Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of Ecstasy Users in São Paulo, Brazil

The present study was aimed at identifying patterns of Ecstasy (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine—MDMA) use in the city of São Paulo. Ecstasy users were recruited through the snowball technique. Using the same technique, a non-user control group was recruited among individuals that had never tried the drug but shared with users a similar life style. Users (N = 52) and non-users (N = 52) were interviewed in order to obtain data on socio-demographic characteristics and use of psychoactive drugs. In addition, levels of anxiety, depression and impulsiveness were assessed through Spielberger's IDATE Trace Inventory, Beck's Depression Inventory and Barrat Impulsiveness Scale. Both users and non-users revealed similar socio-demographic characteristics: most subjects were middle class young heterosexual single men and women who had a college degree. Multiple drug use was more frequent among users than among non-users. Other features that were significantly more accentuated among users than among non-users were the presence of tattoos and piercings, the frequency of attending raves and the preference for electronic music. Beck Inventory results pointed to significantly lower depression scores among users. No differences were observed between groups regarding anxiety and impulsiveness scores. Although the use of Ecstasy in São Paulo is restricted to a young middle or high social class, their vanguard lifestyle tends to influence youngsters of other social extractions, so that the use of the drug may soon become widespread and thus a legitimate public health concern.
PULMONARY CLEARANCE OF MANGANESE PHOSPHATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, AND MANGANESE TETRAOXIDE BY CD RATS FOLLOWING INTRATRACHEAL INSTILLATION

Manganese (Mn) is ubiquitous in ambient air due to both industrial and crustal sources. It is also a component of the octane-enhancing fuel additive methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) . The combustion of MMT by the automobile engine results in the formation of Mn particulates including phosphate, sulfate, and oxide forms. The objectives of this study were to determine the contribution of particle dissolution on pulmonary clearance rates of Mn sulfate (MnSO4) , Mn phosphate, and Mn tetraoxide (Mn3O4) in CD rats following an intratracheal instillation exposure. In addition, brain ( striatal) Mn concentrations were evaluated following exposure. Adult CD rats were intratracheally instilled with 0, 0.04, 0.08, or 0.16 μg Mn/g of either MnSO4, Mn phosphate, or Mn3O4. Rats were euthanized at 0, 1, 3, or 14 days after instillation. Lung and striatal Mn concentrations were measured by neutron activation analysis. Pulmonary clearance following single intratracheal instillation of MnSO4, Mn phosphate, or Mn3O4 was similar for each of the three compounds at each of the three doses used. All pulmonary clearance half-times were less than 0.5 day. At the concentrations used, striatal Mn levels were unaffected, and lung pathology was unremarkable. The dissolution rate constant of the Mn particles was determined in vitro using lung simulant fluids. The solubility of the Mn compounds was in general 20 to 40 times greater in Hatch artificial lung lining fluid than in Gamble lung simulant fluid. The dissolution rate constant of the water-soluble MnSO4 particles in Hatch artificial lung fluid containing protein was 7.5 × 10 g (Mn)/ cm/ day, which was 54 times that of relatively water-insoluble Mn phosphate and 3600 times that of Mn3O4. The dissolution rate constants for these compounds were sevenfold slower in Gamble lung fluid simulant. For both solutions, the time for half the material to go into solution differed only by factors of 1/83 to 1/17 to 1 for MnSO4, Mn phosphate, and Mn3O4, respectively, consistent with measured differences in size distribution, specific surface, and dissolution rate constant. These data suggest that dissolution mechanisms only played a role in the pulmonary clearance of MnSO4, while nonabsorptive (e.g., mechanical transport) mechanisms predominate for the less soluble phosphate and oxide forms of Mn.
The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease Initiative (BOLD): Rationale and Design

Quantifying COPD prevalence worldwide is needed to document COPD's effect on disability, health care costs, and impaired quality of life and to inform governments and health planners. As an adjunct to data obtained from population-based studies, and for countries where a fully powered prevalence survey cannot be done, modeling of COPD prevalence and its economic burdens can help estimate potential health care needs and costs. For comparability, standardized methods for prevalence surveys are needed that can be used in countries at all levels of economic development. The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) Initiative has developed a set of methods for estimating COPD prevalence and a model for assessing its economic impact, and piloted these methods in China and Turkey. The methods were revised to reflect the findings in the pilot studies, and BOLD is now making the standardized methods available worldwide. The BOLD Operations Center provides training, materials, quality control, and data analysis. BOLD emphasizes data quality control at every stage of the process. Data from paper forms completed in the field are entered electronically to a specially designed secure Web platform. Pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry testing is done on all participants, and all spirometry data are reviewed for quality. Questionnaires are used to obtain information about respiratory symptoms, health status, exposure to risk factors, and economic data about the burden of COPD. BOLD's standardized methods will provide a uniform way to compare COPD burden within and between countries, and where differences are found, to explore explanations for these differences.
Winter spatial relationships of wolves and coyotes in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba

In Riding Mountain National Park, wolves ( Canis lupus ) and coyotes ( C. latrans ) overlapped temporally and spatially. Movements of coyotes relative to wolves were not random. Coyotes used active wolf areas, and followed wolf tracks rather than avoiding them. The movements of wolves were not altered by the presence of coyotes.
TRENDS OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON LEVELS AND MUTAGENICITY IN SANTIAGO'S INHALABLE AIRBORNE PARTICLES IN THE PERIOD 1992?1996

Trends of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) for 1992–1996 (cold season) and their mutagenic activity were investigated in organic extracts from the Santiago, Chile, inhalable particles (PM10). The highest PAH concentrations were observed in 1992 and declined dramatically in the following years. During this period, total PAHs decreased 85%, carcinogenic PAHs 82%, and benzo[a]pyrene, the most potent carcinogen, 85%. In spite of this significant decrease, PAH levels in respirable particles were higher than those reported in recent studies in Australia, Europe, and the United States. PAH profiles were analyzed by principal component (PC) analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. PC1 represents 71% of the variance, suggesting that most PAHs might originate predominantly from one main generic source. Higher correlations were obtained for the major carcinogenic PAHs. Most of the samples assayed were highly mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium both in the presence and in the absence of metabolic activation system (S9), especially in the coarse fraction, but direct mutagenicity did not decline significantly. Incubation of calf thymus DNA with organic extracts from particulate matter and xanthine oxidase allowed the detection of five nitro-PAH? DNA adducts. Thus, nitroarenes might play an important role in the mutagenic activity of inhalable particles in Santiago, representing a high risk for human health.
Conservation in the Sikkim Himalaya: Traditional Knowledge and Land-use of the Mamlay Watershed

The ecological problems, including degradation of fragile ecosystems, of the Himalaya are quite conspicuous. A rapid depletion of forest resources is the main cause of environmental degradation and economic deterioration. Watersheds are considered as a unit for natural resource management and development in hilly areas; therefore a case-study of Mamlay watershed of Sikkim is presented in this paper. The Mamley watershed presents a viable system having a gradient of altitude where almost all types of land-uses that are common in the eastern Himalaya are found. All the ethno-cultural groups of Sikkim are present in this watershed, although the agricultural sector provides the main land-use, followed by forestry. Most of the forested areas in the Himalaya have been purportedly destroyed for the expansion of agricultural land. A similar situation was experienced in the Mamlay watershed, where an increase of 12.79% of the land-area used for agriculture has been recorded in the past 40 years. The watershed being fragile, 62% of the area is under intensive agricultural practice. Land-use and spatial relationships in the perspective of conservation are presented in this paper. Great genetic diversity of agricultural crops and trees has been recorded in this small watershed. Conservation ethics of optimum utilization/production of the resources, following traditional practices without much degrading of the system which is believed to be sustainable, was practised earlier in the watershed. But recently, due to population pressure and fragmentation of farm-owning families, the balance of land-use, natural resource utilization, and conservation, has become perturbed. Examples of traditional adaptation, indigenous knowledge, and perception of conservation amongst farm-owning families, are also presented in the paper.
Biochemical and Molecular Analysis of Wild Endemic Fruits of the Manipur Region of India

Manipur state of India is endowed with enormous genetic diversity in local and indigenous fruits, but nutritional attributes of some have not been scientifically investigated earlier. Nineteen endemic, endogenous fruits from 11 families were selected for biochemical and molecular analyses. Ascorbic acid, antioxidant activity, and correlation analysis revealed high and varying quantities. Phyllanthus emblica had the highest vitamin C (375.68 mg/100 g) and antioxidant activity (IC50 181.21 μg/ml). High-quality genomic DNA isolation was standardized, showing excellent spectra, efficient restriction digestion, and PCR amplification. Here, nutritional screening and molecular analysis of the endemic fruits and their potential nutritive value to hinder malnutrition is reported.
The Influence of Seed Inoculation upon the Growth of Black Locust Seedlings1

T ability of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) to utilize atmospheric nitrogen, together with its spreading root system, makes it . particularly adapted for soil conservation work. Mattoon (5) 3 reported that it is found widely distributed over the eastern half of the United States, but that its native home was probably in the Appalachian Mountains, including the outlying Piedmont region. He described it it as growing best on well-drained, neutral soils, and stated that it has been recommended for planting from the New England states south to Georgia and west to Texas, Missouri, and Illinois. The important symbiotic relationship between the black locust and the legume foot,nodule bacteria has been pointed out by a number of investigators. Nobbe, et al. (7) found that well-nodulated black locust seedlings produced a better vegetative growth than similar plants without nodules but which received either ammonium sulfate or calcium nitrate fertilizer. Mattoon (5) concluded that the presence of rhizobia in the roots of the locust seemed to give it a greater resistance toward attack by the locust borer. McIntyre and Jeffries (6) found that nodulated black locust trees increased the nitrogen content of the soil and made" it more productive. They reported that the growth rate of catalpa and the amount of nitrogen in the soil decreased as the distance from the adjacent black locust plantings increased. Some investigators in working with black locust have failed to take advantage of this symbiotic relationship. Ware (~o), in a recent bulletin, reported that the locust grew but very poorly in the depleted soils of Alabama unless it received a complete fertilizer. He advocated about 0.4 pound per plant of a 2-8-4 fertilizer supplemented with about o. ~ pound of nitrate of soda. Accordingly it was concluded that the cost of establishing the locust satisfactorily makes it too costly to use in ]arge scale reforestation programs, or for largescale plantings on abandoned agricultural land. Throughout" the report, however, no mention was made of the use of any bacterial inoculant for the plants. It appears reasonable that proper inoculation of the seed might make the use of much of the expensive fertilizer materials unnecessary and also insure a more vigorous continued growth of t,he plants. Many experiments have been conducted which have shown the advantage of seed inoculation in the growing of the common legttmes. No papers are available, however, which report a similar study of the
Use of polyvinyl alcohol cryogels for the compartmentation of biocatalyzed reactions in non-aqueous media

Separation into stable aqueous compartments is a promising concept to enable the synthetic application of biocatalysts in unfavourable non-aqueous media, and might provide the key for successful application of complex multistep synthesis. This study describes and evaluates the practical utility of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cryogels as a matrix for such compartmentation. The protocol for enzyme entrapment in the gels was highly efficient, giving an immobilization yield of >99% and a total loss of material less than 10%. The resulting gel compartments were between 2.2 and 4 mm in size and had high mechanical strength. Shrinking occurred in solvents with the ability for water uptake. The matrix enabled the synthetic use of benzaldehyde lyase and alcohol dehydrogenase in hexane, in which equilibrium concentrations were comparable to a conventional two-phase system. The results suggest a general suitability of PVA gels for the compartmentation of biocatalyzed reactions in non-aqueous media.
Effect of Body Condition at Calving and its Changes During Early Lactation on Postpartum Reproductive Performance of Zebu Cows in a Tropical Environment

Abstract Delgado, R. , Magaña, J.G. , Galina, C. and Segura, J.C. 2004. Effect of body condition at calving and its changes during early lactation on postpartum reproductive performance of Zebu cows in a tropical environment. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 26: 23–28. A herd was monitored for two years in order to determine the effect of body condition score on the reproductive performance of Zebu cows managed under continuous mating in the tropics of Mexico. Overall cyclicity and pregnancy rates were 60.5% and 37.1% at four months pospartum, respectively. 62.9 percent of the cows were non-pregnant and of these more than 60% were in true anoestrus. Body condition score (BCS) at calving and 60 days postpartum, BCS changes, season and parity had significant effects (P<0.05) on cyclicity and pregnancy at 120 days postpartum. The odds of a cycling or pregnant cow at 120 days postpartum improved with increasing BCS grades. Cows calving in the dry or rainy season had lower odds (0.5 and 0.7, respectively) than those calving during the windy and rainy season. First calving cows had the worst performance, no differences being observed among multiparous cows.
THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE IN LONDON THROUGH LITERARY NARRATIVE IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S MRS DALLOWAY

Teacher language competency is recognized as an essential component of effective teaching. Teachers must be fluent in the four language modalities: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. In Malaysia, Arabic language has been offered to learners earlier in their schooling, prompting a demand for more Arabic language teachers who are competent in Arabic language teaching. Thus, this study aims at investigating the level of teacher language competency as well as the validity and reliability of the instrument used in assessing teacher language competency. The current study applied a stratified random sampling because of the geographical reason and involved 252 teachers out of 487 teachers from 57 National Religious Secondary Schools throughout Malaysia. The means and percentages were used to interpret the level of teacher language competency. A Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures) was employed to investigate the validity and reliability of a teacher language competency scale. The descriptive analysis showed that teachers evaluated themselves at the high level. The results of confirmatory factor analysis supported the adequacy of teacher language competency and found that the teachers’ language competency construct is a multidimensional construct with four underlying dimensions.
Species composition and diversity of natural forest edges: edge responses and local edge species

Habitat boundaries in general and forest edges in particular belong to the central issues in ecology. Theories about community and environmental edge-responses are diverse, but there is a lack of sufficient supporting field evidence: no consensus exists about distinctness and diversity of edges, and the existence of edge-related species. Moreover, as most studies focus on man-made edges, natural forest edges are less understood. We studied xeric forest edges in a wooded-steppe area. Twelve forest patches were selected, and plots were set up within the edges, the forest interiors and the grasslands. Species composition, species richness and Shannon diversity were compared between the three habitat types as well as between differently oriented edges. We identified diagnostic species for all habitats. Local habitat preferences of the edge-related species were compared to their regional preferences. Environmental factors of the different habitats were assessed by using ecological indicator values. Forest edges differed both from forest interiors and grasslands, forming a narrow but distinct habitat type between them. Species composition of the edges was not simply a mixture of forest and grassland species, but there were several edge-related species, most of which are regionally regarded as typical of closed steppe grasslands. Neither shady conditions of the forests, nor dry conditions of the grasslands are tolerated by these species; this is why they are confined to edges. Species richness and Shannon-diversity were higher within edges than in either of the habitat interiors. Ecological indicator values suggested that light intensity and temperature were higher in the edges than in the forests, but were lower than in the grasslands. In contrast, soil moisture was lower in the edges than in the forests but was higher than in the grasslands. There were slight differences between differently exposed edges concerning species composition, species richness and Shannon diversity. We conclude that edges should be considered an integral part of wooded-steppes. Their high diversity may have nature conservation implications. Our study emphasizes that edge species may be confined to edges only locally, but may have a broader distributional range in other areas. These species may be referred to as local edge species. Our results also point out that the very same edge can be interactive and non-interactive at the same time, depending on the characteristics considered.
Modelling the sensitivity of colonially breeding marine birds to oil spills: guillemot and kittiwake populations on the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea.

SUMMARY (1) We develop simulation and analytic models to estimate the responses of colonially breeding marine birds to environmental perturbations such as oil spills occurring within the foraging area of the populations. (2) Short-term impacts are considered through a demographic sub-model, which simulates changes in population size and age structure through a breeding season, and a foraging sub-model, which simulates the daily foraging activities of individuals and estimates their daily energy intake and mortality from direct contact with a spill. The demographic sub-model partitions adults and young into age-states; transfers of individuals between states are produced by immigration, breeding, emigration, growth, and mortality. Survivorship of young is modelled as a function of food delivery rate by the adults. The foraging model generates a distribution of the population at sea in accordance with optimization of individual trip times in relation to projected resource levels in areas surrounding the colony. This distribution is then perturbed by effecting reductions in food supply or direct mortality of adults in areas affected by an oil spill, and the rate of recovery of the population to the optimal distribution and the changes in survival of various age classes projected. (3) Monte Carlo sensitivity tests indicate that model projections are relatively robust to variations in input values, standard errors of adult survivorship and chick fledging success ranging from 0.03 to 0.21. Other sensitivity tests suggest that the model system is relatively insensitive to variations in the probability of adult death following a spill encounter, but is substantially more sensitive to variations in the rate at which the population responds to the occurrence of a perturbation by adjusting its foraging distribution, and to large changes in the food availability of areas following perturbation. (4) Applications of the model to populations of guillemots and kittiwakes breeding on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea suggest that guillemot mortality is greatest following perturbations located in shallow inshore areas about the breeding islands, while kittiwakes are less severely affected by localized perturbations but are sensitive to spills occurring over a wider area about the islands. Model explorations employing chronic low-level pollution rather than one-time perturbations suggest that the guillemot population breeding on St George Island could tolerate an overall reduction of 10% in the food supply without suffering a major decline in fledging success, but a reduction of 40% would lead to total reproductive failure in the colony. (5) We construct three specific scenarios of oil spills to explore the patterns of population mortality and recovery times projected by the models. Kittiwakes seem generally less sensitive to perturbations, especially those occurring in the immediate vicinity of the breeding colonies.
A review of management impacts on the soil productivity of South African commercial forestry plantations and the implications for multiple-rotation productivity

An overview of southern African research that has investigated the impact of management practices that can potentially affect the long-term site productivity of plantations is presented, with an emphasis of these impacts on soil productivity and with the implications for multiple-rotation site productivity. Activities that are most likely to cause long-term changes in soil productivity are identified as those causing high site disturbance during the inter-rotation period, notably ground-based mechanised operations and harvest residue management (including complete biomass removal) and, under some conditions, fertilisation. The impacts of these practices on soil and stand productivity are discussed from a southern African perspective. Knowledge gaps are identified and it is suggested that the immediate research priority is to identify meaningful indicators that are sensitive to change and that can be linked to stand production. Other key research focus areas are proposed and the need for a permanent long-term monitoring network is highlighted.