Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Safety of Drinking Water from Primary Water Sources and Implications for the General Public in Uganda

Background There is scarcity of information about the quality and safety of drinking water in Africa. Without such vital information, sustainable development goal number 6 which promotes availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation remains elusive especially in developing countries. The study aimed at determining concentrations of inorganic compounds, estimated daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), hazard index (HI), incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR), and identify safe drinking water source sources in Southwestern Uganda. Methods This was an observational study in which 40 drinking water samples were collected from georeferenced boreholes, springs, open wells, bottled, and taps within Bushenyi district of Southwestern Uganda. Water samples were analyzed for copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) levels using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Water safety measures (EDI, HI, and ILCR) were established for each water source and compared with local and international water permissible standards for each analyte. A spatial map was drawn using qGIS®, and analysis of quantitative data was done using MS Excel 2013 at 95% significance. Results Heavy metals were present in the following order: 11.276 ppm > 4.4623 ppm > 0.81 ppm > 0.612 ppm > 0.161 ppm for Fe, Zn, Pb, Cu, and Cd, respectively, while Cr was not detected. Fe was the primary water heavy metal in the order of open well > borehole > tap > spring > bottled water. This was followed by Zn levels in the order of tap > bottled > spring > borehole > open well. All compounds were within international water safety standards except Pb. Hence, there is need for the government of Uganda to establish water filtration systems, particularly for Pb to improve the quality of water for the general public. The EDI was similar (P > 0.05) for water consumed from spring, bottled, and tap sources for Fe and Zn levels. Similarly, no differences were found in the EDI for children and adults (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the HI showed an absence of noncarcinogenic risk associated (HI < 1), although the ILCR was higher in adults than children (P < 0.05) due to high Cd concentrations. Conclusion The current identified Fe is a major heavy metal in drinking water of Uganda, and boreholes were the major safest sources of drinking water identified in this study.
Inventing Equal Opportunity

Acknowledgments ix CHAPTER 1: Regulating Discrimination The Paradox of a Weak State 1 CHAPTER 2: Washington Outlaws Discrimination with a Broad Brush 22 CHAPTER 3: The End of Jim Crow The Personnel Arsenal Put to New Purposes 41 CHAPTER 4: Washington Means Business Personnel Experts Fashion a System of Compliance 75 CHAPTER 5: Fighting Bias with Bureaucracy 101 CHAPTER 6: The Reagan Revolution and the Rise of Diversity Management 133 CHAPTER 7: The Feminization of HR and Work-Family Programs 161 CHAPTER 8: Sexual Harassment as Employment Discrimination 190 CHAPTER 9: How Personnel Defined Equal Opportunity 220 Notes 235 Bibliography 261 Index 289
Orchid bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Euglossini) are seasonal in Seasonal Semideciduous Forest fragments, southern Brazil

Seasonal fluctuations in the abundance of orchid bees have already been reported. The variations in population dynamics may be expected to occur in more predictable and pronounced manners in environments with a clear distinction between rainy and dry seasons, where climatic variables are regarded to be good predictors of populational patterns. The main goal of this paper is to investigate the seasonality of males of orchid bees in fragments of Seasonal Semideciduous Forest in southern Brazil. Data comprise bait samples from five one-year periods on four forest fragments. The seasonality of species abundance was tested with circular statistics. Results suggest two phenological patterns, one for Eufriesea violacea (Blanchard), Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier and Euglossa cordata (Linnaeus), whose abundances are concentrated in late spring and early-middle summer and another for Euglossa fimbriata Moure with a tendency to be collected in middle-late summer and early autumn. These patterns are discussed, as well the possible driven factors, (i) the species life cycle and nesting behavior, (ii) synchrony with resource, and (iii) climate. We can postulate an important impact of climate change in local euglossine assemblage due to the small populations and marked seasonality.
Linear independence from a perspective of connections

We investigated understanding of the linear independence concept based on the type and nature of connections displayed in seven non-mathematics majors’ interview responses to a set of open-ended questions. Through a qualitative analysis, we identified six categories of frequently displayed connections. There were also recognizable differences in the way the connections were applied by the participants. Overall, our findings pointed to an understanding in the form of two main clusters of connections. The two clusters were connected only by linear combination ideas. Each cluster, furthermore, was distinguishable via representation types. The first cluster contained arithmetic/algebraic modes and the second cluster included, mostly, geometric ideas. This paper discusses similarities and differences within and between clusters supported by participant responses. In light of the findings, we provide suggestions for the improvement of linear algebra education of non-mathematics student population.
Measuring predator control effectiveness: reducing numbers may not reduce predator impact

Author(s): Allen, Lee | Abstract: The fundamental assumption in the management of predators is that reducing predator numbers will reduce their predation impact on livestock. Research on dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) has shown this assumption to be incorrect in beef production areas in northern and western Queensland. Aerial and ground baiting with 1080 (fluoroacetate) is the principal dingo-control method used in extensive pastoral areas of Australia. This paper compares four approaches to measure the effectiveness of these control programs. Dingo abundance was reduced in 11 of 13 baiting campaigns monitored with almost two-thirds of these producing g50% reduction. However, concurrent decline in dingo abundance occurred in non-baited areas due to seasonal changes in dingo populations. When this was taken into account, less than half of the control programs produced g50% reduction. The time taken for dingoes to recolonize baited areas is also an important measure of effectiveness. In two-thirds of the control programs, conducted in the first nine months of the year, dingoes recolonized prior to the period of peak calving (November/December) when the biggest threat to calves existed. The timing and the scale of control programs affect the rate of re-colonization. Calf loss was subsequently higher and occurred more frequently in baited areas compared to non-baited areas. Seasonal conditions, the status of prey populations, and the impact of control programs on social organization and prey selection, are key factors affecting calf predation. Control programs should be assessed by measuring impact rather than changes in predator numbers. The assumption that a direct relationship exists between predator numbers and impact is not valid for dingoes in beef production areas in northern Australia.
EMPOWERMENT AS A STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING CONSTRUCTION PERFORMANCE

This paper reviews the potential of team and individual empowerment as performance improvement strategies in construction. The important role of empowerment has been emphasized through a discussion of recent trends in the construction industry, for example, the Rethinking Construction report on respect for people, which highlighted the central roel of empowerment in improving people management practices in the construction sector. The literature also suggests a conceptual linkage between empowerment and many of the leading-edge practices that have been championed within the sector in recent years, including total quality management, construction performance measurement, benchmarking, organizational change, job enrichment, high-performance systems, teamwork, and motivation. This paper attemps to advance understanding of the fundamental concepts behind effective teamwork and motivation by exploring the role of empowerment in facilitating these current management concepts and trends. Rather than portraying empowerment as a panacea for the problems of the industry, the paper presents it as a key to the performance enablers of culture, training, and knowledge management, which require understanding and action by management if significant change is to be realized.
Reducing Energy Use for Ambient-air Corn Drying

Abstract. We used an ambient-air grain drying model and 36 years of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, weather data to study possible ways to reduce energy use for corn drying. Management strategies included: using lower airflow and accepting lower probability of success; using mold-resistant corn varieties or mold inhibitors; switching to time-of-day electric rates and stopping the drying fan during peak hours; changing harvest date; and reducing drying depth. Reducing drying depth gave the greatest energy savings with little change in probability of drying success. Switching to time-of-day rates produced the greatest energy cost savings, but it also reduced probability of success.
Effects of Smokers and Second Hand Smoke by Gender and Age on DALYs Stroke in Indonesia

Stroke is one of the causes of productive age losing time and work due to disability and death. This articles want to analyze the differences in the influence of smokers and second hand smoke by gender and age group to the value of DALYs stroke in Indonesia. This research is quantitative with cross-sectional design. It use BOD (Burden Of Disease) research data in 2018. The population is stroke sufferers. The sample is people who are exposed to cigarettes both as smokers and second hand smoke. Highest smokers DALYs value of stroke are found in ≥ 70 years old group. The value are 6041,33 for men and 810.82 for women. Lowest smokers DALYs value of stroke are found in <50 years old group. It value are 475.06 for men and 56,63 for women. Men DALYS value are 7,5 to 8,4 folds higher than women. Highest second hand smoke DALYs value of stroke are found in ≥ 70 years old group too. The value are 619.48 for men and 1322.03 for women. Lowest DALYs value of stroke are found in <50 years old group too. The value are 26.3 for men and 165.19 for women. Women DALYs value are 2,13 – 6,4 fold higher than men. Based on Kruskal-Wallis test result with CI level of 95% indicate significant difference for gender, age and individual exposed to smoke on DALYs stroke. There is a significant difference between sex, age, smoker and second hand smoke on DALYs stroke. Male smokers had higher DALYs than women. Female second hand smoke had higher DALYS than men.
Prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites of red deer from Protected Landscape Area Štiavnické vrchy

Count of red deer in some areas of Slovak republic exceeds standard count. To these areas belongs as well Protected Landscape Area Stiavnicke vrchy (N48°24'42'' E18°52'21''). High count of is a risk for spread of viral, bacterial as well as parasitic diseases. The aim of this study was to determined and evaluated prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites of red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Protected Landscape Area Stiavnicke vrchy in year 2016. Monitoring was realized through cooperation between Department of Veterinary Sciences at Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra and District Veterinary and Food Administration in Zvolen as well as with Hunting Associations acting in area of Stiavnicke vrchy. Total 120 faecal samples (10 from each month of the year 2016) was analysed using flotation method and eggs and oocysts were identified. Highest prevalence was detected by Trichostrongylus axei, Eimeria spp. and Spiculopteragia boehmi. Prevalence of endoparasites is affected by age structure of red deer and then by using antiparasitics, climatic condition. Result of these was, that prevalence of total gastrointestinal parasites was lowest during months January to March, when Hunting Associations realised regular worming. The highest prevalence of total gastrointestinal parasites was in months July to December, when the relative humidity is higher and to red deer population belongs as well new offspring, which has high predisposition to gastrointestinal parasites.
JAM3 functions as a novel tumor suppressor and is inactivated by DNA methylation in colorectal cancer

Purpose JAM3, an adhesion and transmigration regulatory element, is abundantly expressed in intestinal epithelial cells. However, its expression and function in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unknown. In this study, we explored its epigenetic mechanism and biological role in CRC. Patients and methods Bioinformatics analysis was used to analyze the expression and methylation level of JAM3 in CRC. Methylation and expression status of JAM3 were then validated by quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) and quantitative PCR in tissues, plasma samples, and cell lines. Flow cytometry, Western blot, transwell, siRNA, colony formation, and transfection were used to evaluate the biological function of JAM3. Results We initially found that JAM3 was frequently methylated and downregulated in CRC based on bioinformatics tools. qMSP validation showed that the methylation levels of JAM3 were increased in 75% (18/24) of CRC tissues, 61% (11/18) plasma samples, and all four CRC cell lines and were significantly associated with tumor stage in CRC tissues. Moreover, JAM3 was downregulated in primary CRC tissues, plasma samples, and CRC cell lines as compared with that in nonmalignant controls, although its expression could be recovered after demethylation treatment. Restoration of JAM3 repressed CRC cell viability, colony formation, and migration. In addition, siRNA-mediated depletion of JAM3 in NCM460 cells improved the clonogenicity and migration capability, whereas it suppressed cell apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest. These functional effects were accompanied with alterations of several epithelial cell markers, including E-cadherin, vimentin, phosphor-β-catenin (ser552), and TJP1, which were responsible for epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Conclusion The findings indicated that JAM3 may be a novel tumor suppressor gene with epigenetic reduction in CRC and can be used as a potential noninvasive biomarker for CRC diagnosis.
Investigating good usability consistency within and across the South African super 14 rugby franchise web sites

This study investigates the usability of the South African Super 14 Rugby franchise web sites. Web site usability is a measure of a web site user’s experience when visiting a web site. A web site user’s experience will determine how well a web site’s goals are achieved. The relevant web site goals are, having as many visitors as possible, both unique visitors and repeat visitors, and ensuring that those visitors stay on the web site for as long as possible. This study uses data generation method triangulation to enhance the validity of the findings. The data generation methods are an e-mail questionnaire survey and an expert group consensus method called the Delphi Method. This study shows that within each web site and across all five web sites, there is poor usability consistency. Management guidelines and recommendations for improvements to these web sites are presented, so that the web site goals can be achieved.
CCL5 promotes breast cancer recurrence through macrophage recruitment in residual tumors

Over half of breast cancer related deaths are due to recurrence five or more years after initial diagnosis and treatment. This latency suggests that a population of residual tumor cells can survive treatment and persist in a dormant state for many years. The role of the microenvironment in regulating the survival and proliferation of residual cells following therapy remains unexplored. Using a conditional mouse model for Her2-driven breast cancer, we identify interactions between residual tumor cells and their microenvironment as critical for promoting tumor recurrence. Her2 downregulation leads to an inflammatory program driven by TNFα/NFκB signaling, which promotes immune cell infiltration in regressing and residual tumors. The cytokine CCL5 is elevated following Her2 downregulation and remains high in residual tumors. CCL5 promotes tumor recurrence by recruiting CCR5-expressing macrophages, which may contribute to collagen deposition in residual tumors. Blocking this TNFα-CCL5-macrophage axis may be efficacious in preventing breast cancer recurrence.
Cross-layer design for the transmission of multimedia traffic over fading channels.

Providing guarantees in the Quality of Service (QoS) has become essential to the transmission of multimedia traffic over wireless links with fading channels. However this poses significant challenges due to the variable nature of such channels and the diverse QoS requirements of different applications including voice, video and data. The benefits of dynamic adaptation to system and channel conditions have been accepted, but the true potential of optimized adaptation is lost if the layers operate independently, ignoring possible interdependencies between them. Cross-layer design mechanisms exploit such interdependencies to provide QoS guarantees for the transmission of multimedia traffic over fading channels. Channel adaptive M-QAM schemes are examples of some of the earliest works in the area of cross-layer design. However, many of the original schemes use the assumption that thresholds designed for A WGN channels can be directly applied to slow-fading channels . The thresholds are calculated with a commonly used approximation bit error rate (BER) expression and the first objective of the thesis was to study the accuracy of this commonly used expression in fading channels. It is shown that that the inaccuracy of the expression makes it unsuitable for use in the calculation of the threshold points for an adaptive M-QAM system over fading channels. An alternative BER expression is then derived which is shown to be far more accurate than the previous one. The improved accuracy is verified through simulations of the system over Nakagami-m fading channels. Many of the cross-layer adaptation mechanisms that address the QoS provisioning problem only use the lower layers (physical and data link) and few explore the possibility of using higher layers. As a result, restrictions are placed on the system which introduces functional limitations such as the inability to insert more than one class of traffic in a physical layer frame. The second objective in this thesis was to design a physical and application layer cross-layer adaptation mechanism which overcomes this limitation. The performance results of the scheme in both A WGN and fading channels show that the cross-layer mechanism can be efficiently utilized for the purposes of providing error rate QoS guarantees for multimedia traffic transmissions over wireless links.
The Possible Radio Protective Role of Aphanizomenon Flos-Aquae (AFA) on Heart of The Adult Male Albino Rats

Aim of the work: this study demonstrated the drastic effects of ionizing radiation on the heart tissue of the adult male albino rats and the possible radio protective role of AFA extract. Material and Methods: a total of forty-eight mature male albino rats (Rattus rattus) weighing 180-200g were fed on standard rodent pellets. Rats were equally categorized into four groups; each group contained 12 rats. These groups were: 1-untreated normal control rats (C); 2- rats exposed to 4Gy of gamma-radiation (Irradiated group R) and then they were sacrificed on days 5 and 21 (R1& R2 groups respectively) post-irradiation; 3- rats were treated orally with 94.5mg/kg body weight/day of AFA extract for 3 weeks (AFA group) and then they were sacrificed on 5 and 21 days (A1& A2 groups respectively) post- treatment; 4- rats were treated orally with 94.5mg/kg body weight/day of AFA extract for a period of one week before irradiation and three weeks after irradiation (AFA-irradiated group), then the rats were sacrificed on 5 and 21 days (AR1& AR2 groups respectively) post-irradiation and treatment, then the hearts were immediately excised. Results: many drastic changes were observed in the cardiac muscle fibres of rats of R1 group. These changes included: numerous hemorrhagic areas which contained hemolyzed blood cells and some nuclei of myocardiocytes were pyknotic and others were hypertrophied with destruction in some fibres and widened endomysium. Aggravated changes were also observed in the heart of rats of R2 group such as highly elongated and congested cardiac blood vessels which contained hemolyzed blood cells and hemosiderin granules, numerous hemorrhagic areas, necrotic areas and widened endomysium. On the other hand, highly increased collagen fibres and amyloid-β deposits were also noticed in the cardiac tissues of rats of R1 and R2 groups with decreased PAS positive materials, total protein and DNA materials. Normal architecture of the cardiac muscle fibres was detected in the rats of A1, A2 groups with slightly increased collagen fibres and slightly decreased PAS positive materials, total protein, amyloid-β protein and DNA materials. Also, AR1, AR2 groups showed somewhat normal appearance and well developed cardiac muscle fibres, but some dilated endmysium spaces were still detected in the cardiac muscle fibres of rats of group AR2. Furthermore, increased collagen fibres and amyloid-β deposits were realized in the cardiac muscle fibres of rats of AR1, AR2 groups with decreased PAS positive materials, total protein and DNA materials. Conclusions: AFA showed cardio- protective effect and powerful antioxidant action. So, it can be used under medical supervision as a natural supplement.
Influence of tensile chord stresses on the strength of circular hollow section joints

The current version of the Eurocode for the design of joints does not include any brace load capacity reduction for welded hollow section joints with tensile chord preloading as opposed to those without. However, the more recent 2nd edition of the CIDECT design guides or the ISO standard for welded hollow section joints includes a strength reduction due to tensile chord stresses. This paper presents the results of experimental and numerical investigations into how tensile chord stresses influence the capacity of circular hollow section X‐joints. The conclusion of this study is a new chord load function proposal for circular hollow section joints subjected to tensile chord stresses.
Flow modelling of construction site materials and waste logistics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the nature and extent of the current practice of logistics in the construction industry and to investigate the utility of reverse logistics in a construction context.Design/methodology/approach – A pilot study was utilised to devise a method for the identification and measurement of parameters for incorporation within a process of construction site logistics optimisation. Data on vehicular movements were collected from seven sites in Cape Town. The data were used to design a flow model of material delivery and waste removal vehicular movements.Findings – The results showed that in terms of transport distribution, of all vehicle movements observed, 62.6 per cent were classified as material delivery and 26.3 per cent as construction and demolition (C&D) waste removal. This ratio approximates to 2.4 materials delivery journeys to one waste removal journey. An optimised integrated materials delivery and waste removal logistics model is presented.Practical im.