Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Immuno-flow cytometric identification and enumeration of the ichthyotoxic dinoflagellate Gyrodinium aureolum Hulburt in artificially mixed algal populations

Flow cytometric identification and enumeration of Gyrodinium aureolum Hulburt (Dinophyceae) were performed in artificially mixed algal populations using direct immunofluorescence. Calibration of the flow cytometer, performed with a mixed algal population spiked with immunofluorescently labelled G. aureolum cells, showed that selection of target cells after analysis on green and orange fluorescence can be done with a recovery of 91.8% [coefficient of variation (CV) = 0.09]. Other selection methods were less good, with 67.4% (CV = 0.16) and 58.4% (CV = 0.43) recovery based on green and red fluorescence or green fluorescence and perpendicular light scattering. For mixed algal populations spiked with unlabelled G. aureolum cells, the quantification of target cells was quite good (recovery of 76.7%; CV = 0.20). The percentage of total cell loss was high (58.0-92.0%), but this was caused mostly by loss of species smaller in size than G. aureolum. Estimates of the relative contribution of G. aureolum in labelled samples were therefore often far too high, but detection and quantification were not affected. The methodological underestimation (23.3%) was partly caused by gating on green and orange fluorescence (inaccuracy 8.2%).
Impact of microzooplankton on the progression and fate of the spring bloom in fjords of northern Norway

The objective of the study was to determine the role of microzooplankton in the fate of primary production and progression of the spring phytoplankton bloom in high latitude fjords. The 3 fjords, Balsfjord, Malangen and Ullsfjord (Norway), varied in oceanic influence and in the rate of development of the spring bloom. The abundance of Phaeocystis pouchetii was relatively low in the spring of 1997 compared to previous years, and diatoms dominated the biomass of the phytoplankton assemblage in all 3 fjords. The mean biomass of microzooplankton in the top 20 m averaged 72, 66 and 80 mg C m -3 and values integrated to 170 m averaged 4560, 4450 and 6820 mg C m -2 in Balsfjord, Malangen and Ullsfjord, respectively. The composition of the microzooplankton was consistent among the fjords and over time, with the proportion of biomass split evenly between nanoflagellates, dinoflagellates and ciliates. Grazing rates of the microzooplankton community were measured with the dilution technique. The impact of microzooplankton grazing was similar among the fjords, accounting for on average 68, 63 and 55% of the production of the < 200 µm phytoplankton in Bals- fjord, Malangen and Ullsfjord, respectively. When integrated to 20 m, based on a microzooplankton biomass-specific ingestion rate, microzooplankton grazing accounted for an estimated 12 to 26% of the gross primary production. However, this does not account for the carbon requirements of a sub- stantial proportion of the microzooplankton that occurred below 20 m. Clearance rates by ciliates of nanophytoplankton cells of a similar size to the single cells of P. pouchetii were determined from the uptake rates of fluorescently labelled algae (FLA). Generally, the taxa of ciliates that were found to ingest FLA accounted for ♢ 50% of the abundance of the ciliate population in each fjord. Taxon-spe- cific ciliate clearance rates of FLA in surface waters varied with ciliate size from 5.6 to 1.3 µl cell -1 h -1 . The FLA-consuming ciliate population cleared a total of 27 〈 10 3 to 141 〈 10 3 µl l -1 d -1 in surface waters. The ingestion rates of the FLA-consuming ciliates were equivalent to between 11 and 29% of the total microzooplankton consumption. It is possible that the grazing pressure exerted by the micro- zooplankton on single cells and small colonies was high enough to decrease the overall competitive- ness of the P. pouchetii populations and contribute to their low abundance.
Moon Effect on Paciic Basin Stock Markets

This is an empirical study on the inluences of moon on seven stock markets, which are Indonesia, Malaysia, United Kingdom, United States, Philippines, Japan, and Thailand. The period is from January 1999 until December 2009 in daily basis. This study investigates the relationship between moon phase and market returns. We divided moon phases into new moon and full moon. While literature mention the relationship between moon phase and market returns, our research reject the null hypothesis in regression analysis. However, the descriptive catches the indication and conirmed previous research. It also proposes that the market is still rational and not moon-mood inluenced. This result is not contending the EMH theorem. Further research is needed in term of investigating the relationship between psychology factors (heuristic bias, information ignorance, and other factors) and investor behavior. The effect of moon on certain anomalies has to examine speciically. ");} // --> activate javascript
An Investigation of Safety Precautions in Primary School Environment in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

This research investigated the availability of safety precautions and the problems associated with safety in schools using some selected primary schools in Bayelsa State, Nigeria as case study. Consent letters and methodology of selection of participants were sent to schools to solicit willingness to be involved in the study. The population of the study comprises of 631 primary school teachers teaching in the 62 primary schools in a Local Education Authority in Bayelsa State. 210 out of the 631 teachers were randomly selected using the staff nominal roll and selecting every 5 th name. The design of the study was a descriptive survey design. Four research questions were posited for the study ranging from security measures, conditions of school buildings, sources of water supply and its availability and the likely safety problems in the participating schools. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire developed by the researcher and validated by experts in measurement and evaluation. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient of 0.78 was realized using test retest method of testing reliability. The findings revealed that there are no security measures in place in the participating primary schools. Most of the school buildings are dilapidated and the classrooms furniture are death traps. The finding of this study shows a gross neglect of safety in the school. Also, there are no regular visitations by the ministry of education to schools to ascertain the nature of safety precautions in the schools. It was therefore recommended that safety measures should be put in place for staff and pupils safety. Such safety measures should be in the form of installation of surveillance cameras in strategic places, provision of firefighting equipments, engaging professional security personnel among others. Keywords: Safety, precaution, primary school, Nigeria, school environment
On the Influence of Channel Tortuosity on Electric Fields Generated by Lightning Return Strokes at Close Distance

In this paper the results of the estimated electric field associated with tortuous lightning paths at close distance (50 m to 500 m) are shown. Such results are compared with experimental data available in the literature and are illustrated along with a quantitative analysis of the field waveforms and their frequency spectra. The limits of the usual straight-vertical channel assumption and the influence of tortuosity at different azimuth and distances from the lightning channel base are also highlighted.
Explaining Child Malnutrition in Ethiopia: The Role of Socioeconomic Status and Maternal Health on Nutritional Condition of Children

The present study examines the relationship of child under-nutrition with maternal health and socioeconomic status of households using the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey in the context of Ethiopia. The sample of the study consists of more than 9000 children who are less than five years of age, which can be considered as a larger country representation than the previous EDHS database. The study included a range of socio-demographic indicators with prior consideration on maternal health indicators, parental education, household wealth status and employment status and occupation of parents; which are sought to reduce the extent of the likely bias in a relatively large dataset. Many biological and development evidences have addressed the wide spread negative consequences of malnutrition in early childhood. However, addressing its adverse impacts require to trace out the causes as well as their pathways. In this regard, many researchers have understood the close association between child nutritional status with maternal health as well as socioeconomic status (SES). This indicates that policies targeting maternal health, education and poverty should also embody the reduction of child malnutrition as one of their major objectives. So, addressing the problems associated with this health and development factors helps not only to improve the health of mothers and household socioeconomic status; but for reducing the intergenerational impact of malnutrition as well thereby improving the health of children and contributes to the reduction of mortality. The results of this study confirm that maternal health, household income and maternal education have strong association with short and long-term child nutritional status. In addition, father’s education and employment as well as occupation in most of the non-professional works have a significant association with the short-term child nutritional status at moderate level. The role of maternal employment on short-term child nutritional status shows that it has positive impact on children with low nutritional status and negative for those with higher nutritional status. Besides, mother’s engagement on unskilled labour occupation was found to be a positive factor for the short-term child health. However, the association of parental employment and occupation type with long-term child nutritional status was found to be very weak or almost insignificant at all. Hence, the presence of significant relationships on maternal health and most of the SES factors in our quantified estimates depicts the role of socioeconomic status and maternal health on determining the distribution of child malnutrition, and contextually in Ethiopia.
On the testing, characterization, and evaluation of PV inverters and dynamic MPPT performance under real varying operating conditions

The increasing number of photovoltaic inverters that are coming on to the PV market stresses the need to carry out a dynamic characterization of these elements and their maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms under real operating conditions. In order to make these conditions repeatable at the laboratory, PV array simulators are used. However, actual simulators, including the commercial simulators, recreate only a single or small set of PV array characteristic curves in which quite commonly theoretical calculations are included in order to simulate irradiance and temperature artificial variations. This is far from being a recreation of the real and long dynamic behavior of a PV array or generator. The testing and evaluation of the performance of PV inverters and MPPT algorithms has to be carried out when the PV system moves dynamically according to real operating conditions, including processes such as rapidly changing atmospheric conditions, partial shadows, dawn, and nightfall. This paper tries to contribute to the analysis of this problem by means of an electronic system that both measures the real evolution of the characteristic curves of PV arrays at outdoor operation and then recreates them at the laboratory to test PV inverters. This way the equipment can highlight the different performances of PV inverters and MPPT techniques when they operate under real operating conditions. As an example, two commercial inverters are tested and analyzed under the recreated behavior of a PV generator during 2 singular days that include processes of partial shading and fast irradiance variations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Credit within the Firm

We exploit time variation in the degree of development of local credit markets and matched employer-employee data to assess the role of the firm as an internal credit market. In less developed local credit markets firms can offer a flatter wage-tenure profile than firms in more developed credit markets to lend implicitly to their workers or offer a steeper profile to implicitly borrow from their workers. We find that firms located in less financially developed markets offer wages that are lower at the beginning of tenure and grow faster than those offered by firms in more financially developed markets, helping firms finance their operations by raising funds from workers. Because we control for local market effects and only exploit time variation in the degree of local financial development induced by an exogenous liberalization, the effect we find is unlikely to reflect unobserved local factors that systematically affect wage tenure profiles. The size of implicit loans is larger for firms with more problematic access to bank credit and workers less likely to face credit constraints. The amount of credit generated by implicit lending within the firm is economically important and can be as large as 30% of bank lending. Consistent with credit market imperfections opening up trade opportunities within the firm, we find that the internal rate of return of implicit loans lies between the rate at which workers savings are remunerated in the market and the rate firms pay on their loans from banks.
Strategic Bidding in a Pool-Based Electricity Market under Load Forecast Uncertainty

This paper proposes a method for determining the price bidding strategies of market participants consisting of Generation Companies (GENCOs) and Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in a day-ahead electricity market, while taking into consideration the load forecast uncertainty and demand response programs. The proposed algorithm tries to find a Pareto optimal point for a risk neutral participant in the market. Because of the complexity of the problem a stochastic method is used. In the proposed method, two approaches are used simultaneously. First approach is Fuzzy Genetic Algorithm for finding the best bidding strategies of market players, and another one is Mont-Carlo Method that models the uncertainty of load in price determining algorithm. It is demonstrated that with considering transmission flow constraints in the problem, load uncertainty can considerably influences the profits of companies and so using the second part of the proposed algorithm will be useful in such situation. It is also illustrated when there are no transmission flow constraints, the effect of load uncertainty can be modeled without using a stochastic model. The algorithm is finally tested on an 8 bus system.
ISM UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS MASTER OF SCIENCE IN FINANCIAL ECONOMICS PROGRAMME

Repečkaitė, G. Evaluation of Baltic Stock Exchanges’ efficien cy [Manuscript]: Master Thesis: economics. Vilnius, ISM University of Management an d Economics, 2010. In this Master‘s Thesis the Baltic Stock Exchange’s (Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian) efficiency is valued for the period of 2004-2009. T his thesis aims to evaluate the reaction of Baltic stock exchange to quarterly financial statem ent announcements. To reach this aim the concept of market efficiency is analyzed and relate d theory reviewed. The unanticipated content of quarterly financial announcements, the speed of Baltic Stock Exchanges’ reaction and adjustment to analyzed announcements are analyzed. Th Baltic stock exchanges’ participants ability evaluate the stocks prices correctly also i s analyzed. For this purpose the traditional short term event study is employed. The categories of the Good and Bad news were analyzed using non parametric Wilcoxon Signed Ranks and Sign tests . The major empirical research results are as follows . Fir tly it was found that the announcements of the quarterly financial reports do have the unan ticipated information in all Baltic Stock Exchanges. Secondly it was indicated that the Balti c S ock Exchanges are able to adjust to the information provided by the quarterly financial ann ou cements within one day. Thus the semistrong form of market efficiency was not rejected f or Estonian and Lithuanian Stock Exchanges. The significant inefficiency in reacting to the unf avorable news was found for the Latvian Stock Exchange thus for this market the semi-strong form f market efficiency was rejected. The significant abnormal returns on the day of the quar terly financial announcements close to 3% were identified for both categories of news (good a n bad) indicting that the Stock market participants are not able to valuate the performanc e of the stock prices correctly. The identified empirical research results enrich the EMH theory in the small and developing markets. Indicated quarterly financial reports value-relevance for inv estors supports the theory that it one of the major sauces of information to the market. Indicate d inefficiencies in the Latvian SE could be analyzed by regulators. This Master‘s thesis limitations are based on the s ingle research object – only quarterly financial reports announcements were analyzed. Also the resul ts are based on EMH rationality assumption. And the analysis is provided for the go od and bad news separately. Evaluation of Baltic Stock Exchanges’ Efficiency 3
INFLUENCE OF EXOGENOUS APPLICATION OF ABSCISIC ACID IN GAS EXCHANGES OF Hymenaea courbaril L. (FABACEAE) SEEDLINGS SUBJECTED TO WATER DEFICIT

This study was carried out in the greenhouse of the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), in the municipality of Dourados, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, from April to May of 2015. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different concentrations of abscisic acid (ABA) on the responses under water stress and recovery of Hymenaea courbaril L. seedlings after reirrigation. The following six treatments were assessed: 1) Irrigation with no ABA; 2) Irrigation + 10 µM ABA; 3) Irrigation + 100 µM ABA; 4) No irrigation nor ABA; 5) No irrigation + 10 µM ABA; and 6) No irrigation + 100 µM ABA. No irrigation treatment consisted on water suspension until the photosynthetic rate was close to zero. The plants were then irrigated daily to maintain 70% of the water holding capacity of the soil for a 12-days recovery period. ABA doses applied exogenously during the no irrigation period neither prevented the reduction of photosynthetic activity nor optimized the recovery of gas exchanges and carboxylation efficiency of Rubisco after water and seedling quality restoration. The concentration of 100 µM ABA promoted the degradation of chlorophylls independently of irrigation, which shows that high concentrations of ABA may cause a residual effect on this species. The seedlings exhibited normal metabolic recovery after about 12 days of reirrigation of the soil due to the characteristics of the species and not the tested treatments.
Set-based differential covariance testing for high-throughput data

The problem of detecting changes in covariance for a single pair of features has been studied in some detail, but may be limited in importance or general applicability. In contrast, testing equality of covariance matrices of a {\it set} of features may offer increased power and interpretability. Such approaches have received increasing attention in recent years, especially in the context of high-dimensional testing. These approaches have been limited to the two-sample problem and involve varying assumptions on the number of features $p$ vs. the sample size $n$. In addition, there has been little discussion of the motivating principles underlying various choices of statistic, and no general approaches to test association of covariances with a continuous outcome. We propose a uniform framework to test association of covariance matrices with an experimental variable, whether discrete or continuous. We describe four different summary statistics, to ensure power and flexibility under various settings, including a new "connectivity" statistic that is sensitive to changes in overall covariance magnitude. The approach is not limited by the data dimensions, and is applicable to situations where $p >> n$. For several statistics we obtain asymptotic $p$-values under relatively mild conditions. For the two-sample special case, we show that the proposed statistics are permutationally equivalent or similar to existing proposed statistics. We demonstrate the power and utility of our approaches via simulation and analysis of real data.
The Effects of Gender and Personality on Foreign Language Anxiety among Adult Multilinguals

We investigate the relationship between gender and foreign language anxiety (FLA) in the second language (L2: English) of 320 adult bilinguals (L1: Dutch) outside the foreign language learning context. Results show that females experience higher levels of FLA. The association between gender and FLA, however, is a reflection of gender differences in personality; personality mediates most of this relationship. Individuals who are highly emotional or conscientious—dimensions for which males and females demonstrate substantial differences—experience higher levels of FLA. Furthermore, this relationship is stronger for women; that is, gender also acts as moderator to the personality-FLA relationship.