Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Identifying Differences in Illinois Dry Prairies by Examining Soil Factors and their Effects on Plant Species Composition

Illinois is home to a wide array of prairie remnants that have been preserved from the period of westward expansion. Of these, dry prairies are known to be among the most species rich. Within the class of dry prairies there are three major types in Illinois: dolomite prairies, gravel hill prairies, and sand prairies. For years these prairies have only been differentiated by their substrate as each of their names imply, but no work has been done to confirm whether or not the substrate does differ significantly, and if that difference alters the environment enough to change the plant community. This study was conducted to deepen the understanding of the factors setting these prairie types apart. To accomplish this 18 remnant prairies representing a mixture of the three site types were examined. At each of these locations soil properties were analyzed including nutrient availability, infiltration rates, and soil texture. In addition, a survey was performed to determine plant composition at each study site. Soil nutrients differed among the different prairie types, with significant differences between sand prairies, and dolomite and gravel prairies. These differences were most evident in nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Other important nutrients such as phosphorous, iron, and copper were not significantly different between all three types. Infiltration rate was not significantly different between sand and either of the two other site types, but dolomite and gravel hills varied significantly from each other. Soil texture was also found to vary significantly between dolomite and the other two site types with much higher proportions of clay and silt in dolomite prairies. The plant surveys were analyzed in R using an ordination to graphically display the plant species as they relate to the three prairie types. The results of this analysis suggest there is a significant difference in floral community of sand prairies compared to the other two prairie types, whereas gravel hill and dolomite prairies do not differ significantly from each other based on the plant community. This research suggests there are some significant differences between the soils of these prairies, and there is a significant difference in species composition which can also differentiate these sites from each other. Additionally, gravel hill and dolomite prairies may not be two distinct types of prairies based on their species composition and soil properties. Considering these two prairie types as a single type instead would allow management agencies to use time and resources more effectively by managing these sites together.
Effects of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Fertilizers on the Yield of Maize (Zea mays L.) at Nedjo, West Wollega, Ethiopia

This experiment was conducted to determine the optimum levels of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizer formaize production; and to see the interaction between different levels of N and P fertilizer on the growth andperformance of maize (Zea mays L.) BH-660 variety at Nedjo. The experiment had two factor: 5 levels of N (0,46, 92, 138, and 184 kg ha-1) and 5 levels of P (0, 23, 46, 69 and 92 kg ha-1) arranged in Randomized CompleteBlock Design (RCBD) with three replications. The sources of N and P were urea (46% N) and triple superphosphate (TSP) (46% P2O5), respectively. The main effects of N and P brought significant effect on thousandgrain weight. The interactions of N and P also significantly affected grain, and biomass yield; and harvest index.The highest grain yield (5497.5 kg ha-1) and biomass yield (16521 kg ha-1) were recorded at the highest rates ofN/P (184/92 kg ha-1). Key words: nitrogen, phosphorus, maize NP interaction, Nedjo.
Spatio-temporal distribution of young fish in tributaries of natural and flow-regulated sections of a neotropical river in French Guiana

SUMMARY 1. We investigated which environmental parameters control the variation in density, in space and time, of young stages of fish in tributaries of a natural and a flow-regulated section of the Sinnamary River, French Guiana. 2. The density of the progeny in most taxa varied in space and/or time. However, most non-Perciformes responded differently to space and/or time in the two sections. 3. Oxygen, turbidity and habitat structure (i.e. bank length, occurrence of undercut bank, richness in litter, vegetation and substratum) were important, as was the position of the sampling site relatively to the main channel in the downstream tributaries, in explaining the variation of density in space in both sections. Both habitat complexity and distance from the main channel protect young fish against unpredictable flow releases downstream from the Petit Saut dam. 4. Hydrological events played an important role in the temporal variation in densities of many fish taxa. The density of most early life and many juvenile stages (mostly Characiformes) was positively related to hydrological events. 5. Some fish taxa had reproductive habits which were relatively independent of abiotic factors, such as flow variability, and the density of their progeny did not vary with time. 6. The nursery areas of more than 45% of species in the Sinnamary River have been degraded by flow regulation.
Vegetative propagation of Rambutan (Nepheliumlappaceum) by marcotting: effect of indole-3-butyric acid concentration

Rambutan tree (Nepheliumlappaceum L.) is an important but a lesser known fruit tree in Ghana and has several nutritional and medicinal uses. Efforts to establish plantation of Rambutan in Ghana to ensure its sustainable use is challenged with unavailable planting materials because the seeds are recalcitrant in nature, loses viability easily when exposed to dryness. Seeds are therefore sown directly after extraction from fruit, even with this, most of the seeds do not germinate. A vegetative propagation technique by marcotting was devised to produce planting materials within 3 months. Four plant species of the same physiological age and spaced 4m apart were tested in complete random design fashion. Marcots were treated with four Indole-3-Butyric Acid (IBA) concentrations (0 Mg/L, 2000 Mg/L, 4000 Mg/L and 6000 Mg/L). Data collected were analysed on number of calluses formed in marcots, survival, shoot and root formation and root length. Comparable but highest survival of marcots was recorded in the 2000 Mg/L of IBA (14.67 +0.33) representing 97.78%. Marcots with 2000 Mg/L IBA concentration recorded highest mean number of roots (8.67 +0.33) formed. Root length ranged from 33.60 +0.52 in the 6000 Mg/L to 19.77 +1.26 in the control (0 Mg/L). Marcots with no IBA recorded 9.00 +0.58 as mean number of callused marcots. It is concluded that vegetative propagation technique by marcotting can be a suitable technique for Rambutan planting materials.
Türkiye’de Eğitim Eşitsizliği: Gini İndeksine Göre Değerlendirme

This study aims to determine the relationship between educational inequality and the average year of schooling in Turkey. The data was the content of the 2000 General Census of Population: Social and Economic Characteristics of Population. To determine inequalities in education, average year of schooling of 25 year olds and above and the education Gini index were calculated. Average year of schooling in Turkey in allregions increased during the period of 1975–2000 while inequality in education decreased. A negative relationship was found between average year of schooling and educational Gini index.Apositive relationship was found between the rates of increase in average year of schooling and decrease in the education Gini index.
Monitoring methane emission of mud volcanoes by seismic tremor measurements: a pilot study

Abstract. A new approach for estimating methane emission at mud volcanoes is here proposed based on measurements of the seismic tremor on their surface. Data obtained at the Dashgil mud volcano in Azerbaijan reveal the presence of energy bursts characterized by well-determined features (i.e. waveforms, spectra and polarization properties) that can be associated with bubbling at depth. Counting such events provides a possible tool for monitoring gas production in the reservoir, thus minimizing logistic troubles and representing a cheap and effective alternative to more complex approaches. Specifically, we model the energy bursts as the effect of resonant gas bubbles at depth. This modelling allows to estimate the dimension of the bubbles and, consequently, the gas outflow from the main conduit in the assumption that all emissions from depth occur by bubble uprising. The application of this model to seismic events detected at the Dashgil mud volcano during three sessions of measurements carried out in 2006 and 2007 provides gas flux estimates that are in line with those provided by independent measurements at the same structure. This encouraging result suggests that the one here proposed could be considered a new promising, cheap and easy to apply tool for gas flux measurements in bubbling gas seepage areas.
Effect of low-tunnel, mulch and pruning on the yield and earliness of tomato in unheated glasshouse

An experiment was carried out to determine the effect of low-tunnel, mulch and pruning treatments on yield and earliness tomato cv. Fuji F 1 tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill.) in unheated glasshouse. Plant height, stem diameter, days to first harvest, early yield (g/plant), total yield (g/plant) and fruit weight (g/fruit) were determined during the growing period. Low-tunnel and mulching had a positive effect on plant growth development. The highest early yield was obtained from the plants pruned from the 4 th truss and mulched with any mulch under low-tunnel. Total yield was highest in plants pruned from 8 th truss and mulched with wheat straw .
Application of a Monte Carlo procedure for probabilistic fatigue design of floating offshore wind turbines

Abstract. Fatigue load assessment of floating offshore wind turbines poses new challenges on the feasibility of numerical procedures. Due to the increased sensitivity of the considered system with respect to the environmental conditions from wind and ocean, the application of common procedures used for fixed-bottom structures results in either inaccurate simulation results or hard-to-quantify conservatism in the system design. Monte Carlo-based sampling procedures provide a more realistic approach to deal with the large variation in the environmental conditions, although basic randomization has shown slow convergence. Specialized sampling methods allow efficient coverage of the complete design space, resulting in faster convergence and hence a reduced number of required simulations. In this study, a quasi-random sampling approach based on Sobol sequences is applied to select representative events for the determination of the lifetime damage. This is calculated applying Monte Carlo integration, using subsets of a resulting total of 16 200 coupled time–domain simulations performed with the simulation code FAST. The considered system is the Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) 10 MW reference turbine installed on the LIFES50+ OO-Star Wind Floater Semi 10 MW floating platform. Statistical properties of the considered environmental parameters (i.e., wind speed, wave height and wave period) are determined based on the measurement data from the Gulf of Maine, USA. Convergence analyses show that it is sufficient to perform around 200 simulations in order to reach less than 10 % uncertainty of lifetime fatigue damage-equivalent loading. Complementary in-depth investigation is performed, focusing on the load sensitivity and the impact of outliers (i.e., values far away from the mean). Recommendations for the implementation of the proposed methodology in the design process are also provided.
Confiabilidade e capacidade como conteúdos autoestereótipos da identidade nacional no Peru

Three studies using urban samples from Lima-Peru (n1 = 200, n2 = 276, n3 = 211) confirm that the degree of identification with Peru, Peruvian collective self-esteem and Peruvian national selfstereotyping positive contents correlated. Multiple regressions and a meta-analysis of the three studies show that national identification is more strongly related to collective self-esteem than to positive and negative self-stereotypes. Results are discussed and confirm the prevalence of self-esteem maintenance and enhancement as the National Identity main motive. Reliability and Capability self-stereotypes are less important in National identity constitution than self-esteem, but these selfstereotypes have an indirect influence in national identification enhancing collective self-esteem. Identification with Peru and Peruvian collective self-esteem correlate to personal self-esteem, confirming the association between collective identity components and well being. Results also discard the hypothesis of a dominant negative national identity in Peru and support the existence of a positive profile, with an important sub-group showing ambivalent national identity. ★ Doutor em Psicologia Social pela Universidad del País Vasco, San Sebastian, Espanha. É professor ordinario do Departamento de Psicologia e coordenador do Grupo de Psicologia Política da Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru, Lima, Peru. ★★ Doutor em Psicologia Social pela Université de Louvain, Bruxelas, Bélgica. É Catedrático do Departamento de Psicologia Social e Metodologia das Ciências do Comportamento da Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao, PV, Espanha. Espinosa, Agustín. , & Páez, Darío. (2015). Reliability and Capability as SelfStereotypical
Job Satisfaction of Banking Sector Employees in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Banks worldwide are looking for new and creative ways to operate and achieve competitive advantages under the global recession conditions. The recession effects have forced the banks to look into more effective utilisation of internal resources and their potential. Human resources are recognised as the key element in successful business navigation through difficult market conditions, including competition with other banks and non-banking financial institutions. This is even more important for the banks operating in developing countries, where the effects of the recession are considerably harsher. Many studies have acknowledged the direct link between productivity and the level of employee satisfaction. This work aims to establish and recognise some of the main factors associated with the job satisfaction of banking employees in the Federation of BiH and provide useful guidance to bank managers in this region and beyond, as a contribution to their continuous improvement efforts in business and people management during these challenging times. The research is predominantly based on the survey conducted in the banking sector of the Federation of BiH in 2013. The survey sample covers 529 respondents that represent 7.4% of the overall banking employee sector base of 7,130. The analysis of survey results, supported by empirical research and the review of related literature, revealed that job satisfaction amongst the bankers is determined by a wide spectrum of factors such as: demographic characteristics, management and supervision, monetary compensation, non-monetary recognition, work environment, job responsibility and type of tasks, social atmosphere at work and general satisfaction with life.
Plant Nutrient Content Does Not Simply Increase with Elevation under the Extreme Environmental Conditions of Ladakh, NW Himalaya

Abstract Low temperature is considered the main limiting factor for plant growth and nutrient supply at high elevations. It has been repeatedly reported that an increase in foliar nutrient contents occurs with elevation which is interpreted as the plants' inability to use the absorbed resources for growth. However, although large data sets from various mountainous regions are available, data from elevations exceeding 5000 m elevation are rare, leaving uncertainties on the relevance of these patterns under extreme alpine conditions. To fill this gap, we examined foliar macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) content in Poa attenuata and Waldheimia tridactylites along an elevation gradient of 1600 m in Ladakh, northwestern Himalaya. Species showed rather similar response: N, Ca, and Mg concentration decreased with elevation. However, P concentration decreased with elevation in Poa but slightly increased in Waldheimia; K concentration was related to elevation in Poa only (positively). The surprising decreases of N, and/or N/P and N/K ratios towards higher elevation suggest that nitrogen uptake decreased with elevation and it may limit plant growth. Our results suggest that plants growing at very high elevations tend to be limited by a combination of lower nutrient uptake, possibly because of poorly developed soils, and scarcity of water.
Interannual Variability in the North Atlantic Ocean’s Temperature Field and Its Association with the Wind Stress Forcing

AbstractSpectral analyses of the North Atlantic temperature field in the Simple Ocean Data Analysis (SODA) reanalysis identify prominent and statistically significant interannual oscillations along the Gulf Stream front and in large regions of the North Atlantic. A 7–8-yr oscillatory mode is characterized by a basinwide southwest-to-northeast–oriented propagation pattern in the sea surface temperature (SST) field. This pattern is found to be linked to a seesaw in the meridional dipole structure of the zonal wind stress forcing (TAUX). In the subpolar gyre, the SST and TAUX fields of this mode are shown to be in phase opposition, which suggests a cooling effect of the wind stress on the upper ocean layer. Over all, this mode’s temperature field is characterized by a strong equivalent-barotropic component, as shown by covariations in SSTs and sea surface heights, and by phase-coherent behavior of temperature layers at depth with the SST field. Recent improvements of multivariate singular spectrum analysis (.
Desempenho dos métodos de identificação de leveduras de água engarrafada: alta prevalência de Candida parapsilosis

Yeasts of the Candida genus can colonize epithelium and mucosa of the vertebrate organisms; however these can cause infection in a broad range of body sites. Candida species also can be found in drinking water and they are considered as a potential indicator of water quality. In this study were evaluated three methods to identify yeasts isolated from blotted water (seminested PCR, culture on CHROMagar Candida medium, and Candifast identification system). For this propose, we used 27 isolates from blotted water and compared with 22 clinical isolates from vaginal fluid. Seminested PCR has shown specificity and sensitivity for identification of the Candida species. Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis were the prevalent species from vaginal fluid and blotted water, respectively. Culture on CHROMagar and Candifast system had low agreement with snPCR (40.9% and 45.5%, respectively) in the yeasts identification from vaginal fluid. On the other hand, CHROMagar Candida can be used in the presumptive identification of yeasts isolated from bottled water and it had agreement’s percentage of 81.5% with snPCR method.
Stakeholder participation, learning and ecosystem management: A global study of 146 Biospheres Reserves in 55 countries

Theories of natural resource management and conservation, such as adaptive management and adaptive co-management, are based on strong but mostly untested assumptions about the importance of engaging local stakeholders in conservation and management efforts. The aim of this project is to analyse the effect of stakeholder participation in natural resource management programs on 1) outcomes in ecosystems, and 2) learning processes. Through a powerful combination of a transdisciplinary research team, a cross-national panel survey of 144 BR-areas in 55 countries, longitudinal biodiversity mapping using satellite imagery, and context-sensitive field work in 10 strategically selected cases studies, the contested role of stakeholder participation in natural resource management will be examined in with a much higher degree of precision and generalizability than previously possible. The significance of the proposed project consists in its unique ability to subject key theoretical assumptions to rigours testing against several different types of empirical data. In addition, the proposed project will compile and make publicly available a data set consisting of estimates of interlinked social and ecological systems situated in 55 different political contexts. This will enable researchers to analyze long term interaction patterns between social and ecological systems, as well as generate new research questions that go beyond current theories of environmental management.
Characterization of local geochemical anomalies in soils and stream sediments for improving land-use planning: A case study from Nisa, Portugal -

One of the largest and most important near-surface deposits of uranium in Portugal is found in the region of Nisa. Unexploited resources in the Nisa deposit are estimated at about 32 million tonnes of ore. To better understand the processes of natural dispersion of chemicals, such as hydrogravitational erosion and reactive transport, samples of soils and of stream sediments were collected in the vicinity of the Nisa deposit and analysed for chemical signatures of metals (uranium, chromium, molybdenum, niobium, vanadium, and zinc) and semi-metals (arsenic). Stream sediment samples were taken from sites along a 470-m-long stretch of a river bed near the mineralization, with soil samples being collected from riverbanks. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analysis as well as GIS mapping tools were used to identify and interpret variations in geochemical concentrations of the different elements and the relationships between them. The analyses allowed local background (reference) values to be established with respect to the geochemical anomaly caused by the mineral deposit. These background values were compared with legislation standards established for the remediation of soils and sediments. Recommendations to be considered in land-use planning with respect to the occurrence of natural geochemical anomalies are presented.
The Effects of Uncertainty about Oil Prices in G-7

The failure of decreases in oil prices to produce expansions that mirror the contractions associated with higher oil prices has been a topic of considerable interest. We investigate for the G-7 one explanation for this feature - the role of uncertainty about oil prices. In particular, we examine the link between oil price uncertainty and industrial production utilizing a very general and °exible empirical methodology that is based on a structural VAR modi¯ed to accommodate multivariate GARCH in mean. Our primary result is that oil price uncertainty has had a negative and signi¯cant e®ect on industrial production in four of the G-7 countries - Canada, France, UK and US. Impulse-response analysis suggests that, in the short-run, both positive and negative oil shocks may be contractionary. Our result helps explain why the sudden collapse in oil prices in the mid-1980's failed to produce rapid expansion in the G-7, and why the steady increases in oil prices from 2003-2007 did not induce recessions.