Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pronounced Antagonism of Zinc and Arsenate on Toxicity to Barley Root Elongation in Soil

Zinc (Zn) and arsenic (As) occur as mixed contaminants in soil and the interactions between them remain unclear. Here, we investigated a Zn2+ and H2AsO4− mixture interaction and their effects on plant growth. Three different soils were spiked with ZnCl2 and NaH2AsO4, each dosed singly or in combination. The soils were leached to remove excessive salt and were aged (>7 days), before toxicity testing using a 5-day root elongation of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). In the single treatments, the 50% inhibitory effect concentrations in the soil (EC50, total measured concentration) were 2000–3800 mg Zn kg−1 and 96–620 mg As kg−1, depending on the soils. The mixture analyses based on the total concentrations showed overall and significant Zn–As antagonism in two soils, either based on the concentration addition (CA) or independent action (IA) model, whereas no significant interactions (either CA or IA) were found in one soil, which had the lowest content of Fe-oxides. The soil solution composition showed a decreased As concentration upon the addition of ZnCl2 at an equal soil As total concentration; however, the reverse was not found, in line with the cation–anion electrostatic interaction or formation of ternary surface complexes on Fe-oxides. The data revealed that the Zn–As antagonisms (total concentrations) are partially related to the increased Zn immobilizing As in soil.
Gradual and Transformative Institutional Change: the influence of stakeholders and advocacy coalitions at the Belo Monte Hydroelectric power plant

Abstract This work analyzes the performance of stakeholders and advocacy coalitions in processes of gradual institutional change based on the case study of the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant. The methodology adopts content analysis, using shorthand notes of hearings held in the National Congress, and other publicly available documents. In-depth semi-structured interviews were also conducted, collecting data from individuals involved in the history of the power plant. The study allowed to characterize stakeholders pro or against the enterprise, observing their degree of influence and the role played. In addition, the work used the Advocacy Coalition Framework to verify how stakeholders formed three advocacy coalitions and exerted the strategies of institutional change ‘displacement,’ ‘conversion,’ and ‘layering’ following the gradual and transformative institutional change model. Empirical evidence indicates that the composition of coalition members may determine the type of institutional change and that institutional changes can also result from learning among coalitions, as the incorporation of socio-environmental considerations that have altered the original design of the hydroelectric power plant.
Integrated bioinformatics analysis reveals correlations of high TRIM59 expression with worse prognosis and immune infiltrates in lung adenocarcinoma

Abstract Objective: Most patients with advanced lung cancer have a poor prognosis. Recent studies have identified TRIM59 as a novel molecule that serves as a prognostic factor for the progression of non-small cell lung cancer. In the present study, we investigated the role of TRIM59 in predicting the prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) as well as the correlation between TRIM59 expression and immune infiltrates. Methods: We analyzed TRIM59 expression in normal and tumor tissues based on RNA-sequencing datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genotype-Tissue Expression databases. Forty-seven cases of LUAD tissues and their matching adjacent tissues were collected, and TRIM59 expression in tissue samples was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry. All tissue specimens were obtained under the approval of the Medical Ethics Committee of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (approval No. IR2019001101; approved on April 3, 2019). The immune cell scores were calculated using the CIBERSORT database. The Tumor Immune Estimation Resource database was used to analyze the correlation between TRIM59 and immune cell activities. Results: TRIM59 was up-regulated in most cancer types. High TRIM59 expression predicted a worse prognosis in patients with LUAD (overall survival, P = 0.00096; disease-specific survival, P = 0.00056; disease-free interval, P = 0.0009; progression-free interval, P = 0.0012). Moreover, TRIM59 was highly expressed in patients with LUAD who had a poorer prognosis. TRIM59 also showed a significant correlation with the ESTIMATE score (P = 0.04) and stromal score (P = 0.005) in patients with LUAD. Notably, a significant correlation between TRIM59 and the tumor mutation burden was found in LUAD but in no other cancer types (P < 0.001). Further investigation showed that TRIM59 had a significant correlation with gene markers on neutrophils and dendritic cells. Conclusion: TRIM59 is a potential prognosticator in LUAD and may be correlated with immune cell identification, immune cell infiltration, and immunotherapy checkpoints in LUAD.
Supporting the Transition from Primary to Postprimary Education in 2021: Perspectives from Irish Postprimary Practitioners

The transition from primary to postprimary education is a significant milestone in children’s education and can be characterised by the multiple challenges that they experience, specifically the move from childhood to adolescence, from one institutional context to another, and from established social groups into new social relations. This research employs a theoretical framework that describes this transition from the perspective of secondary school inservice practitioners as they aim to help students to make a successful transition. An incremental, sequential mixed-methods data collection strategy took the form of an exploratory survey followed by qualitative semistructured interviews. Current transition practices in the context of the challenges presented in Irish secondary schools are reported on in five key areas: administration, social and emotional supports, curriculum support, pedagogical support, and management/autonomy of learning. The findings of this research also highlight a need to reflect on the purpose and timing of current practices, along with calls for continuing professional development programmes to be developed that specifically target the challenges faced by Irish inservice teaching practitioners. It is hoped that this paper will spark discourse relating to the development of transitional supports for students and associated training for those who are best placed to provide those supports.
Understanding the Origin of Structural Diversity of DNA Double Helix

Deciphering the contribution of DNA subunits to the variability of its 3D structure represents an important step toward the elucidation of DNA functions at the atomic level. In the pursuit of that goal, our previous studies revealed that the essential conformational characteristics of the most populated “canonic” BI and AI conformational families of Watson–Crick duplexes, including the sequence dependence of their 3D structure, preexist in the local energy minima of the elemental single-chain fragments, deoxydinucleoside monophosphates (dDMPs). Those computations have uncovered important sequence-dependent regularity in the superposition of neighbor bases. The present work expands our studies to new minimal fragments of DNA with Watson–Crick nucleoside pairs that differ from canonic families in the torsion angles of the sugar-phosphate backbone (SPB). To address this objective, computations have been performed on dDMPs, cdDMPs (complementary dDMPs), and minimal fragments of SPBs of respective systems by using methods of molecular and quantum mechanics. These computations reveal that the conformations of dDMPs and cdDMPs having torsion angles of SPB corresponding to the local energy minima of separate minimal units of SPB exhibit sequence-dependent characteristics representative of canonic families. In contrast, conformations of dDMP and cdDMP with SPB torsions being far from the local minima of separate SPB units exhibit more complex sequence dependence.
Mechanical, Thermal, and Morphological Study of Nanoclay Reinforced Bio-based Poly Lactic Acid/Poly (3-hydroxy butyrate co-3-valerate) (PLA/PHBV) Blend

A hybrid biopolymer blend using PLA/PHBV with tailored material properties has been fabricated by using solvent casting method. Biopolymer blends of 25/75, 50/50, and 75/25 wt. % were investigated for property optimization. Afterwards, different percentages (1, 2, and 3 wt.%) of nanoclay (NC) were incorporated into the optimized (75/25 wt.%) system to further enhance the properties. DSC, TGA, Tensile, and SEM tests were conducted to investigate mechanical, thermal and morphological properties. It was observed that the crystallinity of the PLA phase increased with increasing amount of NC. Also, the tensile strength of PLA and PHBV film was found to be 29.20 MPa and 16.79 MPa, respectively, whereas, 75/25 wt. % blend showed 25.73 MPa which is higher than PHBV phase. Then, the addition of 2 wt. % NC showed optimized and better mechanical and thermal properties compared to individual polymer phase. Also, two glass transition temperatures were found from thermal analysis which is the indication of the solution immiscibility. It was revealed from the SEM micrographs that the 2 wt. % NC was dispersed uniformly throughout the resin blend.
Konsteknologisk källforskning med ett hantverks- och konserveringsvetenskapligt perspektiv

Artikeln behandlar den tvärvetenskapliga metodologi som forskningsstudien primärt bygger på. Naturvetenskapliga analysmetoder kompletterar humanistiska analyser och på så vis kan ett föremål förstås och observeras på djupet. Till exempel kan råmaterial identifieras. Artikeln beskriver i korthet hur en konsteknologisk studie kan utföras och vilken teknisk apparatur som kan användas.
Assessment of the accuracy of laser-scanned models and 3-dimensional rendered cone-beam computed tomographic images compared to digital caliper measurements on plaster casts

Purpose This study investigated the accuracy of laser-scanned models and 3-dimensional (3D) rendered cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) compared to the gold standard (plaster casts) for linear measurements on dental arches. Materials and Methods CBCT scans and plaster models from 30 patients were retrieved. Plaster models were scanned by an Emerald laser scanner (Planmeca, Helsinki, Finland). Sixteen different measurements, encompassing the mesiodistal width of teeth and both arches’ length and width, were calculated using various landmarks. Linear measurements were made on laser-scanned models using Autodesk Meshmixer software v. 3.0 (Autodesk, Mill Valley, CA, USA), on 3D-rendered CBCT models using OnDemand 3D v. 1.0 (Cybermed, Seoul, Korea) and on plaster casts by a digital caliper. Descriptive statistics, the paired t-test, and intra- and inter-class correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data. Results There were statistically significant differences between some measurements on plaster casts and laser-scanned or 3D-rendered CBCT models (P<0.05). Molar mesiodistal width and mandibular anterior arch width deviated significantly different from the gold standard in both methods. The largest mean differences of laser-scanned and 3D-rendered CBCT models compared to the gold standard were 0.12±0.23 mm and 0.42±0.53 mm, respectively. Most of the mean differences were not clinically significant. The intra- and inter-class correlation results were acceptable for all measurements (>0.830) and between observers (>0.801). Conclusion The 3D-rendered CBCT images and laser-scanned models were useful and accurate alternatives to conventional plaster models. They could be used for clinical purposes in orthodontics and prostheses.
Static and dynamic structure of Pu3+ in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic revealed by first-principles molecular dynamics simulations

ABSTRACT The local coordination structure, as well as its structural dynamics, of molten LiCl-KCl-PuCl3 mixture is revealed by first-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) simulations in terms of radial distribution functions, partial structural factors, and van Hove correlation functions. The self-diffusion coefficients and ionic conductivities are evaluated from the mean square displacements of ions, and the viscosity is then estimated from the self-diffusion coefficient of Pu3+. It is concluded that the FPMD simulations give satisfactory results compared with existing literature values. Therefore, the FPMD simulations can provide basic physicochemical information if such information is unavailable in literature and microscopic insight into the mechanism of the pyroprocessing of spent nuclear fuels.
A Review on Question Generation from Natural Language Text

Question generation is an important yet challenging problem in Artificial Intelligence (AI), which aims to generate natural and relevant questions from various input formats, e.g., natural language text, structure database, knowledge base, and image. In this article, we focus on question generation from natural language text, which has received tremendous interest in recent years due to the widespread applications such as data augmentation for question answering systems. During the past decades, many different question generation models have been proposed, from traditional rule-based methods to advanced neural network-based methods. Since there have been a large variety of research works proposed, we believe it is the right time to summarize the current status, learn from existing methodologies, and gain some insights for future development. In contrast to existing reviews, in this survey, we try to provide a more comprehensive taxonomy of question generation tasks from three different perspectives, i.e., the types of the input context text, the target answer, and the generated question. We take a deep look into existing models from different dimensions to analyze their underlying ideas, major design principles, and training strategies We compare these models through benchmark tasks to obtain an empirical understanding of the existing techniques. Moreover, we discuss what is missing in the current literature and what are the promising and desired future directions.
Causal inference in multi-cohort studies using the target trial approach

1282 Focus of Presentation: Utilising data from multiple cohorts to ad- dress causal questions in health research has become increasingly widespread due to a number of advantages. These include improved precision of estimates, in particular to investigate effect heterogene-ity as well as rare events and exposures, and the ability to examine the replicability of ﬁndings. However, undertaking causal inference in multi-cohort studies also faces several challenges, which makes clear causal thinking even more important than in single-cohort studies. We propose the use of the “target trial” framework for the conduct of causal inference in multi-cohort studies. Findings: Using two case studies, the ﬁrst considering the effect of maternal mental health on emotional reactivity and the second ex-amining the inﬂuence of exposure to adversity on inﬂammatory out-comes in childhood, we describe and demonstrate how the target trial approach enables clear deﬁnition of the target estimand and systematic consideration of sources of bias. Considering the target trial as the reference point allows the identiﬁcation of potential biases within each study, so that analysis can be planned to reduce them. Furthermore, the interpretation of ﬁndings is assisted by an understanding of the unavoidable biases that may be compounded when pooling data from multiple cohorts, or that may explain dis-crepant ﬁndings across cohorts. Conclusions/Implications: Use of the target trial framework in multi-cohort studies helps strengthen causal inferences through improved
A Convenient Approach to Luminescent Cyclometalated Platinum(II) Complexes with Organometallic π-Bonded Benzenedithiolate

A family of neutral cyclometalated platinum(II) complexes [(C^N)Pt(η-S^S)] with π-bonded benzenedithiolate {(η-S^S) = Cp*Ru(C6H4S2)} and various cyclometalated ligands, {(C^N) = 2-phenylpyridine (ppy), (2); 2,4-difluorophenylpyridine (F2ppy) (3), benzo[h]quinoline (bzq) (4); dibenzo[f,h]quinoline (dbzq) (5) } were prepared and fully characterized. For comparison purposes the related bipyridine platinum (II) complex [(bpy)Pt(η-S^S)][OTf] (6) was also prepared. The electrochemistry behavior of these complexes was investigated and shows the enhanced stability of these compounds toward oxidation due to the presence of Cp*Ru moiety which is now π-bonded to the benzenedithiolato group. Moreover several complexes were identified by single crystal X-ray molecular structures. To the best of our knowledge these are the first structures to be reported for cyclometalated platinum complexes with a π-bonded benzenedithiolate (bdt) ligand. All of the complexes are luminescent in fluid solution at room temperature and in glassy solution at 77 K; their emission properties can be tuned through ligand variation.
Analysis of wax esters in seven commercial waxes using C30 reverse phase HPLC

Abstract Commercial waxes are difficult to analyze due to their limited solubility in most organic solvents. Recently, our laboratory published a new reverse phase HPLC-MS method using a C30 column, a gradient of methanol and chloroform, an evaporative light-scattering detector (ELSD), and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) to analyze jojoba wax (jojoba oil), carnauba wax, and sorghum wax. In the current study, the published HPLC method was modified by reducing the solvent gradient program to 60 minutes and this new method was evaluated for its usefulness for the analysis of five other commercial waxes (beeswax, rice bran, sunflower, candelilla and paraffin waxes). The ELSD appeared to detect all types of wax components, whereas the APCI-MS was most useful for the identification of wax esters and was unable to detect hydrocarbons, such as those in candelilla wax and paraffin wax. Previous HPLC methods for waxes and most GC methods for waxes only separate wax esters with size up to 54 carbons (C54) but this method was able to separate those with size up to 60 carbon wax esters. This report presents the first HPLC chromatograms for rice bran, sunflower, candelilla, and paraffin waxes. The main contribution of this work is the evidence that a C30 reverse phase HPLC system provides acceptable chromatographic separation of major components in commercial waxes. Graphical Abstract
Accelerating Surgical Robotics Research: A Review of 10 Years With the da Vinci Research Kit

Robotic-assisted surgery is now well established in clinical practice and has become the gold-standard clinical treatment option for several clinical indications. The field of robotic-assisted surgery is expected to grow substantially in the next decade, with a range of new robotic devices emerging to address unmet clinical needs across different specialties. A vibrant surgical robotics research community is pivotal for conceptualizing such new systems as well as for developing and training the engineers and scientists to translate them into practice. The da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK), an academic and industry collaborative effort to repurpose decommissioned da Vinci surgical systems [Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISI), California, USA] as a research platform for surgical robotics research, has been a key initiative for addressing a barrier to entry for new research groups in surgical robotics. In this article, we present an extensive review of the publications that have been facilitated by the dVRK over the past decade. We classify research efforts into different categories and outline some of the major challenges and needs for the robotics community to maintain and build upon this initiative.
Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of New Bis-Indolinone Derivatives Endowed with Cytotoxic Activity

A series of new Knoevenagel adducts, bearing two indolinone systems, has been synthesized and evaluated on 60 human cancer cell lines according to protocols available at the National Cancer Institute (Bethesda, MD, USA). Some derivatives proved to be potent antiproliferative agents, showing GI50 values in the submicromolar range. Compound 5b emerged as the most active and was further studied in Jurkat cells in order to determine the effects on cell-cycle phases and the kind of cell death induced. Finally, oxidative stress and DNA damage induced by compound 5b were also analyzed.
Acidolysis-dominated pretreatment elevates distillation yield and impacts composition, antioxidant and antifungal activities of essential oil from Cuminum cyminum seeds

Proper pretreatment of herbal material containing essential oils (EOs) could enhance its volatile components release through either removing physical barriers or conquering chemical bonds and thereby improve hydrodistillation yield. In this regard, a trial pretreatment including pulverization, enzymolysis, short time microwave irradiation and acidolysis of Cuminum cyminum seeds was integrated into the essential oil (EO) preparation to elevate the EO yield. On the basis of Plackett–Burman design analysis, three parameters (acidolysis duration, HCl concentration of acidolysis and sieving mesh) were significant for the EO preparation. Box–Behnken design based optimization of the remaining factors concluded that the optimal pretreatment was pulverizing the seeds to 40 mesh and implementing 45 min acidolysis in 2.5 M L−1 HCl wherein the predicted EO yield of 3.78% was close to that of the experimental value 3.86%. This pretreatment produced an EO yield increase of 50.78% over the control sample of raw seeds (2.56%). In total 53 components were identified in the acidolysis-pretreated cumin EO (AEO) whilst 47 components were identified in the control cumin EO (CEO). In both AEO and CEO, cuminaldehyde was the predominant common component, but the AEO contained more phenols (0.51% vs. 0.18%) and alcohols (7.76% vs. 0.18%) than the CEO did. The compositional features gave the AEO mightier antioxidant potency and stronger antifungal efficacy against four postharvest fungi, viz. Alternaria alternata, Penicillium expansum, Trichothecium roseum and Fusarium sulphureum, as compared with the situations of CEO. In conclusion, the pretreatment elevates the hydrodistillation yield, modifies the EO chemical profiles and confers stronger antioxidant and antifungal activities upon cumin EO.
Assessing the Effectiveness of the Walkley-Black Method for Soil Organic Carbon Determination in Tephra Soils of Cameroon

ABSTRACT The Walkley-Black (WB) method has been widely used for soil organic carbon (SOC) determination with little attention on its reliability and effectiveness compared to the dry combustion (DC) method. This study compared SOC contents of some Cameroon tephra soils as determined by the WB and DC methods to assess the effectiveness of the WB method, using surface and subsurface soil samples. SOC contents by both methods were significantly different for both surface (t = 15.47, p < 0.001) and sub-surface (t = 12.35, p < 0.001) samples. The low carbon recovery of 45.36% (recovery factor of 2.38) and 35.87% (recovery factor of 3.34) for surface and subsurface samples, respectively indicates that the WB method greatly underestimates SOC contents in tephra soils. The higher positive significant correlation between both methods for surface samples (r = 0.83**, p < 0.01) compared to subsurface samples (r = 0.6*, p < 0.05) confirms high variability in subsurface samples. This study will guide the choice of method in SOC determination in the tropics where similar soils obtain and where cost constraints and the search for a more pollutant-free method for soil OC determination warrants an alternative method to the WB.