Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Observation of temperature gradient metamorphism in snow by X-ray computed microtomography: measurement of microstructure parameters and simulation of linear elastic properties

Abstract The process of temperature gradient metamorphism in snow strongly affects the microstructure and associated mechanical properties of the snow. The purpose of this study was to: (1) examine the temporal variations in three-dimensional snow microstructure under the influence of a strong temperature gradient for 6 days using X-ray computed microtomography (μCT); and (2) numerically simulate the linear elastic properties of snow from microtomographic data using a voxel-based finite-element technique. The temporal changes in the snow structure were analyzed in terms of density, specific surface area (SSA), thickness distribution of ice matrix and pores, structure model index and mean intercept length (MIL) fabric tensor. The structural indices and orthotropic elastic compliance matrix were computed over several sub-volumes within the reconstructed volume to account for statistical uncertainties. The mean density increased by about 14% on day 1 and no significant trend was observed thereafter. The SSA decreased by 22%, whereas both the ice and pore thickness distributions widened with time. The computed Young’s moduli were 1.5–4 times larger than previously published dynamic measurements and found to be significantly correlated with ice volume fraction and MIL fabric measures. The increasing trend in computed moduli during the experiment is consistent with the observed development of thicker vertical ice structures. Multiple linear regression models of elastic compliances using fabric tensor formulation and ice volume fraction could explain 89.9–93.0% of the variance. Our results suggest a strong dependence of elastic properties on both density and microstructural fabric.
Size and power properties of structural break unit root tests

In this article, we compare the small sample size and power properties of a newly developed endogenous structural break unit root test of Narayan and Popp (NP, 2010) with the existing two break unit root tests, namely the Lumsdaine and Papell (LP, 1997) and the Lee and Strazicich (LS, 2003) tests. In contrast to the widely used LP and LS tests, the NP test chooses the break date by maximizing the significance of the break dummy coefficient. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the NP test has better size and high power, and identifies the structural breaks accurately. Power and size comparisons of the NP test with the LP and LS tests reveal that the NP test is significantly superior.
Quantum Chemical Investigations of Structural Parameters of PVDF-based Organic Ferroelectric Materials

Poly(vinylidene fluoride)-based polymers have been the research focus of many groups due to the discovery of piezoelectricity in this material, by Kawai et al in 1969. PVDF is constituted by sequential [-(CH2-CF2)n-] chains and known as the first crystalline organic ferroelectric material, which makes it critically important, since there exist only few classes of materials with ferroelectric properties, such as perovskite-type ABO3 metal oxides (BaTiO3, PbTiO3, or KNbO3) (Sakashita et al, 1987). Drawbacks of the latter material are related to its heavy weight, brittleness and substantial costs of device manufacturing. Thus, the organic ferroelectrics materials arise as suitable alternative to metal oxides because of better prospective technological applications. PVDF-based polymers have polymorph properties and at least five experimentally characterized crystal phases, namely, the all-trans (Tp) planar zigzag β-phase, TGa and TGp, (where G denotes the gauche form), the αand δ-phases, and the T3GT3G (T3Ga, T3Gp) γand e-phases (Lovinger, 1982; Broahurst, 1978). Nevertheless, among these phases, only the all-trans conformation (or β-phase) exhibits ferroelectric behavior. The Tp conformation of the all-trans phase, has a highly polarized backbone with the highest spontaneous polarization in a unit crystal cell (Jungnickel, 1999). This spontaneous polarization gives the special ferroelectric properties, leading to a broad potential of application in several newtechnology electronics, such as in sensors, transducers, energy storage devices, communications and microphones (Kawai, 1969; Lovinger, 1983; Jungnickel, 1999; Lando et al., 1966; Farmer et al., 1972; Hasegawa et al., 1972; Karasawa & Goddard, 1992; Tashiro et al., 1995; Nalwa, 1995; Lang, 2006; Wang et al., 1988). A drawback, however, of the synthesized β-PVDF pure material, is that the maximum crystallinity reached is 50%, which results in lower polar properties than those of pure Tp phase, if formed. Some applications currently under development include artificial muscles and harnessing energy from sea waves. The ferroelectric properties of PVDF can be enhanced by the introduction of trifluoroethylene, TrFE, as comonomer. P(VDF-TrFE) exhibits ferroelectric
The effects of lime, gypsum and lime/gypsum combinations, after 2.5 years, on two sodic soils under dryland cropping conditions in the Macquarie Valley, NSW

While gypsum, and to a lesser extent lime, are reported as ameliorants for soil sodicity, there is relatively little information concerning the use of these ameliorants in combination. This study investigates the use of lime and gypsum combinations on selected soil properties relating to sodicity on two different soils used for dryland cropping in the Macquarie Valley of New South Wales (NSW). Lime and gypsum treatments were applied to two soils (lime [L] and/or gypsum [G], applied at t/ha rates: L0G0 [control], L2.5G0, L0G2.5, L2.5G2.5, L2.5G5, L5G2.5, and L5G5) that were sampled after 2.5 years and analysed for soil pH, EC and aggregate stability. Changes in pH and EC, as well as correlations, suggest that lime has dissolved more readily in the presence of gypsum. While aggregate stability was not significantly enhanced, significant relationships between soil EC and aggregate stability were found.
Effects of oocyte source, cell origin, and embryo reconstruction procedures on in vitro and in vivo embryo survival after goat cloning

The birth of cloned goats has been well documented, but the overall goat cloning efficiency by somatic cell nuclear transfer procedures is still low, which may be further intensified in extreme environments. The aim of this study was to produce cloned goats under the conditions of the Brazilian SemiArid region, in a transgenic program for the expression of human lysozyme in the milk to target childhood diarrhea and malnutrition, comparing the effects of oocyte source, cell type, and embryo reconstruction procedures on in vitro and in vivo embryo survival after cloning by micromanipulation or by handmade cloning. The use of in vitro-matured oocytes resulted in more viable embryos after cloning than in vivo-matured cytoplasts, but no differences in pregnancy rates on day 23 were seen between oocyte sources (77.5 vs. 77.8%, respectively). The presence or absence of the zona pellucida for embryo reconstruction (78.8 vs. 76.0%, respectively) did not affect pregnancy outcome after transfer. However, pregnancy rate on day 23 was higher for embryos chemically activated by a conventional than a modified protocol (88.1 vs. 50.0%), and for embryos reconstructed with mesenchymal stem cells and fetal fibroblasts (100.0 and 93.3%) than with adult fibroblasts (64.7%). Although most pregnancies were lost, the birth of a cloned female was obtained from embryos reconstructed by micromanipulation using non-transgenic control cells and in vitro-matured oocytes with intact zona pellucida, after conventional activation and transfer at the 1-cell stage.
Effect of biostimulators on yield and selected chemical properties of potato tubers.

Growth regulators stimulate life processes in plants, improving their stress resistance and health, which translates into higher and better quality yield. Growth regulators can improve biochemical parameters of tubers and enhance the potato’s resistance to adverse environmental conditions or pathogens. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of biostimulators on yield and selected chemical properties of potato tubers. Four table potato cultivars were grown in a field experiment: very early Volumia and medium early Irga, Satina and Sylvana. Starting from stage 39 on the BBCH scale (crop cover complete), potato plants were treated thrice, in 10to 14-day intervals, with the growth regulators Asahi SL, Bio-Algeen S90 and Kelpak. The reference treatment was composed of potatoes untreated with the bioregulators. The growth regulators, especially Bio-Algeen S90 (6.3 – 16.3%) and Kelpak SL (14.2-24.7%) raised the tuber yield, but the effect was statistically verifiable only in the second year, with less precipitation and lower temperature of the vegetation period. The quality of potato tubers was more strongly dependent on the cultivar-specific traits than on the applied biostimulators. In the second year, too, potato tubers contained on average 34% more N-total than in the first year. During storage, the content of N-total in tubers increased by 35-50%. After a five-month storage period, potato tubers contained more NO3 abut less N-NH4.
Death for survival: what do we know about innate immunity and cell death in insects?

Insects are the most diverse and prolific animal group on Earth, and as such, important lessons can be taken from the elements that contribute to their evolutionary success. This review examines insect immunity and how insects combat infection with the pathogens they encounter: bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Structural barriers, cellular and humoral responses and cell death all respond to specific immunological threats and contribute to the robust repertoire of immune strategies employed by insects. We discuss the strategies used by insects to combat pathogen infection and focus on what is currently known about cell death and its role in insect immunity.
HOST SELECTION BEHAVIOR OF LEPTOPHOBIA ARIPA (LEPIDOPTERA: PIERIDAE)

Abstract Host selection and egg laying behavior of wild populations of the mountain white butterfly, Leptophobia aripa (Boisduval), was observed in the presence of a group of host plants (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) of varying quality. Host variation was generated by manipulating three crop management variables: fertilization, water, and light. Leptophobia aripa was not indifferent to host quality variation, and showed great ability to evaluate and discern among a group of hosts. A sigmoidal relation was found between egg laying and host plant size. The latter was probably perceived through the host's diameter, or other physical and chemical characteristics related to this attribute. More detailed studies are necessary in order to understand which cues this insect uses to locate its host and which other attributes it evaluates upon deciding to lay eggs. This understanding could allow for the development of agro-ecological alternatives in controlling this insect, considered to be a crop pest in some regions of Mexico and Central America.
Promoting Indigenous African Languages Through Information and Communication Technology Localisation: A Language Management Approach

The integration of information and communication technology (ICT) and indigenous African languages in South African institutions of higher learning is an important and strategic imperative that should be adopted and embraced. Given the spread of ICT, its increased access and a variety of opportunities that it offers, such an initiative has the potential of impacting positively on the promotion and intellectualisation of these languages. This study thus seeks firstly, to discuss language problems that are associated with the low profile of indigenous African languages in higher education. Secondly, the paper explores the various opportunities in ICT that could be instrumental in the promotion of these languages. Finally, the paper discusses the possible challenges of integrating ICT and indigenous African languages into ICT. The language management theory (LMT) provided a theoretical foundation for the study. Two other theories were also used to complement the LMT namely the Contextualise, Apply, Transfer and Import framework and the model of localisation ecology given the inter-disciplinary nature of the study. Methodologically, an ethnographic approach was adopted in which semistructured interviews and document review was used to collect data. The study established various language problems that contribute to the continued low profile of indigenous languages, among them, the limited utilisation of these languages as languages of teaching and learning, lack of documentation, negative attitudes, monolingualism, and orthographic inconsistencies. ICT opportunities that are available for the promotion of these languages national corpus development, the development human
Liquidity and Asset Prices: An Empirical Investigation of the Nordic Stock Markets

This paper presents a simplified single period asset&#8208;pricing model adjusted for liquidity and tests it for the Nordic markets. The detailed empirical evidence is presented from Finnish test case. Empirical testing of small yet developed markets is motivated by the increased relevance of the illiquidity effect for illiquid assets/markets. The main evidence reports liquidity risk makes sufficiently larger part of predicted factor risk premium than the market risk, contrary to comparable US evidence. This highlights the ability of liquidity related model betas in capturing the time variation in expected returns across illiquid (Nordic) markets than market beta.
Memory for absolute tempo

The purpose of this study was to examine whether people can possess accurate memory for absolute tempo. Comprehensive review of the literature from the pitch and tempo combined with memory is given at first. The second, empirical part, presents quantitative and qualitative methods to verify the memory for absolute tempo. Recognition and estimation tasks were developed in which participated all together 40 subjects. In the former one, excerpts of popular pieces of music, mostly instrumental versions from TV title themes, were selected based on subjects' familiarity. In the latter one, the subjects estimated the excerpts’ alteration and tempi’ correctness. The results of the tasks are finally gathered, analyzed and discussed. Outcomes consent to the assumption that people do not possess absolute memory for tempo.
Modelling glacial lake outburst lood impacts in the Bolivian

The Bolivian Andes have experienced sustained and widespread glacier mass loss in recent decades. Glacier recession has been accompanied by the development of proglacial lakes, which pose a glacial lake outburst lood (GLOF) risk to downstream communities and infrastructure. Previous research has identiied three potentially dangerous glacial lakes in the Bolivian Andes, but no attempt has yet been made to model GLOF inundation downstream from these lakes. We generated 2-m resolution DEMs from stereo and tri-stereo SPOT 6/7 satellite images to drive a hydrodynamic model of GLOF low (HEC-RAS 5.0.3). The model was tested against ield observations of a 2009 GLOF from Keara, in the Cordillera Apolobamba, and was shown to reproduce realistic lood depths and inundation. The model was then used to model GLOFs from Pelechuco lake (Cordillera Apolobamba) and Laguna Arkhata and Laguna Glaciar (Cordillera Real). In total, six villages could be afected by GLOFs if all three lakes burst. For sensitivity analysis, we ran the model for three scenarios (pessimistic, intermediate, optimistic), which give a range of ~ 1100 to ~ 2200 people afected by looding; between ~ 800 and ~ 2100 people could be exposed to loods with a low depth ≥ 2 m, which could be life threatening and cause a signiicant damage to infrastructure. We suggest that Laguna Arkhata and Pelechuco lake represent the greatest risk due to the higher numbers of people who live in the potential low paths, and hence, these two glacial lakes should be a priority for risk managers.
Determinant of Funding Accessibility and its Impacts to the Performance of Beef-Cow Breeding Enterprises in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

Objective of this study is to test the influence of determinant funding accessibility to the performance of beef-cow breeding enterprises in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The samples used in this study consist of independent breeders and assisted breeders of 110 persons each, so that altogether there are 220 samples. The data are collected by using questionnaires and analyzed by multiple regression analysis using the SPSS – the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Output of this study indicates that the determinant funding accessibility consisting of relationship, availability of information, procedure and requirements in conveying the credit proposals, as well as the location or distance between domicile of the breeders and the creditors have the influence to performance of beef-cow breeding enterprises. Partially, the relationship, procedure and requirements for credit proposal are significant and have positive relationship with performance of the enterprises, whereas availability of information and breeders’ location are not significant. Key-words: Beef-cow breeders, business performance, and funding accessibility.
Unifying X-ray scaling relations from galaxies to clusters

We examine a sample of ∼250 000 ‘locally brightest galaxies’ selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to be central galaxies within their dark matter haloes. We stack the X-ray emission from these haloes, as a function of the stellar mass of the central galaxy, using data from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey. We detect emission across almost our entire sample, including emission which we attribute to hot gas around galaxies spanning a range of 1.2 dex in stellar mass (corresponding to nearly two orders of magnitude in halo mass) down to M* = 1010.8 M⊙ (M500 ≈ 1012.6 M⊙). Over this range, the X-ray luminosity can be fit by a power law, either of stellar mass or of halo mass. From this, we infer a single unified scaling relation between mass and LX which applies for galaxies, groups, and clusters. This relation has a slope steeper than expected for self-similarity, showing the importance of non-gravitational heating. Assuming this non-gravitational heating is predominately due to AGN feedback, the lack of a break in the relation shows that AGN feedback is tightly self-regulated and fairly gentle, in agreement with the predictions of recent high-resolution simulations. Our relation is consistent with established measurements of the LX–LK relation for elliptical galaxies as well as the LX–M500 relation for optically selected galaxy clusters. However, our LX–M500 relation has a normalization more than a factor of 2 below most previous relations based on X-ray-selected cluster samples. We argue that optical selection offers a less biased view of the LX–M500 relation for mass-selected clusters.
Securing the Distributions in P2P Networks with Trusted Platform Modules

We present a novel solution that allows one platform to securely distribute or redistribute digital contents to another in P2P networks. The solution includes three protocols (distribution protocol, usage protocol, redistribution protocol) which are all based on platforms with Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs). It maintains the confidentiality and freshness of digital contents during the processes of distribution. Given an ideal (tamper-proof) trusted platform, the solution can even withstand attacks by dishonest users during the processes of usage. Moreover, it can also be used to redistribute n-time-use digital content offline, so it is more flexible and scalable than other related distribution solutions to enable widespread deployment. Lastly, by adding a few simple features to TPMs, our solution can easily prevent the malicious sender and receiver from colluding when the redistribution takes place, so we can ensure that they can not gain more than a previously defined amount of rights without contacting the content provider.
Canola desiccation at different stages of pods maturation 1 Dessecação de canola em diferentes pontos de maturação das síliquas

Canola has outstanding as a great winter crop option and nowadays occupies the fourth place among oil species in production. One of the major difficulties in canola cultivation is the harvest season, because its pods do not show maturation uniformity. A technique that may be used to facilitate the harvest is the use of desiccants. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate desiccation effect, in distinct pods maturation in canola crop. The work was conducted in field conditions, in Terra Roxa County, Parana State, by using a randomized complete blocks design with four replications. Treatment consisted of paraquat application (2.5 L ha -1 of Gramoxone 200 ® ), sprayed at different periods of crop development, from three percentages of maturate pods, 30, 45 and 75% (visual assessment), plus a check without desiccant herbicides. There were no significant differences for yield and mass of a thousand seeds. In relation to seeds moisture, significant differences were observed, with 75% of mature pods occurring with inferior moisture.
Assessment of the Prevalence of Anemia and Its Associated Factors among Pregnant Women in Bahir Dar City Administration, North-West Ethiopia

Background: Anemia in pregnancy is a public health problem affecting maternal and child health globally and particularly in many developing countries like Ethiopia. Objective: This study aims to assess the prevalence of anemia and associated factors among pregnant women at Bahir Dar city administration, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in public health facilities of Bahir Dar city from May to July 2014 on 480 pregnant women. Mothers who came for ANC during the study period and who met the inclusion criteria were interviewed. Hemoglobin level determination was assessed following the standard procedures. Socio-demographic, obstetrics, medical history and nutrition related data was collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Data were collected by trained health workers and coded and cleaned. The data were entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 16.0 software. Bivaraite and multivariate regression analysis were done to assess the association between outcome and independent variables. Significance level of 0.05 was considered. Result : The overall prevalence of anemia in this study population was 18.3%. Fifty one anemic cases (10.6%) showed mild type of anemia followed by moderate anemia 33 (6.9%) and the remaining 4 (0.8%) were having severe anemia. Gravidity (AOR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-4.1), trimester of pregnancy (AOR=2.9, 95% CI: 1.1-7.7), history of abortion (AOR=4.9, CI: 2.4-10.2) and history of ante partum hemorrhage (AOR=2.6, 95% CI: 1.1-6.6) had statistically significant association with anemia in pregnant women. Conclusion : In the present study, the prevalence of anemia was relatively low. Gravidity, trimester of pregnancy, history of abortion and antepartum hemorrhage are the main contributing factors for anemia.
On the allocation of uncertainty-reduction effort to minimize total variability

Manufacturing processes and projects often consist of a series of activities with uncertain durations. The resulting uncertainty of the process or project impedes planning and disrupts the supply chain. Suppose that the uncertainty of the duration of individual activities can be reduced at a cost. We wish to minimize the variability of the sum of these durations, i.e., the variability of the project's duration. Using mean-preserving transformations, we derive the optimal budget allocation among individual activities for separable and non-separable cost functions, and also explore the implications of statistical dependence on the allocation.