Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
REDUCING PHOSPHORUS RUNOFF AND INHIBITING AMMONIA LOSS FROM POULTRY MANURE WITH ALUMINUM SULFATE

Applications of aluminum sulfate (Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 . 14H 2 O), commonly referred to as alum, to poultry litter have been shown to decrease P runoff from lands fertilized with litter and to inhibit NH 3 volatilization. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of alum applications in commercial broiler houses on: (i) NH 3 volatilization (in-house), (ii) poultry production, (iii) litter chemistry, and (iv) P runoff following litter application. Two farms were used for this study: one had six poultry houses and the other had four. The litter in half of the houses at each farm was treated with alum; the other houses were controls. Alum was applied at a rate of 1816 kg/house, which corresponded to 0.091 kg/bird. Each year the houses were cleaned in the spring and the litter was broadcast onto paired watersheds in tall fescue at each farm. Results from this study showed that alum applications lowered the litter pH, particularly during the first 3 to 4 wk of each growout. Reductions in litter pH resulted in less NH 3 volatilization, which led to reductions in atmospheric NH 3 in the alum-treated houses. Broilers grown on alum-treated litter were significantly heavier than controls (1.73 kg vs. 1.66 kg). Soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations in runoff from pastures fertilized with alum-treated litter averaged 73% lower than that from normal litter throughout a 3-yr period. These results indicate that alum-treatment of poultry litter is a very effective best management practice that reduces nonpoint source pollution while it increases agricultural productivity.
Synthesis and Characterization of Nanometer Copper Ferrite by Auto-Combustion

A simple method for preparing nanoscale copper ferrite particles with narrow distribution and uniform size was developed by auto-combusting the precursor using copper nitrate, iron nitrate, and malic acid as raw materials. The constituents and the thermal decomposition process of the precursor were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetry-differental thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the carboxyl and nitrate ion take part in the reaction during the auto-combustion process. The precursor decomposed completely at about 199 °C, to yield single phase product. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the average size of the as-burnt sample was about 90 nm.
Fabrication of pH-sensitive graphene oxide–drug supramolecular hydrogels as controlled release systems

A novel graphene oxide (GO)-based hydrogel with drug molecules as crosslinking agents was fabricated. Metformin hydrochloride (MFH), which has no aromatic groups, but only has N-containing functionalities, was chosen as a model drug. When a very small amount of MFH was introduced into a GO solution, a supramolecular assembled hydrogel was rapidly formed without any polymers or chemical additives. The gelation process can be influenced by the weight ratio of MFH to GO. The driving forces were hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction. Both air-dried and freeze-dried samples of GO–MFH hydrogels were utilized for controlled drug release in water (pH = 7) and hydrochloric acid (pH = 1, 3 and 5). The release mechanism of capsulated MFH was Fickian diffusion according to the fitted results. Both the freeze-dried and air-dried samples released around 74% of the MFH in a strongly acidic medium after 70 h, but only 50% in a neutral solution. This pH-sensitivity makes it a potential candidate for the controlled release of drugs in the acidic environment of the stomach.
Lanthanide Humic Substances Interactions Determined by Capillary Electrophoresis Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is well known for its strong binding capacity for trace metals. In order to better predict the role of DOM in the speciation and transport of trace metals in the environment capillary electrophoresis (CE), a molecular separation technique, was coupled to a Sector Field Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (SF-ICP-MS). The combination of these two techniques allows for the study of non-labile metal speciation in aquatic samples. An extensive theoretical analysis of metal-ligand separations on the molecular scale of a CE experiment was combined with numerical simulations and experimental tests to assure accurate quantitative results. It was found that the susceptibility of metal-ligand complexes to dissociation during a CE separation can be conveniently captured with a theoretical approximation of complex half-life. Complex half-life, thus is proposed to serve as a tool for assessing the likeliness of quantitative artifacts in CE-ICP-MS. By separating lanthanide complexes with EDTA and Humic Acids (i.e. strong stable ligand competition) we have been able to determine equilibrium binding constants for all 14 stable rare earth elements (REEs), Sc and Y with Suwannee river fulvic acid (SRFA) and Leonardite humic acid (LHA) at near environmental conditions (pH 6-9, 0.01 – 0.01 mol.L NaNO3, 100 nmol.L -1 Ln, 10 mg.L HS). Conditional binding constants for LnHS (Kc) were found to increase gradually by 2-3 orders of magnitude from La to Lu. This increasing relative affinity reflects the lanthanide contraction, a basic chemical property of the REEs related to the gradual decrease in ionic radius from La to Lu. LogKc values were found to gradually increase with increasing pH and decrease with increasing ionic strength. Additionally, LHA logKc’s were on average 1.5 log units higher than SRFA logKc’s with a total range of 9.0<logKc<16.5 for all REEs under all experimental conditions. These results confirm HS to be strong complexing agent in natural systems, and for the first time show experimental evidence for REE fractionation by HS complexation. The differential binding strength among the REEs towards HS provides a means to fractionate REEs in the aquatic geochemical cycle including weathering, river transport, and estuarine and open ocean processes. In order to provide for a flexible means to study these processes, the experimental data was fitted with the Non Ideal Competitive Adsorption (NICA) – Donnan model, that predicts continuous metal-HS speciation as a function of pH and IS. The NICADonnan model itself is included as an object in ORCHESTRA (Objects Representing Chemical Speciation and Transport), a novel reactive transport speciation program that can couple HS – particle – metal interactions in a competitive way and along multi-dimensional gradients.
Wetting on the Molecular Scale and the Role of Water. A Case Study of Wetting of Hydrophilic Silica Surfaces

The role of water, vapor or layer adsorbed on the solid surface, in the spreading of molecular films is not fully recognized at the present time. The aim of this paper is to provide examples of the influence of water on the thickness profiles of spreading microdroplets, recorded using spatially resolved ellipsometry. The analysis of experimental data is done in reference to a recent theory of de Gennes (de Gennes, P. G.; Cazabat, A. M. C. R. Acad. Sci., Ser. II 1990, 310, 1601) on the spontaneous spreading of incompressible, nonvolatile liquids. A tentative discussion on the role of water on molecular friction, local chemical potential in the film, or solid−liquid interaction energies is presented.
Vapor Deposition of Diamond Particles from Methane

Microcrystalline diamond has been formed on silicon or molybdenum substrates by vapor deposition from a geseous mixture of methane and hydrogen. Cubo-octahedral or multiply-twinned crystals were obtained. The structure of the deposits was identified by electron diffraction and Raman scattering.
Micro structure fabrication with a simplified hot embossing method

A facile hot embossing method—low pressure hot embossing (LPHE)—is reported in this paper. Compared with large and expensive hot embossing machines, just an oven is used for heating with a compact self-designed loading device inside to apply pressure. Due to the small loading device, only a low embossing pressure can be applied. Micro linear arrays were successfully fabricated with this method and the embossing process was systemically investigated. Orthogonal arrays were used to analyze the hot embossing behavior under a low embossing pressure. As LPHE is easy to realize at a cheap price, it is very helpful for researchers interested in fabricating micro structures such as micro fluidic chips used in prototype experiments.
The Effect of CaCl2 as The Cross Linked Agent on Physic and Chemistry Properties of Whey Protein Edible Film

The aim of this research was to know effect percentage CaCl 2 addition as the cross linked agent on physic and chemistry properties of whey protein edible film. The design of this research was completely randomized design, consisted of four treatments: C1 (CaCl 2 0.15%), C2 (CaCl 2 0.20%), C3 (CaCl 2 0.25%) and C4 (CaCl 2 0.30%) which each treatment had three repetitions. The variables were water vapor permeability (wvp), protein solubility, microstructure and electroforetic. The result showed that there was highly significant effect (P<0.01) of the addition CaCl 2 on the wvp and protein solubility. C2 treatment gave lower wvp value and protein solubility. CaCl 2 addition gave structure of edible film look like porous and not flat on its surface. The electroresis look occured at band more thin with molecular weight 14-18 kDa. Keywords : edible film whey prtein, CaCl 2
Performance of Pot-Grown Seedlings of the Dipterocarp Dryobalanops lanceolata with Controlled-Release Fertilizer after Transplantation to the Shifting Cultivation Land in Sarawak, Malaysia

In the present study, the focus was placed on the survival, growth, nutrient status, and ectomycorrhizal formation of pot-grown dipterocarps treated with a controlled-release fertilizer or a chemical fertilizer when transplanted to abandoned shifting cultivation land. Either a chemical fertilizer (CF) or a 700-day controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) had been applied to Dryobalanops lanceolata seedlings at the rates of 0, 2, 5, and 10 g fertilizers per pot in the nursery of the Forest Research Station Niah (FRSN), Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. The seedlings were cultivated for 18 months in the nursery, and then transplanted to abandoned shifting cultivation land around the FRSN. At 16 months after transplantation, the plants in the CRF treatments showed a good performance in terms of growth and survival ability, because of the sufficient amounts of nutrients accumulated in plants with a sound shoot form and high photosynthetic activity at the nursery stage. On the other hand, many saplings in the CF treatments at the rates of 5 g and 10 g died in the field due to their spindly shoot form and low photosynthetic activity in the nursery, even though the saplings that survived showed on adequate growth. Therefore, the application of slow-release type CRF in the nursery was considered to be feasible and suitable for successful establishment of a dipterocarp plantation in the field. Ectomycorrhizal fungus present in the nursery would sustain and be correlated with P uptake of the saplings after transplantation.
The reconstruction and relaxation of Ir(110) and Au(110) surfaces

We have applied medium‐energy ion scattering using channeling and blocking to study the Au(110) and Ir(110) surfaces. Both surfaces are composed of rows of close‐packed atoms which, when atomically clean, exhibit (1×2) reconstructions, i.e., a doubling of the unit cell in the direction perpendicular to the rows. We find that the Au(110) reconstruction corresponds to a missing row structure with a large contraction of the first interplanar spacing. We directly show that the contraction is accompanied by deep, multilayer distortions of the surface. The clean Ir(110) surface is similar to Au(110), characterized by a missing row reconstruction but with a smaller contraction of the first interplanar spacing. We have also examined the phase transition on Ir(110) from a (1×2) structure to an oxygen stabilized (1×1) structure. For the two phases, the yield of backscattered ions shows drastic differences only observable in the blocking directions, differences that could not have been observed in a conventional ion.
The influence of pH and chloride on the retention of cadmium, lead, mercury, and zinc by soils

Abstract The extent of contamination of soils by toxic heavy metals not only depends on the rate of loading of the metal but also on the nature of the adsorbing surfaces, the degree of alkalinity or acidity of the soil and the presence of aqueous complexant ligands. This work reports on the role of pH on the retention of Cd, Hg, Pb and Zn by two soils and on the influence of the chloride, Cl‐, ion on the chemical speciation and retention of the four metals. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted from pH 3 to 7 in the presence of either 0.1 M LiCl or LiClO4. The results of the study showed that high concentrations of Cl‐ ions can greatly decrease the retention of Hg and have an increasingly lesser effect on Cd, Pb and Zn retention. The effect of the Cl‐ons was directly related to the metal‐Cl formation constants. The results of computer modeling of Cd and Hg retention by goethite and humic acid fractions indicated the relative importance of aqueous vs. surface complexation on metal retention. For orga.
Mechanical properties (hardness and adhesion) of a‐C:H thin films produced by dual ion beam sputtering

Hydrogenated amorphous carbon films (a‐C:H) are very hard, inert to organic solvents and inorganic acids, and relatively transparent. This combination of mechanical and optical properties makes such material an ideal candidate for optical coatings. The dual ion beam sputtering technique has been used for a‐C:H thin‐film deposition. By the ultramicrohardness Knoop indentation and scratch test technique, hardness and adhesion of samples have been measured. The correlation between hardness value at an indentation size of 10 μm and ion beam energy of the second gun is reported.
An air-stable d9 nickel(I) catenate: stabilisation of monovalent nickel by interlocked macrocyclic ligands

The catenand cat-30 forms a d9 nickel(I) complex by electroreduction of the nickel(II) precursor, Ni(cat-30)2+; owing to the particular arrangement of the co-ordinating subunits and to the special topology of the ligand, the nickel(I) complex displays exceptional redox stability.
Serum Retinol, α-Tocopherol, and β-Carotene Levels Are Not Altered by Excess Ingestion of Diacylglycerol-Containing Plant Sterol Esters

Background: Diacylglycerol (DAG) suppresses the postprandial increase in serum triglycerides, and has antiobesity effects. On the other hand, plant sterol esters (PSE) lower serum cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemia. Thus, DAG-containing PSE (PSE/DAG) would be expected to maintain an appropriate serum cholesterol level and decrease the risk of arteriosclerotic disorders. Several recent studies, however, report negative effects of PSE on serum fat-soluble (pro)vitamin levels. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of PSE/DAG on serum retinol, β-carotene, and α-tocopherol levels using a threefold excess of the effective dose obtained in our previous study. Methods: A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind parallel study was performed in healthy and mildly hypercholesterolemic subjects, in which the subjects ingested 1.2 g PSE/30 g DAG for 2 weeks in the form of mayonnaise-type products. Triacylglycerol (TAG) mayonnaise was used as a control. Result: There were no subjective adverse effects or changes in serum retinol, α-tocopherol, and β-carotene levels, abdominal symptoms, hematologic values, or blood biochemical values. Conclusion: Ingestion of a threefold excess of PSE/DAG for 2 weeks had no adverse effects compared to ingestion of conventional TAG mayonnaise.
Protective effects of nitric oxide on salt stress-induced oxidative damage to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) leaves

The changes of chlorophyll and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, plasma membrane permeability confirmed that 0.1 and 1 mmol/L sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a donor of nitric oxide (NO) in vivo, could markedly alleviate the oxidative damage to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) leaves induced by 150 and 300 mmol/L NaCl treatments, respectively. Further results proved that NO significantly enhanced the activities of Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), both of which separately contributed to the delay of O2− and H2O2 accumulation in wheat leaves under salt stress. Meanwhile, the accumulation of proline was apparently accelerated. Therefore, these results suggested that NO could strongly protect wheat leaves from oxidative damage caused by salt stress.
Poly (DL-Lactic-Co-Glycolic Acid) Microparticle- Doxorubicin Formulations for Anti-cancer Drug Delivery

Cancer is a group of diseases in which normal cells are converted to cells capable of autonomous growth and invasion. In the chemotherapeutic control of cancer, drugs are usually given systemically so they reach toxic levels in cancer cells. This causes serious side effects in healthy cells. Another important problem with chemotherapy is resistance developed to cytotoxic drugs (multi drug resistance). As a possible solution to these problems, in the present study, two different microparticle fabrication methods were compared; double emulsion solvent evaporation (SE) method for encapsulation of Doxorubicin into PLGA microparticles. The most appropriate method was the SE techniquies which lead to higher encapsulation efficiencies. Processing factors were evaluated for their effects on encapsulation efficiency and results indicated that any change that hinder drug diffusion would result in increased drug content in microparticles. To asses the cytotoxicities of synthesized microparticles, cell proliferation assays were performed with XTT reagent on Doxorubicin resitant and sensitive breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7. DOX entrapped microparticles was effective on both sensitive and DOX resistant MCF-7 cells. The concentration of drug in resistant cancer cells was increased indicating a partial reversal of drug resistance. The results of this study will provide new insights to the development of new drug delivery systems for cancer therapy.
Effect of Hydrophobic Modification on Phase Behavior and Rheology in Mixtures of Oppositely Charged Polyelectrolytes

Phase behavior and rheology of polymer mixtures comprising aqueous solutions of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes are investigated. Emphasis is put on the effects of hydrophobic modification of the polymers and addition of salt. The associative phase separation usually observed when mixing oppositely charged polyelectrolytes is effectively prevented over a large miscibility region for the hydrophobically modified polymers. Also, in the extended one-phase region, the viscosity is 3-4 orders of magnitude higher for mixed polyelectrolyte systems compared to that observed for either one of the polymers. Addition of ordinary electrolytes to the mixture decreases the viscosity strongly, and at higher electrolyte contents a phase separation is induced. A mechanism explaining the observations is proposed.
Monte Carlo simulations on the like-charged guanidinium-guanidinium ion pair in water

Monte Carlo simulations using the statistical perturbation theory were carried out for the guanidinium-guanidinium ion pair in water at 25 o C and 1 atm using the isothermal-isobaric (NPT) ensemble to obtain interionic potentials of mean force and to evaluate «effective» interactions in water at short distances. The system is found to be attractive with a deep and large minimum at a C.C distance of approximately 3.30 A. Our results address fundamental questions about interionic interactions in recognition processes involving like-charged binding sites. Contrary to the simple electrostatic picture, they may attract locally due to related induced solvent effects
Plasmaoxidative Degradation of Polymers Studied by Matrix‐assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Different low molecular mass model polymers, such as poly(ethylene terephthalate), poly(methylmethacrylate), poly(ethylene glycol) and aliphatic poly(carbonate) were exposed to an oxygen radio frequency plasma for different times. The change of the molecular weight distribution and the formation of different functionalized fragments of these low molecular mass polymers were investigated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry. The majority of the polymers show the expected strong decrease of the molecular masses in the spectra of their soluble fraction indicating a degradation of the polymers. Simultaneously, different types of degradation products were found, which can give detailed information on the chain scission processes occuring in an oxygen plasma.
Georeferencing Accuracy of GeoEye-1 imagery

GeoEye-1, launched in September 2008, is the latest in a series of commercial high-resolution Earth observation satellites. With its ground sample distance (GSD) of 0.41m for the panchromatic band, GeoEye-1 offers the highest resolution yet available to the spatial information industry. However, for commercial users, image products are down-sampled to 0.5m GSD. Specifications for GeoEye-1 quote an accuracy in geolocation of better than 3m without ground control, specifically 2m and 2.5m Circular Error 90% (CE90) in planimetry for stereo and mono, respectively, and 3m Linear Error 90% (LE90) in height for stereo coverage (GeoEye, 2009). GeoEye-1 will thus constitute a suitable source of imagery for large scale topographic mapping, to scales of 1:5,000 and possibly larger.
Removal of Hg(II) and CH3Hg(I) Using Rasped Pith Sago Residue Biosorbent

Rasped pith sago residue (RPSR) was used as a biosorbent for inorganic (Hg(II)) and organic (CH3Hg(I)) mercury removal from aqueous solutions. In biosorbent preparation, the RPSR having particle size range of 0.06-0.10 was washed with deionized water repeatedly to eliminate impurities, dried in an oven at 50 degrees C for two days, followed with drying in a vacuum oven for 3h. The performance of RPSR as a novel biosorbent for removing mercury was evaluated in batch adsorption. The adsorption of mercury ions was found to highly dependent on the pH of the solutions. The Hg(II) adsorption was high at pH>4, while the CH3Hg(I) adsorption was found higher at pH<5. The higher adsorption capacity for Hg(II) and CH3Hg(I) was 0.288 and 0.213mmol/g, respectively. Both mercury adsorptions equilibrium and kinetics were fitted to the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model, respectively. These results indicate the RPSR has a potential to be a low-cost biosorbent for mercury removal process from aqueous solutions.
Structure of Atactic Polystyrene: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

We have performed a molecular dynamics simulation study of atactic polystyrene (a-PS) and its dimer 2,4-diphenylpentane (DPP) using a previously derived quantum chemistry based explicit atom force field. The X-ray structure factor of a-PS obtained from simulations was found to be in good agreement with experiment, reproducing the “amorphous” peak at around 1.4 A-1 as well as the “polymerization peak” at around 0.75 A-1 and its anomalous temperature dependence (increasing intensity with increasing temperature). We found that the amorphous peak in a-PS arises primarily from phenyl−phenyl correlations, with important intramolecular and intermolecular contributions. While the intermolecular component was found to shift to lower q with increasing temperature, the intramolecular component was found to be insensitive to temperature, resulting in a weak temperature dependence of the amorphous peak. Simulations revealed the presence of the polymerization peak in DPP, indicating that the designation “polymerization.