Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrogen mineralization and nitrate leaching of a sandy soil amended with different organic wastes

Organic wastes can be recycled as a source of plant nutrients, enhancing crop production by improving soil quality. However, the study of the dynamic of soil nutrient, especially the N dynamic, after soil application of any organic material is vital for assessing a correct and effective use of the material, minimizing the losses of nitrate in leachates and avoiding the negative environmental effects that it may cause in groundwater. To estimate the effect of three organic materials, a municipal solid waste compost (MWC), a non-composted paper mill sludge (PS), and an agroforest compost (AC) on the N dynamic of a sandy soil two experiments were carried out: an incubation experiment and a column experiment. The incubation experiment was conducted to estimate the N mineralization rate of the different soil-amendment mixtures. The soil was mixed with the organic amendments at a rate equivalent to 50 000 kg ha-1 and incubated during 40 weeks at constant moisture content (70% of its water-holding capacity) and temperature (28°C) under aerobic conditions. Organic amendment-soil samples showed an immobilization of N during the first weeks, which was more noticeable and longer in the case of PS-treated soil compared to the other two amendments due to its high C/N ratio. After this immobilization stage, a positive mineralization was observed for all treatment, especially in MWC treated soil. Contemporaneously a 1-year column (19 cm diameter and 60 cm height) experiment was carried out to estimate the nitrate losses from the soil amended with the same organic materials. Amendments were mixed with the top soil (0-15 cm) at a rate equivalent to 50 000 kg ha-1. The columns were periodically irrigated simulating rainfall in the area of study, receiving in total 415 mm of water, and the water draining was collected during the experimental period and analysed for NO3-N. At the end of the experimental period NO3-N content in soil columns at three depths (0-20, 20-35 and 35-50 cm) was determined. The nitrate concentration in drainage water confirmed the results obtained in the incubation experiment: nitrate leaching was higher in soil treated with MWC due to its higher N-mineralization rate. Nevertheless, the nitrate losses represented a low amount compared with the total nitrogen added to soil. No clear signs of water-draining contamination were observed during the first year after the application of AC and PS; however, the nitrate leaching in soil treated with MWC slightly exceeded the limit allowed for the Drinking Water Directive 98/83/CE.
Identification of oncofetal fibronectin in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer

The mechanisms by which metastatic ovarian cancer adheres to peritoneal surfaces are not well understood. A role for tumor‐derived extracellular matrix adhesive molecules such as fibronectin (FN) has been proposed. Because oncofetal fibronectin (onfFN) isoforms function in the adhesion of trophoblasts and have been identified in association with several malignancies, we sought to study onfFN in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
Future Land Use Change Dynamics in Natural Protected Areas - Madrid Region Case Study

Natural protected areas are declared to safeguard their environment, goods and services. However, sometimes they are affected by land use changes related to human activity, which affects their ecosystem functions and their sustainability. Problems such as fragmentation or low habitat connectivity are some of its consequences. Developing future land use scenarios is essential if a preventive approach to the management of protected areas is to be adopted. In this paper, three different land use change scenarios in natural protected areas in Madrid region are modelled: a “business as usual” scenario, an economic crisis scenario and a green scenario. All protected areas are studied, from National and Nature Parks to Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas; changes in a buffer area of 5 km around PAs are also studied. The CLUE model (based on logistic regression) is used. Biophysical, socio-economic and accessibility factors and incentives and restrictions are considered. In recent decades, the region of Madrid has experienced intense urban and infrastructure development (48,332 ha). Protected areas have been affected by this urbanization process (almost 5,000 ha) and its surroundings (30,000 ha). These findings should alert land use planners and the managers of protected areas to the potential threats.
Heart Rate and Stress in a College Setting

Conditions producing stress are present in all colleges and universities. In this paper we report on an investigation utilizing heart rate as an indicator of stress in students when participating in activities encountered in a college classroom or laboratory. The activities included presenting an oral report, taking an exam, and participating in a competitive laboratory exercise. Increased change in heart rate was observed in students participating in these activities. These heart rate responses provide some insight into the factors in the classroom, which produce stress in our students.
Coercion within Danish psychiatry compared with 10 other European countries

Background: In 2008, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) criticized the use of mechanical restraint in Denmark and referred to it as ill-treatment. What do other European countries do better? To answer this question, we compared the use of coercive measures regarding psychiatric inpatients in Denmark and comparable European countries. Aims: Comparing coercive measures from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Belgium, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Italy. Methods: Review of international literature and a cross-sectional study performed as a questionnaire survey. Results: Denmark used more mechanical restraint and holding than Finland and Norway; however Sweden used twice as much as Denmark. Finland used more seclusion than did the other countries. Norway was the country that used the smallest amount of physical coercion. Only Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark had comparable representative data on coercion. Conclusions: Norway used less physical restraint than Denmark. We could not find any obvious reasons for the differences in the use of physical restraint. Clinical implications: Comparing the factors surrounding coercion between countries may serve as a basis for minimizing coercion and carrying it out in the most acceptable manner for the patients, thereby providing better psychiatric treatment in Europe.
Nitric Oxide Reductase-Targeted Real-Time PCR Quantification of Denitrifier Populations in Soil

ABSTRACT The quantification of denitrifying bacteria is a component in the further understanding of denitrification processes in the environment. Real-time PCR primers were designed to target two segments of the denitrifier population (cnorBP [Pseudomonas mandelii and closely related strains] and cnorBB [Bosea, Bradyrhizobium, and Ensifer spp.]) in agricultural soils based on functional cnorB (nitric oxide reductase) gene sequences. Total population numbers were measured using 16S rRNA gene real-time PCR. Two soil microcosm experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 examined the response of the indigenous soil microbial population to the addition of 500 mg/kg glucose-C daily over 7 days in soil microcosms. Changes in the total population were correlated (r = 0.83) between 16S rRNA gene copy numbers and microbial biomass carbon estimates. Members of the cnorBP population of denitrifiers showed typical r-strategy by being able to increase their proportion in the total population from starting levels of <0.1% to around 2.4% after a daily addition of 500 mg/kg glucose-C. The cnorBB guild was not able to increase its relative percentage of the total population in response to the addition of glucose-C, instead increasing copy numbers only in proportion with the total population measured by 16S rRNA genes. Experiment 2 measured population dynamics in soil after the addition of various amounts of glucose-C (0 to 500 mg/kg) and incubation under denitrifying conditions. cnorBP populations increased proportionally with the amount of glucose-C added (from 0 to 500 mg/kg). In soil microcosms, denitrification rates, respiration, and cnorBP population densities increased significantly with increasing rates of glucose addition. cnorBB guild densities did not increase significantly under denitrifying conditions in response to increasing C additions.
Formal and informal care in relation to activities of daily living and self-perceived health among older care-dependent individuals in Norway.

Background. Research about formal care of older home-dwelling people in the Nordic countries is comprehensive, while research on informal care has been less inclusive. Aim. To describe self-reported activities of daily living and perceived health, and to relate them to amount and types of formal and informal care received by a group of care-dependent, home-dwelling older individuals in Norway. Design and methods. A sample consisting of 242 persons aged 75+ years receiving home nursing services. Data were collected by means of structured interviews with questions about activities of daily living (ADL), amount and types of formal and informal care and demographic variables. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U-test and multiple stepwise regression were used in the analyses. Results. ADL dependency was the only predictor for explaining quantity of home nursing received. Those who received a generous amount of formal care also received a lot of care and support from informal networks. The type of care from the two sources differed. The home nurses performed PADL tasks. While the informal caregivers offered help with IADL tasks. Conclusion. This study of receiving help in this group of older people in Norway shows that formal and informal care resources complement one another.
An international comparison of characteristics of the sensation of nasal obstruction between Canadian and Japanese patients.

To determine differences in perception of nasal obstruction in Canadians and Japanese, we assessed subjective and objective nasal patency of 48 patients in Canada and 43 patients in Japan. Mean severity of the sensation of nasal obstruction in Canadian patients was significantly higher than in Japanese patients, while no significant differences in nasal resistances were found. Complaints of nasal obstruction in Canadian patients were directly concerned with nasal breathing, while Japanese patients complained of indirect matters, such as "unable to concentrate on job or study" or "nasal obstruction or nasal speech pointed out by other persons. " The differences might be due to national characteristics.
Essential Oil Composition of Artemisia herba-alba from Southern Tunisia

The composition of the essential oil hydrodistilled from the aerial parts of 18 individual Artemisia herba-alba Asso. plants collected in southern Tunisia was determined by GC and GCMS analysis. The oil yield varied between 0.68% v/w and 1.93% v/w. One hundred components were identified, 21 of of which are reported for the first time in Artemisia herba-alba oil. The oil contained 10 components with percentages higher than 10%. The main components were cineole, thujones, chrysanthenone, camphor, borneol, chrysanthenyl acetate, sabinyl acetate, davana ethers and davanone. Twelve samples had monoterpenes as major components, three had sesquiterpenes as major components and the last three samples had approximately the same percentage of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The chemical compositions revealed that ten samples had compositions similar to those of other Artemisia herba-alba essential oils analyzed in other countries. The remaining eight samples had an original chemical composition.
Practice Makes It Better: A Psychophysical Study of Visual Perceptual Learning and Its Transfer Effects on Aging

Previous studies on perceptual learning, acquiring a new skill through practice, appear to stimulate brain plasticity and enhance performance (Fiorentini & Berardi, 1981). The present study aimed to determine (a) whether perceptual learning can be used to compensate for age-related declines in perceptual abilities, and (b) whether the effect of perceptual learning can be transferred to untrained stimuli and subsequently improve capacity of visual working memory (VWM). We tested both healthy younger and older adults in a 3-day training session using an orientation discrimination task. A matching-to-sample psychophysical method was used to measure improvements in orientation discrimination thresholds and reaction times (RTs). Results showed that both younger and older adults improved discrimination thresholds and RTs with similar learning rates and magnitudes. Furthermore, older adults exhibited a generalization of improvements to 3 untrained orientations that were close to the training orientation and benefited more compared with younger adults from the perceptual learning as they transferred learning effects to the VWM performance. We conclude that through perceptual learning, older adults can partially counteract age-related perceptual declines, generalize the learning effect to other stimulus conditions, and further overcome the limitation of using VWM capacity to perform a perceptual task.
Penalized count data regression with application to hospital stay after pediatric cardiac surgery

Pediatric cardiac surgery may lead to poor outcomes such as acute kidney injury (AKI) and prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS). Plasma and urine biomarkers may help with early identification and prediction of these adverse clinical outcomes. In a recent multi-center study, 311 children undergoing cardiac surgery were enrolled to evaluate multiple biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of AKI and other clinical outcomes. LOS is often analyzed as count data, thus Poisson regression and negative binomial (NB) regression are common choices for developing predictive models. With many correlated prognostic factors and biomarkers, variable selection is an important step. The present paper proposes new variable selection methods for Poisson and NB regression. We evaluated regularized regression through penalized likelihood function. We first extend the elastic net (Enet) Poisson to two penalized Poisson regression: Mnet, a combination of minimax concave and ridge penalties; and Snet, a combination of smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) and ridge penalties. Furthermore, we extend the above methods to the penalized NB regression. For the Enet, Mnet, and Snet penalties (EMSnet), we develop a unified algorithm to estimate the parameters and conduct variable selection simultaneously. Simulation studies show that the proposed methods have advantages with highly correlated predictors, against some of the competing methods. Applying the proposed methods to the aforementioned data, it is discovered that early postoperative urine biomarkers including NGAL, IL18, and KIM-1 independently predict LOS, after adjusting for risk and biomarker variables.
Sports aviation accidents: fatality and aircraft specificity.

BACKGROUND Sports aviation is a special category of general aviation characterized by diverse aircraft types and a predominantly recreational flight operation. A general comparison of aircraft accidents within sports aviation is missing, but should guide future research. METHODS A comparison of accidents in sports aviation was made using 2118 records from the National Transportation Safety Board for the period 1982-2007. In addition, the available denominator data from the Federal Aviation Administration were used to interpret the data. RESULTS The highest number of accidents was found with gliders (N = 991), but the highest relative number of fatal accidents came from ultra-light (45%) and gyroplane operations (40%), which are homebuilt more often than other aircraft types. The most common cause of accident in sports aviation was in-flight planning and decision-making (N = 200, 9.4%). The most frequent occurrences were hard landings and undershoots, of which the numbers differ significantly from one aircraft type to the other. CONCLUSIONS Homebuilt aircraft are at particular risk in sports aviation. Although denominator data remain problematic for motorized sports aviation, these aircraft show a high proportion of homebuilt aircraft and, more importantly, a higher relative number of fatal accidents.
An Empirical Study on the Dimensions of Consumer Perceived Value in Green Hotels

Consumer perceived value has become increasingly important for hotel marketers and operators due to the highly competitive environment. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: (1)What dimensions do consumer perceived value involve in hotel context? (2)What's the relationship between these dimensions? A total of 202 samples were analysed with exploratory factor analysis(EFA) and conﬁrmatory factor analysis (CFA). SPSS 18 and AMOS 17 were used as data analysis tools. Findings indicate that consumer perceived value comprise of functional value(performance/quality), functional value(price/value for money), social value, emotional value, epistemic value dimensions, and correlations between these value dimensions are tested. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed in the end.
Injury mortality in a cohort of mining, smelting, and refining workers in Ontario

ABSTRACT Injury mortality was followed up from 1950 to 2000 in a cohort of 56,576 nickel workers. Injury fatalities were elevated throughout the cohort of never sinter plant workers (SMR = 134, 95% CI [129, 140]). Elevations were also observed in injury mortality subcategories of road, rail, and air (SMR = 137, 95% CI [127, 147]); boating and swimming (SMR = 150, 95% CI [128, 176]); suicide and possible suicide (SMR = 124, 95% CI [114, 135]); and possibly job-related accidents (SMR = 160, 95% CI [145, 175]). The results were largely attributed to underground miners, with 61.4% of all injury mortality (SMR = 162; 95% CI [153, 171]). Occupational etiology could not be ascertained; however, compiled workplace injury fatalities are presented separately. Recommendations include delivery of injury prevention and wellness programs in partnership with the local health unit and other stakeholders.
Iris recognition using 2-D Gabor filter and XOR-SUM code

Iris based person identification has become very largely used biometric technology. This paper proposes a technique of feature extraction of iris images, which uses 2-D Gabor filter with four orientations. XOR and SUM operations on the real and imaginary output for each orientation result into a number which is further encoded into bits to give the feature vector. Experiments show that XOR-SUM Code is providing increased recognition accuracy (i.e. GAR) as compared to another feature extraction technique DCT. GAR value for XOR-SUM Code is 96.33% while for DCT, its value is 90.79%.
Skin Epidermal Thickness and Vascular Density in Type 1 Diabetes

Epidermal skin thickness and vascular density were assessed in skin biopsies obtained from the dorsum of the foot in 28 Type 1 diabetic patients and 17 normal control subjects, matched for age. Epidermal skin thickness did not differ significantly between control subjects (74 ± 4 (± SE) μ m) and diabetic patients (78 ± 4 μm). It was not related to the duration of diabetes and presence of complications. Neither small (capillary) nor large (arteriole/venule) vessel densities differed significantly between control subjects (59 ± 6 mm−2 and 19 ± 2 mm−2) and diabetic patients (65 ± 4 mm−2 and 22 ± 3 mm−2). Vessel densities were unrelated to the duration of diabetes and presence of complications.
Human Placental Lactogen Infusions into the Medial Preoptic Area Stimulate Maternal Behavior in Steroid-Primed, Nulliparous Female Rats

The effects of central administration of human placental lactogen (hPL) on the onset of maternal behavior were measured in steroid-primed, adult ovariectomized, nulliparous rats. Rats were fitted with bilateral cannulas directed at the medial preoptic area (MPOA) and gonadectomized 1 week before being implanted sc with progesterone (P)-filled Silastic implants (treatment Day 1). On Day 11 P capsules were removed, and each female was implanted sc with a single estradiol (E2) capsule. On Days 11 to 13 animals were infused bilaterally with 40 ng of hPL/infusion or given 0.4 microliter vehicle. Subjects were given hormone or vehicle infusions five times during this period, twice each on Days 11 and 12 (1000 and 1600 hr) and once on Day 13 (1000 hr). Behavioral testing began on day 12 after the 1000 hr infusions and continued daily for 6 days. All females were injected sc twice daily with bromocriptine (2 mg/ke) to suppress endogenous PRL secretion from Day 11 to the completion of testing. The results showed that central infusions of hPL stimulated a fast onset of maternal behavior relative to controls. Latencies to display specific components as well as complete maternal behavior toward foster young were about 1 day in the hPL-treated group and 4 days in vehicle-infused controls. Infusions of hPL into the MPOA between 7.8 and 8.0 AP resulted in the fastest rate of onset of maternal behavior. These findings demonstrate that central infusion of a heterologous placental lactogen, hPL, is capable of stimulating maternal behavior may normally be brought about by exposure to placental lactogens as well as prolactin.
Alexithymia in neurodegenerative disease

We investigated alexithymia, a deficit in the ability to identify and describe one's emotions, in a sample that included patients with neurodegenerative disease and healthy controls. In addition, we investigated the relationship that alexithymia has with behavioral disturbance and with regional gray matter volumes. Alexithymia was examined with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, behavioral disturbance was assessed with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, and regional gray matter volumes were obtained from structural magnetic resonance images. Group analyses revealed higher levels of alexithymia in patients than controls. Alexithymia scores were positively correlated with behavioral disturbance (apathy and informant distress, in particular) and negatively correlated with the gray matter volume of the right pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the brain that is thought to play an important role in self and emotion processing.