Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF TUBEROUS ROOT EXTRACTS OF MOMORDICA CYMBALARIA HOOK.

Antimicrobial activity of ethanol and chloroform extracts of the roots of a medicinal plant-Momordica cymbalaria used traditionally as potent medicine in healing several ailments such as diarrhea, convulsion, rheumatism, ulcer, skin diseases and used as anti-implantation and antiovulatory, anti-diabetic and hepatoprotective agent, was tested against different pathogenic microorganisms by agar well diffusion method. The extents of the growth inhibition of bacteria were measured for each extract and most of the selected bacteria exhibited significant growth inhibition zone. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and antifungal activity exhibited by root extract against the test organisms by Microtiter plate assay ranged between 1-5 mg/ml. Antimicrobial activities of the crude extracts were comparable to those of the standard antibiotic. Antioxidant evaluation of methanolic root extract of MC was also carried out using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH). This study concluded that M. cymbalaria used as a traditional medicinal plant has antimicrobial activity against pathogenic microorganisms.
Uncertainties in estimating design droughts

Severity-duration–frequency (SDF) curves of periods of rainfall deficits are useful tools for drought analyses. However, accuracy of these curves are affected by uncertainties associated with a number of factors including: (i) the choice of drought index, (ii) the sampling error due to the limited length of observation data, (iii) the effects of aggregation of data with respect to drought timescales, (iv) the selection of marginal probability distribution functions of drought severity and duration, (v) and the type of copula used to approximate the dependency between severity and duration. In this paper we assess the impact of these uncertainties on estimates of Recurrence Intervals (RI) of drought events by comparing three drought indices (the Standardised Precipitation Index, Reconnaissance Drought Index, and Standardised Precipitation Evaporation Index), three timescales (three, six and twelve months), four marginal probability distribution functions (extreme value, logistic, gamma, lognormal), and two types of copulas (Gumbel and Frank). We assessed all parameterization combinations in relation to their resulting drought RIs of mild, moderate and extreme drought events for 11 sites across Eastern Australia and compared them with a selected baseline value. Across the three selected drought indices there was no difference between the RI derived with Gumbel and Frank copulas for all the sites. For mild drought events, there was no difference between the RIs derived with two drought indices (SPI and SPEI) and distribution functions with the baseline case, whereas SDF curves showed the highest uncertainty with the 12 month time scale. Design droughts or SDF curves are a critical part of any drought analysis for the management of natural systems in regions that can potentially experience water-limited conditions. Explicitly considering the uncertainties involved in developing design droughts is important when assessing the risk of ecosystem failure due to drought events.
Immunohistochemical study of gonadotropin-releasing hormone and somatolactin during induced spawning of Liza ramada

Introduction: Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) is a crucial regulator of gonadal development and reproduction in fish. In addition, it is a possible secretagogue of somatolactin (SL) in teleosts. Little is known about the possible association of GnRH and SL during reproduction of Liza ramada.Aim of the work: The present study was designed to investigate the GnRH and SL immunoreactivities during inducing the final stages of maturation, ovulation and spawning of Liza ramada; to assess the possible actions of these hormones on sexual maturation and spawning of teleosts.Materials and Methods: Histological and immunohistochemical techniques were generally performed to describe the immunoreactivity of both GnRH and SL during ovarian maturation and spawning of Liza ramada.Results: The mammalian GnRH (mGnRH) cell bodies were observed in the medulla oblongata. However, SL-immunoreactive (-IR) cells were detected in the pars intermedia (PI) of the pituitary gland. The GnRH-IR nerve terminals are in close contact with SL-IR pituitary cells. Importantly, the activity of both mGnRH-IR neurons and SL-IR pituitary cells were increased as reflected with the increased cell number and size during sexual maturation and spawning. The activity of these cells was more pronounced as indicated by the increased cells number and size with more immunoreactivity in pre-spawning female. During final maturation and spawning, mGnRH-IR neurons and SL cells showed an increase in the secretory activity as reflected by their small sizes, vacuolated appearance and weak immunoreactivity.Conclusions: Taken together, these findings suggest that the close contact of mGnRH-IR terminals with SL-IR cells in the pituitary, together with the concomitant changes of GnRH and SL immunoreactivity in response to progress in the reproductive events suggest that GnRH may regulate SL release and the regulation of reproductive activity in L. ramada.
The foundations of diffusion revisited

Diffusion is essentially the macroscopic manifestation of random (Brownian) microscopic motion. This idea has been generalized in the continuous time random walk formalism, which under quite general conditions leads to a generalized master equation (GME) that provides a useful modelling framework for transport. Here we review some of the basic ideas underlying this formalism from the perspective of transport in (magnetic confinement) plasmas. Under some specific conditions, the fluid limit of the GME corresponds to the Fokker–Planck (FP) diffusion equation in inhomogeneous systems, which reduces to Fick's law when the system is homogeneous. It is suggested that the FP equation may be preferable in fusion plasmas due to the inhomogeneity of the system, which would imply that part of the observed inward convection (‘pinch’) can be ascribed to this inhomogeneity. The GME also permits a mathematically sound approach to more complex transport issues, such as the incorporation of critical gradients and non-local transport mechanisms. A toy model incorporating these ingredients was shown to possess behaviour that bears a striking similarity to certain unusual phenomena observed in fusion plasmas.
PHOSPHORUS - BORON INTERACTION IN NICKEL-BASE SUPERALLOYS

The effect of B on the properties of superalloys has been known for many years and is well documented in the literature. There is, however, very little published information on the effect of P content in Ni-base superalloys. This paper describes the results of an experimental program to study the effects of P content in Allvac 718 and Waspaloy, particularly as it interacts with B content. Based on a series of sub-scale heats, a strong interaction between P & B on the rupture life of both alloys was discovered. This interaction has not been previously reported. Results showed that B alone had only a very small positive effect on stress rupture life of 718. However, P, which is generally considered to be a harmful impurity element, had a strong positive effect. Most interesting was the observation of a strong interaction between P & B. This effect was synergistic in that the combined effect was much greater than the sum of the individual elements acting independently. More than one order of magnitude increase in stress rupture life was observed over the entire range of B & P contents investigated. A 300-400% improvement in rupture life over typical commercial compositions was obtained with optimum P & B levels. Dramatically different effects of P & B were observed in Waspaloy. When acting alone, P had only a small positive effect while B strongly improved rupture life. However, when both elements were present, increased P levels drastically deteriorated the beneficial effect of B. Conversely, when P was controlled to ultra-low levels, the beneficial effects of B extend to much higher levels than normal, and improvements in stress rupture life of 300-400% were possible. The mechanisms of the observed P-B interaction in superalloys are discussed on the basis of the known behavior of P & B, alloy chemistry, and the observed fracture behavior.
Theory of flavors: String compactification

We present a calculating method for the quark and lepton mixing angles. After a general discussion in field theoretic models, we present a working model from a string compactification through Z12-I orbifold compactification. It is beyond presenting just three families of the standard model but is the first example from string compactification successfully fitting to the observed data. Assuming that all Yukawa couplings from string compactification are real, we also comment on a relation between the CP phases in the Jarlskog determinants obtained from the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa and Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakada matrices. The flipped SU(5) model leads to the doublet-triplet splitting and possible proton decay operators. It is shown that the vacuum expectation values can be tuned such that the proton lifetime is long enough.
Efeito do tempo de ensilagem do milho moído hidratado sobre a composição da silagem e degradabilidade in situ do amido

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of time of ensiling on chemical composition and in situ degradability of starch of hydrated ground corn (HGC) with medium grain vitreousness. Corn grains harvested at 83% of dry matter (DM) and vitreosity content of 67% ± 3, were dried to 87% DM. Grains were milled into a device with 2 mm sieve, reconstituted to reach 67% DM, and ensiled (density of 880 Kg/m³) for up to 330 days. One HGC sample was collected monthly for in situ determination of composition, fermentation end products and for corn starch degradability. Ensiling time did not affect the DM and crude protein (CP) content of the HGC. However, starch concentration was reduced by 2.4 percentage points at 330 days compared to 3 days of ensiling. Increased concentrations of NH3-N (8.5 times), lactic acid (3.45 times), acetic acid (4.1 times), propionic acid (1.7 times), butyric acid (2.8 times) and alcohol (2.4 times) were observed during the ensiling period. The rapidly degradable fraction (fraction A) and the rate of degradation of the slowly degradable fraction (fraction C) of HGC starch were increased 3.51 and 2.21 times, respectively, during the ensiling period. Conversely, the slowly degradable fraction (fraction B) of the HGC starch was decreased 1.93 times during the ensiling period. The effective degradability of the starch of HGC increased for passage rates by 0.02/h (79.9% vs. 94.5%); 0.05/h (65.9% vs 90.01%) and 0.08/h (56.98 vs. 86.52%) when it was evaluated at 3 vs 330 days of ensiling, respectively. In conclusion, ensiling time affected the chemical composition and increases rumen starch degradability of HGC with medium vitreousness of the grain endosperm.
Determination of 226Ra concentration in bottled mineral water and assessment of effective doses, a survey in Turkey

Background: There is a rapid increase worldwide in the consump on of mineral waters which may contain different level of radioac ve elements, especially Ra, in addi on to varying amounts of beneficial salts. Therefore, a comprehensive study was planned and carried out in order to determine concentra on of Ra natural radionuclide in bo led mineral waters that commercially available in Marmara Region of Turkey. Materials and Methods: The method used for Ra concentra on analysis bases on the measurement of Radon (Rn) coming from Ra dissolved in the water. The measurements were performed using RAD 7, a solid state α detector, with RAD H2O accessory manufactured by DURRIDGE COMPANY Inc. Results: The Ra concentra on in mineral waters was found to vary from <0.074 to 0.625 Bql with an average value of 0.267 Bql.The commi ed effec ve doses due to inges on of Ra from the one year consump on of these waters were es mated to range from 10.8 to 90 μSvy, from 9 to 75 μSvy and from 3.15 to 26.25 μSvy, for infants, children and adults, respec vely. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study indicate that the commi ed effec ve doses are below the WHO (World Health Organiza on) recommended reference level of 100 μSvy.
Global Diffusion of Virtual Social Networks: A Pyramid Model of Cultural, Developmental and Regulatory Foundations

This paper presents a comparative performance evaluation of two Web service implementations: one is based on SOAP and the other on Representational State Transfer (REST). Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and REST-based development approaches handle service interactions quite differently. SOAP is a standardized framework for constructing and processing messages independent of the technological capabilities of the receiver and can work on top of a variety of application layer protocols such as RPC, HTTP, or SMTP, whereas, REST is a set of principles for designing Web applications (HTTP as the underlying protocol). We built SOAP and REST-based Web services that perform Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) operations on a database and retrieve local files. We utilized response time and throughput metrics to compare the performance of these Web services. We found that, on average, REST has better performance compared to SOAP, though not all results were statistically conclusive. As an ancillary outcome, we found that developing Web services using SOAP was easier, due to considerable tool support. However, developing Web services using REST was time consuming and difficult due to the necessity of in-depth knowledge of HTTP and rudimentary tool support.
Design of Agglomerated Crystals of Ibuprofen During Crystallization: Influence of Surfactant

Objective(s) Ibuprofen is a problematic drug in tableting, and dissolution due to its poor solubility, hydrophobicity, and tendency to stick to surface. Because of the bad compaction behavior ibuprofen has to be granulated usually before tableting. However, it would be more satisfactory to obtain directly during the crystallization step crystalline particles that can be directly compressed and quickly dissolved. Materials and Methods Crystallization of ibuprofen was carried out using the quasi emulsion solvent diffusion method in presence of surfactant (sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), Tween 80). The particles were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (XRPD) and were evaluated for particle size, flowability, drug release and tableting behavior. Results Ibuprofen particles obtained in the presence of surfactants consisted of numerous plate- shaped crystals which had agglomerated together as near spherical shape. The obtained agglomerates exhibited significantly improved micromeritic properties as well as tableting behavior than untreated drug crystals. The agglomerates size and size distribution was largely controlled by surfactant concentration, but there was no significant influence found on the tableting properties. The dissolution tests showed that the agglomerates obtained in presence of SLS exhibited enhanced dissolution rate while the agglomerates made in the presence of Tween 80 had no significant impact on dissolution rate of ibuprofen in comparison to untreated sample. The XRPD and DSC results showed that during the agglomeration process, ibuprofen did not undergo any polymorphic changes. Conclusion
Toxicity of Commercial Neem Extract to Earthworms (Pheretima peguana)

The LC50 of commercial neem extract (Sadao Thai III containing azadirachtin; NEEM) on filter paper in the earthworm Pheretima peguana at 48 h and 72 h was 3.79 and 3.33 𝜇g cm−2, respectively. In earthworms exposed to five NEEM concentrations from 0.39 (~10% of 48-h LC50) to 3.13 (~80% of 48-h LC50) 𝜇g cm−2, the radial thickness of the epidermis and body wall significantly (𝑃<.05) decreased, and thickness of intestinal epithelium increased but only at high doses, approximately 25-fold above the concentration permitted for use as an insecticide in field applications (0.09 𝜇g cm−2). NEEM significantly (𝑃<.05) increased the number of binucleated coelomocytes in the micronucleus test (detects chromosomal aberrations) at 3.13 𝜇g cm−2, approximately 35-fold higher than the recommended dose, but it did not cause coelomocyte DNA single-strand breaks in the comet assay. Thus, NEEM is cytotoxic (increase in binucleates through the inhibition of cytokinesis) but not genotoxic to earthworm coelomocytes. This study demonstrates that the recommended dosage of commercial neem extract as an insecticide in agricultural practices is safe for earthworms.
Spirituality, religion and health: assessing the relationship between spiritual and religious well-being, depression and quality of life in clinical and non-clinical populations

Research exploring the association between spirituality, religion and health has grown exponentially over the past few decades with researchers such as Koenig (1997) acknowledging the beneficial impact of spiritual and religious well-being in association with health outcomes. However, the research collated in this area provides conflicting evidence and the majority is derived from clinical populations. In order to attend to this, the present study aimed to further explore the associations between spirituality, religion and health and the differences between participants based on health status; therefore, differences between student and patient populations in spiritual and religious well-being, depression and quality of life were assessed along with the relationships between the variables for each participant group. A total of 101 students and 31 patients were acquired for participation within the study. Significant differences were found between students and patients on existential (EWB) and religious well-being (RWB), depression and quality of life scores. No significant difference was found between students and patients regarding the spiritual well-being (SWB) summative score. With reference to the associations, significant inverse relationships were obtained between SWB and depression scores and EWB and depression scores for the students and between RWB and HADS scores for the patient population. Similarly, a significant positive relationship was also found between EWB and quality of life for the student population. However further relationships between the variables were found to be non-significant. An in-depth discussion of the results in relation to the implications of this research within healthcare is provided, along with recommendations for future subsequent research.
Ease of Doing Business: Emphasis on Corruption and Rule of Law

The rule of law is often treated as a major contributor to growth in the most developed countries and corruption as a contributor to growth in the least developed countries. What is most important is to analyze the facts to determine the degree to which rule of law and corruption influence; 1. ) Growth and 2. ) Ease of doing business. Three issues are addressed: 1. ) Types of externalities, 2. ) Effect of corruption and rule of law on ease of doing business, and 3. ) How corruption and rule of law influence gdp growth and gdp per capita. Should policy makers focus their efforts on providing incentives to reduce and/or eliminate corruption or on providing incentives to legislate and implement rules and regulations that enforce rule of law? Due to the limitation of data, the observed outcomes in this study leaves the results open to diverse interpretation and further examination and research.
Global simulations of aerosol processing in clouds

An explicit and detailed representation of in-droplet and in-crystal aerosol particles in stratiform clouds has been introduced in the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5-HAM. The new scheme allows an evaluation of the cloud cycling of aerosols and an estimation of the relative contributions of nucleation and collision scavenging, as opposed to evaporation of hydrometeors in the global aerosol processing by clouds. On average an aerosol particle is cycled through stratiform clouds 0.5 times. The new scheme leads to important changes in the simulated fraction of aerosol scavenged in clouds, and consequently in the aerosol wet deposition. In general, less aerosol is scavenged into clouds with the new prognostic treatment than what is prescribed in standard ECHAM5-HAM. Aerosol concentrations, size distributions, scavenged fractions and cloud droplet concentrations are evaluated and compared to different observations. While the scavenged fraction and the aerosol number concentrations in the marine boundary layer are well represented in the new model, aerosol optical thickness, cloud droplet number concentrations in the marine boundary layer and the aerosol volume in the accumulation and coarse modes over the oceans are overestimated. Sensitivity studies suggest that a better representation of below-cloud scavenging, higher in-cloud collision coefficients, or a reduced water uptake by seasalt aerosols could reduce these biases.
Simulation and modeling of ultrasonic pitch-catch through-tubing logging

ABSTRACTCased petroleum wells must be logged to determine the bonding and hydraulic isolation properties of the sealing material and to determine the structural integrity status. Although ultrasonic pitch-catch logging in single-casing geometries has been widely studied and is commercially available, this is not the case for logging in double-casing geometries despite its increasing importance in plug and abandonment operations. It is therefore important to investigate whether existing logging tools can be used in such geometries. Using a finite-element model of a double-casing geometry with a two-receiver pitch-catch setup, we have simulated through-tubing logging, with fluid between the two casings. We found that there appears a cascade of leaky Lamb wave packets on both casings, linked by leaked wavefronts. By varying the geometry and materials in the model, we have examined the effect on the pulse received from the second wave packet on the inner casing, sometimes known as the third interface echo. Th.
Design of Dual Band Microstrip Antenna at L-Band and S-Band Frequencies for Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Sensors

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a remote sensing system using radar for high resolution image capture. The higher frequency used, the higher accuracy of the image detail that obtained, while, the lower frequency has a better image penetration capabilities. To combine these two advantages of the image result characteristic, SAR is designed to operate in two bands (dual-band). In this study, a dual-band antenna on 1.27 GHz (L-Band) and 3 GHz (S-Band) using slotted patch technique and proximity coupled feeding is designed. The material that used is the FR4 Epoxy dielectric with the relative permittivity of 4.6. As a result, the antenna operates at the frequency of 1.27 GHz with the return loss of -25.131 dB, VSWR 1.1201, and 19.9 MHz (return loss <= -10 dB) bandwidth. While the return loss of 3 GHz is -16.802 dB, VSWR 1.3381, and bandwidth (return loss <= -10 dB) 125.3 MHz