Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Synthesis, Characterization and Bioactivity of 1,1-bis(2-Carbamoylguanidino)furan-2-ylmethane

This study reports the synthesis of 1,1-bis(2-Carbamoylguanidino)furan-2-ylmethane, characterisation and bioactivities on selected microorganism. The first step involves the coupling of furfural with urea to obtain 1-((2-carbamoylguanidino)(furan-2-ylmethyl)urea, which was subsequently refluxed with more urea in ethanol for 1 hour to afford the product. Both intermediate and product were characterized by GC-MS, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR. The synthesized compound1,1-bis(2-carbamoylguanidino)furan-2-ylmethane was bioactive on Escherichia coli, Salmomellatyphi and Bacillus subtilis to different extent and is inactive on Staphylococcus aureus. The presences of bioactive moieties and pharmacological activities have proved the potency of furfural derivatives in the development of novel drug in future.
Allelopathic effects of phenolic acids on seedling growth and photosynthesis in Rhododendron delavayi Franch.

The effects of different concentrations of ferulic acid, chlorogenic acid, and protocatechuic acid were studied in a pot experiment to assess the response of Rhododendron delavayi seedlings. The results showed that three kinds of phenols promoted increases in chlorophyll (Chl) a, Chl b, total Chl, and carotenoid contents, but inhibited the accumulation of biomass. Low concentrations of ferulic acid significantly inhibited stomatal opening, the stomatal opening ratio, stomatal length and width. Chlorogenic acid and the moderate and high concentrations of ferulic acid also significantly inhibited stomatal density. Ferulic acid significantly inhibited net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance in seedlings, whereas chlorogenic acid significantly inhibited stomatal conductance. The low and moderate concentrations of chlorogenic acid significantly inhibited transpiration rate, and high concentrations of ferulic acid significantly inhibited the stomatal limitation value. The moderate concentration of protocatechuic acid significantly inhibited net photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance. Ferulic acid exhibited a greater toxic effect than that of chlorogenic acid and protocatechuic acid for R. delavayi seedlings.
Pengaruh Technology Acceptance Model Terhadap Keputusan Muzakki Membayar Zakat Melalui Fintech Gopay

Indonesia is one of the countries with the most Muslim population. but in Indonesia zakat so far the realization of its acceptance is far from the existing potential. Baznas as a government institution authorized to carry out the processing and distribution of Zakat funds continues to increase Zakat receipts by working together to bring innovative Zakat facilities through fintech Gopay, the results of this innovation with fintech Gopay have managed to help collect donations of 63 billion. By using the Technology Acceptance model. the authors analyze and understand the factors in influencing the acceptance of a use through technology. The formulation of the problem how the influence of the Technology Acceptance Model on the decision to pay Zakat through Fintech Gopay? The results of the study concluded that the Technology Acceptance Model (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) partially and simultaneously influences the decision to pay Zakat through Fintech Gopay
ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF SMALLHOLDER COMMERCIAL VEGETABLE FARMS IN CUENCA (ECUADOR)

Background. Vegetable crops in Ecuador are produced primarily by smallholders in the Andes. Cuenca is an intermediate city in Southern Ecuador whose demand of fresh vegetables is supplied mostly by small farms located < 60 Km from the city. Objective. The objective of this study was to characterize smallholder vegetable farms located on the outskirts of Cuenca using input/output energy balances. Methodology. One hundred and four vegetable farms were visited during the first semester of 2016. Farmers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire about the inputs used by them for crop production and the outputs of their crops. Results. Most of the farms (83) produced negative energy balances with energy efficiencies ranging from 0.16 to 0.97 whereas farms with positive energy balances had efficiencies ranging from 1.03 to 1.97. The largest energy input in most farms was from organic fertilizers, followed by the planting material and direct energy use for pumping and other farm activities. A positive significant correlation was detected between farm size and energy efficiency. Implications. Our results reveal opportunities to improve the functioning of these farming systems and the need to take into account efficiency considerations in the design of technological and policy interventions oriented to improve the sustainability of these systems. Conclusions. Most smallholder vegetable farms in periurban Cuenca operate producing negative energy balances. Organic fertilizers and direct energy are the largest energy inputs used in these farms. Potential energy economies of scale were detected both in energy efficient and energy inefficient farms.
Environmental variability at a marine cage culture operation in the Matanchén Bay, SE Gulf of California, Mexico

This study investigated the environmental impact of offshore floating sea cages and the influence of runoff on cage fish farming in SE Gulf of California via the analysis of the physico-chemical profiles of the water column and sediments, located in SE Gulf of California, Mexico. Water and sediment samples were analyzed for physico-chemical parameters. In general, nitrates showed the highest concentrations of nutrients in the potential impact station (1.92 mg L-1). The results displayed temporal variations in the NH4 +, NO3-, and PO43- in the water column as well as variations in the clay and organic matter in the sediment. The observed trends of these parameters were toward higher concentration in the potential impact and control stations .
Gene expression plasticity and frontloading promote thermotolerance in Pocillopora corals

Ecosystems worldwide are suffering from climate change. Coral reef ecosystems are globally threatened by increasing sea surface temperatures. However, gene expression plasticity provides the potential for organisms to respond rapidly and effectively to environmental changes, and would be favored in variable environments. In this study, we investigated the thermal stress response in Pocillopora coral colonies from two contrasting environments by exposing them to heat stress. We compared the physiological state, bacterial and Symbionaceae communities (using 16S and ITS2 metabarcoding), and gene expression levels (using RNA-Seq) between control conditions and heat stress (the temperature just below the first signs of compromised health). Colonies from both thermal regimes remained apparently normal and presented open and colored polyps during heat stress, with no change in bacterial and Symbionaceae community composition. In contrast, they differed in their transcriptomic responses. The colonies from Oman displayed a more plastic transcriptome, but some genes had a higher basal expression level (frontloading) compared to the less thermotolerant colonies from New Caledonia. In terms of biological functions, we observed an increase in the expression of stress response genes (including induction of tumor necrosis factor receptors, heat shock proteins, and detoxification of reactive oxygen species), together with a decrease in the expression of genes involved in morpho-anatomical functions. Gene regulation (transcription factors, mobile elements, histone modifications and DNA methylation) appeared to be overrepresented in the Oman colonies, indicating possible epigenetic regulation. These results show that transcriptomic plasticity and frontloading can be co-occurring processes in corals confronted to highly variable thermal regimes.
Space Partitioning among Two Sympatric Species, Sand Cat (Felis margarita) and Rüppell's Fox (Vulpes rueppellii), in a Desert Landscape in Central Iran

ABSTRACT This study evaluates and compares habitat preferences and spatial niche breadth and overlap between two sympatrically occurring species, the sand cat (Felis margarita) and Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), in a desert landscape of central Iran. A field survey from 2014 to 2016 was conducted to collect occurrence points for the two species as well as to identify their structural characteristics of used habitats in the occurrences points. Jacobs' index as a measure of habitat preference, Shannon and Levins' indices as measures of niche breadth, MacArthur, Levins and Pianka's indices as measures of niche overlap were calculated and interpreted. The results of this study showed that the sand cats are specifically restricted to sand dune and sabulous habitat type, whereas Rüppell's foxes have wider ecological amplitude. Sand cats only prefers sand dunes while Rüppell's foxes were found to prefer foothills, badlands, and sand dunes. Rüppell's foxes therefore had a wider niche breadth compared to the sand cats. The asymmetric MacArthur and Levins indices yielded a higher value of niche overlap for the sand cats compared to Rüppell's foxes, while the symmetric Pianka's measure of niche overlap was relatively high for both species. Such habitat preference and niche segregation between the two species may be a result of their feeding habits or the physical protective structure of their habitats attributes.
Intra-industry Trade in Croatia: Trends and Determinants

This paper investigates trends and determinants in intra-industry trade in Croatia. Intra-industry trade refers to a two-way trade of differentiated products. The level of intra-industry trade between Croatia and EU, CEE, and countries worldwide is calculated using the Grubel-Lloyd index under HS-2 and HS-4 product groups. Dynamic changes in intra-industry trade are shown by calculating marginal intra-industry trade indices. In addition to this, bilateral weighted adjusted intra-industry trade indices for Croatia and 24 most important trading partner countries are calculated in the period from 2001 to 2017. A panel-econometric analysis investigates the determinants of intra-industry trade in Croatia using a random effects model due to time-invariant characteristics of some determinants. The results of the analysis show that gross domestic product, common border, EU membership, and the distance between Croatia and trading partner countries have significant influence on the level of intra-industry trade in Croatia.
Alteration of serum dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfated derivative in hypothyroidism

Introduction: Dysfunction of thyroid gland are among the most common disease of endocrine glands which affect a considerable portion of the population. Thyroid abnormalities are accompanied by changes in various intermediary metabolism which results in body weight alteration, insulin resistance, lipid profile and various biochemical parameters. Changes in dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfated metabolite (Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) have been reported in patients with thyroid hypofunction but the evidence is controversial and not yet established. The present study planned to explore the association between thyroid function with DHEA and DHEAS levels in hypothyroid patients. Materials and Methods: An observational case control study was conducted in OPD patients of Rajshree Medical College of Rohilkhand region. RMRI, Bareilly.70 newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients were selected and all the biochemical parameters (plasma glucose, thyroid profile, DHEA and DHEAS) were compared with 70 age and sex matched healthy euthyroid controls. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 22.0. version. Results: We found that serum DHEA and DHEAS levels were significantly reduced in hypothyroid patients as compared to control (p<0.0001). Significant negative correlation was observed between DHEA and its sulfated form with TSH and positive association with thyroid hormones (T3, T4, fT3, fT4). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that hypothyroidism is associated with significantly low levels of DHEA and DHEAS concentration. Alteration of these sterols in hypothyroidism clearly indicates that thyroid hormone may stimulate the synthesis of these androgen precursors, though more elaborate study with increased sample size may provide more insights.
On-Site Ribosome Remodeling by Locally Synthesized Ribosomal Proteins in Axons

Ribosomes are known to be assembled in the nucleolus, yet recent studies have revealed robust enrichment and translation of mRNAs encoding ribosomal proteins (RPs) in axons, far away from neuronal cell bodies. Using subcellular proteomics and live-imaging, we show that locally synthesized RPs incorporate into axonal ribosomes in a nucleolus-independent fashion. We revealed that axonal RP translation is regulated through a novel sequence motif, CUIC, that forms a RNA-loop structure in the region immediately upstream of the initiation codon. Inhibition of axonal CUIC-regulated RP translation leads to defects in local translation activity and axon branching, demonstrating the physiological relevance of the axonal ribosome remodeling. These results indicate that axonal translation supplies cytoplasmic RPs to maintain/modify local ribosomal function far from the nucleolus.
CUSTOMER VALUE CREATION IN VOCATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION: CASE IN INDONESIA

Vocational higher education has developed as a service that cannot avoid marketisation. One of the higher education marketing tasks is creating the value of its customers. However, the creation of customer value in vocational tertiary education has not been touched by researchers. This study aims to determine the concept and measurement of the dimensions of customer value creation in vocational higher education. In addition, it tries to measure the validity and reliability of its dimensions. This study uses analyzing the concept of customer value creation in several journals to then be associated with value creation in vocational higher education. As for the respondents were academic citizens from each institution consisting of leaders, lecturers, heads of study programs, education staff and students taken proportionally. This research has a total of 876 respondents from 30 institutions and uses a structured questionnaire based on a 7-point scale. The results showed that the creation of customer value in vocational tertiary education can be explained by all of its dimensions. Although not all indicators can explain the dimensions of customer value creation. Indicators that can explain customer value creation are changes in knowledge, general skills, special skills, learning suitability that consider student conditions and objectivity of assessment. The model is quite good with moderate predictive relevance (Q2). This research is limited to vocational higher education in the provinces of West Java and Banten. There is very little data coming from companies that use graduates. The originality of this research is customer value creation in vocational higher education consisting of three dimensions, namely learning outcomes, learning strategies, and learning evaluation.
Productivity of Hybrid Summer Pearl Millet (Pennisetum Glaucum L.) as Influenced Bysowing Dates and Fertilizer Levels

Afield experiment was carried out during summer season of 2008 to 2010 and 2012 on medium black soil at Dhule (Maharashtra) to study the response of hybrid pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. ] to sowing dates and fertilizer levels under irrigated conditions. There were five sowing dates viz. sowing in 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th MW (meteorological week) allotted as main plots and three levels of fertilizer viz. 60: 30: 30 kg NPK, 90: 45: 45 kg NPK and 120: 60: 60 kg NPK as sub-plots. The pooled data revealed that sowing of summer pearl millet in 1st, 3rdand5th MW produced significantly higher grain and fodder yields than sowing in 7th and 9th MW. Sowing of pearl millet after 5th MW resulted in decreased number of effective tillers, ear head length and plant height. Application of 120: 60: 60 kg NPK recorded significantly higher grain and fodder yields of pearl millet than other levels of fertilizers.
Multidimensional green brand equity: A cross-cultural scale development and validation study

A plethora of studies indicate that brand equity is an intangible asset that played a vital role in increasing overall performance and customer preferences. The next logical questions would be the following: “How can a firm offer eco-friendly brands? ” and “How can one measure green brand equity? ” The purpose of this research is to propose an original, unique, and validated scale to measure multidimensional green brand equity for both products and services in a cross-cultural context. This study used a multistep scale development research design, and collected data from 980 consumers of telecommunication and home appliances industries in Pakistan and Italy. The six-dimensional green brand equity scale consists of social influence, sustainability, perceived quality, brand awareness, brand association, and brand leadership. As the green brand equity scale was invariant across Pakistan and Italy, researchers can test this scale both conceptually in the research and theoretically in the corporate environment.
Prevalence of Cronobacter spp. in various foodstuffs and identification by multiplex PCR

Cronobacter spp. are gram-negative, asporogenous, motile bacilli included in the family Enterobacteriaceae. Due to the opportunistic nature of these bacteria they may induce several clinical symptoms in different age groups. High mortality rates were documented especially in the newborns (Garbaj et al., 2017; Oversen et al., 2004; Oversen et al., 2008; Li et al., 2014; Joshi et al., 2014; Hu et al., 2018).
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Bird-in-Hand-Dividends Policy in the Stability of Jordanian Listed Banks

The present paper is empirically scrutinized the long and short-run causalities, which are running from the bird-in-hand dividends policy towards investors' preferences as proxied by banks’ stability. Through analyzing a quarterly data set covering the period Q1/1996-Q4/2018; results from the ADF test proved that the series variables became stationary only after including the first difference. However, although the Johansen test showed long-run integrations among variables; findings from the single equation of the error correction model asserted that there are no long-run causalities running from dividends’ policy towards investors’ preferences as captured by the Z-Score index “ZSI”, bankometer model or market capitalization. By contrast, results from the Waldtest proved that except for earnings per share and retained ratio; the solvency of banks is found to be significantly responding to the change in dividends payout ratio. However, since there are short-run correlations among dividends’ stability, investors’ preferences and banking stability, the study concluded that the ZSI is significantly related to investors’ attitudes towards banks' decisions regarding dividends’ payments.
Elevation of the Inhibitory Action of Standard Antimicrobials (Ciprofloxacin and Chlorhexidine) by some Natural Materials against Three Periodontal Pathogens

Maintaining the level of periodontal bacteria under control represents the basis for reducing periodontal infections. Therapeutic therapy along with scaling aids to prevent the causative agent from recolonizing the treated surface. As natural substitutes, this study aimed to verify the validity of two natural products, olibanum and alum as inhibitors of periodontal pathogens and also as supporting agents to elevate the anti-action of the prevalidated antimicrobials, ciprofloxacin and chlorhexidine. The study chose three periodontal bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia and Treponema denticola as representative taxa because they are considered the more virulent with high proteolytic activity. The antimicrobial activity was studied to find out the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values using resazurinbased microdilution assay. The cooperative interaction between reagents was studied by calculating the fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) values, analyzing the statistical difference between the single and combinational use and comparing the inhibition zone by agar diffusion. The results proved the inhibitory activity of olibanum and alum against the three pathogens and their high efficacy in improving the inhibitory action of the two standard drugs which was evidenced by the lowered MIC values, calculated FIC values, enlarged inhibition zone and statistical significance of the combinational use. The study concluded the successful use of olibanum and alum in reducing the red complex pathogens either in a single use or in combination as a pure natural preparation and also raising the antiaction of lower concentrations of ciprofloxacin and chlorhexidin.
Dietary Supplementation of Different Levels of Phytogenic Feed Additive in Broiler Diets: The Dynamics of Growth Performance, Caecal Microbiota, and Intestinal Morphometry

I Department of Animal Nutrition and Nutritional Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Işıklı, Aydın 09016, Turkey. II Department of Occupational Health and Safety, School of Applied Sciences, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale 17020, Turkey. III Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Işıklı, Aydın 09016, Turkey. IV Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Işıklı, Aydın 09016, Turkey.
Comparison of laboratory methods in predicting the lime requirement of acid soil in Wombera District, North western Ethiopia

Soil acidity is one of the major constraints of crop production in the Ethiopian highlands where precipitation is high enough to leach basic cations leaving the soil acidic. Liming is the major practice used to ameliorate the problem of soil acidity. Currently farmers use Ag lime in their fields to reduce soil acidity. However, the suitability of the existing methods of lime requirement (LR) has not yet being determined. Shoemaker-McLean-Pratt (SMP) single buffer, Adams-Evans buffer, Modified Mehlich buffer, titration with single addition of Ca (OH)2, and exchangeable aluminum methods were evaluated using the CaCO3 moist incubation method. The result revealed that the LR estimated by the buffer methods and titration highly correlated with the incubation LR since the correlation coefficient(r) was ≥ 0.98. The modified Mehlich buffer was better in predicting the LR on average, for target pH values of 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 6.8 and 7.0 as r = 0.99 and as the standard error of estimate (Sy.x) 0.57, the minimum among the buffer methods. The modified Mehlich buffer should be calibrated further with the reference CaCO3 incubation using a set of soils and a calibration equation to calculate the lime requirement. Key words: Acidity, lime requirement, calibration, buffer methods, incubation.
Geometric motion segmentation and model selection

Motion segmentation involves clustering features together that belong to independently moving objects. The image features on each of these objects conform to one of several putative motion models, but the number and type of motion is unknown a priori. In order to cluster these features, the problems of model selection, robust estimation and clustering must all be addressed simultaneously. Within this paper we place the three problems into a common statistical framework; investigating the use of information criteria and robust mixture models as a principled way for motion segmentation of images. The final result is a general fully automatic algorithm for clustering that works in the presence of noise and outliers.