Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Feeding SMBHs through supersonic turbulence and ballistic accretion

It has long been recognised that the main obstacle to accretion of gas onto supermassive black holes (SMBHs) is large specific angular momentum. It is feared that the gas settles in a large scale disc, and that accretion would then proceed too inefficiently to explain the masses of the observed SMBHs. Here we point out that, while the mean angular momentum in the bulge is very likely to be large, the deviations from the mean can also be significant. Indeed, cosmological simulations show that velocity and angular momentum fields of gas flows onto galaxies are very complex. Furthermore, inside bulges the gas velocity distribution can be further randomised by the velocity kicks due to feedback from star formation. We perform hydrodynamical simulations of gaseous rotating shells infalling onto an SMBH, attempting to quantify the importance of velocity dispersion in the gas at relatively large distances from the black hole. We implement this dispersion by means of a supersonic turbulent velocity spectrum. We find that, while in the purely rotating case the circularisation process leads to efficient mixing of gas with different angular momentum, resulting in a low accretion rate, the inclusion of turbulence increases this accretion rate by up to several orders of magnitude. We show that this can be understood based on the notion of "ballistic" accretion, whereby dense filaments, created by convergent turbulent flows, travel through the ambient gas largely unaffected by hydrodynamical drag. We derive a simple analytical formula that captures the numerical results to within a factor of a few. Rescaling our results to astrophysical bulges, we argue that this "ballistic" mode of accretion could provide the SMBHs with a sufficient supply of fuel without the need to channel the gas via large-scale discs or bars, and therefore that star formation in bulges can be a strong catalyst for SMBH accretion.
Chapter-3 NON-LINEAR ANISOTROPIC FILTERING IN PCA DOMAIN 3

Fusion is the process of merging information obtained from two or more images into a single image which would be more informative than the any of the input images applied. This chapter proposes a novel image fusion approach for medical images that utilizes Non-Linear Anisotropic Filtering (NLAF) in Principal Component Analysis (PCA) domain, which preserves the texture information of fused images most effectively. The base and detail layers are obtained with NLAF by decomposing the source medical images then the outcome of these layers is calculated utilizing the PCA. At last, utilizing the linear combination of these two layers a fused image is acquired. Qualitative and Quantitative functioning of NLAF-PCA algorithm is evaluated with the help of image quality metrics like Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Correlation Coefficient (CC), Entropy (E), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Structural Similarity Index Measurement (SSIM) .
Freezing, thawing and aging improves the tenderness of chuck muscles from young bulls of different phenotypes

Veterinaria Mexico OA ISSN: 2448-6760 Como citar este articulo: Rubio-Lozano MS, Perez-Buitron EV, Mendez-Medina RD, Chavez-Gomez A, Delgado-Suarez EJ. La estrategia de congelacion, descongelacion y maduracion mejora la suavidad de los musculos del cuarto delantero de toretes sin castrar de diferentes fenotipos. Veterinaria Mexico OA. 2014;1(1). doi: 10.21753/vmoa.1. 1.333 . Se evaluo el efecto de la congelacion seguida de la descongelacion y maduracion por 2, 9, 16 y 23 dias en la fuerza de corte Warner-Bratzler (FC) en 11 musculos del cuarto delantero de toretes sin castrar de origen Brahman (BR, n = 10) y Charolais (CH, n = 10) seleccionados fenotipicamente. Splenius , infraspinatus , teres major , rhomboideus , y subscapularis de ambos fenotipos, y complexus de CH tuvieron valores tipicos de carne suave (FC ≤ 40 N) a los 9 dias de maduracion. La FC no mejoro despues de los 9 dias de maduracion. En general, se observo que la congelacion con una posterior descongelacion y maduracion de varios de los musculos estudiados mejoro significativamente la suavidad de la carne. Se requiere realizar otros estudios para optimizar esta estrategia de ablandamiento, asi como para evaluar su posible impacto en otros atributos de la calidad de la carne. Cuadro 1. Medias de minimos cuadrados de la fuerza de corte (N) para los musculos del cuarto delantero en toretes de Brahman y Charolais, congelados por una semana, descongelados por 24-30 horas a 2-4°C y madurados durante diferentes periodos
The impact of direct and indirect taxes on economic growth: An empirical analysis related to Romania

Abstract The purpose of this paper involved studying the impact of direct taxes and indirect taxes on the economic growth using an econometric Vector Autoregressive model (VAR) based on the statistical data related to Romania over the period of time 2009 (2nd quarter)-2017 (2nd quarter). Fiscal policy system involved a significant impact on the evolution of economic growth in the recent years in Romania, namely the years taken into consideration for this study. The econometric model used three endogenous variables, namely the level of direct taxes as percent of the Gross Domestic Product (%GDP), the level of indirect taxes as percent of the Gross Domestic Product (%GDP) and the economic growth rate over the analysed period of time. According to the econometric model presented in this paper, it was proved that a positive change in the structure of indirect taxes will have a strong positive influence on the economic growth over a medium-term period. On the other hand, economic growth will be negatively influenced in the next period of time after implementing a positive change in the structure of direct taxes, then returning to a positive influence over a medium term period and maintaining that influence in the future time periods.
Meaning-Making in an Atheist World

This article explores atheist meaning-making by employing a multidimensional model of meaning operationalized by the Sources of Meaning and Meaning in Life Questionnaire (SoMe). When compared to a representative sample of “religionists” (N = 390) and “nones” (N = 178), atheists (N = 102) show lower degrees of meaningfulness, but they do not suffer from crises of meaning more frequently. However, subsequent cluster analysis reveals that heterogeneity within atheism has to be taken into account. Three types of atheists are identified. ‘Low-commitment’ atheists are characterised by generally low commitment; they report very low meaningfulness and a high frequency of crises of meaning. ‘Broad-commitment’ atheists exhibit considerably higher levels of meaningfulness and rare crises of meaning. They evidence, in particular, high scores on the dimension of well-being and relatedness. The third type, primarily committed to “selfactualization,” exhibits moderate levels of meaningfulness, with crises of meaning being literally absent. Common to most atheists is a particular commitment to self-knowledge, freedom, knowledge, individualism, and comfort. In comparing male and female atheists, gendered patterns of commitment are discovered.
XXXI CONFERENZA ITALIANA DI SCIENZE REGIONALI THE COST OF SPRAWL: AN ITALIAN CASE STUDY

Il paper analizza il caso studio italiano dell’area centrale veneta – una porzione territoriale di circa 3.700 kmq distribuita su 145 comuni – caratterizzata a partire dagli anni ’70 da fenomeni di dispersione insediativa ed evolutasi nella forma del “sistema metropolitano disperso”. Obiettivo principale del lavoro di ricerca e che il paper restituisce è di verificare se lo sviluppo insediativo a bassa densità sia più costoso e imponga costi pubblici maggiori di altre forme urbane più compatte. I dati dell’analisi economica condotta al 2007 sono desunti dai bilanci comunali dei singoli comuni, nello specifico si sono analizzati i costi dei principali servizi pubblici quali: il trasporto pubblico, la manutenzione stradale, la gestione di rifiuti, acqua e reflui. Utilizzando l’Analisi di regressione vengono stimati gli impatti dello sprawl sulla spesa corrente attraverso variabili quali le imposte locali e i trasferimenti da parte dello Stato. I risultati dimostrano come lo sviluppo a bassa densità sia in generale più costoso, inoltre l’analisi condotta vuole mettere in evidenza le minacce che lo sprawl impone in termini di sostenibilità urbana e sottolineare i costi di una crescita squilibrata.
Behavioural factors for improved after-use cleaning habit of shared latrines in Kampala slums, Uganda

Access to clean shared facilities fundamental to health and social well-being to millions of people living in urban slums in most developing countries. This study assessed behavioural factors (risks, attitudes, norms, ability and self-regulation) for improved after-use cleaning habit of shared latrines in Kampala slums. A before-and-after study was conducted between 2012 and 2013 in three slums in Kampala, in which shared latrine user’s cleaning habit and the behavioural influencing factors were assessed. The findings after testing behavioural interventions consisting of discussions and commitment showed that there was an improvement in individuals’ after-use shared latrine cleaning habit from in the discussions (Mean difference = 0.26) and discussions plus commitment (Mean difference = 0.35) compared to the control population (Mean difference = 0.17). The improvement in cleaning habit was through individuals’ awareness of their vulnerability to getting diseases, involvement of latrine sharing families in cleaning, personal cleaning norm and commitment.
Glaciers of the outer and inner tropics: A different behaviour but a common response to climatic forcing

We have compared the annual surface energy balance (SEB) of Zongo Glacier (16°S, Bolivia, outer tropics) and Antizana Glacier 15 (0°S, Ecuador, inner tropics). On annual time scale energy fluxes are very similar in the ablation zone: turbulent heat fluxes compensate each other and net short‐wave radiation dominates the SEB. Albedo is central in controlling the melting. Consequently solid precipitation occurrence manages the annual mass balance variability. In the outer tropics, the annual melting is directly related to the annual distribution of precipitation, the period December–February being crucial. However, in the inner tropics, liquid precipitation can occur on the ablation zone, and snowline altitude remains very sensitive to air temperature. Tropical glaciers react rapidly to El Niño events, mainly because of an induced precipitation deficit in the outer tropics and to a temperature increase in the inner tropics, both leading to a rise in snowline altitude.
DDDT_A_194456 1803..1808

Shuai Miao Lan Zou Guanglei Wang Xiuli Wang Su Liu Mengzhu Shi 1Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, People’s Republic of China Background: Etomidate used for the induction of general anesthesia can result in myoclonus. We tested the hypothesis that pretreatment with dexmedetomidine (Dex) reduces the incidence of etomidate-induced myoclonus during the induction of general anesthesia. Materials and methods: One hundred patients who were scheduled for selective operations under general anesthesia were included in this randomized, double-blind controlled trial. Patients were randomized to receive either Dex 0.5 μg/kg in 20 mL of normal saline or the same volume of normal saline as pretreatment agents 15 mins before the injection of etomidate 0.3 mg/kg. The primary endpoint was the incidence of etomidate-induced myoclonus. Secondary endpoints were the severity of etomidate-induced myoclonus and the incidence of adverse effects from the onset of action of Dex or normal saline to the injection of etomidate, such as dizziness, respiratory depression, bradycardia, hypotension and nausea/ vomiting. Results: All of the 100 patients completed the trial. Dex resulted in a significant 38% reduction in the number of patients who experienced etomidate-induced myoclonus: 13 (26%) vs 32 (64%) (P=0.0001). Additionally, the severity of myoclonus was also reduced in the Dex group than that in the placebo group (P=0.02). Incidence of dizziness, respiratory depression, bradycardia, hypotension and nausea/vomiting was similar in both groups. Conclusions: Pretreatment with Dex 0.5 μg/kg 15 mins before the induction of general anesthesia not only resulted in a 38% reduction in the incidence of etomidate-induced myoclonus, but also reduced the severity of myoclonus, without inducing any adverse effects.
Gratitude: a Basic Human Emotion for Initiating and Strengthening Interpersonal Relationships

of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Associate Professor Debra L. Lieberman No. of pages in text. (77) Gratitude may function to foster human sociality. Exactly how gratitude performs this putative function, however, is a question that has received little scientific attention. Many recent investigations—primarily concerned with the positive emotional outcomes associated with the experience of gratitude—have overlooked the fundamental mechanistic operations that might produce gratitude. My dissertation addresses this oversight by capitalizing on advancements in the evolutionary psychological study of function and internal regulatory variables. I approach gratitude as a psychological adaptation that functions to coordinate behaviors that initiate and strengthen interpersonal relationships in conjunction with an internal regulatory variable responsible for tracking interpersonal welfare valuation, the Welfare Tradeoff Ratio (WTR). I conducted three studies that induced gratitude between strangers (Study One), friends (Study Two), and siblings (Study Three), and assessed for changes in WTR. Positive changes in WTRs for strangers coincided with an emotional response of gratitude and a series of affiliative behaviors that presumably act to initiate new relationships. Null changes, as opposed to positive or negative changes, in the already high WTRs of friends and siblings for each other, also coincided with gratitude and behaviors that presumably act to strengthen
Performance of Optically-Preamplified, Direct-Detection, M-ary PPM for Inter-Satellite Links

In this paper, we evaluate the end-to-end performance of optically-preamplified, direct-detection, 16-ary and 64-ary Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) receivers with optical Fabry-Pérot and electrical filters for the use in inter-satellite links. Monte-Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the bit error ratio (BER) versus the optical signal-to-noise ratio per bit without the need to assume that the noise at the decision sample is Gaussian. Extensive simulations are carried out to optimize the bandwidths of the optical and electrical filters at the receiver for three different pulse shapes while considering the combined effects of the extinction ratio (ER) of the optical transmitter, the dual-polarized amplifier noise, intra-symbol, and inter-symbol interference (ISI). The performance penalties due to timing jitter and frequency drift at the receiver are also evaluated. The results indicate that for ER > 25 dB, 64-ary PPM systems outperform 16-ary PPM systems by up to 1.2 dB, however, under realistic system imperfections of ER > 20 dB, timing jitter, and frequency drift, the performance of both systems becomes comparable.
Desumoylation of RNA polymerase III lies at the core of the Sumo stress response in yeast

Post-translational modification by small ubiquitin-like modifier (Sumo) regulates many cellular processes, including the adaptive response to various types of stress, referred to as the Sumo stress response (SSR). However, it remains unclear whether the SSR involves a common set of core proteins regardless of the type of stress or whether each particular type of stress induces a stress-specific SSR that targets a unique, largely nonoverlapping set of Sumo substrates. In this study, we used MS and a Gene Ontology approach to identify differentially sumoylated proteins during heat stress, hyperosmotic stress, oxidative stress, nitrogen starvation, and DNA alkylation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Our results indicate that each stress triggers a specific SSR signature centered on proteins involved in transcription, translation, and chromatin regulation. Strikingly, whereas the various stress-specific SSRs were largely nonoverlapping, all types of stress tested here resulted in desumoylation of subunits of RNA polymerase III, which correlated with a decrease in tRNA synthesis. We conclude that desumoylation and subsequent inhibition of RNA polymerase III constitutes the core of all stress-specific SSRs in yeast.
Tree mortality in Central Europe: Empirically-based modeling using long-term datasets

The future development of forest ecosystems depends critically on tree mortality. However, the suitability of empirical mortality algorithms for extrapolation in space or time remains untested. We systematically analyzed the performance of 46 inventory-based mortality models available from the literature using nearly 80000 independent records from 54 strict forest reserves in Germany and Switzerland covering 11 species. Mortality rates were predicted with higher accuracy if covariates for tree growth and/or competition at the individual level were included and if models were applied within the same ecological zone. In contrast, classification of dead vs. living trees was only improved by growth variables. Management intensity in the calibration stands as well as the census interval and size of the calibration datasets did not influence model performance. Consequently, future approaches should make use of tree growth and competition at the level of individual trees. Mortality algorithms for applications over a restricted spatial extent and under current climate should be calibrated based on datasets from the same region, even if they are small. To obtain models with wide applicability and enhanced climatic sensitivity, the spatial variability of mortality should be addressed explicitly by considering environmental influences using data of high temporal resolution covering large ecological gradients. Finally, such models need to be validated and documented thoroughly.
Double neutron stars : merger rates revisited 3

We revisit double neutron star (DNS) formation in the classical binary evolution scenario in light of the recent LIGO/Virgo DNS detection (GW170817). The observationally estimated Galactic DNS merger rate of RMW = 21+28 −14 Myr −1, based on 3 Galactic DNS systems, fully supports our standard input physics model with RMW = 24 Myr−1. This estimate for the Galaxy translates in a non-trivial way (due to cosmological evolution of progenitor stars in chemically evolving Universe) into a local (z ≈ 0) DNS merger rate density of Rlocal = 48 Gpc−3yr−1, which is not consistent with the current LIGO/Virgo DNS merger rate estimate (1540+3200 −1220 Gpc −3yr−1). Within our study of the parameter space we find solutions that allow for DNS merger rates as high as Rlocal ≈ 600+600 −300 Gpc−3yr−1 which are thus consistent with the LIGO/Virgo estimate. However, our corresponding BH-BH merger rates for the models with high DNS merger rates exceed the current LIGO/Virgo estimate of local BH-BH merger rate (12–213 Gpc−3 yr−1). Apart from being particularly sensitive to the common envelope treatment, DNS merger rates are rather robust against variations of several of the key factors probed in our study (e.g. mass transfer, angular momentum loss, natal kicks). This might suggest that either common envelope development/survival works differently for DNS (∼ 10−20 M stars) than for BH-BH (∼ 40−100 M stars) progenitors, or high BH natal kicks are needed to meet observational constraints for both types of binaries. Note that our conclusion is based on a limited number of (21) evolutionary models and is valid only within this particular DNS and BH-BH isolated binary formation scenario.
Efficacy of brassica sorghum and sunflower aqueous extracts to control wheat weeds under rainfed conditions of Pothwar, Pakistan.

Allelopathy is an environment friendly technique in controlling weeds and helpful in reducing cost of herbicide. An experiment was conducted at PMAS Arid Agriculture University during Rabi 2007, to observe the allelopathic effect of water extracts of sorghum, sunflower and brassica to control weeds in wheat using cultivar GA-2002. Extracts were prepared by taking chopped dry sorghum, sunflower and brassica herbage separately in water for one day in the proportion of 1:10 (w/v). The treatments were control, hand weeding, sorghum, sunflower and brassica individually and combined as sorghum+ sunflower, sorghum+ brassica, sunflower+ brassica and sorghum+ sunflower+ brassica. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with four replications. Size of each individual plot was 5 × 6 m. Results indicated that the highest weed density and biomass suppression was achieved with hand weeding among all the treatments. Among the foliar application of extracts, the highest weed control was recorded with the combined application of concentrated aqueous extracts of sorghum, sunflower and brassica at 45 and 75 days after sowing followed by both sorghum+ sunflower. In case of growth and yield components, highest increase was recorded in manual weeding and lowest in case control. Among extracts application treatments the highest increase in wheat biometry and yield attributes was found by combined application of sorghum, sunflower and brassica extracts compared to rest of the treatments.
Evaluation of acute contact toxicity of imidacloprid to Apis mellifera under laboratory conditions

Neonicotinyl, systemic insecticides are very popular amongst the growers due to their low mammalian toxicity and the ability to move systemically into the entire plants, observed to be highly toxic to bees and are well known causal of colony collapse disorder in beekeeping industry throughout the world. In this communication, evaluation of imidacloprid toxicity to assess the risk posed to honey bees in field young worker bees of A. mellifera were carried out using hand operated micro-applicator under laboratory at 25±2 C and 65±5 relative humidity in Sloan, Himachal Pradesh during august 2017. The toxicological investigations carried out on ten individuals of young, workers of Apis mellifera per replication were topically treated with imidacloprid dose ranged between 0.005 to 0.12 μg/bee. Mortality of bees was data recorded after 24 hours of treatments and subjected to probit analysis. LD50 value worked out to be 0.037 μg/bee with a fiducial limit of 0.019 and 0.068 μg/bee. It was concluded that mortality data in relation to dose was homogeneous, as the determination of acute contact toxicity of imidacloprid is essential at sublethal levels.