Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Time-Use Patterns and Sustainable Urban Form: A Case Study to Explore Potential Links

Linking time use of the inhabitants of a city with their energy consumption and urban form is an approach which allows integration of the social dimension into research on sustainable urban development. While much has been written about the planning of cities and its implications for human social life, the question of the relationship between time-use patterns and urban form remains underexplored. This is all the more astonishing as time-use statistics offer a unique tool for analysing socio-economic changes regarding family and household structures, gender relations, working hours, recreational behaviour and consumption patterns. Furthermore, spatial planning plays a significant role in establishing time structures. With this paper we aim to explore the possibility of using the time-use data of an urban population to find links between individual time-use patterns and urban form. We describe a case study in Vienna where we addressed time use and mobility of citizens in a participatory approach to jointly develop an integrated socio-ecological model of urban time-use patterns and energy consumption.
Enzyme activity as an indicator of soil quality changes in degraded cultivated Acrisols in the Mexican Trans‐volcanic Belt

Soils located at the Mexican Trans‐Volcanic Belt (MTB) have a worrying degree of degradation due to inappropriate management practices. Early indicators of soil changes are very useful to alert about negative impacts of wrong managements on these volcanic soils. The aim of this work was to evaluate the short‐term effects (4 years) of different agricultural practices on soil organic matter (SOM) quality and to validate the potential of the selected biochemical properties as optimal early indicators of soil quality in Mexican cultivated Acrisols. During 2002–2005 four agronomic management systems: conventional (Tc); improved conventional (Ti); organic (To) and fallow (Tf) were assayed in plots located at the MTB. An uncultivated soil under grass cover (Sg) was used as reference. Soil samples were collected at 0–10 cm depth and were analysed chemically (soil organic C, total N, water‐soluble C and humic C), and biochemically (total and extra‐cellular enzyme activity). After 4 years, soil organic C, total N, water‐soluble C, and dehydrogenase activity had higher values in To, followed by Ti treatment. A similar response pattern was observed in the extra‐cellular enzyme activity. The highest total enzyme activity was found in Sg, followed by Ti and To treatments, and the lowest values appeared in Tc and Tf. To and Ti increased SOM contents of the degraded Acrisols studied, while Tc and Tf managements decreased the quality of these soils. The results showed that the assayed soil enzymes can be used as indicators of quality changes of these Mexican volcanic soils. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Do parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) receive adequate information about the disorder and its treatments? A qualitative investigation

Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent pediatric neurodevelopmental condition, commonly treated using pharmacological agents such as stimulant medicines. The use of these agents remains contentious, placing parents in a difficult position when deciding to initiate and/or continue their child’s treatment. Parents refer to a range of information sources to assist with their treatment decision-making. This qualitative study aimed to investigate 1) parents’ ADHD-related knowledge pre- and post-diagnosis, 2) the information sources accessed by parents, 3) whether parents’ information needs were met post-diagnosis, and 4) parents’ views about strategies to meet their information needs. Methods Three focus groups (n=16 parents), each lasting 1.0–1.5 hours were conducted. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analyzed using the framework method, coded, and categorized into themes. Results Generally, parents had limited ADHD-related knowledge prior to their child’s diagnosis and perceived prescription medicines indicated for ADHD in a negative context. Parents reported improved knowledge after their child’s diagnosis; however, they expressed dissatisfaction with information that they accessed, which was often technical and not tailored to their child’s needs. Verbal information sought from health care professionals was viewed to be reliable but generally medicine-focused and not necessarily comprehensive. Parents identified a need for concise, tailored information about ADHD, the medicines used for its treatment, and changes to their child’s medication needs with age. They also expressed a desire for increased availability of support groups and tools to assist them in sourcing information from health care professionals during consultations, such as question prompt lists. Conclusion There are gaps in parents’ knowledge about ADHD and its treatment, and an expressed need for tailored and reliable information. Future research needs to focus on providing parents with avenues to access concise, reliable, and relevant information and support in order to empower them to make the best treatment decision for their child.
Memory-Bounded Dynamic Programming for DEC-POMDPs

Decentralized decision making under uncertainty has been shown to be intractable when each agent has different partial information about the domain. Thus, improving the applicability and scalability of planning algorithms is an important challenge. We present the first memory-bounded dynamic programming algorithm for finite-horizon decentralized POMDPs. A set of heuristics is used to identify relevant points of the infinitely large belief space. Using these belief points, the algorithm successively selects the best joint policies for each horizon. The algorithm is extremely efficient, having linear time and space complexity with respect to the horizon length. Experimental results show that it can handle horizons that are multiple orders of magnitude larger than what was previously possible, while achieving the same or better solution quality. These results significantly increase the applicability of decentralized decision-making techniques.
New scaling relation for information transfer in biological networks

We quantify characteristics of the informational architecture of two representative biological networks: the Boolean network model for the cell-cycle regulatory network of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe (Davidich et al. 2008 PLoS ONE 3, e1672 (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001672)) and that of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Li et al. 2004 Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 101, 4781–4786 (doi:10.1073/pnas.0305937101)). We compare our results for these biological networks with the same analysis performed on ensembles of two different types of random networks: Erdös–Rényi and scale-free. We show that both biological networks share features in common that are not shared by either random network ensemble. In particular, the biological networks in our study process more information than the random networks on average. Both biological networks also exhibit a scaling relation in information transferred between nodes that distinguishes them from random, where the biological networks stand out as distinct even when compared with random networks that share important topological properties, such as degree distribution, with the biological network. We show that the most biologically distinct regime of this scaling relation is associated with a subset of control nodes that regulate the dynamics and function of each respective biological network. Information processing in biological networks is therefore interpreted as an emergent property of topology (causal structure) and dynamics (function). Our results demonstrate quantitatively how the informational architecture of biologically evolved networks can distinguish them from other classes of network architecture that do not share the same informational properties.
Cellular and Behavioral Effects of Cranial Irradiation of the Subventricular Zone in Adult Mice

Background In mammals, new neurons are added to the olfactory bulb (OB) throughout life. Most of these new neurons, granule and periglomerular cells originate from the subventricular zone (SVZ) lining the lateral ventricles and migrate via the rostral migratory stream toward the OB. Thousands of new neurons appear each day, but the function of this ongoing neurogenesis remains unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, we irradiated adult mice to impair constitutive OB neurogenesis, and explored the functional impacts of this irradiation on the sense of smell. We found that focal irradiation of the SVZ greatly decreased the rate of production of new OB neurons, leaving other brain areas intact. This effect persisted for up to seven months after exposure to 15 Gray. Despite this robust impairment, the thresholds for detecting pure odorant molecules and short-term olfactory memory were not affected by irradiation. Similarly, the ability to distinguish between odorant molecules and the odorant-guided social behavior of irradiated mice were not affected by the decrease in the number of new neurons. Only long-term olfactory memory was found to be sensitive to SVZ irradiation. Conclusion/Significance These findings suggest that the continuous production of adult-generated neurons is involved in consolidating or restituting long-lasting olfactory traces.
Epilepsy and Other Neuropsychiatric Manifestations in Children and Adolescents with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome

Background and Purpose 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is the most common microdeletion syndrome. Epilepsy and other neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestations of this genetic syndrome are not uncommon, but they are also not well-understood. We sought to identify the characteristics of epilepsy and other associated NP manifestations in patients with 22q11.2DS. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 145 child and adolescent patients (72 males and 73 females) with genetically diagnosed 22q11.2DS. The clinical data included seizures, growth chart, psychological reports, development characteristics, school performance, other clinical manifestations, and laboratory findings. Results Of the 145 patients with 22q11.2DS, 22 (15.2%) had epileptic seizures, 15 (10.3%) had developmental delay, and 5 (3.4%) had a psychiatric illness. Twelve patients with epilepsy were classified as genetic epilepsy whereas the remaining were classified as structural, including three with malformations of cortical development. Patients with epilepsy were more likely to display developmental delay (odds ratio=3.98; 95% confidence interval=1.5-10.5; p=0.005), and developmental delay was more common in patients with structural epilepsy than in those with genetic epilepsy. Conclusions Patients with 22q11.2DS have a high risk of epilepsy, which in these cases is closely related to other NP manifestations. This implies that this specific genetic locus is critically linked to neurodevelopment and epileptogenesis.
POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS AND INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE IN 943 CONSECUTIVE CASES OF 23-GAUGE TRANSCONJUNCTIVAL PARS PLANA VITRECTOMY WITH 1-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

Background: To report the rate of postoperative complications in 943 consecutive eyes operated on with 23-gauge transconjunctival pars plana vitrectomy. Methods: Single-center, retrospective, noncomparative, interventional case series. Nine hundred and forty-three eyes underwent 23-gauge transconjunctival core and peripheral vitrectomy with peripheral laser at the sclerotomy sites from May 2005 through April 2008. The main outcome measures were intraocular pressure at 1 day and at 1 week and intra- and postoperative complications with at least 6-month follow-up. Results: Eight hundred and thirty-one eyes (88%) did not have either significant intra- or postoperative complications. Sclerotomy leakage requiring suture occurred in 37 eyes (3.9%). One choroidal detachment (0.1%) spontaneously resolved 1 week after surgery. At postoperative Day 1, 31 eyes (3.3%) experienced transient hypotony. Forty-five eyes (4.8%) presented a subtle vitreous hemorrhage that resolved spontaneously. Two retinal detachments (0.2%) occurred, one at 1 month and one at 3 months. They resolved with one further vitrectomy. Seven hundred and forty eyes completed the 12-month follow-up and presented no further complications. Conclusion: Twenty-three–gauge complete vitrectomy and peripheral laser seem safe for a variety of vitreoretinal surgical procedures. The rate of post- and intraoperative complications compares favorably with 25-gauge and with the standard 20-gauge vitrectomy.
BREAKTHROUGH LOADS OF FLOATING ICE SHEETS

In cold regions, ice covers on rivers and lakes are often used as roads and airfields. Determination of the breakthrough load of an ice sheet is important for the safe transportation of loads across those ice covers. Currently, the breakthrough load is estimated using empirical relations developed from the results of full-scale field tests. This paper presents a theoretical formulation to derive an expression for the breakthrough load using plastic limit analysis. The velocity field in the vicinity of a distributed load is assumed, and the stresses induced in the columnar ice are assumed to be the biaxial strength, which depends on the strain rate derived from assumed velocity field. By equating the rate of work done by the load to the rate of energy dissipation during compression of ice caused by radial and circumferential wedging of ice during deformation, the breakthrough load is determined. Theoretical estimates and the experimental breakthrough loads are in good agreement when energy dissipation due to radial deformation along circumferential cracks is ignored. When the radial crushing strength along circumferential cracks is assumed to be 1 MPa, the theoretical estimates of breakthrough loads are about twice the experimental loads. Shear or punching failure due to concentrated load on a floating ice sheet is addressed briefly.
Infection Rates by Dengue Virus in Mosquitoes and the Influence of Temperature May Be Related to Different Endemicity Patterns in Three Colombian Cities

Colombia is an endemic country for dengue fever where the four serotypes of virus dengue (DENV1–4) circulate simultaneously, and all types are responsible for dengue cases in the country. The control strategies are guided by entomological surveillance. However, heterogeneity in aedic indices is not well correlated with the incidence of the disease in cities such as Riohacha, Bello and Villavicencio. As an alternative, molecular detection of dengue virus in mosquitoes has been proposed as a useful tool for epidemiological surveillance and identification of serotypes circulating in field. We conducted a spatiotemporal fieldwork in these cities to capture adult mosquitoes to assess vector infection and explain the differences between Breteau indices and disease incidence. DENV infection in females and DENV serotype identification were evaluated and infection rates (IR) were estimated. The relationship between density, dengue cases and vector index was also estimated with logistic regression modeling and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The lack of association between aedic indices and dengue incidence is in agreement with the weak associations between the density of the mosquitoes and their infection with DENV in the three cities. However, association was evident between the IR and dengue cases in Villavicencio. Furthermore, we found important negative associations between temperature and lag time from two to six weeks in Riohacha. We conclude that density of mosquitoes is not a good predictor of dengue cases. Instead, IR and temperature might explain better such heterogeneity.
Protecting the primordial baryon asymmetry from erasure by sphalerons.

If the baryon asymmetry of the Universe was created at the GUT scale, sphalerons together with exotic sources of [ital B][minus][ital L] violation could have erased it, unless the latter satisfy stringent bounds. We elaborate on how the small Yukawa coupling of the electron drastically weakens previous estimates of these bounds.
Anatomy of a Jurassic Theropod Trackway from Ardley, Oxfordshire, U.K.

Ardley Quarry, Oxfordshire, central England, preserves a most remarkable ichnological record of dinosaur activity on a single 168 Ma old trackway-bearing horizon. This horizon reveals over 40 dinosaur trackways, most of them sauropod, but including several giant theropod trackways tentatively attributed to Megalosaurus, the first creature of its kind recognized and assigned to Dinosauria. A 60 meter-long portion of one theropod trackway (no. 80) is systematically characterized in terms of pitch, yaw, and roll of successive footprints. Variations among these parameters correspond closely with acceleration/deceleration intervals in the trackway, impressed by the animal in wet calcareous mud within the tidewater zone of a mid-Jurassic coastal plain. Energy expended (1.4 watts) by the animal in making each footprint in the trackway is comparable to the resting metabolic rate of modern birds and mammals. Efforts by the theropod to accelerate are reflected by intervals of forward pitch of footprints; here the backward component of the force exerted upon the ground exceeds the forward component. Conversely, during braking (deceleration) intervals, footprints tend to exhibit a backward pitch in which the forward component of the force will have exceeded the backward component. Maximum positive yaw (outward from the midline of the trackway) generally corresponds with forward pitch. Positive yaw is greatest where positive (outward) roll is maximum. Measurements of pitch, yaw, and roll of dinosaur footprints hold potential for revealing fundamental locomotor characteristics of dinosaurs and for estimating acceleration and speed of an animal from its footprint record.
Exploiting Social Networks for Internet Search

Over the last decade, the World Wide Web and Web search engines have fundamentally transformed the way people find and share information. Recently, a new form of publishing and locating information, known as online social networking, has become very popular. While numerous studies have focussed on the hyperlinked structure of the Web and have exploited it for searching content, few studies, if any, have examined the information exchange in online social networks. In the Web, explicit links called hyperlinks between content (typically pages) are the primary tool for structuring information. Hyperlinks are used by authors to embed a page in the Web of related information, by human users to manually browse the Web, and by search engines to crawl the Web to index content, as well as to rank or estimate the relevance of content for a search query. In contrast to the Web, no explicit links exist between the content (typically photos, videos, and blog postings) stored in social networks. Instead, explicit links between users, who generate or publish the content, serve as the primary structuring tool. For example, in social networking sites like MySpace [15], Orkut [17], and Flickr [4], a link from user A to user B usually indicates that A finds the information published by B interesting or relevant, or A implicitly endorses B’s content due to an established social relationship. Such social links enable users to manually browse for information that is likely of interest to them, and could be used by search tools to index and locate information. In this paper, we seek to understand whether these social links can be exploited by search engines to provide better results. This paper makes three contributions: First, we compare the mechanisms for content publication and location in the Web and online social networks. We argue that search techniques could benefit from integrating the different mechanisms used to find relevant content in the Web and social networks. Second, we present results from an experiment in social network-based Web search to support our contention. Third, we outline the research challenges and opportunities in leveraging social networks for future Internet search. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we first contrast how content is exchanged in social networks and the Web, and then speculate on the potential of integrating the different search techniques used in these systems. We evaluate the potential of our integrated approach to search using a social networkbased experiment in Section 3. We discuss the research challenges that need to be addressed in order to realize such an integrated search system in Section 4. We present related work in Section 5 and conclude in Section 6.
Geochemistry of a Modern Marine Evaporite: Bocana De Virrila, Peru

ABSTRACT The Bocana de Virrila, a relict estuary on the coast of northwestern Peru, exhibits unique lateral zonation of evaporite minerals (calcite, gypsum, halite) along its 20-km length. The salinity gradient in the estuary ranges from normal marine at the mouth to approximately 330,000 ppm TDS in the innermost waters. We use the Harvie-Weare chemical equilibrium model to characterize the saturation horizons of gypsum and halite in the estuary brines. The model predicts water compositions and gypsum and halite precipitation closely. Gypsum and halite precipitate in 2.5-km zones characterized by water salinities greater than 160,000 ppm and 320,000 ppm TDS, respectively. Calcite precipitation is not as extensive as expected, and very high values of alkalinity (6.0 mM 1-1 as CaCO3) are attained. Water composition and sedimentological data support a model of the Bocana as a barred lagoon operating in a flow evaporative mode. Limited diurnal data show significant variation in brine composition as well as thermal and density stratification. In this study, we did not determine the patterns of brine circulation. However, the lack of bittern salts in the saline brine zones suggests removal of K- and Mg-rich brines.
Photochemical coupling between the thermosphere and the lower atmosphere: 1. Odd nitrogen from 50 to 120 km

A two-dimensional photochemical model which treated the troposphere and stratosphere has been extended to include the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The model is described, and particular emphasis is placed on the transport and chemistry of nitric oxide. Large amounts of NO are produced in the lower thermosphere both by solar radiation during quiet times and through auroral ionization. Using reasonable descriptions of dynamical processes in the two-dimensional model, substantial amounts of NO produced in the thermosphere can reach the stratosphere, particularly at high latitudes during polar winter. This process provides a coupling between the upper and lower atmosphere which may play a significant role in the photochemistry of odd nitrogen and odd oxygen in the stratosphere.
IZNIK POTTERY: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE METHODS OF PRODUCTION

range of vibrant underglaze colours. Initially produced as a substitute for imported Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, the generally accepted sequence for the de- velopment of Iznik pottery starts in about 1480 with ‘Abraham of Kutahya’ ware and continues through ‘Golden Horn’ and ‘Damascus’ wares to bole red ware, the production of which began in the 1550s and continued to the seventeenth century (Rogers and Ward 1988. 186-8). The decoration of the ‘Abraham of Kutahya’ and ‘Golden Horn’ wares is predominantly blue whereas that of the ‘Damascus‘ and bole red wares is polychrome. The extent to which these different types were made simultaneously has not yet been fully resolved. The ‘Abraham of Kutahya’ and ‘Golden Horn’ wares appear to have been produced at both Kutahya and Iznik. In contrast, the ‘Damascus’ and bole red wares appear to have been made exclusively at Iznik. In the Ottoman sources ‘Iznik pottery’ is used more as a trade name than a provenance. Therefore, it must be emphasised that in using the term, as well as the terms ‘Abraham