Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conditions imposed by tacnodes and cusps

The study of linear systems of algebraic plane curves with fixed imposed singularities is a classical subject which has recently experienced important progress. The Horace method introduced by A. Hirschowitz has been successfully exploited to prove many H1-vanishing theorems, even in higher dimension. Other specialization techniques, which include degenerations of the plane, are due to Z. Ran and C. Ciliberto and R. Miranda. G. M. Greuel, C. Lossen and E. Shustin use a local specialization procedure together with the Horace method to give the first asymptotically proper general existence criterion for singular curves of low degree. In this paper we develop a specialization method which allows us to compute the dimension of several linear systems as well as to substantially improve the bounds given by Greuel, Lossen and Shustin for curves with tacnodes and cusps.
Role of sodium hydroxide for hydrogen gas production and storage

The rapid depletion of fossil fuel, increase in pollution and related environmental hazards require us to discover new energy sources. H2 is an efficient energy carrier with a very high specific energy content (~120MJ/kg) and energy density (10Wh/kg). It has been technically shown that hydrogen can be used for transportation, heating and power generation, and could replace current fuels in all the present applications. Hydrogen can be produced using a variety of starting materials, derived from both renewable and non-renewable sources, through different process routes. Although sodium hydroxide is corrosive in nature, it has a vast growing application as a starting ingredient in the field of hydrogen production and storage.
Cosmological Results from Five Years of 30 GHz CMB Intensity Measurements with the Cosmic Background Imager

We present final results on the angular power spectrum of total intensity anisotropies in the CMB from the CBI. Our analysis includes all primordial anisotropy data collected between January 2000 and April 2005, and benefits significantly from an improved maximum likelihood analysis pipeline. It also includes results from a 30 GHz foreground survey conducted with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) which places significant constraints on the possible contamination due to foreground point sources. We improve on previous CBI results by about a factor of two in the damping tail. These data confirm, at ~3-sigma, the existence of an excess of power over intrinsic CMB anisotropy on small angular scales (l > 1800). Using the GBT survey, we find currently known radio source populations are not capable of generating the power; a new population of faint sources with steeply rising spectral indices would be required to explain the excess with sources. We also present a full cosmological parameter analysis of the new CBI power spectrum. With CBI alone, the full parameter analysis finds the excess is 1.6-sigma above the level expected for a sigma_8=0.8 universe. We find the addition of high-l CMB data substantially improves constraints on cosmic string contributions to the TT power spectrum as well as the running of the scalar spectral index. We also present forecasts for what other experiments should see at different frequencies and angular resolutions given the excess power observed by CBI. We find that the reported high-l bandpowers from current high resolution CMB bolometer experiments are consistent with each other and CBI if the excess power is due to the SZE at the CBI-level of 2.5 +/- 1 times the sigma_8=0.8 standard SZ template.
Measurements of the UV background at 4.6 < z < 6.4 using the quasar proximity effect

We present measurements of the ionising ultraviolet background (UVB) at z ~ 5-6 using the quasar proximity effect. The fifteen quasars in our sample cover the range 4.6 5. The metagalactic hydrogen ionisation rate, Gamma_bkg, was determined by modelling the combined ionisation field from the quasar and the UVB in the proximity zone on a pixel-by-pixel basis. The optical depths in the spectra were corrected for the expected effect of the quasar until the mean flux in the proximity region equalled that in the average Ly-alpha forest, and from this we make a measurement of Gamma_bkg. A number of systematic effects were tested using synthetic spectra. Noise in the flux was found to be the largest source of bias at z ~ 5, while uncertainties in the mean transmitted Ly-alpha flux are responsible for the largest bias at z ~ 6. The impacts of large-scale overdensities and Lyman limit systems on Gamma_bkg were also investigated, but found to be small at z > 5. We find a decline in Gamma_bkg with redshift, from log(Gamma_bkg) = -12.15 $\pm$ 0.16 at z ~ 5 to log(Gamma_bkg) = -12.84 $\pm$ 0.18 at z ~ 6 (1 sigma errors). Compared to UVB measurements at lower redshifts, our measurements suggest a drop of a factor of five in the HI photoionisation rate between z ~ 4 and z ~ 6. The decline of Gamma_bkg appears to be gradual, and we find no evidence for a sudden change in the UVB at any redshift that would indicate a rapid change in the attenuation length of ionising photons. Combined with recent measurements of the evolution of the mean free path of ionising photons, our results imply decline in the emissivity of ionising photons by roughly a factor of two from z ~ 5 to 6, albeit with significant uncertainty due to the measurement errors in both Gamma_bkg and the mean free path.
Attitudes of University of Botswana humanities students to mother tongue education

Abstract In 1953, UNESCO advocated for mother tongue education, particularly at primary school level. Many countries took heed of this advocacy. However, Botswana has not yet implemented this at any level. Against this background, this article investigates the attitudes of humanities students at the University of Botswana to the use of mother tongue in university education and the ideologies that shape this. It addresses the question: What are the views of University of Botswana humanities students towards mother tongue education at university? The article specifically asks the following: a) Would you like your university education to be in your mother tongue? ; and b) Is the use of English a hindrance to your learning? The data was collected through a questionnaire which 80 students responded to. The study uses Garrrett’s definition of attitude and Wolfram and Schilling-Estes’s conceptualisation of ideology and found that most students are not in favour of mother tongue education. In addition, they do not find English a hindrance to their education. Both views reflect a language ideology grounded in Botswana’s language practices which hold English in high regard at the expense of indigenous languages.
Routines and the Predictability of Day-to-Day Web Use

ABSTRACT Given the high importance of Web use in day-to-day life, understanding and predicting Web browsing behavior are important endeavors for academic as well as commercial research. We propose that routines – behaviors that are performed regularly (activation) and in similar ways (execution) – can be used to describe underlying structures in Web use and, thereby, improve the predictability of subsequent Web use behavior. Based on two large-scale Web-tracking data sets, we developed indicators for routine activation and execution, tested their reliability and stability, and examined their association with the predictability of six Web use behaviors: overall Web use, news use, shopping, Facebook, YouTube, and Google use. Our results show that routine measures derived from tracking data were only moderately reliable but very stable. Routine activation was consistently and substantially associated with higher predictability for all Web use behaviors, whereas routine execution was less consistently and not strongly linked to predictability.
Factors and Pathways Modulating Endothelial Cell Senescence in Vascular Aging

Aging causes a progressive decline in the structure and function of organs. With advancing age, an accumulation of senescent endothelial cells (ECs) contributes to the risk of developing vascular dysfunction and cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and neurodegeneration. Senescent ECs undergo phenotypic changes that alter the pattern of expressed proteins, as well as their morphologies and functions, and have been linked to vascular impairments, such as aortic stiffness, enhanced inflammation, and dysregulated vascular tone. Numerous molecules and pathways, including sirtuins, Klotho, RAAS, IGFBP, NRF2, and mTOR, have been implicated in promoting EC senescence. This review summarizes the molecular players and signaling pathways driving EC senescence and identifies targets with possible therapeutic value in age-related vascular diseases.
Impacts of Thermal Processing, High Pressure, and CO2-Assisted High Pressure on Quality Characteristics and Shelf Life of Durian Fruit Puree

Durian fruit puree (DFP) is a nutrient-dense food, but it has a short shelf life. Presently, little research has been undertaken on extending the shelf life of DFP. Hence, it is necessary to develop treatment methods that can prolong the shelf life of DFP. In the present study, thermal processing (TP), high-pressure processing (HPP), and CO2-assisted HPP (CO2 + HPP) treatments are used for DFP, and their influences on quality properties of DFP during storage (35 days, 4 °C) are investigated. Compared to other treatments, the CO2 + HPP treatment had a lower pressure and a shorter time to achieve the same effect of inactivating the microorganisms of DFP. During storage, CO2 + HPP treated DFP showed higher retention rates of sugars, total soluble solids, color, bioactive components, and antioxidant capacity in comparison with other treated DFPs. Moreover, after 35 days of storage, the microbial count of (CO2 + HPP)-treated DFP (3.80 × 103 CFU/g) was much lower than those of TP (4.77 × 105 CFU/g) and HPP (8.53 × 103 CFU/g)-treated DFPs. The results of this study reveal that CO2 + HPP treatment could not only better preserve the quality of DFP, but also effectively extend the shelf life of DFP, providing an effective method for the processing of DFP.
Endorectal Ultrasound Shear-Wave Elastography of Complex Rectal Adenoma and Early Rectal Cancer

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic performance of endorectal ultrasound (ERUS), shear-wave elastography (SWE), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with a complex rectal adenoma or an early rectal cancer, i.e., T1 or T2 adenocarcinoma in a clinical setting, and to evaluate the association between SWE and stromal fraction (SF) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and SF. Method: This prospective study included patients undergoing ERUS and SWE for a rectal tumor subsequently confirmed by histopathology to be an adenoma or a T1 or T2 adenocarcinoma. The accuracy of the imaging methods was assessed by comparing the T category as determined by ERUS and MRI with histopathology, which served as the gold standard. SF was assessed on surgical specimens. Results: A total of 86 patients were included. Of these, 62 patients had adenomas and 24 patients had carcinomas, of which 11 were T1 tumors and 13 were T2 tumors. ERUS and MRI yielded sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 0.79 and 0.73, 0.95 and 0.90, and 0.86 and 0.78, respectively, for discrimination between benign and malignant lesions. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for SWE was 0.88, and with a cut-off value of 40 kPa the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 0.79, 0.89, and 0.86, respectively. There was a positive correlation between SF and SWE with a p-value of <0.001 and a negative correlation between SF and ADC with a p-value of 0.011. Conclusion: Both ERUS and MRI classified T categories with a high accuracy; however, ERUS classified more adenomas correctly than MRI. In this small population, SWE could differentiate an adenoma from early carcinoma. SF was correlated with both SWE and ADC, as increasing SF tended to yield higher SWE and lower ADC values.
Combined effect of tillage and nutrient management practices on kharif maize (Zea mays L.) yield and chlorophyll content

Our accustomed agricultural practices of tilling the soil continuously and excessive fertilizer applications caused not only decreased in organic carbon content and soil degradation but also disturbed environmental harmony. With this backdrop, current study was conducted at research farm, Dholi to determine the interactive effect of tillage and nutrient management practice under maize crop during kharif 2018 and 2019. The split-plot design was laid out with tillage as the main plot and nutrient management practice as sub-plot with 3 replications. The results showed significantly superior maize cob yield in PB (84.02 q ha -1 & 88.01 q ha -1 ) and 60% RDN+GSGN (81.96 & 85.17 q ha -1 ) over CT (64.48 & 72.71 q ha -1 ) and RDF (71.94 & 77.25 q ha -1 ) during 2018 and 2019. Similarly, higher chlorophyll content and nutrient content was also noticed with an interaction effect of PB and 60% RDN+GSGN. Based on the results, adoption of PB and 60% RDN+GSGN will help in the realization of better yield with maximum profit by way of reducing the input capital apart from improving soil health thereby sustaining natural resources for future generations.
Drivers of Solid Waste Segregation and Recycling in Kampala Slums, Uganda: A Qualitative Exploration Using the Behavior Centered Design Model

Solid-waste management is a challenge in many cities, especially in low-income countries, including Uganda. Simple and inexpensive strategies such as solid-waste segregation and recycling have the potential to reduce risks associated with indiscriminate waste management. Unfortunately, these strategies have not been studied and adopted in slums in low-income countries. This cross-sectional qualitative study, therefore, used the behavioral-centered design model to understand the drivers of recycling in Kampala slums. Data were coded using ATLAS ti version 7.0, and content analysis was used for interpreting the findings. Our findings revealed that the study practices were not yet habitual and were driven by the presence of physical space for segregation containers, and functional social networks in the communities. Additionally, financial rewards and awareness related to the recycling benefits, and available community support were found to be critical drivers. The availability of infrastructure and objects for segregation and recycling and the influence of politics and policies were identified. There is, therefore, need for both the public and private sector to engage in developing and implementing the relevant laws and policies on solid waste recycling, increase community awareness of the critical behavior, and create sustainable markets for waste segregated and recycled products.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CME KINEMATICS AND FLARE STRENGTH

We have examined the relationship between the speeds of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the GOES X-ray peak fluxes of associated flares. Noting that previous studies were possibly affected by projection effects and random association effects, we have considered two sets of carefully selected CME-flare events: four homologous events and four well-observed limb events. In the respective samples, good correlations are found between the CME speeds and the GOES X-ray peak fluxes of the associated flares. A similarly good correlation is found for all eight events of both samples when the CME speeds of the homologous events are corrected for projection effect. Our results suggest that a close relationship possibly exists between CME kinematics and flaring processes.
BRUCITE IN ALPINE SERPENTINITES

X-ray dift-raction tracings of 102 serpentinized and partially serpentinized Alpine-type ultramafics from the circum-Pacific orogenic belts shorv that brucite commonly forms during pervasive serpentinization of dunites and high-olivine peridotites. Characteristically, such brucite is fine-grained and intimately intergrown with lizardite. Microprobe analyses indicate that the lizardites contain less iron, and the brucites more iron, than the parent olivines and pyroxenes, although the brucites shor,v broad variations in iron content. Extensive brucite formation during serpentinization indicates maximum temperatures of about 4000 C and, unless massive amounts of both magnesia and silica are removed from the ultramafic mass, volume increases of about 40 per cent. Field evidence supporting such migration is generally lacking. The ellipsoidal, fault-bounded configurations typical of Alpine ultramafics suggest that large volume changes do not result from complete serpentinization in situ; rather, serpentinization probably results from incremental additions of water derived from countrl. r6cks during the tectonic ascent of the ultramafic mass through the earth's crust Reaction of brucite with Co, bearing groundr,. ater at depth is probably responsible for much of the magnesite associated with serpentinites. fn a surface oxidation environment, iron-bearing brucite is converted directly to p1'roaurite or coalingite, or reacts with percolating groundwater to form h),dromagnesite and artinite.
The Effectiveness of a Hybrid Exercise Program on the Physical Fitness of Frail Elderly

Background: Frailty is a serious physical disorder affecting the elderly all over the world. However, the frail elderly have low physical fitness, which limits the effectiveness of current exercise programs. Inspired by this, we attempted to integrate Baduanjin and strength and endurance exercises into an exercise program to improve the physical fitness and alleviate frailty among the elderly. Additionally, to achieve the goals of personalized medicine, machine learning simulations were performed to predict post-intervention frailty. Methods: A total of 171 frail elderly individuals completed the experiment, including a Baduanjin group (BDJ), a strength and endurance training group (SE), and a combination of Baduanjin and strength and endurance training group (BDJSE), which lasted for 24 weeks. Physical fitness was evaluated by 10-meter maximum walk speed (10 m MWS), grip strength, the timed up-and-go test (TUGT), and the 6 min walk test (6 min WT). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square test, and two-way repeated-measures ANOVA were carried out to analyze the experimental data. In addition, nine machine learning models were utilized to predict the frailty status after the intervention. Results: In 10 m MWS and TUGT, there was a significant interactive influence between group and time. When comparing the BDJ group and the SE group, participants in the BDJSE group demonstrated the maximum gains in 10 m MWS and TUGT after 24 weeks of intervention. The stacking model surpassed other algorithms in performance. The accuracy and precision rates were 75.5% and 77.1%, respectively. Conclusion: The hybrid exercise program that combined Baduanjin with strength and endurance training proved more effective at improving fitness and reversing frailty in elderly individuals. Based on the stacking model, it is possible to predict whether an elderly person will exhibit reversed frailty following an exercise program.
Terrain visibility impact on the preparation of landslide inventories: a practical example in Darjeeling district (India)

Abstract. Landslide inventories are used for multiple purposes including landscape characterisation and monitoring, and landslide susceptibility, hazard and risk evaluation. Their quality and completeness can depend on the data and the methods with which they were produced. In this work we evaluate the effects of a variable visibility of the territory to map on the spatial distribution of the information collected in different landslide inventories prepared using different approaches in a study area. The method first classifies the territory in areas with different visibility levels from the paths (roads) used to map landslides and then estimates the landslide density reported in the inventories into the different visibility classes. Our results show that (1) the density of the information is strongly related to the visibility in inventories obtained through fieldwork, technical reports and/or newspapers, where landslides are under-sampled in low-visibility areas; and (2) the inventories obtained by photo interpretation of images suffer from a marked under-representation of small landslides close to roads or infrastructures. We maintain that the proposed procedure can be useful to evaluate the quality and completeness of landslide inventories and then properly orient their use.
Trends in Prison Sentences and Racial Disparities: 20-Years of Sentencing Under Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code

Objectives The U.S. prison population has fallen 15% overall, 28% for Blacks, and 21% for Hispanics since the Great Recession began. These trends occurred despite rising defendant criminal histories and the continued presence of the punitive policies that drove “mass incarceration. ” We test the central hypothesis that court actors employed several discretionary tools available under Florida's sentencing system to reduce prison use, which in turn reduced direct and indirect racial disparities. Methods To test this hypothesis, we utilized 20 years of felony cases. Our analyses employ current best practices for testing interactive effects and decomposition models to identify changes in prison use and the factors associated with these changes. Results We find criminal history scores rose sharply, but prison use and racial disparities therein fell markedly in the past decade. The key factors driving these trends are reductions in the influence of criminal history on decision-making, increased use of mitigated departures, and the flexibility of Florida's sentencing system to accommodate mitigated departures. In fact, if Florida's sentencing rules had been followed more closely, racial disparities in prison sentences would have grown. Conclusions This research has implications for reforms aimed at ending mass incarceration and reducing racial disparities in imprisonment.
Mass energy-transfer and mass energy-absorption coefficients, including in-flight positron annihilation for photon energies 1 keV to 100 MeV

Mass energy-transfer (Mu(sub u)/Rho) and mass energy-absorption coefficients (Mu(sub en)/Rho) are tabulated in units of (sqcm/g) for photon energies between 1 keV and 100 MeV for 29 elements (Z = 1-92), and 14 mixtures and compounds of general dosimetric interest. Cross sections for photo-effect, incoherent scattering, pair and triplet production are those compiled or generated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (formerly the National Bureau of Standards). Corrections are included for in-flight positron annihilation, previously not applied in NIST calculations for energies above 10 MeV.