Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Photo-physiological performance and short-term acclimation of two coexisting macrophytes ( Cymodocea nodosa and Caulerpa prolifera ) with depth

Marine macrophytes are vertically distributed according to their ability to optimize their photosynthetic performance. We assessed the photo-physiological performance of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa and the green seaweed Caulerpa prolifera at varying depth at Gran Canaria Island (Canary Islands, eastern Atlantic). The biomass of C. nodosa decreases with depth, while the opposite occurs for C. prolifera . Photochemical responses of both macrophytes were measured in shallow (5 m) and deep (20 m) waters at two times via chlorophyll a fluorescence and internal content of photoprotective pigments and antioxidant activity. We additionally carried out a reciprocal transplant experiment by relocating shallow and deep vegetative fragments of both macrophytes to assess their short-term photo-physiological acclimation. Overall, C. nodosa behaves as a ‘light-plant’, including a larger optimum quantum yield and ETR max under scenarios of high photosynthetically active radiation and a larger antioxidant activity. In contrast, C. prolifera is a ‘shade-adapted’ plant, showing a larger carotene content, particularly in shallow water. Deep-water C. nodosa and C. prolifera are more photochemically efficient than in shallow water. The alga C. prolifera shows a rapid, short-term acclimation to altered light regimes in terms of photosynthetic efficiency. In conclusion, decreased light regimes favour the photosynthetic performance of the green alga when both species coexist.
Chlorophyll a fluorescence in two varieties of sugar cane subjected to aluminum and water stress

Soils of open pasture in the Cerrado (brazilian savanna) have farming limitations related to the high content of aluminum and water restrictions in the superficial horizons, due to easy drainage and large exposure to high levels of irradiance. Aiming to assess chlorophyll a fluorescence’s responses in two varieties of sugar cane in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul subjected to water restriction and different aluminum contents, an experiment was conducted in a controlled environment. The experimental lineation consisted of random blocks in a factorial scheme (2 varieties x 2 levels of water available in the soil based on field capacity [cc] and 3 contents of Al +3 ), with 15 replications. Significant differences were observed throughout and at the end of the experiment between the averages of some parameters of chlorophyll a fluorescence for treatment EH1 and between varieties. Results obtained by means of the OJIP test were the most efficient for variety distinction. RB1 (RB 8555536) proved to be more responsive to treatments, variety RB2 (RB867515) did not present significant alterations between treatments; its suggests that most part of the radiation was efficiently used in the photochemical stage of photosynthesis, that makes it more tolerant to the subjected stresses.
Leaf area index of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) crop under three nitrogen fertilization treatments

Nitrogen fertilization has considerable effects on growth and yield of potato crop. Leaf expansion is one of the most important growth parameters that can be used to optimize nitrogen fertilization management in agroecological practices. We evaluated the effect of nitrogen fertilization on the leaf area index (LAI) of potato crop during different phenological stages by two different methods. Experimental plots were established in a randomized block design with the following treatments: no nitrogen supply (0-N), 133 kg N ha -1 (133-N), and 400 kg N ha -1 (400-N), using the Granola variety, at the Andes region, Merida city, Venezuela. We measured leaf area at the main phenological stages of the crop using a plant canopy analyzer. LAI showed significant differences among treatments and phenological stages, except during the emergence stage. The maximum LAI values were obtained 55 days after emergence: 400-N (1.42±0.16) > 133-N (0.92±0.21) > 0-N (0.34±0.08). Nitrogen fertilization had a significant effect on the development of LAI in potato crop along its different phenological stages.
Factors Influencing Entrepreneurial Success of Businesses Supported by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Alborz province, Iran

One of the organizations involved in the development of entrepreneurial activities in the country, is the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, which has many jobseekers across the country. It expends a lot of money, and performs several programs to develop entrepreneurial activities among its target audience, but not all succeed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to identify factors influencing the success or failure of businesses established by individuals supported by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Alborz province (FMVAA). The statistical population of this survey included those supported by FMVAA that by the end of 1389 established a business in various fields, including industrial, manufacturing and agriculture services under the auspices of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs. The number of these businesses were totally 3,200 units, which we determined 240 units by using a simple random sampling method. A questionnaire was used to collect the data which was reliable and valid. Logistic regression analysis showed that the entrepreneurial characteristics, prior self-employment and entrepreneurship experiences, skills and entrepreneurial abilities, entrepreneurial skills training courses, training programs of Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs and some demographic characteristics have significant effect on entrepreneurs' success, whom are supported by Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs. According to the results, several suggestions are presented to improve entrepreneurs' activities supported by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Alborz Province.
The Association between Cataract Surgery and Cognitive Dysfunction in Cataract Patients - A Population-Based Follow- Up in Taiwan

Purpose: Senile cataract and cognitive dysfunction (senile dementia, cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease) are commonly coexisting. Some ophthalmologists believe that cataract surgery not only can restore health to a patient’s eyes, but also can improve the degenerative state of mind. Since their relationship is not fully understood, this study aims to prospectively investigate the association between cataract surgery and long-term incidence of cognitive dysfunction among older people with senile cataract. Methods: Retrospective Cohort study design. We used the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan to investigate the relationship between cataract surgery and incidence of cognitive dysfunction in patients with cataract between January 2000 and December 2010. A total of 31401 cataract patients were included. There were 11385 patients receiving cataract surgery and 20016 age-, sex-, and cataract-diagnosis-timing matched controls who were linked to the claim data to identify the first occurrence of a primary or secondary diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction (including cognitive impairment, senile dementia, and Alzheimer disease). We used the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate the survival curves of cognitive dysfunction. Cox proportional hazards regression modeling was used to determine the association between patients with cataract who received surgery or not and risk for cognitive dysfunction, adjusting for comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetic mellitus, hyperlipidemia, dysrhythmia, and coronary artery disease.
Strength and ductility behavior of circular concrete columns reinforced with GFRP bars and helices

Long-term durability is a concern for Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures. Instances of premature deterioration of concrete structures due to corrosion of steel reinforcement are increasing. The use of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars as an alternative to traditional steel reinforcement in RC structures may resist premature deterioration. Although RC building and bridge columns in coastal areas are susceptible to significant deterioration, studies on concrete columns reinforced with GFRP bars and helices are limited. Also, design codes do not recommend the use of GFRP bars in compression members. This study investigates the use of GFRP bars and helices as longitudinal and lateral reinforcement, respectively, in concrete columns. Five circular normal strength RC columns with 205 mm in diameter and 800 mm in height were cast and tested under concentric loads. The influence of the longitudinal GFRP reinforcement and the spacing of the GFRP helices on the strength and ductility capacity of the columns were investigated. The experimental results showed that the contribution of the longitudinal GFRP bars was lower than the contribution of longitudinal steel bars to the load carrying capacity of the columns. Also, the load carrying capacity of the GFRP-RC columns was smaller than that of steel-RC columns. However, the ductility capacity of the columns was not affected by the use of GFRP helix instead of steel helix.
[Ultra] luminous infrared galaxies selected at 90 μm in the AKARI deep field: a study of AGN types contributing to their infrared emission

Aims. The aim of this work is to characterize physical properties of ultra luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) detected in the far-infrared (FIR) 90 μ m band in the AKARI Deep Field-South (ADF-S) survey. In particular, we want to estimate the active galactic nucleus (AGN) contribution to the LIRGs and ULIRGs’ infrared emission and which types of AGNs are related to their activity. Methods. We examined 69 galaxies at redshift ≥0.05 detected at 90 μ m by the AKARI satellite in the ADF-S, with optical counterparts and spectral coverage from the ultraviolet to the FIR. We used two independent spectral energy distribution fitting codes: one fitting the SED from FIR to FUV (CIGALE) (we use the results from CIGALE as a reference) and gray-body + power spectrum fit for the infrared part of the spectra (CMCIRSED) in order to identify a subsample of ULIRGs and LIRGs, and to estimate their properties. Results. Based on the CIGALE SED fitting, we have found that LIRGs and ULIRGs selected at the 90 μ m AKARI band compose ~56% of our sample (we found 17 ULIRGs and 22 LIRGs, spanning over the redshift range 0.06 z Conclusions. We conclude that LIRGs contain Type 1, Type 2, and intermediate types of AGNs, with an AGN contribution to the mid infrared emission at the median level of 13 ± 3%, whereas the majority of ULIRGs contain Type 2 AGNs, with a median AGN fraction equal to 19 ± 8%.
Hand decontamination: influence of common variables on hand-washing efficiency

This study has evaluated the effects of wash time, friction and soap on the decontamination of hands seeded with Escherichia coli. In one protocol contaminated hands were held passively under running tap water. In another, contaminated hands were again held under running tap water and the fingers and palms rubbed together. In the final protocol soap and friction were used under running water. The number of contaminant E. coli transferred by touch contact to food or a surrogate item representing skin was quantified, before washing and after washing for intervals up to 20 s. Decontamination profiles were determined for each protocol. When hands were washed under running water with friction over a period of 20 s, the number of E. coli contaminating food and the skin surrogate was progressively reduced respectively to 0.18% and 0.34% of the baseline level. Running water alone was comparatively ineffective. The addition of soap showed a modest benefit. We conclude that in situations where hands are not visibly soiled, a purposeful hand wash under running water for 20 s, with friction, will deliver an effective outcome that can be improved marginally by the addition of soap.
Ovarian follicular wave patterns, oestrus interval and ovulation rate in oestrus synchronised Kedah-Kelantan cows.

The relationship between 2- and 3-follicular wave patterns on progesterone hormone profiles, oestrus interval, ovulation time and pregnancy rate in Kedah- Kelantan (KK) cows were studied. A total of 30 primiparous and multiparous KK cows were inserted intravaginally with controlled internal drug releasing device (CIDR®) for 7 days, followed by intramuscular injection of 25 mg prostaglandin 2 days prior to CIDR® removal. The study indicated that the oestrus cycle length and proportion of pregnant cows were not significantly different between the 2- and 3-follicular wave patterns. However, follicle emergence in the 3-wave pattern was 4.1 days later than the 2-wave pattern while the dominant follicle in the 3-wave pattern took 4.3 days earlier to achieve the maximum diameter. The dominant follicle took a respective 6.4 and 5.4 days for 2-and 3-wave patterns to become dominant at days 9.8 and 9.5 respectively. The progesterone concentration at the time of emergence of the first dominant follicle (DF) was lower in 3-wave pattern compared to 2-wave pattern. Oestrus intervals, ovulation time and pregnancy rates were not significantly correlated in the 2- and 3-wave patterns. There was no relationship between ovarian follicular wave patterns, ovulation time and pregnancy rates during the oestrus cycle in synchronised KK cows.
Tangential Approximation of Surfaces

In the Computer Vision community it is a common belief that higher order smoothness, such as curvature, should be modeled using higher order interactions. For example, 2nd order derivatives for deformable (active) contours are represented by triple cliques. Similarly, the 2nd order regularization methods in stereo predominantly use MRF models with scalar (1D) disparity labels and triple clique interactions. In this paper we give an overview of an energy minimization framework for tangential approximation of surfaces developed in [21, 22]. The framework uses higher dimensional labels to encode second order smoothness with pairwise interactions. Hence, many generic optimization algorithms (e.g. message passing, graph cut, etc.) can be used to optimize the proposed regularization functionals. The accuracy of our approach for representing curvature is demonstrated by theoretical and empirical results on real data sets from multi-view reconstruction and stereo.
In search for a canonical design ABL stability class for wind farm turbines

Production as well as loading of wake exposed wind turbines is known to depend significantly on stability of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL), which adds a new dimension to design of wind farm turbines. Adding this new aspect in wind turbine design makes the number of design cycle computations to blow up with a factor equal to the number of representative stability bin classes. The research question to be answered in this paper is: Can an ABL stability probability distribution in a meaningful way be collapsed into a representative design stability class as based on a (predefined) confidence level.
Are larger farms more efficient? A farm level study of the relationships between efficiency and size on specialized dairy farms in Sweden

The study explored how economic, technical and allocative input efficiencies in specialized Swedish dairy farms are affected by differences in farm size. The efficiency analysis showed that costs could decrease by 30% if all farms were as efficient as the best farms in the sample. The effect of farm size was analysed in second-stage regressions. Two measures of farm size were considered: income from dairy and the number of hectares, together with squared measures of both size measures and variables to control for geographic location. The results showed that the relationships between farm size and efficiency can be described as non-linear, where efficiency first tends to decrease with size and then increase. The average scale efficiency was 94.7%, suggesting that, on average, the farms are close to their optimal scale. The paper concludes by suggesting that farm efficiency can be increased both by focusing on increasing the knowledge about how inputs can be more optimally combined and by growth of the farms. However, the latter suggestion requires farm growth aiming at the larger farm segments. ;
The affects of health shocks and house prices on debt holdings by older Americans

We offer an empirical analysis of the effects of health shocks on debt holdings of older Americans using panel data from the Health and Retirement Study. The average older American household owes a surprisingly large amount of mortgage and consumer debt, even in their late seventies. The occurrence of a severe health shock, such as the diagnosis of heart problems, cancer or a stroke, will increase mortgage and consumer debt if a household does not currently have debt, but results in less debt held if the household is already borrowing. If a household has only government insurance then the onset of a sudden severe health problem will increase debt but by less than if the household had only private insurance. If the government wishes to reduce debt owed by older Americans one approach it should consider seriously is the displacement of private insurance by government insurance. Last altered : 19.07. 10 JNC JEL: D11, D12, D14, D91, I11. Credit Research Centre Working Paper 10/01 Preliminary; Please do not quote without permission a Credit Research Centre, Business School, University of Edinburgh. Corresponding author. b Department of Economics, Free University, Amsterdam, NETSPAR and Tinbergen Institute. Both authors would like to thank participants at the NETSPAR Pension Workshop (Amsterdam January 2010) and in particular Maarten Lindeboom for very helpful comments on this paper. Crook would also like to thank the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland for their generous funding of much of this research. He would also like to thank the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and the McIntire School, University of Virginia for providing stimulating research environments during which much of the work was carried out.
The effects of stress and fluid pressure on the anisotropy of interconnected cracks

SUMMARY The cracks in a porous matrix that is subjected to a change in the applied stress or fluid pressure will undergo a distortion related to their orientation relative to the principal directions of the applied stress. Both the crack distribution and the fluid-flow properties of the aggregate will be altered as a consequence, of a change in either the applied stress or fluid pressure, resulting in a change in the effective elastic parameters of the material. An effective medium theory, based on the method of smoothing and incorporating a transfer of fluid between connected cracks via non-compliant pores, is used to derive an expression for the effective elastic parameters of the material, to first order in the crack density � . This expression involves a dependence on both the applied stress and the fluid pressure, and is used to determine the effects on the anisotropy of the effective medium of the applied stress and the fluid pressure. A number of azimuthally symmetric compressive stresses are applied to an isotropic crack distribution to determine the material properties of the resulting transversely isotropic effective medium, as a function of the excess in compressive stress over fluid pressure. As a result of competing processes, the theory predicts that, for a non-hydrostatic stress, there is a pressure at which the anisotropy reaches a maximum value before the properties of the effective medium decay, under increasing stress, to those of the uncracked matrix. The theory does not, however, account for the material failure that will occur at large compressive stresses. Finally, the theory predicts that S waves are more sensitive to changes in the applied stress or fluid pressure than P waves.
Quantifying the erosion resistance of dikes with the overflowing simulator

It is important to quantify the soil resistance against erosion cause by to the overflow of dikes and levees. Small-scale tests are excluded, due to the lack of similarity for a free-surface flow phenomenon on stepped slopes, with non-established flow and erosion of a cohesive soil. Moreover, using hydraulic laboratory flumes does not make it possible to have a correct representation of the soil in place, in terms of layer compaction. This is why we have developed an on site overflowing device. The device was deployed as part of the DigueELITE research project on a 3.5 m (9.8 ft.) high experimental dike in channels, 60 cm wide (≈2 ft.) and 15 m long (≈50 ft.), covering the downstream slope (1.5H/1V) and the downstream platform. The procedure followed is based on ASTM-D6460 standard. The test campaigns were carried out with flow rates up to 500 l/s per linear meter (0.5 m2/s), water velocity up to 5 m/s, and a discharge depth up to 30 cm (≈12 in.) at crest. Two soil types were studied: lime-treated soil, and untreated cohesive soil. The first phase of erosion is that of the surface layer. The second phase is that of the embankment constitutive soil. The erosion shows a stair-steps pattern, due to the layers of compaction. The results obtained show that lime-treated soil has better erosion resistance than untreated soil. Compared to the untreated soil, erosion in the lower part of the slope is 3 times less in lime-treated soil, and the scour depth development process at the downstream toe is 5 to 10 times smaller. This paper presents the experimental setup, the results obtained, and the perspectives. The most important findings are that overflowing experiments are feasible on site with the proposed test set-up.
Policy Spillovers and Synergies in a Monetary Union

We provide a general equilibrium framework for analyzing the effects of supply- and demand-side policies, and the potential synergies between them, in an asymmetric monetary union that faces a liquidity trap and a slow deleveraging process in its “periphery. ” We find that the joint implementation of pro-competition structural reforms in the periphery, a fiscal expansion in the “core,” and forward guidance about the future path of nominal interest rates produces positive synergies between the three policies: forward guidance reinforces the expansionary effects of country-specific policies, and the latter in turn improve the effectiveness of forward guidance. Our results provide a case for complementing current unconventional monetary stimuli in the euro area with national efforts on the structural reform and fiscal fronts.
Evaluation of the Metals Industry's Position on Recycling and its Implications for Environmental Emissions

A healthy debate on the treatment of metals recycling in the life cycle assessment (LCA) community has persisted for more than a decade. While no clear consensus across stakeholder groups has emerged, the metals industry has endorsed a set of recycling “facts” that support a single approach, end‐of‐life recycling, for evaluating the environmental benefits of metals recycling. In this article we draw from research conducted in several disciplines and find that three key tenets of the metals industry capture the theoretical potential of metals recycling from a metallurgical standpoint rather than reflecting observed behavior. We then discuss the implications of these conclusions on environmental emissions from metals production and recycling. Evidence is provided that, contrary to the position of the metals industry, metals are not necessarily recycled at high rates, are recycled only a small number of times before final disposal, and are sometimes limited in recycling potential by the economics of contaminant removal. The analysis concludes that metal recycled from old scrap largely serves as an imperfect substitute for primary metal. As a result, large‐scale displacement of primary production and its associated environmental emissions is currently limited to a few specific instances.