Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immunophenotyping pattern characterization in canine blood: towards a clinical application

Immunophenotyping is a widely used method for a precise diagnosis and classification of haematopoietic neoplasia in human beings and also in dogs. The gold standard for cell preparation is density gradient centrifugation of mononuclear cells. Alternatively, another way to separate human leukocytes is carrying out whole blood lysis. The aim of this study was to validate whole blood lysis as an alternative method in clinical veterinary procedures using an immunophenotype panel of leukocytes designed by our group. Flow cytometry study of adult canine leukocytes subset groups, using whole blood lysis or mononuclear cells tested against an array of canine leukocyte antibodies were done. Besides differential white blood cell counts were done. Also immunophenotyping studies in whole blood samples stored at 4 °C for 48 h were performed. The Coefficient Variation values were less than 20%, for most of the comparison. Consistent results were observed in phenotyping canine peripheral blood leukocytes. Stability results indicated that whole blood samples might be stored for 48 h without a significant difference in the data compared to samples processed immediately after blood collection. This study shows that whole blood lysis represents an efficient and quick alternative for canine leukocyte preparation. In addition, samples can be analysed immediately or stored for 48 h without a significant difference between them. This is relevant for veterinary medicine considering the lack of facilities in many laboratories to process samples. Flow cytometry, peripheral blood, leukocyte subsets, long-term stability
Expansion of Woody Plants in Tallgrass Prairie: A Fifteen-year Study of Fire and Fire-grazing Interactions

Abstract Temporal changes in the abundance of trees and a common shrub, Cornus drummondii, were quantified for 15 y (1981–1996) in seven tallgrass prairie watersheds in Northeast Kansas. Woody plant responses to different fire frequencies and grazing were assessed with a data set that included >9000 individuals. Although 15 tree species were included in this data set, only four (Juniperus virginiana, Celtis occidentalis, Gleditsia triacanthos and Ulmus americana) were sufficiently abundant for detailed analysis. Over the 15 y study tree density increased by two- to 10-fold, except in watersheds burned annually where woody plants remained almost completely absent throughout the study. Although increased woody plant abundance was expected in watersheds protected from fire, tree and shrub density also increased substantially in watersheds burned only once in 4 y. An intermediate fire frequency (burned every 3–5 y) actually increased the abundance of C. drummondii relative to a low fire frequency (burned only once in 15 y). Moreover, a severe wildfire in 1991, which affected all watersheds, did not markedly reverse this pattern of increase in abundance in most tree species. Four years after the addition of native herbivores (Bos bison) to three of the long-term experimental watersheds (infrequently and annually burned) woody plant abundance increased by four- and 40-fold, respectively, compared to corresponding ungrazed watersheds. Thus, the presence of large ungulate grazers in tallgrass prairie resulted in a significant increase in woody plant abundance. The most parsimonious explanation for this phenomenon is that fire intensity and extent was reduced in grazed grasslands allowing greater success of woody species.
THE FRACTAL NATURE OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD WITHIN A REVERBERATING CHAMBER

In this paper, a new look at the electromagnetic fleld in a reverberating chamber (RC) is presented. It follows the fractional Brownian motion (fBm) model and exploits the Hurst parameter as the key parameter to discriminate among various RC conflgurations. Experiments accomplished at the RC of the Universitµa di Napoli Parthenope, formerly Istituto Universitario Navale (IUN), conflrm the physical soundness of the proposed model.
Length-weight relationship of fish from shallow waters of Candarli Bay (north Aegean Sea, Turkey).

Length- weight relationships were calculated for 22 fish species caught from Candarli Bay in the north Aegean Sea, Turkey. Between December 2006 and January 2008 beach seine net was use to capture specimens and sampling was made in vegetated and sandy bottoms at the depths up to 1.5 m. A total of 2605 fish specimens were weighed and measured. The sample size ranged from 4 for Symphodus cinereus, Symphodus doderleini to 1558 for Atherina boyeri. The values of exponent b in the length-weight regressions (W=aL b ) varied between 1.93 (Belone belone) and 3.475 (Symphodus ocellatus). Linear regressions of length-weight relationships were significant for all species. The length-weight relationships given here for Symphodus doderleini, Symphodus cinereus, Symphodus ocellatus and Pomatoschictus minutus were the first time for the north Aegean Sea.
Activity Profiles at Different pH and Temperature of Cellulases and Lipases in Freshwater Pearl Mussel: Hyriopsis (Hyriopsis) bialatus, Simpson 1900

The enzymatic properties of two digestive enzymes, cellulases and lipases, from stomach and intestine of adult freshwater pearl mussel, Hyriopsis (Hyriopsis) bialatus, Simpson 1900, were studied at various pH (1.0-11.0) and temperatures (20-80°C). Activity profiles of both enzymes in male and female mussels at various pH and temperature were similar. Optimum pH of cellulases in stomach and intestine was found to be 6.0 while optimum temperature was 35-55°C in stomach and 30-60°C in intestine. Lipase activity was low in intestine but its optimum pH in both organs was found at pH 8.0 and optimum temperature at 35-55°C. Both cellulase and lipase showed higher activities in the stomach than in intestine. At habitat temperature (28-30°C) of Thai freshwater pearl mussel species, cellulase and lipase specific activities dominated in stomach.
Investigating changes in basal conditions of Variegated Glacier prior to and during its 1982–1983 surge

Variegated Glacier (Alaska) is known to surge periodically after a sufficient amount of cumulative mass balance is reached, but this observation is difficult to link with changes in the basal conditions. Here, using a 10-yr dataset, consisting of surface topography and surface velocity observations along a flow line for 25 dates, we have reconstructed the evolution of the basal conditions prior to and during the 1982-1983 surge. The model solves the full-Stokes problem along the central flow line using the finite element method. For the 25 dates of the dataset, the basal friction parameter distribution is inferred using the inverse method proposed by Arthern and Gudmundsson (2010). This method is here slightly modified by incorporating a regularisation term in the cost function to avoid short wavelength changes in the friction parameter. Our results indicate that dramatic changes in the basal conditions occurred between 1973 to 1983. Prior to the surge, periodic changes can be observed between winter and summer, with a regular increase of the sliding from 1973 to 1982. During the surge, the basal friction decreased dramatically and an area of very low friction moved from the upper part of the glacier to its terminus. Using a more complex friction law, these changes in basal sliding are then interpreted in terms of basal water pressure. Our results support that dramatic changes took place in the subglacial drainage system of Variegated Glacier, moving from a relatively efficient drainage system prior to the surge to an inefficient one during the surge. By reconstructing the water pressure evolution at the base of the glacier it is possible to propose a scenario for the hydrological history leading to the occurrence of a surge.
Effective Implementation of Maintenance Models in Building Maintenance Process

Buildings are essential facilities which represent a substantial percentage of most tertiary institutions assets, user needs and operating costs. The maintenance levels of these buildings are very crucial to educational effectiveness. However, in spite of the crucial role of these buildings in the education and construction sector of the economy, most educational buildings in Nigeria are in deplorable conditions as a result of lack of maintenance. The efficient and effective maintenance management of both new and old buildings constitutes a challenge to the management. Presently, studies on maintenance of buildings have not been conducted in sufficient details for educational buildings in Nigeria. This research was therefore, aimed at effective implementation of maintenance models in building maintenance process. Maintenance is reactive rather than proactive and no evidence of maintenance plan and manual were in use.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND ANALYSTS' EARNINGS FORECAST ACCURACY: AN APPLICATION OF CONTENT ANALYSIS

We examine the association between the extent of change in key performance indicator (KPI) disclosures and the accuracy of forecasts made by analysts. KPIs are regarded as improving both the transparency and relevancy of public financial information. The results of using linear regression models show that contrary to our prediction and the hypothesis of this paper, there is no significant association between the change in non- financial KPI disclosures and the accuracy of analysts' forecasts. Nonetheless, when we employ a non-linear regression and deflate the absolute value of forecast errors (the dependent variable in this study) by the stock price, the results support the hypothesis of an association between a change in non-financial KPI reporting and the accuracy of analyst forecasts. These results have policy implications, as worldwide policymakers, regulators, corporations and analysts underscore the importance of KPI disclosures.
Organization of ice flow by localized regions of elevated geothermal heat flux

The impact of localized regions of elevated geothermal heat flux on ice sheet dynamics is largely unknown. Simulations of ice dynamics are produced using poorly resolved and low‐resolution estimates of geothermal heat flux. Observations of crustal heat production within the continental crust underneath the Lambert‐Amery glacial system in East Antarctica indicate that high heat flux regions of at least 120 mW m−2 exist. Here we investigate the influence of simulated but plausible, localized regions of elevated geothermal heat flux on ice dynamics using a numerical ice sheet model of the Lambert‐Amery glacial system. We find that high heat flux regions have a significant effect across areas of slow‐moving ice with the influence extending both upstream and downstream of the geothermal anomaly, while fast‐moving ice is relatively unaffected. Our results suggest that localized regions of elevated geothermal heat flux may play an important role in the organization of ice sheet flow.
Climate-change threats to native fish in degraded rivers and floodplains of the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Many aquatic ecosystems have been severely degraded by water-resource development affecting flow regimes and biological connectivity. Freshwater fish have been particularly affected by these changes and climate change will place further stress on them. The Murray–Darling Basin (MDB), Australia, represents a highly affected aquatic system with dramatically modified flow regimes. This has impaired the health of its rivers, and potentially limited the adaptive capacity of its biota to respond to a changing climate. Here, we present our predictions of the potential impacts of climate change on 18 native fish species across their distributional ranges against the back-drop of past and continuing water-resource development (WRD). Because most of these species are found across a wide range of geographical and hydrological settings, we classified the MDB into 10 regions to account for likely variation in climate-change effects, on the basis of latitude, elevation and WRD. Cold water-tolerant species will be under greater stress than are warm water-tolerant species. In some regions, the negative impacts on exotic fish such as trout are likely to improve current conditions for native species. Because the impacts of climate change on any given species are likely to vary from region to region, regional fish assemblages will also be differentially affected. The most affected region is likely to occur in the highly disturbed Lower Murray River region, whereas the dryland rivers that are less affected in the northern MDB are likely to remain largely unchanged. Although climate change is a current and future threat to the MDB fish fauna, the continued over-regulation of water resources will place as much, if not more, stress on the remnant fish species.
Non-negative least squares for high-dimensional linear models: consistency and sparse recovery without regularization

Least squares fitting is in general not useful for high-dimensional linear models, in which the number of predictors is of the same or even larger order of magnitude than the number of samples. Theory developed in recent years has coined a paradigm according to which sparsity-promoting regularization is regarded as a necessity in such setting. Deviating from this paradigm, we show that non-negativity constraints on the regression coefficients may be similarly effective as explicit regularization if the design matrix has additional properties, which are met in several applications of non-negative least squares (NNLS). We show that for these designs, the performance of NNLS with regard to prediction and estimation is comparable to that of the lasso. We argue further that in specific cases, NNLS may have a better $\ell_{\infty}$-rate in estimation and hence also advantages with respect to support recovery when combined with thresholding. From a practical point of view, NNLS does not depend on a regularization parameter and is hence easier to use.
A new approach to optimal designs for correlated observations

This paper presents a new and efficient method for the construction of optimal designs for regression models with dependent error processes. In contrast to most of the work in this field, which starts with a model for a finite number of observations and considers the asymptotic properties of estimators and designs as the sample size converges to infinity, our approach is based on a continuous time model. We use results from stochastic anal- ysis to identify the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) in this model. Based on the BLUE, we construct an efficient linear estimator and corresponding optimal designs in the model for finite sample size by minimizing the mean squared error between the opti- mal solution in the continuous time model and its discrete approximation with respect to the weights (of the linear estimator) and the optimal design points, in particular in the multi-parameter case. In contrast to previous work on the subject the resulting estimators and corresponding optimal designs are very efficient and easy to implement. This means that they are practi- cally not distinguishable from the weighted least squares estimator and the corresponding optimal designs, which have to be found numerically by non-convex discrete optimization. The advantages of the new approach are illustrated in several numerical examples.
Environmental Pollution Effects on Mortality in an Industrial and a Non-industrial Municipality, in Voiotia Prefecture, Greece

In the Oinofita region, there was strong evidence of air pollution and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI))-contaminated drinking water due to the increased number of industries, in contrast to the closely-located region of Arachova, which served as a control. To examine the health effects of environmental pollution, we performed an ecological study to compare the all-cause and cause-specific mortality. We considered the registered citizens of both study areas during an 11-year period (1999-2009) and we used the direct method of standardization to calculate the age, gender and period standardized rates (ASRs) and the standardized rate ratios (SRRs), using the greater Prefecture of Voiotia as the standard population. Statistically significantly higher rates of all-cause mortality (SRR = 1.22, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.1-1.4), cardiovascular (SRR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.1-1.7) and cerebrovascular diseases (SRR = 2.93, 95% CI 1.8-4.8) were identified for Oinofita compared to Arachova. Furthermore, suggestive results were found for cardiopulmonary diseases among males (SRR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.0-2.4) and leukaemias (SRR = 4.65, 95% CI 0.9-25.3). Elevated SRRs, not statistically significant though, were also observed for respiratory diseases, all cancers and specific cancer sites (lip, oral cavity and pharynx, liver, stomach, pancreas, lung, prostate, colon and kidney and other genitourinary organs among females). Increased mortality rates in the Oinofita region support the hypothesis of adverse health effects association with air pollution and Cr(VI)-contaminated drinking water. Further studies are needed to determine if this association is causal and to establish preventive guidelines and public health recommendations.
Multi-skill shift design for Norwegian hospitals

The shift design problem consists in finding a suitable set of shifts which covers the work demand for a planning horizon. For labor intensive organizations, finding a good match between the predicted workload and the scheduled workforce work capacity is crucial. In a multi-skill shift design problem, the model must reflect the skill attributes of the employees and the time-dependent demand of each skill type. For hospitals, a number of constraints and objectives complicate the picture. In this paper we introduce models which reflect many of the challenges faced by planners at two Norwegian reference hospitals. Experiments using mixed-integer programming solvers show promising results, and near-optimal solutions are found within a few minutes.
Firm Level Strategy, Organization Culture and Performance of Food and Beverage Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

The study tested the impact of organization culture on the on the relationship between firm-level strategy and performance of food and beverage manufacturing firms in Kenya. The opinion of the CEO/MDs from 125 firms in this sector was sought by application of a structured questionnaire; the collected data was analysed using hierarchical regression analysis. The paper stated hypothesis that organizational culture has a significant effect on the relationship between firm-level strategy and performance. The results supported the hypothesis. Therefore, firm development of strong organization culture to support firm-level strategy for higher performance is paramount. These findings will contribute to government policy formulation for sector’s expansion and competitiveness and management drives in building a positive organization culture to support firm-level strategy for improved performance.
Near- and far-field tsunami waves, displaced water volume, potential energy and velocity flow rates by a stochasticsubmarine earthquake source model

Abstract. Sources of tsunamis are non-uniform and commonly uncorrelated and very difficult to predict. The best ideal way to appear their aspects is through heterogeneous or stochastic source models which are more realistic. The effect of random fluctuation of submarine earthquake modeled by vertical time-dependent displacement of a stochastic source model is investigated on the tsunami generation and propagation waves. The noise intensity parameter controls the increase of the stochastic bottom amplitude which results in increasing the oscillations and amplitude in the free surface elevation which provides an additional contribution to tsunami waves. The L2 norm of the free surface elevation, the displaced water volume and the potential energy are examined. These quantitative information about predicting tsunami risk are useful for risk managers who decide to issue warnings and evacuation orders. The horizontal average velocity flow rates of the tsunami wave are investigated. The average velocity flow rates can provide valuable information about the stochastic bottom topography by the distinctive velocity oscillations. Flow velocity is of importance in risk assessment and hazard mitigation which may provide a clear signal of tsunami flows. Time series of the flow velocities and wave gauges under the effect the water depth of the ocean are investigated.
Using Critical Discourse Analysis Instruction in Argumentative and Descriptive Writing Classes

The field of ELT is constantly witnessing the introduction of new instructional approaches: one such perhaps recent initiative is critical discourse analysis (CDA). Accordingly, the present study was an attempt to investigate the impact of CDA instruction on Iranian EFL learners’ descriptive and argumentative writing ability. To fulfill the aforementioned purpose, a sample TOEFL was primarily piloted among a group of 30 upper intermediate EFL learners by the researchers; with the acceptable reliability and item analysis indices achieved, then the researchers administered the test among another group of 90 upper intermediate learners. Ultimately, those 60 learners whose scores fell one standard deviation above and below the mean were chosen as the participants of the study and were randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group with 30 participants in each. Both of these groups underwent the same amount of teaching time during 20 sessions which included a treatment of CDA instruction based on Jank’s (2005) set of 14 features for the experimental group. A posttest was administered at the end of the instruction to both groups and their mean scores on the test were compared through a multivariate analysis of variance. The result (F = 14.41 and p = 0.000 < 0.05) led to the rejection of the two null hypotheses raised in this study, thereby demonstrating that the learners in the experimental group benefited significantly more than those in the control group in terms of improving their descriptive and argumentative writing ability. Hence, the major pedagogical implication of this study is that CDA instruction can be effectively used to assist EFL learners improve their argumentative and descriptive writing ability.
Production of Activated Carbon from Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Pod Husk

Activated carbons were obtained from cocoa pod husk using two different initial particle sizes (ranges 0.25 – 0.50mm and 0.50 – 1.00mm), three chemical activation agents (K2CO3, KOH and ZnCl2) and carbonization under nitrogen atmosphere during two hours at three different temperatures (500°C, 650°C and 800°C). The prepared activated carbons were characterized using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Langmuir surface areas, pore volume, average pore size, bulk density, moisture, ash content, and yield. The five best activated carbons were selected for further experiments according to the chemical activation agent used, high BET surface area, high pore volume and low ash content. Additionally, content of impurities, carbon content and FE-SEM micrographs were determined for these five best activated carbons. As adsorption tests were also carried out with these samples. Results of the experiments show that cocoa pod husk is a material that can be used to produce activated carbon by chemical activation and ZnCl2 showed to be the best chemical activation agent based on the highest BET surface area (780 m2/g in the best case) and pore volume (0.58 m3/g in the best case), the lowest ash content (6.14% in the best case), and the highest carbon content (86.1% in the best case), compared with others chemicals. Carbons activated by ZnCl2 are capable to adsorb As(V), getting As(V) removal levels up to 80% in less than 1 hour in the experimental conditions applied (initial pH 6-7, activated carbon concentration 0.1 g/l and 0.5 g/l, initial As concentration 100 ppb).