Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes of Microbial Biomass Carbon and Nitrogen in Upland Sugarcane Soil Amended with Different Organic Materials

Abstract An incubation study on soil amendment was carried out with sugarcane trash (ST), press mud (PM), mustard oil cake (MOC), and cow dung (CD) to investigate the periodic changes in mineral nitrogen (N), microbial biomass carbon (C), and N formation in soil. Nitrogen mineralization and microbial biomass C and N were measured at 0, 7, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, and 84 days of incubation. Organic material (OM) amended soils significantly increased mineral N over control except ST that encouraged N immobilization. Significantly higher amount of microbial biomass C and N were produced in all the amended soils over control. Biomass C and N were increased rapidly within 7 days and decreased thereafter and reached a constant level after 28–42 days of incubation. A significantly higher amount of microbial biomass C (246.33 mg kg−1soil) was found in ST-amended soil followed by MOC (229.39 mg kg−1soil), PM (220.27 mg kg−1 soil), CD (189.05 mg kg−1soil), and control (123.41 mg kg−1 soil). Similarly, a higher significant quantity of microbial biomass N (43.60 mg kg−1 soil) was found in ST-amended soil followed by MOC (41.38 mg kg−1soil), PM (39.76 mg kg−1 soil), CD (37.05 mg kg−1soil), and control (22.04 mg kg−1 soil). The apparent percentage of N assimilation in microbial biomass from added OM was linearly and positively correlated with the C:N ratios of added OM, both at the time of maximum biomass formation (r = 0.997**) and the end of incubation (r = 0.999**).
Novel Diagnostics and Therapeutics in Sepsis

Sepsis management demands early diagnosis and timely treatment that includes source control, antimicrobial therapy, and resuscitation. Currently employed diagnostic tools are ill-equipped to rapidly diagnose sepsis and isolate the offending pathogen, which limits the ability to offer targeted and lowest-toxicity treatment. Cutting edge diagnostics and therapeutics in development may improve time to diagnosis and address two broad management principles: (1) source control by removing the molecular infectious stimulus of sepsis, and (2) attenuation of the pathological immune response allowing the body to heal. This review addresses novel diagnostics and therapeutics and their role in the management of sepsis.
Effects of counter-ions on the performance of IPMCs

Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites (IPMCs) are materials capable of exhibiting large motion sensing and actuation capabilities in an electric field produced by a small voltage. Laboratory observations on the behavior of IPMC in an electric field strongly establish the presence of water movement due to electrophoretic migration of hydrated counter-ions or simply cations. In this paper, the effects of counter-ions on the performance of IPMCs in sensing and actuation are discussed. Samples of IPMCs were carefully prepared in a standard size of 0.25 x 1 inch strip containing various monovalent and divalent metal cations including Na+, Li+, K+, H+, Ca++, Mg++ and Ba++. Given a sinusoidal wave input of 1.2 volts with ½ Hz, the IPMC having Li+ shows the best performance in terms of force generation. Such results strongly indicate that sulfonate exchange sites are the relatively low charge sites and therefore the hydration process plays a much more important role. It is noted that water absorptivity and the phenomenon of exchange site clustering depend on the type of cations. Furthermore, the experimental results strongly indicate the importance of the hydration process. Muscle performance characteristics are reported and a simple phenomenological model for forces and fluxes is also presented.
Determination of Alkylphenol Ethoxylates and Their Acetic Acid Derivatives in Drinking Water by Particle Beam Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

Abstract Particle beam liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (PB/LC/MS) was used to analyze finished drinking water for non-volatile organic compounds. 500 liters of finished water were extracted with an on-line continuous liquid/liquid extractor with dichloromethane at pH 7.4. PB/LC/MS was an excellent tool to detect and identify ng/L concentrations of alkylphenol polyethoxylates (n = 3−8), materials which went undetected by on-column gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. In addition, alkylphenol polyethoxylate carboxylates with 2–7 degrees of ethoxylation could be detected without chemical derivatization.
Muscle Damage in Systemic Sclerosis and CXCL10: The Potential Therapeutic Role of PDE5 Inhibition

Skeletal muscle damage is a common clinical manifestation of systemic sclerosis (SSc). C-X-C chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) is involved in myopathy and cardiomyopathy development and is associated with a more severe SSc prognosis. Interestingly, the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) sildenafil reduces CXCL10 sera levels of patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy and in cardiomyocytes. Here, we analyzed the levels of CXCL10 in the sera of 116 SSc vs. 35 healthy subjects and explored differences in 17 SSc patients on stable treatment with sildenafil. CXCL10 sera levels were three-fold higher in SSc vs. healthy controls, independent of subset and antibody positivity. Sildenafil treatment was associated with lower CXCL10 sera levels. Serum CXCL10 strongly correlated with the clinical severity of muscle involvement and with creatine kinase (CK) serum concentration, suggesting a potential involvement in muscle damage in SSc. In vitro, sildenafil dose-dependently reduced CXCL10 release by activated myocytes and impaired cytokine-induced Signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1), Nuclear factor-κB (NFκB) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation. This was also seen in cardiomyocytes. Sildenafil-induced CXCL10 inhibition at the systemic and human muscle cell level supports the hypothesis that PDE5i could be a potential therapeutic therapy to prevent and treat muscle damage in SSc.
Contribution of the melting stage to the evolution of the morphology and chemical conversion of immiscible polyamide/polyethylene blends in twin‐screw extruders

This study investigates the effects of processing conditions (the screw speed, throughput, barrel temperature, and screw configuration) on the chemical conversion and morphology evolution of polyamide/polyolefin blends along a twin-screw extruder. Polymer samples were collected rapidly at specific barrel locations with a special sampling device for subsequent chemical and morphological characterization. Increasing the screw speed or using more restrictive screw modules at the beginning of the melting zone promoted a faster reaction and better dispersion along the extruder. Increasing the throughput or decreasing the barrel temperature slowed the evolution of the morphology and chemical conversion along the extruder because of the lower melting rate. As soon as melting started, the chemical reaction took place. However, high chemical conversion rates required extensive melting, that is, significant interface generation. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
Improved Expression for Rank Distribution of Sparse Random Linear Network Coding

Characterization of the rank distribution of a sparse random matrix over a finite field can be decomposed into two subproblems. The first subproblem is the characterization of the probability <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p(i,n)$ </tex-math></inline-formula> that an <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-dimensional vector is linearly dependent of other <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$i$ </tex-math></inline-formula> linearly independent <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-dimensional vectors. The second subproblem is the characterization of the rank distribution of a sparse random matrix <italic>as a function of</italic> <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p(i,n)$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. In this letter, we focus on the second subproblem and present an exact solution to it. The derivation is based on an absorbing Markov chain and the eigen decomposition of the transition matrix. Compared with the state-of-the-art expressions, the derived expression is closed-form and of lower complexity. As a necessity for the exactness of the derived expression, we prove that the derived expression is equivalent to the state-of-the-art expressions.
Functional Coupling between DNA Replication and Sister Chromatid Cohesion Establishment

Several lines of evidence suggest the existence in the eukaryotic cells of a tight, yet largely unexplored, connection between DNA replication and sister chromatid cohesion. Tethering of newly duplicated chromatids is mediated by cohesin, an evolutionarily conserved hetero-tetrameric protein complex that has a ring-like structure and is believed to encircle DNA. Cohesin is loaded onto chromatin in telophase/G1 and converted into a cohesive state during the subsequent S phase, a process known as cohesion establishment. Many studies have revealed that down-regulation of a number of DNA replication factors gives rise to chromosomal cohesion defects, suggesting that they play critical roles in cohesion establishment. Conversely, loss of cohesin subunits (and/or regulators) has been found to alter DNA replication fork dynamics. A critical step of the cohesion establishment process consists in cohesin acetylation, a modification accomplished by dedicated acetyltransferases that operate at the replication forks. Defects in cohesion establishment give rise to chromosome mis-segregation and aneuploidy, phenotypes frequently observed in pre-cancerous and cancerous cells. Herein, we will review our present knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying the functional link between DNA replication and cohesion establishment, a phenomenon that is unique to the eukaryotic organisms.
Why Is The Partial Least Square Important For Tourism Studies

Although the multiple regression method has been applied to exploratory research on most tourism studies, there is lack of understanding on studies that present a well-justified rationale in choosing a robust statistical tool for data analysis. This research note aims to review why tourism researchers are encouraged to use the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) method to address this research problem. This article provides rationale, comparisons among techniques for multiple regression-based papers and suggestions for tourism researchers to justify why PLS-SEM is important for exploratory studies.
Structural Analysis of Open-Column Fractionation of Peracetic Acid-Treated Kraft Lignin

1) This study investigates the selective fractionation of lignin with uniform structures and lower molecular weight. Lignin solubilization was first performed using a solution of acetic acid (AA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP) (4:1, (v/v)) to form peracetic acid (PAA), which is a strong oxidant. After the PAA-induced solubilization that occurred at 80°C, totally soluble lignin was extracted by ethyl acetate (EA) and divided into organicand water-soluble fractions. The EA fraction was then fractionated by open-column using three solutions (chloroform-ethyl acetate, methanol, and water) sequentially. With an increase in the solvent polarity during the fractionation step, the molecular weight of the lignin-derived compounds in the fraction increased. Remarkably, some lignin fractions did not have aromatic structures. These fractions were identified as carboxylic acid-containing polymers like poly-carboxylates. These results conclude that the selective production of lignin-derived polymers with specific molecular weight and structural characteristics could be possible through open-column fractionation.
Pandémie de COVID-19 : de nouvelles contraintes journalistiques qui menacent le droit à l’information

Lorsqu’elle est survenue au printemps 2020, la pandemie de COVID-19 a engendre d’importants bouleversements, notamment chez les professionnels de l’information sur lesquels une grande pression s’est exercee. Partant de la premisse voulant que les pratiques journalistiques puissent largement influencer la qualite de l’information livree au public, qui elle permet une meilleure comprehension des enjeux sociaux, cet article s’interesse aux defis auxquels les journalistes quebecois ont ete confrontes pendant les premieres semaines de la pandemie de coronavirus ainsi qu’a leurs effets sur les pratiques professionnelles. A partir d’entretiens semi-diriges, nous explorons comment la crise sanitaire a affecte les journalistes et la facon dont ils ont du adapter leurs pratiques professionnelles a des situations exceptionnelles pour etre en mesure d’informer le public. Notre analyse demontre que cette crise a, dans un premier temps, amplifie la pression sur les journalistes par une augmentation de la charge de travail et du rythme de production ainsi que par de nouvelles difficultes limitant leur acces aux sources d’information. Elle a, dans un deuxieme temps, engendre de nouveaux defis lies a la pratique du journalisme en confinement et au travail de terrain en presence d’un virus alors meconnu. De facon generale, nous pouvons affirmer que ces enjeux ont entrave les pratiques professionnelles des journalistes et menace le droit du public a l’information.
Grand Canonical Monte-Carlo simulations for VOCs adsorption in non-polar zeolites

Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) by sorption in non-polar zeolite materials (AFR, BOG, LTL) has been tested by Grand Canonical Monte-Carlo (GCMC) molecular simulation techniques. Computational details and simulation procedure were validated by comparison with experimental data reported in literature. Results showed promising adsorption properties in the low pressure range. The adsorption isotherms for each single component could be obtained nicely by Langmuir equation. Molecular simulation techniques have proven to be a powerful tool to predict properties and suggest solutions, even in the relatively unexplored environmental field.
Exploring natural killer cell immunology as a therapeutic strategy in lung cancer

Cytotoxic immune cells are key in the control of tumor development and progression. Natural killer (NK) cells are the cytotoxic arm of the innate immune system with the capability to kill tumor cells and surveil tumor cell dissemination. As such, the interest in harnessing NK cells in tumor control is increasing in many solid tumor types, including lung cancer. Here, we review the pre-clinical models used to unveil the role of NK cells in immunosurveillance of solid tumors and highlight measures to enhance NK cell activity. Importantly, the development of NK immunotherapy is rapidly evolving. Enhancing the NK cell response can be achieved using two broad modalities: enhancing endogenous NK cell activity, or performing adoptive transfer of pre-activated NK cells to patients. Numerous clinical trials are evaluating the efficacy of NK cell immunotherapy in isolation or in combination with standard treatments, with encouraging initial results. Pre-clinical studies and early phase clinical trials suggest that patients with solid tumors, including lung cancer, have the potential to benefit from recent developments in NK cell immunotherapy.
The Effect of Gender and Gender Pairing on Bargaining: Evidence from an Artefactual Field Experiment

Men and women negotiate differently, which might create gender inequality in access to resources as well as efficiency losses due to disagreement. We study the role of gender and gender pairing in bilateral bargaining, using a lab-in-the-field experiment in which pairs of participants bargain over the division of a fixed amount of resources. We vary the gender composition of the bargaining pairs as well as the disclosure of the participants' identities. We find gender differences in earnings, agreement and demands, but only when the identities are disclosed. Women in same-gender pairs obtain higher earnings than men and women in mixed-gender pairs. This is the result of the lower likelihood of disagreement among women-only pairs. Women leave more on the bargaining table, conditional on their beliefs, which contributes to the lower disagreement and higher earnings among women-only pairs.
Intensive care nurses' attitudes toward the dying with dignity principles and affecting factors

Aim: This research was conducted in order to determine intensive care nurses’ attitudes toward the “dying with dignity” principles and factors affecting. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted at the Turgut Özal Medical Center of Inonu University from June 2019 to July 2020. Nurses working in intensive care units constituted the population of the research. The research was without sampling choice, and was carried out with 204 nurses who agreed to participate in the research and fit the criteria. The “Personal Information Form” and the “Assessment Scale of Attitudes toward the Principles of Dying with Dignity” were used. Data were analyzed using weight, means, standard deviations, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis H tests. Results: It was found that the nurses’ “Assessment Scale of Attitudes toward the Principles of Dying with Dignity” score was 45.7±4.25. A negative relationship was found between age and the Assessment Scale of Attitudes toward the Principles of Dying with Dignity score (r:-.181, p<0.05). Moreover, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between the Assessment Scale of Attitudes toward the Principles of Dying with Dignity score and variables such as gender, education level, working time in the profession, knowledge about the concept of “dying with dignity,” and the desire to work in the intensive care unit. Conclusion: It was determined that the nurses’ attitudes toward the principles of dying with dignity were moderate, and various demographic variables had effects on Principles of Dying with Dignity.
Attention Interacts With Emotion to Drive Perceptual Impairment of Images in an RSVP Task

Emotion Induced Blindness (EIB) is characterized by an impairment in the detection of a neutral target image when it appears between 100-500ms after the presentation of an emotional image. EIB has been argued to be an early level perceptual impairment resulting from spatio-temporal competition between the neutral target and the emotional distractor. While the role of attentional processes is implied in EIB, there hasn’t been a systematic comparison between EIB and Attentional Blink (AB) concerning the locus of attentional control. That is, in most of the AB studies, participants are required to identify and report T1 while in EIB studies they are asked to ignore the emotional distractor. Hence, the differences between AB and EIB may stem from this difference in attentional control. In Expt. 1 and Expt. 2 participants were asked to report two targets in an RSVP stream and we found similar impairment in both the experiments, irrespective of the emotional nature of the target. However, in Expt. 3 and 4 where participants were required to report only one target, only the emotional distractor captured attention, leading to an impairment in target detection. Our result shows that target impairment in EIB is due to the exogenous attentional allocation to the emotional image. i.e., distractor image being emotionally salient captures attention in a bottom-up manner leading to the impairment in the less salient target.
Experimental and Numerical Study of Drag Reduction on Elliptical Cylinders Using Surface Grooves

Drag reduction on an object subject to external flow remains a topic of interest due to a wide range of applications. Previous studies showed that grooves on the surface of a circular cylinder lead to drag reduction, which had thus been applied to save energy in various implementations. In the present study, the effects of longitudinal surface grooves with respect to drag reduction on circular and elliptical cylinders were experimentally explored through resin additive manufacturing and a wind tunnel. Significant drag reduction originated by surface grooves was observed. In conjunction with experimental investigations, numerical analyses were performed with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to examine the physical causes of the drag reduction. The numerical studies included twoand three-dimensional simulations of flow over circular and elliptical cylinders. The turbulent energy and wake regions of flow were discussed. Key factors in drag reduction were the location of the beginning of turbulence or vortices in the grooves, the boundary layer separation angle, and the size of the turbulent wake region. Through the numerical CFD simulations and experimental results, spanwise surface grooves on elliptical cylinders are verified to reduce drag.
One‐pot dual size‐ and shape selective synthesis of tetrahedral Pt nanoparticles

One-pot dual size- and shape-selective synthesis of tetrahedral Pt nanoparticles is achieved using the pre-prepared Pt nanoparticles as the ‘external seeds’, and controlling the slow diffusional growth under hydrogen reduction in the presence of PVP as the capping agent. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Comparison of Americium Extractions as a Function of Time using Two Bis-Triazine-Bipyridine Ligands in Long-Chained Alcohol Diluents

The rate of americium mass transfer between the aqueous and organic phase in a solvent extraction system has been investigated. The ligand used is CyMe4-BTBP and the diluents are long-chained alcohols. The results are compared with earlier reported data using C5-BTBP as ligand. In the C5-BTBP system the rate of the extraction could be correlated with the interfacial tension of the system, while not in the CyMe4-BTBP system. In the CyMe4-BTBP system a high (> 12) or low (< 9) dielectric constant of the diluent affects the equilibrium distribution ratio. Dielectric constants in between these two did not affect the extraction.
Liquidity Premium Foreign and Domestic Investor in Indonesian Stock Market

This research use Fama-French 3 Factor Model as basic model to measure excess return and adding illiquidity factor which categorized on Foreign and Domestic in Sell and Buy Transaction constructed with Amihud illiquidity by volume transaction basis. This research find evidence the effect form market beta, size factor, value factor, and foreign-domestic buy and sell illiquidity in Indonesia Stock Exchange. The research period 2010 – 2018 with weekly data uses OLS regression. The result show market beta, SMB (size factor), and HML (value factor) have positive significant effect to excess return. It is indicating market movement have effect in return in Indonesian Stock Exchange. Small and high value firm is considered better performance. In two model regression, sell-side and buy-side models foreign variable have significant positive value. It is indicating foreign investor better performance and want more premium on illiquid stock. According to Dvorak (2005) foreign investors tend to reluctance on small and illiquid stocks, then expect more premium to invest in illiquid stock. Keyword: Fama-French 3 Factor Model, Amihud Illiquidity, and Foreign-Domestic illiquidity