Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mineralization of Chlormequat chloride (CCC) by different microbial pesticides using different media in grapes

Modern agriculture along with different chemical pesticides uses diverse array plant growth regulators which accumulate in fruits and demonstrated residue effect. The Chlormequat Chloride (CCC) belongs to quaternary ammonium growth regulator. This study deals with degradation effect of different fungal and bacterial biopesticides viz. Trichoderma viride, Trichoderma harzianum, Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii, Penicillium notatum, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas putida & Bacillus subtilis on solid and liquid media enriched with different concentrations of Chlormequat Chloride. Two fungal biopesticides Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma viride significantly indicated growth of 12.20 mm/day 11.48 mm/day average linear growth rates after 3 days of inoculation. These were found to be fast growing biofungicide on Potato dextrose agar and Potato dextrose broth enriched with 2500 mg/l CCC was best growth medium, which was confirmed by increased fresh spore biomass 2.3g/100 & 2.8g/100 ml medium and dry spore biomass 1.25 g & 1.65 g respectively as compared with different growth media. Additionally Bacillus subtilis with 6.366 mm/day & Pseudomonas fluorescens with 1.266 mm/day average colony diameter growth on nutrient agar enriched with 2500 ppm CCC were found to be the fast growing biocontrol agents and it was confirmed by optical density 3.120 and 2.365 respectively, at 560 nm. Remarkable growth of Trichoderma sp. , Pseudomonas sp. and Bacillus with CCC indicates that apart from chemical or natural processes microbial degradation proved to be best alternative for seriously pertaining food safety issue.
Assessing impacts of social-ecological diversity on resilience in a wetland coupled human and natural system

Theory posits that resilience of ecosystems increases when there is a diversity of agents (e.g., species) and linkages between them. If ecosystems are conceptualized as components of coupled human and natural systems, then a corollary would be that novel types of human-induced diversity may also foster resilience. We explored this hypothesis by studying how socially created diversity mediated the impact of a historically severe drought on a network of wetlands in the foothills of the California Sierra Nevada containing a metapopulation of the threatened California Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus). We examined how (1) diversity in motivations for land ownership affected use of irrigation water and response to drought; (2) differences in natural and irrigated water sources affected wetland drying in response to drought; and (3) these processes affected the persistence of rails and the transmission risk of West Nile virus (WNV), an emerging infectious disease that threatens people and rails. Wetlands were mostly fed by inefficiencies and leaks from the irrigation system. Wetlands with both natural and irrigated water sources were larger, wetter, and likelier to persist through drought because these two sources showed response diversity by drying at different times. Wetlands with diverse water sources also provided the best habitat for the California Black Rail, and irrigation appeared responsible for its persistence through the drought. Irrigation increased WNV transmission risk by increasing the quantity, but not the quality, of wetland habitats for mosquitoes. The impacts of social diversity were more ambiguous, with redundancy prevalent. However, profit-motivated landowners provided wetlands more irrigation during nondrought conditions, whereas other landowner types were more likely to continue providing irrigation during drought. Our results highlight that conservation in social-ecological systems requires assessing not only the value of historic ecological diversity, but also how novel types of socially induced diversity may benefit ecosystems.
Impact of Economic Openness and Innovations
on the Environment: a New Look
into ASEAN Countries

This study aims to investigate the effects of economic openness and innovations on the environment of ASEAN countries for 1990-2014. We have employed several techniques for empirical analysis. To examine cross-sectional dependence and unit root test, we have used the Pesaran CD test and Pesaran CIPS unit root test. Pedroni and Kao and Westurland cointegration tests have been employed to confirm the cointegration among the variables. For estimations of long-run relationship, we have utilized DOLS and FMOLS techniques. Moreover, to determine the causality directions, we have employed Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test. The results of the study show that energy use and trade openness significantly increase CO2 emissions in ASEAN countries. On the other hand, FDI, GDP and patents markedly depress CO2 emissions. The findings depict that energy use and trade openness harm the environment by escalating CO2 emissions while FDI, GDP and patents improve the environment by depressing CO2 emissions. Therefore, policy-makers should encourage investment in renewable energy sources and boost green trade openness in ASEAN countries.
Association between personal characteristics and musculoskeletal disorders among the dental surgeons working in Dhaka city

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Update Dental College Journal (UpDCJ) : ISSN 2226-8715 eISSN 2307-3160, E-mail: updcj@hotmail.com; Website: https://www.banglajol. info/index.php/UpDCJ Association between personal characteristics and musculoskeletal disorders among the dental surgeons working in Dhaka city Dr. Nihar Sultana 1*, Dr. Md.Golam Rubby 2, Prof. Dr. Md. Anower Hussain Mian 3.
An innovative NRF2 nano-modulator induces lung cancer ferroptosis and elicits an immunostimulatory tumor microenvironment

Simultaneous targeting of both the tumor microenvironment and cancer cells by a single nanomedicine has not been reported to date. Here, we report the dual properties of zero-valent-iron nanoparticle (ZVI-NP) to induce cancer-specific cytotoxicity and anti-cancer immunity. Methods: Cancer-specific cytotoxicity induced by ZVI-NP was determined by MTT assay. Mitochondria functional assay, immunofluorescence staining, Western blot, RT-qPCR, and ChIP-qPCR assays were used to dissect the mechanism underlying ZVI-NP-induced ferroptotic cancer cell death. The therapeutic potential of ZVI-NP was evaluated in immunocompetent mice and humanized mice. Immune cell profiles of allografts and ex vivo cultured immune cells were examined by flow cytometry analysis, RT-qPCR assay, and immunofluorescence. Results: ZVI-NP caused mitochondria dysfunction, intracellular oxidative stress, and lipid peroxidation, leading to ferroptotic death of lung cancer cells. Degradation of NRF2 by GSK3/β-TrCP through AMPK/mTOR activation was enhanced in such cancer-specific ferroptosis. In addition, ZVI-NP attenuated self-renewal ability of cancer and downregulated angiogenesis-related genes. Importantly, ZVI-NP augmented anti-tumor immunity by shifting pro-tumor M2 macrophages to anti-tumor M1, decreasing the population of regulatory T cells, downregulating PD-1 and CTLA4 in CD8+ T cells to potentiate their cytolytic activity against cancer cells, while attenuating PD-L1 expression in cancer cells in vitro and in tumor-bearing immunocompetent mice. In particular, ZVI-NPs preferentially accumulated in tumor and lung tissues, leading to prominent suppression of tumor growth and metastasis. Conclusions: This dual-functional nanomedicine established an effective strategy to synergistically induce ferroptotic cancer cell death and reprogram the immunosuppressive microenvironment, which highlights the potential of ZVI-NP as an advanced integrated anti-cancer strategy.
The effects of sealing on urban soil carbon and nutrients

Abstract. Urban soils are of increasing interest for their potential to provide ecosystem services such as carbon storage and nutrient cycling. Despite this, there is limited knowledge on how soil sealing with impervious surfaces, a common disturbance in urban environments, affects these important ecosystem services. In this paper, we investigate the effect of soil sealing on soil properties, soil carbon and soil nutrient stocks. We undertook a comparative survey of sealed and unsealed greenspace soils across the UK city of Manchester. Our results reveal that the context of urban soil and the anthropogenic artefacts added to soil have a great influence on soil properties and functions. In general, sealing reduced soil carbon and nutrient stocks compared to greenspace soil, however, where there were anthropogenic additions of organic and mineral artefacts this led to increases in soil carbon and nitrate content. Anthropogenic additions led to carbon stocks equivalent to or larger than those in greenspaces, potentially of a stable nature with long residence times. This suggests that in areas with an industrial past, anthropogenic additions can lead to a legacy carbon store in urban soil and make important contributions to urban soil carbon budgets. These findings shed light on the heterogeneity of urban sealed soil and the influence of anthropogenic artefacts on soil functions. Our research highlights the need to gain further understanding into urban soil processes, in both sealed and unsealed soils, and the influence and legacy of anthropogenic additions on soil functions and important ecosystem services.
TRANSITIONING FROM ENTREPRENEURSHIP TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP: THE SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

This paper investigated what spurred entrepreneurs into entrepreneurship focusing on the influence of self-efficacy, value, and self-perception on their decisions to transition. Previous scholars have examined the reasons for transition with various statistical empirical outcomes in South Africa. However, no confirmed research yet on the transition of individuals with an entrepreneurial background into entrepreneurship with attention been paid to the three selected cognitive factors while using a mixed-methods approach. This paper targeted entrepreneurs with an entrepreneurial background in the finance and business services sector of the Gauteng economy, In this paper, entrepreneurship is represented as vision, independence, and the need for achievement. The results of the Chi-square test indicated a strong relationship between the selected cognitive factors and entrepreneurship, with significant p values. This was supported by the factor loading of the principal component analysis. The findings revealed that, qualitatively, self-efficacy, value, and self-perception become prominent in the transition towards entrepreneurship but at a different layer of activities. With the proposed conceptual model, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the cognitive factors and the entrepreneurship nexus. Finally, this paper recommends that entrepreneurs with outstanding performance must be motivated with annual award programs and three-month of government patronage.
Disentangling Autocorrelated Intraday Returns

We propose a semiparametric approach to disentangling the autocovariance of equity returns at high frequency. We assume the observed price consists of an efficient component that follows a nonparametric continuous-time Itô-semimartingale, along with a market microstructure component that follows a discrete-time moving-average model. Our quasi-likelihood procedure relies on a misspecified moving-average model selected by information criteria. We establish the model-selection consistency, provide a central limit theory on autocovariance parameters, and show their consistency uniformly over a large class of models that allow for an arbitrary noise magnitude and a flexible dependence structure. We also provide a quadratic representation of the likelihood estimator, which sheds light on its connection with nonparametric kernel estimators. Our simulation evidence suggests that our estimator outperforms the nonparametric alternatives particularly when noise magnitude is small. We apply this estimator to S&P 1500 index constituents, and find that in recent years the microstructure friction has become smaller but existed in 5-minute returns, particularly in small caps, and that the average duration of autocorrelations for large caps has shrunk considerably to merely 10 seconds.
Population dynamics of major sucking insect pests of mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] in relation to weather parameters

An investigation was conducted to find out the population dynamics of sucking insect pest of mungbean in relation to weather parameters during Kharif season 2018. The first occurrence of adult whitefly and jassids on mungbean was recorded during 31st SMW. The pest population of whitefly and jassids was ranged from 4.20-14.10 and 1.20-6.30 cage / plant, respectively during the cropping period. The whitefly population was reached at its first peak (10.90 whiteflies /cage/plant) at 32nd SMW. Thereafter, whitefly population was started gradually decline and again attained second peak (14.10 whiteflies /cage/plant) at 39th SMW. Correlation studies revealed that maximum temperature and sunshine hours had exhibited significantly positive correlation (r= 0.60 and r= 0.69, respectively) with whitefly population. Further, evaporation was positive while, minimum temperature, morning RH and evening RH, wind speed and rainfall were expressed non-significant negative correlation. The jassids population was gradually increased and reached at its peak (6.30 jassids /cage/plant) during 36th SMW. Significant negative correlation was exhibited between evaporation and jassids population whereas, morning RH, evening RH, wind speed and rainfall had non-significant positive correlation.
Flipping the Composition Classroom

Research gathered from approximately 179 students over five semesters demonstrates how using the flipped classroom to teach composition in a face-to-face classroom improves students’ writing. Included is the contrast between student learning via the traditional model versus the flipped model, and a theoretical basis for why the flipped classroom model is successful is established. The author champions the many advantages of the flipped classroom but concedes it is not without its challenges. These challenges are explored and strategies for creating and using screencasts effectively are recommended so that other instructors may successfully flip their own classrooms.
Prognostic Value of the Albumin-to-γ-glutamyltransferase Ratio for Gallbladder Cancer Patients and Establishing a Nomogram for Overall Survival

Purpose: The albumin-to-γ-glutamyltransferase ratio (AGR), a novel inflammation-related index, has been reported to have prognostic importance in several malignancies but not yet in gallbladder cancer (GBC). This study intended to assess the prognostic value of AGR in GBC and to develop a nomogram based on AGR for predicting overall survival (OS) in GBC patients after surgery. Methods: Medical records of 140 qualified GBC patients between July 2003 and June 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The function “surv_cutpoint” in the R package “survminer” was implemented to discover the optimal cut-off value of AGR. A nomogram on the fundamental of Cox model was established in the training cohort and was internally validated using calibration curves, Harrell's concordance index, time-dependent AUC plots and decisive curve analyses. Results: The optimal AGR cut-off value concerning overall survival was 2.050. Univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that AGR (HR=0.354, P=0.004), T stage (HR=3.114, P=0.004), R0 resection (HR=0.448, P=0.003), BMI (HR=0.470, P=0.002) and CA19-9 (HR=1.704, P=0.048) were independent predictors for OS. The nomogram combining these prognostic factors showed considerable prognostic performance in term of consistency, discrimination and net benefit. Conclusion: AGR has independent prognostic value for OS in GBC patients receiving surgery. A nomogram incorporating AGR, T stage, R0 resection, CA19-9 and BMI achieved enhanced prognostic ability.
University of Groningen Web-based self-management with and without coaching for type 2 diabetes patients in primary care

Background: Self-management is recognized as the cornerstone of overall diabetes management. Web-based self-management programs have the potential of supporting type 2 diabetes patients with managing their diabetes and reducing the workload for the care provider, where the addition of online coaching could improve patient motivation and reduce program attrition. This study aims to test the hypothesis that a web-based self-management program with coaching will prove more effective on improving patient self-management behavior and clinical outcome measures than a web-based self-management program without coaching. Methods: The effects of a web-based self-management program with and without coaching will be tested with a nested randomized controlled trial within a healthcare group in the Netherlands. In one year 220 type 2 diabetes patients will be randomized into an intervention group (n = 110) or a control group (n = 110). The control group will receive only the online self-management program. The intervention group will receive the online self-management program and additional online coaching. Participants will be followed for one year, with follow-up measurements at 6 and 12 months. Discussion: The intervention being tested is set to support type 2 diabetes patients with their diabetes self-management and is expected to have beneficial effects on self-care activities, well being and clinical outcomes. When proven effective this self-management support program could be offered to other health care groups and their type 2 diabetes patients in the Netherlands. Trial registration: Nederlands Trial Register NTR4064
MIIKA NIETOLA: The Risk Factors, Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Psychotic Depression

Major depression with psychotic features (psychotic depression, PD) is a severe mental disorder characterized by depression and psychotic symptoms. Despite grave symptoms and high mortality, PD has remained under-researched. Furthermore, the majority of research has focused on the acute phase of the illness or included only a short follow-up. Few studies have focused on the risk factors or long-term outcomes of PD. In this thesis, the aim was to examine the risk factors, clinical characteristics and outcomes of PD. Firstly, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to analyze existing literature. Secondly, an original study in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (NFBC 1966) was conducted. The NFBC 1966 is a naturalistic and prospective birth cohort study that includes 12058 subjects who had an estimated date of birth in 1966. The participants have been followed since mid-pregnancy for over 50 years. Data about study subjects were acquired from several different sources including national registers, clinical measurements and questionnaires. PD (n=55 in Study III; n=58 in Studies II and IV) was compared to other severe mental disorders and, regarding risk factors, to healthy controls (HC). Both in the meta-analysis and the study in the NFBC 1966, PD was found to have a worse clinical picture and prognosis than non-psychotic depression, comparable to psychotic bipolar disorder but better than in schizophrenia. The majority of PD patients were females. In the NFBC 1966, only a few significant risk factors for PD were found. These included mental illness in the family and low school sports grade in adolescence. The original study showed that, also in the long term, PD patients have negative outcomes such as impaired functioning and recurrent hospitalizations. Furthermore, male gender predicted worse outcomes. Psychiatric comorbidity was especially common in PD in the NFBC 1966 and associated with poor outcomes. To conclude, PD has similar outcomes than psychotic bipolar disorder and should be treated accordingly with a proper long-term focus. Due to a lack of research, more prospective studies with a long follow-up are urgently needed.
Cumulative Frequency Can Explain Cognate Facilitation in Language Models

Cognates – words which share form and meaning across two languages – have been extensively studied to understand the bilingual mental lexicon. One consistent finding is that bilingual speakers process cognates faster than non-cognates, an effect known as cognate facilitation. Yet, there is no agreement on the underlying factors driving this effect. In this paper, we use computational modeling to test whether the effect can be explained by the cumulative frequency hypothesis. We train a computational language model on two language pairs (Dutch–English, Norwegian–English) under different conditions of input presentation and test it on sentence stimuli from two existing studies with bilingual speakers of those languages. We find that our model can exhibit a cognate effect, lending support to the cumulative frequency hypothesis. Further analyses reveal that the size of the effect in the model depends on its linguistic accuracy. We interpret our results within the literature on cognate processing.
Effect of Regular Organic Solvents on cytochrome P450 Mediated Metabolic Activities in Rat Liver Microsomes

The effects of regular organic solvents on the metabolic activities of various human cytochrome P450s have been reported. However, very little is known about their influence on metabolic activities mediated by P450s in the rat liver microsomes (RLM). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of organic solvents such as methanol, acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), acetone and ethanol on CYP1A, CYP2C, CYP2D, CYP2E and CYP3A-mediated metabolism using RLM. The results showed that the activities of most rat P450 enzymes appeared to be organic solvent-dependent and, the metabolism of the tested probes were remarkably reduced when the concentration of organic solvents was up to 5% v/v while most organic solvents demonstrated no significant interference when the concentration was below 1% except DMSO. In addition, organic solvents exhibited different inhibitory effects, for example, CYP2D and CYP2E showed significant activities reduction at lower concentration of organic solvents. Hence, this phenomenon should be taken into consideration when designing in vitro metabolism studies of new chemical entities. As a recommendation, acetonitrile was the most suitable solvent and the content of organic solvent should be kept lower than 1% v/v in rat liver microsomal incubations.
Mean Field Optimal Control and Related Problems

It has been decades since the first paper that mean field problems were studied. More and more problems are considered or solved as new methods and new concepts have been developed. In this dissertation, we will present a series of results on (recursive) mean field stochastic optimal control problems. Comparing our results with those in the classical stochastic optimal control theory, there are following significant differences. First, the value function of a mean field optimal control problem is not Markovian any more, even when coefficient functions in the problem are deterministic. Second, the cost functional we considered is induced by a mean field backward stochastic differential equation. This leads to the value function to be random. Last but not the least, the backward stochastic differential equation we considered is of McKean-Vlasov form. The appearance of the distribution of its solution Y at time s leads to a new Hamiltion-Jacobi-Bellman equation. To overcome these difficulties, we first introduce an auxiliary problem associated with the original optimal control problem, so that we can better analyze the dependence of the value function V on the initial state ξ. We also give a description of optimal control by a necessary condition, which is derived from the Hamiltion-Jacobi-Bellman equation. About this new HJB equation, we will prove the verification theorem and introduce the notion of viscosity solution.