Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generating virus-free cassava plants by in vitro propagation with chemical and heat treatment

Cassava production in eastern and Central Africa is severely threatened by the current epidemic of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). The disease is caused by cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV) of the genus Ipomovirus, family Potyviridae. Using virus-free planting material is one effective way to reduce CBSD yield losses in farmer fields. The effects of chemical and heat treatment on tissue cultured plants was investigated to eliminate CBSV and UCBSV infections in three cassava varieties with differing levels of resistance to CBSD. Cassava node buds taken from young shoots of the varieties Kaleso (CBSD resistant), Kiroba (tolerant) and Albert (susceptible) infected with CBSV and UCBSV were grown in vitro in standard Murashige and Skoog tissue culture media, which alone eliminated viruses from up to 30% of the plants. To increase the number of virus-free plants, two-week old virus-infected in vitro plants were exposed to constant temperature regimes of 30, 35, 40 or 45°C for three weeks. Heat treatment at 40°C had the optimum effect as up to 50% virus-free plants were obtained for Kiroba; however, incubation at 45°C was lethal to all three varieties while the lower temperatures produced fewer virus-free plants. Chemical treatment of in vitro plants was performed using the antiviral chemical ribavirin at various concentrations. Ribavirin at 0.10 mM generated up to 40% virus-free plants in all three varieties but concentrations of 0.21 mM were lethal. These findings indicate important methods to produce virus-free planting material; their use by breeders and in the field, will help develop effective control strategies for CBSD management.
Phonological Problems in Spanish-Speaking Children

Phonological development in some children does not follow the typical trajectory. This may affect their communication processes. The primary aim of this chapter is to char ‐ acterize the phonological development of Spanish‐speaking children with phonologi‐ cal problems. The characterization is based on the Theory of Natural Phonology, which poses that children with phonological problems produce phonologically simplified words resulting from the application of strategies known as phonological simplification processes. Phonological development implies the progressive elimination of these strat‐ egies. It has been observed that children with phonological problems produce phono ‐ logically simplified words until advanced age. This chapter focuses on studies involving Chilean children with phonological problems, in an attempt to characterize their pho ‐ nological performance. Overall, the point can be made that Chilean children with pho ‐ nological problems have a trajectory of phonological development of their own, with phonological simplification processes equally affecting syllable structure and word struc ‐ ture. Also, these processes tend to consistently decrease with age at a steady rate. Once 5 years of age, however, processes tend to become more persistent and decrease becomes slower. They are also prone to have problems both with the phonological representation of words and lexical comprehension. Finally, they seem to be challenged by phonological awareness and grammar.
Dynamic Coefficients Identification of Water-Lubricated Hybrid Bearings Used in High-Speed Spindles with Different Excitation Methods

Rotor stability and rotation accuracy, which are highly dependent on the dynamic coefficients of supporting hybrid bearings, are two important issues of high-speed water-lubricated spindles. To improve the spindles’ performance, the dynamic coefficients of high-speed water-lubricated hybrid bearings were experimentally identified by the noncontact harmonic excitation method and the additional unbalance excitation method, respectively. Comparisons between experimental results and theoretical predictions were made. The experimental technique and the identification model were validated to be effective. Besides, the influence of supply pressure and rotating speed on dynamic coefficients was also presented. As for different operating conditions, valuable guides were provided to investigate the dynamic performance of high-speed and ultra-high-speed spindles.
Evaluation of mass drug administration programme for elimination of lymphatic filariasis in Bidar district, Karnataka

Background: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is endemic in 83 countries and territories, with more than a billion people at risk of infection. Filariasis has been a major public health problem in India next only to malaria. Study was done to assess coverage and compliance of mass drug administration (MDA) against lymphatic filariasis in Bidar district. Methods: This cross-sectional coverage evaluation survey was done in one urban and three rural clusters in district. The data was compiled, tabulated and analyzed using proportions. Results: A total of 739 subjects were interviewed, male subjects constituted about 57.5%. 96.58% persons have received the drugs. Out of the 678 persons who have received the drugs, 85.4% persons have consumed the drugs. Only 31.95% of study subjects consumed tablets in front of health workers. A total of 99 subjects not consumed tablets, 22.22% told drug distributor did not visit, 21.21% were out of station and 14.14% subjects were not aware. 24 persons suffered from nausea and vomiting. Conclusions: There is an urgent need for more effective drug delivery strategies and also proper IEC should be done to educate and to improve the coverage and compliance in the districts.
Greenhouse gas emissions from oats, barley, wheat and rye production.

The aim of this study was to analyze greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from oats, barley, spring wheat and rye production in Finland. The GHG emissions were analyzed in a conventional production chain, direct drilling chain and reduced tillage chain. The greenhouse gases were analyzed per kilogram grain (kg CO2-eq. kg -1 ) and hectare (kg CO2-eq. ha -1 ). The main part of the GHG emissions of the grain production chain originated from fertilizer manufacturing and soil. Soil emissions were a result of using N-fertilizer which induced N2O- emission and liming which induced CO2-emission. GHG emissions from soil were about half of all emissions of grain production. Therefore, the N-fertilizer application rate had a strong direct and indirect effect on the GHG emissions. Wheat (2,330kg CO2-eq. ha -1 ) and rye (2,270kg CO2-eq. ha -1 ) had higher GHG emissions per hectare than oats and barley. The main reason for this was the higher application rate of N-fertilizer. The emissions of oats and barley were 1,800 and 1,930kg CO2-eq. ha -1 . The yield had a strong impact on the emissions per kilogram of grain.
Sensitivity of wild-type and mutant Trichoderma harzianum strains tofungicides

R. Herrera, D. Nunez, N. Romero, X. Besoain, L. M. Perez, and J. Montealegre. 2012. Sensitivity of wild-type and mutant Trichoderma harzianum strains to fungicides. Cien. Inv. Agr. 39(3): 569-576. The germination of conidia in wild-type (Th11, Th12 and Th650) and mutant (Th11A80.1, Th12A10.1 and Th650-NG7) strains of Trichoderma harzianum that were exposed to different commercial fungicides was studied. All wild-type and mutant Trichoderma strains were germinated in the presence of 1,700 mg L -1 of pencycuron. The wild-type strains Th12 and Th650 and the corresponding mutant strains Th12A10.1 and Th650-NG7 were sensitive to all concentrations of iprodione and metalaxil + mancozeb. The EC 50 (Median Effective Concentration) values for the different fungicides were between 10 -1 and 10 -4 less than the concentrations recommended for field applications; one exception was Phyto ‑fos on Th650‑NG7, where this ratio was 0.72. These results establish whether some of these fungicides can be used in combination with the biocontrol agents evaluated.
Does access to capital affect cost stickiness? Evidence from China*

Abstract We study the effect of limited access to capital on firm cost stickiness, using data from a large sample of Chinese private firms over 1998–2007. Our results show that on average SG&A costs are anti-sticky. For firms in regions with lower levels of financial development, SG&A costs have lower sensitivity to sales increases and exhibit lower stickiness. Overall our findings suggest access to capital as an important determinant of cost stickiness.
A new species of Laetiporus (Basidiomycota, Polyporales) from the Caribbean basin

Laetiporus caribensis is described as a new species, causing brown rot on hardwoods in the Caribbean basin. Laetiporus caribensis is distinguished from described species in the genus by smaller basidiospores. In addition, single spore isolates of L. caribensis are incompatible with those of the known species of Laetiporus from North America and Japan. The ITS sequence of L . caribensis is divergent from other members of the genus, being at least 50 base pairs different from L. gilbertsonii, the most closely related species.
Does International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Impact Profitability Ratios of Listed Banks in Nigeria

This study provides an empirical analysis of the impact of IFRS on profitability ratios of eleven (11) banks in Nigeria. The study addresses the research hypotheses by comparing the key profitability ratios computed under the Pre-IFRS for three year period from 2009-2011 and three year period from 2013-2015 under the Post-IFRS regime. The study used Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and Normality test as a statistical method to analyze the data. The findings revealed that IFRS adoption has not produced any meaningful impact on the profitability ratios (PAT-EBIT, NPM, and OPM) at 5% level of significance. The finding implies that the adoption of IFRS does not have significant effects on profitability ratios of listed banks in Nigeria. The study recommends that investors and financial analyst should pay particular attention to all profitability ratios under this IFRS regime. Also, investors should not base their investment decisions on banks’ profitability in the short term but rather the long-term viability and performance should be taken into cognizance. This study provides original insight into the relevance of IFRS in determining the viability or otherwise of profitability ratios of listed banks in Nigeria.
Survey Heavy Metal Content in Cydonia Fruits Collected from Market Sites in Hamadan, Iran

Heavy metals have remarkable contribution in different parts of environment as a result of mining, smelting, electroplating, energy and fuel production, power transmission, intensive agriculture, sludge dumping, melting operations and other human activities (1,2). High concentrations of all metals are toxic environmental pollutants (3). Despite fruit and vegetables are one of the important parts of human diet, the effect of heavy metal contamination of these foodstuffs cannot be survived. Fruits have different beneficial vitamins, minerals, fibers and antioxidant components. Since, consumption of heavy metal-contaminated fruits have serious risk to human body health; contamination of food by heavy metals is among the most important parts of quality assurance of daily food (4,5,6). Biological half-lives of heavy metals is very long, and do not degrade biologically, thus have the potential for accumulation in organs of human, leading to dangerous side effects (7,8). Plants absorb contaminants using airborne, irrigation with polluted water and also by roots from polluted soils (9). Content of heavy metals in some kinds of vegetables from Turkey were determined by Demirezen and Aksoy (10). The concentrations of some heavy metals have been investigated in different vegetables and fruits of Egyptian markets (4). Fytianos et al. (11) surveyed the levels of some heavy metals in leafy vegetables A-R-T-I-C-L-EI-N-F-O A-B-S-T-R-A-C-T Article Notes: Received: Aug 23, 2017 Received in revised form: Dec 18, 2017 Accepted: Dec 27, 2017 Available Online: Jan 1, 2018 Background & Aims of the Study: High concentration of toxic metals in foodstuffs is among the public interest and therefore requires rapid methods to survey the concentration of these contaminants. In the present study, concentration of some heavy metals (lead, copper and arsenic) in Cydonia fruits from Hamadan city market were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Materials & Methods: To this purpose, heavy metal concentration of 9 fruit samples were surveyed by ICP (710-ES) and compared to specified level by World Health Organization (FAO/WHO). Statistical analyses were done by SPSS 19.0. Results: According to obtained resuls Pb content differed from 0.03 to 0.85 mg/kg, Cu concentration ranged from 0.09 to 0.21 mg/kg, As content has been ranged between 0.6 to 5.4 mg/kg the mean content of all metals in studied samples were lower than MPL. Conclusions: According to our results using of fertilizer, pesticides and contaminated irrigation water has contributed to the elevation of heavy metal concentrations in agricultural soils and products significantly.
Multi-class dynamic traffic assignment with physical queues: intersection-movement-based formulation and paradox

ABSTRACT This paper proposes an intersection-movement-based variational inequality formulation for the multi-class dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) problem involving physical queues using the concept of approach proportion. An extragradient method that requires only pseudomonotonicity and Lipschitz continuity for convergence is developed to solve the problem. We also present a car–truck interaction paradox, which states that allowing trucks to travel or increasing the truck flow in a network can improve network performance for cars in terms of the total car travel time. Numerical examples are set up to illustrate the importance of considering multiple vehicle types and their interactions in a DTA model, the effects of various parameters on the occurrence of the paradox, and the performance of the solution algorithm.
Integrated Nutrient Management: Concept and Application in Citrus

Multiple nutrient deficiencies are common in citrus orchards the world over. Integrated nutrient management (INM), a concept that involves the combined use of chemical fertilizers, microbial inoculation and organic manures, has shown much better promise than any of the other strategies of fertilization in citrus. INM-based fertilization has a definite edge over conventional fertilization since the former advocates treatment once or twice to inflict changes in the physico-chemical and microbial environment, while the latter is effective only when practiced 3-4 times synchronizing with phenological growth stages and often 15-20 times using fertigation or even much better technicalities involved with sensor-based variable rate application using site-specific fertilization. Dual function microbes e.g. Trichoderma harzianum/viride, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus polymyxa, arbuscular mycorrhizae, etc. both having growth-promoting ability as well as strong antagonistic effect against soil-borne pathogens loaded to manure as substrate coupled with 75% of RDF (recommended doses of fertilizers) are equally effective to combat multiple nutrient deficiencies on both alkaline calcareous and acidic non-calcareous soils, irrespective of cultivar type and climate.
CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS AND DYNAMICS IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: RESULTS OF THE TESIAS STUDY

The Texas Elementary School Indoor Air Study (TESIAS) involved several phases, including single-day continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 120 randomly selected classrooms in two school districts. The median time-averaged and peak CO2 concentrations were 1,286 ppm and 2,062 ppm, respectively. The time-averaged CO2 concentration exceeded 1,000 ppm in 66% of the classrooms. The peak CO2 concentration exceeded 1,000 ppm in 88% of the classrooms and 3,000 ppm in 21% of the classrooms. Mean and peak occupied CO2 concentrations were statistically different (α = 0.05) between the two districts, and peak CO2 concentrations were statistically greater in classrooms that employed packaged terminal air conditioning (PTAC) systems. Statistically significant differences in both mean time-averaged and peak CO2 concentrations were not observed for portable vs. traditional classrooms, classrooms with outside vs. inside entries, or when data were separated amongst teacher responses to questions related to classroom odors.
Corporate Image: A Strategy for Enhancing Customer Loyalty and Profitability

Organizations are nowadays concerned with managing their corporate image. There is a strong positive correlation between people’s perceptions of a company and pro-corporate supportive behaviour. In this study, past researchers on corporate image were incorporated to create a platform for framework which identifies the variables of relationship between corporate image and customer loyalty cum profitability. The study utilized descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation and linear regression to investigate the impact of corporate image on customer loyalty and profitability within the Nigerian service industry (banking). The study adopted the research instrument of self-structured questionnaire which was in line with the reviewed literature and focused on the main variables in the study. It was found in the model parameters that physical environment, service offering and customer loyalty have significant impact on the level of profitability. Thus, we can rightly conclude that the level of satisfaction among customers tends to affect the service offerings and customer loyalty which has a direct link with corporate profitability.
A New Routing Protocol for WMNs

Opportunistic routing is an emerging research area in Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs), which exploits the broadcast nature of wireless networks to find the optimal routing solution that maximizes throughput and minimizes packet loss. Opportunistic routing protocols mainly suffer from computational overheads, as most of the protocols try to find the best next forwarding node. In this paper we address the key issue of computational overhead by designing new routing technique without using pre-selected list of potential forwarders. We propose a novel opportunistic routing technique for WMNs. We compare it with well-known protocols, such as AODV, OLSR, and ROMER based on throughput, delivery ratio, and average end to end delay. Simulation results show that proposed protocol, gives average throughput increase up to 32%, and increase in delivery ratio (from 10% to 20%). We also analyze the performance of proposed protocol and ROMER based on various parameters, such as duplicate transmissions and network collisions, by analysis depicts that proposed protocol reduces duplicate transmissions up to 70% and network collisions up to 30%
Government spending shocks, wealth effects and distortionary taxes

The size and sign of the government spending multiplier crucially depends on how the spending is financed and how consumers respond to implied future tax increases. I investigate this issue in an estimated New Keynesian DSGE model with distortionary labor and capital taxes and, importantly, with preferences that allow the wealth effect on labor supply to vary. Specifically I assess whether the model can explain the empirical evidence for the United States and examine the transmission mechanism, for realistic policy rules. I show that the model can match the positive empirical response of key variables including output, consumption and the real wage. I find that the role of the wealth effect on labor supply is small and that while tax rates rise following a spending shock these increases are modest, with debt rising. Deficit financed spending increases are therefore expansionary, but this is due to sticky prices rather than the wealth effect channel.
Facile Preparation of Active Glassy Carbon Electrodes with Activated Carbon and Organic Solvents

Pretreatment of glassy carbon (GC) electrodes with 2-propanol, acetonitrile, or cyclohexane had a significant effect on electrode kinetics, adsorption, and capacitance. Reagent grade solvents slowed electron transfer rates for dopamine, ascorbic acid, Fe3+/2+, and Fe(CN)63-/4- and decreased adsorption of anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS) and methylene blue (MB). However, if activated carbon (AC) was present in the solvent during pretreatment, the result was increased electron transfer rates and adsorption for several commonly studied redox systems. The large surface area of AC acts as a “getter” for solvent impurities and for species desorbed from the GC surface, leading to a carbon electrode surface with higher capacitance, higher adsorption of AQDS and MB, and faster electron-transfer rates for Fe(CN)63-/4-, dopamine, and ascorbic acid. In addition, the treated surfaces were more reproducible, and aged electrodes were reactivated by AC in 2-propanol. The results imply that large, polar organic impuri.
Tunnelling processes for Hadamard states through a 2+1 dimensional black hole and Hawking radiation

We analyse the local behaviour of the two-point correlation function of a quantum state for a scalar field in a neighbourhood of a Killing horizon in a 2+1-dimensional spacetime, extending the work of Moretti and Pinamonti in a 3+1-dimensional scenario. In particular we show that, if the state is of Hadamard form in such neighbourhood, similarly to the 3+1-dimensional case, under a suitable scaling limit towards the horizon, the two-point correlation function exhibits a thermal behaviour at the Hawking temperature. Since the whole analysis rests on the assumption that a Hadamard state exists in a neighbourhood of the Killing horizon, we show that this is not an empty condition by verifying it for a massive, real scalar field subject to Robin boundary conditions in the prototypic example of a three-dimensional black hole background: the non-extremal, rotating BTZ spacetime.
Persistent Macroeconomic Imbalances in the Euro Area: Causes and Consequences

In this paper, the authors document a growing divergence between current account imbalances in northern and southern euro area countries from 1992 to 2007. The imbalance occurred without a con comitant rise in productivity and growth in the southern (deficit) countries. The authors argue that sys tematic monitoring of external imbalances and implementation of better coordinated policies to prevent the emergence of unsustainably large imbalances in the euro area is advisable because (i) country hetero geneity and the absence of optimal currency area characteristics may lead to the emergence of large cur rent account imbalances without automatic gains in productivity and economic growth to sustain these imbalances, (ii) the absence of sufficient market-based adjustment mechanisms substantially increases the costs of ultimate adjustment toward more sustainable current account positions, and (iii) large exter nal imbalances—particularly through the major role of the banking system—potentially have strong negative consequences for fiscal policy. (JEL F15, F32, F41)
Pliocene-Pleistocene Paleoceanography of the North Atlantic at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 609

The Site 609 record of variations in planktonic foraminiferal abundance between 3.5 and 1.0 Ma was examined. Prior to the onset of major Northern Hemisphere glaciation at 2.45 Ma, large cyclic variations in North Atlantic hydrography occurred, including a pronounced cooling between 3.4 and 3.2 Ma. We interpret this cooling event as a long-term southward displacement of the North Atlantic Drift. Between 2.4 and 2.3 Ma, a dramatic change in the foraminiferal fauna, characterized by the disappearances of Neogloboquadrina atlantica and Globorotalia puncticulata and an increased abundance of right-coiling Neogloboquadrina pachyderma, followed the initiation of Northern Hemisphere glaciation. Globorotalia inflata, the evolutionary descendant of Globorotalia puncticulata, was not abundant at this site until 2.1 Ma, and left-coiling Neogloboquadrina pachyderma did not become a dominant polar species in this area until 1.7 Ma.