Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Checklists and their Importance for Recording Freshwater Vascular Plants: The British Experience

Abstract The value of a checklist when recording the species composition of freshwater macrophyte communities has been recognised for over 30 years, yet studies are still published that fail to refer to a specific checklist. This review demonstrates how the recording of British freshwater vascular plants has been enabled and enhanced through the application of checklists. Consideration is given to studies of plants in the context of trophy, pollution, classification, conservation, and spatial and temporal change in freshwater habitats. Twenty-four lists, with diverse origins, were compared using Jaccard similarity coefficients. Similarities tended to be low (mean Sj = 0.37) hence there are difficulties in comparing studies that have used different checklists, and a change of checklist should be avoided during long-term studies. It is suggested that long checklists yield comprehensive data but that shorter lists developed for a particular task will produce useful information, perhaps more quickly and with less need for advanced botanical knowledge. It is emphasised that the checklist used should be cited in all new published studies.
Predatory Mite, Amblyseius swirskii (Acari: Phytoseiidae), for Biological Control of Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae)

ABSTRACT The Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) is a serious pest of citrus in many citrus-producing regions. It vectors the bacterium ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ thought to be the causal agent of the devastating “Huanglongbing” (HLB) or citrus greening disease. Both pest and the disease are well established in Florida. Several insect predators, particularly lady beetles and the parasitoid Tamarixia radiata (Waterston) (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), are known to cause significant mortality to ACP immatures. However, there are no reports on the effectiveness of predatory mites against ACP We evaluated the suitability of D. citri eggs and nymphs as prey for the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae) in laboratory arenas, and its potential to reduce psyllid populations in the glasshouse on caged Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack plants. Mortality of D. citri eggs on M. paniculata shoots exposed to A. swirskii in plastic arenas was 4 times greater after 6 d compared to unexposed control plants. Mites were also observed sucking out body fluids of first instar nymphs. In the glasshouse, total number of D. citri adults collected over 8 wk from infested plants in ventilated cylinders with A. swirskii present averaged 80% less than the control without mites. These findings showed a significant negative impact of A. swirskii on D. citri under controlled conditions. Further research needs to focus on rates and frequency of release, impact of A. swirskii on D. citri populations in citrus and other hosts under field conditions, and interactions of A. swirskii and D. citri with native predatory mites.
Construction Safety Management Climate in Kolkata, India

A literature survey has revealed that workers in construction sites are subjected to hazardous conditions all over the world and more so in developing countries. Kolkata, India is no exception. Three surveys namely workers’ safety perceptions, managers’ safety practices and cultural attitudes towards safety for both the workers and the managers have been conducted in four construction sites in and around Kolkata. The responses have been studied with statistical techniques like factor analysis, correlations and multiple regressions. The cultural dimensions were based on Hofstede (1991). It has been found that the awareness and belief of the workers have no significant correlations with the cultural dimensions. The workers have no safety related cultural ties and would be logical in accepting safety prescriptions. It has been further noted that workers’ sensitivity to safety awareness is positively correlated with operational practices of managers. Therefore, enhanced safety training to managers which is comparatively easier would increase safety awareness among the managers which in turn would increase the safety awareness to workers.
Regulation in some vital physiological attributes and antioxidative defense system in carrot ( Daucus carota L.) under saline stress

Regulation of some key metabolic phenomena including antioxidative defense system involved in plant salt tolerance is of great concern. Changes in chlorophyll pigments, chlorophyll fl uorescence and leaf gas exchange characteristics, glycinebetaine and proline contents, and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants was assessed in two carrot (Daucus carota L.) cultivars, DC-4 and T-29 under saline stress in a greenhouse study. Application of different saline regimes (0, 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl) to the growth medium considerably reduced the shoot and root fresh and dry weights, shoot and root lengths, chlorophyll b contents, leaf water potential (Ψ w ), leaf osmotic potential (Ψ s ), photosynthetic rate (A), water-use effi ciency, sub-stomatal CO 2 concentration (C i ), stomatal conductance (gs), transpiration rate (E), C i /C a ratio, leaf and root K + and Ca 2+ contents, leaf MDA, total phenolics, total soluble proteins, and activities of CAT, SOD and POD enzymes, while a marked increase was observed in leaf turgor potential (Ψ p ), leaf and root Na + and Cl - contents, leaf proline, glycinebetaine (GB), ascorbic acid (AsA) and H 2 O 2 contents in both cultivars. Of both carrot cultivars, cultivar T-29 was relatively higher in shoot and root fresh weights, root Na + , leaf and root Ca 2+ , leaf proline, MDA, total phenolics, soluble proteins and activity of SOD enzyme. In contrast, cultivar DC-4 was relatively higher in leaf Ψ w and Ψ s , leaf K + , root Ca 2+ and leaf GB as compared to those in the other cultivar. The relatively better growth of cultivar T-29 was found to be correlated with improved leaf water potential, leaf Ca 2+ , proline, phenolics, and activity of SOD enzyme under saline conditions.
The Political Determinants of the Cost of Equity: Evidence from Newly Privatized Firms

In this paper, we investigate the political determinants of the cost of equity using a unique data set of 236 firms privatized between 1987 and 2006 in 38 countries. We find robust evidence that the cost of equity is increasing in government ownership. We also show that the cost of equity is significantly related to political orientation and the extent of government expropriation. Furthermore, we report a less pronounced effect of state ownership on the cost of equity in more populist governments and in more financially developed countries, in addition to a more pronounced effect of state ownership on the cost of equity when the risk of government expropriation is higher. Results from an event study examining the replacement of left-wing governments by right-wing governments suggest a lower cost of equity in more financially developed countries and a higher cost of equity in more autocratic countries and in countries with a high risk of government expropriation. Finally, we find that chief executive turnover is associated with a higher cost of equity in more autocratic countries.
Cross-shelf distributions and recruitment of crab postlarvae in a region of strong upwelling

Larvae are thought to be highly vulnerable to offshore transport in productive upwelling regions, which increases cross-shelf and alongshore dispersal, limits recruitment, and reduces the strength of community interactions. We investigated whether the last planktonic stages of shallow- water crabs (1) occur far offshore during the peak upwelling season in a region of strong upwelling that is recruitment limited, (2) occur farther offshore during upwelling than relaxation conditions, (3) occur farthest from shore at a major headland where currents are deflected offshore, and (4) recruit less during years of stronger upwelling. Crab postlarvae were collected from between 1 and 70 km from shore at 3 locations across an upwelling cell during upwelling and relaxation condi- tions in northern California, USA, for 3 yr, and recruitment was measured at 2 sites during 2 of these years. Postlarvae of all species collected were most abundant on the inner continental shelf (84%) and were scarce in the open ocean. Postlarvae of 3 taxa only occurred on the inner shelf, whereas postlarvae of the other 3 taxa collected occurred in low abundances on the outer shelf even during prolonged upwelling. They were abundant close to shore at the Point Reyes headland where flow is deflected offshore. Postlarvae did not occur farther from shore during a year of very strong upwelling, and 4 of 7 taxa recruited more then. Thus, crab postlarvae do not appear to be advected far offshore or recruit less during strong upwelling conditions, and the cause and extent of recruitment limitation warrants further investigation.
A study on nutritional status of elderly and its correlates from urban field practice areas of SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun

Introduction: Number of elderly persons is rapidly increasing worldwide, mostly in developing countries. The elderly are at increased risk of nutritional inadequacy which, if detected in time, can be reversed. A comprehensive nutritional assessment tool called Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) has been confirmed to detect malnutrition in the elderly with reasonable accuracy. Aims and Objectives: To detect the prevalence and correlates of malnutrition in the elderly. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in urban field practice area of Department of Community Medicine, SGRRIM&HS, Dehradun using a pre designed, pre tested questionnaire filled by trained health teams. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 23. Result: Prevalence of malnutrition in elderly was found to be 32.2% which is significantly associated with changes in food intake and weight over past three months, mobility, neuropsychological problems, acute disease/psychological stress and BMI. Conclusion: Malnutrition in the elderly can be managed with a multi-disciplinary approach that treats the pathology as well as uses social and dietary interventions.
A morphometric study of the popliteus myotendinous complex with its clinical aspects

DOI: 10.32098/mltj.01. 2019.13 SUMMARY Background. The aim of the present study is to study the morphometry of the muscle-tendon complex of popliteus, and to define a relatively safe zone in posterior approach to knee or popliteal region with respect to the bony landmarks for tibial nerve and nerve to popliteus. Method. 20 cadaveric legs were used for dissection. The attachments of popliteus, length and width of tendon as well as muscle belly, were defined and noted. An imaginary line extending from the medial to lateral epicondyles of femur was taken as the intercondylar line. The distance of tibial nerve and nerve to popliteus at lower border of popliteus to both the medial and lateral epicondyle of femur was measured. Result. The attachments of popliteus to femur, capsule of knee joint, tibia and fascia over popliteus were present in all 20 (100%) specimens. A distance of 65 mm and 40 mm from the medial and lateral epicondyle can be considered as safe zone for the tibial nerve and nerve to popliteus at lower border of popliteus in posterior approach to knee joint. Conclusion. Knowledge about morphometry of the popliteus and safe zone can help the orthopaedicians in reconstructive surgeries and rehabilitation procedures involving popliteal region.
A NOVEL TECHNIQUE FOR STEGANOGRAPHY METHOD BASED ON IMPROVED GENETIC ALGORITHM OPTIMIZATION IN SPATIAL DOMAIN

This paper devotes itself to the study of secret message delivery using cover image and introduces a novel steganographic technique based on genetic algorithm to find a near-optimum structure for the pair-wise Least-Significant-Bit (LSB) matching scheme. A survey of the related literatures shows that the LSB matching method developed by Mielikainen, employs a binary function to reduce the number of changes of LSB values. His method verifiably reduces the probability of detection and also improves the visual quality of stego images. However, his method still has room for improvement. In this paper, a dual-state scoring model, structured upon genetic algorithm is presented which assesses the performance of different orders for LSB matching and searches for a near-optimum solution among all the permutation orders. Experimental results confirm the superiority of the new approach compared to the Mielikainen's pair-wise LSB matching scheme in terms of distortion.
Estimation of Secondary Skin Cancer Risk Due To Electron Contamination in 18-MV LINAC-Based Prostate Radiotherapy

Introduction Accurate estimation of the skin-absorbed dose in external radiation therapy is essential to estimating the probability of secondary carcinogenesis induction Materials and Methods Electron contamination in prostate radiotherapy was investigated using the Monte Carlo (MC) code calculation. In addition, field size dependence of the skin dose was assessed. Excess cancer risk induced by electron contamination was determined for the skin, surface dose, and prostate dose-volume histogram (DVH) using MC calculation and analytical methods. Results MC calculations indicated that up to 80% of total electron contamination fluence was produced in the linear accelerator. At 5 mm below the skin surface, surface dose was estimated at 6%, 13%, 27%, and 38% for 5×5 cm2, 10×10 cm2, 20×20 cm2, and 40×40 cm2 field sizes, respectively. Relative dose at Dmax was calculated at 0.92% and 5.42% of the maximum dose for 5×5 cm2 and 40×40 cm2 field sizes, respectively. Excess absolute skin cancer risk was obtained at 2.96×10-4 (PY) -1 for total 72 Gy. Differences in prostate and skin DVHs were 1.01% and 1.38%, respectively. Conclusion According to the results of this study, non-negligible doses are absorbed from contaminant electrons by the skin, which is associated with an excess risk of cancer induction.
FIRMS’ EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS AND THE STATE OF THE LABOR MARKET

According to search and matching theory, a greater availability of unemployed workers should make it easier for a firm to fill a vacancy, but more vacancies at other firms should make recruitment more difficult. Simulating a theoretical model of a firm facing perfect competition in the product market and no convex adjustment costs (standard assumptions in the search and matching literature), I find that shocks to vacancies and unemployment lead to economically significant employment responses. Simulating a more realistic model with imperfect competition in the product market and convex adjustment costs, I find small employment effects of shocks to vacancies and unemployment. In particular, shocks to the number of unemployed seem to be unimportant. Estimating an employment equation on a panel of Swedish firms, I find that neither the number of unemployed workers nor the number of vacancies in the local labor market is important for firms’ employment decisions.
Course Grades, Quality of Student Engagement, and Students' Evaluation of Instructor.

Students’ evaluation of faculty and courses continue to be the most often used gauge in higher education of how well courses are taught. Faculty are particularly concerned that student ratings are highly associated with the grades students expect to receive. However, newer research on student engagement suggests that it is students’ own interaction with the course material that determines their evaluation of the course. The purpose of this study then was to examine (1) whether the grades students expected in the course affected the overall evaluation of the instructor, (2) whether the students’ quality of engagement in the course affected the overall evaluation of the instructor, and (3) whether students’ quality of engagement moderates the relationship between expected grades and overall evaluation of the instructor. Results indicate that students’ engagement with the course material significantly moderates the relationship between expected grades and overall rating of instructor.
Critical Review of the Models of Reading Comprehension with a Focus on Situation Models

Research directed at unveiling the complexities of reading skill burgeoned in conjunction with the advancements in the field of psycholinguistics. Tremendous effort has been made to make sense of the complex process of the underlying multi-faceted mechanisms of inference generation during reading. In this respect, the situation models have recently gained ground. In studies focused on reading skill, situation models are of top priority, because they illuminate the interactions among different components including the process of information network activation, strategic and conscious-based inference as well as the textual and meta-textual representations in the readers’ memory. This paper reviews prevalent reading models with a focus on the critical analysis of three foundational situation models including, Event- I ndex ing , Construction-Integration and Structure Buil ding model s of comprehension. Unlike the previous research, the orientation of this paper toward situation models is based on their use in second language reading, which is simplified in tune and comprehensive in content. Its implications are beneficial for the wide spectrum of SLA theorists, teachers and students for the reading skill purposes.
Groundwater Level Forecasting Using Wavelet and Kriging

In this research, a hybrid wavelet-artificial neural network (WANN) and a geostatistical method were proposed for spatiotemporal prediction of the groundwater level (GWL) for one month ahead. For this purpose, monthly observed time series of GWL were collected from September 2005 to April 2014 in 10 piezometers around Mashhad City in the Northeast of Iran. In temporal forecasting, an artificial neural network (ANN) and a WANN were trained for each piezometer. Kriging was used in spatial estimations. The comparison of the prediction accuracy of these two models illustrated that the WANN was more efficacious in prediction of GWL for one month ahead. Thereafter, in order to predict GWL in desired points in the study area, the kriging method was used and a Gaussian model was selected as the best variogram model. Ultimately, the WANN with coefficient of determination and root mean square error and mean absolute error, 0.836 and 0.335 and 0.273 respectively, in temporal forecasting and Gaussian model with root mean square, 0.253 as the best fitted model on Kriging method for spatial estimating were suitable choices for spatiotemporal GWL forecasting. The obtained map of groundwater level showed that the groundwater level was higher in the areas of plain located in mountainside areas. This fact can show that outcomes are respectively correct.
Cycocel Priming and Foliar Application Affect Yield Components of Rapeseed (Brassica Napus L.)

ABSTRACT A factorial based on RCBD experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of priming and foliar spray of cycocel on rapeseed yield components. Treatments were included; seed priming (0, 600, 900, 1200, 1500 μM) and foliar spray (0, 600, 1200 μM) with cycocel at development stage of flower buds. The results revealed that seed priming with cycocel significantly increased emerged plant number per plot, silique dry weight in the main stems and branches, plant dry weight, branches number, silique number in the main stems and branches, seed number in branches, 1000 seeds weight, and seed yield in non-stress conditions. Foliar application with cycocel also increased plant dry weight, 1000 seeds weight in branches, harvest index and seed yield. Moreover, interaction effect of priming and foliar application of cycocel increased plant dry weight and 1000 seeds weight with branches. CCC foliar application during the early stages of reproductive stage went to elevated plant dry weight and 1000 seeds weight in auxiliary branches and, also increased harvest index and grain yield. Mean comparison and interaction effects of traits also revealed that, appropriate levels of CCC had the meaningful effects on any agronomic and physiological trait. However, the most meaningful impact in most traits was traced in case with primed seed with 900 and 1500 μM CCC. Overall, owing to the present data, CCC priming under both normal and harsh conditions may raise the germination related traits, seedling establishment, plant growth and ultimately may goes to increased yield.
Climate factors influence the occurrence of white spot disease in cultured penaeid shrimp in Chanthaburi province, Thailand

This study investigated the prevalence of white spot disease (WSD) in an intensive shrimp culture area located in Chanthaburi province, Thailand, during 2009�2014. Retrospective data of 1952 WSD cases obtained from government laboratories were analyzed to study the asso- ciation between WSD occurrence and climate factors using negative binomial regression (NBR) models. Climate factors included daily atmospheric temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, total amount of rainfall and rain days during the disease notifications. The annual prevalence of WSD was significantly higher from 2009 to 2011 than from 2012 to 2014. Interestingly, the monthly WSD occurrence was unchanged between those time periods. A high number of WSD cases was found between October and February, while fewer cases were reported during March to June, and the lowest numbers were reported in May. The multivariate NBR model indicated significant associations between an increased number of WSD cases with decreased atmospheric tempera- ture and increased variation in daily atmospheric temperature. A high incident rate ratio (IRR) of WSD was observed when average atmospheric temperature ranged between 24.5 and 27.2°C (IRR: 2.53, 95% CI: 1.72�3.75) and there was increased variation in daily atmospheric temperature (IRR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.99�1.20). The time series analysis concluded that low ambient atmospheric temperature and high daily atmospheric temperature variation were promoting factors for WSD occurrence.
The effect of mixtures on colonisation of leaf litter decomposing in a stream and at its riparian zone

Abstract. The effect of mixing litter on decomposition and colonisation has been the focus of many studies carried independently in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Those studies are carried out in different regions, use different experimental protocols and methodologies for the assessment of additive or non-additive effects, and the conclusions on the effect of mixtures vary accordingly. In this study I tested the hypothesis, via a short-term decomposition experiment, that, when using the same experimental protocol, mixtures have similar additive effects on decomposition and associated biota in a stream and at its riparian zone. The effect of mixing litter was assessed by comparing values in mixtures with the average of single species, alder and poplar (method 1); comparing the value of a species in mixture with the value of that species alone (method 2); and by a graphical analysis of the average difference between observed and expected values and the 95% confidence intervals (method 3). Method 1 was the most conservative, detecting non-additive effects on macroinvertebrate abundance only; method 2 detected non-additive effects on both dry mass remaining and ergosterol, with differential responses of the leaf species and the habitat; and method 3 detected non-additive effects on all variables except ergosterol and percentage detritivore abundance and also identified different responses of the leaves exposed in the terrestrial and the aquatic habitats. These results show that (i) the methodology used to detect the effects of mixtures deeply influences the results obtained, and may partially explain the diversity of responses available in literature; and (ii) the effect of mixtures may differ in the stream and at the riparian area. However, the findings of the present work should be assessed in a larger-scale experiment in order to generalise the effects of mixing litter on terrestrial and aquatic habitats.