Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
TOXICITY OF INSECTICIDES USED IN MUSKMELON ON FIRST-INSTAR LARVAE OF Chrysoperla genanigra FREITAS ( NEUROPTERA : CHRYSOPIDAE ) 1

Brazil is one of the world's largest producers of melon (Cucumis melo L.), and Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará are the largest producers states of the country (99% of exports). This crop had great socioeconomic importance in the Brazilian Northeast, however, it is affected by insect pests and consequently, large amounts of pesticides are applied to it, which greatly affect beneficial organisms, such as Chrysopidae. This bioassay evaluated the toxicity of nine insecticides used in commercial crops of muskmelon, applied to firstinstar larvae of Chrysoperla genanigra of up to 24-hour-old, from mass rearing cultures. Sublethal effects were evaluated, classifying the insecticides into the toxicity classes recommended by the IOBC. A completely randomized design was used, consisting of ten treatments (clothianidin, pymetrozine, lambda-cyhalothrin, chlorantraniliprole, indoxacarb, pyriproxyfen, beta-cyfluthrin+imidacloprid, imidacloprid, beta-cypermethrin and a control consisted of distilled water). The treatments consisted of exposure of thirty larvae to dry residues of each product in Petri dishes, assessing their mortality, duration of instars, sex ratio, fecundity and viability of eggs from adults of the insects evaluated. The products were classified in toxicity classes as harmful (Class 4) (clothianidin, pymetrozine, indoxacarb, lambda-cyhalothrin, beta-cyfluthrin+imidacloprid, imidacloprid, betacypermethrin and pyriproxyfen) and innocuous (Class 1) (chlorantraniliprole) to first-instar larvae of C. genanigra, by calculate their total effect. Based on this work, chlorantraniliprole is the only recommended insecticide for use in integrated pest management (IPM) programs in muskmelon crops.
An Optimised Quantitative Real-Time PCR Assay for Listeria Monocytogenes Including and Internal Amplification Control

The assessment of results obtained by PCR is a critical issue for its implementation as a routine tool in food microbiology diagnostics. As an analytical technique, PCR is exposed to inhibitors that can produce false negative results or underestimation in quantitative analysis. In this study, we illustrate the design, development and optimization of a duplex real-time PCR (RTi-PCR) assay for the quantitative detection of Listeria monocytogenes based on the co-amplification of a L. monocytogenes-specific gene (hly) sequence (Rodriguez-Lazaro et al., 2004a) and an internal amplification control (IAC) to evaluate PCR performance. A PCR IAC is a non-target DNA that is co-amplified with the same set of primers that target sequence. The assay was 100% specific as it allowed unambiguously detection of 49 L. monocytogenes isolates of different serotypes and sources and 104 strains of other species were negative. The detection and quantification limits were 8 and 30 cfu respectively, and PCR linearity and efficiency were R=0.997 and 0.80 respectively. Interestingly, the assay was capable of detecting underestimation of L. monocytogenes in reactions containing inhibitory culture media (e.g. Fraser and Half Fraser media) and foodstuffs (e.g. raw salmon or raw pork meat). Specific L. monocytogenes detection could also be performed using agargrown colonies and by conventional PCR. In conclusion, we present a simple and rapid duplex RTi-PCR assay for the quantitative detection of L. monocytogenes, which can also assess potential underestimations or false negative results.
Connected subglacial lake activity on lower Mercer and Whillans Ice Streams, West Antarctica, 2003–2008

Abstract We examine patterns of localized surface elevation change in lower Mercer and Whillans Ice Streams, West Antarctica, which we interpret as subglacial water movement through a system of lakes and channels. We detect and measure the lake activity using repeat-track laser altimetry from ICESat and image differencing from MODIS image pairs. A hydrostatic-potential map for the region shows that the lakes are distributed across three distinct hydrologic regimes. Our analysis shows that, within these regimes, some of the subglacial lakes appear to be linked, with drainage events in one reservoir causing filling and follow-on drainage in adjacent lakes. We also observe changes near ice raft ‘a’ in lower Whillans Ice Stream, and interpret them as evidence of subglacial water and other changes at the bed. The study provides quantitative information about the properties of this complex subglacial hydrologic system, and a relatively unstudied component of ice-sheet mass balance: subglacial drainage across the grounding line.
The Role of Distribution Channels and Educational level towards Insurance Awareness among the General Public

This research study aims at giving an overview of the emerging research field of Islamic insurance in a phase that is still under debate among Muslim nations. No doubt, Takaful (Islamic insurance) is growing rapidly but it is still behind conventional insurance. Most of the researches reveal the fact that general public is unaware about Takaful and Takaful awareness level is low among general public. Researchers and practitioners are trying to explore the crucial factors which creates Takaful awareness among general public. However, only few studies are available in Pakistan which formally documented the issue and explore different Takaful awareness factors among general public of Pakistan. Therefore, the ultimate objective of this study is to find out general factors which enhance Takaful awareness level among general public of Pakistan. To achieve this objective, three hypotheses are proposed concerning the relationship of Takaful awareness level and other Takaful awareness factors such as Educational Level of general public, Religious Orientation of general public and Takaful Distribution Channels. Primary data was collected from general public of Pakistan by using 5-point Likert scale. These hypotheses predicting a positive relationship between Takaful awareness level and awareness factors (i.e., educational level, religious orientation, distribution channels). However, religious orientation has higher impact as compared to Takaful distribution channels and educational level. Study found that these three factors are crucial to enhance Takaful awareness level among general public. Hence, this study is contributing in the body of knowledge by exploring the vital factors to enhance Takaful awareness level and tried to resolve the important issue of Takaful awareness by developing a framework. This study is more significant for practitioners to enhance Takaful awareness level by exercising these three factors among general public of Pakistan.
A wider Europe without the golden carrot of membership: A Study on the Effectiveness of EU Political Conditionality inProviding Political Reforms in Morocco and Ukraine underthe European Neighbourhood Policy

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is largely modeled on the enlargement process as it uses the same framework and political instrument, namely EU political conditionality. EU political conditionality refers to a set of conditions defined by the EU which have to be met by the target state in order for it to join the Union or profit from her assistance. This political instrument seemed to be successful for the EU enlargement process, but whether it also will gain success for the ENP is still the question. According to studies on the ENP, its prospects for success are minor since the EU does not offer the neighbouring countries the golden carrot of membership and this is seen as the cause for the ENP to fail. But also other conditions have an impact on the effectiveness of EU political conditionality. The purpose of this thesis is to explore a number of these conditions to explain EU political conditionality’s effectiveness under the ENP. I used the conditions of Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier’s EU external governance models to explain the degree of compliance of two ENP participants, namely Morocco and Ukraine. The first model, the external incentives model is a rationalist bargaining model and presupposes the importance of ‘credibility of EU accession’ and ‘domestic adoption costs’ for conditionality to be effective. The second model, the social learning model follows core tenets of social constructivism, namely ‘commitment to Europe’, ‘societal salience’ and ‘economic interdependence’, which are assumed to be important for the process of EU rule transfer and adoption. Studies on the impact of EU political conditionality in the pre-accession show that a ‘credible EU accession’ and ‘low domestic adaptation costs’ have been individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for compliance (Schimmelfennig et al. 2003). Whether this is also the case for the studied ENP countries is explored in present study with the use of a mix of methods
Assessment of HIV infection in cells of infected individuals

HIV is one of the most prevalent opportunistic pathogens in cells of infected individuals and can cause diseases such as: encephalitis, pneumonia and chorioretinitis. The aim of this study is to investigate HIV infection in cells infected persons. This study was performed on 50 blood samples from individuals infected with HIV. Studied patients in the two groups were consumer and nonconsumer of antiretroviral drugs (mention the name of the Antiviral drug). After separation of plasma from the blood samples to detect HIV in cell culture and PCR were examined. Of the 50 patients, 56 % (n = 28) were male and 44 percent (n = 22) were women. DNA antibodies in 16 % (8 cases) were identified in the population, the prevalence of HIV infection in men 21.4 % (6 cases) and in women 1.9% (2 cases). The high prevalence of HIV infection in patients treated with CMV (full form of CMV), the treatment of HIV infection should be considered. Keyword: HIV infection, cells infection, analyses, characteristics.
Use of Bottom Structure and Tank Cover during Rainbow Trout Rearing in Circular Tanks

The use of environmental enrichment has been found to be beneficial in fish rearing performance and behavior. This study evaluated the effects of partial overhead cover and rearing tank substrate on the hatchery performance of juvenile rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Four treatments were used in circular tanks: open tanks with concrete blocks, partially-covered tanks with blocks, open tanks with no concrete blocks, and partially-covered tanks with no blocks. There was no significant effect of concrete block substrate use on rainbow trout weight gain or feed conversion ratio. However, fish reared with overhead cover had a significant weight gain increase and a significant feed conversion ratio decrease compared to uncovered tanks. There was no significant interaction between cover and substrate. The use of overhead cover is recommended to increase trout rearing performance in circular tanks.
New results on the mid-latitude midnight temperature maximum

Abstract. Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI) measurements of thermospheric temperatures and winds show the detection and successful determination of the latitudinal distribution of the midnight temperature maximum (MTM) in the continental mid-eastern United States. These results were obtained through the operation of the five FPI observatories in the North American Thermosphere Ionosphere Observing Network (NATION) located at the Pisgah Astronomic Research Institute (PAR) (35.2 ∘ N, 82.8 ∘ W), Virginia Tech (VTI) (37.2 ∘ N, 80.4 ∘ W), Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) (37.8 ∘ N, 84.3 ∘ W), Urbana-Champaign (UAO) (40.2 ∘ N, 88.2 ∘ W), and Ann Arbor (ANN) (42.3 ∘ N, 83.8 ∘ W). A new approach for analyzing the MTM phenomenon is developed, which features the combination of a method of harmonic thermal background removal followed by a 2-D inversion algorithm to generate sequential 2-D temperature residual maps at 30 min intervals. The simultaneous study of the temperature data from these FPI stations represents a novel analysis of the MTM and its large-scale latitudinal and longitudinal structure. The major finding in examining these maps is the frequent detection of a secondary MTM peak occurring during the early evening hours, nearly 4.5 h prior to the timing of the primary MTM peak that generally appears after midnight. The analysis of these observations shows a strong night-to-night variability for this double-peaked MTM structure. A statistical study of the behavior of the MTM events was carried out to determine the extent of this variability with regard to the seasonal and latitudinal dependence. The results show the presence of the MTM peak(s) in 106 out of the 472 determinable nights (when the MTM presence, or lack thereof, can be determined with certainty in the data set) selected for analysis (22 %) out of the total of 846 nights available. The MTM feature is seen to appear slightly more often during the summer (27 %), followed by fall (22 %), winter (20 %), and spring (18 %). Also seen is a northwestward propagation of the MTM signature with a latitude-dependent amplitude. This behavior suggests either a latitudinal dependence of thermosphere tidal dissipation or a night-to-night variation of the composition of the higher-order tidal modes that contribute to the production of the MTM peak at mid-latitudes. Also presented in this paper is the perturbation on the divergence of the wind fields, which is associated with the passage of each MTM peak analyzed with the 2-D interpolation. Keywords. Ionosphere (mid-latitude ionosphere)
Preferences of Poles concerning the Shape of Regional Policy and the Allocation of European Funds

The social reception of economic development processes has been underrated in studies conducted so far. The scarcity of such analyses may be perceived as a problem especially in the case of CEE states, in which economic growth has often been accompanied by a deepening of the socio-economic inequalities in the recent years. This article aims to identify the preferences of Poles concerning the goals of regional policy and the assignment of the European funds. Special attention was given to the differences among various categories of residents, examined in terms of their places of residence, occupational status, education, and age. The research has shown a highly positive attitude of Poles concerning the European funds, and statistically signiﬁcant relations between selected socio-demographic characteristics of Poles and their preferences concerning the places and ﬁelds of activity to which the funds should go
Effect of Synbiotic Yogurt Made with Indigenous Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum Mut7 and Sweet Potato Fiber (Ipomoea batatas) in Healthy Children

The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of synbiotic yogurt on the immune responses and microbiota profile of the feces. A double-blinded randomized controlled trial with cross over design was used in this study. Twenty children aged 8-12 years were recruited and assigned into 2 groups i.e. control yogurt and synbiotic yogurt. They received yogurt 50g/day for 14 days. The food consumption was recalled with 4x24 hours food recall. At the end of experiment, the saliva and feces were collected and analyzed for sIgA. The microbiota profile of the feces was enumerated in selective medium. The results showed that consumption of synbiotic yogurt resulted in a higher concentration of sIgA in saliva and feces compared to control yogurt. The microbiota profile of the synbiotic group was not significantly different with control group. This indicated that the new synbiotic yogurt has similar health benefit as the regular yogurt.
Why Do Model Tropical Cyclones Intensify More Rapidly at Low Latitudes

AbstractThe authors examine the problem of why model tropical cyclones intensify more rapidly at low latitudes. The answer to this question touches on practically all facets of the dynamics and thermodynamics of tropical cyclones. The answer invokes the conventional spin-up mechanism, as articulated in classical and recent work, together with a boundary layer feedback mechanism linking the strength of the boundary layer inflow to that of the diabatic forcing of the meridional overturning circulation.The specific role of the frictional boundary layer in regulating the dependence of the intensification rate on latitude is discussed. It is shown that, even if the tangential wind profile at the top of the boundary layer is held fixed, a simple, steady boundary layer model produces stronger low-level inflow and stronger, more confined ascent out of the boundary layer as the latitude is decreased, similar to the behavior found in a time-dependent, three-dimensional numerical model. In an azimuthally averaged vi.
Impact of Capital Structure and Dividend Policy on Firm Value

The study aimed to investigate the impact of capital structure and dividend policy on firm value of KSE non financial listed firms using cross sectional time series regression analysis for the period 2006-2013 in Pakistan. The study uses fixed effect Model to measure the disparities of intercepts for each group considering fixed coefficient for independent variables and fixed variance among groups of the panel data. The results of the study reporting number of variables of capital structure and dividend policy has significant impact on dependent variable (tobin’s Q). Three independent variables (TDTA as leverage ratio, SG as profit sustainability ratio and EQ as shareholders equity) of capital structure, while one independent variable (EPS as profitability ratio) of dividend policy has significant impact on dependent variable (tobin’s Q). The left behind two variables (FATO as performance ratio of capital structure and DPO as cash flow indicator ratio of dividend policy) are not significant with depended variable (tobin’s Q). Elaborately; EPS approve the prophecy of signaling theory while EQ, TDTA and SG statistically confirm assumptions of trade off theory and pecking order theory. Furthermore FATO fail to support the trade off hypothesis while DPO fail to favor the signaling theory postulations. Consequently our research analysis approves the hypothesis of pecking order theory and trade off theory in case of capital structure and signaling theory in case of dividend policy. Keywords: Capital Structure, Dividend Policy, Firm Value
Title A CD57+ CTL Degranulation Assay Effectively Identifies Familial Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

Purpose Familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis type 3 (FHL3) is a genetic disorder that results in immune dysregulation. It requires prompt and accurate diagnosis. A natural killer (NK) cell degranulation assay is often used to screen for FHL3 patients. However, we recently encountered two cases of late-onset FHL3 carrying novel UNC13D missense mutations: in these cases, the degranulation assays using freshly isolated and interleukin (IL)-2-activated NK cells yielded contradictory results. Since the defective degranulation of CD57 + cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in these cases was helpful for making the diagnosis, we assessed whether the CD57 + CTL degranulation assay more effectively identified FHL3 patients than the NK cell assays. Methods Forty additional patients with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis were prospectively screened for FHL3 by measuring the perforin expression in NK cells and the the expression of Munc13-4, syntaxin-11, and Munc18-2 in platelets, and by performing NK cell and CTL degranulation assays. The results were confirmed by genetic analysis. Results The freshly isolated NK cell degranulation assay detected FHL3 patients with high sensitivity (100%) but low specificity (71%). The IL-2-stimulated NK cell assay had improved specificity, but 3 out of the 31 non-FHL3 patients still showed degranulation below the threshold level. The CD57 + CTL degranulation assay identifying FHL3 patients with high sensitivity and specificity (both 100%). Conclusions The CD57 + CTL degranulation assay more effectively identified FHL3 patients than the NK cell-based assays.
Long-term Spectral Variability of the Ultraluminous X-Ray Source Holmberg IX X–1

We investigate the long-term spectral variability in the ultraluminous X-ray source Holmberg IX X–1. By analyzing the data from 8 Suzaku and 13 XMM-Newton observations conducted between 2001 and 2015, we perform a detailed spectral modeling for all spectra with simple models and complex physical models. We find that the spectra can be well explained by a disk-plus-thermal-Comptonization model. Applying this model, we unveil correlations between the X-ray luminosity ( L X ) and the spectral parameters. One particular correlation is the statistically significant positive correlation between L X and the photon index (Γ), while at the high luminosities of > 2 × 10 40 erg s − 1 , the source becomes marginally hard, which results in a change in the slope of the Γ – L X correlation. Similar variability behavior is observed in the optical depth of the source around L X ∼ 2 × 10 40 erg s − 1 as the source becomes more optically thick. We consider the scenario that a corona covers the inner part of the disk, and the correlations can be explained as being driven by the variability of seed photons from the disk input into the corona. On the basis of the disk-corona model, we discuss the physical processes that are possibly indicated by the variability of the spectral parameters. Our analysis reveals the complex variability behavior of Holmberg IX X–1 and the variability mechanism is likely related to the geometry of the X-ray-emitting regions.
How do Ghana’s landfills affect residential property values? A case study of two sites in Accra

Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana lacks well-engineered sanitary landfill sites. Increased urbanization and concomitant real estate growth lead landfills to compete with residential land use, resulting in closer proximity between landfill sites and residential neighborhoods. The effects of landfills on the property values of nearby residential communities have been the subject of much debate in the developed world, where state-of-the-art and environmentally well-engineered landfills are common. However, academic and other research is inconclusive on the effects of landfills on property values in the developed countries. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by exploring the effects of landfills on residential property values in Ghana, using the Oblogo and Mallam landfills in Accra as a case study. Our analysis indicates that while landfills do depress nearby residential property values, the effects are contingent on property location relative to the level of urbanization in a community, and year of completion and total costs of property development.