Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Secondary seed dormancy prolongs persistence of volunteer canola in western Canada

Abstract In western Canada, little is known about the seedbank ecology of volunteer canola. Therefore, integrated recommendations for the management of this weed are limited. In this study, we investigated the seedbank persistence and seedling recruitment of two spring canola genotype groups with different secondary seed dormancy potentials under contrasting tillage systems. The study was conducted at two locations with different soils in the Mixed Moist Grassland ecoregion of Saskatchewan. A single cohort seedbank was established in 1999 and was followed for 3 yr in successive wheat crops. In a separate laboratory study, the six canola genotypes examined were classified as those with high and those with medium potentials for the development of secondary seed dormancy (HD and MD, respectively). After one, two, and three winters, maximum persistence of 44, 1.4, and 0.2% of the original seedbank was observed among the treatments, respectively. In 2001, HD canola genotypes tended to exhibit 6- to 12-fold greater persistence than MD canola genotypes, indicating lower seedbank mortality in HD canola. Seedling recruitment of HD canola also was higher than MD canola when differences were observed between these genotype groups. Therefore, long-term seedbank persistence of canola can be reduced by growing genotypes with low inherent potential for the development of secondary seed dormancy. The proportion of persisting seeds tended to be higher under conventional tillage than under zero tillage because of lower seedbank mortality, but no clear distinction in seedbank persistence in terms of absolute time could be made between these two tillage systems. Volunteer canola seedling recruitment followed the pattern of a typical summer-annual weed, where seedling emergence was observed only during May and June. Nomenclature: Canola, Brassica napus L. ; wheat, Triticum aestivum L.
Biovacc-19: A Candidate Vaccine for Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Developed from Analysis of its General Method of Action for Infectivity

Abstract This study presents the background, rationale and method of action of Biovacc-19, a candidate vaccine for corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19), now in advanced preclinical development, which has already passed the first acute toxicity testing. Unlike conventionally developed vaccines, Biovacc-19’s method of operation is upon nonhuman-like (NHL) epitopes in 21.6% of the composition of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)’s spike protein, which displays distinct distributed charge including the presence of a charged furin-like cleavage site. The logic of the design of the vaccine is explained, which starts with empirical analysis of the aetiology of SARS-CoV-2. Mistaken assumptions about SARS-CoV-2’s aetiology risk creating ineffective or actively harmful vaccines, including the risk of antibody-dependent enhancement. Such problems in vaccine design are illustrated from past experience in the human immunodeficiency viruses domain. We propose that the dual effect general method of action of this chimeric virus’s spike, including receptor binding domain, includes membrane components other than the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor, which explains clinical evidence of its infectivity and pathogenicity. We show the nonreceptor dependent phagocytic general method of action to be specifically related to cumulative charge from insertions placed on the SARS-CoV-2 spike surface in positions to bind efficiently by salt bridge formations; and from blasting the spike we display the NHL epitopes from which Biovacc-19 has been down-selected.
Spatial distribution of subtidal meiobenthos along estuarine gradients in two southern European estuaries (Portugal)

The spatial variation in abundance and composition of subtidal meiobenthos communities was studied in two Portuguese estuaries under distinct degrees of anthropogenic pressure. Samples were collected from 20 sampling stations along both estuarine gradients from freshwater (<0.5) to euhaline areas (>30). Of these stations 11 were located in the Mondego estuary, a system exposed to high anthropogenic stress, and 9 in the Mira estuary, a naturally stressed system located inside the Natural Park ‘Costa Vicentina’ (south-western coast of Portugal). Total meiobenthos density was higher in the Mira estuary and in both estuaries the community was dominated by nematodes. Among the twelve taxa identified in the Mira estuary, Harpacticoid copepods and Polychaeta were the second and the third most abundant groups respectively. In the Mondego estuary, Polychaeta was the second while Harpacticoid copepods was the third most abundant group in the thirteen total taxa recorded. Estuarine gradients of salinity, particles size and water nutrients were clearly detected in both estuaries and there was significant spatial heterogeneity in abundance and composition of the subtidal meiobenthos communities along these environmental gradients. Accordingly, three distinct sections were identified in both estuaries: (i) freshwater sections, where total density, and density of nematodes and Harpacticoid copepods reached minimum values; (ii) oligohaline and mesohaline sections, where the total density was low and diversity was poor; and (iii) polyhaline and euhaline sections, where both total density and diversity reached the highest values. The similar spatial distribution of meiobenthos assemblages in both estuaries suggests that natural stressors may be the major factors controlling the physicochemical conditions that determine meiobenthos community patterns. The mesoscale variability of subtidal meiobenthos density and composition within estuaries (in the order of kilometres) seems to be more important than the variability between estuaries (at the scale of hundreds of kilometres), a common feature in intertidal systems. From the management point of view, these results, based on higher taxa resolution, represent an obvious constraint to the applicability of ecological quality evaluation tools.
Cat's claw creeper leaf-mining jewel beetle Hylaeogena jureceki Obenberger (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a host-specific biological control agent for Dolichandra unguis-cati (Bignoniaceae) in Australia

Cat's claw creeper, Dolichandra unguis-cati (L.) L.G. Lohman (syn: Macfadyena unguis-cati (L.) A.H. Gentry) (Bignoniaceae), a major environmental weed in Queensland and New South Wales, is a Weed of National Significance and an approved target for biological control. A leaf-mining jewel beetle, Hylaeogena jureceki Obenberger (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), first collected in 2002 from D. unguis-cati in Brazil and Argentina, was imported from South Africa into a quarantine facility in Brisbane in 2009 for host-specificity testing. H. jureceki adults chew holes in leaves and lay eggs on leaf margins and the emerging larvae mine within the leaves of D. unguis-cati. The generation time (egg to adult) of H. jureceki under quarantine conditions was 55.4 ± 0.2 days. Host-specificity trials conducted in Australia on 38 plant species from 11 families supplement and support South African studies which indicated that H. jureceki is highly host-specific and does not pose a risk to any non-target plant species in Australia. In no-choice tests, adults survived significantly longer (>32 weeks) on D. unguis-cati than on non-target test plant species (<3 weeks). Oviposition occurred on D. unguis-cati and one non-target test plant species, Citharexylum spinosum (Verbenaceae), but no larval development occurred on the latter species. In choice tests involving D. unguis-cati, C. spinosum and Avicennia marina (Avicenniaceae), feeding and oviposition were evident only on D. unguis-cati. The insect was approved for field release in Australia in May 2012.
Impacts of Employee Development and Marketing Capacity on Product Innovation: A Case of Small and Medium Enterprises in Vietnam

This research aims at examining the impacts of employee development and marketing capacity on product innovation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hanoi. After 3 month of collecting data, the author received 287 responses and 249 responses left after refining. The findings from the research indicate that there are positive impacts of employee development and marketing capacity on product innovation of SEMs. However, marketing capacity had the stronger impact on product innovation. The findings confirm that the theories on impacts of employee development and marketing capacity on product innovation can be applied in the context of SMEs in Vietnam. In order to improve product innovation, SMEs need to pay attention to both employee development and improving marketing capacity. Keywords: employee development, marketing capacity, employee development DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-15-09 Publication date: May 31 st 2020
Enhancement of jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) populations by extensive aquaculture rafts in a coastal lagoon in Taiwan

Lo, W-T. , Purcell, J. E. , Hung, J-J., Su, H-M. , and Hsu, P-K. 2008. Enhancement of jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) populations by extensive aquaculture rafts in a coastal lagoon in Taiwan. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 453-461.Blooms of the moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, often occur in coastal waters that are heavily affected by human construction, such as harbours. Tapong Bay is a hypertrophic lagoon in southwestern Taiwan that was studied between August 1999 and September 2004. The removal of extensive oyster-culture rafts in June 2002 provided a “natural” experiment to examine the effects of aquaculture on processes and communities in the lagoon. The removal caused many changes in the ecosystem, including increases in flushing, light penetration, dissolved oxygen, salinity, chlorophyll a, primary production, and zooplankton, but decreases in nutrients, periphyton, and dramatically reduced populations of bivalves, zooplanktivorous fish, and jellyfish (A. aurita). We conclude that environmental and trophic conditions were favourable for jellyfish throughout the study period. Therefore, we believe that aquaculture rafts enhanced jellyfish populations by three probable mechanisms: the rafts provided substrate and shading for the larval settlement and polyp colony formation, and the rafts restricted water exchange in the lagoon. Aquaculture is increasing rapidly in Asia, and the problems associated with jellyfish may also increase.
Improved In Vitro Methods for Determining Limestone and Oyster Shell Solubility

Abstract Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of changing the acid volume, acid normality, and incubation time on in vitro solubility values of various test calcium samples. A 200 mL volume of 0.2N HC1 solution combined with 2.0 g sample size and 10 min incubation time at 42°C produced a limestone solubility range of 20.96% to 78.15% for the samples used. This procedure produced a model for determining limestone or oyster shell weight loss (WL): WL = 1.809 + 0.601 × ln (pH change) (adjusted R2=.961); solubility percentage was calculated as WL × 100/initial sample weight. This in vitro solubility procedure produced a higher limestone solubility range for the test samples, indicating its ability to better distinguish among different quality limestone and oyster shell sources. An in vitro assay using less than 2g of sample produced a higher standard error of the mean when large-particle limestone and oyster shell samples were tested.
Risk factors of hospital admissions and recurrent emergency department visits among pediatric asthma patients

Asthma is considered to be a prevalent disease that often goes undetected in the primary-care setting. Particularly among children, it is observed that the asthma occurrence is rising globally. Among Saudi children, the prevalence differs from one area to another in the same country. In Alhofuf, it was reported the highest prevalence (33.7%), while the lowest was reported in Abha (9%). The asthmatic patients admitted to emergency departments (ED) failed to manage their disease, suffering critical breathing difficulties, and are repeatedly admitted to the hospital. However, one visit is not satisfactory; there are more severe cases that frequently visit the ED. A web-based literature search using the advanced features of various databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Google Scholar, Directory of Open Access Journals, and Cochrane electronic databases was carried out. Our study recognized many factors that increase the risk of repeated ED visits for the crisis-oriented care of asthma.
Analysis of Spatial and Frequency Proximity on Performance of Small Loop and Dipole Antennas

Of great interest in the many fields of communication is the requirement to place numerous small antenna elements in close proximity or even inside one another for diversity or mutiband usage. This letter aims to describe the effects of such adjacency in terms of physical distance and operating frequencies as a function of the volume overlap of circumscribing Wheeler–Chu spheres. We investigate any potential bandwidth advantage or in shared near-field space and define tradeoffs between space minimization and acceptable degradation for electrically small antennas. We find that contrary to popular belief among many antenna designers, it is not possible for two antennas having similar modes to reuse volume without suffering degradation in performance, particularly bandwidth.
Nectin-1α, an Immunoglobulin-like Receptor Involved in the Formation of Synapses, Is a Substrate for Presenilin/γ-Secretase-like Cleavage*

Nectin-1 is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily and a Ca2+-independent adherens junction protein involved in synapse formation. Here we show that nectin-1α undergoes intramembrane proteolytic processing analogous to that of the Alzheimer's disease amyloid precursor protein, mediated by a presenilin (PS)-dependent γ-secretase-like activity. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment of Chinese hamster ovary cells activated a first proteolytic event, resulting in ectodomain shedding of nectin-1α. Subsequent cleavage of the remaining 26-kDa membrane-anchored C-terminal fragment (CTF) was inhibited independently by three specific γ−secretase inhibitors and by expression of the dominant negative form of PS1. The PS/γ-secretase-like cleavage product was detected in vivofollowing proteasome inhibitor treatment of cells. An in vitro γ-secretase assay confirmed the generation of a 24-kDa nectin-1α intracellular domain, peripherally associated with the membrane fraction. We also found nectin-1α to interact with the N-terminal fragment of PS1. Finally, γ-secretase inhibition resulted in β-catenin release from cell junctions, concomitantly with the accumulation of the 26-kDa nectin-1α CTF, suggesting that high levels of nectin-1α CTF interfere with TPA-induced remodeling of cell-cell junctions. Our results are consistent with a previously reported role for PS/γ-secretase in adherens junction function involving cleavage of cadherins. Similar to nectin-1, other members of the immunoglobulin superfamily involved in synapse formation may also serve as substrates for PS/γ-secretase-like intramembrane proteolytic activity.
A general kinetic model for iron acquisition by eukaryotic phytoplankton

The conventional model of iron uptake in marine eukaryotic phytoplankton—the Fe′ model—suggests a dependency of uptake rate on the concentration of unchelated iron species (Fe′), and not the concentration of total iron or iron chelated with organic ligands. However, iron in seawater is bound by strong organic ligands that buffer such low Fe′ concentrations that they should not support phytoplankton growth. Studies that show uptake and extracellular reduction of siderophore‐bound iron by diatoms and provide indications that the iron uptake system of phytoplankton may be similar to that of yeast in which extracellular reduction is a prerequisite for uptake, call for revisions of the Fe′ model. In this paper we propose a new model for iron uptake by diatoms in which extracellular reduction of all Fe species is a necessary step for iron acquisition. Experiments verifying the predictions of the model are presented. In particular we show data supporting the fact that Fe(II) is formed as an intermediate during Fe uptake from all experimental media, including those buffered by Fe(III)EDTA. This model reconciles the standing Fe′ model with new data and concepts on reduction of iron chelates and provides a convenient framework for designing and interpreting iron uptake experiments in a variety of natural and artificial media.
The Uncertainty Principle in Control Theory for Partial Differential Equations

In this thesis, we will study the interaction between problems in control theory for partial differential equations and inequalities of the uncertainty principle type. The main results will concern the boundary observability of the viscoelastic wave equation and energy decay rates of damped wave equations. In the boundary case, we will prove what may be viewed as a higher dimensional version of Ingham’s inequality, replacing the complex exponentials with Laplacian eigenfunctions. For energy decay rates on the real line, we will use a version of the PaneahLogvinenko-Sereda theorem for functions with Fourier support contained in multiple intervals. We prove the exact variation which we need and apply it to internal observability as well as decay rates for damped wave equations as well. We also give partial results in higher dimensions and some open problems. We will also investigate the connection between compactness of localization operators and uncertainty principles from an abstract harmonic analysis perspective. We give some general results which are applied to the wavelet transform.
Biocatalytic potential of protease-resistant phytase of Aspergillus oryzae SBS50 in ameliorating food nutrition

Abstract Production of protease-resistant phytase by Aspergillus oryzae SBS50 was optimized in solid state fermentation using wheat bran as substrate. An integrated statistical optimization approach involving the Placket–Burman design followed by response surface methodology was employed. Among all the variables tested, incubation period, triton X-100, moisture ratio, and magnesium sulphate were identified as significant and further optimized using response surface methodology that resulted in 3.35-fold improvement in phytase production from 55.43 to 185.75 U/g dry mouldy bran (DMB). Optimal conditions for maximum phytase production (185.75 U/g DMB) included wheat bran 10 g per 250 ml flask moistened with 35 ml distilled water supplemented with 3.0% triton X-100, 0.04% magnesium sulphate, 1.0% sucrose and 0.5% yeast extract incubated at 30 °C for an incubation time of 48 h. Phytase titers were sustainable (179.55 to 185.75 U/g DMB), when the mould was grown in shake flasks of varied volumes and enamel-coated metallic trays under optimized conditions. Fermentation time was reduced to half from 96 h to 48 h after optimization resulting in a 6.7-fold enhancement in the phytase productivity from 577.39 to 3868.75 U/Kg/h and thus, reducing the cost of enzyme production. Phytase released inorganic phosphate, reducing sugars and soluble proteins from different food samples in a time dependent manner as a result of phytate hydrolysis.
Interactions of β-carotene and cigarette smoke in human bronchial epithelial cells

Results from recent intervention trials indicated that supplemental beta-carotene enhances lung cancer incidence and mortality among smokers. It was hypothesized that beta-carotene was exerting its deleterious effects through a prooxidant effect in the smoke-exposed lung. To test this hypothesis we examined the interactions of beta-carotene and cigarette smoke in transformed human bronchial epithelial cells. We studied the effects of beta-carotene supplementation on rates of gas phase smoke-induced lipid peroxidation, membrane damage and depletion of endogenous antioxidants in BEAS-2B cells. Gas phase cigarette smoke caused cellular beta-carotene levels to decrease over time. The oxidation of beta-carotene by smoke generated various oxidation products, including 4-nitro-beta-carotene, beta-apo-carotenals and beta-carotene epoxides. Peroxidation of membrane lipids by gas phase smoke progressed at a slower rate than did oxidation of beta-carotene and incorporation of beta-carotene into the cells did not enhance the overall rate of lipid peroxidation. Additionally, lactate dehydrogenase release during smoke exposure was also unaffected by the presence or absence of beta-carotene in cells. beta-Carotene incorporation in cells was not found to accelerate the rates of alpha-tocopherol and glutathione depletion by cigarette smoke. Our results indicate that beta-carotene is more sensitive than lipids to cigarette smoke oxidation, but that this preferential oxidation of beta-carotene does not lead to a prooxidant effect in human bronchial epithelial cells.
Persuasive mHealth behavioural change interventions to promote healthy lifestyle

Promoting a healthy lifestyle has attracted a significant amount of attention in recent years. This is also the case in workplaces, where the focus on wellbeing at work and changes in personal health behaviours has been raised. Technology-enhanced interventions are a possible solution for motivating people towards healthy lifestyle promotion, such as healthy eating and physical activity (PA). Persuasive applications have been proposed as a promising technique for fostering behavioural change and promoting healthy lifestyles. The major limitation of most existing mobile health (mHealth) applications is that they are not grounded in theoretical concepts. On the other hand, value propositions (VPs) might increase the effectiveness of persuasive applications. This study aimed to develop mHealth behavioural change interventions, that is, persuasive mHealth applications based on psychological theories to promote healthy eating and PA in the workplace. Four VPs were proposed and implemented to enhance the efficacy of the persuasive mHealth application. Elaborated Intrusion (EI) theory was applied to develop a healthy eating application (iCrave) and self-determination theory (SDT) was used to develop a PA application (iGO). iCrave allowed users to track their snack cravings and record whether they chose to eat healthily or unhealthily. iGO allowed users to promote their PA, and to decide whether to select PA after breakfast or lunch. The design of the applications was performed by an iterative Usercentered design (UCD) process. The feasibility of the applications was assessed by experimental studies with quantitative and qualitative surveys. The results of the study demonstrate that the design process of the applications was a successful approach and can be used in future persuasive mHealth applications.