Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
POLISH JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCES

The aim of the research was to assess the quality of 21 soil-grown determinate tomato varieties. All of them are recommended for crop production in Polish climate conditions. The colour of fruits and the contents of dry mass, extract, total sugars, vitamin C and carotenoids were analysed. It is not feasible to select one single variety with high levels of all the studied parameters. The varieties with the highest content of total carotenoids (Ricoco and Progress) are characterized by the low content of vitamin C. Malinowy Kujawski variety is characterised by the high content of dry mass and the highest content of total extract and sugars. However, it has the lowest value of a* parameter and low content of carotenoids. Due to small size of fruits, high contents of dry matter, total extract, sugars and total carotenoids Progress variety can be recommended both for the fresh market and processing. OCENA WYBRANYCH PARAMETRÓW FIZYKOCHEMICZNYCH OWOCÓW 21 ODMIAN SAMOKOŃCZĄCYCH POMIDORA GRUNTOWEGO (LYCOPERSICON ESCULENTUM Mill.) UPRAWIANEGO W POLSCE Marta Zalewska-Korona, Wojciech Radzki, Ewa Jabłońska-Ryś, Aneta Sławińska Katedra Technologii Owoców, Warzyw i Grzybów Uniwersytet Przyrodniczy w Lublinie S ł o w a k l u c z o w e: odmiany pomidora, barwa, skład chemiczny, karotenoidy, witamina C. Address: Ewa Jabłońska-Ryś, University of Life Science in Lublin, ul. Skromna 8, 20-704 Lublin, Poland, phone: +48(81) 462 33 08, e-mail: ewa.jablonska-rys@up.lublin. pl
Synthesis of Hybrid Cellulose Acetate Membranes and Application of the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa Isoconversional Method

The synthesis of hybrid materials is a promising alternative in the production of materials with optimized properties. In this context, the classic cellulose acetate membranes are being modified. It is worth mentioning that knowing the thermal stability of cellulosic materials is an essential factor in their use since organic polymers have low thermal resistance, limiting their applicability. This work evaluates the synthesis and the study of the thermal degradation kinetics of hybrid cellulose acetate membranes. The synthesis was carried out using the sol-gel process, with the phase inversion technique, through the reaction of cellulose acetate with organometallic precursors: tetraethyl orthosilicate, TEOS; 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane, APTES, and titanium isopropoxide, TiPOT, in fixed composition. Thermal characterization was performed with thermogravimetric analysis at different heating rates under a nitrogen atmosphere. The kinetic parameter of thermal decomposition activation energy, Ea, was estimated with the isoconversional method proposed by Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO). The degradation kinetics shows that the change in the chemical composition of the samples directly interferes with their thermal properties. Thus, it is possible to observe that the activation energy found for the reference sample, AC-Pure, in the first and second batches was 233.5 and 219.05 kJ/mol, respectively. The composition modification results in an increase in activation energy, in which sample B0//100-30 recorded 310.31 and 226.05 kJ/mol in the first and second batches; and sample B100//0-30 reached 452.73 and 424.74 kJ/mol. It is clear that the increase in the thermal resistance of the samples is associated with the change in the chemical composition and must be attributed to the increase in the TEOS content in the composition due to the formation and increase in the presence of siloxane groups in the material.
POLISH JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCES

The aim of the study was to examine the possibility of processing red-fleshed apples into cloudy juices. In a series of experiments on laboratory and semi-technological scale, the effect of enzymatic treatment of the pulp, an addition of ascorbic acid, centrifugation of the must and storage conditions on the physicochemical quality of the finished juice were investigated. The following red-fleshed apple cultivars were used: „Trinity”, „Maypole”, „Alex Red”, and as the control: „Shampion” and „Idared” cultivars. Studies have shown that an addition of ascorbic acid during pressing, in the amount of 500–100 mg kg of pulp, increased anthocyanins extraction into juice and prevented their oxidation. The enzymatic treatment of the pulp did not affect the pressing yield, and adversely affected the content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. It was found that due to the rapid degradation of anthocyanins the red-fleshed apple juices should be stored at low temperatures. PRODUKCJA I JAKOŚĆ MĘTNYCH SOKÓW Z JABŁEK CZERWONOMIĄŻSZOWYCH Monika Mieszczakowska-Frąc, Maria Buczek, Dorota Kruczyńska, Jarosław Markowski 1 Oddział Ogrodnictwa, Instytut Ogrodnictwa w Skierniewicach 2 Oddział Doświadczalny w Brzeznej, Instytut Ogrodnictwa w Skierniewicach S ł o w a k l u c z o w e: mętny sok, jabłka czerwonomiąższowe, polifenole, antocyjany, produkcja soku. Address: Monika Mieszczakowska-Frąc, Research Institute of Horticulture, Division of Pomology, ul. Konstytucji 3 Maja 1/3, 96-100 Skierniewice, Poland, phone: +48 46 834 54 27, e-mail: monika.mieszczakowska@inhort.pl
POLISH JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCES

The quality of wheat grain determines the quality of flour and this becomes important in subsequent processing stages and impacts the end products. The objective of the studies was to determine whether a method of applying nitrogen both with and without compound fertilizers at different growth stages of spring wheat impacted the crop yield and qualitative parameters of grain and flour. A three-year field experiment was in north-eastern Poland at the Teaching and Research Station of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. Spring wheat was cultivated with the application of different treatments of nitrogen fertilization with a total dose of 120 kg ha-1. The nitrogen fertilizers were applied to the soil or to soil and on leaves (foliar application) with and without microelements at the following growth stages: tillering, stem elongation and heading. It was concluded that the fertilization methods did not impact the grain yield. Soil urea application at doses of 40 kg ha-1 at the tillering and stem elongation stages mostly increased the protein content in grain and flour, vitreousness of grain, gluten content and alveographic – W parameter compared to the other fertilization variants. Soil application of the fertilizer with macronutrients and trace minerals generally produced worsened grain parameters, especially the protein grain content and the Zeleny index. The weather conditions most affected the grain yield and such grain and flour parameters as kernel weight, kernel diameter, hardness Address: Małgorzata Warechowska, University of Warmia and Mazury, ul. Heweliusza 14, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland, phone: +48 (89) 523 34 13, e-mail: gosiaw@uwm.edu. pl Małgorzata Warechowska et al. 200 index and P/L index. The soil urea application at a dose of 40 kg ha-1 at the elongation stages contributes to better grain quality than foliar application of urea at doses of 20 kg N ha-1 at the stem elongation and heading stages.
Growth and functioning of the microbial plankton community: effects of temperature, nutrients and light

Microbial plankton form the basis of the food web in aquatic habitats. Due to their vast abundances they influence the cycling of elements and the Earth’s climate at a global scale. This thesis aims at a better understanding of how environmental factors such as temperature and the availability of nutrients and light affect the growth and functioning of microbial plankton communities. The thesis combines experimental studies and mathematical modelling to address open questions in community ecology that range from rather detailed questions on the physiology and growth of marine N2-fixing cyanobacteria to more general questions on the mechanism controlling the species composition and functioning of entire communities. The insights obtained from this thesis show that temperature, nutrients and light have interactive effects on the growth and functioning of microbial plankton communities. Under ideal growth conditions temperature strongly increases plankton growth rates, suggesting that global warming will have a strong direct effect on the growth and species composition of plankton communities in eutrophic systems. However, low nutrient concentrations and low light availability dampen the effect of temperature, suggesting that oligotrophic ecosystems are generally more constrained by nutrient limitation than by temperature. Furthermore, the temperature response varies among species depending on their physiological traits. In particular, our results suggest that global warming will favor marine N2-fixing cyanobacteria more than other phytoplankton species. The results obtained in this thesis are therefore highly relevant in the context of global climate change and anthropogenic changes in nutrient cycling.
The Effect of Dietary Supplementation with Probiotic and Postbiotic Yeast Products on Ewes Milk Performance and Immune Oxidative Status

The administration of yeast products as feed additives has been proven to beneficially affect animal productivity through energy, oxidative, and immune status improvement. This study evaluated a combination of Saccharomyces cerevisiae live yeast (LY) with yeast postbiotics (rich in mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) and beta-glucans) and selenium (Se)-enriched yeast on ewes’ milk performance and milk quality, energy and oxidative status, and gene expression related to their immune system during the peripartum period. Ewes were fed a basal diet (BD; F:C = 58:42 prepartum and 41:59 postpartum) including inorganic Se (CON; n = 27), the BD supplemented with a LY product, and inorganic Se (AC; n = 29), as well as the combination of the LY, a product of yeast fraction rich in MOS and beta-glucans, and organic-Se-enriched yeast (ACMAN; n = 26) from 6 weeks prepartum to 6 weeks postpartum. The β-hydroxybutyric acid concentration in the blood of AC and ACMAN ewes was lower (compared to the CON) in both pre- and postpartum periods (p < 0.010). Postpartum, milk yield was increased in the AC and ACMAN Lacaune ewes (p = 0.001). In addition, the activity of superoxide dismutase (p = 0.037) and total antioxidant capacity (p = 0.034) measured via the 2,2-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) method was increased in the blood plasma of the ACMAN postpartum. Higher ABTS values were also found (p = 0.021), while protein carbonyls were reduced (p = 0.023) in the milk of the treated groups. The relative transcript levels of CCL5 and IL6 were downregulated in the monocytes (p = 0.007 and p = 0.026 respectively), and those of NFKB were downregulated in the neutrophils of the ACMAN-fed ewes postpartum (p = 0.020). The dietary supplementation of ewes with yeast postbiotics rich in MOS and beta-glucans, and organic Se, improved energy status, milk yield and some milk constituents, and oxidative status, with simultaneous suppression of mRNA levels of proinflammatory genes during the peripartum period.
Effects of reef roughness on wave setup and surf zone currents

ABSTRACT Franklin, G.L. , Mariño-Tapia, I. and Torres-Freyermuth, A. , 2013. Effects of reef roughness on wave setup and surf zone currents. Circulation in reef systems controls an important number of key processes, such as the transport and dispersion of larvae, nutrients, and sediments. In fringing reef systems, where a shallow lagoon backs onto the reef crest, circulation appears to be dominated by wave breaking. Despite the identified importance of wave driven flows within reef systems, there is a lack of detailed knowledge on these processes within the surf zone of reef crests and the effects reef roughness has on these flows. A numerical study, using two-dimensional (2DV) simulations, was carried out in order to improve the understanding of wave-driven flows in the surf zone of a fringing reef. The model used is Cornell Breaking Wave and Structures (COBRAS), which solves the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with a turbulence closure scheme. The effect of different reef roughness on wave height, wave setup, infragravity waves and mean flows was studied. Model results revealed that wave setup increases significantly (~22%) with increasing bed roughness, consistent with prior studies on sandy beaches. Furthermore, cross-shore velocity structure is heavily affected by bed roughness. The latter implies that the coral reef flattening trend observed world-wide could result in a decrease in the circulation within the lagoon with important implications for reef health.
Temporal and spatial changes of water quality and management strategies of Dianchi Lake in southwest China

Temporal and spatial changes to the water quality of Dianchi Lake in southwest China were investigated using monthly monitoring data from 2005 to 2012. Dianchi Lake is divided into two parts, Caohai Lake and Waihai Lake, by a man-made dike. Caohai Lake lies at the north of Dianchi Lake, while Waihai Lake is the main water body of Dianchi Lake and accounts for 96.7% of the whole area of the lake. Based on the analysis of total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and chlorophyll a (Chl a ) concentrations, it was determined that, in Caohai Lake, the annual concentrations of these variables ranged from 0.19–1.46 mg L −1 , 6.11–16.79 mg L −1 , 0.06–0.14 mg L −1 , respectively. In addition, the annual concentrations of TP, TN and Chl a in Waihai Lake ranged between 0.13 and 0.20 mg L −1 , 1.82 and 3.01 mg L −1 , and 0.04 and 0.09 mg L −1 , respectively. Cluster analysis (CA) classified the 10 monitoring sites into two clusters (cluster A and cluster B) based on similarities of water quality characteristics. Our data revealed that the current status of water quality within Caohai Lake was much worse than that of Waihai Lake. Water quality was seriously degraded during the economic boom near the period of the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" (2005–2010), and gradually improved from 2010 to 2012 because of the "standard emission directive to industry". The main factors that influenced the spatial and temporal changes to water quality were natural factors including lake evolution and regional characteristic as well as human factors such as pollution load into the lake and management strategies that were already adopted. Some activities and regulations were implemented to enhance the lake environment by controlling wastewater emissions and establishing regulations to protect the lakes in the Yunnan Province. However, problems with institutional fragmentation (horizontal and vertical), simple treatment methods, low-intensity investment in pollution control, and lack of meaningful endogenous pollution control strategies were still present in the lake management strategy. To solve these problems, suitable control measures are needed, especially considering the current old-age status of Dianchi Lake. The fundamental improvement of the water quality within Caohai Lake was dependent on the measures taken in the upper reaches of the Caohai Watershed, including further recovery of submerged plants, resource utilization by floating plants and the reinforcement of sediment disposal. Management strategies for endogenous pollution in Waihai Lake were mainly dependent on restocking algae-eating fish and the ecological restoration of macrophytes. In this way, the swamping trend and the ageing process that is occurring in Dianchi Lake can be stunted. And the management strategies would be a contribution to the management of water conflicts between mankind and ecosystems in similar lakes.
Numerical simulation of two-dimensional steady granular flows in rotating drum: On surface flow rheology

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.
Using radiometric fingerprinting and phosphorus to elucidate sediment transport dynamics in an agricultural watershed

The major goals of this study were to determine stream bed sediment erosion/deposition rates, sediment age, percent ‘new’ sediment, and suspended sediment origin during two storm events of contrasting magnitudes (11.9 mm over 5 h and 58.9 mm over 39 h) using fallout radionuclides (excess lead 210 – 210Pbxs and beryllium 7 – 7Be) and link the nature and type of sediment source contributions to potential phosphorus (P) off‐site transport. The study was conducted in cropland‐dominated and mixed land use subwatersheds in the non‐glaciated Pleasant Valley watershed (50 km2) in South Central Wisconsin. Fine sediment deposition and erosion rates on stream beds varied from 0.76 to 119.29 mg cm−2 day−1 (at sites near the watershed outlet) and 1.72 to 7.72 mg cm−2 day−1 (at sites in the headwaters), respectively, during the two storm events. The suspended sediment age ranged from 123 ± 12 to 234 ± 33 days during the smaller storm event; however, older sediment was more prevalent (p = 0.037) in the streams during the larger event with suspended sediment age ranging from 226 ± 9 to 322 ± 114 days. During the small and large storm event, percent new sediment in suspended sediment ranged from 5.3 ± 2.1 to 21.0 ± 2.9% and 5.3 ± 2.7 to 6.7 ± 5.7%, respectively. In the cropland‐dominated subwatershed, upland soils were the major source of suspended sediment, whereas in the mixed land use subwatershed, both uplands and stream banks had relatively similar contributions to suspended sediment. In‐stream (suspended and bed) sediment P levels ranged from 703 ± 193 to 963 ± 84 mg kg−1 during the two storm events. The P concentrations in suspended and bed sediment were reflective of the dominant sediment source (upland or stream bank or mixed). Overall, sediment transport dynamics showed significant variability between subwatersheds of different land use characteristics during two contrasting storm events. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Restudy of shoulder motion in the theropod dinosaur Mononykus olecranus (Alvarezsauridae)

Background Range of motion in the forelimb of the Upper Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Mononykus olecranus, a member of the family Alvarezsauridae, has previously been investigated. However, the method used to investigate range of motion at the shoulder in M. olecranus did not follow the standardized procedure used in subsequent studies. The latter procedure yields more reliable results, and its standardization provides that its results are directly comparable to the results of similar studies in other species. I therefore reinvestigated the range of motion at the shoulder in M. olecranus, using the latter procedure. Methods Casts of the left scapula and coracoid of M. olecranus were posed on a horizontal surface, supported from beneath with modeling clay, with the medial surface of the scapula facing toward the horizontal surface. A cast of the left humerus was posed at the limits of motion through the transverse and parasagittal planes. Photos of the poses in orthal views were superimposed and used to measure range of motion, which was measured as the angle between lines drawn down the long axis of the humerus in each position. Results Through the transverse plane, the humerus of M. olecranus could be elevated to a subhorizontal position and depressed to a subvertical position. It could move through the parasagittal plane from a subvertical position at full protraction to a position above the horizontal at full retraction. These results correct the previous mischaracterization of shoulder motion in M. olecranus as restricted to a small arc with the arms held in a permanent sprawl. The range of humeral motion in M. olecranus is much greater than that found by the previous method and allowed the animal to tuck its arms in at the sides, in addition to allowing them to sprawl so as to orient the palm downward. The wide range of humeral motion allowed M. olecranus to forage for insects by employing hook-and-pull digging at surfaces with a wider range of orientations than the previous study showed to be possible.
Opening the black box: internal capital markets and managerial power in conglomerates

How do firms allocate capital internally across units? Do more powerful and better connected managers inside a conglomerate get larger capital allocations? To answer these questions, we put together a unique five-year business-unit panel data set on planned and actual capital allocations inside a world-wide conglomerate with 5 divisions and 22 business units, and construct measures of managerial power and connections from profile data and a questionnaire carried out for unit CEOs. Our conglomerate seems to be exposed to the same kind of frictions in capital allocation and investment as documented in previous studies for other conglomerates. In the search for a potential channel behind such frictions, we test if cash windfalls at the headquarters are distributed inside the conglomerate according to managerial power or connections. In contrast to planned capital llocations, which are not affected by connections, we find that units with more powerful and better connected managers get substantially larger parts of the windfalls. Our estimates show powerful managers increasing their actual vs. planned investment between 10 and 32% more than their less powerful peers. These results are not explained by managers’ abilities or an endogenous allocation of managers across units. In support of bargaining power theories, our results provide direct empirical evidence of an important channel behind frictions in capital allocation inside firms.
Did volcanic ash from Mt. Kasatoshi in 2008 contribute to a phenomenal increase in Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in 2010

The effect of a widely distributed phytoplankton bloom triggered by volcanic ash from Alaska (Hamme et al., 2010. Geophys. Res. Lett. 37) on juvenile Fraser River sockeye is discussed in terms of the timing of ocean migration and trophic structure of the Gulf of Alaska. Our hypothesis is that the occurrence of a massive diatom bloom in the Gulf greatly enhanced energy ascendancy in the ocean at a time of year when adolescent sockeye migrated from the coast in 2008. We contend this increase in food availability was an important factor for the survival and growth of juvenile sockeye which led to one of the strongest sockeye returns on record in 2010 of 34 million, compared with perhaps the weakest return on record of 1.7 million the previous year.