Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacterial and Fungal Biocontrol Agents for Plant Disease Protection: Journey from Lab to Field, Current Status, Challenges, and Global Perspectives

Plants are constantly exposed to various phytopathogens such as fungi, Oomycetes, nematodes, bacteria, and viruses. These pathogens can significantly reduce the productivity of important crops worldwide, with annual crop yield losses ranging from 20% to 40% caused by various pathogenic diseases. While the use of chemical pesticides has been effective at controlling multiple diseases in major crops, excessive use of synthetic chemicals has detrimental effects on the environment and human health, which discourages pesticide application in the agriculture sector. As a result, researchers worldwide have shifted their focus towards alternative eco-friendly strategies to prevent plant diseases. Biocontrol of phytopathogens is a less toxic and safer method that reduces the severity of various crop diseases. A variety of biological control agents (BCAs) are available for use, but further research is needed to identify potential microbes and their natural products with a broad-spectrum antagonistic activity to control crop diseases. This review aims to highlight the importance of biocontrol strategies for managing crop diseases. Furthermore, the role of beneficial microbes in controlling plant diseases and the current status of their biocontrol mechanisms will be summarized. The review will also cover the challenges and the need for the future development of biocontrol methods to ensure efficient crop disease management for sustainable agriculture.
Identified Bacteria and Virus in the Cerebrospinal Fluid of under Five Years Hospitalized Children for Clinical Meningitis at Panzi Hospital in the Eastern Part of DRC

Background: Meningitis remains a leading cause of death among children below 5 years of age in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). Distinguishing children with bacterial meningitis from those with viral meningitis in the emergency department is sometimes difficult. Here we identified bacteria and virus in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) of children with meningitis. Material and Methods: This is a prospective, analytical study carried out in the Pediatrics department of Panzi Hospital in the South-Kivu province of DR Congo. Between April 2021 and March 2022, 150 of 251 collected CSF from children aged from 1 to 59 months hospitalised due to clinical meningitis at Panzi referral university hospital, Bukavu, Eastern DR Congo were sent to the Lancet laboratory for bacteria identification by a multiplex real-time PCR assay for detection of the most different viruses and bacterial species causing meningitis. Result: The used multiplex real-time
Enterprise Social Media: Current Capabilities and Future Possibilities

This article provides a platform-independent framework for considering the effects of social media on enterprises. The framework comprises the two fundamental capabilities of social media: establishing social networks and accessing digital content; and the two impacts these capabilities have on organizations—employee performance and user behavior. The article identifies the implications for managers as they consider the design decisions for an enterprise social media platform. 1
Insights into the Heterogeneity of the Mercury Isotopic Fingerprint of the Idrija Mine (Slovenia)

To determine the range of the isotopic composition of mercury (Hg) from the Idrija mine, samples from the mine itself and from the Mercury Heritage Management Centre geological collection were analyzed. Samples from various geological periods, genesis types, ore types, formations, and excavation fields and levels were analyzed. Both Hg concentration and isotopic composition were measured. The δ202Hg ranged from −1.35‰ to 0.46‰, and the Δ199Hg ranged from −0.18‰ to 0.16‰. A relatively homogenous ore fingerprint was obtained from one of the excavation fields; otherwise, the isotopic fingerprint of the Idrija mine seems to be heterogenous. This study presents the first statistically robust constraints on the isotopic composition of Hg from the Idrija mine, which may help in further studies of the isotopic composition of similar ore bodies or the potential tracing of Hg from the mine to the environment in the vicinity or downstream of the mine.
Arming Mother Nature: The Birth of Catastrophic Environmentalism

Acknowledgments Introduction: Total War and Catastrophic Environmentalism Part I Pathways of Nature Ch. 1 War as a Clash of Civilizations Ch. 2 Bacteria, Radiation, and Crop Destruction in War Plans Ch. 3 Ecological Invasions and Convulsions Part II Forces of Nature Ch. 4 Earth Under Surveillance Ch. 5 Acts of God and Acts of Man Ch. 6 Wildcat Ideas for Environmental Warfare Part III Gatekeepers of Nature Ch. 7 The Doomsday Men Ch. 8 Vietnam and the Seeds of Destruction Ch. 9 The Terroristic Science of Environmental Modification Ch. 10 Adjustment or Extinction Conclusion The Miracle of Survival Notes Index
Prevalence of neurological disorders in Al Quseir, Egypt: methodological aspects

: Methodology and strategy play a very important role in epidemiological studies. Determination of the study area, geographical features, facilities, difficulties, and key personnel from the same area are important factors for successful methodology. Over 31 months (July 1, 2009 to January 31, 2012), a screening and an examination survey were carried out to ascertain the prevalence of epilepsy, stroke, dementia, cerebellar ataxia, migraine, cerebral palsy, Parkinsonism, chorea, athetosis, dystonia, trigeminal neuralgia, Bell’s palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders in Al Quseir, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. A total of 33,285 people were screened by three neurologists in a door-to-door manner, including every door, using a standardized Arabic questionnaire to detect any subject with a neurological disorder. The methodological aspects of this project were carried out through eight phases: (1) data collection; (2) preparation; (3) screening; (4) case ascertainment; (5) investigations; (6) classifications; (7) data entry; and (8) statistics and tabulations. The results of this study reveal that the total prevalence of neurological disorders in Al Quseir was 4.6% and higher among females (5.2%) than males (3.9%). The highest prevalence was recorded in the elderly population (60 + years [8.0%]) and among the age group 18–39 years (5.4%).
Model reduction for fractional elliptic problems using Kato's formula

We propose a novel numerical algorithm utilizing model reduction for computing solutions to stationary partial differential equations involving the spectral fractional Laplacian. Our approach utilizes a known characterization of the solution in terms of an integral of solutions to classical elliptic problems. We reformulate this integral into an expression whose continuous and discrete formulations are stable; the discrete formulations are stable independent of all discretization parameters. We subsequently apply the reduced basis method to accomplish model order reduction for the integrand. Our choice of quadrature in discretization of the integral is a global Gaussian quadrature rule that we observe is more efficient than previously proposed quadrature rules. Finally, the model reduction approach enables one to compute solutions to multi-query fractional Laplace problems with order of magnitude less cost than a traditional solver.
Mineral‐solubilizing microbial inoculants facilitate the rejuvenation of soil multifunctionality and plant growth at abandoned mine sites

The mining industry continues to have considerable adverse effects on ecosystems, which necessitates the development of robust and effective strategies for the remediation of abandoned mine sites. One such approach involves the integration of mineral‐solubilizing microorganisms into existing external soil spray seeding technologies. These microorganisms have the capacity to reduce mineral particle sizes, stimulate plant growth, and facilitate the release of essential soil nutrients. Despite the potential benefits of mineral‐solubilizing microbial inoculants, their impacts on overall soil multifunctionality and microbial communities, associations with microbial diversity, soil multifunctionality, and plant growth remain largely unknown. To bridge these knowledge gaps, we conducted a 1‐year greenhouse experiment, which involved a comprehensive assessment of various parameters including soil nutrients, enzyme activities, functional gene copies, and microbial communities. Our findings unveiled that the application of mineral‐solubilizing microbial inoculants led to a significant augmentation of soil multifunctionality. Additionally, the application of microbial inoculants increased the relative abundances of Bacilli (class), Bacillales (order), Bacillaceae (family), and Bacillus (genus). While no significant relationship emerged between microbial alpha diversity and soil multifunctionality, our investigation found positive correlations between the Bacillus groups, keystone ecological cluster, and soil multifunctionality. Furthermore, our results suggested that the indirect impact of microbial inoculants on plant growth was primarily channeled indirectly through their influence on Bacilli, keystone ecological cluster, and soil multifunctionality, as opposed to changes in the overall bacterial or fungal diversity. Overall, our study underscores the significance of mineral‐solubilizing microbial inoculants for the rejuvenation of abandoned mine sites, while providing valuable insights for future research aimed at optimizing the efficacy of external soil spray seeding techniques.
Climate-Smart Agriculture in Colombia

T he climate-smart agriculture (CSA) concept reflects an ambition to improve the integration of agriculture development and climate responsiveness. It aims to achieve food security and broader development goals under a changing climate and increasing food demand. CSA initiatives sustainably increase productivity, enhance resilience, and reduce/remove greenhouse gases (GHGs), and require planning to address tradeoffs and synergies between these three pillars: productivity, adaptation, and mitigation [1]. The priorities of different countries and stakeholders are reflected to achieve more efficient, effective, and equitable food systems that address challenges in environmental, social, and economic dimensions across productive landscapes. While the concept is new, and still evolving, many of the practices that make up CSA already exist worldwide and are used by farmers to cope with various production risks [2]. Mainstreaming CSA requires critical stocktaking of ongoing and promising practices for the future, and of institutional and financial enablers for CSA adoption. This country profile provides a snapshot of a developing baseline created to initiate discussion, both within countries and globally, about entry points for investing in CSA at scale. CSA is already being practiced in Colombia, but these practices are often implemented unsystematically or have generally low adoption rates. There are a variety of practices that could increase the climate smartness of landscapes and the agricultural sector if taken to scale.
The effects of household and community characteristics on the nutrition of preschool children: evidence from rural Cote d'Ivoire

This paper estimates reduced form equations, derived from an economic model of household production, to analyze the level of household and community level variables on child nutrition in rural Cote d'Ivoire. Of particular concern are the contributions made by parental education, household wealth, and community characteristics, some of which are manipulable by government policy. The results show that both a mother's and a father's education have positive effects on weight for height, and that the mothers education has positive effects (though not precisely estimated) on height. The impact of community characteristics is strong. Of these, local wage rates, the health environment and the quality of health infrastructure seem to matter most. Unobserved household level factors are shown to be quite important, which suggests the need to account for them in an explicit way. In addition, there seem to be strong effects of intrahousehold distribution, particularly for children of household heads and their senior wives.
Epigenetic targeting to enhance acute myeloid leukemia-directed immunotherapy

AML is a malignant disease of hematopoietic progenitor cells with unsatisfactory treatment outcome, especially in patients that are ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. Immunotherapy, comprising checkpoint inhibition, T-cell engaging antibody constructs, and cellular therapies, has dramatically improved the outcome of patients with solid tumors and lymphatic neoplasms. In AML, these approaches have been far less successful. Discussed reasons are the relatively low mutational burden of AML blasts and the difficulty in defining AML-specific antigens not expressed on hematopoietic progenitor cells. On the other hand, epigenetic dysregulation is an essential driver of leukemogenesis, and non-selective hypomethylating agents (HMAs) are the current backbone of non-intensive treatment. The first clinical trials that evaluated whether HMAs may improve immune checkpoint inhibitors’ efficacy showed modest efficacy except for the anti-CD47 antibody that was substantially more efficient against AML when combined with azacitidine. Combining bispecific antibodies or cellular treatments with HMAs is subject to ongoing clinical investigation, and efficacy data are awaited shortly. More selective second-generation inhibitors targeting specific chromatin regulators have demonstrated promising preclinical activity against AML and are currently evaluated in clinical trials. These drugs that commonly cause leukemia cell differentiation potentially sensitize AML to immune-based treatments by co-regulating immune checkpoints, providing a pro-inflammatory environment, and inducing (neo)-antigen expression. Combining selective targeted epigenetic drugs with (cellular) immunotherapy is, therefore, a promising approach to avoid unintended effects and augment efficacy. Future studies will provide detailed information on how these compounds influence specific immune functions that may enable translation into clinical assessment.
Surface Functionalisation of Self-Assembled Quantum Dot Microlasers with a DNA Aptamer

The surface functionalisation of self-assembled colloidal quantum dot supraparticle lasers with a thrombin binding aptamer (TBA-15) has been demonstrated. The self-assembly of CdSSe/ZnS alloyed core/shell microsphere-shape CQD supraparticles emitting at 630 nm was carried out using an oil-in-water emulsion technique, yielding microspheres with an oleic acid surface and an average diameter of 7.3 ± 5.3 µm. Surface modification of the microspheres was achieved through a ligand exchange with mercaptopropionic acid and the subsequent attachment of TBA-15 using EDC/NHS coupling, confirmed by zeta potential and Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. Lasing functionality between 627 nm and 635 nm was retained post-functionalisation, with oleic acid- and TBA-coated microspheres exhibiting laser oscillation with thresholds as low as 4.10 ± 0.37 mJ·cm−2 and 7.23 ± 0.78 mJ·cm−2, respectively.
Understanding Stability of Medical Concept Embeddings: Analysis and Prediction

In biomedical area, medical concepts linked to external knowledge bases ( e.g., UMLS) are frequently used for accurate and effective representations. There are many studies to develop embeddings for medical concepts on biomedical corpus and evaluate overall quality of concept embeddings. However, quality of individual concept embeddings has not been carefully investigated. We analyze the quality of medical concept embeddings trained with word2vec in terms of embedding stability . From the analysis, we observe that some of concept embeddings are out of the effect of different hyperparameter values in word2vec and remain with poor stability. Moreover, when stability of concept embeddings is analyzed in terms of frequency, many low-frequency concepts achieve high stability as high-frequency concepts do. The findings suggest that there are other factors influencing the stability of medical concept embeddings. In this paper, we propose a new factor, the distribution of context words to predict stability of medical concept embeddings. By estimating the distribution of context words using normalized entropy, we show that the skewed distribution has a moderate correlation with the stability of concept embeddings. The result demonstrates that a medical concept whose a large portion of context words is taken up by a few words is able to obtain high stability, even though its frequency is low. The clear correlation between the proposed factor and stability of medical concept embeddings allows to predict the medical concepts with low-quality embeddings even prior to training.
Electromagnetic induction detection techniques for craniocerebral injury: A review

Assessing the severity and prognosis of patients with craniocerebral damage is a major research area in medicine since it is a prevalent clinical disease. Acute craniocerebral injury, a common traumatic condition, is often caused by traffic accidents, collisions, and falls in daily life. Secondary craniocerebral injury refers to symptoms such as brain edema and intracranial hemorrhage after acute craniocerebral injury, which will aggravate the injury. Secondary craniocerebral injury can be avoided by effective and timely treatment, and real-time detection of brain edema and intracranial hemorrhage by non-invasive medical imaging is a solution. Therefore, non-invasive medical imaging technology has recently emerged as a new area of study. A new imaging technology, namely the brain injury detection technology based on electromagnetic induction, has been discovered after years of research on non-invasive detection of brain injury. Initially, electromagnetic induction technology was widely used in metal nondestructive testing. The human body, as a conductor, also has electromagnetic induction, allowing this technology to be used on the human body. This study reviews the technologies for detecting electromagnetic induction in cases of craniocerebral damage, including induced current electrical impedance tomography, magneto-acoustic tomography, and eddy current damping sensors for detection and imaging.
UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS Profiling of Phytochemicals from Araticum Fruit (Annona crassiflora Mart.) and Its Antioxidant Activity

Araticum is a native species of the Brazilian Cerrado with a high potential for exploitation. Several studies have stated that araticum is a rich source of phytochemicals with multifaceted biological actions. However, little information is available regarding the characterization of phytochemicals found in the pulp of this fruit. In this context, this study aimed to carry out a comprehensive characterization of phytochemicals present in the araticum pulp using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS). The antioxidant potential of araticum pulp was also evaluated. UHPLC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS profiling of the phytochemicals allowed for the identification and annotation of 139 phytochemicals, including organic acids, jasmonates, iridoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, annonaceous acetogenins, fatty acid derivatives, and other compounds. Among them, 116 compounds have been found for the first time in araticum pulp. Phenolic compounds and their derivatives represented about 59% of the phytochemicals identified in the extract. Moreover, araticum pulp showed high total phenolic compound content and antioxidant activity. The majority of identified phytochemicals have been associated with key roles in the plant’s defense mechanisms against biotic and abiotic stress factors in the Cerrado environment. Furthermore, many of these phytochemicals found in the araticum pulp are already widely recognized for their beneficial effects on human health. Our findings showed that the araticum fruit contains different classes of phytochemicals that exert various biological activities, both in the plant itself and in humans.
Visualizing risky situations induces a stronger neural response in brain areas associated with mental imagery and emotions than visualizing non-risky situations

In an fMRI study, we tested the prediction that visualizing risky situations induces a stronger neural response in brain areas associated with mental imagery and emotions than visualizing non-risky and more positive situations. We assumed that processing mental images that allow for “trying-out” the future has greater adaptive importance for risky than non-risky situations, because the former can generate severe negative outcomes. We identified several brain regions that were activated when participants produced images of risky situations and these regions overlap with brain areas engaged in visual, speech, and movement imagery. We also found that producing images of risky situations, in contrast to non-risky situations, was associated with increased neural activation in the insular cortex and cerebellum–the regions involved, among other functions, in emotional processing. Finally, we observed an increased BOLD signal in the cingulate gyrus associated with reward-based decision making and monitoring of decision outcomes. In summary, risky situations increased neural activation in brain areas involved in mental imagery, emotional processing, and decision making. These findings imply that the evaluation of everyday risky situations may be driven by emotional responses that result from mental imagery.
3 D FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING OF A PERMANENT MAGNET ELECTROMAGNETIC VALVE ACTUATOR

− The paper presents three-dimensional magnetic field modelling of a recently developed electromagnetic valve actuator with soft magnetic mover and stopper. The permanent magnet is employed in the actuator construction in order to reduce the energy consumption. Three-dimensional finite element method using magnetic vector potential formulation with edge elements is employed. Results are obtained for the magnetic field distribution and the static force of the actuator. Force-displacement characteristics for different values of the magnetomotive force and different lengths of the stopper are also obtained.
On the Roles of Precipitation and Entrainment in Stratocumulus Transitions Between Mesoscale States

Stratocumulus occur in closed or open cell states, which tend to be associated with high or low cloud cover and the absence or presence of precipitation, respectively. Thus, the transition between these states has substantial implications for the role of this cloud type in Earth’s radiation budget. In this study, we analyze transitions between these states using an ensemble of 127 large-eddy simulations, covering a wide range of conditions. Our analysis is focused on the behavior of these clouds in a cloud fraction (fc) scene albedo (A) phase space, which has been shown in previous studies to be a useful framework for interpreting system behavior. For the transition from closed to open cells, we find that precipitation creates narrower clouds and scavenges cloud droplets for all fc. However, precipitation decreases the cloud depth for fc > 0.8 only, causing a rapid decrease in A. For fc < 0.8, the cloud depth actually increases due to mesoscale organization of the cloud field. As the cloud deepening balances the effects of cloud droplet scavenging in terms of influence on A, changes in A are determined by the decreasing fc only, causing a linear decrease in A for fc < 0.8. For the transition from open to closed cells, we find that longwave radiative cooling drives the cloud development, with cloud widening dominating for fc < 0.5. For fc > 0.5, clouds begin to deepen gradually due to the decreasing efficiency of lateral expansion. The smooth switch between cloud widening and deepening leads to a more gentle change in A compared to the transitions under precipitating conditions.