Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vermicompost and its role in alleviation of salt tress in plants – II. Impact of vermicompost on the physiological responses of salt-stressed plants

Abstract Vermicompost (VC) is the solid excreta of earthworms, produced through the metabolism of organic matter under aerobic conditions. Thus, vermicompost is a product of the biodegradation, non-thermophilic process of organic materials through interactions between microorganisms and earthworms. This odorless, light organic product of the vermicomposting process is casts, or castings that is rich in humus, large amounts of macro- and micro-elements. These properties will largely influence the penetration of plant roots, potential rooting volume, nutrient movement and uptake, water availability, and soil aeration. Soil texture is also a key factor in affecting moisture content of the soil and its chemical properties, such as its cation exchange capacity or the capability of the soil to hold positively charged ions. Therefore, the application of vermicompost to sandy soils is very beneficial, as they help increase the soil organic matter composition, which in turn aids in improving soil aeration, sustaining good soil aggregation, protecting against soil erosion, and increasing nutrient availability. Moreover, vermicompost contains various plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and boron that improve the nutrient content of different plant components such as roots, leaves, and fruits. There have been many studies on the application of various organic fertilizers to plants for alleviating the negative effects of salinity. This paper will cover the contribution of vermicompost as a biological fertilizer and its effects on soluble sugar and proline content, membrane stability, biochemical, physiological, and molecular factors to mitigate the negative effects of salinity.
One Factor at a Time Analysis to Modify Potting Technique for Manufacturing of Bubble-Free High-Voltage Polyester Insulated Automotive Coils

The current study focuses on minimising the bubbles in polyester-insulated ignition coils, which were produced with a defect level of ~21–25% or 210–250 coils per 1000 batch size by using the potting method. This high-level rejection makes a substantial financial impact by increasing waste material, manufacturing, and after-sales costs. Hence, to control the bubbled problem without using expensive and maintenance-heavy techniques, the process parameters in the potting method were alternated and investigated using one factor at a time, which played a vital role in the formation/reduction of bubbles in the ignition coil insulation. Process parameters, including pre/process heating, the appropriate MEKP/cobalt naphthenate ratio, the pouring amount/increments, and the stirring speeds, reduced the bubble formation per lot from 205 ± 30 to 146 ± 25, 108 ± 21, 61 ± 17, and 10 ± 2 per 1000 lot accordingly. In addition, a comparative study was conducted in terms of performance and life cycle endurance, using Japanese and Indian standards. Furthermore, an after-sale warranty claim also supports the proposed changes in the potting technique. This modification may reduce the after-sales rejection within two years to approximately ~85%. This modification in the potting technique is extremely cost-effective in comparison to expensive processes, i.e., vacuum-pressure impregnation and vacuum impregnation, which require extensive labour and maintenance.
Extracellular Vesicles from Steatotic Hepatocytes Provoke Pro-Fibrotic Responses in Cultured Stellate Cells

Hepatic steatosis and chronic hepatocyte damage ultimately lead to liver fibrosis. Key pathophysiological steps are the activation and transdifferentiation of hepatic stellate cells. We assessed the interplay between hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells under normal and steatotic conditions. We hypothesized that hepatocyte-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) modify the phenotype of stellate cells. By high speed centrifugation, EVs were isolated from conditioned media of the hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 under baseline conditions (C-EVs) or after induction of steatosis by linoleic and oleic acids for 24 h (FA-EVs). Migration of the human stellate cell line TWNT4 and of primary human stellate cells towards the respective EVs and sera of MAFLD patients were investigated using Boyden chambers. Phenotype alterations after incubation with EVs were determined by qRT-PCR, Western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. HepG2 cells released more EVs after treatment with fatty acids. Chemotactic migration of TWNT4 and primary hepatic stellate cells was increased, specifically towards FA-EVs. Prolonged incubation of TWNT4 cells with FA-EVs induced expression of proliferation markers and a myofibroblast-like phenotype. Though the expression of the collagen type 1 α1 gene did not change after FA-EV treatment, expression of the myofibroblast markers, e.g., α-smooth-muscle-cell actin and TIMP1, was significantly increased. We conclude that EVs from steatotic hepatocytes can influence the behavior, phenotypes and expression levels of remodeling markers of stellate cells and guides their directed migration. These findings imply EVs as operational, intercellular communicators in the pathophysiology of steatosis-associated liver fibrosis and might represent a novel diagnostic parameter and therapeutic target.
Differential Retrospective Analysis in Oral Cancerous, Pre-cancerous, and Benign Tissue Biopsies

Background/Aim Oral epithelia demonstrate a broad spectrum of pre-cancerous, cancerous, and benign lesions. The aim of this study was to record and analyze the prevalence of various oral and intraosseous lesions, highlighting malignancies that are hard to clinically identify as such too. Materials and methods A series of 536 oral lesions were collected covering a period of 8.5 years. Epidemiological and clinico-histopathological data were stratified and analyzed retrospectively. Results According to extensive differential analysis, the male to female ratio for oral squamous cell carcinoma was estimated at 1:1, for pre-cancerous lesions at 1:2, and for lichen planus at 1:5. The prevalent diagnostic category were cysts (n = 223, 41.6%). The biological behavior of lesions differed among anatomic sites (P<0.001). Concordance between clinical suspicion of pre-cancerous or malignant lesions and histological verification was 96.4% (P<0.001). Conclusions Primary intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma, acinic cell carcinoma, clear cell myoepithelial carcinoma, aggressive osteoblastoma/parosteal osteosarcoma, and undifferentiated carcinoma raised no clinical suspicion of malignancy reflecting the importance of training in oral biopsy taking.
Evidence for serial founder events during the colonization of North America by the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti

Abstract The Aedes aegypti mosquito first invaded the Americas about 500 years ago and today is a widely distributed invasive species and the primary vector for viruses causing dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever. Here, we test the hypothesis that the North American colonization by Ae. aegypti occurred via a series of founder events. We present findings on genetic diversity, structure, and demographic history using data from 70 Ae. aegypti populations in North America that were genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci and/or ~20,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms, the largest genetic study of the region to date. We find evidence consistent with colonization driven by serial founder effect (SFE), with Florida as the putative source for a series of westward invasions. This scenario was supported by (1) a decrease in the genetic diversity of Ae. aegypti populations moving west, (2) a correlation between pairwise genetic and geographic distances, and (3) demographic analysis based on allele frequencies. A few Ae. aegypti populations on the west coast do not follow the general trend, likely due to a recent and distinct invasion history. We argue that SFE provides a helpful albeit simplified model for the movement of Ae. aegypti across North America, with outlier populations warranting further investigation.
Early Growth Performance of In Vitro Raised Melia volkensii Gürke Plantlets in Response to Beneficial Microorganisms under Semi-Arid Conditions

Before in vitro propagated Melia volkensii plants can be used for mass planting, the transition phase to in vivo conditions needs to be better controlled because too many plants are lost during acclimatization and in the field. Two experiments were set up to evaluate the effects of biological agents on the establishment of M. volkensii in vitro plantlets. The biological agents consisted of Trichotech®, Bio-cure B®, Rhizatech®, Bacillus subtilis, a Trichoderma isolate and self-isolated native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Regarding the latter, in soil from the nursery, the number of AMF spores increased from six spores to 400 per 100 g of soil using a trap culture, in which thirteen AMF morphotypes were identified and root colonization assessed through observation of hyphae, vesicles, coils and appressoria. The first experiment was set up in the greenhouse to investigate the efficacy of the biological agents on the hardening off. In the second, a field experiment was set up to study their effect on the early establishment of the plantlets in the field compared to seedlings. All biological agents significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved in vitro plant survival and growth compared to the control. The highest plant height and number of leaves per plant were recorded in plants treated with Rhizatech®, Native AMF, Bio-cure B® and Trichoderma isolate. The treatments with Rhizatech®, Bio-cure B® and native mycorrhiza recorded a significantly wider stem. The root diameter of the plants treated with Rhizatech® and Bio-cure B® was the largest, but the plants inoculated with the native AMF had the longest roots. Moreover, the inoculated plants generally developed multiple secondary roots. After two months, AMF had clearly colonized the acclimatized plantlets. In the field experiment, the biologicals made no difference in survival rate but did produce a significantly larger leaf area after two months, with the largest leaves recorded with Rhizatech®, native AMF and Trichotech®. They also increased the quality index of the plants from 0.21 to 0.52. The performance of in vitro grown M. volkensii plants six months after planting in semi-arid conditions in Kiambere was better than that of seedlings. Inoculation of plants increased plant height and diameter. Thus, inoculation of biological agents is an efficient approach for improving the early growth of in vitro propagated M. volkensii plants.
Till Phone Do Us Part: The Role of Phubbing in Relationship Satisfaction and Self-Esteem

Being distracted by the mobile phone while interacting with a love partner poses a negative threat to well-being. The present study focused on researching the correlation between phubbing, relationship satisfaction and self-esteem with the use of age and relationship length as mediators among 200 adults, men and women, in informal relationships and marriages. In regards to phubbing, two dimensions, “communication disturbance” and “phone obsession” were taken into consideration. Methods used include the Phubbing Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Relationship Assessment Scale. Women and participants in informal relationships were found to be characterized by a higher phone obsession. The findings also revealed that married couples are shown to have a higher self-esteem and a longer relationship tenure. Phubbing was found to have a negative correlation with both self-esteem and relationship satisfaction. Results have also shown gender differences and differences based on the type of relationship regarding the extent and power of correlations. Age, relationship length, self-esteem and relationship satisfaction were proven to be significant predictors of phubbing behaviour. The paper shows the impact of intrusive phone use on the quality of our lives and suggests new directions for research.
Transformational Leadership Practices of Academic Heads of Private Colleges in Laguna: An Input to A Comprehensive Training Program

Transformational leaders are one of the types of leadership that aims to provide a better academic institution or any organization by making change. This type of leadership fosters higher performance beyond the expectation with the collective efforts of everyone. It aimed to evaluate the transformational leadership of selected academic heads of private colleges in Laguna. Transformational leadership factors such as charisma, social, vision, transactional, execution, delegation, and overall transformational leadership were measured using the Transformational Leadership Survey by Donald Clark, an 18-item test 4-point Likert scale. The researcher also checked possible significant differences in means score across all demographic profiles of respondents per factor assessed. Results showed that vision, transactional, execution, delegation, and overall transformational leadership is at the same level of agreement which is agreed while charisma and social factor is at a strong level of agreement. Furthermore, age is a profile that varies the level of agreement for transactional and execution levels while the rest of the demographic profiles concerning the variables measured found no significant difference.
Rethinking Constructions of Difference: Lessons from Lesotho's Chief Mohlomi's Activism against the Gendering of Witchcraft

Discrimination according to gender has been in practice in communities globally since time immemorial. This discrimination has infiltrated all spheres of life including the naming, shaming, blaming, and persecution of deviant people as witches. The phenomenon of witchcraft has historically been negatively skewed towards women, with women's gender and sexual diversity being used against them in accusations of witchcraft. In some modern-day African communities, gender and sexual diversity are still regarded as witchcraft or a result of bewitching. While activism against witchcraft has gathered momentum across Africa, it is worth noting that in Lesotho, such activism began in the precolonial era through the leadership of Chief Mohlomi. In this paper, we explore the understandings and experiences of constructions of difference as witchcraft among the Basotho of Lesotho. Using a qualitative research approach, we employed life-history narratives and focus group discussions to generate data with 10 Basotho men and women aged 70-93 years. We used sankofa theory to frame our analysis of the data, which was done thematically. Drawing on the ethnographic data, we discuss lessons regarding constructions of difference as witchcraft, and Chief Mohlomi's (1720-1815) activism against the discrimination of those labelled as witches. The findings reveal that divergent gender and sexual characteristics and identities were used in labelling certain individuals as witches and unexplainable phenomena as witchcraft. However, the findings also show that Chief Mohlomi set in motion a spirited activism against the persecution of divergent people through his teachings, which led to transformed views on gender and sexual diversity among the Basotho. These findings have implications for an education that embraces diversity in all spheres of life to promote inclusive and sustainable communities.
On Mixed Convection in a Horizontal Channel, Viscous Dissipation and Flow Duality

The conditions defining a stationary fluid flow may lead to a multiplicity of solutions. This circumstance is widely documented in the literature when mixed convection in a vertical channel or duct is accompanied by an important effect of viscous dissipation. Usually, there are double stationary solutions with a parallel velocity field which satisfy given temperature boundary conditions and with a prescribed mass flow rate. However, in a vertical internal flow, the dual solutions can be determined only numerically as they do not have a closed analytical form. This study shows that, in a horizontal channel, stationary mixed convection with viscous dissipation shows up dual flow branches whose mathematical expressions can be determined analytically. The features of these dual flows are discussed.
FAKTOR PRIBADI, LINGKUNGAN, DAN SOSIOLOGI PADA TAHAP INISIASI PROSES KEWIRAUSAHAAN IKAN HIAS DI KOTA BEKASI

This study aim to find out and analyzed the personal factors, environmental, and sociological influences the initiation stage (triggering event) of the entrepreneurial process of ornamental fish in Bekasi. This research refers to a model developed by Moore (1986) which describes how the process of entrepreneurship that is formed in a model that consists of four factors (i.e. factors of personal, family, environmental and social organizations) to four stages (i.e. the stage of innovation, initiation, implementation, and growth). This model is used to examine the presence of entrepreneurial process in Bekasi as the largest exporter of ornamental fish town in Indonesia. Primary data of this research is obtained through the survey/interview using a questionnaire to a number of entrepreneurial ornamental fish in the town of Bekasi and descriptive quantitative research methods, with the analysis of Structural Equation Modelling using SmartPLS software. The results showed that the personal and environmental factors doesn’t effect on the performance of significant entrepreneurial ornamental fish at the stage of initiation, while the influential sociological factors positively and significantly to the performance of entrepreneurial. Indicator role models is set on internal factors of sociology. The performance of entrepreneurial ornamental fish in Bekasi at the stage of initiation is very determined to success if at the time started his business supported by the availability of adequate standard and means of financial support of others. Keywords: faktor pribadi, faktor lingkungan, faktor sosiologi, tahap inisiasi (triggering event), proses kewirausahaan, ikan hias
Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of a Laminated Reinforced Concrete Shear Wall with a Vertical Seam

In this paper, 12 laminated reinforced concrete shear walls are designed for cyclic loading tests. Seismic performance of laminated reinforced concrete shear walls with vertical seams are evaluated by the failure mode, deformability, hysteresis curve, stiffness degradation, and energy dissipation capacity. In addition, two different construction measures and construction techniques are designed to study their influence on the wall behavior, which provides a reference for the construction of laminated reinforced concrete shear walls. The numerical simulation of the specimen is carried out with ABAQUS, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. These results provide a technical basis for the design, application, and construction of the laminated reinforced concrete shear wall structure.
Haptic Parallelity Matching in Children and Adults

Research in adults has shown that performance is not veridical when participants have to set two bars parallel to each other haptically. It is hypothesized that this is due to the influence of the egocentric reference frame. In addition, larger deviations have been observed for oblique orientations compared to cardinal orientations and for female participants compared to male participants. So far, haptic parallelity performance in children has not been studied in detail. To close this gap the current study compared parallelity matching in children and adults, to address the question if the influence of the egocentric reference frame is the same in children and adults. The study included 120 participants, a group of 80 children, aged 9 to 11 years, and a group of 40 adults. In each group, half of the participants were male, the other half female. Blindfolded participants were instructed to make two bars, which were set in different orientations, haptically parallel to each other. They had to parallel the orientation of a reference bar which was felt with their non-dominant hand, at a test bar, that was rotated with their dominant hand. The bars were presented in the mid-horizontal plane at a distance that was set at twice the length of the arm of the participant. The dependent variable was the difference between the orientation of the reference bar and the test bar. The results showed similar deviations for children and adults. In both groups, a significant oblique and gender effect was found, although these effects were more pronounced in the adult group. These results suggest that children aged 9 to 11 years use the same reference frames as adults when paralleling two bars haptically.
A cross-country analysis of hotel leaders’ response to COVID-19: a way forward

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus resulted in unprecedented economic disruption in global business operations across industries that led to a shutdown of the world economy (Arora and Suri 2020). The overnight transformation in workplace operations caused drastic changes to the way organizations functioned; changes driven primarily by governments’ mandates to manage the public health impacts from the virus. Because of the nature of business, the tourism and hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit , globally (Gursoy and Chi 2020). Worldwide, governments’ initiatives to flatten the infection rate curve, included lockdowns, closure of international borders, domestic and international flight and cruise travel restrictions, and the adoption of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) like the six-feet social distancing and mask wearing. With some degree of regional variation, the impacts of COVID-19 led to the closure of hospitality operations, resulting in serious repercussions for the industry (Sharma and Mahendru 2020). Since governments in both developed and developing countries recognize the hospitality economic and social major generator foreign exchange earnings, and employment creation 2005), addressing the impact of COVID-19 was an urgent concern for industry leaders. While a high degree of uncertainty and disruption had been caused by the pandemic at the broader level of hospitality operations, attention is also drawn to its impact on the workforce. By nature, this industry is heavily human resource intensive (Jayawardena Simply stated, it takes numerous employees at various levels to operate the industry (Baum Any in the industry creates impacts on the workforce. significant in international travels, millions of hospitality employees felt the effect of reduced work hours, furlough, or loss of employment. Prior to the pandemic, a and reshaping organizational operations in response to the disruption. The study highlights the importance of leadership actions during crisis events and the significance of the reflection-in-action approach. Formal and on-the-job training for CEOs and management should include components on leading through crises to prepare leaders to manage the organization into successful recovery. Leadership crisis training should provide the opportunity to hypothetically test various crisis management models to determine best case scenarios for handling different types of crises. Leaders can be trained to adopt certain competencies to lead effectively and to achieve organizational resilience through its strategies, employees, and other resources (Wooten and James 2008). The results from the crisis management model can be used in HRD practice to offer guidance on how the hotel industry can respond to, and recover from, the devastating effects of COVID-19.
Microsoft Word-61775342-file00

Department of Biochemistry, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3T 1J4, Canada (M.L., B.B., C.G., C.L.G., M.B., N.H.); Research Center/CHU Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Québec, H3T 1C5, Canada (M.L., S.C., N.H.); Department of Pharmacology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3T 1J4, Canada (S.C.); CIHR Team in GPCR allosteric regulation, (M.L., B.B., C.L.G., M. B., S.C., N.H.). JPET Fast Forward. Published on July 7, 2009 as DOI:10.1124/jpet.109. 156398