Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimum termination networks for tightly coupled microstrip lines under random and deterministic excitations

A general method to determine the termination network of multiple coupled lines for lowest input return loss is presented. Each line is connected to the ground and its nearest neighbors by resistors whose values are determined by minimizing the reflected power. It is demonstrated that under these conditions the optimum termination network depends on the excitation. The inequality of the modal propagation constants requires that the length of the lines be properly taken into account when designing a termination network which ensures maximum power delivery to the loads. Matching networks for five and seven coupled transmission lines under different excitations are presented. For the more practical case of unknown excitations, a design procedure based on minimizing the reflected power for independent random-incident voltage variables is presented.
Applying molecular techniques to monitor microbial communities in composting processes

Microorganisms participating in the self-heating phase of composting material, which consisted of marker gene tagged corn ( Zea mays), horse dung and wood chips, were characterized by DNA fingerprinting (ARDRA) of cells cultured at 50°C and by analyzing DNA that was directly extracted from compost samples. Cultivation dependent methods detected five major groups at the end of the self-heating phase (after 18 d). Three groups showed high homology to bacteria from the genus Bacillus at the 16S rRNA gene level. Straightforward PCR amplification of bacterial target genes from compost extracted DNA was inhibited because of the high background of plant DNA and presence of humic acidlike compounds. By use of humic acid resistant, heat-stable DNA polymerases in combination with single strand, DNA binding, T4 gene 32 protein, PCR inhibition could be completely overcome. After 6 d of composting, the marker gene of the corn plants was degraded below the threshold of detection (< 10 2.6 copies per g of compost). The diversity of bacterial and fungal communities in the compost was analyzed by single-strandconformation polymorphism (SSCP) of approx. 400 bp PCR products, which were amplified with universal primers for 16S rRNA (bacteria) and 18S rRNA genes (fungi), with compost DNA as a template. The generated patterns showed a succession of different members of the microbial community during the self-heating phase.
Surface Decarburization of the Hypo-Eutectoid Carbon Steel C45 during Annealing in Steady Air at Temperatures T > AC1

The non-alloyed hypo-eutectoid steel C45 was annealed in a steady air atmosphere at T > AC1 using three temperature ranges and annealing times ta = ½, 1 and 2 h. The oxidation and decarburization obeyed the parabolic law of growth with time and increased with higher temperatures and longer annealing times. The maximum visible thickness of the decarburized surface layer for all the temperature ranges can be predicted from the equations for the oxidation of iron and from the Van-Ostrand-Dewey equation (derived from Fick’s 2nd law) for the distribution of carbon. In this relation, the equation that gives the lowest values for the diffusion coefficient of carbon in austenite is appropriate. It was found that the Van-Ostrand-Dewey equation is applicable at T > AC1, despite the fact that it was derived for the decarburization of austenite at T > AG. A comparison of the results showed that the depth of the decarburization with a carbon content of 0.91–0.98C0 can be determined with optical metallography and that both the theoretical and measured values are, in general, mutually accurate in the regions of 93% to 98%. In practice, visible decarburization might not be present under some conditions while annealing in a steady air atmosphere. The reason for this is that the process of oxidation is faster than the process of decarburization. Considering the oxidation of steel under these conditions, annealing in a steady air atmosphere can be performed without any protective measures.
A naturalistic investigation into the effectiveness of an attributional retraining programme for academic performance

The present study represents a naturalistic investigation into the effectiveness of an attributional retraining programme based on the reformulated learned helplessness model. The current study addressed several methodological issues by assessing attributions and performance outcome measures before and after retraining and employed a control and a placebo control group. A total of 134 students volunteered to participate in a series of workshops. The workshops were held over three consecutive days each week for a total of three weeks. Students attended either a placebo control workshop, an attributional retraining workshop in accord with the reformulated learned helplessness model (internal, stable and global information), or a stability retraining workshop. The present study clearly indicates attributional retraining can successfully manipulate attributions. However, although the workshops successfully altered student’s attributions, there was no concomitant improvement in performance. As no significant differences were observed between the three workshop groups on any performance indicator, the superior performance relative to the control group may, in effect, be a consequence of increased self-efficacy and self-esteem obtained by simply attending workshops.
Post Prandial Plasma Free Arginine Concentrations Increase in Rainbow Trout Fed Arginine-deficient Diets

Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of dietary arginine concentrations on plasma free amino acid (PAA) concentrations in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum). The first experiment was conducted to determine appropriate post-prandial and food deprivation sampling times in dorsal aorta cannulated rainbow trout averaging 519′9.5 g (mean′SD) at 16°C. Blood samples were taken at 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 24 h after feeding (0 and 24 h blood samples were taken from the same group of fish). PAA concentrations increased by 2 h post-feeding and the concentration of all essential amino acids except histidine peaked at 5 h and returned to 0 time values by 24 h. In the second experiment dorsal aorta cannulated rainbow trout averaging 528′11.3 g (mean′SD) were divided into 6 groups of 4 fish to study the effect of dietary arginine levels on PAA. After 24 h food deprivation, each group of fish was fed one of six L-amino acid diets containing graded levels of arginine (0.48, 1.08, 1.38, 1.68, 1.98 or 2.58%) by intubation. Blood samples were taken at 0, 5 and 24 h after feeding. Post-prandial (5 h after feeding) plasma-free arginine concentrations (PParg) showed a breakpoint at 1.03% arginine in the diet and post-absorptive (24 h after feeding) plasma free-arginine concentrations (PAarg) showed a breakpoint at 1.38% arginine. PAarg increased linearly from fish fed diets containing arginine between 0.48% and 1.38%, and the concentrations remained constant from fish fed diets containing arginine at or above 1.38%, but were all below PParg at all time points. Results of the third experiment confirm the results that PParg concentrations from fish fed arginine deficient diets were higher than PAarg (0 or 24 h values). Thus, in contrast to mammals and birds, the PParg when arginine is present in the diet as the most limiting amino acid such that it severely limits growth, increases in plasma rather than decreases.
Evaluating the antioxidant and anticancer property of Ficus carica fruits

The present study was designed to investigate the antioxidant and anticancer properties of Ficus carica (FC). The dried coarse powder of F. carica fruits was exhaustively extracted with ethanol and the resulting crude ethanolic extract (FCE) was assayed for antioxidant and anticancer activities, since both are inter-related. The antioxidant activity of FCE was determined by reductive potential in reducing ferric ions and anticancer activity was determined using breast cancer cell lines (MCF7). The extract showed strong antioxidant and anti-cancer activities, which suggest the use of the plant for therapeutic purposes, supporting the traditional claims. Keywords: Ficus, MCF7, antioxidant, breast cancer
Corrupt governments receive less bilateral aid: Governance and the delivery of foreign aid through non-government actors

A core result of the aid allocation literature is that the quality of governance in recipient countries does not affect the amounts of foreign aid received. Donor countries may still give aid to poorly-governed countries because of a dilemma they face: those countries most in need typically also lack proper institutions. This paper argues that donors try to resolve this dilemma by delivering aid through non-state actors. Using aid shares as well as absolute amounts of aid allocated through different channels and considering different dimensions of governance, we provide evidence that bypassing governments via NGOs and multilateral organizations is indeed a response to weak recipient state institutions. The effect is stronger in aid sectors where donors can more easily switch between channels, and for the group of donors that have been dubbed 'like-minded' to indicate their specific focus on recipient need.
Species-specific variation in larval survival and patterns of distribution for the blue mussels Mytilus edulis and Mytilus trossulus in the Gulf of Maine

A broad zone of sympatry between two morphologically and ecologically similar blue mussels Mytilus trossulus (Gould) and M. edulis (L.) extends from the Canadian Maritimes into the Gulf of Maine. The zone boundary and the southern range limit of M. trossulus coincide with the position of the Eastern Maine Coastal Current (EMCC). This current has not been recognized as a biogeographic boundary. However, the flow field associated with the EMCC essentially divides the eastern and western Gulf during the part of year when mussel populations in the eastern portion of the Gulf are reproductively active and thus may be a hydrodynamic barrier to the westward dispersal of M. trossulus larvae. Alternatively, a strong gradient in water temperature associated with the EMCC may create a physiological barrier to M. trossulus larvae. We examined spatial variation in the abundance of M. trossulus and M. edulis along the coast of Maine using two diagnostic DNA-based markers. Although we detected M. trossulus in mussel populations in offshore locations in central Maine that were directly in the path of the EMCC, the abundance of this species declines dramatically at sites beyond the influence of this current. Variation in the abundance of adults, however, cannot differentiate between the effects of the EMCC on larval transport vs physiological tolerance. Thus, we also conducted a temperature challenge experiment investigating the species-specific variation in larval survival at temperatures ranging from 58 Ct o 208C. We found that larval mortality was generally higher for M. trossulus relative to M. edulis larvae when exposed to 208C early during development. These results suggest that differences in larval thermal tolerance help to structure the southern range limit for M. trossulus in the Gulf of Maine.
International Trade Patterns over the Last Four Decades: How does Portugal Compare with other Cohesion Countries?

This paper compares the international trade pattern of Portugal with the other three EU15 Cohesion countries - Spain, Greece and Ireland - over the last forty years. The paper adopts a fact-finding approach, investigating the degree of openness of these economies and making extensive use of the standard Balassa (1965) index to assess the technological content of these countries' manufacturing trade. In order to infer on international trade specialization and on the persistence of trade patterns, the paper provides empirical evidence on the shape of the cross-sector distribution of 120 manufacturing exports and examines the intra-distribution dynamics. The Balassa index is also computed using import data, which allows for an assessment on the similitude of relative import structures and a crude identification of major vertical specialization activities. The paper concludes that there was a significant increase in the degree of openness of all economies, particularly in Ireland. Over the last four decades, Portugal shows a tendency to reduce its overall extent of export specialization, but significant differences with the world average still remain. The same behaviour is found in Greece and, more strongly, in Spain, which is the least specialized country. Conversely, Ireland shows the strongest export specialization and there is evidence of an increase in the last twenty years. The overall degree of specialization is higher on the export than on the import side, as the four countries analyzed show an import structure very close to the world average in the 2000-04 period. In the Portuguese case, we also find evidence that the degree of persistence of export patterns is higher than that of imports, in particular over longer horizons.
EXPLOITATION OF PLANT PRODUCTS AND BIOAGENTS FOR ECOFRIENDLY MANAGEMENT OF CHILLI FRUIT ROT DISEASE

Forty four plant species and eight antagonistic organisms were tested against Colletotrichum capsici and Alternaria alternata, the causal agents of fruit rot disease of chilli. In vitro studies indicated that leaf extracts (10%) of Abrus precatorius (Gundumuthu) and Aegle marmelos (vilvum), demonstrated the highest inhibition of spore germination and mycelial growth of these two pathogens. Among the fungal and bacterial antagonists tested, Trichoderma viride isolate 3 and Pseudomonas fluorescens were very effective in inhib- iting mycelial growth of the pathogens in vitro. In the pot culture experiment, two sprays with leaf extract of A. precatorius (10%), first spray 20 days after fruit set and the second spray 2 days after inoculation with the pathogens, resulted in the lowest disease incidence (23.95%) and intensity (27.60 PDI - Per cent Disease Index) as compared to 71.50% incidence and PDI of 78.20 in the control. Among the antagonistic microorganisms two sprays of talc-based formulation of P. fluorescens (2%) were very effective in reducing the disease intensity (35.70 PDI). However, the leaf extracts and antagonistic organisms only ranked next to the fungicide (carbendazim 0.1%) (18.05 PDI). Field evaluation of the effective plant extracts, antagonistic microorganisms and fungicide revealed that spraying with A. precatorius leaf extract (10%) twice, the first spray at the time of fruit set and the second spray 20 days after fruit set caused the maxi- mum disease reduction (25.53 PDI) followed by a single spray of the same leaf extract (10%) on 20th day after fruit set (28.50 PDI).
Is insulin pro-atherogenic at the cellular level?

1Department of Cardiovascular Pathology, National Medical Research Center of Cardiology, 121552 Moscow, Russia. 2Laboratory of Angiopathology, Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, 125315 Moscow, Russia. 3Federal Scientific Clinical Center for Resuscitation and Rehabilitation, 109240 Moscow, Russia. 4Institute for Atherosclerosis Research, Skolkovo Innovative Center, 121609 Moscow, Russia.
Estimation of regional snow-line elevations in Norway. Testing a method for estimating RSLE and melt slope analysis in Norway.

Snow plays an important part in the hydrology of high latitude and mountainous areas. In Norway about 30% of the annual precipitation falls as snow. Therefore it is important to properly quantify the seasonal snow cover in Norway. In this study a method to calculate regional snow-line elevations (RSLE) was evaluated in 70 catchments in Norway to see if the method is a viable option in the difficult conditions faced in Norway and if so can the results be used to study melt behavior in those same catchments. MODIS snow cover maps were used as input data when estimating the RSLE. An alternative approach used seNorge to calculate RSLE. The results from the seNorge RSLE calculations were used both to assess the reliability of the MODIS RSLE as well as for subsequent analysis regarding the climatology of the catchments. The two datasets were compared to see the effects of cloud cover has on them and if the RSLE would could provide a simple viable alternative to snow cover area (SCA) estimations as well as if the RSLE dataset could be used to identify melt periods and the factors driving variability in them. The method was implemented in all the catchments over the period from 2000 – 2016. Results show that when the SCA estimated using MODIS and seNorge data is compared, cloud cover within the catchments has significant effect on the fit between the two datasets while the clouds have hardly any effect on the RSLE estimated from the same datasets. Based on the seNorge RSLE melt slopes were estimated using the duration of melt period and elevation change in RSLE during melt period. Analysis of factors effecting variability in melt slopes suggest that, the elevation range, mean elevation and peak SWE are the factor that most affect melt slope variability. The effect of rain on snow events on melt slopes indicated that they had no significant effect on melt slopes as they are estimated in this study. The melt slopes estimated using RSLE data seem to give some indications of what drives melt rates but is not a very robust indicator. The RSLE method is promising and seems to work well in the conditions faced in Norway but needs further validation using observations.
Regional climate models downscaling analysis of general circulation models present climate biases propagation into future change projections

A suite of eighteen simulations over the U.S. and Mexico, representing combinations of two mesoscale regional climate models (RCMs), two driving global general circulation models (GCMs), and the historical and four future anthropogenic forcings were intercompared. The RCMs' downscaling reduces significantly driving GCMs' present‐climate biases and narrows inter‐model differences in representing climate sensitivity and hence in simulating the present and future climates. Very high spatial pattern correlations of the RCM minus GCM differences in precipitation and surface temperature between the present and future climates indicate that major model present‐climate biases are systematically propagated into future‐climate projections at regional scales. The total impacts of the biases on trend projections also depend strongly on regions and cannot be linearly removed. The result suggests that the nested RCM‐GCM approach that offers skill enhancement in representing the present climate also likely provides higher credibility in downscaling the future climate projection.
Auditory Latency Response – P 3 in children with and without learning complaints

Introduction: Children with learning impairment complaints may show changes in the functioning of the central auditory system. The Long Latency Auditory Evoked Potential P3 is useful in the functional evaluation of the central auditory structures, and can be used as an auxiliary method in the early identification of learning impairment. Purpose: To analyze and compare latencies and amplitudes obtained in P3 of children that complained or not of learning impairment with normal hearing. Methods: The sample consisted of 30 children complaining of learning impairment (study group) and 14 children that did not complain (control group), aged 9 years and 12 years and 11 months. All the children underwent peripheral audiologic evaluation and the P3 study. Results: It was found that the mean P3 latency of the study group was significantly higher than the control group. When comparing P3 amplitude values, there was no difference, although the mean of the study group was lower when compared to the control group. It was observed that, for age and P3 latency, no significant correlation was detected. A similar situation was observed in the relation of age and amplitude, which, even though negative, it was not significant. Conclusion: The group of children with learning impairment complaints presented P3 latency values greater than the children in the group of children that did not complain. No correlation was found in the P3 wave amplitude values between groups.
A New Technique to Identify Arbitrarily Shaped Noise Sources

Acoustic intensity is one of the available tools for evaluating sound radiation from vibrating bodies. Active intensity may, in some situations, not give a faithful insight about how much energy is in fact carried into the far field. It was then proposed a new parameter, the supersonic acoustic intensity, which takes into account only the intensity generated by components having a smaller wavenumber than the acoustic one. However, the method is only efective for simple sources, such as plane plates, cylinders and spheres. This work presents a new technique, based on the Boundary Elements Method and the Singular Value Decomposition, to compute the supersonic acoustic intensity for arbitrarily shaped sources. The technique is based in the Kirchoff-Helmholtz equation in a discretized approach, leading to a radiation operator that relates the normal velocity on the source's surface mesh with the pressure at grid points located in the field. Then, the singular value decomposition technique is set to the radiation operator and a cutoff criterion is applied to remove non propagating components. Some numerical examples are presented.
STUDI ARANG AKTIF TEMPURUNG KELAPA DALAM PENJERNIHAN AIR SUMUR PERUMAHAN BARU DAERAH SUNGAI ANDAI

Sungai Andai merupakan salah satu kelurahan di Kota Banjarmasin yang sedang dilakukan pengembangan komplek baru dengan membuka lahan yang dipenuhi oleh tanaman rawa dan tergenang air yang berwarna kekuningan sampai kemerahan, bersifat asam, bila terkena kulit seperti terasa bergetah dan sedikit berbau. Air ini sangat dimungkinkan bercampur dengan air limbah buangan dan kemudian terserap masuk ke dalam air sumur. Oleh sebab itu maka perlu adanya pengolahan air sumur sebelum dimanfaatkan untuk kebutuhan sehari-hari dengan metode yang sederhana yaitu memanfaatkan arang aktif yang dibuat dari tempurung kelapa. Beberapa parameter pH, kadar air karbon aktif, kandungan klorin, dan kandungan logam Fe, Mn dan Al dengan menggunakan AAS serta mencari kondisi optimum arang aktif dan koagulannya dilakukan. Arang yang telah didapatkan dari hasil pembakaran kemudian diayak dengan menggunakan ayakan ukuran 120 mesh dan 170 mesh. Ukuran 170 mesh memberikan hasil yang lebih optimal, variasi massa 1 g arang aktif dan 1 g tawas untuk 500 mL air sumur rawa gambut jika pencampuran arang aktif dan tawas dilakukan secara bersamaan ke dalam sampel air. Namun, apabila penambahan arang aktif dilakukan secara terpisah dengan penambahan koagulan, maka penambahan arang aktif lebih sedikit yaitu sekitar 0,5 gram. Hasil yang didapatkan menunjukkan bahwa pada proses perlakuan adsorbsi dimana penambahan arang aktif dan koagulan yang dilakukan terpisah memberikan hasil yang lebih bagus dari yang dilakukan secara bersamaan. Kadar air dari arang aktif yang dibuat sebesar 5,2 %. pH dan kandungan logam Mn dan Al masing-masing memenuhi standar yang ditetapkan oleh Permenkes 492/Menkes/Per/IV/2010 kecuali untuk kandungan logam besi. Nilai masing-masingnya yaitu 7,73; 0,013 mg/l; dan < 0,001 mg/l. Kadar klorida yang terkandung dalam air yang diproses adalah 1,7 mg/l.