Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Homogeneous nucleation rates of nitric acid dihydrate (NAD) at simulated stratospheric conditions - Part I: Experimental results

The low temperature aerosol chamber AIDA was used to study the nucleation of nitric acid dihydrate (NAD) in super-cooled nitric acid aerosols under simulated stratospheric conditions in the temperature range 192 K–197 K. The nucleating solution droplets had median diameters between 225 and 290 nm and molar fractions of nitric acid between 0.26 and 0.28. Nucleation of solid particles was unambiguously observed in two out of three experiments during time periods of up to five hours. The newly formed crystals could be clearly distinguished from the remaining liquid droplets by their increasing size with an optical particle spectrometer. The solid particles could be unequivocally identified as strongly aspherical nitric acid dihydrate crystals (α-NAD) by in-situ FTIR-spectroscopy. From our experimental data set there is no indication of direct nucleation of NAT or a conversion of NAD into NAT while having saturation ratios with respect to NAT of about 20–26. The temporal evolutions of the NAD particle concentrations were used to derive individual nucleation rates for NAD. The measured volume nucleation rates ranged from 3.9×10 5 cm −3 s −1 at 195.8 K and X NA =0.27 to 1.9×10 7 cm −3 s −1 at 192.1 K and X NA =0.28. The corresponding hypothetical surface nucleation rates of 2×10 0 to 1×10 2 cm −2 s −1 are smaller than the parameterization of Tabazadeh et al. (2002) by factors between 25 and >10 3 .
The Sun's total irradiance: Cycles, trends and related climate change uncertainties since 1976

A composite record of the Sun's total irradiance compiled from measurements made by five independent space‐based radiometers since 1978 exhibits a prominent 11‐year cycle with similar levels during 1986 and 1996, the two most recent minimum epochs of solar activity. This finding contradicts recent assertions of a 0.04% irradiance increase from the 1986 to 1996 solar minima and suggests that solar radiative output trends contributed little of the 0.2°C increase in the global mean surface temperature in the past decade. Nor does our 18‐year composite irradiance record support a recent upward irradiance trend inferred from solar cycle length, a parameter used to imply a close linkage in the present century between solar variability and climate change.
UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title The invariances of power law size distributions

Size varies. Small things are typically more frequent than large things. The logarithm of frequency often declines linearly with the logarithm of size. That power law relation forms one of the common patterns of nature. Why does the complexity of nature reduce to such a simple pattern? Why do things as different as tree size and enzyme rate follow similarly simple patterns? Here I analyze such patterns by their invariant properties. For example, a common pattern should not change when adding a constant value to all observations. That shift is essentially the renumbering of the points on a ruler without changing the metric information provided by the ruler. A ruler is shift invariant only when its scale is properly calibrated to the pattern being measured. Stretch invariance corresponds to the conservation of the total amount of something, such as the total biomass and consequently the average size. Rotational invariance corresponds to pattern that does not depend on the order in which underlying processes occur, for example, a scale that additively combines the component processes leading to observed values. I use tree size as an example to illustrate how the key invariances shape pattern. A simple interpretation of common pattern follows. That simple interpretation connects the normal distribution to a wide variety of other common patterns through the transformations of scale set by the fundamental invariances.
UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title Genome-Wide Association Study of Extreme Longevity in Drosophila melanogaster

Human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of longevity attempt to identify alleles at different frequencies in the extremely old, relative to a younger control sample. Here, we apply a GWAS approach to “synthetic” populations of Drosophila melanogaster derived from a small number of inbred founders. We used next-generation DNA sequencing to estimate allele and haplotype frequencies in the oldest surviving individuals of an age cohort and compared these frequencies with those of randomly sampled individuals from the same cohort. We used this case–control strategy in four independent cohorts and identified eight significantly differentiated regions of the genome potentially harboring genes with relevance for longevity. By modeling the effects of local haplotypes, we have more power to detect regions enriched for longevity genes than marker-based GWAS. Most significant regions occur near chromosome ends or centromeres where recombination is infrequent, consistent with these regions harboring unconditionallydeleteriousalleles impacting longevity.Genes in regionsofnormal recombinationareenriched for those relevant to immune function and a gene family involved in oxidative stress response. Genetic differentiation between our experimental cohorts is comparable to that between human populations, suggesting in turn that our results may help explain heterogeneous signals in human association studies of extreme longevity when panels have diverse ancestry.
Algorithm 1

Routing Vehicle Problem (RVP) is a combinatorial problem, hard to solve, used to improve the logistics of transport enterprises as well as to improve the traffic in the public ways. To solve it testing all combinations (brute force method) became unfisible as the problem scale, because it demands a large computing time. Genetic Algorithms (GA) are meta-heuristics able to find solutions in an acceptable computing time. However, even GA can demand a large computing time as they are set. Computional architectures evolution and the multicore difusion became the multithread programming an alternativ to reduce GA time. This article aims to speed up the RVP solution through the GA parallelization using OpenMP, which is a popular standard to multithreading programming. Our results show an speedup up to 2 for 4 threads in a quadcore processor. This gain is limited according to our GA is implemented. Beside the performance impact, we also show that the usage of OpenMP did not affect the solutions quality. Furthermore, OpenMP allow the GA to find better solutions because it make possible to increase the number of evolution in an time slice.
MS2 coat proteins bound to yeast mRNAs block 5′ to 3′ degradation and trap mRNA decay products: implications for the localization of mRNAs by MS2-MCP system

Arrays of MS2 binding sites are placed into mRNAs and are commonly used to visualize the localization of mRNAs in vivo by the expression of an MS2-GFP fusion protein. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we observed that arrays of MS2 binding sites inhibit 5′ to 3′ degradation of the mRNA in yeast cells and lead to the accumulation of a 3′ mRNA fragment containing the MS2 binding sites. This accumulation can be dependent on the binding of the MS2 stem loops (MS2-SL) by MS2 coat proteins (MCPs). Since such decay fragments can still bind MCP-GFP, the localization of such mRNA fragments can complicate the interpretation of the localization of full-length mRNA in vivo.
SURVIVAL TIME OF HIV-INFECTED CHILDREN UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE AFTER INITIATION OF ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY IN GONDAR UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, ETHIOPIA

HIV has emerged as one of the leading causes of childhood mortality and morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa. But, the attention given to HIV-infected children in terms of providing ART had so far taken a second rank. The study had the objectives to identify predictors that have significant impact on the survival status of HIV infected children who received antiretroviral treatment care in Gondar University Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia. The data used in the study was based on secondary data from hospital records of HIV infected children aged below 15 years who started ART between 2008 and 2013 were included and followed until April 2015 in Gondar University Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia. Multivariable Cox proportional model was fitted to identify factors YEMANE ASMELASH and ASRAT ATSEDEWEYN 74 affecting survival of children after initiation of ART. The median survival time was found to be 55 months. At the end of the follow up, 46 (17.1%) children died due to the disease, the remaining 223 (82.9%) were alive and loss to follow-up. The multivariate analysis of Cox regression model gives that age of a patient (for age < 1.5 years HR: 3.590; 95% CI: 1.439, 8.953; P = 0.006), baseline hemoglobin level (for hemoglobin level < 7g/dl HR: 6.286; 95% CI: 2.328, 16.973; P = 0.000), WHO clinical stage (for stage III HR: 0.308; 95% CI: 0.150, 0.630; P = 0.001) and baseline CD4 count (HR: 0.180; 95% CI: 0.084, 0.388; P = 0.000) are significant risk factors of survival of HIV infected children during the 92 months of follow up. Therefore, special attention should be given to younger children in ART; patients with low CD4 cell count, patients with advanced WHO clinical staging (stage III and IV) and patients with low hemoglobin level are necessary in order to improve the survival of HIV infected children treated with ART.
Achieving sustainable development in Africa through inclusive green growth

African countries, in their common position on the objective and themes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, recognized that the transition to a green economy could offer new opportunities to advance the achievement of sustainable development objectives through employment creation, economic growth and poverty eradication, while underlining the need for the green economy to be rooted in national objectives. An inclusive green growth pathway employs green economy principles to realize optimal economic, social and environmental outcomes through targeted interventions in key sectors of the economy. In addition, the process should generate good practices and lessons to inform the transition and foster sustainable development. The quest for an equitable and sustainable transformation has gained momentum in Africa. Such a transformation can be achieved through various strategies, including commodity-based industrialization that leverages comparative advantages in terms of resource endowment. However, the high dependence of Africa’s economies on natural resources means that there will be sustained and increased pressure on these resources in the course of its transformation. Minerals, forests, land, water and marine resources need to be harnessed sustainably. The increased demand for resources and infrastructure, particularly energy and transport for industrial development, should be decoupled from social inequalities, environmental degradation and climate change, which are already posing serious limitations to growth.
New faint planetary nebulae from the DSS and SDSS

Abstract Having surveyed ≈ 10% of the sky, we have identified more than 130 PN candidates by surveying multicolour Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), Sloan Digitized Sky Survey (SDSS), and combined [O III], Hα and [S II] images. In a first imaging and spectroscopy campaign, 51 objects were identified as true and probable PNe. This work presents an additional 17 probable or possible PNe identified since that study. The majority of these candidates are situated at Galactic latitudes |b| > 5^, with the exception of seven objects located closer to the Galactic plane. Using the techniques described here that do not require any new survey data, we anticipate that many more PNe are waiting to be found, perhaps as many as 90.
The 18O:16O of dissolved oxygen in rivers and lakes in the Amazon Basin: Determining the ratio of respiration to photosynthesis rates in freshwaters

The concentration and I80 : I60 ratio of dissolved oxygen were measured for 23 rivers and lakes of the Amazon Basin during 1988, 1990, and 199 1. With only two exceptions, the rivers and lakes had dissolved oxygen concentrations that were at 20-90% of atmospheric saturation levels. The aI80 of the dissolved oxygen ranged from 15 to 30? & (vs. SMOW). The 6180 for the lakes were the lowest at 15-23o/oo. &I80 24.2%0 resulted from respiration. Despite this clear difference between the 6180 for rivers and lakes, these water bodies had similar levels of oxygen undersaturation. The aI80 and dissolved oxygen concentrations are used to determine the ratio of community respiration (R) to gross photosynthesis (P) rates. R : P varied between - 1 and 1.5 for lakes and between 1.5 and 4 for rivers. For all rivers and lakes, the measured 6180 indicated the presence of photosynthetically produced oxygen, with the highest proportion occurring in lakes. The 6180 of dissolved oxygen is a unique tracer of photosynthetic oxygen and provides, through a determination of R : P, a means of quantifying the heterotrophic state of freshwaters.
Simulating Earthquake Rupture and Off‐Fault Fracture Response: Application to the Safety Assessment of the Swedish Nuclear Waste Repository

Abstract To assess the long‐term safety of a deep repository of spent nuclear fuel, upper bound estimates of seismically induced secondary fracture shear displacements are needed. For this purpose, we analyze a model including an earthquake fault, which is surrounded by a number of smaller discontinuities representing fractures on which secondary displacements may be induced. Initial stresses are applied and a rupture is initiated at a predefined hypocenter and propagated at a specified rupture speed. During rupture we monitor shear displacements taking place on the nearby fracture planes in response to static as well as dynamic effects. As a numerical tool, we use the 3Dimensional Distinct Element Code (3DEC) because it has the capability to handle numerous discontinuities with different orientations and at different locations simultaneously. In tests performed to benchmark the capability of our method to generate and propagate seismic waves, 3DEC generates results in good agreement with results from both Stokes solution and the Compsyn code package. In a preliminary application of our method to the nuclear waste repository site at Forsmark, southern Sweden, we assume end‐glacial stress conditions and rupture on a shallow, gently dipping, highly prestressed fault with low residual strength. The rupture generates nearly complete stress drop and an M w 5.6 event on the 12 km 2 rupture area. Of the 1584 secondary fractures (150 m radius), with a wide range of orientations and locations relative to the fault, a majority move less than 5 mm. The maximum shear displacement is some tens of millimeters at 200 m fault‐fracture distance.
An application of geographic information systems to model the habitat suitability of Pan troglodytes ellioti in Mount Cameroon National Park in the context of a changing global climate

As scientists continue to discover convincing evidence that the earth's climate is adversely changing, and that these changes could impact the habitat suitability of some wildlife species; wildlife conservationists are increasingly worried of what may become the fate of most species on earth. In the light of such uncertainty, geographic information systems (GIS) can be used as a tool to model for the habitat suitability of a species. Such modeling provides reliable information upon which decision making could be based for planning conservation management aimed at protecting areas that are currently suitable as well as those that may become suitable in future if the global climate changes according to the scenarios as described; and the changes impact the species' habitat suitability. GIS in combination to Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) distribution model were used to model the habitat suitability for Pan troglodytes ellioti on Mount Fako (Cameroon) as a case study area. The results show that the predicted habitat suitability may shift from lower altitudes to higher altitudes as the global climate may change from the current climatic conditions to warmer climatic conditions in the future as proposed in the climate scenario that assumes the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases may double by 2050. The accuracy assessment measured in terms of the Area Under the Curve (AUC) was 0.699.
- 1-MODELING THE GEOCHEMICAL IMPACT OF AN INJECTION OF CO 2 AND ASSOCIATED REACTIVE IMPURITIES ( SO 2 ANDO 2 ) INTO A SALINE RESERVOIR

Carbon dioxide storage in deep geological structures is a strategic technology to mitigate climate change and to promote green development. However, despitecontinuous efforts to develop cost effective capture processes to clean the CO2 stream before transportation and injection, traces of accessory gases cannot be entirely removed. Consequently, before any injection of these gas mixtures, the impact of impurities on the geochemical reactivity of the system must be evaluated. This paper describes numerical simulations donewith TOUGHREACT that focus on the chemical reactivity of deep reservoir rock impacted by an injection of CO2 and associated reactive impurities (mainly SO2 and O2). A simplified two-dimensional radial geo-model ofthe near wellbore domain of a saline reservoir enabled us to predictits global geochemical behavior. Two CO2:SO2ratios were studied. The results show the high reactivity of the near-well zone when ancillary gases (SO2 and O2) are co-injected with CO2, which leads to thedissolution of carbonates and the precipitation of sulfateminerals. Major reactions occur in the reservoir formation, whereas clays inthe caprock are only slightly affected by the injection of CO2 and associated reactive impurities.
National Trends and Disparities in Cervical Cancer Screening among Commercially Insured Women, 2001–2010

Background: Previous surveys reported declining cervical cancer screening rates from 2000 to 2010, but trends by key demographic and age groups are less clear. Methods: We examined 3-year Papanicolaou (Pap) test rates among 4.2 million women enrolled in a large national health plan during 2001 to 2010. We calculated and plotted adjusted 3-year rates stratified by age and key neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics including poverty level and race/ethnicity (white, black, Hispanic, and mixed ethnicity neighborhood). We fitted trends in 2001–2010 screening rates and socioeconomic disparities as annual percentage changes (APC) using joinpoint analysis. Results: Women ages 21 to 29 years had estimated 3-year Pap testing rates of 81.3% to 81.4% over the decade. Estimated disparities by low–high poverty level were 3.1% and 2.0% in 2001–2003 and 2008–2010, respectively, a nonsignificant decline. Initial white–black disparities were 4.0% and declined significantly from 2005–2007 to 2008–2010 to 2.8% at an APC of −0.65% (P = 0.021). White–Hispanic disparities declined from 4.3% to 0.8% over the decade, a −0.50% APC (P = 0.024). Among women ages 30 to 64 years, estimated 3-year Pap testing rates trended down from 76.1% to 71.8% over the decade [−0.94% APC (P < 0.001) until 2005–2007]. This pattern was similar among women from most categories of poverty and race/ethnicity. Conclusions: Among commercially insured women ages 21 to 29 years, 3-year Pap testing rates remained stable at 81% over the decade; disparities were small and improved for Hispanic women to a greater degree than for black women. Among women ages 30 to 64 years, 3-year Pap testing rates declined from 2001 to 2010. Impact: Cervical cancer screening should be promoted to achieve Healthy People 2020 goals. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(11); 2366–73. ©2014 AACR.
Ground Water Chemistry Changes before Major Earthquakes and Possible Effects on Animals

Prior to major earthquakes many changes in the environment have been documented. Though often subtle and fleeting, these changes are noticeable at the land surface, in water, in the air, and in the ionosphere. Key to understanding these diverse pre-earthquake phenomena has been the discovery that, when tectonic stresses build up in the Earth’s crust, highly mobile electronic charge carriers are activated. These charge carriers are defect electrons on the oxygen anion sublattice of silicate minerals, known as positive holes, chemically equivalent to O− in a matrix of O2−. They are remarkable inasmuch as they can flow out of the stressed rock volume and spread into the surrounding unstressed rocks. Travelling fast and far the positive holes cause a range of follow-on reactions when they arrive at the Earth’s surface, where they cause air ionization, injecting massive amounts of primarily positive air ions into the lower atmosphere. When they arrive at the rock-water interface, they act as •O radicals, oxidizing water to hydrogen peroxide. Other reactions at the rock-water interface include the oxidation or partial oxidation of dissolved organic compounds, leading to changes of their fluorescence spectra. Some compounds thus formed may be irritants or toxins to certain species of animals. Common toads, Bufo bufo, were observed to exhibit a highly unusual behavior prior to a M6.3 earthquake that hit L’Aquila, Italy, on April 06, 2009: a few days before the seismic event the toads suddenly disappeared from their breeding site in a small lake about 75 km from the epicenter and did not return until after the aftershock series. In this paper we discuss potential changes in groundwater chemistry prior to seismic events and their possible effects on animals.
Digital Soil Mapping for Optimum Land Uses in some Newly Reclaimed Areas West of the Nile Delta, Egypt

The main objective of this study is to define the optimum land uses for some areas west of the Nile Delta, Egypt. To fulfill this objective Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Landsat ETM + image were used in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to delineate the physiographic map of the area. The physiographic units were represented by 10 soil profiles. morphological description was carried out and 28 disturbed soil samples were collected for physical and chemical analysis. The laboratory analyses and field observation data were linked with the attribute table of the physiographic map. Physiographic units and soils were correlated to produce the digital soil map of the studied area. The attribute data of the digital map and climatic normal's of the area were imported to ALES and CROPWAT 4.2 programs to assess the suitability classes and water requirements of the main crops in the studied area. The results indicate that the most suitable crops are W heat, Beans, Sugar beet, Maize, Sunflower, Tomato, Groundnut, and Sesame. Where, the calculated water requirements of these crops are 490.4, 328.2, 556.65, 668.5, 619.5, 765.7, 467.5 and 445.3 mm/season respectively.