Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Methylmercury in boreal freshwater food webs

Mercury (Hg) and bioaccumulation of its organic form methylmercury (MeHg) has long been regarded as a global issue for human and wildlife health. This is of particular concern for Sweden, where forest harvests and wetlands remain hotspots of MeHg export to boreal freshwaters. The aim of the study was to better understand how environmental change impacts MeHg bioavailability and bioaccumulation with a focus on the base of the food web in Swedish freshwaters. In the thesis, I first examined the impacts of forest harvest on Hg bioaccumulation in fish. From analysis of more than a thousand fish samples from six lakes, it was clear that there was a large variation of fish Hg levels over time and between lakes. The study emphasizes the need for long-term studies to assess the influences on Hg levels in biota. Beaver ponds were also studied to understand the processes influencing MeHg concentrations in water. Increased MeHg production in the sediment was stimulated shortly after flooding by new beaver dams, and that stimulation was related to the quality of the organic carbon. To explore the basis for large discrepancies between aqueous MeHg exposure and the ultimate degree of MeHg bioaccumulation in different aquatic ecosystems, a literature review was conducted on MeHg bioaccumulation from water into the base of the food web. The bioconcentration factor for MeHg, that is the ratio of MeHg concentrations in water and seston or zooplankton, was found to be critical for subsequent MeHg bioaccumulation. To better identify linkages between MeHg uptake and different nutrient sources at the base of the food web, fatty acids were used to distinguish specific diet sources in aquatic primary consumers of plankton and macroinvertebrates. Correlation of Hg bioaccumulation with specific fatty acids confirmed that Hg content increased simultaneously with the retention of polyunsaturated fatty acids in primary consumers. These findings contribute to a better focus on the role of the base of aquatic food webs in transferring MeHg upwards along trophic cascades, as well as landscape influences on elevated MeHg bioaccumulation. Further advances in understanding how the structures at the base of aquatic food webs function with respect to mercury cycling are needed to better predict how changes in the landscape, climate and water chemistry will alter Hg bioaccumulation in fish.
Labor income profiles are not heterogeneous: Evidence from income growth rates

Idiosyncratic labor incomes are typically modeled either by stochastic processes with heterogeneous income profiles (HIPs) or restricted income profiles (RIPs). The HIP assumes that individual labor income grows deterministically at an unobserved rate and contains a persistent but stationary component, while the RIP assumes that income contains a random walk, a stationary component, and no unobserved deterministic growth-rate component. I show that if idiosyncratic labor income contains a persistent component, a deterministic household-specific trend, and a random-walk component, then all of the components can be identified in small unbalanced panels. Using data on idiosyncratic labor income growth from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, I find that the estimated variance of deterministic income growth is zero, that is, the HIP model can be rejected. The RIP model with a permanent component cannot be rejected. This result is important for an appropriate choice of modeling the heterogeneity in individual incomes and calibrating/estimating macromodels with incomplete insurance markets and heterogeneous agents. Keywords. Idiosyncratic income processes, heterogeneity, labor income risk. JEL classification. J31, D91, E21.
An Estimation of Inflation Threshold for Nigeria 1970-2008

Motivated by the movement of most developing countries and emerging countries towards inflation targeting and the concern that high level of inflation is inimical to economic growth, this paper uses the threshold model developed by Khan and Senhadji (2001) to estimate inflation threshold level for Nigeria. The study uses annual time series data spread over two periods 1970-2008 and 1980-2008 to determine the inflation threshold for Nigeria and to establish whether there is significant change in the threshold level for the two periods. Using a non linear inflation-growth model control variables such as growth in the ratio of broad money supply to GDP (GLM2/GDP) and growth in term of trade (GLTOT), we established an inflation threshold of 8 percent for Nigeria over the sample period 1970-2008. For the period 1980-2008 we estimate an inflation threshold of 7 percent although failing the test of significance. This result is essential for monetary policy formulation given that the Central Bank of Nigeria has been targeting single digit inflation over the past decades without necessarily targeting the optimum point in which inflation becomes inimical to growth.
Domestic Airline Alliances and Consumer Welfare

This article investigates the consumer welfare consequences of the recent code-share agreement between Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines. We develop a discrete choice model based on individual flight characteristics. This structural model recognizes that consumers (i) may have heterogeneous preferences for flight attributes, and (ii) may face different prices for the same flight. The empirical methodology also deals with the measurement error problem stemming from the absence of consumer-level data on prices. The estimation results suggest that, whereas the code-share agreement did not impact consumers significantly on average, it increased the average surplus of connecting passengers but decreased the average surplus of nonstop passengers. Interestingly, the magnitude of our welfare results may be attributed in large part to changes in product characteristics other than prices. Copyright (c) 2008, RAND.
In vitro establishment and multiplication of genotypes of Eucalyptus dunnii Maiden

This study aimed at evaluating the effect of genotypes of Eucalyptus dunnii on in vitro establishment and also the influence of genotypes grown in different concentrations of 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) on in vitro multiplication. Explants were obtained from 10 parent plants selected in the field as a function of their superior phenotype characteristics. For in vitro establishment, 10 genotypes were evaluated, while in vitro multiplication consisted of 30 treatments which corresponded to combinations of six genotypes found to succeed in the in vitro establishment and five BAP concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0 mg L-1). Different behaviors were observed regarding the genotypes as to in vitro establishment rates, in which genotypes 3, 6 and 7 had establishment rates of over 70%, against 40% to 6.6% for the other genotypes. Genotypes 1, 5, 8 and 9 were later discarded due to the reduced number of explants successfully established. Factors such as microbial contamination and phenol oxidation posed a threat to in vitro establishment. The genotypes of Eucalyptus dunnii interacted differently with BAP in in vitro multiplication, noting that the concentration 0.50 mg L-1 positively influenced bud formation on the explants in most genotypes. Hyperhydricity was relatively low when 0.50 mg L-1 BAP was used and thus does not pose a threat to in vitro multiplication of nodal segments of Eucalyptus dunnii.
The Influence of Personality Characteristics on Individual Competencies of Work Group Members: A Cross-cultural Study

Abstract In this article, we investigate how college students and graduates with diverse backgrounds experience working in groups by focusing on their perceptions regarding group work, attribution of leader coaching, and self-perspectives of personality traits. Moreover, this article explores relationships between personality factors (using the Big Five factors) and selected individual competencies from Bartram’s Great Eight Competencies (2005). We furthermore review current management research on competency management, personality, and also identify current trends for young professionals who are about to enter the job market. This study was conducted in an experimental setting at a large European business school. Participants were 80 business students from Austria, Turkey, China, and the United States of America with a fairly even gender split who had to work on tasks in homogeneous and heterogeneous settings. We assess participants’ ratings following Rammstedt and John’s Big Five Inventory (2007) and a modified version of Wageman, Hackman and Lehman’s Team Diagnostic Survey (2005) that we enhanced accordingly. Results are analyzed and discussed with relation to global challenges and developments regarding competencies, diversity, and group work.
An Empirical Mass Function Distribution

The halo mass function, encoding the comoving number density of dark matter halos of a given mass, plays a key role in understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies. As such, it is a key goal of current and future deep optical surveys to constrain the mass function down to mass scales that typically host galaxies. Motivated by the proven accuracy of Press–Schechter-type mass functions, we introduce a related but purely empirical form consistent with standard formulae to better than 4% in the medium-mass regime, . In particular, our form consists of four parameters, each of which has a simple interpretation, and can be directly related to parameters of the galaxy distribution, such as . Using this form within a hierarchical Bayesian likelihood model, we show how individual mass-measurement errors can be successfully included in a typical analysis, while accounting for Eddington bias. We apply our form to a question of survey design in the context of a semi-realistic data model, illustrating how it can be used to obtain optimal balance between survey depth and angular coverage for constraints on mass function parameters. Open-source Python and R codes to apply our new form are provided at http://mrpy.readthedocs. org and https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/tggd/index.html respectively.
BRONCHODILATORY AND AN TICHOLINERGIC EFFECTS OF Carum copticum ON ISOLATED GUINEA PIG TRACHEAL CHAINS

Carum copticum is a grassy and annual plant which is believed to have several therapeutic effects, including anti-asthmatic properties. We have therefore studied the bronchodilatory and anticholinergic effects of 4 rnL aqueous extract (AE), 0.0 5 rnL ethanol extract (EE), and 0.0 0 5 mL essential oil (EO) of Carum copticum and 1 rnL of a 5 mM solution of its main ingredient, thymol (T), in comparison with 4 rnL of saline (S) on isolated tracheal chains of guinea-pigs (w=500-800 g) in a 50 rnL organ bath. The bronchodilatory effects of different solutions were examined by their relaxant effect on isometrically (1 g) precontracted tracheal chains by 1 0 �M methacholine (M). The anticholinergic effects of different solutions were tested by comparing the cumulative log concentration -response curves of tracheal chains to cumulative concentrations of M in the presence of AE, EE, EO, and T with that of S. The bronchodilatory effects of AE, EE, and EO were significantly higher than S in all cases (p<0.00 1), but T did not show any significant bronchodilatory effect. There were also significant right-ward shifts in cumulative log concentration­ response curves obtained in the presence of AE, EE, and EO in comparison with the curve obtained in the presence of S. Thymol also caused a smaller right-ward shift in the M cumulative log concentration-response curve . However, the slopes of methacholine response curves obtained in the presence of AE, EE, EO (p<0 .00 l ), and T (p<0.05) were significantly lower than that of S, indicating the functional antagonistic effects of these solutions. These data showed the presence of bronchodilatory effects of AE, EE, and EO of Caru,,! copticum which was not due to the presence of T or the existence of a competitive antagonist at the muscarinic receptors in this plant. MJIRI, Vol. 11, No.4, 329-334,1998. Correspondence: M.H. Boskabady, M.D., Ph.D., at the above address. 329 D ow nl oa de d fr om m jir i.i um s. ac . ir a t 1 9: 58 IR D T o n T ue sd ay M ay 2 6t h 20 20 Pharmacological Effects of Carum copticum
ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF CARDIOVASCULAR AUTONOMIC NEUROPATHY IN DIABETIC PATIENTS WITH ST - ELEVATION MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a serious and common complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and it is encompasses a damage to the autonomic nerve fibers that innervate the heart and blood vessels, resulting in abnormalities in heart rat e control and vascular dynamics. The study was designated to estimate the prevalence of CAN in patients with type 2 DM and evaluate the effect of CAN in type 2 DM on the response to the thrombolytic therapy (Actilyse). The study extends from 3rd/November/2012 to 31th/May/2013 at Merjan Teaching Hospital in Babylon Province and Al- Zahraa center of internal medicine in Al - Hussain teaching hospital in Karbala Province. The total number of subjects involved in this study was 111, all of them were newly diagno sed ST-elevation myocardial infarction in the Coronary Care Unit. Patients were classified according to the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus or not into 2 groups, and patients with the type 2 DM divided into 3 groups according to the presence of CAN in order to study the difference in the response to the thrombolytic therapy ( Actilyse ) between these groups. All patients enrolled in this study had undergone clinical assessment by history and examination, Echocardiographic study and serum cardiac tropon in titer had been done for each one of them at admission and after 24 hours, Haematological assessment and biochemical assessment. The study revealed that there were an extremely significant difference between STEMI and type 2 DM (p< 0.0001). The echocardiographic examination revealed that there were an extremely significant association between the response of regional wall motion abnormality to Actilyse in STEMI and: the presence of type 2 DM (p< 0.0001), admission hyperglycemia (p< 0.0001), hypertension (p< 0.001) and a highly significant association with the duration of type 2 DM in years (p< 0.01) and a significant association with CAN (p< 0.05), The presence of Type 2 DM in STEMI patients lower the response of global left ventricle systolic function ( EF%) to Actilyse (p<0.01) and (p<0.05). There was an extremely significant relation (p< 0.0001) between type 2 DM and decrease serum Troponin titer after 24 hours of Actilyse. In view of the changes summarized, history of type 2 diabetes mellitus in patien t with ST-elevation myocardial infarction affect the response (successfulness ) of the thrombolytic therapy ( Actilyse ) that is seen by echocardiography and the level of troponin titer after the treatment, either by the effect of uncontrolled ( high blood sugar ) type 2 DM or the development of CAN.
Agricultural productivity and poverty alleviation issues: the Nigerian perspective

This paper reviews the pre and post independence agricultural productivity and poverty alleviation issues in Nigeria. Descriptive statistics and secondary data were adopted in the discussion. The review indicated that a laudable performance was recorded in pre-independence period due to the establishment of model research farms. , Physical rural infrastructures like motor, roads and railways for easy evacuation of farm products, commodity boards for stability of producer prices, promotion of quality of export crops, providing stable market outlet for export crops and generating foreign reserves. All these resulted in the promotion of employment in both production and post-production of agricultural activities. Rural disposable income was high and this generated high demand for consumable goods in rural areas. Surpluses generated from foreign trade were used to finance a large number of development projects. In contrast, in post- independence period, the structure of rural infrastructure began to collapse with negative impact. Average growth rate for palm oil expenditure between 1935- 1939 was 30.88% and it dropped to 7.5 post-independence. Also, food crop productivity dropped, poverty level rose and food import bill escalated. This paper therefore recommends the pre-independence model for Nigeria to use. This will encourage increase in Agricultural productivity, income level and consequently reduce poverty.
Use of a thermal imager for snow pit temperatures

Weak snow of interest to avalanche forecasting often forms and changes as thin layers. Thermometers, the current field technology for measuring the temperature gradients across such layers – and for thus estimating the expected vapour flux and future type of crystal metamorphism – are difficult to use at distances shorter than 1 cm. In contrast, a thermal imager can provide thousands of simultaneous temperature measurements across small distances with better accuracy. However, a thermal imager only senses the exposed surface, complicating its methods for access and accuracy of buried temperatures. This paper presents methods for exposing buried layers on pit walls and using a thermal imager to measure temperatures on these walls, correct for lens effects with snow, adjust temperature gradients, adjust time exposed, and calculate temperature gradients over millimetre distances. We find lens error on temperature gradients to be on the order of 0.03 °C between image centre and corners. We find temperature gradient change over time to usually decrease – as expected with atmospheric equalization as a strong effect. Case studies including thermal images and visual macro photographs of crystals, collected during the 2010–2011 winter, demonstrate large temperature differences over millimetre-scale distances that are consistent with observed kinetic metamorphism. Further study is needed to use absolute temperatures independently of supporting gradient data.
Determination of Factors Affecting Individual Investor Behaviours: A Study on Bankers

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the factors that influence individual investor behaviour. The data used in the study were obtained via survey method from bankers in Bartýn. Descriptive analysis was conducted in order to summarize the empirical analysis results with numerical representation and factor analysis was done to measure the validity and reliability of the designed survey. Furthermore, the analysis regarding hypothesis tests was implemented by means of analysis of moment structure. As a result of the study, it was identified that six factors influenced individual investor behaviour. It was found that the highest correlation was between “conscious investor behaviour” and “banking and payment behaviour. ” Also, it was confirmed that 11 of the research hypotheses were accepted and that four of the research hypotheses were refused. Within this framework, it was concluded that there was a statistically significant relationship between the factors affecting individual investors’ investment behaviours.
Effect of Irrigation Levels and Agrochemicals on Dry Matter Partitioning in Summer Maize ( Zea maize L.)

Application of eight irrigations (seedling, 6 leaf, knee-high, before tasseling, 50% tasseling, 50% silking, grain formation and grain filling stages) where no stress was occurred significantly increased dry matter distribution. Data related to dry matter partitioning in stem, leaves and cobs at 25, 50, 75 and at harvest stage of crop. In general, irrespective of the treatments, crop attained maximum leaf dry weight at flowering stage. This decreased progressively up to harvest stage. While, stem dry weight showed increasing trend up to tasseling and silking stage and than declined slightly towards harvest stage of the crop. Obviously, cobs dry weight increased linearly from flowering up to harvest stage.
Baixo peso ao nascer e condições maternas no pré-natal

Para verificar como o peso ao nascer se relaciona as condicoes maternas de trabalho, pre-natal, nutricionais (altura, peso inicial, final e ganho na gestacao) e socio-economico-demograficas (idade, situacao conjugal, escolaridade, renda familiar), o presente estudo foi realizado na area de abrangencia do Hospital Universitario da Universidade de Sao Paulo e a amostra foi constituida por 101 criancas. A ocorrencia de baixo peso ao nascer (BPN) foi de 5,1% e nao se associou com o trabalho materno, nem com o pre-natal, porem mostrou associacao significativa com as seguintes variaveis maternas: ganho de peso na gestacao inferior a 7 kg, idade menor que 20 anos e nao ter companheiro. Apesar da baixa ocorrencia de BPN, os resultados evidenciaram a importância do pre-natal para reduzir a ocorrencia de BPN, especialmente por meio do controle do ganho de peso na gestacao, controle da gestacao na adolescencia e tambem priorizando a atencao das mulheres sem companheiro.
Financing Higher Education: A Contributory Scheme

In this paper, we study the higher education financing based on the classical contributory versus self-funded pension funding scheme. We provide a brief discussion of how a system based on student debt can be seen ’funded’ and why it fails to ensure equity and efficiency and funding for the longer term. We also define a contributory financing scheme for higher education based on income tax and social security contributions, and study its strengths and weaknesses. By contributory, we mean a scheme that ensures free access to university, providing for students’ expenses and the costs of research and teaching. We show that such a system would be efficient and equitable, and we discuss under what conditions it would be efficient. We show also that it would prevent polarization in the higher education system. We conclude with an implementation of our contributory financing scheme in the case of France (it increases university funding by €5bn and provides €19bn for students’ expenditure) and illustrate the effect of such a scheme on some typical households.
Autoregressive Conditional Kurtosis

This article proposes a new model for autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity and kurtosis. Via a time-varying degrees of freedom parameter, the conditional variance and conditional kurtosis are permitted to evolve separately. The model uses only the standard Student’s t-density and consequently can be estimated simply using maximum likelihood. The method is applied to a set of four daily financial asset return series comprising U.S. and U.K. stocks and bonds, and significant evidence in favor of the presence of autoregressive conditional kurtosis is observed. Various extensions to the basic model are proposed, and we show that the response of kurtosis to good and bad news is not significantly asymmetric.
Biologic dinitrogen fixation and nutrient cycling in cover crops and their effect on organic Conilon coffee.

Notwithstanding its relevance, studies regarding nutrient cycling and biological dinitrogen fixation in Conilon coffee ( Coffee canephora cv. Conilon) associated with cover plants are very scarce. Aiming to evaluate the contribution of cover crops for organic conilon production, a field experiment was carried out consisting of Pennisetum glaucum , and legume species Canavalia ensiformis , Mucuna deeringiana and Cajanus cajan (inoculated and non inoculated) cultivated between coffee trees, and spontaneous vegetation as cover crops. The experiment was carried out in Espirito Santo State- Brazil, in a 6.5 years old coffee crop production system. Chemical analyses of soil and vegetative parts of spontaneous and cover crops, as well as coffee leaf nutrients concentration were performed. Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) was determined by the natural abundance method. BNF contributed with about 80% of the nitrogen accumulated by the leguminous plants, corresponding to 27 - 35 kg of N ha -1 . Concentration and accumulation of nutrients varied among cover crops. Rhizobium inoculation did not influence nutrient cycling or BNF. Legume plants partially supplied the nitrogen requirements of Conilon coffee. No significant effect of the treatments was observed on the nutrient concentration of Conilon coffee or on plant growth.