Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulated Transport of Three Cations Through Porous Media: Effect of Different Approaches to Modeling Cation Exchange Reactions

Batch cation exchange and column experiments were conducted to evaluate selectivity coefficients which have been suggested for describing cation exchange reactions in solute transport models. Vanselow selectivity coefficients were calculated for cation exchange equilibria with a cation resin and for equilibria reported in the literature with a Yolo loam soil. Experimental column data were compared with data from simulations generated by a numerical solute transport model to evaluate Vanselow, Gaines-Thomas, and statistical thermodynamic selectivity coefficients. With the cation resin, the statistical thermodynamic selectivity coefficient gave the most reliable estimate of column effluent cation concentrations. In a column packed with the Yolo loam soil, the Vanselow selectivity coefficient gave the most accurate prediction of column response. Use of variable (as opposed to fixed) Vanselow selectivity coefficients gave more accurate predictions of column experiments. The use of ternary cation exchange data did not improve predictions of column response.
Basalts of the northeastern Deccan Traps, India: Isotopic and elemental geochemistry and relation to southwestern Deccan stratigraphy

The northeastern Deccan Traps include flows with strong isotopic and elemental affinities to lavas in the southwest as far as 900 km away. However, many of the northeastern flows show a negative correlation of 206Pb/204Pb with eNd(t) and positive correlation of 206Pb/204Pb with (87Sr/86Sr)t, distinct from any of the isotopic fields for the southwestern formations; this array (from eNd(t)=+5, (87Sr/86Sr)t=0.7041, 206Pb/204Pb=17.9 to eNd(t)=0, (87Sr/86Sr),=0.7068, 206Pb/204Pb=20.5) overlaps the Ambenali Formation (Fm.) field and runs toward that of the “common signature” [Peng et al., 1994] that appears to have been an important magma type in several of the lower formations of the southwest. This array appears to represent mixing between an Ambenali-type and (1) a common-signature end-member or (2) an end-member with even higher 206Pb/204Pb and 87Sr/86Sr and lower eNd than the common signature; such mixing has been postulated, but not documented previously, for the Deccan. Lavas isotopically and chemically indistinguishable from the Ambenali Fm. form the tops of sections near Jabalpur and Chikaldara. Beneath them are flows that chemically resemble the Poladpur Fm. (which sits immediately below the Ambenali in the southwest) and several lavas similar to the Khandala Fm. (beneath the Poladpur and intervening Bushe Fm. in the southwest). Given the general stratigraphic correspondence with the southwestern sequence, many of these northeastern flows may be petrogenetically related to the respective southwestern formations. Lavas with broadly Poladpurand Khandala-like elemental compositions are also abundant in a thick section south of Mhow; several other Mhow-area flows resemble the distinctive Bushe Fm. However, nearly all of the Poladpur- and Khandala-like northeastern Deccan lavas analyzed have higher 206Pb/204Pb man any southwestern Poladpur or Khandala Fm. basalts. If they indeed are related petrogenetically to these formations, many of the northeastern magmas interacted less with lOw-206Pb/204Pb continental material and thus must have erupted from different feeder systems.
Upper mantle models and the thickness of the continental lithosphere

SUMMARY Analysis of the Early Rise traveltimes in the United States shows that on several of the profiles there are features which can be interpreted as indicating a low-velocity zone above 200km, i.e. that the continental lithosphere thickness is less than 200 km. The explosion data from the Nevada Test Site, GNOME and Early Rise are all consistent with Lehmann's suggestion that there is a discontinuity at a depth of about 200 km. Comparison of the observed data between 15" and 23" with model calculations shows that the major differences between the western and centraleastern United States upper mantles occur above 200 km. It appears that the only reasonable explanation for the 200 km discontinuity is that it represents the termination of a zone of 'partial melting.
Deep Crustal Communities of the Juan de Fuca Ridge Are Governed by Mineralogy

ABSTRACT Volcanic ocean crust contains a global chemosynthetic microbial ecosystem that impacts ocean productivity, seawater chemistry and geochemical cycling. We examined the mineralogical effect on community structure in the aquifer ecosystem by using a four-year in situ colonization experiment with igneous minerals and glasses in Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1301A on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Microbial community analysis and scanning electron microscopy revealed that olivine phases and iron-bearing minerals bore communities that were distinct from iron-poor phases. Communities were dominated by Archaeoglobaceae, Clostridia, Thermosipho, Desulforudis and OP1 lineages. Our results suggest that mineralogy determines microbial composition in the subseafloor aquifer ecosystem.
Infection with ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ improves the fecundity of Diaphorina citri aiding its proliferation: A win‐win strategy

The evolution of insect vector‐pathogen relationships has long been of interest in the field of molecular ecology. One system of special relevance, due to its economic impacts, is that between Diaphorina citri and ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (CLas), the cause of the severe Asian form of huanglongbing. CLas‐positive D. citri are more fecund than their CLas‐negative counterparts, boosting opportunities for pathogens to acquire new vector hosts. The molecular mechanism behind this life‐history shift remains unclear. Here, we found that CLas promoted ovarian development and increased the expression of the vitellogenin receptor (DcVgR) in ovaries. DcVgR RNAi significantly decreased fecundity and CLas titer in ovaries, extended the preoviposition period, shortened the oviposition period and blocked ovarian development. Given their importance in gene regulation, we explored the role of miRNAs in shaping these phenotypes and their molecular triggers. Our results showed that one miRNA, miR‐275, suppressed DcVgR expression by binding to its 3' UTR. Overexpression of miR‐275 knocked down DcVgR expression and CLas titer in ovaries, causing reproductive defects that mimicked DcVgR knockdown phenotypes. We focused, further, on roles of the Juvenile Hormone (JH) pathway in shaping the observed fecundity phenotype, given its known impacts on ovarian development. After CLas infection, this pathway was upregulated, thereby increasing DcVgR expression. From these combined results, we conclude that CLas hijacks the JH signalling pathway and miR‐275, thereby targeting DcVgR to increase D. citri fecundity. These changes simultaneously increase CLas replication, suggesting a pathogen‐vector host mutualism, or a seemingly helpful, but cryptically costly life‐history manipulation.
Distribution of a Remote Medical Exam Device Associated with an Increase in Telehealth Use.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated telehealth adoption, but its effects on care quality and costs remain unclear. This study evaluates a remote patient monitoring device's impact on utilization and spending. Methods: A large insurer launched a pilot program involving 2,880 households, representing 6,731 members in three states. Administrative claims data compared participant households to a matched group lacking necessary contact information for participation. Results: Participants had a 0.19 per member (p = 0.03) increase in telehealth visits and a 0.19 per member (p = 0.08) decrease in outpatient in-person visits relative to nonparticipants during the post 6-month period. No significant differences were observed in total outpatient and emergency department visits or total spending. Subgroup analyses revealed a significant reduction in telehealth visits followed by in-person outpatient visits in households with younger children (-9.1%; p < 0.05). Conclusion: This evaluation suggests that remote devices may boost telehealth utilization without increasing costs.
Improvement of Boundary Condition for a Shallow Water Model to Extent Predictability of Monsoon

Limited area shallow water model is usually considered for simple numerical experiments in meteorology such as predictability of monsoon. The shallow water model has efficiency to predict the monsoon for only 2-3 days due to boundary condition problem. The shallow water model can be improved to extent predictability by implement wall boundary condition. It is found that the wall boundary condition has good efficiency to reduce the problem of boundary condition.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms in cytokine genes and their association with primary Sjögren’s syndrome in Saudi patients

Objectives: To determine the allelic frequencies and effects of genotypic variations in cytokine gene polymorphisms in a Saudi Arabian population. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 41 patients with Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) and 71 healthy controls between October 2018 and May 2019. Single nucleotide polymorphisms genotyping was performed using the SEQUENOM MassARRAY® System, targeting nine polymorphisms in different cytokine genes. Chi-square tests were used to compare the patients and controls. Results: The interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) rs1143627 CT (control, 52.7%; patients, 21.2%) and TT + CT (p= 0.003; p=0.033) genotypes were less frequent in patients with pSS than in healthy controls. The C allele in rs10488631 in the interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene and the A allele in rs12583006 in the B-cell activating factor (BAFF) gene were associated with an increased risk of pSS development in the patient group. Conclusion: The CT genotype at −31 (rs1143627) in the IL-1β gene was not associated with a high risk of pSS development in the Saudi population, in contrast to what has been verified in other ethnicities. However, the C allele in rs10488631 in IRF-5 and the A allele in rs12583006 in BAFF were associated.
Transient effects in oilfield cementing flows

In this thesis we study instabilities and mud channel removal during the primary cementing of an oil well. This process involves displacement of a sequence of non-Newtonian fluids along a narrow eccentric annulus. Previously, this has been modelled as a pseudo-steady process using a Hele-Shaw approximation. In such models, the stream function is governed by a steady elliptic problem and the fluids, (modelled via a concentration equation), simply advect along the annulus. It has been shown that for certain rheological and physical parameters, the displacement front will advances much faster on the wide side of the annulus than on the narrow side. In extreme cases the displacement front does not advance at all on the narrow side of the annulus and a static mud channel results as the finger advances up the wide side. In this thesis we consider whether the interface of a progressively advancing finger will remain stable to small perturbations. There is in fact experimental evidence that interfacial instabilities can occur in this situation. We find that the interface is in fact stable whenever there is a static mud channel on the narrow side of the annulus. Consequently, we also investigate how a mud channel might be removed by pulsation of the flow rate. Study of these two phenomena cannot be undertaken with the pseudo-steady framework. Therefore, we extend this model to flows that are fully transient. The transient model consists of a nonlinear evolution equation for the stream function. In chapter 3 we show that this transient model is in fact well-posed. In chapter 4 we study stability of multi-layer parallel flows, i.e. long fingers. If both fluids are yielded at the interface, instabilities may arise for different combinations of the 14 dimensionless parameters. These instabilities are related to a jump in tangential velocity at the interface and do not appear to have been identified before. In chapter 5 we investigate the case where a static mud channel develops on the narrow side of the annulus. Our stability theory predicts only linear stability. We therefore study the effects of a finite pulsation of the flow rates via numerical simulation. It seems that if we perturb the flow from the beginning of the displacement, the transient model fully captures the effects of the perturbation and the width of the mud channel is reduced. The pseudo-steady velocity model does not report any significant changes with respect to the results using a constant flow rate. If however, pulsation is applied after the mud channel has already formed, the removal of the mud channel will be unsuccessful.
Polymerizable sol–gel synthesis of dark-visible light antibacterial magnetically-recoverable AgBr-loaded iron oxide/alumina nanocomposite

The demand for a facile approach for synthesizing multifunctional nanocomposites is increasingly vital across diverse applications. In this study, a polymerizable sol–gel synthesis has been reported to obtain nanocomposites of magnetic iron oxide deposited over alumina nanopowder. The synthesis is mediated by the deposition of a calculated amount of iron(III) methacrylate, along with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate crosslinker, over alumina nanopowder, followed by thermally-inducing free radical polymerization at 125 °C for 30 min. The powder thus obtained has been subjected to calcination at 400 °C for 150 min and the resultant nanocomposites were characterized using wide-angle x-ray scattering, attenuated total reflectance—Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet-diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area measurements. The nanocomposites containing 15 and 20 wt% of iron oxide have been found to exhibit a saturation magnetization (M s) value ranging from 12 to 14 emu g−1. To the nanocomposite containing 20 wt% of iron oxide, 5 wt% of AgBr was loaded through thoroughly mixing a surfactant-based precursor, silver-tetraoctyl ammonium bromide (Ag-TOAB), followed by thermolysis. All the nanocomposites have been studied for their antibacterial activity against a representative gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli, under dark and visible light conditions. While a 3 mg ml−1 loading of the AgBr-loaded nanocomposite has exhibited complete clearance of the bacterial growth by 90 min in the dark, a similar activity has been observed in 60 min under light. The study has revealed the multifunctionality and high potential of the AgBr-loaded iron oxide/alumina nanocomposite as a promising dual-mode antibacterial and magnetically recoverable photocatalyst material.
Effect of Water Stress During Grain Filling on theGrain Yield and Quality of Two-line Hybrid Rice

With six two-line rice hybrids as materials, the effect of water stress during grain filling on grain yield and quality was studied. The result showed that the percentage of ripened grains, 1000-grain weight and grain yield of most tested cultivars under water stress were significantly lower than those under well-watered treatments. The diffe- rences in chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate were insignificant between water-stressed and well-watered flag leaves at early grain filling stage, but the reduction in chlorophyll and photosynthetic rate of the flag leaves for water-stressed plants than that for well-watered plants at the late grain filling stages, and indica hybrid combinations had faster reduction was larger than japonica hybrid combinations. Root activities of the water-stressed plants were higher than those of well-watered plants at the early grain filling stage, but they were decreased faster for the former than for the later at mid and late grain filling stages. The water-stressed plants had less accumulation of dry matter, higher export and transform percentage of the matter and lower content of usable sugars in stems and sheaths at maturity, suggesting that water stress enhanced senescence, reduced accumulation of dry matter after heading and facilitated remobilization of nonstructural carbohydrate (soluble sugars+starch) from the stems and sheaths. The effect of water stress on the grain quality were as follows: the differences in kernel length/width, brown rice, amylose content, protein content and alkali spreading value were insignificant between water-stressed and well-watered plants; milled rice and head milled rice varied with cultivars; chalkiness, percentage of chalky kernel and gel consistency of water-stressed plants were higher than those of well-watered plants.
Calcification of Encrusting Aragonitic Algae (Peyssonneliaceae): Implications for the Origin of Late Paleozoic Reefs and Cements

ABSTRACT Encrusting aragonitic calcareous algae of the family Peyssonneliaceae are the largest group of calcified red algae outside the well-known Mg calcite Corallinaceae. They are distributed worldwide, are most heavily calcified in temperate and tropical waters, and grow as prone but arched sheets on soft mud substrates, on hard rock surfaces, as extensive bridge-like networks between corals in reefs, and as concentric layers in nodules. Calcification is entirely aragonitic, species-specific, and both intracellular and extracellular below the thallus as a hypobasal layer. The hypobasal layer develops outside the tissue as an encrustation of small aragonite botryoids attached to the lower surface between rhyzoids, and on living plants it may exceed the thickness of the thallus. Calcification ranges from nonexistent in some cold-water forms, to thallus calcification only, to both thallus and hypobasal calcification, to species in which the thallus is noncalcified but there is a hypobasal layer of aragonite botryoids. Although the confirmed fossil range of this family extends only to the Early Cretaceous, striking similarities between these aragonitic forms and some late Paleozoic phylloid algae suggest that they may be closely related. Their ability to grow on soft mud substrates and form structures composed of irregular arched sheets with extensive pore space, as well as their brittle nature, so susceptible to fragmentation, are all characteristics of mound-forming fossil phylloid algae. The hypobasal layer of botryoidal aragonite, developed while the plant is still growing, could easily act as a nucleation site for further epitaxial submarine precipitation, thus explaining the common association of Paleozoic phylloid algae and extensive fossil-reef cements that resemble botryoidal aragonite. The presence of hypobasal botryoidal aragonite on plants with a noncalcified thallus raises the possibility that some fossil-reef cements may be related to now-vanished algae.
Shape Memory Alloy Rock Splitters (SMARS) - A Non-Explosive Method for Fracturing Planetary Rocklike Materials and Minerals

A static rock splitter device based on high-force, high-temperature shape memory alloys (HTSMAs) was developed for space related applications requiring controlled geologic excavation in planetary bodies such as the Moon, Mars, and near-Earth asteroids. The device, hereafter referred to as the shape memory alloy rock splitter (SMARS), consisted of active (expanding) elements made of Ni50.3Ti29. 7Hf20 (at.%) that generate extremely large forces in response to thermal input. The preshaping (training) of these elements was accomplished using isothermal, isobaric and cyclic training methods, which resulted in active components capable of generating stresses in excess of 1.5 GPa. The corresponding strains (or displacements) were also evaluated and were found to be 2 to 3 percent, essential to rock fracturing and/or splitting when placed in a borehole. SMARS performance was evaluated using a testbed consisting of a temperature controller, custom heaters and heater holders, and an enclosure for rock placement and breakage. The SMARS system was evaluated using various rock types including igneous rocks (e.g., basalt, quartz, granite) and sedimentary rocks (e.g., sandstone, limestone).
A dynamical model of growth and maturation in Drosophila

Significance The decision to stop growth is critical in an animal’s development. In humans and other species, this occurs at the onset of puberty, triggered by steroid hormone production that causes the transition from the juvenile to adult form. The factors triggering puberty are almost completely unknown but appear to be linked to reaching a specific body size, suggesting a size-sensing mechanism. This study focuses on fruit-fly metamorphosis, equivalent to puberty, which is ostensibly triggered by attaining a critical weight during larval development. Surprisingly, the study’s mathematical model suggests that the critical-weight phenomenon does not directly reflect a size-sensing mechanism, but arises from interactions between body size, steroid hormones, and nutritional signaling that initiate metamorphosis earlier in development.
Computational structure‐based approach to study chimeric antigens using a new protein scaffold displaying foreign epitopes

The identification and recombinant production of functional antigens and/or epitopes of pathogens represent a crucial step for the development of an effective protein‐based vaccine. Many vaccine targets are outer membrane proteins anchored into the lipidic bilayer through an extended hydrophobic portion making their recombinant production challenging. Moreover, only the extracellular loops, and not the hydrophobic regions, are naturally exposed to the immune system. In this work, the Domain 3 (D3) from Group B Streptococcus (GBS) pilus 2a backbone protein has been identified and engineered to be used as a scaffold for the display of extracellular loops of two Neisseria gonorrhoeae membrane proteins (PorB.1b and OpaB). A computational structure‐based approach has been applied to the design of both the scaffold and the model antigens. Once identified the best D3 engineerable site, several different chimeric D3 displaying PorB.1b and OpaB extracellular loops were produced as soluble proteins. Each molecule has been characterized in terms of solubility, stability, and ability to correctly display the foreign epitope. This antigen dissection strategy allowed the identification of most immunogenic extracellular loops of both PorB.1b and OpaB gonococcal antigens. The crystal structure of chimeric D3 displaying PorB.1b immunodominant loop has been obtained confirming that the engineerization did not alter the predicted native structure of this epitope. Taken together, the reported data suggest that D3 is a novel protein scaffold for epitope insertion and display, and a valid alternative to the production of whole membrane protein antigens. Finally, this work describes a generalized computational structure‐based approach for the identification, design, and dissection of epitopes in target antigens through chimeric proteins.