Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantification and Characterization of Net Precipitation Bacterial Flux From a Subtropical Epiphyte-Laden Oak Forest

Transport pathways of microbes between ecosystem spheres (atmosphere, phyllosphere, and pedosphere) represent major fluxes in nutrient cycles and have the potential to significantly affect microbially-mediated biogeochemical processes. We quantified a previously unexamined microbial flux from the phyllosphere to the pedosphere during rainfall via throughfall (rainfall dripping from the canopy and through gaps) and stemflow (rainwater funneled down the stem) using flow cytometry and validated with quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) assays for samples from a Quercus virginiana (oak) forest with heavy epiphyte cover (Tillandsia usneoides, Spanish moss) in coastal Georgia (Southeastern USA). Bacteria concentrations and fluxes were greater in stemflow relative to throughfall. However, throughfall delivers water to a larger land area (ha) resulting in throughfall producing the greatest proportion of bacteria annual flux (cells ha year). Annual total (throughfall + stemflow) bacterial flux was 3.4 quadrillion cells year ha. Roles of this previously unquantified bacterial flux to the forest floor may be significant by contributing functional community members (if living) or labile lysates (if dead) to soil communities. Bacterial community structure was also characterized via Illumina MiSeq sequencing and plotted for relative abundance and diversity throughout the sampling period. The predominant phyla present in rainfall, throughfall, and stemflow included Proteobacteria, Bacteriodetes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and OD1. Taxa transported from the phyllosphere to throughfalland stemflow-receiving soils (a) resembled biological aerosols, (b) did not significantly differ between canopy flowpaths, (c) were not influenced by the presence/absence of arboreal epiphytes, but (d) varied substantially among storms of differing air mass provenance and trajectory. Findings indicate local phyllosphere communities may not be disturbed by rainfall up to high intensities (31 mm h). To the author’s knowledge, this is the first assessment of the quantity, composition and structure of bacteria exchanged between the phyllosphere and pedosphere during rainfall, despite storms being critical biogeochemical events in forest ecosystems. Should the bacteria transported by throughfall and stemflow be able to access or establish microbial communities at the forest floor, there may be broad biogeochemical implications for the litter layer and topsoil. Thus, we suggest future research assess the fate and potential function of throughfall and stemflow bacterial communities at the forest surface. INDEX WORDS: Throughfall, Stemflow, Epiphytes, Next-generation sequencing, Bacterial communities, Quercus virginiana QUANTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF NET PRECIPITATION BACTERIAL FLUX FROM A SUBTROPICAL EPIPHYTE-LADEN OAK FOREST by PRESTON THOMAS POUND B.S., Auburn University, 2015 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
Electrodeposition of Palladium Coatings from Iminodiacetate Electrolyte

The ionic composition of an iminodiacetate electrolyte as a function of solution composition and pH has been deter-mined. The kinetic parameters (exchange currents and apparent transfer coefficients) of the electroreduction of a palla-dium(II) bis-iminodiacetate complex from an electrolyte containing excess ligand have been calculated. It has been shown that the rate of the electrode process is controlled by the diffusion of reduced ions to the electrode surface and by the electron-transfer reaction. The possibility of using iminodiacetate electrolyte for palladium plating for the deposition of fine-crystalline adherent and ductile palladium coatings has been examined.
Human factors-the forgotten factors ?

The aim of this study was to explore how human factors were taken into account in the development of a new type of drilling equipment. This study is part of a larger project on the understanding of human factors in the design and implementation of automated drilling technology. The principal study was a longitudinal study lasting 4 years that involved 43 interviews, offshore and onshore observations, and 2 surveys. Method The analysis in this paper is based on 7 informants who were either part of the design team or the paramount project team developing new automated drilling technology for an offshore oiland gas-producing installation in the same development project, in addition to project documents. The informants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and grounded theory based on the coding process of Corbin and Strauss (1990) was used to analyse the data.
Complex Tibial Plateau Fractures: Primary Fixation Using the Ilizarov External Fixator. A Two-year Study at Civil Hospital Karachi, Pakistan

Background The proximal tibia with the meta-diaphysis junction is a critical weight-bearing area. An injury around this region may be restricted to the tibia or associated with a significant soft-tissue injury. The objective of the present study is to assess the results of closed reduction and Ilizarov external fixation in the management of complex tibial plateau fractures. Patients and methods The study included 26 patients with high-energy tibial plateau fractures (Schatzker types V and VI). The ages ranged from 23 to 60 years, with an average of 35 years. The trauma was a road traffic accident in 19 cases and a fall from a height in eight cases. The fractures were closed in 18 cases and open in five. The open fractures were Gustilo-Anderson type I in three cases and type II in five cases. Soft-tissue injuries associated with closed fractures were classified according to the Tscherne system. The follow-up period averaged 24 months. The average time of surgery was 85 mins (range: 60-120 min). The mean time to union was 12 weeks. At the final follow-up, the average total range of knee flexion was 120° (range: 0-170°). Results Results were satisfactory in 22 cases and unsatisfactory in four cases according to Rasmussen's knee functional score. Complications included pin-tract infection in 10 cases, an extension lag in three cases and varus deformity of about 17° in one case. Conclusion Hybrid external fixation is a good method for the treatment of comminuted tibial plateau fractures. It allows for early joint movement and reduces the risk of serious complications.
The Analysis of Mobile WiMAX and LTE using MIMO technique

: A quality of service is a fundamental component of the 4G broadband network for satisfactory service delivery by evolving internet application to end user, and managing the network resources. The 4G technology has emerged one of the most fruitful technologies as it supports large number of applications including VOIP, video conferencing, file transfer, video streaming and web browsing. IEEE 802.16E, IEEE 802.16M and LTE along with various application and QoS requirement also support Multiple-Input-multiple-output (MIMO) techniques including Spatial Multiplexing (SM), Space Time Block Coding(STBC) and Eigen Beam-forming (BM). In the paper we will study Physical, MAC layer of WiMAX and LTE. We will also study MIMO techniques. In this paper the detailed study of the throughput for a MIMO mobile WiMAX system and LTE under two different PHY PER QoS threshold. Various modulation and channel codinng techniques have been applied.
Doctor-Visit Co-Payment Exemption for Children: First Look at the Data

This paper uses the abolition of children’s doctor-visit co-payments effective since April 2009 as a natural experiment to estimate the effect of those co-payments on the number of doctor visits made by children. As the policy change involved only children, we are able to use the adult part of the population as a control group in a difference-in-difference estimation. The paper approximates the number of doctor visits by consumption of prescription drugs, as visiting a doctor is the only way to obtain a prescription. Using three different pre-reform periods (January, February, and March 2009) and two post-reform periods (April and May 2009) the estimates reveal no overall effect of doctor-visit co-payments on the number of children’s doctor visits. Less convincingly and more tentatively, the estimates suggest a strategic shift of children’s doctor visits away from the last pre-reform toward the first post-reform month.
РАЗДЕЛ 2 КОРПОРАТИВНАЯ СОБСТВЕННОСТЬ SECTION 2 CORPORATE OWNERSHIP OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE AND PERFORMANCE : A COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT CORPORATE GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS

This paper analyses how the main institutional factors characterizing corporate governance systems around the world affect the relationship between ownership structure and firm performance. Our analysis gives rise to the following remarks. First, ownership concentration and insider ownership levels are determined by several institutional features such as investor protection, development of capital markets, activity of the market for corporate control, and effectiveness of boards. Second, the relationship between ownership concentration and performance is not directly affected by these institutional factors. Third, there is, however, a direct influence of corporate governance characteristics on the relationship between insider ownership and performance.
The Use of Longitudinal Mediation Models for Testing Causal Effects and Measuring Direct and Indirect Effects

Mediation variables are those intervening variables ( M ) that affect the relationship between the independent variable ( X ) and the dependent variable ( Y ). The causal relation between X and Y through the mediation variable M must be established to analyze mediation. M is a mediator, if it involves indirect effects among the set of original variables X and Y . A requirement for a variable to have a causal effect on another is that the cause must precede the outcome in time. This paper argues that the right way to prove the mediation effect is by analyzing different moments in time to support the relations among the variables, which can be done using longitudinal models. The use of traditional analysis in mediation models without the time effect (assumed to occur instantaneously) biases the parameter estimation and could create the possible cancelation of effects, if the paths have opposite signs. Mediation models (without the time effect) are quite frequently used in social sciences. In contrast, the longitudinal mediation model is a very uncommon methodology within the social science community. The aim of this paper is to shed some light about how to analyze the time framework and to provide a methodology to solve the possible limitations that could hinder the robustness of the mediation analysis.
Food Safety and Rural Parents in China: Investigating an Effective Path for Risk Communication

ABSTRACT Measurements of the effects of improvements in single communication elements (audience, channel, message, etc.) to promote risk and health communication effectiveness have been widely studied; however, whether a combination of optimum communication elements always leads to successful communication has rarely been discussed. In this study, we investigated communication with 909 rural parents in China to explore how these carefully selected communication elements worked together to contribute to the effectiveness of food-related risk communication. Specifically, two sets of communication strategies were designed with different combinations of optimum communication elements and were applied to parents segmented by perception biases. The outcomes show that the effectiveness of communication did not necessarily depend on the combination of optimum elements, but rather on the key element that the audience cared most about. The finding of this research also underscores the need for increased awareness and the importance of both the investigation of the socio-demographic and dimensional perception characteristics of the segmented cluster, and the outcome evaluation procedure in the identification of the key element. Our study develops quantitative exploration of risk communication effectiveness and provides new insight regarding risk/health communication in rural China. An effective path and methodology for risk communication in the rural area of China has been proposed, which would not only provide a practical reference for Chinese practitioners to launch real risk communication campaigns in rural areas, but also methodologically contribute to successful efforts to identify the key element and improve effective communication practices for a larger range of health-related issues.
A COUPLED REACTIVE TRANSPORT MODEL FOR CONTAMINANT LEACHING FROM CEMENTITIOUS WASTE MATRICES ACCOUNTING FOR SOLID PHASE ALTERATIONS

D. JACQUES, J. SIMŮNEK, D. MALLANTS, M.TH. VAN GENUCHTEN, AND L. YU * Institute for Environment, Health and Safety, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK•CEN), Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium (djacques@sckcen.be) ** Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California Riverside, CA, USA (jiri.simunek@ucr.edu) *** Department of Mechanical Engineering, COPPE/LTTC, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (rvangenuchten@yahoo.com) 1 Corresponding author
LOW-DEGREE BOOLEAN FUNCTIONS ON $S_{n}$ , WITH AN APPLICATION TO ISOPERIMETRY

We prove that Boolean functions on $S_{n}$ , whose Fourier transform is highly concentrated on irreducible representations indexed by partitions of $n$ whose largest part has size at least $n-t$ , are close to being unions of cosets of stabilizers of $t$ -tuples. We also obtain an edge-isoperimetric inequality for the transposition graph on $S_{n}$ which is asymptotically sharp for subsets of $S_{n}$ of size $n! /\text{poly}(n)$ , using eigenvalue techniques. We then combine these two results to obtain a sharp edge-isoperimetric inequality for subsets of $S_{n}$ of size $(n-t)! $ , where $n$ is large compared to $t$ , confirming a conjecture of Ben Efraim in these cases.
Effectiveness and Efficiency of Educational Measures: Evaluation Practices, Indicators and Rhetoric

In recent years, evaluating the performance of educational organizations has sparked increasing interest and debate. Many expectations ride on the smooth operation of school systems. It is widely believed that countries’ social and economic well-being will depend to an ever greater extent on the quality of their citizens’ education: the emergence of the so-called “knowledge society”, the transformation of information and the media, and increasing specialization on the part of organizations all call for high skill profiles and levels of knowledge. Today’s education systems are required to be both effective and efficient, or in other words, to reach the goals set for them while making the best use of available resources. This paper, by presenting and discussing a case study, will analyze several dimensions of schools’ effectiveness and efficiency, highlighting the importance of selecting evaluation procedures that can provide representations that reflect the actual situation to the greatest possible extent.
Body mass index and Ovarian response in an In-Vitro Fertilization Cycle

Background : In-vitro fertilization (IVF) has established its place in the management of infertility cases that has defied conventional treatment. A successful In-vitro fertilization outcome is based on a good ovarian response to gonadotrophin stimulation. Body mass index has been identified as one factor that can affect ovarian response however; there is no consensus about its impact outcome. Objectives : To determine the effect of body mass index (BMI) on ovarian response in an Invitro fertilization cycle. Method : A Prospective cohort study to determine the response to Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation (COH) in women with normal and abnormal BMI in an IVF cycle. One hundred and four (104) consenting women undergoing non-donor IVF cycles in a university teaching hospital were recruited for the study. Selected participants had their body mass indices (BMI) assessed and classified into 3 groups: Normal weight (18.5-24.9kg/m2), overweight (25-29.9kg/m2) and obese (≥30kg/m2). There were no underweight women-BMI <18.5kg/m2. All the participants had Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation with the long agonist protocol. Selected participants had follicular count assessed using a transvaginal sonography on day 3, 5, 10 and at retrieval. The effect of ovarian response with the IVF treatment assessed based on total number of follicles and oocyte yield on the day of retrieval. Results : Female participants with normal weight women were thirty-six (34.6%), overweight were forty (38.5%) and obese, twenty-eight (26.9%). There was no statistical significant difference when the ages of women at presentation, total gonadotrophins requirements, duration of stimulation and number of oocytes retrieved were compared in the three groups. Conclusion : Increase in body mass index does not appear to have an adverse effect on ovarian response in an In-vitro fertilization cycle. _________________________________________________________________________ Keywords : body mass index, infertility, ovarian stimulation, gonadotrophins, IVF cycle.
The Effect of a 12-Week Physical Exercise Program in Adults on Satisfaction with Life, Self-Esteem, Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Perceived Social Support

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a 12-week physical exercise program in adults on satisfaction with life, healthy lifestyle behaviors, perceived social support and self-esteem. The main findings of the present study showed that an interaction effect for group and time existed in self-esteem, physical activity, friend and special person (p<.05). When the analyses made for the concept of perceived social support were examined in the study, while a statistically significant difference was observed in a positive direction in the pre-test and final test point averages for the sub-dimensions of “friend” and “special person” of the experimental group, it was observed that there was no difference at all in the “family” sub-dimension. In conclusion, it is thought that participating in regular physical activity is effective in preserving the bodily functions of individuals and in being psychosocially healthy individuals.
Measurement Invariance and Developmental Trajectories of Multidimensional Self-Perceptions of Aging in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES This study examined the measurement invariance and longitudinal trajectories of multidimensional self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and factors that predict between-person variability in the level and change of SPA in middle-aged and older adults. METHOD Data were drawn from the German Ageing Survey spanning four waves, covering a 15-year period. Multidimensional SPA was assessed with the Personal Experience of Aging Scale, consisting of three dimensions, physical decline, social loss, and continuous growth. RESULTS The measurement invariance models across age groups (middle-aged versus older adults) and across time showed a good fit after allowing one item to vary at metric and/or scalar levels. Growth curve models showed only minor declining trajectories in two of the three dimensions of SPA, social loss and continuous growth dimensions, toward more negative views. Participants with poor resources in general were more likely to have negative SPA across all three dimensions. The protective effect of having a spouse was observed on only the social dimension of SPA, supporting a domain-specific effect of having a spouse. DISCUSSION The study demonstrates the usefulness of a multidimensional understanding of SPA and recognizes the need for identifying different factors that may promote positive perceptions on aging in different dimensions of life.
Sonication to improve the yield in culture-negative peri-prosthetic joint infection

ABSTRACT Peri-prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a catastrophic complication, after joint arthroplasty. Culture-negative PJI presented 7–39% of PJI cases at most health-care centers. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of sonication fluid culture (SFC) with the respective peri-prosthetic tissue cultures (PTC). Also, to evaluate the efficacy of sonication in PTC-negative PJI. Peri-prosthetic tissue specimens were subjected to microbiological culture and histo-pathological examination. Retrieved prosthesis components were sonicated. SFC was examined. One hundred and seventy patients had PJI and 95 were aseptic failures. SFC was positive in 120 patients (70.5%). For PTC, 80 of 170 samples (47.1%) were positive; all reveal the same bacterial species with the corresponding SFC. In 50 patients, both PTC and SFC cultures of the prosthesis were negative. There were 40 negative PTC samples proved to be positive by SFC, 39 displayed Staphylococcus epidermidis, and only one sample yielded Propionibacterium acne. Biofilm formation was detected in 22 (56.4%) out of the 39 S. epidermidis isolates. The overall sensitivity of SFC compared to PTC was (70.6% versus 47.1%). SFC represents a sensitive, accurate, easy diagnostic strategy representing increased sensitivity contrasted with PTC. S. epidermidis, although an important commensal, is considered the most significant pathogen in the context of PJI.
Parallel splitting solvers for the isogeometric analysis of the Cahn-Hilliard equation

Abstract Modeling tumor growth in biological systems is a challenging problem with important consequences for diagnosis and treatment of various forms of cancer. This growth process requires large simulation complexity due to evolving biological and chemical processes in living tissue and interactions of cellular and vascular constituents in living organisms. Herein, we describe with a phase-field model, namely the Cahn-Hilliard equation the intricate interactions between the tumors and their host tissue. The spatial discretization uses highly-continuous isogeometric elements. For fast simulation of the time-dependent Cahn-Hilliard equation, we employ an alternating directions implicit methodology. Thus, we reduce the original problems to Kronecker products of 1 D matrices that can be factorized in a linear computational cost. The implementation enables parallel multi-core simulations and shows good scalability on shared-memory multi-core machines. Combined with the high accuracy of isogeometric elements, our method shows high efficiency in solving the Cahn-Hilliard equation on tensor-product meshes.
Plasma visfatin response to the intensity of exercise and training in race-horses

1 Department of Biochemistry, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Lublin, Poland 2 Department of Horse Breeding and Use, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Lublin, Poland 3 Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland 4 Department of Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland 5 Department of Animal Physiology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Lublin, Poland