Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SITE-SPECIFIC PHOSPHORUS MANAGEMENT WITH INORGANIC FERTILIZER AND MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE COMPOSTAPPLICATION IN SALT AFFECTED SOIL

Salt affected soils are distributed worldwide and considered a major threat to the semi-arid regions like Pakistan. Saltaffected soils are characterized by excessive soluble salts and dominance of Na on exchange sites and main threat for sustainable agriculture causing reduction in yield of glycophytes (Hasegawa et al., 2000; Qadir et al., 2001; Sherani et al., 2017). The sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) ions exerted osmotic stress and damaged the plants at cellular level (Mansour and Salama, 2000; Chinnusamy et al., 2005). Saltaffected soils of Pakistan are mostly saline-sodic/sodic where Na as dispersion agent hampers the hydraulic properties and obstruct the conducting pores. The management of salt affected soils can be carried out by addition of chemical amendments followed by leaching that replaced Na from the exchange sites and biological means (Sharma and Minhas, 2005; Qadir et al., 2007). Among the chemical amendments, gypsum is the most economical and reliable resource (Ghafoor et al., 2011). Application of organic content to salt affected soils is an effective approach for improving chemical, physical and biological properties of soils although response is slow. Addition of organic amendments like green manures, farmyard, poultry manures, crop residues, press mud and MSWC improve the plant growth and soil quality (Hanay et al., 2004; Sharma and Minhas, 2005; Tejada et al., 2006; Qazi et al., 2009; Wong et al., 2009). Imbalance and insufficient availability of nutrients is characterized feature of salt affected soils. Pakistani soils, especially soils affected by salinity/sodicity are generally deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus (Arain et al., 2000). Soils have variable P fixation capacity depending upon many factors i.e. pH of the soil, organic matter, clay type and exchangeable cations. The P fixation capacity of soils have considerable relationship with pH, exchangeable cations, clay content, soluble phosphate, amount of P fixed and salinity/sodicity constrain its availability to plants. Phosphorus dynamics in the soil and its fixation/released characteristic have relevancy with the amount of P available for growing crops from the native soil pool (Dibb, 1990; Glendinning, 1990). Phosphorus fixation capacity of soils is responsible for its poor availability and limits the plant growth. It was reported that ~80% of added P fertilizers immobilized due to metal complexes (Schachtman et al., 1998). The metal complexes formed due to phosphate anions with Ca or Mg in calcareous soils and Al or Fe in acidic soils promotes the P fixation. Phosphorus use efficiency can be enhanced and losses of P can be reduced by site-specific Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 55(1), 103-110; 2018 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI: 10.21162/PAKJAS/18.1660 http://www.pakjas. com.pk
Flexibility of Heterocercal Tails: What Can the Functional Morphology of Shark Tails Tell Us about Ichthyosaur Swimming?

Synopsis The similarities between ichthyosaurs and sharks are a text-book example of convergence, and similarities in tail morphology have led many to theorize that they had similar swimming styles. The variation of ichthyosaur tail shapes is encompassed within the diversity of shark families. In particular early ichthyosaurs have asymmetrical tails like the heterocercal tails of carcharhinid sharks, while later occurring ichthyosaurs have lunate tails similar to those of lamnid sharks. Because it is not possible to measure ichthyosaur tail function, the goal of this study is to measure and compare the flexibility and stiffness of lunate and heterocercal shark tails, and to measure skeletal and connective tissue features that may affect tail flexibility. We measured flexibility in 10 species and focused on five species in particular, for dissection: one pelagic and one bottom-associated individual from each order, plus the common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus), a tail-slapping specialist. As expected, lunate tails were overall less flexible than heterocercal tails and had greater flexural stiffness. Our results suggest that the cross-sectional profile of the skeletally supported dorsal lobe dictates flexural stiffness, but that changing tissue composition dictates flexural stiffness in the ventral lobe. We also found structural differences that may enable the tail slapping behavior of the common thresher shark. Finally, we discuss how our morphological measurements compare to ichthyosaur measurements from the literature; noting that similarities in functional morphology suggest sharks may be a good analog for understanding ichthyosaur swimming biomechanics.
COMPARISON OF EGG QUALITY TRAITS OF PEARL AND BELGY STRAINS OF GUINEA FOWLS IN NORTHERN GUINEA SAVANNA ZONE OF NIGERIA

Total of 60 (30 each) of two distinct strains of adult guinea fowls (Pearl and Belgy) comprising of 6 males and 24 females for each strain were used to compare and assess the egg quality of two guinea fowl strains. The external egg quality traits measured were egg weight, egg length, egg width, shell weight, shell thickness and egg shape index while the internal egg quality traits measured were yolk weight, yolk height, yolk diameter, yolk index albumen weight, albumen height, albumen diameter and albumen index. Data obtained were analyzed using General Linear Model Procedure of SAS. Means within the traits were compared using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. Belgy strain had higher values for external egg quality traits for egg weight, egg length, egg width, shell weight and egg shape index were found respectively as 57.38±0.71g, 52.20±0.04mm, 40.10±0.04mm, 6.41±0.09g and 76.14±0.39% and internal egg quality traits for yolk weight, yolk height, yolk diameter, yolk index albumen weight, albumen height, albumen diameter and albumen index were found as 14.83±0.36g, 1.58±0.03mm, 43.35±1.92%, 35.75±0.61g, 6.50±0.01mm, 6.48±0.07mm and 9.95±0.19% than Pearl strain for all the egg quality traits. The significant difference observed for these traits between Belgy and Pearl suggests at least some degree of genetic variability. Belgy strain should be used in place of Pearl strain for improvement of egg quality of guinea fowl strains.
Postdated pregnancy: its maternal and fetal outcome

Background: Postdated pregnancy is one of the commonest obstetric conditions. Pregnancy is called term when it lies between 37 weeks to 42 weeks from the last menstrual period. If the pregnancy exceeds 40 weeks it is called as postdated pregnancy. The overall incidence of post term pregnancy is 7% of all pregnancies.Methods: This observational study was carried out in the department of obstetrics and gynecology in Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India from September 2019 to February 2020. Total 100 postdated pregnancy enrolled in the study those willing to participate and fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Aim is to assess maternal and fetal outcome in postdated pregnancy.Results: In present study, incidence of postdated pregnancy was found to be 5% and number of normal deliveries was 66 (66%), LSCS were 32 (32%) and 2 (2%) were instrumental delivery. Maternal complications were seen in 14 (14%) cases and fetal complications were found in 23 (23%) cases.Conclusions: Postdated pregnancy was associated with perinatal complications like fetal distress, meconium aspiration syndrome and fetal asphyxia. There was increased risk of obstetrics complications like postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), perineal tear, cervical tear and shoulder dystocia. Management of postdated pregnancy is a challenge to obstetrician and a careful advice and monitoring can alleviate maternal anxiety and untoward complications.
Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance in Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Germplasm

A set of one fifty genotypically diverse genotypes of garlic were studied for assessment of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance for fifteen yield contributing and economically important traits at Vegetable Research Station, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, during rabi 2016-17. The analysis of variance revealed significant difference among the genotypes for the traits, number of leaves per plant, leaf length (cm), leaf width at middle portion (cm), bulb polar diameter (cm), bulb weight (g), number of cloves per bulb, clove weight (g), clove length (cm), bulb yield (kg/ha) and pseudo stem height (cm). Based on the mean performance, the genotypes RGP-498, RGP-501, RGP-487, RGP-619 and RGP-114 were identified as most promising genotypes for bulb yield per plant. In general, estimates of phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) were found higher in magnitude than corresponding genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) for all the traits studied. The higher magnitude of coefficient of variation at genotypic as well as phenotypic levels was observed for bulb yield followed by bulb weight, while high heritability was observed for clove weight. The highest genetic advance was recorded for bulb yield, while clove weight had high heritability coupled with moderate genetic advance as per cent of mean. It is suggested that selection for these traits will directly increase bulb yield per plant, in garlic crop.
Induction, identification and characterization of tetraploidy in Lycium ruthenicum

Lycium ruthenicum of Solanaceae was widely used as healthy vegetables and natural medicine foods for containing numerous functional components in leaves, roots and fruits. In the present study, tetraploid plants of L. ruthenicum were obtained efficiently by treating their leaves with colchicine in vitro. The highest induction frequency of the tetraploids was 31.4%, which was obtained by preculturing the leaves for 10 days and then treating them with 100 mg/L of colchicine concentration for 48 h. The ploidy levels of the regenerated plants were determined by flow cytometry and chromosome counting methods. Cytological, morphological, and histological characterization validated the results of flow cytometry, revealing the differences between the two kinds of ploidy plants in their tissue culture stage and field production stages. Morphological indexes also provide a simple and intuitionistic method for distinguishing tetraploid from diploid plants. As the chromosome number increased, the stomatal size and number of the chloroplasts in the stomata also increased, but the stomatal density decreased. The results indicate that the chromosome number is correlated with the stomatal index. The generated tetraploid is a potentially useful cultivated variety and will be beneficial for producing triploid progeny in the future.
Demographics and burrow use of rice-field rats in Indonesia

Author(s): Nolte, Dale L. ; Jacob, Jens; Sudarmaji; Hartono, R. ; Herawati, N. A. ; Anggara, A. W. | Abstract: Foraging by rice-field rats (Rattus argentiventer) can significantly reduce rice harvest. Rat populations are cyclic responding to season and crop maturity. Rat location also reflects the crop cycle. A study conducted near Sukamandi, Indonesia described rice-field rat burrow systems and patterns of use, and assessed demographics of rice-field rats found in burrows adjacent to rice fields. Burrows ranged from simple short tunnels to complex systems. Most simple systems consisted of a straight tunnel approximately 75 cm long. Mean tunnel length of more complex systems was approximately 300 cm, but a few contained tunnels up to 700 cm. Burrow systems had between 1 and 5 entrances, with 0 to 8 choice-points within the system. A choice-point was defined as any place within the system where the animal could choose a different path (e.g., Y in the tunnel, nest). Number of chambers within systems also varied, ranging from none to six. There was no correlation between rat activity within a system, measured by the closed-hole method, and complexity of the system. Long-term monitoring suggested both male and female rats occupied burrow systems along rice banks, except relatively short periods during spring (March, April) and early fall (September) when burrows were used almost exclusively by females. These periods appear to correlate when high numbers of female rats are gestating and lactating.
Two-decadal trends in aboveground litterfall and net primary production in self-thinning Pinus banksiana stands in Wood Buffalo National Park, NWT, Canada

ABSTRACT We estimated the aboveground net primary production (ANPP) in five self-thinning jack pine (Pinus banksiana) stands in Wood Buffalo National Park, NWT, Canada. The stands (11 to ca.175 years old) were selected to examine the relationship between stand density and tree size and its effect on carbon dynamics. Aboveground litterfall was collected from each stand from 1997 to 2012. Stand biomass was estimated by measuring tree size every 5 years and estimating the individual mass using allometric relationships. ANPP was then estimated by summing the litterfall mass, dead stem mass increment and stand biomass increment. We determined the proportional contribution of each organ to the total litter and the seasonal pattern of needle litterfall. There was a lower turnover rate of aboveground biomass in older stands than younger stands. The ANPP increased in the youngest stand (<30 years old) showed a decreasing trend in stands >50 years old. The maximum ANPP was estimated to be ca. 500 g m−2 year−1 in dry matter, which was found in 30–50 year-old stands.
Multifactorial disorders and polygenic risk scores: predicting common diseases and the possibility of adverse selection in life and protection insurance

Abstract During the past decade, genetics research has allowed scientists and clinicians to explore the human genome in detail and reveal many thousands of common genetic variants associated with disease. Genetic risk scores, known as polygenic risk scores (PRSs), aggregate risk information from the most important genetic variants into a single score that describes an individual’s genetic predisposition to a given disease. This article reviews recent developments in the predictive utility of PRSs in relation to a person’s susceptibility to breast cancer and coronary artery disease. Prognostic models for these disorders are built using data from the UK Biobank, controlling for typical clinical and underwriting risk factors. Furthermore, we explore the possibility of adverse selection where genetic information about multifactorial disorders is available for insurance purchasers but not for underwriters. We demonstrate that prediction of multifactorial diseases, using PRSs, provides population risk information additional to that captured by normal underwriting risk factors. This research using the UK Biobank is in the public interest as it contributes to our understanding of predicting risk of disease in the population. Further research is imperative to understand how PRSs could cause adverse selection if consumers use this information to alter their insurance purchasing behaviour.
A bi‐objective procedure to deliver actionable knowledge in sport services

The increase in retention of customers in gyms and health clubs is nowadays a challenge that requires concrete and personalized actions. Traditional data mining studies focused essentially on predictive analytics, neglecting the business domain. This work presents an actionable knowledge discovery system that uses the following pipeline (data collection, predictive model and retention interventions). In the first step, it extracts and transforms existing real data from databases of the sports facilities. In the second step, predictive models are applied to identify user profiles more susceptible to dropout, where actionable withdrawal rules are based on actionable attributes. Finally, in the third step, based on the previous actionable knowledge, some of the values of the actionable attributes should be changed in order to increase retention. Simulation of scenarios is carried out, with test and control groups, where business utility and associated cost are measured. This document presents a bi‐objective study in order to choose the more efficient scenarios.
Saliva Protein Composition Relates with Interindividual Variations in Bread Sensory Ratings

Sensory perception of starch-based products associates with salivary 𝜶 -amylase enzymatic activity. Besides this, other proteins relate to taste sensitivity and oral food processing. As such, the participation of diﬀerent salivary constituents in starch-rich food’s sensory evaluation cannot be excluded. This study aims to identify salivary proteins altered by bread mastication and correlated with sensory ratings. In Experiment 1 the eﬀect of bread mastication in 𝜶 -amylase enzymatic activity and SDS PAGE proﬁles between is assessed ( N = 64). In Experiment 2, a sub-sample of these individuals ( N = 22) is subjected to sensory tests and the sensory ratings obtained are correlated with saliva protein composition. Salivary 𝜶 -amylase activity, in the supernatant of saliva collected after bread mastication, is negatively correlated with sweetness and saltiness ratings. Moreover, saltiness is positively correlated with the expression levels of carbonic anhydrase VI. Bread roughness presented a positive association with 𝜶 -amylase enzymatic activity and a negative association with S-type cystatin expression levels. Despite further studies are needed to clarify the negative association between salivary amylase enzymatic activity and sweetness ratings, observed in this study, these results reinforce the role of 𝜶 -amylase and highlights that other salivary proteins can also inﬂuence starch-based sensory perception.
Verb Conjugation in Different Languages: A Preliminary Study in Developing German Grammar Book Based Contrastive Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the verb conjugation process of German, Bahasa, and English. This study used a contrastive analysis which is one of approaches in applied linguistics. Data consisted of words and sentences in German, Bahasa, and English, and were analyzed descriptively. This article is a preliminary study which aims to do need analysis in developing German grammar book based contrastive analysis approach. Finding shows that there are 4 factors causing verb of a sentence should be conjugated: 1) Verb Conjugation Adjusted with Person as Subject, 2) Verb Conjugation Adjusted with active-passive voice sentence, 3) Verb Conjugation Adjusted with tenses of sentence, 4) Verb Conjugation Adjusted with quantifier factor of sentence subject.
Critical Interfacial Bonding Strength Improvements for Surface Modifications Through Electro-Plasma-Processing (EPP) and Biomimetic

- Protections of expensive alloy elements within the surface coatings from high temperature and corrosive environments have always been an engineering challenge when the high maintenance, repair cost, and failures from thermal stresses are considered. This study deals primarily with the finite element simulation of these inter-locking mechanisms for surface modifications. The interlocking geometries are formulated in an electro-mechanical process known as Electrolytic-Plasma-Processing (EPP) that generates an array of unique micro-geometries on material surfaces. To simulate the mechanical and thermal loads on the different micro-geometries, the commercial finite element software was used along with SolidWorks for array modelling. The salient characteristic of this research is the analogy that was drawn between biological, Van Der Waals dry adhesion mechanism in Gecko feet, and that of the superficial surface of the “ Thermally Grown Oxide (TGO)” layer in Thermal-Barrier-Coatings (TBC). Since the micro-geometry, resembling “mushroom-heads” in the Gecko feet provided improved adhesion up to, as much as 10-folds, compared to other geometries (i.e., spatula head, spherical head, or plain triangular crevices) analyzed. The findings of this study can attribute to the following: (i). EPP-treatment effectively modifies the surface of metals and alloys to be coated and produces an expedient morphological change that increases adhesion. (ii). The EPP-surface features have a longer shelf-life than many of its comparable technologies, making it even more economically attractive; and which applies, especially during corrosion applications. (iii). The “mushroom-head” geometry has been classically proven to be an aide to bio-adhesion; and this work further strengthens the argument and encourages new research in this direction.
The political economics of news making in Russian media: Ownership, clickbait and censorship

This article explores the dual influence of market and political pressures on journalists and the resulting character of censorship and self-censorship in Russia. In particular, it focuses on how these pressures affect the work environment journalists have to engage with and the quality of news they produce. It also explains the economic and political context of commercialised news aggregation and its impact on the media industry and its workers. A cut-throat media market makes it almost impossible for any outlet to not have to sacrifice some aspects of quality journalism in order to increase its audience. As a journalist with almost 20 years of experience in the media industry, I explore the conditions in Russia’s media market. Even private media owners are often deeply beholden to the state and are as susceptible to pressure from state agents and censorship as are outlets that are directly owned by the government. This can partly be explained by the fact that many outlets which used to be privately-owned and independent have undergone hostile takeovers, including new editorial teams loyal to the state.
Functional connectivity with short-term dynamics explains diverse patterns of excitatory spike transmission in vivo

Fast information transmission in neural networks is heavily influenced by short-term synaptic plasticity (STP), and the type and timescale of STP varies by cell-type and brain region. Although STP has been widely characterized in vitro from recordings of postsynaptic potentials or currents, characterizing STP in in vivo in behaving animals is difficult due to the lack of large-scale intracellular recordings. Here, we use paired extracellular observations to estimate the short-term dynamics of synaptic transmission from spikes alone. We introduce an augmented generalized linear model (GLM) that includes a dynamic functional connection as well as several, non-synaptic factors that alter spike transmission probability. Our model captures the diverse short-term dynamics of in vivo spike transmission at identified synapses and accurately captures the effects of local pre- and postsynaptic spike patterns. We applied this model to large-scale multi-electrode recordings to describe stimulus-dependent shifts in spike transmission and cell-type specific differences in STP.
The Influence of Duration, History of Contact and BMI on the Incidents of Pulmonary TB in patients with DM

In the world 9.4 million people have been infected with TB disease and each year 1.7 million people die (WHO, 2013). The risk of lung TB increased in patients with DM as a defect in immune cell function and defence mechanism. In addition, it is also determined by the reduced leukocytes in patients with DM, especially for those whose sugar levels are not controlled. The purpose of research is to analyze the duration of DM, contact with TB and BMI on the occurrence of lung TB in patients with DM. Research conducted at the Puskesmas Glugur Darat, Puskesmas Sering and Puskesmas Padang Bulan Selayang in Medan City with a case-control study design. The population of the case is all patients DM with a lung TB recorded in Puskesmas and control is all patients with DM without lung TB. Samples taken with consecutive those are patients with DM who came to the puskesmas during the research until obtained 54 cases and 54 control. Data is analyzed by chi-square test and OR measuring. The results showed that there was influence of contact history of DM sufferers on the incidence of lung TB with OR = 4.38 (95% CI: 1.34-14.33) and BMI with OR = 3.5 (95% CI: 1.52-8.06).