Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AND FRAGMENTATION ON GENETICS, DEMOGRAPHY AND POPULATION PERSISTENCE OF THE RARE PRIMULA VULGARIS, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION

We examined the ecological, demographic and genetic consequences of agricultural land use practices and fragmentation on the long-term persistence of P. vulgaris (primrose), a rare and declining perennial herb in Flanders (Belgium). Analysis of the demo- graphic performance of all remaining populations (n = 89) revealed a large proportion of invi- able populations characterized by small population sizes and limited seedling recruitment. To investigate to what extent demographic performance was related to genetic variation and struc- ture, allelic richness, observed and expected heterozygosity, Wright's inbreeding coefficient and FST were compared among senescent, stable and dynamic populations. No difference in any of these measures among population types was found, indicating that factors other than genet- ic diversity and structure were involved in determining demographic performance of primrose populations. No significant relationship was found between individual multilocus heterozy- gosity and fitness components related to adult plant size and number of flowers. Reproductive success was positively correlated to population size and showed no temporal variation over two consecutive years. Examination of recruitment success (seedling survival) in natural and exper- imental populations revealed that habitat quality had a large impact on recruitment success. In particular, populations along arable fields showed decreased recruitment rates compared to populations located in forests or along grasslands, especially in the absence of disturbance. Our results indicate that P. vulgaris is vulnerable to habitat deterioration associated with changes in land use. They also suggest that the quality of the surrounding landscape matrix may be more important than within-habitat characteristics, demographic or genetic traits in determining pop- ulation viability. Integration of the results of this study with previously reported data on his- torical changes in the distribution range of primrose in Flanders suggests that under prevailing environmental conditions there will be a continuous decline in both the number and size of populations.
Decomposition of Vetiver Shoot and Effect of Vetiver Mulching on Super Sweet Corn Hybrid Yield

Two experiments were conducted on Hupkapong Soil Series. In the first experiment, the decomposition of vetiver shoot, and the nutrients released during the process were measured. The second experiment investigated the mulching effect of vetiver shoot on yield of super sweet corn hybrid in the wet and dry seasons. The results from the decomposition study indicated that, within 90 days, more than 80% of the buried vetiver shoot decomposed but less than 30% of the same material left on soil surface disintegrated. It was also found that one ton of dry vetiver shoot buried at the depth of 10 cm would yield mineral nitrogen, available phosphorus, and extractable potassium up to 4.4, 2.2 and 20.5 kg while that left on soil surface would yield only 0.85, 0.74 and 7.20 kg, respectively. In the second experiment, the application of 31.25 t/ha fresh weight of vetiver shoot for mulching in addition to a half rate (35.5-35.535.5 kg of N-P2O5-K2O/ha) of the recommended fertilization produced the same yield of super sweet corn hybrid as applying the full rate of the recommended fertilizer alone. Mulching the soil with vetiver shoot, therefore, could reduce 50% of chemical fertilizer needed for the super sweet corn hybrid production.
Estimating flooded area and mean water level using active and passive microwaves: the example of Paraná River Delta floodplain

Abstract. This paper describes a procedure to estimate both the fraction of flooded area and the mean water level in vegetated river floodplains by using a synergy of active and passive microwave signatures. In particular, C band Envisat ASAR in Wide Swath mode and AMSR-E at X, Ku and Ka band, are used. The method, which is an extension of previously developed algorithms based on passive data, exploits also model simulations of vegetation emissivity. The procedure is applied to a long flood event which occurred in the Parana River Delta from December 2009 to April 2010. Obtained results are consistent with in situ measurements of river water level.
Agergaard, S., Ronglan, L. T. Player migration and talent development in elite sports teams: a comparative analysis of inbound and outbound career trajectories in Danish and Norwegian women's handball. Scandinavian

The conditions for national sport systems and talent development efforts are changing with the globalisation of sports. In the present study we explored the relationship between domestic talent development and the immigration of players from abroad through a comparative multiple-case study of Danish and Norwegian women’s handball. Quantitative data demonstrated how there has been a remarkable increase in not only the number, but also the performance level of immigrant players arriving into Danish women’s handball, in particular, in the first decade of the 2000s. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 experienced coaches and sport directors who have in-depth knowledge of group dynamics in elite handball. Using Lave and Wenger’s theory of situated learning in communities of practice the analysis demonstrated the ambiguous consequences of considerable immigration on the position and learning situation of domestic talent. Inbound trajectories of domestic talent may be supported by apprenticeship from many skilled role models (e.g. immigrant players), while an outbound trajectory may also appear, specifically if the young domestic players are continually hampered from participation in matches. It seems that it is not the high number of players from abroad, per se, that may block the development of local young talent, but first and foremost the structuring of training and match practices in the clubs and national leagues.
Soil Water Dynamics in Continuous Winter Wheat in the Semiarid Pacific Northwest, USA

In semiarid climates, efficient precipitation capture and storage are necessary for successful small grain production. This is especially true in Mediterranean climates dependent on winter precipitation occurring before the most active growth and grain development stages of winter wheat (WW, Triticum aestivum L.). The effects of residue cover and tillage on soil water under annual WW were investigated at Pendleton, OR, on a Walla Walla silt loam soil, (coarse-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Haploxerolls). These effects were investigated using three treatments in annually cropped WW, (i.e., no fallow year), consisting of no-till (NT), crop residue incorporated with tillage (TI), and crop residue removed before tillage and then returned to the soil surface after tillage (RR). Field data showed that ground cover from crop residue resulted in more soil water from December 24 through May 20 in the driest crop year, 2005, of the 3-yr experiment, but no differences in the two relatively wet crop years 2004 and 2006. The mean soil water in a 105cm profile when treatment differences occurred were as follows; NT = 187 mm, RR = 168 mm, and TI = 155 mm. The differences were relatively small, however, with NT 31.7 mm more than TI and 19.2 mm more than RR, and RR 12.5 mm more than TI. During normal years these differences could be expected to diminish. This research indicates that tillage practices in the Pacific Northwest have small effect where the land surface is essentially level, but ground cover can play an important role during exceptionally dry years on precipitation capture and storage.
Distribution of the single nucleotide polymorphism C3435T of MDR1 gene among people in Western Australia, Australia

What is known: Ethnic variation as well as the population frequency of the MDR1 C3435T transition has been observed in the few other populations but not in Australians. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the distribution of the single nucleotide polymorphism C3435T in exon 26 of the MDR1 gene among people in Western Australia, Australia. Methods: Blood samples were collected from participants from a tertiary hospital in Western Australia from October 2010 to July 2011. The MDR1 C3435T polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: It was found that the frequency of the homozygous 3435TT allele among the subjects was 30.77% compared to the 21.98% that carries the homozygous 3435CC allele while almost half of our study subjects are carrying the heterozygous 3435CT allele. Our study shows similarity with C3435T genotype distribution among New Zealander and Asians population which could be attributed to the close geography between Australia and New Zealand with other part of Asia and possibly due to high migration between these countries. What is New: This study included Australian patients. Conclusion: This is the first study to illustrate the distribution of MDR1 C3435T genotypes for Australians that could be useful in predicting risk for
RADIATION PRESSURE IN WAVEGUIDE RESONATORS DETECTING RADIATION PRESSURE IN WAVEGUIDES USING MICROELECTROMECHANICAL RESONATORS

The phenomenon of radiation pressure has fascinated scientists since it was first proposed by Maxwell in the late 19 century. Numerous experiments involving optical forces have been carried out, however the optical force acting on a curved waveguide does not appear to have been previously investigated. An experiment to measure the force acting on a waveguide due to the optical power it contains is proposed here. This experiment takes advantage of the sensitivity of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) and the performance of silicon integrated optics in a single hybrid device. Devices are fabricated from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers using conventional micromachining techniques. Anisotropic alkali etches are used to produce smooth vertical side-walls for a mechanical structure and a rib waveguide. An analysis of the electrical systems and measurement techniques is provided. Using these techniques, the resonant operation of the devices is demonstrated by means of capacitive actuation and sensing. The application of this system to the measurement of radiation pressure is discussed.
Evaluating salt-fingering theories

Author Posting. © Sears Foundation for Marine Research, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of Sears Foundation for Marine Research for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Marine Research 66 (2008): 413-440, doi:10.1357/002224008787157467.
PREDICCIÓN TRANSCULTURAL DEL CLIMA MOTIVACIONAL EN EDUCACIÓN FÍSICA

El objetivo fue conocer como las metas sociales, el locus percibido de causalidad y la atribucion causal, predicen el clima motivacional percibido en los alumnos de EF en diferentes paises y culturas. La muestra fue de 2168 estudiantes de tres paises diferentes (423 de Costa Rica, 408 de Mexico y 1052 de Espana), todos ellos con edades comprendidas entre 11 y 16 anos. Se utilizo un cuestionario compuesto por la escala de Clima motivacional, la de Metas Sociales en Educacion Fisica, el Locus Percibido de Causalidad y la Atribucion Causal. Se realizaron analisis descriptivos, correlacionales y una regresion lineal multivariante. La meta de maestria fue mayor en todos los paises, siendo predicha por la responsabilidad y la motivacion intrinseca. El rendimiento-evitacion fue la mas baja, siendo predicha por la regulacion introyectada y la amotivacion. Los espanoles destacan como los mas autodeterminados, siendo los mexicanos los que mayores atribuciones internas presentan. Palabras Clave : motivacion, adolescente, responsabilidad, rendimiento, maestria Abstract The aim of this research was to understand how social goals, perceived locus of causality and causal attribution predict perceived motivational climate in Physical Education students in different countries and cultures. The sample consisted of 2168 students from three different countries, belonging to Costa Rica 423, 408 to Mexico with a total of 1052 students in Spain, all aged between 11 and 16 years. A questionnaire with motivational scale Climate, Social Goals in Physical Education, Perceived Locus of Causality and Causal Attribution were used. Descriptive analyzes, correlational and multivariate linear regression were performed. The goal of mastery was higher in all countries, being predicted by the responsibility and intrinsic motivation. Avoidance-performance was the lowest, predicted by introjected regulation and amotivation. The Spanish students stand out as the most self-determined, with Mexicans who have more internal attributions. Keywords : motivation, teenager, responsibility, performance, mastery.
Investigation of Tacrolimus Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Topical Drug Delivery

The objective of this investigation was to develop nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) of tacrolimus by the hot homogenization technique by sonication. NLCs are commonly prepared by emulsification and lyophilization. The feasibility of fabricating tacrolimus-loaded NLCs was successfully demonstrated in this study. The developed NLCs were characterized in terms of their particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency (EE) of tacrolimus, and morphology. Studies were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the NLCs in improving the penetration rate through hairless mouse skin. Tacrolimus-loaded NLCs were found to have an average size of , a zeta potential of , and an EE of 50%. In vitro penetration tests revealed that the tacrolimus-loaded NLCs have a penetration rate that is 1.64 times that of the commercial tacrolimus ointment, Protopic.
Can the failure to punish promote cheating in mutualism

A key challenge in the study of mutualism is to understand the mechanisms that prevent cheating. In some systems, host retaliation against cheaters prevents the breakdown of cooperation. Here, we focus on the converse of this demonstration, and ask whether hosts that fail to retaliate are commonly inhabited by cheaters. We do so using the classic antplant interaction, in which plants provide ant-housing (domatia) in return for protection from herbivores. Our model system is the rattan ant-palm Korthalsia furtadoana, which grows swollen leaf sheaths as domatia and associates with two species of obligate host-ants, Camponotus sp90 and C. sp93, and with facultative Crematogaster and 'tramp' ant species. One ant-tree species is known to retaliate by tying the growth of domatia to the successful protection of new leaves, and non-protecting cheaters are rare. In contrast, K. furtadoana grows the domatium before the new leaf develops, suggesting that sanctioning may not be possible. We experimentally simulated herbivory by cutting leaves from shoots and found no difference in the mortality and growth of domatia on such 'cheated' shoots than on controls, confirming that K. furtadoana cannot sanction non-protectors. We then investigated the intensity of protection that Camponotus and Crematogaster ant- symbionts provide K. furtadoana. We demonstrate that C. sp90, which only inhabit half of colonised plants, vigorously protects leaves, that C. sp93 rarely protects, and that Crematogaster never protects. We then show that plants inhabited by C. sp90 have a higher growth rate than those inhabited by C. sp93. We conclude that C. sp90 is a protection mutualist, while C. sp93 and Crematogaster are parasites, the first such demonstrations for an antpalm interaction. The presence of commonly occurring parasites, as well as rare tramp ants, provides the first clear correlative evidence that an inability to punish results in abundant cheating. A key challenge in the study of inter-specific cooperation, or mutualisms, is to understand the mechanisms that prevent cheating. Several overlapping theories, with different de- grees of generality, have been developed to explain the maintenance of cooperation in the face of (a) invasion by parasites that purloin the benefits one mutualist provides another, and (b) selection for cheating behaviour among the
Lagrangian velocity and acceleration auto-correlations in rotating turbulence

Rotating turbulence has often been studied by numerical simulations and analytical models. Experimental data is scarce and purely of Eulerian nature. In the present study, experiments on continuously forced turbulence subjected to background rotation are performed by means of 3D Particle Tracking Velocimetry. The data is processed in the Lagrangian as well as in the Eulerian frame. The background rotation is confirmed to induce two-dimensionalisation of the flow field, and the large-scales are dominated by stable counter-rotating vertical tubes of vorticity. The auto-correlation coefficients along particle trajectories of velocity and acceleration components have been explored. We will discuss the effects of rotation on the Lagrangian temporal scales of the flow.
Evidence of an Upper Bound on the Masses of Planets and Its Implications for Giant Planet Formation

Celestial bodies with a mass of have been found orbiting nearby stars. It is unknown whether these objects formed like gas-giant planets through core accretion or like stars through gravitational instability. I show that objects with orbit metal-rich solar-type dwarf stars, a property associated with core accretion. Objects with do not share this property. This transition is coincident with a minimum in the occurrence rate of such objects, suggesting that the maximum mass of a celestial body formed through core accretion like a planet is less than . Consequently, objects with orbiting solar-type dwarf stars likely formed through gravitational instability and should not be thought of as planets. Theoretical models of giant planet formation in scaled minimum-mass solar nebula Shakura–Sunyaev disks with standard parameters tuned to produce giant planets predict a maximum mass nearly an order of magnitude larger. To prevent newly formed giant planets from growing larger than , protoplanetary disks must therefore be significantly less viscous or of lower mass than typically assumed during the runaway gas accretion stage of giant planet formation. Either effect would act to slow the Type I/II migration of planetary embryos/giant planets and promote their survival. These inferences are insensitive to the host star mass, planet formation location, or characteristic disk dissipation time.
Agronomic quantitative assessment of substrates based on spents of Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus ostreatus

In this work the agronomic viability of substrates based on spents of Agaricus bisporus (J.E.Lange) Imbach) (SAS) and Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm. (SPS) was studied. In addition to the commercial substrate used as reference, six different treatments were considered. In this experiment, SPS and SAS were mixed in different ratios (from 6,000 g and 0 g, respectively, up to 3,000 g and 3,000 g, respectively). SAS was subjected to a heat treatment in a growing room ("cook out") and then to a maturation treatment which consisted of a controlled recomposting process in growing rooms. SPS was subjected to a pasteurizing heat treatment (60 °C - 65 °C, 8 h) and progressive decrease for at least 15 h to a "spawning" temperature (25 °C). SPS (5,400 g) + SAS (600 g) and SPS (4,800 g) + SAS (1,200 g) were prepared substrates with biological efficiencies (BE) of 35.98 % and 39.68 % respectively, lower than the control (46.18 %) and acceptable yields. The average unit mass of fruiting body harvested was low.
Synthesis of Fe-Substituted Aluminosilicate and Aluminogermanate Nanotubes

In this paper, substitution of Fe 3+ for Al 3+ in the structure of aluminosilicate and aluminogermanate nanotubes was investigated at various mole ratios of Fe/Al from the mixed Al 2O3-Fe 2O3-SiO2 (GeO 2)-H2O solution in experimental conditions of 2 mM initial concentration and 2 day aging time at 98 0 C. The synthesized products were confirmed and characterized with the use of FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and magnetometer. The results indicated that Fe-substituted aluminosilicate and aluminogermanate nanotubes were successfully synthesized with the Fe/Al ratio of the initial solutions up to 2. For both Fe-substituted nanotubes, the paramagnetic property exhibits at room temperature (300 K) and a ferromagnetic property at low temperature (5 K). The materials with new properties appear to have promising practical applications in other fields in the future.
Exploiting the topological robustness of composite vortices in radiation systems

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in topological states of condensed matter systems, whose concepts have been also extended to wave phenomena. Especially at optical frequencies, several studies have reported applications of structured light exploiting topological transitions and exceptional points or lines, over which a field property of choice is undefined. Interesting properties of light beams with phase singularities (such as the creation, annihilation or motion of these topological points) have been observed in composite vortices consisting of superimposed light beams with different topological charges. Here, we discuss how these concepts may have a relevant impact on antenna technology at microwave frequencies. We obtain the superposition of vortex fields with different topological charges by simultaneously exciting different modes of a patch antenna. This can be useful to give a physical interpretation for the behavior of some structures, already proposed at microwave frequencies, which use superposition of different radiating modes to manipulate the radiation pattern of patch antennas. Moreover, this approach may open new strategies to design at will the directivity properties of a patch antenna with inherently robust responses, and it may find applications in the design of smart antenna systems, requiring pattern reconfigurability.
Maternal Attachment Status, Mother-Child Emotion Talk, Emotion Understanding, and Child Conduct Problems

Conduct problems that emerge in childhood often persist into adolescence and are associated with a range of negative outcomes. It is therefore important to identify the factors that predict conduct problems in early childhood. The present study investigated the relations among maternal attachment status , mother-child emotion talk, child emotion understanding, and conduct problems in a sample of 92 (46 males) typically developing children (M age = 61.3 months, SD = 8.3 months). The results support a model in which maternal attachment status predicts the level of appropriate/responsive mother-child emotion talk, which predicts child emotion understanding, which in turn negatively predicts child conduct problems. These findings further underline the developmental role of mother-child emotion talk as well as the importance of involving parents in programs designed to increase children’s emotion understanding and/or decrease the incidence of conduct problems.
Bank Competition and Outreach: Evidence from Turkey

In light of the importance of banking sector outreach and given concerns that competition may adversely affect it, this study explores the empirical linkage between banking structure and outreach in Turkey for the period 1988-2010. Bank-, province-, and bank-province-level estimation results indicate that competition is in general conducive to the outreach of banks. We do not find evidence for collusive behavior among banks when they have multimarket contact. At the province level, the presence of foreign-owned banks is associated with higher outreach, while at the bank-province level, we observe that outreach of domestic banks exceeds that of foreign banks. Together, these results suggest that there are procompetitive spillover effects from foreign banks to their domestic counterparts.