Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study the effects of planting date and low irrigation stress on quantitative traits of spring sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).

Water stress is a major limiting factor for sunflower production in the arid and semi arid regions in the world. In order to study the effects of sowing date and limited irrigation stress on plant height, head diameter, seed number per head, thousand seed weight, seed yield, biologic yield and harvest index of spring sunflower cultivar (Mehr), an experiment was conducted using a split plot arrangement based on randomised complete block design with three replications in Karaj, Iran, during 2008 and 2009.The present study showed that optimal environmental conditions around reproductive stages, provided by early sowing not only enhanced plant growth but also produced higher yield compared with those of late sowing dates. The April 20 th and May 9 th sowing produced larger seed yield, biologic yield and harvest index with no water stress treatment compared to late May sowing date with limited irrigation stress at stem elongation, flowering and grain filling stages respectively. The results showed that the limited irrigation stress resulted in reduction of seed yield due to limited vegetative and reproductive development. It is of prior concern to consider optimum sowing date so that high temperature of late sowing would not coincide with the reproductive stages of sunflower.
A Qualitative Examination of Multiracial Students’ Coping Responses to Experiences with Prejudice and Discrimination in College

National data indicate that multiracial individuals comprise a substantial and growing proportion of the US population, but this community is often invisible in higher education research and discourse. This study aims to increase knowledge of mixed-race students in higher education by examining the ways in which they cope with experienced prejudice and discrimination in college. Findings indicate that multiracial college students cope with prejudice and discrimination by educating others about multiracial issues, utilizing support networks, embracing fluidity of multiracial identity, and avoiding confrontation with sources of prejudice and discrimination. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS FOR THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF CELLULASES BY TRICHODERMA VIRIDE

Present studies describe the optimization of process parameters for the production of cellulases by Trichoderma viride using submerged fermentation technique. The fermentation experiments were carried out in shake flasks using pretreated bagasse. Maximum production of cellulases (CMCase 1.57 U/ml/min, FPase 0.921 U/ml/min) was observed after a fermentation period of 72 hrs at an incubation temperature of 30oC. Initial pH of the culture medium was also optimized and a pH of 5.5 was found to support maximum growth and enzyme production (CMCase 1.66 U/ml/min and FPase 0.932 U/ml/min) by T. viride. Different inorganic nitrogen sources were evaluated for the production of cellulases and Ammonium sulphate was found to be the best. The enzyme production was further enhanced by carrying out fermentation experiments using 25 ml of culture medium in 250 ml flask inoculated with 4% conidial inoculum.
THE IMPACT OF THE HOTEL ROOM TAX: AN INTERRUPTED TIME SERIES APPROACH

Travel destinations commonly levy hotel room taxes to finance services demanded by tourists and residents. Evidence to date on the effects of a hotel room tax has centered on ex ante analyses of the incidence of a hotel room tax and its effect on the demand for travel and vacation goods. In this paper we employ interrupted time series analysis to estimate ex post the impact of a hotel room tax on real net hotel revenues by analyzing that time series before and after the imposition of the tax. We find that the tax had a negligible effect on real hotel revenues.
Using infrared based relative navigation for active debris removal

A debris-free space environment is becoming a necessity for current and future missions and activities planned in the coming years. The only means of sustaining the orbital environment at a safe level for strategic orbits (in particular Sun Synchronous Orbits, SSO) in the long term is by carrying out Active Debris Removal (ADR) at the rate of a few removals per year. Infrared (IR) technology has been used for a long time in Earth Observations but its use for navigation and guidance has not been subject of research and technology development so far in Europe. The ATV-5 LIRIS experiment in 2014 carrying a Commercial-of-The-Shelf (COTS) infrared sensor was a first step in de-risking the use of IR technology for objects detection in space. In this context, Cranfield University, SODERN and ESA are collaborating on a research to investigate the potential of IR-based relative navigation for debris removal systems. This paper reports the findings and developments in this field till date and the contributions from the three partners in this research.
Evaluation of 24-hour oesophageal pH monitoring in children with food allergy Ocena 24-godzinnego badania pH-metrycznego u dzieci z alergią pokarmową

Introduction: Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and food allergy are conditions occurring most often in young children. Many authors emphasize the relationship between them. Aim: To evaluate 24-h oesophageal pH monitoring in children with food allergy. Material and methods: The retrospective analysis included 84 children with food allergy aged from 4 months to 24 months. The control group consisted of 15 children at the same age diagnosed with GER but without features of allergy. All children underwent 24-h oesophageal pH monitoring. Results: Gastroesophageal reflux was diagnosed among children with allergy in 29 patients (34.5%). A gradual increase of the number and duration of reflux episodes in the period between meals compared to the postprandial period in both groups with GER was observed. The number of reflux epi sodes was higher in children with coexistent allergy. Analysis of graphic record of oesophageal pH monitoring revealed a primary reflux in 12 children with GER and allergy as well as in 9 children from the control group. In the remaining children from both groups the record showed features of secondary reflux, but the phases were not fully presented. The incidence of GER with features of secondary reflux was similar in both groups. Conclusions: Twenty-four-hour oesophageal pH monitoring is helpful, but it cannot be the sole diagnostic criterion in the diagnosis of GER dependent on food allergy. Such a diagnosis should be based on the results of oesophageal pH monitoring as well as allergological and immunological tests.
Age distribution of the central stars of galactic disk planetary nebulae

Context. Determination of the ages of central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPN) is a complex problem, and there is presently no single method that can be generally applied. We have developed several methods of estimating the ages of CSPN, based on both the observed nebular properties and some properties of the stars themselves. Aims. Our aim is to estimate the ages and the age distribution of CSPN and to compare the derived results with mass and age determinations of CSPN and white dwarfs based on empirical determinations of these quantities. Methods. We considered a sample of planetary nebulae in the galactic disk, most of which (∼69%) are located in the solar neighbourhood, within 3 kpc from the Sun. We discuss several methods of deriving the age distribution of CSPN, namely; (i) the use of an age-metallicity relation that also depends on the galactocentric distance; (ii) the use of an age-metallicity relation obtained for the galactic disk; and (iii) the determination of ages from the central star masses obtained from the observed nitrogen abundances. Results. We estimated the age distribution of CSPN with average uncertainties of 1–2 Gyr, and compared our results with the expected distribution based both on the observed mass distribution of white dwarfs and on the age distribution derived from available mass distributions of CSPN. Based on our derived age distributions, we conclude that most CSPN in the galactic disk have ages under 6 Gyr, and that the age distribution is peaked around 2–4 Gyr.
Fish assemblage structure in the Tropical Coastal Lagoon of Grand Lahou (Cte DIvoire, West Africa)

Fish assemblages and their relationship with hydrological variables were investigated in the coastal lagoon of Grand-Lahou (Côte-d’Ivoire) from November 2013 to October 2014. Samplings were carried out by means of artisanal fisheries, once a month, in three sites. A total of 8571 fish belonging to 47 fish species from 25 families were recorded. The most represented families were Cichlidae and Mugilidae with six species. Each environmental variable, notably, dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature and salinity according to the canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) allowed the distinction of two main sectors in the lagoon, associated with three fish assemblages. Sector 1 including sampling sites 2 and 3, characterized by high salinity fluctuations, functioned as a typical estuary. Two fish assemblages identified in this sector were Lutjanus dentatus, Mugil cephalus, Mugil bananensis, Tilapia guineensis and Tylochromis jentenki in station 2 and Sarotherodon melanotheron, Liza falcipinnis and Pomadasys jubelini in station 3. Sector 2 comprising the sampling site 1, characterized by low salinity fluctuation is associated with 11 fish species, notably, Ethmalosa fimbriata and Elops lacerta. The fish assemblage in this sector depends on season, temperature and DO.
Effect of wall heating on turbulent boundary layers with temperature-dependent viscosity

Abstract Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent boundary layers over isothermally heated walls were performed, and the effect of viscosity stratification on the turbulence statistics and skin friction were investigated. An empirical relation for temperature-dependent viscosity for water was adopted. Based on the free-stream temperature (30°C), two wall temperatures (70°C and 99°C) were selected. In the heated flows, the turbulence energy diminishes in the buffer layer, but increases near the wall. The reduction in turbulence kinetic energy in the buffer layer is accompanied by smaller levels of Reynolds shear stresses and, hence, weaker turbulence production. The enhanced turbulence energy near the wall is attributed to enhanced transfer of energy via additional diffusion-like terms due to the viscosity stratification. Despite the lower fluid viscosity near the wall, dissipation is also increased owing to the augmented near-wall fine-scale motion. Wall heating results in reduction in the skin-friction coefficient by up to 26 %. An evaluation of the different contributions to the skin friction demonstrates that drag reduction is primarily due to the changes in the Reynolds shear stresses across the boundary layer. Quadrant and octant analyses showed that ejections (Q2) and sweeps (Q4) are significantly reduced, a result further supported by an examination of outer vortical structures from linear stochastic estimation of the ejection events and spanwise vortices.
THE EFFECTS OF REDUCTION IN TROUT DENSITY ON THE INVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY OF A MOUNTAIN STREAM

An experimental reduction in trout density was carried out for 4 yr to determine whether the numbers or species composition of aquatic invertebrates would be affected. In a Colorado stream, the standing crop of trout (mainly Salvelinus fontinalis) prior to this study was 4.86 g/m2, typical of infertile trout streams. Repeated electroshocking of a 1220 m long experimental section kept trout stocks at 10-25% of this initial value during the summers of 1975-1978. Density of invertebrates in the benthos (number of invertebrates per square metre) showed no consistent differences between the trout removal section and upstream and downstream control sec- tions for the majority of taxa examined. Drift density (number of invertebrates per 1000 cubic metres) also failed to show an effect of the trout removal. Some taxa were significantly more abundant at one site than another, but this was attributable to changes along the stream gradient or differences in phenology among the sites rather than experimental reduction of trout. As trout stomach content analysis revealed very intensive grazing on a few taxa of aquatic insects, their failure to increase in the trout removal section was unexpected. Statistical analysis showed that because of the variability of the system, a doubling or halving of numbers must occur to be detectable. Within these limits, it is concluded that removal of trout had no significant effect on the prey community, and two explanations are offered. Trout may actually consume only a small fraction of total prey, although this conclusion is limited by inability of current techniques to sample the benthos fully. It is also likely that because streams do not provide areas where fish are predictably absent, the invertebrate community is highly adapted to fish predation and so is not sensitive to manipulations in fish density.
Information disclosure and environmental regulation: Green lights and gray areas

This research examines the potential of information disclosure for environmental regulation. The research attempts to answer questions of what impact information disclosure has on corporate environmental practices and what interferes with its effective use. A case study of Indonesia's pioneering informational environmental regulation reveals (i) both indirect (e.g. anticipation of external pressure) and direct (e.g. internal learning support) informational effects that enhance environmental awareness at the top management level and stimulate changes in production processes and (ii) detrimental effects of disclosed information that maintain or strengthen the extant power of regulated firms over environmental groups and local communities affected. Regulatory efforts can be leveraged by public disclosure of information regarding firms' environmental performance, especially where the state monitoring and enforcement capacities are weak. However, the introduction of policies of this kind without consideration of different market conditions and political and administrative culture may impede the effectiveness of this potentially useful regulatory method.
Assessing differences in legislators' revealed preferences: A case study on the 107th U.S. Senate

Roll call data are widely used to assess legislators' preferences and ideology, as well as test theories of legislative behavior. In particular, roll call data is often used to determine whether the revealed preferences of legislators are affected by outside forces such as party pressure, minority status or procedural rules. This paper describes a Bayesian hierarchical model that extends existing spatial voting models to test sharp hypotheses about differences in preferences the using posterior probabilities associated with such hypotheses. We use our model to investigate the effect of the change of party majority status during the 107th U.S. Senate on the revealed preferences of senators. This analysis provides evidence that change in party affiliation might affect the revealed preferences of legislators, but provides no evidence about the effect of majority status on the revealed preferences of legislators.
A Bayesian Generalized CAR Model for Correlated Signal Detection

Over the last decade, large-scale multiple testing has found itself at the forefront of modern data analysis. In many applications data are correlated, so that the observed test statistic used for detecting a non-null case, or signal, at each location in a dataset carries some information about the chances of a true signal at other locations. Brown, Lazar, Datta, Jang, and McDowell (2014) proposed in the neuroimaging context a Bayesian multiple testing model that accounts for the dependence of each volume element on the behavior of its neighbors through a conditional autoregressive (CAR) model. Here, we propose a generalized CAR model that allows for inclusion of points with no neighbors at all, something that is not possible under conventional CAR models. We consider also neighborhoods based on criteria other than physical location, such as genetic pathways in microarray determined from existing biological knowledge. This generalization provides a unified framework for the simultaneous modeling of dependent and independent cases, resulting in stronger Bayesian learning in the posterior and increased precision in the estimates of interesting signals. We justify the selected prior distribution and prove that the resulting posterior distribution is proper. We illustrate the effectiveness and applicability of our proposed model by using it to analyze both simulated and real microarray data in which the genes exhibit dependence that is determined by physical adjacency on a chromosome or predefined gene pathways.
Output Effects of a Measure of Tax Shocks Based on Changes in Legislation for Portugal

This paper develops a new measure of quarterly discretionary tax shocks for Portugal that result from changes in legislation, following the narrative approach. It covers the years from 1996 to 2012 and was based on a comprehensive analysis of tax policy measures taken in the course of this period. The …ndings point to strongly negative and persistent e¤ects of legislated tax increases on GDP and private consumption, matching the tendency of the narrative approach to yield comparatively high tax multipliers.
A soil‐canopy‐atmosphere model for use in satellite microwave remote sensing

Regional and global scale studies of land-surface-atmosphere interactions require the use of observations for calibration and validation. In situ field observations are not representative of the distributed nature of land surface characteristics, and large-scale field experiments are expensive undertakings. In light of these requirements and shortcomings, satellite observations serve our purposes adequately. The use of satellite data in land surface modeling requires developing a hydrological model with a thin upper layer to be compatible with the nature of the satellite observations and that would evaluate the soil moisture and soil temperature of a thin layer close to the surface. This paper outlines the formulation of a thin layer hydrological model for use in simulating the soil moistures and soil temperatures. This thin layer hydrological model is the first step in our attempt to use microwave brightness temperature data for regional soil moisture estimation. The hydrological model presented here has been calibrated using five years (1980–1984) of daily streamflow data for the Kings Creek catchment. The calibrated parameters are used to validate the daily streamflows for the next 5 year period (1985–1989). The comparison of surface soil moistures and surface temperatures for the period of the Intensive Field Campaigns (IFCs) during the First ISLSCP (International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project) Field Experiment (FIFE) in 1987 is carried out and yields good results. The thin layer hydrological model is coupled with a canopy radiative transfer model and an atmospheric attenuation model to create a coupled soil-canopy-atmosphere model in order to study the effect of the vegetation and the soil characteristics on the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) brightness temperatures. The sensitivities of the brightness temperatures to the soil and vegetation is examined in detail. The studies show that increasing leaf area index masks the polarization difference signal originating at the soil surface.
Entanglement and non-locality are different resources

Bell's theorem states that, to simulate the correlations created by measurement on pure entangled quantum states, shared randomness is not enough: some ‘non-local’ resources are required. It has been demonstrated recently that all projective measurements on the maximally entangled state of two qubits can be simulated with a single use of a ‘non-local machine’. We prove that a strictly larger amount of this non-local resource is required for the simulation of pure non-maximally entangled states of two qubits |ψ(α)⟩ = cosα|00⟩ + sinα|11⟩ with .
The Effects of high fat diets with and without N-Acetylcysteine supplementation on the lipin-1 levels of serum and various tissues in rats

Objective: Obesity is a public health problem, but the struggle against obesity continues to increase every day. Lipin-1 is an adipokine that modulates lipid metabolism and glucose homeostasis. The aims of the current study were to compare the levels of lipin-1 in serum and tissues (liver, lung, heart, pancreas and kidney) in rat fed with low fat diet (LFD), high fat diet (HFD) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) supplemented HFD, and to determine the relationships of the lipin-1 levels in serum and tissues with the levels of serum glucose and lipid parameters. Methods: 18 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: LFD group (n=6), HFD group (n=6) and the NAC-supplemented HFD (HFD+NAC) group (n=6). The feeding period of the diets was 85 days. The lipin-1 levels in serum and tissues were determined by using Rat ELISA kit. Results: In comparison to serum lipin-1 levels in HFD group were significantly lower, but heart lipin-1 levels were significantly higher (P<0.017). On the other hand, it was determined that serum and tissue lipin-1 levels were not influenced by NAC supplementation. In addition, no other significant difference in lipin-1 levels of the other tissues among the groups was found. Conclusion: This study showed that HDF affected serum and heart lipin-1 levels, while NAC supplementation did not affect on the lipin-1 levels of serum and of the tissues.
DROUGHT PROTECTION OF WATERMELON SHOOT GROWTH BY ARTIFICIAL COVER MULCHES

In order to explain how mulch regulates watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai) shoot growth under dehydration, white and red polyethylene film and black non-woven textile were tested. Plants on black non-woven textile and red polyethylene foil showed the lowest shoot growth reduction, and this can be ascribed mainly to water saving properties of these cover mulches. However, important role could be played by modified light and temperature environment, as well.
Size effect on shear strength of concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars

The use of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars as internal reinforcement for portions of massive concrete retaining walls to be penetrated by tunnel boring machines (TBMs), commonly referred to as softeyes, is becoming mainstream. The low shear strength and inherent brittleness of GFRP bars greatly fa- cilitate penetration of the TBM, preventing damage to the disc cutters, and eliminating the risk of costly de- lays. The safe shear design of softeyes and large members in general must account for the strength decrease due to size effect. To date, this phenomenon has not been documented for FRP reinforced concrete (RC). In this paper, the results of laboratory tests on four large-scale concrete beams reinforced with GFRP bars in flexure and shear are presented and discussed. Preliminary results are reported that indicate a decrease in con- crete shear strength attributable to size effect, which is offset by an implicit understrength factor in the current ACI 440 design formula. Further experimental research is ongoing to better characterize the extent of size ef- fect in FRP RC.