Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk Assessment of Major Hazards and its Application in Urban Planning: A Case Study

With the rapid development of industry in China, the number of establishments that are proposed or under construction is increasing year by year, and many are industries that handle flammable, explosive, toxic, harmful, and dangerous substances. Accidents such as fire, explosion, and toxic diffusion inevitably happen. Accidents resulting from these major hazards in cities cause a large number of casualties and property losses. It is increasingly important to analyze the risk of major hazards in cities realistically and to suitably plan and utilize the surrounding land based on the risk analysis results, thereby reducing the hazards. A theoretical system for risk assessment of major hazards in cities is proposed in this article, and the major hazard risk for the entire city is analyzed quantitatively. Risks of various major accidents are considered together, superposition effect is analyzed, individual risk contours of the entire city are drawn out, and the level of risk in the city is assessed using “as low as reasonably practicable” guidelines. After the entire city's individual risk distribution is obtained, risk zones are divided according to corresponding individual risk value of HSE, and land‐use planning suggestions are proposed. Finally, a city in China is used as an example to illustrate the risk assessment process of the city's major hazard and its application in urban land‐use planning. The proposed method has a certain theoretical and practical significance in establishing and improving risk analysis of major hazard and urban land‐use planning. On the one hand, major urban public risk is avoided; further, the land is utilized in the best possible way in order to obtain the maximum benefit from its use.
Teachers and Students’ Participation In Curriculum Management in Secondary Schools in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

This study examined the teachers and student‟s participation in curriculum management in secondary schools in Dar es Salaam. Specifically, the study examined the curriculum management approaches; assessed the modalities of participation of teachers and students; and determined the challenges faced in managing curriculum. Mixed research approaches were deployed and data were collected using interviews, questionnaire and Focus group discussion. Eight (8) secondary schools were involved with a total of 41 teachers and 40 students. The study found that heads of schools apply multiple curriculum managerial approaches, relying more on inspection strategies and administrative monitoring than participatory approaches. The modalities for teachers‟ to participation in curriculum management are such as classroom management, counseling, motivating and inspiring students, inviting and engaging parents in management and addressing student‟s problems. Moreover, the study found student representations in school management meetings as a modality for their participation in curriculum management. Furthermore, the challenges of curriculum management are such as; lack of teacher motivation, inadequate learning resources and large classrooms. This study concludes that, in order to sustainably address the challenges of curriculum management, teachers and students must be involved in curriculum management. Nevertheless, the study recommends contingency curriculum management with inclination to participatory approaches for effective participation of teachers and students. Consequently, the efforts to train teachers on their curriculum managerial roles are crucial. Finally more studies are recommended on the participation and roles of parents (guardians) in managing secondary education curriculum.
Soil microorganisms as controllers of atmospheric trace gases (H2, CO, CH4, OCS, N2O, and NO).

Production and consumption processes in soils contribute to the global cycles of many trace gases (CH4, CO, OCS, H2, N2O, and NO) that are relevant for atmospheric chemistry and climate. Soil microbial processes contribute substantially to the budgets of atmospheric trace gases. The flux of trace gases between soil and atmosphere is usually the result of simultaneously operating production and consumption processes in soil: The relevant processes are not yet proven with absolute certainty, but the following are likely for trace gas consumption: H2 oxidation by abiontic soil enzymes; CO cooxidation by the ammonium monooxygenase of nitrifying bacteria; CH4 oxidation by unknown methanotrophic bacteria that utilize CH4 for growth; OCS hydrolysis by bacteria containing carbonic anhydrase; N2O reduction to N2 by denitrifying bacteria; NO consumption by either reduction to N2O in denitrifiers or oxidation to nitrate in heterotrophic bacteria. Wetland soils, in contrast to upland soils are generally anoxic and thus support the production of trace gases (H2, CO, CH4, N2O, and NO) by anaerobic bacteria such as fermenters, methanogens, acetogens, sulfate reducers, and denitrifiers. Methane is the dominant gaseous product of anaerobic degradation of organic matter and is released into the atmosphere, whereas the other trace gases are only intermediates, which are mostly cycled within the anoxic habitat. A significant percentage of the produced methane is oxidized by methanotrophic bacteria at anoxic-oxic interfaces such as the soil surface and the root surface of aquatic plants that serve as conduits for O2 transport into and CH4 transport out of the wetland soils. The dominant production processes in upland soils are different from those in wetland soils and include H2 production by biological N2 fixation, CO production by chemical decomposition of soil organic matter, and NO and N2O production by nitrification and denitrification. The processes responsible for CH4 production in upland soils are completely unclear, as are the OCS production processes in general. A problem for future research is the attribution of trace gas metabolic processes not only to functional groups of microorganisms but also to particular taxa. Thus, it is completely unclear how important microbial diversity is for the control of trace gas flux at the ecosystem level. However, different microbial communities may be part of the reason for differences in trace gas metabolism, e.g., effects of nitrogen fertilizers on CH4 uptake by soil; decrease of CH4 production with decreasing temperature; or different rates and modes of NO and N2O production in different soils and under different conditions.
Breakfast at School: a First Look at the Role of Time and Location for Participation and Nutritional Intake

Abstract Participation in the subsidized School Breakfast Program has traditionally been unsatisfactory. Universally free breakfast service in the classroom has boosted participation, but is not financially feasible for many schools. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent participation under the standard cafeteria setting is hampered due to insufficient time to eat. This study separately identifies time and location effects using a unique, individual‐level panel data set of elementary school students under three experimental treatments: original setup in the cafeteria, original setup plus ten minutes of mandatory presence in the cafeteria, and in‐classroom service. We find that the extra time plus the fixed location effect in the cafeteria increases average daily participation by approximately 20%, while the transition to classroom implementation adds another 35%‐45% for the typical student. We also collect detailed data on nutritional intake, and find that, in total, neither treatment has a significant effect on consumption compared to the baseline.
Political attitude estimation through Facebook like: a South Korean case study

ABSTRACT Recently numerous studies are conducted to estimate the human personality from the online social activities. This paper develops a comprehensive model for political attitude estimation leveraging the Facebook Like information of the users. We designed a Facebook Crawler that efficiently collects data overcoming the difficulties in crawling Ajax enabled Facebook pages. We show that the category level selection can reduce the data analysis complexity utilizing the sparsity of the huge like-attitude matrix. In the Korean Facebook users’ context, only 28 criteria (3% of the total) can estimate the political polarity of the user with high accuracy (AUC of 0.82).
Post-challenge glycemia during pregnancy as a marker of future risk of type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the glycemic measures from an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) during pregnancy as predictors of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Patients diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) were divided into two groups according to the results of OGTT: one abnormal value = GDM1 (n = 338) and two abnormal values = GDM2 (n = 151), while women with normal glucose tolerance served as controls (n = 385). Glucose tolerance was re-evaluated with an OGTT in a follow-up study (average follow-up time 7.3 ± 5.1 years). The incidence of T2DM after 10 years follow-up increased progressively by the degree of the glycemic abnormality during pregnancy: 0.8% in controls, 3.8% in GDM1 (adjusted HR 17.6, 95% CI 1.9–162.3) and 25.0% in GDM2 (adjusted HR 72.9, 95% CI 9.6–553.7), respectively (p = <0.0001). The risk of T2DM is significantly increased in women with two or more abnormal values in OGTT during pregnancy. Post-challenge glucose levels in OGTT were the best predictors of the incident T2DM in ROC analysis and they therefore identify the greatest risk group for targeted prevention of T2DM after GDM.
Factors associated with the level of movement-related everyday activity and quality of life in people with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Cardiac rehabilitation has been shown to be effective in people with chronic heart failure (CHF), particularly in terms of exercise capacity. However, no effects have been found on the level of movement-related everyday activity. Therefore, rehabilitation programs also should focus on enhancing the level of movement-related everyday activity. The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with the level of movement-related everyday activity and with quality of life in people with CHF. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Measurements of movement-related everyday activity (using an accelerometry-based Activity Monitor), quality of life, and associated factors were performed in 36 people with stable CHF (New York Heart Association classes II and III). RESULTS Knee flexion and extension torque, and particularly extension torque, were significantly associated with movement-related everyday activity (r = .43-.49, P < .05), whereas nonphysiological factors such as feelings of being disabled were associated with quality of life (r = .37-.77, P < or = .01, P < .05). No relationship was found between movement-related everyday activity and quality of life (r = .20-.22, P > .05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The results indicate that knee torque is associated with the level of movement-related everyday activity in people with CHF and that quality of life is mediated by nonphysiological factors.
A High-speed In Situ Measuring Method for Inner Dimension Inspection

Inner dimensional measurement techniques are difficult to improve because of the tight working space and complex inside measuring environment. In this paper, a high-speed, in situ measuring method is proposed for inner dimension by using revolved double laser beams. First, two laser beams with the inclined angle of 180° are used to construct the measuring line. The relative position between two laser beams is then calibrated before measurement. Second, the two laser beams are revolved consecutively to get collections of data samples during the measurement. The data samples contain the information concerning the geometrical features of measured workpiece. Finally, by fitting the measured data, inner dimensions can be extracted from the statistical characteristic of measured workpiece. The proposed approach is validated by using a developed measuring head installed on the spindle of a numerical control machine. Inner diameter and planar spacing measurements are taken as examples to showcase the efficacy and efficiency of the method proposed.
Report of Four Cases

Background. Varix of the vortex vein ampulla is a condition that can cause diagnostic confusion with choroidal melanoma. Methods. A case series review was performed from the Ocular Oncology Service, Wills Eye Hospital. Results. In all four cases, the patients were referred with the diagnosis of a small choroidal melanoma. The lesions were located in the nasal quadrant of the fundus near the equator. One patient had two lesions in the same quadrant. In all cases, the fundus lesion became more prominent when the eye gazed in the direction of the lesion and diminished in primary gaze. The mass measured up to 6.0 mm in base diameter and 2.5 mm in thickness in proper gaze. B-scan ultrasonography showed acoustic solidity and gazeevoked dynamic enlargement of the lesion. Indocyanine green angiography demonstrated early pooling of dye and gaze-evoked fluctuation of the hyperfluorescence in the lesion. Color Doppler imaging, performed in one patient, showed a vascular lesion of venous origin that filled when the eye was placed in the direction of the lesion. Conclusions. Varix of the vortex vein is a condition that should be considered in the differential diagnosis of equatorial small choroidal melanoma. The dynamic nature of the lesion is characteristic and diagnostic.
Physiological and Molecular Characteristics of Elicitin-Induced Systemic Acquired Resistance in Tobacco

Elicitins are low molecular weight proteins secreted by all Phytophthora species analyzed so far. Application of the purified proteins to tobacco Nicotiana tabacum leads to the induction of resistance to subsequent inoculations with the black shank-causing agent, Phytophthora parasitica var nicotianae. In this paper, we describe the systemic characteristics of elicitin-induced acquired resistance in tobacco. Elicitin application is followed by the rapid translocation of the protein in the plant. The basic elicitin, cryptogein, induces necrosis formation in the leaves, which results from accumulation of the protein in these organs. Necrosis does not seem to be essential for the establishment of systemic acquired resistance (SAR), since resistance induced by the acidic elicitin, capsicein, is not accompanied by the development of visible symptoms on the leaves. Both elicitins trigger the coordinate accumulation of transcripts from nine genes, previously described to be expressed during establishment of SAR. Additionally, elicitin treatment leads to the activation of the multiple response gene str 246. In leaves, transcript accumulation was found to be higher in all cases in response to cryptogein compared to capsicein treatment. These results, along with northern hybridization analysis following infiltration of leaves with cryptogein, indicate that SAR genes appear to be expressed locally, corresponding to necrosis formation as well as systemically during induction of resistance. To our knowledge, elicitins are the only well-characterized, pathogen-derived molecules that trigger SAR in a plant.
Mirror me : the effect of the voting advice application smartvote on voting preferences and behavior of Swiss voters

Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become a central component of election campaigns worldwide. Through matching political preferences of voters to parties and candidates, the web application grants voters a look into their political mirror and reveals the most suitable political choices to them in terms of policy congruence. Both the dense and concise information on the electoral offer and the comparative nature of the application make VAAs an unprecedented information source for electoral decision making. In times where electoral choices are found to be highly individualized and driven by political issue positions, an ever increasing number of voters turn to VAAs before casting their ballots. With VAAs in high demand, the question of their effects on voters has become a pressing research topic. In various countries, survey research has been used to proclaim an impact of VAAs on electoral behavior, yet practically all studies fail to provide the scientific evidence that would allow for making such claims. In this thesis, I set out to systematically establish the causal link between VAA use and electoral behavior, using various data sources and appropriate statistical techniques in doing so. The focus lies on the Swiss VAA smartvote, introduced in the forefront of the 2003 Swiss federal elections and meanwhile an integral part of the national election campaign, smartvote has produced over a million voting recommendations in the last Swiss federal elections to an active electorate of two million, potentially guiding a vast amount of voters in their choices on the ballot. In order to determine the effect of the VAA on electoral behavior, I analyze both voting preferences and choice among Swiss voters during two consecutive election periods. First, I introduce statistical techniques to adequately examine VAA effects in observational studies and use them to demonstrate that voters who used smartvote prior to the 2007 Swiss federal elections were significantly more likely to swing vote in the elections than non- users. Second, I analyze preference voting during the same election and show that the smartvote voting recommendation inclines politically knowledgeable voters to modify their ballots and cast candidate specific preference votes. Third, to further tackle the indication that smartvote use affects the preference structure of voters, I employ an experimental research design to demonstrate that voters who use the application tend to strengthen their vote propensities for their most preferred party and adapt their overall party preferences in a way that they consider more than one party as eligible vote options after engaging with the application. Finally, vote choice is examined for the 2011 Swiss federal election, showing once more that the VAA initiated a change of party choice among voters. In sum, this thesis presents empirical evidence for the transformative effect of the Swiss VAA smartvote on the electoral behavior.
Finite-Horizon $H_{\infty} $ Filtering With Missing Measurements and Quantization Effects

In this paper, a new H∞ filtering approach is developed for a class of discrete time-varying systems subject to missing measurements and quantization effects. The missing measurements are modeled via a diagonal matrix consisting of a series of mutually independent random variables satisfying certain probabilistic distributions on the interval [0,1] . The measured output is quantized by a logarithmic quantizer. Attention is focused on the design of a stochastic H∞ filter such that the H∞ estimation performance is guaranteed over a given finite-horizon in the simultaneous presence of probabilistic missing measurements, quantization effects as well as external non-Gaussian disturbances. A necessary and sufficient condition is first established for the existence of the desired time-varying filters in virtue of the solvability of certain coupled recursive Riccati difference equations (RDEs). Owing to its recursive nature, the proposed RDE approach is shown to be suitable for online application without the need of increasing the problem size. The simulation experiment is carried out for the mobile robot localization problem with non-Gaussian disturbances, missing measurements and quantization effects. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated in the numerical example.
Mutations of O6‐methylguanine‐DNA methyltransferase gene in esophageal cancer tissues from Northern China

Epidemiologic studies have implicated the involvement of environmental factors in the etiology of esophageal cancer (EC). Our previous data have indicated that EC patients and their blood relatives show genomic instability and are deficient in repair of DNA damage induced by N‐nitroso‐compounds and related genotoxic agents. Thus, exposure to high levels of N‐alkylnitrosamines, which are known animal carcinogens and which induce alkyl adducts in DNA, may be causally linked to EC. Among the alkyl adducts, O6‐alkylguanine was shown to be the critical one related to carcinogenic lesions; its repair varies widely in a tissue‐specific fashion. O6‐methylguanine‐DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is responsible for its repair. Hence, inactivating mutations in this protein would impair the efficiency of the repair process. To screen for possible mutations in the MGMT polypeptide in EC patients, we analyzed a highly conserved region of the MGMT gene in 40 EC tissues and lymphocytes of 6 high‐risk EC family members from high EC areas of Northern China by polymerase chain reaction single‐strand conformation polymorphism and by direct sequencing of PCR products. Ten base substitutions (point mutations) within 8 codons of 7 EC samples were identified. However, no germline mutation was found in the high EC families studied so far. Concurrent study in 30 pairs of fresh EC tissues and their adjacent normal mucosa by Southern blot and Western blot analyses showed deletion of the MGMT gene in 2 samples. Thus, the high frequency of mutations (7/40) and deletions (2/30) of the MGMT gene may be partially responsible for the overall high mutation rate observed in EC tissues. Int.J.Cancer71:719‐723, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss Inc.
Expression of MMP and TIMP mRNA in Peripheral Blood Leukocytes of Patients with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast

Purpose An imbalance between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs) appears critical for tumor progression and metastasis. This study aimed to determine whether gene expression of MMP1, MMP2, MMP9, TIMP1 and TIMP3 and the MMP/TIMP expression ratio in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) and the MMP1 and TIMP1 contents or MMP1/TIMP1 ratio in plasma were associated with clinicopathological characteristics in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast. Materials and methods Blood samples were collected from women newly diagnosed with IDC who had not received prior treatment (n = 102). Gene expression in PBLs was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Concentrations of MMP1 and TIMP1 in plasma were measured using ELISA. Results In univariate analysis the expression levels of MMP2 and TIMP1 mRNA were significantly higher in premenopausal compared to postmenopausal patients (p<0.001 and p = 0.014, respectively). MMP2 mRNA expression negatively correlated with age (p<0.001, r = -0.43). We found that the MMP2/TIMP3 expression ratio was significantly higher in women after menopause (p = 0.007). The MMP2/TIMP1 expression ratio was higher in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive patients (p = 0.022). Low-grade tumors had significantly lower MMP1/TIMP1 and MMP2/TIMP1 expression ratios (p = 0.047 and p = 0.048, respectively). TIMP1 plasma concentration was significantly higher in small tumors compared with T2-T3 tumors (p = 0.013). Conclusions These findings reveal an important association between tumor characteristics and expression ratios of MMP1/TIMP1 and MMP2/TIMP1 in PBLs and TIMP1 concentration in plasma. Menopausal status may influence the mRNA expression levels of MMP2 and TIMP1 as well as the MMP2/TIMP3 expression ratio in IDC of the breast.