Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Pumice Additions on Thermal and Mechanical Behaviors of Epoxy Resin

In this study, thermal conductivity, mechanical properties and thermal degradation of pumice added epoxy materials were investigated. 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% of pumice was added to the epoxy resin (EP) % by weight. Various types of analyzes and tests were carried out to determine the thermal conductivity, mechanical properties and thermal degradation of these epoxy materials. As a result of the tests and analyzes; the addition of pumice leads decrease in the thermal conductivity coefficient and density of the pure EP material. Also increases the degree of hardness. The addition of pumice had a positive effect on mechanical properties. Compared to pure EP, it has increased the tensile strength, Young's modulus, bending strength and flexural modulus. As a result of TGA analysis was determined that the incorporation of pumice into the EP, its decomposition rate caused progressed more slowly. At 800 o C, the carbon residue improved as a result of the addition of pumice.
Clonal variations in seed characters and germination in Hevea brasiliensis

The principal form of dissemination for most plant species is seeds, an important source of biodiversity conservation. For rubber plantations, seeds are the initial material for seedling production. In Cameroon, there is limited information related to clonal seed characterisation and early growth performance. This study sorts to characterise Hevea brasiliensis seeds from GT 1, PR 107, PB 217, PB 235, and PB 260 clones and evaluate the germination rate and seedling early growth characteristics to enable planning for nursery management. Clone GT 1 had the highest seed length (3.98 cm), seed kernel weight (3.4 g) and total seed weight (4.75 g). Clone PB 235 had the heaviest shell (1.96 g). There was no significant correlation between seed size, germination percentage and early seedling growth for the different clones. Clone PR 107 had the lowest per cent seed germination, with just 55 per cent of its seed germinating after two weeks, whereas clone PB 217 had the highest seed germination (92.5%). Seedling height, seed germination percentage and shell weight were significantly correlated. The results of this study provide some useful information for rubber nursery managers.
Geospatial modelling of large-wood supply to rivers: a state-of-the-art model comparison in Swiss mountain river catchments

Abstract. Different models have been used in science and practice to identify instream large-wood (LW) sources and to estimate LW supply to rivers. This contribution reviews the existing models proposed in the last 35 years and compares two of the most recent geographic information system (GIS)-based models by applying them to 40 catchments in Switzerland. Both models, which we call here the empirical GIS approach (EGA) and fuzzy-logic GIS approach (FGA), consider landslides, debris flows, bank erosion, and mobilization of instream wood as recruitment processes and compute volumetric estimates of LW supply based on three different scenarios of process frequency and magnitude. Despite being developed following similar concepts and fed with similar input data, the results from the two models differ markedly. In general, estimated supply wood volumes were larger in each of the scenarios when computed with the FGA and lower with the EGA models. Landslides were the dominant process identified by the EGA, whereas bank erosion was the predominant process according to the FGA model. These differences are discussed, and results are compared to available observations coming from a unique database. Regardless of the limitations of these models, they are useful tools for hazard assessment, the design of infrastructure, and other management strategies.
All roads lead to Rome? Exploring birthplace effects and the ‘southern question’ in Italian soccer

ABSTRACT The expression “southern question” is used in reference to the poverty and economic underdevelopment, less advanced social relations, and clientelist style of politics that characterize South-Italy compared to North and Central Italy. This study aimed to investigate the presence of the “southern question” in Italian soccer. Accordingly, we examined the birthplace distribution of 2,012 Italian soccer players who have played in any national representative team (U15: n = 466; U16-U21: n = 1,939; Senior Team: n = 217). Chi-square analysis revealed an overrepresentation of players born in North and Central Italy, in all cohorts, compared to national norms (all P values < 0.0001). Odds ratios showed that players born in North and Central Italy had the greatest likelihood of representing Italy internationally at both youth and senior levels compared to players born in South Italy (ranging from 2 to 3.2). Factors that negatively impact upon South-Italy players’ soccer developmental journey have been proposed and discussed.
Rates of escape under iteration of analytic functions

In this thesis we focus on sets with a uniform rate of escape under the iteration of transcendental entire functions. We study their properties and their structure as well as using them as a tool to prove some interesting topological results. First, motivated by the work of Rippon and Stallard, we generalise the quite fast escaping set by introducing a family of sets that escape to infinity at a uniform rate associated with the maximum modulus of the function. We examine under which conditions these sets are equal to the fast escaping set, which plays an important role in the iteration of transcendental entire functions. We prove that, in some cases, points which satisfy a relatively weak condition are actually fast escaping. We also show that this is not always the case by constructing an example of a function whose fast escaping set is not equal to these newly introduced sets. Secondly, we look at the so-called spider's web structure and we give some general results which ensure that the escaping set, or a superset thereof, contains a spider's web. In particular, we prove that for a well-known function that was first studied by Fatou the escaping set has the structure of a spider's web. Using similar techniques, we also generalise this result to a class of functions all of which have one Baker domain. Finally, motivated by the connection between spiders' webs and the non-escaping endpoints of Cantor bouquet Julia sets that first appeared when we studied Fatou's function, we present some topological results on the non-escaping endpoints of functions in the exponential family. More specifically, we show that the set of non-escaping endpoints together with infinity forms a totally separated set for every function in the exponential family whose singular value belongs to the Fatou set. This result is complementary to one of Alhabib and Rempe-Gillen who showed that, for the same class of functions, infinity is an explosion point for the set of escaping endpoints.
Awareness About Folic Acid Supplementation in First-Trimester Pregnant Women of Rural Raipur District, Chhattisgarh, and Its Determinants: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Women are supplemented with folic acid (FA) during pregnancy as well as preconceptionally to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) in newborns. To understand the importance of FA supplementation, women need to have awareness about the same, which in turn may be influenced by different factors. It is also known that both FA and vitamin B12 deficiency tend to cause NTDs in newborns and anemia. Very few studies have studied the relationship between hemoglobin, FA, and vitamin B12 levels. In this study, we aim to estimate the level of awareness of FA supplementation among pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy and the factors determining the presence of awareness regarding the same. Also, we aim to estimate any correlation between hemoglobin, FA, and vitamin B12 levels among a subset of pregnant women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Abhanpur Block of Raipur district in Chhattisgarh among 399 pregnant women in their first trimester of pregnancy, in which their knowledge was assessed using a pretested semistructured questionnaire. Each participant's knowledge score regarding FA supplementation was calculated and scored based on six indicators and classified as low, intermediate, and high scores. Logistic regression was applied to find out any significant association between knowledge about FA supplementation with any other sociodemographic variables. Scatter plots were used to assess the correlation of FA with hemoglobin, vitamin B12, and knowledge scores among 104 participants. Results: The majority (77.9%) of women had low knowledge scores with a mean score of 1.4 (0.15). It was found that only 45.6% of the participants knew the importance of FA supplementation, and the majority (23.1%) were informed by auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) followed by doctors. The majority (41.6%) of the study participants also did not know when to start FA, and only 1.3% knew that FA should be taken preconceptionally. On multivariable logistic regression, women who lived in joint families had significantly higher odds of having intermediate knowledge compared to those who lived in nuclear families. Although not statistically significant, there was a positive correlation between serum vitamin B12 and FA levels and also between hemoglobin and serum FA levels. However, a significant positive correlation was found between serum FA levels and the knowledge scores of the study participants. Conclusion: The majority of study participants had poor knowledge and awareness regarding FA supplementation. So, health education, as well as information, education, and communication (IEC) activities, is required to improve the knowledge about FA supplementation among women of reproductive age in the community. A better understanding of FA supplementation can lead to adherence to FA consumption and prevent NTDs among newborns.
Rethinking the Exploration of Dichotomous Data: Mokken Scale Analysis Versus Factorial Analysis

The need to determine the correct dimensionality of theoretical constructs and generate valid measurement instruments when underlying items are categorical has generated a significant volume of research in the social sciences. This article presents two studies contrasting different categorical exploratory techniques. The first study compares Mokken scale analysis (MSA) and two-factor-based exploratory techniques for noncontinuous variables: item factor analysis and Normal Ogive Harmonic Analysis Robust Method (NOHARM). Comparisons are conducted across techniques and in reference to the common principal component analysis model using simulated data under conditions of two-dimensionality with different degrees of correlation (r = .0 to .6). The second study shows the theoretical and practical results of using MSA and NOHARM (the factorial technique which functioned best in the first study) on two nonsimulated data sets. The nonsimulated data are particularly interesting because MSA was used to solve a theoretical debate. Based on the results from both studies, we show that the ability of NOHARM to detect dimensionality and scalability is similar to MSA when the data comprise two uncorrelated latent dimensions; however, NOHARM is preferable when data are drawn from instruments containing latent dimensions weakly or moderately correlated. This article discusses the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Removal of Water Turbidity by using Aluminum Filings as a Filter Media

The ability of using aluminum filings which is locally solid waste was tested as a mono media in gravity rapid filter. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of variation of influent water turbidity (10, 20and 30 NTU); flow rate(30, 40, and 60 l/hr) and bed height (30and60)cm on the performance of aluminum filings filter media for 5 hours run time and compare it with the conventional sand filter. The results indicated that aluminum filings filter showed better performance than sand filter in the removal of turbidity and in the reduction of head loss. Results showed that the statistical model developed by the multiple linear regression was proved to bevalid, and it could be used to predict head loss in aluminum filings filter and sand filter with R2 equal to 0.94 and 0.968 respectively.
Relationship between reaction time and performance in the 60 m hurdles at the 2022 World Indoor Championships

Previous studies indicate that there is a large influence of the starting reaction time (RT) on sprint performance, but also that some recent changes in athletic rules may affect this correlation. This study aimed to examine the relationship between RT and results in: men’s (M60mH) and women’s (W60mH) disciplines 60 m over hurdles, 60 m hurdles in the heptathlon (H), 60 m hurdles in the pentathlon (P) at the recently held World Indoor Championship 2022 (WIC). The aim was also to determine whether there are differences in RT between M60mH and W60mH, M60mH and H, W60mH, and P, and between H and P. The study included 170 competitors who competed at the WIC. Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient (r) was used for correlation analysis, and the t-test for independent samples was used to examine differences between groups. A statistically significant correlation (r=0.23, N=72, p=0.05) was found between the results and RT in W60mH when observing the entire sample of participants (r2 = 5.29). Considering that in H (r=0.42, N=10, p=0.23, r2=0.18) and P (r=0.54, N=12, p=0.07, r2=0.29), a much higher correlation was obtained between results and RT than in competitors in the 60 m hurdles event, we believe that this is a consequence of different athletic rules that refer to a false start. There are no significant differences between RT for M60mH and W60mH, M60mH and H, W60mH, and P, and between H and P. Coaches should pay attention to developing all parts of the sprint race, including the reaction time.
Production and perspective approach of ellagic acid from mango pulp industrial waste by the Micrococcus luteus

Ellagic acid (EA) has gained momentum recently due to its various properties like anti‐mutagenic, anti‐carcinogenic, anti‐oxidant, anti‐viral and many other benefits to human health. The present study focused on the microbial production of EA from mango pulp processing industrial waste as an alternate method for conventional chemical extraction. Our experiments demonstrated that the 100 μg/mL of EA was produced by Micrococcus luteus from 9% of mango pulp waste and the effect of several fermentation parameters of EA production with Pontecorvo medium has yielded 496.75 mg/g at pH 6.0, temperature 35°C, ammonium nitrate (nitrogen source), sucrose (carbon source), potassium chloride (mineral source) with 0.5% of inoculum after 48 h of incubation. EA synthesized was further confirmed with the standard EA in high performance liquid chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Perspective approaches like drought resistant in plants, anti‐parasitic activity and anti‐cancer activities have been proven and they were docked against depression proteins (receptors), namely MAO‐A using Epic, LigPrep and Glide module of Schrödinger. EA was found to have an ability to bind with the candidate receptor proteins 2Z5X for depression. Microbial bioconversion of mango wastes from pulp processing industries which can reduce the environmental pollution and convert as value added product.
Determinants of impulsive buying among Hindu women: The impact of CRM in the retail industry

Bali's culture is synonymous with its inhabitants' practice of celebrating religious holidays. Hindu women in Bali often purchase ritual equipment. This research aims to identify the determinants of impulsive buying among Hindu women in the retail industry, as well as the impact of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on managing this behavior. The research method used is quantitative, with a sample size of 250 respondents analyzed using Smart PLS. The results show that the hedonic shopping value has a favorable and substantial influence on impulsive purchasing, as does the desire to buy impulsively. Self-control has the potential to adversely moderate the effect of the desire to acquire on impulsive purchasing. Hedonic shopping value is important to consider, thus marketing programs should accommodate the hedonic shopping value that Hindu women in Bali seek when shopping for Galungan (yadnya) preparations.
A Bayesian Nonparametric Spiked Process Prior for Dynamic Model Selection

In many applications, investigators monitor processes that vary in space and time, with the goal of identifying temporally persistent and spatially localized departures from a baseline or "normal" behavior. In this manuscript, we consider the monitoring of pneumonia and influenza (P&I) mortality, to detect influenza outbreaks in the continental United States, and propose a Bayesian nonparametric model selection approach to take into account the spatio-temporal dependence of outbreaks. More specifically, we introduce a zero-inflated conditionally identically distributed species sampling prior which allows borrowing information across time and to assign data to clusters associated to either a null or an alternate process. Spatial dependences are accounted for by means of a Markov random field prior, which allows to inform the selection based on inferences conducted at nearby locations. We show how the proposed modeling framework performs in an application to the P&I mortality data and in a simulation study, and compare with common threshold methods for detecting outbreaks over time, with more recent Markov switching based models, and with spike-and-slab Bayesian nonparametric priors that do not take into account spatio-temporal dependence.
Hydrodynamical Simulations of the Galaxy Population: Enduring Successes and Outstanding Challenges

We review the progress in modeling the galaxy population in hydrodynamical simulations of the ΛCDM cosmogony. State-of-the-art simulations now broadly reproduce the observed spatial clustering of galaxies; the distributions of key characteristics, such as mass, size, and SFR; and scaling relations connecting diverse properties to mass. Such improvements engender confidence in the insight drawn from simulations. Many important outcomes, however, particularly the properties of circumgalactic gas, are sensitive to the details of the subgrid models used to approximate the macroscopic effects of unresolved physics, such as feedback processes. We compare the outcomes of leading simulation suites with observations, and with each other, to identify the enduring successes they have cultivated and the outstanding challenges to be tackled with the next generation of models. Our key conclusions include the following: ▪ Realistic galaxies can be reproduced by calibrating the ill-constrained parameters of subgrid feedback models. Feedback is dominated by stars and black holes in low-mass and high mass galaxies, respectively. ▪ Adjusting or disabling the processes implemented in simulations can elucidate their impact on observables, but outcomes can be degenerate. ▪ Similar galaxy populations can emerge in simulations with dissimilar feedback implementations. However, these models generally predict markedly different gas flow rates into, and out of, galaxies and their halos. CGM observations are thus a promising means of breaking this degeneracy and guiding the development of new feedback models. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 61 is August 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews. org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
LOCAL ASYIIPfOTIC NORMALITY FOR INIEPENDENT N<Jf IDENTICAlLY DIsrRIBUfEI) OBSERVATIafS IN SEIIIPARAJIETRIC JfDDELS

ABSTRACf A set of conditions ensuring local asymptotic normality for independent but not necessarily identically distributed observations in semiparametric models is presented here. The conditions are turned out to be more direct and easier to verify than those of Oosterhoff and van Zwet (1979) in semiparametric models. Examples considered include the simple linear regression model and Cox's proportional hazards model without censoring where the covariates are not random.
Diffraction of Laguerre Gaussian Vortex Beams

The natural phenomenon of waves bending around obstacles is diffraction. Spatial characteristics of the diffraction pattern depends on the incident wave field, the shape, and size of the aperture. The diffraction of a plane wave of light by a slit and a circular aperture produce the sinc-squared and the Airy intensity patterns, respectively. On the contrary, the diffraction of Laguerre-Gauss vortex (LGV) beams by simple apertures such as a slit, circular apertures, and polygons show many unexpected features. LGV beams have ρe transverse spatial dependence, where ρ is the distance from the beam axis, φ the azimuthal angle, and ` is the index of orbital angular momentum that corresponds to `~ of orbital angular momentum per photon. The LGV beams were produced from Hermite-Gauss beams using an astigmatic mode converter. The LGV beams were diffracted by a slit, circular apertures, and polygons. The far-field diffraction pattern was recorded. LGV beam of order ` when diffracted by a slit at the beam waist showed, `+ 1 fringes. The diffraction performed along the direction of propagation, away from the waist, showed a shear in the pattern, with maximum shear at Rayleigh range. As the slit was moved even further away, the diffraction pattern evolved into two dominant peaks irrespective of `. When LGV beams of order ` are diffracted by a circular aperture, the minima of the diffracted field depend on the zeros of `+ 1 order Bessel functions. The center of the diffraction pattern has a minimum for ` ≥ 1. When the beam axis and the aperture axis are laterally separated, this central minimum splits into ` minima. The diffraction of LGV beams by regular polygons created an optical lattice. The diffraction pattern by a regular polygon of n sides has n−fold symmetry for both even and odd n, unlike the 2n−fold symmetry for odd n, and n−fold for even n due to a plane wave. The center of the diffraction pattern is bright for ` = n, and multiples of n. The diffraction pattern has a repeating, nesting structure for ` > n. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.
Heroin Inhalation Leukoencephalopathy: An Overlooked Entity in the Opioid Epidemic

Heroin inhalation leukoencephalopathy (HIL) is a rare complication of vaporized heroin inhalation leading to white matter degeneration resulting in a range of neurologic disturbances including softened speech, cerebellar ataxia, behavioral changes, cerebellar gait abnormalities, and even respiratory failure resulting in death in the most severe cases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) most commonly demonstrates bilateral hyperintensities affecting the basal ganglia, periventricular white matter, and cerebellum. In this case report, we present a relatively mild case of HIL in a young female patient to describe the characteristic challenges associated with the condition’s presentation, diagnosis, and treatment. While healthcare workers everywhere are addressing a complex and ever-changing opioid epidemic, we strive to raise awareness about HIL as only one of a variety of complications resulting from opioid use disorder.