Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organic Amendment Effects on the Transformation and Fractionation of Aluminum in Acidic Sandy Soil

Addition of organic amendments can alleviate the level of aluminum (Al) phytotoxicity in acid soils by affecting the nature and quantity of Al species. This study evaluated the transformation of Al in an acidic sandy Alaquod soil amended with composts (10 and 50 g kg−1 soil of yard waste, yard + municipal waste, GreenEdge®, and synthetic humic acid) based on soil Al fractionation by single and sequential extractions. Though the organic compost amendments increased total Al in soil, they alleviated Al potential toxicity in acidic soil by increasing soil pH and converting exchangeable Al to organically bound and other noncrystalline fractions, stressing the benefits of amending composts to improve acid soil fertility. The single‐extraction method appears to be more reliable for exchangeable Al than sequential extraction because of the use of nonbuffered pH extract solution. Florida Agricultural Experiment Station – Indian River Research and Education Center Journal Series Number R‐100601.
Living longer as an anaesthetist: The ‘magic’ lifestyle or the ‘lifestyle polypill’

ABSTRACT The central premise of this paper is that interventions that result in prolongation of human life are good for the individual. We examine three broad lifestyle activities (anaesthetic health and health risks, common health misconceptions, accepted lifestyle modifications to improve longevity) identifying interventions that have been reported to result in reductions in all-cause mortality. With regard to anaesthetic health and health risks, issues around life expectancy, anaesthetic mortality risks and suicide risks are examined. The negative effects of both acute and chronic sleep deprivation, as well as work and call stress on the health of the anaesthetist are identified and possible interventions to mitigate them are proposed. Common health misconceptions are addressed, with specific attention being given to the under-reported beneficial effects of coffee, alcohol and chocolate on longevity and health. Finally, accepted lifestyle modifications, including exercise, diet, aspirin and statins are discussed, and the possible utility and feasibility of the ‘polypill’ is considered. In conclusion, we propose a ‘lifestyle calculator’ to assess the success of lifestyle interventions on all-cause mortality.
Thermodynamics of heterogeneous and anisotropic nonlinear ferroelastic crystals

In a previous paper, in a geometrized framework for the description of simple materials with internal variables, the specific example of ferroelastic crystals with anisotropy grain-tensors a la Maruszewski was considered and the relevant structure of the entropy 1-form was derived. In this contribution the linear morphism defined on the fibre bundle of the process and the transformation induced by the process are obtained as new results within the geometrical model. Furthermore, Clausius-Duhem inequality for these media is exploited, and, using a Maugin technique (see also Colemann-Noll procedure), the laws of state, the extra entropy flux and the residual dissipation inequality are worked out. Finally, following Maugin, the heat equation in the first and the second form are derived.
Development of the ability to lexically encode novel second language phonemic contrasts

Second language (L2) learners must often learn to perceive and produce novel L2 phoneme contrasts. Although both research and intuition suggest that these difficulties can be overcome to some extent with exposure to the L2, it is not known what consequences this kind of learning has for the phonological structure of the L2 lexicon. We present an experiment designed to investigate the lexical representations that learners establish for L2 words that contain novel phonemic contrasts. Specifically, we consider the acquisition of Japanese consonant length contrasts by native speakers of English: Japanese contrasts consonants such as /k/ and /kk/ while English does not. The results indicate that native English speakers do not initially encode consonant length consistently in their lexical representations of Japanese words, as reflected in both listening and production tasks. However, after one year of Japanese experience, the phonological structure of their Japanese lexicon more closely approximates that of native Japanese speakers. We conclude that significant changes to the structure of the L2 lexicon can occur even within the first year of L2 learning.
The effect of plant density on seed yield of two cool tolerant soybean cultivars in Canterbury

The effects of plant density on seed yield of two cool tolerant soybean cultivars were examined in two consecutive seasons at the same site at Lincoln University, Canterbury. In the first season (2000/2001) 25 plant densities ranging from 2 to 84 plants/m2 were established using a systematic (radial) trial design, while in the second season (2001/2002) 5 plant densities (from 20 to 80 plants/m2) were established in replicated plots using a randomised complete block design. Soybean seed yield increased in both seasons as plant density increased to 40 plants/m2, but did not differ among plant densities ranging from 40 to 77 plants/m 2 • Seed yields ranged from 214 to 395 g/m 2 in 2000/2001 and from 221 to 276 g/m2 in 2001/2002 depending on density. Cultivar March out yielded cv. Northern Conquest in the first season, but the reverse occurred in the second season. There was no cultivar x plant density interaction for seed yield in either season. At this site, plant populations higher than 40 plants/m2 did not result in further increases in seed yield because pod number per plant and individual
The evolution of parental and alloparental effort in cooperatively breeding groups: when should helpers pay to stay?

We used a reproductive skew framework to consider the evolution of parental and alloparental effort in cooperatively breeding groups. The model provides the first theoretical treatment of rent payment (the "pay-to-stay" hypothesis) for the evolution of helping behavior of subordinates. According to this hypothesis, not all helping behavior is kin selected, but group members help in order to be allowed to stay in the group and potentially gain breeding positions later in life. We show that reproductive concessions may be replaced by complete skew and voluntary, costly alloparental effort by subordinates once future prospects are included in fitness calculations. This suggests that incomplete skew observed in long-lived species is not due to dominant control over reproduction. Rent payment is predicted to occur when relatedness between subordinate and dominant is low, survival is high, ecological constraints are at least moderately tight, and retaining nonhelping subordinates harms the dominant's fitness. Rent may also be required from related subordinates if helping is very costly (leading to low voluntary helping effort) and ecological constraints are moderately tight. However, related subordinates do not need to have a positive net effect on the dominant's direct fitness to be accepted as group members. We also consider compensatory responses of dominant group members as a potential threat to the stability of renting behavior. If dominants trade off parental effort against their own survival, they may selfishly reduce their own parental effort as a response to increased help. As this improves their own survival, the prospects of territorial inheritance diminish for the subordinate, and subordinates should hence be less willing to accept the rent agreement. However, we show that compensatory responses by "lazy" parents prevent group formation only in borderline cases. Copyright 2002.
Survey on the Knowledge, Attitudes, Primary Prevention Practices and Screening of Skin Cancers in Albinos in Burkina Faso

The objective is to study the knowledge that albinos have on skin cancers, and their attitudes in terms of primary prevention and the screening practices for skin cancers in Burkina Faso. Methods: This is a cross-sectional and descriptive KAP study conducted from May 18th to July 7th 2015. It involved albinos aged at least 12 years. Their general knowledge, prevention attitudes and screening practices were considered. Results: All the responding albinos had already heard about skin cancers. Their main source of information was health workers (65.6%). They were showing at least two risk factors (99.2%) but only 68.3% affirmed having already undergone screening for skin cancer. Ignorance of the existence of screening was the main obstacle to it (16/26). The prevention means used was sun avoidance, the use of cream and protection clothing respectively in 84%, 41.5% and 51.2%. The skin lesions found were hyperpigmented macules (77.8%) then actinic keratosis (40.7%) and finally cheilitis (35.8%). We detected 4 cases of skin cancers confirmed by biopsy. Conclusion: Risk factors are frequent. Participation to screening is still insignificant. A lot is still to be done to extend the protection means. A good awareness-raising campaign and the accessibility to protection means remain for all, the best defense in the fight against skin cancers in albinos.
Effects of diets containing linseed oil or lard and supplemented with pumpkin seeds on oxidative status, blood serum metabolites, growth performance, and meat quality of naked neck chickens

Abstract: This study investigates the effect of two dietary fats, namely linseed oil (LO) and lard (LF), and supplementation with pumpkin seeds (PS) on the performance, oxidative status, and blood serum metabolites of broilers, along with the composition, oxidative stability, and fatty acid (FA) profile of broiler meat. Ninety-six 64-d-old naked neck chickens were randomly distributed into four groups of 24 chickens each (8 chickens per cage, three cages per treatment) and fed a LO diet, a LO diet supplemented with 50 g PS kg-1, a LF diet, and a LF diet supplemented with 50 g PS kg-1. The antioxidant system is increased and reactive oxygen species decreased in chickens fed PS diets. Glycemia and cholesterol levels were significantly lower in the chickens fed PS diets than in those given diets without supplementation; the cholesterol levels were also significantly lower in the chickens fed LO diets than those fed LF diets. However, the LO diet affected the fresh meat quality by decreasing pH values of the meat at 24 h after slaughter. Adding PS to the LO diet improved the oxidative stability of the muscle at day 3 of refrigerated storage. The use of LO instead of LF favourably modulates the FA profile of meat, by increasing both linoleic and α-linolenic acid content and reducing the n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated FA ratio, atherogenic and thrombogenic index.
Evaluation of Bacterial Infiltration in Teeth with Apical Barrier of MTA: An ex-vivo Study

Objective: To evaluate the ability of different MTA thicknesses (3 and 5 mm), with or without conventional fillings, in preventing bacterial infiltration of Enterococcus faecalis in teeth with incompletely formed apices. Material and Methods: Apical barriers were created which 3- and 5-mm-thick of MTA with and without conventional filling of the remaining root. 48 single-rooted human teeth were divided into four experimental groups (n=10) and two controls groups (n=8). After being mounted on a testing apparatus, Enterococcus faecalis was used as an indicator of bacterial infiltration. Inoculations were renewed every 3 days during a period of 60 days, and infiltration was assessed daily by checking the culture medium for turbidity. The results were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics (survival analysis). The level of significance was set at 5%. The tests were performed using the software GraphPad Prism 5.00. Results: The positive control group infiltrated within 24 hours, while the negative control group, no infiltrated. The Long-rank test did not demonstrate the existence of differences between groups. However, the Long-rank test for tendencies showed of a tendency to retard the infiltration. Conclusion: None of the MTA barriers were effective in preventing bacterial infiltration. The gutta-percha filling of the root segment in association with the 5-mm apical barrier of MTA showed a tendency to delay bacterial infiltration.
Characterization of biophysical variables in forest fires over 25 ha in peninsular Spain (1991-2005)

The incidence of forest fires is influenced by several variables of physical and human environment, which determine the probability of ignition and/or propagation of fire. These variables may be grouped into four broad categories: weather conditions, type and condition of vegetation, topographic variables and human activities (Salas y Chuvieco, 1994). Considering the physical environment, the extent of burned area is favoured by the conditions of natural factors such as fuel availability, temperature, precipitation, wind and slope. In this paper our purpose is to describe the burned area in relation to some of the biophysical variables. The main objective is the analysis of the distribution of some of these variables in the burned area in peninsular Spain during the period 1991-2005 to determine possible patterns of this phenomenon. The mapped burned area utilized in this work is a resulting product of visual analysis of both Landsat and SPOT mosaics (1991-1995, 1995-1999, 1999-2000 and 2000-2005). The mapped burned area dataset of forest fires over 25 ha of Peninsular Spain in the period 19912005 called BDAQ. The total amount of burned area mapped was about 1.004. 502 ha, of which 850168 ha is located within forest area (84.6%) (Verdu y Salas, 2010). The accuracy of this product was validated with data from the National Database of Forest Fires (BDIF) of the General Directorate of Biodiversity, with an agreement close to 73%. For the selection of biophysical variables descriptive and/or explanatory of forest fires it has been considered all the available variables related to the ignition and/or propagation. These variables are grouped into three main factors: climate, topography and vegetation (fuel). The climatic variables were obtained from the Climatic Atlas of the Iberian Peninsula (Ninyerola et al., 2005) with a spatial resolution of 200 m. The selected variables related to forest fires were winter precipitation and summer highest temperature. The topographic variables were generated from digital terrain model 1:25.000 from the National Geographic Institute. This is a model with a grid size of 25 meters. The selected variables related to forest fires were elevation and slope. The land use was included from the Corine Land Cover
Characterization of Post-Rainy Season Grown Indigenous and Exotic Germplasm Lines of Sorghum for Morphological and Yield Traits

Sorghum is a major staple crop and vital for the marginal farmers in Asian and African countries. Landraces or germplasm lines adapted to biotic and abiotic stresses are the prime source of adaptive traits in the crop breeding programs. In order to assess the genetic variability, 141 exotic germplasm lines and 36 popular varieties were evaluated for eight agro-morphological traits. Wide range of values were observed for grain yield (6.6–124.4 g/plant), seed index (1.5–7.1 g/100 seeds), panicle length (8–44 cm) and panicle width (7.25 cm). High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for grain yield per plant. The values of broad sense heritability in the sorghum core population ranged from 0.75 to 0.99. Seed weight, days to flowering, panicle width and leaf area were significantly correlated with grain yield (P ≤ 0.01). Seed weight was positively correlated with panicle width (correlation coefficient 0.31), while negatively correlated with panicle length (correlation coefficient −0.15). Cluster analysis resolved all the genotypes into four major clusters. Among germplasm lines, TSG-313 had high seed weight of 7.05 g/100 seeds, while TSG-325 had highest grain yield of 124.4 g/plant as against control variety. Germplasm lines with high heritability scores would help us to utilise them in recombination breeding.
Modelling of the relationship between systolic blood pressure and glucose with the magnesium ion present in the blood plasma: an approach using artificial neural networks

Artificial neural networks became an attractive alternative for modeling and simulation of com- plex biological systems. In the present work, a blood plasma model based on artificial neural networks was proposed in order to evaluate the relationship between the magnesium ion pre-sent in the blood plasma and systolic blood pressure and glucose. Experimental and simu- lated data were used to construct and validate the model. It performed the analysis consider-ing the systolic blood pressure and glucose as a function of magnesium ion concentration at a fixed temperature (37oC). Predictions of these relationships through the proposed model produced errors, on average, below 1% com-pared against experimental data not presented in the training step. The proposed methodology revealed quantitative results and correctly pre-dicted behaviors and trends towards the asso-ciation between magnesium concentrations and systolic blood pressure, and glucose in far agreement with experimental results from lit-erature. These results indicated that artificial neural networks can successfully learn the complexity of the relationships among bio-logical parameters of distinct groups and can be used as a complementary tool to assist studies in which the role of magnesium in systolic blood pressure and glucose are con-sidered.
The Application of Theta Burst Stimulation in Negative Symptoms of Patients with Schizophrenia

: Background : The aim of this research is study of theta burst stimulation on left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in remission of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Materials and Methods : In a placebo, double blind and randomized study, 10 patients with schizophrenia assigned in experimental and control group. The experimental group received 20 sessions of TBS with 50 Hz frequency, but control group were treated just with sham coil. All the patients were appraised before, the 10th sessions and after the treatment. The treatment efficacy was calculated with ANOVA. Results : The results indicated that the experimental group had statistical difference to control group in negative symptoms (p>0.007) and social functioning (p>0.01). But there weren’t any significant difference in quality of life and depression between two groups. Conclusion : Theta burst stimulation can be mentioned as an efficacious treatment for people with schizophrenia.
Validation of the Italian version of the Night Eating Questionnaire (I-NEQ)

1 Department of Health Sciences. University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Italy; 2 Center for Clinical Research and Treatment of Eating Disorders, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Mater Domini, Catanzaro, Italy; 3 “GNOSIS” Research and Psychotherapy Group V, Mondovì, Italy; 4 Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine University of Pavia, Italy; 5 Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, Philadelphia, PA, USA JOURNAL OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY 2017;23:137-144
Estimating the Video Registration Using Image Motions

In this research, we consider the problems of registering multiple video sequences dynamic scenes which are not limited non rigid objects such as fireworks, blasting, high speed car moving taken from different vantage points. In this paper we propose a simple algorithm we can create different frames on particular videos moving for matching such complex scenes. Our algorithm does not require the cameras to be synchronized, and is not based on frame-by-frame or volume-by-volume registration. Instead, we model each video as the output of a linear dynamical system and transform the task of registering the video sequences to that of registering the parameters of the corresponding dynamical models. In this paper we use of a joint frame together to form distinct frame concurrently. The joint identification and the Jordan canonical form are not only applicable to the case of registering video sequences, but also to the entire genre of algorithms based on the dynamic texture model. We have also shown that out of all the possible choices for the method of identification and canonical form, the JID using JCF performs the best.
Recent data on the Late Epigravettian occupation at Riparo Tagliente, Monti Lessini (Grezzana, Verona): a multidisciplinary perspective.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione, Universita degli Studi di Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44100 Ferrara, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Anatomia, Farmacologia e Medicina Legale, Universita di Torino, C.so Massimo d’Azeglio 52, 10126 Torino, Italy 3 Maison de l’Archeologie, Service Municipal d’Archeologie de Chartre, 1 rue de l’Etroit de Degre, 28000 Chartres, France * Corresponding author e-mail: federica.fontana@unife.it
Effects of Sett Size and Spacing on the Growth and Yield of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) at Areka, Wolaita, Southern Ethiopia

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of sett size and spacing on the growth and yield of ginger during 2008 cropping season, at Areka, Southern Ethiopia. The experiment consisted of factorial combination of three inter row spacings (20, 30 and 40 cm), three intra-row spacings (5,10 and 15 cm) and three ginger rhizome sett sizes(£ 3 cm, 3.1 to 6 cm and 6.1 to 9 cm). The design was split-split-plot with three replications. Inter row spacing, intra-row spacing and sett size were assigned to the main plot, sub-plot and sub-sub-plot, respectively. Data on plant growth parameters, yield and yield components were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that in general plants attained higher canopy establishment and reached maximum growth between 120 and 165 days after planting and thereafter declined due to senescence. The interaction effect of inter row spacing by sett size was significant on total biomassha -1 and dried rhizome yield ha -1 . Inter row spacing had significant (P <0.05) effect on number of tillers plant --1 , leaf area per plant, leaf area index, rhizome length, rhizome width, rhizome fingers plant --1 , rhizome fresh weight ha -1 and harvest index but non significant effect on date to 50% emergence and 90 % maturity and other growth parameters. Intra-row spacing had significant (P <0.05) effect on number of tillers plant --1 , plant height, number of leaves per plant, shoot dry weight plant -1 , leaf area, leaf area index, rhizome fingers and total biomass. Sett size also significantly (P <0.05) affected emergence, maturity, number of tillers plant -1 , plant height, leaf length & width, shoot dry weight leaf area, leaf area index rhizome fresh weight ha -1 and harvest index. All the parameters increased with increased in rhizome sett size. The findings showed that growth, yield and yield components of ginger can be improved by using appropriate sett size. In the study the maximum fresh rhizome yield (41808 kg ha -1 ) was achieved using sett size 6.1 - 9.0 cm irrespective of the inter and intra-row spacings, which is similar with recommendation from Tepi and it could be recommended for use by ginger producers in the experiment area and its surroundings. Influence of inter row spacing (20 and 30 cm) was significant while that of intra-row spacing was not on fresh rhizome yield. However, higher yield was obtained from 10 and 15 cm inter row spacing. Therefore, it is advisable to use 20x15 cm and/or 30x10cm inter row and intra-row spacings interchangeably. However, further studies should be conducted to see consistency of the results and come up with site specific recommendation. Keywords: Ginger ; spacing; sett size; Growth; Yield