Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PASTORAL DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA

1 1.0 INTRODUCTION . 2 1.1 Geographic Description of the ASALs . 2 1.2 Human Population . 4 1.3 The ASAL Environment . 4 1.4 Some Features of Pastoralism . 6 1.5 Significance of Pastoral Development . 9 2.0 INSTITUTIONAL AND POLICY SETTING . 11 2.1 Conceptual Framework . 11 2.2 Institutions . 12 2.3 Governance . 16 2.4 Policy Influences . 17 2.5 Physical Environment . 28 2.6 Positive Outcomes . 30 2.7 Negative Outcomes . 34 3.0 POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS . 37 3.1 Development of the Pastoral Livestock Sector . 37 3.2 Diversification of the Pastoral Economcy . 40 3.3 Improvement of the Rural Infrastructure . 41 3.4 Empowerment of the Pastoral Communities . 41 3.5 Creation of an Enabling Environment . 43 4.0 POLICY DIRECTIONS . 45 4.1 Reflections on Pastoral Development . 45 4.2 Recommendations. 47 4.3 Conclusions . 48 References . 48 John Omiti and Patrick Irungu 3
Glacial geomorphology of the Tian Shan

The glacial geomorphology of the Tian Shan has been mapped, with the study area covering almost 638,000 km2. The map, designed to be printed at A0 size due to the elongated shape of the mountain range, is presented at a scale of 1:1,100,000. Five glacial landform categories are presented; glacial valleys, marginal moraines, glacial lineations, hummocky terrain and meltwater channels. These landform categories were mapped using the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (90 m resolution), Landsat 7 ETM+ satellite imagery (30 m resolution), and images contained in Google Earth. The mapped landforms were created by glaciers that were restricted to mountain areas and their immediate surroundings.
SVC for resonance control in NamPower electrical power system

The extension of the Namibian transmission system results in a near 50 Hz resonance. To control the resonance a SVC was installed at Auas 400 kV substation. A new control principle for controlling the resonance was developed and tested. The paper presents the background to the resonance problem, the Auas SVC configuration, the resonance controller and finally the conclusions from extensive test results, both from simulator and site tests.
Theory of high-field electron transport in the heterostructures AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs with delta-doped barriers. Effect of real-space transfer

Steady-state electric characteristics of quantum heterostructures AlxGa1–xAs/GaAs/AlxGa1–xAs with  -doped barriers have been analyzed in this work. It has been shown that at high doping the additional low-conductive channels are formed in the barrier layers. Current-voltage characteristics of the structure were obtained in the wide interval of applied electric fields up to several kV/cm being based on the solution of Boltzmann transport equation. It has been found that in the electric fields higher than 1 kV/cm the effect of exchange of the carriers between the high-conductive channel of the GaAs quantum well and the channels in the AlGaAs barriers becomes essential. This effect gives rise to the appearance of the strongly nonlinear current-voltage characteristics with a portion of negative differential conductivity. The developed model of heterostructure is adequate to those recently fabricated and studied by Prof. Sarbey’s group. The obtained results explain some observation of this paper. It has been found that the effect of electron real-space transfer takes place at both low temperatures and room temperatures, which opens perspectives to design novel type nanostructured current controlled devices.
Sensorelemente aus leitfähigem Silikon für einen nachgiebigen Greifer

Das Ziel dieses Beitrages ist die Grundlagen zu schaffen, die erlauben sollen das leitfahige Silikon Powersil 466 A/B VP [1] als Sensorelemente zu verwenden. Deshalb werden Untersuchungen der Eigenschaften des leitfahigen Silikons in Abhangigkeit von verschiedenen Belastungen durchgefuhrt. Die Sensorelemente andern unter der Einwirkung von Belastungen ihre elektrischen Eigenschaften. Dieser Beitrag prasentiert eine Anwendung dieses Materials als Sensorelemente fur einen neuen nachgiebigen Greifer. Die Sensorelemente dieses Greifers haben zwei Funktionen; sie sind Teile der Greiferstruktur und sie geben grobe Information uber den Greifprozess. Die Herstellungstechnologie des sensorisierten Greifers und die experimentellen Messungen werden in diesem Beitrag erlautert.
A photometric study of the massive binary RY Sct

The present study deals with the problem of the estimation of the orbital and physical parameters for the EB-type eclipsing binary RY Sct, based on the interpretation of new photometric U B V R observations. The light curves obtained at the Maidanak Observatory during 1979-94 show a slight asymmetry around the secondary minima and a small difference in the height of the successive maxima. The light curves are analysed in the framework of the Roche computer model (Djurasevic [CITE]) by applying the inverse-problem method (Djurasevic [CITE]) based on Marquardt's ([CITE]) algorithm. The analysis shows that RY Sct system is in an overcontact configuration $(f_{\rm over}\sim 33\%)$ with $q=m_{2}/m_{1}=3.3$ and $i\sim 84\fdg 3$, generating total-annular eclipses. The basic parameters of the system and of the active region are estimated for all individual U, B, V and R light curves. Our results suggested a mass exchange between the components and mass loss through the outer Lagrangian point L 3 . This could be taken as a possible mechanism in the formation of the circumstellar envelope of toroidal form lying in the orbital plane of the system.
Principality of curves on sandwiched singularities

Given a surface $X$ obtained by blowing up a complete $\m$-primary ideal in the local ring of a point on a non-singular surface $S$, we determine the Picard group of $X$ and the divisor class groups of its singularities. Given a curve $C$ on $X$, we obtain various criteria for $C$ to be locally principal at these singularities. Our criteria are stated in terms of the projection of $C$ onto $S$. A minimal system of local generators of the defining ideal of $C$ is produced, as well as a formula for their number.
New policy directions for global pond conservation

Despite the existence of well‐established international environmental and nature conservation policies (e.g., the Ramsar Convention and Convention on Biological Diversity) ponds are largely missing from national and international legislation and policy frameworks. Ponds are among the most biodiverse and ecologically important freshwater habitats, and their value lies not only in individual ponds, but more importantly, in networks of ponds (pondscapes). Ponds make an important contribution to society through the ecosystem services they provide, with effective conservation of pondscapes essential to ensuring that these services are maintained. Implementation of current pond conservation through individual site designations does not function at the landscape scale, where ponds contribute most to biodiversity. Conservation and management of pondscapes should complement current national and international nature conservation and water policy/legislation, as pondscapes can provide species protection in landscapes where large‐scale traditional conservation areas cannot be established (e.g., urban or agricultural landscapes). We propose practical steps for the effective incorporation or enhancement of ponds within five policy areas: through open water sustainable urban drainage systems in urban planning, increased incentives in agrienvironment schemes, curriculum inclusion in education, emphasis on ecological scale in mitigation measures following anthropogenic developments, and the inclusion of pondscapes in conservation policy.
Effect of cooking methods on tetracycline residues in pig meat

Tetracyclines (TCs) are widely used for disease control in the livestock and poultry industry due to their broad spectrum of activity and affordability. However, some residues have been found to remain in the animals during slaughter and subsequent consumption. The potential of different cooking methods as strategies to reduce TC residues in pork were therefore investigated. Samples of pig muscles containing oxytetracycline (OTC), TC, chlortetracycline (CTC) and doxycycline (DC) residues were subjected to boiling, deep-frying or microwaving and the residues were extracted in a mixture of McIlvaine buffer-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)/methanol (75:25, v/v), and then analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection on a XBridgeTM C18 reverse phase chromatographic column. Results show that TC residues in muscles were reduced by 45.35 to 67.05% after boiling for 9 min, 38.17 to 65.74% after deep-frying for 9 min and 38.17 to 48.47% after microwaving for 1 min. It can therefore be concluded that from a safety and toxicological point of view, reduction of TC residues in pig muscle is an additional advantage of cooking as a food processing method and it is recommended that more studies in other kinds of meats be done. Key words: Tetracyclines, pig muscle, cooking effects, antibiotics residues.
Design of a burst-link-aware routing protocol in wireless sensor networks

Delivering the packets on an end-to-end reliable path with high efficiency in wireless sensor networks is challenging because of the highly dynamic and unpredictable bursty wireless links. In this paper, we describe a burst-link-aware routing protocol, called BLAR, for wireless sensor networks, which has three salient features. First, it discusses the impact of bursty links on routing protocol performance, and exploits an efficient burstiness identification method (BIM) to identify the existence of the bursty links by passively measuring the RSSI (received signal strength indicator) value of packets received from neighbours. Second, BLAR presents a timely and adaptive link quality estimator, named EasiLQE, which uses error-based filter and takes account into the bursty links identification. Finally, it proposes a direction-aware route establishment (DARE) strategy that uses EasiETX routing metric to establish route based on EasiLQE. We have evaluated the BLAR on our 8-node Telosb testbed, and discussed its performance benefits in comparison to the CTP, a well-established, well-tested, and widely used data collection protocol that is part of the TinyOS2.1 release. The experiment results have shown that the BLAR can provide highly reliable data collection while achieves an average of 17.3% reduction of cost compared to CTP in indoor environment, and 17.5% in outdoor environment, and a maximum of 45.4% reduction of beacon cost in outdoor environment.
Molecular and phenotypic characterisation of diverse temperate maize inbred lines in Southeast Europe

Maize (Zea mays L.) displays large genetic diversity created during the history of introduction from its Mexican centre of origin to other parts of the world and adaptation to a range of diverse environments. Despite such diversity, maize breeders use only a small portion of the available maize germplasm to develop modern hybrids. Broadening diversity of breeding collections by the introduction of new germplasm, as a source of favourable traits, requires its characterisation and classification of new germplasm into heterotic groups. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic diversity of maize breeding material from the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Serbia, including previously uncharacterised inbred lines, elite lines with known pedigrees and historically important inbred lines. Microsatellite-based cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis separated 96 inbred lines into six clusters, Iowa Stiff Stalk Synthetic (BSSS), Lancaster Sure Crop (LSC), Iodent (IDT) heterotic group, a cluster with unrelated independent inbreds and two clusters of miscellaneous germplasm crossed with inbreds of BSSS and Lancaster background. The microsatellites umc1035, bnlg666, dupssr23, umc1083 and dupssr10 contributed most to the differentiation between the groups. The largest values of molecular diversity parameters were detected in the BSSS group, following by the Lancaster and then the other groups. An analysis of variance showed that almost all traits significantly varied among the groups and between the years. The investigated lines demonstrated sufficient variation in most of the analysed phenotypic traits, proving suitable for further genetic studies. A principal component analysis based on agronomic traits differentiated inbred lines from the BSSS and Lancaster pools, but failed to separate the other groups. The characterisation and classification of genetic resources using microsatellite markers may assist hybrid breeding by efficient exploitation of heterotic patterns.
Modeling Microbial Decomposition in Real 3D Soil Structures Using Partial Differential Equations

Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) have been already widely used to simulate various complex phenomena in porous media. This paper is one of the first attempts to apply PDEs for simulating in real 3D structures. We apply this scheme to the specific case study of the microbial decomposition of organic matter in soil pore space. We got a 3D geometrical representation of the pore space relating to a network of volume primitives. A mesh of the pore space is then created by using the network. PDEs system is solved by free finite elements solver Freefem3d in the particular mesh. We validate our PDEs model to experimental data with 3D Computed Tomography (CT) images of soil samples. Regarding the current state of art on soil organic matter decay models, our approach allows taking into account precise 3D spatialization of the decomposition process by a pore space geometry description.
A Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin Method for the Analysis of Cracks in the Isotropic Functionally Graded Material

A meshless local Petrov-Galerkin method (MLPG)[1] for the analysis of cracks in isotropic functionally graded materials is presented. The meshless method uses the moving least squares (MLS) to approximate the field unknowns. The shape function has not the Kronecker Delta properties for the trial-function-interpolation, and a direct interpolation method is adopted to impose essential boundary conditions. The MLPG method does not involve any domain and singular integrals to generate the global effective stiffness matrix if body force is ignored; it only involves a regular boundary integral. The material properties are smooth functions of spatial coordinates and two interaction integrals[2,3] are used for the fracture analysis. Two numerical examples including both mode-I and mixed-mode problems are presented to calculated the stress intensity factors (SIFs) by the proposed method. Example problems in functionally graded materials are presented and compared with available reference solutions. A good agreement obtained show that the proposed method possesses no numerical difficulties.
Determinants of Survival of Cervical Cancer: A Hospital Based Study

Globally uterine cervix cancer is one of the leading causes of death in females due to cancer, especially in developing countries. The aim of the study was to analyse the survival as well as understanding various prognostic factors for survival in patients of carcinoma cervix presenting in our hospital. A total of 508 patients were evaluated in radiotherapy department of Mahavir Cancer Sansthan and Research centre Patna, Bihar who came for follow up between April 2015 to March 2016 after completion of radical radiotherapy. Out of 508 patients 3.54% (n 18), 71.65% (n 364), 22.83% (n 116) and 1.9% (n 10) patients presented in sage I, II, III and IV A respectively. 53.54% of patients belonged to age group of 35 to 50 years with Survival of 937 ± 53.49 days. 46.46% of the patients were more than 50 years age and their survival was 933.3 ± 57.12 days. The mean duration for overall survival for all cases evaluated was 957.4 ± 39.49 days. The mean duration for survival of stages I, II, III and IVA was 1186 ± 281.8 days, 960 ± 85.04 days, 945.1 ± 45.66 days and 765 ± 181.5 days respectively. Survival of patients having squamous cell carcinoma was 970 ± 42.89 days and that of adenocarcinoma was 669.5 ± 120 days and that of premenopausal and postmenopausal lady was 997.5 ± 79.28 and 940.1 ± 45.39 days respectively. It was evident from study that patients who presented in early stage had a better survival. There was no significant difference in survival of cervix cancer patients in different age groups while survival was greater in premenopausal cervical cancer patients.
Diagnostic value of urinary RBP, ALB and AQP2 in neonatal hydronephrosis and the relationship with expression of MCP-1 in the prenatal maternal peripheral blood

Diagnostic value of urinary retinol binding protein (RBP), albumin (ALB) and aquaporin-2 (AQP2) in neonatal hydronephrosis and their relationship with the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) in the prenatal maternal peripheral blood was investigated. Forty-six child patients with hydronephrosis admitted to Hongqi Hospital Affiliated to Mudanjiang Medical College from December 2016 to November 2017 were selected as the observation group and the control included 46 normal newborn infants. The urinary RBP, ALB, AQP2 and the expression of MCP-1 in the prenatal maternal peripheral blood in the two groups were compared. The diagnostic value of the combination of urinary RBP, ALB and AQP2 for the neonatal hydronephrosis was accessed through the area under curve (AUC). The changes of urinary RBP, ALB and AQP2 of child patients were observed and the correlations between RBP, ALB, AQP2 and MCP-1 were analyzed. The concentrations of RBP and ALB in the observation group were obviously increased compared to those in the control group. The AQP2 concentration in the observation group was lower than that in the control group. In the observation group, the MCP-1 level in the prenatal maternal blood was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the concentration of RBP and ALB in the child patients were significantly decreased and AQP2 concentration was increased compared with that before treatment (P<0.05). The AUC of the diagnosis combining with RBP, ALB and AQP2 was 0.913. RBP and ALB were positively correlated to MCP-1 in the prenatal maternal peripheral blood and there was a negative correlation between AQP2 and MCP-1 (P<0.05). In conclusion, urinary RBP, ALB and AQP2 can be regarded as markers for the diagnosis of the neonatal hydronephrosis and they are also closely related to the MCP-1 level in the prenatal maternal peripheral blood.
Urogenital Biomolecular and Physical Measures in Pre- and Post-Menopausal Women

Background: A clinical study was conducted to evaluate biomolecules and physical measures in the urogenital skin of pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women. Methods: A total of 45 female subjects (aged 21 - 70 years) were enrolled in the study and assigned to one of three groups: 15 pre-menopausal (pre-M), 15 post-menopausal receiving no form of hormone replacement therapy (post-M non-HRT), and 15 post-menopausal receiving HRT (post-M HRT). Self-assessed symptoms were recorded from each group (i.e. dryness, itch and difficulty with intercourse). Skin temperature and pH, and quantification of biomolecules (via tape strip samples) were obtained from the labia majora, labia minora and introitus. Vaginal pH was also collected. Results: More post-menopausal subjects (HRT and non-HRT) reported genital symptoms of external and vaginal dryness, and difficulties with intercourse. External genital skin itch was reported more frequently in the post-M non-HRT group. Skin temperature was lower in both post-M groups indicating reduced blood perfusion. The pH was significantly higher for the post-M non-HRT group at the vagina, introitus and labia minora compared to the pre-M group. Histamine was significantly reduced in both post-M groups; however, histamine levels did not correlate with complaints of itching. The concentration of natural moisturizing factors (NMFs) did not differ consistently between groups. Concentrations of IL-1α tended to be lower in the pre-M group at all three body sites. Conclusions: This is the first report of non-invasive measures of temperature, pH, biomolecules of vulvar tissue in post- and pre-menopausal women. Based on results of histamine analyses, we propose that reduced histamine levels in post-menopausal women are related to sexual and lubrication difficulties, and reduced blood perfusion. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2015;4(3):237-250 doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.14740/jcgo347e
Correlations among size, defects, and photoluminescence in ZnO nanoparticles

We studied the correlations among size, defects, and photoluminescence emissions in ZnO nanoparticles of sizes ranging from 25 to 73 nm. The impurities and defects were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Particles of larger size revealed fewer surface impurities and enhanced E2 mode of hexagonal ZnO crystals, while the oxygen vacancy centers did not vary significantly with particle size. A simultaneous increase of excitonic luminescence and defect luminescence intensities with the increase of particle size is shown, indicating both emissions are subjected to nonradiative quenching by near surface defects. The study on the size-dependent green luminescence in our samples suggests that the emission might be a bulk property instead of having a surface origin in nanostructured ZnO. Two different radiative recombination processes are involved in the excitonic emission of ZnO. While the slow decay component (370 ps) did not depend on particle size, the fast componen.
Influence of meteorological variability on interannual variations of springtime boundary layer ozone over Japan during 1981–2005

Abstract. We investigated the influence of meteorological variability on the interannual variation of springtime boundary layer ozone over Japan during 1981–2005 by multiyear simulations with the Models-3 Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system and the Regional Emission Inventory in Asia (REAS). CMAQ/REAS generally reproduced the observed interannual variability of springtime ozone over Japan, showing year-to-year variations larger than the annual rate of increase of the long-term trend. We then analyzed the influence of the interannual variation of meteorology in simulated results by using the fixed emissions for 2000 and meteorological fields for each year. As a reference parameter, we calculated the area-weighted surface pressure anomaly over the Pacific Ocean east of Japan. When the anomaly has a large negative value, polluted air masses from continental Asia tend to be transported directly to Japan by westerly winds. In contrast, when the anomaly has a large positive value, influence of the outflow from continental Asia tends to be small because the westerly components of wind fields around Japan are comparatively weak. Instead, southerly winds are relatively strong and transport clean air masses from the Pacific Ocean to Japan. Consequently, springtime ozone over Japan is higher (lower) than in ordinary years when the anomaly has a large negative (positive) value. In general, the interannual variation of springtime ozone over Japan is sensitive to the outflow from continental Asia. We also found some correlation between springtime ozone over Japan and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, indicating that higher and lower springtime ozone over Japan are related to La Nina and El Nino, respectively. Differences in the meridional displacement and diversity of cyclone tracks near Japan between El Nino and La Nina years may be responsible for interannual variations in the springtime boundary layer ozone over Japan.