Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EXPANSION OF SOYBEAN FARMING INTO DEFORESTED AREAS IN THE AMAZON BIOME IN MATO GROSSO, PARÃ AND RONDÃNIA STATES: THE ROLE OF PUBLIC POLICIES AND THE SOY MORATORIUM

In the 1990s and 2000s, soybean farming grew sharply, particularly in states located in Brazilâs mid-west region. To curb deforestation, the Federal Government implemented the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon Region (PPCDAm). At the same time, soy-buying companies and Civil Society Organizations implemented the Soy Moratorium. This paper focused on the major role of these initiatives in decreasing soybean farming in areas deforested after 2006 and on their importance in achieving this result. We considered rich database deforestation, soybean planted area, and other critical explained variables, and used spatial panel models to a balanced database of 287 municipalities over eight years. The results confirm that lower deforestation rates in the biome laid the foundation for reducing soybean farming in the Amazon biome. However, since 2008, when the Soy Moratorium was launched, there was a structural decline in this relationship, and new plantations began to represent a small percentage of newly deforested areas. The soybean production chain is modern and organized in regional hubs and that its growth stems from stable institutional conditions in municipalities and their surroundings, as well as from the availability of skilled labor and credit. Therefore, government programs to reduce deforestation made room for specific private actions focused on soybean farming that created a new environment for agricultural expansion in line with Brazilian law and environmental commitments. The Soy Moratorium reinforced this new order, and this production chain became a case study on public and private governance, given its importance in reducing soybean farming in deforested areas after the cut-off date.
Designing the environment for a healthy lifestyle: reflection or change?

This study investigates how calm and persuasive technology can be used to create a device that motivates reflection on sedentary behaviour in an at-home working environment. The device consists of three flowers with each flower representing 20 minutes. One flower closes every 20 minutes until 60 minutes have passed and all the flowers are closed, after which they will all reopen and repeat this process. Design concepts were created and tested through an online survey, a lo-fi prototype user-test was done, and a high-fi prototype user-test was performed with a thematic analysis used to evaluate the results. The analysis showed that the device was effective in making the users reflect on how much time had passed, however they did not necessarily link this to their sedentary behaviour or think about changing it. They did find the device to be calm and in the background throughout the 20-minute intervals. Half of the users would be shocked every time a flower closed because of the sudden movement, whilst the other half would at times not even notice the flower had closed. To conclude, the device motivated reflection and increased awareness of passing time, but it did not make the users evaluate the option of changing their sedentary behaviour.
Application of EvaGreen for the assessment of Listeria monocytogenes АТСС 13932 cell viability using flow cytometry

Determination of eukaryotic cell viability using flow cytometry is widespread and based on the use of fluorescent dyes such as SYTO, DAPI, SYBR, PI, and SYTOX. For many years, traditional microbiological methods have been used to successfully analyze prokaryotic cells, but the application of flow cytometry should be considered because it provides an opportunity for quantitative assessment. A combination of SYTO 9 or SYBR green and PI has been used successfully. DNA-binding dyes such as SYTO 9, SYBR green, and EvaGreen are used in qPCR. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of EvaGreen to determine the viability of Listeria monocytogenes АТСС 13932 cells using flow cytometry. RNA from Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 was isolated using the MagNA Pure LC RNA Isolation Kit-High Performance (Roche, Germany) according to the kit instructions on MagNA Pure LC® 2.0 (Roche, Switzerland). Chicken DNA was isolated using the Sorb-GMO-B kit (Syntol CJSC, Russia) according to the kit instructions. RNA from E. coli ATCC 25922, chicken DNA, a positive control, and a negative control of L. monocytogenes АТСС 13932 were stained with EvaGreen and analyzed on the Guava EasyCyte flow cytometer (Merck Millipore, Germany). Chicken DNA demonstrated both green and red fluorescence, while E. coli RNA displayed only red fluorescence. While the positive L. monocytogenes АТСС 13932 control and chicken DNA demonstrated similar fluorescence properties, the negative control showed a localization similar to that observed with E. coli RNA. Degraded ssDNA and RNA stained with EvaGreen demonstrated red fluorescence. Although EvaGreen is a class III dye, we observed fluorescence of live L. monocytogenes АТСС 13932 cells in the positive control stained with EvaGreen. The observed phenomenon was linked to the solution composition. It is necessary to repeat this analysis with various solution compositions as well as a wide range of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria to determine the effects on cell envelope permeability of EvaGreen.
Unraveling Finite Size Effects on Magnetic Properties of Cobalt Nanoparticles

Using first principle calculations, the problem of scaling magnetic properties in nanoparticles is addressed. To this aim, the local electronic structure is characterized in cobalt quasi-spherical magnetic nanoparticles, in a large size range, from 0.5 to 2 nm diameter. First, specific patterns of the magnitude of local spin magnetic moments are evidenced depending on the shape and the size of the nanoparticles. Then effects of local structural environment (atomic coordination, structural deformations, finite size effects, shape changes) are unraveled. In small icosahedral nanoparticles, the local spin magnetic moment is found to decrease from the surface to the center. General rules driving charge transfers are observed whereby donor atomic sites are exclusively subsurface atoms and more unexpected vertex surface atomic sites. The variation of the magnetic moment is driven by the coupling between cluster microstructure and complex hybridization effects. In larger truncated octahedral clusters, whereas so.
Analysis of intraparticle diffusion on adsorption of crystal violet on bentonite

Abstract In the present work, kinetics of crystal violet (CV) adsorption on bentonite was studied by pore volume and surface diffusion model (PVSDM), surface diffusion model (SDM), and pore volume diffusion model (PVDM). The adsorption decay curves were obtained in batch system using different adsorbent dosages. The PVDM model did not interpreted the kinetic adsorption since the calculated value of Dp equal to 5.64 × 10−7 cm2 s−1 predicted a slower adsorption than that obtained by the experimental data. The PVSDM results indicates that the intraparticle diffusion is predominantly due to surface diffusion (93%) and the pore volume diffusion can be negligible. Once the surface diffusion was the limiting step, the estimation with one (Ds) and two (Dsq and α) parameters were tested in the SDM model. The statistical analysis revealed that the one-parameter SDM model was most appropriate to predict the CV adsorption on bentonite. The optimal values of Ds ranged from 6.19 × 10−10 to 6.49 × 10−10 cm2 s−1, and decrease with the adsorbent dosage.
Plasma O2modifies the structure of synthetic zeolite-A to improve the removalof cadmium ions from aqueous solutions

The present study addresses the removal of cadmium ions (Cd(II)) from aqueous solutions at a pH of 7.5 using zeolite-A activated by exposure to oxygen plasma. The activation process was performed over a wide range of plasma powers (10, 20, 30, and 40 W) and exposure times (30 to 360 s). Oxygen plasma cannot chemically modify zeolite to a considerable extent, but it can clean the surface, open blocked pores, and induce the formation of additional OH groups via exposure to humidity in ambient air. Therefore, Cd ion removal is increased by approximately 10% with the plasma treatments. Infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy were applied to analyze the changes in the surface structure and properties of the samples.
Ergastic Crystal Studies for Raw Drug Analysis

Phytochemical constituents are distributed in various parts of plants and their localization is indicative of their therapeutic properties. Ergastic crystals such as calcium oxalate crystals are also found in almost all plant parts, which is an anti–nutrient as the dietary oxalates contributes to human ailments. Several of the medicinally useful plants contain these crystals and consumption of such plant materials in raw form can cause health problems in humans. Ergastic crystals can be an important diagnostic tool for the identification of raw drug as in Costus pictus a medicinal spiral ginger commonly called Insulin plant is devoid of cuboidal crystal but its related Costus speciosus leaves possess characteristic cuboidal shaped crystal in its leaf mesophyll. Gene manipulation technology may be promising in removing such deleterious genes or introduction of altered bio-chemicals to nullify such effects for the future generation.
Obtaining Rabies Virus Purified Antigen

Aim: Currently, in connection with the deterioration of the epizootic situation of rabies in the world, the question of improving the means of routine laboratory diagnostics of rabies remains highly controversial to obtain results of a high degree of reliability. Especially in demand diagnostic rapid test systems based on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunofluorescence (IFA) methods, the sensitivity and specificity of which depend on the degree of purification of antigenic components. Materials and Methods: In this article, a method is given for obtaining a rabies antigen and the results of an experimental study of the activity of its highly purified fractions were obtained by separation in a stepwise gradient of sucrose (20–60%) by ultracentrifugation at 30,000 g. Results: The study of electrophoretic profiles of antigenic fractions in 12.5% polyacrylamide gel showed that the major polypeptide fractions are located in the range of 44.6–70.0 kDa. According to the results of the tests in ELISA and IFA, Fraction 1 was the most active. We optimized the conditions for the formulation of the reactions, and the o-ptimal working concentrations were determined. Conclusion: The revealed immunochemical characteristics of this fraction will allow using it not only as an antigenic component for diagnostic test systems but also as an immunizing material for obtaining highly specific rabies immunoglobulins.
Health IT and Patient Safety: Finding Relations Between EMRAM and SAFER Guides

Objectives: The goal of this work was to identify relations between SAFER Guides and EMRAM requirements. Method: We conducted EMRAM requirements extraction based on materials provided by HIMSS Analytics Latin America. The process of SAFER Guides requirements extraction was performed based on the guidelines available on the ONC website. The authors identified three types of relations: direct; indirect; and partial. Results: We found 38 EMRAM requirements with some relation to SAFER Guides requirements. Out of 696 SAFER Guides requirements, we identified 108 relations to EMRAM requirements (15,5%) which indicates that EMRAM does not include most of SAFER Guides requirements. Conclusion: Despite EMRAM is more focused on Health IT maturity in organizations, it includes important requirements strictly related to patient safety not required by SAFER Guides. On the other side, most of SAFER Guides requirements are not addressed by EMRAM.
Food stamp participants' food security and nutrient availability : final report

The National Food Stamp Program Survey was conducted for the Food and Nutrition Service by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. between June 1996 and January 1997, to obtain information with which to assess how well the Food Stamp Program is serving its current and potential clients. One of the main objectives of the survey was to examine the food security of participants, in terms of the adequacy of the food available to them and their risk of hunger. The study also examined the amount of nutrients participants used from home food supplies. Both of these are important measures of the program's
Hydrogen effects on AlGaN/GaN MISFET with LPCVD-SiNx gate dielectric

In this work, the effects of hydrogen on an AlGaN/GaN metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistor (MISFET) with SiNx gate dielectric were investigated. It is found that after hydrogen exposure, (1) the AlGaN/GaN MISFET exhibits better DC performance with larger maximum transconductance, (2) the gate lag phenomenon is effectively suppressed and (3) the 1/f noise performance is improved with lower noise magnitude. These results are different from previous observations in other III–V semiconductor devices. Based on the theoretical analysis by space charge limited current and low-frequency noise models, we propose that the hydrogen treatment induces hydrogen incorporation into SiNx, which could passivate the defect centers. These findings demonstrate the high hydrogen tolerance of AlGaN/GaN MISFETs.
Liquid Metal‐Based Transient Circuits for Flexible and Recyclable Electronics

Transient electronics, arising electronic devices with dissolvable or degradable features on demand, is still at an early stage of development due to the limited choices of materials and strategies. Herein, a facile fabrication method for transient circuits by the combination of room‐temperature liquid metals (RTLMs) as the electronic circuit and water‐soluble poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the packaging material is reported. The as‐made transient circuits exhibit remarkable durability and stable electric performance upon bending and twisting, while possessing short transience times, owing to the excellent solubility of PVA substrates and the intrinsic flexibility of RTLM patterns. Moreover, the RTLM‐based transient circuit shows an extremely high recycling efficiency, up to 96% of the employed RTLM can be recovered. As such, the economic and environmental viability of transient electronics increases substantially. To validate this concept, the surface patterning of RTLMs with complicated shapes is demonstrated, and a transient antenna is subsequently applied for passive near‐field communication tag and a transient capacitive touch sensor. The application of the RTLM‐based transient circuit for sequentially turning off an array of light‐emitting‐diode lamps is also demonstrated. The present RTLM‐based PVA‐encapsulated circuits substantially expand the scope of transient electronics toward flexible and recyclable transient systems.
Green and facile production of high-quality graphene from graphite by the combination of hydroxyl radicals and electrical exfoliation in different electrolyte systems

A novel, simple and efficient method by the combination of hydroxyl radicals and electrical exfoliation of graphite for the green production of high-quality graphene from graphite was first developed in our self-manufactured exfoliation apparatus. In this work, we focused on the investigation of the roles of various electrolyte systems for the exfoliation of graphite. Sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) were tested as the electrolyte. The yields of the graphene product in sodium hydroxide, PVP, DTAB, sodium chloride and SDBS electrolyte system were 32.9%, 34.0%, 45.2%, 77.5% and 83.5%, respectively. The experimental result demonstrated that graphite can be successfully exfoliated to graphene in these electrolytes, with SDBS showing the best exfoliation effect. We further investigated the effects of process parameters on the graphite exfoliation in the SDBS system by single factor experiments. The obtained optimal process parameters were as follows: graphite dosage, 5.0 g; SDBS solution concentration, 10.0% (w/v); applied current strength, 10 mA; air flow, 1.0 L h−1; and exfoliation time, 3 h. At these conditions, the yield of the graphene product was 89.7%. TEM results revealed that the graphene product possessed the characteristic features of a thin-layer graphene sheet. XRD results showed that the graphene products still maintained the structures of carbon atoms or molecules. FT-IR and Raman results indicated that the products exhibited the characteristic peaks and the absorption peaks of graphene. AFM test results revealed that the layer number of graphene product obtained was about 2, while the layer numbers of the graphene products obtained from sodium hydroxide, PVP, DTAB and sodium chloride systems were 30, 20, 4 and 3, respectively, at the same experimental conditions. The observed exfoliation effect in the SDBS system was due to its good electrical conductivity, which was favorable for the formation of hydroxyl radicals in exfoliation. Furthermore, SDBS has good hydrophilic properties and can enable even dispersion of graphite in the system. These two effects facilitated the exfoliation of graphite to form good-quality graphene. SDBS as the electrolyte did not corrode the electrode, and it could be recycled; also, it does not pollute the environment and reduces the production cost, which is favorable for mass production.
Extraction of PGMs from Low-grade Oxide Mineral Deposits

Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), often with associated gold, have very few occurrences where they are present in an ore deposit at economically extractable levels. They are classified as both precious and critical metals due to their scarcity and their wide industrial use. With deteriorating socio-political environments in most primary PGM producing countries, PGM deposits that are smaller but in less risky jurisdictions have to be evaluated. However, the lower PGM grades, increased mineralogical complexity of the ores, capital intensity and strict environmental regulations in other international jurisdictions, limit the implementation of conventional metallurgical processing options, particularly smelter-based operations. The conventional smelter-based process options are justifiable for high grade, low chromite, large resource and long life-of-mine operations. In the present paper, we review some of the most recent literature on the predominantly hydrometallurgical approaches to PGM extraction. A number of metallurgical processes that generate either a PGM rich leachate or a residue containing metal values, and the various methods in use for their recoveries from pregnant rich solutions are reviewed. Sixteen process flowsheet variants combining conventional and proprietary unit process technologies are provided, and their process chemistries and key technical operating parameters are compared. Where appropriate, the key thermodynamic and kinetic factors are given and compared. 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Production of enantiomerically enriched chiral carbinols using Weissella paramesenteroides as a novel whole cell biocatalyst

Abstract In this study, four bacterial strains were tested for their ability to reduce acetophenones to its corresponding alcohol. Among these strains Weissella paramesenteroides N7 was found to be the most successful biocatalyst to reduce the ketones to the corresponding alcohols. The reaction conditions were systematically optimized for W. paramesenteroides N7 that resulted in high enantioselectivity and conversion rates for the bioreduction. The scale-up asymmetric reduction of 1-(4-methoxyphenyl) propan-1-one (1r) by W. paramesenteroides N7 gave (R)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl) propan-1-ol (2r) with 94% yield and >99% enantiomeric excess. This is the first report showing the synthesis of (R)-1-(4-methoxyphenyl) propan-1-ol (2r) in enantiopure form using a biocatalyst on a gram scale. The whole cell catalyzed the reductions of ketone substrates on the preparative scale, demonstrating that W. paramesenteroides N7 would be a valuable biocatalyst for the preparation of chiral aromatic alcohols of pharmaceutical interest as a promising and alternative green approach. Graphical Abstract Weissella paramesenteroides as a food originated yeast species is capable of bioreduction of prochiral ketones to secondary chiral alcohols in one enantiomeric form.
Impact of Polarity on Anisotropic Diffusion of Conjugated Organic Molecules on the (101̅0) Zinc Oxide Surface

We study the influence of polarity on the binding and diffusion of single conjugated organic molecules on the inorganic (10-10) zinc oxide surface by means of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations at room temperature and above. In particular, we consider the effects of partial fluorination of the para-sexiphenyl (p-6P) molecule with chemical modifications of one head group (p-6PF2) or both (symmetric) head and tail (p-6PF4). Quantum-mechanical and classical simulations both result in consistent and highly distinct dipole moments and densities of the fluorinated molecules, which interestingly lead to a weaker adhesion to the surface than for p-6P. The diffusion for all molecules is found to be normal and Arrhenius-like for long times. Strikingly, close to room temperature the polar molecules diffuse 1-2 orders of magnitudes slower compared to the p-6P reference in the apolar x-direction of the electrostatically heterogeneous surface, while in the polar y-direction they diffuse 1-2 orders of magnitude faster. We demonstrate that this rather unexpected behavior is governed by a subtle electrostatic anisotropic mismatch between the polar molecules and the chemically specific surface, as well as by increased entropic contributions coming from orientational and internal degrees of freedom.
Inclusion of Peripheral Basic Groups Activates Dormant Cobalt-Based Molecular Complexes for Catalytic H2 Evolution in Water

The protein scaffold plays a key role during the enzymatic catalysis for metalloenzymes. Here we have rationally designed an enzyme-inspired outer coordination sphere in the form of protic functionalities, such as natural amino acid derived carboxylic acid and phenolic −OH groups, on the fringe of the cobalt-salen like complexes. This inclusion has enabled electrocatalytic H2 evolution for an otherwise inactive cobalt-salen like core. The complexes containing peripheral carboxylic acid groups exhibited unique pH-switchable catalytic H2 production that is connected with the pKa of the carboxylic acid group (∼4.0), suggesting the crucial involvement of the carboxylate group during the catalytic activity. The one- and two-dimensional NMR results of the complexes have indicated the presence of a possible hydrogen bonding network, generated by those protic groups in aqueous solution. These results highlight that an inactive metal complex can be activated for specific small molecule activation via rational incl.