Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Differentiated Instruction Strategies and Traditional-Based Instruction on the Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Students

This study investigates and compares the efficacy of differentiated instruction and traditional-based instruction on enhancing Iranian students’ reading comprehension. Eight elementary, intermediate, and advanced classrooms from 1 language institute were chosen, and based on their performance on the pretests were further divided into 4 control and 4 treatment groups. Flexible grouping, tiered instruction, and tiered assignment strategies were adopted to differentiate the content, process, and product in the treatment groups. Results of the final achievement tests revealed that implementing differentiated instruction was effective in fostering the participants ’ reading comprehension in the elementary and intermediate classrooms, but no meaningful difference was found in the final performance of the advanced level classrooms.
Land-Use Change Impact on Soil Sustainability in a Climate and Vegetation Transition Zone

A growing world population and climate change are expected to influence future agricultural productivity and land use. This study determined the impact of land-use change on soil sustain - ability and discussed the factors contributing to these changes. South Dakota was selected as a model system because corn ( Zea mays L.) grain prices tripled between 2006 and 2012 and it is located in a climate and grassland/cropland transition zone. High resolution imagery was used to visually determine land uses (cropland, grassland, nonagricultural, habitat, and water) at 14,400 points in 2006 and 2012. At each point, land-use change and the USDA land capability class (LCC) were determined. Over the 6-yr study period, 6.87% of the grasslands (730,000 ha) were converted to cropland, with 93% occurring on lands generally considered suitable for crop production (LCC £ IV) if appropriate practices are followed. Converted grasslands, however, had higher LCC values than existing croplands and lower LCC values than remaining grasslands. In addition, 4.2% of the croplands (250,000 ha) were converted to grasslands, and statewide, 20,000 ha of croplands were converted to grasslands in areas limited by excess water (LCC V). The conversion of grasslands could not be linked to one specific factor and may be related to: (i) a desire to increase financial returns, (ii) changes in the land ownership structure, (iii) technology improvements, (iv) governmental policies, (v) climate change, and (vi) an aging workforce. Research and outreach programs that balance the goods and services of different land uses are needed to maintain sustainable agroecosystems.
Evolutionary Stability of Linguistic Politeness and the Politeness Equilibrium Principle

Unlike many facets of language – phonology, syntax, semantics or even pragmatics – linguistic politeness (LP) has attracted little attention of evolutionarily minded researchers. We think that this lack of interest – apart from a few isolated attempts (van Rooy, 2003; Żywiczyński, 2012; Wacewicz et al., 2015; Pleyer & Pleyer, 2016) is not dictated by a peripheral status of LP for the description of language, and especially for language evolution. LP is a universal characteristic of languages (cf. Brown & Levinson, 1987) but its specific markers are subject to considerable cultural variation, a combination of features that makes it an interesting target for evolutionary modeling. Next, LP is first and foremost a set of interactional strategies, and hence naturally lends itself to rendering in game-theoretic terms (cf. Quinley, 2011). In this paper, we take a game-theoretic approach and make a case that LP can be subsumed under a more general explanatory principle: disalignment of interests. This is formally expressed as the Politeness Equilibrium Principle (PEP), whereby the more disalignment there is between the interests of Speaker and Hearer, the more LP Speaker needs to use to offset the imbalance. Furthermore, we present a game-theoretic model to show that the use of LP predicated on the PEP forms an evolutionary stable system.
A simple method for determining maize silage density on farms

Several methodologies have been tested to evaluate silage density, with direct methods most popular, whereas indirect methods that can be used under field conditions are still in development and improvement stages. This study aimed to establish relationships between estimates of maize silage density determined using a direct and an indirect method, in an endeavor to provide an alternative to direct measurement for use in the field. Measurements were performed on maize silage in 14 silos. The direct method involved the use of a metal cylinder with a saw-tooth cutting edge attached to a chainsaw to extract a core of silage. Density of the silage was determined taking into consideration the cylinder volume and dry matter weight of silage removed at 5 points on the silage face. With the indirect method, a digital penetrometer was used to estimate silage density by measuring the penetration resistance at 2 points adjacent to the spots where the silage cores were taken, i.e. 10 readings per silo. Values of penetration resistance (measured in MPa) were correlated with the values of silage mass (kg/m 3 ) obtained by direct measurement through polynomial regression analysis. A positive quadratic relationship was observed between penetration resistance and silage density for both natural matter and dry matter (R² = 0.57 and R² = 0.80, respectively), showing that the penetrometer was a reasonably reliable and simple indirect method to determine the density of dry matter in maize silage. Further testing of the machine on other silos is needed to verify these results. Keywords : Ensiled matter, penetrometer, resistance, silos evaluation.
PREVALENCE OF FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH SOYBEAN SEEDS AND PATHOGENICITY TESTS OF THE MAJOR SEED-BORNE PATHOGENS

Shovan L.R. , Bhuiyan M. K. A. , Sultana N. , Begum J. A.and Pervez Z. 2008. Prevalence of Fungi Associated with Soybean Seeds and Pathogenicity Tests of the Major Seed-Borne Pathogens. Int. J. Sustain. Crop Prod. 3(4):24-33 An investigation to detect the seed borne fungi of soybean and the pathogenicity tests of two major seedborne fungal pathogens against soybean was conducted in the Microbiology Laboratory of Plant Pathology Department, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, during 2005 to 2006. A total of 33 soybean seed samples were collected from four different locations namely Gazipur (BARI), Mymensingh (BAU), Meherpur (local farmer) and Noakhali (local farmer) representing three varieties and 16 genotypes. Blotter method was used for detection of the associated fungi of soybean seeds. Altogether, ten fungi comprising nine genera namely Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Chaetomium globosum, Colletotrichum dematium, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium oxysporum, Macrophomina phaseolina, Penicillium sp. and Rhizopus stolonifer were found to be associated with the tested soybean seed samples. The germination of seed samples varied from 16-98 %. Germination of seeds was directly related to the prevalence of fungi associated with the seed. The pathogenicity test was performed with 25 isolates of C. dematium and 33 isolates of F. oxysporum against the variety Shohag in pot culture. All the tested isolates of both the pathogens were found to be pathogenic. Among the tested 25 isolates of C. dematium two isolates namely C19 and C20 collected from Noakhali district from variety Shohag were appeared to be virulent. Twelve were appeared to be moderately virulent while rest of the 11 isolates was found to be weak pathogen. Among the tested isolates of F. oxysporum, three isolates namely F21, F22 and F23 were appeared to be highly virulent. Seven isolates were found to be virulent, 13 isolates showed moderately virulence reaction and 10 isolates were appeared to be weak pathogens.
Effect of family strength over the psychological well-being and internal locus of control

If the development of the concept of “self” as a unit distinct from the environment ontogenetically follows the development of the concept of “us”, then psychosocial constructs would play a very important role in explaining psychological constructs. The current study explores to what extent the psychosocial construct “family strength” can be used to predict the psychological constructs “psychological well-being” and “internal locus of control”. Three different scales were administered to a non-probability sample of 400 subjects (153 males and 247 females) to measure family strength, psychological well-being and internal locus of control. Structural Equation Models found that 67% of the variance in psychological well-being and 59% of the variance in internal locus of control were predicted by “family commitment-trust” with good data adjustment (χ2/df = 1.78, GFI = .95, AGFI = .94, and NFI = .92). These findings show the primacy of the psychosocial dimension over the psychological dimension. The article discusses the implications of these findings for professional healthcare practice.
Extended supernova shock breakout signals from inflated stellar envelopes

Stars close to the Eddington luminosity can have large low-density inflated envelopes. We show that the rise times of shock breakout signals from supernovae can be extended significantly if supernova progenitors have an inflated stellar envelope. If the shock breakout occurs in such inflated envelopes, the shock breakout signals diffuse in them, and their rise time can be significantly extended. Then, the rise times of the shock breakout signals are dominated by the diffusion time in the inflated envelope rather than the light-crossing time of the progenitors. We show that our inflated Wolf-Rayet star models whose radii are of the order of the solar radius can have shock breakout signals which are longer than ~100 sec. The existence of inflated envelopes in Wolf-Rayet supernova progenitors may be related to the mysterious long shock breakout signal observed in Type Ib SN 2008D. Extended shock breakout signals may provide evidence for the existence of inflated stellar envelopes and can be used to constrain the physical properties of these enigmatic structures.
THE IMPACT OF U.S. FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS ON FERTILITY AND MORTALITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE WAR ON POVERTY AND TITLE X

Over forty years ago, the U.S. government adopted a policy of funding domestic family planning services, and the effects of these programs have been debated ever since. Within an event-study framework, I exploit community-level variation in the timing of federal grants for family planning services under the Economic Opportunity Act (1965 to 1974) and Title X (1970 to 1980) to evaluate their impact. The results provide robust evidence that federal family planning grants reduced birth rates in funded communities by four percent within six years. I find no evidence that family planning grants reduced maternal or infant mortality rates.
Assessment of Landuse Change and Its Impact on Watershed Hydrology Using Remote Sensing and SWAT Modeling Techniques A Case of Rawal Watershed in Pakistan

Assessment of hydrological effects of the landuse transformations on both water yield and flow regimes is an imperative aspect in watershed management. Dealing with water management issues requires analyzing of different elements of hydrologic processes taking place in a watershed area. In the present study, hydrological response of the Rawal watershed (located in the sub-Himalayan region) was studied to historical landuse evolution and variable landuse change scenarios using SWAT -Soil and Water Assessment Tool model. The temporal analysis of LANDSAT TM (1992) and LANDSAT ETM plus (2010) image data revealed a decrease of over 16% in the scrub forest coverage while built-up land increased three folds during 1992-2010 period. Major part of the scrub forest had converted into agriculture and built-up land besides rangeland in some areas. The landuse changes resulted in an increase of about 6.0% in the water yield and 14.3% in the surface runoff of the watershed. The scenario of extreme deforestation likely due to growth in urbanization, exhibited a decrease of about 0.4% in the water yield and an increase of about 122% in the sediment yield from base conditions of 2010 period. In case of an afforestation scenario (e.g. increase of scrub coverage to about 76%), the sediment yield decreased by about 11.4%. Appropriate soil conservation measures based on suitable afforestation techniques can prove influential in mitigating the risk of soil erosion in this fragile mountain ecosystem of the Himalayan region.
Surface modifications for improved aqueous lubrication under low-contact-pressure conditions

The reduction of the interfacial friction between two surfaces in relative motion is a prerequisite for the proper functioning of many systems, ranging from machine parts to human joints. While the lubrication of two contacting surfaces primarily aims at the reduction of friction and wear, either by a separation of the surfaces by means of a fluid film or by introducing a layer of low shear strength between them, additional requirements such as the environmental compatibility of a lubricant or the energy efficiency of tribological systems have become important during recent years. From this perspective, the substitution of traditional oil-based lubricants with aqueous systems would be highly beneficial for specific tribological systems. Although water cannot significantly increase its inherently low viscosity under pressure, Nature demonstrates that aqueous lubrication is feasible and highly effective under certain circumstances. The objective of this thesis is to investigate surface modifications that promote the reduction of the macroscopic interfacial friction in aqueous environments. With the focus on mild contact-pressure conditions, it was feasible to investigate strongly attached self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as well as polymer brushes with respect to their aqueous lubricating properties on a macroscopic scale. In the first part of the thesis, the basic surface-chemical as well as structural parameters that were considered important in aqueous lubrication, were investigated by means of different thiol SAMs on gold surfaces. The setup developed for tribological experiments consisted of a conventional pin-on-disk tribometer with a soft elastomeric rather than a rigid slider, which additionally allowed for the ex situ investigation of the tribologically stressed area by means of spectroscopic techniques. The macroscopic sliding friction as experienced from alkanethiol SAMs against an oxi-
EVIDENCE OF BANK LENDING CHANNEL IN MALAYSIA

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of banks in the transmission of monetary policy and business cycle. This paper attempts to look into the assets side as a monetary policy channel to influence economic activities. Changes in the monetary policy channel give an idea to regulate and strengthen the banking industry. The different views raise the following questions: how do changes in the monetary policy transmission affect commercial banks portfolio? If bank lending plays as a monetary policy channel, does it affect the other portfolios? Do the current regulations (such as capital requirement)affect the bank portfolio behaviour? Furthermore, Generalise Least Squares method was used to estimate the monetary changes toward commercial banks portfolio. Annual data was compiled from the year 1994 until 2004. The number of observations was based on the combination of time series and cross-sectional data, which is known as pooled data. In addition, an unbalanced bank-level panel data set for commercial banks was used. Finally, our results found that there exists a bank-lending channel in the case of Malaysia.
Deeply divergent mitochondrial lineages reveal patterns of local endemism in chironomids of the Australian Wet Tropics.

The Wet Tropics bioregion of north-eastern Australia has been subject to extensive fluctuations in climate throughout the late Pliocene and Pleistocene. Cycles of rainforest contraction and expansion of dry sclerophyll forest associated with such climatic fluctuations are postulated to have played a major role in driving geographical endemism in terrestrial rainforest taxa. Consequences for the distributions of aquatic organisms, however, are poorly understood.The Australian non-biting midge species Echinocladius martini Cranston (Diptera: Chironomidae), although restricted to cool, well-forested freshwater streams, has been considered to be able to disperse among populations located in isolated rainforest pockets during periods of sclerophyllous forest expansion, potentially limiting the effect of climatic fluctuations on patterns of endemism. In this study, mitochondrial COI and 16S data were analysed for E. martini collected from eight sites spanning the Wet Tropics bioregion to assess the scale and extent of phylogeographic structure. Analyses of genetic structure showed several highly divergent cryptic lineages with restricted geographical distributions. Within one of the identified lineages, strong genetic structure implied that dispersal among proximate (<1 km apart) streams was extremely restricted. The results suggest that vicariant processes, most likely due to the systemic drying of the Australian continent during the Plio-Pleistocene, might have fragmented historical E. martini populations and, hence, promoted divergence in allopatry.
Capital Budgeting of Major Lodging Chains

The long-term performance of the lodging chain is highly dependent on the use of the most effective techniques for evaluating capital projects. This study provides information on the critical aspects of lodging chains' capital budgeting practices and compares current ones with those used by chains in 1980 and 1990. This article is available in Hospitality Review: http://digitalcommons.fiu. edu/hospitalityreview/vol20/iss1/4 Capital budgeting of major lodging chains by James W. Damitio and Raymond S. Schmidgall The long-term pifomance of the lodging chain is highly dependent on Me use of the most effective techniques for evaluating capital pmjects. i s study provides information on the critial aspects of lodging chains' capital budgeting practices and compares current ones with those used by chains in 1980 and 1990. A lodging chain's capital budgeting practices are crucial to the long-term performance of the entity. Capital expenditures not only entail investment risk due to the large dollar amounts usually involved, but also uncertainty risk due to the long-term horizon involved in such decisions. Several studies of capital budgeting practices of non-hospitality firms have been conducted over the last 40 years. In general, the use of discounted cash flow (DCF) models has increased significantly. Istvan conducted a study of the capital budgeting practices of large non-hospitality corporations and found that only 10 percent of the companies surveyed used the more sophisticated DCF models at that time. ' Eleven years later Klammer studied 184 large industrial tirms and found little change, with few h s using the DCF techniques. " Fremgen found in his study that significant changes in capital budgeting practices were occurring when he surveyed the financial executives of 250 non-hospitality business lirms. He found that about 57 percent of the respondents'hs were using net present value or internal rate of return methods of capital b~dgeting. ~ Other studies were done by Farragher and Gitman and Forrester that also showed increased use of the DCF methods by non-hospitality h s . ' Chen did a study of the capital budgeting practices of 599 publiclyheld manufacturing firms. The study involved three types of investment projects: equipment replacement, expansion of existing 34 FIU Hospitality ReuiewlSpring 2002
Efficacy and Safety of Tenofovir and Entecavir in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B - Comparative Cohort Study

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global problem and >350 million HBV carriers in the world. HBV infection causes chronic hepatitis and can lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Aim: To evaluate safety and efficacy of Tenofovir and Entecavir medications in liver disease course in HBVdecompensated cirrhosis patients Patients & Methods: The study was carried out in hepatology Out-Patient Clinic, Amiri hospital, Kuwait. Forty six HBV decompensated cirrhosis patients were classified into 2 groups; Tenofovir group (n=23) and Entecavir group (n=23). All patients underwent clinical examination, laboratory data (liver profile, HBV DNA, eGFR, Phosphate) and Assessment of Child-Pugh (CP) score, Model for end stage liver disease (M ELD) score before and after treatment. Results: Baseline HBV DNA and liver enzymes of both groups showed no significant difference before treatment. 21 (91.3%) of patients of in each group had undetectable HBV DNA at 12 months. CP and MELD scores among the 2 groups showed improvement in both scores after treatment with similar changes in both scores between the 2 medications at any time. Comparison of eGFR among the 2groups showed no changes at any time in eGFR at each group and in between the 2 groups. Conclusion: Both antivirals (Tenofovir and Entecavir) were well tolerated; none of the patients discontinued therapy, while eGFRs were not different between Tenofovir and Entecavir groups during the follow up period, the patients had excellent virological response without viral breakthrough and with improvement in severity of liver disease.
INFLUENCE OF SOIL SOLARIZATION ON PHYTOPHTHORA CINNAMOMI RANDS IN AVOCADO (PERSEA AMERICANA MILL.)

Two field trials were conducted to evaluate soil solarization effectiveness in controlling avocado (Persea americana Mill.) root rot caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi Rands. The soils at the experimental site have shown a high degree of infection for the last 20 years. In the first trial solarization was applied to 80 diseased adult trees and 60 were used as control. Disease severity index (DSI) was measured visually on a scale from 0 (healthy plant) to 5 (dead plant). All trees were indexed as DSI 3-4 at trial commencement, improving to DSI 2-3 during the first year of solarization; a second treatment further improved trees to DSI 1-2. Maximum temperatures measured at 5 cm depths were 40oC under tree canopy and 45oC in the sun, higher than those described as effective for pathogen elimination. In the second trial, two plots were used to test 450 West Indian race avocados and 78 Persea indica (L.) K. Spreng, the latter as control due to reputed susceptibility to P. cinnamomi. DSI was recorded over a three-year period. Results showed 88% of avocado and 92 % of P. indica survived in the solarized plot; control showed 21 % for avocado and 8 % for P. indica survival. The DSI for plants from the solarized plot were consistently better than those of the control. Both trials show the high efficacy of this technique for control of P. cinnamomi.
Bank profitability and macroeconomy: evidence from Lithuania

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between profitability of the Lithuanian banking sector and its internal and external determinants. We use the panel error correc­tion model to assess long-term and short-term determinants of items from bank income statements (net interest income, net fee and commission income and operating expenses). The results of the pooled mean group estimator show that bank size and real GDP are the main determinants in the long-term. Meanwhile, empirical examination suggests various variables as short-term determinants of income statement items. The pooled mean group estimation technique and the analysis of sepa­rate income statement items enable us to have a better insight into the Lithuanian banking sector and determinants of its revenue and expenses. First published online: 16 Mar 2017