Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of estrous behaviour and cervical mucus properties with conception in Gir cows

The present study was designed to associate the behavioral signs of estrus and properties of cervical mucus with fertility in Gir cows. Cardinal signs of estrous, cervical mucus properties and gynaecological observations were recorded in forty seven estruses. Estrous was detected by visual observations and rectal palpation, and were inseminated using good quality frozen semen by trained inseminator. Pregnancy diagnosis was performed on 60th day post-insemination. Majority of cows exhibited various cardinal signs of estrous (standing to be mounted, mounting to herdmates, chin resting, sniffing/licking of vulva, tail raising, navel twitching, micturition, ear play and restlessness/ aggressiveness) with moderate intensity (65.91-87.23%). Cervical mucus properties like quantity of mucus discharge was less in majority of estruses (48.94%) and 51.06% estruses had thin consistency of mucus. However, 51.06% estruses had cloudy appearance of mucus and 48.94% had spinnbarkeit value of 8-16cm. About 46.81% estruses had arborisation pattern either typical or atypical. Conception rate increased with increase in intensity of ear play activity (2=7.27, df=2, P=0.02). Estrous cows with clear appearance of mucus (2=3.81, df=1, P=0.05), higher spinnbarkeit value (2=6.24, df=2, P=0.04) and typical arborization pattern (2=8.13, df=2, P=0.01) had higher conception rate. The results indicated that estrus cows having more ear play activity as well as clear mucus, higher spinnbarkeit value and typical fern pattern has higher conception rate.
Constitutional Rules and Fiscal Policy Outcomes

We investigate the effect of electoral rules and forms of government on fiscal policy outcomes in a large sample of democracies. We rely on different estimation methods to address prospective problems of statistical inference, due to nonrandom selection of these constitutional rules. The findings are consistent with our theoretical priors: presidential regimes induce smaller governments than parliamentary democracies, while majoritarian elections lead to smaller governments and smaller welfare programs than proportional elections.
Modeling the feedback between aerosol and meteorological variables in the atmospheric boundary layer during a severe fog–haze event over the North China Plain

Abstract. The feedback between aerosol and meteorological variables in the atmospheric boundary layer over the North China Plain (NCP) is analyzed by conducting numerical experiments with and without the aerosol direct and indirect effects via a coupled meteorology and aerosol/chemistry model (WRF-Chem). The numerical experiments are performed for the period of 2–26 January 2013, during which a severe fog–haze event (10–15 January 2013) occurred, with the simulated maximum hourly surface PM2.5 concentration of ~600 ug m−3, minimum atmospheric visibility of ~0.3 km, and 10–100 hours of simulated hourly surface PM2.5 concentration above 300 ug m−3 over NCP. A comparison of model results with aerosol feedback against observations indicates that the model can reproduce the spatial and temporal characteristics of temperature, relative humidity (RH), wind, surface PM2.5 concentration, atmospheric visibility, and aerosol optical depth reasonably well. Analysis of model results with and without aerosol feedback shows that during the fog–haze event aerosols lead to a significant negative radiative forcing of −20 to −140 W m−2 at the surface and a large positive radiative forcing of 20–120 W m−2 in the atmosphere and induce significant changes in meteorological variables with maximum changes during 09:00–18:00 local time (LT) over urban Beijing and Tianjin and south Hebei: the temperature decreases by 0.8–2.8 °C at the surface and increases by 0.1–0.5 °C at around 925 hPa, while RH increases by about 4–12% at the surface and decreases by 1–6% at around 925 hPa. As a result, the aerosol-induced equivalent potential temperature profile change shows that the atmosphere is much more stable and thus the surface wind speed decreases by up to 0.3 m s−1 (10%) and the atmosphere boundary layer height decreases by 40–200 m (5–30%) during the daytime of this severe fog–haze event. Owing to this more stable atmosphere during 09:00–18:00, 10–15~January, compared to the surface PM2.5 concentration from the model results without aerosol feedback, the average surface PM2.5 concentration increases by 10–50 μg m−3 (2–30%) over Beijing, Tianjin, and south Hebei and the maximum increase of hourly surface PM2.5 concentration is around 50 (70%), 90 (60%), and 80 μg m−3 (40%) over Beijing, Tianjin, and south Hebei, respectively. Although the aerosol concentration is maximum at nighttime, the mechanism of feedback, by which meteorological variables increase the aerosol concentration most, occurs during the daytime (around 10:00 and 16:00 LT). The results suggest that aerosol induces a more stable atmosphere, which is favorable for the accumulation of air pollutants, and thus contributes to the formation of fog–haze events.
China Source Profile Shared Service (CSPSS): The Chinese PM2.5 Database for Source Profiles

ABSTRACTChina Source Profile Shared Service (CSPSS, www.speciate.org.cn), a new database of emission source profiles for particulate matter (PM), has been developed by researchers from Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES). The first release of CSPSS 1.0 consists of comprehensive data from China that reveals the emission profiles of different sources in selected regions. Related source categories include coal-fired boiler, industrial process, fugitive dust, vehicle exhaust emissions, biomass burning and cooking. Compositing methodology and data quality control were applied to create high quality composite profiles of each source category. Statistical measures of correlation coefficient, t-test and and distribution of weighted differences can be used to compare the similarities and differences among individual and composite profiles. In addition, differences between data of SPECIATE and CSPSS were compared. The chemical composition shows special characteristics in different source categories. For example, SO42– and OC mark coal-fired bolier; Ca and Ca2+ are the most abundant elements in cement production and construction dust emissions; Cl–, K+ and K mark biomass burning; several metals such as V, Zn Sn and Pb could be used as tracers for paved road dust while Sr, Ba and Pb marked industrial emissions. The highest abundances of organic matter are observed in cooking emissions. Toxic species such as Cr and As are enriched in PM2.5 from coal combustion. Distinguished features of source profiles between SPECIATE and CSPSS indicate that the knowledge of local source profiles are needed for further research. This database should better reflect the emission profiles observed in Chinese environment. Sensitivity tests have been conducted to examine the impact of sub-composite source profiles usually used to establish the composite ones. The result shows that the use of sub-composite source profiles of coal combustion dose not impact the apportionment results for biomass burning, but other sources are varying influenced.
Evaluating the Causal Effect of Foreign Acquisition on Domestic Performances: The Case of Slovenian Manufacturing Firms

This paper investigates the impact of foreign acquisition in 1997 on the performances of a sample of Slovenian manufacturing firms. It uses the propensity score-matching estimation technique combined with the difference-in-differences approach to control for the potential bias arising from the non-random selection of acquired firms (endogeneity of foreign ownership). After confirming that foreign investors acquire the most productive firms in Slovenia, it shows that the productivity of such firms subsequently increases as a result of foreign takeover. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that foreign firms transfer their technology to Slovenian affiliates.
Variability in Sun photometer–derived total ozone over a tropical urban station

[1] A portable, handheld, multichannel Sun photometer (ozonometer) has been used to measure total column ozone over Pune (18°32′N, 73°51′E, 559 m above mean sea level), India, a tropical urban station. Data collected on about 575 mostly clear-sky days during the 5 year period from May 1998 to May 2003 have been used in this study to examine diurnal and seasonal variations. The overall daily mean total ozone at this station is 254 Dobson units (DU), with a variability of about 7%, while the most frequently occurring value is in the range 241–250 DU. The diurnal (daytime) patterns are observed to be different in the winter (December–February), premonsoon (March–May), and postmonsoon (October–November) seasons. There exists a predominant seasonal oscillation in total ozone, with higher values (265 DU) during premonsoon months and lower values (246 DU) during winter months. Ground-based Sun photometer–derived total ozone variations compare very well with those obtained by Earth Probe-Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer.
Capital Movements and Economic Growth Fluctuations: The Threshold Effect of Financial Development

We examine the relationship between capital account openness and growth volatility according to the level of financial development condition. We demonstrate that economies with high level of financial sector development benefit more from capital flows than those with a lower one. In what follows, we extend previous studies by employing updated data, and also exploring more questions related to the links between capital movements and growth volatility. More specifically, we will investigate the issues relevant to threshold effect of financial development on which capital flows changes of sign. We investigate the role of financial development in the relationship between capital flows and growth volatility for different groups of countries. Estimations are conducted with a panel data of 70 countries over the period 1970-2009 using GMM-System estimator for dynamic panel data. Empirical results support that capital movements aggravate macroeconomic volatility according to the level of domestic financial development. This implies that countries which are at an intermediate phase of financial development are the most vulnerable to instability. This threshold is estimated at a rate of credits to the private sector to GDP around 50 %.
The Antecedents of Knowledge Sharing Behavior in an Internet Environment

Knowledge, nowadays, is seen to be important not only in an organization but also in an academic institution. It remains of no value if it is not made visible and ready to be used by everyone who needs it. Numerous studies have been conducted by previous researchers to investigate the antecedents that lead to knowledge sharing behavior of students especially in an Internet environment. However, local studies pertaining to this topic are still very rare in the context of universities in Malaysia. Based on a survey involving 265 respondents, this paper reports the findings of a study that investigated factors influencing knowledge sharing behavior of students using the Internet. Four variables, namely fairness, identification, openness and relevancy, were found to be significant antecedents to knowledge sharing behavior. Based on the identified factors, appropriate steps or procedures can be put in place to enhance knowledge sharing behavior among students. KEYWORD: knowledge sharing, Internet, university students, Malaysia
AC 2012-3418: GRADUATE STUDENTS MENTORING UNDERGRADU- ATES IN RESEARCH: ATTITUDES AND REFLECTIONS ABOUT THESE EXPERIENCES

Janet Y. Tsai is a doctoral student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, whose work examines and develops initiatives and curricular innovations to encourage more students, especially women, into the field of engineering. In addition to assessing peer mentoring programs, Tsai also explores teaching engineering statics through tangible sensations in the body, to feel and understand forces, moments, couples, equilibrium, and more via internal constructs instead of the conventional external examples.
Nature, Nurture and Egalitarian Policy: What Can We Learn from Molecular Genetics?

This brief paper draws attention to molecular genetic research which may provide a new dimension to our understanding of how socioeconomic outcomes are generated. In particular, we provide an overview of the recently emerging evidence of gene-environment interaction effects. This literature points out specific policy areas which may compensate individuals carrying genetic risks, without resorting to gene mapping of the population. Such policies would also increase intergenerational mobility if genetic and/or environmental risk factors are more common in socially disadvantaged groups.
Subordinated by Culture: Constraints of Women in a Rural Yoruba Community, Nigeria

Women worldwide face discriminations and subordination in the society. This subordination of women is even more pronounced in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. Several scholars (Kenig 1996; Adeyeye 1988; Howard 1985; Kazi 1995; Kumar 1993) have asserted that rural women are discriminated against in terms of employment opportunities, access to social and productive resources, education, health status and family decisions, among others. However, rural women in developing countries have been found to play an important role in agriculture and agricultural development (Kumak 1993). Indeed, Williams (1988), Mabawonku (1988) and Olawoye (1994) have all emphasized the paradox that the woman is the nutritional bedrock of human society who feeds and nurtures mankind and at the same time manages the home. Despite these realizations, the Nigerian rural women continue to suffer subordination and the ability to fully realize their potential is greatly hampered. This paper therefore examined the constraints facing rural women in a rural Yoruba Community. The data was collected through focus-group discussions, in-depth interviews and observational methods. Specifically, fourteen focus-group discussions with different groups of women and men, and ten in-depth interviews were held. Findings reveal that despite the increasing awareness of women’s education, there is still a tacit preference for the education of the male-child. Again, perhaps the greatest pattern of subordination is in the area of ‘who decides what’. Findings generally revealed that males enjoy a domineering position in this area. Other problems faced by Nigerian rural women are reflected in their small volume of economic activities, female circumcision, health and rights. The paper concludes by suggesting some intervention programmes including the mobilization of resources to prepare women for leadership roles, and awareness creation about the problem facing women and indeed rural women in South-Western Nigeria.
The Effects of Cultural Familiarity and Value Similarity on Benevolence in the Export-import Relationship

This study examines the effects of importer’s cultural familiarity and value similarity on the importer’s benevolence towards its foreign exporter in an export-import relationship. The results indicate that both the importer’s cultural familiarity and value similarity significantly affect the importer’s commitment to the relationship with the exporter partner. The results also indicate that affective commitment has a positive effect on altruistic benevolence and calculative commitment has a positive influence on mutualistic benevolence. In turn, the importer’s mutualistic benevolence is shown to have a positive impact on relationship performance. Managerial implications for international marketers are discussed. Seoul Journal of Business Volume 13, Number 1 (June 2007) * Main author, Professor of Marketing, School of Business, Yonsei University (jleedjlee@base.yonsei.ac.kr). ** Coauthor, Professor of Marketing, School of Business, Yonsei University (mlee@younsei.ac.kr). *** Coauthor, Associate Professor of Marketing, College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology (francis.ulgado@mgt.gatech.edu).
Resonance oscillations of magnetoresistance in double quantum wells

We present the experimental and theoretical studies of the magnetoresistance oscillations induced by the resonance transitions of electrons between the tunnel-coupled states in double quantum wells. The suppression of these oscillations with increasing temperature is irrelevant to the thermal broadening of the Fermi distribution and reflects the temperature dependence of the quantum lifetime of electrons. The gate control of the period and amplitude of the oscillations is demonstrated.
Optimization Algorithms for Material Pyrolysis Property Estimation

This paper critically assesses the experimental tools and optimization techniques that can be applied to determine material pyrolysis properties intended for fire modeling. It is argued that while independent measurement of material pyrolysis properties using multiple specialized laboratory tests may be the most fundamentally correct way to determine these properties, due to practical considerations optimization offers definite advantages for fire modeling and will likely remain an integral part of material pyrolysis property estimation. The performance of four optimization algorithms that have been implemented in Gpyro is assessed in terms of efficiency (how quickly it converges to a solution) and accuracy (how close the converged solution is to the global optimum) by extracting 19 material pyrolysis properties from a set of synthetic cone calorimeter data. Widely-used genetic algorithm optimization techniques perform poorly in comparison to the shuffled complex evolution (SCE) algorithm, recently applied to material pyrolysis property estimation by Chaos et al. It is shown that SCE consistently converges to the same solution and is capable of reproducing material pyrolysis properties within ~1 % of the actual values used to generate the synthetic data set. This work suggests that SCE is capable of determining a unique set of material pyrolysis properties that correspond to the globally optimal solution.
VARIABILITY AT THE EDGE: OPTICAL NEAR/IR RAPID-CADENCE MONITORING OF NEWLY OUTBURSTING FU ORIONIS OBJECT HBC 722

We present the detection of day-timescale periodic variability in the r-band lightcurve of newly outbursting FU Orionis-type object HBC 722, taken from >42 nights of observation with the CQUEAN instrument on the McDonald Observatory 2.1 m telescope. The optical/near-IR lightcurve of HBC 722 shows a complex array of periodic variability, clustering around 5.8-day (0.044 mag amplitude) and 1.28-day (0.016 mag amplitude) periods, after removal of overall baseline variation. We attribute the unusual number of comparable strength signals to a phenomenon related to the temporary increase in accretion rate associated with FUors. We consider semi-random “flickering,” magnetic braking/field compression and rotational asymmetries in the disk instability region as potential sources of variability. Assuming that the 5.8-day period is due to stellar rotation and the 1.28-day period is indicative of Keplerian rotation at the inner radius of the accretion disk (at 2 R⋆), we derive a B-field strength of 2.2–2.7 kG, slightly larger than typical T Tauri stars. If instead the 5.8-day signal is from a disk asymmetry, the instability region has an outer radius of 5.4 R⋆, consistent with models of FUor disks. Further exploration of the time domain in this complicated source and related objects will be key to understanding accretion processes.
Applying an artificial neural network to predict coagulation capacity of reactive dyeing wastewater by chitosan

Chitosan derived from waste shrimp shells was experimentally evaluated to treat reactive dye (red 24) in aqueous solution. The research was conducted using one-factor-at-a-time experiment design (i.e., pH, reaction time, agitation speeds, initial dye, and chitosan concentration) to investigate dye removal effi ciencies by reducing colour and COD parameters. The results obtained by performing Jar-tests indicated that prepared chitosan successfully removed the reactive dye in aqueous solution. In particular, 99.5% of colour and 72.7% COD removal effi ciencies were recorded under neutral conditions (pH 7) with chitosan dosage 80 mg/L and agitation speed 60 rpm in 30 min. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) of the chitosan, dye, and formed sludge were also investigated to elucidate the removal mechanism of the dye by chitosan. These indicated the potential of using chitosan as a “green” coagulant to reduce pollutants of textile wastewater. Moreover, three-layer feed-forward artifi cial neural network (ANN) models were applied to model the coagulation processes with the determination coeffi cient (R2) 0.986 and the root mean square error (RMSE) 2.951 between predicted and observed outputs. The ANN models were analysed with the connection weight method, neural interpretation diagram, and 3D/contour plots to study the infl uences of operation factors – both individually and combined – on both colour removal and COD removal process.
ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMER RESEARCH

Investigations to unravel the determinants of customer satisfaction are crucial to elucidating the role and significance of the construct and advancing management practice. Accordingly, our study investigates the drivers of customer satisfaction and its impact on behavioral intentions in the direct sales channel context. A conceptual model was developed and tested, which integrates perceived value, perceived equity and relational commitment into the disconfirmation framework. The findings suggest performance is the key driver of customer satisfaction at the subsystem level, while perceived value plays the leading role in influencing customers' overall satisfaction. Further, two new pathsCperceived value to relational commitment and perceived value to perceived equityCneglected in prior research were established. The discussion of our findings reveals important implications for future research and management practice.
Ex ante impact assessment and seasonal climate forecasts: status and issues

The field of ex ante impact assessment has been receiving increasing attention in recent years, due in part to the rapidly changing nature of funding for agricultural research and the shifts that have occurred in what is expected of the international agricultural research community. Ex ante studies are often carried out to provide information to assist in the allocation of scarce research resources to activities that are efficient in some way, or that best match donors' development objec- tives. In practice, impact assessment is often contentious and usually difficult. Despite this, a wide range of tools has been developed for ex ante impact assessment, and these are used routinely in many different areas. Here, various ex ante impact assessment methods are outlined that may be used to provide aggregated information at the scale of the region or society. Also discussed is how technological and policy changes associated with seasonal climate forecasts in developing countries can be assessed through a combination of these methods. Recent developments in quantitative modelling, and the availability of high-resolution regional and global data sets, could in the future contribute significantly to the identification of niches where seasonal climate forecasts could help vulnerable people cope with variability, with concomitant impacts on the alleviation of poverty.