Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attempts To Reduce Cigarette Smoking among College Students: A Pilot Study.

This study utilizes college student volunteers in a three-week smoking cessation program. The volunteers were given two American Cancer Society brochures about smoking cessation, a guide for a comprehensive plan to quit smoking developed by Glaxo Wellcome, the American Lung Association's Quit Smoking Action Plan, a list of common nicotine withdrawal symptoms and coping strategies, and a smoke-intake weekly monitoring chart. Participants also took part in a discussion of information gleaned from a literature review. Smokers were asked to limit their smoking to every four to five hours and meetings were held for follow-up. Despite the limited number of participants, results show significant reductions in smoking. This type of cessation program appears to be very effective in helping college students reduce their smoking or to quit smoking. The small number of students volunteering indicates that there is little desire for college students to quit smoking. (Contains 29 references and 2 tables.) (Author/MKA) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). " U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) o This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. o Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality. Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily represent official OE RI position or pohcy. Attempts to Reduce Cigarette Smoking Among College Students: A Pilot Study
Unparticle physics and neutrino phenomenology

We have constrained unparticle interactions with neutrinos and electrons using available data on neutrino-electron elastic scattering and the four CERN LEP experiments data on mono photon production. We have found that, for neutrino-electron elastic scattering, the MUNU experiment gives better constraints than previous reported limits in the region d>1.5. The results are compared with the current astrophysical limits, pointing out the cases where these limits may or may not apply. We also discuss the sensitivity of future experiments to unparticle physics. In particular, we show that the measurement of coherent reactor neutrino scattering off nuclei could provide a good sensitivity to the couplings of unparticle interaction with neutrinos and quarks. We also discuss the case of future neutrino-electron experiments as well as the International Linear Collider.
Sectoral variations in market orientation and performance among small service firms in Botswana

Abstract The quest for the diversification of Botswana’s mineral-led economy necessitates an examination of other performing ones such as the Tourism-Transport and Finance-Consulting small service sectors which have been identified as also contributing immensely to its economy. So, this paper investigates variations in market orientation and performance among small service firms in Botswana. In more specific terms, it involves analysis of variations with regard to tourism-transport and finance-consulting firms. Set in Botswana, data were obtained, using a respondent-completed questionnaire from 54 managers in the tourism-transport sector and 121 managers in the finance-consulting sector. Despite the focus of the study on sectoral variations among service firms in Botswana, the study makes major contributions to our understanding of market orientation-performance link. First, the overall level of market orientation varied significantly between the two sectors. Secondly, two of the three components of market orientation, namely intelligence generation and intelligence responsiveness also displayed statistically significant differences between each component and the two sectors. Thirdly, organizational commitment, team spirit and customer satisfaction were significantly different between the two sectors. These findings suggest the need for a sustained and systematic study aimed at finding out the relative importance of market orientation in different sectors. Such a study may be helpful in suggesting differentiated marketing orientation emphases that may help firms optimize their marketing budget. Notwithstanding the several scholarly works on market orientation and firm performance, the value of market orientation in sub-Saharan Africa has only begun to receive attention in Africa. Research evidence is scanty in the case of Botswana.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF ESSENTIAL OIL OF THYMUS KOTSCHYANUS L. COLLECTED FROM EAST AZARBAIJAN PROVINCE, IRAN

Background and Objectives: Due to their antimicrobial, anticancer and antioxidant properties (due to the presence of free radical scavengers), essential oils and extracts of medicinal plants are of great importance as natural medicinal compounds in public health, treatment of diseases, and protection of raw and processed foods . Methods: Chemical composition and content of essential oil of Thymus kotschyanus was determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The amount of phenolic and flavonoid compounds in the essential oil was determined by spectrophotometry using gallic acid and quercetin as standards. The antioxidant properties of the essential oil were evaluated by the DPPH method . Results: The analysis of essential oil with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry showed that thymol (51.1%), p-cymene (13.78%) and α -pinene (7.42%) are the main components. The amount of phenolic compounds was 82 ± 6.43 μ g gallic acid/ml essential oil, while the flavonoid content was 30.79 ± 0.5 μ g quercetin/ml essential oil. In terms of antioxidant activity, the IC50 value of T. kotschyanus essential oil was determined as 32.35 μ g/ml, which is weaker than synthetic antioxidant butylated hydroxytoluen . Conclusion: The results indicate that the essential oil of T. kotschyanus has good antioxidant activity and can be used in combination with other preservatives to protect food against a variety of oxidative systems .
A physically based strong ground-motion prediction methodology; application to PSHA and the 1999 Mw = 6.0 Athens earthquake

SUMMARY We present a physically based methodology to predict the range of ground-motion hazard for earthquakes along specific faults or within specific source volumes, and we demonstrate how to incorporate this methodology into probabilistic seismic hazard analyses (PSHA). By ‘physically based,’ we refer to ground-motion syntheses derived from physics and an understanding of the earthquake process. This approach replaces the aleatory uncertainty that current PSHA studies estimate by regression of empirical parameters with epistemic uncertainty that is expressed by the variability in the physical parameters of the earthquake rupture. Epistemic uncertainty can be reduced by further research. We modelled wave propagation with empirical Green’s functions. We applied our methodology to the 1999 September 7 M w = 6.0 Athens earthquake for frequencies between 1 and 20 Hz. We developed constraints on rupture parameters based on prior knowledge of the earthquake rupture process and on sources within the region, and computed a sufficient number of scenario earthquakes to span the full variability of ground motion possible for a magnitude M w = 6.0 earthquake with our approach. We found that: (1) our distribution of synthesized ground motions spans what actually occurred and that the distribution is realistically narrow; (2) one of our source models generates records that match observed time histories well; (3) certain combinations of rupture parameters produced ‘extreme,’ but not unrealistic ground motions at some stations; (4) the best-fitting rupture models occur in the vicinity of 38.05 ◦ N, 23.60 ◦ W with a centre of rupture near a 12-km depth and have nearly unilateral rupture toward the areas of high damage, which is consistent with independent investigations. We synthesized ground motion in the areas of high damage where strong motion records were not recorded from this earthquake. We also developed a demonstration PSHA for a single magnitude earthquake and for a single source region near Athens. We assumed an average return period of 1000 yr for this magnitude earthquake and synthesized 500 earthquakes distributed throughout the source zone, thereby having simulated a sample catalogue of ground motion for a period of 500 000 yr. We then used the synthesized ground motions rather than traditional attenuation relations for the PSHA.
STUDIES ON DISTRIBUTION AND FRACTIONATION OF HEAVY METALS IN SEDIMENT OF CAU RIVER, VIETNAM

Cau River, one of the major rivers of Thai Binh River Systems, has been under pressure from discharge from the economic and social development activities of the region. Water and sediment samples will be collected along Cau River to determine the spatial variability of metal in Cau River. Sediments collected from Cau River were extracted sequentially to investigate the distribution and fractionation of metal in Cau River. Results showed that the presence of certain metals in water and sediment with the concentrations ranged in a wide variation. In water Cu (58-181 μg/L), Pb (0.6-1.85 μg/L), Zn (18.1-32.5 μg/L), Cd (0-0.02 μg/L), Ni (3.04-4.41 μg/L), Cr (2.72-5.07 μg/L); in sediment Cu (27.6-401 mg/kg), Pb (0-282 mg/kg), Zn (3.9-71.9 mg/kg), Cd (0.01-2.44 mg/kg), Ni (2.24-5.89 mg/kg), Cr (4.08-11.5 mg/kg). Sequential extraction for study the distribution of metal species in sediment showed that metal mainly concentrated immobile form of residues fraction, organic compound bound fraction and Fe-Mn oxide associated fraction. This dominant existence of metal result in the tendency of metal assimilation in sediment and low bioavailability. However, some toxic metals such as Cd, Cr found moderated soluble form must be studied more for their release to water phase and and bioaccumulation.
Melting Glacier: A 37-Year (1984–2020) High-Resolution Glacier-Cover Record of MT. Kilimanjaro

Commonly recognized as an important symbol of the tropics and global warming, the glacier loss on Mt. Kilimanjaro has received worldwide attention for decades. In this paper, we propose a high-resolution glacier-cover (GC) record of Mt. Kilimanjaro over the period from 1984 to 2020, using a novel deep learning-based semantic segmentation method and Google Earth images, as well as digital elevation model (DEM) and ERA5-Land (ERA5) for snowline and temperature variations analysis. Our method achieves an accuracy of 94.37%, which proves the model's capability to record the GC areas precisely. The results show that (1) the GC area dramatically decreases from 19.2 km2 to 3.6 km2 during 37 years, which decreases about 4% and 2% per year from 1984 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2020 respectively, (2) the snowline altitude rises from $4,651 m$ to $5,088 m$ by about $437 m$, and (3) the average $5,000 m$ air temperature on Mt. Kilimanjaro increases from −2.1 °C to −1.1 °C by about 1 °C. This study indicates that there will be no GC within a few decades if the current loss continues.
Hardness of Approximation for Two-Dimensional Vector Packing Problem with Large Items

We consider a two-dimensional vector packing problem in which each item has size in x- and y-coordinates. The purpose of this paper is to provide a ground work on how hard two-dimensional vector packing problems are for large items. We prove that the problem with each item greater than 1/2-e either in x- or y-coordinates for 0 < e ≤ 1/6 has no APTAS unless P = NP.
Constructionalization without Grammaticalization: The Form-meaning Reassociation in the Novel Use of YONG in Taiwan Mandarin

With an elaboration of its grammatical function and semantic properties, this thesis aims to explore the mechanisms by which the novel use of YONG came into being in Taiwan Mandarin. In recent years, the novel use of YONG as either an anaphoric pro-verb or a process-referring verb had got transferred from Taiwan Southern Min to Taiwan Mandarin and has been widely used in informal or colloquial registers. When being used as s a pro-verb, YONG substitutes a forementioned antecedent VP to avoid redundant repetition in discourse. When being used as a process-referring verb, YONG sketchily denotes a process fulfilled in certain manner rather than specifies the actual event undertaken as other ordinary verbs do. Though these two functions of YONG are syntactically different, they share plenty of semantic similarities. To deal with their lexical semantics, the multiple complementary approaches combining Construction Grammar, Frame Semantics and Qualia Structure are adopted. Thus, verbal semantics of these novel uses of YONG can be accounted for and presented effectively in a systematic way. The core issue of this thesis concerns the contact-induced language change involved in the emergence of the novel use of YONG. In terms of grammatical convergence, the interlingual identification of YONG with a new form-meaning pairing can be viewed as a process of relexification (Lefebvre, 2009), since it is essentially a kind of “relabelling” of an existing form with a new meaning of a lexical item from another language. From the perspective of diachronic construction grammar (Bergs and Diewald, 2008; Traugott, 2011), the emergence of the novel function of YONG in Taiwan Mandarin demonstrates a process of construcionalization without grammaticalization, since it is the creation of a new construction by re-association of the existing form-meaning pairing, but without the internal grammaticalization in the target language, Taiwan Mandarin. In other words, the novel
Obesity and HIV Infection-is there a Role for Bariatric Surgery in Treatment?

Life expectancy of HIV-infected patients has improved in the recent decade with the use of antiretroviral therapy. Hence, more HIV-infected patients with chronic co-morbidities are being followed by different specialities. Diabetes and obesity are two of the co-morbidities. We looked at the outcome of bariatric surgery for 3 HIV-infected patients. We concluded that bariatric surgery is safe and can reduce pill burden. However, a multi-disciplinary team approach is needed to ensure that the right patients are selected and on-going support available to achieve the best outcome.
Recent Temperature Changes in the Western Arctic during Spring

The lower troposphere of the western Arctic (eastern Siberia to northern Canada) was relatively warm during spring in the 1990s. Based on the NCEP‐NCAR reanalysis, supplemented by the Television Infrared Observational Satellite (TIROS) Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) Polar Pathfinder dataset, this warmth is a result of a recent increase in the frequency of warm months, compared to the previous four decades. The primary difference between four notably warm springs in the 1990s and four cold springs in the 1980s was the sense of the horizontal advection term in a lower-tropospheric heat budget for northern Alaska/southern Beaufort Sea. While the horizontal advection of heat was highly episodic, it was related to changes in the mean circulation at low levels, in particular a shift from anomalous northeasterly flow in the 1980s to anomalous southwesterly flow in the 1990s during March and April. This change in the low-level winds in the western Arctic coincided with a systematic shift in the Arctic Oscillation (AO) near the end of the 1980s, and reflects the equivalent barotropic nature of the AO. The stratospheric temperature anomalies associated with the AO were greatest in March; the low-level wind anomalies brought about near-surface temperature anomalies in northern Alaska that peaked in April. In addition to substantial decadal differences, there was considerable month-to-month and yearto-year variability within the last two decades.
Rampage: The Social Roots Of School Shootings

In the last decade, school shootings have decimated communities and terrified parents, teachers, and children in even the most "family friendly" American towns and suburbs. These tragedies appear to be the spontaneous acts of disconnected teens, but this important book argues that the roots of violence are deeply entwined in the communities themselves. Rampage challenges the "loner theory" of school violence and shows why so many adults and students miss the warning signs that could prevent it.
Research into service tree (Sorbus domestica L.) population in eastern Serbia

All fruit tree populations along with the service tree (Sorbus domestica L.) population offer a wealth of diverse genetic material which is essential for the selection and creation of new cultivars and rootstocks. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the service tree population in Eastern Serbia in order to single out good selections whose fruit can be used fresh or processed in the human diet, as well as genotypes suitable for the development of new cultivars and rootstocks. The service tree population was analyzed for tree age, tree size and major fruit properties (shape, size and soluble solids content). Small-sized, medium to large and large fruits ranging in weight from 7.5-9.8 g, 10.3-18.6 g and 21.7-25.6 g were found in 52.3%, 41.1% and 6.60% trees, respectively, within the test population. Fruit length was 18.6-33.4 mm, fruit thickness 22.8-37.4 mm, stalk length 1.8-3.7 mm, soluble solids content 15.7-22.5%. The study also presents properties of some superior trees which require greater attention in terms of propagation, collection activities and commercial cultivation. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR 20013A]
Investigating and Exploiting the Antibacterial Potential of Clove Eugenia caryophyllyum Extracts while Utilizing it to the Maximum to Develop Liquid Soap against Drug Resistant Bacteria Causing Skin Diseases

Investigating and Exploiting the Antibacterial Potential of Clove Eugenia caryophyllyum Extracts while Utilizing it to the Maximum to Develop Liquid Soap against Drug Resistant Bacteria Causing Skin Diseases Investigating and Exploiting the Antibacterial Potential of Clove Eugenia caryophyllyum Extracts while Utilizing it to the Maximum to Develop Liquid Soap against Drug Resistant Bacteria Causing Skin Diseases Investigating and Exploiting the Antibacterial Potential of Clove Eugenia caryophyllyum Extracts while Utilizing it to the Maximum to Develop Liquid Soap against Drug Resistant Bacteria Causing Skin Diseases Investigating and Exploiting the Antibacterial Potential of Clove Eugenia caryophyllyum Extracts while Utilizing it to the Maximum to Develop Liquid Soap against Drug Resistant Bacteria Causing Skin Diseases
XMM-Newton observations of SS 433 I. EPIC spectral analysis

SS433 was observed with XMM-Newton in four consecutive orbits at different binary phases at precessional phases near maximum blue-/red shift between April 2 and April 8, 2003. The light curves in the individual orbits are flat without statistically significant indications for short-term (>50 s) intrinsic variability. Orbit-to-orbit flux changes occur predominantly in the hard band; the soft flux (<2 keV) stays nearly constant, which implies a jet length in excess of the size of the primary star. The spectral behavior is complex and the high sensitivity and wide bandpass of the XMM-Newton instruments rule out any of the simple continuum models used previously. The data are modeled in terms of thermal emission from conically out-flowing jets and require the existence of an additional emission component, most likely from Compton scattering of the emission from the base of the jet off the cold matter from the surrounding thick disc. The temperature at the base of the jets is about T0 ∼ 17 ± 2 keV. The density cannot be determined from the current data alone, however, using the most recent mass estimates for the system it must be ∼10 12 cm −3 to account for the observed flux during eclipse. The kinetic energy in the jet is then ∼5 × 10 39 erg s −1 . In the out-flowing matter Nickel is highly over-abundant (∼8 times solar), Fe shows nearly solar abundances, and Si and S are over-abundant by a factor of ∼2.
Social behaviour in sharks and rays: analysis, patterns and implications for conservation

There are widespread records of grouping behaviour in both adult and juvenile sharks and rays (Class Chondrichthyes, Subclass Elasmobranchii). Yet despite burgeoning descriptions of these events, many of the proximate and ultimate causes of group living in these top predators remain elusive. Given the documented negative anthropogenic effects on many shark populations globally, there is an increasing need to understand how behaviourally mediated grouping influences population distributions and abundance, and the role this plays in exacerbating vulnerability to fishing mortality. Here, we analyse group living in elasmobranchs: we describe our current understanding of the patterns, mechanisms and functions of both aggregation (where grouping is not driven by social mechanisms) and social grouping (where grouping is influenced by social interaction) and discuss some of the current methods used to study social behaviour in this taxa. In particular, social preferences in elasmobranchs have received relatively little attention. We propose that the study of shark aggregations may benefit from a more fine-scale analytical approach offered by detailed exploration of social interactions using social network analysis. Better understanding of the frequency and longevity of social relations, in conjunction with current long-term data on habitat use and site philopatry, will likely serve for a more informed approach to coastal and pelagic elasmobranch conservation initiatives.
A Study of User Preference-Based Collaborative Filtering Algorithm

--------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT----------------------------------------------------------A recommendation system is a program which attempts to predict items that users may be interested in, considering their preference and taste. Collaborative filtering is an algorithm which is most commonly used in the recommendation system. It recommends the items that users are interested in with similar preferences. The system finds similar users based on all users’ purchase and rating data. However, user preferences can change, and this kind of change may slow down recommendation performances. To upgrade these recommendation performances, this study proposes a user preference-reflected recommendation technique. The precision and MAE of the proposed method were measured, using MovieLens data set. Compared to conventional collaborative filtering techniques, the proposed method revealed better results.