Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Orophilous plant communities of Baetic range in Andalusia (south-eastern Spain): priority altitudinal-islands for conservation

The present work compares several localities in the high-mountain of the Baetic Cordilleras on the basis of plant communities, to establish priorities for conservation. The main objectives of the work are: 1) Identification of the whole set of plant communities described in the study area. 2) Analysis of the phytogeographical relationships between the summit areas. 3) Characterize a sere of ecological and management variables for each syntaxon that led us establish the main “conservation-value” groups, and the weight of each variable. 4) Calculation of values such as richness, continuous or discontinuous rarity, and complementarity. 5) Establish conclusions relevant to conservation purposes at community level in these areas. For this, 17 mountain areas have been selected, occupying a surface area of 2197.5 km2 and represented by 65 syntaxa. For each area, information has been compiled to construct two data matrices, which have been analysed with multivariate techniques of classification (cluster analysis) and ordination (correspondence analysis) as well as non-linear methods (categorical principal-component analysis; CATPCA). The priority areas for conservation have been determined by applying the concepts of richness, continuous rarity, discontinuous rarity and complementarity. In the 17 mountain areas, a series of aspects related to community ecology were analysed, such as types of habitats represented, distribution, thermotypes, ombroytpes and substrate, in addition to others related to diversity and conservation, including type of rarity, richness in endemic and/or endangered species, protection level, conservation status, and threat factors. The data analysis of presence/ absence in the different massifs resulted in 4 groups: the first composed of Tejeda-Almijara, calcareous Sierra Nevada, and Gador; the second of Grazalema, las Nieves, Loja, Lujar, Estancias, and Huetor-Harana; the third of Baza, Maria-Orce, Cazorla, the Subbetic, Magina, and la Sagra; the fourth of Filabres and siliceous Sierra Nevada. The CATPCA quite clearly separated the groups with well-differentiated conservation needs on the basis of their ecology and degree conservation (this being a combination of different factors). Finally, the work concludes by discussing the results and making a series of recommendations for conservation at community level.
Solution‐phase exfoliation of graphite for ultrafast photonics

We exfoliate graphite in both aqueous and non‐aqueous environments through mild sonication followed by centrifugation. The dispersions are enriched with monolayers. We mix them with polymers, followed by slow evaporation to produce optical quality composites. Nonlinear optical measurements show ∼5% saturable absorption. The composites are then integrated into fiber laser cavities to generate 630 fs pulses at 1.56 µm. This shows the viability of solution phase processing for graphene based photonic devices.
Exploring the Latino Paradox

The authors examined the contributions of economic status (ES) and citizenship status to health differences between European Americans, Latino Americans, and noncitizen Latinos. The investigation was framed using social identity and comparison theories. Southern California residents (N = 2,164) were randomly selected to complete a telephone interview. Increases in ES predicted health improvements for European Americans across ES levels. For Latino citizens and noncitizens, ES improvements had no effect on objective health. For subjective health, the Latino paradox existed at the lowest ES level for Latino Americans and did not exist for noncitizens. For objective health, the paradox existed in both Latino groups at low ES and additionally for Latino Americans at mid-ES. The study findings suggested that compared to Latinos, improvements in ES have a stronger positive impact on the health of European Americans, which is likely due to the social comparisons being made by each cultural group.
buy a little happiness ? The impact of business-to-consumer e-commerce on subjective well-being

This paper presents the first empirical investigation into the effect of e-shopping on subjective well-being. The analysis relies on a nationally and regionally representative dataset from Italy (n = 4,130) drawn from the 2008 wave of the Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) carried out by the Bank of Italy. Probit, OLS regressions and instrumental variables estimates show that e-shopping is strongly and positively associated with subjective well-being.
Dominant macrobenthic populations experience sustained impacts from annual disposal of fine sediments on sandy beaches

Despite increasing use of dredged mate- rials as beach fill to protect coastal property and public beaches from storm damage, knowledge of how this practice affects sandy beach ecosystems re- mains poor. We coupled field monitoring of 2 succes- sive beach disposal events with mesocosm experi- ments to assess mechanisms of ecological effects of fine sediment disposal. Macrobenthic sampling on Topsail Island, North Carolina, revealed that disposal of dredge spoils transformed beach grain sizes from medium to fine sand. Water sampling documented substantially elevated surf-zone turbidity during and occasionally after sediment deposition. When disposal occurred before spring invertebrate recruitment to the beach, it negatively influenced recruitment of the mole crab Emerita talpoida and the amphipod Para- haustorius longimerus. When disposal followed re- cruitment, it affected abundances of the bean clam Donax variabilis and 3 species of haustoriid am- phipods negatively, and abundance of the spionid polychaete Scolelepis squamata positively. Effects lasted for the full warm season, and suppressions of invertebrate abundances were repeated across suc- cessive annual disposal events. In mesocosms, turbid- ity matching that induced in the field slowed growth of clams and modified habitat choices by predatory fishes. Hence, annual disposal of fine-grained dredge spoils on these sandy beaches maintained depressed abundances of 5 of 6 macroinvertebrate prey of shore- bird and surf fish, without sustaining elevated volumes of beach sediments as long as a year. Implementation of disposal projects before the beginning of the sea- sonal recruitment of benthos resulted in fewer nega- tive impacts on abundance than disposal projects con- ducted after the recruitment season, probably reflecting a more universal risk from burial and suffocation.
Long-term effects of global and local changes on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in multi-stressed large rivers: the example of the Rhône River during the last 30 years

The study of biological traits have enhanced the understanding of the changes in the macroinvertebrate communities of the Rhone River during the last thirty years, as well as the potential effects of hydroclimatic factors and thermal discharges on the structure and the functioning of these communities at the regional scale. If every section of the Rhone had specific features, we observed over time a trend towards a higher uniformisation of invertebrate communities, especially in the Lower section. The strong impacts of the alien species and the water warming subsequent to the 2003 heat wave have been detected in the Lower Rhone and the Middle Rhone: the communities of the Middle Rhone gradually exhibit profiles closer to those of the communities of the Lower Rhone. The Upper Rhone was less colonized by alien species but was impaired by the global warming: its communities exhibited biological profiles closer to those of communities of further-downstream zones. In this site, the thermal discharges have led to a lower diversity of the communities and a higher occurrence of eurythermic species. Hence the benthic macrofauna of the Rhone River seems to have reacted quickly and strongly to environmental changes and to the arrival of invasive species. However numerous trait adaptations being common to Mediterranean and alien species, it seems complex to evaluate the respective weight of each of these potential sources of impairment. Predicting trends in invertebrate community composition is a complex objective because of the competition between native and/or invasive species in addition to man-induced environmental variation (flow, temperature). However, if biological invasion does not occur continuously but only based on specific events (especially hydroclimatology), we can legitimately believe that this drift will continue with the arrival of new Ponto-Caspian species via the Danube-Main Canal, their usual way to western and southern Europe. The common feature of these different species is that they are essentially predators or filterers, thermophilic and euryecic, and efficient functional competitors. Finally, this study once again emphasizes the importance of long-term monitoring in the study of biological communities in the context of global warming.
Definition of subgroups for fixed regression in the test-day animal model for milk production of Holstein cattle in the Czech Republic

The investigation was based on roughly 3.9, 2.7 and 1.7 million test-day records from first, second and third lactation, respectively, sampled from 596 200 Czech Holstein cows between the years 1991 and 2002. Breeding values were estimated from multi-lactation random-regression test-day models which contained the fixed effect of herd-test day, fixed regression on days in milk and random regressions on the animal level and the permanent environmental effect. Third degree Legendre polynomials (with four coefficients) were used for both the fixed and random regressions. The models differed in fixed regression. In Analysis I, 96 subclasses were defined according to age at calving, season and year of calving within lactation. In Analysis II, days open were additionally included as a grouping factor resulting in 480 subclasses. Rank correlations over 0.98 between both analyses were observed for breeding values for sires. Grouping according to Analysis I was recommended.
Comparison of weed control methods on infestation and crop productivity in transplant aman rice

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy Field Laboratory, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period from June to December 2014 with a view to compare the efficacy of weeding method on the performance of transplanted aman rice varieties. Four transplanted aman rice varieties viz. Kalijira, BRRI dhan34, BRRI dhan52 and BRRI dhan64 and five different weeding treatments namely no weeding, two hand weeding at 20 & 40 days after transplanting (DAT), mechanical weeding by Japanese rice weeder at 20 and 40 DAT, soil applied pre-emergence herbicide Topstar 400 SP (Oxadiargyl 400 g/l) @ 190 ml ha once at 3 days before transplanting and
Pedagogical Change at Times of Change in the Higher Education System: An Exploration of Early Career Mentoring, Co-publication and Teaching & Learning Insights

Universities are at a time of change. Their social, political and economic conditions are under challenge, while technological change challenges curriculum design and implementation, requiring reconsiderations of teaching and learning practices. In this context, and as part of the conference session on Higher education in 2014: threshold, watershed or business as usual? , I reviewed an approach I have been trialing to supporting early- and mid-career academics to navigate through this changing environment. This paper presents an illustrated essay on a human-scale approach to early- and mid-career mentoring through the establishment of small team-based research and writing projects. The essay provides examples of activities that, on the one hand, assist academics to develop the tools they need to navigate the new and evolving environment of higher education, while on the other hand directly addresses key pedagogical issues and provides new insight into teaching and learning in higher education.
Understanding the impact of Cotton Subsidies on developing countries

Models developed to investigate the impact of cotton subsidies have found that US support, by virtue of its absolute magnitude, is particularly damaging and responsible for most of the reduction in cotton-earning potential in developing countries. This has been used as an argument for reducing or postponing cuts in subsidies to European farmers, as these appear to have less impact on developing countries. Our results, through a careful examination of the nature of the cotton market, agree but suggest that under certain assumptions subsidies by smaller subsidisers (such as the EU) may be disproportionately harmful to some suppliers, notably to West and Central African countries. This is especially damaging to them since they have the potential to increase supply.
Effects of Waste Dump on the Quality of Plants Cultivated Around Mpape Dumpsite FCT Abuja, Nigeria

This paper is aimed at investigating the uptake of heavy metals by plan, since these plants are being consumed directly by people. The study was conducted within a dumpsite located at Mpape in the Abuja Municipal Area Council, Federal Capital Territory Abuja. Metals are essential for maintaining human health throughout life. Intake of heavy metal contaminated vegetables may pose a risk to the human health. Plants take in minerals from soil media or air through their roots or foliage. Understanding the distribution of some trace metals in some common vegetables and tuber crops is important for establishing baseline concentrations from which anthropogenic effects can be measured. The trace metal distribution in some selected vegetables and tuber crop cultivated around Mpape Dumpsite were determine. All the parameters investigated were found present in the three plants species analysed. The concentrations of heavy metals in all the samples cultivated around the dumpsite were higher than those from the control site and they are also above the FEPA limit except Ion and Zinc in spinach that was within the limit. It is important to educate the farmers on the best farming practice and regular monitoring of heavy metal contamination should be encouraged in order to avoid possible consumption of contaminated vegetables. Keywords : Waste dump, Heavy metals, Quality, up-take, Vegetables, Tuber crops
Tidal variability in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere due to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation

Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) simulations are used to investigate the migrating and nonmigrating tidal variability in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) due to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The most notable changes occur in the equatorial region during Northern Hemisphere winter in the diurnal migrating tide (DW1), diurnal eastward propagating nonmigrating tides with zonal wavenumbers 2 and 3 (DE2 and DE3), and the semidiurnal westward propagating nonmigrating tide with zonal wavenumber 4 (SW4). The WACCM simulations indicate that the ENSO represents a source of interannual tidal variability of ∼10–30% in the MLT. The tidal changes are attributed to changes in tropical precipitation, altered tidal propagation due to changing zonal mean zonal winds, and changes in planetary wave activity associated with the ENSO. During the El Niño phase of the ENSO the DE2 and DE3 are decreased, and the DW1 and SW4 are enhanced. The opposite response occurs during the La Niña phase of the ENSO; however, the magnitude of the tidal changes due to El Niño and La Niña are different. This is especially notable for the DE2 and DE3 which are enhanced by ∼2 K during La Niña time periods, and only reduced by ∼1 K during El Niño time periods. The results demonstrate that changing sea surface temperatures associated with the ENSO significantly impact the overall dynamics of the MLT. Our results further suggest that the ENSO is a source of significant interannual variability in the low‐latitude ionosphere and thermosphere.
From structure topology to chemical composition.VIII. Titanium silicates: the crystal chemistry of mosandrite from type locality of Låven (Skådön), Langesundsfjorden, Larvik, Vestfold, Norway

Abstract The crystal structure of mosandrite, ideally Na2Ca4REETi(Si2O7)2OF3, a = 7.4184(8), b = 5.6789(6), c = 18.873(2) Å, ß = 101.410(2)º, V = 779.35(5) Å3, space group P21/c, Z = 2, Dcalc = 3.363 g.cm−3, from the type locality, Låven (Skådön), Langesundsfjorden, Larvik, Vestfold, Norway, has been refined to R1 = 6.33% on the basis of 1113 unique reflections |Fo ≥ 4σF|. Electron microprobe analysis gave the empirical formula Na1.99(Ca3.93Sr0.02)∑3. (Ce0.41La0.16Nd0.13Pr0.04Sm0.02Dy0.01Y0.13)∑0.90(Ti4+0.86Nb0.08Zr0.05)∑0.99(Si2O7)2(F1.20O0.80)∑2.00F2, Z = 2, calculated on the basis of 18 (O + F) a.p.f.u. The crystal structure of mosandrite is a framework of TS (titanium silicate) blocks. The TS block consists of HOH sheets (H-heteropolyhedral, O-octahedral). The TS block in mosandrite exhibits linkage and stereochemistry typical for Group I (Ti = 1 a.p.f.u.) Ti-disilicate minerals: two H sheets connect to the O sheet such that two (Si2O7) groups link to the trans edges of a Na polyhedron of the O sheet. The O sheet cations give Na(NaCa)Ti (4 a.p.f.u.). The TS blocks link via common vertices of (Si2O7) groups and common vertices and edges of Ca-dominant MH and AP polyhedra. Two adjacent TS blocks are related by the glide plane cy. Composition and topology of the TS block in mosandrite and rinkite are identical. The crystal structure of mosandrite from the type locality is topologically and chemically identical to that of rinkite from the type locality of Kangerdluarssuk, Greenland.
Oligarchies and Development in a Global Economy: A Tale of Two Elites

type="main" xml:id="ecin12284-abs-0001"> This paper studies how comparative advantage and the political elites' endowments shape long-run performance in economies with imperfect political institutions. The trade regime interacts with industrial policy and regulations on capital mobility in governing capital accumulation. In a capital-scarce economy, capitalist oligarchs striving for import substitution industrialization (ISI) initially shelter the economy from trade, while promoting industrial policies that promote total factor productivity growth in the manufacturing sector. This gradually shifts the comparative advantage toward manufacturing and renders the economy attractive to foreign investors. Allowing for trade and foreign capital inflows are thus complementary policies that spur growth in the capital oligarchy. By contrast, landed oligarchs in a capital-scarce economy favor openness to trade at an early stage of development, neglect industrial policies, and block foreign capital to maximize extractable rents. The policy mix causes the economy to stagnate. Consistent with the experiences of South Korea and Argentina in the postwar era, the model predicts that the success of ISI policies depends crucially on the conditions governing the incentives for capital accumulation. (JEL F10, F20, P40, P50, O10, O24)
Stream flow simulation by WetSpa model in Hornad river basin, Slovakia

Occurrence of severe floods in East European countries in the years 1997-2001 has drawn the attention of the public and also of the relevant authorities to the problem of flood protection. Combining advanced flood modeling with a GIS enables users and decision makers at various levels to investigate and assess proposed flood mitigation options and environmental impact assessments. In the Hornad catchment, which is one of the main tributary of the Tisza River, so far no rainfall-runoff forecasting model is in operational use. An application of a spatially distributed hydrologic model WetSpa working on a daily time scale is pre- sented in this paper. The model combines elevation, soil and landuse data within GIS, and predicts flood hydro- graph and the spatial distribution of hydrologic characteristics through a watershed. WetSpa model uses a modified rational method to calculate runoff and degree-day coefficient method to estimate the snow melt runoff based on temperature data. The runoff is routed through the basin along flow paths using a diffusive wave transfer model that enables to calculate response functions between any start and end point, depending upon slope, flow velocity and dissipation characteristic along the flow lines. The model is applied to the Hornad river basin located in Slovakia. The 4262 km 2 watershed is mountainous with elevations ranging from 171 to 1945 m.a.s.l and a mean slope of 17.6%. The mean annual precipitation in the catchment is about 664 mm. Daily hydrometeorological data from 1991 to 2000, including precipitation data from 44 stations, temperature data from 14 stations and evaporation data measured at 4 stations within and around the basin, are used as input data to the model. Three base maps, i.e. DEM, landuse and soil types are prepared in GIS form using 100 100 m cell size. Simulated hydrographs are compared to measured hydrographs which are available for the same 10-year period. Results of the simulations show a good agreement between calculated and measured hydrographs at the outlet of the basin and also in its main subbasins. The model predicts the daily hydrographs with a good accuracy, between 75 to 80 % according to the Nash-Sutcliff criteria. Since the spatial distribution of hydrologic characteristics can be obtained from the model outputs at each time step, the model has a great potential to ana- lyze the effects of topography, soil type, land cover and the effects of landuse changes on the hydrologic behavior of a river basin.
GC2 Biology Dictates Gene Expressivity in Camellia sinensis

The effectiveness of the gene expression is influenced by the nature of codons used throughout the gene. This is due to the fact that most genes and organisms do not use synonymous codons uniformly; certain synonymous codons are used preferentially, a phenomenon called codon usage bias (CUB). Based on the hypothesis that highly expressed genes are often characterized by strong compositional bias in terms of codon usage, there are a number of measures currently in use that quantify codon usage bias in genes, and hence provide numerical indices to predict the expression level of genes. We analyzed normalized AT and GC frequency at each codon site. We observed that correlations between gene expression as measured by CAI and GC content at any codon site are very weak. GC2s showed moderate positive correlation with gene expression. We also measured the correlations between CAI and AT content at three codon sites. AT2s showed moderate negative correlation with gene expression. We further observed a strong correlation between RCBS and protein length indicating natural selection operating in favor of shorter genes to be expressed at higher level. Our analysis revealed that the second position of synonymous codons in Camellia sinensis plays a more prominent role than the third position in determining gene expressivity as evident from CUB and correlation analysis on ten genes.