Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mapping Impacts of Crude Oil theft and Illegal Refineries on Mangrove of the Niger Delta of Nigeria with Remote Sensing Technology

Niger Delta is the oil rich region of Nigeria where extensive mangrove form one of the most important ecosystems of coastal and marine areas. It is a fragile ecosystem rich in biodiversity. The mangrove is exposed to the activities of crude oil bunkering and illegal refinery. This study aims at mapping the impacts of the crude oil theft and illegal refineries on the creeks and mangroves of the Niger Delta.Worldview-2 2013 satellite image was processed using supervised classification methods and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Oil on the waterways covering estimated area of 9.2 km2 and stressed mangrove vegetation covering estimated area of 37.6 km2 were detected. Result of NDVI shows positive correlation with photosynthetic activities as areas with stressed vegetation around the illegal refineries had low vegetation index of -0.39 while areas with healthier vegetation had higher index of 0.55. Since illegal refineries and crude oil theft is rampant in the region, the paper recommends a regional study of the state of the mangrove in the Niger Delta. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015. v6n3p150
Understanding Teacher Beliefs and Instructional Decision Making Concerning Disciplinary Literacy: The Case of Secondary Teachers in an Urban School

This study was set to examine the integration of disciplinary literacy instruction as part of a comprehensive literacy program at the secondary level. The study asked two essential questions: (1) What are teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about disciplinary literacy instruction? (2) How do teachers’ knowledge and beliefs influence their instructional decision making? Eight teachers were interviewed and observed. Results indicate that teachers believe they are responsible for developing students’ literacy skills in the discipline they taught. Teachers emphasize discipline specific literacy practices and strategies to improve students’ literacy skills as well as to enhance students’ content knowledge. Findings also specify that professional development is a key factor in the continuity and success of teachers’ literacy instruction across the disciplines. Through professional development, teachers appear to develop a deep understanding of what it means to engage students in discipline specific literacy practices. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.17. 1.11
Thermodynamic and mesoscopic modeling of tumbling nematics, of shear-thickening fluids and of stick-slip-like flow behavior

Shear thickening, i.e. the increase of the viscosity with increasing shear rate as it occurs in dense colloidal dispersions and polymeric fluids is an intriguing phenomenon with a considerable potential for technical applications. The theoretical description of this phenomenon is patterned after the thermodynamic and mesoscopic modeling of the orientational dynamics and the flow behavior of liquid crystals in the isotropic and nematic phases, where the theoretical basis is well-established. Even there the solutions of the relevant equations recently yielded surprises: not only stable flow alignment and a periodic behavior (tumbling) are found as response to an imposed stationary shear flow but also irregular and chaotic dynamics occurs for certain parameter ranges. To treat shear-thickening fluids, a non-linear Maxwell model equation for the symmetric traceless part of the stress tensor has been proposed in analogy to the equations obeyed by the alignment tensor of nematics. The fluid-solid transition is formally analogous to the isotropic-nematic transition. In addition to shear-thickening and shear-thinning fluids, substances with yield stress can be modeled. Furthermore, periodic stick-slip-like motions and also chaotic behavior are found. In the latter cases, the instantaneous entropy production is not always positive. Yet it is comforting that its long-time average is in accord with the second law.
Visual Impairment Following Stroke - The Impact on Quality of Life: A Systematic Review

Background: The visual impairments caused by stroke have the potential to affect the ability of an individual to perform activities of daily living. An individual with visual impairment may also have reduced level of independence. The purpose of this review was to investigate the impact on quality of life from stroke related visual impairment, using subjective patient reported outcome measures. Methods: A systematic search of the literature was performed. The inclusion criteria required studies to have adult participants (aged 18 years or over) with a diagnosis of a visual impairment directly resulting from a stroke. Studies which included visual impairment as a result of other intracranial aetiology, were included if over half of the participants were stroke survivors. Multiple scholarly online databases and registers of published, unpublished and ongoing trials were searched, in addition articles were hand searched. MESH terms and alternatives in relation to stroke and visual conditions were used. Study selection was performed by two authors independently. Data was extracted by one author and verified by a second. The quality of the evidence was assessed using a quality appraisal tool and reporting guidelines. Review Article Hepworth and Rowe; OR, 5(2): 1-15, 2016; Article no.OR. 23272 2 Results: This review included 11 studies which involved 5646 participants, the studies used a mixture of generic and vision-specific instruments. The seven instruments used by the included studies were the EQ-5D, LIFE-H, SF-36, NEI VFQ-25, VA LV VFQ-48, SRA-VFP and DLTV. Conclusion: A reduction in quality of life was reported by all studies in stroke survivors with visual impairment. Some studies used generic instruments, therefore making it difficult to extract the specific impact of the visual impairment as opposed to the other deficits caused by stroke. The majority of studies (8/11) primarily had participants with visual field loss. This skew towards visual field loss and no studies investigating the impact ocular motility prevented a comparison of the effects on quality of life due to different visual impairments caused by stroke. In order to fully understand the impact of visual impairment following stroke on quality of life, further studies need to use an appropriate vision-specific outcome measure and include all types of visual impairment which can result from a stroke.
Ants affect the distribution and performance of seedlings of Clusia criuva, a primarily bird‐dispersed rain forest tree

1 We studied the dispersal system of the tree Clusia criuva (Clusiaceae) in a tropical rain forest in south‐east Brazil. An observational/experimental approach was adopted to estimate the probability of transitions between consecutive stages in the recruitment process (i.e. fruit production and removal by birds, ant–seed interactions on the forest floor, seed germination, and establishment and early survival of seedlings). 2 Clusia trees produce hundreds of capsules with small lipid‐rich arillate seeds. Crop size ranges from 393 to 3709 capsules per tree. Birds (14 species) eat 83% of the diaspores on the tree, while the remaining 17% fall to the ground and are removed by ants (16 species). 3 Ants remove 89% of the fallen diaspores and 98% of the seeds found in bird faeces. Ponerine ants (Odontomachus, Pachycondyla) carry the diaspores to their nests, while small myrmicines (Pheidole, Crematogaster) remove the aril where found. Aril removal by ants and removal of seeds from bird defecations increase germination success in C. criuva. 4 Seedlings are more frequent close to ponerine nests than in control areas without such nests. Early seedling survival (1 year) in nests of Pachycondyla striata is greater than in control areas. Soil samples from nests of P. striata also had higher concentrations of total nitrogen and phosphorus than random soil samples. 5 This is the first study to demonstrate the combined effects of ants on the distribution and survival of seedlings of a primarily vertebrate‐dispersed plant in a tropical forest.
Perceived Career Paths and Performance in Moderately Defined Roles: A Study of Project Managers.

Those working in jobs not clearly defined as professions often rely on organizational signals to formulate reactions regarding their jobs and career futures. Responses from 644 project managers were used to test a hypothesized Path Reaction Performance Model. Findings suggest that the relationship between perceived career path and performance is mediated by job satisfaction, career commitment, and prestige.
Playground Behaviors of Children with and without Sensory Processing Disorders

It has been well established that participation in social activities is essential to children's development and that disability status can affect a child's participation in everyday activities. However, little research has been done on the impact of sensory processing disorders (SPDs) on social participation and play behaviors. This study is part of a larger study examining the social participation of children with SPD and specifically compares the playground play behaviors of children with SPD and those of their typically developing peers. Both groups of children were observed over multiple sessions during unstructured recess activity and their behaviors were coded and analyzed. Statistically, results show that the play patterns of the two groups were generally similar. However, there were qualitative differences in the play behaviors of the two groups, including conflict, social play, access to play opportunities, and awareness of social cues. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Stock Market Comovements in Central Europe: Evidence from Asymmetric DCC Model

We examine time-varying stock market comovements in Central Europe employing the asymmetric dynamic conditional correlation multivariate GARCH model. Using daily data from 2001 to 2011, we find that the correlations among stock markets in Central Europe and between Central Europe vis–a–vis the euro area are strong. They increased over time, especially after the EU entry and remained largely at these levels during financial crisis. The stock markets exhibit asymmetry in the conditional variances and in the conditional correlations, to a certain extent, too, pointing to an importance of applying sufficiently flexible econometric framework. The conditional variances and correlations are positively related suggesting that the diversification benefits decrease disproportionally during volatile periods.
12) ARTICLE-AN-2015; NEUTRINO’S TEMPORAL OSCILLATION

We conjecture the existence of massless neutrinos that are in the line of standard model (unable to account for the neutrino mass) but have characteristics that are not accounted for by the standard model: they use a shorter radial path than the photon and possess bosonic flavors. Considered like bosons instead of fermions. We call this theory "neutrino’s temporal oscillations". Faced with some experimental comparisons ̶ solar neutrinos, neutrinos from SN1987A, cosmological neutrinos ̶ , the theory gives better results, explanations and sense than the complicated theory of neutrino oscillations (transformism). The "OPERA" experiment which measured the speed of neutrinos in 2011 resulted, after a "superluminal" saga, in data that the three existing types of neutrinos cannot explain, with the final outcome of a fourth "sterile" neutrino with nonstandard interaction. Neutrino physics does not make sense. "Neutrino's temporal oscillations" shows the short cut that massless neutrinos take in the three spatial dimensions of the space-time that we know. It represents within the Standard Model an open window on a "new physics" that has a connection with physical reality.
Comparison of different drying techniques for nitrogen analysis of poultry excreta, feces, and tissue

SUMMARY The effects of drying (55 or 100 °C) on N content of feces, excreta, and tissue when compared with wet materials were studied. Drying of excreta but not feces or tissue, at 100 °C, resulted in significant N losses (p < 0.01). Addition of HCl prior to drying at 55 °C reduced N losses.
ESTIMATING IN-SITU STRESS FIELD FROM BASALTIC ROCK CORE SAMPLES OF HOLE 794 C , YAMATO BASIN , JAPAN SEA

We carried out an experiment to estimate in-situ stresses at ODP Hole 794C (water depth: 2809 m) from the basaltic core samples by deformation rate analysis (DRA). Site 794 is located at the northern end of the Yamato Basin and 70 km west of the eastern Japan Sea intraplate or interplate convergent zone. Stress previously applied to a rock specimen is identified in the inelastic strain behavior of the specimen under uniaxial compression by the method used. Natural remanent magnetization of the sample was also measured to get a reference for the orientation of the horizontal stresses. The vertical, maximum, and minimum horizontal in-situ stresses estimated at a depth of 582 mbsf are 36.4, 43.1, and 31.2 MPa, respectively. The average of the largest and the least horizontal stresses is nearly equal in value to the vertical stress. This suggests that the site is in the stress field of the strike slip regime at the depth, while the stress field of the reverse fault regime has been estimated from the focal mechanism solutions of the earthquakes whose hypocenters are located near or on the convergent boundary. The directions of the largest and the least horizontal stress are estimated to be northeast-southwest and in northwest-southeast, respectively, in taking account of rotation tectonics of the Japan Sea since its formation. The directions of the largest and the least horizontal stresses are opposite to those determined from the earthquakes. These discrepancies of our results with those from earthquakes may be due mainly to the fact that the site is not in the convergent zone.
Insights for the melt migration, the volcanic activity and the ultrafast lithosphere delamination related to the Yellowstone plume (Western USA)

The Yellowstone–East Snake River Plain hotspot track has been intensely studied since several decades and is widely considered to result from the interaction of a mantle plume with the North American plate. An integrated conclusive geodynamic interpretation of this extensive data set is however presently still lacking, and our knowledge of the dynamical processes beneath Yellowstone is patchy. It has been argued that the Yellowstone plume has delaminated the lower part of the thick Wyoming cratonic lithosphere. We derive an original dynamic model to quantify delamination processes related to mantle plume–lithosphere interactions. We show that fast (∼300 ka) lithospheric delamination is consistent with the observed timing of formation of successive volcanic centres along the Yellowstone hotspot track and requires (i) a tensile stress regime within the whole lithosphere exceeding its failure threshold, (ii) a purely plastic rheology in the lithosphere when stresses reach this yield limit, (iii) a dense lower part of the 200 km thick Wyoming lithosphere and (iv) a decoupling melt horizon inside the median part of the lithosphere. We demonstrate that all these conditions are verified and that ∼150 km large and ∼100 km thick lithospheric blocks delaminate within 300 ka when the Yellowstone plume ponded below the 200 km thick Wyoming cratonic lithosphere. Furthermore, we take advantage of the available extensive regional geophysical and geological observation data sets to design a numerical 3-D upper-mantle convective model. We propose a map of the ascending convective sheets contouring the Yellowstone plume. The model further evidences the development of a counter-flow within the lower part of the lithosphere centred just above the Yellowstone mantle plume axis. This counter-flow controls the local lithospheric stress field, and as a result the trajectories of feeder dykes linking the partial melting source within the core of the mantle plume with the crust by crosscutting the lithospheric mantle. This counter-flow further explains the 50 km NE shift observed between the mantle plume axis and the present-day Yellowstone Caldera as well as the peculiar shaped crustal magma chambers.
Adhesive ability and biofilm metabolic activity of Listeria monocytogenes strains before and after cold stress

Listeria monocytogenes is an important pathogen responsible for major outbreaks associated with food products. Adhesion to surfaces leads to significant modifications in cell physiology. In this work, the ability of L. monocytogenes to produce biofilm and its ability to adhere to abiotic surfaces under cold stress were evaluated. Metabolic activity of biofilm formed by L. monocytogenes before and after cold stress was measured in vitro using the colorimetric method based on the reduction of the tetrazolium salt 2,3-bis(2methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide (XTT). The ability to adhere to abiotic surfaces was determined by the ability of the cells to metabolically reduce bromure de 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium (MTT) to a formazan dye. Our results show that L. monocytogenes strains were able to adhere to abiotic materials with different degrees. In fact, cold stressed strains (-20°C) were more adhesive to polyethylene, glass, polyvinyl chloride and stainless style surfaces than non-stressed cells. Our observations show that the hydrophily varied with cold stress period. At freezing temperature, L. monocytogenes was strongly hydrophobic. Genetic studies of adhesive genes of L. monocytogenes will be required to fully understand the importance of this observation. Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes , slime production, cold stress, abiotic-surfaces, biofilm formation
Explorer Enriching Morphologically Poor Languages for Statistical Machine Translation

We address the problem of translating from morphologically poor to morphologically rich languages by adding per-word linguistic information to the source language. We use the syntax of the source sentence to extract information for noun cases and verb persons and annotate the corresponding words accordingly. In experiments, we show improved performance for translating from English into Greek and Czech. For English–Greek, we reduce the error on the verb conjugation from 19% to 5.4% and noun case agreement from 9% to 6%.
Is Moderate Atherosclerotic Stenosis in the Middle Cerebral Artery a Cause of or a Coincidental Finding in Ischemic Stroke?

Background: Few pathological data have focused on the causal link between intracranial atherosclerotic disease and parent artery stroke. The objective of this study was to investigate the cause of middle cerebral artery (MCA) atherosclerotic disease in patients with fatal stroke. Methods and Results: In 123 patients with unilateral MCA territory infarction we performed a case-control autopsy study evaluating the frequency of atherosclerotic plaque and moderate (<70%) or severe (≧70%) stenosis in the ipsilateral and contralateral MCA. Clinical history, risk factors, imaging data and general autopsy reports were available. The entire cerebral arterial tree was studied pathologically. MCA atherosclerosis (either moderate or severe stenosis) was more frequent in the ipsilateral (21.1%, n = 26) than the contralateral MCA (8.1%, n = 10). The corresponding odds ratio (OR) for the presence of atherosclerosis in the ipsilateral MCA relative to the contralateral MCA was 6.33 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.87–21.40]. This difference was found with both moderate (OR = 5.75, 95% CI = 1.45–22.76) and severe (OR = 7.18, 95% CI = 1.58–32.73) stenosis. Conclusions: Moderate MCA atherosclerotic stenosis may be responsible for parent territorial stroke. Novel arterial wall magnetic resonance imaging techniques should now be used to investigate in vivo the hypothesis that moderate MCA stenosis is a possible explanation in patients with nonfatal stroke of unknown cause.
Studies of Ammonia Toxicity on Haematological parameters to Freshwater Fish Cyprinus carpio (Common carp)

Ammonia is widespread in the environment due to agricultural runoff, industrial runoff and decomposition of biological waste. Ammonia is a major toxicant to fishes and other aquatic life. It enters natural water system from several sources including industrial waste, sewage effluents, coal gasification and liquefaction conversion process plants and agricultural discharges including feed lot runoff. It is a metabolic waste product to fishes. Ammonia is toxic to all vertebrates causing convulsions, coma and death, probably because elevated NH displaces K and depolarizes neuron which leads to Ca and subsequent cell death in the central nervous system (Randall DJ, Tsui TK, 2002). The term ammonia refers to two chemical species which are in equilibrium in water, NH3, ionized form and NH 4+
A Comparison of the Carcass and Meat Quality of ISA (F15) Spent Hens Slaughtered at Two Different Ages

Objective: A total of 16 spent hens (ISA F15) were slaughtered at about 220 and 337 days of age and studied for their muscle characteristics and sensory attributes. Methodology: Tenderness was estimated from breast muscle using penetrometer PNR 10 and sensory trained panel. Water Holding Capacity (WHC), percentage of released water, cooking loss, pH and Myofibril Fragmentation Index (MFI) were studied. Results: Penetration values were found negatively correlated with tenderness and MFI. Tenderness scores were negatively correlated with animal age and positively with pH. Overall acceptability of the meat of spent hens was judged higher irrespective of age. Multiple regressions analysis revealed that penetration depth was mainly explained by juiciness and MFI. Conclusion: In addition, the results revealed that sensory parameters representing textural properties of meat (tenderness, cohesiveness, chewiness and residues) were mainly explained by cooking losses.
Can mindful doctors take better care of their patients? How mindfulness can benefit medical care beyond serving as a clinical intervention for patients

The potential of mindfulness as a clinical intervention is increasingly recognized, yet less attention has been paid to how mindfulness can contribute to medical care when cultivated by physicians. This paper examines how mindfulness in practitioners can alleviate three problems arising in contemporary medical care. Firstly, mindfulness could prevent f laws resulting from mindless medical practice by allowing practitioners to become more aware of their patients and their own cognitions. Secondly, mindfulness can alleviate the problem of chronic stress and burnout in medical practitioners, thereby enhancing their care of patients. Finally, mindfulness can contribute to improving patient-practitioner-relationships which often suffer in contemporary healthcare. In sum, mindfulness in practitioners holds great potential for medical care; hence mindfulness-programs for physicians should be implemented.