Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BVRI imaging of M51-type interacting galaxy pairs - III. Analysis of the photometric parameters

Photometric bulge and disc properties of a sample of 21 M51-type pairs observed in BVRI bands are analysed, and the derived parameters obtained by the R1/4-law and exponential bulge models are compared with the sample of normal galaxies reported by de Jong & van der Kruit in 1994. Some characteristic properties of the intensity profiles are then interpreted by 3D N-body simulations, in which both components of the pair are described by an exponential star + gas disc embedded in a live bulge and halo. The disc central surface brightness μ0 was found to be similar for the M51-type and for normal galaxies, being 21.5 ± 0.8B mag arcsec−2, when the exponential bulge model was used. The main galaxies had generally almost normal photometric properties, whereas for the companions secular evolution must have played an important role. Even though the mean scalelengths for the M51-type galaxies were smaller than for the comparison galaxies, their bulges were larger: especially the companions had extremely large bulge sizes relative to their disc scalelengths having 〈re(bulge)/h〉(B) = 0.37 ± 0.10 in comparison with 0.15 ± 0.09 for normal galaxies. Consequently, the bulge-to-disc luminosity ratios for the companions were also generally larger than known for any of the Hubble types of normal galaxy. N-body simulations indicated that the inner disc can be steepened during the interaction, and that this steepened disc can be erroneously interpreted as belonging to the bulge. Simultaneously material in the outer disc is redistributed, producing shallow outer profiles similar to those observed for typical M51-type galaxies. These processes were demonstrated by applying photometric bulge-to-disc decompositions for some of the simulated intensity profiles. The decompositions also showed that one must be cautious when applying the R1/4-law bulge model, especially for interacting galaxies. A nearly parabolic experiment showed that the redistribution of matter in the disc during the close passage can be long-lived, suggesting that galaxy interactions even with small companions may play an important role in secular evolution for galaxies in clusters.
Prevalence Rate of Postural Damages, Disorders and Anomalies Among Computer Users

Methods: This is a descriptive research study carried out as a field project on 160 university students with 3 years of experience working with computers. The data were collected using a questionnaire developed by the researcher, which was of high reliability and validity. Moreover, for evaluation of the changes in postural alignment, the New York posture rating chart was used. Data analyses were performed by using descriptive statistics, which was done using Excel software and SPSS version 21.0.
Effects of thiamine spraying on biochemical and morphological traits of basil plants under greenhouse conditions

The effects of thiamin (Thi) applied as foliar spray on some morphological and physiological traits were investigated in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). Four levels of Thi including 0 (distilled water), 250, 500 and 750 µM were tested in a randomized complete design with three replications at research greenhouse of University of Guilan, Iran. Thi exerted a significant effect on the most studied indices. The highest amounts of leaf, stem and root dry weights and number of lateral branches were obtained in plant which were treated by 500 µM Thi. Thousand grain weight increased by increase in Thi levels, as, its value in 700 µM Thi, was 26% more than control. Thi spraying especially in concentration of 750 µM improved the leaf nutrients content (N, P and Ca). Chlorophyll b content in leaves affected positively by Thi, and its highest value obtained in 750 µM treatment (0.75 mg g-1 FW). The highest and the lowest phenolic compounds were gained in 0 and 750 µM levels of Thi (47.2 vs. 40.3 mg 100g-1 FW). Similar trend was observed about total antioxidants, where their content in 750 µM was 13% more than control treatment. Generally, it seems that Thi can be considered as an appropriate growth regulator in basil medicinal plant cultivation.
Factors Affecting Adherence to Anti-retroviral Therapy at Kampala International University Teaching Hospital, Bushenyi District, Uganda

Complex regimens present significant challenges to both patients and health-care providers with respect to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) treatment adherence. Improper adherence leads to poor suppression of HIV replication in infected cells. High level of ART treatment adherence leads to better viral suppression outcomes. Proper maintenance of ART treatment adherence over time remains a problematic area especially in resource limited settings, including sub-Saharan African countries. The western region of Uganda has been noted to have a high prevalence of HIV patients. This study was therefore undertaken to determine the factors associated with non-adherence among the HIV patients on ART in a teaching hospital in south-western Uganda. Findings of the study revealed that forgetting treatment was the most cited factor. Feeling better after some medication period, being too ill to take medication, stigma associated with taking ART medication, alcohol consumption and drug stock out were also identified to be associated to non-adherence among the study participants. Most of the patients in this study (150/255, 58.8%) had good adherence, followed by those who had fair rates of adherence (60/255, 23.5%). Forty five patients (17.6%) had the least adherence level. Findings also showed that females were most likely to miss their medication. The age groups of 30-39 and 40-49 were the most likely not to adhere to medications compared to the other age groups while the 0-19 and above 50 years age groups were most likely not to miss their medication. The separated patients were more likely to miss medication compared to others. Patients who had attended only primary education and those who attended tertiary level of education were most likely to be non-adherent to medication. Deliberate measures need to be taken to cater for the non-adherent patients. Interventions aimed at the high-risk non-adherence groups need to be specifically developed.
Statistical Uncertainty in Hydrometeorological Trend Analyses

This study demonstrates the existence of uncertainty in hydrometeorological trend analyses using historical rainfall from Kenya in East Africa. With respect to the influence of short- and long-term persistence on trend analyses, a total of 13 approaches of rank-based techniques including Mann-Kendall, Spearman’s Rho, and Cumulative Rank Difference (CRD) tests were employed. Graphically, CRD-based diagnoses of trends and subtrends were performed. To assess data-related uncertainty, a resampling procedure was applied. It was shown that at a selected significance level, the null hypothesis (no trend) can be rejected for trend direction while the evidence to reject (zero trend magnitude) is statistically insufficient. Graphical and statistical approaches when combined yield more influential and comprehensive information for inference than relying purely on statistical results. Alongside an apparent linear trend, variations in the nonlinear (e.g., cyclical) component of the series may also not be due to natural randomness. Method-related uncertainty is not negligible especially for series with persistent fluctuations. These findings shed light on the need to assess uncertainty on trend results. Furthermore, it is recommended that the conclusiveness of trends be cautiously premised not only on statistical grounds but also on more considered physical and/or theoretical understanding of the hydrometeorological processes.
Kuschakewiczia versus Solenanthus—Palynological Data and the Generic Position of Kuschakewiczia turkestanica Regel and Smirnov (Boraginaceae)

The genus Kuschakewiczia, Regel and Smirnov [1], was described including only one species, K. turkestanica. Later it was joint with the genus Solenanthus, although there are characters (corolla having narrow long lobes, filaments inserted on the corolla margin, low gynobasis, small scar on nutlets after disconnecting without any strip of tissue, reduced number of nutlets in the ripe fruit, etc.) which distinguish the two genera sufficiently. Palynological data, although not significantly different, support its separate positions on the discrete generic level.
RAINFALL CHARACTERIZATION AND SEDIMENTOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF WATERSHEDS WITH DIFFERENT LAND USES TO PRECIPITATION IN THE SEMIARID REGION OF BRAZIL

The objective of this work was to evaluated the precipitation characteristics (depth, I30 and erosivity) and their effects on sediment production in three watersheds under different managements of land use 35-year regenerating Caatinga (RC), thinned Caatinga (TC), which underwent thinning of trees with diameter smaller than 10 cm; and deforested Caatinga (followed by burning and pasture) (DC). The experimente was conducted in the central, tropical semiarid region of the State of Ceará, Brazil. The precipitation events, surface runoff and sediment production were monitored from 2010 to 2015. The precipitation characteristics were subjected to Pearson's correlation at 1 and 5% of significance and the events that produced sediments in each watershed were hierarchically grouped by hierarchical cluster analysis technique. Two hundred precipitation events were recorded, with 23 (RC), 18 (TC) and 43 (DC) events producing sediments. The use of thinning (TC) decreased the sediment production by 53.5%, while the deforestation, burn and pasture cultivation (DC) increased soil losses by 14%, compared with the RC. The sediment production was greatly correlated with the I30 in the three watersheds, denoting the erosion process great dependence on the precipitation intensity.
The effects of farmyard manure on the dry matter components of two cucumber varieties

The effects of farmyard manure on the dry matter content of two cucumber varieties (Ashley and Palmetto) was evaluated at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria Lat 6 o 45 1 N and Long 6 o 08 1 E.The farmyard manure was applied at the rates of 0, 5 and 10t/ha. The layout was a 2 x 3 factorial scheme with three replicates. The result of the study showed that increasing the farmyard rates led to an increase in the dry matter weights of the two varieties of cucumber. Farmyard manure at 10t/ha increased the dry matter content of cucumber. Palmetto was however more responsive to FYM application, with the rate of 10t/ha out yielding the control by 60% in contrast to Ashley, in which 10t/ha of FYM out yielded the control by only 30 %. (Nature and Science. 2010;8(5):16-22). (ISSN: 1545-0740).
Estimating the impact of diabetes on employment in Taiwan

This paper investigates the impact of diabetes on employment based on the 2005 National Health Interview Survey in Taiwan using a recursive bivariate probit model. The findings show that diabetes has a negative and significant effect on employment, and that the magnitude is larger for men than for women. The results of this study also suggest that neglecting the potential endogeneity of diabetes will lead to an underestimation of the negative impact of diabetes on employment.
Steel of Boron with Dual Structure for Automobile Screws, Reducing Manufacturing Costs and Environmental Impact

This paper tries to obtain the same mechanical performance with boron steel parts obtained by stamping, conventional quenching and tempering, with a subcritical annealing and tempering aimed at obtaining a dual structural steel. Thus, energy is saved in the annealing treatment to reduce the product temperature, and residence time, and the tempering treatment is suppressed. This results in process economics leading to the final product costs and environmental impact. This process is designed to equal the boron steel used in high-performance screws in the automotive industry, compared to dual structural steels used with for high manganese content and low carbon content. This is boron steel used in these applications and subjected to quenching prior subcritical annealing, can achieve the same strength and toughness values than conventional treatments.
Multi-year GNSS monitoring of atmospheric IWV over Central and South America for climate studies

Abstract. Atmospheric water vapour has been acknowledged as an essential climate variable. Weather prediction and hazard assessment systems benefit from real-time observations, whereas long-term records contribute to climate studies. Nowadays, ground-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) products have become widely employed, complementing satellite observations over the oceans. Although the past decade has seen a significant development of the GNSS infrastructure in Central and South America, its potential for atmospheric water vapour monitoring has not been fully exploited. With this in mind, we have performed a regional, 7-year-long and homogeneous analysis, comprising 136 GNSS tracking stations, obtaining high-rate and continuous observations of column-integrated water vapour and troposphere zenith total delay. As a preliminary application for this data set, we have estimated local water vapour trends, their significance, and their relation with specific climate regimes. We have found evidence of drying at temperate regions in South America, at a rate of about 2 % per decade, while a slow moistening of the troposphere over tropical regions is also weakly suggested by our results. Furthermore, we have assessed the regional performance of the empirical model GPT2w to blindly estimate troposphere delays. The model reproduces the observed mean delays fairly well, including their annual and semi-annual variations. Nevertheless, a long-term evaluation has shown systematical biases, up to 20 mm, probably inherited from the underlying atmospheric reanalysis. Additionally, the complete data set has been made openly available as supplementary material.
A hybrid modeling for continuous casting scheduling problem

This paper deals with a multi-agent-based interval type-2 fuzzy (IT2F) expert system for scheduling steel continuous casting. Continuous caster scheduling is a complex and extensive process that needs expert staff. In this study, a distributed multi-agent-based structure is proposed as a solution. The agents used herein can cooperate with each other via various communication protocols. To facilitate such communication, an appropriate negotiation protocol (i.e., contract net protocol) is proposed. The due dates specified by expert staff are represented by IT2F membership functions (MFs). As a part of the objective functions, a simple procedure is proposed to calculate the total earliness and tardiness penalty when the due date’s MFs are IT2F. The proposed hybrid multi-agentbased system combines the multi-agent systems with type-2 fuzzy concepts which conforms to the real-world continuous casting problem. Review History: Received: 26 April 2016 Revised: 30 October 2016 Accepted: 14 January 2017 Available Online: 27 February 2017
The Role of Relationship Marketing in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

ABSTRACT This study examines the role of relationship marketing on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. Relationship marketing is a concept in marketing management aimed at maintaining long-term relationships with customers. Meanwhile, SMEs occupy a crucial role in sustaining the economy of Indonesia. Therefore, by implementing the concept of relationship marketing, it is expected that customer loyalty on SMEs is formed and can maintain the sustainability of SMEs. The study used survey methods, with a sample pool of 183 SMEs customers. The analysis technique utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) and the data was processed using AMOS Basic. The results show that trust and relational commitment is significantly affected by communication and relational benefits. Meanwhile, trust and relational commitment significantly affect customer loyalty. The variables of similarity and frequency of interactions have no significant effect on either trust or relational commitment of customers of SMEs. Keywords: Relationship marketing; SMEs; AMOS basic; trust; relational commitment ABSTRAK Kajian ini menguji peranan pemasaran hubungan ke atas Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) di Indonesia. Pemasaran hubungan merupakan konsep dalam pengurusan pemasaran yang bertujuan untuk menjaga hubungan jangka panjang dengan pelanggan. Sementara itu, PKS memainkan peranan yang penting dalam mengekalkan kemapanan ekonomi Indonesia. Oleh itu, dengan menerapkan konsep pemasaran hubungan, diharapkan kesetiaan pelanggan terhadap PKS dapat dibentuk dan sekaligus dapat mengekalkan kemapanan PKS. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah soal selidik, dengan sampel pelanggan PKS sebanyak 183 orang. Teknik analisis yang digunakan adalah Model Persamaan Berstruktur (SEM) dan data diproses menggunakan AMOS Basic. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahwa kepercayaan dan komitmen hubungan secara signifikan dipengaruhi oleh komunikasi dan manfaat hubungan. Sementara itu, kepercayaan dan komitmen hubungan secara signifikan mempengaruhi kesetiaan pelanggan. Pembolehubah kesamaan dan frekuensi interaksi tidak mempunyai pengaruh signifikan sama ada terhadap kepercayaan mahupun komitmen hubungan pelanggan PKS. Kata kunci: Pemasaran relasional; Perusahaan kecil dan sederhana; PKS; AMOS basic; kepercayaan, komitmen hubungan
The Lateral Migration of a Drop under Gravity between Two Parallel Plates at Finite Reynolds Numbers

A finite difference / front tracking method is used to examine the lateral migration of a three-dimensional deformable drop in plane Poiseuille flow at a finite-Reynolds-number. The computations are based on an improved implementation of the front tracking method at finite Reynolds numbers that include convective terms. The elliptic pressure equation is solved by a multigrid method. Both neutrally buoyant and non-neutrally buoyant drop are studied. The computation is performed within a unit cell which is periodic in the direction along the channel. A neutrally buoyant drop lags the fluid slightly, and the wall effect balances the effect of the curvature of the velocity profile, giving rise to an equilibrium lateral position about halfway between the wall and the centerline (the SegreSilberberg effect). Results are presented over a range of density ratios. In the non-neutrally buoyant case, the gravity force is imposed along the flow direction. Non-neutrally buoyant drops have more complicated patterns of migration, depending upon the magnitude of the buoyancy force. When the density difference is small, the equilibrium position is either near the wall or near the centerline, depending on whether the drop leads or lags the local fluid. When the density difference is large enough, the equilibrium position shifts towards the centerline, irrespective of whether the drop is lighter or heavier than the fluid. The effect of Reynolds number and capillary number on the non-neutrally buoyant drops is investigated. The accuracy of the method is assessed by comparison with the other simulations and experiments.
Lead acetate genotoxicity in suckling rats

The mutagenic and carcinogenic potentials of lead are still being investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic effect of lead acetate in the early period of life, when the organism is extremely sensitive to toxic effects of lead. Six-day-old suckling Wistar rats were exposed to lead (as acetate) either orally for 9 days (daily dose 2 mg Pb/kg b. wt., 18 mg/kg b.wt. total dose) or by a single intraperitoneal injection (5 mg Pb/kg b. wt.). DNA damage was investigated using the comet assay and in vivo micronucleus test. The results of the comet assay showed statistically significant differences between the control (unexposed) animals and the two groups of exposed animals by ANOVA weighted for unequal variance (heterogeneity of variances was found by Levene’s test), followed by Tukey’s post hoc test at the level of significance of p< 0.05. The two groups of lead-exposed animals were also significantly different from each other. Orally lead-exposed animals showed a significant increase of micronuclei frequencies in reticulocytes and erythrocytes compared to unexposed animals (ANOVA, p< 0.05).
Exceptional Points of Degeneracy Induced by Linear Time-Periodic Variation

We present a general theory of exceptional points of degeneracy (EPD) in periodically time-variant systems that do not necessarily require the presence of loss or gain and we show that even a single resonator with a time-periodic element may develop EPDs. An EPD is a special point in a system parameter space at which two or more eigenmodes coalesce in both their eigenvalues and eigenvectors into a single degenerate eigenmode. We demonstrate the conditions for EPDs to exist in time-periodic systems that are either lossless/gainless or with loss and/or gain and we show that a system with zero time-average loss/gain exhibits EPDs with purely real resonance frequencies, yet the resonator energy grows algebraically in time. Finally, we propose a potential application of EPDs in designing highly-accurate sensors. EPDs in time-periodic systems may serve towards enhancing various applications like sensors, amplifiers and modulators.
Habituation to Human Beings Via Visual Contact in Docile and Flighty Strains of Domestic Chicks

Thepresent study examined the effects of two treatments on the approach / avoidance responses of pair-housed female domestic chicks of a Ross broiler and two laying strains (one docile ISA Brown medium hybrid, one flighty White Leghorn light hybrid) to a visible experimenter. Chicks in the visual contact (VC)group were allowed to see the experimenter for 30 s twice a day from 1 day of age until testing at 10 or 11 days whereas controls (CON) received minimal human exposure throughout the study. Apart from the visible presence of the experimenter, treatment procedures were similar for the two groups. All chicks were tested individually but pair means were used as data points. Chicks of all three strains which had received the VC treatment showed considerably lower avoidance of humans than did their CON counterparts. The present results demonstrate that fear of humans was markedlyreduced by a simple regime of close visual contact with the experimenter presumably through habituation, and that this effect was common to chicks of flighty as well as docile strains. These findings are discussed in terms of their imphcations for resource management in the laboratory and on the farm.
Exploring the role of cultural boundary spanners at complex boundaries in global virtual AEC networks

As the architecture, engineering and construction industry continues to globalize, project work is more often executed by geographically distributed, technologically mediated teams of knowledge specialists organized into global virtual project networks. These networks are characterized by a number of boundaries that must be spanned in order to develop effective project outcomes. Prior research has examined the efficacy of cultural boundary spanners and technical boundary spanners in these types of networks, but we lack an understanding of how spanners perform in complex boundary environments where boundaries co-occur. Our research aims to explore the efficacy of cultural boundary spanners who are positioned at technical and knowledge domain boundaries. The results of our preliminary research suggest that cultural boundary spanners may only be effective at facilitating efficient information transfer when they are positioned at a knowledge domain boundary in which they have specialization. We found that the interactional norms that develop within the network based on the efficacy of boundary spanners can also position them at inappropriate knowledge domain boundaries, which can lead to decreased efficiency of information transfer. Our research provides an initial contribution to our understanding of boundary complexity in global virtual projects networks with implications for improving network performance.