Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE INFLUENCE OF THE HEAVY METALS ON THE GROWTH OF PATHOGENIC FUNGI

The reaction of the isolates of the pathogenic species Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. and Pythium debaryanum (R. Hesse) Nieuwl. to the presence of zinc, copper, lead and cadmium, which were added to the nutritive medium for the determination of their in vitro tolerance, measured by the inhibition of the growth of mycelium were studied. The experiments were performed in the laboratory conditions by adding the suspension of the zinc, copper, lead, and cadmium in three different concentrations on the nutritive medium. The influence of the heavy metals on the growth rate of the pathogenic fungi depended on the type of metal and their concentration. The lowest degree of influence was exhibited by the presence of zinc, whereas the highest concentration of cadmium exhibited the highest degree of influence. Fusarium oxysporum, the mycelium of which grew considerably slowly in the presence of all metals, exhibited the lowest degree of tolerance to heavy metals, whereas even the lowest concentrations of Pythium debaryanum are tolerant to the presence of all metals, even in case of the highest concentrations.
Competition and International Competitiveness : Evidence from Japanese Industries

In this paper, we examine the effects of domestic competition and international competitive pressures. We use industry’s world export share and individual firms’ foreign sales ratio in Japanese manufacturing industries as two measures of overseas operations as a proxy for international competitiveness. As for measures of domestic competition, we use domestic concentration indexes, such as the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and the 3-firm concentration ratio. We found no significant effect of domestic concentration on the world export share, but found that there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between concentration and firms’ foreign sales ratio. Another measure for competition, mobility indices all had no definite effect on both the measures of international competitiveness. Overseas operation-related factors, such as export intensity and the intra-industry trade ratio, have a significant effect, although being likely to have a tautological explanation. Interpreting literally, international competitive pressures lead to larger competitiveness.
The Retirement-Consumption Puzzle and the German Pension SystemA Regression Discontinuity Approach ∗

In this paper we analyze if the German pension system allows pensioners to maintain their standards of living. We follow Battistin et al. (2009) and use a RDD design based on age-specific retirement rules which allow us to identify the causal effect of retirement on consumption. We focus on different consumption measures and we allow for heterogenous effects by income and wealth. The analysis is based on repeated cross sections from the Sample Survey of Income and Expenditure (EVS) over the period 2003 to 2013. For the whole population, we do not find a significant effect of retirement on total non-durable expenditures. When accounting for differences in wealth levels, the study detects significant heterogeneity in retirement effects for all consumption measures. For individuals with a low level of wealth we find a significant reduction in their consumption at retirement.
Good Volatility , Bad Volatility , and the Expected Stock Returns ∗

The volatility asymmetry can be captured by the relative difference of the good and bad semivariance measures, termed relative signed jump variation. The volatility asymmetry risk disentangles the relationships between good/bad volatility, total volatility and cross-section/aggregate return at systemic level, and unifies the higher-moments anomalies at firm level. We show three novel results: (1) Based on cross-sectional sensitivities, volatility asymmetry risk, proxied by the relative signed jump extracted from 9 industry ETFs, is a significant priced risk factor with positive premium that is confounding with the negative premium of total volatility. (2) The stochastic discount factor and asset returns are asymmetrically dependent, and we propose a Asymmetric-DCAPM-SV model based on Bansal et al. (2013) with explicit solutions to show that the confounding relationship between volatility asymmetry and total volatility enters directly into the stochastic discount factor, thus need to be considered jointly and further helps explain equity premium. (3) Individual assets’ relative signed jump variation significantly predict cross-sectional return (with spread as large as 23% annually), and is the driving force behind the higher moment anomalies in realized volatility, skewness and kurtosis. JEL classification: C13, C14, G11, G12
GIS-Based Analysis of Spatial Distribution of Medicinal and Herbal Plants in Arid and Semi-arid Zones in the North-west of Jordan

This study integrates geographic information systems (GIS) and ground surveys to map medicinal and herbal (MH) plants in a semi-arid and arid Mediterranean area in the northwest of Jordan. GIS layers of land use/cover, slope and aspects were created and different GIS functions were implemented to investigate the relationships between the number of MH plant species and land use types, altitude, slope and aspect. Statistical analysis was carried out to test the significance of the spatial distribution of the total number of plants and plant species among the sampled grids. Data from ground survey and GIS layers were then used to identify hotspots with high potential for conservation of MH plants. Results showed that more than 600 plant species, including 223 MH species, were recorded in the study area. The study area was characterized by intensive agricultural activities and urbanization, which affected spatial distribution of MH plants. The number of MH plant species tended to significantly (P < 0.05, R2 = 0.46) decrease with altitude. The spatial distribution of MH plants was different from one species to another and was different from the distribution of all plant species (MH and non MH plants). Spatial distribution of hotspots, which was affected by different factors, including land use and global importance of MH plant species, recommended different sites for an insitu conservation of MH plants. The study showed that anthropogenic factors were obviously impacting the spatial distribution of MH plants in this diverse semi-arid and arid area.
Location-Specific Embedding Learning for the Semantic Segmentation of Building Footprints on a Global Scale

In this paper, we analyze the feasability of learning a latent embedding space from aerial and satellite imagery in order to capture semantic properties of geographical locations. We show that deep neural network, trained with a triplet loss function, can be effectively used to obtain a location-specific embedding. Considering the problem of building footprint segmentation from aerial imagery of varying cities, we leverage these embeddings together with a clustering for the training of location-specific segmentation networks and the selection of the corresponding segmentation network during inference time. We evaluate our approach on the large-scale Inria Aerial Image Labeling Dataset which contains aerial images of globally distributed cities. Our approach achieves an outperformance against state-of-the-art approaches on the Intersection over Union metric for the building class over all cities and by more than 2% for specific cities.
Daily Racing Form

>A> A Dream for Dome , 11 A Flashy Hand , 3 A Royale Blue , 1 Alcanzame , 8 Allies Turn , 2 American Symphony , 8 Armadillo , 10 > B> Band of Charmers , 4 Beduino Addiction , 1 Birdie Gulch , 11 Bisti Badlands , 7 Blinkity Blank , 2 Bold Emancipator , 9 Boogie Board , 9 Bright Starlet , 6 > C> Calvary Bridle , 7 Cat in Blue , 10 Chrome Boy , 11 Cielo Linda , 8 Copper Wild , 4 Costume Girl , 5 Cr Special Reserve , 1 > D> Dash of Deanie* , 3 Deans Ego , 2 Deltas Investment , 1 Devious Jack , 9 Dna of a Cat , 8 Dreams Run High* , 2 > E> Easy too Easy , 9 Emmalu Who , 6 > F> Flair to Spare , 9 Fly On Silver Wings* , 2 Flying Band , 4 Flying Jackpot , 4 Fudge Man* , 1 > G> General Mania , 11 Gifted K K A T , 11 Gilded Moves , 11 Goin Invisible , 1 Gone Boxers , 10 > H> Hell Roarin , 1 Hunkagold , 4 > I > I've Arrived , 2 Icu Cash , 3 Illusive Reality , 1 Indys Delight , 6 Its Sign the Money , 1 > J > Joe's Ablazin , 10 Jollas Irish Hope , 2 Juanita Bonita , 6 > K> Key Romance , 1 > L> La Felana , 2 Lady Jackpot , 6 Lightning Canyon , 10 Lite a Fire , 3 Liverpool Lad , 7 Lost On Champagne , 5 >M> Mad Duck , 8 Majestic Game , 5 Margo's Miller , 6 Michelle's Marquis , 8 Might Be Hooked , 7 Milagro de Abril , 6 Mini Melt , 3 Miss Dominant , 4 Mohave , 11 MommaMac , 6 Mr Eye Opener Smith , 1 Ms. Lode , 6 My Girl Bella , 4 > N> Neon Miracle , 3 > O> One Fast Jazz , 6 Our Irish Boot , 9 Overflight , 7 > P> Phone Talker* , 3 Policy of Truth , 8 Punchette , 5 > Q> Quick Dashes Legacy* , 1 > R> R. Starry Night , 5 Red as a Rose , 3 Rojo Dream , 11 Rose Ta Fame , 3 Rumble Bee , 4 > S> Sagittarian , 8 Satellite Sal , 4 Silent Hymn , 8 Silver Thunder , 9 Single No More , 8 Sisters Legacy , 6 Slew the Gold , 11 Smarty Ghost , 10 Some Echo , 10 Southern Whirl Wind , 3 Staffhouse Road , 9 Strawflyin Leader , 3 Sulphur Water , 7 Susan's Jade , 5 Symphony in Gold , 6 > T> Takebackthenight , 8 The Dutch Prince , 11 Time Passages , 4 Tiny Nite Gaze R F , 4 Traxstar , 7 Trick Wager , 8 Tuesdays Norther , 2 > U> U. S. A. Warrior , 2 > V> Valentina Way , 4 Vsh James Dean , 3
Site Isolation: Process Separation for Web Sites within the Browser

Current production web browsers are multi-process but place different web sites in the same renderer process, which is not sufficient to mitigate threats present on the web today. With the prevalence of private user data stored on web sites, the risk posed by compromised renderer processes, and the advent of transient execution attacks like Spectre and Meltdown that can leak data via microarchitectural state, it is no longer safe to render documents from different web sites in the same process. In this paper, we describe our successful deployment of the Site Isolation architecture to all desktop users of Google Chrome as a mitigation for process-wide attacks. Site Isolation locks each renderer process to documents from a single site and filters certain cross-site data from each process. We overcame performance and compatibility challenges to adapt a production browser to this new architecture. We find that this architecture offers the best path to protection against compromised renderer processes and same-process transient execution attacks, despite current limitations. Our performance results indicate it is practical to deploy this level of isolation while sufficiently preserving compatibility with existing web content. Finally, we discuss future directions and how the current limitations of Site Isolation might be addressed.
A Control-based Approach for Self-adaptive Software Systems with Formal Guarantees

Modern software applications are subject to uncertain operating conditions, such as dynamics in the availability of services and variations of system goals. Consequently, runtime changes cannot be ignored, but often cannot be predicted at design time. Control theory has been identified as a principled way of addressing runtime changes and it has been applied successfully to modify the structure and behavior of software applications. Most of the times, however, the adaptation targeted the resources that the software has available for execution (CPU, storage, etc.) more than the software application itself. This paper investigates the research efforts that have been conducted to make software adaptable by modifying the software rather than the resource allocated to its execution. This paper aims to identify: the focus of research on controltheoretical software adaptation; how software is modeled and what control mechanisms are used to adapt software; what software qualities and controller guarantees are considered. To that end, we performed a systematic literature review in which we extracted data from 42 primary studies selected from 1512 papers that resulted from an automatic search. The results of our investigation show that even though the behavior of software is considered non-linear, research efforts use linear models to represent it, with some success. Also, the control strategies that are most often considered are classic control, mostly in the form of Proportional and Integral controllers, and Model Predictive Control. The paper also discusses sensing and actuating strategies that are prominent for software adaptation and the (often neglected) proof of formal properties. Finally, we distill open challenges for control-theoretical software adaptation.
Number 1 On the thermohaline circulation in flat bottom marginal seas by

The thermohaline circulation in an idealized marginal sea is studied using both numerical and analytical models. The circulation is forced by repeating an annual cycle of cooling in the interior of the marginal sea for 2 months and turning off the surface forcing for 10 months. The marginal sea is connected to an open ocean through a narrow strait, thus providing a means to equilibrate the cooling within the marginal sea by exchange with the open ocean. The resulting upper ocean circulation consists of a warm boundary current that flows into the marginal sea through the strait that is gradually eroded as it circulates cyclonically around the marginal sea. The interior of the marginal sea is relatively cold and has a closed cyclonic circulation. The mean downwelling is concentrated within a narrow boundary layer that, for a Laplacian parameterization of subgridscale mixing of density and momentum, has a width of Ld 1/ 2 and an along-boundary decay scale of Ld 3/ E , where Ld is the internal deformation radius, is the horizontal Prandtl number, and E is a horizontal Ekman number. The net downwelling outside of this boundary layer is very small at all times. The heat balance near the boundary is between vertical advection and horizontal diffusion at scales smaller than the mesoscale. In the interior, cooling by surface forcing and vertical convection is balanced by horizontal eddy fluxes. For some configurations, these eddy fluxes are characterized by very low frequency oscillations (periods of 1–10 years) in the gyre-scale circulation. One of the main results of this study is that the downwelling in the marginal sea is concentrated near the boundaries and depends on details of the mixing of momentum and density on scales smaller than the mesoscale. The basin-scale stratification and circulation also depend on how momentum and density mix within this boundary layer. This suggests that, in addition to resolving the mesoscale eddy field, improved parameterizations of submesoscale mixing are needed to properly represent the circulation in marginal seas and the downwelling limb of the thermohaline circulation. 1. Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 02543, U.S.A. e-mail: mspall@whoi.edu Journal of Marine Research, 61, 1–25, 2003
-Adrenoceptor signaling molecule expression in Alzheimer’s disease brain tissue

: Objective: Gα h (tissue transglutaminase; TGII), known as the α 1B -adrenoceptor signal mediator, is a bifunctional enzyme possessing transglutaminase and guanosine triphosphatase activities. The microtubule-as-sociated protein tau plays a role in formation of neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brain. Tau is also known as a substrate of transglutaminase. We aimed to better understand the correlation between α 1B -adreno-ceptor signaling and AD. Methods: We examined not only the cross-linking ability of TGII for tau, but also the expression level of tau as well as α 1B -adrenoceptor signaling molecules, TGII and phospholipase C-δ1, in the human brain. Results: When the tau protein was assayed as a transglutaminase substrate of TGII, tau proteins formed cross-linked products. However, phospholipase C-δ1 inhibited transglutaminase activity in TGII to cross-link with tau in vitro . The of expressed mRNA brain tissue was elevated fold for and 3~20 fold densities expressed and which negative regulator for transglutaminase of as 8 fold for protein in AD brain tissue. In contrast, expressed mRNA and protein activity for α 1B -adrenoceptor were almost the same between AD and normal brains. Conclusion: These results suggest that the α 1B -adrenocep-tor signal mediator, TGII and tau, as a substrate of TGII might have a pathophysiological role in AD, but this correlation may be independent of the α 1B -adrenoceptor signaling system, including α 1B -adrenoceptor and phospholipase C-δ1. ical mechanisms of AD, we examined the concentration of tau protein and mRNA as well as α 1B -AR signaling molecules, α 1B -AR, TGII and PLC-δ1, in the human brain. We found not only that tau is a substrate for TGase activity of TGII in vitro , but also that the concentration of tau mRNA and protein, TGII, and PLC-δ1 are elevated in the AD brain as compared with normal brain tissue.
EFFECT OF HEATING WALL POSITION ON FORCED CONVECTION ALONG TWO SIDED OPEN ENCLOSURE WITH POROUS MEDIUM UTILIZING NANOFLUID

Forced convection in a channel with an open cavity having porous medium is studied numerically. A uniform heat flux is considered to be located along left, bottom and right walls of the open cavity. Three basic heating modes are considered: (a) the heated wall is on the inflow side (assisting flow); (b) the heated wall is on the outflow side (opposing flow) and (c) the heated wall is the horizontal surface of the cavity (heating from below). The rest of the surfaces are taken to be perfectly insulated. The physical domain is filled with water based nanofluid containing titanium oxide (TiO2) naparticles. The fluid enters from left and exits from right with initial velocity Ui and temperature Ti. Governing equations are discretized using the Finite Element Method. Forced convection fluid flow and heat transfer within the cavity is governed by the inertia force and viscosity parameter namely Reynolds number (Re) and Prandtl number (Pr). The simulation is carried out for a wide range of Reynolds number Re (= 10-300) and solid volume fraction  (= 0% 7%). Results are presented in the form of streamlines, isothermal lines, local and average Nusselt number, average temperature of the fluid and horizontal and vertical velocities at mid-height of the channel for various Re and . The enhancement of heat transfer rate is caused by increasing both Re and. The present investigation shows that the opposing forced flow configuration has the highest thermal performance in terms of both maximum temperature of the nanofluid and average Nusselt number.
THE EFFECT OF BITUMEN STIFFNESS ON THE ADHESIVE STRENGTH MEASURED BY THE BITUMEN BOND STRENGTH TEST

The resistance of bituminous pavements to traffic and environmental loading depends on mechanics of bonding at bitumen-aggregate interface as well as cohesion of bitumen. Research has shown that adhesive strength between bitumen and aggregate is highly affected by the composition of the two components and by moisture conditions. Therefore, selecting the right combination of materials that are less susceptible to moisture damage is important to ensure performance of bituminous pavements. In a previous study, a test called Bitumen Bond Strength (BBS) has been developed to measure bond strength before and after moisture conditioning. Concerns about the effect of bitumen stiffness (| |) on bond strength test results have been raised. This paper addresses these concerns and proposes a method to account for the stiffness of the binder on BBS measurements. Experimental program included different bitumens, aggregates and modifications to account for different conditions in the bitumen-aggregate interface. Testing in the Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) was conducted at three temperatures to determine the iso-stiffness testing temperature of eight bitumens. This iso-stiffness temperature was then used to perform the BBS test. Results indicate that bond strength of bitumen-aggregate systems is highly dependent on the stiffness of bitumen. They also show that polymers can improve adhesion of bitumen to aggregate and cohesion within bitumen. Strength results are found to be significantly affected by bitumen’s stiffness and, therefore, temperature needs to be controlled during BBS test. A single linear model is proposed for correction of bond strength when testing at a single temperature and different stiffness conditions.
Community Members ‟ Knowledge , Perception And Health Seeking Behaviour On Preterm Birth In Bawku Municipality Of Ghana

Neonatal mortality has remained astronomically high globally and most of these deaths are from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Preterm birth is associated with a higher risk of neonatal deaths and accounts for about 31% of neonatal deaths in Ghana. The objective of the study was to explore the perceived causes, knowledge and health-seeking behaviour of preterm birth among community members in Bawku Municipality of Ghana.A total of 11 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with the following study participants: women groups (n = 6) and men groups (n = 5) making a total of 67 participants. In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) were also conducted for 50 participants comprising mothers of preterm newborns (n = 21), Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) (n = 9), Grandmothers of preterm babies (n = 13) and grandfathers of preterm babies (n = 7) using discussion guide.Recognition of preterm/baby included a baby born with gestational age less than 9 months, low weight (baby born with weight less than 2.50kg), frail and skinny, floppy, lack of eyelashes and nails, transparent body among others. Perceived causes were teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortions, weak sperms of men, prolonged use of family planning method, extra marital sex by the father and witchcraft. Severe signs or symptoms which pose the critical need for care seeking prompts parents/caregivers to seek health care for their preterm babies such as convulsions, lethargy, severe diarrhoea and vomiting, localized infections and refusal to suck.The study participants were able to recognise preterm babies with various descriptions and reiterated that prematurity was a major health challenge which needed holistic care. Most study participants are aware of some of the causes of preterm births but the belief in supernatural causes was pervasive. Stepping up a sustained health education campaign on preterm birth in health facilities and communities is therefore strongly recommended.
Regional Divergence and Returns to Schooling

Regional economic disparities are large and persistent in EU-8 countries, thanks in part to weak wage and mobility adjustment. In this paper, local returns to education in the Czech Republic are estimated and linked to changing educational composition of local labor force. There is large variation in local educational endowment and relative wages. Districts with more college educated labor force display higher increases in their educational endowment and higher returns to education. This is consistent with models of regional divergence driven by advanced technology adoption or human capital spillovers. JEL classi cation: J31, P23. Keywords: Czech Republic, Local Returns to Education. Acknowledgements This paper is part of the Innodrive project nanced by the EU 7th Framework Programme, No. 214576. The author is also a¢ liated with CEPR, London, IZA, Bonn, and WDI, Ann Arbor. The author would like to thank the Ministry of Labor and Social A¤airs of the Czech Republic and Trexima Ltd. for data access and Vladimír Smolka of Trexima for helpful data assistance. Address CERGE-EI, POB 882, Politických vμezμ n°u 7, Prague, Czech Republic. E-mail: stepan.jurajda@cerge-ei.cz CERGE-EI is a joint workplace of the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education, Charles University, and the Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.