Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mutually consistent thermodynamic potentials for fluid water, ice and seawater: a new standard for oceanography

Abstract. A new seawater standard for oceanographic and engineering applications has been developed that consists of three independent thermodynamic potential functions, derived from extensive distinct sets of very accurate experimental data. The results have been formulated as Releases of the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam, IAPWS (1996, 2006, 2008) and are expected to be adopted internationally by other organizations in subsequent years. In order to successfully perform computations such as phase equilibria from combinations of these potential functions, mutual compatibility and consistency of these independent mathematical functions must be ensured. In this article, a brief review of their separate development and ranges of validity is given. We analyse background details on the conditions specified at their reference states, the triple point and the standard ocean state, to ensure the mutual consistency of the different formulations, and the necessity and possibility of numerically evaluating metastable states of liquid water. Computed from this formulation in quadruple precision (128-bit floating point numbers), tables of numerical reference values are provided as anchor points for the consistent incorporation of additional potential functions in the future, and as unambiguous benchmarks to be used in the determination of numerical uncertainty estimates of double-precision implementations on different platforms that may be customized for special purposes.
Do Arctic waders use adaptive wind drift

We analysed five data sets of night directions of migrating arctic waders ill relation to,winds, recorded by tracking radar and optical range finder, in order to find out if these birds compensate for wind drift, or allow themselves to be drifted by winds. Our purpose was to investigate whether arctic waders use adaptive wind drift strategies or not. The data sets were collected in Siberia (two sets) and Canada during post-breeding (autumn) migration, and in Mauritania and South Sweden during pre-breeding (spring) migration. Both significant drift and compensation effects were found in three of the data sets, Canada, Mauritania and South Sweden. Almost no compensation was found in birds departing in easterly directions from the Siberian tundra (complete drift), while no drift effect was found in birds departing in westerly directions (complete compensation). There were indications that at least some populations of waders may use an adaptive drift strategy consisting of drift at high altitude and/or in high wind speed combined with compensation at low altitude and/or in lower wind speeds, but support for this idea was rather weak and not consistent. Our results were instead more in accordance with the adaptive drift theory that predicts initial drift during the migratory journey, followed by compensation during later stages as the birds are approaching their destinations. Such a strategy implies that arctic waders, at least adult birds, have the capacity of true navigation. A comparison with earlier studies of migrating arctic waders from different parts of the world show that all results so far may be interpreted in accordance with this general adaptive drift strategy An element of non-adaptive drift can, however, not be completely ruled out.
Perceptions of Consumer Racial Profiling and Negative Emotions

Racial profiling has been an interest among society and scholars for several years. The main focus of racial profiling has been on law enforcement's use of the technique, with little investigation of it occurring in consumer environments, that is, consumer racial profiling (CRP). Moreover, even less research has focused on the negative emotions that occur as a result of perceptions of CRP. Using data from a telephone survey of citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the present study indicates that perceptions of experiencing CRP do result in negative emotions. Furthermore, the present study identifies a profile of individuals who are likely to experience these negative emotions due to perceptions of CRP. The implications of these findings are discussed.
GLP-1 Infusions in the setting of Acute Myocardial Infarction Improve Myocardial Function and Reduce Morbidity and Mortality

Background: Type II diabetes mellitus (DM II) and coronary artery disease (CAD) are widely understood to be intimately intertwined disease processes. Today, coronary artery disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the prevalence of diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions. New therapies for the management type II DM utilizing incretin mimetics including Glucagon like peptide (GLP-1) receptor agonists are revolutionizing the current management of DM II. The purpose of this study was to attempt to elucidate whether GLP-1 infusions improve cardiac markers in setting of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in humans. Methods: An exhaustive search of Medline-OVID, CINAHL, EBMR Multifile, and Web of Science using the keywords: GLP-1, exenatide, liraglutide, myocardial infarction, myocardial ischemia, cardioprotection, angioplasty, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). All bibliographies were screened for relevant articles. All relevant articles were assessed for quality using GRADE. Results: Three studies met inclusion criteria and included in this systematic review. A randomized, doubleblinded, placebo-controlled trial of 172 ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients revealed a 15% larger myocardial salvage index and a 23% smaller final infarct size in the treatment group. A posthoc analysis of this data investigating system delay demonstrated no difference between groups with delay >132 minutes. The final study was a non-randomized pilot study of 21 AMI patients demonstrated improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the GLP-1–treated group. Conclusion: Longer duration GLP-1 infusions have been shown to improve LVEF in AMI, a finding that is more pronounced in patients with clinically severe disease or patients under cardiovascular stress. GLP-1 infusions also increase myocardial salvage and decrease final infarct size. The data is suggestive that GLP-1 infusions have a more profound effect on larger infarcts. There is an upper limit to the timing of GLP-1 administration,which appears to beFinally, GLP-1 infusions also appear to decrease morbidity and mortality themselves, as evidenced by the reduction of in-hospital mortality and length of hospital stay in AMI patients undergoing PCI. Degree Type Capstone Project Degree Name Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies First Advisor Mark Pedemonte, MD
The Nature of Relationships in e-Internships: A Matter of the Psychological Contract, Communication and Relational Investment

Virtual internships (or e-internships) represent unique transitional and temporary learning experiences that have not been studied widely. Using 18 interviews conducted with interns and internship providers, the authors explored the extent to which psychological contracts appear to emerge and operate within this computer-mediated context. The results were d using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that while e-internships are temporary and hence transitional, they are not inevitably transactional. Relational and balanced contract characteristics are not necessarily uncommon in e-internships when these feature supervisory engagement and commitment to the e-internship as well as the customized use of technology to interact, monitor, and engage with interns.
An integrative model for executive coaching.

Executive coaching has grown in popularity, but in spite of this growth, the use of sophisticated approaches appears limited. This article brings together a series of evidence-based approaches to build an integrated model for executive coaching, which can be described as integrative coaching. This model uses the concept of working at multiple levels with coaches; behavioral, cognitive, and unconscious. It combines these elements into “streams,” which the coach works across seamlessly. The model recognizes the central importance of building a coaching partnership and the role of emotional intelligence in this process with a focus on improving performance at work.
Microconfined equiviscous droplet deformation: Comparison of experimental and numerical results

The dynamics of confined droplets in shear flow is investigated using computational and experimental techniques for a viscosity ratio of unity. Numerical calculations, using a boundary integral method (BIM) in which the Green’s functions are modified to include wall effects, are quantitatively compared with the results of confined droplet experiments performed in a counter-rotating parallel plate device. For a viscosity ratio of unity, it is experimentally seen that confinement induces a sigmoidal droplet shape during shear flow. Contrary to other models, this modified BIM model is capable of predicting the correct droplet shape during startup and steady state. The model also predicts an increase in droplet deformation and more orientation toward the flow direction with increasing degree of confinement, which is all experimentally confirmed. For highly confined droplets, oscillatory behavior is seen upon startup of flow, characterized by an overshoot in droplet length followed by droplet retraction. Final.
Putative risk factors of pregnancy-induced hypertension among Ghanaian pregnant women

Hypertensive pregnancy is an important cause of maternal mortality with several risk factors which can be related to regional and ethnic factors. Although there have been many studies worldwide on preeclampsia, not many have come from black Africa and for that matter Ghana. This study sought to identify some putative risk factors of Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension among Ghanaian pregnant women. A case-control study was conducted among pregnant women visiting Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, Ghana between November, 2006 and December, 2007 to determine the risk factors for Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension (PIH). Information on sociodemographic characteristics, medical history and previous obstetric history were obtained by faceto-face interviews and assessed through medical records. One hundred PIH women (thirty with preeclampsia (PE) and seventy with gestational hypertension (GH) and fifty normotensive pregnant women (controls) in the second half of pregnancy were recruited for the study. Advanced maternal age was a significant risk for developing PIH (PE+GH). Obesity increased the risk of PIH. Family history of hypertension increased the risk of developing PIH (aOR 6.8; 95% CI 2.3-19.6). Nulliparity was not a risk factor for PE (cOR 0.0; 95% CI 0.0–0.2) but was a risk factor for GH (cOR 3.0; 95% CI 1.2-7.4) from this study. Condom use in the male partner, contraceptive use in females, change of partner as well as placental hormonal imbalance were also associated with PIH. The findings of this study suggest that, besides maternal aberrations posing risk for PIH, change of partner and placental roles could also be linked to the aetiology of PIH. Furthermore, some risk factors for PIH are similar for both non-African populations as well as black Africans. Journal of Medical and Biomedical Sciences (2012) 1(3), 62-76
Exchange bias of polycrystalline antiferromagnets with perfectly compensated interfaces

A mechanism for exchange bias and training for antiferromagnet/ferromagnet bilayers with fully compensated interfaces is proposed. In this model, the bias shift and coercivity are controlled by domain-wall formation between exchange-coupled grains in the antiferromagnet. A finite element micromagnetic calculation is used to show that a weak exchange interaction between randomly oriented antiferromagnetic grains and spin-flop coupling at a perfectly compensated interface are sufficient to create shifted hysteresis loops characteristic of exchange bias. Unlike previous partial wall models, the energy associated with the unidirectional anisotropy is stored in lateral domain walls located between antiferromagnetic grains. We also show that the mechanism leads naturally to a training effect during magnetization loop cycling.
CT-Guided Core Needle Biopsy of Peripheral Lung Lesions with Onsite Adequate Evaluation: Review of 215 Cases

Background: CT-guided core biopsy and fine needle aspiration have been used for diagnosis of peripheral lung lesions, and both methods have advantages and disadvantages. In our institution, CT-guided core needle biopsy with onsite cytology adequacy evaluation of touch preparations is the standard method for evaluation of peripheral lung lesions. Methods: The study was approved by Institutional Review Board. We retrospectively reviewed the cytology reports of all lung core needle biopsies during 2009-2012. The clinical information was collected from chart review. Results: There were total 215 cases during the study period. The average lesion size (in 190 available cases) was 3.46 cm. The average passes were 3.3/lesion. The final diagnoses included 132 malignancies, 70 benign and 13 atypical. Twenty-four cases had follow-up resections. There were two false negative diagnoses due to sample errors and there was no false positive case with a positive predictive value of 100%. The final adequate rate was 99.5% (214/215), and only one case was unsatisfactory. In the 204 patients with available information of post-procedure chest X-ray, 140 (68.6%) had no pneumothorax, and 64 (31.4%) had pneumothorax including 48 mild (23.5%), 3 moderate (1.5%), 2 severe (1%), 3 tension pneumothorax (1.5%), and 8 with chest tubes placed during procedure (3.9%). Conclusions: Our study showed that CT-guided core biopsy with onsite cytology evaluation has high adequate and low atypical rates. Lung core biopsy can provide more accurate tumor classification and specific diagnoses for non-neoplastic lesions. Adequate tissue is often available for molecular study. The complication rate of pneumothorax in core needle biopsy is compatible to that of fine needle aspiration.
Diagnostic Value of Platelet Count in Malaria

objective: To evaluate the significance of the platelet count in the diagnosis of malaria. design: A hospital based prospective study. Place and duration of Study: Department of Microbiology, AJIMS, Mangalore. From January 2010 to July 2010. Material and Methods: A total of 1101 patients with a short history of febrile illness were included in the study. The peripheral blood was tested for malarial parasites by the quantitative buffy coat (QBC) method. The complete blood counts of all the subjects were done by using an automated haematology
Assessment of Fully Vaccination Coverage and Associated Factors among Children Aged 12-23 Months in Mecha District, North West Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: About 85% of the world's children under one year of age have received life-saving vaccines. An estimated 1.7 million children died in 2008 from vaccine-preventable diseases and in 2011, only 24% of the children were fully vaccinated. Objectives: To assess fully vaccination coverage and associated factors among children aged 12–23 months in Mecha district. Methods: A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted in 8 rural and 1 urban kebeles from April to October, 2013. A systematic sampling method was used for sample selection. Data were collected on 497 children aged 12–23 months from 497 representative households were collected using trained nurses. The data collectors assessed collected the vaccination status of the children based on vaccination cards or mother’s verbal reports using a pre-tested semi-structured interviewer administered questionnaire through house-to-house visits. Data were coded and entered into SPSS 20.0 versions. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with vaccination status of children.Those predictor variables with p-value < 0.05 were considered significantly associated with the outcome variable. Results: About 49.3 % of children aged 12–23 months were fully vaccinated by card and mother’s recall, and 1.6% children were not started vaccination. Using multivariate logistic regression models, factors significantly associated with fully vaccination were urban residence (AOR :2.401, 95% CI:1.011,5.705), mothers who have good knowledge on vaccination (AOR: 2.131, 95% CI:1.076, 4.217), taking the child to health institution during illness in the first year of life (AOR: 2.147 , 95% CI: 1.275, 3.615) ,institutional delivery (AOR :1.593 , 95% CI :1.037,2.445) and complete primary & above education of father of the child( AOR:1.814, 95% CI:1.008,3.265). Conclusion and recommendation: Complete vaccination coverage among children aged 12–23 months remains very low in the district. Health institution delivery , urban residence, mother's knowledge on vaccination and father complete primary and above level of education were found to be independent factors for fully child vaccination status of children in the district. Therefore both HEWs and other staff members of health centres should be improve awareness of the people by designing proper health education targeting the mother on vaccination.
The impact of convective drying on the color, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of noni (Morinda citrifolia L.)

Abstract The effect of thin-layer drying temperature on color, phenolic content and antioxidant capacity of noni slices was investigated. Noni slices were air-dried at 50, 60 and 70 °C under natural convection conditions. Drying curves were fitted to thin-layer drying models in order to evaluate the drying characteristics of the product. In addition, an unsteady-state diffusion equation was numerically solved considering both product shrinkage and a variable mass Biot number in boundary condition to accurately estimate water diffusivity in a process with external resistance to mass transfer. Results revealed that the Aghbashlo model accurately reproduced the experimental behavior. As expected, water diffusivities, corrected for shrinkage, increased with the use of higher drying temperatures, with values in the range of 1.80-3.19 to ×10 -9 m 2 /s. On the other hand, while drying caused a reduction in product lightness (24-31%) and total phenolic content (20-28%), the antioxidant capacity of dried noni was high (82-93% DPPH inhibition), which is advantageous for the further storage or processing of this fruit.
One Brief Shining Moment(um): Past Momentum Performance and Momentum Reversals

Motivated by behavioral theories, we test whether recent past performance of the momentum strategy (Past Momentum Performance--PMP) negatively predicts the performance of stale momentum portfolios. Following periods of top-quintile PMP, momentum portfolios exhibit strong reversals 2-5 years after formation, whereas, following periods of bottom-quintile PMP, stale momentum portfolios earn positive returns. The difference in cumulative five-year Fama-French alphas for momentum portfolios formed in high- and low-PMP months is 40%. A value-weighted trading strategy based on this effect generates an alpha of 0.40% per month (t = 3.74). These patterns are confirmed in international data. These findings present a puzzle for existing theories of momentum.
Carbon and nitrogen pools in thermokarst-affected permafrost landscapes in Arctic Siberia

Abstract. Ice-rich yedoma-dominated landscapes store considerable amounts of organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) and are vulnerable to degradation under climate warming. We investigate the C and N pools in two thermokarst-affected yedoma landscapes – on Sobo-Sise Island and on Bykovsky Peninsula in the north of eastern Siberia. Soil cores up to 3 m depth were collected along geomorphic gradients and analysed for organic C and N contents. A high vertical sampling density in the profiles allowed the calculation of C and N stocks for short soil column intervals and enhanced understanding of within-core parameter variability. Profile-level C and N stocks were scaled to the landscape level based on landform classifications from 5 m resolution, multispectral RapidEye satellite imagery. Mean landscape C and N storage in the first metre of soil for Sobo-Sise Island is estimated to be 20.2 kg C m−2 and 1.8 kg N m−2 and for Bykovsky Peninsula 25.9 kg C m−2 and 2.2 kg N m−2. Radiocarbon dating demonstrates the Holocene age of thermokarst basin deposits but also suggests the presence of thick Holocene-age cover layers which can reach up to 2 m on top of intact yedoma landforms. Reconstructed sedimentation rates of 0.10–0.57 mm yr−1 suggest sustained mineral soil accumulation across all investigated landforms. Both yedoma and thermokarst landforms are characterized by limited accumulation of organic soil layers (peat). We further estimate that an active layer deepening of about 100 cm will increase organic C availability in a seasonally thawed state in the two study areas by ∼ 5.8 Tg (13.2 kg C m−2). Our study demonstrates the importance of increasing the number of C and N storage inventories in ice-rich yedoma and thermokarst environments in order to account for high variability of permafrost and thermokarst environments in pan-permafrost soil C and N pool estimates.
Sparse coding for machine learning, image processing and computer vision

We study in this thesis a particular machine learning approach to represent signals that that consists of modelling data as linear combinations of a few elements from a learned dictionary. It can be viewed as an extension of the classical wavelet framework, whose goal is to design such dictionaries (often orthonormal basis) that are adapted to natural signals. An important success of dictionary learning methods has been their ability to model natural image patches and the performance of image denoising algorithms that it has yielded. We address several open questions related to this framework: How to efficiently optimize the dictionary? How can the model be enriched by adding a structure to the dictionary? Can current image processing tools based on this method be further improved? How should one learn the dictionary when it is used for a different task than signal reconstruction? How can it be used for solving computer vision problems? We answer these questions with a multidisciplinarity approach, using tools from statistical machine learning, convex and stochastic optimization, image and signal processing, computer vision, but also optimization on graphs.
Usability Measurement of Malaysia Online News Websites

The online newspapers entered the internet in the midnineties and since then it has become more and more common to read news online. There is a long tradition of designing newspaper in print but today there is a demand from both academics and practitioners for more knowledge about how to design a usability news sites. Usability is one of the major factors that determine the successfulness of a website. It is important therefore to have a comprehensive measurement method to assess the usability of websites. This research focuses on website usability issues and evaluating four Malaysia’s online news: The Star, The New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia. Based on literature research, a 24 questions evaluation questionnaire has been formulated, which break into four parts in order to evaluate the usability of their online news websites. A non-probability sampling of 80 frequent online news readers were selected as respondents for this study purposes. The results of analysis show the good and bad usability aspects of their website. Result also shows that New Straits Time news website obtained the highest satisfaction from the participants. Respective website designers and developers can improve their websites based on these results.