Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thermal and thermodynamic characterization of a dye powder from liquid turmeric extracts by spray drying

This study aimed to evaluate the thermodynamic properties of sorption isotherms and glass transition temperature (Tg) and the thermal properties of a dye powder obtained from turmeric extracts using spray drying. The sorption isotherms were evaluated at 15, 25 and 35 oC using the dynamic gravimetric method, wherein the isotherm data of the experiment were fit to GAB and BET models. Likewise, the Tg was measured using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was used to determine the mass loss, and the thermal properties (heat capacity, diffusivity and thermal conductivity) were determined using transient flow method. The results demonstrated that the GAB model best fit the adsorption data. The DSC analysis presented a glass transition temperature of 65.35 oC and a loss of volatiles at 178.07 oC. The TGA analysis indicated a considerable mass loss starting at 193 oC, resulting in degradation of the product. The thermal properties demonstrated a heat capacity of 2.45 J/g oC, a thermal conductivity of 0.164 ±0.001 W/mK and a thermal diffusivity of 8.7x10-8 ± 0.000 m2/s
Rodent Amelogenin in Akodon azarae and Lagostomus maximus

The amelogenin gene, AMEL, encodes an important protein for tooth enamel formation during development. It is highly conserved among mammals. The AMEL gene, which is located in sex chromosomes in humans, exhibits a length polymorphism for the X and Y copies of the gene. This length polymorphism has been reported in several mammal species, and the differences between the X and Y chromosomes are used for sex determination by amplifi cation of the polymorphic regions. In this work, we analyzed AMEL in Akodon azarae and Lagostomus maximus. In order to assess the identity of the individuals and verify the presence or absence of chromosomal rearrangements, a cytogenetic study was performed. To amplify the AMEL region, specifi c primers were designed using the genomic information of Rattus norvegicus, Mus musculus and humans. The sequenced PCR product confi rmed the presence of the AMEL region in both species obtaining, for the fi rst time, a partial sequence for the gene in the subject species. This sequence would be homologous to the amelogenin intron 3 in R. norvegicus and M. musculus. The future sequencing of the full length gene and the possibility to differentiate between X and Y in A. azarae and L. maximus is our next objective.
VALIDATION OF NUMERICAL MODELS FOR RC COLUMNS SUBJECTED TO CYCLIC LOAD

The paper presents results from numerical analyses of reinforced concrete (RC) elements subjected to cyclic load. Many nonlinear numerical models have been proposed in literature to capture the cyclic behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) elements. Depending on the expected level of accuracy and computational efficiency, numerical models employ different assumptions. These assumptions ultimately affect the stiffness, strength, energy dissipation capacities and hysteretic behaviours such as strength/stiffness degradation and pinching. All of these sensitively affect the dynamic response of a structure subjected to seismic load. The objective of this work is to investigate the effects of adopted numerical models on predicted seismic performances of RC structures. Three numerical elements that are widely used in research and practice are employed; fiber element in OpenSees, frame element in VecTor5, and continuum element in VecTor2. In an element level, the behaviour responses of the different numerical models are closely compared. A few representative experimental results from PEER Column Test Database are used to investigate the accuracy of each numerical model depending on the shear demand/capacity ratio of the columns. The paper concludes with a suggestion for the applicability of different numerical models for the seismic performance assessment.
Formation and global distribution of sea-surface microlayers

Abstract. Results from a study of surfactants in the sea-surface microlayer (SML) in different regions of the ocean (subtropical, temperate, polar) suggest that this interfacial layer between the ocean and atmosphere covers the ocean's surface to a significant extent. New, experimentally-derived threshold values at which primary production acts as a significant source of natural surfactants to the microlayer are coupled with a wind speed threshold at which the SML is presumed to be disrupted, and the results suggest that surfactant enrichment in the SML is greater in oligotrophic regions of the ocean than in more productive waters. Furthermore, surfactant enrichments persisted at wind speeds of up to 10 m s−1, without any observed depletion above 5 m s−1. This suggests that the SML is stable enough to exist even at the global average wind speed of 6.6 m s−1. Using our observations of the surfactant enrichments at various trophic levels and wind states, global maps of primary production and wind speed allow us to extrapolate the ocean's SML coverage . The maps indicate that wide regions of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans between 30° N and 30° S may be more significantly covered with SML than north of 30° N and south of 30° S, where higher productivity (spring/summer blooms) and wind speeds exceeding 12 m s−1 may prevent extensive SML formation.
Social capital as a predictor of delinquency in adolescent boys

This study aims to investigate the relationship between social capital and delinquency in adolescents. This research has been conducted using a survey. In this research, 400 adolescent boys in Tehran were selected as samples based on the Cochran formula. Data were collected using researcher built- questionnaires. The results showed that with enhancement of social capital, levels of delinquency in adolescent boys decrease. And also by increasing the dimensions of social capital including social participation, social confidence, social support, social solidarity and interrelationships with others the delinquency in adolescent boys decreases and these relationships was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The results of multivariable regression also showed that dimensions of social participation, social confidence, social support, and social solidarity were as predictors of delinquency in adolescent boys (p < 0.001) and by increasing them the levels of delinquency in adolescent boys decreased.
EVALUATION OF ENRICHED COMPOST AND ITS ROLE IN SYNERGY WITH RHIZOBACTERIA AND N-FERTILIZATION FOR IMPROVING MAIZE PRODUCTIVITY IN SANDY SOIL

Chopped rice straw supplemented with differ-ent amendments, namely organic (farmyard ma-nure and vinass); bio (mixture of Trichoderma har-zianum and Trichoderma viridi) and mineral (rock phosphate, bentonite, elemental sulfur and com-mercial nitric acid) to prepare enriched compost. After elapsing of composting process the prepared compost was monitored for its physio-chemical and microbiological characteristics as well as some maturity indices. Afterwards, enriched compost was evaluated in synergy with rhizobacteria (mix-ture of Serratia sp and Paenibacillus polymyxa) and graded levels of N-fertilizer as integrated ferti-lizer strategy for improving the growth and produc-tivity of maize plants grown in sandy soil through two field experiments executed at Ismailia Agricul-ture Research Station during successive summer season of 2005 and 2006. Results of enriched compost monitoring revealed that this product has an acceptable degree of the main physio-chemical properties such as color, bulk density, WHC, pH, EC and C/N ratio. Also, enriched compost exhibit-ed a valuable degree of fertilizer value, which re-flected by its content from macro and micronutri-ents. This end product has a high degree of micro-biological traits, which exhibited through the high counts of the main groups of microorganism and remarkable values of dehydrgenase and nitrogen-ase activities. In addition, all examined maturity indices exerted that this product has a reasonable degree of maturity and it can applied to plants without causing phytotoxicity or immobilization. Results of field experiments showed that growth aspects of maize plants were extremely affected by the mineral fertilization rather than organic and/or bio one. However, the highest values of plant vigor and N-content were attained as a results of the integrated fertilization strategy, particularly when maize plants received 120kg N/fed in combination with compost (at rate of 5 ton/fed) and rhizobacte-ria. The maize yield and its attributes appeared high response to applied N-fertilizer levels and organic fertilization. Irrespective of bio-organic ferti-lization, addition of N-fertilizer at levels of 60, 90 and 120 kg N/fed led to increase the grain yield by 103.70, 141.12 and 174.77%, respectively over control treatment (30 kg N/fed). On the other hand, topdressing of soil with enriched compost led to increase the grain yield of maize by 19.70% and this percentage increase raised to 25.76% when the organic manuring was conjugated with rhizo-bacteria under any level of N-fertilizer. However, the highest yield of maize was achieved in case of synergy between the high dose of N-fertilizer and 5 ton/fed from enriched compost for rhizobacterial inoculated grains.
THE STAR FORMATION HISTORY OF M32

We use deep Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys/High Resolution Channel observations of a field within M32 (F1) and an M31 background field (F2) to determine the star formation history (SFH) of M32 from its resolved stellar population. We find that 2–5 Gyr old stars contribute ∼40% ± 17% of M32's mass, while ∼55% ± 21% of M32's mass comes from stars older than 5 Gyr. The mass-weighted mean age and metallicity of M32 at F1 are 〈Age〉 = 6.8 ± 1.5 Gyr and 〈[M/H]〉 = −0.01 ± 0.08 dex. The SFH additionally indicates the presence of young (<2 Gyr old), metal-poor ([M/H] ∼ −0.7) stars, suggesting that blue straggler stars contribute ∼2% of the mass at F1; the remaining ∼3% of the mass is in young metal-rich stars. Line-strength indices computed from the SFH imply a light-weighted mean age and metallicity of 4.9 Gyr and [M/H] = -0.12 dex, and single stellar population-equivalent parameters of 2.9 ± 0.2 Gyr and [M/H] = 0.02 ± 0.01 dex at F1 (∼2.7 re). This contradicts spectroscopic studies that show a steep age gradient from M32's center to 1 re. The inferred SFH of the M31 background field F2 reveals that the majority of its stars are old, with ∼95% of its mass already acquired 5–14 Gyr ago. It is composed of two dominant populations; ∼30% ± 7.5% of its mass is in a 5–8 Gyr old population, and ∼65% ± 9% of the mass is in an 8–14 Gyr old population. The mass-weighted mean age and metallicity of F2 are 〈Age〉 = 9.2 ± 1.2 Gyr and 〈[M/H]〉 = −0.10 ± 0.10 dex, respectively. Our results suggest that the inner disk and spheroid populations of M31 are indistinguishable from those of the outer disk and spheroid. Assuming the mean age of M31's disk at F2 (∼1 disk scale length) to be ∼5–9 Gyr, our results agree with an inside-out disk formation scenario for M31's disk.
COMPARISON OF THE CYTOLOGY TECHNIQUE AND THE FROZEN SECTION RESULTS IN INTRAOPERATIVE CONSULTATION OF THE BREAST LESIONS

The cytology study is effective and reliable technique in intraoperative consultation. This study was performed to evaluate the accuracy of the cytology study in intraoperative consultation of the breast lesions. 125 specimens of the breast lesions were examined and studied in Imam Khomeini Hospital during the years 1998-99. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for cytological method were 87.5% , 95%, 90.5% and for the frozen section 92.4%, 100% and 95.4% respectively. The false positive reports were 2% in the cytology technique and the most important source of error and false postivie reports was fibroadenoma in this method. By reviewing the results. It could be concluded that combination of these two techniques is beneficial and more reliable in intraoperative consultation resports of the breast lesions
CHANGING IN ORGANIC CARBON DYNAMICS AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES IN CLAY LOAM BROWN FOREST SOIL BY APPLICATION OF MUNICIPAL SEWAGE SLUDGE

Summary: A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to assess the effects of two municipal sewage sludges (MSS) application on change in the dynamics of organic carbon, microbial population, enzymatic activities and alfalfa growth in relation to heavy metal content and nutrient release from sewage sludge in clay loam brown forest soil. The treatment of MSS increases soil organic matter and improves soil structure. Municipal sewage sludge of high heavy metal content (HHM) significantly decreased soil bioproductivity, reduced its biochemical properties, and lowered the microbial contents in comparison with MSS of low heavy metal (LHM) content. Total alfalfa dry matter yield and nitrogen content increases linearly with increasing MSS application rates. Soil treated with MSS rates of 40 and 60 % exhibit higher in crop dry matter, microbial contents and enzymatic activities than the control. Overall, our results demonstrate that soil treated with LHM content can improve soil quality and soil biological and biochemical properties.
Representation and Evaluation of Low Impact Development Practices with L-THIA-LID: An Example for Site Planning

A computational framework was developed to represent, evaluate, and report the effectiveness of low impact development practices using the Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment-Low Impact Development (L-THIA-LID) model. This framework consists of a four-step methodology to characterize the impacts of LID practices on runoff and pollutant loading using modified Curve Number (CN) values. The methodology was demonstrated in a case study of a residential subdivision in Lafayette, Indiana. The LID practices represented in this study are commonly used to mitigate hydrologic impacts of urbanization. Simulation results showed that water sensitive design principles could bring post-developed hydrology to a level comparable to that of pre-development. Implementation of LID practices should be carefully planned with preliminary studies and optimization techniques to attain intended goals. The methodology outlined in this study can be utilized within other computational models that support simulation of LID practices with the CN approach to assess the beneficial uses of these practices.
Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and Associated Optic Neuropathy in Pediatric Patients

While idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is more commonly recognized as a disorder of adults, it affects children of all ages and can have distinctive characteristics when presenting in the prepubertal age group. It is characterized by raised intracranial pressure (ICP) in the absence of brain parenchymal lesion, vascular malformations, hydrocephalus, or central nervous system (CNS) infection. The diagnosis is usually confirmed by a high opening pressure of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with exclusion of secondary causes of intracranial hypertension. Objectives: The purpose of this review is to summarize relevant articles on the diagnostic tools used in evaluation and management of pediatric IIH. A summary of demographics, clinical presentation, diagnosis, neuroimaging, as well as existing evidence of treatment strategies is presented. Method: We conducted a bibliographic search in PubMed using the terms idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), Pseudotumor Cerebri syndrome (PTCS). The review of the literature revealed a lack of published consistent data on the diagnosis criteria and management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension in children. Conclusion: This article provides a review of IIH in children and revised diagnostic criteria based on recent evidence and published opinion. Relative to the adult population, the demographic features and clinical presentation of IIH as well as the diagnosis and treatment guidelines for children are quite different. This review highlights the importance of early recognition and management of IIH to prevent permanent visual loss.
Urban Climate Change Mitigation in Europe: Looking at and beyond the Role of Population Density

AbstractAs climate change mitigation becomes pervasive on all spatial scales, mitigation options related to urban spatial planning and behavioral change become increasingly important. Because transport energy consumption seems to scale inversely with population density, increased attention focuses on the role of urban form. This study specifically analyzes the importance of population density for the reduction of urban greenhouse gas emissions in Europe. For this, drivers of both carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transport (for 134 cities) and total urban greenhouse gas emissions (CO2eq emissions) of 62 cities across Europe are investigated. Results indicate that population density is not, per se, a strong determinant of greenhouse gas emissions in European cities. Crucially, the spatial scale of the analysis matters and national influences modulate CO2eq emissions in the analyzed urban areas. Results show that greenhouse gas emissions of European urbanites increase significantly with decreasing househo.
ournal of C osmology and A stroparticle hysics Solar system constraints on disformal gravity theories

Disformal theories of gravity are scalar-tensor theories where the scalar couples derivatively to matter via the Jordan frame metric. These models have recently attracted interest in the cosmological context since they admit accelerating solutions. We derive the solution for a static isolated mass in generic disformal gravity theories and transform it into the parameterised post-Newtonian form. This allows us to investigate constraints placed on such theories by local tests of gravity. The tightest constraints come from preferred-frame eﬀects due to the motion of the Solar System with respect to the evolving cosmological background ﬁeld. The constraints we obtain improve upon the previous solar system constraints by two orders of magnitude, and constrain the scale of the disformal coupling for generic models to M (cid:38) 100 eV. These constraints render all disformal eﬀects irrelevant for cosmology.
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF METRIC–BASED EVAPOTRANSPIRATION ALGORITHM

METRIC (Mapping Evapotranspiration at High Resolution with Internalized Calibration) is known as an appropriate surface energy balance model for the estimation of the spatial distribution of evapotranspiration (ET) in semi-arid regions. Based on lysimeter measurements, METRIC has shown ET estimates of 10% on a sub-field scale on a daily basis. There is a need to identify how the model is sensitive to the input parameters. Therefore, the most influential parameters in the algorithm can be identified and themodel can be further improved. Sensitivity analysis at three levels of vegetation cover shows that METRIC ishighly sensitive to dT, surface temperature, net radiation, sensible heat flux, surface albedo, soil heat flux, and air temperature. It is also moderately sensitive to friction velocity, aerodynamic resistance to heat transfer, surface emissivity and less sensitive to leaf area index, soil adjusted vegetation index, wind speed(except wind speed at low level of vegetation cover)‘, and roughness length for momentum (except Zom<0.1). A two-factor analysis of the algorithm’s primary inputs showed that the pair albedo-surface temperature is the most and the normalized vegetation index-soil adjusted vegetation index or normalized vegetation index-leaf area index is the least effective pair in this model. In order to improve the accuracy of METRIC, this study suggests upgrading the equations for the above-mentioned effective variables.
Hormonal Status, Tobacco Addiction, and Coronary Arteriosclerosis in 40- to 60-Year-Old Non-Diabetic Men* Stan hormonalny i nałóg palenia tytoniu a występowanie miażdżycy naczyń wieńcowych u mężczyzn w wieku 40-60 lat niechorujących na cukrzycę

Background. Tobacco addiction undoubtedly plays a major role in coronary atherosclerosis formation in men. An age-related decrease in androgenic hormones is probably also involved. Since the coexistence of diabetes dramatically increases cardiovascular risk and mortality from these causes, it is important to study this issue in men without diabetes in assessing the impact of hormonal changes and tobacco consumption on atherogenesis. Objectives. Assessment of impact of hormonal changes and tobacco consumption on artheriosclerosis in the coronary arteries in non-diabetic men aged 40–60. Material and Methods. One hundred two men, including 62 smokers, aged 40–60 years without diabetes in whom angiography due to cardiac indications was performed were involved in the study. From this group, subgroups of patients, 42 with coronary atherosclerosis and 20 without changes in coronary angiography, were established. A control group of 40 healthy men with a negative medical history and normal physical examination and exercise test included 20 smokers and 20 nonsmokers. The concentrations of total and free testosterone, calculated free and bioavailable testosterone, SHBG, DHEAS, E2, IGF-1, GH, and the free androgen index (FAI) were studied in the men. Hormonal status and tobacco addiction parameters were compared with atherogenesis development in the coronary arteries. Results. The presence of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries correlated with increased tobacco consumption, reduced concentration of free testosterone (assessed by an RIA test), and increased SHBG compared with the men without atherosclerosis. Smokers with atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries also showed lower levels of DHEAS than the healthy smokers and higher LH than the healthy nonsmokers. There were no differences in the mean concentrations of total testosterone, FAI, free and calculated bioavailable testosterone, estradiol, growth hormone, and IGF-1 in the studied groups. No relationship was observed between hormone levels tested with the parameters characterizing tobacco addiction and the degree of coronary occlusion assessed with the number of significantly stenosed vessels and the Gensini score. Conclusions. Coronary atherosclerosis in men is associated with smoking and lower concentrations of free testosterone and DHEAS. Lack of correlation of the other hormone levels with the parameters of tobacco addiction and the degree of vascular occlusion confirmed that the etiology of coronary heart disease is multifactorial (Adv Clin Exp Med 2010, 19, 2, 211–218).
Timing and the Holding Periods of Institutional Real Estate

Literature on investors' holding periods for securities suggests that high transaction costs are associated with longer holding periods. Return volatility, by contrast, is associated with shorter holding periods. In real estate, high transaction costs and illiquidity imply longer holding periods. Research on depreciation and obsolescence suggests that there might be an optimal holding period. Sales rates and holding periods for U.K. institutional real estate are analyzed, using a proportional hazards model, over an 18-year period. The results show longer holding periods than those claimed by investors, with marked differences by type of property and over time. The results shed light on investor behavior. Copyright 2003 by the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association