Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrate Leaching Losses Under Repeated Cattle Feedlot Manure Applications in Southern Alberta

An experiment was conducted at Lethbridge, Alberta, to determine the long-term effects of annual applications of cattle manure on nitrate (NO 3 )-N accumulation and movement, and to assess the environmental impact of such a practice. Manure was applied annually at 0, 30, 60, and 90 Mg ha -1 (wet wt. basis) and 0, 60, 120, and 180 Mg ha -1 (zero, one, two, and three times the maximum recommended annual application rate, respectively), to nonirrigated and irrigated Dark Brown Chernozemic (Typic Haploboroll) clay loam soils from 1973 to 1992. All plots were planted to barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Galt) in spring each year. In the fall, duplicate soil cores were taken to a depth of 1.5 m. Water content (gravimetric), chloride, ammonium- and NO 3 -N concentration of soil and manure samples were determined to estimate leaching and deep percolation loss of water and solutes. Level of manure and moisture regime affected the extent of NO 3 -N increases. Under nonirrigated conditions, manure applied at one to three times the recommended rate resulted in a significant accumulation of NO 3 -N in the root zone. However, minimal leaching loss was observed below 1.5 m except for a year with unusually high precipitation. On irrigated soils, contamination of soil and groundwater from repeated applications at or greater than the recommended rate of 60 Mg ha -1 was significant and annual losses may reach 93 to 341 kg N ha -1 . Therefore, long-term annual application of manure at the maximum recommended level is not advised because of potential soil and water contamination problems.
Temperature as a Tool to Evaluate Aerobic Biodegradation in Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil

This study evaluates the theory, and some practical aspects of using temperature measurements to assess aerobic biodegradation in hydrocarbon contaminated soil. The method provides an easily applicable alternative for quantifying the rate of biodegradation and/or evaluating the performance of in situ remediation systems. The method involves two nonintrusive procedures for measuring vertical temperature profiles down existing monitoring wells; one using a thermistor on a cable for one‐time measurements and the other using compact temperature data loggers deployed for 3‐month to 1‐year period. These vertical temperature profile measurements are used to identify the depth and lateral extent of biodegradation as well as to monitor seasonal temperature changes throughout the year. The basic theory for using temperature measurements to estimate the minimum rate of biodegradation will be developed, and used to evaluate field measurements from sites in California where biodegradation of spilled petroleum hydrocarbons is due to natural processes. Following, temperature data will be used to evaluate the relative rates of biodegradation due to natural processes and soil vapor extraction (SVE) at a former refinery site in the North‐Central United States. The results from this study show that the temperature method can be a simple, cost effective tool for assessing biodegradation in the soil, and optimizing remediation systems at a wide variety of hydrocarbon spill sites.
Carbon dioxide concentration in bubbles of natural cold ice

The bubble pressure in an ice sheet is increasing with depth, due to the hydrostatic pressure of the surrounding ice. Below a certain depth, which depends on the ice temperature, bubbles are shrinking faster than expected, due to formation of air clathrates. After recovery and decompression of ice cores from below this depth, new bubbles start to form again. Within 1 year most of the air is collected again in newly formed bubbles. We measured by means of an infrared laser spectrometer the CO/sub 2/ concentration in gas extracted by mechanically crushing small ice samples at -20/sup 0/C. We analyzed samples from a depth of 1600 m below surface from the recently drilled Dye 3 core (South Greenland), a few days, a few weeks, and a few months after recovery. This allows us to investigate the influence of clathrate formation and incomplete back-diffusion to the measured CO/sub 2/ concentration. The formation of CO/sub 2/ clathrates and the back-diffusion process is certainly influenced by the solubility of CO/sub 2/ in the ice structure. Earlier measurements published by our laboratory overestimated this solubility. New measurements of the CO/sub 2/ concentration in laboratory grown single crystals allow a better estimate of the solubilitymore » of CO/sub 2/ in ice. The seasonal variations of the CO/sub 2/ concentration measured on ice samples from the Dye 3 core allow us to estimate an upper limit for the diffusion constant of CO/sub 2/ in natural polycrystalline ice at -20/sup 0/C. 6 figures. « less
Production and Characterization of Biodiesel from Allamanda Cathertica Oil

The gradual depletion of world petroleum reserves and the impact of environmental pollution due to increasing exhaust emissions have necessitated the urgent need to develop alternative energy resources, such as biodiesel fuel. Vegetable oil is a promising feedstock because it has several advantages; it is renewable and environmental friendly. The present study involves extraction of oil from Allamanda cathertica seed (Allamanda), Azadarachta indica and Jatropha caucus; conversion of the oil into biodiesel and the characterization of the methyl ester. Transesterification of the different feed stocks was conducted using sodium methaoxide (NaMt), sodium ethaoxide(NaEt), potassium methaoxide (PMt) and potassiumethaoxide (PEt) as catalysts, using a range of reaction temperatures (45, 50, 55, 60 and 65 O C) and different rates of stirring. Result showed that Allamanda seed produced 54% oil yield using mechanical extraction. The biodiesel yield was 97% using NaMt and NaEt as catalysts, while azadarachta oil gave 95% yield with PEt catalyst alone. Jatropha oil gave a yield of 70% biodiesel with all the catalysts used. The yield of biodiesel from Allamanda oil with respect to temperature were 63, 88, 94, 46 and 20% respectively. Characterization of the biodiesel produced from Allamanda oil compared favorably with the ASTM standards, viscosity 5.4, flash point 115 O C, refractive index 1.4756 and energy value 35.0MJ/L. The GCMS analysis of Allamanda methyl ester showed a range of 10 different methyl esters which includes hexadecanoic acid (24%), linoleic acid (14.8%), 13-Decosenoic acid (35.3%), 9-Octadecanoic acid (13.5%). The work concludes that allamanda oil could be a good and alternative feedstock to the edible feedstocks currently in use for biodiesel production.
YIELD AND “JONAGOLD” APPLE FRUIT QUALITY AS INFLUENCED BY SPRING SPRAYS WITH COMMERCIAL ROSATOP MATERIAL CONTAINING CALCIUM AND BORON

The aim of the experiment was to examine the efficiency of spring sprays with Rosatop material containing calcium (Ca) and boron (B) on apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) yield and quality. The experiment was carried out in 1998–2000 in the Experimental Orchards of the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, Skierniewice, Poland on mature “Jonagold” apple trees/M.26 EMLA planted at a spacing of 4.0 × 2.0 m on a sandy loam soil with medium B concentration. Trees were sprayed [1] with commercial Rosatop material (16% Ca and 0.75% B) at the stages of pink bud, bloom beginning, petal fall, and 2 weeks after full bloom at a rate of 2–3 L ha−1 per spray; [2] with Rosatop as in the previous combination and with calcium nitrate [Ca(NO3)2] 6, 4, and 2 weeks before harvest at a rate of 8 kg ha−1 per spray; and [3] with Ca(NO3)2 from 5 weeks after full bloom to harvest at 2-week intervals (6 sprays per season) at 5–8 kg ha−1. Trees sprayed with water served as control. Studied sprays had no effect on fruit yield, mean fruit weight, color, and fruit maturity status at harvest. Sprays with Rosatop, Rosatop plus Ca(NO3)2, or only Ca(NO3)2 increased Ca concentrations in fruit after 8 weeks of their development and at harvest with exception of sprays with Ca(NO3)2 in 2000 that did not affect fruit Ca level at harvest. Status of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and B in fruit tissues was not influenced by applied sprays. In 2 out of 3 years, fruit sprayed with Rosatop plus Ca(NO3)2 or only Ca(NO3)2 were firmer and less affected by internal breakdown after storage than control ones. In all years, foliar applications of Rosatop or Rosatop plus Ca(NO3)2 decreased fruit sensitivity to bitter pit; in the case of sprays with Ca(NO3)2 this effect was observed only in 2 growing seasons. Soluble solids concentrations in fruit after storage and fruit decay were not affected by studied spray treatments. These results indicate that spring sprays with Rosatop material can be recommended in apple orchards on coarse-textured soils with low B concentrations to increase fruit resistance to physiological disorders (mainly bitter pit). To improve tree cropping, foliar Ca fertilizers richer in B than Rosatop material should be used in spring spraying.
Structure and spectroscopic properties of hydrogencarbonate containing alumosilicate sodalite and cancrinite

The preparation of the sodalite Na8[AlSiO4]6·(HCO3)1(CO3)0.5(H2O)2 and cancrinite Na7.6[AlSiO4]6·(HCO3)1.2(CO3)0.2(H2O)2 were carried out in a cold-sealed autoclave using a preheated mixture of γ-Al2O3 and precipitated silica together with NaHCO3 and NaOH. The material was encapsulated in a small silver tube and heated for 48 hours at a pressure of 0.1 GPa. Two different types of crystals remained during this process. From these crystals the structure of both compounds were determined from single crystal diffractometer data. The sodalite Na8[AlSiO4]6(HCO3)1(CO3)0.5(H2O)2: P-43n, a = 903.3(1) pm, V = 0.7370(1) nm3, Z = 2, R = 0.013, wR2 = 0.027 for 242 structure factors and 63 variable positional parameters; the cancrinite Na7.6[AlSiO4]6(HCO3)1.2(CO3)0.2(H2O)2: P63, a = 1272.5(2) pm, c = 517.7(1) pm, V = 0.7260(1) nm3, Z = 2, R = 0.034, wR2 = 0.066 for 845 Fs and 99 variables. Spectroscopic properties were measured with an IR microscope in transmission mode using single crystals polished to a thickness of 30 μm. Both structures are build by corner shared six rings of AlO4 and SiO4 tetrahedra stacked cubic close packed ABCABC for the sodalite and hexagonal close packed ABAB for the cancrinite. The mean Al-O (174.3 pm) and Si-O (161.4 pm) distances for the sodalite and 173.7 pm (Al-O) and 161.8 pm (Si-O) are in good agreement with former structure description of related materials. Hydrogencarbonate and carbonate was found statistically distributed in the sodalite β-cages and in the channels of the cancrinite structure. Whereas for the sodium atoms in the sodalite four different positions are observed, the sodium atoms in the cancrinite structure where found near the threefold axes in the cancrinite ε-cage and on one position in the channel.
Pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction: A study to evaluate how dental post graduate students and dental practitioners grasp the infrequent topic of dentistry in central Uttar Pradesh, India

Pharmacovigilance is a term of pharmacology which helps in the observation, evaluation, understanding, and prevention of adverse effects, mostly long-acting and short-acting adverse affect of various medicines. To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices among dental students and professionals about pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reactions, a cross-sectional questionnaire study close-ended questioner based study among 190 dental postgraduate students and dental practitioners was performed. 47.8% postgraduates students and 37.1% dental practitioners knew pharmacovigilance while 85.5% postgraduates and 83.4% dental practitioners were unaware of adverse drug reactions. No postgraduate student and 96.6% dental practitioners were not trained to report adverse drug reactions. Insufficient knowledge about pharmacovigilance and poor application to use adverse drug reaction in clinical work was common and more academic exposure is required to increase awareness and safe use of drugs to save more lives of patients in a day to day practice.
Growth, Nutrient Status, and Biochemical Changes of Sour Orange Plants Subjected to Sodium Chloride Stress

Sour orange is a valuable citrus rootstock. It is characterized as salt tolerant, based mainly on the mineral content of the leaves and roots under saline environment and to a lesser extent based on any biochemical indices. Therefore, the aim of the present experiment was to study both nutrient content and biochemical changes involved in this rootstock's tolerance. One-year-old sour orange (Citrus aurantium L.) trees growing in 5-L pots were subjected to four levels of sodium chloride salinity stress (control, 40 mM, 80 mM, and 120 mM sodium chloride) for 60 days. At the end of the stress period, plant growth was evaluated by measuring leaf, shoot, and root dry weights. Carbohydrates, chlorophylls, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage were also determined in leaves. Plant nutrient status was evaluated in leaf, shoot, and root samples, and the soil was also analyzed for nutrient content. Leaf sclerophylly indexes were determined to assess water stress induced by salinity. Leaf dry weight was not significantly affected, whereas shoot and root dry weights decreased with salt stress. Soil electrical conductivity and sodium and chloride concentrations increased with increasing salt concentration, whereas available potassium concentration decreased. Salt stress induced a significant accumulation of sodium and chloride in leaves, shoots, and roots. Potassium and phosphorus concentrations in leaves were enhanced under salt stress, whereas inconsistent changes were detected concerning magnesium, zinc, manganese, and copper concentrations. Sucrose and glucose concentrations were significantly reduced under salt stress while fructose concentration did not exhibit significant changes. Chlorophyll concentration was also reduced under stress. Based on lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage indexes, cell membrane integrity was maintained. According to leaf characteristics indexes, leaves’ water stress was negligible, even after 2 months under salt stress. Based on the present results, sour orange accumulated significant amounts of sodium and chloride ions, inducing a reduction of growth, possibly through a reduction of carbon assimilation rate under low chlorophyll content, resulting in reduced carbohydrate concentration in the leaves.
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH BREAST CANCER: AN OVERVIEW

Breast cancer is the most common type of malevolent tumour in females, constituting about 30% of all cancers in females worldwide. Incidence rate of disease has increased by 20% since 2008 globally. Moreover, the complexity of disease arises due its variable nature and several types. However, in the past few years, mortality rate of disease has been reduced significantly due to adoption of various treatments like surgery, radiation, chemotherapy etc, and emergence of breast cancer screening. At present, chemotherapy is the most efficient treatment for disease. However, their side effects cause a long term provocation on patient’s health. Thus, there is a need to develop a new treatment strategy that can only target the malignant cells without causing any harm to the adjacent body cells. Nanomedicines are auspicious alternative for treatment of breast cancer. Nanomedicines refer to materials having biomedical applications and have size range below 100 nm. A variety of nanocarriers are available like polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers, nanotubes, liposomes, etc. Some of the nanocarriers like liposomes (Doxil) and nanoparticles (Abraxane) have been used successfully for breast cancer treatment. These nanomedicines hold immense potential to refine treatment strategies against breast cancer. They can enhance the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics profiles of conventional treatments and may optimize the efficacy of existing drugs. Site specific delivery of anticancer drugs using nanocarriers results in increased therapeutic efficiency of conventional drugs. Nanomedicines based approaches are used to understand the interaction of cancerous cells with their surrounding cells. This review provides insight knowledge about the pathophysiology, current risk factors, types of breast cancers, and targeted drug delivery for breast cancer using nanomedicines approach to conquer the limitations of conventional therapy.
Fluoro-functionalized Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Selective for Herbicides

Polymers molecularly imprinted against a herbicide prometryn were prepared using (2-trifluoromethyl)acrylic acid (TFMAA) as a new monomer to construct complementary binding sites within the polymers. In chromatographic studies, the polymers with TFMAA exhibited higher affinity and selectivity for the template prometryn than those prepared with a conventional monomer methacrylic acid (MAA).
Photophysical Characterization of Fluorescent DNA Base Analogue, tC

The novel fluorescent DNA cytosine base analogue 1,3-diaza-2-oxophenothiazine, tC, has previously been shown to have a remarkably preserved high quantum yield upon incorporation into a single strand of peptide nucleic acid, PNA, as well as when the latter is hybridized with a complementary DNA to form a PNA-DNA duplex. Here, we investigate fundamental photophysical properties of tC. Using fluorescence anisotropy, stretched film linear dichroism, and quantum chemical calculations, the transition moment polarizations of the lowest lying electronic states are determined. The neutral, base-pairing form of tC, having a fluorescence quantum yield of 0.2, is found to be the totally predominant species in a wide pH interval, 4-12. We show that the absorption band of tC at lowest energy, centered at 26 700 cm(-1) and well separated from the nucleobase absorption, is due to a single electronic transition polarized approximately at 35degrees from the long axis of the molecule. The 2-deoxyribonucleoside of 1,3-diaza-2-oxophenothiazine, synthesized for further incorporation into DNA, was found to display a fluorescence quantum yield nearly the same as in the form of tC that was incorporated into PNA, confirming the notion of the tC nucleoside being a probe with very promising fluorescence properties essentially invariant of environment, also upon incorporation into a DNA strand and upon hybridization.
The use of GPC coupled with a multiangle laser light scattering photometer for the characterization of polymers. On the determination of molecular weight, size and branching

The use of gel permeation chromatorgraphy (GPC) coupled with the multiangle laser light scattering (MALLS) detector for the determination of molecular weight and size distribution and for the identification of polymer branching is demonstrated on several examples of both organic and water souluble polymers. The influence of the second virial coefficient and the way of the light scattering data evaluation on the results obtained is shown. Measurements of the root mean square radius are presented for two series of polystyrene and polymethylmethacrylate standard, and the results are compared with the radii calculated from the Flory-Fox equation. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Monodisperse, size-tunable and highly efficient β-NaYF4:Yb,Er(Tm) up-conversion luminescent nanospheres: controllable synthesis and their surface modifications

Monodisperse, oil-dispersible β-NaYF4:Yb,Er(Tm) up-conversion (UC) luminescent nanospheres (NPs) have been successfully synthesized. The as-prepared NPs show high size-uniformity without any size-selection process, and the sizes of the NPs can be tuned in the range of 18 nm–45 nm, which are well suitable for biolabels. The NPs are thoroughly characterized and a growth mechanism is proposed. By co-doping Yb-Er or Yb-Tm, the as-prepared NPs can show bright green or blue UC luminescence under the irradiation of a 980 nm near-infrared (NIR) laser, and the UC luminescence can be obviously enhanced by constructing a NaYF4:Yb,Er@NaYF4 core/shell structure. Furthermore, the hydrophobic UC nanospheres (UCNPs) are converted into water-soluble by a robust ligand-exchange pathway with poly(acrylic acid). The presence of free carboxylic acid groups on their surfaces not only results in high solubility in water, but also allows further conjugation with biomolecules such as antigens, antibodies and oligonucleotides, which pave the way for potential bio-applications of the UCNPs.
Effects of Heating Rate and Ion-Exchangeable Cations on the Pyrolysis Yields from a Victorian Brown Coal

A Victorian low-rank coal (Loy Yang) was acid-washed and ion-exchanged with Na and Ca to prepare the H-form, Na-form, and Ca-form coal samples. Two more H-form samples were also prepared by rewashing the Na-form and Ca-form samples with acid. These coal samples were pyrolyzed in a wire-mesh reactor where the secondary reactions of the evolved volatiles were minimized. The ion-exchanged coal samples were found to give very different tar yields from those of the raw coal samples. While the tar yields from the pyrolysis of the raw and H-form coal samples were observed to be very sensitive to changes in heating rate, the tar yields from the Ca-form and Na-form samples showed little heating rate sensitivity. Unlike higher rank coals studied previously, the tar yields from the pyrolysis of the raw coal and the H-form coal samples at 600 °C were found to increase much more than the corresponding increases in the total volatile yields as the heating rate was increased from 1 to 2000 K s-1. Reexchanging Na in the .
Luminescence of Ce3+-doped Sr10(PO4)6S phosphors

The spectroscopic properties of a series of chalcogenide apatite phosphors, pure and Ce-doped Sr10(PO4)6S, prepared by a high-temperature solid-state reaction technique, were investigated at different temperatures. The pure Sr10(PO4)6S powder shows a broad blue emission peaking at 472 nm (2.63 eV), which results from self-trapped exciton (STE) in the host lattice with the wavelength at 271 nm (4.57 eV). The decay time is about several microseconds. Activator ion Ce3+ shows general f–d transition luminescence with a decay time of more than 20 ns. The activation energy EA for thermal quenching of STE and Ce3+ luminescence was fitted.
Tin Oxide Based P and N-Type Thin Film Transistors Developed by RF Sputtering

Tin oxide has been demonstrated as an ideal material for fabricating p-type and n-type thin film transistors (TFTs) for transparent CMOS type device fabrication. Both p and n-type conduction was observed in the thin films, prepared from metallic tin target by simply varying the oxygen flow rate during RF magnetron sputter deposition. Films deposited at room temperature were amorphous in nature, which after annealing at 200◦C in air, crystallized to SnO and/or SnO2 phases. The TFTs fabricated on thermally oxidized silicon substrates showed high field effect mobility of 4.13 and 16 cm2/Vs with drain current on-off ratio 6 × 102 and 107 respectively for SnO p-type and SnO2 n-type TFTs. These are the highest values for p-type and n-type oxide TFTs fabricated from same source material. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 License (CC BY-NC-ND, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is not changed in any way and is properly cited. For permission for commercial reuse, please email: oa@electrochem.org. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0091509jss] All rights reserved.