Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inorganic Chemical Nomenclature: Principles and Practice

This definitive reference book, designed for use at all levels, explains both current and historical methods of naming chemical compounds. It explains and provides a rationale for the methods used in chemical nomenclature. Terms are defined, and numerous examples add clarification. The 16 chapters proceed from elementary substances to nonstoichiometric and molecular compounds, gradually building a coherent system for communicating information about chemical entities. Among the specific topics discussed are homoatomic and heteroatomic species, coordination compounds, polymeric compounds, nonmetal hydrides and their derivatives, polyboron hydrides, chain and ring compounds, organometallic compounds, nonstoichiometric species, isotopically modified species, and stereoisomers.
New species of reef spider crabs of the genus Schizophroida Sakai, 1933 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Majidae) from the Western Pacific

Prior to the present study, the spider crab genus Schizophroida Sakai, 1933, included only the type species, S. hilensis Rathbun, 1906 (described from Hawaii but apparently wide-ranging in the western Pacific), and two other Pacific species, S. simodaensis Sakai, 1933 (Japan) and S. moai Ng & Boyko, 2017 (Easter Island). Outside of Hawaii, S. hilensis has been reported from the southwestern Pacific: Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. Review of the southwestern Pacific material showed that Schizophroida from Australia and New Zealand belongs to a separate species, and is described as new to science. The New Caledonian record is based on an incomplete juvenile female, which also appears to be new to science, but is not formally named pending collection of more complete specimens. A second new species of Schizophroida is also described from specimens collected from Taiwan and Guam. A key to the species of Schizophroida is provided.
Key components and IT assistance of participant management in clinical research: a scoping review

Abstract Objectives Managing participants and their data are fundamental for the success of a clinical trial. Our review identifies and describes processes that deal with management of trial participants and highlights information technology (IT) assistance for clinical research in the context of participant management. Methods A scoping literature review design, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses statement, was used to identify literature on trial participant-related proceedings, work procedures, or workflows, and assisting electronic systems. Results The literature search identified 1329 articles of which 111 were included for analysis. Participant-related procedures were categorized into 4 major trial processes: recruitment, obtaining informed consent, managing identities, and managing administrative data. Our results demonstrated that management of trial participants is considered in nearly every step of clinical trials, and that IT was successfully introduced to all participant-related areas of a clinical trial to facilitate processes. Discussion There is no precise definition of participant management, so a broad search strategy was necessary, resulting in a high number of articles that had to be excluded. Nevertheless, this review provides a comprehensive overview of participant management-related components, which was lacking so far. The review contributes to a better understanding of how computer-assisted management of participants in clinical trials is possible.
Perisomatic-targeting interneurons control the initiation of hippocampal population bursts

Replay of spike sequences can be seen during sharp wave – ripple population burst activity in the hippocampus. It is thought that this activity, which occurs during rest and sleep, is involved in memory consolidation. The cellular mechanisms underlying the initiation of these replay events are not well understood. To investigate this, a hippocampal slice model, showing spontaneous sharp wave – ripple activity, and a combination of planar multi-electrode array recordings and whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of anatomically identified hippocampal neurons were used. Firstly, the spatial and temporal profile of sharp waves in vitro was analysed in detail. Sharp waves were generated by changing subpopulations of pyramidal neurons in the CA3 region and had characteristics similar to those found in vivo. Secondly, four major receptor types present in hippocampal CA3, namely NMDA, AMPA, GABAA and GABAB receptors, were investigated for their involvement in sharp wave generation. Surprisingly, not only AMPA receptor-mediated events, but also phasic GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition, were necessary for sharp wave generation. Thirdly, single perisomatic-targeting interneurons were activated. This experiment showed that induced spiking activity of an individual perisomatic-targeting interneuron can both suppress and subsequently enhance local sharp wave generation. Spiking activity of other neuron types (i.e. pyramidal neurons, dendritic-targeting interneurons and interneuron-selective interneurons) had no significant effect on sharp wave incidence. Finally, it is suggested that this post-inhibitory enhancement of sharp wave generation can be mediated by a transient increase in the ratio of excitation to inhibition in the local network. In conclusion, these results suggest a new role for perisomatic-targeting interneurons in controlling the local initiation of sharp waves by selectively suppressing and subsequently enhancing recruitment of a subpopulation of pyramidal neurons. These results further imply that interneurons may play an integral part in the local information processing that takes place in the hippocampal network.
Optimization of substrate-target distance for pulsed laser deposition of tungsten oxide thin films using Langmuir probe

The paper investigates the spatial and temporal variation of laser produced plasma of tungsten oxide using a Langmuir probe. The plasma was produced by laser ablation of tungsten oxide target using an Excimer laser of wavelength 248 nm. Our experimental studies confirmed that oxygen partial pressure (P) of 2× 10−2 mbar is sufficient enough to get stoichiometric tungsten oxide thin films and the plume dynamics was diagnosed for their spatial and temporal behaviour at the above optimised oxygen pressure. Spatial distribution was recorded with the target to substrate distance (D) ranging from the target position to a distance of 75 mm away from the target, whereas the temporal variation was taken in the range of 0–50 μ S with an interval of 0.5 μ S. The average electron densities were found to be maximum at 30 mm from the target position. However, ion density was constant beyond the probe distance of 45 mm from the target. The plasma current was found to be maximum at 28 μ S. The target to substrate distance was optimized for homogenous adherent good quality thin films using plasma parameters such as ion density and average electron density obtained at different oxygen pressure. The target distance and background gas pressure were correlated as PD scaling law and fitted as PD3 in the model.
Effects of Aculus schlechtendali (Acari: Eriophyidae) population densities on Golden Delicious apple production

Field trials were carried out in order to evaluate the seasonal abundance and the impact on yields of the Apple Rust Mite (ARM) Aculus schlechtendali (Acari: Eriophyidae) in an experimental fruit orchard located in northern Italy (Trentino region). The effect of ARM on yield and market quality parameters were assessed on Golden Delicious apple fruits. Fruit size, fruit weight, round colour hue, presence of russet as well as inside quality, i.e. soluble solids, acidity and Perlim index, were evaluated over two seasons considering three population levels of ARM that were determined applying different pesticide strategies. Effects of rust mites on return bloom and yield efficiency were also evaluated. ARM seasonal abundance showed a peak in mid-summer. Relationships between ARM and predatory mites were weak. Moderate to high ARM densities affected fruits size, fruit weight, and round colour hue of Golden Delicious fruits. In contrast, ARM populations did not affect russet on fruits, return bloom and yield efficiency. Additional studies were conducted in the laboratory, on detached Golden Delicious apple leaves, to evaluate the potential for population increase at temperatures close to those recorded in field conditions. These studies evidenced a high potential for population increase.
Internal bias controls dopamine perceptual decision-related responses

Dopamine neurons produce reward-related signals that regulate learning and guide behavior. Prior expectations about forthcoming stimuli and internal biases can alter perception and choices and thus could influence dopamine signaling. We tested this hypothesis studying dopamine neurons recorded in monkeys trained to discriminate between two tactile frequencies separated by a delay period, a task affected by the contraction bias. The bias greatly controlled the animals’ choices and confidence on their decisions. During decision formation the phasic activity reflected bias-induced modulations and simultaneously coded reward prediction errors. In contrast, the activity during the delay period was not affected by the bias, was not tuned to the value of the stimuli but was temporally modulated, pointing to a role different from that of the phasic activity.
Limited response of a spring bloom community inoculated with filamentous cyanobacteria to elevated temperature and pCO2

Abstract Temperature and CO2 levels are projected to increase in the future, with consequences for carbon and nutrient cycling in brackish environments, such as the Baltic Sea. Moreover, filamentous cyanobacteria are predicted to be favored over other phytoplankton groups under these conditions. Under a 12-day outdoor experiment, we examined the effect on a natural phytoplankton spring bloom community of elevated temperature (from 1°C to 4°C) and elevated pCO2 (from 390 to 970 μatm). No effects of elevated pCO2 or temperature were observed on phytoplankton biovolumes, but a significantly higher photosystem II activity was observed at elevated temperature after 9 days. In addition, three species of diazotrophic filamentous cyanobacteria were inoculated to test their competitive capacity under spring bloom conditions. The toxic cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena exhibited an average specific growth rate of 0.10 d−1 by the end of the experiment, indicating potential prevalence even during wintertime in the Baltic Sea. Generally, none of the inoculated cyanobacteria species were able to outcompete the natural phytoplankton species at temperatures ≤4°C. No direct effects were found on heterotrophic bacteria. This study demonstrates the highly efficient resistance towards short-term (12 days) changes in abiotic factors by the natural Baltic Sea spring bloom community.
Biosorption of zinc (II) from aqueous solution by using dried water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

This paper shows a detailed study to investigate the potential of water hyacinth as biosorbent, to remove Zinc (II) from aqueous solution and to identify the optimum condition for the parameter involved. Before the biosorption experiment was done, the water hyacinth was first collected at Lake in Pekan, Pahang. Then the water hyacinth was washed to remove dirt and was chopped to separate the aerial and root part. Finally, the water hyacinth was dried before it was blended into a smaller particles size. There were four parameter that have been studied in this paper, they were effect of biosorbent dosage, effect of initial concentration, effect of pH and effect of time contact. It was found that the optimum dosage for the biosorbent at initial metal concentration of 10 mg/L was 0.2 g; the optimum pH was at 5.4 and the optimum time contact was at 90 minutes for initial concentration 5 mg/L and 210 minutes for initial concentration 10 mg/L. At the optimum condition the removal of zinc was increased as the initial concentration was increased. The biosorption of zinc was occurred at pH acidic because the pH dependence of metal uptake could be related to functional group of the biomass and also to solution chemistry. The result proved that the water hyacinth was a good biosorbent to remove zinc from waste water and biosorption can be used to replace the conventional treatment methods because it was low cost, high efficiency of metal removal from dilute solutions and also applicable for industrial.
Evolución de las emociones que experimentan los estudiantes del grado de maestro en educación primaria, en didáctica de la materia y la energía

In science education, pointing out the affective domain is a basic aspect which is an important achievement, recognize the affection as an emotion in acts of knowing, thinking, acting and relating is fundamental/crucial in the learning process. This paper aims to understand and analyze the emotions experienced by students in the subject of Teaching Matter and Energy, before and after performing practical seminars, where the experiments performed were related to chemical and physical concepts. The sample consisted of 82 students from Second Grade of Primary Education from the University of Extremadura during the year 2013/2014.The results show an evolution occurs in the emotions experienced by the students before and after performing seminars.
Linker histones regulate fine-scale chromatin organization and modulate developmental decisions in Arabidopsis

Chromatin in eukaryotes provides a tunable platform to control gene expression and convey an epigenetic memory throughout cell divisions. H1 linker histones are abundant components with an intrinsic potential in influencing chromatin structure and function. We detail the impact of H1 depletion in Arabidopsis on fine-scale chromatin organization, transcription and development. While required for chromocenter assembly, H1s are dispensable for transposable element (TE) silencing and peripheral positioning of heterochromatin. In euchromatin, H1 regulates nucleosome density, mobility, and regular distribution of nanoscale chromatin domains. While necessary to maintain epigenetic patterns, H1 only moderately affects transcription. Its depletion is associated with failures in transitional fate changes such as lateral root initiation, root hair production, stomata patterning but also flowering and dormancy regulation. Therefore, Arabidopsis H1 variants are chromatin architects mediating nano‐ and microscale levels-of-organization operating downstream of epigenetic and transcriptional establishment processes and contribute to epigenetic reorientations in developmental transitions.
Impact of fructose and fructooligosaccharides supplementation upon the fermentation of hydrolyzed okara and its impact upon bioactive components

Okara provide compounds of biological interest such as isoflavones and an increase of aglycone content can be obtained through fermentation with food - grade bacteria. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of fructose and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) on the growth of probiotic bacteria in hydrolyzed (by Cynara cardunculus enzymes) okara beverage, as well as on the antioxidant activity, isoflavones and total phenolic content of fermented okara beverage. Okara beverages were fermented using Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis Bb - 12 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus R11 alone or as mixture of both, at 37 ºC, until it reached a pH value of 4.5. The growth of lac-tobacilli and bifidobacteria was evaluated throughout the fermentation, with increases of viable cells ranging from 1.5 to 3 log CFU/mL. Moreover, okara samples supplemented with a carbon source presented a higher growth rate than their non - supplemented counterpart, as expected. In addition, significant differences in aglycone content and antioxidant activity were observed for the okara samples fermented by different species, with the overall content of isoflavone aglycones increasing, the genistein presented the highest increase (ca. 16 - fold) in the fermented
Adrift in Oceania: The Roles of Genetic Drift and Natural Selection In Explaining the Unusual Dental Pattern of New Guinea Highlanders

A primary goal was to resolve the ‘baffling convergence’ of New Guinea and European dental morphology. This is an unusual case where dental morphology is at odds with other lines of biological evidence that show close ties between New Guinea and Australian populations. Observations were made on 182 dental casts from living populations in the New Guinea Highlands to characterize their dental morphology. Trait frequencies were compared to those of world populations to compute distance statistics and derive dendrograms. The conundrum was solved to a large extent when variation of the EDAR gene variant 370A was taken into account. This gene is associated with multiple traits involving hair, skin, and teeth. The high frequency of this polymorphism in North Asia is associated with a high frequency of shovel-shaped incisors. The EDAR 370A gene is not only associated with shoveling but also with double shoveling and lower molar cusp number. Although the gene is in moderate to high frequencies throughout Asia and the Pacific, it is absent in New Guinea. When the dental traits associated with EDAR were removed from the distance analysis, New Guinea now linked with Australia and Melanesia rather than Europe. This suggests that the unusual dental pattern exhibited by New Guinea Highlanders is a product of both genetic drift and natural selection. When compared to other populations, non-EDAR linked traits exhibit distance values that are in accord with differentiation attributable to genetic drift. The EDAR-linked traits reflect selection that has driven the frequency of this gene to zero. In all likelihood, the dental traits associated with EDAR are ‘genetic hitchhikers’ associated with some skin and/or hair trait that have been influenced by selection in this tropical rainforest environment. Although the nature of this selection cannot be determined, at least the ‘baffling convergence’ of New Guinean and European tooth crown morphology has been ‘unbaffled. ’
Physiological and proteomic analysis of two contrasting Sorghum bicolor genotypes in response to drought stress

Understanding the response of a crop to drought is the first step in the breeding of tolerant genotypes. In this study, two sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) genotypes with contrasting sensitivity to drought were subjected drought stress by withholding water for 7 days at seedling stage; physiological and protein analyses were made. Reduction percentage was recorded on leaf water content, chlorophyll a and b and total chlorophyll. Shoot and root lengths reductions were observed in the drought-sensitive Cultivar (Tabat) while the drought-tolerant line (EL9) showed an increase in shoot and root lengths under drought conditions. Drought tolerant sorghum line EL9 accumulated higher proline (26% increase) when compared to the sensitive cultivar Tabat (5% increase). Mass spectrometry analysis coupled with nanoflow UPLC was used to compare daily-watered with drought stressed (7 days) seedlings. A total of 36 protein spots were detected, of which 23 were recorded for one or both accessions under drought stress conditions only. These proteins were identified using MASCOT database search in accordance with sequence similarity with previously characterized proteins from the Uniprot database. The identified proteins were assigned to different functional categories as follows: Response to stress (35%); metabolic processes (26%); photosynthetic (13%); fatty acid biosynthesis (4%) and cell wall biogenesis/degradation (4%). Seven of the identified proteins under stress condition were unique to El9, in contrast to 4 proteins were unique to Tabat. This study showed a differential protein expression pattern of two sorghum accessions under drought stress, which will be valuable for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying drought tolerance in the future. Also, these proteins could be potential candidates for development of markers to be used in markers assisted selection.
Polymer films and brushes self-construction by electrochemically triggered morphogens

Polyelectrolyte multilayers, i.e. self-assembled systems based on successive polycation and polyanion adsorptions, constitute interesting materials for surface functionalization. These coatings possess several limitations: they are weak towards chemical and mechanical constraint and their buildup is long and tedious. Recently, a new method based on the self-construction of films by the means of a morphogen (a catalyst gradient generated from a surface) has attracted attention since it allows the quick self-assembly of robust films. Nevertheless, this technique was quite limited to peculiar systems based on click chemistry or on host-guest interactions.This present work generalize the one-pot morphogenic approach to other systems. In the first place, polymer brushes were built up from a surface by ATRP polymerization. The Cu(I) catalyst (the morphogen) was electrochemically generated at the interface.The morphogenic approach was later used to buildup polyelectrolytes and polyampholyte films in a one-pot manner by electrochemically generating protons (the morphogens) at the interface. These films exhibited an enzymatic activity.
Hydrogen production using Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria (PNSB) cultivated under natural or artificial light conditions with synthetic or fermentation derived substrates

Seventeen purple non sulfur bacterial strains, isolated from the trophic lake Averno, Naples, Italy, were phylogenetically classified and their H2-producing performances were tested utilizing various synthetic substrates and the fermentation broth derived from the spontaneous fermentation of vegetable residues. All the strains showed the capability to produce hydrogen on at least one of the four carbon substrates tested (malic, lactic, acetic and succinic acid). On lactate, Rhodopseudomonas palustris strain AV33 showed the best maximum production rate (50.7 ± 2.6 mL (H2) L h), with a mean rate, calculated on the whole period of production, of 17.9 mL ± 0.7 (H2) Lh. In the presence of acetate, AV33 produced only few mL of H2, but intracellularly accumulated poly-β-hydroxybutyrate up to a concentration of 21.4 ± 3.4 % (w/w) of cell dry weight. Rp. palustris AV33 also produced H2 on the fermentation broth supplemented with Fe, with a maximum production rate of 16.4 ± 2.3 mL (H2) L h and a conversion yield of 44.2%.
Enhancement of the antioxidant capacity and reduction of chilling injury in ‘Douradão’ peaches refrigerated under pre-storage and modified atmosphere

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of pre-storage for 24h and 48h and different modified atmosphere packaging-MAP treatments (using low-density polyethylene – LDPE) on the antioxidant compounds and the postharvest quality of ‘Douradao’ peaches under cold storage. The peaches were submitted to the following treatments: a control (no packaging or pre-storage) and pre-storage for 24h or 48h at 25oC combined with passive MAP (LDPE 60 µm or 80 µm). After the application of the treatments, the fruits were stored at 0oC for 30 days plus 3 days at 25oC to simulate marketing conditions. The results showed that on the simulated marketing period, all the treatments (except for the control) reduced woolliness and internal browning. Furthermore, both pre-storage and LDPE MAP enhanced the polygalacturonase (PG) activity, the levels of phenolic compounds and the antioxidant capacity. Thus, these results suggest that the pre-storage associated with LDPE packaging increases the shelf life of peaches by up to 30 days under cold storage.