Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality characterization of Andean blackberry fruits (Rubus glaucus Benth.) in different maturity stages in Antioquia, Colombia

RESUMEN Product quality and safety are two essential characteristics for the fruit market, making it necessary to normalize and standardize processes in order to improve their commercialization. In this study, the quality of two Andean blackberry cultivars grown in two regions of Antioquia (Envigado and Guarne), Colombia, from different maturity stages as defined by the Norma Tecnica Colombiana 7146 (NTC Spanish) was characterized. The parameters that were found suitable for the fruit quality characterization were: weight, total solid soluble content (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), maturity index (MI), color index (CI) and firmness (F). The equatorial diameter (ED) maintained its importance relative to the standard and the market, along with the juice yield (JY). The quotient a*/b* presented the best correlation with the visual color scale as defined in the standard. The TSS ranges defined in NTC 4106 were not verified in this studied for fruits grown in the agroclimatic conditions of Antioquia. Linear regression models are a useful tool for making quick and easy comparisons and estimations of the quality parameters. Actualmente la calidad e inocuidad de los productos es un requisito de los mercados de frutas, haciendo necesario la estandarizacion y normalizacion de los procesos. En este estudio, se caracterizo la calidad de dos cultivares de mora de ‘Castilla’ producidos en dos localidades de Antioquia (Envigado y Guarne), Colombia, en los diferentes estados de madurez que define la NTC 4106. Los resultados mostraron que los parametros mas adecuados para la caracterizacion de la calidad del fruto fueron: peso, solidos solubles totales (SST), acidez titulable (AT), indice de madurez (IM), indice de color (IC) y firmeza (F). Se encontro que el diametro ecuatorial (DE) guarda su importancia respecto a la norma y el mercado, asi como el rendimiento en zumo (RZ). El cociente a*/b* fue el que presento mejor correlacion con la escala visual de color definida en la norma. Los rangos de SST definidos en la norma no se verificaron en este estudio para las condiciones agroclimaticas de Antioquia. Los modelos de regresion linear son una herramienta util para realizar comparaciones y estimaciones rapidas de los parametros de calidad.
Exploring the Potential Perceptions of Social Networking Systems in University Courses

This project sought to determine the feasibility of using a social networking site, specifically Facebook ® , as a study aide for a biology content course for elementary education majors at a comprehensive Midwestern university. One hundred and ten students were surveyed as to their current social network usage and their possible use of such sites in an educational setting. While initial survey results proved favorable, there were considerable comments regarding aspects of privacy, and possible distractions using such social networking sites for “school work”.
Technology and Instructional Communication: Student Usage and Perceptions of Virtual Office Hours

This study examines 81 undergraduate students' perceptions of virtual office hours (VOHs). VOHs enable students to interact with their professors through Yahoo Instant Messenger from on-campus and off-campus locations. The purpose of this study is to examine college students’ perceptions and usage of virtual office hours in four undergraduate courses. These students’ perceptions and VOH usage were examined by focusing on the following research question, "What are undergraduate students' perceptions of virtual office hours (VOHs)? " A majority (70 percent) of the students contributed favorable responses towards VOHs. However, only 12 percent of the students in this study actually used the VOH feature. Through this study, the authors present undergraduate college students’ perceptions and usage of VOHs to communicate with faculty.
Seismic rays and traveltime tomography of strongly heterogeneous mantle structure: application to the Central Mediterranean

SUMMARY The structure of the Earth’s upper mantle near convergent plate margins, such as along the Nubia‐Eurasia collision zone in the Mediterranean, involves strong seismic wave speed contrasts associated with subducting lithospheric slabs and opening backarc basins. In this environment, seismic wave propagation is strongly influenced by heterogeneity, and requires appropriate modelling practice. Although accurate numerical methods are often used to model seismic traveltimes in the crust, only approximate techniques have been used for the mantle, on the assumption that speed contrasts are weaker. We devise, optimize, and test a method aimed at recovering strongly heterogeneous mantle structures using a finite-difference scheme to calculate first-arrival traveltimes and trace seismic rays with high accuracy even in the presence of strong gradients. We adapt this forward scheme—successfully used in local-scale tomography—to spherical geometry through source-specific Earth flattening approximations, and we split calculations in meshes with different step size to model optimally the crust (with a 2 km step) and the mantle (6 km step). We then use an iterative non-linear inversion approach, starting from a simple 1-D prior model. We test the ability of this procedure to reconstruct sample structures, devised to be illustrative for the Mediterranean region, using synthetic data calculated on the real distribution of sources and stations reported by the Bulletins of the International Seismological Centre (ISC). Besides regular checkerboard patterns, we also reconstruct a more representative model. Different strategies are used and compared in linear and non-linear inversion. We find that a linear approach, by which rays are only traced once in the background model, may result in an illusory fit to data. Realistic upper-mantle structures strongly deflect seismic rays, and correct paths can only be found after a few iterations. Although linear inversion seems able to identify the main features quite well, we verify how non-linear inversion and 3-D ray tracing significantly improve the results, especially when we attempt to reconstruct a realistic structure. We also apply the finite-difference, non-linear, traveltime tomography to data from the ISC to retrieve upper-mantle structure in the Central Mediterranean. We verify that the non-linear inversion is able to reveal sharpened velocity contrasts and thinner bodies than linear inversion. Clear differentiation found in the nonlinear result, between signatures of northern and southern Dinarides—showing lithosphere subducting only beneath the southern sector—is more coherent with the regional geodynamic framework. Such improvements due to non-linear mantle tomography may contribute to the general picture of slab detachment and small-scale mantle convection in the Mediterranean region, and therefore, significantly impact on geodynamic implications of resulting models.
EVALUATION OF THE WESTERN KANSAS WEATHER MODIFICATION PROGRAM

Weather modification activities began in Western Kansas in 1972 and several cloud seeding operations were conducted from 1972 through 1978. The centerpiece of weather modification activities in Kansas is represented by the Western Kansas Weather Modification Program that has operated from 1975 to the present time under the leadership of the Western Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 1. The primary objective of the Program has been to reduce hail damage, although a significant effort has also been made to increase precipitation. The Program been evaluated on several previous occasions by various entities. However, the previous evaluation methodology and/or results have been viewed as somewhat inconclusive by the Kansas Water Office. The precipitation component as per the recent evaluation by the Kansas Water Office showed that precipitation declined by 0.25 inches in the target area from the pre-cloud seeding time period of 1941 to 1970 to the cloud seeding time period of 1979-1993. This amount of change in rainfall is well within normal precipitation variation and was determined to be of no practical economic significance. In contrast, the Kansas Water Office evaluation of the hail suppression component of the Program was very positive. The was estimated percentage decrease in hail damage to crops in the target area was 27 percent, and resulted in an estimated benefit of approximately $60,000,000 the six county target areas for the 1979-1993 time period or $4,000,000 per year, after the expenses to operate the Program have been deducted. These figures are based on reduced hail damage to crops and do not include any estimate of the savings due to reduction in hail damage to dwellings, personal property, wildlife or other natural resources.
Vitreomakuläre Interface-Erkrankungen

Zusammenfassung Veränderungen im Glaskörper mit Schwächung der vitreoretinalen Adhäsion und Verflüssigung des Glaskörpers führen im Normalfall zu einer Abhebung der Glaskörpergrenzmembran von der Membrana limitans interna. Geschieht dies nicht simultan und komplett oder mit vorheriger Bildung prämakulärer Verdichtungen, können je nach Aufspaltung der hinteren Glaskörpergrenzmembran bzw. bei nur partieller Abhebung verschiedene Veränderungen entstehen, wie eine vitreomakuläre Traktion, eine epiretinale Membran oder ein Makulaforamen.
Eecient Type Inference for Higher-order Binding-time Analysis

Binding-time analysis determines when variables and expressions in a program can be bound to their values, distinguishing between early (compile-time) and late (run-time) binding. Binding-time information can be used by compilers to produce more eecient target programs by partially evaluating programs at compile-time. Binding-time analysis has been formulated in abstract interpretation contexts and more recently in a type-theoretic setting. In a type-theoretic setting binding-time analysis is a type inference problem: the problem of inferring a completion of a-term e with binding-time annotations such that e satisses the typing rules. Nielson and Nielson and Schmidt have shown that every simply typed-term has a unique completion ^ e that minimizes late binding in TML, a monomorphic type system with explicit binding-time annotations, and they present exponential time algorithms for computing such minimal completions. 1 Gomard proves the same results for a variant of his two-level-calculus without a so-called \lifting" rule. He presents another algorithm for inferring completions in this somewhat restricted type system and states that it can be implemented in time O(n 3). He conjectures that the completions computed are minimal. In this paper we expand and improve on Gomard's work in the following ways. We identify the combinatorial core of type inference for binding-time analysis in Go-mard's type system with \lifting" by eeectively characterizing it as solving a speciic class of constraints on type expressions. We present normalizing transformations on these constraints that preserve their solution sets, and we use the resultant normal forms to prove constructively the existence of minimal solutions, which yield minimal completions; this sharpens the minimal completion result of Gomard and extends it to the full type system with \lifting". We devise a very eecient algorithm for computing minimal completions. It is a reene-ment of a fast uniication algorithm, and an amortization argument shows that a fast union//nd-based implementation executes in almost-linear time, O(nn(n; n)), where is an inverse of Ackermann's function. 1 A (minimal) completion is called a (best) decoration in the work of Nielson and Nielson and Schmidt. 1 Our results are for the two-level type system of Gomard, but we believe they are also adaptable to the Nielsons' TML. Our algorithm improves the computational complexity of computing minimal completions from exponential time to almost-linear time. It also improves on Gomard's polynomial time completion algorithm by a quadratic factor and as such appears to be the rst eecient algorithm that provably computes minimal completions.
Silence in the Islands; An Exploratory Study of Employee Silence in the Maldives

Organizational silence is interpreted as a collective phenomenon that acts as a barrier to the development of the pluralistic organization. Communication and the flow of information between employees and different departments are strategic factors to achieve organizational goals. Free flow of communication without any obstruction between managers and employees contribute to a more open and vibrant workplace. However, many employees often decide to remain silent rather than expressing their opinions and concerns. Employee silence results in negative impacts for both the employees and the organization. As employee silence hinder organizational progress, proper mechanisms have to be implemented to ensure that employees can voice out and be open about their concerns, without fear of penalization. In line with this view, the starting point for this would be to find out the reasons for silent behavior. The Maldives being among the developing countries, it is important to identify the factors which may hinder organizational development. Hence the main aim of this study is to identify whether employee silence exists among the group of employees in the Maldives and identify the reasons why employees remain silent. This study is a qualitative study where data was collected by conducting face to face interviews with 10 employees who work in various public organizations in the Maldives. The results of this study point to the existence of employee silence among the sample group in the Maldives.
The procession constant of the Earth: Variations through the Ice‐Age

We directly calculate the history of variations in Earth`s precession constant H that are forced by variations in surface mass associated with late Pleistocene ice-age glaciation and deglaciation events. Our analyses show that the magnitude of Delta H/H(sub zero) is lower than that required to cause the recently hypothesized resonant reduction of the precession period.
How to 19F MRI: applications, technique, and getting started

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a significant role in the routine imaging workflow, providing both anatomical and functional information. 19F MRI is an evolving imaging modality where instead of 1H, 19F nuclei are excited. As the signal from endogenous 19F in the body is negligible, exogenous 19F signals obtained by 19F radiofrequency coils are exceptionally specific. Highly fluorinated agents targeting particular biological processes (i.e., the presence of immune cells) have been visualised using 19F MRI, highlighting its potential for non-invasive and longitudinal molecular imaging. This article aims to provide both a broad overview of the various applications of 19F MRI, with cancer imaging as a focus, as well as a practical guide to 19F imaging. We will discuss the essential elements of a 19F system and address common pitfalls during acquisition. Last but not least, we will highlight future perspectives that will enhance the role of this modality. While not an exhaustive exploration of all 19F literature, we endeavour to encapsulate the broad themes of the field and introduce the world of 19F molecular imaging to newcomers. 19F MRI bridges several domains, imaging, physics, chemistry, and biology, necessitating multidisciplinary teams to be able to harness this technology effectively. As further technical developments allow for greater sensitivity, we envision that 19F MRI can help unlock insight into biological processes non-invasively and longitudinally.
Future environmental impacts and vulnerabilities.

The focus of this chapter is on climate-change impacts on the environment, the structure and functioning of forests, on their biodiversity, and on the services and goods provided by forests in order to identify key vulnerabilities. Based on the findings of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC 2007d), we first introduce four clusters (unavoidable, stable, growth, and fast growth) of climate change scenarios commonly sed to quantitatively assess climate change impacts (sub-chapter 3.2). At the global scale (sub-chapter 3.3) as well as in the four domains (boreal - sub-chapter 3.4; temperate - 3.5; subtropical - 3.6; tropical - 3.7), our CCIAV-assessment (see glossary) for forests shows that many forests can adapt to a moderate climate change if water is sufficiently available, notably in currently temperature limited areas (unavoidable, lower end stable). In some temperate or boreal regions, certain forests can even increase their primary productivity in a moderate climate change. However, some of these benefits are easily offset as climate warms and the adaptive capacity of currently water limited, fire or insect prone forests is frequently exceeded already by a limited climate change (unavoidable, stable). Many other forests become also vulnerable to an unmitigated climate change (growth, fast growth) as their adaptive capacity is exceeded. Forests currently sequester significant amounts of carbon; a key vulnerability consists in the loss of this service, and forests may even turn into a net source. Among land ecosystems, forests currently house the largest fraction of biodiversity; unmitigated climate change threatens to put significant parts of it at risk. The boreal domain, being especially sensitive, serves as a model case and is treated in particular depth. Finally, conclusions are drawn to summarize all findings on the global as well as regional scales
Visualizing Portfolios: Prompt Discussions and Provoke Debates in Management Meetings

Portfolio perspectives are fundamental for executives, and visual approaches provide an accessible means of conveying summary overviews and in-depth depictions of projects, programs, and platforms. However, within organizations, the design of such charts, diagrams, and graphs is relatively poor. Given the importance of portfolios, visualizations should be more thoughtfully designed to better present information in expressive ways while ensuring an appropriate balance of data provision aligned with the needs of the audience/viewers. Visuals are not merely a method of reporting, they can also be strategically deployed to support decision-making. Visualizations can be used to trigger and structure the necessary conversations between managers and executives, enabling much-needed discussions and even healthy debates. This article presents a selection of visuals that were developed to depict different types and aspects of portfolios as a means to prompt meaningful and constructive dialog among key stakeholders—especially in management meetings (either online or in-person). These visualizations act as exemplars of new and novel practices in leading organizations and provide both useful representations and inspiration for other companies.
Quantifying the relevance of atmospheric blocking for co‐located temperature extremes in the Northern Hemisphere on (sub‐)daily time scales

Atmospheric blocking can influence near‐surface temperature via circulation and radiative forcing. This study investigates the relevance of blocking for co‐located (sub‐)daily temperature extremes and the spatial variability of this relationship in the Northern Hemisphere. It is shown that over large parts of the high‐latitude continents warm temperature extremes often occur simultaneously with atmospheric blocking at the same location. Taking also weak blocks into account, more than 80% of the six‐hourly warm extremes are associated with blocking, e.g., in eastern Canada, Scandinavia and parts of Siberia. On the contrary, cold extremes typically are not related to co‐located atmospheric blocking. This difference between warm and cold extremes points to differences also in the physical driving mechanisms of the extremes. The strong linkage of warm temperature extremes and blocking should be considered when investigating changes of temperature extremes with global warming.
The Prospects for Coal: Global Experience and Implications for Energy Policy

This paper argues that coal and its industry is promising. It is found that the Western European (including the British) case has been misunderstood and the US case shows a developing coal industry under increasing levels of environmental pressure. The demonstration of the declining emissions intensity of coal provides an additional mean of reconciling the development of the coal industry with the environment. In the long term the enforcement of environmental regulations can benefit the coal industry in several ways, and the alternatives to coal are not yet available in a sufficiently large scale. Based on the positive prospects of coal, issues related to climate change, clean coal technology and energy policy are discussed.
EVALUACIÓN DE LA EXPOSICIÓN AMBIENTAL A PLAGUICIDAS ORGÁNICOS PERSISTENTES EN DOS BARRIOS DE LA PROVINCIA DE CÓRDOBA

ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE TO PERSISTENT ORGANIC PESTICIDES IN TWO NEIGHBOR- HOODS OF THE PROVINCE OF CORDOBA. Patricia Lucero; Mirtha Nassetta; Adriana De Romedi. Acta Toxicol. Argent. (2008) 16 (2): 41-46. Organochlorine pesticides were analyzed in 167 samples of whole blood colleted from people from two different sites in the province of Cordoba (Site No 1 and Site No 2). These sites were close to unused pesticides store. The presence of pesticides was determined by gas-chromatography with electron-capture detection using capillary columns. p,p'-DDE, b-HCH and HCB were the most frequently pesticide detected. The highest concentration found was 7,31 μg/l of p,p'-DDE. b-HCH showed highest values than its two isomers. As expected, significant relationship was found between the level of p,p'-DDE and the age, since the former is a persistent and bioacumulative compound. This paper shows the organochlorine pesticides levels in a population with environmental exposure.
Web‐based stakeholder collaboration in flood risk management

Development of flood risk management (FRM) plans and strategies should ideally be carried out in participatory processes through involvement of all stakeholders. Participation can be through collaboration with the experts and among stakeholders themselves, leading to identification of commonly agreed FRM measures or alternatives. Stakeholder participation, however, does not come without challenges and hindrances (e.g. limitation of financial resources, stakeholders' spatial distribution and their interest to participate). This article presents web‐based support tools for collaboration in FRM intended to address some of these challenges and hindrances. Following a conceptual framework, web‐based platforms for stakeholder participation through collaborative modelling are introduced. The framework and the platforms were applied in two real case studies, the Cranbrook catchment (London, UK) and the Alster catchment (Hamburg, Germany). The experiences of actual stakeholders in using the platform and the experiences in using general public licence technologies for development of the tools are also presented.