Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling intragranular diffusion in low‐connectivity granular media

Characterizing the diffusive exchange of solutes between bulk water in an aquifer and water in the intragranular pores of the solid phase is still challenging despite decades of study. Many disparities between observation and theory could be attributed to low connectivity of the intragranular pores. The presence of low connectivity indicates that a useful conceptual framework is percolation theory. The present study was initiated to develop a percolation‐based finite difference (FD) model, and to test it rigorously against both random walk (RW) simulations of diffusion starting from nonequilibrium, and data on Borden sand published by Ball and Roberts (1991a,b) and subsequently reanalyzed by Haggerty and Gorelick (1995) using a multirate mass transfer (MRMT) approach. The percolation‐theoretical model is simple and readily incorporated into existing FD models. The FD model closely matches the RW results using only a single fitting parameter, across a wide range of pore connectivities. Simulation of the Borden sand experiment without pore connectivity effects reproduced the MRMT analysis, but including low pore connectivity effects improved the fit. Overall, the theory and simulation results show that low intragranular pore connectivity can produce diffusive behavior that appears as if the solute had undergone slow sorption, despite the absence of any sorption process, thereby explaining some hitherto confusing aspects of intragranular diffusion.
A Study on the Relationships among School Goal Structures , Science Teacher Self-Efficacy and Job Satisfaction

Achievement goal theory is one of the most prominent motivational frameworks in educational contexts (Ames, 1992). According to achievement goal theory, achievement goals are the reasons or purposes that students possess for approaching, engaging, selecting and persisting in achievement situations (Ames, 1992; Elliot, 1999; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Early research on achievement motivation distinguished two types of goals namely, mastery goals and performance goals (Ames, 1992), while more recent research has suggested four achievement goals: mastery approach and avoidance goals and performance approach and avoidance goals (Elliot & McGregor, 2001). Mastery approach goals emphasizes learning, and deep understanding, while mastery avoidance goals focus on avoiding misunderstanding and avoiding not learning. Performance approach goals emphasize showing abilities to others and getting the highest grade, whereas performance avoidance goals focus on avoiding looking stupid and getting the worst grades (Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002).
Universal Concentration Dependence of the Soret Coefficient in Aqueous Systems

Abstract We present measurements of aqueous low molecular weight mixtures and aqueous macromolecular solutions. The Soret coefficient S T for ethanol, acetone, and DMSO in water was measured by an optical grating technique, and all systems showed a sign change around a molar fraction of water x water = 0.85 ± 0.05. S T for poly(ethylene oxide), poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), and boehmite rods in ethanol/water mixtures showed also a sign change close to the same concentration. The occurring sign change concentration in the systems will be related to structural reorganizations in the solvent mixture and the Hildebrandt solubility parameter. We will also compare the experimental data within lattice calculations and simulations, which indicate that strong cross-interactions are important for a sign change of the Soret coefficient.
The role of bridging organizations in environmental management: Examining social networks in working groups

The linkage of diverse sets of actors and knowledge systems across management levels and institutional boundaries often poses one of the greatest challenges in adaptive management of natural resources. Bridging organizations can facilitate interactions among actors in management settings by lowering the transaction costs of collaboration. The Center for Ocean Solutions (COS) is an example of a bridging organization that is focused on linking actors within the ocean sciences and governance arena through the use of working groups. This research examines how network connections between group members affect working group functionality and, more specifically, whether cohesive network structures allow groups to more effectively achieve their goals and objectives. A mixedmethods approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods, is employed to understand the structural characteristics of COS working groups. The study finds that cohesive network structures are not associated with increased working group functionality. Strong, centralized leadership is a better predictor of working group success in achieving goals and objectives.
Succinct Greedy Drawings May Be Unfeasible

A greedy drawing is a straight-line drawing that contains a distance-decreasing path for every pair of nodes. A path (v0, v1, . . . , vm) is distance-decreasing if d(vi, vm) < d(vi−1, vm), for i = 1, . ,m. Greedy drawings easily support geographic greedy routing. Hence, a natural and practical problem is the one of constructing greedy drawings in the plane, using few bits for representing vertex Cartesian coordinates and using the Euclidean distance as a metric. We show that this may be unfeasible.
PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF CONVENTIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE PIG FATTENING

Grain banks are an organizational innovation and unique phenomenon in China that help reduce food losses and food security costs. It collects scattered food from the farming community into centralized storage and circulates it, thereby realizing asset mobilization and appreciation. This article first elaborates on the definition, function, and evolution of China’s grain banks through a literature review. Then, we used survey data of face-to-face interviews and field visits to a grain bank company in Hubei Province to analyze the economic rationale of grain bank development, including micro and macro conditions of grain bank development and its operating mechanisms. In addition, from the perspective of key stakeholders such as farmers, grain bank companies, and the government, we also studied the challenges of grain banks. We found that, in addition to providing many economic and social benefits in the form of food security and improved farmer income, grain banks still face many challenges in the new era. These include the ambiguity of property rights, lack of institutional structure, low efficiency of state-owned grain banks, and exploitation of loopholes by grain dealers. We propose to implement the supply-side reforms, clarify property rights, improve the supervision and management of grain banks, promote the privatization of grain banks, and take advantage of rural finance to realize the industrialization of the whole sector.
Structural Empowerment and Organizational Commitment of Lecturers in Private International Educational Institutions at Thailand.

The purpose of this research was to measure the level of structural empowerment and organizational commitment of lecturers at private international educational institutions at Thailand. Further to measure the relationship between structural empowerment and organizational commitment of lecturers. The target respondents of the study were lecturers from 4 private international educational institutions. And the sample size for the study was 165 respondents, chosen randomly by using Krejcie and Morgan table. The sampling method adopted for the study is stratified random sampling, stratification done based on lecturers’ research status. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were female, who have two or more than two research every year. And the major groups of the respondents fall under the age group of less than 35 years. Most of the respondents’ academic position was assistant professors and lecturers. The study revealed that level of structural empowerment and organizational commitment is at high. Among the dimensions, structural lines of power (in Structural Empowerment) and Affective commitment (in Organizational Climate) is at high level. The interesting fact is the relationship between these 2 dimensions is at moderate level, rather there is a high correlation between normative commitment and structural lines of opportunity at . 676. However, in overall the relationship between structural empowerment and organizational commitment is highly correlated at . 810, with the statistical significance value of P-Value . 01. Hence, it is evident that structural empowerment leads to organizational commitment. Recommendations are presented for further research. Keywords: structural empowerment; organizational commitment, private international educational institutions, Thailand.
Transient Pressure Waves in the Vadose Zone and the Rapid Water Table Response

The behavior of a water table (WT) is important in understanding groundwater dynamics. Results are presented of a disproportionate response of a WT in two distinct transient pressure wave mechanisms that occurred during rainfall events of the 2000–2001 summer season and in two different hillslope zones in the Weatherley research catchment of South Africa. The first mechanism was a groundwater ridging pressure wave, which frequently occurred at the low‐lying wetland zone and when the capillary fringe was close to the ground surface. Results from this zone indicated that groundwater ridging WT responses were caused by rainfall events that had a threshold total rainfall of 10 mm, and the magnitude of the responses had a linear relationship with the peak rainfall intensities. The mechanism, which exhibited the characteristics of the Lisse effect (pneumatically pressurized WT response), occurred at an elevated zone of the catchment, where bedrock is overlain by a shallow soil profile and perched groundwater. This second mechanism was particularly evident during a rainfall event that occurred in the early part of the season. During this event, a peak rainfall intensity of 228 mm/h generated a pressure wave from the ground surface toward the WT, where it disproportionately elevated the hydraulic head in the groundwater by 106 cm of H2O at the toeslope and without groundwater recharge via the infiltration profile. A laboratory experiment was performed and verified that the second mechanism was the Lisse effect and that, as in the groundwater ridging, the capillary fringe played a significant role.
Comprehensive analysis clinical effectiveness of Tirofiban for patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome

Background: To systematically assess the effectiveness and safety of tirofiban in patients with non-STelevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS). Methods: We search the online databases in both English and Chinese from inception to 2017 to collect randomized controlled trials about tirofiban for NSTE-ACS patients in early medicine conservative treatment. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Results: A total of 10 randomized controlled trials were enrolled involving 6405 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that: (1) The incidences of cardiovascular events of composite endpoints in the trial group were lower than that in the control group (during One week: relative risk (RR)=0.55, 95% confidence interval (95%CI: 0.40, 0.74, P<0.001) and the incidences of cardiovascular events of composite endpoints in the trial group were lower than that in the control group (during 30 days: RR=0.45, 95%CI0.40, 0.75, P<0.001). (2) The incidence of bleeding in the trial group was higher than that in the control group (RR=1.31, 95%CI: 1.00-1.72). Conclusions: Compared with routine treatment alone, tirofiban has better therapeutic effects in early conservative treatment for patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes, but the incidence of bleeding is relatively high.
Service Quality , Competitive Advantage and Business Performance in Service Providing SMEs in Sri Lanka

Service sector in Sri Lanka plays a major role in the economy by contributing more than 55% of the Gross Domestic Production. Especially in under developed countries, they are encouraging and promoting small business to cater as source of income generation, employment creation and maximum utilization of resources. The growth and the survival of these small business depend on one of the important factor; the quality of the service offered. It helps these businesses to retain and attract customers by fulfilling their expectations. This study focus on studying the service quality of service providing SMEs and how it will help to gain the competitive advantage and leads to business performance. This paper contains the theoretical background derived from the existing literature in order to construct the research framework for the study.
Prevalence and sociodemographic distribution of healthy eating markers, National Health Survey, Brazil 2013

Objective: to describe the prevalence of healthy eating markers and their association with sociodemographic variables among Brazilian adults. Methods: cross-sectional study using data from the National Health Survey (PNS 2013) conducted in 64,348 households. Healthy eating markers evaluated were: regular consumption of beans and fish and recommended consumption of fruit and vegetables. Prevalence (%) of these markers and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were estimated. Results: regular bean consumption was reported by 71.9% (95%CI: 71.2-72.6), fruit and vegetables by 37.3% (95%CI: 36.4-38.1) and fish by 54.6% (95%CI: 53.7-55.5) of the population. Food marker distribution was influenced by age, sex, schooling, ethnicity and place of residence of respondents. Conclusion: the findings confirmed a high prevalence of consumption of beans, fish and fruit and vegetables in the diet of Brazilian adults.
ROOTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE EMPLOYEE DISENGAGEMENT PHENOMENON

Elena Heikkeri Roots and consequences of the employee disengagement phenomenon, 72 pages, 1 appendix Saimaa University of Applied Sciences, Lappeenranta Business Administration, Degree Programme in International Business Management Master‟s Thesis 2010 Instructor: Senior lecturer Heli Korpinen, Saimaa University of Applied Sciences The subject of this thesis is to explore the phenomenon of employee disengagement. The main aim of this research is to understand the nature of this phenomenon, its roots and consequences, as well as provide a description of why an organization would be interested in improving employee engagement and what human resource practices can be used for this purpose. To get a clear picture of the phenomenon, this study examines an academic literature and earlier practitioners‟ works on the subject. Theoretical data on employee engagement is used as the basis for understanding the phenomenon of employee disengagement. A single-case study is chosen as the research method. Empirical research objective is a group of ten people who work in small and medium-sized companies in Finland. Collected empiric data is analyzed by use of content analysis. The study results show that the disengagement of employees is a complex phenomenon, and therefore its management requires certain academic and managerial knowledge. Personal disengagement is associated with negative changes in employee‟s behaviour, which lead to harmful consequences for both the worker and organization. The study defines the main causes of the phenomenon and its potential consequences, and also suggests solutions for how to manage with its negative impact. The research findings also show that there is also one more interesting phenomenon. This is the phenomenon of non-engagement as a personal choice. The behaviour of people who choose the state of non-engagement as preferred for them differs significantly from the behaviour of other employees without engagement.
Serial vs. Parallel Processing: Sometimes They Look like Tweedledum and Tweedledee but they can (and Should) be Distinguished

A number of important models of information processing depend on whether processing is serial or parallel. However, many of the studies purporting to settle the case use weak experimental paradigms or results to draw conclusions. A brief history of the issue is given along with examples from the literature. Then a number of promising methods are presented from a variety of sources with some discussion of their potential. A brief discussion of the topic with regard to overall issues of model testing and applications concludes the paper.
Air Quality and Infant Mortality During Indonesia's Massive Wildfires in 1997

Air quality was extremely poor in Indonesia in late 1997 due to smoke from massive wildfires (which had been set intentionally to clear agricultural land but ran rampant). This paper examines the impact this episode of air pollution had on infant and fetal mortality. Infant and fetal death are inferred from “missing children” in the 2000 Indonesian Census; by analyzing subdistrict-birthyear-birthmonth cohorts, one can exploit the detailed timing and spatial patterns of the pollution. Exposure to higher levels of airborne smoke, especially during the last trimester in utero, is associated with a substantial decline in the size of the surviving cohort. The fire-induced pollution caused a 1.0% decrease in cohort size (or over 16,400 missing children), averaged across Indonesia for the five-month period of high exposure. Indonesia’s baseline under–2 mortality rate was about 6%, so if pollution mainly caused infant rather than fetal deaths, the estimates would represent up to a 17% effect. Prenatal exposure seems to have a larger effect on boys, while postnatal exposure has a larger impact on girls, suggesting different physiological vulnerabilities and possibly gender discrimination. In addition, pollution has much larger effects in poorer areas. ∗Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Scholar in Health Policy Research, UC Berkeley; Assistant Professor, Dept. of Economics, UCLA. e-mail: jaya@ucla.edu. I thank Ben Olken and seminar participants at UC Berkeley for helpful comments; Kok-Hoe Chan and Daniel Chen for data; and Nadeem Karmali and Rika Christanto for excellent research assistance.
Sustained Expression of Pre-TCR Induced β-Catenin in Post-β-Selection Thymocytes Blocks T Cell Development1

Pre-TCR and IL-7R signals regulate β-selection of thymocytes and then must be down-regulated for further development. However, the molecular events that control down-regulation remain unknown. We and others have previously shown that β-catenin in cooperation with TCF regulates β-selection. In this paper, we demonstrate that β-catenin expression is stringently regulated by intrathymic signals, it is expressed at the highest levels in the pre-TCR signaled thymocytes, and is down-regulated in post-β-selection thymocytes. Pre-TCR-induced β-catenin regulates initial stages of pre-TCR signaling including expression of early growth response (Egr) genes but must be down-regulated to express RORγt, which is essential for maturation to the CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP) stage. Sustained expression of β-catenin results in the generation of IL-7R-, Egr-, and TGFβ-expressing pre-DP thymocytes that are blocked in development. These data are consistent with a model in which post-β-selection, pre-TCR-induced β-catenin expression must return to background levels for efficient transition to the DP stage.
Equation-Free, Coarse-Grained Multiscale Computation: Enabling Mocroscopic Simulators to Perform System-Level Analysis

We present and discuss a framework for computer-aided multiscale analysis, which enables models at a fine (microscopic/stochastic) level of description to perform modeling tasks at a coarse (macroscopic, systems) level. These macroscopic modeling tasks, yielding information over long time and large space scales, are accomplished through appropriately initialized calls to the microscopic simulator for only short times and small spatial domains. Traditional modeling approaches first involve the derivation of macroscopic evolution equations (balances closed through constitutive relations). An arsenal of analytical and numerical techniques for the efficient solution of such evolution equations (usually Partial Differential Equations, PDEs) is then brought to bear on the problem. Our equation-free (EF) approach, introduced in (1), when successful, can bypass the derivation of the macroscopic evolution equations when these equations conceptually exist but are not available in closed form. We discuss how the mathematics-assisted development of a computational superstructure may enable alternative descriptions of the problem physics (e.g. Lattice Boltzmann (LB), kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) or Molecular Dynamics (MD) microscopic simulators, executed over relatively short time and space scales) to perform systems level tasks (integration over relatively large time and space scales,"coarse" bifurcation analysis, optimization, and control) directly. In effect, the procedure constitutes a system identification based, "closure-on-demand" computational toolkit, bridging microscopic/stochastic simulation with traditional continuum scientific computation and numerical analysis. We will briefly survey the application of these "numerical enabling technology" ideas through examples including the computation of coarsely self-similar solutions, and discuss various features, limitations and potential extensions of the approach.
Enhancement of cell growth and lipid content of a freshwater microalga Scenedesmus sp. by optimizing nitrogen, phosphorus and vitamin concentrations for biodiesel production.

The effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and vitamin on growth and lipid content of a freshwater microalgae Scenedesmus sp. were investigated under indoor conditions. Nitrogen, phosphorus and vitamin presented significant statistical effect on lipid content, and a maximum lipid content of 29.3% was obtained, corresponded to increases of 90% when compared to those obtained with the original nutrients medium. On the other hand, only nitrogen and phosphorus presented significant statistical effect on cell growth, achieving ash free dry biomass, algal density, and specific growth rate of 1.3 g·L-1, 1.5E+07 cells mL-1, and 0.62 d-1, respectively. By the use of the desirability function, it was possible to maximize the cell growth and lipid content simultaneously. The fatty acid composition of the microalgal lipid comprises over 80% of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Thus, Scenedesmus sp. biomass could be used as suitable feedstock for biodiesel production.