Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of quaternary ammonium coated surfaces

Biomaterial ‐ associated-infection causes failure of biomaterial implants. Many new biomaterials have been evaluated for their ability to inhibit bacterial colonization and stimulate tissue-cell-integration, but neglect the role of immune cells. This paper compares macrophage phagocytosis of adhering Staphylococcus aureus on cationic-coatings and patterned poly(ethylene)glycol-hydrogels versus common biomaterials and stainless steel in order to identify surface conditions that promote clearance of adhering bacteria. Staphylococci were allowed to adhere and grow on the materials in a parallel-plate-flow-chamber, after which murine macrophages were introduced. From the decrease in number of adhering staphylococci, phagocytosis-rates were calculated, and total macrophage displacements during an experiment determined. Hydrophilic surfaces had the lowest phagocytosis-rates, while common biomaterials had intermediate phagocytosis-rates. Patterning of poly(ethylene)glycol-hydrogel coatings increased phagocytosis-rates to the level of common biomaterials, while on cationic-coatings phagocytosis-rates remained relatively low. Likely, phagocytosis-rates on cationic coatings are hampered relative to common biomaterials through strong electrostatic binding of negatively-charged macrophages and staphylococci. On polymeric biomaterials and glass, phagocytosis-rates increased with macrophage displacement, while both parameters increased with biomaterial surface hydrophobicity. Thus hydrophobicity is a necessary surface condition for effective phagocytosis. Concluding, next-generation biomaterials should account for surface effects on phagocytosis in order to enhance the ability of these materials to resist biomaterial-associated-infection.
Biomass Production and Nutrient Dynamics in an Aquaponics System

The goal of this study was to prove that aquaponic systems can produce lettuce of equal growth and quality compared to hydroponic lettuce production and to determine the stocking density of fish required for plant growth. Aquaponics is the integration of recirculating aquaculture and hydroponic plant production. The project had four objectives. The first objective was to determine the biomass of fish required for plant growth to develop a fish to plant density ratio. The second objective was to compare lettuce grown with aquaponic water and a hydroponic solution under the same environmental conditions. The third objective was to compare the quality of lettuce grown with aquaponics water plus nutrient supplementation with a hydroponic solution. The fourth objective was to determine the nitrogen dynamics in the aquaponic system and to compare the nutrient composition of lettuce grown with aquaponics water with nutrient supplementation and hydroponic solution. It was determined that under the specified environmental conditions 5 kg m⁻³ of Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) fed 2% of their body weight daily yields on average 4.7 kg m⁻² of lettuce (L. sativa cv. Rex) in 35 days. There was no significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in biomass or chlorophyll concentration index in lettuce (L. sativa cv. Rex) grown with aquaponics water and nutrient supplements versus a hydroponic solution. The aquaponics solution generated equal biomass and chlorophyll concentration indexes compared to the hydroponic solution. Aquaponics water plus supplementation can yield L. sativa cv. Rex with equal biomass accumulation and chlorophyll concentration indexes compared to hydroponics lettuce. Nutrients added to the aquaponics system consisted of iron, manganese, and zinc. These nutrient concentrations became depleted in the aquaponics water over time and were not replenished via the fish feed. Dolomite was added to the aquaponics system every two weeks to increase the buffering capacity of the water and maintain optimal pH levels. Aquaponics lettuce had similar nutrient composition to hydroponic lettuce. One head of L. sativa cv. Rex (176.75 ± 31.03) will assimilate approximately 5.96 grams of nitrogen (3.38% per dry gram lettuce). One kilogram of fish will yield 6.4 lettuce heads (1,128 grams) and fixate 38.13 grams of nitrogen.
Sharp ecotones spark sharp ideas: comment on "Structural, physiognomic and above-ground biomass variation in savanna–forest transition zones on three continents – how different are co-occurring savanna and forest formations?" by Veenendaal et al. (2015)

Scientific progress occurs as ideas are developed, challenged and debated. Such debates between different schools of thought are plentiful in the history of ecology (Real and Brown, 1991). One emerging ecological paradigm is that tropical forest and savanna can be alternative stable states under the same environmental conditions. There is increasing consensus that savannas can be self-stabilizing through a positive feedback mechanism between fire and low tree cover. Also, the closed canopies of forests can prevent fire to occur by outshading flammable herbaceous vegetation and creating a humid microclimate (Hoffmann et al., 2012). Thus, under given climatic conditions, both forest and savanna can be present. Evidence for this forest–savanna bistability is derived from fire-exclusion experiments (Moreira, 2000; Higgins et al., 2007), vegetation mosaics observed in the field (Warman and Moles, 2009; Favier et al., 2012; Hoffmann et al., 2012; Dantas et al., 2013; Gray and Bond, 2015), vegetation shifts in the paleo-ecological record (Fletcher et al., 2014), mathematical models (Staver and Levin, 2012; Van Nes et al., 2014; Baudena et al., 2015; Staal et al., 2015) and analyses of remotely sensed estimates of tree cover (Hirota et al., 2011; Staver et al., 2011a, b). The latter studies have fueled this debate by showing that tree-cover frequency distributions across the global tropics are bimodal within a range of climatic conditions (with peaks around 20 and > 80 % cover and intermediate cover being rare). In a recent publication in this journal, Veenendaal et al. (2015) presented a global field study of tropical forest– savanna ecotones (or “zones of transition”), arguing that their data are inconsistent with the hypothesis that tropical forest and savanna can be alternative stable states through a feedback between fire and low tree cover. Here we assert that the results presented do not refute but rather support the emerging view of alternative stable states in the tropics and the role of fire therein. Nevertheless, we acknowledge that the picture is far from complete and believe that insights presented by the authors can contribute to a coherent understanding of forest–savanna dynamics. Veenendaal et al. (2015) investigated the effect of climate and soil conditions on vegetation structure of 61 one-hectare plots near forest–savanna ecotones in South America, Africa and Australia. Based on their extensive data collection, they provide two main arguments supporting inconsistency with the alternative stable states hypothesis. Firstly, in contrast to what is expected from discontinuities in the remote sensing data (Hirota et al., 2011; Staver et al., 2011b), they argue that woody plant cover in their field plots shows no signs of discontinuity. Secondly, they consider a soil–climatic envelope to be sufficient to explain the forest–savanna transition
Language recognition by convolutional neural networks

Speech recognition representing a communication between computers and human as a sub (cid:12)eld of computational linguistics or natural language processing has a long history. Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Text To Speech (TTS), speech to text, Continuous Speech Recognition (CSR), and interactive voice response systems are di(cid:11)erent approaches to solving problems in this area. The performance improvement is partially attributed to the ability of the Deep Neural Network (DNN) to model complex correlations in speech features. In this paper, unlike the use of conventional model for sequential data like voice that employs Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) with the emergence of di(cid:11)erent architectures in deep networks and good performance of Conventional Neural Networks (CNNs) in image processing and feature extraction, the application of CNNs was developed in other domains. It was shown that prosodic features for Persian language could be extracted via CNNs for segmentation and labeling speech for short texts. By using 128 and 200 (cid:12)lters for CNN and special architectures, 19.46 error in detection rate and better time consumption than RNNs were obtained. In addition, CNN simpli(cid:12)es the learning procedure. Experimental results show that CNN networks can be a good feature extractor for speech recognition in various languages.
East African Journal of Traditions, Culture and Religion

The study investigated the African Kanisa Israel faith healing and the management of COVID-19 in Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya. It traced the history of A. K. Israel, assessed the concept of faith healing in A. K. Israel, and examined the role of A. K. Israel’s faith healing in the management of COVID-19. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research designs and settings. This entailed purposive sampling, stratified sampling
Geometric Evaluation of Distortion Correction Methods in Diffusion MRI of the Spinal Cord

Acquiring and processing Diffusion MRI in spinal cord present inherent challenges. Differences in magnetic susceptibility between soft tissues, air and bone make the magnetic field of spinal cord non-uniform and inhomogeneous. In this context various procedures were proposed for correcting this distortion. In this work, we propose novel geometric statistics to measure the alignment of the reconstructed diffusion model with the apparent centerline of the spine. In parallel of the correlation with an anatomical T2-weighted image, we show the utility of these statistics to study and evaluate the impact of distortion correction by comparing 3 distortion correction methods from reversed gradient polarity strategy.
Definition of the lapetus rift-drift transition in western Newfoundland

The change from a sequence of terrestrial and marine clastic sedimentary and volcanic rocks that show rapid lateral variability of thickness and facies to an overlying, essentially sheetlike, mainly carbonate sequence is interpreted to broadly define the Iapetus rift-drift transition (continental breakup) in the Appalachian miogeocline of western Newfoundland. Mafic dikes and granite in the lower sequence are dated isotopically at about 600 Ma. An Early Cambrian stratigraphic age for the base of the carbonate sequence suggests continental breakup and the onset of Iapetus sea-floor spreading at about 550–570 Ma. Stratigraphic analysis refutes models that assume a late Precambrian or earliest Cambrian wide Iapetus ocean in the northern Appalachians.
Municipal sludge use in land reclamation

Introduction: Status of Land Disturbed by Mining. Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Federal and State Regulations Governing Use of Sludge on Mine Land. Review of Land Reclamation Projects Using Municipal Sludge: Overview. Effects on Vegetation. Effects on Soil. Effects on Water Quality. Effects on Animal Nutrition and Health. U.S. EPA 40 CFR Part 503 Final Rules for Use and Disposal of Sewage sludge. Conclusion. References. Appendix. Index.
PHONETIC VARIABILITY IN THE REALIZATION OF GLOTTALIZED STOPS IN USPANTEKO (MAYAN)

Glottalized b’ q’ often vary between ejective and implosive realizations in Mayan languages. Some of this variation has been attributed to phonetic differences between languages or dialects, but most descriptions are compatible with the alternative view that individual speakers of the same language/dialect differ in their inclinations to produce these sounds as ejective or implosive. We investigate the phonetic realization of b’ q’ in Uspanteko, a Guatemalan Mayan language. We find that labial b’ is produced as an implosive more often than uvular q’ ; that word-final position favors ejective realizations; and that speakers of the same dialect differ in their tendencies to produce b’ q’ as implosive vs. ejective.
Evaluation of Ethanolic Seed Extract of Parsley on Ethylene Glycol Induced Calcium Oxalate, Experimental Model

: Urolithiasis is the third most common disorder of urinary system with high recurrence rate. The present study to evaluate the antiurolithiatic effect of parsley using experimental rats and ethylene glycol (EG) induced urolithiasis. 24 rats divided into four groups: group A (negative control), group B (positive control), group C (cystone® group) and group D (parsley group). Group B were treated with EG and Ammonium chloride (AC). Group C were treated as B plus cystone® and group D was treated as B plus parsley. The period of experiment was 15 days. Blood and urine samples were collected from rats on days 0 and 15 days. We found significant decrease in parsley group in serum urea, creatinine, uric acid and electrolytes. Also a significant decrease in urinary calcium and proteins in this group compared to positive control. We conclude that parsley has a nephroprotective and antiurolithiatic effects.
Carbon Sequestration and Dynamics of Two Irrigated Agricultural Soils in California

Irrigation in semiarid regions can alter soil C sequestration processes compared with those of native soils. To better understand the effect of these altered processes, we studied the C sequestration and dynamics of two soils from major irrigated agricultural regions of California (the San Joaquin Valley and the Imperial Valley). Soils were sampled from selected native and cultivated fields to represent a span of almost a century of irrigated farming. Field soil samples were analyzed for total soil C and soil inorganic C as carbonate (SIC). Soil organic C (SOC) was then calculated from the measured data. Results showed that SOC stock increased above that stored in the native soil after five decades of irrigated farming. The SIC stock showed opposing trends within the top meter of the two studied soils: a decrease was measured after 55 yr in the San Joaquin Valley soil, while SIC in the Imperial Valley soil increased after 85 yr of irrigated agriculture and appears to represent a significant form of sequestered soil C. Our results indicate that long-term irrigated farming can significantly increase SOC due primarily to SOC added below the 10-cm soil depth, while significant increases in SIC may be partially due to the conversion of increased soil CO 2 to carbonates under a regime of Colorado River irrigation water. Thus, when considering C sequestration in irrigated agriculture in semiarid regions, it is important to determine levels of both SOC and SIC.
This is an accepted article in press for IJMDC The designed pdf version

Background: Musculoskeletal complaints represent almost one-quarter of complaints of patients admitted to primary care. These conditions are the main contributors to lost productivity at work. Therefore, having enough knowledge of the management of these conditions is necessary. Physical therapists can provide safe care for patients with musculoskeletal conditions. Hence, they should have adequate knowledge regarding the management of such conditions. Aim: To describe physical therapists' knowledge regarding managing musculoskeletal problems in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that included physical therapists in Saudi Arabia. Participants were investigated for their demographics and then completed the Freedman and Bernstein test to evaluate experts in musculoskeletal medicine. The test was conducted on the participant via a web-based platform. SPSS version 15 was used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 270 physical therapists were included in the study; the mean knowledge
Consumers’ Trust Transferability in Cross-Border Social Commerce and Its Impact on Perceived Risk and Purchase Intention

Cross-border social commerce is a fast-growing business leveraging social networks, offering hope to reach potential buyers around the world. However, the risk perception of foreign products still discourages consumers from purchasing. According to the trust transfer theory and the trust risk perspective, we propose to establish trust through friends and platforms and examine the perceived risk and impact on purchase intention. To test our hypothesis, we conducted an online survey. A total of 213 social commuters from Indonesia and his users participated in the scenario-based survey. Based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis, we discovered that customer trust can be transferred from friends and platforms to brands. This result has important implications for trust transfer theory. The study also provides suggestions for practitioners in developing strategies for cross-border trade.
Dynamic phase separation of the androgen receptor and its coactivators key to regulate gene expression

Abstract Numerous cancers, including prostate cancer (PCa), are addicted to transcription programs driven by specific genomic regions known as super-enhancers (SEs). The robust transcription of genes at such SEs is enabled by the formation of phase-separated condensates by transcription factors and coactivators with intrinsically disordered regions. The androgen receptor (AR), the main oncogenic driver in PCa, contains large disordered regions and is co-recruited with the transcriptional coactivator mediator complex subunit 1 (MED1) to SEs in androgen-dependent PCa cells, thereby promoting oncogenic transcriptional programs. In this work, we reveal that full-length AR forms foci with liquid-like properties in different PCa models. We demonstrate that foci formation correlates with AR transcriptional activity, as this activity can be modulated by changing cellular foci content chemically or by silencing MED1. AR ability to phase separate was also validated in vitro by using recombinant full-length AR protein. We also demonstrate that AR antagonists, which suppress transcriptional activity by targeting key regions for homotypic or heterotypic interactions of this receptor, hinder foci formation in PCa cells and phase separation in vitro. Our results suggest that enhanced compartmentalization of AR and coactivators may play an important role in the activation of oncogenic transcription programs in androgen-dependent PCa.
“Y EAH , THIS GRAPH DOESN ’ T SHOW THAT ”: A NALYSIS OF O NLINE E NGAGEMENT WITH M ISLEADING D ATA V ISUALIZATIONS

Attempting to make sense of a phenomenon or crisis, social media users often share data visualizations and interpretations that can be erroneous or misleading. Prior work has studied how data visualizations can mislead, but do misleading visualizations reach a broad social media audience? And if so, do users amplify or challenge misleading interpretations? To answer these questions, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis of the public’s engagement with data visualization posts about COVID-19 on Twitter. Compared to posts with accurate visual insights, our results show that posts with misleading visualizations garner more replies in which the audiences point out nuanced fallacies and caveats in data interpretations. Based on the results of our thematic analysis of engagement, we identify and discuss important opportunities and limitations to effectively leveraging crowdsourced assessments to address data-driven misinformation .
Pickup from Rippled Beds in Oscillatory Flow

Measurements are reported of sediment pickup rates from rippled beds in an oscillatory-flow water tunnel. Two maxima in pickup rate are observed in each half-cycle: The first corresponds to the sediment entrained at flow reversal, and the second occurs close to maximum flow velocity. Additionally, fluid velocities were measured with a laser doppler anemometer in the mobile layer over both rippled and plane beds. These measurements confirm the finding of Zala Flores and Sleath that the flow in the mobile layer is quasisteady at low values of the acceleration parameter S=ρU0ω/(ρs-ρ)g. The velocity and pickup measurements are used to calculate sediment transport rates. The maximum transport rate over the crest that occurs soon after maximum flow velocity is in good agreement with the Meyer Peter and Muller formula, provided the calculation is based on the shear stress at the crest. However, the maximum transport rate that occurs in the vicinity of flow reversal does not agree with this formula. Alternative f.
The sensitivity of RADARSAT-2 polarimetric SAR data to corn and soybean leaf area index

In this study, quadrature-polarization (quad-pol) RADARSAT-2 data at steep (25o) and shallow (40o) incidence angles were acquired during the 2008 season, imaging 13 corn and soybean fields. The leaf area index (LAI) was derived from optical imagery, and volumetric soil moisture was measured coincident with each overpass. Many synthetic aperture radar (SAR) parameters were significantly correlated with derived corn and soybean LAI. The highest correlations were observed for parameters sensitive to volume scattering (HV, LL, and RR backscatter, pedestal height, and the Freeman–Durden volume-scattering parameter) at the steeper angle. For corn, the minimum correlation coefficient was 0.95. For soybeans, the coefficients were between 0.83 and 0.86. Sensitivity to LAI was lost late in the season, when the derived LAI exceeded 3.0 m2m−2. The derived LAI and the measured soil moisture were used to model several radar parameters (HV backscatter, pedestal height, and the Freeman–Durden volume-scattering parameter) using the water-cloud model. Early in the season, the SAR response was primarily affected by the vegetation, but soil moisture was also an important contributor. When the derived LAI exceeded 1, soil-moisture contributions became minimal. The water-cloud model adequately simulated SAR responses as the canopy developed and LAI increased, demonstrating the potential of polarimetric SAR data for monitoring indicators of crop productivity.
The Dumont serpentinite; a model for control of nickeliferous opaque mineral assemblages by alteration reactions in ultramafic rocks

Various distinctive nickel-rich minerals are commonly encountered in barren and weakly mineralized ultramafic rocks. The minerals include awaruite, heazlewoodite, pentlandite, millerite, and violarite but few, if any, iron sulfides. Using the Dumont ultramafic body in northern Quebec as an example, it is demonstrated that certain assemblages of these opaque minerals tend to be spatially associated with particular types of alteration, namely, serpentinization and talc-carbonate alteration. An analysis of nickeliferous opaque mineral assemblages on the one hand and alteration reactions on the other leads to a general model in which the former are controlled by the latter through Fe-related redox mechanisms. The model predicts that incipient serpentinization which generates H 2 should be accompanied by reduced assemblages characterized by low-sulfur minerals such as awaruite and heazlewoodite, while carbonate alteration which generates O 2 should be accompanied by oxidized assemblages characterized by high-sulfur minerals such as millerite. The general applicability of the model was tested by compiling bulk mineral assemblages from many locales, as reported by numerous investigators; the results showed a gratifying confirmation of the model.Extension of the model to consider higher sulfur contents was explored in order to explain the common assemblages found in conventional nickel deposits. These sulfide-rich occurrences, in contrast to the barren or weakly mineralized ultramafic rocks, consist mainly of iron sulfides (pyrrhotite + or - pyrite) in addition to pentlandite, and lack awaruite and heazlewoodite. The difference in assemblages can be explained by the model. Because of greater sulfide content and hence higher sulfur, (1) the sulfide assemblages are self-buffered with respect to oxygen and sulfur, therefore remaining largely unaffected by alteration reactions; and (2) the assemblages are required by compatabilities at high S:Ni ratios to include iron sulfides.An important consequence of the model is that serpentinization, by converting some silicate nickel into a sulfide form, may be economically significant in the case of low-grade deposits.