Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chapter 9 Australopithecus sediba from Malapa , South Africa

First discovered in August of 2008, the site of Malapa, South Africa revealed two relatively complete partial skeletons that we assigned to a new species, Australopithecus sediba. Additional individuals have since been detected, and await excavation at the site. It appears that these hominins were washed into the cave through a deep vertical shaft, likely in a single depositional event resulting from a large storm inflow. Burial and cementation were rapid, occasioning the exceptional preservation of these skeletons. Uranium-lead and paleomagnetic dating combine to precisely constrain the age of the site to 1.977 ± 0.0015 Ma. Cranial and postcranial remains of A. sediba demonstrate numerous australopith-like features that denote a hominin at an australopith adaptive grade, prompting its inclusion in the genus Australopithecus. However, A. sediba also displays a series of characters that align it more closely with Homo than any other australopith species. We consider the evidence supporting the appearance of Homo prior to 1.977 Ma to be inconclusive, therefore we hypothesize that A. sediba from Malapa could be ancestral to Homo. Alternatively, if the existence of Homo prior to 1.977 Ma can be confirmed, this would not preclude a population of A. sediba that predated Malapa from occupying this role. Therefore we hypothesize that A. sediba indeed represents the ancestor of the genus Homo. ‘‘Every fossil that might potentially be intermediate is always classified as either Homo or Australopithecus. None is ever classified as an intermediate. The most perfect intermediate you could possibly imagine would still find itself shoehorned into either Homo or Australopithecus. In fact, it would probably be called Homo by half the palaeontologists and Australopithecus by the other half. And unfortunately, instead of getting together to agree that ambiguously intermediate fossils are exactly what we should expect on the evolution theory, the palaeontologists could probably be relied upon to give an entirely false impression by seeming almost to come to blows over their terminological disagreement. ’’ Richard Dawkins 2009, The Greatest Show on Earth
Management practices, firm ownership, and productivity in Latin America

We analyze management and performance data for over 8,000 manufacturing firms across the Americas, Asia and Europe. We find that Latin American firms have poor management practices by international standards, with limited monitoring, short-term and narrow targets, and ineffective human-resource practices. A major factor behind this poor management quality is the high incidence of firms owned and controlled by the founder or the founding family. In Latin America, these firms lag both in average management quality when compared to firms of the same ownership structure in other regions and in catching up to their peers within their regions. Limited product market competition, the presence of few foreign multinationals, already explored by Bloom et al. (2012b), also appear to account for poor management practices. Across firms, we find that poor management practices are linked to a less educated workforce and low export orientation as well as heavy labour-market regulations and limited access to credit. Finally, we show that better management quality is tightly linked to higher firm and national productivity, confirming that the management practices measured are economically meaningful.
The Effect of Emotion on Associative and Item Memory

Numerous studies to date have demonstrated superior memory for emotional compared to neutral stimuli (Kensinger & Corkin, 2004; Bennion et al., 2013). This finding, although relatively stable across the item memory literature, becomes less consistent when examined in tasks measuring memory for associative or source information (Chiu et al., 2013). For this reason, the present study set out to examine how emotional content (negative, positive and neutral word pairs) influences memory in two distinct associative and item recognition tasks: associative identification (AI), associative reinstatement (AR), paired-item recognition, and single-item recognition. In measuring the influence of emotion on associations using an explicit (AI) and implicit (AR) recognition task, our study provides evidence suggesting that the emotion-enhancement (or arousal-dependent amygdala activation) typically observed in the item literature may actually be working against the process of binding (Murray & Kensinger, 2014; Mather, 2007). Additionally, in measuring the influence of emotion in two different item recognition tasks, we also find that presentation of items during encoding and test maybe vital to
Dietary fat type and level affect thyroid hormone plasma concentrations in rats

(Received 10 June 2008; revised version 26 March 2009; accepted 24 June 2009)ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to examine the effect of dietary fat source and level on plasma thyroid hormone concentrations. For three weeks, male Wistar rats (n=54) were fed diets containing fats differing in fatty acid (FA) composition: sunflower oil predominantly containing polyunsaturated n-6 FA, group S; rich in monounsaturated FA rape seed oil, group R; and saturated FA palm oil, group P; at three levels (w/w): 5% LF, 10% MF, and 20% HF. Total thyroxine levels were higher in group P than R on the LF and MF diets. The free thyroxine concentration in rats on the LF diet was higher in group R than in S and P; on the MF diet, higher in group R and P than S; and on the HF diet, higher in group P than S. Triiodothyronine levels were influenced by fat composition only in rats fed the HF diet, being lower in group S than P. The results of this study suggest that diets differing with respect to fat type and level might have opposite effects on thyroid hormone values.KEY WORDS: thyroid, thyroxine, triiodothyronine, reverse-triiodothyronine, nutrition, fatty acids, rats
Interactive comment on “Modification, Calibration, and Performance of the Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer for Particle Size Distribution and Volatility Measurements During the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) Airborne Campaign” by Agnieszka Kupc et al

The manuscript describes the results of a well-conducted study on the characteristics of two modified aerosol spectrometers (UHSAS) operated on the NASA DC-8 during the ATom airborne campaign. The implemented modifications concern mainly the stabilization of the sample flow at reduced and variable pressure levels which usually occur during airborne operation, and the introduction of a thermal denuder. The stud-
Social Salience and the Sociolinguistic Monitor

This article examines the role of social salience, or the relative ability of a linguistic variable to evoke social meaning, in structuring listeners’ perceptions of quantitative sociolinguistic distributions. Building on the foundational work of Labov et al. (2006, 2011) on the “sociolinguistic monitor” (a proposed cognitive mechanism responsible for sociolinguistic perception), we examine whether listeners’ evaluative judgments of speech change as a function of the type of variable presented. We consider two variables in British English, ING and TH-fronting, which we argue differ in their relative social salience. Replicating the design of Labov et al.’s studies, we test 149 British listeners’ reactions to different quantitative distributions of these variables. Our experiments elicit a very different pattern of perceptual responses than those reported previously. In particular, our results suggest that a variable’s social salience determines both whether and how it is perceptually evaluated. We argue that this finding is crucial for understanding how sociolinguistic information is cognitively processed.
A STUDY OF STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE PBL ENVIRONMENT AND LEARNING MOTIVATION IN THE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION CLASS AMONG UNDERGRADUATES OF FACULTY OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT, BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA (UTHM)

Problem based learning (PBL) is claimed to be one of the best methods for interactive learning, and more effective than the traditional teaching and learning methods. However, there is still a limited empirical evidence of the effectiveness of PBL across various courses and learning disciplines. The aim of this study was to identify students’ perceptions of learning environment and motivation in Effective Communication classes using a PBL approach. Twenty five students participated in this single case study. Students were given four treatments and answered questionnaires in gauging their perception and motivation on the PBL approach to learning. Results indicated that these students who attended PBL classes have a positive perception of learning environment after attending the course. However, there is no significant difference on students’ motivation at the beginning and at the end of the course.
Linking HR and Line Agents' Implementation of High- Performance Work Systems to Intentions to Leave and Job Performance: A Social Exchange Perspective

Unlike common assessments of the overall presence of high-performance work systems (HPWS), this study focuses on actual implementation of HPWS by two specific agents, i.e., the HR department and line management. We investigate how HPWS implementation by HR and line agents – as perceived by employees – relates to intentions to leave and job performance and we propose perceived organizational support (POS) and leader-member exchange (LMX) as potential mediating mechanisms. Respondents (N=266) were nonmanagerial employees from a research organization in Belgium. Results revealed that HPWS implementation by the HR department was indirectly related to intentions to leave through POS. Furthermore, we found that HPWS implementation by line management related to intentions to leave through the mediation of POS and LMX and it related to job performance through the mediation of LMX. These findings contribute to the literature by providing a more refined picture of the social exchange mechanisms that mediate between HPWS and important employee outcomes and inform HR and line practitioners of the employee outcomes associated with their HRM actions.
Lyman-α emitters in the context of hierarchical galaxy formation: predictions for VLT/MUSE surveys

The VLT Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) integral-field spectrograph can detect Ly\alpha{} emitters (LAE) in the redshift range $2.8 \lesssim z \lesssim 6.7$ in a homogeneous way. Ongoing MUSE surveys will notably probe faint Ly\alpha{} sources that are usually missed by current narrow-band surveys. We provide quantitative predictions for a typical wedding-cake observing strategy with MUSE based on mock catalogs generated with a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation coupled to numerical Ly\alpha{} radiation transfer models in gas outflows. We expect $\approx$ 1500 bright LAEs ($F_{Ly\alpha}$ $\gtrsim$ $10^{-17}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$) in a typical Shallow Field (SF) survey carried over $\approx$ 100 arcmin$^2$, and $\approx$ 2,000 sources as faint as $10^{-18}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ in a Medium-Deep Field (MDF) survey over 10 arcmin$^2$. In a typical Deep Field (DF) survey of 1 arcmin$^2$, we predict that $\approx$ 500 extremely faint LAEs ($F_{Ly\alpha}$ $\gtrsim$ $4 \times 10^{-19}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$) will be found. Our results suggest that faint Ly\alpha{} sources contribute significantly to the cosmic Ly\alpha{} luminosity and SFR budget. While the host halos of bright LAEs at z $\approx$ 3 and 6 have descendants with median masses of $2 \times 10^{12}$ and $5 \times 10^{13}$ $M_{\odot}$ respectively, the faintest sources detectable by MUSE at these redshifts are predicted to reside in halos which evolve into typical sub-$L^{*}$ and $L^{*}$ galaxy halos at z = 0. We expect typical DF and MDF surveys to uncover the building blocks of Milky Way-like objects, even probing the bulk of the stellar mass content of LAEs located in their progenitor halos at z $\approx$ 3.
Adaptive UFLS Schemes in Modern Power Systems– Conceptual and Simulation Proved Comparison

In recent decades, the advantages of a fast development in the computer and communication technology have been successfully harvested in the majority of technological areas for updating various mechanisms and processes. Power system control and protection is no exception. However, actual implementation of modern technologies into power system control and protection mechanisms depends on a country - in some of them it is rather dare and open-minded, in some of them it is very conventional. This also goes for underfrequency load shedding protection. In case of a sudden underfre- quency conditions appearance in the power system only a centralized gathering of measurements and global actions (e.g. use of so-called WAMPAC technology - Wide Area Measurement Protection And Control) can represent an appropriate approach to a global problem. In such circumstances, underfrequency load shedding is often the last resort tool for avoiding a total power system blackout. It's appropriate actions are of great importance both from technological and economical point of view. In this paper several different adaptive approaches are presented and compared in their efficiency via testing on two different dynamic power system models. First scheme is a typical adaptive scheme with calculation of active power deficit and equal distribution of the calculated value among four different load shedding steps. Second scheme involves some modification of shedding steps amount according to frequency first time derivative change between two steps. Other two schemes are of predictive type and shed load according to the prediction of minimal frequency value after active power deficit occurrence. Tests have shown that predictive schemes yield best results and therefore should be strongly considered as an actual possibility for power system implementation in the future.
Capital Flows, House Prices, and the Macroeconomy: Evidence from Advanced and Emerging Market Economies

In this paper we build a new comprehensive, quarterly house price data set comprising 57 advanced and developing economies |representing more than 95 percent of world GDP| with varying time-coverage from 1970 to 2012. We show that house prices in emerging markets grow slower, are more volatile and less persistent, and are more correlated with the real eective exchange rate and the current account, than in advanced economies. We provide evidence that indicates that house price booms are much larger and are more closely associated with capital inows, loose global liquidity conditions, shallow domestic nancial systems in emerging economies than in advanced economies. Finally, we nd that while an exogenous change in global liquidity has a sizable impact on consumption, house prices and the current account in emerging markets, it has a much smaller and economically not signicant impact on the same variables in advanced economies. We interpret our empirical evidence as suggesting that while global imbalances would have played a lesser role in explaining house price boom in developed economies in the period previous to the Great Recession, the increase in global liquidity in response to it may be playing an important role explaining recent house price dynamics in emerging markets.
Bioethanol Production Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae with Different Perspectives: Substrates, Growth Variables, Inhibitor Reduction and Immobilization

In the transportation sector, the most commonly used biofuel is ‘bioethanol’ to reduce greenhouse gases. Ethanol production at the industrial level is employed by many yeast, bacteria, and fungi. But Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is most employed yeast. Wide range of substrates has been used for ethanol production such as lignocellulose, molasses, sweat sorghum cane extract, starch based substrate and other wastes. Lignocellulosic hydrolysates contain many inhibitors that can be reduced by treatment with activated charcoal and reducing agents, repeated sequential fermentation, over-liming, evaporation, anion exchanger, enzymatic treatment using peroxidase and laccase, and in-situ detoxification with fermenting microbes. Co-culturing of S. Cerevisiae with other microbes is targeted for optimization of ethanol production, short fermentation time, and for reduced process cost. Yeast cell immobilization has been considered as a potential alternative to enhance ethanol productivity. This paper also reviews the effects of various factors on yeast fermentation for ethanol optimization.
Effects of Age-1 Striped Bass Predation on Juvenile Fish in Western Albemarle Sound

Abstract Historically, the fisheries for adult river herring (i.e., alewife Alosa pseudoharengus and blueback herring A. aestivalis) and American shad A. sapidissima were economically important in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. Stocks of these species are in decline, while stocks of striped bass Morone saxatilis have increased roughly 10-fold in the Albemarle Sound-Roanoke River since the early 1990s. The goal of this study was to quantify the predatory impact of age-1 striped bass on age-0 prey fishes by estimating striped bass consumption rates and comparing loss rates from predation with total prey loss rates using catch curves. Age-1 striped bass and their potential prey were collected with beach and purse seines from western Albemarle Sound from spring to fall, 2002 and 2003. Commercially and ecologically important prey in one or both years included river herring, American shad, Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus, and yellow perch Perca flavescens. Predation by age-1 striped bass had a marked ef.
Understanding cross-country variation in the long-term consequences of graduating at a bad time: A comparison of five European countries

This working paper investigates if graduating in a bad economy scars careers of youth cohorts in terms of increased future unemployment and overrepresentation in fixed-term and involuntary part-time work. These dynamics of scarring are explored from a cross-country comparative perspective, focusing on the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Finland. These countries make up for interesting cases as they differ remarkably on institutional and economic dimensions such as for example the vocational orientation of their education systems, the strictness of employment protection legislation, active labour market policies to support job-search success of jobless young people and the general level of prevalent youth unemployment, which are assumed to be related to cross-nationally distinct patterns in scarring effects. The focus of the empirical analysis is on long-term effects of the level of aggregate youth unemployment at graduation on career evolvement of school-leaver cohorts over 12 years since their graduation, distinguishing between educational groups while allowing for gender effects. All in all we find that bad luck in timing of labour market entry can scar future careers over the long-run. A bad economy at labour market entry may thus be seen as a major risk factor for the future integration of youth cohorts in very different institutional contexts.
Performance analysis of optically semi-transparent material packed-bed solar air heater

This paper deals with theoretical analysis of performance of solar air collector having its duct packed with optically semitransparent materials. The heat transfer equations for two dimensional fully developed fluid flows under quasi-steady state conditions have been developed in order to analyze the thermal, thermo-hydraulic and exergy performance and to study the effect of system and operating parameters. A computer programme is developed in c++ language to estimate the temperature rise of entering air for evaluation of performance by solving the governing equations numerically using relevant correlations for heat transfer coefficient for packed bed systems. Results of air temperature rise and thermal efficiency obtained from the analysis have been compared with available experimental results and results are found fairly in closed agreement. It has been found that there is considerable enhancement in thermal efficiency with packed bed collector. Effect of total bed depth on efficiency show that there is an upper limiting value of total bed depth beyond which the thermal efficiency begins to fall again and this type of characteristics behavior is observed at all mass flow rate. It is also noticed that there exists an optimal value of effective and exergy efficiencies for a given mass flow rate.
Time variation in the dynamic eects of unanticipated changes in tax policy

Using a structural vector autoregression with time-varying parameters, I analyze to what extent the dynamic eects of unanticipated changes in tax policy have changed structurally over the post World War II period in the United States. The estimated time variation points to a permanent decline in the tax multiplier as well as a faster response of the economy. Despite the permanent decline, the estimated tax multiplier is still at the higher end of the range of existing empirical estimates, which is consistent with Mertens and Ravn (2013b), whose identication strategy I follow. Furthermore, the estimated time variation also suggests that scal policy has become more countercyclical over time. In particular, spending policy used to be procyclical and has become countercyclical after the beginning of the 1990s, whereas tax policy already used to be countercyclical and has become even more countercyclical over time.
Detection Of Hepatitis C Virus (Hcv) Antibody Among Children In Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria

This study was carried out to detect hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody and risk factors of transmission among children in Ibadan, Oyo State, Southwestern Nigeria. In order to estimate the prevalence rate of HCV and to evaluate the influence of children demographics on HCV seropositivity, a well-designed questionnaire was used to obtain data considered risk factors for contracting HCV from consenting children. This study was conducted between August 2011 and October 2011. Thereafter, 217 apparently healthy male and female children were consecutively selected. A total of 217 blood samples were collected from children attending the Oni Memorial Children Hospital, Ibadan. The male:female ratio was 1:1. Majority of the children were females [109(50.2%)] while males were [108(49.8%). Blood samples were screened by parallel diagnostic method using Dia Spot® HCV test kit and Global One Step Strip Style HCV test kit (Global Diagnostic Canada) for HCV antibody. Overall prevalence rate of HCV antibody was 0.9%. It showed that HCV prevalence was higher among children aged less than 10 years, a total of 192 samples were tested, of which four (4) tested positive for HCV, thus, giving the prevalence of 2.0%. The other age groups showed zero seroposivity for HCV. HCV was only found to be higher among male children [3(1.8%)] than their female counterparts [1(0.9%)]. HCV prevalence was higher among children without history of vaccinations [2(4.9%)] than their counterparts with history of vaccinations [2(1.1%)]. There was significant association (p<0.05) between age, sex, history of vaccinations and HCV infection acquisition among these population. This study however confirmed the presence of HCV among children in Oyo State, Nigeria. General surveillance and public health education to stop the spread of the infection among children in Ibadan and indeed the whole society is advocated.