Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dark energy constraints from a space-based supernova survey

Aims. We present a forecast of dark energy constraints that could be obtained from a large sample of distances to Type Ia supernovae detected and measured from space. Methods. We simulate the supernova events as they would be observed by a EUCLID-like telescope with its two imagers, assuming those would be equipped with 4 visible and 3 near infrared swappable filters. We account for known systematic uncertainties affecting the cosmological constraints, including those arising through the training of the supernova model used to fit the supernovae light curves. Results. Using conservative assumptions and Planck priors, we find that a 18 month survey would yield constraints on the dark energy equation of state comparable to the cosmic shear approach in EUCLID: a variable two-parameter equation of state can be constrained to ∼0.03 at z � 0.3. These constraints are derived from distances to about 13 000 supernovae out to z = 1.5, observed in two cones of 10 and 50 deg 2 . These constraints do not require measuring a nearby supernova sample from the ground. Conclusions. Provided swappable filters can be accommodated on EUCLID, distances to supernovae can be measured from space and contribute to obtain the most precise constraints on dark energy properties.
A comparative study of radioprotection with Callophyllis japonica extract and amifostine against lethal whole body gamma irradiation in mice

SUMMARY The efficacy of the radioprotective effect of Callophyllis japonica ethyl acetate (CJEA) extract wasstudied by comparing it to that of amifostine, a well-known radioprotective agent, and byevaluating the dose reduction factor, an indicator of radioprotective efficacy. Pretreatment withCJEA extract (100 mg/kg body weight) prior to receiving 12 Gy irradiation significantly improved thesurvival of jejunal crypts at 3.5 day post-irradiation, but attenuated the level of malondialdehydecompared to vehicle alone (P < 0.01). A similar gastroprotective effect was also obtained in theamifostine-treated irradiated group (P < 0.01). The efficacy of the radioprotective effect wasfurther confirmed by the dose reduction factor, 1.41. Collectively, these results suggest that CJEAextract is a useful radioprotectant whose efficacy is similar to that of amifostine and whoseradioprotective mechanism is in part the reduction of lipid peroxidation caused by gammairradiation. Key words: Callophyllis japonica; Red seaweed; Jejunum; Radioprotection; Amifostine; Antioxidation
Transport Protocol for Vehicular Environments: Challenges and Trends

So far, in most vehicular applications, navigation and communication are viewed as separate capabilities with little or no relationship between each other. Although much work has already been done related to the enhancement of vehicular communication protocols, they do not consider the leveraging of rich data sets provided by GPS receivers, such as position information, roadmap geometry, and traffic conditions, which would improve the utilization of the wireless medium and provide higher quality of service for a wide range of applications. With this goal in mind, we shall seek for opportunities to use GPS data at every layer of the communications protocol stack. The work presented in this paper aims to present the issues and provide solutions for a transport protocol for vehicular networks by using cross-layer optimization and geographic data to improve vehicular communications.
Challenges experienced by nurse educators on the delivery of content laden curriculum at a nursing college in Gauteng

Objective : Nursing education is characterised by content laden curriculum which results in superficial coverage of content by most nurse educators in order to get the curriculum finished. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the challenges experienced by nurse educators on the delivery of content laden curriculum at a nursing college in Gauteng. Methods : A purposive sampling was used to select 20 nurse educators who teach a four-year comprehensive nursing diploma at a nursing college in Gauteng. The data were collected through audio-taped, in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews until data saturation was reached. The study was enriched with field notes that were taken to increase the credibility of data collected. Data were analysed by the researcher and an independent coder using Tesch’s protocol of qualitative data analysis. Trustworthiness was ensured through the use of Lincoln and Guba’s four principles. Results : The findings revealed that the challenges experienced by nurse educators during delivery of content laden curriculum were large classes, academically underprepared learner nurses, lack of learner nurses’ prior knowledge and learner nurses’ negative attitude towards nursing. Following these findings, the implications of the results were discussed and recommendations were made that can be used to facilitate effective delivery of the content laden curriculum. Conclusions : The findings from this study suggest that the need to cover the learning content should not supersede effective teaching and meaningful learning for the development of higher-order thinking skills in learner nurses.
Confidence and Professional Judgment in Assessing Children’s Risk of Abuse

Objective: Child welfare agencies have moved toward standardized risk assessment measures to improve the reliability with which child’s risk of abuse is predicted. Nevertheless, these tools require a degree of subjective judgment. Research to date has not substantially investigated the influence of specific context and worker characteristics on professional judgment in the use of risk assessment measures. Method: This research utilized standardized patients performing in scenarios to depict typical child welfare cases. Ninety-six workers interviewed two ‘‘families,’’ completed risk assessment measures, and then participated in interviews regarding their subjective views of their decision making and performance. Results: There was considerable variability in risk appraisals. Confidence in risk assessment performance was related to age, acute level of stress, and the worker’s perceived ability to engage family members. Confidence in risk assessment was further related to case variables. Confidence was not related to level of risk assessed. Conclusion: The variation in risk assessment appraisals in this study, despite at times high rates of worker confidence in their appraisals, speaks to the need for ongoing consultation and increased decision support strategies even among highly skilled and trained workers.
Mesoporous SnO2 Nanowires: Synthesis and Ethanol Sensing Properties

The mesoporous SnO2 nanowires composed of nanoparticles and nanopores have been successfully synthesized within the nanochannels of anodic alumina oxide templates by a facile sol-gel method. XRD, SEM, and HRTEM were used to characterize the synthesized mesoporous SnO2 nanowires. The sensing property of the mesoporous SnO2 nanowires in ethanol detection also has been studied. The as-prepared product displays excellent the high sensitivity, rapid response, and excellent repeatability to ethanol. The detection limit of the mesoporous SnO2 nanowires to ethanol reaches 1 ppm. The sensing mechanism of the mesoporous SnO2 nanowires has been further discussed. It is expected that the mesoporous SnO2 nanowires might become a good sensing material for promising industrial applications.
Nanocrystalline mimetic opals: synthesis and comparative characterization vs. natural stones

The objective of this project was to synthesis and to comparative characterization of nanocrystalline opals. Synthesis technique called Stober allows obtaining nano and micro particles monodisperse. Natural opal of origin Mexican was utilized as reference. The results obtained indicated crystalline phases in the opal, and the presence of water is shown through x-ray diffraction and the FTIR and Raman spectra, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy illustrated spherical nanoparticle of silicon. We conclude that the synthetic opal presents a mimetic character.
Orientation control of lead zirconate titanate film by combination of sol-gel and sputtering deposition

Highly oriented lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films were fabricated on a platinized silicon substrate using a combination of sol-gel and radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering deposition methods. A sol-gel derived PZT layer highly oriented to the (100) plane was deposited as a seed layer, and PZT with the same composition then was deposited on the seed layer by RF-magnetron sputtering. The film deposited on the seed layer showed a strong (100) preferred orientation, while the film deposited without the seed layer showed a (111) preferred orientation. Furthermore, a thick PZT film of up to 4 μm was able to be deposited without cracks by using the seed layer. The piezoelectric property of the (100) oriented film was much better than that of the (111) oriented film.
Abscission of Pepper Fruits By Dipterous Pest , Atherigona orientalis [ Schiner ] In Traditional and Mono-Crop Farms in Port Harcourt , Niger Delta , Nigeria

Pepper fruits grown in traditional farms of Rivers State, Nigeria showed lower infestations of dipterous pests both at dry and rainy seasons than those grown at mono-crop farms [students’ t -test, P< 0.05]. Abscission of pepper fruits was significantly higher in Nsukka Yellow variety than other varieties sampled. Generally both infestation and abscission were significantly higher in Capsicum annum than in C. frutescens which showed the lowest infestation and subsequent abscission in both seasons. The relationship between depths of cuticle cracks on pepper fruits and number of eggs laid showed a positive correlation [r=0.71]. A strong correlation also existed between number of larvae and percentage fruit loss [r=0.88].
CONTENIDO MINERAL Y DE CLOROFILA DE LA HEMIPARÁSITA Psittacanthus calyculatus (DC) G. Don Y DE CUATRO DE SUS ÁRBOLES HOSPEDEROS

Se colectaron hojas de la planta hemiparasita Psittacanthus calyculatus y de sus arboles hospederos Salix taxifolia, Ulmus divaricate, Fraxinus uhdei y Prosopis laevigata, con el objetivo de conocer y comparar los contenidos de Mg, Al, Si, P, S, K, Ca, clorofila y proteina. Los analisis se realizaron con un microscopio electronico de barrido (SEM) equipado con una sonda dispersiva de rayos X (EDS). Los resultados mostraron que la hemiparasita acumulo mas K (al menos dos veces mas) que sus hospederos, lo que indica que usa un mecanismo activo para lograr esta acumulacion. De acuerdo con el analisis estadistico (P = 0.05), U. divaricate es la especie que acumula mas S, Si y Ca. El contenido de Mg tambien fue mayor en U. divaricate, pero fue estadisticamente similar (P = 0.05) que en la hemiparasita. El contenido de P fue similar (P = 0.05) tanto en P. calyculatus como en sus hospederos. Fraxinus uhdei acumulo mas C que el resto de las especies. El contenido de clorofila fue mayor en F. uhdei y S. taxifolia, mientras que P. laevigata tuvo el contenido mas bajo. Las hojas de P. calyculatus tuvieron alto contenido de proteina (21 %)
Catalytic Potential of Nano-Magnesium Oxide on Degradation of Humic Acids From Aquatic Solutions

Catalytic ozonation is a new and promising process used to remove the contaminants from drinking water and wastewater. This study aimed to evaluate the catalytic potential of nano-magnesium oxide (nano-MgO) for the removal of humic acids (HA) from water. Mg (NO 3 ) 2 solution was used to prepare MgO powder by the calcination method. In a semi-batch reactor, the catalytic ozonation was carried out. The effects of the various operating parameters, including pH, reaction time, T-butyl alcohol (TBA) and phosphate on HA degradation were evaluated. Experimental results indicated that degradation of HA was increased as the pH solution and reaction time were increased. Maximum HA degradation was obtained at pH = 10 and the reaction time of 10 minutes in the catalytic process. The calculated catalytic potential of nano-MgO on ozonation of HA was 60%. Moreover, catalytic ozonation process was not affected by TBA and the main reaction on HA degradation HA have effect take place on MgO surface. According to the results of this study, the developed MgO catalyst is the active and proficient catalyst in HA degradation using the catalytic ozonation process.
Modeling of the land management influence on soil water budget for the case of heavy soils in depression

In the paper the results of measurements and two dimensional mathematical simulation for polder in the depression for 1996 are presented. The mathematical model takes into account hydraulics conductivity of soils in form of tensors, water uptake by plants and elastic capacity of soils. In the last decade in Poland many hectares of field culture changed not only ownership, but also the manner in which it was farmed. It also refers to polders with compound soil profiles and complex water conditions. Often in such areas, alluvial soils and relatively high water tables occur. These conditions are preferred in grassland as opposed to arable land farming. Very often these rules are forgotten by new farmers or they stop farming or they use their land for other activities due to bad crop yield; turning it to – for example –grasses and weeds from mowed ditches and dikes store. This causes conflicts between farmers and the holder of the melioration system or the water reservoir in the vicinity. An example of such a situation is a small polder where soil water conditions are influenced by the reservoir with retained water levels between about 0 – 1.5 m above the surface of the surrounding land. It is concluded that if the beginning of the vegetation season (April) is wet, the moisture conditions are unfavourable for crop production. But if April is dry, then even if the rest of the season is wet, the moisture conditions will be satisfactory. This conclusion was derived from presented results of simulation. It is true only if farmers’ activities are responsible and rational for such soil and water conditions.
Exact Boundary Derivative Formulation for Numerical Conformal Mapping Method

Conformal mapping is a useful technique for handling irregular geometries when applying the finite difference method to solve partial differential equations. When the mapping is from a hyperrectangular region onto a rectangular region, a specific length-to-width ratio of the rectangular region that fitted the Cauchy-Riemann equations must be satisfied. In this research, a numerical integral method is proposed to find the specific length-to-width ratio. It is conventional to employ the boundary integral method (BIEM) to perform the conformal mapping. However, due to the singularity produced by the BIEM in seeking the derivatives on the boundaries, the transformation Jacobian determinants on the boundaries have to be evaluated at inner points instead of directly on the boundaries. This approximation is a source of numerical error. In this study, the transformed rectangular property and the Cauchy-Riemann equations are successfully applied to derive reduced formulations of the derivatives on the boundaries for the BIEM. With these boundary derivative formulations, the Jacobian determinants can be evaluated directly on the boundaries. Furthermore, the results obtained are more accurate than those of the earlier mapping method.
Using QoS for Relevance Feedback in Service Discovery: A Preliminary Empirical Investigation

Service-centric systems pose new challenges and opportunities for requirements processes and techniques. This paper describes our requirements-based service discovery tool that exploits an ontology-based quality specification mechanism to receive early feedback on candidate services that best match quality requirements. An empirical evaluation of the tool is presented that assesses the feasibility of the approach to filtering candidate services based upon quality using real-world scenarios from our industrial partners. The results reveal that commitment to a common ontology helps achieving the desired quality-based filtering.
Purification and characterization of the circular and linear forms of chrysanthemum stunt viroid.

Summary A new and rapid extraction procedure is described for the isolation and partial purification of low mol. wt. RNA as well as DNA from 500 g batches of chrysanthemum stunt viroid-infected chrysanthemum. The chrysanthemum stunt viroid was then purified to homogeneity from this extract by one cycle of non-denaturing polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis followed by one cycle of denaturing slab gel electrophoresis. The covalently closed circular form and the linear form of the viroid co-migrated on the first gel but were well separated on the second. The yield of circular chrysanthemum stunt viroid was 200 µg/kg of infected chrysanthemum shoots and of the linear form was 35 µg/kg. 32P-labelled complementary DNA prepared against the circular form was used to show, by hybridization analysis, that the circular and linear forms contained identical nucleotide sequences. The circular and linear forms were equally infectious when inoculated onto Gynura aurantiaca. The linear viroid contained all four nucleotides at the 5′-terminus, about 72% of which had a 5′-phosphate.
Firm-Specific Capital and Welfare

What are the consequences for monetary policy design implied by the fact that price setting and investment typically take place simultaneously at the firm level? To address this question we analyze simple (constrained) optimal interest rate rules in the context of a dynamic New Keynesian model featuring firm-specific capital accumulation as well as sticky prices and wages a la Calvo. We make the case for Taylortype rules. They are remarkably robust in the sense that their welfare implications do appear to hinge neither on the specific assumptions regarding capital accumulation that are used in their derivation nor on the particular definition of natural output that is used to construct the output gap.
Evaluation Insights to Key Processes of Digital Repositories

Digital repositories are considered essential information tools for scholarly communication. Their acceptability and extensive use by communities and institutions, as well as the users’ commitment in self-archiving, highlight the need for developing alternative channels of communication to expose scholarly productivity. Furthermore, the digital repositories community is interested into transforming them into viable, reliable and useful systems. This interest is primarily expressed by intense research activity, including - among the others - the evaluation and the usability of the technological solutions that support these services. On an institutional level, digital repositories are systems supported by physical organizations, such as libraries, which undertake many tasks in order to enable a variety of processes associated with these systems, such as submission, editing and access. In this paper, we present a multifaceted evaluation initiative that aimed at the redesign of University of Patras’ institutional repository, namely ‘Nemertes’. ‘Nemertes’ is operating on a DSpace installation and the ‘Theses and Dissertations’ collection was placed at the center of evaluation as the most important collection accommodated in the service. Emphasis was given to key processes held inside the repository by conducting surveys and interviews with typical classes of users. In order to collect data from these sources three different studies were held. First the quality of Submission process inside the physical and the digital space was evaluated through a questionnaire survey, which was addressed to people who had earlier submitted in the ‘Theses and Dissertation’ collection. Secondly, the information retrieval processes and the interface were evaluated by Human-Computer Interaction savvy students using the usability heuristics principles. Finally, the Editing processes and the quality of the delivery of services were assessed through interviews with the librarians that support the service. The findings of these studies point to areas that the system can be improved and help to eliminate the barriers that prohibit the service to be upgraded and host new collections. The areas identified concern both the way of delivering the service and the operation of the system. While the contextual parameters make the generalization of the findings about the service more ambiguous, the findings concerning the system performance and the interface intuitiveness validate the results of previous studies, such as the case of terminology, the affordances and the effectiveness of search interfaces. It is anticipated that the findings of the study can be further exploited by organizations with similar repository services and technological infrastructures.
Circle-Block Local Binary Patterns for Face Recognition

In this paper a new texture operator based on Local Binary Patterns (LBP) was proposed for face recognition called Circle-Block Local Binary Patterns (CB-LBP). The mean gray values of a circle block pixels are calculated to achieve macroscopic feature extraction. Our method was compared with the LBP-based patterns tested on Extended Yale B face image databases. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Does Downhill Running Alter Monocyte Susceptibility to Apoptosis

Introduction/purpose: Recovery from muscle damage involves a type of programmed cell death known as apoptosis. Damage Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) are released after muscle damage and may cause premature apoptosis in monocytes infiltrating the damaged site. This may alter the time course of events towards recovery. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate if downhill running causes a change in the susceptibility of monocytes to apoptosis. Methods: Participants (5 male, 6 female) completed a downhill running protocol consisting of 6-5 minute bouts at a speed of 6-9mph on a -15% grade treadmill. Venous blood samples were collected immediately pre-exercise (PRE), in addition to 4 -h, 24 -h and 48 -h post-exercise. Creatine kinase (CK) was measured to give an indication of muscle damage. Monocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry for expression of multicaspase and annexin v reagent was used to detect changes in the plasma membrane. A MILLIPLEX MAP human early apoptosis magnetic bead 7-plex kit (EMD Millipore, Billerica, MA) was used to assess the relative concentration of phosphorylated protein kinase B (Akt), Bcl-2 associated death promoter (BAD), B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), active caspase-8, active caspase-9, c jun N terminal kinase (JNK) and tumor protein p53 by Luminex multiplex assay. Results: CK peaked at 24- h. Monocytes showed greater expression of multicaspase at 24 –h and 48 -h than at PRE. Bcl-2, p53 and caspase-8 were all significantly greater at 24 –h than at PRE. Conclusion: Downhill running did alter the apoptotic response of monocytes and therefore may be important in the recovery process from muscle damage.