Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Zinc speciation and isotopic exchangeability in soils polluted with heavy metals

Correct characterization of heavy metal availability is a prerequisite for the management of polluted soils. Our objective was to describe zinc (Zn) availability in polluted soils by measuring the isotopic exchangeability of Zn in soil/solution (E value) and in soil/plant systems (L value), by assessing the transfer of Zn and 65Zn in the fractions of a six‐step selective sequential extraction (SSE) in incubated soils and by identifying Zn forms in soils by means of extended X‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. We distinguished three pools of exchangeable Zn: the pool of Zn exchangeable within 1 minute, which is observed in all soils, Zn exchangeable in the medium term, and the slowly and not exchangeable Zn. The amount of Zn present in the first two pools was similar to the L value measured with Thlaspi caerulescens. The first three steps of the SSE solubilized the first pool and a fraction of the second pool. Most of the second pool and a fraction of the third pool were extracted in the fourth step of the SSE, while the rest of the third pool was extracted in the final steps of the SSE. The EXAFS study conducted on two soils showed that more than half of the Zn was present in species weakly bound to organic compounds and/or outer sphere inorganic and organic complexes. Other species included strongly sorbed Zn species and Zn species in crystalline minerals. The EXAFS study of selected SSE residues showed that the specificity and the efficiency of the extractions depended on the properties of the soil studied.
Effect of nitrogen fertilization on antioxidant activity of Mas cotek (Ficus deltoidea Jack)

Mas cotek (Ficus deltoidea Jack) a medicinal herb has its wider application for treating many disorders e.g. as a cure of disorders of menstrual cycle, gout, diabetes, hypertension and diarrhea. With increasing popularity, area under cultivation of Mas cotek plant is increasing and there is a need to optimize its growing conditions to get maximum produce by limited use of available resources. Present study was conducted to check the response of Mas cotek plant to differential application of nitrogen and its effect on growth, biochemical and antioxidant activity. Five levels of urea (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 kg N ha-1) were applied, each with four replicates under RCBD in open shelter glasshouse conditions. Data were recorded on growth related parameters, biochemical traits and antioxidant activity. The results showed that nitrogen application improved growth, chlorophyll contents and antioxidant activity of Mas cotek with maxiumum growth @ 100 kg ha-1.
Epidemiological Studies of Ectoparasites Infestation on Cattle at the Sylhet Region of Bangladesh

To investigate the epidemiology of ectoparasites infestation on cattle of different ages, sexes, seasons and their different areas of Sylhet district. Epidemiological studies on ectoparasites infestation of cattle were undertaken in such localities under different climatic conditions existing in Sylhet district of five different upazilla. Cattle were divided into young and adult groups. Cattles were examined randomly and ectoparasites were collected from the infested cattle during from July 2014 to June 2015. Both physical examination and laboratory investigation were employed in the study.A total of 1800 household live cattle (900 male and 900 female) were examined of which 1121 (62.28%) found positive for ectoparasites infestation. The overall prevalence of tick, lice and mite infestations were 37.67, 17.56 and 7.06% respectively. It was noticed that prevalence of tick infestation was the outstanding ectoparasites followed by lice and mite. The overall prevalence of infestation was higher during rainy while lowest during summer season. The highest prevalence was recorded in adults. Moreover, the overall prevalence of ectoparasites infestation in females was more than male’s cattle. Ectoparasites infestation is highly prevalent on cattle in Sylhet district of Bangladesh. Hence, good veterinary services and management practice should be used to effective control of intensive ectoparasites infestation on cattle.
Symmetrical Chemi-Ionization and Chemi-Recombination Processes in Low-Temperature Layers of Helium-rich DB White Dwarf Atmospheres

The influence of symmetrical chemi-ionization and chemi-recombination processes on the helium atom Rydberg states' population in weakly ionized layers of helium-rich DB white dwarfs has been investigated. The ionization processes in He*(n) + He(1s2) collisions and their inverse recombination processes He + e and He(1s2) + He+ + e have been considered in domains of principal quantum numbers n ≥ 3 and temperatures 12,000 K ≤ Teff ≤ 30,000 K. These processes have been treated within the frame of the semiclassical theory developed earlier. Their contributions to the Rydberg state populations have been compared with electron-electron-ion recombination, electron-excited atom ionization, and electron-ion photorecombination processes. Results showed that these processes can be dominant ionization/recombination mechanisms in helium-rich DB white dwarf atmosphere layers for log g = 7 and 8 and Teff ≤ 20,000 K and have to be implemented in relevant models of weakly ionized helium plasmas.
A note on second-order perturbations of non-canonical scalar fields

We study second-order perturbations for a general non-canonical scalar field, minimally coupled to gravity, on the unperturbed FRW background, where metric fluctuations are neglected a priori. By employing different approaches to cosmological perturbation theory, we show that, even in this simplified set-up, the second-order perturbations to the stress tensor, the energy density and the pressure display potential instabilities, which are not present at linear order. The conditions on the Lagrangian under which these instabilities take place are provided. We also discuss briefly the significance of our analysis in light of the possible linearization instability of these fields about the FRW background.
TYPE IIb SUPERNOVA 2013df ENTERING INTO AN INTERACTION PHASE: A LINK BETWEEN THE PROGENITOR AND THE MASS LOSS

We report the late-time evolution of Type IIb supernova (SN IIb) 2013df. SN 2013df showed a dramatic change in its spectral features at ∼1 yr after the explosion. Early on it showed typical characteristics shared by SNe IIb/Ib/Ic dominated by metal emission lines, while later on it was dominated by broad and flat-topped Hα and He i emissions. The late-time spectra are strikingly similar to SN IIb 1993J, which is the only previous example clearly showing the same transition. This late-time evolution is fully explained by a change in the energy input from the 56Co decay to the interaction between the SN ejecta and dense circumstellar matter (CSM). The mass-loss rate is derived to be ∼ ( 5.4 ± 3.2 ) × 10 − 5 M ⊙ ? > yr−1 (for the wind velocity of ∼20 km s−1), similar to SN 1993J but larger than SN IIb 2011dh by an order of magnitude. The striking similarity between SNe IIb 2013df and 1993J in the (candidate) progenitors and the CSM environments and the contrast in these natures to SN 2011dh infer that there is a link between the natures of the progenitor and the mass loss: SNe IIb with a more extended progenitor have experienced a much stronger mass loss in the final centuries toward the explosion. It might indicate that SNe IIb from a more extended progenitor are the explosions during a strong binary interaction phase, while those from a less extended progenitor have a delay between the strong binary interaction and the explosion.
Sources of moisture for China and their variations during drier and ­wetter conditions in 2000−2004: a Lagrangian approach

We provide an overview of the sources of moisture that affect the major regimes of precipitation in China during the extended boreal summer (from April to September), as well as some indication of the variations in these sources during drier and wetter conditions. The Lagrangian FLEXPART model was used to identify the contributions of humidity to the moisture budget in a region by computing the changes in specific humidity along the backward trajectories of air masses for the previous 10 d. We carried out analyses for 2000 to 2004 and identified those years that had the highest and lowest average rates of precipitation in 13 different regions in China, each of which is characterised by different regimes in terms of precipitation. Although the period of the study was relatively short, the results suggest that the contributions of moisture from the East and South China Seas are significant for precipitation in the eastern and southeastern coastal areas, while the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are important sources of moisture for the southern and central regions of China. Moreover, the northern regions receive some moisture from western Asia. Our analysis of wetter and drier years suggests that, in general, a more unstable atmosphere prevailed over the different target areas during all wetter periods considered.
The Good or the Bad? Which Mutual Fund Managers Join Hedge Funds?

Does the mutual fund industry lose its best managers to hedge funds? We find that mutual funds are able to retain managers with good performance in the face of competition from a growing hedge fund industry. On the other hand, poor performers are more likely to leave the mutual fund industry. A small fraction of these poor performers find jobs with smaller and younger hedge fund companies, especially when the hedge fund industry is growing rapidly. Analogously, a small fraction of the better-performing mutual fund managers are retained by allowing them to manage a hedge fund side-by-side. The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. , Oxford University Press.
Cigarette Smoking and Abstinence: Comparative Effects Upon Cognitive Task Performance and Mood State over 24 Hours

Twenty regular smokers were assessed over 24‐h of normal cigarette smoking, and an equivalent period of abstinence. In both conditions, a non‐deprived baseline was followed by performance tests 2, 6 and 24 h later, while subjective feelings were assessed every 2 h. Compared to normal smoking, abstinence led to reduced heart rate, worse task performance, feelings of depression, stress, irritability, restlessness, poor concentration, and urges to smoke. Letter cancellation and number vigilance task performance were significantly poorer after 2 and 6 h of abstinence. Subjective feeling states were significantly worse after 4 h of abstinence, and became increasingly impaired over the rest of the day. However many abstinence symptoms (except heart rate), were reduced in severity at the 24‐h session, held on the morning of the following day. This suggests that many of the psychological effects of smoking abstinence, may build‐up afresh each day.
A Review of Psychometric Data Analysis and Applications in Modelling of Academic Achievement in Tertiary Education

Increasing college participation rates, and diversity in student population, is posing a challenge to colleges in their attempts to facilitate learners achieve their full academic potential. Learning analytics is an evolving discipline with capability for educational data analysis that could enable better understanding of learning process, and therefore mitigate these challenges. The outcome from such data analysis will be dependent on the range, type, and quality of available data and the type of analysis performed. This study reviewed factors that could be used to predict academic performance, but which are currently not systematically measured in tertiary education. It focused on psychometric factors of ability, personality, motivation, and learning strategies. Their respective relationships with academic performance are enumerated and discussed. A case is made for their increased use in learning analytics to enhance the performance of existing student models. It is noted that lack of independence, linear additivity, and constant variance in the relationships between psychometric factors and academic performance suggests increasing relevance of data mining techniques, which could be used to provide useful insights on the role of such factors in the modelling of learning process.
Sampling-Based Approaches to Calculating Marginal Densities

Abstract Stochastic substitution, the Gibbs sampler, and the sampling-importance-resampling algorithm can be viewed as three alternative sampling- (or Monte Carlo-) based approaches to the calculation of numerical estimates of marginal probability distributions. The three approaches will be reviewed, compared, and contrasted in relation to various joint probability structures frequently encountered in applications. In particular, the relevance of the approaches to calculating Bayesian posterior densities for a variety of structured models will be discussed and illustrated.
Patriotic Name Bias and Stock Returns

Companies whose names contain the words “America(n)” or “USA” earn positive abnormal returns of about 6% per annum during World War II, the Korean War, and the War on Terrorism. These abnormal returns are not realized immediately upon the outbreak of each of the wars but are accumulated gradually during wartime. Given that no such effect is observed for the Vietnam War, we hypothesize that major, victorious wars arouse investors' patriotic feelings and cause them to gradually and perhaps subconsciously gravitate toward stocks whose name has a patriotic flavor.
Feedback and repetition as a tool to rehabilitate time perception in Korsakoff’s syndrome: a case study.

The present study assesses the effect of repetition and feedback on time reproduction in a participant with Korsakoff’s syndrome. The procedure consisted of three subsequent trials for each of five time intervals (5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 seconds). In each trial, the participant was asked to fix a cross that was displayed in the center of a screen for 5, 10, 20, 30, or 40 seconds; afterward, he was asked to reproduce the duration of the display. At the end of each trial, the participant was provided with 1) feedback on the difference between his reproduced interval and the reference interval and 2) an invitation to comply, as far as possible, with the reference interval in the next trial. The results showed under-reproduction of the five time intervals in all three trials. Interestingly, the participant demonstrated a reduction in the difference between his reproduced time and the real one (i.e., an improvement in time reproduction) across the three trials for the 5, 10, and 20 second intervals, but not for the 30 or 40 second intervals. These findings demonstrate not only time distortions in a patient with Korsakoff’s syndrome, but also the beneficial effect of repetition and feedback for the reproduction of short intervals. Correspondence to: Mohamad EL HAJ, Université de Lille 3, Département de Psychologie, Domaine du Pont de Bois, B.P 60149. 59653, Villeneuve d’Ascq, France, E-mail: mohamad.elhaj@univ-lille3.fr
Prevalence of Micro-Organisms Isolated from Ear Swab

Introduction: Discharge from ear is one of the commonest symptoms of infection of the ear. To screen various pathogenic organisms isolated from the ear swab and to determine their antibiotic sensitivity pattern against the commonly used antibiotics. Materials and Methods: Ear swabs were collected from different patients and subjected to sensitivity test was performed. Result: A total 400 specimens were collected from different patients in which 230 specimens showed positive growth and 170 specimens showed no growth. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the commonest organisms, isolated from ear swab which causes of ear discharge. Ciprofloxacin and gentamycin are effective ototopic antimicrobial agents for emprial treatment of the discharge ear.
Analysis of User Acceptance Towards Online Transportation Technology Using UTAUT 2 Model: A Case Study in Uber, Grab and Go-Jek in Indonesia

: The emergence of online transportation started in Jakarta as it constantly suffers traffic jam, causing online transportation draws attention as it helps people reaching their destination. The fee where its relatively cheaper than conventional taxi become one of the reason. However, there still many problems faced by the online transportation companies. This research objective is to analyze factors inside UTAUT 2 model that influence the consumer on using online transportation technology in Indonesia. The result shows that factors influencing the Behavioral Intention on the adoption of online transportation technology in Indonesia are Habit, Hedonic Motivation, and Performance Expectancy. Meanwhile, the factors that influence the behavior of using online transportation services are Habit, Facilitating Condition, and Behavioral Intention. The influence on Behavioral Intention is 58.07% and the influence on Use Behavior is 46.15%.
Field Measurements of Terrestrial and Martian Dust

Surface-based measurements of terrestrial and martian dust devils/convective vortices provided from mobile and stationary platforms are discussed. Imaging of terrestrial dust devils has quantified their rotational and vertical wind speeds, translation speeds, dimensions, dust load, and frequency of occurrence. Imaging of martian dust devils has provided translation speeds and constraints on dimensions, but only limited constraints on vertical motion within a vortex. The longer mission durations on Mars afforded by long operating robotic landers and rovers have provided statistical quantification of vortex occurrence (time-of-sol, and recently seasonal) that has until recently not been a primary outcome of more temporally limited terrestrial dust devil measurement campaigns. Terrestrial measurement campaigns have included a more extensive range of measured vortex parameters (pressure, wind, morphology, etc.) than have martian opportunities, with electric field and direct measure of dust abundance not yet obtained on Mars. No martian robotic mission has yet provided contemporaneous high frequency wind and pressure measurements. Comparison of measured terrestrial and martian dust devil characteristics suggests that martian dust devils are larger and possess faster maximum rotational wind speeds, that the absolute magnitude of the pressure deficit within a terrestrial dust devil is an order of magnitude greater B J. Murphy murphy@nmsu.edu 1 New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA 2 Open University, Milton Keynes, UK 3 Laboratoire Atmosphères, Guyancourt, France 4 INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy 5 Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland 6 Aalto University/School of Electrical Engineering, Espoo, Finland 7 Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA 8 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD, USA 9 ISAE-SUPAERO, Toulouse University, Toulouse, France 10 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA than a martian dust devil, and that the time-of-day variation in vortex frequency is similar. Recent terrestrial investigations have demonstrated the presence of diagnostic dust devil signals within seismic and infrasound measurements; an upcoming Mars robotic mission will obtain similar measurement types.
Role of Family Environment and Parenting Style in Adjustment among Male Adolescents

A B S T R A C T The family and parental involvement plays a central role in the cognitive and emotional development of each individual. In the period of adolescence, family environment as well as parenting style play effective role in different areas of adjustment. To study the role of these variables in adjustment, the present study was planned. The objectives of the study are to examine the relationship between measures of parenting style and family environment with adjustment, and to find out the predictors of adjustment (home, health, social & emotional). The total sample (210) of the study involved 105 parents and 105 male adolescents between the age range of 14 and 16 years along with their parents. The adolescents were assessed with, Bell’s Adjustment Inventory (Hindi Adaptation), and Family Environment Scale whereas the parents were assessed with parenting style questionnaire. The data were analyzed by using Pearson’s Product Moment method of correlation, and Stepwise Regression analysis. The results revealed that (i) adjustment was found to be significant negative relationship with Cohesion (r = -.27,p<.01) Intellectual Cultural Orientation(r= -.38,p<.01), Achievement Orientation (r= -.23, p<.05), Moral Religious Emphasis(r= -.46,p<.01), and Organization(r= -.42,p<.01), whereas positive significant association was found between adjustment and Conflict (r= .33,p<.01), (ii) overall adjustment was found to be significant negative correlation with authoritarian parenting style whereas positive association was found between adjustment and authoritative parenting. (iii) Stepwise regression analysis found three predictors of home adjustment i.e., Organization, Expressiveness & conflict whereas Moral Religious Emphasis identified as a predictor of health & social adjustment. Regression analyses revealed that expressiveness and Conflict significantly predict emotional adjustment among male adolescents whereas authoritarian parenting style identified as a predictor of overall adjustment among male adolescents.
Mixing state and particle hygroscopicity of organic-dominated aerosols over the Pearl River Delta region in China

Abstract. Simultaneous measurements of aerosol hygroscopicity and particle-phase chemical composition were performed at a suburban site over the Pearl River Delta region in the late summer of 2016 using a self-assembled hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) and an Aerodyne quadruple aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM), respectively. The hygroscopic growth factor (HGF) of the Aitken mode (30 nm, 60 nm) and accumulation mode (100 nm, 145 nm) particles were obtained under 90 % relative humidity (RH). An external mixture was observed for particles of every size during this study, with a dominant mode of more-hygroscopic (MH) particles, as aged aerosols dominated due to the anthropogenic influence. The HGF of less-hygroscopic (LH) mode particles increased, while their number fractions decreased during the daytime due to a reduced degree of external mixing that probably resulted from the condensation of gaseous species. These LH mode particles in the early morning or late afternoon could be possibly dominated by carbonaceous material emitted from local automobile exhaust during rush hours. During polluted days with air masses flowing mainly from the coastal areas, the chemical composition of aerosols had a clear diurnal variation and a strong correlation with the mean HGF. Closure analysis was carried out between the HTDMA-measured HGF and the ACSM-derived hygroscopicity using various approximations for the hygroscopic growth factor of organic compounds (HGForg). Considering the assumptions regarding the differences in the mass fraction of each component between PM1 and 145 nm particles, the hygroscopicity-composition closure was achieved using an HGForg of 1.26 for the organic material in the 145 nm particles and a simple linear relationship between the HGForg and the oxidation level inferred from the O:C ratio of the organic material was suggested. Compared with the results from other environments, HGForg obtained from our measurements appeared to be less sensitive to the variation of its oxidation level, which is, however, similar to the observations in the urban atmosphere of other megacities in China. This finding suggests that the anthropogenic precursors or the photooxidation mechanisms might differ significantly between the suburban and urban atmosphere in China and those in other background environments. This may lead to different characteristics of the oxidation products in secondary organic aerosols (SOA) and therefore to a different relationship between the HGForg and its O:C ratio.