Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Water use of selected grain legumes in response to varying irrigation regimes

Grain legumes have potential to contribute to food and nutritional security in water-scarce areas. Information on their yield, water use and water productivity (WP) would be useful for their promotion. The aim of the study was to make a comparative assessment of adaptation, yield, water use and WP of an African indigenous grain legume (bambara groundnut) and two major grain legumes (dry bean and groundnut) under rainfed, deficit and optimum irrigation conditions. Field trials were conducted during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 summer seasons in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, using a split-plot design arranged in completely randomised blocks with three replications. Data collected included stomatal conductance, leaf area index, timing of key phenological stages and yield. Water use was calculated as a residual of the soil water balance. Water productivity was obtained as the quotient of grain yield and water use. Crops adapted to limited soil water availability through stomatal regulation and reduction in canopy size and duration. Yield, yield components and WP varied significantly (P < 0.05) among crop species. During 2015/16, groundnut had the highest yield and WP (10 540 kg·ha−1 and 0.99 kg·m−3, respectively). During 2016/17, the highest yield and WP were observed in dry bean, 2 911 kg·ha−1 and 0.75 kg·m−3, respectively. For both seasons, dry bean had the lowest water use (143–268 mm) across all water treatments. Dry bean and groundnut out–performed bambara groundnut with respect to yield, harvest index and WP. For any promotion of bambara groundnut as an alternative crop, there is need for crop improvement to improve yield and WP.
Fatty Acid Profiles and Lipid Oxidation Status of Sun Dried, Deep Fried, and Smoked Sardine (Rastrineobola argentea) from Lake Victoria, Tanzania

ABSTRACT Freshwater fishes contain long chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) of highest nutritional value. PUFAs in fish are susceptible to oxidative damage during processing and subsequent storage. Sardines (Rastrineobola argentea) are an important fish species of Lake Victoria, constituting 72.3% of the total landings by weight on the Tanzanian side of the lake. Fatty acid profiles and lipid oxidation status of sun-dried, deep-fried, and smoked sardines were investigated. Lipid oxidation was assessed by peroxide value, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and free fatty acids. Fatty acids were analyzed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. The three omega-3 PUFAs: docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n-3), docosapentaenoic acid (C22:5n-3), and eicosapentaenoic acid (C20: 5n-3) contributed 57–60, 63, and 38% of PUFAs in sun-dried, smoked, and deep-fried sardines, respectively. Lipid oxidation reactions were more pronounced in sardines dried on sand and rocks, with TBARS values 97.87 and 84.18 µmolMDA/kg, respectively. The polyene index was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in deep-fried sardines, indicating lower retention of PUFAs in the product. Lake Victoria sardines are a rich source of omega-3 PUFAs. PUFAs in sun-dried sardines are prone to oxidative damage. Smoking resulted in relatively higher retention of omega-3 fatty acids in products.
AN AERODYNAMIC DEDUSTER TO REDUCE DUST AND GAS EMISSIONS FROM VENTILATED LIVESTOCK FACILITIES

This paper describes the development and evaluation of a unique aerodynamic dedustertechnology combining the processes of diffusion, coagulation and separation (DCS) into oneunit to reduce the dust and gases in an air stream. The deduster employs a diffusion andcoagulation section, a set of turbine-type vane guides, an involute separation chamber and aflow converging section to minimize turbulence and reduce the pressure loss. The device canremove respirable particles at pressures as low as 50 Pa. The dust and ammonia removalefficiency is 90% and 57%, respectively. The deduster could be an effective technology toreduce the dust and odor emission from animal facilities. The deduster has a self-cleaningsystem and can be easily incorporated into existing ventilation systems. A wider application ofthe deduster may be found as an indoor air cleaning device for residential and office buildings.
Biochemical Trails Associated with Different Doses of Alpha-Monolaurin in Chicks

| A study was conducted with one day old 40 broiler chicks (Ross308) to investigate body performance, biochemical parameters, lipid profiles, and cytokines changes associated with the different doses of alpha-monoglyceride (monolaurin) added to the diet of these chicks in a four week period. Three doses of monolaurin (C12,FRA)® were used; 2, 4, and 8 g/kg of diet. Results demonstrated that the recommended dose (4 g/kg of diet) significantly enhances body weight gain and food conversion ratio. Otherwise, two other doses have no significant effect on the considered parameters. The novel findings of this project were the improvement of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-12) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) by monolaurin. Also, the recommended dose has hypolipidemic influence (except on triacylglycerol). It is concluded that chicken health is critically dependent on the gut condition, nutritional status, and immune defense. The recommended dose (4 g/kg) of monolaurin enhances chick performance and immunological and biochemical manifestations.
Atomic Ni Anchored Covalent Triazine Framework as High Efficient Electrocatalyst for Carbon Dioxide Conversion

Electrochemically driven carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion is an emerging research field due to the global warming and energy crisis. Carbon monoxide (CO) is one key product during electroreduction of CO2; however, this reduction process suffers from tardy kinetics due to low local concentration of CO2 on a catalyst's surface and low density of active sites. Herein, presented is a combination of experimental and theoretical validation of a Ni porphyrin‐based covalent triazine framework (NiPor‐CTF) with atomically dispersed NiN4 centers as an efficient electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). The high density and atomically distributed NiN4 centers are confirmed by aberration‐corrected high‐angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy and extended X‐ray absorption fine structure. As a result, NiPor‐CTF exhibits high selectivity toward CO2RR with a Faradaic efficiency of >90% over the range from −0.6 to −0.9 V for CO conversion and achieves a maximum Faradaic efficiency of 97% at −0.9 V with a high current density of 52.9 mA cm−2, as well as good long‐term stability. Further calculation by the density functional theory method reveals that the kinetic energy barriers decreasing for *CO2 transition to *COOH on NiN4 active sites boosts the performance.
Development of monoclonal antibody-based colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay for analysis of halofuginone in milk

ABSTRACT A highly sensitive, specific, and rapid immunochromatographic assay for halofuginone (HFG) has been developed. A well-characterized immunogenic conjugate of HFG with bovine serum albumin was produced using the N,N″-Carbonyldiimidazole method. A sensitive monoclonal antibody specific for HFG was then generated by immunizing BALB/c mic with the HFG conjugate. The antigen, HFG-CDI-ovalbumin and goat anti-mouse IgG were attached to a nitrocellulose membrane as the test line and the control line, respectively to produce an immunochromatographic test strip for the rapid detection of HFG in milk. Under optimized conditions, the detection limits of the semi-quantitative test strip for HFG were as low as 50 ng/mL in 0.01 M PBS (pH 7.4) and 100 ng/mL in milk. All the results were obtained within 5 min. The newly developed immunochromatographic assay provides a sensitive, rapid, and specific procedure for on-site screening for HFG.
Synthesis and application of nanocomposite Fe3O4@SiO2@CTAB–SiO2 as a novel adsorbent for removal of cyclophosphamide from water samples

ABSTRACT We present a way of synthesizing nanocomposite Fe3O4@SiO2@CTAB–SiO2 by employing simple sol–gel technique with selective etching for extreme selectivity adsorption of cyclophosphamide (CP). The transmission electron microscopy (TEM); scanning electron microscopy (SEM); X-ray diffraction (XRD); Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR); vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM); pHPZC; and Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) techniques were used for nanocomposite characterization. These nanoparticles have an SBET of 157.8 m2 g−1 and a high saturation magnetization of 67.5 emu g−1. First, the adsorption system was examined as a function of contact time under various initial CP contents, ionic strength, initial solution pH, adsorbent dose and temperature in batch test. The optimum dose, pH and contact time were obtained to be 0.01 g, 7.0 and 30 min, respectively. Ultimately, experimental isotherm and kinetics data of adsorption of CP onto nanocomposite Fe3O4@SiO2@CTAB–SiO2 were fitted to classical models. Additionally, it was found that the maximum adsorption process capacity of CP on adsorbent was 342.8 mg g−1.
Retrieval of total column and surface NO2 from Pandora zenith-sky measurements

Abstract. Pandora spectrometers can retrieve nitrogen dioxide (NO2) vertical column densities (VCDs) via two viewing geometries: direct Sun and zenith sky. The direct-Sun NO2 VCD measurements have high quality (0.1 DU accuracy in clear-sky conditions) and do not rely on any radiative transfer model to calculate air mass factors (AMFs); however, they are not available when the Sun is obscured by clouds. To perform NO2 measurements in cloudy conditions, a simple but robust NO2 retrieval algorithm is developed for Pandora zenith-sky measurements. This algorithm derives empirical zenith-sky NO2 AMFs from coincident high-quality direct-Sun NO2 observations. Moreover, the retrieved Pandora zenith-sky NO2 VCD data are converted to surface NO2 concentrations with a scaling algorithm that uses chemical-transport-model predictions and satellite measurements as inputs. NO2 VCDs and surface concentrations are retrieved from Pandora zenith-sky measurements made in Toronto, Canada, from 2015 to 2017. The retrieved Pandora zenith-sky NO2 data (VCD and surface concentration) show good agreement with both satellite and in situ measurements. The diurnal and seasonal variations of derived Pandora zenith-sky surface NO2 data also agree well with in situ measurements (diurnal difference within ±2 ppbv). Overall, this work shows that the new Pandora zenith-sky NO2 products have the potential to be used in various applications such as future satellite validation in moderate cloudy scenes and air quality monitoring.
The Effect of Temperature on Soot Properties in Premixed Ethylene Flames

ABSTRACT Soot nanostructure was analyzed in fuel-rich premixed laminar C2H4/O2 flames at a constant equivalence ratio of 2.4 and different maximum temperatures, namely, 1620 and 1690 K, obtained using different cold gas velocities. Flame structure and bulk properties of soot as H/C ratio, reactivity and absorption coefficient were investigated, along with morphological, nanostructural, and chemical features (using TEM, HRTEM, EELS). It was found that dehydrogenation and aromatization of soot occurring along the flames are favored at the beginning of the flame in higher flame temperature conditions. Nevertheless, it was noticeable that soot reaches rather similar final nanostructure and bulk properties, independently on the temperature, at least in the 1620–1690 K range investigated.
Hierarchical Porous Carbon Spheres from Low-Density Polyethylene for High-Performance Supercapacitors

Plastics are used extensively and provide great convenience in daily life. However, their stable and nonbiodegradable nature incurs challenging threats to the environment and ecosystems. It is essential that a sustainable method for plastic treatment and utilization be developed. We used low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as a precursor to synthesize a hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) through autogenic pressure carbonization followed by potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation. The noncatalytic carbonization in a closed system obtained 45% carbon residues from LDPE, which would not yield any carbon residues under normal pressure. The following KOH activation developed hierarchical porous structures in the carbon materials, which can be controlled by KOH dosage. The mechanism of carbonization and activation was proposed considering the nanostructure of carbon materials. The obtained HPC exhibited a micrometer-scale carbon sphere morphology with hierarchical pores, a large specific surface area of 3059 m2 g–1, and.
Advances in Alternating Current Electroluminescent Devices

Alternating current (AC)‐driven electroluminescent (EL) devices have recently attracted attention as potential alternatives to direct current (DC)‐driven organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), as they have the great advantage of easy integration into the AC power system of 110/220 V at 50/60 Hz without complicated back‐end electronics. However, the high driving voltage and low power efficiency inherent to AC‐driven EL devices limit their widespread application. While researchers have made some remarkable progress in this field, the underlying causes during the development process remain to be explored. The strategies for improving the performance of AC‐driven EL devices with different configurations, such as the conventional sandwiched structure and multilayer‐based light‐emitting devices, are summarized in this review. For example, it is crucial to enhance the effective electric field around the emitters for AC‐driven thin film electroluminescent (AC‐TFEL) devices, while the unbalanced generation/injection of charge carriers is the main limiting factor for the performance of AC‐driven light‐emitting devices (AC‐LEDs). The recent advances in AC‐driven EL devices, with some new configurations or new‐type emitting materials, are presented by category. The challenges and opportunities for the further development of AC‐driven EL devices are also discussed.
The Effects of Packaging Techniques on the Trout Fillet’s Fatty Acid Profiles

In this study, it was aimed to determine the change in fatty acid profiles of trout fillets stored for 18 days in refrigerator conditions using different packaging techniques (vacuum, stretch, chitosan coating (prepared with acetic acid or lactic acid). It was observed that different packaging fillets had different fatty acid ratios, specially treated with chitosan group gave better results (p<0.05), at the end of the storage period. When the fatty acid profile of the fillets was examined, it was determined that Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA) was the least affected by the packaging technique. The highest Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA) content was found in chitosan-coated groups (p<0.05). It has been determined that packing is more effective than time in terms of fatty acid profile and that chitosan coating gives better results.
25th Anniversary Article: Materials for High‐Performance Biodegradable Semiconductor Devices

We review recent progress in a class of silicon‐based electronics that is capable of complete, controlled dissolution when immersed in water or bio‐fluids. This type of technology, referred to in a broader sense as transient electronics, has potential applications in resorbable biomedical devices, eco‐friendly electronics, environmental sensors, secure hardware systems and others. New results reported here include studies of the kinetics of hydrolysis of nanomembranes of single crystalline silicon in bio‐fluids and aqueous solutions at various pH levels and temperatures. Evaluations of toxicity using live animal models and test coupons of transient electronic materials provide some evidence of their biocompatibility, thereby suggesting potential for use in bioresorbable electronic implants.
Integrated hydrological modeling for assessment of water demand and supply under socio-economic and IPCC climate change scenarios using WEAP in Central Indus Basin

In the Indus River Basin, various hydrological modeling studies have been conducted in the context of climate change scenarios. However, none of these studies addressed the impact of socio-economic along with the climate change scenarios on sustainable water demand and supply. This study focused on socio-economic and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) for 2015–2050 in the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model were used for future projection of water availability and demand. The WEAP model calibration and validation statistics of Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency and coefficient of determination values were 0.85, 0.86 and 0.89, 0.87, respectively. As per the reference scenarios results by 2050, water demand would increase 11% for domestic and 55% for agriculture and livestock sectors. The high population growth scenario reveals that by 2050, with an increase in the water consumption from 82.9 m per capita per day by the year 2015 to 120 m per capita per day, unmet water demands in all sectors will increase to 50%. The IPCC climate change scenario projected the average change in precipitation and temperature would be about 15.22% and 274.07 K to 274.92 K by the end of 2035. doi: 10.2166/aqua.2019. 106 om https://iwaponline.com/aqua/article-pdf/68/2/136/536562/jws0680136.pdf er 2019 Areesha Asghar (corresponding author) Javed Iqbal Ali Amin School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan E-mail: aasghar.ms15igis@igis.nust. edu.pk Lars Ribbe Integrated Land and Water Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, Technology Arts Sciences TH Köln, Köln 50679, Germany
Purification of wastewater from the ions of copper, zinc, and lead using an electrolysis method

Heavy metals penetrate water reservoirs as a result of natural and anthropogenic processes, thereby accumulating in soil, bottom sediment, sludge, and can further migrate into groundwater and surface water. The main sources of heavy metals penetration into natural waters are the insufficiently treated waste waters from many branches of industry. That renders relevance to the problem of removing heavy metals from wastewater in order to prevent excessive pollution of water reservoirs. Among existing methods of water purification from heavy metals’ ions at significant volumes of industrial wastewater, the electrochemical methods are rather promising. The advantage of this method is a possibility to recycle the used regeneration solutions with obtaining metals that are suitable for reuse. This paper reports results of research into the processes of electrochemical removal of heavy metals’ cations from diluted aqueous solutions in one­and two­chamber electrolyzers. When conducting the study in a two­chamber electrolyzer, the anode and cathode regions were separated by the anion­exchanging membrane MA­40. A dependence of the influence of hardness, solutions’ pH, anodic current density, and the duration of electrolysis on efficiency of the removal of heavy metals’ ions was investigated. It is shown that the ions of zinc, copper and lead are effectively removed from aqueous solutions using the electrolysis at a starting concentration of 10 mg/dm3. It was established that at the low concentrations of ions, the output for current, when reducing metals, reached (4–20)·10­4 % and changed little with concentration. It was determined that the efficiency of water purification from heavy metals’ ions using electrolysis increases with an increase in pH of the medium and with a decrease in the hardness of water. In the two­chamber electrolyzers, these factors exert almost no effect on purification efficiency. The paper shows the prospect of using electrolysis for the selective removal of heavy metals from tap, softened and natural water. A given purification method makes it possible to not only post­clean wastewater to the maximally permissible concentrations, but also enables the purification of water from natural water bodies to the quality of drinking water
Mechanisms Of RAD51D-Dependent Repair Of DNA And Telomere Damage Induced By Interstrand Crosslinking Agents And Thiopurines

v List of Tables . ix List of Figures . x List of Abbreviations . xii Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Chapter 2: Literature . 5 Chapter 3: RNF138 zinc finger motifs mediate its interaction with RAD51D . 42 Chapter 4: RAD51D lysine residues 235 and 298 are required for DNA interstrand crosslink repair . 54 Chapter 5: Thiopurine-induced telomeric damage in Rad51d-deficient mammalian cells . 88 Chapter 6: Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of gene differences between Rad51d-proficient and -deficient primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts . 110 Chapter 7: Discussion . 143 References . 160 Appendix A: Genes with differential expression in the absence of Rad51d identified by microarray . 182 Appendix B: Genes with differential expression in the absence of Rad51d identified by RNA Seq . 200 Appendix C: RAD51D and RNF138 expression constructs . 219
Étude de l’apprentissage d’une tâche motrice : implication de la voie Akt-GSK-3

The production of the human's movements, and among many other animaIs, can be effortlessly executed during the realization of a complex motor task. These highly coordinated movements require the integration of several orders coming from different regions of the brain, notably the motor areas of the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Despite the recent progress in neuroscience, motor leaming mechanism is still not completely understood. The way that the brain integrates and memorizes the motor movements during a motor activity is still not completely known. The protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) is a serine/threonine kinase highly conserved among the mammals and control several cellular metabolisms such as the proliferation, the survival and the cellular plasticity. Akt has three isoforms (Akt 1 IPKBa, Akt2IPKB~ and Akt3IPKBy) that are encoded by three distinct genes. It is important to note that Akt3 is more expressed in the brain than Aktl and Akt2. Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (GSK-3) includes two isoforms, GSK-3a and GSK-3~. Akt and the prote in kinase GSK-3 are closely connected. Certainly, it is weIl established that Akt reduces the activity of GSK-3 a/~ by its phosphorylation on the serine 21/9 respectively. A disruption of the Akt/GSK-3 pathway has been linked to several pathologies such as depression, schizophrenia and the bipolar disorder. The main stream ofmy research was to study the capacity of training, performance and memorization of a complex motor task among mice having a genetic Akt3 deletion (Akt3 KO). The results on the rotarod demonstrated that Akt3 deletion compromised rotarod performances in comparison to wild type mice (WT). Interestingly, my results demonstrated a change of the phosphorylation of GSK-3 a/~ and propose that the motor training d6ficit would be caused by GSK-3 a/~ hyperactivation, induced by the genetic deletion of Akt3. It is interesting to note that lithium chronic treatment, which is known to inhibit directly and indirectly the GSK-3 protein, corrected the training deficit of Akt3 KO mice. Our results have established an important implication of the Akt3/GSK -3 pathway in motor training.
Molecular investigations on the interactions of graphene, crude oil fractions and mineral aggregates at low, medium and high temperatures

Abstract Performance of the nanoparticle-modified asphalt binder is greatly influenced by adhesion properties between asphalt binder and nanoparticle. In this work, the adhesion properties of crude oil fractions (e.g., Saturate, Asphaltene, Resin and Aromatic components of asphalt binder), graphene and mineral aggregates (silicon dioxide) at various temperatures are investigated through molecular dynamic simulation and REAXFF force field. The results from SARA-graphene interface demonstrations that aromatic and asphaltene have 30% higher adhesion properties than saturate and resin. Also, while using graphene is valuable for the adhesion properties of the binder, it has no significant advantage over binder in binder-aggregate interactions.