Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacteria in Weathered Basaltic Glass, Iceland

Bacteria play an important role in rock weathering and yet their diversity and potential activity in the terrestrial rock weathering environment is poorly understood. Culture and culture-independent methods (16S rDNA) were used to investigate the populations of bacteria inhabiting a basaltic glass/palagonite subglacial (hyaloclastite) deposit subject to weathering in Iceland. The rock hosts a diverse microbial community. The 16S rDNA clones were dominated by Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Acidobacteria. Representatives of Gemmatimonadetes and Verrucomicrobia were present. Isolation of organisms on basalt/palagonite yielded only two isolates, an actinobacterium and a Bacteroidetes, showing that the active species, at least in the time scale of laboratory cultivation, are a small proportion of the total diversity. Firmicutes and Actinobacteria were isolated when basalt/palagonite was supplemented with an organic source. Many of the isolates demonstrated tolerance to transition metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni, Co) naturally present in the rock. The growth of the isolates was inhibited at typical pH values for Icelandic rain, which suggests that the increase in pH caused by the consumption of protons in rock weathering, for example by palagonite formation, may play a role in defining which organisms are active. Colonization experiments show that the filamentous growth habit of the actinobacterium isolated on basalt/palagonite allows it to actively invade and colonise the basaltic glass. The filamentous growth of some actinobacteria may be an important contributor to their role in systemic interstitial rock weathering in the natural environment.
Effect of differences in soil moisture on winter wheat yield.

It is important to define which of the plant growth factors determines the yield level. During recent years in Latvia, in most cases it was moisture. Grain yield level mostly depends on meteorological conditions during the tillering stage. Plants do not utilize all water from precipitation. Rain water efficacy depends on soil granulometric composition and content of humus. Humus content could be considered as regulated factor. Important is also distribution of precipitation during the vegetation period as well as run-off of rain water which depends on micro-relief, soil tillage type, and direction in accordance with the slope gradient. It is very important for cereal growing in what conditions tillering is done, because during that time productive stems as well as ear sprouts are formed. The aim of this research was to determine the effect of soil moisture on the growth and development of winter wheat triticum aestivum L. Field trials were carried out during 2005-2007 in Kurpnieki field at the Research and Study farm „Vecauce” of the Latvia University of Agriculture. A total of 47 points (distributed as a grid of 50×50 m) were selected for sampling in the winter wheat field. In both experimental years, the increasing soil moisture in spring had a significant positive effect on the flag leaf area, which, in its turn, increased also the level of grain yield. Partial correlation analysis showed that exclusion of organic matter content and altitude above the sea level as factors, changes soil moisture at different layers of the soil insignificantly.
Estimating the Tourism Volume and Value in Protected Areas in Canada and the USA

Visitation to the parks and protected areas of the United States of America and Canada is an important part of the outdoor recreation industry in these countries. The social, economic and environmental impacts of this visitation are related to its volume. This paper contains the first ever estimation of the overall park and protected area visitation for the Canada and the US. It contains data from all the national and provincial/state programs, including state, provincial, and national parks and other forms of protected areas such as wildlife refuges, national forests and national historic sites. In 1996 there was an estimated 2,626,275,241 visitor days of recreation activity in the parks and protected areas of Canada and the US. This use level is an underestimate, due to structural and financial limitations within the park agencies. The associated economic impact was calculated to be between US $236 billion and $370 billion for that year. The US has many more protected areas, and higher levels of land area in parks, than does Canada, even thought Canada is a slightly larger country. The recreation use density per hectare of parkland in the US is 11 times higher than in Canada. The visitation level per person in society is 2.4 times higher in the US than in Canada. Reasons for these differences are suggested. There is an urgent need for the adoption of standard approaches to the collection of park tourism data in these two countries. The use of one such standard is proposed.
How Well Does Water Activity Determine Homogeneous Ice Nucleation Temperature in Aqueous Sulfuric Acid and Ammonium Sulfate Droplets

Abstract Frozen fraction measurements made using a droplet free-fall freezing tube apparatus are presented and used, along with other recent laboratory measurements, to evaluate how well both the water activity idea and the translated melting-point curve idea of Koop et al. predict homogeneous freezing-point temperatures for aqueous ammonium sulfate and sulfuric acid solution droplets. The new freezing-point temperature datasets agree with the previous lowest-temperature results for both solutes. The lowest measured freezing-point temperatures for aqueous ammonium sulfate solutions agree with a curve shaped like the translated melting-point curve. However, those for aqueous sulfuric acid solutions are significantly lower than predicted by the translated melting-point curve idea, and a single water activity freezing-point temperature curve does not represent the lowest-temperature freezing-point temperature data for both solutes. A linear extrapolation of the new aqueous sulfuric acid solution freezing dat.
Microsite Influences on Variability in Douglas-Fir Seedling Development

We examined the microsite characteristics of 6,048 Douglas-fir seedlings at three regeneration sites in Washington state. Our objective was to determine the microsite characteristics that were most influential on seedling growth change over time. We analyzed microsite influences both individually and in concert with one another through regression-based techniques. Microsite parameters included soil impedance, topographic, and physical parameter measurements that were recorded at each seedling’s location. Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) was used to determine combinations of microsite parameters that were most strongly correlated with seedling growth. Multiparameter models explained between 15 and 39 percent of the variance in diameter growth. Prevalent terms from the strongest multiparameter models included soil penetration, log presence, stump presence, skid road presence, and topography. Individual microsite parameters for each regeneration site were also assessed for importance in explaining diameter growth using two additional methods. The first approach was to isolate the parameters that appeared in the strongest multiparameter models and to sum and contrast the AIC weights of all models in which they appeared. The second approach was to regress single parameters against seedling diameter growth. Results varied by site for both methods. AIC weight sums revealed that topographical depression and berms, the presences of logs and stumps, and soil penetration (pounds per square inch) as measured by a penetrometer were most influential, with values ranging from 0.31 (berm) to 0.82 (log). Regression analysis revealed that topographical depression, log presence, and soil penetration were significantly related to diameter growth, explaining between 6 and 29 percent of the variance in diameter growth. Combined results from the three regeneration sites suggest that preferred planting locations are near berms, in the transition zone associated with skid roads, and in soil that is neither too loose nor too compacted. Results from the Randle and Orting sites indicate that planting in topographical depressions should be avoided. Results from Orting indicate that seedlings should not be placed near logs, and Randle findings suggest not planting next to stumps.
Diagenesis of the Capitan Formation Forereef Facies (Permian, West Texas and New Mexico)

The diagenesis of the Capitan forereef can be divided into four overlapping episodes 1 early marine diagenesis 2 early burial diagene sis involving normal marine to hypersaline fluids 3 late burial diagenesis and 4 uplift related diagenesis Early meteoric diagenesis was not identi fied in the Capitan forereef Early marine diagenesis is limited to minor isopachous cement in upper forereef grainstones The greatest amount of dia genesis in the Capitan forereef occurred during early burial diagenesis in marine to hypersaline pore fluids The lower forereef facies was largely altered by marine pore fluids fabrics include moldic porosity fine blocky spar and overgrowth cementation silicification and rare aragonite neo morphism The upper forereef facies however was nearly completely dolomitized by mesosaline fluids mainly derived by seepage reflux from the near backreef carbonate lagoon facies The middle forereef facies contains both styles of alteration During andlor subsequent to dolomitization hypersaline fluids completely cemented the reef and forereef with evaporites gypsum andlor anhydrite Deeper burial processes include stylolites and partial recrystallization of the early fabric preserving dolomite to a fabric destructive dolomite Duringuplift erosion of overlying Ochoanevap orites allowed the influx of meteoric water into the Capitan Formation This led first to hydration of anhydrite to gypsum and kaolinitization of feldspars and later to complete dissolution of evaporites and precipitation of coarse blocky spars IIand III in the resulting porosity Most diagenetic models focus on timing of alteration and the fluid composition In the case of the Capitan forereef facies however the sedimen tology was a major factor controlling the distribution of diagenetic fabrics For example debris flow deposits unsorted packstones to rudstones are partially to completely dolomitized while interbedded turbidity current deposits graded packs tones to wackestones are limestone with fine blocky spar and aragonite alteration The changing patterns of diagenesis from the upper forereef to thelower forereef areat least partially controlled by the change from a predominance of debris flow deposits in the upper forereef to turbidity current deposits in the lower forereef
Population status of the eastern North Pacific stock of gray whales in 2009

An age- and sex-structured population dynamics model is fitted using Bayesian methods to data on the catches and abundance estimates for the Eastern North Pacific (ENP) stock of gray whales. The prior distributions used for these analyses incorporate revised estimates of abundance for ENP gray whales and account explicitly for the drop in abundance caused by the 1999–2000 mortality event. A series of analyses are conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of the results to different assumptions. The model fits the available data adequately, but, as in previous assessments, the measures of uncertainty associated with the survey-based abundance estimates are found to be negatively biased. The data support the inclusion of the 1999–2000 mortality event in the model, and accounting for this event leads to greater uncertainty regarding the current status of the resource. The baseline analysis estimates the ENP gray whale population to be above the maximum sustainable yield level (MSYL) with high probability (0.884). The posterior mean for the ratio of 2009 (1+) abundance to MSYL is 1.29 (with a posterior median of 1.37 and a 90% probability interval of 0.68–1.51). These results are consistent across all the model runs conducted. The baseline model also estimates the 2009 ENP gray whale population size (posterior mean of 20,366) to be at 85% of its carrying capacity (posterior mean of 25,808), and this is also consistent across all the model runs. The baseline model estimate of the maximum rate of increase, λmax, is 1.062 which, while high, is nevertheless within the range of estimates obtained for other baleen whales.
University of Birmingham Opening Pandora’s box

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of antimicrobial-resistant isolates and the associated resistance mechanisms in Gram-negative bacteria from South Western Nigeria. Methods: A total of 306 non-duplicate unbiased Gram-negative isolates were recovered from patients admitted to three teaching hospitals in South Western Nigeria in 2011 and 2013. Isolates were from clinical samples as well as from stool samples of inpatients without infection to assess antimicrobial resistance patterns in carriage isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed, and PCR and sequencing were used to identify genes encoding various known β -lactamases. Based on phenotypic and genotypic results, 10 isolates representing the diversity of phenotypes present were selected for whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Results: Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed the following resistance rates: ﬂ uoroquinolones, 78.1%; third-generation cephalosporins, 92.2%; and carbapenems, 52.6%. More resistant isolates were isolated from stools of uninfected patients compared with clinical infection specimens. Klebsiella (10%) and Escherichia coli (7%) isolates produced a carbapenemase. WGS of selected isolates identi ﬁ ed the presence of globally disseminated clones. Conclusion: This study illustrates a crisis for the use of ﬁ rst-line antimicrobial therapy in Nigerian patients. It is likely that Nigeria is playing a signi ﬁ cant role in the spread of antimicrobial resistance owing to its large population with considerable global mobility. © 2019 International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Adhesion Properties of Bifidobacterium Pseudocatenulatum G4 and Bifidobacterium Longum BB536 on HT-29 Human Epithelium Cell Line at Different Times and pH

Adhesion to the human intestinal cell is considered as one of the main selection criteria of lactic acid bacteria for probiotic use. The adhesion ability of two Bifidobacteriums strains Bifidobacterium longum BB536 and Bifidobacterium psudocatenulatum G4 was done using HT-29 human epithelium cell line as in vitro study. Four different level of pH were used 5.6, 5.7, 6.6, and 6.8 with four different times 15, 30, 60, and 120 min. Adhesion was quantified by counting the adhering bacteria after Gram staining. The adhesion of B. longum BB536 was higher than B. psudocatenulatum G4. Both species showed significant different in the adhesion properties at the factors tested. The highest adhesion for both Bifidobacterium was observed at 120 min and the low adhesion was in 15 min. The findings of this study will contribute to the introduction of new effective probiotic strain for future utilization. Keywords—Bifidobacterium, Adhesion, HT-29 human epithelium cells.
WORKSHEET for Evidence-Based Review of Science for Emergency Cardiac Care

I am a clinician working in the field of pediatric cardiac intensive care. I have on occasion provided rapid deployment ECMO for children in cardiac arrest. I have participated in several publications about ECMO support for children that have alluded to rapid deployment ECMO but none solely dedicated to this topic (list available on request). I was interviewed for the journal Circulation on March 6 2007 about the topic of ECMO for children in cardiac arrest.
Neogene transpressive evolution of the California Coast Ranges

The San Andreas fault has long been viewed as a vertical structure that extends from the ground surface to the base of the lithosphere and separates the Pacific plate from the North American plate along a transform plate boundary. Analysis of Neogene structures in the central Coast Ranges indicates, however, that crustal blocks defined by strands of the San Andreas fault system have undergone pervasive compressive deformation that has shifted these blocks and their boundary faults east, relative to North America. This suggests that the blocks and their boundary structures are bounded below by an active decollement that appears to coincide with the midcrustal brittle to ductile transition at the base of the seismogenic zone. These compressive structures may be related to a currently seismically active fold and thrust belt that characterizes the eastern front of the Coast Ranges. Seismic profiles from the Central Valley, east of the range front, show that tectonic wedges (“blind thrusts”) developed within stratified rocks are present throughout this zone of deformation, and that crystalline basement that underlies these stratified rocks is not involved in the deformation. Crystalline basement may underlie most of the Coast Ranges, as indicated by the presence of metamorphic rocks of possible Sierran affinity preserved in Neogene thrust sheets as far west as Loma Prieta and by seismic velocities in the lower crust appropriate for mafic to intermediate granitoid rocks. On the basis of these relations, we suggest that the San Andreas fault system is confined to the brittle crust, above the decollement, and does not penetrate to the base of the lithosphere. Thus the San Andreas fault should not be considered as a “plate boundary. ” Instead, the functional plate boundary within the Coast Ranges appears to be the inferred subhorizontal midcrustal decollement. This decollement corresponds approximately to the 350°C isotherm, the temperature at which quartz becomes ductile. If our hypothesis is proven to be correct by geologic and geophysical investigations currently underway, then extensive revisions in popular plate tectonic models applied to the Coast Ranges will be required. In addition, assessment of seismic hazards will be rendered more difficult, but more realistic, owing to realization of the greater likelihood for occurrence of thrust faulting on blind or buried faults or on faults currently deemed inactive.
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering 2006-09-03 PERFORMANCE OF A VARIABLE SPEED DOUBLE-FED INDUCTION GENERATOR WIND TURBINE DURING NETWORK VOLTAGE UNBALANCE CONDITIONS

The issues of the negative performance of DFIG’s due to supply network voltage unbalance are outlined in this paper. The paper shows the effects that voltage unbalance can have on a DFIG, using the power simulation program DigSilent. The results from simulations show that voltage unbalance affects the both the induction generator and the rotor converter, due to the high unbalanced currents generated. The ability to modify the control strategy of a DFIG to compensate for voltage unbalance is outlined and a proposal to build a test-rig suitable to implement such a system is suggested.
Group velocity dispersion reduction in fibre-based slow-light systems via stimulated Brillouin scattering

Presented are theoretical investigations and simulations of a reduction of the group velocity dispersion (GVD) in slow-light systems by an optimisation of the gain spectrum of the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). A comparison between a natural Brillouin gain spectrum and a broadened Brillouin gain spectrum with and without two additional losses at its wings is demonstrated. The focus of the theoretical examination was set on the superposition of a gain and two losses with an equal magnitude. Therefore, a low GVD and a high group index change could be achieved and hence, a small pulse distortion and a high time delay can be expected.
Benefits of an irrigation water rental market in a saline stream-aquifer system

The hydrologic and economic effects of a water market are evaluated for an irrigated, stream-aquifer system. In the hypothetical rental market, surface water is traded annually among farmers, while ground water is used to augment irrigation supplies. Market simulations account for changes in the value of groundwater and surface water due to salinity differences. Results show that the market increases long-term profit for all participants, reduces the risk of loss due to drought, and decreases average short-term groundwater salinity. The market becomes active during dry years, when farmers without groundwater rights buy surface water from farmers with groundwater rights, who increase pumping to replace sold surface water. Under the rental market the distribution of additional profits partially depends on the pumping costs and higher salinity associated with increased groundwater use. Farmers reduce risk without sacrificing profit, by utilizing higher rates of groundwater pumping to mitigate drought damage. Increased withdrawals may diminish irrigation supplies for downstream users.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Novel Insight into Cardiovascular Events, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), and Cardiac Arrhythmias

It is a common knowledge that fish is a significant source of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid, two long-chain omega-3 fatty acids that have been linked to improve cardiovascular health in general. The cardiac function of humans is benefited by omega-3 fatty acids found in fish eating. Previous studies have shown that eating fish in moderation lowers the risk of coronary heart disease. Recent epidemiological research on the relationship between fish consuming and coronary disease have produced mixed results. Omega-3 fatty acids may not, according to a recent study, lower the incidence of cardiovascular events, strokes, cardiac arrhythmias, or fatalities from coronary heart disease; consequently, it continues to be a contentious issue.
Convex combination sequence kernel association test for rare‐variant studies

We propose a novel variant set test for rare‐variant association studies, which leverages multiple single‐nucleotide variant (SNV) annotations. Our approach optimizes a convex combination of different sequence kernel association test (SKAT) statistics, where each statistic is constructed from a different annotation and combination weights are optimized through a multiple kernel learning algorithm. The combination test statistic is evaluated empirically through data splitting. In simulations, we find our method preserves type I error at α = 2.5 × 1 0 − 6 and has greater power than SKAT(‐O) when SNV weights are not misspecified and sample sizes are large ( N ≥ 5 , 000 ). We utilize our method in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) to identify SNV sets associated with fasting glucose. While we are unable to detect any genome‐wide significant associations between fasting glucose and 4‐kb windows of rare variants ( p < 1 0 − 7 ) in 6,419 FHS participants, our method identifies suggestive associations between fasting glucose and rare variants near ROCK2 ( p = 2.1 × 1 0 − 5 ) and within CPLX1 ( p = 5.3 × 1 0 − 5 ). These two genes were previously reported to be involved in obesity‐mediated insulin resistance and glucose‐induced insulin secretion by pancreatic beta‐cells, respectively. These findings will need to be replicated in other cohorts and validated by functional genomic studies.
Climate Change Impacts on U.S. Crops

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) (RomeroLankao et al., 2014) found that climate change is responsible in part for historical yield increases in the United States thanks to increased precipitation. Since 1999, however, yield losses have been attributed to extreme weather events, such as heat waves, storms, and droughts and the IPCC concludes that in many crop growing regions of North America optimum temperatures have been reached and further warming would be detrimental to crop yields.