Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Verifying and quantifying carbon Þ xation in minerals from serpentine-rich mine tailings using the Rietveld method with X-ray powder diffraction data

Abstract Most carbon on Earth is bound within minerals, and increasing the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide into minerals may reduce the greenhouse gas content of the atmosphere. We document carbon disposal through the mineralization of mine tailings at Clinton Creek, Yukon Territory, and Cassiar, British Columbia. We confirm crystallographic binding of carbon in these tailings and quantify carbon dioxide uptake using quantitative phase analysis with the Rietveld method for X-ray powder diffraction data. Planar disorder in the structures of the kaolinite-serpentine group minerals makes Rietveld refinements of X-ray powder diffraction data for serpentinites problematic. Using structureless pattern fitting and with the addition of a known quantity of a well-crystallized material, the problem of structural disorder is overcome by considering the serpentine minerals as amorphous phases. We test the accuracy and precision of this refinement method using synthetic serpentine-rich mine tailings of known composition. Estimates of the abundance of hydrated magnesium carbonates in these tailings have a precision of approximately 5% relative for mineral species present in amounts greater than 10 wt%. Precise estimates of carbonate mineral content and crystallographically bound atmospheric CO2 are made for samples of serpentine-rich tailings from Clinton Creek and Cassiar. Results for mine tailings are also compared to mineralogically similar samples from a carbonate playa at Atlin, British Columbia. The potential for decomposition of metastable hydrated magnesium carbonate phases to geologically stable magnesite may represent long-term stability of the products of mineral sequestration in mine tailings.
FLAG MANIFOLDS AND TORIC GEOMETRY

1.1. Flag Manifolds. One of the best understood examples of algebraic varieties is the flag manifold. One is first interested in flag varieties as they are well-defined examples for many basic concepts. Besides this, however, one can find that they deserve individual attention, for they naturally arise in many circumstances, e.g. in the theory of characteristic classes of vector bundles, mirror symmetry, representation theory, etc.
Socioeconomic Influences IDENTIFIERS National Longitudinal Surveying of You ?

ABSTRACT / The author, after reviewing briefly the reiearchf-literature on dropoutS, mentions the following shortcomings of-such , studies: (1) lack (of ability to control for differences in the students' abilities :;, (2) incomplete and inadequate measures of 'soeioeconamic background; (3) Inability tq control for qualitative differencesin the schools attended; and (4). inability to control for the effects of local market conditions on the decision to leakte high school. The'author used he National Longitudinal Survly of Young Men (NLSYM) data to contro for:these four factors and find the , contribution of each t dropout rates (D). A theoretical_ model incorporating the four factors and others0.s explored, and seen as* accounting for the reasons given for dropping put. Main findings frqi) this study are: (1) IQ has the most important direct effect on D for whites, while knowledge of the labor market is the most important for non-whites; (2) the quality of high,school attended does not have a direct affect on D fOr either racial group; and (3) parental education level is the only socioeconomic index affecting D rates for, nonwhites, while other indexes affect D of whites. Based on these results, some pdlioy implications for dropouts are discussed. (SE)
Employment Protection: Its Effects on Different Skill Groups and on the Incentive to become Skilled

Summary Employment protection affects labour market outcomes and hence the incentive to acquire skills. Using a matching model with two education levels in which workers decide ex-ante on their skill formation, it is shown that employment protection can raise the fraction of skilled workers. This will be the case if workers obtain a sufficiently large fraction of the rent created by skill formation. Furthermore, it will be shown that high-skilled workers face shorter unemployment duration and lower dismissal probabilities.
Physical Impacts Caused by Off-Road Vehicles to Sandy Beaches: Spatial Quantification of Car Tracks on an Australian Barrier Island

Abstract Beach traffic can substantially modify the physical environment on sandy beaches. Vehicle impacts on beaches were quantified on North Stradbroke Island, a barrier island on the east coast of Australia where large volumes of recreational off-road vehicle (ORV) traffic are concentrated on two beaches (Flinders Beach and Main Beach). The distribution, density, and depth of vehicle ruts on these beaches were quantified during the peak holiday period around late December and early January 2005–06. The density of tyre tracks per meter of beach face ranged from 2.69 to 6.35 on Flinders Beach and from 2.38 to 8.06 on Main Beach, and substantial areas (54–61%) of each beach were covered withy tyre tracks up to a maximum of 90% in some areas. ORVs corrugated the sand as deep as 28 cm (mean depth: 5.86 ± 4.72 cm), with the deepest rutting occurring between the foredunes and the drift line. On a volume basis, vehicles disrupted 5.8% (Main Beach) and 9.4% (Flinders Beach) of the available faunal habitat matrix (top 30 cm of the sand) in a single day. Traffic density was higher on the lower shore, but ruts were significantly deeper in the soft sand of the upper shore. Thus, half of all sand displaced by vehicles on Flinders Beach originated from the upper shore, although this section represents only 36% of beach width. Similarly, the narrow (13% of beach width) upper shore on Main Beach contributed 55% of the total volume of sand dislodged by ORVs. Beach traffic overlapped to a large extent with the distribution of the invertebrate infauna, and vehicles routinely disturbed the drift line and the base of the foredunes. This study emphasizes the need to develop multifaceted management strategies for recreational ORV use on beaches that balance ecological requirements with sociocultural and economic demands.
Magmatism and its metallogenetic effects during the Paleozoic continental crustal construction in northern North China:An overview

The northern North China,tectonically composed of a Phanerozoic orogen and a Precambrian craton,witnesses a panoramic scenario of continental crustal accretion and reworking in the model of plate tectonics during the Paleozoic times.It is driven by rifting-spreading-extinction cycle of paleo-oceans and subduction-collision-extension processes at convergent plate margin,with a series of the associated magmatic events produced.These magmatic expressions constitute an excellent window through which the relationship among crust-mantle interaction at convergent plate margin,continental crustal evolution and large-scale metallogenesis can be fully characterized.Based on an overview on the geochronological and geochemical data concerning the Paleozoic magmatic rocks from the northern North China,the paper outlines the evolved geodynamic scenarios inherent in these magmatic sequences,envisages multi-stage crustal accretion and reworking mechanism during the Paleozoic continental construction in northern North China and ends with a tentative evaluation of promising magmatic and tectonic reservoirs for metallogenesis.
SURGICAL ANATOMY

Received, January 31, 2004. Accepted, October 25, 2004. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to compare the anatomy of the cavernous sinus via an endoscopic transnasal route with the anatomy of the same region explored by the transcranial route. The purpose was to identify and correlate the corresponding anatomic landmarks both through the endoscopic transnasal transsphenoidal and the microscopic transcranial views. METHODS: Five fresh injected heads (10 specimens) were dissected by the endoscopic transnasal and microsurgical transcranial approaches. A comparison of different microsurgical corridors of the cavernous sinus with the corresponding endoscopic transnasal ones was performed. RESULTS: Through the endoscopic transnasal approach, it is possible to explore only some of the parasellar and middle cranial fossa subregions. Because of the complex multilevel architecture of the cavernous sinus, there is not always a correspondence between the surgical corridors bounded through the transcranial route and those exposed through the endoscopic transnasal approach. Nevertheless, some surgical corridors specific to the endoscopic transnasal route are evident: a C-shaped corridor is identifiable medial to the “intracavernous” internal carotid artery, whereas a wider triangular area is delineable lateral to the internal carotid artery; inside the latter, three more surgical corridors (a superior triangular space, a superior quadrangular space, and an inferior quadrangular space) can be described. CONCLUSION: Different surgical corridors can be defined during the endoscopic transnasal approach to the anteroinferior portion of the cavernous sinus, as already established for the transcranial route as well. Knowledge of these could be useful in decreasing morbidity and mortality during surgery in this region, these approaches being reserved to experienced transsphenoidal surgeons only.
Local Vacant Property Registration Ordinances in the U.S.: An Analysis of Growth, Regional Trends, and Some Key Characteristics

This article examines the growth of vacant property registration ordinances (VPROs) in the U.S. It utilizes a new, unique database of local VPROs enacted in the U.S. The database is based on an industry listing of ordinances maintained by a large, national field services firm employed by mortgage lenders to secure and maintain foreclosed properties. Copies of over 550 ordinances (or in a few cases, summaries of ordinances) were obtained and coded on over 30 characteristics. Initial analysis of the database reveals that VPROs grew dramatically in 2008 and 2009, during the climax of the national foreclosure crisis, and that number or ordinances continued to grow after 2009, albeit at a somewhat slower pace. Growth was particularly robust in the Midwest, Southeast and West, although growth occurred in all parts of the country generally. Localities in some states, especially California, were particularly early adopters of VPROs in 2007 and 2008. In general, higher foreclosure levels do predict higher rates of VPRO adoption within a state, but only roughly, with a good deal of variation not explained by foreclosure rates. In particular, a few states that have been hit hard by foreclosures (Arizona and Nevada, e.g.) did not see substantial growth in the number of VPROs. The coverage, requirements, and penalties specified in VPROs vary greatly across ordinances and across regions of the country.
“Downsizing” from the fossil record: Ages and metallicities of red galaxies and their dependence on mass and on environment

Red-sequence galaxies are known to obey well-defined scaling relations, such as the Fundamental Plane and the colour-magnitude relation, yet their star formation histories, which in part drive these relations, remain poorly understood. In this contribution, we summarize recent results from the NOAO Fundamental Plane Survey (NFPS). These results appear in more detail in Smith et al. (2006) and Nelan et al. (2005).
The Origins of Scaling in Cities

The Equations Underlying Cities Cities are complex systems of which functioning depends upon many social, economic, and environmental factors. Bettencourt (p. 1438; see the cover; see the Perspective by Batty) developed a theory to explain the quantitative relationships observed between various aspects of cities and population size or land area. Cities of all sizes can be modeled as interdependent networks of interactions and infrastructure. [Also see Perspective by Batty] Despite the increasing importance of cities in human societies, our ability to understand them scientifically and manage them in practice has remained limited. The greatest difficulties to any scientific approach to cities have resulted from their many interdependent facets, as social, economic, infrastructural, and spatial complex systems that exist in similar but changing forms over a huge range of scales. Here, I show how all cities may evolve according to a small set of basic principles that operate locally. A theoretical framework was developed to predict the average social, spatial, and infrastructural properties of cities as a set of scaling relations that apply to all urban systems. Confirmation of these predictions was observed for thousands of cities worldwide, from many urban systems at different levels of development. Measures of urban efficiency, capturing the balance between socioeconomic outputs and infrastructural costs, were shown to be independent of city size and might be a useful means to evaluate urban planning strategies.
Scheduler activations: effective kernel support for the user-level management of parallelism

Threads are the vehicle for concurrency in many approaches to parallel programming. Threads can be supported either by the operating system kernel or by user-level library code in the application address space, but neither approach has been fully satisfactory. This paper addresses this dilemma. First, we argue that the performance of kernel threads is inherently worse than that of user-level threads, rather than this being an artifact of existing implementations; managing parallelism at the user level is essential to high-performance parallel computing. Next, we argue that the problems encountered in integrating user-level threads with other system services is a consequence of the lack of kernel support for user-level threads provided by contemporary multiprocessor operating systems; kernel threads are the wrong abstraction on which to support user-level management of parallelism. Finally, we describe the design, implementation, and performance of a new kernel interface and user-level thread package that together provide the same functionality as kernel threads without compromising the performance and flexibility advantages of user-level management of parallelism.
Variabilité spatiale des prix hédoniques des caractéristiques du logement: une nouvelle méthode de calcul des indices de prix spatiaux [Spatial variability of housing attribute marginal prices: estimation of regional price indices]

Estimation of spatial housing price indices requires a housing market segmentation into local sub-markets. In this paper, we use geographically weighted regression model (GWR) to take account for spatial heterogeneity of housing attribute marginal prices. Estimated marginal prices are then used to assess constant quality housing values over space. Evidences from urban Tunisia assert attribute marginal prices variability and provide satisfactory indices in both ownership and rental markets.
Las arvenses y su entomofauna asociada En El cultivo del maíz (Zea mays, L.) posterior al periodo crítico de competencia

In Cuba, one of the reasons causing low corn yields and high production costs is the great occurrence of harmful organisms frequently becoming into pests; thus, different weed species existing inside crops have had a deep impact on its entomofauna composition and interactions, so that predators and parasitoids are more effective in complex habitats, and beneficial insects have more possibilities of mee- ting alternative preys, dormancy shelter and reproductive sites. Therefore, the present work was aimed at determining weed occurrence with its associated entomofauna inside corn crop (Zea mays, L.) and its beneficial or harmful direct relationship. It was carried out on a Red Ferralitic compact soil at the expe- rimental area of the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences (INCA). Weed management was studied along the whole crop cycle, even up to the end of the critical period, that is to say, weeding for 35 days whereas the non-weeded crop until the beginning of the critical period. Corn spatial arrangement was 0.90 m between rows x 0.30 m between plants. A randomized block design with four repetitions was used. A total of 15 weeds, and 21 natural organisms were recorded, out of which 16 co- rresponded to harmful insects and five to beneficial ones; just two of those were pest organisms: S. frugiperda and H. zea, whereas S. halepense, A. dubius and P. hysterophorus were hosts of beneficial organisms in a higher rate than in crops. RESUMEN. En Cuba, una de las razones por la que se obtie- nen rendimientos bajos y altos costos de produccion en el maiz, es la elevada incidencia de organismos nocivos que se convierten en plagas con frecuencia, por lo que se ha conside- rado que la presencia de diferentes especies de arvenses den- tro de los cultivos tiene un profundo impacto en la composi-
Racial & ethnic disparities in geographic access to critical care in the United States: A geographic information systems analysis

Objective It is important to identify gaps in access and reduce health outcome disparities, understanding access to intensive care unit (ICU) beds, especially by race and ethnicity, is crucial. Our objective was to evaluate the race and ethnicity-specific 60-minute drive time accessibility of ICU beds in the United States (US). Design We conducted a cross-sectional study using road network analysis to determine the number of ICU beds within a 60-minute drive time, and calculated adult intensive care bed ratios per 100,000 adults. We evaluated the US population at the Census block group level and stratified our analysis by race and ethnicity and by urbanicity. We classified block groups into four access levels: no access (0 adult intensive care beds/100,000 adults), below average access (>0–19.5), average access (19.6–32.0), and above average access (>32.0). We calculated the proportion of adults in each racial and ethnic group within the four access levels. Setting All 50 US states and the District of Columbia. Participants Adults ≥15 years old. Main outcome measures Adult intensive care beds/100,000 adults and percentage of adults national and state) within four access levels by race and ethnicity. Results High variability existed in access to ICU beds by state, and substantial disparities by race and ethnicity. 1.8% (n = 5,038,797) of Americans had no access to an ICU bed, and 26.8% (n = 73,095,752) had below average access, within a 60-minute drive time. Racial and ethnic analysis showed high rates of disparities (no access/below average access): American Indians/Alaskan Native 12.6%/28.5%, Asian 0.7%/23.1%, Black or African American 0.6%/16.5%, Hispanic or Latino 1.4%/23.0%, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander 5.2%/35.0%, and White 2.1%/29.0%. A higher percentage of rural block groups had no (5.2%) or below average access (41.2%), compared to urban block groups (0.2% no access, 26.8% below average access). Conclusion ICU bed availability varied substantially by geography, race and ethnicity, and by urbanicity, creating significant disparities in critical care access. The variability in ICU bed access may indicate inequalities in healthcare access overall by limiting resources for the management of critically ill patients.
Venezuelan experience in the study of the nutrition transition: The TAN group

In March 2005, the Bengoa Foundation committed a number of professionals to the challenge of food and nutritional issues in Venezuela. On July 11th 2005, the founding meeting of the TAN group (short for “Nutrition Transition Task Group”) took place with the presence of Mercedes López de Blanco, Melania Izquierdo and Alexander Laurentin. The TAN group is an interdisciplinary and inter institutional group that debates and discusses ideas, in order to identify and develop strategies on nutrition transition. In Venezuela, this transition has resulted in the double burden of malnutrition, as overweight coexists with under nutrition. The task group decided to address the overweight problem. The first activity was a forum held on November 2005, where it was detected that various research groups in Venezuela use different criteria and cut-off limits to identify risk factors and diagnose diseases related to nutrition, particularly in children and adolescents. The TAN group, with an action research approach, addressed this problem: An electronic survey detected variability in the use of the references, inconsistencies between a particular reference and the variables used, and a deficit on lifestyle evaluation; therefore, a workshop was designed (using a clinical case). This activity has benefited a hundred of Venezuelan pediatricians and trained ten facilitators across the country. An Venez Nutr 2014; 27(1): 185-188.
Sal y salud, el punto de vista del consumidor Argentino obtenido por la técnica de grupos focales Salt and health, Argentine consumers' views via focus groups technique

The consumption of high levels of salt (NaCl) is associated with hypertension, and possible development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to explore consumers’ understanding of salt in their daily diet, their perceptions and knowledge about health implications and actions to reduce salt intake. Four focus groups were conducted (31 participants): one with university students, two with working adults and one older woman’s group. Some participants were not aware of salt content of food whereas others demonstrated an awareness of salt in food, the role of salt as a preservative, affecting taste and health implications. Reducing consumption of salt tended to be a reactive event when personal/family health events took place rather than a proactive behaviour. Participants tended to consider their own consumption of salt as low/moderate but those who they lived with were perceived to have a high intake based only on table salt. The three adult focus groups expressed concerns about adding salt. Alternatives to salt such as seasonings/spices could be used as strategies to reduce its consumption. At the population level campaigns involving schools and mass media were suggested. Only university students raised the need to involve the food industry and food processors in reducing salt consumption.