Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
121: Intersite Comparisons of Rainfall-runoff Processes

This article argues that despite the limitations of rainfall-runoff data, there are compelling reasons for hydrologists to conduct many more intersite comparisons of rainfall-runoff data. Inferences about hydrologic processes are drawn from an unnecessarily narrow subset of temporal scales, spatial scales, and geographic conditions given the range of data available. In intersite comparison of rainfall-runoff data, we face the same challenge as hydrologic modelers, namely: how can we discriminate among alternative mechanistic explanations for any given rainfall-runoff (or runoff-runoff) dataset? This article (1) provides a justification for additional intersite comparisons given the history and lessons learned from rainfall-runoff and related studies, (2) demonstrates how intersite comparison helps discriminate among alternative hydrologic mechanisms, and (3) outlines steps involved in conducting intersite comparative analysis with a particular focus on analysis of primary data. The article argues that the best approach to intersite hydrology is (re)analysis of original data, which allows us to (1) expand the sample size to include data not yet analyzed and replicate hypothesis tests; (2) ask new questions, even of old data, posed by the current context for hydrology; (3) make new comparisons among records not formerly juxtaposed; (4) use novel statistical approaches to reveal hitherto obscure features of the data, and (5) use ancillary data to refine hypothesis tests about hydrologic mechanisms. The article provides suggestions for the steps involved in intersite comparison including (! ) identifying a question, (2) developing a study design, (3) selecting, accessing, and merging datasets, and (4) choosing statistics for comparison of rainfall and runoff data. The endeavor of intersite comparison of rainfall and runoff data is analogous and complementary to the parallel quest for methods of parameter identification and model structure selection in hydrologic modeling.
Otolith geochemistry discriminates among estuarine nursery areas of Solea solea and S. senegalensis over time

Otolith geochemistry is used increasingly as a natural tag to retrospectively determine habitat use in marine fishes. It is necessary to first conduct a thorough assessment of spatiotemporal variability before attempting to use the approach to determine estuarine residency or natal origins. In particular, knowledge of temporal variation at different scales is important when such variability may confound spatial discrimination. We assayed elements and calculated the elemental ratios to Ca (Li:Ca, Mg:Ca, Mn:Ca, Cu:Ca, Sr:Ca, Ba:Ca, Pb:Ca) in otoliths of juvenile Solea solea and Solea senegalensis, collected over several months in 2006 and 2009 in Portuguese estuaries, using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA ICP-MS). The elemental compositions of the otoliths varied significantly between and within years in both of the species, although the within-year variability did not interfere in spatial discrimination. The overall classification accuracy of juveniles to their estuaries of origin varied among the years and species, ranging from 71.0 to 80.1%. Established elemental signatures constitute the baseline data for future assessments of connectivity between juvenile and adult populations of the 2 sole species.
MMP-2, TIMP-2, and MMP-2/TIMP-2 complex levels in epidermoid lung cancer

The aim of this research was to evaluate the color, firmness, and total phenolic (TP) content in tomatoes according to cultivar and growing conditions. Cultivars with oval, elongated, round, and cherry-shaped fruits of determinate tomato were grown in Mediterranean (Dragonja Valley) and continental regions. Experiments in the continental region were conducted outdoors (Ljubljana-field) and under a low tunnel (Ljubljana-tunnel). Results indicated that the color and firmness were significantly influenced by the typology of the cultivars and by the maturity stage associated with the climatic conditions. Oval, elongated, and cherry fruits had darker and more intensely red fruit skins, with significantly higher a* and lower L* values than round fruits. The firmness of oval and elongated fruits was also higher than the firmness of round fruits. Fruits harvested in Dragonja Valley and the Ljubljana-tunnel location reached a higher level of maturity and were classified in the red maturity class (a*/b* > 0.95), compared to the fruits from the Ljubljana-field location, where tomatoes were classified in the light red maturity class (0.65 > a*/b* > 0.95). Variation in total phenol (TP) content was evaluated in regards to different microclimatic conditions of the Ljubljana locations, outdoors and under the low tunnel. TP content, expressed as chlorogenic acid, ranged from 1.89 mg 100 g-1 to 3.28 mg 100 g-1 fresh weight (fw) in field-grown tomatoes and from 2.31 mg 100 g-1 to 4.90 mg 100 g-1 in tunnel-grown tomatoes. Cherry tomato had a significantly higher content of TP, ranging from 8.60 mg 100 g-1 fw in field-grown fruits to 10.39 mg 100 g-1 fw in tunnel-grown fruits. Although the differences between TP content in tomato fruits, regarding the microclimatic environment, were not statistically significant, the increase in TP content in tunnel-grown tomato fruits could be a plant response mechanism to thermal stress.
Measuring Job and Patient Satisfaction in presence of missing values: a case study with Interval Imputation

The evaluation of Satisfaction within a given Organization has a twofold perspective: from the customer/user and the employee point of view. The presented case study is set up in the Ophthalmology Departments of the hospital "Spedali Civili" in Brescia and Montichiari. Job and Patient Satisfaction are investigated by means of two structured questionnaires and composite indexes are obtained with statistical procedures. The construction of a Satisfaction index has to face two main statistical problems, the former related to the ordinal scale of Satisfaction judgements, the latter caused by the frequent presence of missing values. In this paper Nonlinear Principal Component Analysis is applied together with a specific technique for missing values treatment, called Interval Imputation.
Municipal Bonds as the Financing Strategy for Urban Infrastructure : Case Study of Jakarta Mrt

The construction of Jakarta MRT Phase I has been carried out by using funds from foreign debt. Meanwhile, Jakarta MRT Phase II or other local infrastructure projects are still waiting for new funding scheme. One alternative is municipal bonds. This study investigate the possibilities of using municipal bonds to finance urban infrastructure project with the case study of Jakarta MRTPhase I. The analyzed use three perspectives including financial aspect, legal aspect, and Jakarta financial capacity aspect. financial analysis using discounted cash flow (DCF), net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). Secondly, study literature is used in the legal analysis by exploring specific regulations regarding the municipal bonds. Finally, the Jakarta Regional Budget and Jakarta Budget Audit Report is examined to get insight and depth information regarding its financial capacity. The result is municipal bonds are feasible as the source of financing Jakarta MRT Project.
Residual effect of common antibiotics used for mastitis treatment at the farm level on the growth of Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus thermophilus

The common antibiotics used for the treatment of mastitis are Benzylpenicillin, Gentamycin, Tetracycline and Oxytetracycline. The antibiotic residues are being secreted to milk if the animal milk is drawn within 72 hr. These antibiotic residues in milk inhibit the growth of lactic acid bacteria used for fermented milk products as they inhibit on the cell wall synthesis and protein synthesis. The most sensitive organism for these antibiotics is Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus stearothermophilus and Streptococcus thermophilus. In this experiment the antibiotics are being tested against the indicator bacteria Bacillus subtilis by using the disc assay method and inhibitory zone is determined at the lowest concentration level. The benzylpenicillin produced inhibitory zone of 15 sq mm at the concentration of 0.24IUlml, Gentamycin produced 20 and 14.5 sq mm at the concentrations of 0.4 and 0.04 JLg/ml, oxytetracycline produced 30 and 28 sq mm at the concentrations of 50 and 5μg/ml. S. thermophilus when used as indicator organism was showed that the S.thermophilus was not inhibited at concentrations of 0.024 and 0.0024IU/ml of benzylpenicillin, gentamycin inhibited the organism at the concentrations of 0.4 and 0.04 μg/ml oxytetracycline inhibited the organism at the concentrations of 50 and 5 μg/ml respectively.
Communicating Sustainability on Social Media: A study on leading turkish and global Brands in Turkey.

Despite an increasing number of companies making use of social media messages to communicate their sustainable business principles and practices to various stakeholders, the academic literature investigating this topic, specifically in an emerging market context, remains limited. To address this gap, this study explores leading brands’ sustainability-themed communication messages on social media, considering the impacts of brand value and industry types from a country of origin and “triple bottom line” perspectives. An analysis of the sustainability content of social media messages was conducted via a content analysis of corporate Facebook pages of random sample of leading 62 Turkish and 31 global brands operating in Turkey. This data was than evaluated by regression analysis, Anova tests, and chi-square analyses. The results show that brand value is not a significant driver of communicating sustainability-themed messages on social media. It also indicates that the social media messages of global brands emphasize economic sustainability over environmental and social issues, whereas Turkish brands highlight social responsibility. Furthermore, analyses reveal differences among industry sectors in terms of communicating messages about economic dimension of sustainability in general, and also within leading Turkish brands. This study raises academic attention on the role of social media in promoting the sustainability content of large companies’ messages, and highlights the need for further research to reveal their approaches to the use of social media accounts. This study implies that, it is important that leading brands in emerging markets understand the connection between the three sustainability dimensions in order to be able to increase the sophistication of sustainability communications with various stakeholders. This study contributes to academic discussions in terms of the different dimensions of sustainability approaches of large companies on their social media accounts, and extends these discussions across different industries.
Growth forecast errors and government investment and consumption multipliers

We compare government investment and consumption multipliers in developed economies during the initial years of the ongoing fiscal consolidation. We find that, in countries with high public debt, the investment multiplier is likely to be higher than what has been assumed by policy-makers and higher than the consumption multiplier. This leads to the conclusion that the consolidation should be accompanied by increased public investment.
THE LAND USE CHANGES IN 20TH CENTURY AND THEIR GEOMORPHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS IN LOWLAND AGRICULTURAL AREA (VODERADY, TRNAVSKÁ TABUĽA TABLE PLAIN, SLOVAKIA)

Arable land in Danube Lowland is strongly affected by erosion processes, mainly by water, tillage and wind erosion. Their influence is variable in space and time and depends on diverse factors, including intensity of geomorphological agent, soil erodibility, local topographic conditions and land use. Land use affects erosion through anti-erosion effect of plants and plant societies, landscape structure through the character and density of borders. Overland flow is often retarded on vegetation barriers (hedges, grass strips). Due to difference in infiltration capacity, a fraction of the overland flow infiltrates near the field boundary. Sediment is likely to be deposited there (MEYER et al. 1995, SLATTERY and BURT 1997, TAKKEN et al. 1999 or VAN OOST et al. 2000). Deposition could occur on the leeward side due to wind accumulation. Pavements and roads represent anthropogenic flow lines and contribute to gully formation (STANKOVIANSKY 2003). In the case of tillage erosion each field boundary is a line of zero flux. Tillage erosion occurs at the down slope, accumulation at the upslope side (VAN OOST et al. 2000).
Engineering a functional neuro-muscular junction model in a chip

Healthy bi-directional intracellular transport along the axons between the somatodendritic and synaptic terminals is crucial to maintain the function and viability of neurons. When misbalanced, there is neuronal homeostasis failure that compromises its function and viability. In fact, several neurodegenerative diseases originate from misbalanced axonal transport and function. Thus numerous techniques have been developed to establish and maintain neuronal cultures in compartmented microfluidic devices to better understand these processes mimicking neuronal polarization. Although useful, these in vitro platforms do not allow for a full specific and temporal analysis in a completely monitored way. In this study, we have utilized a microfluidic system with large open cell culture reservoirs to precisely control neuronal microenvironments, capable of mimicking axon transport and synapse formation and to facilitate their analysis. We demonstrate using this lab-on-a-chip system for long-term motoneuron co-culture with C2C12-derived myotubes to mimic neuro-muscular junction (NMJ) formation. Furthermore, by integration with a calcium (Ca2+) imaging technique, we have proved the NMJ functionality in-chip through KCl-induced Ca2+ transient in connected myotubes. This platform can potentially become a useful tool as a straightforward, reproducible, and high-throughput in vitro model for basic NMJ research, and for high-throughput drug screening.
Carleman commutator approach in logarithmic convexity for parabolic equations

In this paper we investigate on a new strategy combining the logarithmic convexity (or frequency function) and the Carleman commutator to obtain an observation estimate at one time for the heat equation in a bounded domain. We also consider the heat equation with an inverse square potential. Moreover, a spectral inequality for the associated eigenvalue problem is derived.
EMITTANCE DILUITION DUE TO 3D PERTURBATIONS IN RF PHOTOINJECTORS

The predictions from different simulation codes are compared to investigate the effects of fluctuations of quantum efficiency and other sources of inhomogeneities in the performances of a typical RF photoinjector. The layout includes a RF gun and a focusing solenoid in a configuration aimed at minimizing the emittance growth due to space charge effects.
Family Functioning, Parenting, and Couple Satisfaction in Families of Children with a Disability

This study investigated the concept of family resilience in relation to parenting styles comparing four factors that enable parents to cope with a special-needs child: family functioning, couple satisfaction, parental stress and parenting style. Four aspects (Focus of Attention, Experiential Modality, Regulation and Energy) of parent-child interactions were analyzed. The aim of research was to explore differences between parents of a child with an intellectual disability and those with a nondisabled child. The participants were 32 couples with disabled children and 32 couples with nondisabled children. The results showed that parenting stress influences parenting style differently in the two types of families. Parenting style is differently influenced by family functioning and couple satisfaction. Many interesting differences between parents were found.
VDR polymorphisms ApaI (rs7975232), TaqI (rs731236) and FokI (rs2228570) in Pakistani vitiligo patients and controls

Objective To understand the role of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene rs7975232, rs731236 and rs2228570 in Pakistani vitiligo patients and ethnically matched controls. Methods 196 vitiligo patients and 262 controls were included in this study. Genomic DNA was extracted and polymerase chain reaction, restriction length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was done. Results Genotype CA (rs7975232) was found to be associated with susceptibility (Odd ratio=1.46, 95% CI=1.01-2.13, p =0.046) and TT genotype (rs731236) with protection (Odd ratio=0.48, 95% CI=0.25-0.92, p =0.003) to vitiligo. TT genotype for rs731236 was significantly high in controls and absent in undetermined/unclassified group of patients. Vitiligo patients and controls were also compared on the basis of gender. Genotype CA (OR=2.12, 95% CI=1.18-3.79, p =0.013) and CC (OR =0.21 95% CI=0.06-0.73, p=0.007) for rs7975232 were significantly high in male patients and controls, respectively. For rs2228570 CC genotype was significantly high in controls (OR=0.52, 95% CI=0.2-0.97), p =0.04) while TC genotype showed significant difference between patient and controls (OR=1.93, 95% CI=1.02-3.6), p =0.05). In combined effect haplotype A-T-C was found significantly high in controls as compared with the patients (Odd ratio=0.57, 95% CI=0.34-0.97, p =0.04). Conclusion VDR polymorphisms may be involved in etiology of vitiligo and future studies should be design to screen large sample size for more VDR polymorphism to get more precise picture.
A RADIAL AGE GRADIENT IN THE GEOMETRICALLY THICK DISK OF THE MILKY WAY

In the Milky Way, the thick disk can be defined using individual stellar abundances, kinematics, or age, or geometrically, as stars high above the midplane. In nearby galaxies, where only a geometric definition can be used, thick disks appear to have large radial scale lengths, and their red colors suggest that they are uniformly old. The Milky Way’s geometrically thick disk is also radially extended, but it is far from chemically uniform: α-enhanced stars are confined within the inner Galaxy. In simulated galaxies, where old stars are centrally concentrated, geometrically thick disks are radially extended, too. Younger stellar populations flare in the simulated disks’ outer regions, bringing those stars high above the midplane. The resulting geometrically thick disks therefore show a radial age gradient, from old in their central regions to younger in their outskirts. Based on our age estimates for a large sample of giant stars in the APOGEE survey, we can now test this scenario for the Milky Way. We find that the geometrically defined thick disk in the Milky Way has indeed a strong radial age gradient: the median age for red clump stars goes from ∼9 Gyr in the inner disk to 5 Gyr in the outer disk. We propose that at least some nearby galaxies could also have thick disks that are not uniformly old, and that geometrically thick disks might be complex structures resulting from different formation mechanisms in their inner and outer parts.
A Simply way to Generate Pancreatic Beta Cell Formation In Vivo through “Cellular Networking, Integration and Processing”

Impaired insulin secretion is a characteristic feature of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and a variety of approaches have been employed to generate beta cells in vivo and in vitro [1-3]. Herein, we describe a completely novel approach to form beta cells in vivo in an adult wild type rodent model of diabetes [4]. Our method integrates multiple process of cellular physiology to regulate organ function and results in the long-term normalization of insulin secretion and glycemia and is not associated with pancreatic injury. We labeled our approach “Cellular Networking, Integration and Processing (CNIP)” to distinguish it from the term “system biology” which is used broadly to refer collectively to different levels of cellular, organ and animal physiology. The fundamental principle underlying CNIP is to simultaneously target and integrate three key levels of cellular physiology/metabolism/ molecular biology that have been implicate in beta cell formation. This is in contrast to the non-integrated model, which targets only nuclear reprogramming.
Ecosystem Services and Urban Resilience – Case of Stockholm.

In the current context of urban densification and climate change the role of adaptive management of space in cities becomes crucial. This has significant consequences for the resilience of urban environments and our understanding and framing the role of open space and vegetation in cities. Urban ecosystem services (ES) are currently promoted in Sweden in the planning for more dense and sustainable cities. Despite the vital importance of ES, the methodology for planning of ES has not been developed. Of particular concern to scientists, environmentalists and planners are tools and methods addressing ES in urban planning and construction in Stockholm. Thus, the findings are particularly interesting as Stockholm city and region are often used as the best practice examples in the literature on the management of ES. This article identifies some of the challenges and opportunities involved in the process of integrating the concept of ES into planning for urban resilience in Stockholm.
Capstones 12-2011 Sensing and transmission strategies in wireless cognitive radio systems

Sensing and Transmission Strategies in Wireless Cognitive Radio Systems by Babak Abbasi Bastami The main challenge in any cognitive radio system is to maximize secondary users throughput while limiting interference imposed on licensed users. In this regard, finding the optimal sensing and transmission timing strategies and accurate sensing techniques are of great importance in a cognitive radio network. In this thesis, we study a sensing-transmission scheme for secondary user in a cognitive radio system where the secondary user senses every primary channel independently and transmits a signal for a fixed duration if it finds the channel empty and stays idle for another fixed duration if it senses the channel busy. We obtain optimal idle and transmission durations which maximize access opportunity of the secondary user while keeping the interference ratios on the primary channels below some thresholds. Our results show that unless we have an error free perfect channel sensing, adding the idle duration improves the performance of the system. We also study a cooperative spectrum sensing scheme for cognitive radio systems where each sensor transmits multi-bit quantized information to a fusion center where the decision about the availability or occupancy of the channel is made. We compare
Noise Radiation from a Leading-Edge Slat

This paper extends our previous computations of unsteady flow within the slat cove region of a multi-element high-lift airfoil configuration, which showed that both statistical and structural aspects of the experimentally observed unsteady flow behavior can be captured via 3D simulations over a computational domain of narrow spanwise extent. Although such narrow domain simulation can account for the spanwise decorrelation of the slat cove fluctuations, the resulting database cannot be applied towards acoustic predictions of the slat without invoking additional approximations to synthesize the fluctuation field over the rest of the span. This deficiency is partially alleviated in the present work by increasing the spanwise extent of the computational domain from 37.3% of the slat chord to nearly 226% (i.e., 15% of the model span). The simulation database is used to verify consistency with previous computational results and, then, to develop predictions of the far-field noise radiation in conjunction with a frequency-domain Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings solver.