Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of some herbal extracts and pesticides on the biological parameters of Bemisia Tabaci (genn.) (hem.: Aleyrodidae) pertaining to tomato grown under controlled conditions

The sweet potato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) (Biotype A: Hem.: Aleyrodidae) is one of the most important pests in Iran. The development of alternative methods that are not chemical applications, is necessary in pest management for the sake of human health and for the safety of the environment. In this research project, the effect of four herbal compounds Fumaria parviflora Lam. (Fu- mariaceae), Teucrium polium L. (Lamiaceae), Calotropis procera (Willd.) R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae), Thymus vulgaris L. (Lamiaceae) on the same biological parameters of cotton whitefly were compared with the insecticides azadirachtin and pymetrozin. The results showed significant differences between herbal compounds and insecticides on: egg longevity (F 6, 39 = 2.96, p < 0.05), pupa longevity (F 6, 37 = 4.49, p < 0.01) and adult longevity (F 6, 31 = 4.47, p < 0.01); egg mortality (F 6, 39 = 6.71, p < 0.001), total egg mortality (F 6, 39 = 6.71, p < 0.001), sex ratio (female) (F 6, 30 = 3.49, p < 0.01), oviposition period (F 6,31 = 7.50, p < 0.001) and total fecundity/female (F 6, 31 = 8.23, p < 0.001). These results indicated that a fumitory extract and pymetrozin had the best effect on longevity and mortality, respectively. According to the results, the fumitory had a noticeable effect on the different life stages of the sweet potato whitefly.
Older Sexual Partners During Adolescence : LinkstoReproductiveHealthOutcomesinYoungAdulthood

RESULTS: Tenpercentof femalesand2%ofmaleshadhadearlysexwithanolderpartner.Thesefemalesweremorelikely to acquire an STD as young adults than were those whose riskiest relationship was before age 16 with a similar-aged partner (odds ratio, 2.1) or at age 16 or later with a similar-aged or older partner (2.4 and 2.6, respectively). For males, having sex before 16, regardless of partner age, was associated with an elevated STD risk (odds ratio, 1.9), although controlling for relationship history characteristics attenuated the association.
Analytical computation of the optimal reference currents for MTPC/MTPA, MTPV and MTPF operation of anisotropic synchronous machines considering stator resistance and mutual inductance

The derivation of analytical solutions for the optimal reference currents during Maximum-Torque-per-Current (MTPC; or Maximum-Torque-per-Ampere (MTPA)), Maximum-Torque-per-Voltage (MTPV) and Maximum-Torque-per-Flux (MTPF) operation of anisotropic synchronous machines with non-negligible stator resistance and mutual inductance is presented. The analytical solutions allow for a direct computation of the corresponding reference currents without neglecting stator resistance and/or mutual inductance (as usually done). Numerical approximations are no longer required. The derived analytical solutions for MTPC, MTPV and MTPF operation are suitable for any anisotropic synchronous machine; even for nonlinear reluctance synchronous machines as measurement will illustrate.
Use of dynamical models for treatment optimization in HIV infected patients: a sequential Bayesian analysis approach.

The use of dynamic mechanistic models based on ordinary differential equations (ODE) has greatly improved the knowledge of the dynamics of HIV and of the immune system. Their flexibility for fitting data and prediction abilities make them a good tool for optimization of the design delivery and efficacy of new intervention in the HIV field. We present the problem of inference in ODE models with mixed effects on parameters. We introduce a Bayesian estimation procedure based on the maximization of the penalized likelihood and a normal approximation of posteriors, which is implemented in the NIMROD software. We investigate the impact of pooling different data by using a sequential Bayesian analysis (SBA), which uses posteriors of a previous study as new priors. We show that the normal approximation of the posteriors, which constrains the shape of new priors, leads to gains in accuracy of estimation while reducing computation times. The illustration is from two clinical trials of combination of antiretroviral therapies (cART): ALBI ANRS 070 and PUZZLE ANRS 104. This paper reproduces some unpublished work from my PhD thesis. It is an extension of my oral presentation on the same topic at the 47th Journees de Statistique organized by the French Statistical Society (SFdS) in Lille, France, May 2015, when being awarded the Marie-Jeanne Laurent-Duhamel prize. Cet article a recu le Prix Marie-Jeanne Laurent-Duhamel 2015.
Development of cellulosic paper-based test strips for Cr(VI) determination

Paper-based test strips specific for the Cr(VI) determination in aqueous solutions were developed by impregnating a color-forming reagent, diphenylcarbazide, and a quaternary ammonium salt (Aliquat 336) into paper sheets. The results showed that the quaternary ammonium salt could effectively retain the colored complex in the paper substrate. This paper-based test strip showed a high selectivity for Cr(VI) in the samples to be tested. The method was applied to synthetic samples, and the results were compared to these from a reference method. The current work demonstrated that with a color chart, this portable paper-based test strip has the potential to be used for field screening or on-site semi-quantitative analysis.
New Generation of Passenger Vehicles: FCV or HEV?

This paper compares the performance and parameter characteristics of Fuel Cell Vehicles (FCV) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) with a view towards an objective assessment of the relative performance of these vehicles. In particular, this paper reviews major characteristics of fuel cell powered vehicles (FCVs) as zero or ultra-low emission vehicles (ZEV/ULEVs), their presumed high efficiency, while also considering their limited performance at high power demands. The paper also considers the main characteristics of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) as low emission vehicles (LEVs), including presumed high efficiency. The paper presents comparison for well-to-wheels emissions for various vehicles. Well-to-wheels efficiencies, emissions, and fuel economy are compared for FCVs and HEVs. In addition, other issues like battery types for HEVs and HFCVs are explored in this paper. The potential control strategies for FCVs and HEVs will be discussed and compared. In both FCVs and HEVs, best control strategies need to rely on predicting the driver command, which presents a particularly challenging opportunity for further development. The paper also gives the comparison of total costs for FCVs and HEVs. Finally, the commercialization issues for both FCVs and HEVs are mentioned in the paper.
The Predictive Success and Profitability of Chart Patterns in the Euro/Dollar Foreign Exchange Market

We investigate the existence of chart patterns in the Euro/Dollar intra-daily foreign exchange market. We use two identification methods of the different chart patterns: one built on close prices only, and one based on low and high prices. We look for twelve types of chart patterns and we study the detected patterns through two criteria : predictability and profitability. We run a Monte Carlo simulation to compute the statistical significance of the obtained results. We find an apparent existence of some chart patterns in the currency market. More than one half of detected charts present a significant predictability. Nevertheless, only two chart patterns imply a significant profitability which is however too small to cover the transaction costs. The second extrema detection method provides higher but riskier profits than the first one.
Alveolar bone changes after asymmetric rapid maxillary expansion.

OBJECTIVE To quantitatively evaluate the effects of asymmetric rapid maxillary expansion (ARME) on cortical bone thickness and buccal alveolar bone height (BABH), and to determine the formation of dehiscence and fenestration in the alveolar bone surrounding the posterior teeth, using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS The CBCT records of 23 patients with true unilateral posterior skeletal crossbite (10 boys, 14.06 ± 1.08 years old, and 13 girls, 13.64 ± 1.32 years old) who had undergone ARME were selected from our clinic archives. The bonded acrylic ARME appliance, including an occlusal stopper, was used on all patients. CBCT records had been taken before ARME (T1) and after the 3-month retention period (T2). Axial slices of the CBCT images at 3 vertical levels were used to evaluate the buccal and palatal aspects of the canines, first and second premolars, and first molars. Paired samples and independent sample t-tests were used for statistical comparison. RESULTS The results suggest that buccal cortical bone thickness of the affected side was significantly more affected by the expansion than was the unaffected side (P < .05). ARME significantly reduced the BABH of the canines (P < .01) and the first and second premolars (P < .05) on the affected side. ARME also increased the incidence of dehiscence and fenestration on the affected side. CONCLUSIONS ARME may quantitatively decrease buccal cortical bone thickness and height on the affected side.
Coupling between two inlets: Observation and modeling

[1] The resonance coupling between two adjacent inlets is investigated. Field evidence of this natural phenomenon is found for two elongated inlets in the region of Ciutadella, Menorca Island, in the Western Mediterranean (Ciutadella and Platja Gran). To illustrate the fundamental features of the problem, analytical solutions for two rectangular inlets with constant depth are constructed and analyzed. The theoretical results mimic well the field data and demonstrate the resonance coupling characteristics of the inlet responses. The phenomenon is also examined with a numeric model so that the effects of real bathymetry can be considered. Numerical computations show the specific resonant features of local topography and the agreement between field data and numerical results is very good.
Performance of Some Sorghum ( Sorghum Bicolor L . Moench ) Varieties Under Rain-Fed Condition at Zalingei Area , Sudan ( Growth , Yield , Pests and Diseases )

A field experiment was conducted at the University of Zalingei demonstration farm (Zalingei, Sudan) during 2013/ 2014 rainy season, to investigate the effect of sowing date and variety on growth, yield, pest and disease performance of some sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) varieties and local genotypes grown at Zalingei area under rain fed condition. Treatments consisted of three sowing dates (7th July, 10th July and 15th July) and four sorghum varieties and genotypes (Tabat, WadAhmed, Abu-ragaba and Abu-kunjara). Treatments were arranged in split plot design replicated four times with sowing dates in the main plots and varieties in the subplots. Parameters measured were number of leaves/plant, leave area (cm 2 ) and stem diameter (cm), 1000 grain weight (g) and yield (kg/feddan). Data were statistically analyzed using MSTAT-C software program. Data about pests and diseases were collected by field survey three times during the season at seedling, at vegetative growth stage and at harvest. Primary diagnosis of pest and disease infection was done in the field through visual observation using hand lens. Samples of infected plants were taken to the laboratory for further investigation. Results showed that significant differences (p ≤0.05) were found for number of leaves/plant in the third count and the leave area. Concerning stem diameter results showed no significant differences for different varieties. Results revealed significant differences (p ≤0.05) in number of leaves/plants and leave area during different sowing dates. In case of stem diameter results revealed no significant differences for different sowing dates. Yield results revealed that no significant differences were found. Interaction of sowing date × variety showed significant difference (p ≤0.05) for all parameters measured. Pest and disease results obtained revealed that damping-off of young seedlings was considered to be the most important disease that affect Barbarei at seedling stage, both preand post emergence damping-off were observed. Results showed that both sorghum genotypes (Barbarei) Abu-ragaba and Abu-kunjarawere found to be more affected by disease incidence especially in second sowing date (24.8% and 23% respectively) compared to Tabat and Wad-Ahmed (9.7% and 9.1% respectively). At vegetative growth stage, stem borer was observed equally in all sorghum varieties and Barbarei. With regard to diseases, a bacterial leaf streak was detected.
CLEAR-AIR SIGNAL LEVEL MEASUREMENT FOR MICROWAVE LINE-OF-SIGHT LINK APPLICATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

This paper presents an analysis of the 19.5 GHz clear-air signal level measurement variations over a line of sight link set up between two campuses of University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. The measurement over the link spans a period of eleven months. An analytical expression for fade depth exceedance is proposed for KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa. The link outage probability is compared with the results obtained from two ITU-R models as per Recommendations P.530-8 and P.530-12, Morita's model for Japan, and the model of Vigants used in the United States. The Morita model over sea and coastal regions gives an outage probability of 0.060%, compared to 0.037% obtained from the measurements, with the two ITU-R models also giving close values of 0.027% and 0.024%, respectively. However, Vigants' model is found to be the least appropriate for outage estimation in South Africa.
On monitoring depth variations of the main thermocline acoustically

It is shown that depth variations over weeks and months of the main thermocline may be resolved effectively by means of an inverted echo sounder that measures precisely the time for an acoustic signal to travel from the sea bottom to the surface and back. Calculations with hydrographic data show that depth changes as small as 10 meters may be resolved. Preliminary experiments off Bermuda show that apart from a variation due to the surface and internal semidiurnal tides, the travel time is stable for more than a week, which is consistent with the observation that the thermocline depth does not change substantially on this short a time scale.
Real-Time Representations of the Output Gap

Methods are described for the appropriate use of data obtained and analysed in real time to represent the output gap. The methods employ cointegrating VAR techniques to model real-time measures and realizations of output series jointly. The model is used to mitigate the impact of data revisions; to generate appropriate forecasts that can deliver economically meaningful output trends and that can take into account the end-of-sample problems encountered in measuring these trends; and to calculate probability forecasts that convey in a clear way the uncertainties associated with the gap measures. The methods are applied to data for the United States 1965q42004q4, and the improvements over standard methods are illustrated.
Prodromal spinocerebellar ataxia type 2: Prospects for early interventions and ethical challenges

The characterization of prodromal stages in neurodegenerative disorders is becoming increasingly important because of the need for early neuroprotective therapies. Research during the past 3 decades in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 has revealed a large body of evidence suggesting that many disease features precede the manifest cerebellar syndrome, which delineates the prodromal stage of this disorder. This stage is defined by clinical, imaging, and functional criteria, which are supported by early molecular events demonstrated in animal models. Knowledge regarding prodromal spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 provides insight into the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration from the early stages, which enables the design of promising disease‐modifying clinical trials through the identification of the optimum moment to begin the therapies, the appropriate selection of individuals, and the identification of sensitive outcome measures. The management of patients in prodromal spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 may raise ethical dilemmas related to predictive diagnosis and early interventions, which impose new challenges to clinical and therapeutic research. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
Working Paper # 0097 Identification with Imperfect Instruments * By Aviv Nevo † Northwestern University and NBER And

Dealing with endogenous regressors is a central challenge of applied research. The standard solution is to use instrumental variables that are assumed to be uncorrelated with unobservables. We instead assume (i) the correlation between the instrument and the error term has the same sign as the correlation between the endogenous regressor and the error term, and (ii) that the instrument is less correlated with the error term than is the endogenous regressor. Using these assumptions, we derive analytic bounds for the parameters. We demonstrate the method in two applications.
Usporedba metodologija mjerenja konkurentnosti nacionalnog gospodarstva i položaj Hrvatske

Autori u radu analiziraju razlicite metodologije i pokazatelje nacionalne konkurentnosti. Poseban je naglasak stavljen na povezanost tzv. tvrdih indikatora konkurentnosti prema istraivanjima razlicitih institucija i mekih (anketnih) percepcija o stanju konkurentnosti. Razina konkurentnosti hrvatskoga gospodarstva sagledana je sa stajalista razlicitih metodologija, pa je s velikom pouzdanoscu i primjenom dviju razlicitih tehnika analize, zakljuceno kako je nedvojbeno da metodologija WEF koju objavljuje tzv. Global Competitiveness Index ponajbolje u velikoj skupini analiziranih tranzicijskih zemalja opisuje napredak po pojedinim podrucjima i korelira s ostvarenom razinom gospodarskoga razvitka. Potom po pouzdanosti slijedi EBRD metodologija, a na zacelju je metodologija kojom se koristi Svjetska banka – Doing Business.
An initial centroid selection method based on radial and angular coordinates for K-means algorithm

Clustering is a technique for dividing a set of similar objects into same groups and dissimilar objects into different groups. Among different clustering algorithms, the K-means algorithm is considered as the most popular due to its simplicity. However, the outcome from the K-means algorithm is highly sensitive to the initial centroid selection. As a consequence, the selection of initial centroids in the K-means algorithm plays a crucial part in accuracy and efficiency. To select the initial centroids more effectively, in this paper, we propose a new method based on radial and angular coordinates. To check the feasibility of the proposed method, we compare our method with the standard K-means algorithm. For the comparison, we use synthetic data sets with different size of instances and number of clusters. The experiment shows that in most of the cases the proposed method clearly dominates over the standard K-means algorithm in terms of execution time and required number of iterations.
Blood sampling and serum analyses

License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. Permissions beyond the scope of the License are administered by Dove Medical Press Limited. Information on how to request permission may be found at: http://www.dovepress. com/permissions.php Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2014:1
Calibrated Peer Review Assignments for the Earth Sciences

Calibrated Peer Review ™ (CPR), a web-based instructional tool developed as part of the National Science Foundation reform initiatives in undergraduate science education, allows instructors to incorporate multiple writing assignments in large courses without overwhelming the instructor. This study reports successful implementation of CPR in a large, introductory geology course and student learning of geoscience content. For each CPR assignment in this study, students studied web-based and paper resources, wrote an essay, and reviewed seven essays (three from the instructor, three from peers, and their own) on the topic. Although many students expressed negative attitudes and concerns, particularly about the peer review process of this innovative instructional approach, they also recognized the learning potential of completing CPR assignments. Comparing instruction on earthquakes and plate boundaries using a CPR assignment vs. an instructional video lecture and homework essay with extensive instructor feedback, students mastered more content via CPR instruction.
Supersonic optical tunnels for Bose–Einstein condensates

We propose a method for the stabilization of a stack of parallel vortex rings in a Bose–Einstein condensate. The method makes use of a ‘hollow’ laser beam containing an optical vortex. Using realistic experimental parameters we demonstrate numerically that our method can stabilize up to nine vortex rings. Furthermore we point out that the condensate flow through the tunnel formed by the core of the optical vortex can be made supersonic by inserting a laser-generated hump potential. We show that long-living immobile condensate solitons generated in the tunnel exhibit sonic horizons. Finally, we discuss prospects of using these solitons for analogue gravity experiments.
The Investigation on the Desulphurization Process of Porous CaO

the desulphurization reaction of porous CaO is a complex multi-model control process. It can be seen through SEM that, the calcination limestone is consisted of many CaO aggregation particles, the particle is consisted of a large mount of grains, and there are a lot of pores within those individual particles. Therefore, the product layer diffusion process is made up of two processes, one is gas diffusion in the particle product layer, the other is solid state ions diffusion in the grain product layer. Basing on the idealized model of a pellet with many grains, the diffusion equation was calculated out. It is shown that this dynamics equation may achieve a team of logical conversion curves through coupling the two diffusions, and the influence from non-linearity structure of CaO grain is evident.
Mathematics teacher stress in Chinese secondary schools

Since the 1970s studies on teacher stress have become numerous. However, most of the existing research has been the product of western countries. There have been a few studies conducted in the Peopleâ€™s Republic of China. This study aims to investigate the general level of Chinese math teachersâ€™ stress, its main sources, and the coping methods. The questionnaire, which was used in Taiwan (Kyriacou & Chien 2004), was administered to 211 secondary school math teachers who attended an in-service training program in the summer of 2007. This study revealed that teachers in China experience a higher level of stress compared to their counterparts in western countries and in other Chinese societies (eg Taiwan and Hong Kong). Moreover, rural teachers, young teachers, and teachers with less teaching experience reported being more stressed than their respective peers. This paper provides the possible explanations for the findings and suggestions for Chinese policy makers as well as for future studies in China.