Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Metacognitive Perspective of InfoVis in Education

A critical phase in teaching is the effective design of educational contents. Instructors are phased with the dilemma of compensating on the volume and complexity that academic curriculum may entail, to easily accommodating educational content to learners. InfoVis or Infographics feature as a viable method to alleviate this problem through rich information and structured visual stories by taking advantage of the visual thinking of individuals and difficulties in information processing. A challenge, however, is the creation of personalized educational content that will dynamically adapt to users' intrinsic cognitive and emotional characteristics. We present a preliminary user study that explores two human factors, i.e., metacognition and motivation, which could enrich user models and guide the personalization process of learning material devised as infographic. Our results revealed strong influence of the two human factors in the learning process, while in cases suggest that may also be used as good predictors of academic achievement.
Studies on a New Virus(OMV) from Oncorhynchus masou-1-Characteristics and Pathogenicity (魚病に関する国際セミナ-)

During 1978, we isolated a previously undescrived pathogenic virus from ovarian fluids of normal appearing adult landlocked masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou) at the Otobe Salmon Hatchery, Hokkaido, Japan.Characteristics of the newly recognized virus conform to those of the Herpesvirus group, and the agent is provisionally named Oncorhynchus masou virus (OMV). The OMV has proven to be lethal for chum salmon (O keta) by artificial immersion infection. Following immersion, 80 to 150-day-old fry began to die at 11 to 12 days later, and 35 to 60% of them succumbed in the ensuing 50 days. However, no death occurred among 240-day-old chum salmon that were similarly infected.Marked histopathologic changes were observed in liver sections. These were multiple foci of severe necrosis and syncytia formation.Further repeated experiments using other species of salmonids revealed that coho salmon (O. kisutch), kokanee salmon (O. nerka), and rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) were also susceptible to OMV, although some variations in susceptibility were noted.From the evidence thus far obtained, OMV is clearly a new pathogen of salmonids.
The Knowledge Management Processes at Different Stages of Group Development

Based on the Integrated Model of Group Development as well as the Model of Team Knowledge Management, this study intends to analyse the extent to which the different stages of group development differ in regards to the degree to which one may apply knowledge management in its various processes. The sample comprised 211 teams belonging to a Portuguese military organization. In order to test the hypotheses we conducted a multivariate analysis of variance. The results revealed that more mature and cooperative groups (phase Restructuring/Realization) apply the processes of knowledge management to a greater degree, whereas the groups where one sees greater intra-group competition and where members seek to "gain power" among themselves (phase Reframing), apply such processes to a lesser degree.
Comparative Analysis of Agricultural Credit System and Organization in Selected Countries

The agricultural sector has been a key economic force in all countries, developed and developing alike. To assist farmers with their financing needs, countries have established different agricultural credit systems and organizations depending on their overall needs, goals, and historical contextual background. Such structural considerations as the aggregate size of farm lands, diversity in production systems, and farmers’ needs and wants have played an important role in shaping the evolution of agricultural credit organizations around the world. In this study, the agricultural credit systems in select developed and developing countries which offer a mix of very advanced, intermediate, and evolving systems are compared. This research aims to identify key difference of agricultural credit systems with regards to the main actors involved (governmental/private banks, credit cooperative, etc.), application processes, terms and conditions, types, and priorities. The study identifies several agricultural credit systems which reflect countries’ political, economic and structural properties.
Extinction Ratios in the Inner Galaxy as Revealed by the VVV Survey

Interstellar extinction toward the Galactic Center (GC) is large and significantly differential. Its reddening and dimming effects in red clump (RC) stars in the Galactic Bulge can be exploited to better constrain the extinction law toward the innermost Galaxy. By virtue of a deep and complete catalog of more than 30 million objects at and obtained from VVV survey observations, we apply the RC method to infer the selective-to-total extinction ratios in the Z, Y, J, H, and Ks broadband near-infrared filters. The measured values are smaller than previously reported, and are not constant, with mean values of, e.g., and . We also obtain a ratio AZ:AY:AJ:AH: of 7.74:5.38:3.30:1.88:1.0, implying extinction toward the GC to follow a distribution as a function of wavelength steeper than previously reported, consistent with a power law in the near-infrared.
Exploring the Relationships between Organizational Size and Market Focus and Commitment to the Green Movement and Impacts of Organizational Culture: A Comparative Study of Jamaica and the United States

In this research, we examine whether organizations of differing size (large vs. small) and market focus (regional vs. national/international) may differ on several variables related to the green movement and quality management in two cultures – Jamaica and the United States. The variables examined include individual green orientation, employee perceptions of organizational green orientation, organizational culture, quality management (QM) maturity, and outcomes, in terms of positive impacts of the green movement and organizational performance. We find evidence for differences in organizational green orientation, individual green awareness, organizational culture, use of total quality management (TQM) tools, and organizational performance for large vs. small organizations and for organizations differing in market focus.
Establishing a link between risk tolerance, investor personality and behavioural finance in South Africa

Abstract The main objective of this paper was to establish which behavioural finance biases are associated with a certain level of risk tolerance and investor personality. Furthermore, the study aimed to indicate how these behavioural finance biases can influence investment decisions. Since behavioural finance is becoming more essential in the investment industry, further research within a South African context was regarded as necessary. Results indicated that investors with a low-risk tolerance level and a conservative investor personality are subject towards loss aversion and mental accounting biases. Investors with a high-risk tolerance level are mostly subject towards the self-control bias. The significance of this study will enable investment companies to more accurately profile their investors and to offer more refined investment options.
Evaluation of Barley-Vetch Intercrop at Different Nitrogen Rates

To evaluate the yield and quality of barley (Hordeum vulgare)–vetch (Vicia desycarpa) intercropping, a series of experiments were conducted at the Experimental Field of the College of Agriculture, University of Tehran, in Karaj (Iran) from 2003 to 2005. The experiments were arranged in a randomized complete block with a split plot design and four replications. Three levels (0, 45 and 90 Kg N ha -1 ) of nitrogen fertilizer and three cropping systems (sole barley, sole vetch and barley-vetch intercropping) were allocated to the main and sub plots, respectively. The barley-vetch intercropping treatment had a replacement arrangement (50: 50) with single alternate rows. Land equivalent ratio (LER), was used to compare sole cropping with intercropping systems. Results showed the supremacy of intercropping of barley and vetch over single crops. Generally, increasing nitrogen fertilizer caused a decreasing trend in the biological efficiency of intercropping. The highest LER for grain was obtained in control (N fertilizer free) plots (LER= 1.145). Nitrogen fertilizer increased the forage yield, grain yield, crude protein content, and crude protein yield of barley and vetch in sole and intercrops. Nitrogen application increased water use efficiency. In this study, barley was the dominant crop. The intercropping vetch and barley had the highest productivity and crude protein yield.
In-service teacher education course module design focusing on usability of ICT applications in science education

Teachers face challenges in adopting ICT applications for science teaching and learning. An in-service teacher education course module addressing the needs of science teachers particularly was developed through a design-based research (DBR) project. The course module is designed to improve the readiness of teachers in choosing ICT applications for science education and taking the technical and pedagogical usability of the application into account. An international survey showed that clarifying the needs and constraints of using ICT applications in science education as well as introducing and discussing both technical and pedagogical usability with the teachers was important. Moreover, a theoretical analysis of the usability of ICT applications offers various views on meaningful learning and motivational aspects of science teaching and learning. In this paper, we report what we learned from the experience of designing the course module, which is described and discussed in terms of the outcomes of both the theoretical and empirical problem analysis.
Observations of Type Ia Supernova 2014J for Nearly 900 Days and Constraints on Its Progenitor System

We present extensive ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry of the highly reddened, very nearby SN Ia 2014J in M82, covering the phases from 9 days before to about 900 days after the B-band maximum. SN 2014J is similar to other normal SNe Ia near the maximum light, but it shows flux excess in the B band in the early nebular phase. This excess flux emission can be due to light scattering by some structures of circumstellar materials located at a few 1017 cm, consistent with a single-degenerate progenitor system or a double-degenerate progenitor system with mass outflows in the final evolution or magnetically driven winds around the binary system. At t ∼ +300 to ∼+500 days past the B-band maximum, the light curve of SN 2014J shows a faster decline relative to the 56Ni decay. That feature can be attributed to the significant weakening of the emission features around [Fe iii] λ4700 and [Fe ii] λ5200 rather than the positron escape, as previously suggested. Analysis of the HST images taken at t > 600 days confirms that the luminosity of SN 2014J maintains a flat evolution at the very late phase. Fitting the late-time pseudobolometric light curve with radioactive decay of 56Ni, 57Ni, and 55Fe isotopes, we obtain the mass ratio 57Ni/56Ni as 0.035 ± 0.011, which is consistent with the corresponding value predicted from the 2D and 3D delayed-detonation models. Combined with early-time analysis, we propose that delayed-detonation through the single-degenerate scenario is most likely favored for SN 2014J.
Increased Terrestrial Disturbances Modify Skeletal Properties and Mechanical Strength of Hard Corals

Skeleton properties determine coral survival by influencing the range of hydraulic conditions colonies can withstand, selection of suitable habitat, ability to compete for space and light, repair damage and the overall fitness and ecological success of scleractinian corals. Skeletal properties of 16 coral species comprising 3 growth forms collected from Kenyan coral reef lagoons were investigated and found to vary considerably not only between species but between reefs as well, with corals exposed to both sediment and nutrients showing consistent lower skeleton density and strength but high porosity compared to those from sediment-unaffected reefs. Further, high skeletal density and strength but low porosity values were measured in branching relative to other growth forms. The present findings also suggest that the negative effects of nutrients on skeleton properties may be counteracted by high hydrodynamic energy, resulting in stronger skeletons in high hydrodynamic energy-nutrient-polluted reef habitats relative to pristine reefs. These findings have important ecological and management implications with regard to the existence, persistence, productivity and protective value of reefs, damage risks, maintenance and conservation of biological diversity with respect to future global climate change events. Consequently, appropriate watershed, reef and fisheries management options that address the impacts of local anthropogenic stresses (sediments, nutrients, overexploitation) would be expected to alleviate the effects of these disturbances and have the potential to minimize future large-scale coral reef damage resulting from increased and frequent global climate change events, such as increased ocean acidification (due to elevated atmospheric CO2) and sea surface temperature. Keyword: coral skeleton, density, growth form, porosity, sediment, strength, anthropogenic disturbances
Cross-Shore, Seasonal, and Depth-Related Structure of Ichthyoplankton Assemblages in Coastal Alabama

Abstract Investigations of the spatial and temporal structure of larval fish assemblages are essential for a better understanding of the dynamics of fish populations and their resilience to environmental change. This study provides an original typology of the spatial, seasonal, and depth-related structure of ichthyoplankton assemblages collected along a 77-km cross-shore gradient in Alabama coastal waters. This typology is based on a depth-discrete ichthyoplankton survey conducted across multiple years at a high spatial and temporal resolution in the northern Gulf of Mexico. A total of 350,766 larvae were collected, among which >95% could be identified to families. The total density of fish larvae was significantly higher inshore, whereas the number of families increased offshore. Multivariate regression trees and Dufrene–Legendre indices were used to identify seven assemblages dominated by different families of larvae. These assemblages were primarily structured by distance from the shore, followed by se.
Influence of elemental sulfur on nutrient uptake, yield and quality of cucumber grown in sandy calcareous soil

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of elemental sulfur (S 0 ) and sulfur oxidizing bacteria (Paracoccus versutus) on nutrient uptake, yield and quality of cucumber grown in sandy calcareous soils. Both elemental sulfur powder (S 0 P) and pellets of sulfur powder-Tiger 90 (S 0 T) were applied at rates of 0, 1, 5 and 10 t/ha at Al Hamraneya. On the contrary, S 0 P was used at rates of 0, 1, 5 and 10 t/ha combined with or without Paracoccus versutus (Pv) at Al Kuwaitat, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Higher concentrations of N, P, S, Mn and Zn in leaves and yield of cucumber at both locations were obtained with application of S 0 at rates of 5 and 10 t/ha. Total soluble sugar (TSS) content and vitamin C was higher with the application of S 0 at rates of 5 and 10 t/ha. Application of Pv individually or with varying levels of S 0 P had no positive effect on nutrients uptake, yield and quality of cucumber. A positive correlation was observed between shelf life and vitamin C. At Al Hamraneya S 0 P performed better than S 0 T. The results reveal that application of S 0 P at the rate of 5 t/ha in sandy calcareous soils can enhance the nutrients uptake ability,
Fast and Flexible Multi-Task Classification Using Conditional Neural Adaptive Processes

The goal of this paper is to design image classification systems that, after an initial multi-task training phase, can automatically adapt to new tasks encountered at test time. We introduce a conditional neural process based approach to the multi-task classification setting for this purpose, and establish connections to the meta-learning and few-shot learning literature. The resulting approach, called CNAPs, comprises a classifier whose parameters are modulated by an adaptation network that takes the current task's dataset as input. We demonstrate that CNAPs achieves state-of-the-art results on the challenging Meta-Dataset benchmark indicating high-quality transfer-learning. We show that the approach is robust, avoiding both over-fitting in low-shot regimes and under-fitting in high-shot regimes. Timing experiments reveal that CNAPs is computationally efficient at test-time as it does not involve gradient based adaptation. Finally, we show that trained models are immediately deployable to continual learning and active learning where they can outperform existing approaches that do not leverage transfer learning.
Effect of Pore to Throat Size Ratio on Interfacial Heat Transfer Coefficient of Porous Media

In this study, the effects of pore to throat size ratio on the interfacial heat transfer coefficient for a periodic porous media containing inline array of rectangular rods are investigated, numerically. The continuity, Navier–Stokes, and energy equations are solved for the representative elementary volume (REV) of the porous media to obtain the microscopic velocity and temperature distributions in the voids between the rods. Based on the obtained microscopic temperature distributions, the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficients and the corresponding Nusselt numbers are computed. The study is performed for pore to throat size ratios between 1.63 and 7.46, porosities from 0.7 to 0.9, and Reynolds numbers between 1 and 100. It is found that in addition to porosity and Reynolds number, the parameter of pore to throat size ratio plays an important role on the heat transfer in porous media. For the low values of pore to throat size ratios (i.e., β = 1.63), Nusselt number increases with porosity while for the high values of pore to throat size ratios (i.e., β = 7.46), the opposite behavior is observed. Based on the obtained numerical results, a correlation for the determination of Nusselt number in terms of porosity, pore to throat size ratio, Reynolds and Prandtl numbers is proposed.
Global nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer use for agriculture production in the past half century: shifted hot spots and nutrient imbalance

Abstract. In addition to enhancing agricultural productivity, synthetic nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) fertilizer application in croplands dramatically alters global nutrient budget, water quality, greenhouse gas balance, and their feedback to the climate system. However, due to the lack of geospatial fertilizer input data, current Earth system and land surface modeling studies have to ignore or use oversimplified data (e.g., static, spatially uniform fertilizer use) to characterize agricultural N and P input over decadal or century-long periods. In this study, we therefore develop global time series gridded data of annual synthetic N and P fertilizer use rate in agricultural lands, matched with HYDE 3.2 historical land use maps, at a resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° latitude–longitude during 1961–2013. Our data indicate N and P fertilizer use rates on per unit cropland area increased by approximately 8 times and 3 times, respectively, since the year 1961 when IFA (International Fertilizer Industry Association) and FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) surveys of country-level fertilizer input became available. Considering cropland expansion, the increase in total fertilizer consumption is even larger. Hotspots of agricultural N fertilizer application shifted from the US and western Europe in the 1960s to eastern Asia in the early 21st century. P fertilizer input shows a similar pattern with an additional current hotspot in Brazil. We found a global increase in fertilizer N ∕ P ratio by 0.8 g N g−1 P per decade (p doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.863323 .
Association of Socioeconomic Status and Pro-Environmental Behaviors in the Citizens of Gorgan, Iran (2017)

Background and objectives: Environmental pollution is a major cause of various diseases. Massive production of hospital, industrial and household wastes lead to several health issues, threatening community health on a daily basis. The present study aimed to determine the association between socioeconomic status and pro-environmental behaviors in the citizens of Gorgan, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 400 citizens of Gorgan. Participants were divided into three regions based on urban categorization. Data were collected using demographic and socioeconomic questionnaires. To assess environmental behaviors, a standard questionnaire was used based on the Dunlap spectrum. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent samples t-test and factor analysis. Results: No positive significant correlation was observed between gender and environmental behaviors. The results of ANOVA showed a significant association between marital status and environmental behaviors. In addition, the results of factor analysis indicated that five factors explained 55.49% of environmental behaviors. The results of ANOVA also demonstrated that middle-class citizens had a more responsible attitude toward the environment compared to others (P<0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, socioeconomic status influenced the social value orientations and responsible behaviors of individuals toward the environment. Therefore, increasing the quality of life and providing comprehensive education could enhance pro-environmental behaviors and promote community health.
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering REDUCING NITROGEN CROSSOVER IN MICROBIAL REVERSE- ELECTRODIALYSIS FUEL CELLS BY USING ION EXCHANGE RESIN A Thesis in Environmental Engineering by

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is a technology that uses high and low concentration salt solutions between a stack of alternating anion and cation exchange membranes to induce an electrical current. A RED stack installed between the anode and cathode of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) is called a microbial reverse electrodialysis cell (MREC). An MREC produces a greater power density than an MFC alone. When a RED stack is powered using ammonium bicarbonate salt solutions, nitrogen in the form of negatively-charged carbamate can be transferred through an anion exchange membrane (AEM) into the anode chamber. The loss of this nitrogen into the anode chamber is not sustainable or economical. Total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) concentrations in the anode chamber >500 mg/L can also prevent bacteria from efficiently utilizing acetate, reducing power production by the cell. To reduce nitrogen crossover into the anode chamber, an additional low concentration (LC) chamber and AEM were installed between the high concentration cell in the RED stack and the adjacent anode chamber, and ion exchange resin was added to increase the chamber conductivity and reduce internal resistance. With this configuration, the overall nitrogen crossover into the anode was reduced by up to 96.5% compared to a standard configuration (no additional chamber) in a 24-hour fed-batch cycle. Anode pH rose from 8.5 to 10.5, instead of decreasing as is normally observed in an MREC. Resistance due to all membranes in the stack increased from 103 Ω-cm 2 to 295 Ω-cm 2 , and an additional 637 Ω-cm 2 resistance was introduced by the solution in the low concentration chamber. When the additional LC chamber was filled (50%) with anion exchange resin, solution resistance decreased by 74% to 166 Ω-cm 2 . In a labscale MREC, it was estimated that three additional RED cell pairs would be necessary to make up for power loss due to the membrane and solution resistance introduced by the LC chamber.