Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fungal Infection and Aflatoxin Contamination in Stored Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) Kernels at Various Stages of Delivery Chain in North Sulawesi Province

ABSTRACT Nutmeg ( Myristica fragrans Houtt.) or fragrant nutmeg is an important commodity that has been used in food industry and medicine, hence its quality should be monitored. The objectives of the research were to obtain informations on the postharvest handling of nutmeg conducted by farmers, collectors and exporters in North Sulawesi province and to investigate the occurrence of fungi (included A. flavus ) and aflatoxin contamination in stored nutmeg collected from farmers, collectors and exporters in North Sulawesi province. Moisture content and percentage of damaged kernels were also investigated, because they affect fungal infection. Surveys and obtaining samples of nutmeg in different points of the delivery chain were done in April and May 2013, in three regencies (North Minahasa, Siau Tagulandang Biaro (Sitaro) and Sangihe Talaud) and two cities (Bitung and Manado). Interviews were conducted during the surveys to collect informations on the postharvest handling of nutmeg in different points of the delivery chain. The total number of nutmeg samples collected from different point of the delivery chain was 76. It consisted of samples collected from farmers (25 samples), collectors (22), and exporters (29). The results showed that in general, the moisture content of nutmeg collected from North Sulawesi province was not higher than the maximum limit of moisture content determineted by SNI (10%). In general, nutmeg collected from farmers and collectors had high percentage of damaged kernels. Aspergillus niger and Endomyces fibuliger were the dominant fungi infecting nutmeg collected from farmers and collectors, while Eurotium repens was the dominant fungus infecting nutmeg collected from exporters. Aflatoxin B 1 and total aflatoxin contents in nutmeg collected from farmers and exporters were relatively high. Based on the results of this study, the method of postharvest handling of nutmeg conducted by farmers, collectors and exporters in North Sulawesi province (North Minahasa, Sitaro and Sangihe Talaud regencies, Bitung and Manado cities) should be improved to minimize aflatoxin contamination. Keywords : aflatoxin, fungi, Myristica fragrans Houtt. , nutmeg, North Sulawesi province, delivery chain
Numerical Simulation of Transient Boundary-Forced Radiation. Part II: The Modon Regime

Abstract In Part I of the present work we studied the transient Rossby wave radiation excited in the far field by a northern boundary forcing. We proposed as a possible mechanism responsible for transient pulses of Rossby waves the sudden growth to finite amplitude and successive amplitude pulsations of a stationary or eastward moving meander of an intense current like the Gulf Stream. In Part I the linear regime was thoroughly analyzed and the major findings were: 1) the transient part of the response initially excited by “switching on” the meander is the one responsible for the Rossby waves radiating and being clearly detectable in the far field; 2) the Rossby radiation is excited only when the meander pulsation frequency is below a critical value. In this paper, we extend the results of Part I to the highly nonlinear regime addressing the problem of the production of nonlinear, coherent structures through the same boundary forcing mechanisms. The model used is the quasi-geostrophic, potential vorticity.
Female sex pheromones of pine caterpillar: basic research and application

Pine caterpillars included Dendrolimus punctatus(Walker), D. superaus(Butler), D. tabulaeformisTsai et Liu, D. spectabilisButler, Dkikuchii Matsumura, and D.houi Lajonquiere are important pest insects in pine forest in China. The advance for six pine caterpillars on the identification, synthesis and EAG responses of female sex pheromones, bioassay of synthetic female sex pheromones and the application technique for deploying and population monitoring in pine forests is reviewed.
Classification of Lactobacillus divergens, Lactobacillus piscicola, and some catalase-negative, asporogenous, rod-shaped bacteria from poultry in a new genus, Carnobacterium.

Biochemical and chemical studies were performed on some atypical lactobacilli from chicken meat in an attempt to clarify their taxonomy. The present study showed that the majority of the poultry strains could be allocated to the species Brochothrix thermosphacta, Lactobacillus divergens, and Lactobacillus piscicola. The majority of the remaining poultry strains fell into two distinct groups which were worthy of separate species status. Lactobacillus carnis was found to be a member of the species L. piscicola. On the basis of biochemical, physiological, and chemical criteria, we suggest that L. divergens, L. piscicola, and the two unidentified poultry taxa be classified in a new genus, Carnobacterium, as Carnobacterium divergens comb. nov., Carnobacterium piscicola comb. nov., Carnobacterium gallinarum sp. nov., and Carnobacterium mobile sp. nov. The type strains of C. gallinarum and C. mobile are NCFB 2766T and NCFB 2765T, respectively.
Myopia prevalence in school children of Aizawl district of Mizoram and relationship with environmental factors

Myopia may be caused by many factors like spending greater time looking at objects that are close, hereditary, environmental factors etc. Excessive close-up work, a high level of education, and participation in fewer outdoor activities were important environmental risk factors for myopia. Parental myopia has a significant effect on the development and progression of pediatric myopia. In the present investigation an attempt was made to correlate the myopic prevalence rate with some environmental factors like time spent on outdoor activity, time spent on electronic devises, effect of parent’s eye sight and economic status of the family.
Control of microbiologically induced corrosion and accumulation of solids in a seawater flood system

Control of sessile bacteria (mainly sulfate reducers) is important for controlling microbiologically-induced corrosion (MIC) and suspended solids in a large seawater flood system. Bactericide treatments and mechanical cleaning are the major bacteria control methods; when combined with oxygen removal, pH control, and flow maintenance, they permit relatively troublefree operation in terms of corrosion and water quality. Coupon corrosion rates decreased from monthly averages as high as 0.5 mm/y down to <0.05 mm/y when the sessile sulfate reducing bacteria counts decreased from about 4 x 10/sup 5/ cells/cm/sup 2/ down to 6 x 10/sup 2/. A suitable monitoring program is required for a timely detection of potential problems and for treatment evaluations. Sessile bacteria counts and bactericide demand are two of the techniques found useful.
Effects of Heavy Metals on a Macroinvertebrate Assemblage from a Rocky Mountain Stream in Experimental Microcosms

Natural assemblages of stream benthic macroinvertebrates were collected using artificial substrates from a Rocky Mountain stream and exposed for 10 d to a mixture of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, and Zn) in stream microcosms. Metal levels were 0, 1×, 5×, and 10× where × = 1.1, 12, and 110 μg/L Cd, Cu, and Zn, respectively. The 1× treatment was similar to chronic criteria values recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for each metal and total metal levels measured in water at the Arkansas River, Colorado, a US EPA superfund site. Most ephemeropterans and plecopterans were sensitive to metals; however, some taxa within these groups were metal tolerant. Densities of Baetis tricaudatus (Ephemeroptera:Baetidae), Epeorus longimanus and Rhithrogena hageni (Ephemeroptera:Hepatageniidae), and Drunella grandis and D. doddsi (Ephemeroptera:Ephemerellidae) were reduced in the 1× treatment. The response of D. grandis to metals was size-dependent with small larvae being more sensitive than large ones (p = 0.02). Chironomids were generally tolerant to metals. These data show that a metal mixture was extremely toxic to stream macroinvertebrates from a Rocky Mountain stream. Our results were similar to field biomonitoring studies at the Arkansas River and Eagle River, Colorado, that examined the effects of metals on stream macroinvertebrate communities. We suggest that multispecies experiments using indigenous stream organisms be combined with field biomonitoring to rigorously define the biological effects of heavy metals on lotic systems.
FWI with DFP optimization using an approximate low-resolution Hessian

Quasi-Newton optimization methods have been shown to provide considerable improvements in the convergence rate of full waveform inversion (FWI). These methods use approximate Hessian matrices to generate an update direction. The DFP method uses an approximate Hessian which predicts observed changes in the gradient, while remaining nearest in a least-squares sense to the previous approximate Hessian. By using a lowresolution approximation to the Hessian to initialize the method, we attempt to increase the rate of convergence. This work is ongoing, currently there are significant challenges in using the inverse of the Hessian on the low-resolution scale to provide a meaningful inverse on the high-resolution scale.
Spatial layout, orientation relative to the observer, and perceived projection in pictures viewed at an angle.

Judgments of the spatial layout of a three-dimensional array of pictured dowels remain relatively constant as viewing angle changes, whereas judgments of their orientation relative to the observer (perceived orientation) vary. These changes in perceived orientation as viewing angle changes, called the differential rotation effect (DRE), also occur for stimuli such as the eyes in portraits, which are not extended in pictorial space. Thus, the mechanism for the DRE does not depend on the extension of pictured objects in depth. The DRE is decreased when back-illuminated pictures are viewed in the dark so that the picture plane is not visible. This result suggests that the DRE depends on information that defines a pictured object's direction relative to the picture plane. The difference in the way spatial layout and perceived orientation are affected by changes in viewing angle suggests that it is important to distinguish between these two attributes of pictures. In addition, another attribute, the picture's projection, should be distinguished from spatial layout and perceived orientation. When these distinctions are not made, the result is confusion, particularly when discussing whether or not pictures viewed at an angle appear distorted. Language: en
Populations of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the gut of farmed giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii

A B S T R A C T In this study, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa populations in the gut of the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii cultured in an Aqua farm at Nallepully, Palakkad, Kerala, India, was investigated to understand the quarantine and food safety. The physico-chemical characteristics of pond water was as follow: temperature, 24.2±0.6oC; pH, 6.7±0.3; DO, 6.5±0.4; TDS, 1200±27; BOD, 42±3.9; COD, 140±7.2 and ammonia, 0.24±0.03 mg/l. These parameters fall within the recommended range prescribed for aquaculture of M. rosenbergii. The digestive tract was dissected out, homogenized with phosphate buffered saline (pH, 7.2) under aseptic condition, the homogenate was serially diluted and the aliquot was seeded over the surface of nutrient agar plates and incubated. E. coli was cultured on Trypticase soy agar and MacConkey agar, and P. aeruginosa was cultured Pseudomonas isolation agar medium, and they were identified and confirmed by routine biochemical tests. Among the two bacterial species, E. coli was the most abundant at 7.6×10 5 cfu/g than P. aeruginosa, 2.4×10 5 cfu/g. In this study, though E. coli is a beneficial bacterium but its population was at risk, whereas P. aeruginosa is a harmful bacterium and its population should be limited under the check in the culture pond to maintain quality production of M. rosenbergii. K e y w o r d s Macrobrachium rosenbergii,
Predicting children's social and school adjustment following the transition from preschool to kindergarten.

LADD, GARY W. , and PRICE, JOSEPH M. Predicting Children's Social and School Adjustment Following the Transition from Preschool to Kindergarten. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1987, 58, 1168-1189. Research on early school transitions is important because the reputations children establish at the outset of grade school may follow them through many years of formal schooling. The purpose of this study was to explore the transition from preschool to kindergarten and to identify factors that predict children's social and school adjustment in new school environments. A sample of 58 children was identified prior to their entrance into kindergarten, and parent and school data were collected at 3 times of measurement: late preschool, early kindergarten, and late kindergarten. Children's prior behavior and the kindergarten peer context were among the factors found to predict posttransition social adjustment. Children who were cooperative "players" in preschool were seen as more sociable by kindergarten teachers, and children who pursued more extensive positive contacts with preschool classmates tended to become well liked by their kindergarten classmates. In contrast, children who spent more time in aggressive behaviors and who had a broader pattern of negative peer contacts in preschool were more likely to be rejected by peers and to be seen as hostileaggressive by teachers in kindergarten. Both experiential antecedents and concomitant features of the transition context emerged as predictors of school adjustment. Time spent in interactions with younger peers in preschool was negatively related to positive school attitudes throughout kindergarten, and the duration of children's preschool attendance and range of experiences with peers in other community contexts was negatively related to anxious behavior in the classroom and absences from school. Children who retained a larger proportion of their nonschool friendships during the transition had more favorable attitudes at the beginning of kindergarten, and those who attended class with a larger proportion of familiar peers tended to view school more positively and were less anxious at the outset of the school year.
How safe are titanium clips for appendiceal base in laparoscopic appendicectomy?

Background: The most important step in appendectomy is the closure of the stump. There a lot of variations to appendiceal stump closure as newer methods have been introduced although a consensus has not been reached as to which is best method. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and ease of use of titanium clips versus conventional knotting for appendiceal stump closure in laparoscopic appendicectomy. Methods: A total of 90 patients were included in this study, 45 in each group. The patients were divided into two groupsThe first group included patients undergoing Endoclip closure (EC) and the second group included patients undergoing suturing (S). Results: In this study majority of patients belonged to the age group of less than 20 years, that is 57.8% in EC group and 40% in S group. In study group mean time of surgery was found to be 57.20+/-1.254 minutes. In control group it was 66.89+/-1.72 9minutes. P value was found to be significant. There were no intra operative or post-operative complications noted in both groups. Post-operative pain was comparable among both the groups. Conclusion: It can be concluded that titanium endoclips can be safely used for closure of appendiceal stump. It has several advantages like shorter time of surgery and lesser learning curve.
Detection of 987p positive Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by Polymerase Chain Reaction

p fimbriae is one of the adhesive fimbriae antigens of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. A polymerase chain reaction(PCR) method was developed to detect 987p positive Escherichia coli by means of amplifing 987p fimbriae gene. The primer used in this assay was designed from the conserved section of 987p structural gene sequences. The detection specificity of this PCR method was confirmed with PCR assay of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli reference strains, Salmonella typhimurium, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus as well as Pasteurella pneumotropica. 20 Escherichia coli strains isolated from 1 to 7 days old diarrhea piglets were detected with this PCR method, and one of these is positive for the enterotoxigenic property. And the same result was achieved with slide agglutination.The results demonstrated that this PCR was specific and sensitive. It will be useful for identification of 987p positive Escherichia coli strains.
GHK-Copper Peptide in Ski n Remodeling and Anti-Aging

Since the dawn of time, people have tried to discover the secret of eternal youth and find a way to reverse aging. Among the most popular ingredients of the elusive elixir of youth sought by ancient mages and alchemists were herbs, powdered gems, gold, silver and mercury as well as animal parts and extracts. The most common belief was that the »essence of youth« can be transferred from young to old people - often in a form of blood or other body fluids. Today it is known that plasma and other body fluids (such as saliva) indeed contain a multitude of soluble growth factors that can enhance reparative and renewing activity of various cells and tissues (1). Of course neither blood nor saliva or other fluids produced by the human body can be used in cosmetics. Therefore the biological regulators with proven scientific activity that can be purified or produced by chemical synthesis are of particular interest for the cosmetic industry. One of the anti-aging activities that is present in human plasma and saliva is a human tri-peptide with an amino acid sequence glycyl-L-histidyl-L-lysine and high affinity for copper (II) (Fig. 1), isolated in 1973 by Dr. L. Pickart. First discovered as an activity in human plasma albumin that causes old human liver tissue to synthesize proteins like younger tissue, today GHK-Cu is widely used as a cosmetic ingredient with confirmed anti-aging and reparative properties (2).
Evaluation of plant products against red spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch infesting tuberose

Under laboratory conditions, the acaricidal efficacy of aqueous extracts from 15 different plant parts were evaluated against two spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch. Among the tested plants, the fruits of Solanum virginianum caused 88.89% adult mortality of T. urticae at 10 per cent concentration on 72 hours after treatment (HAT) with LC50 value 2.56% which was statistically superior to all other treatments. Next to S. virginianum, Polyalthia longifolia, Bougainvillea glabra, Datura stramonium, Tecoma stans, Lawsonia inermis leaves and Carica papaya seeds showed mite mortality of 68.89, 66.67, 64.44, 62.22, 61.11 and 60.00%, respectively which were statistically on par. Further, the aqueous extracts of Argemone mexicana, Lawsonia inermis seeds, Limonia acidissima and Piper betle caused mortality of 55.56, 42.22, 40.00, 40.00%, respectively. Whereas aqueous extracts of Aristolochia bracteata, Eichornea crassipes, Albizia amara and Ziziphus jujuba recorded 36.67, 35.56, 32.22 and 28.89% mortality, respectively. The repellent, oviposition deterrence and ovicidal properties were evaluated and S. virginianum was found to be superior among the screened products with 56.18% repellency, 55.69% oviposition deterrence and 48.89% ovicidal activity.
Psychobiotics; A Promise for Neurodevelopmental Therapy

The inseparable association between man and microbes has long been known and some of their benefits are well documented. However, the use of bacteria as therapeutics has attracted much interest. Much is known about the ability of gut microbes to enhance immunity, lower cholesterol levels, improve gut barrier functions and many more benefits. Although it is evident that the gut and brain communicate through biochemical signaling which often involves the gut microbiota, it is still not clear whether or not gut manipulations through probiotic administration can correct or treat neurological problems. Many studies have shown that patients with neurodegenerative diseases also have gut dysbiosis and other studies have also shown the ability of certain gut bacteria to synthesize neurotransmitters. Yet, do these probiotics produce enough neuroactive chemicals to influence physiology? Are there precautions to be taken, since such probiotics may cause undesirable effects? This review discusses our current knowledge on the ability of probiotics to affect the central nervous system (CNS) and their potential use in neurodegenerative therapy. Some knowledge gaps left in this area of research have also been highlighted.
MODELLING AND FORECASTING UNEMPLOYMENT RATES IN NIGERIA USING ARIMA MODEL

Unemployment rate is a big macroeconomic issue of our time. Unemployment disrupts lives and is associated with an irrecoverable loss of real output. This paper aims to modeling and forecast the evolution of unemployment rates in Nigeria using ARIMA model on annual data for the period of 1972 to 2014. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test for unit root was carried out on the unemployment rate time series, the result revealed a stationary time series at first difference. The empirical study revealed that the most adequate model for modelling and forecasting the unemployment rates within this period in Nigeria is ARIMA (2,1,2). The forecast of unemployment rate in Nigeria revealed an increasing rate from 2015 to 2017 while a slight decrease in 2018. During this period of 2015 to 2018 unemployment rates is still very high in Nigeria. This present administration should focus on capital project that has the capacity to create employment.
Comprehensive analysis of two potential novel SARS-CoV-2 entries, TMPRSS2 and IFITM3, in healthy individuals and cancer patients

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, with acute respiratory failure as the most significant symptom, has led to a global pandemic. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is considered as the most important receptor of SARS-CoV-2 and wildly expressed in human tissues. Whereas, the extremely low expression of ACE2 in lung could hardly interpret the severe symptom of pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. Here we profiled two SARS-CoV-2 infection related genes, the transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) and the interferon-inducible transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3), in human tissues and organs. Consistent with the expression and distribution of ACE2, TMPRSS2 was also highly expressed in digestive, urinary and reproductive systems, but low expressed in lung. Notably, the anti-virus protein IFITM3 also expressed much lower in lung than other tissues, which might be related to the severe lung symptoms of COVID-19. In addition, the low expression of IFITM3 in immune cells suggested that SARS-CoV-2 might attack lymphocytes and induce the cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Furthermore, cancer patients were considered as more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our data supposed that fourteen types of tumors might have different susceptibility to the virus according to ACE2, TMPRSS2 and IFITM3 expression patterns. Interestingly the prognosis of six types of cancers including breast carcinoma (BRCA), lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC), renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC), prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD), and hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) were closely related to these gene expressions. Our study explored the expression and distribution profiles of two potential novel molecules that might participate in SARS-CoV-2 infection and involved in immunity, which may provide a functional basis for preventing infection of SARS-CoV-2.