Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mosquito Species Diversity And Distribution in Three Riverine Communities in Taraba State, North-Eastern Nigeria

Mostmosquitoes are nuisance and public health problem because the females consume blood and transmit diseases. Studies were carried out between September, 2015 and August 2016 to determine the composition and abundance of mosquito species in Taraba state, Nigeria. Indoor mosquitoes in riverine communities of Mayorenewa (Ardo Kola), Bali and Gyatanaure (Donga) were collected using Pyrethrum-Spray Catch complemented with electronic mosquito bat.A total of 3369 mosquitoes were collected comprising five genera: Anopheles 1686 (50.0%), Culex 1587 (47.1%), Mansonia 67 (2.0%), Sabethes 18 (0.5%), Toxorynchites 6 (0.2%) and Aedes 5 (0.2%). Species were identified using morphological and PCR-Restriction Length Fragment Polymorphism assay. Among the 2179 identified species 758 (34.7%) were An.gambiaesensulato. Characterisation of sibling species and molecular forms of An.gambiaes. l by PCR-RLFP showed: An.coluzzii 725 (95.6 %,), An.gambiae 24 (3.2%), An. coluzzii/An.gambiae hybrid 9 (1.2%) and Anopheles arabiensis 1 (0.19%). Shannon-Wiener and Simpson’s biodiversity index analysis showed that An. coluzzii was most predominant (indices 0.159 and 0.110) followed by Cx.pipiens(indices 0.13 and 0.029) and Cx. pilosus (indices 0.11 and 0.075). The least encountered species were An. pariensis, An.arabiensis and An. hancoki (indices 0.0015 and 0.0000002). Ardo Kola had the least diversity but highest dominance (0.6302 and 0.458), Bali had highest diversity, but moderate species frequrency (0.875 and 0.1425), whereas Donga had moderate diversity and dominance (0.8383 and 0.1936). Ardo Kola, Bali and Donga contributed 33.0%, 33.4% and 33.5% of identified mosquito species in the sudy area respectively. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference in abundance of species in study areas (P>0.05)
IDENTIFICATION OF GENES CONFFERING RESISTANCE TO SOME PHILIPPINE AND VIETNAMESE RACES OF BLAST

The F 14 recombinant inbred population derived from a cross between japonica rice variety, Lemont and indica variety, Teqing was inoculated by ten Philippine and Vietnamese blast races (M36-1-3-10-1, M64-1-3-9-1, BN111, M39-1-2-21-2, V86010, 142A, 101A, 110A, RB and 138A). The three major resistance genes were identified on chromosomes 2, 11 and 12 as previously reported. The other two resistance loci on chromosomes 6 and 10 were new blast resistance genes. By QTL mapping, out of 48 detected QTLs, fourteen main-effect QTLs (M-QTLs) were identified, nine of which with the resistance allele coming from Teqing, M-QTL bracketed by J01100-AJ13060 on chromosome 11 that was derived from Lemont was mapped to the same genomic region of previously identified qualitative resistance genes; 34 were epistatic QTLs (E-QTLs). Most of partial resitance genes may be race specific in effect and the interactions between QTLs were also important for overall phenotype.
Infrared [Fe II] and Dust Emissions from Supernova Remnants

Abstract Supernova remnants (SNRs) are strong thermal emitters of infrared radiation. The most prominent lines in the near-infrared spectra of SNRs are [Fe II] lines. The [Fe II] lines are from shocked dense atomic gases, so they trace SNRs in dense environments. After briefly reviewing the physics of the [Fe II] emission in SNR shocks, I describe the observational results which show that there are two groups of SNRs bright in [Fe II] emission: middle-aged SNRs interacting with molecular clouds and young core-collapse SNRs in dense circumstellar medium. The SNRs belonging to the former group are also bright in near-infrared H2 emission, indicating that both atomic and molecular shocks are pervasive in these SNRs. The SNRs belonging to the latter group have relatively small radii in general, implying that most of them are likely the remnants of SN IIL/b or SN IIn that had strong mass loss before the explosion. I also comment on the “[Fe II]-H2 reversal” in SNRs and on using the [Fe II]-line luminosity as an indicator of the supernova (SN) rate in galaxies. In the mid- and far-infrared regimes, thermal dust emission is dominant. The dust in SNRs can be heated either by collisions with gas species in a hot plasma or by radiation from a shock front. I discuss the characteristics of the infrared morphology of the SNRs interacting with molecular clouds and their dust heating processes. Finally, I give a brief summary of the detection of SN dust and crystalline silicate dust in SNRs.
Intermittency for the wave and heat equations with fractional noise in time

In this article, we consider the stochastic wave and heat equations driven by a Gaussian noise which is spatially homogeneous and behaves in time like a fractional Brownian motion with Hurst index H>1/2. The solutions of these equations are interpreted in the Skorohod sense. Using Malliavin calculus techniques, we obtain an upper bound for the moments of order p≥2 of the solution. In the case of the wave equation, we derive a Feynman–Kac-type formula for the second moment of the solution, based on the points of a planar Poisson process. This is an extension of the formula given by Dalang, Mueller and Tribe [Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 360 (2008) 4681–4703], in the case H=1/2, and allows us to obtain a lower bound for the second moment of the solution. These results suggest that the moments of the solution grow much faster in the case of the fractional noise in time than in the case of the white noise in time.
Not worth the risk: apex predators suppress herbivory on coral reefs

Apex predators are known to exert strong ecological effects, either through direct or indirect predator–prey interactions. Indirect interactions have the potential to influence ecological communities more than direct interactions as the effects are propagated throughout the population as opposed to only one individual. Indirect effects of apex predators are well documented in terrestrial environments, however there is a paucity of information for marine environments. Furthermore, manipulative studies, as opposed to correlative observations, isolating apex predator effects are lacking. Coral reefs are one of the most diverse ecosystems, providing a useful model system for investigating the ecological role of apex predators and their influence on lower trophic levels. Using predator models and transplanted macroalgae we examined the indirect effects of predators on herbivore foraging behaviour. We show that the presence of a model reef shark or large coral-grouper led to a substantial reduction in bite rate and species richness of herbivorous fishes and an almost absolute localized cessation of macroagal removal, due to the perceived risk of predation. A smaller-sized coral-grouper also reduced herbivore diversity and activity but to a lesser degree than the larger model predators. These indirect effects of apex predators on the foraging behaviour of herbivores may have flow-on effects on the biomass and distribution of macroalgae, and the functioning of coral reef ecosystems. This highlights that the ecological interactions and processes that contribute to ecosystem resilience may be more complex than previously assumed.
The Effectiveness of Policy Conditionality: Eight Country Experiences

This article analyses the effectiveness of the setting of policy conditions in exchange for aid. Given the emerging consensus that this process is not effective, this article focuses on explaining why not. In analysing the experiences of eight countries — Bangladesh, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia — an ‘augmented’ principal–agent framework proved valuable in explaining why policy conditionality is not effective in these countries. The article concludes that donors should focus on some simple policy outcomes (ex post) instead of extensive policy conditions (ex ante).
Screening and Identification of Salicin Compound from Desmodium gangeticum and its In vivo Anticancer Activity and Docking Studies with Cyclooxygenase (COX) Proteins from Mus musculus

Cancer continues to be a worldwide killer, despite the enormous amount of research and rapid developments seen during the past decade. It has been suggested that by 2020 more than 15 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed. Since it is commonly believed that many are preventable, there is urgent need to identify/develop natural medicines as effective chemopreventive agents. The purpose of this current study was to assess the effect of isolated and characterized salicin on cyclooxygenase (COX) proteins by molecular docking studies and by assessments of the effects of drug-ligand interaction. Salicin isolated from Desmodium gangeticum, a medicinal legume, is a COX inhibitor. The present study report the extraction, isolation and identification of salicin and its interaction with COX-1 and COX-2 derivatives, which may be useful for drug-designing for anti-cancer activities. Molecular modeling and docking studies revealed the binding orientations of salicin into the active sites of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. Extraction, isolation and characterization of the compound 2-(hydroxymethyl) phenyl hexopyranoside, also known as ‘salicin’, from the leaves of D. gangeticum first time. Anticancer evaluation of salicin in in vivo mice model.
JAAKKO VALLI PERIODICITY, CLUSTERING AND PRICE IMPACT OF LIMIT ORDER BOOK EVENTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF HELSINKI STOCK EXCHANGE EQUITIES

JAAKKO VALLI: Periodicity, Clustering and Price Impact of Limit Order Book Events: an Empirical Investigation of Helsinki Stock Exchange Equities Tampere University of Technology Master’s Degree Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management Master of Science Thesis, 69 pages July 2016 Major: Industrial Management Examiner: Professor Juho Kanniainen
Courting Economic Development

We show that court enforcement uncertainty hinders economic development using sharp variation in judiciaries across Native American reservations in the United States. Congressional legislation passed in 1953 assigned state courts the authority to resolve civil disputes on a subset of reservations, while tribal courts retained authority on unaffected reservations. Although affected and unaffected reservations had similar economic conditions when the law passed, reservations under state courts experienced significantly greater long-run growth. When we examine the distribution of incomes across reservations, the average difference in development is due to the lower incomes of the most impoverished reservations with tribal courts. We show that the relative under-development of reservations with tribal courts is driven by reservations with the most uncertainty in court enforcement.
The Macroeconomic Consequences of EMU: International Evidence from a DSGE Model

In this paper, we estimate a New Keynesian DSGE model developed by Ireland (2003) on French, German and Spanish data with the aim to explore the macroeconomic consequences of EMU. In order to validate the results from the DSGE model, we amend this analysis by stability tests of monetary policy reaction functions for these countries. We find that (a) the DSGE structure is well suited for the characterization of key macroeconomic features of the three economies; (b) significant efficiency gains were realized in terms of lower adjustment cost of prices and the capital stock; (c) the behavior of monetary policy did not change in Germany, unlike in France and Spain. Specifically, the impact of inflation on interest rates increased considerably in the two latter countries.
Evaluating a conservation investment designed to reduce human–wildlife conflict

Outreach programs are interventions that have the potential to influence the unique context of human–wildlife conflict as well as the political, economic, and social systems within which human–wildlife conflict occurs. However, evaluation of these programs is limited. The purpose of this research was to determine a human–wildlife conflict outreach intervention's effect on environmentally responsible behavior using the case of human–black bear conflict in New York, The New York NeighBEARhood Watch Program, and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. We found no short‐term evidence of environmentally responsible behavior change after the program was implemented. We discuss inhibitors of desired program impact and the utility of our evaluation framework to measure program effect. Given the staying power of outreach interventions and their unknown effects on mitigating human–wildlife conflict, it is imperative that evaluation of programs be a required part of their implementation. Results presented herein can advance discussion about the role of outreach interventions by highlighting assumptions, realistic expectations, and outcome measures.
The Board's Demography—Firm Performance Relationship Revisited: A Bayesian Approach

Building on behavioral theory, we argue that the effect of board demography on the performance of small and medium‐sized family firms differs significantly at the individual firm level and that the degree by which board task performance meets board task needs explains this effect. Using a Bayesian estimation method, we obtain firm specific estimates of the effect of board demography on firm performance. Analysis of these estimates indicates that the size of the gap between board task needs and board task performance explains the effects of the board demographic characteristics—board size and percentage of family directors—on firm performance.
Bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. II. Spawning season, hatch-date distribution and young-of-the-year growth

Seasonality becomes more pronounced with increasing latitude, so that at northern sites organisms must adapt to a shorter growing season and more extended and severe overwintering con- ditions. Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island, USA) lies near the northern extent of the range of the bay anchovy Anchoa mitchilli, an abundant member of this estuarine system during the summer months. The length of the spawning season, hatch-date frequency, and young-of-the-year (YOY) growth rates were evaluated for Narragansett Bay anchovies during the summer of 1997 by gonadosomatic indices (GSI) and otolith-increment analysis. GSI data indicated a shorter spawning season for this species in Narragansett Bay than at lower latitudes. Otolith-increment analysis data indicated that hatch-date- frequency was highest in July. Mean YOY growth rate (0.70 mm d -1 ) was much higher at this latitude than for conspecifics in Chesapeake Bay (0.47 mm d -1 ). One possible adaptation to a shorter growing season is an increased growth rate during favorable conditions.
Discretion Rather than Rules: Choice of Instruments to Control Bureaucratic Policy Making

In this paper I investigate the trade-off a legislature faces in the choice of instruments to ensure accountability by bureaucrats with private information. The legislature can either design a state-contingent incentive scheme or “menu law” to elicit the bureau's information or it can simply limit the set of choices open to the bureaucrat and let it choose as it wishes (an action restriction). I show that the optimal action restriction is simply a connected interval of the policy space. However, this class of instruments is not optimal without some sort of limitation on the set of levers of control available to the legislature. I then analyze one such limitation salient in politics, the legislative principal's inability to commit to honor a schedule of (state contingent) policy choices and transfer payments for a menu law. In this case the optimal action restriction outperforms (in terms of the legislature's welfare) the best available menu law.
The Impact of Bribery on Firm Performance: Evidence from Central and Eastern European Countries

I examine the relation between bureaucratic corruption ('to get things done') and firm performance in Central and Eastern European countries. While previous re- search relies on data from the BEEPS survey, which suffers from excessive non- reporting of corporate performance, I combine the information on bribery practices from the BEEPS with reliable firm performance data from the Amadeus database. The estimates, identified from within-firm variation, suggest that bureaucratic cor- ruption negatively affects both the sales and labor productivity growth of firms. However, conditional on a given level of bribery in a narrowly defined local market, a higher dispersion of firms' bribing behavior within such a market appears to facili- tate firm performance. I provide an explanation for this finding and also investigate the effect of bribery with respect to the heterogeneity of firms in terms of their size, inclusion in the manufacturing or service sector, stability, and countries' overall in- stitutional environments.
A long-lived neutron star merger remnant in GW170817: constraints and clues from X-ray observations

Multi-messenger observations of GW170817 have not conclusively established whether the merger remnant is a black hole (BH) or a neutron star (NS). We show that a long-lived magnetized NS with a poloidal field $B\approx 10^{12}$G is fully consistent with the electromagnetic dataset, when spin down losses are dominated by gravitational wave (GW) emission. The required ellipticity $\epsilon\gtrsim 10^{-5}$ can result from a toroidal magnetic field component much stronger than the poloidal component, a configuration expected from a NS newly formed from a merger. Abrupt magnetic dissipation of the toroidal component can lead to the appearance of X-ray flares, analogous to the one observed in gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. In the X-ray afterglow of GW170817 we identify a low-significance ($\gtrsim 3\sigma$) temporal feature at 155 d, consistent with a sudden reactivation of the central NS. Energy injection from the NS spin down into the relativistic shock is negligible, and the underlying continuum is fully accounted for by a structured jet seen off-axis. Whereas radio and optical observations probe the interaction of this jet with the surrounding medium, observations at X-ray wavelengths, performed with adequate sampling, open a privileged window on to the merger remnant.
Effect of Station Improvement Measures on Customer Satisfaction

Stations are often regarded as change engines; places where passengers have to change as quickly and efficiently as possible from one mode of transport to another. Underpinned by research, Dutch Railways (NS) currently takes the view that stations should be transformed into dynamic urban portals that not only facilitate a speedy transfer but also make the stay at the station more enjoyable. Leiden Centraal Station was chosen as the location for testing new experience-related measures that were based on passenger requirements as expressed in six customer types (needscope). Over the past three years NS and ProRail have conducted various experiments, both in real life and in a virtual laboratory, and taken measures to improve the stay at the station. To discover which aspects the customers perceive as important, NS developed a research method that is based on environmental psychology and with which the impact of passengers' waiting and station experience can be measured. This article addresses the measures taken, the method of measurement and the measurement results. Examples of such measures are: experimenting with colour, light, music, infotainment and increasing and repositioning the shopping facilities. The questions put to the customer during the field studies exceeded process-related questions on the state of repair, safety and cleanliness, the conventional idea in the railway sector often being that the atmosphere will probably not be highly valued but that is not where the interest of the station visitors (predominantly passengers) lies. However, in-depth analysis showed the opposite to be the case. Not only was the (station) atmosphere poorly assessed but it even had the greatest explanatory impact on the general evaluation of the station. The same applied to the presence of commercial facilities and a hospitable welcome, implying that a station with a pleasant and attractive atmosphere, in which passengers can comfortably stay/wait, will attract more passengers who are also (and sooner) prepared to purchase something. The authors' studies not only showed an increase in the the score for the general evaluation of Leiden Central Station with one full point but also significant positive effects on various aspects of waiting and station experience. The positive experiences gained at Leiden Central are now being adopted at large stations, such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, which are currently undergoing renovation.
The differential effects of solution‐focused and problem‐focused coaching questions: a pilot study with implications for practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the differential effects of problem-focused and solution-focused coaching questions by means of a literature overview and results of an exploratory pilot study. Design/methodology/approach – In a problem-focused coaching session 39 participants complete a range of measures assessing self-efficacy, their understanding of a problem, positive and negative affect, and goal approach. They then respond to a number of problem-focused coaching questions, and then complete a second set of measures. The 35 participants in a solution-focused session complete a mirror image of the problem-focused condition, responding to solution-focused coaching questions, including the ‘‘Miracle Question’’. Findings – Both the problem-focused and the solution-focused conditions are effective at enhancing goal approach. However, the solution-focused group experience significantly greater increases in goal approach compared with the problem-focused group. Problem-focused questions reduce negative affect and increase self-efficacy but do not increase understanding of the nature of the problem or enhance positive affect. The solution-focused approach increases positive affect, decreases negative affect, increases self-efficacy as well as increasing participants’ insight and understanding of the nature of the problem. Practical implications – Solution-focused coaching questions appear to be more effective than problem-focused questions. Although real-life coaching conversations are not solely solution-focused or solely problem-focused, coaches should aim for a solution-focused theme in their coaching work, if they wish to conduct effective goal-focused coaching sessions that develop a depth of understanding, build self-efficacy, reduce negative affect, increase positive affect and support the process of goal attainment.
Batik Classification using Deep Convolutional Network Transfer Learning

Batik fabric is one of the most profound cultural heritage in Indonesia. Hence, continuous research on understanding it is necessary to preserve it. Despite of being one of the most common research task, Batik’s pattern automatic classification still requires some improvement especially in regards to invariance dilemma. Convolutional neural network (ConvNet) is one of deep learning architecture which able to learn data representation by combining local receptive inputs, weight sharing and convolutions in order to solve invariance dilemma in image classification. Using dataset of 2,092 Batik patches (5 classes), the experiments show that the proposed model, which used deep ConvNet VGG16 as feature extractor (transfer learning), achieves slightly better average of 89 ± 7% accuracy than SIFT and SURF-based that achieve 88 ± 10% and 88 ± 8% respectively. Despite of that, SIFT reaches around 5% better accuracy in rotated and scaled dataset.