Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Soda Bread Making Process Decreases Protein Efficacy Ratio and Causes Debilitation of Hematological Parameters in Male Rats

Objectives: Bread has long been one of the most popular foods and is the major source to supply energy, protein, minerals, and vitamins. The type of bread making process may affect its nutritional value. This study aimed to investigate bread baking methods and their effects on protein efficacy ratio (PER) and the status of some iron-related blood parameters in rats. Methods: Four diets were used in this study, including a control diet (animals chow), fermented bread, non-fermented bread, and soda bread. At first, some chemical parameters of flour and bread were measured, and then PER and some hematological parameters were determined in rats. Descriptive statistics include mean ± standard deviation (SD), and analytical statistics include one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The wheat flour’s Fe was 18.68 mg/kg. The PER value was negative in the group that received soda bread, and the weight gain was the lowest in the soda bread group. Ferritin, RBC, Hematocrit, BUN, MCV, and MCHC mean values were significantly lower in the rats that received soda bread than other groups. There were no differences among groups in MCH. Conclusions: Although bread can be used as a major source to supply energy protein and other nutritional values, the soda bread making process may decrease protein efficacy ratio and cause debilitation of hematological parameters. These effects of soda can disrupt the body's physiological processes and lead to disease in the long run.
Serologic screening and infectious diseases consultation in renal transplant candidates for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella

Abstract Background. Renal transplant recipients are at increased risk for developing complications of vaccine-preventable diseases. They benefit from a comprehensive pre-transplant evaluation when they might safely receive live vaccines. The primary aim of our study was to investigate the number of renal transplant recipients who were evaluated for serologic status against measles, mumps, rubella (MMR), and varicella. Secondarily, we investigated if pre-transplant Infectious Diseases consultation (IDC) improved vaccination rates. Methods. We retrospectively analyzed 282 kidney-alone and kidney-plus adult transplant recipients who were born in or after 1957. Patients were evaluated at Mayo Clinic, Florida Transplant Center between January 2015 and December 2017. Serologic status evaluation and vaccination rates were compared in two groups created based on IDC and no ID consultation (NIDC). Results. 235 (83%) of a total 282 patients received an IDC pre-transplantation. Varicella IgG levels were screened in all 235 IDC candidates. Among the IDC patients, mumps, measles and rubella IgG serologies were performed in 7 (3%), 143 (61%) and 144 (61%), respectively. Among 44 patients seronegative for any of MMR, 24 (55%) were vaccinated. Ten (66%) of 15 varicella seronegative patients were vaccinated. Zostavax was not given to 18% of IDC patients. Zostavax and MMR were administered more frequently in the IDC group compared to NIDC (p < .001 and p = 0.0016, respectively). Conclusion. Although the majority of patients had IDC, the screening rate for MMR serologies was lower than varicella. A protocol-driven serologic screening similar to the one for VZV is required for MMR. Pre-transplant IDC increases vaccination rates.
Fractional Derivatives for Description of Sorption Kinetics in the Plant Sorbent - Metal Ions System

Abstract It was examined if buckwheat hull has a potential to be used to adsorb heavy metal ions Zn(II), Cd(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) from water. The research involved experiments aimed at the determination of sorption kinetics taking into consideration changes of concentration in a solution and sorbent over time. According to the literature data, kinetics is described with the use of pseudo first-order equations. Application of fractional derivatives for the description of sorption kinetics enables the development of the generalised sorption kinetics equation. Result analysis with this concept requires making a computational procedure using gamma functions and infinite series. Kinetics description using fractional derivatives will be equations with two parameters ie fraction of derivative α and the kinetics constant K dependent on the analysed sorbent-adsorbate system. Abstrakt W pracy wykorzystano łuskę gryki do procesu sorpcji jonów metali ciężkich Cu(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Co(II) i Cd(II) z roztworów wodnych. Wyznaczone zostały maksymalne pojemności sorpcyjne oraz stałe kinetyczne i równowagowe. Obliczone wartości pozwoliły na zastosowanie równań różniczkowych ułamkowych do opisu kinetyki sorpcji oraz uzyskania uogólnionego równania kinetyki sorpcji. Opracowanie wyników według tej koncepcji wymaga napisania procedury obliczeniowej wykorzystującej funkcje gamma oraz szeregi nieskończone. Równania kinetyki z wykorzystaniem pochodnych ułamkowych są równaniami o dwóch parametrach. Są to ułamek pochodnej i stała kinetyczna zależne od analizowanego układu sorbent - adsorbat.
Habits and the electronic herd: The psychology behind social media’s successes and failures

If platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the engines of social media use, what is the gasoline? The answer can be found in the psychological dynamics behind consumer habit formation and performance. In fact, the financial success of different social media sites is closely tied to the daily‐use habits they create among users. We explain how the rewards of social media sites motivate user habit formation, how social media design provides cues that automatically activate habits and nudge continued use, and how strong habits hinder quitting social media. Demonstrating that use habits are tied to cues, we report a novel test of a 2008 change in Facebook design, showing that it impeded posting only of frequent, habitual users, suggesting that the change disrupted habit automaticity. Finally, we offer predictions about the future of social media sites, highlighting the features most likely to promote user habits.
Self-Assembly of Self-Cleaning Polystyrene/Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene Films with Well-Ordered Micro-Structures

Well-ordered porous films have been widely applied in various areas, such as chemical sensors, microreactors, and tissue engineering. In this article, we propose a novel air-liquid interface self-assembly method to fabricate well-ordered porous polystyrene (PS)/styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) films by simply dipping the PS/SBS chloroform solutions onto the surface of a mixed water/ethanol liquid phase. The proper volume ratio of water/ethanol is necessary for the formation of films with highly uniform pore size. The effect of weight ratio of PS/SBS, the volume ratio of water/ethanol and the concentration of the solutions were experimentally investigated. The pore size decreases with the concentration of polymer solution, and the structure becomes more regular with the decrease of water/ethanol volume ratio. Ordered structure can be formed under PS/SBS in a certain weight ratio. The self-assembled films also have the function of self-cleaning. Besides the analysis of structural characteristic, the self-assembly mechanism was also discussed.
Comparison Of The Verbal Category Of Tense In German And English

English has become the first foreign language taught at schools in the Czech Republic and the whole European Union. In comparison with other foreign languages taught at Czech schools, English seems relatively easy at the early stage of learning. Problems can arise when German, whose grammar system is much more complicated, is taught and learnt as the second foreign language. The text of the paper is based on previous research conducted at the Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Králové (Czech Republic), whose main objective was to find ways how to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning English and German in the Czech educational environment. In the authors´ point of view, it is necessary to make pre-service foreign language teachers aware of the fact that the knowledge, skills and experience which their learners acquired during the process of learning their first foreign language can be effectively used in the process of teaching and learning other foreign languages. This approach is nowadays taken not only by the authors of the text. The paper presents and comments on similarities and differences occurring in the system of Czech, English and German verb forms. The comments focus both on potential positive transfers and on negative impacts of language interference.
Associations between human impacts and forest soil microbial communities

We are living in a new epoch—the Anthropocene, in which human activity is reshaping global biodiversity at an unprecedented rate. Increasing efforts are being made toward a better understanding of the associations between human activity and the geographic patterns in plant and animal communities. However, similar efforts are rarely applied to microbial communities. Here, we collected 472 forest soil samples across eastern China, and the bacterial and fungal communities in those samples were determined by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer region, respectively. By compiling human impact variables as well as climate and soil variables, our goal was to elucidate the association between microbial richness and human activity when climate and soil variables are taken into account. We found that soil microbial richness was associated with human activity. Specifically, human population density was positively associated with the richness of bacteria, nitrifying bacteria and fungal plant pathogens, but it was negatively associated with the richness of cellulolytic bacteria and ectomycorrhizal fungi. Together, these results suggest that the associations between geographic variations of soil microbial richness and human activity still persist when climate and soil variables are taken into account and that these associations vary among different microbial taxonomic and functional groups.
The Length of Financial Cycle and its Impact on Business Cycle in Poland

Purpose: The article aims to identify Poland's financial cycle and verify whether it affects the business cycle. Moreover, the analysis will concern whether these cycles are synchronized and whether the financial cycle led to a crisis or vice versa. Design/Methodology/Approach: Considering Poland's case, we use Beveridge-Nelson multivariate decomposition to estimate the impact of financial cycles on Poland's business cycle during the period 1992:1-2018:4. The data are collected from BIS. Findings: Our research confirms the existence of the financial cycle in Poland. Financial cycles in Poland last on average, 14.1 quarters compare to normal business cycle which is 12.6 quarters. The paper's empirical results show that financial cycles significantly impact Poland's business cycle, influencing long-term growth. Practical Implications: To achieve long-term and sustainable economic growth, policymakers should monitor financial cycles and revise fiscal and monetary policy accordingly. The results should help policymakers and financial practitioners build and maintain a sound financial policy to avoid future financial national and global crises. Originality/Value: This paper is among the first the use a set of econometric filtering techniques to identify financial cycles in Poland and its link to business cycles.
Silvicultural treatments, microclimatic conditions and seedling response in Southern Interior clearcuts

Post-harvest levels of soil disturbance and vegetation regrowth strongly influence microclimate conditions, and this has important implications for seedling establishment. We examined the effects of blading (scalping), soil loosening (ripping) and vegetation control (herbicide), as well as no soil disturbance, on growing season microclimates and 3-yr seedling response on two grass-dominated clearcuts at different elevations in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. Warmer soil temperatures were obtained by removing surface organic horizons. Ripping produced somewhat higher soil temperatures than scalping at the drier, lower-elevation site, but slightly reduced soil temperatures at the wetter, higher-elevation site. Near-surface air temperatures were more extreme (higher daily maximums and lower daily minimums) over the control than over exposed mineral soil. Root zone soil moisture deficits largely reflected transpiration by competing vegetation; vegetation removal was effective in improving soil mois.
CIRCULARLY POLARIZED ELECTROLUMINESCENCE FROM A POLYMER LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE

An example is presented of circularly polarized electroluminescence (CPEL) of a polymer LED which is constructed using a chiral p-conjugated poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) deriv. as an active layer. The CPEL is a direct consequence of the intrinsic mol. chirality of the conjugated polymer and requires no macroscopic orientation of chromophores as for linear polarized electroluminescence.
Interest Rate Risk and Monetary Policy Normalisation in the Euro Area

In the current low interest rate environment in the euro area there is potential for a sudden increase in interest rates and heightened interest rate risk (IRR). By using a sample of 81 euro area banks during the period 2014Q4-2018Q1 and a confidential supervisory measure of IRR, this paper identifies which bank-specific characteristics can amplify or weaken the impact of a 200 basis points positive shock in interest rates. We find that banks reliant on core deposits, that hold more floating-interest rate loans and that diversify their lending, either by sector or geography, are less exposed to a positive change in interest rates. Interestingly, we discover that banks that did not exploit the exceptional financing provided by the European Central Bank (ECB) reveal greater IRR exposure. These findings advance the debate on the impact on euro area banking of a possible return to a normalised monetary policy.
Electric Scooter - An Alternative Mode of Transportation for Malaysian Youth

Background: This study examined the effect of environmental concern, knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, attributes of interest, and monetary benefit on the willingness to purchase and actual purchase of electric scooter (ES) among Malaysian youth. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 1,306 youth by sharing a Google form link through social media. Results: The findings reveal that environmental concern and environmental knowledge have a significant positive effect on attitude towards ES. Findings also show that attitude towards ES, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, attributes of interest, and monetary benefit have a significant positive effect on the willingness to purchase and actual purchase of ES. Findings reveal the positive and significant mediating effect of attitude towards ES and the willingness to purchase ES. The multi-group analysis revealed that the effect of attitude towards willingness was significantly higher among the urban respondents. Moreover, the effect of environmental concern on attitude towards ES among rural respondents was significantly higher than urban respondents. In contrast, the effect of environmental knowledge on attitude towards ES among urban respondents was significantly higher than rural respondents. Conclusions: The environmental and transportation policymakers should focus on highlighting the attributes of ESs and their environmental and monetary benefits to promote the mass adoption of ESs among Malaysian youth. Offering subsidies like no road tax and zero import duty and reducing the production of combustion-based two-wheelers are among the options to facilitate the adoption of ES among Malaysian youth. The adoption of ES is socially promoted to reduce the use of conventional two-wheelers. Another relevant area that needs attention is the charging outlet or fuel stations for ES. The adoption of ES remains low if there is a lack of charging or fuel stations.
Soil diversity influences on oil palm productivity in ultramafic ecosystems, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract. Alam S, Purwanto BH, Hanudin E, Putra ETS. 2020. Soil diversity influences oil palm productivity in ultramafic ecosystems, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 5521-5530. Ultramafic is a unique ecosystem with an environmental gradient due to its high soil diversity. Understanding soil diversity in ultramafic ecosystems is fundamentally required to support sustainable agriculture management, particularly in oil palm plantation. This study investigated the relationship between soil diversity and productivity of oil palm in ultramafic ecosystems, Southeast Sulawesi. The soil survey has taken in Oheo, Langgikima, and Routa districts. Soil sample was collected from various toposequence, including upper, middle, and lower slope to describe soil properties, including soil texture, pH, CEC, SOC, TN, Av-P, Exc-K, Exc-Ca, and Exc-Mg. Whilst observation of oil palm productivity was done by recording the fresh-weight of fruit yield in hectare unit during a month. The results showed that the soil characteristics from the three sites were significantly different in soil texture, pH, CEC, Av-P, Exc-Ca, and Exc-Mg. A similar trend was also recorded in oil palm productivity wherein the highest oil palm productivity was discovered in Oheo (556.41+96.26 kg ha-1), followed by Langgikima (501.11+54.84 kg ha-1) and Routa (163.19+17.55 kg ha-1). Our study founded: pH, CEC, Av-P, Exc-K, Exc-Ca, and Exc-Mg significantly affected the productivity of oil palm. Based on these results, the soil diversity highly affected oil palm productivity in ultramafic ecosystems.
Evolution of habitat preference in 243 species of Bent‐toed geckos (Genus Cyrtodactylus Gray, 1827) with a discussion of karst habitat conservation

Abstract Understanding the processes that underpin adaptive evolutionary shifts within major taxonomic groups has long been a research directive among many evolutionary biologists. Such phenomena are best studied in large monophyletic groups that occupy a broad range of habitats where repeated exposure to novel ecological opportunities has happened independently over time in different lineages. The gekkonid genus Cyrtodactylus is just such a lineage with approximately 300 species that range from South Asia to Melanesia and occupy a vast array of habitats. Ancestral state reconstructions using a stochastic character mapping analysis of nine different habitat preferences were employed across a phylogeny composed of 76% of the known species of Cyrtodactylus. This was done in order to ascertain which habitat preference is the ancestral condition and from that condition, the transition frequency to more derived habitat preferences. The results indicate that a general habitat preference is the ancestral condition for Cyrtodactylus and the frequency of transitioning from a general habitat preference to anything more specialized occurs approximately four times more often than the reverse. Species showing extreme morphological and/or ecological specializations generally do not give rise to species bearing other habitat preferences. The evolution of different habitat preferences is generally restricted to clades that tend to occur in specific geographic regions. The largest radiations in the genus occur in rocky habitats (granite and karst), indicating that the transition from a general habitat preference to a granite or karst‐dwelling life style may be ecologically uncomplicated. Two large, unrelated clades of karst‐associated species are centered in northern Indochina and the largest clade of granite‐associated species occurs on the Thai‐Malay Peninsula. Smaller, independent radiations of clades bearing other habitat preferences occur throughout the tree and across the broad distribution of the genus. With the exception of a general habitat preference, the data show that karst‐associated species far out‐number all others (29.6% vs. 0.4%–10.2%, respectively) and the common reference to karstic regions as “imperiled arcs of biodiversity” is not only misleading but potentially dangerous. Karstic regions are not simply refugia harboring the remnants of local biodiversity but are foci of speciation that continue to generate the most speciose, independent, radiations across the genus. Unfortunately, karstic landscapes are some of the most imperiled and least protected habitats on the planet and these data continue to underscore the urgent need for their conservation.
Adsorption of reaction species for hydrogenation of nitrobenzene on copper chromite at catalytic conditions

Adsorption of reaction species involved in vapour phase hydrogenation of o-nitrotoluene (viz. o-nitrotoluene, o-toluidine and water) on copper chromite in presence of an inert gas (He) or hydrogen (which is one of the reactants) at temperature (473-560 K) and partial pressures at which the catalytic reaction is carried out has been investigated using the gas chromatographic pulse technique. The presence of hydrogen was found to cause a very significant decrease in the adsorption of toluidine but a little effect on the adsorption of water. The adsorption data for all the reaction species could be fitted to the Freundlich adsorption equation. The isoteric heats of adsorption obtained from the adsorption isotherm indicated that o-toluidine and water are physically absorbed, whereas o-nitrotoluene is chemisorbed on the catalyst. The heat of adsorption of water and o-nitrotoluene was found to decrease with the increase in the surface coverage, indicating repulsive interactions between the adsorbed species. On the other hand the heat of adsorption of o-toluidine (in presence or absence of H2) was found to increase with the increase in the surface coverage, suggesting attractive interactions between the absorbed species.
Effect of nitridation on the growth of GaN on ZrB2(0001)∕Si(111) by molecular-beam epitaxy

The effect of nitridation on the epitaxial growth of GaN on lattice-matched ZrB2(0001) films prepared ex situ and in situ was studied using an ultrahigh-vacuum molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE)-scanning probe microscopy system. The growth of GaN was carried out by rf-plasma-assisted MBE, and epitaxy of wurtzite GaN was observed on both ex situ and in situ prepared ZrB2 samples. The polarity was found to be consistently N-polar regardless of the samples, based on the observation of a series of N-polar Ga-rich reconstructions: (3×3), (6×6), and c(6×12). The nitridation of ZrB2 film was conducted by exposing it to active nitrogen and well-ordered hexagonal-BN (h-BN) formation was observed when the annealing temperature was above 900°C. The partially formed BN layer affected neither the epitaxy nor the polarity of GaN, but when the surface was fully covered with well-ordered h-BN, GaN growth did not occur.
Dose in Liver and Spleen after Injection of Thorotrast into Blood

The calculation of the dose-rate and cumulative dose in the liver and spleen of thorotrast patients as function of time after thorotrast incorporation presupposes the knowledge of both the distribution of 232Th and its daughters in the organism, and the activity ratios between the thorium decay products due to translocation and excretion from the body. In a comprehensive study results of own investigations on distribution and excretion in a large number of thorotrast patients are put together and compared to those published by others. Considering the measured activity ratios between 232Th and its daughters as well as the agglomeration of the ThO2-particles within the RES and self-absorption of α-particles within the aggregates the dose-rate and cumulative radiation dose in the liver and spleen were calculated as function of time of thorotrast burden and the amount of injected material.