Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hyperbolicity via admissibility in delay equations

We show that the notion of an exponential dichotomy for a nonautonomous linear delay equation can be characterized in terms of an admissibility property. After introducing Banach spaces where we take the perturbations of the linear equation and where we look for the solutions, we show that the existence of an exponential dichotomy is equivalent to the admissibility of this pair of spaces. We consider the general cases of delay equations satisfying the Carathéodory conditions and of noninvertible evolution families defined by the linear equations. Moreover, we consider delay equations on the line and on the half-line.
Does Urbanization Mean Bigger Governments?

This paper proposes urbanization as a determinant of government size. As people move to cities, their demand for a more defined set of regulations, but also for basic health, education, and income standards rises. Our theoretical framework determines how the regional distribution of the population affects government size. We test this theory on panel data of 175 countries from 1960 to 2010 and two state-level samples from Colombia and Germany. Results demonstrate a strong positive effect from urbanization on government spending, with a 1 percent increase in the amount of urban citizens leading to a 0.2 percent rise in public expenditure. Our findings indicate that public sectors may become more important as worldwide urbanization is progressing. This result underlines why government effectiveness and the quality of public goods provision will be even more important in the future.
Organisational Conflict: A Review of the Literature

Organizational conflict refers to the condition of misunderstanding or disagreement that is caused by the perceived or actual opposition in the needs, interests and values among people who work together. Organizational conflict may also be termed as workplace conflict. The conflicts occur during situations where there is an interaction between two or more members of an organization involving contradictory opinions. Organizational conflicts are influenced by a variety of factors like the lack of clarity in the responsibility of the team members, the interpersonal relationship that is shared by the members of the organization. The scarcity of the needed resources may lead to the rise of conflict between the members of the organization. This study attempts to look into the two theories of the organizational conflict. These theories are the organizational conflict theory and the conflict management theory.
Intonational Realization of Declarative Questions in Bai

This study investigates intonational realization of declarative questions in Southern Bai, a Sino-Tibetan tone language spoken in the southwest of China, by using a semispontaneous experimental approach. Our data shows that Bai speakers use prosody by lengthening the duration, expanding the pitch span, and raising the pitch maximum and minimum of the sentence-middle constituents to distinguish declarative questions from statements, regardless of focus condition. However, they vary the use of pitch span and pitch minimum with different lexical tones. These results thus suggest that sentence-medial prosody is different between statements and declarative questions in Bai. Furthermore, the modification of prosodic cues for encoding interrogativity appears to be sensitive to lexical tones in Bai.
OPTIMIZATION OF CULTURAL PARAMETERS FOR ANTIFUNGAL AND ANTIBACTERIAL METABOLITE FROM MICROBIAL ISOLATE; STREPTOMYCES RIMOSUS MTCC 10792 FROM SOIL OF CHHATTISGARH

A microbial isolate, isolated from forest soil of Chhattisgarh, (India) was found to show significant antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria as well as filamentous fungi including human pathogens. Based on physiological, biochemical characteristics the isolate was identified as Streptomyces rimosus subsp . rimosus and score id was calculated by the PIBWin software 1.9. 2. This strain was further cultivated in different conditions fermentation in order to optimize biosynthetic process of antibiotic production including: different pH values, different temperatures, different carbon and nitrogen sources were fully investigates. Minimum inhibitory concentration of the crude extract was found ranged between 6.25-12.5µg/ml, 12.5- 25µg/ml and 25-50µg/ml against the filamentous, unicellular fungal and bacterial test strains. This strain is a found to be a potential antibiotic producer strain and may be commercially exploited for the development of novel drugs.
Reflecting on the Design Process for Virtual Reality Applications

ABSTRACT A reflective analysis on the experience of virtual environment (VE) design is presented focusing on the human–computer interaction (HCI) challenges presented by virtual reality (VR). HCI design guidelines were applied to development of two VRs, one in marine archaeology and the other in situation awareness simulation experiments. The impact of methods and HCI knowledge on the VR design process is analyzed, leading to proposals for presenting HCI and cognitive knowledge in the context of design trade-offs in the choice of VR design techniques. Problems reconciling VE and standard Graphical User Interface (GUI) design components are investigated. A trade-off framework for design options set against criteria for usability, efficient operation, realism, and presence is proposed. HCI-VR design advice and proposals for further research aimed towards improving human factor-related design in VEs are discussed.
An improved method for the rapid assessment of forest understorey light environments

Summary 1. The high spatial and temporal variability of forest understorey light environments requires lengthy and/or extensive sampling in order to characterize it by direct measurement. As this is often impractical, a number of surrogate measures have been developed that estimate light availability from assessments of forest canopy structure. 2. The subjective crown illumination index developed by Clark & Clark (1992) was compared with Garrison's (1949) moosehorn and two new methods: (i) the crown illumination ellipses method, which compares the size of canopy gaps with a series of standard area ellipses printed on a transparent screen; and (ii) the canopy-scope that, like the moosehorn, uses an array of 25 dots printed on a transparent screen to assess canopy openness, but is more robust and portable, measuring the largest canopy gap visible from the point of measurement rather than canopy openness overhead. 3. The new measures were more highly correlated with canopy openness in the range 0–30%, measured from hemispherical photographs, than the crown illumination index, and showed lower levels of between-observer variability. 4. The canopy-scope has the potential to be widely used for the simple and rapid assessment of forest understorey light environments. It has the advantage of giving ratio scale measurements that can be used in parametric statistics. The crown illumination ellipses can be used to score the illumination of crowns that are above head height.
Projected river discharge in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin from a hydrological discharge model forced with RCM and GCM outputs

The hydrological discharge (HD) model of Max Planck Institute for Meteorology is forced by a variety of climate model datasets to investigate the future of discharge in the Euphrates−Tigris Basin. The data include daily time series of surface runoff and sub-surface runoff outputs of 2 global climate models (GCMs) (the SRES A1B scenario simulation of ECHAM5/MPIOM and the RCP 4.5 scenario simulation of MPI-ESM-LR) and the dynamically downscaled outputs of ECHAM5/MPIOM and NCAR-CCSM3 scenario (SRES A1FI, A2 and B1) simulations. The suite of simulations enables a comprehensive analysis of the projected river dis- charge, and allows a comparison between CMIP5 simulations of MPI-ESM-LR and CMIP3 results from its predecessor ECHAM5/MPIOM on a basin scale. We demonstrate that HD simulations forced with relatively low-resolution GCM outputs are not good at reproducing the seasonal cycle of discharge, which is typically characterized by less flow in the peak season and an earlier peak in annual discharge. Simulations forced with the MPI-ESM-LR yield more robust information on the annual cycle and timing of the annual peak discharge than ECHAM5-forced simulations. In contrast to GCM-forced simulations, high-resolution RCM-forced simulations reproduce the annual cycle of discharge reasonably well; however, overestimation of discharge during the cold season and bias in the timing of springtime snowmelt peaks persist in the RCM-forced simula- tions. Different RCM-forced scenario simulations indicate substantial decreases in mean annual discharge for the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers by the end of the century, ranging from 19−58%. Significant temporal shifts to earlier days (3−5 wk by the end of the 21st century) in the center time of the discharges are also projected for these rivers. As the basin is considered water-stressed and the region is strongly influenced by water-scarcity events, these unfavorable changes may potentially increase water disputes among the basin countries.
Structural and electronic properties of boron monolayer sheets and nitrogen-seeded epitaxial graphene

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS ARAMPATH MUDIYANSELAGE, ASANGA B. B.SC. UNIVERSITY OF KELANIYA, 2007 M.SC. UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO, 2012 STRUCTURAL AND ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES OF BORON MONOLAYER SHEETS AND NITROGEN-SEEDED EPITAXIAL GRAPHENE Committee Chair: Xiao-Qian Wang, Ph.D. Thesis dated July 2014 We employ a global optimization method to predict two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures through the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. By performing PSO simulations, we predict new stable structures of boron monolayer sheets for a wide range of boron concentrations. We present a new class of boron sheets, composed of triangular and hexagonal motifs, which are more likely to be the precursors of boron nanotubes. We describe a simple and clear picture of electronic bonding in boron sheets and highlight the importance of three-center bonding and its competition with two-center bonding, which can also explain the stability of recently discovered boron monolayer sheets. The graphene-based electronics is an intriguing prospective for replacing silicon for next-generation of transistors. Practical application of graphene based materials requests a band gap. We present results from first-principles density-function calculation
Donepezil hydrochloride: a double-blind study in autistic children

Abstract Recent studies in autistic brain samples have shown diminished acetylcholine and nicotinic receptor activity. We hypothesized that acetylcholinergic enhancement may pharmacologically improve some autistic characteristics. Donepezil hydrochloride, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, was studied previously in two open label studies which showed improvement in the expressive and receptive speech and aberrant behaviors of autistic children. We therefore undertook a double-blind placebo controlled study to confirm these findings. Forty-three patients (35 males, 8 females, average age 6.8 yrs., range 2.1–10.3 yrs), with diagnoses of Autistic Spectrum Disorders enrolled in a randomized six-week, doubleblind, placebo-controlled trial of donepezil hydrochloride, with an additional six weeks of open-label treatment. Change was evaluated by the Childhood Autistic Rating Scale, Gardner’s Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, Revised, and Gardner’s Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test. Testing was administered at baseline, six-week, and twelveweek follow-up. Expressive and receptive speech gains, as well as decreases in severity of overall autistic behavior, were documented after 6-weeks for the treatment group. These improvements were statistically significant when compared to placebo, and were clinically meaningful as assessed over time. Donepezil hydrochloride appears to improve expressive and receptive language as well as overall autistic features, consistent with the hypothesis of acetylcholinergic enhancement. (J Pediatr Neurol 2003; 1(2): 83–88).
Assessment of Serum Trace Elements in Thiram Induced Tibial Dyschondroplasia Chickens

Received: Revised: Accepted: Published online: July 26, 2017 November 28, 2017 December 02, 2017 January 20, 2018 This study was conducted to determine the concentrations of various trace elements in thiram induced tibial dyschondroplasia chickens. A total 30 day-old male chicks equally divided into two groups including thiram group (n=15) and control group (n=15). Control group was given basal diet throughout the study. Tibial dyschondroplasia was induced by adding thiram @ 50 mg/kg into basal diet from day 3 post-hatch till the end of experiment. Two milliliter bloods were collected from ten chickens of each group on day 7 and 14. The serum was separated by centrifugation and blood serum was assessed in triplicates by Agilent 7700x equipped with an ASX 250 auto sampler. The results were analyzed by student’s ttest, which revealed that the concentration of Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Mo, Cd and Pb in thiram group were increased significantly (P<0.05), while the concentration of Cu in was significantly decreased on day 10 compared to control group. The concentrations of Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni and Pb in thiram groups on day 14 were significantly lower than control group, while concentration of Mo was significantly higher in thiram group. The concentrations of Co, Cu and Cd on day 14 were nonsignificantly different in both groups. The current study shows that thiram effect Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Mo, Cd, Pb and Cu in the chick body significantly which is not a good for chicken health. So, it provides considerations to take the effective measures for poultry feed supplement to prevent the occurrence of TD. ©2017 PVJ. All rights reserved
Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression Associated with the Degree of Differentiation of Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma at Sanglah Hospital Denpasar

Cancer of the oral cavity is a serious problem and developed in various parts of the world with high morbidity and mortality. Cyclooxygenase-2 expression and the degree of differentiation of oral cavity SCC are prognostic factors, but the relationship between them still cause difference of opinions. The aim of this study was to prove the expression of COX-2 associated with the degree of differentiation of oral cavity SCC. This study used cross sectional analytical method in 45 histopathology samples of patients with oral cavity SCC which divided into well, moderately, and poorly differentiated. The results were analyzed by Kolmogorov Smirnov, One Way Anova and Post Hoc. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. The results showed there was a significant association between COX-2 expression and degree of differentiation (p=0,036). There was a significant difference in COX-2 expression score mean in the three differentiation-degree groups on well and poorly differentiated (p=0,000) as well as moderately and poorly differentiated (p=0,001). In Conclusion there was association between COX-2 expression and degree of differentiation. Cyclooxygenase-2 is expected to be a marker of progressivity and indirect prognostic factors that may later be useful in oral cavity SCC therapy.
Impacts of Lapse Rates on Low-Level Rotation in Idealized Storms

AbstractAdiabatic lapse rates appear to be a common feature in the lower troposphere on tornado days. This article reviews physical reasons why lapse rates may influence surface vortex intensification and reports on numerical simulations designed to study the key processes. In the idealized numerical model, an initial mesocyclone-like vortex and nonvarying convection-like heat source are used in different environmental stability profiles. The scales of interest in these simulations typify those of a parent supercell, and the developing circulations constitute direct responses to the imposed heating.Downward parcel displacements are needed for surface vortex development in environments with no preexisting surface vorticity. In the simulations, under neutral stratification there is strong heating-induced subsidence anchored near the storm edge, whereas under stable stratification there are instead gravity waves that propagate away to the far field. In addition, under weak or neutral low-level stratification.
Children and the Internet - A Preliminary Study in Uruguay

Since 2007, almost every child in Uruguay has a laptop connected to the Internet. We investigated possible changes that such exposure to IT may have had on the children’s ability to read, understand, search and analyze information. This paper reports the results of experiments carried out in 4 schools in and around Montevideo. The experiments consisted of children attempting to answer ‘deep’ questions in groups, children attempting to read beyond their expected levels in Spanish and English, and whether children would read better in groups than individually. The paper describes the design and limitations of these experiments, the results and their possible interpretation. It is suggested that children in groups can perform better at ‘hard’ problems than they can individually. It may be the opposite for ‘easy’ problems. It is suggested that the children studied in Uruguay are as good or better at reading than the corresponding standard recommended in the UK/USA. They are also shown to be capable of researching effectively using the Internet. The study raises several new research questions.
Attribution of Anthropogenic Influence on Atmospheric Patterns Conducive to Recent Most Severe Haze Over Eastern China

Severe haze pollution in eastern China has caused substantial health impacts and economic loss. Conducive atmospheric conditions are important to affect occurrence of severe haze events, and circulation changes induced by future global climate warming are projected to increase the frequency of such events. However, a potential contribution of an anthropogenic influence to recent most severe haze (December 2015 and January 2013) over eastern China remains unclear. Here we show that the anthropogenic influence, which is estimated by using large ensemble runs with a climate model forced with and without anthropogenic forcings, has already increased the probability of the atmospheric patterns conducive to severe haze by at least 45% in January 2013 and 27% in December 2015, respectively. We further confirm that simulated atmospheric circulation pattern changes induced by anthropogenic influence are driven mainly by increased greenhouse gas emissions. Our results suggest that more strict reductions in pollutant emissions are needed under future anthropogenic warming.
AMIODARONE INDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS IN STRESS - VULNERABLE ORGANS OF ADULT MALE RATS

Objective: Amiodarone used as an antiarrhythmic agent bears a structural resemblance to thyroid hormones containing about one-third iodine by weight. The pro-oxidant potentialities of amiodarone induced changes were studied. Materials and Methods: Male adult Wister rats were divided into two groups of eight animals each, and amiodarone was supplemented orally for 30 days against control. The urinary iodine content of both the groups was measured. Animals were sacrificed after completion of treatment; investigated parameters were adrenal morphology and histology, adrenal Δ5 3β hydroxyl steroid dehydrogenase (HSD) and serum cortisol level. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and lipid peroxidation (LPO) level were assayed in the liver, kidney and testis along with their histology. Serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and glutamic-pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) were measured. Obtained results were interpreted against the control group of rats. Results: Urinary iodine level was high after the amiodarone exposure. Hypertrophied cortex with enhanced Δ5 3β HSD activity in adrenal caused elevated serum cortisol level. Amiodarone exposure had increased LPO level with a concomitant rise in catalase and SOD activities in liver, kidney and testis in comparison to control (p<0.001). Simultaneously kidney showed shrinkage of the glomerulus, in liver the area surrounding the central canal found disrupted and in the testis seminiferous tubules, and germ cells were disorganized in comparison to control. SGOT and SGPT level were found elevated in the treated group. Conclusion: Amiodarone exposure develops stress for the metabolism and deiodinization of amiodarone releasing excessive iodine in circulation that in turn generates reactive oxygen species and free radicals resulting cellular damage of stress vulnerable organs. Keywords: Amiodarone, Excess iodine, Hypertrophied adrenal, Cellular damage, Stress-vulnerable organs, Reactive oxygen species.
Highlights from TIMSS 2011: Mathematics and Science Achievement of U.S. Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Students in an International Context. NCES 2013-009.

The 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the fourth administration since 1995 of this international comparison. Developed and implemented at the international level by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)—an international organization of national research institutions and governmental research agencies—TIMSS is used to measure over time the mathematics and science knowledge and skills of fourthand eighth-graders. TIMSS is designed to align broadly with mathematics and science curricula in the participating countries. This report focuses on the performance of U.S. students relative to that of their peers in other countries in 2007, and on changes in mathematics and science achievement since 1995. Thirty-six countries or educational jurisdictions participated at grade four in 2007, while 48 participated at grade eight. This report also describes additional details about the achievement of U.S. student subpopulations. All differences described in this report are statistically significant at the . 05 level. No statistical adjustments to account for multiple comparisons were used.
Estimation of population size using open capture-recapture models

One of the most important needs for wildlife managers is an accurate estimate of population size. Yet, for many species, including most marine species and large mammals, accurate and precise estimation of numbers is one of the most difficult of all research challenges. Open-population capture-recapture models have proven useful in many situations to estimate survival probabilities but typically have not been used to estimate population size. We show that open-population models can be used to estimate population size by developing a Horvitz-Thompson-type estimate of population size and an estimator of its variance. Our population size estimate keys on the probability of capture at each trap occasion and therefore is quite general and can be made a function of external covariates measured during the study. Here we define the estimator and investigate its bias, variance, and variance estimator via computer simulation. Computer simulations make extensive use of real data taken from a study of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) in the Beaufort Sea. The population size estimator is shown to be useful because it was negligibly biased in all situations studied. The variance estimator is shown to be useful in all situations, but caution is warranted in cases of extreme capture heterogeneity.