Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climate-Induced Changes in Grapevine Yield and Must Sugar Content in Franconia (Germany) between 1805 and 2010

When attempting to estimate the impacts of future climate change it is important to reflect on information gathered during the past. Understanding historical trends may also aid in the assessment of likely future agricultural and horticultural changes. The timing of agricultural activities, such as grape harvest dates, is known to be influenced by climate and weather. However, fewer studies have been carried out on grapevine yield and quality. In this paper an analysis is undertaken of long-term data from the period 1805–2010 on grapevine yield (hl/ha) and must sugar content (°Oe) and their relation to temperature. Monthly mean temperatures were obtained for the same time period. Multiple regression was used to relate the viticulture variables to temperature, and long-term trends were calculated. Overall, the observed trends over time are compatible with results from other long term studies. The findings confirm a relationship between yield, must sugar content and temperature data; increased temperatures were associated with higher yields and higher must sugar content. However, the potential increase in yield is currently limited by legislation, while must sugar content is likely to further increase with rising temperatures.
Why Do Airlines Systematically Schedule Their Flights to Arrive Late

Airlines typically claim that air traffic delays are due to such adverse factors as weather or airport congestion. Although such factors are predictable on average, airlines often fail to account for them in setting schedules. Using data on nearly 67 million flights between 1988 and 2000, we show that airlines schedule flight times well below expected travel time. Although much of the variation in travel time across seasons or years is due to deviations in average push-back delays—aircraft leaving their gates late—airlines do not account for push-back delays in setting their schedules. Instead an airline's scheduled travel time is almost exactly equal to the median time from pushback from the gate on departure to pulling up to the destination gate. If there is volatility in expected travel time, an airline typically schedules less time, not more. Similarly, airlines do not schedule longer layovers when the inbound flight is more likely to arrive late. Put together, our evidence suggests that airlines choose their schedules based on the performance of a flight on very good days, even if, on average, such good days are relatively rare. We find that the likeliest explanation is that airlines minimize labor costs at their passengers' expense, although there is also some support in favor of airlines trying to maintain greater aircraft utilization.
Monetary Incentives and Student Achievement in a Depressed Labor Market: Results from a Randomized Experiment

We evaluate the effectiveness of monetary incentives in enhancing student performance using a randomized experiment involving undergraduate students enrolled at a southern Italian University. Students were assigned to three different groups: a high-reward group, a low-reward group, and a control group. Rewards were given to the 30 best-performing students in each group. Financial rewards increase student performance. High-ability students react strongly whereas the effect is null for low-ability students. Large and small rewards produce very similar effects. These effects also persist in subsequent years, when the financial incentives are no longer in place. No types of crowding-out effects of the monetary incentives are found.
Fluency and controlled-operant training methods

The study compared the effectiveness three computerized training methods with respect to behavioral outcomes correlated with fluency. Subjects were trained to translate binary numbers into decimal numbers. Responses were made orally with the use of voice recognition software. One training method presented 50 stimuli on a computer monitor at a time (No ITIs). The other two methods (0s and 1.5s ITIs) presented stimuli separately on the monitor using discrete trials. Inter trial intervals were manipulated for the latter training methods. Results showed that all subjects achieved fluent performance on the training task. Subjects reached rate criterion faster and with less practice when No ITIs training was used as opposed to 0s or 1.5s ITIs training. Subjects trained with 0s and 1.5s ITIs, however, performed better than No ITIs subjects on tests immediately after rate training and also on tests of retention. Little differences were found between the training methods when tested on application and adduction tasks. No differences in test performance were found between the 0s and 1.5s ITIs despite considerable differences in rate of responding during training.
Challenging the Myths of Black Women—A Short-Term, Structured, Art Experience Group: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Gender, and Intergenerational Trauma

ABSTRACT The authors describe a short-term structured group process for African American women in the suburbs of Washington, DC, highlighting the perspective of the group leaders. The group was started to address the unique needs of African American women who are also survivors of childhood abuse and neglect. The group leaders used discussion and art in the group to explore the intersections of race, gender, and intergenerational trauma. Having shared experiences with the participants of the group, the authors explore the ways the group leaders were changed and challenged in the process.
DETERMINANTS OF INTEREST RATE SPREADS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES: A DYNAMIC PANEL ANALYSIS

Efficient financial intermediation is an important factor in economic development process as it has implication for effective mobilisation of investible resources. Consequently, banking sector efficiency plays significant role in an economy. A major indicator of banking sector efficiency is interest rate spreads, which have been found to be higher in African, Latin American and the Caribbean countries than in OECD countries (Randall, 1998; Brock and Rojas-Suarez, 2000; Chirwa and Mlachila, 2004; Gelos, 2006; Crowley, 2007). A wide deposit-lending rate margin is not only indicative of banking sector inefficiency; it also reflects the level of development of the financial sector.
A watermarking infrastructure for enterprise document management

Digital watermarking is a promising technology to embed copyright information as unperceivable signals in digital contents. Although various watermarking techniques have been employed extensively for protecting rights of multimedia digital contents over the Internet, their applications in the management of enterprise documents have not been studied comprehensively. In this paper, we present a novel watermark-based document distribution protocol, which complements conventional access control techniques, to address a common problem in large enterprises, where document management policies are not properly reinforced. For instance, sensitive documents are often left behind in common areas, printing rooms or public folders in an enterprise. The reinforcement of document management policies requires a concrete support of nonrepudiation in the document distribution protocol. The protocol is adapted from our previous works on watermarking protocols, which defend unethical distribution of digital contents over the Internet. Our protocol makes use of registration certificates to distribute the identity information of the content-end users. We also present an implementation outline summarizing our access policy model, document check-in and check-out mechanism, and watermarking scheme employed.
Gestures in the wild: studying multi-touch gesture sequences on interactive tabletop exhibits

In this paper we describe our findings from a field study that was conducted at the Vancouver Aquarium to investigate how visitors interact with a large interactive table exhibit using multi-touch gestures. Our findings show that the choice and use of multi-touch gestures are influenced not only by general preferences for certain gestures but also by the interaction context and social context they occur in. We found that gestures are not executed in isolation but linked into sequences where previous gestures influence the formation of subsequent gestures. Furthermore, gestures were used beyond the manipulation of media items to support social encounters around the tabletop exhibit. Our findings indicate the importance of versatile many-to-one mappings between gestures and their actions that, other than one-to-one mappings, can support fluid transitions between gestures as part of sequences and facilitate social information exploration.
ON THE DYNAMICS OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Minute amounts of photosynthesis in marine plants can be accurately measured by adding a little phenolphthalein to the sea water, and observing changes in the color of the indicator. In the case of fresh water aquatics bicarbonates are added. By this method it is found that Ulva which has been kept in the dark begins photosynthesis as soon as it is exposed to sunlight and that the rate steadily increases until a constant speed is attained. This may be explained by assuming that sunlight decomposes a substance whose products either catalyze photosynthesis or enter directly into the reaction. Quantitative theories are developed in order to account for the facts.
Demographic Variables as Moderators Between Benevolent Sexism and Relationship Satisfaction

Demographic Variables as Moderators Between Relationship Satisfaction and Benevolent Sexism by Dawna Campbell MA, Sam Houston State University, 2005 BA, Sam Houston State University, 1992 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology Walden University August 2017
A Bacterial Cytotoxin Identifies the RhoA Exchange Factor Net1 as a Key Effector in the Response to DNA Damage

Background Exposure of adherent cells to DNA damaging agents, such as the bacterial cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) or ionizing radiations (IR), activates the small GTPase RhoA, which promotes the formation of actin stress fibers and delays cell death. The signalling intermediates that regulate RhoA activation and promote cell survival are unknown. Principal Findings We demonstrate that the nuclear RhoA-specific Guanine nucleotide Exchange Factor (GEF) Net1 becomes dephosphorylated at a critical inhibitory site in cells exposed to CDT or IR. Expression of a dominant negative Net1 or Net1 knock down by iRNA prevented RhoA activation, inhibited the formation of stress fibers, and enhanced cell death, indicating that Net1 activation is required for this RhoA-mediated responses to genotoxic stress. The Net1 and RhoA-dependent signals involved activation of the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase p38 and its downstream target MAPK-activated protein kinase 2. Significance Our data highlight the importance of Net1 in controlling RhoA and p38 MAPK mediated cell survival in cells exposed to DNA damaging agents and illustrate a molecular pathway whereby chronic exposure to a bacterial toxin may promote genomic instability.
Low prevalence of resistance to azoles in Aspergillus fumigatus in a French cohort of patients treated for haematological malignancies.

OBJECTIVES An increase in invasive aspergillosis (IA) due to azole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus isolates has been reported for 10 years. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of azole resistance in isolates prospectively collected in patients with haematological diseases. METHODS One hundred and eighteen isolates were collected from 89 consecutive patients over 4 years. Fifty-one patients had proven or probable IA. Species identification was ascertained based on β-tubulin gene sequencing. The MICs of azole drugs were determined using Etest(®), and the cyp51A gene and its promoter were sequenced to detect mutations. RESULTS All isolates were identified as A. fumigatus and all of them but one had itraconazole and voriconazole MICs of ≤ 2 mg/L and posaconazole MICs of ≤ 0.25 mg/L. An isolate for which the itraconazole MIC was high (itraconazole MIC = 16 mg/L; voriconazole MIC = 0.38 mg/L; and posaconazole MIC = 0.25 mg/L) was recovered from a patient naive to azole treatment and had a new G432S substitution. To establish whether this mutation existed in other isolates, the 1426-2025 bp cyp51A locus was sequenced for all. G432S was not found. CONCLUSIONS In A. fumigatus, the prevalence of azole resistance is currently low in the haematological population in the Paris area. Surveillance programmes for azole resistance to adapt antifungal treatments are warranted for clinical isolates of A. fumigatus.
Relationship Between Posttraumatic Growth and Perceived Social Support for Adolescents With Cancer

The purpose of this study was to discuss the positive or negative changes in adolescents that may occur as the result of the traumatic experience and to explain the relationship between the reaction to the cancer and the perception of social support. The study was conducted in 2 inpatient pediatric oncology units located in Istanbul, Turkey. The sample consisted of 108 adolescents with cancer. The data were collected using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. A positive correlation was found between social support perception and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory scores. After being diagnosed with cancer, most adolescents made positive changes in either themselves or their life philosophies. Adolescents with cancer mostly benefited from family social support rather than social support from their friends. The health care providers’ awareness of supportive needs of the adolescent is essential. It is recommended that the health care providers should plan interventions for adolescents with cancer to increase social support, especially from friends, and should counsel them to join support groups.
Local Ancestry Corrects for Population Structure in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Genome-Wide Association Studies

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become an important method for mapping the genetic loci underlying complex phenotypic traits in many species. A crucial issue when performing GWAS is to control for the underlying population structure because not doing so can lead to spurious associations. Population structure is a particularly important issue in nonhuman species since it is often difficult to control for population structure during the study design phase, requiring population structure to be corrected statistically after the data have been collected. It has not yet been established if GWAS is a feasible approach in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an important model organism and agricultural species. We thus performed an empirical study of statistical methods for controlling for population structure in GWAS using a set of 201 phenotypic traits measured in multiple resequenced strains of S. cerevisiae. We complemented our analysis of real data with an extensive set of simulations. Our main result is that a mixed linear model using the local ancestry of the strain as a covariate is effective at controlling for population structure, consistent with the mosaic structure of many S. cerevisiae strains. We further studied the evolutionary forces acting on the GWAS SNPs and found that SNPs associated with variation in phenotypic traits are enriched for low minor allele frequencies, consistent with the action of negative selection on these SNPs. Despite the effectiveness of local ancestry correction, GWAS remains challenging in highly structured populations, such as S. cerevisiae. Nonetheless, we found that, even after correcting for population structure, there is still sufficient statistical power to recover biologically meaningful associations.
Students’ science process skill and analytical thinking ability in chemistry learning

Science process skill and analytical thinking ability are needed in chemistry learning in 21 century. Analytical thinking is related with science process skill which is used by students to solve complex and unstructured problems. Thus, this research aims to determine science process skill and analytical thinking ability of senior high school students in chemistry learning. The research was conducted in Tiga Maret Yogyakarta Senior High School, Indonesia, at the middle of the first semester of academic year 2015/2016 is using the survey method. The survey involved 21 grade XI students as participants. Students were given a set of test questions consists of 15 essay questions. The result indicated that the science process skill and analytical thinking ability were relatively low ie. 30.67%. Therefore, teachers need to improve the students’ cognitive and psychomotor domains effectively in learning process.
Computational Methodology for the Prediction of Functional Requirement Variations Across the Product Life-Cycle

The great majority of engineered products are subject to thermo-mechanical loads which vary with the product environment during the various phases of its life-cycle (machining, assembly, intended service use.). Those load variations may result in different values of the parts nominal dimensions, which in turn generate corresponding variation of the effective clearance (functional requirement) in the assembly. Usually, and according to the contractual drawings, the parts are measured after the machining stage, whereas the interesting measurement values are the ones taken in service for they allow the prediction of clearance value under operating conditions. Unfortunately, measurement in operating conditions may not be practical to obtain. Hence, the main purpose of this research is to create, through computations and simulations, links between the values of the loads, dimensions and functional requirements during the successive phases of the life cycle of some given product. [. ]
Frequency of Penetration of the Digital Flexor Tendon Sheath and Distal Interphalangeal Joint Using a Direct Endoscopic Approach to the Navicular Bursa in Horses

Objective To evaluate the frequency of inadvertent penetration of the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) and/or distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) when using a direct endoscopic approach to the navicular bursa, and to evaluate an alternate direct approach to the navicular bursa. Study Design Cadaveric study. Sample Population Equine cadaver limbs (n = 40 for direct; n = 12 for alternate approach). Methods Four surgeons performed the direct endoscopic approach to the navicular bursa on 10 limbs each. Frequencies of inadvertent synovial penetration and iatrogenic damage were compared between surgeons. Use of an alternate direct approach, adopting a straight parasagittal trajectory, was evaluated by 2 surgeons. Results Inadvertent synovial penetration occurred in 45% of limbs (DFTS 37.5%; DIPJ 17.5%; and both structures 10%). Successful bursa entry was achieved on the first attempt in 45% of limbs. Significant variation in frequency of inadvertent synovial penetration was observed between surgeons (range 10–80%). Inadvertent synovial penetration did not occur when using the alternate direct technique. Iatrogenic damage to navicular bone fibrocartilage and/or deep digital flexor tendon occurred in 55% of limbs using the direct endoscopic approach and in 0% of limbs using the alternate direct approach. Conclusion Because of the considerable risk of inadvertent penetration of the DFTS and/or the DIPJ when making a direct endoscopic approach to the navicular bursa, it is advisable to investigate for inadvertent penetration when treating navicular bursa sepsis using a direct approach. The alternate direct technique may reduce the risk of inadvertent penetration; however, the view within the bursa may be restricted.
Analysis of free physical memory in server virtualized system

Degradation of the performance is the part of any long running software systems. This is due to memory leakage, unreleased file descriptors, round off errors and disk and memory fragmentation. It has been found that the memory leakage is the primary cause of any software performance degradation. In order to predict the software performance degradation, the analysis of the resource usage is essential. Here the free physical memory of a server virtualised system is analysed using time series analysis.
A continuum of mRNP complexes in embryonic microRNA-mediated silencing

Abstract MicroRNAs (miRNAs) impinge on the translation and stability of their target mRNAs, and play key roles in development, homeostasis and disease. The gene regulation mechanisms they instigate are largely mediated through the CCR4–NOT deadenylase complex, but the molecular events that occur on target mRNAs are poorly resolved. We observed a broad convergence of interactions of germ granule and P body mRNP components on AIN-1/GW182 and NTL-1/CNOT1 in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. We show that the miRISC progressively matures on the target mRNA from a scanning form into an effector mRNP particle by sequentially recruiting the CCR4–NOT complex, decapping and decay, or germ granule proteins. Finally, we implicate intrinsically disordered proteins, key components in mRNP architectures, in the embryonic function of lsy-6 miRNA. Our findings define dynamic steps of effector mRNP assembly in miRNA-mediated silencing, and identify a functional continuum between germ granules and P bodies in the C. elegans embryo.
The Demand for Food of Poor Urban Mexican Households: Understanding Policy Impacts Using Structural Models

We use Oportunidades, a conditional cash transfer to women, to show that standard demand models do not represent the sample's behavior: Oportunidades increases eligible households' food budget shares, despite food being a necessity; demand for food and high-protein food changes over time only in treatment areas; the treatment effects on food and high-protein food consumption are larger than the prediction from the Engel curves at baseline; and the curves do not change in eligible households with high baseline bargaining power for the transfer recipient. Thus, handing transfers to women is a likely determinant of the observed nutritional changes. (JEL D12, H23, J16, O12)
A Comparative Evaluation of the Efficacy of Two Novel Desensitising Dentifrices

A comparison of the desensitising efficacy of two commercially available dentifrices with different modes of action was conducted in a randomised, examiner-blind, two-arm, parallel group, 8-week, longitudinal clinical study. Dentifrice A, (Sensodyne Multi Action Iso-Active), contained 50000 ppm KNO3 and 1450 ppm fluoride as NaF. Dentifrice B, Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief, contained a combination of 80000 ppm arginine, bicarbonate, calcium carbonate, and 1450 ppm fluorine as NaMFP. Subjects (N = 110), stratified into two groups (N = 55), brushed twice-daily for 60 s, over an 8-week period. Sensitivity status, compliance, and safety were determined at 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks. A fixed-effects ANCOVA statistical model was applied to the Intent-To-Treat population using a two-sided 5% significance level. After 8 weeks, the treatment groups using Dentifrice A and Dentifrice B exhibited mean reductions from baseline of 49% and 45% in air sensitivity visual analogue scale (VAS) score, 61% (both) in examiner-based Schiff Sensitivity score, and clinically significant reductions in tactile pain threshold; all reductions were statistically significant (P < 0.0001). Both treatment groups also exhibited significant reductions across all sensitivity measures at 1, 2, and 4 weeks (P ≤ 0.0059, Dentifrice A; P ≤ 0.0137, Dentifrice B).