Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Biological Soil Crust on Soil Physical and Chemical Properties of Rehabilitated Grassland in Hilly Loess Plateau,China

Biological soil crust plays an important role in degraded ecosystem restoration.Large area of biological crust has formed after cropland shifting to revegetated grassland on the hilly Loess Plateau of China. Our objective was to determine the impact of biological crust on soil chemical and physical properties in the study area.In this paper,through field investigation and sampling analysis,some physical and chemical properties of different years rehabilitated grasslands on the northern slopes which had biological soil crust formed on the surface were studied.Eight research sites were selected and soil and crust samples were collected in April 2004,with the restriction that locations were confined to a single soil series that was representative of the local environmental condition,similar elevation and slope.At each sampling site,five samples taken randomly were mixed to form a composite soil sample.Samples were taken from the 0 to 20 cm deep profile in 6 layers(crust,0-2,2-5,5-10,10-15 and 15-20cm). Soil moisture,bulk density,cohesion of soil surface,infiltration rate,organic matter content,total nitrogen,total phosphorus and available N,P,K contents of the 0-20cm soil profile were measured for soil samples taken from the 8 sites.The results showed soil physical and chemical properties of the 0-20cm profile were affected significantly by the biological crust.1)After shifting from cropland to revegetated grassland,soil moisture in the 0-20cm profile increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of rehabilitation years.Because the formation of the biological crust,soil penetrability of the rehabilitated grasslands reduced significantly compared with cropland,this also resulted in lower soil moisture in this profile after 10 years' rehabilitation.2)Soil surface cohesion of the rehabili-tated grassland increased significantly with the formation of the biological crust after shifting from cropland.After 10 years revegetation,the crusted soil surface cohesion of the revegetated grassland was 6 times that of the fresh revegetated grassland.The reason for this was mainly due to the formation of the biological crust,rather than the increase of soil bulk density.3)Soil penetrability reduced significantly when shifting from cropland to revegetated grassland.The infiltration coefficient of crusted soil decreased gradually with the increase in years of revegetation.However,the infiltration coefficient increased gradually when getting rid of the crust.4)The formation of the biological crust brought to an enrichment of soil organic matter and total nitrogen in the upper soil.With the increased years of rehabilitation,the enrichment was even more obvious,and soil total phosphorus was also enriched to some extent.Soil available nutrient was improved as a result of the formation of the biological crust.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Anticancer Activity of New N,N′-Diarylthiourea Derivative against Breast Cancer Cells

The goal of the current study was to prepare two new homologous series of N,N′-diarylurea and N,N′-diarylthiourea derivatives to investigate the therapeutic effects of these derivatives on the methodologies of inhibition directed on human MCF-7 cancer cells. The molecular structures of the prepared derivatives were successfully revealed through elemental analyses, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy. The cytotoxic results showed that Diarylthiourea (compound 4) was the most effective in suppressing MCF-7 cell growth when compared to all other prepared derivatives, with the most effective IC50 value (338.33 ± 1.52 µM) after an incubation period of 24 h and no cytotoxic effects on normal human lung cells (wi38 cells). Using the annexin V/PI and comet tests, respectively, treated MCF-7 cells with this IC50 value of the Diarylthiourea 4 compound displayed a considerable increase in early and late apoptotic cells, as well as an intense comet nucleus in comparison to control cells. An arrest of the cell cycle in the S phase was observed via flow cytometry in MCF-7 cells treated with the Diarylthiourea 4 compound, suggesting the onset of apoptosis. Additionally, ELISA research showed that caspase-3 was upregulated in MCF-7 cells treated with compound 4 compared to control cells, suggesting that DNA damage induced by compound 4 may initiate an intrinsic apoptotic pathway and activate caspase-3. These results contributed to recognizing that the successfully prepared Diarylthiourea 4 compound inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cancer cells by arresting the S cell cycle and caspase-3 activation via an intrinsic apoptotic route. These results, however, need to be verified through in vivo studies utilizing an animal model.
Analysis of differential gene expression in stretched podocytes: osteopontin enhances adaptation of podocytes to mechanical stress

Glomerular hypertension is a major determinant advancing progression to end‐stage renal failure. Podocytes, which are thought to counteract pressure‐mediated capillary expansion, are increasingly challenged in glomerular hypertension. Studies in animal models of glomerular hypertension indicate that glomerulosclerosis develops from adhesions of the glomerular tuft to Bowman's capsule due to progressive podocyte loss. However, the molecular alterations of podocytes in glomerular hypertension are unknown. In this study, we determined the changes in gene expression in podocytes induced by mechanical stress in vitro (cyclic biaxial stretch, 0.5 Hz, 5% linear strain, 3 days) using cDNA arrays (6144 clones). Sixteen differentially regulated genes were identified, suggesting alterations of cell‐matrix interaction, mitochondrial/metabolic function, and protein synthesis/degradation in stretched podocytes. The transcript for the matricellular protein osteopontin (OPN) was most strongly up‐regulated by stretch (approximately threefold). By reverse transcriptase‐polymer chain reaction, up‐regulation of OPN mRNA was also detected in glomeruli of rats treated for 2.5 wk with desoxycorticosterone acetate‐salt, an animal model of glomerular hypertension. In cultured podocytes, OPN coating induced a motile phenotype increasing actin nucleation proteins at cell margins and reducing stress fibers and focal adhesions. Intriguingly, additional OPN coating of collagen IV‐coated membranes accelerated stretch‐induced actin reorganization and markedly diminished podocyte loss at higher strain. This study delineates the molecular response of podocytes to mechanical stress and identifies OPN as a stretch‐adapting molecule in podocytes.
Evaluating convective parameterization closures using cloud‐resolving model simulation of tropical deep convection

Closure is an important component of a mass flux‐based convective parameterization scheme, and it determines the amount of convection with the aid of a large‐scale variable (closure variable) that is sensitive to convection. In this study, we have evaluated and quantified the relationship between commonly used closure variables and convection for a range of global climate model (GCM) horizontal resolutions, taking convective precipitation and mass flux at 600 hPa as measures for deep convection. We have used cloud‐resolving model simulation data to create domain averages representing GCM horizontal resolutions of 128 km, 64 km, 32 km, 16 km, 8 km, and 4 km. Lead‐lag correlation analysis shows that except moisture convergence and turbulent kinetic energy, none of the other closure variables evaluated in this study show any relationship with convection for the six subdomain sizes. It is found that the correlation between moisture convergence and convective precipitation is largest when moisture convergence leads convection. This correlation weakens as the subdomain size decreases to 8 km or smaller. Although convective precipitation and mass flux increase with moisture convergence at a given subdomain size, as the subdomain size increases, the rate at which they increase becomes smaller. This suggests that moisture convergence‐based closure should scale down the predicted mass flux for a given moisture convergence as GCM resolution increases.
Channel Attention and Normal-Based Local Feature Aggregation Network (CNLNet): A Deep Learning Method for Predisaster Large-Scale Outdoor Lidar Semantic Segmentation

Predisaster information storage is crucial for effective disaster response. The discussion regarding deep learning-based light detection and ranging (Lidar) semantic segmentation technology for indoor small items has been ongoing in recent years. However, the methods applicable to large-scale outdoor Lidar datasets for predisaster information storage remain limited. This study aims to propose a novel deep learning-based network for city-scale Lidar semantic segmentation to support predisaster information storage, called channel attention and normal-based local feature aggregation network (CNLNet). This network is designed to segment common urban land cover objects, including buildings and vegetation. This network incorporates surface normal information and the channel attention (CA) mechanism into the RandLA-Net backbone. Ablation studies have been devised to assess the performance of these two features. During the preprocessing step, color information from optical images is fused with Lidar data. The findings demonstrate that CNLNet can enhance the accuracy of the RandLA-Net backbone by improving mean intersection over union (mIoU) by at least 1%–2%. Including one of these two features also contributes to the backbone’s improved accuracy. Notably, CNLNet outperforms other well-known networks in terms of accuracy with the test of the public Sementic3D dataset. This study further reveals that the proposed network excels in building segmentation, a crucial facet of predisaster information storage. Moreover, the results show that spatial resolution, whether at 0.5 or 10 m per pixel for optical images, has limited influence on outcomes. One theoretical contribution of this study is the demonstration of the advantages of integrating either surface normal information or a CA mechanism to enhance large-scale outdoor Lidar semantic segmentation. Labeled Lidar datasets have been created for training. The practical contribution is that it can optimize disaster response by efficiently facilitating predisaster information storage.
Streambank sediment loading rates at the watershed scale and the benefit of riparian protection

Streambank erosion is a pathway for sediment and nutrient loading to streams, but insufficient data exist on the magnitude of this source. Riparian protection can significantly decrease streambank erosion in some locations, but estimates of actual sediment load reductions are limited. The objective of this research was to quantify watershed‐scale streambank erosion and estimate the benefits of riparian protection. The research focused on Spavinaw Creek within the Eucha‐Spavinaw watershed in eastern Oklahoma, where composite streambanks consist of a small cohesive topsoil layer underlain by non‐cohesive gravel. Fine sediment erosion from 2003 to 2013 was derived using aerial photography and processed in ArcMap to quantify eroded area. ArcMap was also utilized in determining the bank retreat rate at various locations in relation to the riparian vegetation buffer width. Box and whisker plots clearly showed that sites with riparian vegetation had on average three times less bank retreat than unprotected banks, statistically significant based on non‐parametric t‐tests. The total soil mass eroded from 2003 to 2013 was estimated at 7.27 × 107 kg yr. −1, and the average bank retreat was 2.5 m yr. −1. Many current erosion models assume that fluvial erosion is the dominant stream erosion process. Bank retreat was positively correlated with stream discharge and/or stream power, but with considerable variability, suggesting that mass wasting plays an important role in streambank erosion within this watershed. Finally, watershed monitoring programs commonly characterize erosion at only a few sites and may scale results to the entire watershed. Selection of random sites and scaling to the watershed scale greatly underestimated the actual erosion and loading rates. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Magnitude of opportunistic infections and associated factors in HIV-infected adults on antiretroviral therapy in eastern ethiopia

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of opportunistic infections (OIs) and associated factors among HIV-infected adults on anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, Eastern Ethiopia. Patients and methods: A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted in 358 HIV-infected adult patients on ART from April to June 2014. Data were collected through review of clinical records. The data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association of each independent variable with occurrence of OIs. A 95% confidence interval (CI) and P -value less than 0.05 were considered as significant association. Results: A total of 358 patients were included in the study, in which majority (68.4%) were females. The mean age of patients was 34 (standard deviation [SD] ± 9.8) years. The overall of prevalence of OIs among HIV/AIDS patients on ART was 48%. The highest prevalent rates of OIs observed were tuberculosis (TB) (21.23%), followed by Herpes zoster (11.2%) and oral candidiasis (9.5%). Baseline CD4 cell count , 200 cells/mm 3 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.645, 95% CI = 2.187, 3.983), baseline World Health Organization (WHO) clinical stage III (AOR = 2.801, 95% CI = 1.958, 7.165) and IV (AOR = 3.856; 95% CI = 2.691, 10.390), and not using prophylaxis (AOR = 1.912, 95% CI = 1.444, 3.824) were found to have strong association with acquisition of OIs. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of OIs observed in this study. Baselines CD4 count of , 200 cells/mm 3 , advanced WHO clinical stages, and not using prophylaxis were found to be predictors of OIs. Interventions were aimed at promoting early HIV testing and enrollment of HIV-infected individuals into ART services needed before CD4 count decreased severely.
Análisis bibliométrico de la producción científica en gamificación y juegos serios indexada en Scopus = Bibliometric analysis of the scientific production in gamification and serious games indexed in Scopus

Serious games and gamification are an important and innovative trend in formal and non-formal learning. This bibliometric study identifies and exhibits some characteristics of scientific production in gamification and serious games based on documents produced up to 2017, using the database Scopus. The result of the search offered a total of 8518 documents. The records obtained were analyzed taking into account the following variables: year of publication, title, authors, documentary types, institutions, countries, sources, key words, areas of investigation and citation. According to the results, the existence of a continuous increase in the scientific production is verified, identifying the informatics as the main research area. Other aspects are: the preference for the Conference Paper as a documentary typology most used for the diffusion of production, with 67% of the cases, the high concentration of production in a few documentary sources and citations in a number very small document (33.6% of the citations correspond to 2.3% of the documents).
Lithium-Bearing Donbassite and Tosudite from Echassières, Massif Central, France

Lithium-bearing donbassite and tosudite were found in veins in hydrothermally altered granite (Beauvoir granite) in the northern part of the Massif Central, France. The two minerals are characterized by their high Li contents and low Mg and Fe contents; their structural formulae are: $${\left( {S{i_{3.81}}A{l_{0.19}}} \right)_{\Sigma = 4.00}}{O_{10}}{\left( {A{l_{3.81}}L{i_{0.52}}Fe_{0.01}^{2 + }C{a_{0.02}}M{g_{0.01}}} \right)_{\Sigma - 4.38}}{\left( {OH} \right)_8}{\left( {N{a_{0.07}}{K_{0.04}}} \right)_{\Sigma = 0.11}}$$ for donbassite and $${\left( {S{i_{3.50}}A{l_{0.50}}} \right)_{\Sigma = 4.00}}{O_{10}}{\left( {A{l_{2.95}}L{i_{0.22}}Fe_{0.01}^{3 + }T{i_{0.01}}} \right)_{\Sigma = 3.19}}{\left( {OH} \right)_5}{\left( {C{a_{0.01}}N{a_{0.15}}{K_{0.18}}} \right)_{\Sigma = 0.34}}$$ for tosudite.These chemical compositions indicate that the donbassite is an intermediate member of the donbassite-cookeite solid solution series and that the tosudite consists of interstratified Li-donbassite and beidellite. Both Li-bearing minerals show thermal behavior distinct from those previously reported for dioctahedral chlorite and tosudite.Petrographie investigation of drill cuttings from the Echassières area indicates that the two minerals were formed in an intermediate stage of hydrothermal alteration following an early stage characterized by formation of muscovite (2M1) at >350°C and before the latest stage characterized by deposition of kaolinite and randomly interstratified illite/smectite at < 100°C. Moreover, tosudite occurs in the upper part of the granite, whereas donbassite is restricted to the lower part, suggesting the formation of tosudite at lower temperatures.
Forest management, wildfire, and climate impacts on the hydrology of Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer watersheds

Author(s): Saksa, Philip | Advisor(s): Bales, Roger C | Abstract: Forest Management, wildfire, and climate impacts on the hydrology of Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer watersheds by Philip Saksa. Ph.D. Environmental Systems. University of California, Merced. Committee Chair: Roger Bales. The research presented in this dissertation aims to 1) assess the water balance of headwater catchments in the Sierra Nevada and determine if fuel treatments implemented in 2012 impacted runoff, 2) use a hydro-ecologic model to simulate the effects of fuel treatments and modeled wildfire at a larger fireshed scale, and 3) to investigate the interaction of vegetation disturbance and projected temperature increases through 2100 to determine relative impacts on hydrologic fluxes. The high variability in annual precipitation, combined with low post-treatment precipitation, masked any detectable changes in headwater catchment runoff from fuel treatments. Model results, however, do show the potential of increased runoff with treatments at both the headwater and fireshed scales, particularly in the high precipitation region of the American River Basin, where vegetation is less water-limited. While the potential for increasing runoff with fuel treatments exists, and may be a co-benefit of reduced fire risk, high-precision equipment for measuring stream discharge may be necessary to verifiable detect these increases. Although increasing temperatures adversely affect snowpack storage, changes in runoff and evapotranspiration are limited to the highest potential temperature increases towards the end of the century, and have less of an impact than vegetation disturbances.
EVALUATION OF PEARL MILLET FORAGE

This research evaluated millet as forage source for ruminants. Four studies were conducted using two cultivars of forage millet [i.e. brown midrib (BM) and regular (RM)]. The first investigated the effect of seeding rate on yield, chemical composition and in vitro degradability of the two forage millet cultivars. Yield of RM was 56% more than BM due to taller plants and more tillers m-2. A 25% increase in yield as seeding rate increased from 5 to 10 or from 10 to 15 kg ha-1 was observed for two millet cultivars. Brown midrib millet contained 15% more CP, and 4, 13 and 31% less NDF, ADF and ADL than RM cultivar. In vitro DM digestibility was 10% higher in BM due to differences in chemical composition. The second study determined the effect of stage of development at harvest [i.e. vegetative (VS) and heading stage (HS)] on the two millet cultivars yield and cell wall composition in leaves and stems. Yield of BM was lower than that of RM at both stages of development. Concentrations of NDF, ADF and ADL were reduced in BM stems by 8, 16, and 58%, respectively, compared to RM stems. Leaves ADF and ADL concentrations were 6 and 49% less in BM than RM. Increase in fibre fractions with advancing stage of development was most pronounced in RM stems. Brown midrib trait affected cell wall structure of BM leaves and stems by increasing arabinose and xylose proportion as well as concentrations of ester- linked p-coumaric acid and ether-linked ferulic acids. Cell wall content of arabinose, xylose and glucose in leaves and stems, and phenolics in stems was higher at VS than at HS. This effect was more pronounced for stems of RM than BM. In situ DM and NDF disappearances were higher in leaves and stems of BM than RM and were higher in leaves and stems of millet harvested at VS than at HS. Lignin concentration had negative linear impact on in situ DM and NDF degradability. Ensilability of forage millet as affected by cultivar and stage of development at harvest was investigated%%%%Cette recherche constitue a evalue millet comme une source de fourrage pour les ruminants. Quatre etudes ont ete effectuees en utilisant deux varietes de millet [par exemple midrib brun (BM) et regulier (RM)]. La premiere etude constituait une evaluation de l'effet de la vitesse de semer les graines de millet sur le rendement, la composition chimique et la degradabilite in vitro des deux varietes de millet. Le rendement de RM etait 56% plus haut en comparaison de BM en raison des plus grandes plantes et plus de feuillage par m-2. Le midrib brun de millet contenait 15% plus de CP, et 4, 13 et 31% moins de NDF, ADF et ADL que la variete RM. La digestibilite in vitro de DM etait 10% plus haut chez BM en raison de ces differences. La deuxieme etude avait pour objectif de determiner l'effet du niveau de developpement a la moisson [par exemple vegetal (VS) et niveau d'en-tete (HS)] sur le rendement des deux varietes de millet et la composition de membrane cellulaire dans les feuilles et les tiges. Le rendement de BM etait plus bas en comparaison de RM aux deux…
Observations of pronounced Greenland ice sheet firn warming and implications for runoff production

Field measurements of shallow borehole temperatures in firn across the northern Greenland ice sheet are collected during May 2013. Sites first measured in 1952–1955 are revisited, showing long‐term trends in firn temperature. Results indicate a pattern of substantial firn warming (up to +5.7°C) at midlevel elevations (1400–2500 m) and little temperature change at high elevations (>2500 m). We find that latent heat transport into the firn due to meltwater percolation drives the observed warming. Modeling shows that heat is stored at depth for several years, and energy delivered from consecutive melt events accumulates in the firn. The observed warming is likely not yet in equilibrium with recent melt production rates but captures the progression of sites in the percolation facies toward net runoff production.