Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hydrological Modeling of the Effect of the Transition From Flood to Drip Irrigation on Groundwater Recharge Using Multi‐Objective Calibration

The replacement of flood‐irrigation systems by drip‐irrigation technology has been widely promoted with the aim of a more sustainable use of freshwater resources in irrigated agriculture. However, evidence for an irrigation efficiency paradox emphasizes the need to improve our understanding of the impacts of irrigation transformations on water resources. Here, we developed a distributed hydrological modeling approach to investigate the spatiotemporal effect of flood and drip irrigation on groundwater recharge. The approach recognizes differences in the water balance resulting from the localized application of water in surface drip‐irrigated fields and the more extensive application of water in flood irrigation. The approach was applied to the semi‐arid Mediterranean region of Valencia (Spain) and calibrated using a multi‐objective framework. Multiple process scales were addressed within the framework by considering the annual evaporative index, monthly groundwater level dynamics, and daily soil moisture dynamics. Daily simulations from 1994 to 2015 suggested that, in our hydroclimatic conditions, (a) annual recharge is strongly related to annual rainfall, which had a four times higher impact on recharge than the type of irrigation practice, (b) flood‐irrigated recharge tends to exceed drip‐irrigated recharge by 10% at annual time scales, (c) however, recharge response to a particular precipitation event is smaller in flood irrigation than in drip irrigation, and (d) 8–18 rainfall events could generate more than half of the annual recharge in drip and flood irrigation, respectively. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the hydrological dynamics under different irrigation practices for supporting irrigation infrastructure policies.
Interval consensus of switched multiagent systems

This paper studies interval consensus for switched multiagent systems over directed networks, which consist of a continuous-time subsystem and a discrete-time subsystem regulated by a switching rule. Interval consensus refers to a state constrained consensus, where each agent is allowed to propose an acceptable interval to saturate their expressed states and the final consensus state lies in the nonempty intersection of all these intervals. We establish conditions guaranteeing interval consensus for switched multiagent system under arbitrary switching rules. Furthermore, we introduce the scaled interval consensus notion, which allows both the convergence of states to a pre-assigned proportion and the scaled consensus values lying in the desired range. Simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results.
Research note: Examining potential bias in large-scale censored data

We examine potential bias in Facebook’s 10-trillion cell URLs dataset, consisting of URLs shared on its platform and their engagement metrics. Despite the unprecedented size of the dataset, it was altered to protect user privacy in two ways: 1) by adding differentially private noise to engagement counts, and 2) by censoring the data with a 100-public-share threshold for a URL’s inclusion. To understand how these alterations affect conclusions drawn from the data, we estimate the preva-lence of fake news in the massive, censored URLs dataset and compare it to an estimate from a smaller, representative dataset. We show that censoring can substantially alter conclusions that are drawn from the Facebook dataset. Because of this 100-public-share threshold, descriptive statis-tics from the Facebook URLs dataset overestimate the share of fake news and news overall by as much as 4X. We conclude with more general implications for censoring data.
Social Media Marketing Activities and Brand Loyalty: A Meta-Analysis Examination

This research investigates the robustness of the relationship between social media marketing activities (SMMA) and brand loyalty (BL). This relationship is examined based on six contextual factors classified into three categories: methodological, economic, and social variables. A quantitative meta-analysis is conducted to test the study hypotheses, and 11 effect size from the article published between 2010 and 2019 are examined for the final sample size (n1⁄4 3,535). The meta-analysis results indicate a positive correlation between SMMA and BL at the cumulative level of 0.49, demonstrating a medium to large effect size. Potential moderating effects have been investigated for three types of study characteristic variables; the methodological (sample type and survey type), social (human development index [HDI] and level of globalization), and economic variables (country brand ranking and connectivity level). These relationships are moderated by sample type, survey type, and the country’s brand ranking, among other factors. However, the levels of globalization and connectivity, and the HDI, have no significant moderating effects on the SMMA–BL link. More importantly, the study indicates the factors that moderate these relationships. No prior meta-analysis of this fundamental relationship has been conducted
Share Pledging and Firm Cash Holdings: Evidence from Chinese A-share Listed Firms

This paper examines the relation between share pledging and cash holdings of Chinese A-share listed-firms. We find that during the years 2005 through 2015, the level of share pledging is negatively associated with cash holdings. We establish causality through a variety of econometric techniques, including a difference-in-differences approach based on a regulatory change that permits security companies to lend money to borrowers pledging their shares as collaterals. In addition, we find that the main effect is more prominent for financial constrained firms, and share pledging is associated with lower cash/investment-cash flow sensitivities and more cash dividend payouts. Overall, our findings indicate that share pledging can alleviate financial constraints of listed firms and reduce their tendencies of holding cash for precautionary motives.
An Investigation into the Development of the Force and Energy Unit through STEM Integration in Science Course and its Effects on Students' Critical Thinking Skills

In this study, to examine the change in individuals' critical thinking skills, a new unit was developed in which STEM was integrated. The outcomes of this 7th-grade unit were selected from related disciplines. During the learning process of the developed Force and Energy unit, it was aimed that individuals could make judgments by gaining critical thinking skills and evaluate events in a multi-dimensional way. In this study, which lasted for five weeks, the developed unit was used to conduct lessons with the experimental group (N=25) while the control group (N=25) was traditionally taught. The Critical Thinking Scales developed by Demir (2006a) were used in the research process. Before the implementation, no significant difference was found between the experimental and control groups regarding critical thinking skills, but after the implementation, a significant difference was observed in favour of the experimental group. When the scores obtained from the sub-scales (interpretation and explanation) were compared, a significant difference was found in favour of the experimental group. When the changes in the experimental and control groups were examined, there was no significant change in the control group students, but a significant change was found in favour of the experimental group. These changes occurred in the evaluation, Interpretation, and explanation sub-scales of the critical thinking scale. Based on these data, it can be said that the critical thinking skills of individuals who receive STEM education improve. Accordingly, making use of different disciplines simultaneously while designing a product in STEM education is an important factor in the development of individuals' critical thinking skills. Thus, teachers should carry out this process effectively.
Redefining Tumor Burden in Patients with Intermediate-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Seven-Eleven Criteria

Background and Aims: For patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the definition of high tumor burden remains controversial. This study aimed to compare the prognostic value of different criteria of tumor burden in patients with intermediate-stage HCC undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods: From 2007 to 2019, 632 treatment-naive patients with intermediate-stage HCC undergoing TACE were retrospectively enrolled. We compared different criteria of tumor burden in discriminating radiologic response and survival, including up-to-7, up-to-11, 5–7, 7 lesions criteria, and newly proposed 7–11 criteria. Results: The proportions of patients classified as high tumor burden were varied by different criteria. Among the 5 criteria, 7–11 criteria have the best performance to discriminate complete response (CR) and overall survival (OS) after TACE. In patients with low, intermediate, and high tumor burden classified by 7–11 criteria, the CR rate was 21, 12, and 2.5%, respectively (p < 0.001), and the median OS was 33.1, 22.3, and 11.9 months, respectively (p < 0.001). By multivariate analysis, 7–11 criteria were significantly associated with CR (intermediate vs. high burden, odds ratio = 4.617, p = 0.002; low vs. high burden, odds ratio = 8.675, p < 0.001) and OS (intermediate vs. high burden, hazard ratio = 0.650, p < 0.001; low vs. high burden, hazard ratio = 0.520, p < 0.001). Seven to 11 criteria also had the lowest corrected Akaike information criteria, highest homogeneity value, and highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve in predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-year mortality among all criteria. Conclusion: Conventional definitions of tumor burden were not optimal for patients with intermediate HCC. The new 7–11 criteria had the best discriminative power in predicting radiologic response and survival in patients with intermediate-stage HCC undergoing TACE.
Bioavailability of plasticizers in dust and food after oral administration to model organism pig

For decades, phthalates are widely used as plasticizers in plenty of consumer products e.g. food packaging, toys, clothing and personal care products. They are not chemically bound to the polymer matrix, so they can easily be released into the environment for example by leaching or migration. Humans are exposed to phthalates via ingestion, inhalation or dermal uptake. They are rapidly metabolized in humans and excreted via urine, mainly within two days. Phthalates act as endocrine disruptors and target mainly the reproductive system. According to US-Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA), infants have an unintended uptake of 60 mg dust per day. Among other things, dust contains a various amount of pollutants as e.g. phthalates. Therefore, dust could pose a potential health risk to humans. Currently there are no information’s about the bioavailability of phthalate in dust. Consequently in risk assessments the bioavailability is determined as 100 %. In the case of phthalates, in vitro digestion tests are indicating a bioaccessibility of 10 – 32 %. The aim of this study was to determine the relative oral bioavailability of certain phthalates as butyl benzyl phthalate (BBzP), bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) in house dust after oral ingestion. Study design: Seven five week old piglets were fed five different dust samples collected from daycare centers and one food sample. Overall, 0.43 to 0.83 g of dust samples sieved to 63 µm were administered orally. The urine was collected over a period of 38 hours. The excreted metabolites were quantified using an LC-MS/MS method. Results: The mean uptake rate of the applied dust dose for BBzP, DnBP, DEHP and DINP is 28 ± 18 %, 52 ± 18 %, 43 ± 11 % and 47 ± 26 %, respectively. The bioavailability in food is 37 ± 23 % for BBzP, 39 ± 16% for DnBP, 53 ± 15 % for DEHP and 43 ± 13 % for DINP. No significant difference between the quantities of plasticizers excreted in urine after dust administration compared to food was observed. The metabolites showed their maximum concentration three to five hours post dose. Conclusion: The bioavailability of the investigated phthalates is much higher compared to the bioaccessibility reported from in vitro digestion tests. Furthermore it is noticeable that the bioavailability of DEHP does not vary between the dust samples. A dose dependent saturation process for DINP was observed. Besides other intake pathways, dust could pose a relevant source of phthalates for toddlers.
Ukrainian Naval History as a Component of the Maritime Code of the Nation

This study is based on the information from different textbooks and manuals on the Naval and Navigation History. The Ukrainian publications on the history of navigation and naval history of Ukraine intended for teaching this subject in higher educational institutions are considered. The primary purposes of this study are: firstly, the emphasis is on the argumentation and reliability of historical constructions depending on the maritime professionalism of the researcher; secondly, the visualisation of historical material is presented clearly in the form of both photographs and relevant informative tables, which facilitate the perception of information, and in some cases replace a large number of narrative texts; thirdly, the author’s version of the structuring of the naval history of Ukraine was developed in tabular form. The study uses the statistical, chronological, and comparative approaches. As results, several tables and visual information were compiled, which could replace descriptive verbal historical texts. The connection between the national history of navigation and the Maritime Code of the Nation is established. The conclusion on the security of the state from the maritime threats was made due to the motivation of its defenders due to the professional study of the naval history of Ukraine. Recommendation – the practical significance of the study is to form a historical basis for adjusting the Ukrainian Navy’s Development Programme.
Understanding spiritual assessment and intervention in China: A roadmap for addressing client spirituality in an ethical and professional manner

ABSTRACT Spirituality is an important factor in the lives of many people in China. Yet, little information exits on how to address Chinese clients’ spiritual beliefs appropriately. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by articulating a roadmap for working with client spirituality in an ethical and professional manner. Rationales for administering a spiritual assessment are provided along with a brief overview of the process and options for conducting such assessments. The paper concludes by reviewing two prominent spiritual interventions that may resonate with many Chinese clients, both in China and other parts of the world.
SYNCHRONOUS RITUALS AND SOCIAL BONDING: REVITALIZING CONCEPTIONS OF INDIVIDUAL PERSONHOOD IN THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION

The evolutionary cognitive science of religion rarely strays far from strong individualistic principles despite a deep interest in the adaptive social bonding functions of religion. This raises serious problems for recent Christian theology, which favors concrete relational conceptions of individual personhood. Here, I argue that the wider evolutionary study of religion can mitigate this individualism by embracing recent research suggesting that religion’s social bonding functions might be explained as much through energetic, endor-phin stimulating, synchronous rituals as through cognitive mechanisms that increase prosocial behavior. The brain opioid theory of social attachment provides a helpful framework for understanding the evolutionary signiﬁcance of such rituals. A close examination of research into the social effects of synchronous activity, I argue, reveals the need for a theoretically pluralistic explanation of how religion facilitates sociality, the major components of which are readily interpreted in terms that recognize the inherent relationality of individual personhood.
Rainfall, runoff and shallow groundwater response in a mixed‐use, agro‐forested watershed of the northeast, USA

Stream and shallow groundwater responses to rainfall are characterized by high spatial variability, but hydrologic response variability across small, agro‐forested sub‐catchments remains poorly understood. Conceivably, improved understanding in this regard will result in agricultural practices that more effectively limit nutrient runoff, erosion, and pollutant transport. Terrestrial hydrologic response approaches can provide valuable information on stream‐aquifer connectivity in these mixed‐use watersheds. A study was implemented, including eight stream and co‐located shallow groundwater monitoring sites, in a small sub‐catchment of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in the Northeast, USA to advance this ongoing need. During the study period, 100 precipitation‐receiving days (i.e., 24‐hour periods, midnight to midnight) were observed. On average, the groundwater table responded more to precipitation than stream stage (level change of 0.03 vs. 0.01 m and rainfall‐normalized level change estimate of 3.81 vs. 3.37). Median stream stage responses, groundwater table responses, and response ratios were significantly different between sub‐catchments (n = 8; p < 0.001). Study area average precipitation thresholds for runoff and shallow groundwater flow were 2.8 and 0.6 cm, respectively. Individual sub‐catchment thresholds ranged from 0.5 to 2.8 cm for runoff and 0.2 to 1.3 cm for shallow groundwater flow. Normalized response lag times between the stream and shallow groundwater ranged from −0.50 to 3.90 s·cm−1, indicating that stormflow in one stream section was regulated by groundwater flow during the period of study. The observed differences in hydrologic responses to precipitation advance future modelling efforts by providing examples of how terrestrial groundwater response methods can be used to investigate sub‐catchment spatial variability in stream‐aquifer gradients with co‐located shallow groundwater and stream stage data. Additionally, results demonstrate asynchronous stream and shallow groundwater responses on precipitation‐receiving days, which may hold important implications for modelling hydrologic and biogeochemical fate and transport processes in small, agro‐forested catchments.
Luxury housing and gentrification in New York City, 2010-2019

ABSTRACT In recent years, New York City has experienced a boom in high end “luxury” construction. This paper maps the spatial expansion of the luxury housing market, using a GIS analysis of over 50,000 high-end real estate sales. It analyzes how the building boom contributed to super-gentrification, the further upgrading of already gentrified neighborhoods. The luxury housing market grew 102% during the 2010s, following two spatial patterns: an intensification of luxury development in already-affluent neighborhoods (especially on the west side of Manhattan) and an expansion into more recently gentrified neighborhoods (especially in northern and central Brooklyn). The luxury market is concentrated in areas that have 81% higher incomes and 31% more white residents that the rest of the city, though new luxury construction occurred in areas with a more diverse racial and class mix. While luxury development has expanded into marginally less-elite neighborhoods, it typically occurs in already gentrified places.
Green Synthesis of Metallic Nanoparticles: Applications and Limitations

The past decade has witnessed a phenomenal rise in nanotechnology research due to its broad range of applications in diverse fields including food safety, transportation, sustainable energy, environmental science, catalysis, and medicine. The distinctive properties of nanomaterials (nano-sized particles in the range of 1 to 100 nm) make them uniquely suitable for such wide range of functions. The nanoparticles when manufactured using green synthesis methods are especially desirable being devoid of harsh operating conditions (high temperature and pressure), hazardous chemicals, or addition of external stabilizing or capping agents. Numerous plants and microorganisms are being experimented upon for an eco–friendly, cost–effective, and biologically safe process optimization. This review provides a comprehensive overview on the green synthesis of metallic NPs using plants and microorganisms, factors affecting the synthesis, and characterization of synthesized NPs. The potential applications of metal NPs in various sectors have also been highlighted along with the major challenges involved with respect to toxicity and translational research.
Thiamine limitation of periphyton in Adirondack Mountain streams

Recent observations in marine ecosystems show that the presence of thiamine regulates primary production, but little is known about the ecological effect of thiamine in streams. We conducted nutrient enrichment experiments in four streams in the New York's Adirondack Mountains using nutrient diffusing substrates to evaluate the influence of thiamine (vitamin B1) on the growth of stream periphyton. Contrasting treatments in our study included nutrient additions of thiamine (C12H17ClN4OS·HCl), nitrogen (NH4Cl), and phosphorus (NaH2PO4). Thiamine limitation occurred in 12 of 14 experiments conducted from June through October in 2015–2017, nitrogen limitation occurred in eight experiments, and phosphorus limitation in one experiment. The magnitude of response of periphyton to thiamine enrichment varied among seasons, years, and streams. The growth‐enhancing effect on periphyton biomass from thiamine or nitrogen addition typically occurred between 8 and 32 d of incubation, though the periphyton accumulation rate declined after 16–24 d of incubation. Our results showed that thiamine is a limiting nutrient for primary producers in our study streams and its effect size is similar to that of nitrogen. These findings extend the prior recognition of thiamine's substantial influence on marine photosynthetic eukaryotes to having a similar role in freshwater ecosystems.
Roles of nickel binding proteins in Helicobacter species

Individual gene targeted mutants in hpn, hpn-like, and double mutants in both hpn genes were more sensitive to nickel, cobalt and cadmium toxicity than the parent strain, with the hpnlike strain showing the most metal sensitivity of the two individual his-rich protein mutants. The mutant strains contained up to 8-fold more urease activity than the parent in nickel-deficient conditions, and the parent strain could achieve mutant strain activity levels by nickel supplementation. The mutants contained 3-4 fold more and the double mutant about 10 fold more Ni associated with their total urease pools, even though all the strains expressed similar levels of total urease protein. Hydrogenase activities in the mutants were like those in the parent strain, so hydrogenase is fully activated in the nickel-deficient conditions. The histidine-rich proteins appear to compete with the Ni-dependent urease maturation machinery in low nickel conditions. Upon lowering the pH of the growth medium from 7.3 to 5, the wild type urease activity increased 3-fold but the activity in the three mutant strains was relatively unaffected. This pH affect was attributed to a nickel storage role for the His-rich proteins. In low nickel conditions, addition of a nickel chelator did not significantly affect urease activity of the wild type but decreased activity of all the mutants, supporting a role for the His-rich proteins as Ni reservoirs. These nickel-reservoirs significantly impact active urease activities achieved. The