Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Humic Substances In Soil, Sediment, And Water : Geochemistry, Isolation, And Characterization

An Introduction to Humic Substances in Soil, Sediment, and Water GEOCHEMISTRY OF HUMIC SUBSTANCES: Geochemistry of Soil Humic Substances Geochemistry of Humic Substances in Natural and Cultivated Peatlands Humic Substances in Groundwater Geochemistry and Ecological Role of Humic Substances in Lakewater Geochemistry of Humic Substances in Lake Sediments Geochemistry of Stream Fulvic and Humic Substances Geochemistry of Humic Substances in Estuarine Environments Geochemistry of Humic Substances in Seawater Geochemistry of Humic Substances in Marine Sediments Geochemistry of Humin Nature of Nitrogen in Humic Substances ISOLATION AND FRACTIONATION OF HUMIC SUBSTANCES: Extraction of Humic Substances from Soil Isolation and Concentration Techniques for Aquatic Humic Substances Fractionation of Soil Humic Substances Fractionation Techniques for Aquatic Humic Substances CHARACTERIZATION OF HUMIC SUBSTANCES: Analytical Methodology for Elemental Analysis of Humic Substances Implications of Elemental Characteristics of Humic Substances Molecular Size and Weight Measurements of Humic Substances Acidic Functional Groups of Humic Substances Spectroscopic Methods (other than NMR) for Determining Functionality in Humic Substances Application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Determining Functionality in Humic Substances Concluding Remarks Bibliography Appendixes Index.
Assessing methodologies for measuring groundwater discharge to the ocean

The direct discharge of groundwater into the coastal zone has received increased attention in the last few years. We now know that this process represents an important pathway for material transport between land and sea. Groundwater discharge often contains higher concentrations of dissolved nutrients and other components than does river water; thus, it can play an important role in the health of coastal ecosystems.
Africa's Information Revolution: Technical Regimes and Production Networks in South Africa and Tanzania

Series Editors Preface viii Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations xi Introduction xiii 1 ICT4D: The Making of a Neoliberalized Meta-discourse (with Bjoern Surborg) 1 2 ICTs and Economic Development in Africa: Theorizing Channels, Assessing Impacts 25 3 ICTs, Industrial Change, and Globalization in Africa: A Conceptual Framework 47 4 ICTs in Action: SMMEs and Industrial Change in South Africa and Tanzania 73 5 ICT Integration, Sociotechnical Regimes, and Global Production Networks 113 6 Downgrading and Differentiation in African SMMEs 147 7 Emerging Regime and GPN Configurations: Neo-intermediation and ICT-enabled Extraversion (with Bjoern Surborg) 176 8 Conclusion 200 References 215 Index 243
Reliability-Driven System-Level Synthesis for Mixed-Critical Embedded Systems

This paper proposes a design methodology that enhances the classical system-level design flow for embedded systems to introduce reliability-awareness. The mapping and scheduling step is extended to support the application of hardening techniques to fulfill the required fault management properties that the final system must exhibit; moreover, the methodology allows the designer to specify that only some parts of the systems need to be hardened against faults. The reference architecture is a complex distributed one, constituted by resources with different characteristics in terms of performance and available fault detection/tolerance mechanisms. The approach is evaluated and compared against the most recent and relevant work, with an in-depth analysis on a large set of benchmarks.
A parameterization of cirrus cloud formation: Homogeneous freezing of supercooled aerosols

[1] The nucleation and initial growth of ice crystals in cirrus clouds at low (<235 K) temperatures prevailing in the upper troposphere and in the tropopause region is theoretically considered. The analysis explains the dependence of the number density of ice crystals on the vertical velocity and temperature seen in numerical simulations of cirrus formation when the timescale of depositional growth of the pristine ice particles is fast compared to the timescale of the freezing event. In such cases, applicable in many situations, the number of crystals formed via homogeneous freezing of aqueous solution droplets is rather insensitive to details of the aerosol size distribution, but increases rapidly with updraft velocity and decreases with temperature. The derived parameterization is validated with parcel model simulations, and its applicability for use in climate models is discussed. The potential role of aerosol size and heterogeneous freezing processes in altering the predicted cirrus properties is briefly addressed.
CARNAC: folding families of related RNAs

We present a tool for the prediction of conserved secondary structure elements of a family of homologous non-coding RNAs. Our method does not require any prior multiple sequence alignment. Thus, it successfully applies to datasets with low primary structure similarity. The functionality is demonstrated using three example datasets: sequences of RNase P RNAs, ciliate telomerases and enterovirus messenger RNAs. CARNAC has a web server that can be accessed at the URL http://bioinfo.lifl. fr/carnac.
Information Processing Equipment and Software in the National Accounts

In the U.S. national income and product accounts (NIPA's), most of the types of goods in the investment category "information processing (IP) equipment and software" have experienced rapidly changing technology and are thus candidates for inclusion in the new economy. The NIPA price indexes for computers and peripheral equipment, computer software, and communication equipment all, at least in part, include quality adjustments based on hedonic studies. In addition, anecdotal evidence strongly indicates that instruments have also have undergone substantial quality improvements, although no hedonic quality adjustments are currently being made to their prices. Together, these goods make up more than nine-tenths of the category. There is also some evidence that there have been substantial quality improvements for the remaining two types of goods in the category, photocopy and related equipment and office and accounting equipment. In order to facilitate research leading to improved measurement of information technology, this paper discusses the relationship between private fixed investment in IP equipment and software and GDP, explains how the current- and constant-dollar estimates are prepared, and finally assess recent progress in measurement and plans for improvement.
Design, Synthesis, DFT Study and Antifungal Activity of Pyrazolecarboxamide Derivatives

A series of novel pyrazole amide derivatives were designed and synthesized by multi-step reactions from phenylhydrazine and ethyl 3-oxobutanoate as starting materials, and their structures were characterized by NMR, MS and elemental analysis. The antifungal activity of the title compounds was determined. The results indicated that some of title compounds exhibited moderate antifungal activity. Furthermore, DFT calculations were used to study the structure-activity relationships (SAR).
A field demonstration of the entropy-weighted fuzzy DRASTIC method for groundwater vulnerability assessment

Abstract Groundwater vulnerability assessment based on the DRASTIC index has been widely used since the 1980s to map potential risks of groundwater contamination. However, its applicability and usefulness are affected by two uncertain and subjective factors. One is the discretization of continuous input variables and the other is the assignment of different weights to the index variables. In this study, an entropy-weighted fuzzy-optimization approach was developed to augment and improve the classic DRASTIC method by reducing the uncertainties associated with variable discretization and weight assignment. The modified DRASTIC method was applied to a study site in Shandong, north China. The entropy-weighted fuzzy-optimization approach is shown to provide a more rigorous delineation of the relative vulnerability distribution. Meanwhile, the new approach does not require the use of more parameters. The results suggest that this approach significantly improves and enhances the ability of the classic DRASTIC method in a more systematic and rigorous way. Editor D. Koutsoyiannis Citation Yu, C. , Zhang, B.X. , Yao, Y.Y. , Meng, F.H. , and Zheng, C.M. , 2012. A field demonstration of the entropy-weighted fuzzy DRASTIC method for groundwater vulnerability assessment. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (7), 1420–1432.
Camptothecin induces differentiation, tissue transglutaminase and apoptosis in cultured keratinocytes

Abstract: Cultured normal human adult keratinocytes were exposed to (S)‐(+)‐ camptothecin over the concentration range 10‐5 to 10‐10 M. The dose‐dependent inhibition of growth was recorded using cell counting. The induction of terminal differentiation was demonstrated by the relative increase in squamous and cornified cells, and the concomitant decrease in small, proliferative cells, with an overall decrease in total cell numbers on going from 10‐10 to 10‐6 M concentration of the drug. The induction of apoptosis was studied by assay of two types of transglutaminase, “tissue” and “keratinocyte”, and by assay of histonelinked mono‐ and oligonucleosomes. Induction of apoptosis was accompanied with increase in “tissue” transglutaminase and in the amount of nucleosomes, the latter being indicative of endonuclease activity. This activity was sharply increased at a camptothecin concentration of 10‐5 M, and may have been faciliated by “tissue” transglutaminase at lower concentrations. The data suggest that camptothecin restricts keratinocyte growth by several mechanisms including apoptosis and emphasize its possible use in topical therapy for psoriasis.
Capacity of MIMO systems: Impact of spatial correlation with channel estimation errors

We study the impact of channel spatial correlation on the ergodic capacity of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems with channel estimation errors in block-fading channels. We consider transmit antenna correlation and use an accurate capacity lower bound to carry out the theoretical analysis for MIMO systems with and without covariance feedback. We show that for non-feedback systems, the capacity increases with channel correlation at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This finding is in contrast to the existing result for non-feedback systems with perfect channel estimation. For covariance feedback systems, we find that the capacity increases with correlation. We also show the robustness of equal power transmission and the optimality of beamforming at low SNR for non-feedback and covariance feedback systems, respectively. Our numerical results validate our analysis and show that the theoretical low SNR analysis can extend to moderate SNR values.
Combining density-based clustering and wavelet methods for internal systems anomaly detection

Internal information systems play an important role in keeping the enterprises running well. To detect system anomalies, previous research achieved good results with system symptoms; however, the presented results are primarily performed on a relatively small scale and within a short time period. To understand the system's long-term profiles, we collected four common symptom data including CPU usage, memory loading, disk I/O, and network I/O from more than 100 online internal systems that includes 300 servers for 9 months. We randomly selected 50 servers from these servers and analyze their data in order to understand each symptom's long-term features. Based on our findings in network I/O, we propose a new approach combining a density-based clustering and wavelet methods to detect system anomalies. We also select 44 other servers to evaluate the false positive rate and simulate three types of system anomalies to evaluate the detection rate. The experiment results show that our approach has a great improvement on both the false positive rate and the detection rate compared to another wavelet-based network anomaly detection approach.
Understanding Older Adults’ Resilience During the Brisbane Floods: Social Capital, Life Experience, and Optimism

Abstract Objective The purpose of this study was to explore how social capital or the impact of life and previous disaster experience facilitated resilience in older adults who experienced the 2011 and 2013 floods in Brisbane, Australia. Methods Data were drawn from in-depth interviews of 10 older adults from Brisbane who were evacuated in both the 2011 and 2013 floods. A combined qualitative approach drawing from the methods of constructivist grounded theory and narrative inquiry was applied and the data were analyzed by using (inductive) line-by-line and axial coding. Results The narratives of the older adults revealed a strong theme of resilience linked to social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking) and previous disaster experience. The results reflected the changing face of disaster management strategies and sources of social capital. Conclusions Changes in disaster management polices (toward self-reliance) and more formalized sources of social capital highlight the need to build strong and healthy resilient communities that are capable of positively recovering from natural disasters. The results from this research emphasize the importance of initiatives that enhance social cohesion, trust, and social capital within local communities. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:72–79)
Anisotropic garnet from the Yamansu ore deposit, Xinjiang, China

An anisotropic garnet was found in skarn ores occurring in the Yamansu deposit, east part of Xinjiang, China. Optical birefringence of the anisotropic garnet varies from 0.001 to 0.004. The chemical composition of the garnet essentially belongs to the grossular (Grs)-andradite (And) solid solution ranging from Grs35.3And60. 1 to Grs55.8And38. 5, with minor (<8%) uvarovite, pyrope, almandine and spessartine constituent. Negative correlation was slightly observed between Al and Fe in the garnet. The absence of OH stretching vibration in IR spectrum suggests no substitution of [SiO4] with tetrahedral [(OH)4] in the garnet. A refinement of the crystal structure, I1 _ (R = 0.0435), showed no significant drifts of atoms from the ideal positions corresponding to the atomic positions in the Ia3 _ d cubic symmetry (R = 0.0544). The Al-Fe ordering was observed in the octahedral M site, whereas the Ca-Fe ordering in the dodecahedral site was negligible. The Al-Fe ordering showed no symmetric distribution among the 8 octahedral M sites, indicating the true symmetry of this garnet to be triclinic I1 _ .
Virus diseases of cacao in West Africa; cacao viruses 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D.

As an introduction to this series of papers, a brief history is given of swollen-shoot disease of cacao in the Gold Coast, and the nomenclature for cacao viruses is discussed. The symptoms of four virus diseases of cacao are described in detail, together with experimental data under the headings: cross-immunity reactions, latent period, seed transmission, staining reaction, heat inactivation and rate of spread.
Acute Levodopa Intake and Associated Cortisol Decrease in Patients With Parkinson Disease

Levodopa application improves motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). Levodopa induces lower cortisol plasma levels and decreases serotonergic activity in certain brain areas of fish. The objectives of this study were to perform repeat cortisol concentration measurements before and after the administration of soluble levodopa/benserazide (dose, 200 mg) in 32 patients with PD during an interval of 150 minutes. The cortisol concentrations significantly decreased after levodopa intake, particularly in the patients with more advanced stage of PD, but not in the less affected patients. There were significantly lower cortisol levels in the patients at the advanced stage of PD compared with those of the earlier patients with PD, particularly at −30, 0, and 90 minutes before/after levodopa application. Significant inverse relations were found between the cortisol levels and the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale total score, particularly at 60 and 90 minutes after levodopa intake. Neurodegeneration occurs in striatal regions and in the brain stem of patients with PD. The 5-HT-containing neuronal terminals of the brain stem hypothetically mediate the cortisol level decrease after levodopa intake because these cells contain an important fraction of amino acid decarboxylase. Therefore, this compartment may be the site of enzymatic conversion of superfluous, exogenous levodopa to dopamine. Consequently, short-term levodopa administration also leads to levodopa uptake in these 5-HT-metabolizing neurons, which interferes with the 5-HT synthesis and may cause a decrease of 5-HT levels. These lower 5-HT levels reduce the hypothalamic function and, via the corticotropin axis, the subsequent peripheral cortisol release. Thus, levodopa-induced cortisol decrease may be related to PD progression.
Adults with Greater Weight Satisfaction Report More Positive Health Behaviors and Have Better Health Status Regardless of BMI

Background. Prior studies suggest that weight satisfaction may preclude changes in behavior that lead to healthier weight among individuals who are overweight or obese. Objective. To gain a better understanding of complex relationships between weight satisfaction, weight-related health behaviors, and health outcomes. Design. Cross-sectional analysis of data from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS). Participants. Large mixed-gender cohort of primarily white, middle-to-upper socioeconomic status (SES) adults with baseline examination between 1987 and 2002 (n = 19,003). Main Outcome Variables. Weight satisfaction, weight-related health behaviors, chronic health conditions, and clinical health indicators. Statistical Analyses Performed. Chi-square test, t-tests, and linear and multivariate logistic regression. Results. Compared to men, women were more likely to be dieting (32% women; 18% men) and had higher weight dissatisfaction. Men and women with greater weight dissatisfaction reported more dieting, yo-yo dieting, and snacking and consuming fewer meals, being less active, and having to eat either more or less than desired to maintain weight regardless of weight status. Those who were overweight or obese and dissatisfied with their weight had the poorest health. Conclusion. Greater satisfaction with one's weight was associated with positive health behaviors and health outcomes in both men and women and across weight status groups.
Unusual case of a swollen painful toe in a young man

History of the present illness A 25-year-old man with a history of epilepsy developed a gradually progressive swollen, red, and painful left first toe. There was no preceding trauma. There were no fevers or chills, and no other extremities were involved. He had never had these symptoms in the past. He was seen initially by his primary care provider, who diagnosed cellulitis and prescribed cephalexin 500 mg 3 times a day for 1 week, with no improvement. A trial of colchicine 0.6 mg twice a day was attempted for 1 week, but this also generated no improvement and a referral was made to rheumatology. At the initial rheumatologic evaluation the patient reported that his symptoms had started in September, and had been present for close to 2 months. He described the left first toe as “swelling up like a globe. ” The second toe developed pain and swelling within 2–3 weeks, although not as severe. By 1 month the pain had spread to his left ankle. Walking was becoming much more difficult due to the pain. He was taking ibuprofen, with minimal improvement. He denied systemic symptoms. There was no eye redness or pain, no burning with urination or penile discharge, no back pain, and no nausea or vomiting, and his bowels were normal. There was no history of psoriasis.
Direct Tracheobronchial Suction : A Simple Technique to Relieve Post-Extubation Atelectasis in an Extremely Low Birth Weight Infant

Post-extubation atelectasis is a common pulmonary complication of critical neonates who have received long-term, high-setting of mechanical ventilator, resulting in re-intubation, increased morbidity and lengthened hospitalizations. A rapid and effective management to open the lungs is important to prevent reintubation. We reported an extremely preterm infant with massive postextubated atelectasis of bilateral lungs, and he was successfully treated by using the simple technique of direct tracheobroncheal suction (DTBS) to quickly open his lungs. A 7-day-old preterm infant with a birth weight of 732 g got massive atelectatic lungs at 24 hours after extubation. DTBS was performed by directly inserting a 6.0 Fr. suction tube into his trachea via the assist of laryngoscope. The infant’s head was turned to one side while passing the suction tube into the bronchus of the opposite side. This suction procedure was repeated until nothing could be suctioned out, and DTBS was repeated every 8 hours in the following 24 hours after extubation. Nasal prong continuous positive airway pressure was kept, and the heart rates and oxygen saturation were continuously monitored during DTBS. Sticky secretions were observed at the laryngeal site and suctioned out from the tracheobronchial airways. The follow-up chest x-ray film revealed opened lungs 24 hours later. Therefore, DTBS is effective and safe to relief obstructed airways and reopen the lungs of the reported extremely premature infant.
Endothelin-1 and Metabolic Syndrome in Bangladeshi Rural Women

Background and purpose: Metabolic alterations and endothelial dysfunction in patients with type 2diabetes and metabolic syndrome (Met S) often develop concurrently and measurement of circulating ET-1 levels is a well recognized marker of endothelial atherosclerotic and cardiovascular diseases. Here, we assess association between vasoactive peptide, endothelin-1 (ET-1), with Met S in rural Bangladeshi women. Methods and subjects: Plasma levels of ET-1 were measured by ELISA and Met S was defined according to criteria of NCEP-ATP III. Multiple regressions were used to examine association between circulatory ET-1 levels and Met S. Results: A total of 1236 rural Bangladeshi women aged ≥15 years were studied using a population based cross sectional survey. The prevalence of Met S was 25.1%. Mean values of BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure (SBP, DBP), plasma fasting glucose, triglyceride, mean arterial pressure and fasting insulin were significantly higher, whereas levels of HDL cholesterol were significantly lower in Met S group compared to non Met S group. ET-1 levels significantly increased in Met S subjects [(Met S vs. non-Met S: 3.17±0.12 vs. 2.31±0.05, p=<0.001]. Based on univariate analyses, after adjusting for age, levels of ET-1 showed significant associations with waist circumference, SBP, DBP, mean arterial pressure, HDL cholesterol and fasting plasma glucose. However, in a stepwise multiple regression analysis, after adjusting for age and all other potential variables, only MAP, fasting plasma glucose and HDL cholesterol was found to be independently correlated with ET-1. We also found that mean plasma levels of ET-1 increased in direct proportion to levels of Met S components (p for trend=0.015). Conclusions: Here, we provide the first evidence demonstrating an association between ET-1 plasma levels and Met S in Bangladeshi rural women. These data implicate ET-1 in Met S and indicate that plasma ET-1 could potentially be used as a surrogate biomarker for this disease and its associated complications. The present study is the first to assess relationship between levels of plasma ET-1 in Met S subjects from a South Asian country.