Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reconciling the Spatial Distribution of the Surface Temperature Trends in the Southeastern United States

AbstractThis study attempts to explain the considerable spatial heterogeneity in the observed linear trends of monthly mean maximum and minimum temperatures (Tmax and Tmin) from station observations in the southeastern (SE) United States (specifically Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina). In a majority of these station sites, the warming trends in Tmin are stronger in urban areas relative to rural areas. The linear trends of Tmin in urban areas of the SE United States are approximately 7°F century−1 compared to about 5.5°F century−1 in rural areas. The trends in Tmax show weaker warming (or stronger cooling) trends with irrigation, while trends in Tmin show stronger warming trends. This functionality of the temperature trends with land features also shows seasonality, with the boreal summer season showing the most consistent relationship in the trends of both Tmax and Tmin. This study reveals that linear trends in Tmax in the boreal summer season show a cooling trend of about 0.5.
Structure, ac conductivity and complex impedance study of Co 3 O 4 and Fe 3 O 4 mixed spinel ferrites

We have synthesized the composition of Fe 3(1-x) Co 3x O 4 (x =0.1, 0.3 and 0.5) spinel ferrite using the techniques of mechanical alloying, high temperature annealing of milled samples and conventional solid state sintering. We present here comparative results of the crystal structure formation and dielectric properties of the materials studied at room temperature. The crystalline structure of the single phased samples is cubic spinel phase with space group Fd3m. The alloying of two spinel oxides (i.e., Fe 3 O 4 and Fe 3 O 4 ) is also complemented from FTIR spectrum. Impedance spectroscopy suggested only one semi circle in the Cole-Cole plot of mechanical milled samples, which indicated the dominant grain boundary contribution in the conduction mechanism. In addition to the grain boundary contribution, the electrical conduction from grains is also substantial in the single phased compositions of the present material. The present results could be interesting in tailoring the electrical conductivity in magnetic nanocomposite. Keywords : Mechanical alloying, Co doped magnetite, Grain and Grain boundary conduction, Magnetic composite International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology , Vol. 2, No. 8, 2010, pp. 40-52
Nest site selection and its implications for conservation of the endangered Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana in Yellow River Delta, China

Summary Avian nest site selection is crucial to breeding birds especially for large endangered waterbirds. We investigated the population dynamics, nests and breeding habitat selection, offspring numbers and reproductive success rate of Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana from February to June 2017 in Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve (YRD NNR), Shandong, China. We measured the characteristic variables of 32 control plots by random selection and 62 nest plots, including 40 nests on power poles, 14 nests on artificial poles and eight nests on pylon poles. We used conditional logistic regression and model-averaging to quantify data and model characteristic variables affecting nest site selection. Our results showed that human disturbance was the main negative factor affecting Oriental Stork’s selection of power pole nests. Meanwhile, distance from highways was the most important variable for the selection of artificial nests. Distance from sightseeing sites was the main explanatory variable that contributed to the selection of pylon nests. Based on our findings, we recommend promoting conservation of this species by reducing human disturbance, such as forbidding use of car horns in nest site areas and providing enough suitable nest sites.
Impact of the Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Practices on Crop Production: Baseline Evidence of the Sub Saharan Africa Challenge Programme

As the population of many countries in the sub Saharan Africa (SSA) region continues to grow rapidly, the carrying capacity of its agricultural land is becoming lower, bringing closer the land frontier. Consequently, agricultural productivity and food security in SSA are being seriously threatened by the steady decline in soil fertility. The need therefore to economically examine the adoption of soil and water management technology (SWMT) options to improve agricultural production becomes imperative in order to evaluate the impact of their uptake by the resource-poor African farmers. Using the counterfactual outcomes framework to estimate the "Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE)" of SWMT adoption on households' crop production value, results indicate that the adoption of SWMT increases the value of total crop production by 17-24% per household. Furthermore, the impact could be higher to 22-33% within the population of the farmers who are involved in the SSA CP IAR4D's intervention programme. The findings indicated that there is scope for improving farmers' income from crop production through increased use of the SWMT. This also suggests that there is the need on the part of the stakeholders in the IAR4D's Innovation platforms to explore more avenues for providing adequate incentives, particularly technical assistance to the farmers to use a lot more of the SWMT options on their farms.
Nonlinear Stochastic Dynamics of an Oscillating Water Column (U-OWC) Harvester: A Frequency Domain Approach

This paper deals with the problem of examining th e nonlinear dynamic of a UOscillating Water Column (U-OWC) Wave Energy Conver ter. The U-OWC dynamic response is governed by a set of non-linear differential equ ations. In the paper, an approximate linear solution is sought by using the technique of statis tical linearization. The linearization scheme is implemented by identifying a surrogate linear sy stem equivalent to the nonlinear one in a mean-square sense. In this context, frequency-domai n analyses of the U-OWC response are readily implemented via standard linear input-outpu t relationship. Comparisons between the nonlinear response computed via numerical simulatio ns and by the approximate one assess the reliability of the method. The proposed approac h is applied to a small-scale U-OWC model installed in the Natural Engineering Laborato ry (NOEL) in Reggio Calabria, Italy. Sommario. Il lavoro affronta il problema del calcolo della r isposta di un assorbitore di energia del tipo U-Oscillating Water Column (U-OWC) . Tale risposta è soluzione di un sistema di equazioni differenziali nonlineare. Nel lavoro di propone una soluzione approssimata tramite la tecnica di linearizzazione statistica. Lo schema è implementato identificando un sistema lineare equivalente al sis tema originale attraverso una procedura di minimizzazione dell’errore medio quadratico. Il sis tema risultante può essere risolto tramite le classiche relazioni di input-output. Confronti c on simulazioni di tipo Monte Carlo confermano la validità della soluzione proposta. Il metodo è applicato per il caso di un modello in scala di un U-OWC installato presso il l aboratorio naturale NOEL di Reggio Calabria, Italia. Pol D. Spanos, Federica M. Strati, Giovanni Malara e Felice Arena. Meccanica dei Materiali e delle Strutture | VI (2016), 1, PP. 203-210 204
In Situ Hybridization of Ribosomal DNA to Rose Chromosomes

The genus Rosa consists of approximately 200 species and 20,000 cultivars, most of complex hybrid origin. Few of the current cultivars, most of which are tetraploid with 2n = 4x = 28, can be traced unambiguously to their wild diploid progenitor species. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) offers the possibility to estimate the proportion of various donor genomes in complex advanced-generation hybrids. To establish the feasibility of FISH in rose and to explore differences, if any, in number and subchromosomal location of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs), mitotic chromosome spreads from five diploid species and a commercial tetraploid cultivar were probed with part of the 18S-26S rDNA repeat from soybean. Shoot tips were the most convenient source of mitotic divisions for FISH. Cell suspensions from enzymatically digested shoot tips were spread with 3 ethanoM acetic acid on glass slides and then squashed in 45% acetic acid under a coverslip. Prolonged digestion in cellulase and pectolyase was required to obtain satisfactory chromosome spreading and exposure for FISH. A pair of strong, subterminal hybridization signals, corresponding to a single NOR per genome, was observed in the diploid species. The commercial tetraploid rose cultivar had four strong, subterminal signals and thus one NOR per genome. However, two of the signals were consistently stronger than the other two. The results demonstrate the feasibility of detecting repetitive sequences in spread chromosomes of roses.
The Effects of Import Competition on Worker Health

Occupational health is an important determinant of workers' welfare. Existing mechanisms and evidence from the international trade and occupational safety literatures combine to predict that import competition impacts work place injuries, especially at small firms that are most affected by foreign imports. We examine this prediction with novel data on injuries at US manufacturers using Chinese import growth in 1996–2007 as a shock to competition. The data show that injury rates in the competing US industries increase over the short to medium run, particularly at smaller establishments. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that injury risk increases by 13% at the smallest establishments, the equivalent of a 1% to 2% reduction in workers' wages.
The Mediation of Tourists Satisfaction on the Relationship between Tourism Service Quality and Tourists Loyalty: Five Stars Hotel in Jordanian Environment

This paper aims to examine the relationship between tourism service quality, tourism loyalty and tourism satisfaction expectations in hotel industry. In this paper, the service quality standard model has been used for evaluation of service quality, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry (1985, 1988). Fornell et al. (1996) and Oh (2000) models with revision was used for evaluating the loyalty, and the instrument presented by Cauana, Money, and Berthon (2000) was used for evaluation of customer satisfaction. The focus of this research is five stars hotels in Jordan, and 322 customers of these hotels were sampled. The results of this paper demonstrate that in all aspects, customers’ expectation, are higher than their perceptions of the hotels services. In addition, this research findings show that customer satisfaction plays the role of a mediator in the effects of service quality on service loyalty. Moreover, the findings of this study provide tourism professionals in Jordan with more insight about the idea of TSQ and help them improve the quality of their services.
Interest Rate Risk Analysis with Multifactor Model: The US case

This study focuses on analyzing the influence of changes in 10-year nominal interest rates on US sector returns, distinguishing two different periods, before and after the subprime crisis. We run the three-factor model of Fama and French, which incorporates as explanatory factors the nominal interest rate and the size and growth opportunities factors. The US sensitivity varies across sectors and periods, but we evidence a similar response to the previous literature. Finally, the “size” effect is higher than the “growth” impact.
Human Capital and Economic Opportunity: A Global Working Group Working Paper Series

This paper provides a theory that explains the cross-country distribution of average years of schooling, as well as the so called human capital premium puzzle. In our theory, credit frictions as well as di¤erences in access to public education, fertility and mortality turn out to be the key reasons why schooling di¤ers across countries. Di¤erences in growth rates and in wages are second order. Keywords: human capital, per capita income di¤erences, life expectancy, public education spending, life cycle model JEL classi cation: I22, J24, O11 An early version of this paper circulated under the title The Role of Education in Development. yDepartment of Economics, Iowa State University, 279 Heady Hall, Ames IA 50010, e-mail: cordoba@iastate.edu. zDepartment of Economics, University of Pittsburgh, 4933 W.W. Posvar Hall, Pittsburgh PA 15260, e-mail: ripoll@pitt.edu.
Crescimento, partição de fotoassimilados e produção de rizomas em taro cultivado sob sombreamento artificial

Intercropping systems between different crops is considered an alternative for farms with limited area. But, for the establishment of these systems, it is fundamental to know the tolerance of the species to light restriction. The growth of the aerial portion and corm yield of 'Japanese' taro cultivated under different levels and periods of shading were determined in this study. The experiment was arranged in four random replicates, with 13 treatments. The experiment was composed of 13 treatments constituted of four levels of shading (control = full sunlight; 18; 30 and 50% of shading, maintained during the whole cycle), and the 18; 30 and 50% of shading in three periods (initial = 0 - 3 months; middle cycle = 3 - 6 months; and final = 6 - 9 months). Plants under light restriction during the whole cycle had, in particular for the higher light restriction, a higher growth of aerial portion and yield of corm (mother rhizome) and small cormels, smaller number of commercial cormels per plant, yield of commercial cormels, and large and medium cormels. The 18% light restriction for the whole cycle and for the initial and middle cycle affected less the total and commercial yield.
QS-9000 Quality Systems Handbook

Preparation for ISO 9000 registration basic concepts what is ISO 9000? the assessment beyond ISO 9000 certification satisfying ISO 9000 requirements management responsibility quality system contract review design control document and data control purchasing customer supplied product product identification and traceability process control inspection and testing inspection, measuring and test equipment inspection and test status control of nonconformity product corrective and preventive action handling, storage, packaging, preservation and delivery control of quality records internal quality audits training servicing statistical techniques production part approval continuous improvement manufacturing capabilities.
Prevalence, haemolysis and antibiograms of Campylobacters isolated from pigs from three farm settlements in Venda region, Limpopo province, South Africa

We investigated the prevalence, haemolytic activities and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of Campylobacter species isolated from pigs in three farms in the Venda region, Limpopo province, South Africa. During the period of investigation, which spanned over one year, 450 faeces samples from pigs comprising 150 each from the three farms were collected and appropriately transported to the base laboratory at the Department of Microbiology, University of Venda for analysis. In total, the prevalence rate of Campylobacter isolates from all three farms was 30.2%, whereas, the rates of 25 - 26% were recorded for farms X, Y and Z, respectively. Out of the isolated Campylobacter species 10 (12.5%) were identified as Campylobacter jejuni and 70(87.5%) as Campylobacter coli. Of the Campylobacter isolates from the farms, 23, 22 and 35 were â-haemolytic from farms X, Y and Z, respectively. Susceptibility of the isolates to 12 antibiotics was determined by disc diffusion technique. The overall rate of resistance determined in this study to most of the antibiotics was 84.2%. Most Campylobacter isolates from farm X ( 50% were resistant to tetracycline, (54.5%) to vancomycin, (100%) to ampicillin and methicillin. The rates of resistance to these antibiotics were not significantly different from farms X and Y (p < 0.005). However, most isolates from farm Y were more resistant to ciprofloxacin (57.1%) than isolates from farm X (36.4%) and Z (40.7%). Resistance rates to tetracycline by C. coli isolated from farm Y (48%), farm Z (45.5%) and farm X (44.4%) were noted. Similar trend was observed for C. coli from farm Y (40%), farm Z (31.8%) and farm X (22.2%) for ciprofloxacin. All C. coli from farm Z showed higher level of resistance to ampicillin (100%), Y (64%) and X (55.6%). The C. jejuni isolates though few were markedly resistant to fluoroquinolone and the macrolide as well as aminoglycoside antibiotics. Most of the isolates were resistant to at least seven (7) of the antibiotics tested. These observations indicate high levels of resistance to antibiotics commonly used in the swine industry (erythromycin and tetracycline) among the C. coli and C. jejuni isolates from pigs. Erythromycin and ciprofloxacin are drugs for treatment of human campylobacteriosis. The high prevalence rate of resistance to these drugs among C. coli and C. jejuni isolates from pig faeces is of public health significance. Key word : Campylobacter, campylobacteriosis, haemolytic, susceptibility, resistance, profiles.
ESCAPING THE ECONOMIC TURN DOWN THROUGH PERFORMING EMPLOYEES, CREATIVE LEADERS AND GROWTH DRIVER CAPABILITIES IN THE ROMANIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

In our paper we intended to realize an analysis of the economic crisis’s effects on the Romanian pharmaceutical market for the first six months of 2010; we also tried to provide some possible solutions to the challenges that pharmaceutical companies have to face. In order to escape the current economic turn down managers from the pharmaceutical industry need to recognize the importance of motivation and the involvement of employees; also, leaders’ intellectual capability and creativity determine the organizations’ potential; innovative thinking attracts other talent that further stimulates creativity and enhances the organizations’ ability to compete. Rezumat In această lucrare ne-am propus să realizăm o analiză a efectelor recesiunii economice asupra pieţei farmaceutice din Romania in prima jumătate a anului 2010, si de asemenea să furnizăm posibile soluţii la provocările cu care se confruntă companiile din domeniul farmaceutic. Pentru a face faţă provocărilor actualei perioade economice, managerii companiilor farmaceutice trebuie să recunoască importanţa motivării si a implicării angajaţilor. De asemenea, capacitatea intelectuală si creativitatea liderilor influenţează potenţialul organizaţiilor. Gândirea inovativă atrage noi talente care stimulează, la rândul lor, creativitatea si imbunătăţeste capacitatea competitivă a organizaţiilor.
Calculating the Exact Experimental Density of the Dark Energy in the Cosmos Assuming a Fractal Speed of Light

Fractal speed of light theory is a variation of Magueijo-Smolin varying speed of light (VSL) theoretical modification of Einstein’s energy mass relation. We use this theory to derive an exact value for the missing dark energy which is found to be in astonishing agreement with the latest result of the WMAP measurement and the independent supernova analysis. Thus while Einstein’s formula predicts 95.5% more energy than found in highly precise astrophysical measurement, our VSL- based calculation indicates an exact theoretical value of only 4.508497% real energy. Consequently, the exact conjectured missing dark energy must be 95.491502%. By any standards, this is an astounding confirmation for both the cosmological measurement and the VSL theory.
Contemporary Issues in Takaful (Islamic Insurance)

Takaful business is a kind of insurance activity within the framework of Shari’ah. To be Shari’ah compliant Takaful operator, it needs to consider not only on the conventional aspect like conventional insurance, but also must take into account the Shari’ah requirement. Some of the Shari’ah requirement is avoiding interest, uncertainty, gambling and prohibited elements. Thus, the operating activities of Takaful operators are not straight forward and simple, compared to the conventional counterpart. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to highlight the current issues in Takaful industry and to provide the recommendation for future research. The contemporary issues in Takaful are due to the combined nature of profit-motivation and religious motive. The issues highlighted in this paper will be the interest of all the related parties, especially to the regulators for the development of future rules and regulation.
An integrated proteomic and genomic approach to study FAP patients without APC and MutHY mutations

Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) is one of the most important clinical forms of inherited susceptibility to colorectal cancer, that is characterized by the development of hundreds to thousands of adenomas in the colon and rectum during the second decade of life. FAP is due to a germline mutation in the APC gene or to biallelic variations of MutYH gene. Almost all patients will develop cancer if the disease is not identified and surgically treated at an early stage. The aim of this study was to characterize, by peptidomic and genetic approaches, 4 pa-tients that, although at the colonoscopy showed many polyps, they did not present any mutations of APC and MutYH genes (defined here unresolved FAP). Regarding the peptidomic study, MALDI-TOF analysis was performed on mutated and unresolved FAP patients. These data were compared with the one from adenoma patients, CRC patients and healthy control subjects. The peptide fingerprint of mutated FAP patients was obtained after performing statistical analysis. A subset of 45 ionic species was found differently expressed in the four groups considered, 12 of them peculiar of FAP patients. Four ionic species were found significantly different in the switch between adenoma and malignant carcinoma. In this study, the potentially prognostic peptides identified derive mainly from circulating proteins and some of them are involved in the inflammatory response. In particular, proteins such as Complement C3 and C4 are known to be cleaved by exoproteases that seem pathology-related. In the case of unresolved FAP patients, in order to better define a specific pattern, the data from MALDI-TOF were combined with whole exome sequencing. The peptidomics data clearly mark a substantial difference between mutated and unresolved FAP patients. Indeed, unresolved FAP patients have characteristics similar to the control subjects, adenoma patients, CRC patients but not to mutated FAP patients. To understand the possible molecular pathway involved in the unresolved FAP cases, the whole exome sequencing (WES) was performed. From WES data analysis, 285 genes present in all the four unresolved FAP patients were filtered and selected. Among them, the O-linked glycans pathway of the mucins was the most represented. In conclusion, in this study it was defined for the first time a specific panel of peptides for mutated FAP patients, that could be useful to monitor and predict the pathological evolution of adenocarcinoma malignancy. Furthermore, it was possible to characterize a preliminary genetic variations pattern for unresolved FAP patients, in which mucin genes might represent the key of the molecular pathway involved. However, further study are necessary to relate the identified mucin gene variations to their possible causative role in the polyposis. Future analysis of this pattern will be helpful, indeed, to better understand the interatome (the biological network that in-cludes the whole set of direct and indirect molecular interactions in a cell) of these un-resolved FAP patients.