Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observations and simulations of the ionospheric lunar tide: Seasonal variability

The seasonal variability of the ionospheric lunar tide is investigated using a combination of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) observations and thermosphere‐ionosphere‐mesosphere electrodynamics general circulation model (TIME‐GCM) simulations. The present study focuses on the seasonal variability of the lunar tide in the ionosphere and its potential connection to the occurrence of stratosphere sudden warmings (SSWs). COSMIC maximum F region electron density (NmF2) and total electron content observations reveal a primarily annual variation of the ionospheric lunar tide, with maximum amplitudes occurring at low latitudes during December–February. Simulations of the lunar tide climatology in TIME‐GCM display a similar annual variability as the COSMIC observations. This leads to the conclusion that the annual variability of the lunar tide in the ionosphere is not solely due to the occurrence of SSWs. Rather, the annual variability of the lunar tide in the ionosphere is generated by the seasonal variability of the lunar tide at E region altitudes. However, compared to the observations, the ionospheric lunar tide annual variability is weaker in the climatological simulations which is attributed to the occurrence of SSWs during the majority of the years included in the observations. Introducing a SSW into the TIME‐GCM simulation leads to an additional enhancement of the lunar tide during Northern Hemisphere winter, increasing the lunar tide annual variability and resulting in an annual variability that is more consistent with the observations. The occurrence of SSWs can therefore potentially bias lunar tide climatologies, and it is important to consider these effects in studies of the lunar tide in the atmosphere and ionosphere.
Dark Matter Searches at Colliders

Colliders, among the most successful tools of particle physics, have revealed much about matter. This review describes how colliders contribute to the search for particle dark matter, focusing on the highest-energy collider currently in operation, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. In the absence of hints about the character of interactions between dark matter and standard matter, this review emphasizes what could be observed in the near future, presents the main experimental challenges, and discusses how collider searches fit into the broader field of dark matter searches. Finally, it highlights a few areas to watch for the future LHC program.
Phylogenetic systematics of Hoya (Apocynaceae)

Hoya with perhaps 300 species is one of the most diverse angiosperm genera in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia and New Guinea. Knowledge of the number of species and their relationships is still very unsatisfactory. Floral characters have been used to subdivide the genus into sections, although none of these groups were based on phylogenetic relationships. Recently, molecular phylogenetic studies have shed new light on the intrageneric relationships of the genus by identifying three main monophyletic clades, in addition to a core Hoya group that includes most of the species examined. One clade includes New Guinean/Australian species, while the other two, the Acanthostemma and the Eriostemma clades, mainly correspond to existing sections. I here discuss the phylogenetic findings in the light of the traditional morphological classifications, as a first step towards a new classification of Hoya based on phylogenetic relationships.
STOCHASTIC PARTICLE ACCELERATION IN TURBULENCE GENERATED BY MAGNETOROTATIONAL INSTABILITY

We investigate stochastic particle acceleration in accretion flows. It is believed that magnetorotational instability (MRI) generates turbulence inside accretion flows and that cosmic rays (CRs) are accelerated by the turbulence. We calculate equations of motion for CRs in the turbulent fields generated by MRI with the shearing box approximation and without back reaction to the field. Our results show that the CRs randomly gain or lose their energy through interaction with the turbulent fields. The CRs diffuse in the configuration space anisotropically: the diffusion coefficient in the direction of the unperturbed flow is about 20 times higher than the Bohm coefficient, while those in the other directions are only a few times higher than the Bohm. The momentum distribution is isotropic and its evolution can be described by the diffusion equation in momentum space where the diffusion coefficient is a power-law function of the CR momentum. We show that the shear acceleration works efficiently for energetic particles. We also cautiously note that in the shearing box approximation, particles that cross the simulation box many times along the radial direction undergo unphysical runaway acceleration by the Lorentz transformation, which needs to be taken into account with special care.
Isolation of coagulase negative Enterococcous sp. strains from non-broiler chicken producing bacteriocin active against Staphylococcus aureus

Abstract Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from the bile, gizzard, intestine and caecum of the Malaysian domestic non-broiler chicken. Of the 56 isolates grown on MRS agar plates, 7 - namely, B3L3, B4L4, G5L5, B5L6, B10L7, I1L8, and C4L10 - showed inhibition against the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These isolates were all Gram positive cocci, non-spore forming, and catalase negative. The purified fraction from the three phase partitioning (TPP) method, employing t-butanol and ammonium sulfate, produced inhibitory zones of 8 to 18 mm in diameter on the indicator organism, Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The TPP purified fraction contained heat stable proteins of about 10 kDa in size and was inactivated by trypsin. Based on the partial rDNA sequences (>89% similarity), isolates B4L4 and G5L5 belonged to Enterococcus hirae; isolate B3L3 belonged to Enterococcus faecium; isolates B5L6, B10L7, I1L8 to Enterococcus faecalis; and isolate C4L10 to Enterococcus mundtii. These probiotic strains, exclusively isolated from the Malaysian non-broiler chicken, produced an antimicrobial protein or bacteriocin which was active against a pathogenic strain of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Phytosociology of the remaining xerophytic woodland associated to an environmental gradient at the banks of the São Francisco river - Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil

Floristic and phytosociological surveys were carried out for 12 months in the Embrapa-SPSB, Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil. A transect was laid on starting at the river bank extending for 790 m away from the river and divided into 140 10 × 10 m contiguous plots. In each plot, all standing plants, alive or dead, with stem diameter at soil level > 3 cm and total height > 1 m were sampled. Along this transect, an elevation range of 9.40 m was registered and five topographical environments were identified: riverside (MR), dike (D), floodable depression (DI), boundary terrace (TL) - all of them belonging to the fluvial terrace with Fluvic Neosol and Haplic Cambisol both silty textured eutrophic soils - and the inlander tableland (TS), with medium sandy-textured Red-Yellow Argisols. Fourty-eight species/morphospecies, distributed into 39 genera and 21 families, were identified. Four phytogeoenvironments (MR, D + TL, DI + TL, and TS) were registered based on environmental variations and floristic similarities among plots using cluster analyses. The MR environment showed the largest total density, total basal area, maximum and medium heights and maximum diameter. Moreover, it had 8.1% of plants with heights above 8 m against 0.6% for D + TL, 0.2% for DI + TL, and 0% for TS. The species with the largest importance value were Inga vera subsp. affinis (DC.) T.D. Pennington in MR, Mimosa bimucronata Kunth in D + TL and DI + TL and M. tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir. in TS.
The Impact of Educational Interventions based on Individual Empowerment Model on Knowledge, Attitude, Self-Efficacy, Self Esteem and Quality of Life of Postmenopausal Women

Background & Aim: Menopause has been recognized as a critical stage in women’s life which has a significant impact on their quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of educational interventions based on individual empowerment model on knowledge, attitude, self efficacy, self esteem and quality of life of postmenopausal women. Material & Methods: In a quasi-experimental study, 100 women covered by health care centers in Qazvin were randomly assigned to either experimental or control group. The data gathering tool included a demographic questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-esteem questionnaire, self efficacy scale, Knowledge and attitude questionnaire and menopause-specific quality of life questionnaire (26 items). The procedure for experimental group consisted of five group discussions for 60-45 minutes according to empowerment model. Data were collected before and 3 months after intervention and analyzed by independent and paired t-test and chi-square using SPSS-PC (v. 17.0). Results: After education, mean scores of knowledge (from 38.11 ± 8.43 to 49.14 ± 9.23), attitude (from 14.43 ± 4.31 to 19.32 ± 5.54), self- esteem (from 13.82 ± 4.47 to 17.90 ± 5.61) and self efficacy (from 14.42 ± 5.43 to 20.06 ± 6.12) increased significantly in the experimental group (P < 0.001). Moreover, results showed a significant and positive reduction in the quality of life of the experimental group after empowerment program (P< 0.001). Conclusion: Training programs using empowerment model to improve the quality of life of postmenopausal women is recommended.
Discards of Spanish trawler fleets operating in the Bay of Biscay in 2000

Estimation of the discard volume of commercial vessels is important since discarding of target and also non-target species may cause a reduction in yield in medium and long-term predictions. Discards must be included in the assessments where they constitute a significant fraction of the total catch, otherwise the results may be seriously biased. These could include bias in recruitment and fishing mortality estimates in Virtual Population Analysis (VPA) and evaluations of mixed-fisheries where discards are more important. This is the case of Spanish fleets characterised by their continuous changes, targeting a wide range of species (including horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), blue Discards of Spanish trawler fleets operating in the Bay of Biscay in 2000
ELT-scale adaptive optics real-time control with the Intel Xeon Phi Many Integrated Core Architecture

We propose a solution to the increased computational demands of Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) scale adaptive optics (AO) real-time control with the Intel Xeon Phi Knights Landing (KNL) Many Integrated Core (MIC) Architecture. The computational demands of an AO real-time controller (RTC) scale with the fourth power of telescope diameter and so the next generation ELTs require orders of magnitude more processing power for the RTC pipeline than existing systems. The Xeon Phi contains a large number (≥64) of low-power x86 CPU cores and high-bandwidth memory integrated into a single socketed server CPU package. The increased parallelism and memory bandwidth are crucial to providing the performance for reconstructing wavefronts with the required precision for ELT scale AO. Here, we demonstrate that the Xeon Phi KNL is capable of performing ELT scale single conjugate AO real-time control computation at over 1.0 kHz with less than 20 μs RMS jitter. We have also shown that with a wavefront sensor camera attached the KNL can process the real-time control loop at up to 966 Hz, the maximum frame-rate of the camera, with jitter remaining below 20 μs RMS. Future studies will involve exploring the use of a cluster of Xeon Phis for the real-time control of the MCAO and MOAO regimes of AO. We find that the Xeon Phi is highly suitable for ELT AO real time control.
Student and community perceptions about organ donors, non-donors, and transplant recipients

Despite efforts to encourage organ donation, low organ donation rates in Australia and other Western nations do not meet the demand for transplantable organs. One influence on organ donation decision-making yet to be fully explored is that of prototype perceptions about organ donors, non-donors, and transplant recipients. We conducted focus groups and interviews with 54 student and community participants to explore these perceptions of donors and non-donors in a living and posthumous context, as well as transplant recipients. Using content and thematic analysis, transcripts were analysed for consistently emerging themes. Donors were generally perceived positively as altruistic and giving and as ordinary people; however, some participants questioned the motives of living anonymous donors. Non-donors were commonly viewed negatively as self-absorbed and unaware, with living-related non-donors particularly perceived as cold-hearted and weak. Transplant recipients were generally viewed sympathetically (unfortunate and unwell); however, many participants also expressed negative views about transplant recipients as responsible for their predicament, depending upon the type of organ transplant needed. To encourage people's willingness to donate their organs, it is crucial to understand the extent to which these perceptions influence organ donation decisions.
An experiment about legalization of drugs and the investor behavior

The illegal drugs market is one of the main issues in the political agenda in Colombia. Literature has focused on legalization in consumption (demand) but studies about legalization of production (supply) are scarce. Taking into account that Colombia is a country leading in drugs production but not drugs consumption in the world, it is relevant to understand illegal drugs supply. The elements that influence decisions about drugs production and the investor behavior under certain incentives have received few attention. In order to analyze the behavioral structure of investment decisions, this paper conducts a laboratory experiment. The aim is to analyze the effect of three different factors influencing the individual decision to invest when a business is related to (i) a criminal activity (illegal), (ii) drugs, or (iii) a negative social effect (negative externality) using a between subjects design. The experiment has two parts. Part I is a replication of the “Ten Paired LotteryChoice Decisions” by Holt and Laury (2002) to measure individual’s risk aversion level. Part II keeps the same structure but shows a frame that varies three elements along treatments: type of business (drugs-related or neutral), legal status (illegal or legal) and the presence of a negative externality. The experiment was applied on 141 undergraduate students of the Universidad del Rosario. Results show a robust gender effect meaning that women are more risk averse than men and they are more prone to increase their risk aversion level in Part II while they revealed more conservative attitudes in front of drugs policies in the post experiment survey. No evidence was found of any effects of illegality and the negative externality on investment decisions. Descriptive comparisons suggest an unwillingness to invest in a drugs-related business. These results suggest that neither illegality nor the existence of a negative externality are efficient elements to discourage investment.
Intra-sex synchrony and inter-sex coordination in the reproductive timing of the atlantic coral snake micrurus Corallinus (Elapidae) in Brazil

Dissection of preserved Atlantic coral snakes Micrurus corallinus, plus field data and histological analysis, provided information on male reproductive cycles. Testes are larger during autumn, when sperm production occurs, and smaller in spring, when spermatogenesis stops. The diameter of the distal deferent ducts is small in summer-autumn, when sperm are hardly found in the lumen, and it increases in winter-spring, when sperm is abundant, just prior to the mating season. Thus, the male cycle of M. corallinus is post-nuptial, whereas the female cycle is prenuptial. Although gametogenesis is not simultaneous in both sexes, the coordination of their cycles is guaranteed by sperm storage by males. Our data indicate that the diameter of the deferent duct is a good indication of the mating season, mainly when reproductive cycles are post-nuptial. Mate searching and aggregation occurs in the spring, and activity in both sexes may be highly related to their reproductive cycles.
ADOPTION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE IN THAI TRAVEL SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

This paper is aim to investigate factors affecting the adoption of e-commerce based on technological, organizational, and environmental (TOE) framework and the extended Model of Internet Commerce Adoption (eMICA). An online survey was employed to collect data from Thai travel small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that have company websites are registered with the Thai Department of Business Development and are a member of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Data from 125 usable cases was analyzed using multiple regression. Results revealed that (1) only competition intensity positively affected the first (promotion) stage of EC adoption, (2) relative advantage and organizational readiness were found to be the determinants of EC adoption in the second stage of the provision of information and services, and (3) only organizational readiness was found to influence EC adoption in the third (processing) stage. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
More than Education: Openness to Experience Contributes to Cognitive Reserve in Older Adulthood

Cognitive reserve (CR) is a well-known indicator of resilience to cognitive decline in older adulthood. Although higher education is the most widely-recognized contributor to CR, research suggests that the personality trait Openness to Experience might also contribute to reserve in later life. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the personality trait Openness contributes uniquely and independently to CR (above and beyond education). 72 adults (M=70.46 years old, SD=6.82) completed the WAIS-III Information subtest (measuring CR), the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (measuring Openness), and the Dementia Rating Scale-2 (measuring global cognitive status and used in validity analyses confirming Information as a CR proxy). Openness accounted for unique variance in Information above and beyond demographics and education, with some evidence of a greater effect at fewer years of education. These results provide preliminary evidence supporting the association between Openness to Experience and CR, a known indicator of resilience to cognitive decline in older adulthood.
HEALTHCARE SETTING: AN ADAPTIVE STRUCTURATION THEORY PERSPECTIVE

Changes in organizational structures triggered by information technologies cannot be viewed from a single perspective. There are many factors that influence organizational structure change when advanced technologies are introduced, adopted and implemented. In our research we examine the changes to the organizational structure triggered by RFID adoption in a healthcare setting from the Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) perspective. Employing the Actor Network Theory (ANT), we described in detail the healthcare organizational structure prior to implementation, during implementation and after the implementation of the RFID technology. We then apply the Adaptive Structuration Theory to explore the role of the RFID technology in the organizational structure change. The contribution of our research is two-fold. First we attempt to clarify the extent to which RFID technology influences the organizational structure change. Second we endeavor to combine ANT with AST to create a roadmap for future research in examining the relationship between IT and organizational changes.
Breastfeeding Promotion, Challenges and Barriers: a Qualitative Research

Background: Breast milk is an ideal source of nutrition for growth and development of infants and has unique physiologic and emotional impacts on the health of mothers and infants. However, a few numbers of infants get exclusive breast milk and therefore, it is necessary to identify barriers to breastfeeding. The purpose of the present qualitative research was to explore challenges and barriers to breastfeeding promotion. Materials and Methods: Fourteen nursing mothers, four key family members (grandmothers and husbands) and six personnel who provided breastfeeding counseling services participated in semi-structured individual interviews. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and then analyzed by means of conventional content analysis method. Results: Three main categories "incompetency of breastfeeding services", "mother’s inadequate breastfeeding self-efficacy" and "family’s neglect to breast milk" were emerged; that reflected participants’ experiences of barriers to breastfeeding promotion. Conclusion: Participants believed that the healthcare system had the greatest portion in breastfeeding promotion and inadequate performance of baby friendly hospital, failure of prenatal centers in teaching skills to mothers and families, and inadequate support for mother after delivery had caused breastfeeding damage. They also stated that mother’s breastfeeding self-efficacy and family’s help and support of breastfeeding had a significant role in breastfeeding promotion. To overcome the barriers to breastfeeding promotion, it is suggested that besides reforming existing plans according to identified barriers in this research, supportive and educational programs should be provided for all individuals involved in breastfeeding including mothers, families and health workers.
Heterogeneity of real estate developers in Canton Zurich

This paper describes a qualitative study of real estate developers in the canton Zurich. The introduction explains the motivation for this research in the context of land use modelling. In the second section we refer to previous work and introduce briefly the research methodology of qualitative content analysis. How this method is put to practice in our case is described in section 3 followed by the results section. We find heterogeneous developers with varying behaviour. When we distinguish decision makers on development projects according to the variables purpose and professionalism, we find differing behaviour in terms of decision criteria, information considered and executed tasks within the development process.
The Impact of Abandoned Properties on Nearby Property Values

Previous research has shown that housing abandonment contributes to neighborhood decline by depressing nearby property values. However, most past research estimated the impact of abandonment through cross-sectional analysis without controlling for nearby foreclosures or local housing market trends. Therefore, it remains unclear whether abandoned properties reduce nearby property values or whether abandonment is more common in areas with already lower-valued properties. Prior research also has not explored how the duration of abandonment influences nearby property values. Therefore, to extend the current level of understanding of the impact of abandonment, this research examines the impact of abandoned properties on nearby property values in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1991 to 2010 using longitudinal data sets while simultaneously controlling for both nearby foreclosures and local housing market trends. This research finds that as properties are abandoned for longer periods of time, the impact on nearby property values not only increases in magnitude but also is seen increasingly farther away.