Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Ecosystem Services Supplied by Agroecosystems in Mediterranean Europe: A Literature Review

Agricultural landscapes in the Mediterranean region may be considered as social-ecological systems that are important for biodiversity conservation whilst contributing to a wide range of ecosystem services. This literature review aims to identify the current state and biases of ecosystem service assessment in agroecosystems within the Mediterranean region, evaluate pressures impacting on agroecosystems and their services, and practices that promote ecosystem service synergies in Mediterranean agroecosystems. A total of 41 papers were selected for analysis from a set of 573 potentially relevant papers. Most of the selected papers focused on supporting, regulating and provisioning services, and mostly assessed ecosystem structure or services in the European Mediterranean context. Literature about benefits and values ascribed to by communities and stakeholders remain limited. Results presented here support the notion of multifunctional Mediterranean agroecosystems and multiple synergies were recorded in this review. Publications dealing with pressures that related to agricultural practices and demographic changes were in the majority and impact on different cropping systems. This review highlights the need to carry out integrated ecosystem service assessments that consider the multiple benefits derived from agroecosystems and which may be used to identify management practices that lead to the improvement of ecosystem services capacities and flows.
Filamentous fungi producing enzymes under fermentation in cassava liquid waste

The conversion of agroindustrial residues by microorganisms has been explored from fermentative processes to obtain several bioactive molecules. The objective of this work was to isolate and select filamentous fungi present in cassava liquid waste for the production of amylase, carboxymethylcellulose (CMCase), pectinase and xylanase using the same residue as induction substrate in fermentative processes. A total of 65 filamentous fungi were isolated and qualitative tests indicated that approximately 86% of these strains were able to produce at least one of the enzymes and 32% capable of producing the four enzymes. Fermentation assays in cassava liquid residue-containing medium showed 6 fungal lines as potential enzyme producers. The maximum activities of pectinase, xylanase, amylase and CMCase were respectively observed at 96 hours of fermentation by the strain by the strain Aspergillus sp. B5C; at 120 hours (163.6 ± 0.13 nKat mL -1 ), by Aspergillus sp. B4I; at 144 hours (99.8 ± 0.24 nKat mL -1 ), by Penicillium sp. B3A; and at 48 hours (55.5 ± 0.21 nKat mL -1 ), by Aspergillus sp. B4O. These results suggest that cassava liquid waste was source of filamentous fungi producing amylase, CMCase, pectinase and xylanase, as well as a promising alternative substrate for bioprocesses aiming the production of enzymes.
Large‐Scale Desalination and the External Impact on Irrigation‐Water Salinity: Economic Analysis for the Case of Israel

Recent agroeconomic studies in water‐scarce countries such as Spain, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Israel have revealed the economic viability of irrigating high‐value crops with desalinated water. However, the worldwide growth of large‐scale desalination capacities is primarily designed to resolve urban‐water scarcity, disregarding the impact of desalination on irrigation‐water salinity. We develop a dynamic hydroeconomic programming model where infrastructure capacities and allocations of water quantities and salinities in a regional water distribution network are endogenous. We show that subsidizing desalination is socially warranted because the associated reduction in irrigation‐water salinity is an external effect of water consumption by all water users. Empirical application to the entire state of Israel indicates that large‐scale desalination of seawater and treated wastewater for irrigation is optimal. This result stems from the large share of irrigation‐intensive salinity‐sensitive high‐value crops, motivated by Israel's policies to support local agriculture. Ignoring salinity results in a 45% reduction in desalinated irrigation water, a 29% reduction in farming profits, a 250% increase in water suppliers' profits, and an average deadweight loss of $1,200 a year per hectare of arable land.
PREDICT URBAN AIR POLLUTION IN SURABAYA USING RECURRENT NEURAL NETWORK – LONG SHORT TERM MEMORY

Air is one of the primary needs of living things. If the condition of air is polluted, then the lives of humans and other living things will be disrupted. So it is needed to perform special handling to maintain air quality. One way to facilitate the prevention of air pollution is to make air pollution forecasting by utilizing past data. Through the Environmental Office, the Surabaya City Government has monitored air quality in Surabaya every 30 minutes for various air quality parameters including CO, NO, NO2, NOx, PM10, SO2 and meteorological data such as wind direction, wind direction, wind speed, wind speed, global radiation, humidity, and air temperature. These data are very useful to build a prediction model for the forecast of air pollution in the future. With the large amount and variance of data generated from monitoring air quality in Surabaya city, a qualified algorithm is needed to process it. One algorithm that can be used is Recurrent Neural Network - Long Short Term Memory (RNN-LSTM). RNN-LSTM is built for sequential data processing such as time-series data. In this study, several analyses are performed. There are trend analysis, correlation analysis of pollutant values to meteorological data, and predictions of carbon monoxide pollutants using the Recurrent Neural Network - LSTM in the city of Surabaya correlated with meteorological data. The results of this study indicate that the best prediction model using RNN-LSTM with RMSE calculation gets an error of 1,880 with the number of hidden layer 2 and epoch 50 scenarios. The predicted results built can be used as a reference in determining the policy of the city government to deal with air pollution going forward.
Improved performance of a refurbished photoelectric autocollimator

An old photoelectric Hilger & Watts autocollimator (AC) has been modified at INRIM to perform accurate angle measurements on two axes in a range of ±250″. A CMOS camera was placed in the focus of the AC’s optical system and a software implemented in LabVIEW processes on-line the image of the reticle projected on the camera. The data acquisition is triggerable at a selectable frequency up to some hertz to allow synchronization in critical applications. The AC’s sensitivity was determined through a calibration with respect to the national angle standard. The combined standard uncertainty of the AC calibration results to be equal to 0.035″.
The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Incumbent Employees: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Mediating and Moderating Mechanisms

This article reviews 86 studies and uses meta-analytical methods to investigate how perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) impacts employee attitudes and behaviors and to identify the mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions. An initial review of this body of research finds a multitude of mediators but a limited focus on CSR typology as a potential moderator. Drawing upon social exchange theory, we develop and test two multivariate mediation models to integrate and synthesize three most-studied mediating mechanisms: organizational justice, organizational trust, and organizational identification. Meta-analyses find that while all three mechanisms within the parallel mediation model are equally significant in mediating the effect of perceived CSR on organizational commitment and job satisfaction, organizational identification is superior to organizational justice and organizational trust in mediating the effect of CSR perceptions on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and turnover intention. It is also found that although both mediation models adequately represent the accumulated empirical data, the sequential model is statistically superior to the parallel model. Although meta–structural equation modeling analyses reveal minimal differences between the broadly defined internal and external CSR perceptions, significant heterogeneity exists between perceived CSR and the outcome variables. The additional analyses suggest that significant differences exist between more specific stakeholder CSR types. In summary, this article extends our understanding of how employees perceive and respond to CSR through multiple sociopsychological mechanisms in additive and sequential fashions and how such responses could differ depending on the specific stakeholder subgroups targeted by CSR. Theoretical contributions and future research directions are also discussed.
Structural basis of sterol recognition by human hedgehog receptor PTCH1

Cryo-EM structure of PTCH1-ShhNC24II complex reveals multiple sterol binding sites and a possible sterol translocation pathway. Hedgehog signaling is central in embryonic development and tissue regeneration. Disruption of the pathway is linked to genetic diseases and cancer. Binding of the secreted ligand, Sonic hedgehog (ShhN) to its receptor Patched (PTCH1) activates the signaling pathway. Here, we describe a 3.4-Å cryo-EM structure of the human PTCH1 bound to ShhNC24II, a modified hedgehog ligand mimicking its palmitoylated form. The membrane-embedded part of PTCH1 is surrounded by 10 sterol molecules at the inner and outer lipid bilayer portion of the protein. The annular sterols interact at multiple sites with both the sterol-sensing domain (SSD) and the SSD-like domain (SSDL), which are located on opposite sides of PTCH1. The structure reveals a possible route for sterol translocation across the lipid bilayer by PTCH1 and homologous transporters.
Impact of Implementing a Deodorization System on the Functioning of a Waste Management Plant

This article is an analysis of the impact of implementing technical and technological solutions in the form of a deodorization system, which was carried out on the basis of a case study in the years 2015 and 2019 of an existing waste management plant named located in the region of Lower Silesia. The method for determining the impact was based on an analytical method for estimating changes in plant operation parameters in relation to the emission of odor compounds, determined at selected reference points, during a period of normal operation before and directly after the implementation of the deodorization system. The purpose of this work is the evaluation of the impact of the deodorization system on the parameters determining the functioning of the plant—a mechanical-biological waste treatment facility in order to determine sustainability factors and their relative changes.
Presepsi Masyarakat Tengger tentang Kemanfaatan Etnobotani sebagai Obat Herbal

The synthesis of various local wisdom values in the Tengger society in terms of utilization of ethnobotany resources as herbal products for health has long been existed in the scope of the Tengger locality and surrounding areas. The comparative advantage of Tengger ethnobotany certainly has potential that can be developed through certain strategies in order to be able to further contribute to the operationalization of the research, development, and application of science and technology (RISBANGRAPIPTEK) in the Field of Health and Medicine 2005–2025 towards a state of adequacy of raw materials and preparations of standardized herbal medicinal products and Indonesia branded for the Indonesian people. Therefore, the research question raised is the formulation of a strategy that must be immediately created and can be used as a reference for the activities of Tenggerese etnobotanical resource development to become a superior branded Indonesian biotechnology commercial product. The sampling method in this study was done by purposive sampling. The method of data collection was done by observation, interviews which included primary data and literature studies which were secondary data. The research method used was descriptive and analytic. The results showed that: 1) the perception map of the Tengger Society towards medicinal plants was classified as a moderate and the relationship of the characteristics of the Tengger Society did not have a close correlation to herbal medicines with a value of r less than 0.8. 2) Determinants that influence the influence of society on traditional medicine are age (X1), income (X3), and education (X4), while number of family dependents (X2) not significant effect. Keywords: determinant factors, ethnobotany, perception
The Basic Model Interface 2.0: A standard interface for coupling numerical models in the geosciences

Component modeling is a research technique in which new models are constructed by coupling the inputs and outputs of simpler existing models. Component modeling traces its roots to component-based software engineering, where a software system is constructed from a number of independent, reusable software components, each encapsulating a unit of functionality and exposing inputs and outputs through an interface. A tangible analogy is a bicycle. A bicycle is a system of reusable, replaceable components. Tires are one of the components. You can easily swap in a studded tire for icy winter streets, then swap it out again in the summer.
Molecular Phylogenetic Analysis of Grifola frondosa (Maitake) and Related Species and the Influence of Selected Nutrient Supplements on Mushroom Yield

Grifola frondosa (Dickson: Fr.) S.F. Gray (maitake) is a choice edible mushroom and has been marketed in Asia in recent years for medicinal use. Production and consumption of this mushroom is increasing rapidly in the world. There was a 41-fold increase from 1988-97 worldwide and a 38% increase in the United States (1999-2000). While this mushroom has enjoyed increased popularity among consumers, scientists know little about the genetics and life history of this species. I, therefore, sought to quantify genetic diversity among available isolates and to establish a taxonomic position for this mushroom and some of its allies. To accomplish these goals, the internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2 (ITS1 and 2) and 5.8S regions of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) transcriptional unit and a portion of the β-tubulin gene were PCR-amplified. Then, rDNA and βtubulin amplicons from 52 isolates of Grifola frondosa, one isolate of Grifola sordulenta, Polyporus umbellatus and Meripilus giganteus were sequenced. In both rDNA and β-tubulin sequences, nucleotide variation within isolates of G. frondosa (5.4% in rDNA and 12.2% in β-tubulin) was relatively small compared to that observed between isolates of G. frondosa and G. sordulenta (14.3% in rDNA and 30.2% in β-tubulin). Molecular phylogenetic analysis of rDNA, β-tubulin and
INFLUENCE OF AIR TEMPERATURE AND SOIL MOISTURE ON GROWTH AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF GERANIUM PLANTS

This study was carried out, to examine the effect of different air temperature (15 and 27 ± 3C) with three levels of soil moisture (07%, 80%and 07% of field capacity) on production of Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L) plants. The obtained results showed that, plant growth i.e., plant height (cm), branches number, fresh and dry weight of shoots were decreased with geranium plants acclimatized under conditions of low air temperature and high soil moisture. Physiological characters like chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and total carotenoids contents indicated the effect of 27C temperature with soil moisture70% and increased in geranium plants than in those acclimatized under 15C temperature and different % of soil moisture. The extracted essential oils were analyzed using GC/MS. The major compounds in essential oils of geranium were geraniol (36%) and citronellol (18.%) at an air temperature 27 ± 3C and levels of soil moisture (07%) compared with geraniol (17%) and citronellol (8%) at an air temperature 15 ± 3C) at a soil moisture level of 07%.
In vitro synergy between Sodium Deoxycholate and Furazolidone against Enterobacteria via Inhibition of Multidrug Efflux Pumps

Antimicrobial combinations have been proven to be a promising approach in the confrontation with multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens, owing to enhancement of antibacterial efficacy, deceleration of resistance development rate and mitigation of side effects by lowering the doses of two drugs. In the present study, we report that combination of furazolidone (FZ) and other nitrofurans with a secondary bile salt, Sodium Deoxycholate (DOC), generates a profound synergistic effect on growth inhibition and lethality in enterobacteria, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Citrobacter gillenii and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Taking E. coli as the model organism to study the mechanism of DOC-FZ synergy, we found that the synergistic effect involves FZ-mediated inhibition of efflux pumps that normally remove DOC from bacterial cells. We further show that the FZ–mediated nitric oxide production contributes to the synergistic effect. This is to our knowledge the first report of nitrofuran-DOC synergy against Gram-negative bacteria.
Electro-Fenton Based Technique to Enhance Cell Harvest and Lipid Extraction from Microalgae

Currently, lipid extraction remains a major bottleneck in microalgae technology for biofuel production. In this study, an effective and easily controlled cell wall disruption method based on electro-Fenton reaction was used to enhance lipid extraction from the wet biomass of Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1. The results showed that 1.27 mM of hydroxide radical (HO•) was generated under the optimal conditions with 9.1 mM FeSO4 in a 16.4 mA·cm−2 current density for 37.0 min. After the electro-Fenton treatment, the neutral lipid extraction yield of microalgae (~155 mg) increased from 40% to 87.5%, equal to from 12.2% to 26.7% dry cell weight (DCW). In particular, the fatty acid composition remained stable. The cell wall disruption and lipid extraction processes were displayed by the transmission electron microscope (TEM) and fluorescence microscopy (FM) observations, respectively. Meanwhile, the removal efficiency of algal cells reached 85.2% within 2 h after the reaction was terminated. Furthermore, the biomass of the microalgae cultured in the electrolysis wastewater treated with fresh nutrients reached 3 g/L, which is 12-fold higher than that of the initial after 24 days. These finds provided an economic and efficient method for lipid extraction from wet microalgae, which could be easily controlled by current magnitude regulation.
Autofertility and self-compatibility moderately benefit island colonization of plants

Aim: The current geographical distribution of species largely reflects colonization success after natural long‐distance dispersal or introduction by humans. Plants with selfing ability should have an advantage when establishing on islands where mates and pollinators are limited (Baker’s law). However, high percentages of dioecious and self‐incompatible species have been reported for some islands, possibly resulting from post‐colonization evolution. Given that such evolution is less likely to apply to alien species recently introduced to islands by humans, tests of Baker’s law on islands need to consider both native and naturalized alien species. Location: Global. Time period: Undefined. Major taxa studied: Angiosperms. Methods: To test whether the colonization of islands is associated with selfing ability (self‐compatibility and autofertility), we combined three comprehensive global databases: one on breeding systems of species, one on island and mainland distributions of native species and one on global naturalization of alien plants. We assigned each of a total of 1,752 species, from 161 angiosperm families, as mainland species, island colonists and/or island endemics (i.e., species that are restricted to islands). To assess potential relationships between island occurrence and selfing ability of species, we used multinomial logistic regressions. Results: We found that species with high selfing ability were slightly more likely to be island colonist than mainland species. However, selfing ability did not increase the likelihood of being an island endemic in contrast to mainland species. Among island colonists, selfing ability did not differ between species on oceanic and on continental islands or between species native to islands and naturalized on islands. Main conclusions: We performed a comprehensive test of Baker’s law by considering many angiosperm families, using continuous metrics of self‐compatibility and autofertility and including both native and naturalized species. We provide global evidence that high selfing ability may foster island colonization of angiosperms.
A high-throughput fluorescence-based assay for the detection of petroleum hydrocarbon degrading bacteria

Over the past 100 years, oil spills and long-term waste deposition from oil refineries have significantly polluted the environment. These contaminants include highly toxic petroleum hydrocarbons which have widespread negative effects on human health and ecosystem functioning. Natural attenuation of long chain and polyaromatic hydrocarbons is slow and often incomplete. Bioaugmentation of polluted soils with wild bacteria with enhanced capacity for petroleum hydrocarbon degradation could speed up this process. However, the isolation and characterization of bacterial crude oil degradation efficiency can present a substantial bottleneck in developing and implementing these bioremediation strategies. Here, we develop a low-cost, rapid, high-throughput fluorescence-based assay for detecting crude oil degradation by bacteria using the dye Nile Red, which fluoresces when in contact with hydrophobic substances. To determine whether Nile Red fluorescence could be used as a proxy for crude oil content, we incubated varying concentrations of Nile Red (1-10%) with crude oil in 96-well plates and found a strong correlation between fluorescence intensity (FI) and optical density (OD). We assessed whether cell culture media (Luria Broth and Minimal Salt Media) quenched or augmented the fluorescence of the Nile Red but found no statistical difference in the fluorescence of Nile Red in the presence of either media. To calculate crude oil degradation based on FI, we developed a robust linear model and propose that crude oil depletion efficiency can be easily obtained by subtracting the % decrease in fluorescence intensity from T0 to Tend. To determine whether this assay could identify bacteria with enhanced metabolic capacities to break down crude oil, we screened three wild type bacteria isolated from a former oil refinery in Bay Point, CA and identified one strain (Cupriavidus sp. OPK) with superior crude oil depletion efficiencies (up to 83%) in only three days. To probe whether this assay could also be used to understand the functional traits used by bacteria to degrade crude oil, we combined the assay with fluorescence microscopy and discovered that bacteria degrade oil using different strategies (i.e. long-distance transport via biofilms, direct attachment through adherence, and sequestration in biosurfactant-based vesicles) which affected depletion rates. This Nile Red assay can be used to identify bacteria for removing pollutants from soil through bioaugmentation while also providing qualitative data which could be used to develop bio-inspired solutions or biomimetic materials to remove toxins from soil and water.