Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Utilization of the pomegranate tree (Punica granatum L.) in the paper industry

In this study, the chemical composition, fiber morphology, pulp, and paper properties of the pomegranate tree (Punica granatum L.) were determined. Stem and branch wood were analyzed separately. Kraft and kraft- anthraquinone (AQ) methods were used for the pulping processes. Stem wood showed superiority to branch wood with longer, wider, thicker-walled fibers. The holocellulose, α-cellulose, and lignin contents of branch and stem wood were 72.98%-73.50%, 38.37%-39.92%, and 21.04%-25.29%, respectively. In addition, the yield of kraft pulp made from stem wood was higher than that of branch wood. However, branch wood handsheets had higher strength properties and brightness than those of stem wood handsheets.
Effect of different level of canola meal on broiler production performance during two phases of growth.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of canola meal in broiler diets during starter (0-4 weeks) and finisher (5th week) phases of growth. For this purpose, 1905 day-old broiler (Star bro) chicks were reared in an environmentally controlled house using completely randomized design. Five different isonitrogenous and isocaloric experimental pelleted diets were prepared with five levels viz. 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% of canola meal (containing 85% KOH solubility and 36% crude protein), designated as A, B, C, D and E, respectively, for starter phase. Five corresponding finisher diets were used during the finisher phase. The chickens were randomly allocated to five dietary treatment groups having three replicates of 127 birds in each group. Feed intake during 0-4 weeks of age was reduced (P 0.05) was found during 5th week of age. Weight gain was higher in chickens fed diets containing 25% canola meal during two stages of growth but difference was not significant (P>0.05) among the treatments. Similarly, during starting phase, feed utilization efficiency was better (P 0.05) among the treatments during finishing phase. Dressing percentage and relative weight of liver of chickens among all treated groups were similar (P>0.05). The results indicated that maximum inclusion of canola meal (25%) in broiler diets reduced the relative cost per unit weight gain. It may be suggested that canola meal (with 85% KOH solubility) can be incorporated upto 25% in broiler diets without any adverse effect on production parameters during starting and finishing stages of growth.
Qi-Wei-Bai-Zhu powder improves inflammatory response via the myd88 pathway in neonatal mice infected with human rotavirus

Qi-Wei-Bai-Zhu Power (QWBZP), as one of the classic herbal prescription, has been proved to decrease diarrhea incidence, reduce mortality and regulate cytokines secretion in both human and rodents infected with Rotavirus (RV). We conducted the present study to elucidate the specific mechanism how QWBZP exerts its beneficial effects on HRV infection in neonatal mice. Cytokine contents and expression of proteins in Toll-Like Receptor 3 (TLR3) pathway were determined in HRV and QWBZP treated neonatal mice and CD 8 T cells. The results showed that QWBZP decreased diarrhea incidence and fecal virus shedding in HRV-infected mice. Moreover, QWBZP decreased interleukin (IL)-1β, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), interferon (IFN)-α and IFN-β contents and increased IL-10 content in both serum and intestine in HRV-infected mice. QWBZP, as well as myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) inhibitor peptide, downregulated MyD88-NFκB pathway and improved cytokines secretion, however, they did not affect TLR3 expression in HRV-treated CD 8 T cells. In addition, neither QWBZP nor MyD88 inhibitor peptide exerted any effects on NFκB expression and cytokines secretion in poly (I: C)-treated CD8 T cells. In conclusion, our results indicated that HRV activated TLR3 pathway and its downstream target NFκB dependent on MyD88, while QWBZP selectively inhibited MyD88 which further inactivated NFκB pathway and subsequently improved the production of cytokines, without affecting TLR3.
Trust, Transactions Costs and Contractual Completeness The Case of Franchising

The aim of the study is to explain the degree of contractual completeness in franchising by developing hypotheses from transaction cost and relational governance perspectives. Specifically, we complement the transaction cost view on contractual completeness by examining the impact of knowledge-based trust and general trust on the franchisor’s choice of contractual completeness. First, we investigate the transaction cost determinants of contractual completeness. Contractual completeness is negatively associated with environmental uncertainty and franchisees’ transaction-specific investments, and positively associated with the free-riding risk. Environmental uncertainty prevents the franchisor from setting up detailed contract terms and increases the need of ex-post adaptations and hence less specified contracts. Specific investments of the franchisees increase their motivation to behave cooperatively that requires less detailed contract terms. Franchisor’s free-riding risk increases with the brand name of the system resulting in more detailed contract provisions to mitigate the relational risk. Second, we analyze the relationship between trust and contractual completeness by differentiating between general trust and knowledge-based trust. General trust of the franchisor reduces the franchisor’s perception of relational risk and hence the necessity to control the network relationship by formal contract planning, and knowledge-based trust increases information sharing between the partners and hence the knowledge base for specifying more detailed contracts. The data from the German franchise sector provide support of the general trust, franchisees’ transaction-specific investment and free-riding hypotheses.
Histological and Ultrastructural Studies on the Y Organ and the Mandibular Organ of the Freshwater Prawn, Palaemon paucidens, with Special Reference to Their Relation with the Molting Cycle (With 2 Text-figures, 1 Table and 6 Plates)

Title Histological and Ultrastructural Studies on the Y Organ and the Mandibular Organ of the Freshwater Prawn, Palaemon paucidens, with Special Reference to Their Relation with the Molting Cycle (With 2 Text-figures, 1 Table and 6 Plates) Author(s) AOTO, Tomoji; KAMIGUCHI, Yujiroh; HISANO, Setsuji Citation 北海道大學理學部紀要 = JOURNAL OF THE FACULTY OF SCIENCE HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY Series VI. ZOOLOGY, 19(2): 295-308 Issue Date 1974-04 Doc URL http://hdl.handle. net/2115/27562 Type bulletin File Information 19(2)_P295-308.pdf
Free Volume Approximation and Equation of State for the fcc Phase of Polydisperse Hard Spheres

Monte Carlo simulations of the fcc phase of polydisperse hard spheres near close packing are reported. An experimental equation of state (EoS) is determined numerically in the NpT ensemble with variable shape of the periodic box. The close packing volume extrapolated from the obtained data shows a good agreement with earlier experiments performed by other methods. A new theoretical EoS, based on the free volume approximation, is proposed. The modified EoS fits experimental data for polydisperse hard spheres better than the approximation used before.
A Preliminary Study of Vocational College Students’ English Idioms’ Learning Through Translation

To learn English idioms well is not easy for native speakers, let alone ESL/EFL learners, which is because the meanings of idiomatic expressions cannot be determined through an analysis of their individual word meanings. However, the frequency of figurative languages is very common in English world. So, it is necessary for us to have such knowledge of English idioms in English study. Based on literature review, few studies focused their attention on examining vocational colleges EFL problems in English idioms. Moreover, fewer studies provided quantitative data to demonstrate the problems. Understanding the original texts in one language is the key to accurate translation of another language. Translation may be a good way to examine whether students understand English idioms. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate vocational college students’ understanding level of English idioms through their translation in order to find how difficult English idioms are for them. Participants were 36 sophomore students who study at Jiaxing Vocational and Technical College. Student’s total errors of Chinese translations could be found through the coding as well as the total accurate number of Chinese translations. The findings suggest these students’ understanding level of English idioms is not high. It is further supported by the fact that English idioms are difficult and not translated easily from one language to another language.
The application of phytoremediation Lemna perpusilla to increase the production performance of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus in a recirculation system

ABSTRACT This study aimed to evaluate the production performance and physiological of Nile tilapia using Lemna perpusilla as a phytoremediator in a recirculation system. A completely randomized design with two treatments and three replications was applied. The treatments were Nile tilapia cultured with L. perpusilla (TL) and without L. perpusilla (L). The experimental fish in this study was the juvenile of Nile tilapia with a body length of 9.98 ± 0.08 cm and an average weight of 36.27 ± 1.07 g. The stocking density was 46 fish/pond and the container size was 275×100×60 cm 3 and was separated in two areas using a fiber separator screen of 55.9% area for fish culture and 44.1% for L. perpusilla . The Nile tilapias were reared for 60 days, fed with commercial diet and fresh L. Perpusilla with amount 2% and 1% of biomass, respectively. They were fed three times a day with fresh L. perpusilla at noon and commercial diet in the morning and afternoon. The results showed that the Nile tilapia reared with L. perpusilla phytoremediation had normal physiological condition and production performance. The predominances of this system were lower feed conversion ratio value, more optimal values of feeding efficiency, and higher coefficient of weight uniformity. Keywords: Lemna perpusilla , physiological condition, phytoremediation, production performance. ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan mengevaluasi kinerja produksi dan fisiologi ikan nila dengan penggunaan Lemna perpusilla sebagai fitoremediator pada sistem resirkulasi. Rancangan penelitian yang digunakan adalah acak lengkap dengan dua perlakuan dan tiga ulangan. Ikan nila dipelihara pada kolam tanpa L. perpusilla (TL) dan ikan nila dipelihara pada kolam dengan L. perpusilla (L). Ikan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah benih ikan nila dengan panjang baku 9,98 ± 0,08 cm dan bobot rata-rata 36,27 ± 1,07 g. Padat tebar ikan tiap kolam pemeliharaan 46 ekor/kolamdengan ukuran kolam 275×100×60 cm 3 . Setiap kolam diberi sekat dengan luasan 44,1% L. perpusilla dari luasan kolam. Ikan nila dipelihara selama 60 hari pemeliharaan dengan pakan berupa pakan komersial dan L. perpusilla dengan jumlah pakan masing-masing 2% dan 1% dari biomassa. Pada pagi dan sore hari diberi pakan komersial, dan siang hari ikan diberi pakan L. perpusilla . Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa ikan nila yang dipelihara dengan fitoremediasi L. perpusilla menghasilkan kinerja produksi dan kondisi fisiologis yang normal. Keunggulan sistem ini adalah menghasilkan nilai konversi pakan yang lebih rendah, nilai efisiensi pemberian pakan, dan koefisien keseragaman bobot yang lebih tinggi. Kata kunci : fitoremediasi, Lemna perpusilla , kondisi fisiologis, kinerja produksi.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON APPROACHES TO POLICY EVALUATION IN THE EU: THE CASE OF COHESION POLICY

Cohesion Policy accounts for the largest area of expenditure in the EU budget. Because of its scope and redistributive nature, evaluation is particularly important. Policy analysis tends to overlook the evaluation stage. Few empirical studies seek to apply theory to EU policy evaluation. This article questions the relevance and usefulness of theorizing evaluation practice, exploring positivist, realist, and constructivist perspectives upon approaches to evaluating Structural Funds Programmes. It illustrates how political science theories can provide scholars with useful insights into the way EU policy evaluation is carried out. It develops a toolkit for analyzing real-world approaches to evaluation and then applies it to three separate Cohesion Policy programmes. The analysis shows how, from a theoretical perspective – and contrary to the mixed methods rhetoric of the European Commission – positivism remains the dominant approach when evaluating the Structural Funds and considers why this is so, identifying the ability to demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness, cost, influence, and evaluation culture as key characteristics.
Observations of the width of cloud droplet spectra in stratocumulus

This paper discusses in‐situ aircraft observations of cloud microphysics in eight cases of marine stratocumulus investigated during the Second Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE2) in the eastern subtropical Atlantic. The emphasis is on the spectral width of cloud droplet spectra, an important parameter affecting radiative properties of clouds and the development of drizzle and rain. For a given flight (i.e., for given characteristics of the cloud condensation nuclei, CCN), local droplet concentration varies considerably. The standard deviation of the cloud droplet spectra, σ, is typically in the range of 1 to 2 μm. It does not vary systematically between maritime and polluted clouds, and shows a surprisingly small difference between near‐adiabatic and diluted cloud samples. The relative dispersion d, the ratio between σ and the mean radius is between 0.1 and 0.4. In agreement with previous studies, larger values are typically associated with polluted clouds, mostly because such clouds have smaller droplets. For all flights, d either decreases with height or does not change significantly. Based on these observations, a simple parameterization of the relative dispersion d is proposed.
Viscosity of a multispecies plasma containing hydrogen and high-Z ions

Materials containing hydrogen and high-Z ion species are used in a variety of high energy density physics (HED) applications, and it becomes increasingly important to investigate transport properties of these substances as they become fully-ionized multispecies plasmas. In particular, of significant practical interest, is the analysis of the plasma viscosity as it can determine stability and turbulence properties of the HED system. It has been pointed out by D. Ryutov [Phys. Plasmas 3, 4336 (1996)] that the presence of a substantial amount of hydrogen in a multispecies plasma can significantly enhance its viscosity. The present work reports on a detailed analysis of this effect and the accurate calculation of the corresponding viscosity coefficient.
Effects of Teaching Activities via Google Sketchup and Concrete Models on Spatial Skills of Preservice Mathematics Teachers

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of teaching activities supported by Google SketchUp, which is a 3–Dimensional modeling software, and concrete models on the basic skills related to spatial ability in teaching geometric solids. The study sample consisted of 72 preservice teachers who were studying elementary mathematics education in 2009-2010 academic–year in a state-funded university in Central Anatolia, Turkey. This was an experimental study. The study used a pretest posttest control group design and included two experimental groups and a control group. One of the experimental groups was taught using Google SketchUp while the other one was taught with concrete model-aided teaching activities. The activities, designed for the control group, were carried out with some traditional teaching tools such as paper, pencil and classroom writing board. The Santa Barbara Solids Test (SBST) and the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (PSVT) were used to measure spatial ability. The SBST measures the ability to mentally visualize the cross-sections of 3D objects. The PSVT consists of three parts: “Developments”, which measures skills to visualize a 3D object based on its surface development; “Rotations”, which measures skills to mentally rotate 3D objects; and “Views”, which measures skills to visualize different views of 3D objects. The study identified significant increases in the scores received for all of the tests by the group using Google SketchUp, in the scores received for the SBST and Developments part by the group using concrete models, and in the scores received for only the Developments part by the control group. Also, the posttest average score received for the “Views” part by the experimental group using Google SketchUp was significantly higher than the score of the experimental group using concrete models and the control group.
Constraining the halo bispectrum in real and redshift space from perturbation theory and non-linear stochastic bias

We present a method to produce mock galaxy catalogues with efficient perturbation theory schemes, which match the number density, power spectra and bispectra in real and in redshift space from N-body simulations. The essential contribution of this work is the way in which we constrain the bias parameters in the PATCHY-code. In addition of aiming at reproducing the two-point statistics, we seek the set of bias parameters, which constrain the univariate halo probability distribution function (PDF) encoding higher-order correlation functions. We demonstrate that halo catalogues based on the same underlying dark matter field with a fix halo number density, and accurately matching the power spectrum (within 2%), can lead to very different bispectra depending on the adopted halo bias model. A model ignoring the shape of the halo PDF can lead to deviations up to factors of 2. The catalogues obtained additionally constraining the shape of the halo PDF can significantly lower the discrepancy in the three-point statistics, yielding closely unbiased bispectra both in real and in redshift space; which are in general compatible with those corresponding to an N-body simulation within 10% (deviating at most up to 20%). Our calculations show that the constant linear bias of ~2 for Luminous Red Galaxy (LRG) like galaxies seen in the power spectrum, mainly comes from sampling halos in high density peaks, choosing a high density threshold rather than from a factor multiplying the dark matter density field. Our method contributes towards an efficient modelling of the halo/galaxy distribution required to estimate uncertainties in the clustering measurements from galaxy redshift surveys. We have also demonstrated that it represents a powerful tool to test various bias models.
Effect of Formica aserva Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on ground dwelling arthropods in central British Columbia.

Carabids and spiders have potential as bioindicators, but may experience niche overlap with some ants. While some studies have uncovered mixed responses by these taxa to ants, negative associations are frequently found. We examined carabids and spiders in a British Columbia clearcut in zones colonized and non-colonized by Formica aserva ants. The number of carabids captured in colonized and non-colonized zones differed significantly from expected, and species-specific patterns were observed. While the activity-abundance of most spider species did not differ between zones, the activity-abundances of five species were significantly different in colonized and non-colonized zones. We also investigated behavioural responses by the carabid Pterostichus adstrictus to signals of ant presence, and observed that this carabid avoided crushed F. aserva gasters. Our results indicate that F. aserva may influence the activity-abundance of some carabid and spider species, and that some carabids may be able to detect F. aserva chemical signals. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of
Physiological and Molecular Characterization of Cold Tolerant Sugarcane Germplasm

In the state of Punjab, the reasons for low productivity of sugarcane are primarily the adverse agro-climatic conditions prevailing in the region. Sugarcane is a cold sensitive plant and its active growth period in Punjab is confined to six to seven months from April to October. Research on cold tolerance is of vital significance as chilling stress affect the quality of midmaturing cane varieties in sugarcane crop and sprouting of ratoon crop. Conscious efforts were made to select cold tolerant genotypes from huge germplasm assemblage of 1200 genotypes. The selected set of 24 tolerant genotypes was extensively assessed for physiobiochemical parameters in reference to 24 sensitive genotypes as check under natural cold conditions. The significant differences among tolerant and sensitive genotypes for proline, chlorophyll, total soluble sugars, free amino acids, relative water content and carotenoids before and after cold stress elucidated the role of these parameters in imparting cold hardiness. Based on agronomic profiling, cryo-protectant physio-biochemical traits and cane quality, genotypes CoJ 88, ISH 260, ISH 313, ISH 260, F 110/09, F 228/09, CoS 03261 and CoS 03222 were selected as cold tolerant genotypes having high economic potential and suggested for their utilization in breeding for cold tolerance. Visual screening of genotypes, although needed validation can be authentically used for selection of cold tolerance. Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs), sequences from public domain, reported to be upregulated in response to cold stress were blasted with sorghum genome and primers were designed using corresponding genomic region encoding proteins of Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) and No Apical Dominance (NAM). Molecular markers HSP Sorghum3 and NAM Soghum2 exhibited allelic size polymorphism between tolerant and sensitive genotypes. The two sequence tagged microsattelite markers (STMS) viz., NKS 45 and NKS 46 were found to be associated with high and low sugar content, respectively. These identified markers could be of high utility to screen a large breeding population for high sucrose content at initial growth stage in long duration sugarcane crop. The study could serve a strong foundation to initiate breeding for cold tolerance in sugarcane.
Are Large Shareholders Conducting Influential Monitoring in Emerging Markets? An Investigation into the Impact of Large Shareholders on Dividend Decisions: The Case of Kuwait

This paper examines the relationship between large shareholders and dividend payout decisions based on agency theory and investigates whether large shareholders are monitoring effectively. The study uses a panel dataset of 37 non-financial firms listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange as an emerging market between 1999 and 2003. Random-effects probit models are used to examine the impact of large shareholders, firm size, free cash flows, investment opportunity, business risk, and firm profitability on the dividend amounts firms paid. Large shareholders are disaggregated into three types  institutions, governments, and large individual shareholders  to determine if they influence the dividend paid. The results suggest that government is the only large shareholder that plays a significant monitoring role on dividend decisions. Furthermore, the results show that government ownership and firm profitability increase the probability of paying dividends, while the leverage ratio decreases the probability. Overall, the findings indicate that companies listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange pay dividends to reduce agency conflict and avoid exploiting minority shareholders.