Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soil Type and Phosphorus Fertilization Affect
 Poa annua
 Growth and Seedhead Production

Annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) is a winter annual weed in southern landscapes. Previous research indicated that soil P or pH affects growth of annual bluegrass, which could provide tools for integrated control of a plant considered a weed in some turfgrass systems. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of P rate and soil type on growth parameters of annual bluegrass. This greenhouse study evaluated rates of P (0, 25, 50, 99, and 197 kg P ha–¹) on 3 soil types (silty clay loam, loamy sand, and sand/peat [90:10% v/v] greensmix). Plant height, days to first seedhead (panicle), branches per panicle, seeds per branch, seed number and weight, and shoot and root dry weight data were collected by hand sampling and counting. Annual bluegrass seed was affected by both soil type and rate of P fertilization. Annual bluegrass plants grown in greensmix that received lower or zero P were 25% smaller than fertilized, took a week longer to produce a visible seed head, and had seed of reduced weight. Number of panicles, branches per panicle, seeds per panicle, and seeds per panicle branch were all unaffected by P rate, but often by soil type, where there were fewer of all when grown in greensmix. Avoidance of excessive P fertilization and subsequent accumulation of soil P may be an additional tool for the management and reduction of annual bluegrass.
Role of healthy extruded snacks to mitigate malnutrition

ABSTRACT Malnutrition is directly linked to the economic and social living standard of the people. It is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among the children, especially in the developing countries. The world population is projected to grow to around 9 billion by 2050 which will further escalate malnutrition. Snacks are becoming more and more popular and have a strong association with nutritional status of the young population. Extruded snacks have very low moisture (4–6%) and water activity (0.138) making them shelf stable. Shelf stable, nutrient dense products deemed to be ideal to alleviate malnutrition in the developing world. It is important to consider these healthy snacks for the provision of macro and micronutrients especially to the nutritionally vulnerable segment of population. Modern extrusion technologies have paved the way to use various nutrient-rich constituents to make attractive products. Analysis of supercritical fluid extrusion processed snacks has resulted in superior physical and textural properties while retaining the added macro and micronutrients. Nutrient-rich snacks produced through extrusion processing have been used for nutrition interventions along with community-based educational campaigns to mitigate malnutrition. This literature pertains the prevalence of malnutrition along with the usefulness of healthy extruded snacks against malnutrition.
[Re] Exact Combinatorial Optimization with Graph Convolutional Neural Networks

In this paper we reproduce and corroborate the results presented in the paper "Exact Combinatorial Optimization with Graph Convolutional Neural Networks" submitted to the NeurIPS 2019 Conference [1]. We implement the published code, run the experiments and propose suggestions to improve the overall reproducibility of the paper. We conclude that the paper is reproducible. The code repository can be accesses through the following link: https://github.com/ audreyanneguindon/NeurIPS_2019
Early Signals of Vaccine-driven Perturbation Seen in Pneumococcal Carriage Population Genomic Data

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) have reduced pneumococcal diseases globally. Despite this, much remains to be learned about their effect on pathogen population structure. Here we undertook whole genome sequencing of 660 pneumococcal strains from asymptomatic carriers to investigate population restructuring in pneumococcal strains sampled before and after PCV13 introduction in a previously vaccine-naïve setting. We show substantial decreasing frequency of vaccine-type (VT) strains and their strain diversity post-vaccination in the vaccinated but not unvaccinated age groups indicative of direct but limited or delayed indirect effect of vaccination. Clearance of identical VT serotypes associated with multiple lineages occurred regardless of their genetic background. Interestingly, despite the increasing frequency of non-vaccine type (NVT) strains through serotype replacement, the serotype diversity was not fully restored to the levels observed prior to vaccination implying limited serotype replacement. The frequency of antibiotic resistant strains was low and remained largely unchanged post-vaccination but intermediate-penicillin-resistant lineages were reduced in the post vaccine population. Significant perturbations marked by changing frequency of accessory genes associated with diverse functions especially mobile genetic elements and bacteriocin activity were detected. This phylogenomic analysis demonstrates early vaccine-induced pneumococcal population restructuring not only at serotype but also accessory genome level. Author summary Different formulations of PCVs have been effective in reducing the invasive pneumococcal disease burden globally. Clinical trials have started to indicate high impact and effectiveness of PCV13 in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) but there is limited understanding of how the introduction of PCVs alters the population structure of pneumococcal strains at serotype and genomic level. Here we investigated this using pneumococcal strains sampled pre‐ and post-PCV13 introduction from a previously vaccine naïve setting in Northern Malawi. Our findings reveal decrease in frequency of VT serotypes and their associated lineages in the largely vaccinated under-five population but not older individuals indicating a direct but limited or delayed indirect protection. The diversity of serotypes also decreased post-vaccination in VT strains in the under-fives but there was no change in NVT strains suggesting incomplete serotype replacement. At the genomic level, logistic regression revealed changing frequency of accessory genes largely associated with mobile genetic elements but such changes did not include any antibiotic resistance genes. These findings show significant perturbations at serotype and accessory genome level in carried pneumococcal population after two years from PCV13 introduction but the pneumococcal population was still perturbed and had not returned to a new equilibrium state.
Origins of anomalous mixed-alkali effects in ion-exchanged glasses

Ion transport properties in ion-exchanged glasses are re-examined by a.c. impedance and infrared spectroscopies. In typical soda-lime-silica (float) glass it is shown that when Na + ions are replaced by K + ions, the region of highest resistivity resides in the surface, confirming the earlier result of Tomandl and Schaeffer. The existence of this anomalous impedance is correlated with cation-induced relaxations of the network (CIRON). This process enables the glass to accommodate larger K + ions at the expense of empty K sites (which in melt-grown glasses provide the stepping stones for ion migration). As a consequence of the structural relaxations, the compressive stresses stored within the surface of the glass may be smaller than expected, even when ion exchange occurs far below T g and the effects of viscous flow can be neglected.
Varietal susceptibility on maize varieties against flour beetles (Tribolium casteneum and Tribolium confusum)

Maize is commonly known as “C4”and photosynthetic plant. The maize is rich in nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and fats etc. During research study, it was found that flour beetles including (Tribolium casteneum and Tribolium confusum); both species were causing economic losses on quality and quantity of maize varieties in many areas of Hyderabad, Sindh (Pakistan). Therefore, the experimental study was carried out on susceptibility of maize varieties. Experiments were conducted during the months of Sep 2015 to Aug 2016. During laboratory experiments, the 100g of each variety were put in four jars of 150g capacity then ten pairs of both flour beetles introduced in each jar. The culture of both flour beetles was maintained under ambient conditions, 31±2°C, 27±5°C, 65±5; 78±3% relative humidity and photoperiod with 10 hour light and dark cycle. The percentage of weight loss was taken as criteria for observation of susceptibility on maize varieties against the flour beetles. During this observation; it was found that maximum weight loss occurred on Neelum while minimum on Popcorn variety, 64.87g and 5.12g respectively. The more susceptibility of Neelum variety was due to softness, seed thickness, seed size and coloration. Statistically, it was proved that consumption on Neelum variety due to both flour beetles have strong positive Pearson correlation with survival of flour beetles under ambient conditions whereas on Popcorn variety consumption had no Pearson correlation with survival of flour beetles. The values are being r= . 834(**) and (a) respectively.
Predictability of leaf traits with climate and elevation: a case study in Gongga Mountain, China

Abstract Leaf mass per area (Ma), nitrogen content per unit leaf area (Narea), maximum carboxylation capacity (Vcmax) and the ratio of leaf-internal to ambient CO2 partial pressure (χ) are important traits related to photosynthetic function, and they show systematic variation along climatic and elevational gradients. Separating the effects of air pressure and climate along elevational gradients is challenging due to the covariation of elevation, pressure and climate. However, recently developed models based on optimality theory offer an independent way to predict leaf traits and thus to separate the contributions of different controls. We apply optimality theory to predict variation in leaf traits across 18 sites in the Gongga Mountain region. We show that the models explain 59% of trait variability on average, without site- or region-specific calibration. Temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, vapor pressure deficit, soil moisture and growing season length are all necessary to explain the observed patterns. The direct effect of air pressure is shown to have a relatively minor impact. These findings contribute to a growing body of research indicating that leaf-level traits vary with the physical environment in predictable ways, suggesting a promising direction for the improvement of terrestrial ecosystem models.
Biotransformation of caffeic acid into a promising biologically active metabolite by Candida albicans isolate CI-24

In this study, a total number of 92 clinical isolates of Candida species was used to test their ability to transform caffeic acid using the two-stage fermentation protocol. The success of the biotransformation process was confirmed by TLC autography method and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The obtained chromatograms showed that 7 isolates could perform caffeic acid biotransformation. The biological activities (antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and cytotoxic activities) of the extracts of the selected isolates were determined. According to the obtained results, the Candida isolate CI-24 had the most promising biotransformation ability. The methanolic extract of the respective isolate showed a promising anticancer activity against Caco-2 cell line and a potential antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. The isolate was genetically identified as Candida albicans (Accession number MH356583) using 28S rRNA sequencing. As determined by NMR and LC-MS analysis, caffeic acid was transformed by Candida albicans strain CI-24 into para-hydroxybenzoic acid.
A comparative study of Nano-iron and zinc as feed additive on growth performance, feed efficiency and chemical body composition of Nile tilapia fingerlings (Oreochromis nilotiucs)

Tilapia is one of the most widely used fish cultivated all over the world and in Egypt in particular. Currently, farmed tilapia represents more than 75% of world tilapia production (FAO, 2009), and this contribution has been exponentially growing in recent years. The low trophic level and the omnivorous food habits of tilapia make them a relatively inexpensive fish to feed, unlike other finfish, such as salmon, which rely on high protein and lipid diets based on more expensive protein sources like a fish meal (Obirikorang et al., 2016). Fish feed is an essential component of the inputs in any fish farm. Minerals are required in fewer amounts than other ration required nutrients. The role of trace elements in biological systems has been described in fish. The fish requirements for the normal life processes like skeletal formation, biologically important compounds such as hormones and enzymes (Watanabe et al., 1997). Many of the factors are that affect the dietary level of mineral and trace elements in fish can be in one or more a combination of; the biological factors such as species, life stage, sex, trophic level, feeding habits, and nutritional status of the fish, dietary factors such as diet composition, availability and nutrient interaction and environmental factors such as ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History: Received: Oct. 20, 2019 Accepted:Nov. 28, 2019 Online: Dec. 2019 _______________
Fruit Quality and Postharvest Performance of ‘Cripps Pink’ Apple in Relation to Withholding Irrigation

We investigated the effects of withholding irrigation (WHI) at various stages of apple fruit development in improving fruit quality at harvest, particularly fruit colour without adversely affecting storage life and quality. WHI treatments were applied during stage II and III of fruit development commencing from 135, 145 and 155 days after full bloom (DAFB). Treatments were (i) T1, commercial irrigation as a control, (ii) T2, WHI from 135 to 153 DAFB, (iii) T3, WHI from 145 to 175 DAFB, and (iv) T4, WHI from 155 to 200 DAFB. WHI applied in T3 significantly reduced leaf water potential, 10 days after the commencement of WHI. WHI treatments did not significantly affect the cumulative fruit drop on 195 DAFB than T1. WHI treatment (T3) enhanced red skin colour, concentration of total anthocyanins, soluble solids concentration and firmness at harvest as compared to T1. Fruit from T3 stored at 0±0.1°C, 90±2% RH for 70 and 140 days retained higher firmness (>68N) and SSC (>15°Brix) as compared to T1. However, prolonged cold storage periods decreased titratable acidity of the fruit from irrespective of WHI treatments. WHI fruit from T3 stored for 140 days showed increased levels of ascorbic acid and total antioxidants in the pulp as compared to other treatments. In conclusion, WHI applied 145 to 175 DAFB (middle of stage II) improved fruit colour and other major fruit quality parameters at harvest without adversely affecting postharvest quality and also reduced water use.
Clinical and economic impact of high short-acting β-agonist use in patients with persistent asthma

High Short-Acting β−Agonists (SABA) use is an important indicator of poor asthma control and has been utilized in various studies as a proxy measure of asthma control for various purposes (e.g. predictive marker for future exacerbation events). However, little evidence exists with regard to the optimal measurement of high SABA use for predicting future exacerbation events as well as the impact of asthma control, as measured by high SABA use and other characteristics, on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and Health Resource Utilization (HRU). The objective of this research was to determine the measure of high SABA use that is most predictive of future exacerbation events and to assess the impact of asthma control, as measured by high SABA use and other claims-derived characteristics, on HRQoL and HRU. We used a retrospective cohort of persistent asthma patients from the Observational Study of Asthma Control & Outcomes (OSACO) for this dissertation. Specifically, patients included in the analytical cohort completed all 3 surveys and were continuously enrolled from April 2011 to June 2012. We compared measures of high SABA use via accuracy, discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility. The two measures of high SABA use (i.e. primary exposure measures) that were compared were Asthma Medication Ratio (AMR) and SABA canister count. Classification of asthma control status was according to a model based on high SABAuse and other characteristics. The primary outcome measure for aim 1 was exacerbation events (asthma-related hospitalizations, Emergency Department (ED) visits, and outpatient visits with Oral Corticosteroid (OCS) burst); asthma-specific and generic HRQoL scores for aim 2 and; HRU for aim 3. We assessed the impact of change in asthma control status on asthma-specific and generic HRQoL using a mixed modeling approach and the impact of change in asthma control status on all-cause and asthma-specific HRU was assessed using generalized linear models. There was no statistical difference in the overall performance of prediction models that only contained measures of high SABA use (i.e. AMR and SABA canister count). Patients with high SABA use (categorized as prescription of ≥ 3 SABA canisters within 6 months) had a greater adjusted odds of future exacerbation events by 61.1% (Odds Ratio (OR): 1.61; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.22, 2.07). Of the 1,825 patients in the study, 987 (54%) and 815 (45%) were uncontrolled at wave 1 and wave 3, respectively. We observed a lower mini-Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (mAQLQ) score for
Allocation pattern, photosynthetic performance and sugar metabolism in hydroponically grown seedlings of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.) subjected to salinity

Hydroponically grown loquat seedlings were subjected to increasing NaCl concentrations (0, 12, 24, and 48 mM) for 42 d. At the whole plant level, Na+ and Cl- accumulated proportionally to the salt treatments; however, Na+ accumulated prevalently in leaves whilst Cl- accumulated prevalently in stems. Reduction of leaf biomass was only observed in seedlings grown with 48 mM NaCl, whereas net photosynthesis declined along with increasing NaCl concentration and salinity led to general accumulation of glucose, reduction of mannitol and sorbitol, and changes in pigment composition in loquat leaves. Increasing level of salinity induced accumulations of both proline and H2O2 but not of malondialdehyde byproducts. Dramatic alteration of sugar patterns in the leaves poses serious concerns about possible effects of salinity to fruit production. Further research is necessary to investigate the concentration at which NaCl significantly compromises the yield of this economically important fruit species.
FOOD WASTE A MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

This paper assesses the impact of food waste at the European Union level. Food waste has raised real concerns in recent years, occupying the first place on the agenda of meetings organized at European and international level. While in the developed countries there is an excess of consumption which, paradoxically, involves huge losses, in other countries conflicts, economic or meteorological conditions generate food crises. The fight against food waste at the level of the European Union, implies the application of measures of responsibility and mobilization of producers, suppliers and sellers, consumers and associations, throughout the agri-food chain, thus maximizing the resources of edible foods.The importance of this topic will continue to grow, especially given the need to feed a growing global population.
Structural and Electrical Characterization of PbS: Ni Nanocrystallites Synthesized by Chemical Bath Deposition

The growth of nanocrystalline PbS films by chemical bath deposition (CBD) onto glass at a deposition temperature of 20 ± 2 °C is reported. Different doping levels were obtained by changing the volume of the reagent solution V(Ni2+) into the PbS growing solution were added. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmssion Microscopy Electronic (TEM), Raman spectroscopy (RS), dark conductivity (DC) measurements was carried out to characterize the PbS films. XRD spectra displayed peaks at the angular positions: 2θ = (26.00, 30.07, 43.10, 51.00, 53.48), indicating growth on the zinc blende face. The grain size (GS) determined by x-rays diffraction of the undoped samples, was found to be ~36 nm, whereas with the doped sample is found to be in the range ~32-5 nm, as calculated by employing Scherer's formula. By TEM, the doped-PbS materials were found crystalline films in the range 3.5-5 nm. RS exhibited band centred at ~135 cm -1 displaying only a PbS ZB structure, excluding the presence of any other material. The thermal energy for the films was determined from the slope of DC and the energy was estimated to be 0.15 to 0.5 eV. Finally, Gibbs free energy calculation for the V(Ni2+) doping-PbS process was also established.
PENGARUH TOTAL ASSET TURN OVER, CURRENT RATIO, DEBT TO EQUITY RATIO DAN RETURN ON ASSETS TERHADAP KEBIJAKAN DIVIDEN (STUDI PADA PERUSAHAAN YANG TERMASUK DALAM INDEKS INVESTOR33 PERIODE TAHUN 2015-2017)

This study aimed to examine and analyze the effect of Total Asset Turn Over (TATO), Current Ratio (CR), Debt to Equity Ratio (DER) and Return On Assets (ROA) on Dividend Policy in companies included in Investor33 index 2015-2017 . The sampling technique used a purposive sampling method, which is a sampling technique based on a certain criterion, so as to get a sample of 19 companies from a total population of 33 companies. The results of this study indicated that the total asset turnover variable has a positive effect on the company's dividend policy, the current ratio variable has a negative effect on the company's dividend policy, the debt to equity ratio variable has a negative effect on the company's dividend policy, the return variable on assets has a positive effect on the company's dividend policy, and the four variables also influence jointly on the company's dividend policy