaction between all studied treatments significantly affected chemical constituents at the two studied stages.
The determinants of mobile-phone usage among small-scale poultry farmers in Ghana

This paper makes the firm assumption that the effective use of ICT tools such as the mobile phone may hold the key to introducing the needed dynamism and efficiency in agricultural extension delivery in Ghana. It therefore seeks to examine the dynamics of the use of mobile phone among poultry farmers in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. One hundred and fifty poultry farmers selected from the Greater Accra Region were interviewed using structured questionnaires. The study showed a high penetration of mobile phones among the poultry farmers. A regression analysis showed that demographic variables such as age, sex, educational level, experience and size of holdings influenced the use of mobile phone. Network failure was cited as the major constraint to the use of mobile phones. There is the need for the required investment to build a more robust infrastructural base for the use of mobile phone as it remains a critical tool to supporting agricultural extension delivery among Ghanaian farmers.
Improving Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Fruit Nectar Blends Using Some Medicinal Extracts

A great global interest in developing processing and consuming functional foods has emerged because of the increasing clinical evidence on the health promoting impacts of those foods. So, some fruit juices are mixed to obtain functional and nutraceuticals fruit nectar blends. Different ratios (10, 15 and 20%) of aromatic plant extracts namely, ginger, rosella, peppermint and aloe vera, which are rich sources of phytochemicals, were mixed with best selected nectar blends to enhance the bioactive compounds of nectar blends and improve flavors, antioxidant activity and functional properties. The main physico-chemical properties, bioactive compounds and the antioxidant activity of selected fruit nectar blends were determined. The obtained results revealed that, fruit nectar blends had antioxidant activity higher than sole fruit nectars. Antioxidant activity of all medicinal extracts ranged from 30.450 to 94.698%. Roselle and peppermint extracts had the highest antioxidant activity (94.698 and 84.273%, respectively). Twelve flavonoid and twenty-six phenolic compounds were separated from medicinal extracts and identified by HPLC. Hesperidin was the predominant flavonoid compound in all extracts which recorded 5119.542, 2729.49, 2399.185 and 815.593 mg/100gm for roselle, peppermint, aloe vera and ginger extracts, respectively. While, chlorogenic and catechin (1659.769 and 1008.031 mg/100gm, respectively) were the major phenolic compounds. Roselle and peppermint extracts were more effective than aloe vera and ginger extracts. All medicinal extracts led to increase flavonoid and phenolic compounds contents of fruit nectar blends and improved the bioactive compounds content which had healthy benefits of these blends. Generally, mixing of fruit juices resulted in the greatest antioxidant activity which was accumulative and synergistic. As well as, addition of medicinal extracts to fruit nectar blends increased the bioactive compounds contents and improved the antioxidant activities of these blends.
Improvement Yield and Quality of Dahlia Flowers by Exogenous Application of Gibberellic Acid and Salicylic Acid under Sandy soil Conditions

Dahlia is one of the popular cut flowers in the world which characterized by the rich variety and attractive flower colors. Hence, in a field study 100, 200, 300mgL−1 gibberellic acid (GA3) and salicylic acid (SA) were used during two successive seasons 2015 and 2016 to determine the possible role of each growth regulator in improving marketable quality, increasing yield and vase life of dahlia. Results indicated that the tallest plants (118.43cm) were those sprayed with GA3 at 200mgL-1. Additionally, it showed that foliar application of GA3 or SA at 200mgL−1 significantly increased the number of branches plant-1, fresh and dry weight plant-1, leaf numbers, leaf area plant-1, flower numbers, flower quality and vase life as well as tuber length, and numbers plant-1. The most rapid flowering (39.57 days after planting) occurred when plants were sprayed with GA3 at 200mgL1. Concomitant to the enhancement in the vegetable and flowering attributes, an increscent in the anthocyanin content and total soluble solids was observed in the petals by increasing GA3 and SA concentrations up to 200mgL−1. Additionally, a significant increment in the total chlorophyll content was recorded with GA3 and SA treatments. In conclusion, the vegetative and flowering characters of dahlia could be improved by application of either GA3 or SA.
Robust forecast aggregation: Fourier L2E regression

The Good Judgment Team led by psychologists P.Â Tetlock and B. Â Mellers of the University of Pennsylvania was the most successful of five research projects sponsored through 2015 by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity to develop improved group forecast aggregation algorithms. Each team had at least 10 algorithms under continuous development and evaluation over the 4â€ year project. The mean Brier score was used to rank the algorithms on approximately 130 questions concerning categorical geopolitical events each year. An algorithm would return aggregate probabilities for each question based on the probabilities provided per question by thousands of individuals, who had been recruited by the Good Judgment Team. This paper summarizes the theorized basis and implementation of one of the two most accurate algorithms at the conclusion of the Good Judgment Project. The algorithm incorporated a number of preâ€ and postprocessing steps, and relied upon a minimum distance robust regression method called L2E. The algorithm was just edged out by a variation of logistic regression, which has been described elsewhere. Work since the official conclusion of the project has led to an even smaller gap.
Flabelliferin removal by sodium salts and sodium hydroxide: Pretreatment in Borassus flabellifer mesocarp

The mesocarp of Borassus flabellifer has been proven to be a good potential as a food ingredient; however, the presence of bitterness in it is a deterrent to its acceptable application. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the effectiveness of sodium hydroxide, sodium chloride, and sodium bicarbonate at 1% to 3% concentrations in reducing the bitter component, flabelliferin, in the mesocarp of B. flabellifer and how the pretreatment could affect the reduction of flabelliferin and phenolics contents. Eleven compounds were identified in the mesocarp by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS), which consisted of seven types of phenolics, two types of antocyanidins, and two types of steroidal saponins. The highest reduction at 46.2% of flabelliferin was obtained by 3% sodium hydroxide treatment. However, the removal of the bitter component was also concurrently resulted in a decrease of the total phenolic contents (0.16 mg GAE/g) of the sample. Mild treatment such as enzymatic treatment should be employed as the alternative method to preserve the antioxidant content in the mesocarp of B. flabellifer in order to promote its application in the food industry as a potential food ingredient.
Effectiveness of short-term air quality emission controls: a high-resolution model study of Beijing during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit period

Abstract. We explore the impacts of short-term emission controls on haze events in Beijing in October–November 2014 using high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) simulations. The model reproduces surface temperature and relative humidity profiles over the period well and captures the observed variations in key atmospheric pollutants. We highlight the sensitivity of simulated pollutant levels to meteorological variables and model resolution and in particular to treatment of turbulent mixing in the planetary boundary layer. We note that simulating particle composition in the region remains a challenge, and we overpredict NH4 and NO3 at the expense of SO4. We find that the emission controls implemented for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit period made a relatively small contribution to improved air quality (20 %–26 %), highlighting the important role played by favourable meteorological conditions over this period. We demonstrate that the same controls applied under less favourable meteorological conditions would have been insufficient in reducing pollutant levels to meet the required standards. Continued application of these controls over the 6-week period considered would only have reduced the number of haze days when daily mean fine particulate matter exceeds 75 µg m−3 from 15 to 13 d (days). Our study highlights the limitations of current emission controls and the need for more stringent measures over a wider region during meteorologically stagnant weather.