Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Revisiting carbonate chemistry controls on planktic foraminifera Mg / Ca: implications for sea surface temperature and hydrology shifts over the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum and Eocene–Oligocene Transition

Abstract. Much of our knowledge of past ocean temperatures comes from the foraminifera Mg / Ca palaeothermometer. Several nonthermal controls on foraminifera Mg incorporation have been identified, of which vital effects, salinity, and secular variation in seawater Mg / Ca are the most commonly considered. Ocean carbonate chemistry is also known to influence Mg / Ca, yet this is rarely examined as a source of uncertainty, either because (1) precise pH and [CO32−] reconstructions are sparse or (2) it is not clear from existing culture studies how a correction should be applied. We present new culture data of the relationship between carbonate chemistry and Mg / Ca for the surface-dwelling planktic species Globigerinoides ruber and compare our results to data compiled from existing studies. We find a coherent relationship between Mg / Ca and the carbonate system and argue that pH rather than [CO32−] is likely to be the dominant control. Applying these new calibrations to data sets for the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) and Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT) enables us to produce a more accurate picture of surface hydrology change for the former and a reassessment of the amount of subtropical precursor cooling for the latter. We show that pH-adjusted Mg / Ca and δ18O data sets for the PETM are within error of no salinity change and that the amount of precursor cooling over the EOT has been previously underestimated by ∼ 2 °C based on Mg / Ca. Finally, we present new laser-ablation data of EOT-age Turborotalia ampliapertura from St. Stephens Quarry (Alabama), for which a solution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) Mg / Ca record is available (Wade et al., 2012). We show that the two data sets are in excellent agreement, demonstrating that fossil solution and laser-ablation data may be directly comparable. Together with an advancing understanding of the effect of Mg / Casw, the coherent picture of the relationship between Mg / Ca and pH that we outline here represents a step towards producing accurate and quantitative palaeotemperatures using this proxy.
Development of a Surface Acoustic Wave Sensor for In-Situ Monitoring of Volatile Organic Compounds

This paper describes the development of a surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) sensor that is designed to be operated continuously and in situ to detect volatile organic compounds. A ruggedized stainless-steel package that encases the SAW device and integrated circuit board allows the sensor to be deployed in a variety of media including air, soil, and even water. Polymers were optimized and chosen based on their response to chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (e.g., trichloroethylene), which are common groundwater contaminants. Initial testing indicates that a running-average data-logging algorithm can reduce the noise and increase the sensitivity of the in-situ sensor.
A DC-DC interleaved forward converter to step - up DC voltage for DC Microgrid applications

DC Microgrid is highly penetrated by various DC-DC power converters for a proper management. Several technologies of DC-DC power converters have been experienced for reaching a suitable topology of converter systems providing high performances of DC Microgrid distribution. The concepts of these systems are based on the circuits capable to provide; easier connection between Microsources and DC Microgrid, stability of DC Microgrid bus, input output current ripples cancellation, galvanic isolation, power loss reduction, high ratio conversion and high switching scale for output filter size reduction. This paper presents models of DC-DC Forward converters leading to the suitable topologies. Precisely, the combination related to cascaded, paralleled, bridged and interleaved technologies of classical DC-DC Forward converters have been experienced for being applied to DC Microgrid. Interleaved DC-DC Forward converter with double three windings transformer is analyzed under PSPICE simulation for validating the high conversion issue and clamped regenerative techniques.
Giant Cell Arteritis

This review summarizes the diagnosis, clinical manifestations and management of giant cell arteritis. Giant cell arteritis is an immune-mediated vasculitis of medium to large sized arteries that affects individuals older than the age of 50. Patients typically present with signs of vascular insufficiency of the extracranial arteries of the head and systemic inflammation. Temporal artery biopsy remains the hallmark of diagnosis. Specific treatment regimens must be tailored to each individual, but steroids remain the backbone of therapy.
Poder es Salud/Power for Health: an application of the community health worker model in Portland, Oregon

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (1992). Cigarette smoking among Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hispanics—California, 1989 – 1991. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 41, 362 – 367. MCCOMBS, M. & SHAW, D. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36, 176 – 185. MMWR. (October 10, 2003). Cigarette smoking among adults—United States, 2001, 52(40). YU, E. , CHEN, E. , KIM, K. & ABDULRAHIM, S. (2002). Smoking among Chinese Americans: behavior, knowledge and beliefs. American Journal of Public Health, 92(6), 1007 – 1012.
Obstructive sleep apnea and the prefrontal cortex: towards a comprehensive model linking nocturnal upper airway obstruction to daytime cognitive and behavioral deficits

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is accompanied by significant daytime cognitive and behavioral deficits that extend beyond the effects of sleepiness. This article outlines a causal model by which to understand these psychological effects among OSA patients. The model proposes that sleep disruption and blood gas abnormalities prevent sleep‐related restorative processes, and further induce chemical and structural central nervous system cellular injury. This, in turn, leads to dysfunction of prefrontal regions of the brain cortex (PFC), manifested behaviorally in what neuropsychologists have termed `executive dysfunction'. Executive dysfunction is proposed to markedly affect the functional application of cognitive abilities, resulting in maladaptive daytime behaviors. The proposed model (1) accounts for the specific psychological phenotype associated with OSA, (2) accommodates developmental components in this phenotype, (3) bridges between physical and psychological phenomena, (4) suggests mechanisms by which the nocturnal disorder might have effects on daytime functioning, (5) is empirically testable, (6) generates unique research hypotheses, and (7) has practical implications. The model is intended to act as a catalyst for future research and as a preliminary guide for clinicians.
Introduction to Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Applications in Hard and Soft Condensed Matter Physics

Today, computer experiments play a very important role in science. In the past, physical sciences were characterized by an interplay between experiment and theory. In theory, a model of the system is constructed, usually in the form of a set of mathematical equations. This model is then validated by its ability to describe the system behavior in a few selected cases, simple enough to allow a solution to be computed from the equations. One might wonder why one does not simply derive all physical behavior of matter from an as small as possible set of fundamental equations, e.g. the Dirac equation of relativistic quantum theory. However, the quest for the fundamental principles of physics is not yet finished; thus, the appropriate starting point for such a strategy still remains unclear. But even if we knew all fundamental laws of nature, there is another reason, why this strategy does not work for ultimately predicting the behavior of matter on any length scale, and this reason is the growing complexity of fundamental theories – which are based on the dynamics of particles – when they are applied to systems of macroscopic (or even microscopic) dimensions. In almost all cases, even for academic problems involving only a few particles1, a strict analytical solution is not possible and solving the problem very often implies a considerable amount of simplification. In contrast to this, in experiments, a system is subject to measurements, and results are collected, very often in the form of large data sets of numbers from which one strives to find mathematical equations describing the data by generalization, imagination and by thorough investigation. Very rarely, normally based on symmetries which allow inherent simplifications of the original problem, is an analytical solution at hand which describes exactly the evidence of the experiment given by the obtained data sets. Unfortunately, many academic and practical physical problems of interest do not fall under this category of “simple” problems, e.g. disordered systems, where there is no symmetry which helps to simplify the treatment.
Franchising in Malaysia: Issues and research agenda

The franchising concept has become a dominant method inter firm (business-to-business) in the distribution of products and services throughout the local and global market to their target end customer. Franchising is also known as a strategic alliance which relatively enduring inter-firm cooperative arrangement between franchisor and franchisee. Franchising has shown the substantial growth and significant success in most of the developed countries, especially in Western countries. In Malaysia, franchising industries has grown steadily during the past decade through intensively franchise development programme conducted by government agency such as Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (PNS). Nevertheless, there is a still lack of study related the franchising in Malaysia, particularly in franchise business survival. Thus, this paper will be explored the issues in franchising and proposed the conceptual framework for effective franchise business model. The framework developed in this paper will provide a guide to the factors that may affect franchise firm’s performance
The Decline of the Exchange Rate Pass-Through in Brazil: Explaining the "Fear of Floating"

This paper argues that the pass-through in Brazil has fallen compared with estimates in other studies done for earlier time periods, and remains low. Whereas pass-through effects where high and close to 1 in the high-inflation period, they seem to have fallen to around 0.2 after the Real Plan stabilization, a number that is similar to the Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) period of the 1950s and 1960s. Conventional results suggest that low and stable inflation environments lead to low levels of exchange rate pass-through and thus contribute to weakening the ‘fear of floating’ phenomenon experienced by some developing countries. In spite of lower pass-through effects, the Brazilian Central Bank has maintained high interest rates in order to control the exchange rate. This paper suggests that ‘fear of inflation’ provides justification for the central bank's persistent ‘fear of floating. ’
Diagnostic Accuracy of Clinical Assessment, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Magnetic Resonance Arthrography, and Intra-Articular Injection in Hip Arthroscopy Patients

Background Hip arthroscopy has defined elusive causes of hip pain. Hypothesis/Purpose It is postulated that the reliability of various investigative methods is inconsistent. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these methods. Study Design Retrospective review of prospectively collected data. Methods Five parameters were assessed in 40 patients: clinical assessment, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance imaging with gadolinium arthrography, intra-articular bupivacaine injection, and arthroscopy. Using arthroscopy as the definitive diagnosis, the other parameters were evaluated for reliability. Results Hip abnormality was clinically suspected in all cases with 98% accuracy (1 false positive). However, the nature of the abnormality was identified in only 13 cases with 92% accuracy. Magnetic resonance imaging variously demonstrated direct or indirect evidence of abnormality but overall demonstrated a 42% false-negative and a 10% false-positive interpretation. Magnetic resonance arthrography demonstrated an 8% false-negative and 20% false-positive interpretation. Response to the intra-articular injection of anesthetic was 90% accurate (3 false-negative and 1 false-positive responses) for detecting the presence of intra-articular abnormality. Conclusions In this series, clinical assessment accurately determined the existence of intra-articular abnormality but was poor at defining its nature. Magnetic resonance arthrography was much more sensitive than magnetic resonance imaging at detecting various lesions but had twice as many false-positive interpretations. Response to an intra-articular injection of anesthetic was a 90% reliable indicator of intra-articular abnormality.
Orally bioavailable small-molecule inhibitor of transcription factor Stat3 regresses human breast and lung cancer xenografts

Computer-aided lead optimization derives a unique, orally bioavailable inhibitor of the signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat)3 Src homology 2 domain. BP-1-102 binds Stat3 with an affinity (KD) of 504 nM, blocks Stat3–phospho-tyrosine (pTyr) peptide interactions and Stat3 activation at 4–6.8 μM, and selectively inhibits growth, survival, migration, and invasion of Stat3-dependent tumor cells. BP-1-102–mediated inhibition of aberrantly active Stat3 in tumor cells suppresses the expression of c-Myc, Cyclin D1, Bcl-xL, Survivin, VEGF, and Krüppel-like factor 8, which is identified as a Stat3 target gene that promotes Stat3-mediated breast tumor cell migration and invasion. Treatment of breast cancer cells with BP-1-102 further blocks Stat3–NF-κB cross-talk, the release of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1, macrophage migration-inhibitory factor/glycosylation-inhibiting factor, interleukin 1 receptor antagonist, and serine protease inhibitor protein 1, and the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase and paxillin, while enhancing E-cadherin expression. Intravenous or oral gavage delivery of BP-1-102 furnishes micromolar or microgram levels in tumor tissues and inhibits growth of human breast and lung tumor xenografts.
The Labor Market is the Key to Understanding the Business Cycle

A childproof actuator cap for a hand-held aerosol dispenser having a container with a top closure member and a valve assemblage carried therein. The cap comprises a cap body having an annular, depending skirt which engages and is supported by the rim of the top closure member. The cap body movably carries a depress button having a hollow, depending boss engageable with the valve to actuate the same. The skirt has diametrically opposed, aligned holes which slidably carry a movable plunger constituting an abutment for the boss on the depress button. A finger-piece is connected with the plunger and is exposed at the rear of the cap, to enable engagement by the same finger which is employed to actuate the depress button. The plunger is movable between a locking position wherein it interferes with the boss on the depress button and prevents depressing movement thereof and actuation of the valve, and an unlocked position wherein a clearance hole in the plunger is aligned with the boss to receive and provide clearance for the latter when the button is depressed. The arrangement is such that the same finger which is employed to depress the button is first used to actuate the plunger and unlock the dispenser, whereby an especially convenient and simple, one-finger unlocking and dispensing operation is realized.
Schizonepeta tenuifolia: Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Clinical Applications

This article presents an up‐to‐date review of the plant Schizonepeta tenuifolia (Jingjie), of family Labiatae, with respect to its traditional uses, chemical constituents, various pharmacological activities, and clinical effects. Nonetheless, its mechanism of actions, adverse effects, drug interactions, and contraindications remain unclear. With the global growth on the use of herbal products, Jingjie has been commonly marketed for the treatment of common cold and fever in Chinese proprietary medicines. Hence, further studies will be warranted to show its efficacy and safety.
Fiscal federalism in Bosnia-Herzegovina: The Dayton challenge

The authors describe Bosnia's current arrangements in fiscal federalism, outline the unique challenges that the Dayton system proposed, and draw lessons for the design of fiscal federal systems in ethnically diverse economies. Traditional economic models of federalism suggest a government structure assuming there is an intent to achieve Pareto-efficiency for the entire country. Current attitudes in Bosnia challenge this paradigm's aptness unmodified, since many people in each ethnic group see themselves as members of their group, rather than as Bosnians, and are not broadly concerned about the entire country's welfare or access to public services outside the group. The motivation for the fiscal federalism structure proposed in the Dayton Accords is better interpreted as an effort to manage conflict between the ethnic groups. Federalism, in a conflict management sense, does not require that each group be given its own state; rather it leads to the conclusion that institutions of power should be brought closer to the people so that decisionmaking can be more sensitive to the different ethnic groups. Decentralization in this context is a means to lessen the points where disagreement exists, rather than a structure to obtain economic efficiency. Common institutions at the state, entity or canton levels are maintained, but only for functions that must be broader in scope. The fiscal (and other) interdependencies flowing from these institutions present opportunities to build relationships and trust over time. While the government structure included in Dayton is workable, governments must negotiate other arrangements to prevent, in the short to medium term, diseconomies of scale in providing certain services that are more cost-efficient at other levels. In the latter scenario, services with geographic spillovers would be underprovided because governments would fail to adequately account for benefits received by other ethnic group members. Further, little concern would be given to equitable distribution of services, resulting in widely different access across the country. Better service delivery mechanisms -from a national, Pareto-efficient perspective- will not be selected given the very strong distaste for cross subsidies and minority group fears of larger group domination. Despite these concerns, the authors conclude that more efficient arrangements can be expected to evolve over time as confidence in the government structures evolve.
Existence and Nature of Audit Expectation Gap: Nigerian Perspective

The audit expectation gap is critical to the auditing profession because the greater the unfulfilled expectation from the public, the lower the credibility earning potential and prestige associated with the work of auditors. The study examined the level and nature of expectation gap (performance gap) between auditors and users of financial statements. It sought to establish whether audit expectation gap exists in Nigeria and the perception of the users’ group on its existence. Respondents view was also sought on how the gap could be narrowed. Chi-square (χ2) was used to analyze the data obtained from the study. The data were obtained through questionnaire. One hundred and sixty (160) copies of the instrument were distributed using purposive sampling technique. In this study, a cross-sectional survey was conducted to capture the perceptions of users of financial statements in Nigeria. The tests of hypothesis were done using Microsoft Excel 2010 version. Tests were carried out at a significant level of 5% and three degree of freedom. The findings of the study indicated that there is a wide expectation gap in the areas of auditors’ responsibility for fraud prevention and detection. Audit expectation gap has negative impact on auditor’s credibility. The users of financial statements should be enlightened more on the responsibilities of auditors on the financial statements, the role of the auditor should be clarified and quality control measures should be observed in audit firms.
The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands

Luxury is in fashion and is now to be found within almost every retail, manufacturing and service sector. New terms qualifying luxury regularly appear such as 'premium', 'ultra-premium' and 'hyperluxe'. Today, luxury is everywhere - but if everything is 'luxury' then surely the term itself has no meaning? What really is a luxury product, a luxury brand or a luxury company? "The Luxury Strategy" is a definitive new work that sets the record straight. Luxury is as old as humanity and it is only by a thorough understanding of the genuine concept, that it is possible to define a rigorous set of rules for the effective management of luxury brands and products. "The Luxury Strategy" rationalizes the management of this new business concept based on the highly original methods that were used to transform small family businesses such as Ferrari, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Chanel, Bulgari, Gucci and Prada, into global brands. "The Luxury Strategy" explains the difference between 'premium' and 'luxury', and sets out the rules to be applied to the luxury marketing mix (the opposite of those for classic marketing). It describes how to implement a luxury strategy within a company and delivers clear principles for becoming - and remaining - 'luxury'.
Long‐term follow‐up of thalamic stimulation versus thalamotomy for tremor suppression

Thalamic stimulation and thalamotomy for treatment of tremor due to Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and multiple sclerosis were compared in a randomized trial. The symptomatic and functional outcome was studied after 5 years of follow‐up. Sixty‐eight patients were treated (45 Parkinson's disease, 13 essential tremor, 10 multiple sclerosis) by thalamotomy (n = 34) or thalamic stimulation (n = 34). After 5 years, 48 patients were available for follow‐up. The primary outcome measure was change in functional status measured by the Frenchay Activities Index (FAI), scores ranging from 0 to 60. Secondary outcome measures were tremor severity, frequency of complications, and patients' assessment of the outcome. The mean difference in FAI scores between thalamic stimulation and thalamotomy was 4.4 (95% CI: 1.1–7.7) after 6 months, 3.3 (95% CI: −0.03–6.6) after 2 years and 4.0 (95% CI: 0.3–7.7) after 5 years in favor of stimulation. Tremor suppression was equally effective after both procedures, and stable in Parkinson patients. In ET and multiple sclerosis, a diminished effect of stimulation was observed in half of the patients. There were six stimulation equipment‐related complications, but neurological side effects of surgery were higher after thalamotomy. Subjective outcome‐assessment by the patients was more favorable in the stimulation group. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society.
Self-Organization in Interface Dynamics and Urban Development

The view ofthe urban environment as an extended nonlinear system introduces new concepts, motivates new questions, and suggests new methodologies in the study of urban dynamics. A review of recent results on interlace dynamics in nonequilibrium physical systems is presented, and possible implications on the urban environment are discussed. It is suggested that the growth modes ofspecific urban zones (e.g. residential, commercial, or industrial) and the factors affecting them can be studied using mathematical models that capture two generic interface instabilities. Keywor&v Interfaces, Nonlinear dynamics, Urban environments, Instabilities