Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
RECENT ADVANCES IN MODELLING THE HYDRODYNAMIC EFFECTS ON ICE MOTION AND ICE- STRUCTURE INTERACTIONS OFFSHORE

High-fidelity models of sea-ice dynamics and ice-structure interactions require proper accounting for the hydrodynamic forces. This paper gives its reader a systematic view on the recent achievements in the modelling of the hydrodynamic interactions of ice with winds, water flow, waves and floating structures. To emphasise relevant applications, the paper touches upon several topics such as the prediction of iceberg drift, modelling the dynamics of ice floes in the sea, physical ice management, station-keeping in Arctic waters, ice-structure interactions and the hydrodynamic aspects of ice loads on offshore structures. All the considered hydrodynamic problems are accompanied with references to well-established or newly-developed models that may be applied in particular cases. INTRODUCTION This paper is intended to give its readers a broad view of the scientific problems associated with marine operations in ice-covered waters and related to the estimation of fluid actions. This is important in a number of research areas such as the prediction of iceberg drift, the modelling of ice floes dynamics in the sea, physical ice management (IM), station-keeping in Arctic waters, ice-structure interactions and the hydrodynamic aspects of ice loads on offshore structures. Nevertheless, instead of giving a complete overview of each subject in detail, an attempt is made to systemise the topics by examining their common features and considering the link between the hydrodynamic problems associated with them. Succeeding in this task would help in the development of comprehensive mathematical models needed by Arctic marine engineers and scientists involved in cold-environment research. To keep practicality, all the problems that are mentioned in this paper are accompanied with references to well-established or newly-developed models that may be applied in particular cases. These references are chosen based on the author’s subjective view such that the literature on a considered topic is covered sufficiently but not necessarily completely, and therefore the article should not be confused with an up-to-date literature review. THE REVIEWED TOPICS Based on literature review and input from SAMCoT industrial partners, the following research topics, presented in Figure 1, have been identified as the practical problems that both most frequently arise in Arctic offshore engineering and require thorough consideration of fluid mechanics in order to be solved. As can be seen from the figure, these problems are classified into two main groups. The first group refers to ice motion modelling, and the POAC’15 Trondheim, Norway Proceedings of the 23 International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions June 14-18, 2015 Trondheim, Norway
Non-parametric Approaches to Education and Health Expenditure Efficiency in the OECD

We address the efficiency of expenditure in education and health sectors for a sample of OECD countries by applying two alternative non-parametric methodologies: FDH and DEA. When estimating the efficiency frontier we use both measures of expenditure and quantity inputs. We believe this approach to be advantageous since a country may well be efficient from a technical point of view but appear as inefficient if the inputs it uses are expensive. Efficient outcomes across sectors and analytical methods seem to cluster around a small number of core countries, even if for different reasons: Finland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Sweden. JEL: I18, I21, I28, H51, H52, C14
Research Group on Aging and the Life Course (FALL)

Transfers between adult family generations are an important part of the intergenerational link in modern societies. They are still a new field of inquiry, but some of their basic patterns are by now well known: There is a net flow of material resources from the older to the younger generations, both by inter vivos transfers and bequests. But there is no clarity yet about the motives of transfer giving. In the economic literature, there is an unresolved debate about altruism versus exchange models; in the sociological literature, these types of motives are complemented by various forms of indirect or delayed reciprocity. Motives are a key not only to the explanation of transfer giving and to the distributional effects of transfers, but also to their quality for the recipients. With data from the German Aging Survey, we assess the structure and consequences of motives directly. We show that the empirical structure of motives is less a split between altruistic and exchange orientations than between unconditional and conditional giving. Unconditional giving is more frequent among women and among the better educated. Unconditional motives have a strong positive, conditional motives a negative impact on the propensity to give transfers or other kinds of support. These results suggest that there are typical styles of supporting ones descendants that correspond to other dimensions of socially differentiated family styles. 1 A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Conference on International Perspectives on Families, Aging, and Social Support (University of Haifa, Israel, May 17-20, 2001). The first author is indebted to the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study (Delmenhorst/Bremen) for being invited as a Fellow during the academic year 2000-2001. Completion of the paper was supported by the Ford Foundation (Grant No. 1000-1729-1).
WAVELET PYRAMID BINARY PATTERNS FOR FINGERPRINT LIVENESS DETECTION

In this paper a new feature vector, Wavelet Pyramid Based Binary Patterns (WPBP), is evaluated for Fingerprint Liveness Detection (FLD). It consists of two components: the first component involves detection of key points from four levels of pseudo-Laplacian pyramid obtained using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and their description using Local Binary Patterns (LBP) to represent multi-scale texture features; the second component consists of detection of shape, size and intensity variant features from first level wavelet approximation band. The features are then represented using Completed Local Binary Pattern (CLBP) descriptor. The combined feature vector is classified using Radial Basis Function (RBF) kernel Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The proposed feature vector has been investigated for FLD on LivDet 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 competition databases. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed feature vector is effective for FLD. The proposed feature vector is of reduced dimension, easy to implement and has good discrimination capability.
Exploring the Marine Virosphere: From Genome Context to Content

Over the last decade, we have witnessed the dawn of marine phage genomics. Since the first genome was sequenced just over ten years ago, nearly thirty additional marine phage genomes and eleven marine virus metagenomes have offered a small glimpse into the genomic underpinnings of phage in the oceans. Genomics has revealed their role in host metabolism, as phage genomes harbor environmentally relevant functional genes, such as those involved in photosynthesis, nutrient stress response, nucleotide scavenging, and vitamin biosynthesis, some of which are expressed during infection. Furthermore, due to evidence of phage activity in host genomic islands, phages are now thought to be important drivers of microbial niche adaptation and diversification in the oceans. In recent years, advances in sequencing technologies and falling costs have led to sequence generation at an unprecedented rate. However, with this input, our ability to analyze and interpret new sequence data in attempt to garner biological insights (as those described above) is under serious threat. The role of bioinformatics in the current age is to keep this data accessible, or we risk serious loss in its value. For this reason the development of contextual data standards becomes crucial. The power of context to a biologist touches upon the core tenets of comparative genomics by expanding the dimensions among which comparisons and inferences can be made. This thesis addresses bioinformatic themes of contextual data development and implementation as a means to enhance marine phage genomics. This puts into practice the ultimate role of bioinformatics: to facilitate the capture and collection of various data sources, enabling in silico biological predictions that lead to acute, solvable laboratory experiments.
Efficacy and Safety of Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) Oral Solution Compared to Tablet and Capsule: A Randomized, Parallel-Design, Active-Controlled Study

We performed a study to compare the efficacy of Vitamin D3 oral solution with a conventional tablets and capsules in hypovitaminosis D patients. One hundred eighty subjects were divided into three different groups and received vitamin D3 60000 IU per week for eight weeks either in the form of an oral solution or a tablet or a capsule. A significant increase in serum 25(OH)D was observed in vitamin D3 oral solution from baseline (P=0.0001) as compared to a tablet (P=0.0001) and capsule (P=0.0001). A significant decrease in iPTH levels was seen in the vitamin D3 oral solution group from baseline (P=0.0001) and also as compared to a tablet (P=0.0001) and capsule (P=0.0001). Oral solution of vitamin D3 is a nanotechnology-based formulation which was found to be effective and safe. Thus, treatment with vitamin D3 oral solution in hypovitaminosis D patients may result in faster and higher improvement in the normalization of vitamin D levels.
Optimal Deployment of Charging Stations and Movable Charging Vehicles for Electric Vehicles

There is a broad consensus that popularizing electric vehicles is an important measure to save energy and reduce emission. However, unreasonable locations and deployment of charging stations obstruct the development of electric vehicles. We consider a novel solution that combine movable charging vehicles with charging stations, at which improving the service level and performance of the charging stations. Therefore, we introduce a new variant of location model, which involves movable charging vehicles. Based on the minimum budget cost, the charging stations and charging vehicles configuration were determined, including quantity and layout. The analysis and solution of the hypothetical example verifies the scientificity and feasibility of the method.
The Impact of Asset Prices in Monetary Policy of Turkey

The global financial crisis was the result of the contraction in economic activity that was a result of sharp decreases in asset prices in developed countries. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the destructive effects of financial instability on price stability began to become apparent and a discussion started on how and to what extent central banks should intervene in asset prices via monetary policies. As a result of this discussion, changes in asset prices were included in the reaction functions of central banks particularly adopting inflation-targeting regime. The aim of this study is to determine whether the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) reacts to changes in stock prices apart from inflation and output gap in the period after 2002. This will help to find out whether the developments in the financial sector are taken into consideration while the monetary policies are being carried out in Turkey. The effects of the changes in asset prices on the decisions of CBRT on interest rates will be examined within the framework of forward-looking augmented Taylor rule. According to the findings of this study, CBRT shows the greatest reaction to deviations of inflation from target value. CBRT reacts the least to the deviation of stock prices from their fundamental level. The results of this study indicate that CBRT has continued to carry out monetary policies based on price stability.
Natural irrigation solutions in endodontics

Introduction One primary objective in the root canal treatments is to ensure chemomechanical removal of the microorganisms and organic/inorganic tissue residues from the infected root canals. Studies in the literature report that due to the structure of the root canals, mechanical instrumentation alone could not perform a satisfying cleaning in the canal. In ex vivo and clinical studies, some areas have remained unreached and infected, thus irrigation has played a key role in the achievement of root canal treatments (1,2). Irrigation is a process performed to make the mechanical preparation easier through lubrication by wetting the root canals with liquids of different types and concentrations, and to ensure the disinfection of the root canals by removing the organic/ inorganic debris, infected pulp tissue, microorganisms, soft and hard tissue residues from the root canals both physically and chemically. An irrigation solution of optimal quality that can completely clean the root canals alone is not still available, and although there are new developments in the relevant field of research, a solution much closer to the ideal quality has not been developed yet. Having many of the properties expected from root canal irrigation solutions, sodium hypochlorite (NaOCI) is the most ideal and the most widely used agent among all washing irrigation agents developed in recent years. NaOCl can be used at different concentrations but is commonly used in root canal treatments at concentrations from 0.5% to 6%. Besides its excellent properties such as high antimicrobial activity, satisfying tissue dissolving, accessibility, and a relatively lower cost, NaOCI also has certain disadvantages like failing to remove the smear layer alone, causing a bad smell, emphysema, possible allergic reactions, and toxic effect on the surrounding tissues. Recently, it has been discovered that it has a detrimental impact on dentin elasticity and bending resistance, as well (3,4). Another irrigation solution, chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX), is reported to show a bactericidal effect by causing coagulation of intracellular components at high concentrations, while it has shown a bacteriostatic effect at low concentrations (4,5). For DOI: 10.4274/gulhane.galenos. 2020.902 REVIEW
Leaf traits of African woody savanna species across climate and soil fertility gradients: evidence for conservative versus acquisitive resource‐use strategies

Establishing trade‐offs among traits and the degree to which they covary along environmental gradients has become a key focal point in the effort to develop community ecology into a predictive science. While there is evidence for these relationships across global data sets, they are often too broad in scale and do not consider the particularities of local to regional species pools. This decreases their usefulness for developing predictive models at scales relevant for conservation and management. We tested for trade‐offs between traits and relationships with environmental gradients in trees and shrubs sampled across southern African savannas and explored evidence for acquisitive versus conservative resource‐use strategies using a phylogenetically explicit approach. We found a distinct trade‐off between two major poles of specialization indicative of acquisitive (high leaf nitrogen concentration, leaf phosphorus concentration, leaf N:P, specific leaf area and average leaf area) and conservative resource‐use strategies (high leaf carbon to nitrogen ratios (C:N), tensile strength and leaf dry matter content). Although we found that trait variance and species occurrence were constrained by phylogeny, phylogenetically informed analyses did not contradict non‐phylogenetic analyses, strengthening relationships in most cases. The high intrasite trait variability and weak relationships with soils and climate may in part be explained by the high levels of deciduousness and disturbance (i.e. fire and herbivory) inherent in African savannas. Synthesis. The relationships between traits and between traits and environmental gradients were far weaker than, and often contradictory to, broad‐scale studies that compare these relationships across biomes and growth forms, cautioning against making generalizations about relationships at specific sites based on broad‐scale analyses.
A kinetic approach for the estimation of intracellular concentrations of nitrosative species in cells challenged by nitric oxide

Our understanding of how nitric oxide (NO) contributes to the initiation and progression of diseases such as cancer may benefit from determining intracellular concentrations of its reactive derivatives, for which experimental estimates are largely unavailable. During exposure of inflamed tissues to NO under physiologically relevant levels of oxygen, the potent nitrosative agent nitrous anhydride (N2O3) is formed, responsible for deamination of nucleobases in various forms of nucleic acids – yielding xanthine (X) and oxanine (O) from guanine, hypoxanthine (I) from adenine and uracil (U) from cytosine – and thus playing a multifaceted role in the pathology of chronic inflammation with implications for altered genetic content. Due to its reactivity, direct detection of the short-lived nitrosative intermediate is impossible in vitro or in vivo but, in this study, RNA nucleoside deamination products were chosen as surrogate markers for N2O3-induced damage based on the wider cellular distribution and solvent accessibility of RNA compared to genomic DNA. The objective of this thesis was to estimate the steady-state cytosolic N2O3 concentration by measuring formation rates for deamination lesions in RNA of mammalian cells stressed by NO. To establish a frame of reference in kinetic terms, purified total RNA from human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells was exposed to NO and O2 at constant steadystate levels of 1.7 μM and 210 μM, respectively, in a novel NO-delivery device. Deaminated purine nucleosides were then quantified using sensitive HPLC-coupled mass spectrometry methods and analysis of the kinetics of nitrosative deamination of the RNA revealed that adenine was significantly less reactive than guanine leading to concurrent formation of inosine, oxanine and xanthosine with rate constants of 3.3 × 10 4 , 4.8 × 10 5 and 1.0 × 10 6 M -1 s -1 , respectively. After assessing the reliability of the delivery device under conditions approximating exposure of cell cultures to NO, similar kinetic studies were performed by exposing mammalian TK6 cells to comparable levels of nitrosative stress. Smaller but measurable increases in deamination products were detected in total RNA extracted from intact cells which, when applied to expressions of the rate law in combination with the aforementioned rate constants, provided estimates for the intracellular N2O3 concentrations ranging between 0.2 and 70 fM. Parallel sets of experiments showed that a roughly 100-fold drug-induced depletion of glutathione (GSH) levels in cells prior to being challenged in the delivery device did not significantly alter the accumulation rate of rI, rX and rO, standing in contrast with previous kinetic analyses predicting GSH to be a dominant cellular scavenger of N2O3. Further calculations point to a more complicated protection against NO-induced deamination occurring in the cellular milieu with multiple scavengers likely to play an important role in mitigating the damaging effects of nitrosating species in the cytosol.
A Narrative Analysis of Women’s Perceptions of their Careers in Parks and Recreation

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of women in the field of parks and recreation regarding their careers and expectations for the future. A narrative analysis was applied to open-ended responses to a national survey about the career development of professional women who were members of the National Recreation and Park Association. The results include four areas of influence regarding women’s careers in parks and recreation: public service motivation, motivation and obligation to family, women in the workplace culture, and working in the field of parks and recreation. Conclusions indicate that women’s perceptions regarding their career appeared on a continuum from largely positive to somewhat negative based on how they negotiated these areas of influence.
Genetic Variability, Heritability and Genetic Advance Among Bread Wheat Genotypes at Southeastern Ethiopia

The knowledge of nature and magnitude of variation existing in available breeding materials is great importance for successful selection of varieties. This study was conducted to generate information on the extent of genetic variability in advanced bread wheat lines. Thirty bread wheat genotypes were tested at Sinana and Agarfa, Southeastern Ethiopia, in alpha lattice design with three replications. Combined over locations ANOVA was carried out for yield and yield related traits. There were highly significant differences among genotypes for all traits. Highly significant location effects at P < 0.01 were observed for yield and yield related except for harvest index which showed significant effect at P < 0.05 and grain yield non-significant location effect. This indicates the presence of variability for these characters among the tested genotypes. In combined analysis, grain yield had high PCV (27.1%) and moderate GCV was observed for biomass weight, grain yield and harvest index. Phenotypic coefficient of variance (PCV) moderate for biomass weight and harvest index. Heritability estimates in broad sense (H2) was very high for most of the characters except for grain yield (52.3%) and number of kernel per spike (73.2%). However, low GAM was observed for most of the characters except moderate GAM was observed for harvest index (15.9%). Finally, the presence of variability among the genotypes, performance of heritability and GAM in the tested traits of the genotypes confirmed possibility to increase wheat productivity. Hence, selection and hybridization on those genotypes can be recommended for farther yield improvement of bread wheat.
Structural transformation of the labor market and the aggregate economy

Women’s increased involvement in the economy has been the most significant change in labor markets during the past century. In this paper, I account for this period of structural change of the labor market in a macroeconomic model, and study how the increase in female labor force participation has affected the economy’s response to aggregate shocks. I explicitly model heterogeneity in gender and household composition as well as the historical decrease of the gender wage gap. The model captures the salient features of historical data, including a strong increase in employment among married women, low crowding-out of married men, and relatively stable employment over time for single women. I then study how the changing labor force composition affects the economy’s aggregate employment dynamics. The underlying trend in employment, driven by growth in female labor force participation, contributed to the perceived quick employment recovery after recessions before 1990, and the absence of growth thereafter consequently explains the more recent slower employment recoveries. In general, incorporating both oneand two-person households matters for employment dynamics, with single households reacting more strongly to shocks and employment responses by subgroups changing over time. Despite relatively large changes by subgroup, the aggregate effect is unchanged between the 1970s and the present time due to multiple counteracting forces.