Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of Domestic Violence and Early Suppression of lactation in Mothers Referring to Health Centers in Lahijan -Iran

Background: Domestic violence as a social factor has a significant role in the duration and quality of breastfeeding. Objectives: This study aims to determine association of domestic violence and early suppression of lactation in Mothers Referring to Health Centers in LahijanIran. Methods: The present study is a retrospective case-control study. Participants included 235 mothers, 150 breastfeeding mothers and 85 mothers discontinued breastfeeding. Sampling was carried out by convenience and quota method in five urban health centers of Lahijan. The study tools were demographic information, domestic violence, and a researcher-made questionnaire to assess status of breastfeeding. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, t-test, Mann-Whitney test, and logistic regression by SPSS 16 software (P-value <0.05). Results: The average age of mothers was calculated to be about 27.97 years. According to the results of this study, mothers in the lactation group (group1) (93.33%) started breastfeeding more than esl group (group 2) (67.06%) (P<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of unwanted pregnancy rate, cesarean section, and mothers' academic education (P-value> 0.05). The rate of psychological and physical violence in the group 1 was significantly higher than the group 1 and the chance of physical violence in group 2 was significantly (about 10 times) higher than the group1 (10, OR 001/0= P). Conclusion: It seems that physical and psychological domestic violence is directly associated with early suppression of lactation, so screening of domestic violence and appropriate interventions are recommended be considered in maternal care programs.
Projecting future vegetation change for northeast China using CMIP6

This study aims to establish future vegetation changes in the east and central of northern China (ECNC), an ecologically sensitive region in the transition zonal from humid monsoonal to arid continental climate. The region has experienced significant greening in the past several decades. However, few studies exist on how vegetation will change with future climate change, and great uncertainties exist due to complex, and often spatially non-stationary, relationships between vegetation and climate. In this study, we first used historical NDVI and climate data to model this spatially variable relationship with Geographically Weighted Logit Regression. We found that temperature and precipitation could explain, on average, 43% of NDVI variance, and they could be used to model NDVI fairly well. We then establish future climate change using the output of 11 CMIP6 models for the medium (SSP245) and high (SSP585) emission scenarios for the mid-century (2041-2070) and late-century (2071-2100). The results show that for this region, both temperature and precipitation will increase under both scenarios. By late-century under SSP585, precipitation is projected to increase by 25.12% and temperature is projected to increase 5.87 o C in ECNC. Finally, we used future climate conditions as input for the regression models to project future vegetation (indicated by NDVI). We found that NDVI will increase under climate change. By mid-century, the average NDVI in ECNC will increase by 0.024 and 0.021 under SSP245 and SSP585. By late-century, it will increase by 0.016 and 0.006 under SSP245 and SSP585 respectively. Although NDVI is projected to increase, the magnitude of increase is likely to diminish with higher emission scenarios, possibly due to the benefit of precipitation increase being gradually encroached by the detrimental effects of temperature increase. Moreover, despite the overall NDVI increase, the area likely to suffer vegetation degradation will also expands, particularly in the western part of ECNC. With higher emissions and later into the century, region with low NDVI is likely to shift and/or expand north-forward. Our results could provide important information on possible vegetation changes, which could help to develop effective management strategies to ensure ecological and economic sustainability in the future.
Effect of rapid thermal annealing on MgxZn1−xO films prepared by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

This study investigates the effects of thermal annealing on the MgxZn1−xO films. MgxZn1−xO films were deposited by a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering system using a 6 in. ZnO/MgO (80/20 wt %) target. The Hall results, x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmittance, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were measured. The XRD results indicate that the appearance of only (111) peaks in the as-grown MgxZn1−xO film is a sign of the cubic single phase, whereas the appearance of ZnO (002) peaks in MgxZn1−xO films annealed at 700 and 800 °C confirms the formation of a wurtzite single-phase crystal. The existence of a weak (002)-wurtzite peak besides the (111)-cubic peak indicates the coexistence of two phases. The absorption spectra of MgxZn1−xO annealed at 700 and 800 °C show two stages at wavelengths of 357 and 261 nm. The XPS spectra of MgxZn1−xO films were also demonstrated. The results of this study show that the ZnO films were separated from MgxZn1−xO films after higher thermal annealing.
The Effects of Early-Life Phthalate Exposure on Prefrontal Cortex Mediated Behaviours

Phthalates are synthetic chemicals added to plastics to increase their flexibility, however they easily migrate out of the plastic into the environment. Previous research has shown that early life exposure to DEHP results in altered neurodevelopment. DEHP was administered once daily from P18-23. Wildtype C57Bl/6 and transgenic AldHl1- L10:GFP mice were used to assess behaviour and astrocytic changes in the PFC, respectively. Behavioural and histological measurements were assessed at P29 and P49 in males and females. Our results suggest that male mice exposed to DEHP exhibit acute hyperactivity and decreased anxiety. These effects were not seen at P49, and no differences were seen at either time point in females. No changes in astrocyte number or astrocyte activation were observed. In conclusion, early-life DEHP exposure appears to have acute anxiolytic effects only in males, and these effects do not seem to be mediated through astrocytic changes in the PFC.
‘Avalon’, a New Pecan Cultivar with High Levels of Resistance to Pecan Scab

‘Avalon’ is a new pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] cultivar that was released by the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. ‘Avalon’ produces high yields of large nuts with good quality that mature in early October in south Georgia. Compared with most other cultivars with similar nut size and quality, ‘Avalon’ has superior resistance to pecan scab [Venturia effusa (G. Winter) Rossman & W. C. Allen (basyonym Fuscladium effusum)]. High levels of resistance to this devastating disease make ‘Avalon’ especially suitable to planting in the southeastern U.S. where frequent summer rainfall provides a favorable environment for disease epidemics.
Preliminary phytochemical screning from different extracts of Solanum nigrum plant growing in south of Algeria

Bioactive substances are responsible for therapeutic properties of the plant in folk medicine. They have actions in the body that may promote good health. They are being studied in the prevention of disease. The present investigation is focused on screening of bioactive substances present in the various parts (leaves, stems, and grains) of Solanum nigrum. Qualitative tests for the presence of phytochemicals in different extracts using solvants with different polarity such as methanol, chloroform, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts. Phytochemical investigation indicated the presence of various groups of compouds including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, sterols and triterpenoids, saponins. Solanum nigrum L. acts an important role in traditional medicine and represent natural source of biactives compounds.
Prospective Associations between Plasma Amyloid-Beta 42/40 and Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

BACKGROUND Brain amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques, a hallmark of the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease, have been associated with frailty. Whether the plasma Aβ markers show similar relationship with frailty is unknown. OBJECTIVES To investigate the prospective associations between plasma Aβ42/40 ratio and overtime frailty in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS From the 5-year Multidomain Alzheimer Preventive Trial (MAPT), we included 477 adults ≥70 years with available data on plasma Aβ42/40 ratio (lower is worse). Fried frailty phenotype (robust, pre-frail and frail) was assessed at the same time-point of plasma Aβ measures and after until the end of follow-up. The outcomes of interest were the change in the frailty phenotype over time (examined by mixed-effect ordinal logistic regressions) and incident frailty (examined by Cox proportional hazard models). RESULTS Plasma Aβ42/40 did not show significant associations with incident frailty; however, after adjusting for Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 genotype, people in the lower quartile of plasma Aβ42/40 (≤0.103) had higher risk of incident frailty (HR=2.63; 95% CI, 1.00 to 6.89), compared to those in the upper quartile (>0.123). Exploratory analysis found a significant association between the lower quartile of plasma Aβ42/40 and incident frailty among APOE ε4 non-carriers (HR=3.48; 95% CI, 1.19 to 10.16), but not among carriers. No associations between plasma Aβ42/40 and evolution of frailty were observed. CONCLUSION No significant associations between plasma Aβ42/40 and frailty were found when APOE ε4 status was not accounted into the model. Nevertheless, APOE ε4 non-carriers with high Aβ burden might be more susceptible to develop frailty.
The probing behaviour of the planthopper Delphacodes kuscheli (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) on two alternating hosts, maize and oat

Delphacodes kuscheli is the most important natural vector of Mal de Río Cuarto virus (MRCV) in Argentina, a Fijivirus (Reoviridae) that causes important economic losses on maize production. Although this planthopper does not breed successfully on maize, virus transmission occurs when adults migrate from oat, a winter host and a reservoir of the virus, to maize. Probing behaviour on both hosts was recorded and analysed using the direct current electrical penetration graph (DC‐EPG) system. Eight main waveforms were identified during probing behaviour by D. kuscheli. These waveforms were interpreted with reference to that described for delphacids and were related to putative probing activities: np (non‐penetration or non‐probe); N1, N2 and N3 (stylet pathway: penetration, salivation, stylet movement and extracellular activities near the phloem region); N4‐a (sieve element salivation); N4‐b (phloem sap ingestion); N5 (xylem activity); and N6 (derailed stylet mechanics). The EPG variables showed that on maize, D. kuscheli exhibited longer periods of non‐probe and longer time from first probe to first phloem activity, with a higher percentage of probing spent in stylet pathway and xylem phase than on oat. Furthermore, on maize, fewer insects showed phloem phase activities (N4‐a and N4‐b) and sustained phloem ingestion than on oat, and the time on phloem ingestion was shorter than on oat. The constrained behaviour of D. kuscheli on maize suggests that plant resistance factors may be involved.
Plasma amino acid profiles of dairy heifers grazing pasture, chicory and plantain

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to quantify amino acid (AA) profiles in plasma collected from dairy heifers grazing swards containing ryegrass/clover, chicory and plantain in autumn and spring. The study comprised a 28-day autumn trial and a 21-day spring trial using 56 Friesian x Jersey heifers. Total AA concentrations ranged from 2849 to 3165 μM in autumn and from 3195 to 3454 μM in spring, with no treatment effect. Season affected essential AA (EAA) and total AA concentrations. Total plasma AA concentrations were lower in autumn (2965 μM) than in spring (3303 μM). Based on these results, feeding dairy heifer’s either pure chicory, binary mixture or pure plantain does not affect EAA and total AA of Friesian x Jersey heifers. Further, no relationship was established between AA and weight gain of heifers in this study.
Screening of Cotton Varieties/Genotypes against Jassid, Amrasca biguttula biguttula (Ishida) under Rainfed Conditions

Cotton is the most important cash crop of monsoon season in India and popularly known as “white gold”. India has a unique distinction of being the only country in the world to cultivate all four cultivable Gossypium species. Gossypium hirsutum represents 99.9 per cent of the hybrid cotton in India and all the current Bt cotton hybrids are either G. hirsutum or inter-specific hybrids with G. barbadense. In India, cotton is grown under 40 per cent irrigated and 60 per cent rainfed conditions, Gujarat and Odisha where much of the crop is rainfed. India ranks first in cotton production (27.0 million bales of 480 lb.) as well as area (10.85 million hectares) in global scenario. However, the productivity of cotton crop in India (542 kg/ha) is still far less than world average (781 kg/ha) in 2016-17 (Anonymous, 2018a). Gujarat leads in cotton production with 95.00 lakh bales. The provisional cotton productivity of Gujarat is 671 kg/ha from an area of 24.05 lakh hectares in 2016-17 (Anonymous, 2018b). Cotton crop attract a variety of insect pests and mites, such International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 12 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Mitochondrial type II NADH dehydrogenase of Plasmodium falciparum is dispensable and not the functional target of putative NDH2 quinolone inhibitors

The battle against malaria has been substantially impeded by the recurrence of drug resistance in Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest human malaria parasite. To counter the problem, novel antimalarial drugs are urgently needed, especially those that target unique pathways of the parasite, since they are less likely to have side effects. The mitochondrial type II NADH dehydrogenase of P. falciparum, PfNDH2 (PF3D7_0915000), has been considered a good prospective antimalarial drug target for over a decade, since malaria parasites lack the conventional multi-subunit NADH dehydrogenase, or Complex I, present in the mammalian mitochondrial electron transport chain (mtETC). Instead, Plasmodium parasites contain a single subunit NDH2, which lacks proton pumping activity and is absent in humans. A significant amount of effort has been expended to develop PfNDH2 specific inhibitors, yet the essentiality of PfNDH2 has not been convincingly verified. Herein, we knocked out PfNDH2 in P. falciparum via a CRISPR/Cas9 mediated approach. Deletion of PfNDH2 does not alter the parasite’s susceptibility to multiple mtETC inhibitors, including atovaquone and ELQ-300. We also show that the antimalarial activity of the fungal NDH2 inhibitor HDQ and its new derivative CK-2-68 is due to inhibition of the parasite cytochrome bc1 complex rather than PfNDH2. These compounds directly inhibit the ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase activity of the malarial bc1 complex. Our results call into question the validity of PfNDH2 as an antimalarial drug target. Importance For a long time, PfNDH2 has been considered an attractive antimalarial drug target. However, the conclusion that PfNDH2 is essential was based on preliminary and incomplete data. Here we generate a PfNDH2 KO (knockout) parasite in the blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum, showing that the gene is not essential. We also show that previously reported PfNDH2-specific inhibitors kill the parasites primarily via targeting the cytochrome bc1 complex, not PfNDH2. Overall, we provide genetic and biochemical data that help to resolve a long-debated issue in the field regarding the potential of PfNDH2 as an antimalarial drug target.
Marine benthic diatoms in the newly discovered coral reefs, off Basra coast, Southern Iraq

The recent discovery of coral reefs off Basra, Southern Iraq, have prompted the investigation of marine benthic assemblages in this unexplored ecosystem. These corals are thriving in an environment with conditions not usually considered typical for reefs, such as increased turbidity, temperature fluctuation, and currents. This study documents 96 diatom taxa belonging to 33 genera, 18 of which were not previously known from the Arabian (Persian) Gulf including six taxa of Amphora and five of Campylodiscus. The most common genera were Amphora with 17 taxa, Nitzschia with 10 taxa, and Navicula with nine taxa. Most notably is the very rare occurrence of Mastogloia, which has been previously documented as speciose in coral reef habitats. Similarly, araphid and monoraphid species were uncommon in these diatom communities. The large species of the epipelic diatom Trachyneis are well represented and appeared commonly in all samples examined.
Effects of salinity stress on growth in relation to gas exchanges parameters and water status in amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus)

Salinity is a major detrimental abiotic factor for plant growth. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of different NaCl concentrations on growth and some physiological parameters related to gas exchanges and water relations in amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) plants. Three weeks old amaranth plants from the cultivar ‘Locale’ were exposed in nutrient solution to 0, 30 or 90 mM NaCl (electrical conductivities of 1.915; 4.815 and 11.70 dS.m-1 respectively) in phytotron conditions. Shoot elongation as well as fresh and dry masses of shoot and root were determined after two weeks of stress exposure. Net photosynthesis (A), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), instantaneous transpiration (E), stomatal conductance (gs), osmotic potential (Ψs) as well as the efficiency of the instantaneous carboxylation (A/Ci), intrinsic (A/gs) and instantaneous (A/E) water use efficiency were estimated. Results reveal that salt stress induced a significant reduction in growth of aerial part as well as net photosynthesis, instantaneous transpiration, stomatal conductance and leaf and root osmotic potentials. In contrast, no significant reductions were recorded for root growth, shoot water content, intercellular CO2 concentration and instantaneous carboxylation efficiency. However, a significant increase was observed for intrinsic (A/gs) and instantaneous (A/E) water use efficiency. The plant growth reduction observed hinges upon a drop in photosynthetic activity due mainly to stomatal closure. These data suggest that photosynthetic activity may be used as a reliable criterion for physiological estimation of salt-tolerance in A. cruentus cultivars. Key words: Saline stress, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, osmotic potential, water use efficiency.
Vascular stem cell migration in response to Dkk3 in vascular diseases : the emergence of a novel chemokine-like protein

4 Abbreviations . 10 List of Figures . 15 List of Tables . 19 Chapter 1: Introduction . 20 1.1 The Vascular System . 21 1.1.1 The evolution on the knowledge of the arterial adventitia . 22 1.2 Vascular progenitor cells . 23 1.2.1 Circulating vascular progenitor cells . 23 1.2. 2 Resident vascular progenitor cells . 25 1.2. 3 Sca-1+ Vascular Progenitor Cells . 30 1.3 Atherosclerosis . 31 1.3. 1 Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis . 31 1.3. 2 Endothelial cells and Smooth muscle cells in atherosclerosis . 33 1.3. 3 The role of vascular progenitor cells in atherosclerosis . 35 1.3. 4 Treatment of atherosclerosis . 38 1.3. 5 Complications . 39 1.4 Cytokines in atherosclerosis . 41 1.4. 1 The Chemokine – Chemokine receptor System . 44 1.5 Cell migration . 57 1.5. 1 Signalling pathways involved in cell migration . 61 1.5. 2 The role of integrins in cell migration . 69 1.6 The Dickkopf family of proteins . 72 1.6. 1 Receptors of Dickkopf proteins . 73 1.6. 2 Wnt signalling pathway . 75 1.6. 3 Dickkopf 3 protein in physiology and pathophysiology . 78 1.7 Protein-protein interaction . 79 1.7. 1 Yeast Two Hybrid System . 79 1.8 Ligand-Receptor binding . 83 1.9 Hypothesis and Aims of Study . 85 Chapter 2: Materials and Methods . 87 2.1 Materials . 88
Short Communication: Macropropagation – An important tool for conservation of North Sumatran endangered tree species, Dryobalanops aromatica

Susilowati A, Kholibrina CR, Rachmat HH, Elfiati D, Aswandi, Raeni IM. 2018. Short Communication: Macropropagation -An important tool for conservation of North Sumatran endangered tree species, Dryobalanops aromatica. Biodiversitas 19: 1672-1675.Dryobalanops aromatica or locally known as kapur is a tree producing borneol used for pharmaceutical purposes. Due to illegalharvesting for wood and borneol, depauperate population with low and rare reproductive mother trees and land conversion to oil palmplantation, its population decreases every year. Ex situ and in situ conservation efforts are needed to prevent this species from extinction.One of the ex situ conservation efforts that can be done is propagating this species vegetatively with shoot cuttings. Shoot cutting istechnically simple and inexpensive method to produce new planting stock for further purposes such as production and conservation.This method has also been successfully used for the propagation of endangered and highly economically valuable species. Despite manyapplications of shoot cutting for clonal forestry, there was still lack of information about the successfulness of this method forDryobalanops aromatica. Therefore the objective of this research was to get data about the successfulness of kapur cuttings usingdifferent media and growth regulator treatment. A factorial experiment using a Completely Randomized Design with two factors wasconducted for this research. The first factor was cutting media, consisting of three types, namely (i) sand, (ii) combination of sand andsoil, and 3) combination of sand, soil and rice husk. The second factor was plant growth regulator (PGR), consisting of two levels,namely (i) without PGR addition and (ii) with PGR addition. The parameters observed were survival percentage, rooting percentage,number of primary and secondary roots, length of primary and secondary roots and adventitious root formation. Results showed thatrooting percentage of cutting using this technique varied from 30 to 60% and thus this technique was prospective to be developed as atool for propagating kapur trees. Adventitious roots originated from the wounded area near the cambium which was later followed bythe formation of callus and root primordia.
Positive genetic associations among fitness traits support evolvability of a reef ‐ building coral under multiple stressors

Reef‐building corals are experiencing unprecedented declines due to changing environmental conditions, such as rising sea surface temperatures that lead to coral bleaching, and ocean acidification that impairs calcification (Andersson & Gledhill, 2012; Hoegh‐ Guldberg et al., 2007). Climate change has also indirectly led to in‐ creasingly prevalent coral diseases, which are often attributed to the increased abundance and virulence of bacterial pathogens (Ben‐ Haim, 2003; Maynard et al., 2015; Pruzzo et al., 2010). In the face of these stressors, corals are left with few options but to move, adapt, or die. A number of studies have documented corals’ capacities to Received: 11 March 2019 | Revised: 9 May 2019 | Accepted: 19 June 2019 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14764