Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Smallholder Farmers’ Commercialization of Head Cabbage

Agricultural commercialization is intended to increase smallholder farmers’ income and reduce rural poverty as well as increase job opportunities to many developing countries, including Ethiopia. However, there are no adequate studies on the determinants of head cabbage commercialization in the study area. This study was aimed to identify status and determinants of farmers’ commercialization decision and level of head cabbage commercialization. A two stage random sampling procedure was used to select 150 sample households head cabbage producer. Descriptive statistics and econometric model were used to analyze the data. About 80% of sample farm households were head cabbage commercialized respectively. Double hurdle model was used in the econometric analysis. In first hurdle result of probit model showed that, land allocated for head cabbage production, frequency of extension contact and access to market information influenced head cabbage producers commercialization decision positively and significantly. Participation in social organizations influenced sample households commercialization decision head cabbage significantly and positively while livestock holding influenced it negatively. In the second hurdle, frequency of extension contact and access to market information affected intensity of head cabbage commercialization significantly and positively while dependency ratio influenced it significantly and negatively. The study indicated that the government, stakeholders and concerned bodies need to focus on facilitating farmers to participate in social organization, strengthen family planning, strengthen extension service and disseminate market information to producers so as to improve head cabbage commercialization and intensity of commercialization.
Leptospiral major outer membrane protein: LipL32

Leptospirosis is now considered a re-emerging infectious disease and may become a severe threat to both developing and developed countries. Technological developments in the last 10 years identified several potential candidate proteins to play significant roles in pathogenesis. Many of these candidate proteins proved to be vital in disease diagnosis and treatment. The 32-kDa lipoprotein (LipL32) is the major surface protein present on pathogenic strains of Leptospira. The involvement of LipL32 in pathogenesis of Leptospirosis has been studied extensively and different lines of evidence indicate that LipL32 is a lipid-modified membrane protein that is similar to several other prokaryotic lipoproteins. This review focuses on LipL32 and its role as a therapeutic and diagnostic target.
Saliva Secretion and Epithelial Transport From Classical Models to Modern Developments

Saliva secretion, produced by the epithelial cells of the salivary glands, is required for the basic functions of eating and speaking, as well as the maintenance of oral health and comfort. Epithelia in general provide crucial barrier, homeostatic, absorptive and secretory functions in the body. This thesis presents original contributions to the understanding of fluid and solute transport by the salivary glands and other epithelia. Despite many years of investigation, debates over mechanisms and pathways of transport remain. Focus was given here to mathematical and computational investigation of water transport via the osmotic mechanism and its coupling to underlying mechanisms of ion transport. The effect of aquaporin knockout studies, acinus structure and different patterns of calcium signalling on this coupling was investigated. Quasi-steady-state, perturbation and scaling methods were used to analyse dynamic, cellular and multicellular mathematical models of osmotically-driven primary saliva secretion. Comparisons between different epithelia were carried out through the use of a simple, general model of fluid transport applicable to both secretory and absorptive epithelia. These analyses were used to provide new interpretations and understanding of aquaporin knockout experiments in the salivary glands and epithelia in general. The effect of asynchronous calcium signals on cellular saliva secretion was analysed by deriving a new approximate mathematical model. This captured the key features of a more complex computational model developed by other researchers at the University of Auckland. A novel application of rearrangement inequalities was used to analyse global model properties. The dynamic coupling of saliva secretion was found to be positively affected by small lumenal volumes and large water permeabilities. Secretion was shown to be maximised when calcium signal delays between membranes are short. These results are significant because both observations are consistent with the relatively long, thin intercellular canaliculi of salivary acini having important functional roles, such as globalisation of calcium signals and enhancement of osmotic coupling. Transcellular osmosis was found to sufficiently predict the results of aquaporin
Seasonal incidence and damage of major insect pests of pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan (L.)

Seasonal dynamics of insect pests in pigeonpea cultivar, Pusa 992 during kharif 2011 and kharif 2012 revealed that pest activity commenced from 36th standard meteorological week (SMW) and continued until 46th SMW. The 38th and 39th SMW were found to be more congenial for pest attack in pigeon pea. Highest larval population of Maruca vitrata was found to be 8.10 and 17.77 larva per plant while that of Grapholita critica was 5.77 and 6.07 larva per plant during two years, respectively. During kharif 2012, pod borer complex caused 19.11 per cent pod damage that could be attributed to M. vitrata (9.7%), pod fly (5.3%), gram pod borer (2.6%) and leaf webber (2.3%). To undertake an effective IPM strategy in pigeonpea crop, location specific information on occurrence and seasonal dynamics of insect pests is indispensible.
Probabilistic approaches for profiling copy number aberrations and loss of heterozygosity landscapes in cancer genomes

Genomic aberrations such as copy number alterations (CNA) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) are hallmarks of human malignancies. These genomic abnormalities can have a measurable effect on the structure and dosage of chromosomal regions. Tumour suppressors and oncogenes altered by CNAs often contribute to a tumourigenic phenotype of increased proliferation. CNA and LOH can accrue through the process of branched evolution, resulting in the emergence of divergent clones with distinct aberrations present at diagnosis. Therefore, measuring and modelling how CNA/LOH distribute in cell populations can elucidate the abundance of specific clones and, ultimately, enable the study of clonal evolution. CNA/LOH events in tumours can be profiled using SNP genotyping arrays and whole genome sequencing (WGS). However, to maximize biological interpretability from these data, accurate and statistically robust computational methods for inferring CNA/LOH are necessary. I present three novel probabilistic approaches that apply hidden Markov models (HMM) to analyze CNA/LOH in tumour genomes. The first method is HMMDosage, which distinguishes somatic and germline copy number events. This tool was used to profile 2000 breast cancers, the largest study of this kind in the world. The second method is APOLLOH, which was one of the earliest methods developed to profile LOH in tumour WGS data. Its application to WGS of 23 triple neg-
Phenylboronic acid-based amphiphilic glycopolymeric nanocarriers for in vivo insulin delivery

Diabetes mellitus, a disorder of glucose regulation, is a global burden affecting millions of people across the world. Oral delivery offers a comfortable and physiologically acceptable way to administer insulin to diabetic patients. However, insulin is a protein, which tends to be degraded by enzymes at the gastrointestinal level and shows low bioavailability via an oral route. Here, to investigate a system that is capable of protecting insulin from being damaged and consistently delivering insulin in response to glucose level changes, we prepared amphiphilic glycopolymer poly(D-gluconamidoethyl methacrylate-random-3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid) (p(GAMA-r-AAPBA)), and the glycopolymer assembled into nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution. Insulin was efficiently encapsulated into nanoparticles with a loading capacity up to 11%. An insulin release experiment revealed that the insulin release could be controlled by modifying the composition of glycopolymers and changing the glucose medium. Cell viability showed that p(GAMA-r-AAPBA) nanoparticles had good cytocompatibility. Moreover, a 2-deoxy-[3H] D-glucose (2-DOG) uptake measurement indicated that insulin-loaded nanoparticles had the same physiological function as insulin. A western blot analysis and an immunofluorescence assay revealed that compared to conventional insulin, insulin released from nanoparticles has an identical hypoglycemic mechanism that increased the translocation of glucose transporter type 4 (Glut4) to the plasma membrane. Importantly, there was a significant decrease in blood glucose levels after the oral administration of insulin-loaded p(GAMA-r-AAPBA) nanoparticles to diabetic rats. Therefore, p(GAMA-r-AAPBA) nanoparticles have the potential to be applied as an oral delivery system for proteins and peptides.
Evaluation of Biocontrol Agents Against Rhizoctonia solani f.sp sasakii Causing Banded Leaf and Sheath Blight of Maize

Microflora were isolated from rhizosphere and phylloplane of maize hybrid 30V92. One fungus, Trichoderma harzianum and one bacterial isolate from rhizosphere and one from phylloplane showed more than 50 per cent suppression of Rhizoctonia solani. Trichoderma harzianum was superior to the commercial biocontrol agents Trichoderma viride, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas fluorescens with per cent inhibition of 67.02. The compatibility of T. harzianum native was tested with four fungicides and two herbicides. T. harzianum was less sensitive to pyraclostrobin at half the recommended dosage (57.64%). The remaining three fungicidess at both the dosages and herbicide pendimethalin at recommended dosage showed complete suppression of T. harzianum. Herbicide atrazine inhibited the growth of T. harzianum upto 70.87% and 60.85% at recommended and half recommended dosages respectively.
Competition of Common Cocklebur (Xanthium pensylvanicum) with Soybean (Glycine max)

The effects of common cocklebur (Xanthium pensylvanicum Wallr.) on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ‘Wells′] development and seed yield were investigated at Urbana, Illinois, from 1974 through 1977. Increased densities of common cocklebur reduced soybean seed yield, total dry weight, and number of pods per plant. Under full-season competition, one common cocklebur/3 m of row reduced soybean seed yield by 3 to 12%. Soybean seed yield, total dry weight, and number of pods per plant increased as the length of time from soybean emergence to common cocklebur emergence increased. Common cocklebur emerging 4 weeks after soybean emergence reduced soybean seed yield by 7%. As duration of competition with common cocklebur increased, soybean seed yield, total dry weight, and number of pods per plant decreased. The reduction in soybean seed yield was less than 10% when common cocklebur was removed 6 weeks after soybean emergence. Effects of common cocklebur competition with soybeans in Illinois were similar to those observed in the southern United States.
Enhancement of maturation and germination of somatic embryos of Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.) by Gellan gum, cold and PGR.

One of the potentially desirable propagation strategies for mass production of walnut cultivars, selected hybrids, or genetically engineered genotypes is somatic embryogenesis. Maturation and germination of somatic embryos of walnut has not been optimized yet. In this study, maturation of somatic embryos of Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.) was evaluated on media containing various concentrations of Gelrite (0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.5%) and PEG (0.0%, 3.0%, 5.0% and 7.5%) in the presence of 2 mg L -1 ABA and 3.0% sucrose. Gelrite was more effective in stimulating the production of mature somatic embryos than PEG The highest number of cotyledonary (70.0%) and normal (50.0%) SEs was obtained with 0.3% Gelrite without PEG Media containing 0.2% Gelrite (control) resulted in the highest secondary embryogenesis. With increasing concentrations of Gelrite, the number of matured somatic embryos was decreased. The combination of Gelrite and PEG was less effective for maturation of somatic embryos. The Gelrite 0.5% and PEG 7.5% caused the highest number of abnormal somatic embryos. For germination of matured somatic embryos, after growing the SEs on maturation medium for four weeks, four treatments including basal medium without PGR, basal medium with PGR, basal medium with cold pretreatment (four weeks at 4°C), basal medium with PGR and cold pretreatment were tested. The highest amount of normal germination and conversion to plantlets (55.0%) was achieved using 0.3% Gelrite and cold pre-treatment and PGR.
Studies on Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis of Elite Baby corn (Zea mays L.), lines

Correlation studies in elite lines of Baby corn indicate that the traits viz., plant height, days to silking, days to harvesting of fresh cobs, cob length, height and weight show significant positive correlations with total cob yield and also among themselves, Path Coefficient analysis reveals that early silking, early harvest of fresh cobs, greater plant height, greater cob length, cob weight and cob height, more no. of cobs/plant, with lesser cob girth would directly contribute to the increased cob yield in Baby corn production.
Distribution and abundance of early life history stages of the blue crab,Callinectes sapidus, in tidal marsh creeks near Charleston, South Carolina

A 16-month study of estuarine habitats in poly-, meso-, and oligohaline salinity regimes near Charleston Harbor assessed the distribution and abundance of megalopae and early crab stages of the blue crab,Callinectes sapidus. Blue crab were sampled with a plankton net and a cylindrical drop sampler. Blue crab were most abundant in plankton collections at night, accounting for 68% of the megalopae and over 88% of the juveniles collected in day and night tows combined. At night, densities of megalopae were greatest in surface samples, whereas densities in daylight collections were greater on the bottom. Juvenile densities were greatest on the bottom in both day and night collections, although catch rates at night were more variable than those of the megalopae. This suggests that megalopae, and possibly juvenile stages, experience a diel vertical migration. Results indicate that ingress to estuarine nursery areas occurs at the megalopal stage. Megalopal densities were highest at the polyhaline site, while juvenile blue crab were most abundant in the oligohaline area. Habitat utilization by juvenile blue crab was estimated using a cylindrical drop sampler and Venturi suction pump on three bottom types in the intertidal zone. Densities were greatest over the sandy-mud substrate, although catch rates were much lower than those reported for other geographical areas. These results suggest that juvenile blue crab do not occur in abundance on the marsh surface but remain on the creek bottom, possibly because creek physiography and large tidal amplitudes may restrict accessibility to the marsh surface.
Toxic-infectious Bacteria in Raw Milk and Soft Cheese in Local Markets -

The present study has been conceding to detect some toxicoinfectious bacteria in raw milk and white soft cheese in local markets. A total of 100 raw cow milk samples and 90 white soft cheese samples were collected from streetâ€“vendors at Alexandria Governorate, Egypt. They were examined organoleptically , Storchâ€™s test was done to all raw milk samples for detection of heat treatment. The samples were examined bacteriologically for Total coliforms count, clostridium spores count , Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, and E. coli O157:H7. The mean value of Coliforms, clostridia spores, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, and E. coli O157:H7 were 2.4x106 Â± 1.2x106, 5.1x103 Â± 0.11x102, 9. 11x102Â± 4.8x102,0. 63x10 Â± 0.01x10, and 0. 3x10Â±0.001x10 respectively in raw milk while in white soft cheese the respective values were 3.3x105 Â± 1.8x105, 3.13x102 Â± 6.4x10, 3.3x103 Â± 0.15x103 , 9.38 x10Â±0.015x10, and 0. The hygienic and health importance of these toxicoinfectious bacteria were discussed.
How representative of a general type 2 diabetes population are patients included in cardiovascular outcome trials with SGLT2 inhibitors? A large European observational study

Enrollment criteria vary substantially among cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs) of sodium‐glucose cotransporter‐2 inhibitors (SGLT‐2is), which impacts the relationship between a trial population and the general type 2 diabetes (T2D) population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the representativeness of four SGLT‐2i CVOTs of a general T2D population.
Effects of smoke, ash and heat shock on seed germination of seven species from Central Zagros rangelands in the semi-arid region of Iran

Fire products have been widely identified as germination cues for a number of species from both fire-prone and fire-free ecosystems. However, there is uncertainty about the effects of fire products on seed germination of semi-arid rangeland species. We examined the germination of seven dominant species from Central Zagros rangelands in the semi-arid region of Iran under various heat shock (60, 80 and 120 °C), aerosol smoke, ash and control treatments. Our findings showed that fire products could enhance, inhibit or not affect the seed germination of rangeland species in this area. The germination percentage of Astragalus adscendens increased following 60 °C heat treatment in comparison with the control. The germination of Astragalus verus, Bromus tectorum, B. tomentellus and Phlomis olivieri were increased significantly using smoke treatment (P<0.0001). The seed germination of B. tomentellus and B. tectorum was promoted by ash treatment, whereas the other species exhibited no response or were inhibited by fire products. In addition, smoke treatment shortened the overall germination time of B. tectorum. These findings suggest that fire products affect the germination of several species and can serve as potential tools for understanding the vegetation dynamics and restoration of disturbed semi-arid rangelands.
Quantitation of HER-2/neu and c-myc gene amplification in breast carcinoma using fluorescence in situ hybridization

HER-2/neu and c-myc amplification or overexpression have been reported to be associated with poor prognosis in breast carcinoma. The prognostic significance, however, remains somewhat controversial, partly because of discrepancies among different methodologies used for detection of the oncogene amplification or overexpression. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has recently been shown to be a useful technique for analyzing genetic alterations in interphase nuclei in various tumors. In this study, FISH was used to quantitate HER-2/ neu and c-myc gene amplification in touch preparations of frozen tissue from 100 node-negative breast carcinomas. HER-2/neu amplification was found to be associated with an abnormal DNA index (P < .001) and tumor size (P < .04). Amplification of c-myc was associated with S phase (P < .0003), abnormal DNA index (P < .003), and a negative estrogen receptor status (P < .01). The coamplification of both oncogenes was strongly associated with an abnormal DNA index (P < .0001) and with tumor size (P < .009). The use of FISH for detection of HER-2/neu gene amplification was 92% concordant with immunocytochemistry (ICC) used for detection of overexpression of HER-2/neu protein. Fifteen of the 100 cases were both amplified for HER-2/neu by FISH and positive by ICC analysis. Seven cases without HER-2/neu gene amplification demonstrated HER-2/neu protein overexpression by ICC. One HER-2/neu-amplified case was negative by ICC. Repeat analysis of a subset of cases showed FISH to be a more reproducible method than ICC in the analysis of HER-2/neu in touch preparations of breast carcinoma. FISH is a rapid and reproducible method that allows the accurate measurement of the level of oncogene amplification within interphase nuclei. The use of FISH should provide a more accurate assessment of the prognostic significance of oncogene amplification in breast carcinoma.
The Effect of Surface Films and Dusts on the Rate of Transpiration

The fungicides commonly employed are either in the form of -solutions (e. g., ammoniacal copper carbonate), suspensions (lime wash and Bordeaux mixture), and powders (sulphur). The use of spray mixtures or other fungicides has become world wide, and many problems of physiological interest have arisen respecting the effects of these substances on the plants which they are designed to protect. Bordeaux mixture has been under continuous observation for a period of about twenty years, and has proved interesting in both its toxic and other relations. The striking influence of this fungicide upon sound plants has awakened widespread interest, and numerous experiments have been made to determine the nature of the effects. Bordeaux mixture consists essentially of suspension films of copper hydroxid and certain other complex (mostly hydrated), largely insoluble, copper compounds; and when properly sprayed upon plant surfaces from the best nozzles, the particles are of extreme fineness, and there is realized aii almost perfect surface film. In spite of the greatest care in preparation and application, it is injurious to certain plants, such as the peach and the plum, and may not be used satisfactorily in such cases for disease control. In recent years it. has been shown that the extent of the injury to the apple and! other plants may be considerable, and Bordeaux mixture is; in such cases being supplanted. In this discussion, however, we may omit any detailed consideration of the toxic effects, of this mixture, a phase of the subject which has received much, consideration in this country from Bain (2), Crandall (6), Clark
Modelagem e estimação de parâmetros do processo de produção de etanol em reator batelada por Saccharomyces cerevisiae

In the present study was investigated the kinetic of batch fermentation with the purpose to describe the ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae . The fermentation was performed in a bioreactor under agitation of 175 rpm, temperature condition equal to 32 °C and pH at 3.0. In order to describe the behavior of microbial growth, product formation and substrate consumption, three mathematical models were proposed: a classic model based on mass balances for the batch reactor; a model based on microbial kinetics weighted by the maximum concentration of microorganism; and a model proposed in an attempt to predict the cellular decay behavior observed experimentally. The model that best fitted the experimental data was the classic model based on Monod kinetics. All models were implemented in FORTRAN and solved by applying the subroutine DASSL, in the end, the ESTIMA program was used to estimate the kinetic parameters of each model and the objective function adopted was least squares function. The estimated values of the parameters obtained for the best model were statistically significant and physically realistic and describe with good accuracy the experimental data: µ max = 0.1155 h -1 ; K 1 = 0.8984 h -1 ; K = 0.4738 h -1 ; Y X/S = 0.0242; Y X/P = 0.0451 e K S = 24.3852 g.L -1 .