Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
History and Risk Assessment of Vinyl Chloride Monomer Leaching from PVC Pipe: Case History in Doniphan County, Kansas RWD # 5

The discovery by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe used in distribution systems could leach the vinyl chloride monomer and contaminate the drinking water delivered to customers was largely accidental. Doniphan County, Kansas Rural Water District No. 5 (hereafter referred to as Doniphan # 5), like many rural water districts, was formed in the late 1960s when the United States Department of Agriculture Farmers Home Administration (FHA) financed regional water systems to connect small public drinking water supplies and private wells into a more regional system to serve rural America. In addition to providing drinking water to more than 1,400 people, Doniphan No. 5 sells water to a smaller water district, Doniphan County Rural Water District # 2 in northeast Kansas. Doniphan # 5 had been testing for VOCs since 1985. These samples are taken, as required by the regulations, at entry points to the distribution system. These entry points in rural water systems are wells, clusters of wells, water imported from another supply or from a treatment plant. There were no detects in the official VOC testing done under state and EPA regulations for Doniphan # 5.
Mitigating the Urban Heat Island Effect by Light and Thin Rooftop Greening

A main enumeration was carried out for mitigating the urban heat island effect by light and thin rooftop greening at the existent building. Six kinds of light and thin rooftop greening systems were installed on the existent building roof, and those heat characteristic and heat balance were analyzed. Surface temperature of the non-greening area was the highest, 60°C. Surface temperature of greening area was 30-35°C in the time when the irrigation was done regularly, and it was 35-45°C in the time when the irrigation was reduced. About accumulated evapotranspiration, in the time when the irrigation was reduced, Grass area was about 3kg/m², but Sedum Mexicanum Britton area was 0.4-2.0 kg/m². The results of heat balance analysis show the latent heat consumption of evapotranspiration at greening system to prevent increase sensible heat. It became clear that light and thin rooftop greening had effect of mitigating the urban heat island effect from the above result. It confirmed that mitigating the urban heat island effect by rooftop greening varied in the kind of plant, water condition and so on.
Synthesis of Polyacetylene-like Modi ﬁ ed Graphene Oxide Aerogel and Its Enhanced Electrical Properties

: A graphene-based or carbon-based aerogel is a three-dimensional (3D) solid material in which the carbon atoms are arranged in a sheet-like nanostructure. In this study, we report the synthesis of low-density polymer-modi ﬁ ed aerogel monoliths by 3D macroassemblies of graphene oxide sheets that exhibit signi ﬁ cant internal surface areas (982 m 2 /g) and high electrical conductivity ( ∼ 0.1 to 1 × 10 2 S/cm). Di ﬀ erent types of materials were prepared to obtain a single monolithic solid starting from a suspension of single-layer graphene oxide (GO) sheets and a polymer, made from the precursors 4-carboxybenzaldehyde and poly(vinyl alcohol). These materials were used to cross-link the individual sheets by covalent bonds, resulting in wet-gels that were supercritically dried and then, in some cases, thermally reduced to yield graphene aerogel composites. The average densities were approaching 15 − 20 mg/cm 3 . This approach allowed for the modulation of the distance between the sheets, pore dimension, surface area, and related properties. This speci ﬁ c GO/polymer ratio has suitable malleability, making it a viable conductive material for use in 3D printing; it also has other properties suitable for energy storage, catalysis, sensing and biosensing applications, bioelectronics, and superconductors.
Online Naturalization: Evolving Roles in Online Knowledge Production Communities

Foote, Jeremy D. M.S., Purdue University, August 2014. Online Naturalization: Evolving Roles in Online Knowledge Production Communities. Major Professor: Seungyoon Lee. Web-based peer production communities, like Wikipedia and open source software, have created digital artifacts of growing cultural, financial, and technological importance. Understanding how and why people choose to join these communities, and why they eventually leave them, is therefore an important topic. We take all of the edit data from six years of activity on the online genealogy wiki WeRelate, and create monthly snapshots of behavior and interaction networks for all 9,570 users who edited the site. We use machine learning to cluster these behavioral snapshots into four “behavioral roles”. We identify one of these roles as being indicative of a community of practice, and we investigate how users move from role to role. As in many other online, peer production projects, the vast majority of users are only active for a short time, and contribute very little while a small number of users contribute a great deal. Figuring out how to recruit and encourage these users is very important to the success of peer production projects. We use visualizations, regression analysis, and stochastic actor-oriented modeling of four different types of interaction networks to study whether these very active users represent a community of practice that new users can learn from and join. We also study how people leave the community, and whether there are signals that someone is starting to disengage. We do not find much evidence that these users go through a period of legitimate peripheral participation or acculturation. Rather, those who will become core members show behavior that is similar to long-term core members from their first few
Edinburgh Research Explorer Higher-Order Convolution PML (CPML) for FDTD Electromagnetic Modelling

—A new simple formulation for incorporating a higher-order perfectly matched layer (PML) stretching function within a convolution PML (CPML) implementation in ﬁnite-difference time-domain (FDTD) electromagnetic modelling codes is developed. Obtaining in closed form the corresponding time domain impulse response of the inverse of a number of higher-order PML stretching functions enables the efﬁcient and simple implementation of such higher-order PMLs using recursive convolution, in the same way as it was introduced initially for the complex frequency shifted (CFS) PML. This new higher-order CPML exhibits excellent performance that is comparable to the performance shown by other higher-order PML formulations whilst it retains the advantage of a relatively simpler implementation.
Impact of Terminal Heat and Combined Heat-Drought Stress on Plant Growth, Yield, Grain Size, and Nutritional Quality in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

Chickpea is the third most consumed pulse and provides a kit of essential nutrients for an exponential population. High temperatures and drought stress are two major abiotic stresses that cause serious effects on chickpea growth and development. The comprehension of abiotic stresses’ impact on chickpea productivity and nutritional quality will permit the selection of promising genotypes. The current study aimed to assess the impact of heat and drought stresses on plant growth, grain yield and its components, grain size, and nutritional quality in chickpea. For this purpose, 43 international chickpea genotypes were evaluated under normal, heat, and combined heat-drought stress conditions. The findings revealed a significant decrease of over 50% in plant height, biological yield, and seed yield under both stress conditions. Grain size and hundred-seed weight were the most heritable traits under normal, heat, and combined heat-drought stress. Proteins were accumulated under both stresses, evolving from 20.26% for normal conditions to 22.19% for heat stress and to 21.94% for combined heat-drought stress. For minerals, significant variation between treatments was observed for Mn, Mg, and Na. Our results also showed a significant impact of genotype and genotype-environment interaction factors only on K content. Using selection indices, 22 genotypes were identified as highly tolerant to the combined heat-drought stress, while eleven genotypes were heat-tolerant. Mineral profile analysis according to the contrasting tolerance clusters revealed decreased potassium content in susceptible genotypes, indicating genetic potential in the studied chickpea collection, ensuring tolerance to both stresses while maintaining good grain quality.
Air-Sea Interactions in the Terra Nova Bay Region of Antarctica as Measured by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

In September 2009, several unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) flew over Terra Nova Bay (TNB), Antarctica to collect measurements of the three dimensional properties of the atmospheric boundary layer. TNB has important implications on the atmosphere, ocean, and cryosphere due to an open water polynya in the region. Within the area of lower sea ice concentrations, significant air-sea interactions occur. Until September 2009, observations of the wintertime atmospheric boundary layer over the polynya had not been collected. The UAVs captured important information on the structure, moistening, and warming of the atmosphere due to the presence of the polynya. This study seeks to increase our understanding of the air-sea interactions in TNB by estimating and assessing the primary forcing mechanisms of heat exchange in the region. Three flights in September 2009 collected measurements designed to capture the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer as the continental air passed over the relatively warmer and moister surface of the polynya. This dissertation first analyzes climatological observations to put the field season observations into a broader context, showing September 2009 was an anomalous year. Next, a new and innovative methodology, based only on atmospheric data, estimates heat fluxes over TNB. Finally, UAV and satellite data are synthesized to identify the primary forcing mechanisms controlling the fluxes in TNB. The structure of the atmospheric boundary layer is also studied as the continental air mass moves over the polynya. This work is significant for several reasons. First, the UAV data collected are the first in-situ observations gathered during the wintertime months over the polynya. This information is key for understanding the significant air-sea interactions that occur during this season. Second, the methodology developed to estimate heat exchange from the in situ UAV data provides a unique approach for quantifying air-sea interactions without bulk flux algorithms that have large uncertainty. Finally, a better understanding of the forcing mechanisms of energy exchange in this region has widespread applicability toward other polynyas in the Arctic and Antarctic, and in areas of cold air outbreaks. This work also has potential to improve the uncertainty of bulk flux algorithms in model output.
Soil organic carbon density and storage in Tunisia.

Abstract The stock of soil organic carbon (SOC) in Tunisia was calculated using soil profile descriptions available in the Tunisian soil literature defined by FAO/UNESCO classification, and the digital soil map 1:500 000. A soil database has been compiled, containing data from 5024 horizons and 1483 profiles. SOC stocks have been calculated for each profile by a classical method for a given depth, it consists of summing SOC stocks by layer determined as a product of bulk density ( D b ), organic carbon (OC) content, and layer thickness. D b values were calculated from pedotransfer functions when we have missing values. SOC stocks by profiles were calculated and linked by soil type to polygons of a digital soil map of Tunisia. In total, Tunisian SOC stocks are 1.006 Pg C in the 0 to 100cm soil depth, and 0.405 Pg C in the upper layer 0-30 cm. The surface horizon (0-30 cm) stored 40% of the soil organic carbon stock. OC stocks were higher in Luvisols 71.6 and 159.2 t/ha in 0-30 and 0-100cm soil depth, respectively. In Podzoluvisols there are 6.19 and 138.8 t/ha, but amounts are lower in Lithosols at 18.4 and 40.4 t/ha.
Patients' willingness to discuss trade-offs to lower their out-of-pocket drug costs.

Efforts to reform the U.S. health care system have placed considerable attention on patients’ financial burden from out-of-pocket drug costs. Patients frequently have difficulty paying for medications and although they are encouraged to discuss ways to lower drug costs with physicians, such communication frequently fails to occur.1-4 Physicians may be reluctant to initiate these cost discussions because some cost-cutting strategies involve potential trade-offs such as increased dosing frequency, or risk of side effects, or lower treatment effectiveness.1 Knowing patients’ willingness to consider such less than optimal cost-lowering strategies could encourage physicians to discuss drug costs with their patients.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF URBANIZATION AND INDUSTRIALIZATION ON SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER QUALITY

A study on surface and groundwater quality has been undertaken to assess impact of urbanization and industrialization on surface and groundwater quality. A total of 96 samples of surface and groundwater (tubewells and handpumps) were collected from three broad landuse categories i.e agricultural, urban and industrial areas of Dehradun districts in January, 2008 representing the winter season and 44 samples during May and October representing summer and post monsoon season respectively. These samples were analyzed for dissolve major ions (HCO 3, SO4 2, Cl , NO3 PO - 4 , F - Na + , K + , Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , SiO2), trace metals (Zn, Cd, Pb, Cu, Fe, & bacteriological examination (total coliform & E.coli). A comparison is also made with previous data to assess the temporal change that has taken place. Most of the ion concentration in surface water of Dehradun districts is high in summer season as compared to post monsoon period indicating the effect of elevated temperature, increased evaporation and absence of recharge during the low water level period of the pre monsoon season. Among anions bicarbonate is the most dominant ion (65%) followed by sulphate (23.3%), chloride (6.4%) and nitrate (4.9%), fluoride (0.4%), phosphate (0.3%) in winter season. Among cations, calcium is most dominant ion, contributing about 63% followed by Mg (24%), Na (10.7%) and K (2.3%) in winter season. The percentage of positive result of Total coliform and E.coli has increased to 73% and 36% during summer and 70% and 47 % during post monsoon season respectively as compared to 49% and 28% during winter season, indicating higher bacteriological pollution during summer and post monsoon season.
Growth centres in the European urban system

The authors present a review of urban systems research with particular reference to Europe. Chapter 1 is an introductory overview of world urban systems research. Chapter 2 sets forth the objectives of this study including an examination of whether the clean break hypothesis (end of the historical rural-urban flow of population) can be applied to the present situation in Europe. In Chapter 3 problems of area definition data availability and comparison for the European countries in the study are discussed. In Chapters 4 and 5 the main aspects of urban growth and change in Europe are analyzed; in Chapter 6 the economic structure of selected urban systems is analyzed. In Chapter 7 some conclusions concerning European urban systems are presented
Indosinian Zongwulong orogenic belt on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

The Zongwulong tectonic belt situated in between the Northern Qaidum Tectonic Zone and the Southern Qilian Orogen is composed of late Paleozoic and early-middle Triassic strata as well as Carboniferous ophiolite and Permian-early Triassic arc intermediate-acid volcanics.Three Hercynian—Indosinian granites:the Tianjunnanshan(248Ma),Qinghaihunanshan(238Ma) and Erlangdong(215Ma) granites outcropping in the southern Zongwulong belt are related to subduction and post collision stages, respectively.Two distinct deformation phases represent the Indosinian orogenic structures and Tertiary intracontinental tectonic imprints.The former is characterized by a more than 300 km-long and a few kilometers wide ductile shear zone and the latter by largescale and south-verging thrusting.Being different from the Northern Qaidum Tectonic Zone to the south and the Qilian Orogen to the north,the Zongwulong tectonic belt is likely an independent Indosinian orogenic belt,which was developed based on the early Paleozoic Caledonian orogenic basement and experienced a complete plate tectonic evolution from continental rifting,and oceanic basin to subduction—collision.
N ov 2 01 5 Consistent Parameter Estimation for LASSO and Approximate Message Passing

We consider the problem of recovering a vector βo ∈ R from n random and noisy linear observations y = Xβo +w, where X is the measurement matrix and w is noise. The LASSO estimate is given by the solution to the optimization problem β̂λ = argminβ 1 2 ‖y − Xβ‖2 + λ‖β‖1. Among the iterative algorithms that have been proposed for solving this optimization problem, approximate message passing (AMP) has attracted attention for its fast convergence. The iterations of AMP are given by β = η(β +Xz; τ ), z = y −Xβ + |I| n z, where β, z, and I denote estimates of βo, y−Xβo, and the active set of βo at iteration t respectively. η(xi; τ) = (|xi| − τ)+sign(xi) denotes the soft thresholding function with threshold parameter τ . Despite significant progress in the theoretical analysis of the estimates of LASSO and AMP, little is known about their behavior as a function of the regularization parameter λ, or the thereshold parameters τ t. For instance the following basic questions have not yet been studied in the literature: (i) How does the size of the active set ‖β̂‖0/p behave as a function of λ? (ii) How does the mean square error ‖β̂λ−βo‖ 2 2/p behave as a function of λ? (iii) How does ‖β −βo‖2/p behave as a function of τ1, . , τ t−1? Answering these questions will help in addressing practical challenges regarding the optimal tuning of λ or τ1, τ2, . This paper answers these questions in the asymptotic setting (i.e., where p → ∞, n → ∞ while the ratio n/p converges to a fixed number in (0, 1)) and shows how these results can be employed in deriving simple and theoretically optimal approaches for tuning the parameters τ1, . , τ t for AMP or λ for LASSO. It also explores the connection between the optimal tuning of the parameters of AMP and the optimal tuning of LASSO. MSC 2010 subject classifications: 62G05, 62J05.
Effectiveness of STEM-Based Mind Mapping Learning Model to Improve Students' Science Literacy in the Era of Revolution 4.0

This study aims to analyze the size effect of the STEM-based mind mapping learning model to increase students' scientific literacy in the revolutionary era 4.0. This type of research is meta-analysis. The research samples came from 15 national and international journals published from 2018-2023. The method for selecting this meta-analysis research data is through the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Search for data sources through Google Scholar, Wiley, Eric and ProQuest. Data source collection techniques are direct observation and documentation through online databases. Data analysis is a quantitative analysis by calculating the effect size, standard error and average value with the help of the JSAP application. The results showed that from this study it could be concluded that the combined effect size value was (d = 1.30; p < 0.05) high criteria. These findings explain that STEM-based mind mapping models are more effective in improving scientific literacy skills in the 4.0 revolution era than conventional learning models. The STEM-based mind mapping learning model provides a new breakthrough in the world of educational technology.
Psycho-demographic factors as determinants of perceived accident vulnerability among commercial motorcyclists in two Nigerian cities

This study investigated the influence of psychological and socio-demographic factors on perceived vulnerability to road accidents (VTRA) among commercial motorcyclists. The cross-sectional survey included 292 participants following multi-stage sampling. A 65-item questionnaire was used for data collection. Analysis included ANOVA. regression. t-test, and descriptive statistics. Results showed that aged commercial motorcyclists operating in Ibadan with poor knowledge of road signs, who also rarely use psychoactive substances (n=25, =18.0), as well as aged motorcyclists operating in lbadan with poor knowledge of road signs, who rarely use substances (n=21. =18.0) reported the highest level of perception of VTRA. Substance use pattern (F (292) = 51.25. P < 0.01). personality (F (292) = 4. 70. P < 0.001). and a combination of substance use pattern. personality. location. and road signs knowledge (F (292) = 6.94. P <0.01) significantly influenced perceived accident vulnerability among participants. Experience in riding commercial motorcycles (t (292) = 1.299, df =289, p<. 05). and location/city (n=292, t= 1.688, p<. 05) also significantly predicted perception of VTRA (t (292) = 1.299, p<. 05). This highlights the importance of substance use, personality factors (openness and agreeableness), and experience as factors critical to the understanding of perception of VTRA, suggesting the need/or strengthening anti-drug campaign. as well as psychological/personality testing in reducing road traffic accidents involving commercial motorcyclists.
Postglacial Delevelling in Skeldal, Northeast Greenland

Skeldal is a northeast-trending valley in the Mesters Vig district, on the southwest shore of Kong Oscars Fjord, about 70 km from the fiord's entrance, in the northeast corner of Scoresby Land. Thirteen radiocarbon dates of shell material which were used to establish a rate of emergence in Skeldal, indicate that the valley was partially open to the sea by ca 8500 BP. Early emergence (8000-7000 BP) was approx 3 m/century. Emergence is related almost entirely to adjustment due to glacial unloading.
Experimental studies of the quality of root crop heads residue cleaning using a new cleaner

Given the high technical requirements for cleaning root crop heads from residues, the development of new, more advanced cleaners is an important and urgent issue. The research aims to improve the quality of the cleaning process by determining the optimal kinematic, structural, and operational parameters of a new root crop head cleaner from root residues. A new design of the root crop head cleaner was created, which allowed the use of cleaning elements with different mechanical properties and sizes, and changing its kinematic parameters depending on the crop it processes. A new experimental setup was also made to install this cleaner and change its operational parameters. A new mathematical model of a multifactorial experiment was developed for the study. Based on the results of the field experimental study, correlation analysis, and statistical numerical calculations using a computer, the optimal design, kinematic, and operational parameters of the improved cleaner were determined, at which the highest quality of cleaning (the lowest amount of stover residues per linear metre) is observed. Based on the results of the correlation analysis, the following optimal parameters of the improved root crop head cleaner were obtained: the location of the ends of the rubber cleaning blades relative to the soil surface, i.e., the parameter should not exceed 1.5 cm. The angular velocity of the counter-rotating movements of the cleaning shafts should correspond to the following range of values – 36.4. 76.6 rpm. The translational speed of the cleaner should not exceed 2.0 m∙s–1. The obtained structural, kinematic, and operational parameters can be successfully used in design bureaus when designing advanced machines for harvesting various root crops, and in research institutions and universities when conducting modern research in the field of agricultural engineering