Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variable chemical defences in plants and their effects on herbivore behaviour

Most plants exhibit very high chemical variability from scales of within individuals to between populations and between species. This extraordinary variation has not yet been adequately explained. One potential explanation is that variability may benefit the plants by making them a more unpredictable environment for herbivores. I explored this possibility with a dynamic state variable model. I assumed a concave benefits curve and modelled the behaviour of a herbivore on two types of plants. Each plant type had the same mean level of toxins, but one had a variable distribution of toxins while the other was completely predictable. In each time step, the herbivore either foraged or reproduced. If it foraged, it could either accept or reject the plant encountered. The model predicted that, when herbivores had intermediate energy levels, they would reject variable-toxin plants, as long as there were constant-toxin plants in the environment and the benefits curve was sufficiently concave. This emphasized the importance of herbivore choice in plant defence and demonstrated that variability can be an additional level of defence for some plants.
THE EFFECT OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING THROUGH ONLINE TUTORIALS INTEGRATING LEARNING STRATEGY IN IMPROVING THE INDEPENDENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF BIOLOGY EDUCATION STUDENTS

The students of long distance education were demanded to had high self-regulated learning so that they could survive and success in their study. Therefore, they had to be trained to do self-regulated learning so that they could improve their academic achievements. This research was a quasi-experimental research involved 63 the students of long distance education of Biology Education who got used to do self-regulated learning through online tutorials integrating learning strategy and were given a guide of self-regulated learning and 48 the students who did not receive the treatments. After the online tutorials finished, the students filled the scale of self-regulated learning and had final exams. Besides, they filled open ended questioners and were interviewed. Based on the statistical results, the students who got self-regulated learning through online tutorials integrating the learning strategy and the learning guide significantly got higher score of self-regulated learning compared to the students who did not. Likewise the students' academic achievements were significantly higher than the students without treatments. In the future, it was suggested that the integration of the learning strategy into online tutorials should be done to all courses so that the students could had higher self-regulated learning influenced the academic achievements.
Mediational Role of Perceptual Styles in L2 Lexical Inferencing and the Associated Strategy Use

Due to the critical role that perceptual learning styles as indicators of individual differences play in L2 learners' activities and thus their academic achievement, the present investigation was aimed to study the role of L2 learners' perceptual styles in lexical inferencing and also the strategies used for lexical inferences in the Iranian context of English language learning. To this end, 134 participants majoring in different engineering fields took part in the study. They received strategy training on how to infer the meanings of unfamiliar words. They then answered a perceptual styles preferences questionnaire and were tested on the selected texts for lexical inferencing. They were asked to extract the meaning of unfamiliar words and simultaneously identify the relevant strategy employed for lexical inferencing by marking it on the strategy questionnaire. The analysis identified the biggest number of participants as being kinesthetic despite the fact that classes were mainly held through audio-visual activities. The findings also showed a meaningful difference between group categories of styles preferences and their lexical inferencing ability (F=4.57, p<.05). As for the modifying effect of perceptual styles on the strategies used by various groups of learners, 'visual learners' were found to have the highest correlation with ‘syntactic knowledge analysis’ (r=.70, p=.01). The results of the study point to the importance of individual differences in the perception of and interaction with the learning environment. Keywords: perceptual learning styles; lexical inferencing; strategy training; strategy use; L2 DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2016-2201-14
Vote Choice, Ideology, and Social Dominance Orientation Influence Preferences for Lower Pitched Voices in Political Candidates

Humans are equipped with a psychological system of followership that evolved to regulate choices of leaders based partly on would-be leaders’ physiological features. One such feature is voice pitch, which is determined by the physiology of the throat. Recent studies find that political candidates in modern elections with lower-pitched voices are generally more successful. As lower-pitched voices are perceived as stronger and more dominant, these findings have been taken to indicate a general preference for dispositional abilities in leaders to protect and prevail in conflicts. Here we extend upon these findings by demonstrating that conservatives and Republicans tend to view the world as much more competitive and threatening than liberals and Democrats. We utilize two existing data sources to show that political candidates with lower-pitched voices are preferred more among conservative Republicans than among liberal Democrats. In a third study we show that preferences for lower-pitched candidate voices stem from individual differences in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). Importantly, across all three studies subjects’ party affiliation, ideology, and SDO only predict preferences for male candidate voices. We conclude with a discussion of the results in relation to followership psychology and general debates on the rationality of the public with respect to elections.
Pedagogies that engage five to eight year old children's imagination and creativity at school

Children’s imagination and creativity are widely recognised as important to learning in the early years (Bruner, 1986; Egan, 2005; Vygotsky 1967/2004). What is not clear is how Australian teachers nurture this aspect of thinking and learning when children enter formal schooling. The aim of this study was to investigate the pedagogies employed by teachers reputed to be exemplary practitioners to foster 5-8 year old children’s imagination and creativity. This study used descriptive case study to explore the thinking, actions and insights of three teachers in different settings. Data were collected using non-participant observation and video recording of classroom interactions; and a video-stimulated review interview process. Analysis revealed four common pedagogies that fostered imagination and creativity across the curriculum. They were: supporting children to direct their own learning through play; listening to children; provoking children’s thinking and emotions; and tolerance of ambiguity and mistakes. The findings demonstrated that teachers in the early years of school can successfully use pedagogies that engage children’s imagination and creativity, within the perceived constraints of curriculum, timetabling and space. Future research into this topic could investigate children’s responses to these pedagogies.
Seasonal Evaluation of Mineral Elements, Heavy Metals, Essential Amino Acids, Proximate Compositions and Pesticides in Goat Milk

Samples of goat milk were collected from different locations of Kano state in wet and dry seasons. The samples were analysed for mineral elements, heavy metals, essential amino acids, proximate compositions and persistent organic pollutants using standard methods of chemical analysis. The flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) results indicated that the mean concentrations of calcium and magnesium in the samples are 329±15.66 mg/kg and 118±8.75 mg/kg respectively. These values are above the National Environmental Standards Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) set values for food, drug and beverages. The mean concentrations of zinc, copper and nickel in the samples were 2.01±0.29, 0.69±0.02 and 0.89±0.12 mg/kg respectively. These values were slightly above the standard. The mean levels of lead, cadmium and chromium in the samples were 0.02±0.003, 0.02±0.004 and 0.01±0.003 mg/kg respectively. This implies that the samples were rich in mineral elements and essential metals and safe from toxic metals contaminations. The chromatographic analysis for essential amino acids in the samples revealed high concentrations of lysine, histidine, threonine, valine, methionine, leucine, isoleucine and phenylalanine of 7.58, 2.78, 4.22, 5.23, 3.31, 6.99, 9.04 and 4.00 in g/100 g protein respectively compared to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) standards values. The Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was performed using MATLAB student version IV software, the results indicated strong and moderate positive correlations between mineral elements and essential amino acids while weak and low correlations were observed between essential metals and toxic metals, this showed the strong metal binding property between the amino acids, mineral elements and essential heavy metals, all the values were determined at significant level of P≥0.05. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the organochlorine pesticides in the samples indicated that the level of pesticides were below the detection limit (BDL) for both seasons. This indicated that the samples of this study were free from the pesticides contamination; this could be attributed to restriction and compliance for the usage or the economy because most of these pesticides are very expensive.
Quantifying the relationship beween land cover and biological condition of headwater streams

There has been considerable effort recently to gain insight into the relationships between the characteristics of catchments and the ecological status of streams within rural landscapes. Some such studies have been confounded by the natural changes seen in land use longitudinally along a river, or have been limited by poor replication. As part of the long-running Countryside Survey programme, a random-stratified sample of over 400 replicate headwaters across all British landscape types has been sampled every eight years since 1990. The macroinvertebrate and aquatic plant communities were sampled and the hydromorphological features were surveyed at each site. Adjacent riparian vegetation and habitats were mapped in detail as well as catchment land cover for each stream site. Such a comprehensive dataset allows a robust assessment of the association between catchment and riparian land use and stream biological integrity. Very few significant correlations were found between cover of particular land uses and stream condition. In general there was considerable unexplained variation in the biological data. Only the aquatic plant Mean Trophic Rank score (MTR; an index of nutrient enrichment) showed a consistent association with catchment and riparian land cover. MTR scores were positively associated with forest and natural grassland cover and negatively associated with arable and improved pasture cover. Relationships between biotic measures and land cover were generally not improved by restricting the spatial extent of the analysis from the whole of Britain to a more homogenous landscape type, e.g. easterly lowland; nor was it improved by standardising the observed family richness of macroinvertebrates by a site-specific prediction of reference conditions. This analysis reveals the complexity of relating land cover to stream biology.
Serological Investigation of Maedi-Visna in Sheep with Chronic Respiratory Disease in Erbil, Iraq*

Absract: Maedi-Visna is a chronic and progressive viral disease most commonly seen in adult sheep. Disease is characterized by progressive interstitial pneumonia and/or neurological manifestations. The aim of this study is to serologically reveal the presence of Maedi-Visna in adult sheep in Erbil province in Iraq, which is an important area of sheep farming and also to investigate the prevalence of Maedi-Visna disease in sheep with chronic respiratory problems. Blood samples were obtained from 100 male and female Awassi sheep between 2 and 8 years old which were suffering from chronic pneumonia. The samples were obtained from the different locations in the city of Erbil and its provinces (Hawler, Dashti Hawler, Maxmur and Xebat) between January and April 2016. Blood samples were analysed for Maedi-Visna by using ELISA method in laboratory. According to the analysis, of 100 samples; positive, suspected and negative results were determined as 65%, 3% and 32%, respectively. Seropositivity increased with regard to age and it was determined higher in ewes. Highest seropositivity was determined in Hawler. Clinical findings such as emaciation, coughing, dyspnea, mastitis and paralysis were detected considerably high in the animals. As a result, Maedi-Visna was observed in animals with chronic respiratory system disease with high rate in Iraq-Erbil region. As this is the first study performed in the region related with Maedi-Visna, we believe that this study will provide a basis for the further studies in the region.
Effect of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Marketing Capabilities on Greenhouse Businesses Performance in Jiroft County, Iran

The aim of this survey was to investigate the effect of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities on greenhouses businesses performance. The statistical population of the study consisted of all the greenhouse owners in Jiroft County (N= 1022). A sample size of 246 was selected using a stratified random sampling method (n= 246). Data was collected through a questionnaire. Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. Construct validity and composite reliability of the research instrument were tested by estimating the measurement model and they were satisfactory after making the necessary corrections. The data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling technique. Results indicated that the total mean of the greenhouse businesses performance was at a level of lower than average and the customer performance had the highest average among the three dimensions of performance. Also, results showed that the two variables of entrepreneurial orientation (ρ-value= 0.001, β= 0.354) and marketing capabilities (ρ-value= 0.001, β= 0.501) had significant and positive effects on greenhouse businesses performance; accordingly, research hypotheses were supported. Based on the results of the study, planning and effort to improve and strengthen entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities in greenhouses can considerably increase performance and sustain their activity in the competitive environment.
Natural Face-to-Face Conversation with Socially Intelligent Robots

When humans engage in face-to-face conversation, they use their voices, faces, and bodies together in a rich, multimodal, continuous, interactive process. For a robot to participate fully in this sort of natural, faceto-face conversation in the real world, it must also be able not only to understand the multimodal communicative signals of its human partners, but also to produce understandable, appropriate, and natural communicative signals in response. A robot capable of this form of interaction can be used in a large number of areas: for example, it could take the role of a home companion, a museum tour guide, a tutor, or a personal health coach. While a number of such robots have been successfully deployed, the full potential of socially interactive robots has not been realised, due both to incomplete models of human multimodal communication and to technical limitations. However, thanks to recent developments in a number of areas— including techniques for datadriven interaction models, methods of evaluating interactive robots in real-world contexts, and off-the-shelf component technology—the goal of developing a naturally interactive robot is now increasingly achievable
Board Characteristics and Dividend Payout: Evidence from Malaysian Public Listed Companies

The main objective of this paper is to examine the relationships between board characteristics and dividend payout among the Malaysian public listed companies. A sample of 164 Malaysian companies for the year 2013 was selected from the Bursa Malaysia website. This paper examines the relationships between independent non-executive directors,board size, CEO, proportion of family member on board and concentrated ownerships and dividend payout among the Malaysian listed companies. The findings show that concentrated ownership is found to be positive and significant in influencing the dividend payout. But, the independent director is also found to be significant in influencing the dividend payout in negative direction. The finding of this study will be worthy for the companies, investors as well as the policy makers and regulators in Malaysia by providing information on the effectiveness of some corporate governance mechanisms that influence the firm dividend payout after the implementation of revised Code on Corporate Governance 2012 to make important recommendations for the improvement in the corporate governance practices in Malaysia. Keywords: Dividend payout, Corporate Governance, Ownership Structure, CEO
The Effects of Mindfulness on Self-Rumination, Self-Reflection, and Depressive Symptoms: A Research Proposal

The investigation of mindfulness has increased significantly over the past decade regarding its efficacy as a clinical tool, particularly in the treatment of depression. Mindfulness is often conceptualized as a mental state characterized by present-moment, non-judgmental attention and awareness. Past researchers have suggested that mindfulness is linked to reduction of self-rumination (i.e. maladaptive self-focused attention to one’s self-worth) through promotion of concrete focus and inhibition of automatic elaboration of intrusive thoughts. Moreover, mindfulness also promotes low-level construal thinking (i.e. concrete thinking) which competes against high-level construal thinking (i.e. abstract thinking). Researchers have proposed that self-rumination involves high-level construal of the self and others, which could increase the likelihood of experiencing negative moods. On the other hand, mindfulness may potentially promote self-reflection (i.e. adaptive self-focused attention to the self) while inhibiting self-rumination. The purpose of this paper is to propose a research idea that will explore the relationship between mindfulness, self-rumination, self-reflection, and depressive symptoms (i.e., low mood, anhedonia or ability to feel pleasure, and changes in sleep). The findings of the proposed research may have significant implications for treatment of depressive symptoms and for promotion of positive outcomes such as mitigation of self-rumination and enhancement of self-reflective processes through potential effects of mindfulness.
Emotional understanding as a predictor of socio-emotional functioning and school achievement in adolescence

The main goal of our research was to investigate whether the ability of emotional understanding can predict students' school achievement over and above fluid intelligence and the Big Five personality factors. A sample of 493 pupils (45% girls) participated in this study (Mage = 12.61, SD = 1.12). According to our results, girls were slightly better than boys in understanding emotions. Girls also had a slightly higher GPA than boys, and reported engaging in more altruistic and prosocial behavior than boys. As expected, boys reported more aggressive behaviors than girls. Understanding emotions had a weak but significant effect on the prediction of aggressive behavior. It also accounted for an additional 5% (for boys) and 9% (for girls) of the variance of GPA, after controlling for fluid intelligence and personality factors. A better understanding of emotions is important for academic achievement, as well as for well-being and adjustment in the educational environment.
Mitochondrial pseudogenes in insect DNA barcoding: differing points of view on the same issue

Molecular tools have been used in taxonomy for the purpose of identification and classification of living organisms. Among these, a short sequence of the mitochondrial DNA, popularly known as DNA barcoding, has become very popular. However, the usefulness and dependability of DNA barcodes have been recently questioned because mitochondrial pseudogenes, non-functional copies of the mitochondrial DNA incorporated into the nuclear genome, have been found in various taxa. When these paralogous sequences are amplified together with the mitochondrial DNA, they may go unnoticed and end up being analyzed as if they were orthologous sequences. In this contribution the different points of view regarding the implications of mitochondrial pseudogenes for entomology are reviewed and discussed. A discussion of the problem from a historical and conceptual perspective is presented as well as a discussion of strategies to keep these nuclear mtDNA copies out of sequence analyzes.
Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Crack Propagation in Dragonfly Wing Veins

The vinous wings of insects are complex biological structures with remarkable mechanical behavior. The wings mainly consist of veins and membranes. The membranes of the wing are not mechanically tough. But, the whole wing structure reveals a significant resistance to crack propagation. In this paper, a combination of scanning electron microscopy technique, experimental tensile tests and numerical simulation is employed to investigate the effect of the veins on the “toughening mechanism” of the wings. The numerical simulation of crack propagation in the vein is based on the extended finite element method. Linear elastic material properties and linear traction-separation law are used to simulate the constitutive behavior of the vein materials. The microscopic images show that the veins have a tubular microstructure that consists of layers made of chitin and protein. The results from numerical simulations demonstrate that each vein layer effectively cope with the stresses due to external loading. But, the presence of protein plays an important role in arresting the crack growth. Comparison of the results reveals a very good agreement between numerical simulations and experimental data.
Polarization Measurements of the Three Spectral Types of Solar Radio Burst

A swept-frequency technique was used for measuring the polarization of solar radio bursts occurring at the beginning of the present sunspot cycle. Of special interest were the results for bursts of spectral type III. Contrary to the inference drawn from earlier work, it was found that many of these bursts are highly polarized. Furthermore, there were strong indications that the polarization is produced at the radiation source and is not imposed by propagation conditions in the overlying media.
The Association between Perceived Audit Firm Service Quality and Behavioural Intentions

The aim of this study was to develop and test an instrument for measuring service quality in an audit firm setting and then use this instrument to evaluate the influence of service quality perceptions on audit firm clients' intentions to purchase additional services. Based on qualitative research and secondary data, a questionnaire-based instrument was developed and assessed for reliability and validity. Data collected with the developed instrument was then used in a canonical correlation analysis. The developed instrument was found to be reliable and valid. It was further found that enhanced service quality was not associated with the provision of additional services but was associated with recommendations to prospective new clients and was weakly associated with retention of the audit firm.