Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Monitoring the photosystem II behavior of wild and cultivated barley in response to progressive water stress and rehydration using OJIP chlorophyll a fluorescence transient

ABSTRACT To study the effects of progressive drought stress on photosystem II behavior of wild type (Spantaneum) and cultivated barley (Morocco), different levels of soil water availability, including control, moderate, mild, and severe water stress (70%, 50%, 30%, and 10% water holding capacity of soil, respectively) and rehydration were used. Polyphasic OJIP fluorescence transient of Morocco plants exhibited a considerable increase in fluorescence intensity at O, J, and I steps under mild and severe stress relative to slight increase in wild barley. Values of fluorescence parameters and quantum efficiencies, including minimal fluorescence, relative variable fluorescence at phase J and I, maximal quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII), performance index, electron transport yield, and excitation transfer efficiency were influenced by water stress in both genotypes. These parameters were significantly less affected in wild type barley by progressive drought stress compared to Morocco. After re-watering, both genotypes were able to restore from severe drought in most of the traits. Based on our findings, highly correlated values of relative water content (RWC) and independent JIP-test parameters (P < 0.01) indicate that the chlorophyll a fluorescence induction technique is sensitive to plant water status and performance index represent an accurate and reliable indicator for early stress detection and also explore plant vitality under water stress.
Life Planning and Habitus: Opportunities and Constraints Among Unaccompanied Young Refugees in Sweden

The article examines how unaccompanied young refugees in Sweden relate to and talk about their everyday lives and life plans during a time of transition from childhood to adulthood. We regard them as navigators and emotional beings embodying social situations, relationships and sentiments in their habitus throughout their lives affecting their life plans and acting to build capital in social fields. Their narratives show that they all have a life plan. However, disruptions and adjustments of life plans occur, often related to their birth families, deeply embodied in their habitus, to their everyday life, but also to socio-economic and political contexts both globally and locally. Their position as young ‘unaccompanied minors’ is fragile when it comes to realizing future goals. A stable social and economic structure, stability capital, appears to contribute to possibilities of adapting to or maintaining sustainable life plans.
Adsorption of Pure Methane, Nitrogen, and Carbon Dioxide and Their Binary Mixtures on Wet Fruitland Coal

A detailed experimental study has been made of the adsorption of methane, nitrogen and CO{sub 2}, and their binary mixtures, on a wet Fruitland coal at 115 F. Mixture measurements were typically made at nominal gas-phase compositions of 20, 40, 60, and 80 mole percent and pressures to approximately 1,800 psia. These data elucidate clearly the competitive adsorption behavior of the individual components in these mixtures. The experimental information was used to test predictive methods for describing the adsorption behavior of the pure and mixed gases. Models included various two-dimensional equations of state, as well as more traditional methods, such as the Langmuir and loading ratio correlations and the ideal adsorbed solution (IAS) model. The relative merits of the various models are described. In general, all models perform well for pure-gas adsorption; however, results are less satisfactory for mixtures. The errors in mixture predictions increase as the individual components become more dissimilar in their adsorption behaviors. Greatest (percentage) errors occur for the less-adsorbed component and, in the worst case (nitrogen + carbon dioxide), the predictions for nitrogen show errors or more than 100% at some conditions. Overall, the two-dimensional equation-of-state and IAS models perform comparably, and they are more accuratemore » than the Langmuir model. « less
Synthesis and characterization of montmorillonite-type phyllosilicates in a fluoride medium

Abstract The fluorine route is thoroughly investigated for the hydrothermal synthesis of montmorillonite in the Na2O-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O system. Using the optimal conditions suggested by Reinholdt et al. (2001) for the crystallization of pure montmorillonites with the formula Na2x(Al2(1−x)Mg2x □)Si4O10(OH)2, several parameters (x, Mg content, duration of crystallization, F/Si atomic ratio, pH, nature of counterbalance cation) are varied independently from their ideal values. The products are analysed by various techniques (X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis-differential thermal analysis, 29Si, 27Al and 19F magic angle spinning-nuclear magnetic resonance). It appears that a pure montmorillonite can only be obtained within a narrow x range (0.10 ≤x ≤ 0.20). The presence of F in the starting hydrogel and the crystallization time also have significant effects on the purity of the final products. It is shown that a small amount of fluorine is needed for the crystallization of pure montmorillonite phyllosilicates.
Maize farmers knowledge and perception of improved postharvest storage technologies in Kilolo District, Tanzania

This study assessed small-scale maize farmers’ knowledge and perception on the use of improved postharvest storage technologies in Kilolo District, Tanzania. The participants of the study include 260 farmers who were randomly selected from four villages. Data were collected by using interview schedule, questionnaire, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and personal observation. Descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies, and percentages were computed. The study found that majority of respondents had low knowledge on the use of improved postharvest storage technologies. However, majority of the respondents had positive attitudes towards the use of improved postharvest technologies. It is recommended that Kilolo District Council and other development partners should promote the use of improved post-harvest technologies to reduce maize post-harvest losses; develop training programs on capacity building of extension officers and farmers on postharvest handling of maize and ensure that maize postharvest storage technologies are made available to farmers at a subsidized price. Key words: Maize farmers, knowledge, perception, postharvest storage technologies, Kilolo.
Diode Laser Ablation Versus Surgical Scalpel Technique For Gingival Depigmentation: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

: The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the clinical efficiency of gingival depigmentation procedure with conventional scalpel and diode laser techniques. Materials and methods: This study was carried out as a randomized controlled clinical trial, split mouth design, in which fifteen patients having diffuse continuous physiologic pigmentation of the gingiva involving facial aspect of maxillary right to left premolar area were selected. The maxilla was divided into two halves and randomly allotted for “study site” for depigmentation with diode laser technique, and “control site” for depigmentation with scalpel technique. The studied variables were the degree of pain, bleeding, duration of the procedure, wound healing, and level of melanin repigmentation. The follow-up period was twelve months. For statistical analysis, Wilcoxon signed-rank test were conducted. Results: The diode laser technique showed better results regarding pain during the first three days, duration of the procedure, and bleeding. There was no significant difference between diode laser technique and scalpel technique regarding the wound healing and pain experienced by the patient after one week of surgery. Both sites showed recurrence of pigmentation, yet it was after a shorter period on the scalpel site. Conclusion: The findings of the present study scalpel and laser techniques. However, the laser treated sites showed reduced pain experienced by the patient and better operator comfort. Melanin repigmentation was observed on sites treated with scalpel and diode laser, yet faster on the scalpel technique sites.
Dream Experiences in Alexithymia

Alexithymia is a disorder, which has a significant impact on one’s ability to have an insight into their own emotional states, making it impossible to identify and understand the information coming from experienced emotions. Alexithymia consists of the following symptoms: difficulty in identifying and verbalizing emotions, difficulty in distinguishing between emotions and the bodily sensations, external, operational way of thinking, as well as impaired creativity. This way of functioning can have a significant impact on experiencing stress – existing research suggest that people with alexithymia experience prolonged negative affect in face of stress, probably because of the inability to regulate their own emotions, as well as dysfunctional stress regulatory mechanisms. Because of the mentioned symptoms of alexithymia, it is interesting to explore the way of experiencing dreams in alexithymia, such as: dream recall frequency, experiencing nightmares, sleep paralysis and lucid dreams. The existing literature, focused on exploring this relation, is minimal, yet has shown that alexithymia has a significant impact on dream recall frequency, as well as experiencing nightmares. Research also suggests that there are significant relations between high levels of perceived stress and nightmare experiences, as well as sleep paralysis.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORPORATE SOCIAL DISCLOSURES AND BOARD CHARACTERISTICS: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

The concept of disclosure in the financial statements of an organization is pivotal to the existence of the firm. This study investigates the effect of board characteristics on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of listed consumer goods firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, using a sample of ten (10) consumer goods firms. The study covers 10 years (2009-2018) and employed ex post facto research design. OLS regression analysis was adopted. The study found a positive significant relationship between two board characteristics (female directors on board and outside directors) and CSR disclosure of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Therefore, with board characteristics explaining 33.7% of the variation in the CSR disclosure of these firms, we recommend that firms should be encouraged to continue to hire female directors and more of outside directors on their boards. These will improve CSR disclosure and in return benefit the firm legitimately. Keywords: Board characteristics, Corporate social responsibility disclosure, Legitimacy theory, Nigeria
In Situ Calibration of Time Domain Reflectometry Sensors in Multiple Soils

Abstract As part of a larger field study, time domain reflectometry (TDR) sensors were installed to monitor volumetric water content (VWC) change with time at multiple sites across North America. Currently there are many manufactures of TDR equipment and these vendors often provide standard calibration curves that are intended to relate msec return time to volumetric water content (VWC). Some research has suggested that TDR does not require calibration to adequately describe volumetric water content in soil. However, for the method to be most useful, a reasonable estimate of volumetric water content should be made. In this study, an in situ method was used to develop a calibration curve based on soils with many different physical properties. Additionally, the effect of salinity on the calibration curve was examined as well as the difference between horizontal and vertical insertion of sensors. Results from this work indicate that the new in situ calibration curve greatly increases the ability of the sensors to accurately describe VWC across a wide variety of soils when compared to the manufacturer provided relationship. As suggested by the literature, effects from salinity were observed to enhance VWC measurements in soil where electrical conductivity was greater than 1 dS m−1. Based on the limited evaluation of vertical and horizontally installed sensors, vertically installed sensors produced data equally useful to horizontally installed sensors. A new in situ calibration curve has been introduced and greatly improves the use and applicability of TDR across a wide range of soils.
Comparison of abdominal and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy in patients with early stage cervical cancer

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare survival outcomes of open radical hysterectomy and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MIS) in early stage cervical cancer. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 148 patients with stage IB1 - IIA2 cervical cancer who underwent either minimally invasive or open radical hysterectomy. Tumor characteristics, recurrence rate, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) were compared according to surgical approach. Results: In total, 110 and 38 patients were assigned to open surgery and MIS groups. After a medical follow-up of 42.1 months, the groups showed similar survival outcomes (recurrence rate, DFS, and OS). However, in patients with tumor size >2 cm, recurrence rate was significantly higher in MIS group (22.5% vs 0%; p=0.008). And in patients with tumor size >2 cm, MIS group showed significantly poorer DFS than open surgery group (p=0.017), although OS was similar between the two groups (p=0.252). Conclusion: In patients with tumor size >2 cm, MIS was associated with higher recurrence rates and poorer DFS than open surgery. However, in patients with tumor size ≤2 cm, MIS did not seem to compromise oncologic outcomes.
Extraction of Green Acid-Base Indicators From Acanthus Pubescens Flower for Use in the School Laboratory

The use of Acanthus pubescens flower extracts as natural eco-friendly substitutes for synthetic acid base indicators is experimentally confirmed. In this study, it is indicated that ethanolic and acidified ethanol extracts of Acanthus pubescens flower are good replacements to phenolphthalein, bromothymol blue and methyl red in acid-base titrations involving a strong acid versus strong base and a strong acid versus weak base. They can also be used as effective substitutes to phenolphthalein in a weak acid versus strong base titrations. And also the acidified ethanol extracts can be used in place of phenolphthalein and bromothymol blue while the ethanol extracts can replace methyl red in weak acid versus weak base titrations. It is also concluded that the use of Acanthus pubescens flower extract as an indicator in all types of acid base titrations is beneficial because of its economy, eco-friendly nature, ease of preparation, availability, simplicity, non-carcinogenicity, precision and accuracy of results.
Aggregate strength and mechanical behaviour of a sandy loam soil under long‐term fertilization treatments

Current concern for soil quality has stimulated research on soil biological and chemical properties. In contrast, the mechanical behaviour of soil is somewhat neglected. We have examined the effects on soil mechanical properties of more than 100 years of contrasting fertilization employing three treatments from the Askov long‐term experiment: UNF (unfertilized), NPK (mineral fertilized) and AM (animal manured). We have measured tensile strength of aggregates when air‐dry and when adjusted to −10, −30 and −100 kPa pressure potential. Four aggregate size classes were investigated (1–2, 2–4, 4–8 and 8–16 mm diameter). Soil fragmentation was characterized in the field using a drop‐shatter test. Bulk soil strength was determined in the field using a shear vane and a torsional shear box. Soil texture, pH, cation exchange capacity and microbial biomass were measured. The unfertilized soil has little soil organic matter and microbial biomass and is dense. Its aggregates were strong when dry and weak when wet. In contrast, the manured soil had strong aggregates when wet and rather weak ones when dry. The NPK soil generally had intermediate properties. The differences between the soils when dry seem to be related to differences in dispersible clay content, whereas the differences when wet are related to differences in the amount of organic binding and bonding material. The optimal water content for tillage as well as the tolerable range in water content was largest in the manured soil and smallest in the unfertilized soil. Our results indicate that soil mechanical properties should be measured over a range of water regimes to determine the effects of various long‐term fertilization treatments.
Sensory profile of traditional and light versions of commercial strawberry yogurt.

Summary This study evaluated the sensory profiles of 8 commercial samples of strawberry yogurt, 4 traditional and 4 light, using Quantitative Descriptive Analysis. This provided a complete description of the similarities and differences of all the sensory properties that most characterised the samples, and allowed for an identification of which attributes were important and controlled consumer acceptance of the product. The samples were evaluated by a trained panel of 10 judges, who raised the following descriptor terms: a) Appearance: pink colour, presence of pulp, viscosity, presence of bubbles: b) Aroma: natural strawberry, sweet, acid, artificial; c) Taste: sweetness, acid, sweet aftertaste, bitter aftertaste, strawberry, artificial, astringent; and d) Texture: homogeneity and consistence. The consumer tests were evaluated by 97 yogurt consumers using a non-structured 9 cm hedonic scale. The traditional samples received higher mean scores than the light samples for the majority of the attributes evaluated, indicating greater consumer preference for yogurts sweetened with sucrose.
A Dynamic Finite Element Cellular Model and Its Application on Cell Migration

While the tissue is formed or regenerated, cells migrate collectively and remained adherent. However, it is still unclear what are the roles of cell-substrate and intercellular interactions in regulating collective cell migration. In this chapter, we introduce our newly developed finite element cellular model to simulate the collective cell migration and explore the effects of mechanical feedback between cells and between cell and substrate. Our viscoelastic model represents one cell with many triangular elements. Intercellular adhesions between cells are represented as linear springs. Furthermore, we include a mechano-chemical feedback loop between cell-substrate mechanics and cell migration. Our results reproduce a set of experimental observation of patterns of collective cell migration during epithelial wound healing. In addition, we demonstrate that cell-substrate determined mechanics play an important role in regulating persistent and oriented collective cell migration. This chapter illustrates that our finite element cellular model can be applied to study a number of tissue related problems regarding cellular dynamic changes at subcellular level.
Aktivitas Antioksidan Ekstrak Etanol Kamboja Jepang (Adenium obesum) dan Kamboja Putih (Plumeria acuminata)

AbstrakSenyawa antioksidan adalah senyawa yang dapat menangkal dampak radikal bebas dengan cara menghambat stres oksidatif serta menghentikan kerusakan sel dan induksi penyakit. Tanaman kamboja jepang (Adenium obesum) dan kamboja putih (Plumeria acuminata) termasuk tanaman hias yang memiliki khasiat obat. Tanaman ini banyak mengandung senyawa flavonoid dan senyawa antioksidan alami. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui aktivitas antioksidan ekstrak etanol daun dan bunga tanaman kamboja jepang dan kamboja putih. Ekstrak kamboja diperoleh dengan melakukan maserasi daun dan bunga kamboja dengan menggunakan pelarut etanol 70% dan 96%. Ekstrak kental daun dan bunga kamboja diperoleh dengan cara pemekatan ekstrak menggunakan penangas air. Uji skrining fitokimia ekstrak kental berupa kandungan alkaloid, saponin, tanin, flavonoid, terpenoid, dan steroid secara kualitatif, sementara aktivitas antioksidan diuji dengan metode 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Hasil skrining fitokimia ekstrak menunjukkan adanya kandungan alkaloid, tanin, flavonoid, dan saponin dengan nilai IC50 tertinggi ditunjukan oleh ekstrak bunga kamboja putih yang diekstrak dengan etanol 70% yaitu sebesar 98,41 ppm, dan terendah oleh bunga kamboja putih yang diekstrak dengan etanol 96% yaitu 533,13 ppm. Ekstrak etanol tanaman kamboja jepang dan kamboja putih memiliki potensi sebagai antioksidan alami.Abstract Antioxidant compounds are compounds that can counteract the effects of free radicals by inhibiting oxidative stress and stopping cell damage and disease induction. Japanese frangipani plants (Adenium obesum) And white frangipani (Plumeria acuminata), including ornamental plants that have medicinal properties. This plant contains a lot of flavonoid compounds and natural antioxidant compounds. This study aims to determine the antioxidant activity of ethanol extracts of leaves and flowers of japanese frangipani plants and white frangipani. Frangipani extract is obtained by moderating frangipani leaves and flowers by using 70% and 96% ethanol solvents. Thick extracts of frangipani leaves and flowers are obtained by concentrating the extract using a water bath. Phytochemical screening tests of thick extracts containing alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, and steroids qualitatively, while antioxidant activity was tested by the method 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Phytochemical screening results showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, and saponins with the highest IC50 values shown by white frangipani extract extracted with 70% ethanol at 98.41 ppm, and the lowest by white frangipani extracted with 96% ethanol at 533.13 ppm. Ethanol extract of japanese frangipani and white frangipani plants have potential as natural antioxidants.
APPLICATION OF CHEMOMETRIC METHODS IN EXAMINING OF THE RETENTION BEHAVIOR AND LIPOPHILICITY OF NEWLY SYNTHESIZED CYANOACETAMIDE DERIVATIVES

Lipophilicity, as an important molecule's property, was analyzed on a series of newly synthesized N-(4-phenylmonosubstituted) cyanoacetamides, by applying the reversed phase thin-layer chromatography (RP-TLC), RP TLC18, in the presence of different organic modifiers in various concentrations (ethanol, n-propanol, acetone and tetrahydrofuran) and by mathematical method, using different software packages. The effect of the chemical structure as well as influence of the applied organic solvents on retention behavior of investigated derivatives was studied. Using different chemometric methods as linear regression analysis, principal component analysis and sum of ranking differences, experimentally determined lipophilicity of investigated compounds (chromatographic retention constant ) was correlated with partition coefficients, log P, as a standard measure of lipophilicity, calculated by applying different computational techniques. The obtained results indicate that all used methods gave approximately similar grouping of the studied lipophilic parameters and demonstrated that the chromatographic retention data are in a good agreement with standard measure of lipophilicity. This fact confirm that chromatographic retention parameter of the investigated N-(4-phenylmonosubstituted) cyanoacetamides obtained by RP-TLC could be used for the description of their lipophilicity.