Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Air Pollution Trends in Japan between 1970 and 2012 and Impact of Urban Air Pollution Countermeasures

Air pollution trends in Japan between 1970 and 2012 were analyzed, and the impact of air pollution countermeasures was evaluated. Concentrations of CO decreased from 1970 to 2012, and in 2012, the Japanese environmental quality standard (EQS) for CO was satisfied. Concentrations of SO2 dropped markedly in the 1970s, owing to use of desulfurization technologies and low-sulfur heavy oil. Major reductions in the sulfur content of diesel fuel in the 1990s resulted in further decreases of SO2 levels. In 2012, the EQS for SO2 was satisfied at most air quality monitoring stations. Concentrations of NO2 decreased from 1970 to 1985, but increased from 1985 to 1995. After 1995, NO2 concentrations decreased, especially after 2006. In 2012, the EQS for NO2 was satisfied at most air quality monitoring stations, except those alongside roads. The annual mean for the daily maximum concentrations of photochemical oxidants (OX) increased from 1980 to 2010, but after 2006, the 98th percentile values of the OX concentrations decreased. In 2012, the EQS for OX was not satisfied at most air quality monitoring stations. Non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) concentrations generally decreased from 1976 to 2012. In 2011, NMHC concentrations near roads and in the general environment were nearly the same. The concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) generally decreased. In 2011, the EQS for SPM was satisfied at 69.2% of ambient air monitoring stations, and 72.9% of roadside air-monitoring stations. Impacts from mineral dust from continental Asia were especially pronounced in the western part of Japan in spring, and year-round variation was large. The concentration of PM2.5 generally decreased, but the EQS for PM2.5 is still not satisfied. The air pollution trends were closely synchronized with promulgation of regulations designed to limit pollutant emissions. Trans-boundary OX and PM2.5 has become a big issue which contains global warming chemical species such as ozone and black carbon (so called SLCP: Short Lived Climate Pollutants). Cobeneficial reduction approach for these pollutants will be important to improve both in regional and global atmospheric environmental conditions.
Contribution of Parker and Product indexes to evaluate weathering condition of Yellow Brown Forest soils in Japan

Soil weathering is recognizable through study on physico-chemical characteristics of soil. In this study, Parker, ([(Na)a / 0.35]+ [(Mg)a / 0.9]+ [(K)a / 0.25]+ [(Ca)a / 0.7]) 100, and Product, [SiO2 / (TiO2+Fe2O3+SiO2+Al2O3)] 100, weathering indexes, originally developed for study on rocks, were tested on Yellow Brown Forest soils from two different regions in Japan. The results showed that the contribution of the mentioned indexes can be used for study on soils weathering. In other word, in a two-dimensional coordination system where the axes are Parker and Product indexes, regarding to the chemical bases of the indexes, initial and lateral products of weathering can be tracked at the same time. Additionally, the indexes relations with soil color were studied after exposing the samples at a high temperature. Remarkable relationships between a* /b* ratio–parameters of psychometric chromaticness of color in CIE color standard system–and these two weathering indexes demonstrated that a* /b* ratio can be applied reliably to estimate the quantities of Parker and Product indexes in Yellow Brown Forest soils. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Low-Cost Housing for the Urban Poor in Akure, Nigeria: Materials and Techniques of Construction

It is universally accepted that housing is humanity’s third most essential need after food and clothing. Rapid population growth and increasing urbanization have led to overcrowding in urban housing, homelessness and overstretching of existing infrastructure and services. This paper examines the various construction materials that are readily available in abundance in Nigeria and construction techniques used in building to support housing for the urban poor. It appraises the architectural functions and values of these materials and their potentialities as common and affordable building materials. The paper concludes that with the application of applied building research and general acceptance of locally available materials and building construction techniques, the problem of high cost of building materials that make it difficult for the urban poor to have their own housing would be greatly resolved in Nigeria urban centres. Keyword: low-cost, housing, urban poor, material, techniques, construction.
Athlete’s philanthropy and social responsibility communication on social media during COVID-19

As the world feels the impact of the coronavirus, the role of sport and philanthropy has merged as a venue for generating social impact and providing relief to those in need. This research focuses on the social responsibility and philanthropic mobilization of professional athletes to address urgent social needs during the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, the study focuses on the role that social media plays in the communication of these socially responsible activities developed by professional athletes. This study examined how the various ways that athletes are giving back and the messaging strategies related to the impact of COVID-19. By doing that, the authors identified three key areas: Awareness Raising and Advocacy; Calls to Action and Engagement; Information Sharing and Communication. Other relevant insights into philanthropic and social responsibility strategies and approaches were identified (e.g., direct giving, fundraising, awareness raising, mobilizing networks, or information sharing). The paper also discusses the potential responses and outcomes garnered by communicating these efforts and offers insights into how professional athletes can maximize their social impact around the world during crisis during crises such as the COVID-19.
Relationship among Travel Motivation, Satisfaction and Revisit Intention of Skiers: A Case Study on the Tourists of Urumqi Silk Road Ski Resort

With the approach of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, the ski tourism market in mainland China is gradually heating up. As an important node city of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Urumqi is vigorously developing winter tourism to enhance its image as an urban tourism spot. In this study, visitors to the Urumqi Silk Road International Ski Resort during the winter were taken as the research object, and a quantitative study was carried out using a questionnaire survey. 278 questionnaires were recovered. A model of tourism motivation, satisfaction and revisit intention based on the push-pull factor was constructed, and the relationship among the three was verified by structural equation modelling. The research results can provide a theoretical basis and can reference suggestions for the development of ski tourism in destination cities and the strategic marketing of ski resorts.
Central Charge and Entangled Gauge Fields

Entanglement entropy of gauge fields is calculated using the partition function in curved spacetime with a boundary. We derive a Gibbons-Hawking-like term from a Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) action and a Wald-entropy-like codimension-2 surface term is produced. It is further suggested that boundary degrees of freedom localized on the entanglement surface generated from the gauge redundancy could be used to resolve a subtle mismatch in a universal conformal anomaly- entanglement entropy relation.
Endogeneity Issues in the Empirical Assessment of the Determinants of Loan Renegotiation

The present text is focused on the evaluation of the influence that determinants of loan contracts’ design may have on loan renegotiation. This general purpose is faced with the possible simultaneity of determination of some such factors (namely the use of collaterals and loan interest rate) and the likelihood of contract renegotiation. Naturally, this simultaneity corresponds to an issue of endogeneity of these factors within econometric models of the conditional probability of renegotiation. If neglected, covariates’ endogeneity causes model misspecification, translating into unreliable empirical assessments of the marginal effects of all renegotiation determinants on the probability of loan redesign. Building on the theory of incomplete contracts, suggesting that the possibility of contract renegotiation is already anticipated at the contracting date, the empirical findings of the paper, based on a dataset provided by a Brazilian bank, provide strong indication that this can indeed be the case. Accordingly, the empirical assessment of the marginal contributions of important variables to the likelihood of renegotiation is revisited, thereby enabling a deeper understanding of renegotiation processes.
A parietal region processing numerosity of observed actions: An FMRI study

When observing others' behavior, it is important to perceive not only the identity of the observed actions (OAs), but also the number of times they were performed. Given the mounting evidence implicating posterior parietal cortex in action observation, and in particular that of manipulative actions, the aim of this study was to identify the parietal region, if any, that contributes to the processing of observed manipulative action (OMA) numerosity, using the functional magnetic resonance imaging technique. Twenty‐one right‐handed healthy volunteers performed two discrimination tasks while in the scanner, responding to video stimuli in which an actor performed manipulative actions on colored target balls that appeared four times consecutively. The subjects discriminated between two small numerosities of either OMAs (“Action” condition) or colors of balls (“Ball” condition). A significant difference between the “Action” and “Ball” conditions was observed in occipito‐temporal cortex and the putative human anterior intraparietal sulcus (phAIP) area as well as the third topographic map of numerosity‐selective neurons at the post‐central sulcus (NPC3) of the left parietal cortex. A further region of interest analysis of the group‐average data showed that at the single voxel level the latter area, more than any other parietal or occipito‐temporal numerosity map, favored numerosity of OAs. These results suggest that phAIP processes the identity of OMAs, while neighboring NPC3 likely processes the numerosity of the identified OAs.
Respiratory viruses in pediatric emergency department patients and their family members

Respiratory viral infections account for a substantial fraction of pediatric emergency department (ED) visits. We examined the epidemiological patterns of seven common respiratory viruses in children presenting to EDs with influenza‐like illness (ILI). Additionally, we examined the co‐occurrence of viral infections in the accompanying adults and risk factors associated with the acquisition of these viruses.
Serum lactate dehydrogenase level may predict acute respiratory distress syndrome of patients with fever infected by SARS-CoV-2

Department of Emergency Medicine, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China; Emergency Medicine and Difficult Disease Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China; Department of Emergency Medicine, Changsha Central Hospital of University of South China, Changsha, China These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence to: Xiangping Chai. Department of Emergency, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Emergency Medicine and Difficult Disease Institute, Central South University, No. 139 Renmin Road, Changsha, China. Email: chaixiangping@csu.edu. cn.
THE CORRELATION BETWEEN ANTHROPOMETRIC, MOTOR AND THE VARIABLES FOR THE EVALUATION OF BONE DENSITY

Even though the precise mechanisms of the influence of physical activity on the formation of tissue have not been described in great detail, it is known that physical activity plays an important role in this process. It has already been determined that many children develop and improve their motor skills during their daily activities, since it is at these times that they perform basic movements such as running, jumping, climbing and turning. Aims: The aim of this research was to determine if there is any relation between anthropometric characteristics, motor skills or bone density of the participants. Material and Methods: The data for the current research was gathered as part of the scientific project "The integral development, physical activity and aberrant behavior of preschool children" financed by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. All of the participants were children (a total of 184 i.e., 115 boys and 69 girls) attending preschool on the territory of the city of Novi Sad, and they were all aged 3.5 to 7. The measurements for the evaluation of anthropometric characteristics included the following: body height, body weight, and upper arm skinfolds. The evaluation of the motor skills was carried out using the following motor tests: 1) the 20 meter run; 2) the polygon backwards; 3) hand tapping; 4) hyperextensions in a seated position, legs apart; 5) the standing depth jump; 6) hanging pull-ups and 7) torso lifts during 60 s. Bone density was determined with the help of a sonometer Sahara Hologic, Inc., MA, USA. The following measurements of the bone density were made: 1) the decrease in the strength of the sound signal- the left leg (Broadband Ultrasound Attenuation, BUALL in dB/MHz); 2) the decrease in the strength of the sound signal - the
Effect of Pentaerythritol on the Properties of Wood-Flour/Polypropylene/Ammonium Polyphosphate Composite System

Intumescent, flame-retarding wood-flour/polypropylene composites (WPCs) having different ammonium polyphosphate/pentaerythritol (APP/PER) ratios (4/1, 3/1, and 2/1) were prepared in this study. The thermal degradation behavior, flame retardancy, and mechanical properties of the composites were tested. Moreover, the residues of the WPCs were observed by scanning electron microscopy, and the flame retardancy mechanism was investigated. The results showed that WPC/APP/PER exhibited higher thermal stability in the high temperature region and left much more char residue than WPC/APP, according to thermogravimetric analysis. Limiting oxygen index and cone calorimetry tests showed that the addition of PER improved the flame retardancy of the WPCs, especially when APP/PER ratio was 3/1. However, because of the poor compatibility with the composite matrix and uneven dispersion in the WPCs, the incorporation of PER decreased the mechanical performance of WPCs obviously.
Simulated Relationships between Sea Surface Temperatures and Tropical Convection in Climate Models and Their Implications for Tropical Cyclone Activity

AbstractThe impact of enhanced atmospheric CO2 concentrations on tropical convection and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the global tropics is assessed using five fully coupled atmospheric–oceanic general circulation models (AOGCMs). Relationships between SST and either outgoing longwave radiation or convective precipitation rates are evaluated for three climate states: present day, a doubled-CO2 scenario, and a quadrupled-CO2 scenario. All AOGCMs capture a relationship between present-day outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and SST and between convective precipitation rate (PRC) and SST: deep tropical convection (DTC)—signified by rapidly decreasing OLR and rapidly increasing PRC rates—occurs above an SST threshold of around 25°C. Consistent across all AOGCMs, as concentrations increase to 2 × CO2 and 4 × CO2, the threshold SSTs for DTC to occur shift to 25.5°–28°C and 26.5°–30°C, respectively. Annual PRC rates in the 20°N–20°S region increase for two AOGCMs [Meteorological Research Institute Coupled .
Radiographic Assessment of the Quality of Post & Core Restorations Performed by Dental Students at Qassim University Dental Clinics

Introduction: A post usually made of prefabricated or custom made that is fitted into a prepared root canal of a natural tooth. Core is the foundation restoration which restores adequate coronal anatomy of a vital or endodontically treated tooth. When the post is combined with a core, it provides retention and resistance for an artificial crown. The primary purpose of the post is to retain a core restoration and crown, and also to redistribute the stresses onto the root, thereby diminishes the risk of coronal fracture. The post does not have any role in reinforcing or supporting the tooth. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of the post and core restorations with postoperative periapical digital radiographs performed by undergraduate students at the College of Dentistry, Qassim University. Materials and methods: A total of 421 periapical digital radiographs were assessed. The assessment includes the type of tooth, type of arch, type of post, length of post, the presence of any abnormality in post space, status of the remaining guttapercha (GP), and if there is any spaces between the end of post and GP. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program (version 23) . Results: Maxillary teeth were the most frequently restored teeth with post (67.2%) and majority of the cases were comprised of premolars (57.2%). Similarly, glass fiber post (89.1%) with taper shaped were the most widely used post. The majority of the post featured a width of one-third of the root (81%). Length of the post with crown: post ratio of 1:3 was observed as the most frequently used (60.8%), whereas those of post length with crown: post ratio of 1:2 (25.4 %) and 1:1 post length was least frequently used (13.8%). 28% of cases were presented with 3 to 5 mm of GP at their apical portion and 61.5% cases reached more than 5 mm. Approximately 5 to 8% of assessed cases revealed the widening of the periodontal ligaments. Conclusion: The performance of students was assessed by the quality of different types of post and core restorations with the postoperative periapical digital radiographs. The qualities of assessed post and core restorations prepared by the dental students were clinically acceptable.
Patterns of non-medical use of benzodiazepines and Z-Drugs among adolescents and young adults: gender differences and related factors

ABSTRACT Background: We aimed to report the prevalence and factors associated with non-medical use of BZD and Z-Drugs in adolescents and young adults residing in Spain from a gender perspective. Nationwide, cross-sectional study on the misuse of BZD and Z-Drugs by young adult population of both sexes. Method: We used individualized secondary data retrieved from the 2015–2016 Household Survey on Alcohol and Drugs in Spain. A total of 10,824 survey respondents aged 15 to 34 years. Results: Prevalence of non-medical use of BZD and Z-Drugs was.42%, 1% in men vs. 1.84% in women, p = . 00. Zolpidem presents the highest misuse rate in young males (45.8%), females showing a greater misuse prevalence for Lormetazepam (35.8%). The variables associated with a greater probability of misuse were, smoking habit, consumption of an illicit drug other than marijuana during last year. Low-perceived risk for BZD and Z-Drug consumption, was the variable showing the greatest value in young population (aOR = 3.88, 95% CI 2.53–5.93). Conclusions: Spanish young women are more likely to misuse BZD and Z-Drugs than men. Differentiated consumption is observed for these substances. A low perception of consumption risk and negative perception of health are strongly associated with non-medical use of BZD and Z-Drug among young Spanish population.
Effectiveness and cost of air pollution control in China

I evaluate the effectiveness and cost of China’s first serious air pollution control policy. Using both official, misreporting-prone data as well as NASA satellite data in a differencesin-differences strategy that exploits variation in reduction targets, I find that the policy reduced air pollution by 11% as intended. Compliance was initially rhetorical but later real, and did not differ by intensity of enforcement. I construct marginal abatement cost curves for SO2 for each province in China to calculate the cost of a counterfactual market-based policy instrument compared to the command-and-control policy that China used. I find that the market-based policy instrument would increase average (marginal) efficiency by 25% (49%). I further provide cost estimates for the total cost of a one unit decrease in PM2.5 concentrations in China to complement recent WTP estimates. JEL Codes: Q52, Q53, H11
ROOT BIOMASS AND CARBON STORAGE FOR Fagusorientalis Lipsky . ( NORTHEASTERN ANATOLIA )

Data on the biomass and C storage capacity of northeastern Anatolian forest are rare, making it difficult to evaluate the role of these forest ecosystems in the global carbon cycle for this region in Turkey. In particular, more precise information on size and dynamics of tree root systems is needed. In thirty natural oriental beech (FagusorientalisLipsky.) forest stands from Ormanüstü Planning Unit in northeastern Anatolia, we determined below-ground biomass and C storage, and compared the results to literature value from other northeastern Turkey natural forests. In this study, influence of slope position on fine (0-2 mm), small (2-5 mm) and coarse (5-10 mm) root biomass and carbon storage of oriental beech was investigated. The mean total root biomass of natural oriental beech stands was 17585 Kg ha on northfacing slopes and 18511 Kg ha on south-facing slopes. Mean below-ground C storage of natural oriental beech stands was 978, 987 and 2618 Kg ha of fine, small and coarse root biomass on north-facing slopes, and 1059,1051and 2829 Kg ha, respectively on south-facing slopes, respectively. Fine and small root biomass and total root biomass and C storage of natural oriental beech stands were significantly higher in south-facing slopes than in north-facing slopes. While fine root biomass and C storage decrease with age, coarse root biomass and C storage increase with age. Below-ground biomass and C storage for natural oriental beech stands were found to be lower than these of oriental spruce and oriental fir natural forests in Black sea region.
Systematic position of two endemic Dipcadi spp. (Asparagaceae) from northern Western Ghats of India using molecular markers

Phylogenetic relationships of two endemic and critically endangered species viz. Dipcadi concanense (Dalz.) Baker and D. goaense Prabhug et al., from northern Western Ghats, were investigated using sequences from a Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal region and a plastid gene (matK). Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian analysis were carried out for that purpose. The phylogenetic tree resulting from ML as well as Bayesian analysis showed that D. concanense and D. goaense are closely related species. This analysis was significantly supported by bootstrap as well as posterior probability values. The resolution of Dipcadi clade is also explained by cytological data as well as distribution patterns.
Mitigating externalities of terrorism on tourism: global evidence from police, security officers and armed service personnel

ABSTRACT In this paper, we investigate the role of security officers, the police and armed service personnel in dampening the effect of terrorism externalities on tourist arrivals. The temporal and geographic scopes are respectively 2010–2015 and 163 countries. Four terrorism measurements are used. They include the number of incidents, injuries, fatalities and property damages. The main findings indicate that armed service personnel can effectively be used to modulate the damaging influence of all four terrorism externalities in order to achieve a positive net effect on tourist arrivals. Conversely, the corresponding moderating role of security officers and the police is not statistically significant. Moreover, violent demonstrations and homicides have a harmful effect on tourist arrivals while the number of incarcerations displays the opposite effect. Policy implications are discussed.