Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of 3D geoelectrical resistivity for mapping of gas migration in landfills

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and growing concern regarding global climate changes and landfill gas is regarded as one of the major sources for methane migration to the atmosphere. In this study we present research work with the objective to evaluate the use of 3D geoelectrical resistivity to detect gas migration in landfills. Extensive field experiments were conducted at the Filborna landfill site in Helsingborg, Sweden, in August 2008. In general, the resistivity measurements showed results corresponding to results reported from previous investigations in waste. In this paper we present results showing the influence of rainfall events on the resistivity, and the correlation between gas flux and resistivity near the surface.
Questions méthodologiques en matière de recherche portant sur la pratique infirmière en soins palliatifs

Cette etude integrative a comme but de decrire les recherches dirigees par des infirmieres et des infirmiers depuis le milieu des annees 90 dans le domaine des soins palliatifs et des soins de fin de vie. Elle vise egalement a identifier les progres et les defis methodologiques tout en proposant des strategies pour appuyer le developpement de la recherche en sciences infirmieres. Une etude des bases de donnees a revele la publication de 121 rapports de recherche entre 1995 et 2003. Nous avons inclu des etudes dont l'auteur principal etait une infirmiere ou un infirmier, dont le centre d'interet etait soit la pratique infirmiere, soit les attitudes du personnel infirmier a l'egard des soins palliatifs et de fin de vie. Nous avons constate qu'un nombre relativement reduit d'etudes ont inclu des patients, que les methodes utilisees dans la collecte des donnees presentaient certaines lacunes et qu'il y avait peu d'etudes destinees a evaluer les soins infirmiers palliatifs. L'accent mis sur l'approche interdisciplinaire en soins palliatifs peut empecher les infirmieres et les infirmiers d'examiner l'efficacite des interventions infirmieres. Cet aspect, ainsi que le rendement, doivent faire l'objet d'une plus grande attention afin de garantir les meilleurs resultats pour les patients et leurs familles.
EFFECT OF COLD PRETREATMENT AND PHYTOHORMONES ON ANTHER CULTURE EFFICIENCY OF TWO INDICA RICE (Oryza sativa L.) HYBRIDS- AJAY AND RAJALAXMI

Application of anther culture techniques for improvement of indica rices is a formidable task as they are known to be recalcitrant to culture unlike japonica rices. Since anther culture can effectively address the major problems associated with the adoption of hybrid rice in India, an effort was made to assess the influence of cold pretreatment and phyto hormones on the anther culture response of Rajalaxmi (CRHR 5) and Ajay (CRHR 7), two elite and popular indica rice hybrids. Cold pretreatment for 7-9 days at 10 o C was found to have a positive influence on the callus induction frequency irrespective of the media employed and prolonged treatment over the optimum proved to be inhibitory. Of the different auxins (2, 4-D, NAA) and cytokinins (Kinetin, BAP) and their combinations studied, a ratio of 1:4 for 2,4-D and NAA and 1:3:1 ratio of Kinetin: BAP: NAA ratio proved to be optimal for callus induction and green plant regeneration respectively. This information can be of use in the development of doubled haploids with superior yield and good grain quality from the elite hybrid cultivars.
Traditional Knowledge in a Rural Community in the Semi-Arid Region of Brazil: Age and gender patterns and their implications for plant conservation

The present study documents dynamics and patterns of knowledge about the use of native plants in a rural community, according to the age and gender of its members, in a semi-arid region of Paraiba State, northeastern Brazil. Socioeconomic factors and ethnobotanical data were registered from 123 household heads through semi-structured interviews. Comparisons between the knowledge of males and females, and between age groups about species richness, number of citations mentioned, and species plant use knowledge measures were made to determine intracultural variations. These outcomes show that differentiation of botanical knowledge from a gender and age perspective reinforces the importance of recognizing specific activities and needs in males and females in the design and definition of sustainable management strategies, policies, and economic interventions over vegetation legacy, and act as a priority inclusion indicator of certain species in conservation processes as a contribution to the culture and biodiversity conservation.
The Implication of Climate Signal for Precipitation in the Heihe River Basin, Northwest China

This paper studies the stochastic dynamic variability of precipitation, for the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Heihe River basin in Northwest China, by employing Mann-Kendall statistic, Pettitt test, and wavelet transform methods. The possible associations with three prominent climatic patterns, El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Artic Oscillation (AO), and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), are examined by using multiscale wavelet coherence method. No significant trend is identified for the interannual precipitation variability. However, about 2-year significant variability is detected for the lower reach of the Heihe River basin, and this dominating precipitation variability is essentially depicted by AO. The possible influences of ENSO are exerted on long-term timescale, 8–16 years. The obtained knowledge is helpful for the predications of extreme hydroclimatological events and better reservoir operations for regional water resources.
Pathologic features , Ki-67 indices and MelanA expression in adrenal neoplasms

Aim: Differential diagnosis of adrenocortical neoplasms and pheochromocytoma may occasionally be very difficult. Although recently developed molecular techniques are encouraging, histopathologic features and immunohistochemical markers are still the mainstay of diagnosis. The aim of this study is to re-evaluate the clinicopathologic features of our cases diagnosed as adrenocortical adenoma/carcinoma and pheochromocytoma. Material and Methods: Sixteen cases of adrenocortical neoplasm and 7 cases of pheochromocytoma, 3 of which were bilateral, diagnosed between 1995 and 2010 at Dokuz Eylül University Pathology Department were reviewed. The immunohistochemical staining of Ki-67 and melan-A were examined. Results: The mean age of the adrenocortical neoplasm cases was 45 years (range, 25-60). Fifteen of 16 adrenocortical neoplasms were cortical adenoma and 1 was cortical carcinoma. The mean Ki-67 proliferation index in the cortical adenoma cases was 1.7% (range, 0.2-6.0%). Four of the 15 adenoma cases (27%) were melan-A positive. In one cortical carcinoma case, the Ki-67 proliferation index was 20% and melan-A was negative. The mean age of the pheochromocytoma cases was 46 years (range, 28-63). Four pheochromocytoma cases were benign, whereas 3 cases, 2 of which were bilateral, had histopathologic features suggesting malignant behavior. The mean Ki-67 proliferation index of 10 pheochromocytomas from 7 cases was 3.3% (range, 0.2-20.0%), and none of these cases showed melan-A immunoreactivity. Conclusion: Although the number of patients is limited in this study, our findings suggest that Ki-67 immunohistochemical stain can be used in routine practice to determine tumor biology in adrenal neoplasms, and melan-A positivity may favor cortical origin in differential diagnosis of adrenocortical tumors and pheochromocytoma.
Optimal choice of sample substrate and laser wavelength for Raman spectroscopic analysis of biological specimen

Raman spectroscopy is an optical technique based on the inelastic scattering of monochromatic light that can be used to identify the biomolecular composition of biological cells and tissues. It can be used as both an aid for understanding the etiology of disease and for accurate clinical diagnostics when combined with multivariate statistical algorithms. This method is non-destructive, potentially non-invasive and can be applied in vitro or in vivo directly or via a fiber optic probe. However, there exists a high degree of variability across experimental protocols, some of which result in large background signals that can often overpower the weak Raman signals being emitted. These protocols need to be standardised before the technique can provide reliable and reproducible experimental results in an everyday clinical environment. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of different experimental parameters involved in the analysis of biological specimen. We investigate the Raman signals generated from healthy human cheek cells using different source laser wavelengths; 473 nm, 532 nm, 660 nm, 785 nm and 830 nm, and different sample substrates; Raman-grade calcium fluoride, IR polished calcium fluoride, magnesium fluoride, aluminium (100 nm and 1500 nm thin films on glass), glass, fused silica, potassium bromide, sodium chloride and zinc selenide, whilst maintaining all other experimental parameters constant throughout the study insofar as possible.
Performance of Crude Palm Oil and Crude Palm Kernel Oil Futures in Malaysian Derivatives Market

﻿This study investigates the performance of two contracts traded that is Futures Crude Palm Oil (hereafter refers as FCPO) and Crude Palm Kernel Oil futures (hereafter refers as FPKO) in Malaysian derivatives market. The effects of contract’s settlement, volume and open interest was analyzed towards open price (hereafter refers as price) for both contract traded. Secondary data is used, which are gathered from Bloomberg, Bursa Malaysia for N=1,296 over the period between 2006 and 2010. Overall the result revealed by regression and independent T-test shows that; the dependent variables and independent variables have a strong relationship, and the prices and volume of trading for FCPO is performed better and the most preferable contract compared to the FPKO contracts traded in Bursa Malaysia.
The Effect of Endurance Training with Flax Seed on Cortisol and Lipid Profile of Obese Women

Introduction: Obesity is one of the global health problems that causes tissue damage and mortality due to hormonal changes and increased inflammatory markers and metabolic syndrome indices. For this reason, this study was conducted to investigate changes of endurance training with flax seed on cortisol concentration and lipid profile of obese women. Methods: In the present study, 48 obese women aged 30-40 years old were randomly divided into four groups of 12, including 1. Endurance training, 2. Flaxseed supplementation, 3. Endurance training with flaxseed supplementation and 4. Control. Groups 1 and 3 performed endurance training for 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week at 40-70% of maximum heart rate, group 2 consume 6 grams flax seed daily and group 4 did not have any exercise and flaxseed consumption. Blood samples were measured before and after 8 weeks of endurance training and flax seed consumption. To analyze the data, descriptive and inferential tests of one-way ANOVA, Tukey‘ s post hoc, and paired sample t-tests were used at the significance level of 0.05. Results: The results showed a significant difference in endurance training, endurance training with flax seed and control groups also showed a nonsignificant difference in flax seed group in cholesterol (p=0.003, p=0.001, p<0.001, p=0.065 respectively), triglyceride (p=0.002, p=0.001, p=0.01, p=0.12 respectively) and LDL (p=0.008, p=0.003, p=0.028, p=0.091 respectively) HDL (p=0.011, p=0.014, p=0.031, p=0.26 respectively), also based on the findings of the study, non-significant differences were found between the levels of cortisol in the research groups (p=0.26, p=0.12, p=0.18, p=0.75 respectively). Conclusion: It seems that endurance trainings with flax seed can improve the lipid profiles of obese women.
Starting on the right track? The effects of rst job experience on short and long term labor market outcomes

For young job seekers barriers to labor market entry are high, especially in developing countries were information frictions are large. Can first job experience impact such barriers and have perdurable effects? This paper exploits a large-scale youth employment program in Argentina that randomly allocated 12-months wage subsidizes to investigate what were the effects of (relatively) high quality entry-level jobs on short and long terms labor market outcomes of the youth. Short and long term (4.5 years after) outcomes are measured with data gathered both from administrative registries and a follow-up survey. Working in a formal firm caused large short and long run gains in the probability of formal employment, as well as a fall in unemployment. The random assignment design also allows to implement a saturation approach to measure displacement effects, which, if anything, we found to be positive over not beneficiaries. We explore alternative mechanisms that could produce all these impacts of real world first job experience, and we find evidence favoring a reduction in informational barriers over alternative explanations, like on-the-job skills development.
The Properties Defining Teaching Materials for English Language Courses for IT Students in Serbia

The results presented in this paper are a part of amuch more complex mix-method research on the needs of ITstudents in ELT. The paper reports on the properties definingthe teaching materials suitable for IT students in ELT in tertiaryeducation. Since English language is an essential tool for ITstudents to gain professional knowledge and to grow intocompetent individuals in their field, a rather different approachshould be utilised in order to fully assess and question their needsin ELT. The paper discusses on the properties of teachingmaterials for IT students within the framework of Englishlanguage courses for IT students that has been defined by theresearch. The authors want to define teaching materials suitablefor IT students for mainly two reasons: to help the ones withinsufficient language knowledge to reach the satisfying one and toequip the IT students for the target situations in Englishlanguage that they may find themselves in during studies andupon finding a job. The results presented in this paper can bevaluable for all ESP teachers, especially the ones teaching to thestudents at technical faculties.
Fish Diversity and Distribution in Carbyns Cove Mangrove Habitat along the South Andaman Coast in Relation to Environmental Variables

The present study investigated the fish diversity and distribution in relation to environmental variables along the South Andaman coast from October 2012 to September 2014. Bimonthly sampling was carried out using cast net and six environmental variables via air temperature, water temperature, salinity, pH, Dissolved oxygen and Biological oxygen demand were measured. A total of 136 fish species belonging to 76 genera and 43 families were encountered during the study. Sardinella melanura, Sardinella fimbriata, Sardinella gibbosa, Liza macrolepis, Valamugil seheli, Stolephorus commerosnii, Gerres abbreviates, Carangoides malabaricus and Oreochromis mossambica were the most abundant species in the creek. Principal Component analysis, non-Metric Multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis revealed grouping of months into three seasons (Season –I, II and –III). Seasonal variation of environmental variables was observed, with high Air temperature, water temperature, salinity and Biological oxygen demand from February to April (S- III), whereas high Dissolved oxygen and pH from May to September (S- I). Fish species richness (16.57) and diversity (4.49) were recorded higher during 2012-13 and evenness (0.99) during 2013-14. In general high fish species diversity was recorded during wet season and low during dry season. RELATE (R=0.45) and BIOENV (R= 0.59) analysis revealed environmental variable significantly (P=0.1%) influencing fish assemblage of the creek. Water temperature and salinity were best influencing the fish assemblage of Carbyn’s Cove creek. The study depicted Carbyn’s Cove mangrove habitat was endowed with diverse fishery which were significantly influenced by environmental variables. Thus it is recommended the habitat to be utilized with proper planning for better conservation and sustainable fishery.
Optimal Technology Investment and Operation in Zero-Net-Energy Buildings with Demand Response - eScholarship

The US Department of Energy has launched the Zero-Net-Energy (ZNE) Commercial Building Initiative (CBI) in order to develop commercial buildings that produce as much energy as they use. Its objective is to make these buildings marketable by 2025 such that they minimize their energy use through cutting-edge energy-efficient technologies and meet their remaining energy needs through on-site renewable energy generation. We examine how such buildings may be implemented within the context of a cost- or carbon-minimizing microgrid that is able to adopt and operate various technologies, such as photovoltaic (PV) on-site generation, heat exchangers, solar thermal collectors, absorption chillers, and passive / demand-response technologies. We use a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) that has a multi-criteria objective function: the minimization of a weighted average of the building's annual energy costs and carbon / CO2 emissions. The MILP's constraints ensure energy balance and capacity limits. In addition, constraining the building's energy consumed to equal its energy exports enables us to explore how energy sales and demand-response measures may enable compliance with the CBI. Using a nursing home in northern California and New York with existing tariff rates and technology data, we find that a ZNE building requires ample PV capacity installed to ensure electricity sales during the day. This is complemented by investment in energy-efficient combined heat and power equipment, while occasional demand response shaves energy consumption. A large amount of storage is also adopted, which may be impractical. Nevertheless, it shows the nature of the solutions and costs necessary to achieve ZNE. For comparison, we analyze a nursing home facility in New York to examine the effects of a flatter tariff structure and different load profiles. It has trouble reaching ZNE status and its load reductions as well as efficiency measures need to be more effective than those in the CA case. Finally, we illustrate that the multi-criteria frontier that considers costs and carbon emissions in the presence of demand response dominates the one without it.
Co-experience Network Dynamics: Lessons from the Dance Floor

Experience and socialization are key factors in determining customer commitment and renewal decisions in the service sector. To analyse the combined effect of experience and socialization, in this paper we introduce the concept of co-experience networks. A new methodological approach, originally applied in the field of social ethology, is devised to study reality-mined co-experience networks. By analysing a network of health club members over four years, we find that long-experienced clients have a lower chance to renew their contracts. On the other hand, central members in the co-experience network are stable and tend to renew their memberships. Further, since the members of the same reference group align their levels of commitment, renewal decisions are clustered in a small-world network. These findings contribute to our understanding of social dynamics and localized conformity in customer decision-making that can be used to plan marketing strategies to improve customer retention.
Variability of diet-tissue isotopic fractionation in estuarine macrobenthos

Juveniles of bivalves Mactra veneriformis and Ruditapes philippinarum, and ghost shrimps Nihonotrypaea japonica and N. harmandi were reared on a microalga of a constant isotopic value to quantify their diet-tissue isotopic fractionation. The weights of the animals increased by >7-fold, resulting in isotopic equilibria with their diet. Fractionation for bivalve soft tissues was 0.6 to 0.9‰ for carbon and 3.4 to 3.6‰ for nitrogen, which fell within the range of the currently accepted fractionation values (0 to 1 and 3 to 4‰). Examinations of acid-treated or untreated whole body, mus- cle and exoskeleton of the ghost shrimps showed (1) large variations in δ 13 C for untreated exoskele- tons, (2) reduced δ 13 C for acid-treated exoskeletons by 3.5 to 6.2‰, (3) confined ranges in 13 C and 15 N fractionations for muscles (2.0 to 2.2 and 3.6 to 4.0‰), (4) only slight effects of acid treatment on 13 C and 15 N fractionation for muscles (≤0.3‰ differences), (5) a significant difference in 13 C fractionation for acid-treated whole bodies between N. japonica (-0.3‰) and N. harmandi (-1.7‰), and (6) 2.3 to 3.0‰ of 15 N fractionation for whole bodies, which were smaller than for muscles due to negative frac- tionation for exoskeletons (-3.0 to -1.9‰). These findings suggest that carbonates in exoskeletons should be removed by acid and that muscle is the most appropriate tissue for isotopic analysis. Although 15 N fractionation for ghost-shrimp muscle was within the above-mentioned accepted range, 13 C fractionation was outside this range. The present study highlights that fractionation is species- and tissue-specific, and that the accepted fractionation values may not be universally applicable.
Use the Extended Activated Sludge Process to Remove Triclosan (TCS) from Wastewater Treatment Plant

The antibacterial personal care product Triclosan (TCS), is a broad spectrum antibacterial. It has been used for more than 40 years as an antiseptic, disinfectant or preservative in clinical settings, and in the various consumer products including cosmetics, plastic materials and toys. It has lately been determined in the sources of the aquatic environment; its potential effect on ecosystems. The contaminants can reach the soil and aquatic environment through land application of wastewater effluent and agricultural runoff, and then reach to humans through the food chain. Triclosan is used worldwide on a large scale especially in many personal care products, like toothpaste, shampoo and soap. In this study, the removal of Triclosan was investigated in an extended activated sludge process set in a laboratory-scale reactor. Activated sludge biomass used in the reactor was obtained from Gaziantep wastewater treatment plant. The analytical method based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by high Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used for the determination of Triclosan in extended activated sludge effluent. Reactor was operated in different HRTs and Triclosan removal efficiency was obtained as 92.5%, 95.4%, 99.1% and 99.9% for different HRT values of 18h, 24h, 48h, and 52h, respectively.