Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Natural Compounds as Elicitors of Plant Resistance Against Diseases and New Biocontrol Strategies

The goal of sustainable and organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals, and people. Organic plant production uses natural products and natural self-regulation processes occurring in the ecosystem. The availability of innovative applications and molecular techniques opens up new possibilities in the approach to plant protection for sustainable and organic agriculture. New strategies not only directly protect plants against pathogens but can also induce enhanced immunity that permanently protects against pathogenic strains. This review focuses on the bioactive properties of selected natural compounds (of plant and animal origin), their action on pathogens, and their roles in the mechanism of inducing plant resistance. The author presents selected activities of organic bioactive compounds, such as allicin, naringin, terpenes, laminarin, carrageenans, chitin and chitosan, and outlines the possibilities for their application in protecting crop plants against diseases. In addition, this mini review describes the mechanism of action of the above compounds as elicitors of defense reactions in the plant and the possibility of their utilization in the production of biological preparations as elements of a new plant protection strategy.
BIOREMEDIATION OF IN-SITU CRUDE OIL CONTAMINATED SOIL USING SELECTED ORGANIC DUNG

The potential of cow, pig and poultry dung for the bioremediation of in-situ crude oil contaminated soil for a period of 3-15 days at different soil and dung ratios were the objectives of this investigation. Using simulated soil, 200 g were measured into polyethylene bags labelled A,B,C,D,E, F and G. Soil physicochemical parameters such as particle size distribution, pH, organic carbon, organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus were analysed using standard methods. Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations were analyzed using spectrophotometry method at 420 nm. The concentrations of TPH decreased progressively with an increase in dung and time in the order cow dung > pig dung > poultry dung except the control soil that showed slight TPH reduction. Results also show that biostimulant efficiency (BE) increases with increase in dung and reduces with time. Results also reveal that dung with high bioremediation constant recorded a corresponding short half-life. Results show that there is a significant difference (P 0.05) in amended soil and time for poultry dung except for cow and pig dung. This study has shown that cow dung is more effective in bioremediation of TPH in crude oil contaminated soil.
Attenuation of Deviant Sexual Fantasy across the Lifespan in United States Adult Males

Deviant sexual fantasy is identified as a risk factor for sexual offending, yet no study has examined deviant sexual fantasy across the lifespan in nonoffending adult males. To bridge this gap, this study examined the frequencies of normative and deviant sexual fantasies among 318 nonoffending adult males in the United States. Participants were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk™. Participants took two inventories that assessed demographics and types of sexual fantasies. Normality tests, means tests, Kruskal–Wallis 1-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs), binary logistic regressions, and odds ratio post hoc analyses were conducted. Deviant sexual fantasies progressively declined across all three age groups, while normative sexual fantasy did not. Results suggest that deviant sexual fantasy changes across the lifespan. Applicability of the findings to applied settings, such as sexually violent predator evaluations, is discussed. Limitations and future considerations are addressed.
Toward a better understanding of a Tri-Flo separator using prototyping, central composite design (CCD) and CFD simulation

ABSTRACT Recently, a two-stage dynamic dense medium separator, called Tri-Flo, has become more applicable for treating difficult-to-wash coals. In this study, a 70-mm diameter transparent Tri-Flo separator was manufactured using prototyping and the effects of geometrical and operating parameters were investigated. Central composite design (CCD) was used in the experimental phase. The effects of internal tubes diameter, the installation slope, and the internal flow rate on the Tri-Flo performance were analyzed. CFD simulation was also used for better understanding of the flow pattern and interpretation of the experimental results. The results indicated that the air core diameter in both stages of the separator increases with all three variables. It was also found that medium recovery to float product in rougher and cleaner stages increases with unit inclination and internal tubes diameter, while it decreases with medium flow rate. The decrease in the air core size with increasing the feed tube diameter was an outstanding finding in both experiments and simulations. On average, a 16% decrease in the air core diameter was obtained when the feed tube diameter was increased from 23 mm to 26 mm. The results of the CFD simulation showed that there is a meaningful compatibility between the experimental observations and mathematical simulations.
Stories of African American women who are long-term breast cancer survivors

The purpose of this study was to report the stories of African American (AA) women who are disease-free survivors of breast cancer, 10 or more years after initial diagnosis, and consider themselves to be thriving after cancer. Narrative inquiry was used to develop the stories into a cohesive whole. A womanist framework (Walker, 1983) was used as a lens through which to consider the data. In the narrative inquiry tradition, one blended story was derived from the data including an abstract for summary, orientation, complication to describe critical events, evaluation, result or outcome, and coda to relate the story of the past to the reality of today (Munhall, 2012). The story was developed from the following themes: (1) I'm still here; (2) And then I had cancer; (3) Can we talk? ; (4) Peace in the valley; (5) They call it the red devil; (6) You are not alone; (7) The new normal; and (8) When I learn something, I share it. Findings from this study have implications for nursing research and practice, as well as care for long-term survivors of breast cancer. Using culturally relevant interventions can be helpful in caring for physical and spiritual needs. If researchers and clinicians can tailor their communication style and value the historical underpinnings of health-seeking behaviors in AA long-term breast cancer survivors, more support can be made available for this population.
The Subsurface Coherent Rock Content of the Moon as Revealed by Cold‐Spot Craters

A recently identified class of young lunar craters, cold‐spot craters, provides an optimal data set for probing the subsurface rock content on the Moon. Rocks, or lack of rocks, in crater ejecta have long been used as indicators of regolith thickness. However, the rockiness of crater ejecta depends on the subsurface rock content, crater excavation depth, and crater age. Cold‐spot craters are surrounded by a low thermal inertia signature that fades within 1 Myr, so any rocks in the proximal ejecta blanket have not yet been broken down or buried. Thus, the rock abundance in the proximal ejecta blankets of cold‐spot craters is affected only by the subsurface rock content of the target and the crater excavation depth, not the age of the crater. We show that an abrupt transition between fine‐grained regolith and underlying coherent rock cannot explain the observed rock abundance. Instead, we assume that the volume fraction of coherent rock (in contrast to fine‐grained regolith) increases exponentially in the lunar subsurface and use the observed Diviner rock abundance in cold‐spot crater ejecta to solve for the “e‐folding” depth over which the volume fraction of rock increases. In general, the subsurface rock content is higher in the maria than in the highlands consistent with more recent resurfacing of the maria. However, the highlands show a wider range of subsurface rock content values overall including some overlapping those of the maria. Some of this variability appears to be associated with the Orientale basin and possibly with several cryptomare deposits.
A comparative study of different imputation methods for daily rainfall data in east-coast Peninsular Malaysia

Rainfall data are the most significant values in hydrology and climatology modelling. However, the datasets are prone to missing values due to various issues. This study aspires to impute the rainfall missing values by using various imputation method such as Replace by Mean, Nearest Neighbor, Random Forest, Non-linear Interactive Partial Least-Square (NIPALS) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). Daily rainfall datasets from 48 rainfall stations across east-coast Peninsular Malaysia were used in this study. The dataset were then fed into Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model. The performance of abovementioned methods were evaluated using Root Mean Square Method (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency Coefficient (CE). The experimental results showed that RF coupled with MLR (RF-MLR) approach was attained as more fitting for satisfying the missing data in east-coast Peninsular Malaysia.
A New Species of Fairy Wrasse (Teleostei: Labridae: Cirrhilabrus) from Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems of the Verde Island Passage, Philippines

The new species, Cirrhilabrus briangreenei, is described on the basis of the holotype and six paratypes collected from mesophotic coral ecosystems of the Verde Island Passage, Philippines, between depths of 82 and 110 m. The new species is most closely related to Cirrhilabrus pylei, but it differs primarily in the presence of: more pored scales on the posterior lateral line (7–9 vs. 5–6); a lower number of circumpeduncular scales (14 vs. 16); a lower number of gill rakers (16–17 vs. 18–20); and differences in coloration details of the dorsal and caudal fins. Both species differ from all other congeners in sharing the following combination of characters: pelvic fins very long (56.5–70.0% SL), often extending past anal-fin terminus in males; caudal fin scintillating and iridescent in males; dorsal fin with sinuous scribbling in both sexes; anterior dorsal fin with a metallic blue spot on first one to two interspinous membrane spaces; snout with three parallel stripes from maxilla to anterior edge of orbit; and rest of head with a network of short broken pinstripes in both sexes. These characters are also distributed in part amongst other species of Cirrhilabrus, in particular, C. katoi, C. lineatus, C. rhomboidalis, and C. rubrimarginatus, and their putative relationships are discussed on the basis of meristic, morphometric, and molecular sequence data. We briefly comment on the variability of morphological characters within Cirrhilabrus and their implications towards phylogenetic classification, with remarks on methods for data collection for species of Cirrhilabrus.
A portrait of U.S. firms that invest in R&D

ABSTRACT This paper combines micro-level cross-sectional data from the Survey of Industrial Research and Development (SIRD) and the Business Research & Development and Innovation Survey (BRDIS) with the Longitudinal Business Database (LBD) to characterize U.S. firms that invest in research and development (R&D). The result is a firm-level panel data set from 1992 to 2013 that tracks firms as they enter and exit the R&D surveys. Using R&D expenditures to proxy R&D performance, we find that the majority of R&D is performed by large manufacturing firms that export, but the composition of R&D performing firms has gradually shifted more towards smaller nonmanufacturing firms. We find a high degree of persistence in R&D investment with previous R&D experience being a significant determinant of current R&D intensity, even after controlling for individual firm effects. We also uncover differences in observable firm characteristics between manufacturing and nonmanufacturing, as well as small and large, R&D performing firms.
Thrombomodulin Gene Polymorphism (C1418T) is Associated with the Development of Coronary Allograft Vasculopathy

Thrombomodulin (TM) is the endothelial cell membrane-bound anticoagulant protein cofactor in the thrombin-mediated activation of protein C. Previous evidence has been reported regarding the association between TM polymorphisms and coronary artery disease. Allograft rejection-mediated vasculopathy is the main cause of death at more than one year after heart transplantation. However, whether TM polymorphism is associated with allograft rejection is still unclear. We analyzed the TM gene polymorphism C1418T using allele-specific primers in a PCR assay in 60 patients who underwent heart transplantation. The retrospective clinical data were collected and tested for any correlations with the TM gene polymorphism. We separated the patients into 2 groups according to their TM genotype (group 1: CC genotype; group 2: CT or TT genotype). Additionally, we generated expression constructs (TM full length-C1418 and TM full length-T1418) and performed in vitro studies to explore the correlation between the TM C1418T polymorphism and the migration of smooth muscle progenitor cells and monocytes, which may be involved in the development of vasculopathy. The results showed that the levels of CD68, C4d, PAS, and Masson staining in the CT/TT genotype group increased at year 1 and continued to increase throughout the 3 years. These levels were higher than those observed in the CC genotype group. The ISHLT-WF2004 grade of the CT/TT genotype group was significantly different from that of the CC genotype group at the same time point post-transplantation. The coronary allograft vasculopathy (CAV) score was significantly different between the CC and CT/TT genotype groups at 1 and 3 years post-transplantation. Our in vitro studies demonstrate that both smooth muscle progenitor cells and monocytic THP-1 cells with either the CT-1418 or the TT-1418 TM genotype have higher migratory abilities than cells with the CC-1418 genotype. Our results support a significant association between the TM C1418T polymorphism and the development of CAV after heart transplantation in the short- to medium-term.
Internal Mechanism of Corporate Governance and Firms’ Profitability: A Comparative Study of Financial and Non-Financial Firms

This research examines comparative effects of corporate governance internal mechanism on Profitability (ROA/ROE) in financial vs non-financial firms indexed on Pakistan Stock Exchange.The data of 296 firms (both types of firms) was taken from companies' audited accounts and various available documents of the State Bank of Pakistan for the period of 14 years (2001-2014). Panel data study is conducted as the data have the characteristics of both time series and cross-sectional. Multiple regression and fixed effect methods were employed to analyze the given dataset. Results revealed significance of both board characteristics and managerial ownership in the profitability of the selected companies.
Multinational Luxury Brands’ Communication Strategies on International and Local Social Media: Comparing Twitter and Weibo

Abstract The age of social media requires multinational brands to master both global platforms where various cultures coexist, and local platforms dominated by a specific culture. Guided by the theories of high- vs. low-context culture, individualism vs. collectivism, and indulgence vs. restraint, this study examined multinational luxury brands’ communication strategies on the global platform Twitter, and the local Chinese platform Weibo. Several strategic aspects were investigated, including visual elements, creative strategy, cultural values, indulgence and restraint communication, and user generated content. The surprising results revealed the evident impact of culture and the distinct characteristics of the luxury industry.
Dynamic quantum state holography

We present a pulse-shaper-based holographic technique for the time-resolved and phase-sensitive observation of ultrafast quantum dynamics. The technique combines bichromatic white light polarization pulse shaping with the tomographic reconstruction of photoelectron wave packets. The physical scheme is based on the interference of a probe wave packet from $N+1$ resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization via the target states and a reference wave packet from $M+1$ multiphoton ionization of the ground state. To create the wave packets, we employ carrier-envelope phase stable bichromatic ($M\ensuremath{\omega}$:$N\ensuremath{\omega}$) pump-probe pulse sequences. The scheme is demonstrated on femtosecond Rydberg wave-packet dynamics in potassium atoms using corotating circularly polarized ($2\ensuremath{\omega}$:$3\ensuremath{\omega}$) pulse sequences. The interference of continuum states with different angular momenta yields a crescent-shaped photoelectron wave packet rotating in the laser polarization plane due to the interplay of the optical phase and the accumulated quantum phase. Carrier-envelope phase control of the rotation provides access to the photoelectron asymmetry, enabling background-free detection of the crescent's angular motion which maps the bound-electron dynamics.
Melatonergic Drugs as Therapeutic Agents for Insomnia and Depressive Disorders

Sleep disturbances are the most common complaint of the elderly and one of the most prevalent symptoms of mental illness. The co-occurrence of disturbed sleep and disturbed mood also has been reported in a number of clinical studies in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by poor quality of sleep with symptoms including difficulty in falling asleep, frequent nocturnal awakenings, early morning awakenings, etc., resulting in fatigue, reduced alertness, irritability, and impaired concentration, memory, and performance, with a major negative impact on the quality of life (Cricco et al. 2001; Bastien 2011). It is common among elderly people and is a major cause of impaired physical and mental health in this population (Van Someren 2000). Nearly 30%–40% of the adult population suffers from mild to severe insomnia. In addition to this, most depressed patients suffering from MDD or bipolar disorder (BD) exhibit profound disturbances in sleep architecture (Srinivasan et al. 2006). As diminished melatonin secretion is seen in elderly individuals suffering from chronic insomnia, as well as in certain categories of patients CONTENTS
Role of Bleomycin in Treatment of Cystic Hygroma

Introduction : Cystic hygroma is a congenital multiloculated lymphatic lesion which most commonly occurs in cervicofacial region (posterior triangle of neck) and axilla. It is a benign cystic variety and the commonest form of lymphangioma. It contains watery fluid consistent with lymph. Bleomycin is a chemotherapeutic agent which acts by causing breaks in DNA. We used bleomycin, an intralesional sclerosing agent as an alternative to surgical excision. Methods: After written informed consent of the guardians of the patients, all the patients were given intralesional bleomycin injection at the dose of 0.2 mg/kg body weight. Under all aseptic precautions, the lymphatic fluid was aspirated completely and injection bleomycin was given from same site. This injection was repeated at an interval of 4 weeks. Post operatively compression dressing was done for 24 hrs. Results: Complete resolution of cystic hygroma was seen in 21(42%) patients while partial response in 18 (36%). No response, which is accumulation of lymphatic fluid in the cyst after repeated injection of bleomycin for 4 times, was noted in 11 (22%) patients. Complications such as local irritation, redness at the injection site or fever occurred in 7 patients which were controlled with antibiotic and antiallergic therapy. Conclusion: Intralesional bleomycin can be used as first line of management in patients with large cystic hygroma, since it avoids invasive surgery and reduces risk of damage to vital organs. It is a safe, simple and effective method and can be done on day care basis.
HYDRODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TUNNELED PLANING HULLS IN CALM WATER

Tunneled planing hull is a special design of high-speed craft, which can reduce the frictional resistance to achieve higher velocities in high speeds. But, at lower speeds tunnels may lead to increase hull resistance. Therefore, tunneled planing hull design is an important issue which should be conducted with full prior information. In this study, a tunneled planing hull has numerically been studied in details using Star-CCM+ software. These simulations are based on Finite Volume Method (FVM) solution of Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes Equations (RANSE). Also, Volume of Fluid (VOF) method has been employed to obtain free surface variations, accurately. Morphing mesh approach has also been implemented to be able to simulate tunneled planing hull in two degrees of freedom in heave and pitch directions. Presented numerical setup has been validated by comparison of computed trim angle and hull resistant against the experimental results which have been presented by previous researchers. Afterwards, various physical phenomena around the considered tunneled planing hull as well as different physical parameters such as skin friction distribution, details of wetted surface area (total wetted surface, tunnel wetted surface, spray angle, keel and chain wetted length), shear and pressure drag, pressure distribution, wake pattern, and stream lines have been discussed, thoroughly. In this paper a new parameter as tunneled efficiency has been introduced based on obtained results. Tunnel efficiency shows appropriate speed range of planing hulls for using tunnel advantages in drag reduction. Presented results help designers to find new insight about the hydrodynamics of tunneled planing hulls.
Acutely Reconstructed Isolated Supraclavicular Brachial Plexus Injury Caused By a Chainsaw

Lacerations to the brachial plexus are rare. The author describes a case involving a man who sustained a chainsaw wound to the neck with isolated injury to the proximal part of the upper trunk of the brachial plexus. The patient underwent acute surgical exploration. After resection of the lacerated ends of the nerve stumps, four nerve grafts from the sural nerve were used for the reconstruction. Reinnervation was successful and the patient was able to abduct his arm (Medical Research Council 5 of 5) and flex his elbow (Medical Research Council 4 of 5) to its full range, within 24 months.
The Southern Zagros Collisional Orogen: New Insights From Transdimensional Trees Inversion of Seismic Noise

Imaging and resolving the lateral continuity of 3‐D crustal structures enhance our ability to interpret seismicity and to understand how orogens are created. We apply a Bayesian, hierarchical inversion approach based on a transdimensional trees‐structured wavelet parameterization to recover phase velocity maps at 2–40 s periods. We then invert phase velocity dispersion to constrain a 3‐D shear velocity model of the crust beneath south‐central Iran. Together with accurate earthquake centroid depths and focal mechanisms, the pattern of 3‐D velocity variations supports recent suggestions that most large earthquakes in the Zagros occur within the lower sedimentary cover or close to the sediment‐basement interface. Furthermore, we find evidence for Arabian basement underthrusting beneath central Iran, although only in one location does it appear to generate earthquakes. Our new 3‐D tomographic model clarifies and throws new light on the crustal structure of the SE Zagros and its relation to seismicity and active faulting.