Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arsenic record from a 3 m snow pit at Dome Argus, Antarctica

Abstract This study presents an arsenic concentration time series from 1964–2009 at Dome Argus, Antarctica. The data show a very large increase in arsenic concentration from the mid-1980s to the late-1990s (by a factor of~22) compared with the values before the mid-1980s. This increase is likely to be related to the increased copper smelting in South America. Arsenic concentration then decreased in the late-1990s, most probably as a result of environmental regulations in South America. The sudden increase in arsenic concentration observed at Dome Argus coincides with similar increases observed at Dome Fuji and in Antarctica Ice Core-6 (IC-6) at the same time, suggesting that arsenic pollution during the period from the mid-1980s to the late-1990s was a regional phenomenon in Antarctica. Investigations of arsenic concentrations at these three Antarctic locations show that, during this time, regional arsenic distribution followed dust transport pathways associated with general climate models with South America as a major source region for the half of Antarctica facing the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
#Blessed: the moderating effect of dispositional gratitude on the relationship between social comparison and envy on Instagram

Introduction The role of dispositional gratitude as a positive psychological resource and prosocial personality trait in real life interactions militates in favor of its introduction to the research field of social media. Methods Based on a literature review of the previously studied relationship of dispositional gratitude with social comparison and envy in offline settings, a twofold moderation model was proposed and quantitatively tested in a cross-sectional sample of N = 268 Instagram users aged between 18 and 40 years. Additionally, the dual conceptualization of benign and malicious envy was scrutinized by validating its respective connections with affective outcomes and inspiration on Instagram. Results and discussion Dispositional gratitude serves as a protective factor when using Instagram by significantly mitigating the relationship of social comparison and malicious as well as general envy on Instagram. Furthermore, the results support the more nuanced understanding of envy as a dual construct in the face of social media use.
“I’d Rather Do It Single-Handed”—Nursing Students’ Struggles with Group Assignments: A Qualitative Study

This study, framed by the GRPI (Goal, Role, Process, and Interaction) teamwork model, explores team dynamics among nursing students in performing group assignments, utilizing a qualitative research design. Twenty-three nursing students from Year 1 to Year 4 at a nursing school in Macau were invited. Semi-structured personal interviews were carried out. In addition, three teachers who were involved in instructing and assessing group assignments of nursing students were also interviewed. Data were analyzed using inductive and deductive approaches. The study found that although the barriers to accomplishing effective teamwork were embedded into the four dimensions of the DRPI model, they were interplayed. Communication was fundamental for teamwork, thus leading to a modified DRPI model. Teammates did not equally share the workload. Despite interpersonal conflicts among teammates, nursing students managed to stay in superficial harmony with their peers. They became more familiar with teamwork while advancing into their senior years but with decreased group communications. This study highlights various factors preventing students from transferring individualism to team players. Teaming is not an equal learning opportunity for teammates. Culturally upheld value of harmony prevails in the interpersonal relationships of the team members, which may compromise the teamwork spirit cultivation expectations from the teachers.
Association between Geotail plasma flows and auroral poleward boundary intensifications observed by CANOPUS photometers

Poleward boundary intensifications are nightside geomagnetic disturbances that have an auroral signature that moves equatorward from the poleward boundary of the auroral zone. They occur repetitively, so that many individual disturbances can occur during time intervals of ∼1 hour, and they appear to be the most intense auroral disturbance at times other than the expansion phase of substorms. We have used data from three nightside conjunctions of the Geotail spacecraft in the magnetotail with the Canadian Auroral Network for the OPEN Program Unified Study (CANOPUS) ground-based array in central Canada to investigate the relation between the poleward boundary intensifications and bursty plasma sheet flows and to characterize the bursty flows associated with the disturbances. We have found a distinct difference in plasma sheet dynamics between periods with, and periods without, poleward boundary intensifications. During periods with identifiable poleward boundary intensifications, the plasma sheet has considerable structure and bursty flow activity. During periods without such poleward boundary intensifications, the plasma sheet was found to be far more stable with fewer and weaker bursty flows. This is consistent with the intensifications being the result of the mapping to the ionosphere of the electric fields that give rise to bursty flows within the plasma sheet. Two different types of plasma sheet disturbance have been found to be associated with the poleward boundary intensifications. The first consists of plasma sheet flows that appear to be the result of Speiser motion of particles in a localized region of thin current sheet. The second, seen primarily in our nearest-to-the-Earth example, consists of energy-dispersed ion structures that culminate in bursts of low-energy ions and isotropic low-energy electrons and are associated with minima in magnetic field and temperature and maxima in ion density and pressure. Both types of plasma sheet disturbance are associated with localized regions of enhanced dawn-to-dusk electric fields and appear to be associated with localized enhanced reconnection. Our analysis has shown that poleward boundary intensifications are an important aspect of geomagnetic activity that is distinct from substorms. In addition to their very distinct auroral signature, we have found them to be associated with a prolonged series of ground magnetic Pi 2 pulsations and ground X component perturbations, which peak at latitudes near the ionospheric mapping of the magnetic separatrix, and with a series of magnetic Bz oscillations near synchronous orbit. Like substorms, the tail dynamics associated with the poleward boundary intensifications can apparently extend throughout the entire radial extent of the plasma sheet. Color versions of figures are available at http://www.atmos. ucla.edu/∼larry/geotail.html.
Phytochemical Content and Antidiabetic Properties of Most Commonly Used Antidiabetic Medicinal Plants of Kenya

Traditional medicinal plants have been used for decades in folk medicines in the treatment and management of several ailments and diseases including diabetes, pain, ulcers, cancers, and wounds, among others. This study focused on the phytochemical and antidiabetic activity of the commonly used antidiabetic medicinal species in Kenya. Phytochemical profiling of these species revealed flavonoids and terpenoids as the major chemical classes reported which have been linked with strong biological activities against the aforementioned diseases, among others. However, out of the selected twenty-two species, many of the natural product isolation studies have focused on only a few species, as highlighted in the study. All of the examined crude extracts from thirteen antidiabetic species demonstrated strong antidiabetic activities by inhibiting α-glucosidase and α-amylase among other mechanisms, while nine are yet to be evaluated for their antidiabetic activities. Isolated compounds S-Methylcysteine sulfoxide, quercetin, alliuocide G, 2-(3,4-Dihydroxybenzoyl)-2,4,6-trihydroxy-3 (2H)-benzofuranone, Luteolin-7-O-D-glucopyranoside, quercetin, 1,3,11α-Trihydroxy-9-(3,5,7-trihydroxy-4H-1-benzopyran-7-on-2-yl)-5α-(3,4-dihydroxy-phenyl)-5,6,11-hexahydro-5,6,11-trioxanaphthacene-12-one and [1,3,11α-Trihydroxy-9-(3,5,7-trihydroxy-4H-1-benzopyran-7-on-2-yl)-5α-(3,4-dihydroxy-phenyl)-5,6,11-hexahydro-5,6,11-trioxanaphthacene-12-one]-4′-O-D-gluco-pyranoside from Allium cepa have been found to exhibit significant antidiabetic activities. With the huge number of adults living with diabetes in Kenya and the available treatment methods being expensive yet not so effective, this study highlights alternative remedies by documenting the commonly used antidiabetic medicinal plants. Further, the study supports the antidiabetic use of these plants with the existing pharmacological profiles and highlights research study gaps. Therefore, it is urgent to conduct natural products isolation work on the selected antidiabetic species commonly used in Kenya and evaluate their antidiabetic activities, both in vitro and in vivo, to validate their antidiabetic use and come up with new antidiabetic drugs.
Microbiological Assessment of Ero and Ureje Dams in Ekiti State, Southwest, Nigeria

Heterotrophic studies of bacteria and fungi organisms were carried out on water samples from Ureje and Ero dams. Problem statement: Water from Ureje and Ero dams is used for the municipal water supply for drinking and for agricultural purposes. The level of contamination of bacteria and fungi organisms has not been ascertained. Approach: Heterotrophic studies of bacteria and fungi organisms were therefore carried out on water samples from the Ureje and Ero dams. Results: The results of the water analyses show that Ureje dam has 140 x 10 5 bacteria count while the Ero dam has 2.8 x 10 5 bacteria count as their minimum counts respectively. Their maximum counts are 150 x 10 5 and 3.0 x 10 5 and averagely 150 x10 5 and 2.6 x10 5 respectively. The water is contaminated as a result of an anthropogenic effect of man and animal wastes. The Ureje and Ero dams have fungi count of 3.0 x 10 2 and 1.0 x 10 2 as minimum counts and maximum counts of 4.0 x 10 2 and 2.0 x 10 2 with average counts of 3.5 x 10 2 and 1.5 x10 2 respectively. The fungi counts indicate that the water is contaminated through agricultural activities around the dams. The probable number of coliform [PNC] and E coli organisms [EC] per 100mls of water samples from Ureje dam is 75 coliform per 100ml of water and 15 E-coli per 100ml of water while Ero dam has 23 coliform per 100ml of water and 9 E.coli per 100mls of water. The World Health Organization [WHO 2002] recommends a standard of 0/100ml of both E coli and coliform for drinking water. Conclusion: The water from the two dams is contaminated based on the recommended standards. The possible isolates are bacteria [E coli sp, klebsiella sp. , trichoderma sp.and pseudomonas sp. ] and fungi [aspergillus sp. ,]. These indicate that the water in the dams is equally contaminated.
Combinando análise fractal e mineração de séries temporais para identificação de extremos climáticos regionais

Nas ultimas decadas, grandes quantidades de dados climaticos provenientes de estacoes meteorologicas e de outros tipos de sensores tem sido coletadas e armazenadas por diversas instituicoes. A analise desses dados tornou-se uma tarefa importante devido as mudancas climaticas e seus efeitos sociais e economicos. Este trabalho propoe um processo de analise de multiplas series temporais climaticas para identificar padroes temporais intrinsecos aos dados. Considerando multiplas series como uma data stream , e possivel integrar diferentes variaveis climaticas e detectar mudancas de comportamento ao longo do tempo. Estudos em series climaticas reais coletadas em diferentes regioes do Brasil mostram o potencial de aplicacao dessa abordagem.
Revisiting regulatory T cells as modulators of innate immune response and inflammatory diseases

Regulatory T cells (Treg) are known to be critical for the maintenance of immune homeostasis by suppressing the activation of auto- or allo-reactive effector T cells through a diverse repertoire of molecular mechanisms. Accordingly, therapeutic strategies aimed at enhancing Treg numbers or potency in the setting of autoimmunity and allogeneic transplants have been energetically pursued and are beginning to yield some encouraging outcomes in early phase clinical trials. Less well recognized from a translational perspective, however, has been the mounting body of evidence that Treg directly modulate most aspects of innate immune response under a range of different acute and chronic disease conditions. Recognizing this aspect of Treg immune modulatory function provides a bridge for the application of Treg-based therapies to common medical conditions in which organ and tissue damage is mediated primarily by inflammation involving myeloid cells (mononuclear phagocytes, granulocytes) and innate lymphocytes (NK cells, NKT cells, γδ T cells and ILCs). In this review, we comprehensively summarize pre-clinical and human research that has revealed diverse modulatory effects of Treg and specific Treg subpopulations on the range of innate immune cell types. In each case, we emphasize the key mechanistic insights and the evidence that Treg interactions with innate immune effectors can have significant impacts on disease severity or treatment. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges that exist for the application of Treg-based therapeutic interventions to three globally impactful, inflammatory conditions: type 2 diabetes and its end-organ complications, ischemia reperfusion injury and atherosclerosis.
HYBRIDIZED SPAMBOT DETECTION SYSTEM USING SOURCE-CONTENT CLASSIFICATION

A web robot is an automated program that requests web resources independently from a web server. The growth of bad and good web robot traffic on web 2.0 over the years is on the high side compared to humans. A malicious web robot has been used to spam activities in web 2.0. It, however, poses serious challenges to website owners and can cause Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Previous web robot detection techniques emphasized pre-processing access-log files for identifying web robot session. A few approaches considered the semantic analysis of the content requested within a session as a source of web robot detection. Furthermore, very little effort has been made in combining the strength of behavioural features and semantic features in web robot detection. Therefore, this paper aimed at developing hybridized spambot detection system using source–content classification. This paper revealed that 7568 unique sessions were identified with 6993 humans, 558 spambots and 17 non-spambots; session text coherence (STC), session word relatedness (SWR) and session topic coherence (ST) were functionally expressed as 𝑆𝑇𝐶 = 𝑠𝑤/(𝑛 ∗ 𝑚) , 𝑆𝑊𝑅 = 𝑘/(𝑛 ∗ 𝑚) , and 𝑆𝑇 = 𝑐/(𝑛 ∗ 𝑚) respectively, where n represents the number of relevant topics, m number of top words in each topic, sw sum of weights, c count of unique topics and k count of unique word. The hybridized features performed effectively with an accuracy of 93.67% compared to the individual features.
Ultrasonics - Sonochemistry

The waste sludge from shipping docks contains important elements that can be used as a catalyst after proper processing. The purpose of this study was to remove of amoxicillin (AMX) from the aquatic environment using waste sludge from shipping docks as catalyst in the presence of hydrogen peroxide/ultrasound waves. The catalyst was produced by treating waste sludge at 400 °C for 2 h. N 2 adsorption, SEM, XRD, XRF, and FTIR techniques characterized the structural and physical properties of the catalyst. The BET-speci ﬁ c surface area of the catalyst reduced after AMX removal from 4.4 m 2 /g to 3.6 m 2 /g. To determine the optimal removal conditions, the parameters of the design of experiments were pH (5 – 9), contaminant concentration (5 – 100 mg/L), catalyst dosage (0.5 – 6 g/L), and concentration of hydrogen peroxide (10 – 100 mM). The maximum removal of AMX (98%) was obtained in the catalyst/hydrogen peroxide/ultrasound system at pH 5, catalyst dose of 4.5 g/L, H 2 O 2 concentration of 50 mM, AMX concentration of 5 mg/L, and contact time of 60 min. The kinetics of removal of AMX from urine (k = 0.026 1/min), hospital wastewater (k = 0.021 1/min), and distilled water (k = 0.067 1/min) followed a ﬁ rst-order kinetic model ( > R 0.91 2 ). The catalyst was reused up to 8 times and the AMX removal decreased to 45% in the last use. The byproducts and reaction pathway of AMX degradation were also investigated. The results clearly show that to achieve high pollutant removal rate the H 2 O 2 /ultrasound and catalyst/ultrasound synergy plays a key role.
GROWTH AND YIELD OF TOMATO UNDER ALTERNATE FURROW IRRIGATION IN KIBWEZI, AN "ASAL" AREA IN EASTERN KENYA

Growth and yield of tomato under alternate furrow irrigation Abstract Water saving irrigation technologies are key for crop production in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) considering the scarcity of water in these regions. A study was set up to test one such a technology, the alternate furrow irrigation (AFI) on tomato at farm level. The experiment was conducted in a furrow irrigation scheme in Kibwezi, which is an ASAL in Kenya. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of AFI on growth, yield and water use of tomato vareity "Nuru" F1. Irrigation water was applied through furrows in two ways: Alternate Furrow irrigation (AFI) where two neighbouring furrows were alternately irrigated during consecutive watering, eliciting Partial Root Drying (PRD) and Conventional Furrow Irrigation (CFI), which was the farmer practice of filling each furrow with irrigation water at each watering. The experimental design was randomized complete block design with three replications. Irrigation water use, soil moisture, leaf relative water content, vegetative and reproductive growth were determined. The cummulative irrigation water supplied to the AFI treatment was 60-62% of that supplied to the CFI treatment. This amounted to water savings of 38-40%. Plants in the AFI row that received water and those in the CFI had higher leaf RWC, which was significant on limited sampling dates. Most parameters of growth both vegetative and reproductive were higher in CFI compared to AFI, but the difference was not significant. Implementation of AFI in the Kibwezi irrigation scheme can lead to water saving and enhance productivity. However, the declines in vegtative and reproductive growths observed emphasize the need to apply AFI carefully with soil moisture monitoring, to avoid developing severe water deficits, which can lead to significant reductions in both growth and yield.
The Deep Past of the White Shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Mediterranean Sea: A Synthesis of Its Palaeobiology and Palaeoecology

The white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, is the main top predator of the present-day Mediterranean Sea. The deep past of C. carcharias in the Mediterranean is witnessed by a rather conspicuous, mostly Pliocene fossil record. Here, we provide a synthesis of the palaeobiology and palaeoecology of the Mediterranean white sharks. Phenetically modern white shark teeth first appeared around the Miocene–Pliocene transition in the Pacific, and soon after in the Mediterranean. Molecular phylogenetic analyses support an origin of the Mediterranean white shark population from the dispersal of Australian/Pacific palaeopopulations, which may have occurred through the Central American Seaway. Tooth dimensions suggest that the Mediterranean white sharks could have grown up to about 7 m total length during the Pliocene. A richer-than-today marine mammal fauna was likely pivotal in supporting the Mediterranean white sharks through the Pliocene and most of the Quaternary. White sharks have seemingly become more common as other macropredators declined and disappeared, notwithstanding the concurrent demise of many potential prey items in the context of the latest Pliocene and Quaternary climatic and environmental perturbations of the Mediterranean region. The overall generalist trophic habits of C. carcharias were likely crucial for securing ecological success in the highly variable Mediterranean scenario by allowing the transition to a mostly piscivorous diet as the regional marine mammal fauna shrank.
Real-Time Air Gap and Thickness Measurement of Continuous Caster Mold Flux by Extrinsic Fabry–Perot Interferometer

Mold Flux plays a critical role in the continuous casting of steel. Along with many other functions, the mold flux in the gap between the solidifying steel shell and the mold serves as a medium for controlling heat transfer and as a barrier to prevent the shell from sticking to the mold. This manuscript introduces a novel method of monitoring the structural features of a mold flux film in real time in a simulated mold gap. A three-part stainless-steel mold was designed with a 2, 4, and 6 mm step profile to contain mold flux films of varying thickness. An extrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometer (EFPI) was installed at each of the three steps in the mold. Mold flux was melted in a graphite crucible at 1400 °C and poured into the instrumented step mold for analysis. Interferograms from the three EFPIs were acquired and processed in real time to measure the air gap and thickness of each flux film during solidification. Measurements were performed on two different mold flux compositions. Results demonstrate that the proposed system successfully records structural features of the flux film in real time during cooling. It has a large real-time impact on the process control of steel making and optimizing the quality of steel castings. In addition, the measurement method has the potential to monitor crystal nucleation and growth in a variety of crystallizing glass systems.
Application of Sunflower Husk Pellet as a Reducer in Metallurgical Processes

In relation to the climate policy being introduced, the search for a replacement for solid fossil fuels with renewable raw materials is ongoing. In this study, a potential biomass (sunflower husk pellet) application in the process of copper slag reduction was assessed. For the purpose of raw material characterisation, thermogravimetric tests were carried out and characteristic temperature points were determined with the use of a high-temperature microscope. The slag reduction tests led to the recovery of 97% of copper and a decrease in this metal content in the slag to less than 0.5% Cu, which enables safe storage or use in other industrial branches.