Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accurate, simple equation for saturated vapour pressure over water and ice

We present and assess a simple equation for saturated vapour pressure over water and ice. The equation does not rely on an explicit integration of the Clausius–Clapeyron equation, but instead uses the equality of the Gibbs functions of the vapour and the liquid or ice in equilibrium. The resulting equation is simple, physically consistent with standard thermodynamic assumptions, uses only basic physical parameters, and is at least as accurate as commonly used empirical fits. It is further shown that the finite volume of liquid water has a negligible effect on the vapour pressure. The main variation from accurate tabulated data results from the variation of vapour and liquid isobaric heat capacities. Nevertheless, it is shown that, for the purpose of accurate calculation of saturated vapour pressure, this can usually be ignored.
Towards an integrated understanding of charophyte biology and paleobiology

Abstract In this special issue, we present an overview of the presentations given at the 7th Meeting of the International Research Group on charophytes held in Astana in 2016. Charophytes, understood as the members of extant Charales and their direct ancestors (fossil orders Sycidiales and Moellerinales), represent a significant plant group that provides an iconic research system for many diverse fields, such as evolution, ecology, electrophysiology, phytoremediation and management of wetlands. Charophytes have been proposed as one of the closest ancestors of land plants. Their fossil record goes back to 425 Ma (million years ago), but the rise of the oldest living charophyte genera is dated from ca 155–125 Ma. An example of vegetations already dominated by early Characeae has been recently found in China, dating back to that time. The definition of charophyte species has been a matter of debate, since the morphology of these plants shows a great plasticity. The elucidation of charophyte taxonomy is of major importance for the definition of endangered species. New light is shed by the use of genetic coding for the distinction of problematic species within the Chara genus. Climate change is one of the major concerns in the present scenario of disturbance of charophyte habitats. Specific adaptations, including changes in thallus morphology, parthenogenesis and enhanced production of oospores, develop when charophyte habitats become unstable, desiccate or increase their salinity. Brackish charophytes are also a subject of special attention, since they include species highly specialized in particular niches and highly vulnerable to extreme salinities reached through habitat desiccation. The chemistry of water controls the distribution of species, even at the biogeographic scale. Experiments, related to the transport of ions across the charophyte cell membrane, provide an understanding of how charophytes adapt physiologically to those changes.
Chironomidae larvae in hypersaline waters of the Crimea: diversity, distribution, abundance and production

Abstract Chironomidae larvae may represent more than 70% of total Arthropoda numbers in hypersaline waters. Crimea, the largest peninsula of the Black Sea, has more than 50 hypersaline water bodies of marine and continental origin. Chironomidae larvae are common components of their ecosystems, but they still are poorly understood. This paper summarizes the results of a long-term study (2007–2016) of chironomids in Crimean hypersaline waters. More than 400 samples from 38 water bodies were used for analysis. The maximum salinity of water bodies containing Сhironomidae larvae was between 320 and 340 g/L. At first it was shown that Baeotendipes noctivagus (Kieffer, 1911) is the most halotolerant chironomid species in the world. Frequency of larvae occurrence varied and was negatively dependent on salinity. Four chironomid species were found: B. noctivagus, Cricotopus gr. cylindraceus (Kieffer, 1908), Tanytarsus gr. mendax Kieffer, 1925 and Paratanytarsus sp. Ceratopogonidae larvae were also found twice, at salinities of 150 and 270 g/L. B. noctivagus was the most common species, which occurred in 81% of samples with chironomids. Abundance of larvae fluctuated widely and reached high numbers: in plankton – to 8 thousand/m3, in floating green algae mats – up to 3 thousand/m2, and in benthos – up to 9 thousand/m2. Nonlinear dependence of chironomid abundance from salinity was observed; maximum abundance was at salinity levels of between 150 and 170 g/L. The average weight of larvae of 0.05–1.50 mm in length varied little in the samples; however, larvae of greater length had a significantly different average weight. Larvae of 8 mm in the samples had the average actual weight, which ranged from 0.750 to 2.203 mg.
Development of a toxicokinetic model for the honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony for the use in risk assessment

Honey bees are of tremendous economic and ecologic value due to the important pollination services they provide to agricultural crops and wild plants. But over the last decades their number has drastically declined. This has been widely discussed in the last years and measures were taken to investigate the reasons for this decline. One aspect in this discussion are the effects plant protection products may have on the honey bee colonies’ health, which may result in colony declines, especially in Europe and the US. As an answer to this problem, a new guidance document on the risk assessment of plant protection products on bees was developed and published by the European Food Safety Authority. This guidance document highlights the importance of detailed knowledge about the exposure of plant protection products to bees. This thesis approaches this needs from a modelling point of view. A model is developed to simulate the distribution of plant protection products within the colony that are brought into the hive and the exposure of different bee castes and age classes to this plant protection products within the colony. The model, that describes the toxicokinetics of the »superorganism« honey bee colony, takes the colonies’ high dynamic in space and time into account. The toxicokinetically relevant processes are identified and described as a result of a thorough literature study. The transport and processing of nectar and pollen are identified as the toxicokinetically most important routes of exposure. Three submodels are developed, that are suitable to be connected to an integrative approach towards simulating the toxicokinetics of plant protection products in the honey bee colony. The first submodel predicts the transport of potentially contaminated resources via the chain of worker bees of different age classes. This submodel takes the toxicity of a plant protection product, to which the honey bees may be exposed, into account, considering the LD50. The second submodel predicts the partitioning of plant protection products between the wax, of which the combs in the nest are build, and the resources, that may be stored in wax cells, on the basis of the physicochemical properties of the plant protection products of interest (log KOW). The third submodel predicts the transfer of plant protection products from ingested resources into the jelly, that is produced by certain glands of the worker bees and that is used as a food for the queen, the larvae, and other adult bees. This submodel is based on a physiologically based modelling approach.
Chromatic and achromatic vision: parameter choice and limitations for reliable model predictions

Many animals use vision to detect, discriminate, or recognize important objects such as prey, predators, homes, or mates. These objects may differ in color and brightness-having chromatic and achromatic contrast to the background or to other objects. Visual models are powerful tools to investigate contrast detection, but need to be calibrated by experimental data to provide robust predictions. The most critical parameter of current models-receptor noise-is usually estimated from a small number of behavioral tests on chromatic contrast thresholds, while equivalent tests of achromatic thresholds in a wide range of animals have often been ignored. We suggest that both chromatic and achromatic contrasts in studies of visual ecology should be examined using calibrated model parameters, and we provide a compilation of what is currently known on visual thresholds and corresponding noise estimates. Besides the need for careful parameter estimation, we discuss how the robustness of model predictions depends on assumptions about overall light intensity, background color and brightness, object size, and behavioral context. (Less)
Comparison of genetic patterns between European and Asian populations of an endangered butterfly species

Less transformed and managed grassland habitats in Asia serve as a good frame of reference for studies on demographics and ecological situations of grassland species in Europe. In this study, using AFLPs (transposon insertion display), we compared the genetic structures of populations of the endangered and highly specialised scarce large blue (Phengaris teleius, Bergsträsser, 1779) butterfly from Europe (Germany, Poland, and Ukraine) and Asia (Siberia and Mongolia). There are no differences in levels of intra‐population genetic variability between European and Asian P. teleius populations. Nevertheless, we found significantly higher genetic differentiation (wider scattering) among European populations than among Asian populations. All examined Eurasian populations were admixed, except for those from the Bavarian region (Germany) where an atypical genetic structure was observed for P. teleius. Individual membership probabilities to a population were higher and more variable among European populations than among Asian populations. Comparison of genetic spatial structures revealed an isolation‐by‐distance effect in both European and Asian populations. Genetic autocorrelation analysis showed that significant dissimilarity among individuals first appeared at a distance of 1800 km at Asian sites, but at only 400 km at European sites. The observed P. teleius genetic structure reveals substantial differences in the quality of connectivity among European and Asian populations, which favour Asian populations. It suggests that differences between European and Asian P. teleius population genetic structures have the origin in differences in habitat structures, emphasising the impact of habitat fragmentation on animal movement in Europe.
Metazoan parasites of freshwater ornamental fishes

This study aimed to characterize the metazoan parasitic fauna associated with freshwater farmed ornamental fish in Southern Brazil. Between July 2014 and January 2015, a total of 423 fish belonging to nine species were examined: Pterophylum scalare , Betta splendens , two varieties of Carassius auratus , Danio rerio , Xiphophorus helleri , two varieties of Xiphophorus maculatus , Poecilia sphenops , Tanichthys albonubes and Puntius sachsii . In each fish collection, the water quality parameters were measured. Specimens were obtained from three ornamental fish farms located in three micro-regions in the State of Santa Catarina (Araquari, Biguacu and Camboriu). Parasitological indexes were obtained after qualitative and quantitative parasitological analysis. Monogenean parasites, nematodes, and cestodes were found in all facilities. Nevertheless, nematodes and monogeneans presented 100% of prevalence in P. scalare from Araquari. From the analyzed species, P. scalare showed the highest parasite richness.
Dispositional approach to job satisfaction: role of the big five personality taxonomy

Background and aims: The backbone of any organisation is its workers. They are the means to achieve success and the drivers to obtain goals. For this to be accomplished, an understanding of employee job satisfaction is of fundamental importance. This paper focuses on being able to predict whether personality serves as a determinant in job satisfaction within the Indian population. The literature concerning this dispositional approach is somewhat restricted and displays a western bias to it. The purpose of this study was to identify whether the data from the Indian population, which is so culturally distinct from the West, is consistent with the existing literature, and to report the cross-sectional differences in this relationship between job satisfaction and personality across various corporate occupations. Method: A quantitative study was conducted using two psychological inventories (Job Satisfaction Survey and Big Five Inventory), combined into a single survey, with 53% males and 47% females across seven different cities in India, aged 21-60 who were working in a corporate office. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to perform various tests and analyse the results. Results: On examining the impact of the Big Five personality traits on job satisfaction levels, it was revealed that neuroticism had the strongest association with job satisfaction amongst all other personality dimensions. High levels of neuroticism lead to low levels of job satisfaction. Extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness displayed low levels of a positive relationship to job satisfaction, which implied that high levels of all these traits were linked to high levels of satisfaction at the workplace. Even though an analysis of variance did not reveal any significant variations in job satisfaction levels across different groups, analyses of cross-sectional data exhibited that occupational factors did play a role in altering the relationship between personality and job satisfaction. Conclusion: Personality is a relatively stable component throughout an individual’s lifetime. This stability is the reason for its influence over all aspects of life, including work. Personality determines individual attitudes and behaviour at work that may be seen as predictors of satisfaction or failure. The understanding of this relationship needs a more in-depth investigation because a job-person fit within every organisation will ensure a happier staff and a smooth-running business. There are many gaps found within the literature that provides many opportunities for future researchers to explore this relationship further to remove the present scepticism surrounding the impact of personality on job satisfaction.
Therapeutic Utility of Bacteriophage in Bovine Mastitis

In a clinical trial conducted at different dairy farms cases of clinical mastitis in cows with high frequency of antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas areuginosa was recorded before treatment. Subsequently six cows not responding to antibiotic therapy were given treatment with phage cocktail (3x1012 PFU/ml) by intramammary infusion in each affected teat. Follow up of each case was done at regular intervals (0, 5 and 10 days). Four animals showed complete recovery (66.66%) adjudged on the basis of arbitrary scale set for qualitative assessment of recovery from mastitis. In remaining two animals, yeast was predominant causal agent besides other mastitic pathogens tested. It could be concluded from present finding that phage cocktail efficiently reduced carrier load of udder bacteria, revealing its potential as an effective approach to prophylaxis or treatment of mastitis in dairy cows.
DSMC simulation of rarefied gas flow over a 2D backward-facing step in the transitional flow regime: Effect of Mach number and wall temperature

Rarefied gas flow over a backward-facing step (BFS) is often encountered in separating flows prevalent in aerodynamic flows, engine flows, condensers, space vehicles, heat transfer systems, and microflows. Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) is a powerful tool to investigate such flows. The purpose of this research is to assess the impact of Mach number and wall temperature on the flow and surface properties in the transitional flow regime. The Mach numbers considered are 5, 10, 25, 30, and the ratio of the temperature of the wall to that of freestream considered are 1, 2, 4, 8. The Reynolds number for the cases studied is 8.6, 17.2, 43, and 51.7, respectively. Typically the flow properties near the wall are found to increase with both Mach number and wall temperature owing to compressibility and viscous dissipation effects. The variation in flow properties is more sensitive to Mach number than the wall temperature. The surface properties are found to decrease with Mach number and increase with wall temperature. Moreover, in the wake of the step, the vortex’s recirculation length is reasonably independent of both free stream Mach number and wall temperature, whereas it decreases with Knudsen number.
Life Trajectories and Higher Education Access for Chilean Indigenous Students: Mapuche Students in STEM and STEM-related Fields as Participants in Academic and Indigenous Cultures

ABSTRACT Various studies have sought to understand factors affecting low university retention rates of indigenous students. However, little is known about students who successfully complete undergraduate programs in STEM fields. This investigation, utilizing the life history approach, analyzed academic trajectories of 11 Mapuche graduates or near-graduates from such programs in south-central Chile. The analysis showed that students who were successful in obtaining degrees had experienced early participation in communities that encouraged an academic culture. These were constituted by their families, teachers, and friends, and participation occurred throughout their lives as they successfully negotiated their identities as indigenous and academically talented students.
Severity of SARS-COV-2 infection and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers: a meta-analysis

Background: The mechanism of entry of SARS-COV-2 into the human host cell is through the ACE2 receptor. During the pandemic, a hypothesis has been proposed that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) could be risk factors for the development of severe SARS-COV-2 infection. The objective of the study was to conduct a meta-analysis of the association between ACEI or ARB use and SARS-COV-2 infection severity or mortality. Material and methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Google scholar and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for observational studies published between December 2019 and August 4, 2020 Studies were included if they contained data on ACEI or ARB use and SARS-COV-2 infection severity or mortality. Effect statistics were pooled using random-effects models. The quality of included studies was assessed with the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). Data on study design, study location, year of publication, number of participants, sex, age at baseline, outcome definition, exposure definition, effect estimates and 95% CIs were extracted. Results: Twenty-six studies (21 cohort studies and 5 case-control studies) were identified for inclusion, combining to a total sample of 361467 participants. Mean age was 61.48 (SD 8.26) years and 51.63 % were men. The mean NOS score of included studies was 7.85 (range: 7–9). Results suggested that ACEI or ARB use did not increase the risk of severe disease or mortality from SARS-COV-2 infection (OR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.75–1.02, p > 0.05). Conclusions: At present, the evidence available does not support the hypothesis of increased SARS-COV-2 risk with ACEI or ARB drugs.
α-/β-Glucosidase and α-Amylase Inhibitory Activities of Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) Ethanol Extract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease, characterized by hyperglycemia due to disturbance in both insulin secretion and function. One of theurapeutic approaches is to reduce blood glucose levels by inhbiting α-/β-glucosidase and α-amylase involved in carbohydrate digestion. Thus, inhibition of these enzymes play important role in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) has been known to have several medicinal properties and potency as an antidiabetics agents. This reseacrh aimed to observe antidiabetic properties of roselle ethanol extract (REE) towards α-glucosidase, β-glucosidase and α-amylase. Materials and Methods: REE was done with maceration technique using diluent of 70% ethanol. Antidiabetic properties were measured by inhibitory activity of α-amylase, α-glucosidase and β-glucosidase. Results: REE was able to inhibit α-/β-glucosidase and α-amylase in the highest concentration with inhibition percentage of 72.68, 47.34 and 73.08% respectively, and were comparable with Acarbose of 81.49, 50.97, 73.08%. The median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of α-/β-glucosidase and α-amylase of REE were 15.81, 41.77, 18.09 μg/mL respectively, and Acarbose were 9.45, 22.57, 3.64 μg/mL respectively. Conclusions: REE inhibits α-/β-glucosidase and α-amylase. Keywords: Roselle, Acarbose, α-glucosidase, β-glucosidase, α-amylase, antidiabetic
Contribution of transition and stabilization processes to speciation is a function of the ancestral trait state and selective environment in Hakea

Currently the origin and trajectories of novel traits are emphasised in evolutionary studies, the role of stabilization is neglected, and interpretations are often post hoc rather than as hypothesised responses to stated agents of selection. Here we evaluated the impact of changing environmental conditions on trait evolution and stabilization and their relative contribution to diversification in a prominent Australian genus, Hakea (Proteaceae). We assembled a time-based phylogeny for Hakea, reconstructed its ancestral traits for six attributes and determined their evolutionary trajectories in response to the advent or increasing presence of fire, seasonality, aridity, nectar-feeding birds and (in)vertebrate herbivores/granivores. The ancestral Hakea arose 18 million years ago (Ma) and was broad-leaved, non-spinescent, insect-pollinated, had medium-sized, serotinous fruits and resprouted after fire. Of the 190 diversification events that yielded the 82 extant species analysed, 8–50% involved evolution, stabilization or re-evolution (reversal) of individual novel traits. Needle leaves appeared 14 Ma and increased through the Neogene/Quaternary coinciding with intensifying seasonality and aridity. Spinescence arose 12 Ma consistent with the advent of vertebrate herbivores. Bird-pollination appeared 14 Ma in response to advent of the Meliphagidae in the early Miocene. Small and large woody fruits evolved from 12 Ma as alternative defenses against granivory. Fire-caused death evolved 14 Ma, accounting for 50% of subsequent events, as fire became less stochastic. Loss of serotiny began in the late Miocene as non-fireprone habitats became available but only contributed 8% of events. Innovation and subsequent stabilization of functional traits promoted the overall species diversification rate in Hakea by 15 times such that only three species now retain the ancestral phenotype. Our approach holds great promise for understanding the processes responsible for speciation of organisms when the ancestral condition can be identified and the likely selective agents are understood.