Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Mugil liza Valenciennes 1836 (Teleostei: Mugiliformes) occur in Argentinean waters? ¿Está presente Mugil liza Valenciennes 1836 (Teleostei: Mugiliformes) en aguas argentinas?

The present paper deals with the occurrence of two nominal species of Mugil (Mugil liza Valenciennes 1836 and Mugil platanus Gunther 1880) in Argentinean waters. The investigation is necessary to clarify the distribution of these species before any regional study on the biology can be made. In Argentinean bibliographies, two members of the familiy Mugilidae are mentioned as living in Argentinean waters, M. liza Valenciennes 1836 and M. platanus Gunther 1880, while recent revisions on the southwestern Atlantic members of this family recognised M. liza as living in the Caribbean and northern Brazil and M. platanus along the southern coast of Brazil and north of Argentina. Samples from six coastal localities and from a freshwater lagoon between 36 and 42oS latitude, comprising a total of 369 individuals were examined and compared with Type specimens of both nominal species and a sample of 38 individuals of M. platanus from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (32oS). Morphometric and meristic data were recorded: morphometrics was analyzed by normalization of the individuals of each locality followed by principal component analysis and meristics were compared with the values from Types and fresh specimens corresponding to M. platanus and M. liza. The comparative analysis indicated that M. liza does not occur in Argentinean waters, being M. platanus the only permanent present species.
Androgen responsiveness to competition in humans: the role of cognitive variables

Although androgens are commonly seen as male sex hormones, it has been established over the years that in both sexes, androgens also respond to social challenges. To explain the socially driven changes in androgens, two theoretical models have been proposed: the biosocial model and the challenge hypothesis. These models are typically seen as partly overlapping; however, they generate different predictions that are clarified here. In humans, sports competi - tion and nonmetabolic competitive tasks have been used in the laboratory setting, as a proxy for agonistic interactions in animals. The results reviewed here show that the testosterone (T) response to competition in humans is highly variable - the studies present postcompetition T levels and changes in T that depend on the contest outcome and that cannot be predicted by the current theoretical models. These conflicting results bring to the foreground the importance of considering cognitive factors that could moderate the androgen response to competition. Among these variables, we elect cognitive appraisal and its components as a key candidate modulating factor. It is known that T also modulates the cognitive processes that are relevant to performance in competition. In this article, we reviewed the evidence arising from studies investigating the effect of administering exogenous T and compare those results with the findings from studies that measured endogenous T levels. Finally, we summarized the importance of also considering the interaction between androgens and other hormones, such as cortisol, when investigating the social modulation of T, as proposed by the dual-hormone hypothesis.
Propagation of Garcinia kola (Heckel) by stem and root cutting

The availability of appropriate propagation techniques is a major constraint to the domestication of the forest trees widely used by rural communities; such as Garcinia kola (Heckel). This study tested the ability of root and stem cuttings to regenerate vegetatively when treated with indole3-butyric acid (IBA), and set in non-mist poly-propagator within a shaded nursery. It found that G. kola is amenable to propagation by softwood stem cuttings. Attention was given to the effect of cutting age (softwood, semi hardwood) and IBA application with regard to the sprouting and rooting efficiency. Bud and leaf emergence time were also investigated, as was the coppicing ability of the stump. Results revealed that roots and branches from mature forest trees did not sprout under any culture conditions. The highest percentages of rooting (70–85%) were obtained with softwood cuttings set in non-mist poly-propagator, regardless of hormonal treatment. The mean numbers of buds (2.9 ± 0.4) and roots (2.6 ± 0.1) produced by softwood cuttings was significantly greater than those obtained in the Control. The best average emergence time of buds (25.1 days ± 9.3) and leaves (36.8days ± 8.4) was obtained with cuttings treated with IBA and set in non-mist poly-propagator against, 54.4 ± 12.5 and 72.6 ± 3.4 days respectively for the Control. In general, non-mist poly-propagator gave the best propagation results. When coppiced, the shoots emerging from stumps with one node were the most vigorous.
Stages of Change for Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among New Zealand Men: Readiness to Eat Five Servings a Day and Impact of Contextual Factors

Successful behavior change according to the transtheoretical model involves progressing through a series of stages of change. This paper examines the proportion of men in each stage of change for fruit and vegetable intake, compares stage classification with intentions and behavior, and the impact of contextual factors on stage membership. Men randomly selected from the New Zealand electoral roll completed a postal questionnaire (n = 518; 45% response rate). One-third (32%) of respondents were not intending to eat five or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day (precontemplation stage), 10% were contemplating change (contemplation stage), 7% preparing to change (preparation stage), and 51% were already doing so in the combined action/maintenance stage. Intentions increased on average across stages, and fruit and vegetable intake was at least two servings higher in action/maintenance. Dietary guideline knowledge, older age, higher income, education and food security increased the likelihood of being in action/maintenance. Simple health promotion messages should be directed toward men, promoting conventional and affordable produce, and dietary guidelines. Community and policy approaches that increase food skills and knowledge, fruit and vegetable access and affordability would support behavior change.
Competition and Financial Stability in European Cooperative Banks

Cooperative banks are a driving force for socially committed business at the local level, accounting for around one fifth of the European Union (EU) bank deposits and loans. Despite their importance, little is known about the relationship between bank stability and competition for these small credit institutions. Does competition affect the stability of cooperative banks? Does the financial stability of banks increase/decrease when competition is higher? We assess the dynamic relationship between competition and bank soundness (both in the short and long run) among European cooperative banks between 1998 and 2009. We obtain three main results. First, we provide evidence in line with the competition-stability view proposed by Boyd and De Nicolo (2005). Bank market power negatively “Granger-causes” banks' soundness, meaning that there is a positive relationship between competition and stability. Second, we find that this fundamental relationship does not change during the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Third, we show that increased homogeneity in the cooperative banking sector positively affects bank soundness. Our findings have important policy implications for designing and implementing regulations that enhance the overall stability of the financial system and in particular of the cooperative banking sector.
Security : Threats and Countermeasures

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification is a popular standard for communication between computers and their peripherals. Today, a variety of devices support the USB interface, ranging from mass storage to personal healthcare products. Although these devices may contain sensitive information, they are often security-agnostic (e.g., they send data to the host in plaintext). The commercial nature of these devices often implies that modifying them (or their accompanying software) is impractical. In this thesis, we investigate the security of the USB communication stack. We discuss the effects of the compromise of hardware or software components in the stack and show that various attacks (e.g. impersonation of USB devices) are possible even if an adversary does not control the host OS. To prevent these attacks, we propose a solution consisting of two parts: a USB device access control module and a secure USB bridge. The USB device access control module uses security mechanisms existing in modern operating systems to prevent access from unauthorized or altered software. The secure USB bridge acts as a proxy between a USB device and the host, providing a secure channel between them. Our design is compatible with existing commodity products without further modification. We show the feasibility of realizing our solution through a prototype implementation of the secure USB bridge and evaluate its performance.
Use of Ethyl and Propyl (E,Z)-2,4-decadienoates in Codling Moth Management: Improved Monitoring in Bartlett Pear with High Dose Lures

The propyl and ethyl esters of (E,Z)-2,4-decadienoic acid were evaluated in gray halobutyl septa as kairomone lures for both sexes of codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.). All studies were conducted in 'Bartlett' pear orchards with moderate to high codling moth adult population densities and treated with sex pheromone dispensers for mating disruption. Variable results were obtained with kairomone loading experiments. Increasing the lure loading to 40.0 mg of either the ethyl or propyl ester significantly increased male and total moth catch in separate experiments. However, in other tests with the ethyl ester no difference was found in total moth catch in traps baited with 0.1, 1.0, 3.0 or 10.0 mg versus 40.0 mg lures. The 40.0 mg ethyl and propyl ester lures were both more effective than a 3.0 mg ethyl ester lure and comparable to a sex pheromone lure in detecting the beginning of codling moth flight in the spring generation. No difference was found in moth catch between 40.0 mg propyl and ethyl ester lures. Significantly more females were caught in traps baited with 1.0 – 10.0 mg than with 1.0 – 100.0 μg lures loaded with the ethyl ester. In general, kairomone lures caught significantly fewer moths than sex pheromone lures.
Alcohol Consumption and Tolerance of Neurospora crassa

The alcohol consumption and tolerance of the ascomycete Neurospora crassa was investigated in this study. This fungus is able to utilize both native alcohol and non-native alcohols as carbon sources, yet little is known about the enzymes involved in these processes. The deletion of alcohol dehydrogenase 1 gene (adh-1) from the genome can efficiently prohibit both ethanol and isobutanol metabolism, while the deletion of the alcohol dehydrogenase 3 gene (adh-3) does not have an observable effect on the prevention of alcohol consumption. Both wild type N. crassa and the N. crassa Δadh-1 strain can tolerate up to 48 g/L ethanol and 8.5 g/L isobutanol when grown on glucose or Avicel.
Direct Democracy : Revisiting the Research on Campaign Spending and Citizen Initiatives

The conventional view in the direct democracy literature is that spending against a measure is more effective than spending in favor of a measure, but the empirical results underlying this conclusion have been questioned by recent research. We argue that the conventional finding is driven by the endogenous nature of campaign spending: initiative proponents spend more when their ballot measure is likely to fail. We address this endogeneity by using an instrumental variables approach to analyze a comprehensive dataset of ballot propositions in California from 1976 to 2004. We find that both support and opposition spending on citizen initiatives have strong, statistically significant, and countervailing effects. We confirm this finding by looking at time series data from early polling on a subset of these measures. Both analyses show that spending in favor of citizen initiatives substantially increases their chances of passage, just as opposition spending decreases this likelihood. We would like to thank seminar participants at Stanford University, Duke University, and UCLA for helpful comments. Please send correspondence to de Figueiredo, UCLA Anderson School of Management, 110 Westwood Plaza #D508, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481, jdefig@anderson.ucla. edu . 1 To what extent does campaign spending shape the electoral fate of citizen initiatives? This empirical question has important implications for the normative debate over the role of money in direct democracy elections (Gerber 1999, Broder 2000, Matsusaka 2004). If groups with a concentrated interest in public policy can use their organizational advantages to raise large campaign war chests that translate into votes for the initiatives that they propose, direct democracy may not simply amplify the “voice of the people” as its early advocates promised (see Grantham, 1983, Ellis 2002, Goebel 2002, Piott 2003). By contrast, if spending in favor of initiatives does not increase their chances of passage, powerful interests will not gain an advantage through the money that they can raise. While this important question has generated much scholarship from political scientists, economists, and legal scholars, two distinct streams of the literature have provided different answers to it. A long series of works that treat campaign spending levels as exogenous created a conventional wisdom that expenditures have asymmetric effects: Money spent in opposition to ballot propositions (including both citizen initiatives and measures placed on the ballot by legislatures) lowers their expected vote shares or chances of passage, while spending in favor of them is drastically less effective (Allen 1979, Lydenberg 1979, Mastro et al. 1980, Lowenstein 1982, Magleby 1984, Schockley 1980, 1985, Schmidt 1989, Ji 1998, and Bowler and Donovan 1998). A recent review of the literature reports that these studies found “that heavy spending against a measure tended to lead to the measure’s defeat, whereas heavy spending in favor of a measure had a minimal impact (Lupia and Matsusaka 2004, p. 470). ” Though only a few studies
An approach to estimate moisture content of apple with image processing method.

Moisture content is an important quality feature that directly influences storability of fruits and vegetables. The main goal of the present study was to estimate moisture content of one variety of apple fruits (Golden Delicious) with image processing method. In five weeks duration, about 100 images of samples were taken and simultaneously the weight of each sample was measured and recorded. As we know, approximately 80 percent of apple is water, so decreasing moisture content of apples during time, has effective influence on density of them. In this study, image-processing method was used to obtain an index that portends the apples' density. Furthermore, wrinkles of some part of apples' skin were measured with IPM. To measure wrinkles, some texture analysis parameters were measured from one of main component of apple images. Without taking into consideration the texture analysis parameters, coefficient of determination (R 2 ) between measured density and moisture content was found about 0.74. When texture analysis parameters were used, a neural network was made which its inputs were texture analysis parameters and density index. The neural network estimated moisture content of apples with higher accuracy than the previous one (0.92). These procedures appeared to be a good method for the assessment of apples' moisture content, non-destructively. Keyword: density index, moisture content, neural networks, texture analysis parameters, wrinkles. Abbreviation: 3CCD- 3 Charged Coupled Device; ANN- Artificial neural network; CMY- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow; DI- Density Index; GD- Golden delicious; IPM- Image processing method; LMC- Lost Moisture Content; MC- Moisture Content; MSE- Mean Square Error; NIR- Near Infrared; NN- Neural network; R 2 - Coefficient of Determination; RD- Red delicious; RGB- Red, Green,
Student Perceptions of the Ophthalmology Curriculum in Medical School

Abstract Purpose There is no national standard for ophthalmology curricula in U.S. and Canadian medical schools. We aim to evaluate medical students' perceptions of the current ophthalmology curriculum without mandatory rotation at New York University School of Medicine (NYUSOM). Design A cross-sectional Internet survey. Methods A cross-sectional Internet survey was distributed to all NYUSOM students in March to May 2017. The main parameters measured in the study were students' self-reported confidence with ophthalmology skills and satisfaction with curriculum. Results Response rate was 27.5% (166 of 604) of NYUSOM students. Many students reported they were not comfortable diagnosing eye emergencies (64%), using a direct ophthalmoscope (71%), or testing visual acuity (50%). The majority of students did not want ophthalmology to become a mandatory rotation, but reported additional in-person training would be most helpful, compared with videos, web-based didactics, lectures, or virtual training. Completion of an ophthalmology elective and more hours of ophthalmology training were associated with increased confidence with eye examination and greater satisfaction with the curriculum. Conclusions It is critical for all physicians-in-training to have adequate skills in eye examination. Identifying areas of improvement and determining the best teaching modality will be important in updating the ophthalmology curriculum for medical students. The majority of medical students are not at all or only slightly confident with eye examinations. Increasing the amount of in-person ophthalmology training in medical school improves confidence with eye examination.
Productive Efficiency of Connecticut Long Island Lobster Fishery Using a Finite Mixture Model

This paper evaluates the operational practices of three lobster fishing zones in Long Island using a finite mixture model that allows controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. More precisely, a stochastic frontier latent class model is adopted in this research to estimate the production frontiers for each of the different technologies embedded within this heterogeneity. Therefore, this model not only enables the identification of different groups within the fishing zones, but it also permits the analysis of their productive efficiency. Results indicate the existence of five different technology groups within the sample, suggesting that production technologies in lobster fishery are themselves quite heterogeneous despite the environmental conditions. Policy implications are also derived.
THE ROLE OF 'PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS ON FINANCIAL MATTERS' IN ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORKS

This study investigated the influence that 'professional advisors on financial matters' have in comparison with other people with whom entrepreneurs discuss their venture. Based on follow-up surveys completed in relation to the Danish participation in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey, it was found that professional advisors on financial matters only play a minor role in the two early phases of the entrepreneurial process before the venture is actually started. It was further revealed that the ties between professional advisors on financial matters and entrepreneurs often are weaker than the ties entrepreneurs have with others in their discussion network. Two practical implications for professional advisors on financial matters emerged from the study.
The Impact of 1:1 Laptop Use on Middle School Math and Science Standardized Test Scores

ABSTRACT Researchers and evaluators have been attempting to document the impact of ubiquitous or 1:1 computing on students, teachers, schools, and communities. However, the most recent reviews of research on 1:1 computing initiatives reflect a dearth of rigorous studies and emphasize the need for well-designed, scientifically based research to measure the impact of 1:1 learning on student achievement. This study investigates the effect of 1:1 laptop to student ratios on math and science achievement in at-risk middle school students. The researchers used a pretest-posttest control-group design. The findings are based on between-groups analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) of longitudinal data comparing standardized achievement test scores. The researchers compared the test scores of students randomly assigned to 1:1 laptop classrooms with the test scores of students in classrooms without 1:1 laptops in the same middle school. Students were exposed to the treatment for two years and the authors used the students as the unit of analysis. Pre-existing achievement scores for each student were included as a covariate to statistically equate groups previous to analysis. Results showed significant post-intervention program effects for science achievement. Furthermore, there was a gender effect in science achievement, with boys significantly outperforming girls in the same 1:1 laptop classroom. In contrast, no significant program effects for math achievement were obtained. The results suggest that 1:1 laptop instruction can increase student achievement under certain conditions. This study has implications for policymakers, instructional designers, and educators who are currently implementing a 1:1 laptop program or considering such an implementation. The authors suggest the need for further research to help determine the efficacy of 1:1 laptop instruction and the implementation conditions necessary for increased student achievement in this context.
Statistical Modelling of Adolescent Pregnancy in Namibia

Adolescent pregnancy was considered a private matter that only involved the pregnant adolescent and the immediate family members. This issue has now however become a public concern. An increasing awareness of social and economic consequences of adolescent pregnancy has led to a consensus among researchers and policy makers and the general public at large that adolescent pregnancy and childbearing is a serious social problem. It is linked to concerns such as the spread of HIV/ AIDS, non-marital births, sexual abuse and neglect, abortions, infant and maternal mortality, high rate of unemployment, school failure and drop-outs, and loss of self-esteem and limited future career opportunities. This paper identifies and explains factors that influence adolescent pregnancy in Namibia using the 2006/7 DHS.
Second-Order Consensus of Multi-Agent Systems With Delayed Nonlinear Dynamics and Intermittent Measurements

This paper investigates second-order consensus of multi-agent systems with delayed nonlinear dynamics and switching topologies. Each agent is assumed to obtain the measurements of relative states between its own and the neighbors only at a sequence of disconnected time intervals. A novel intermittent consensus protocol is proposed to guarantee the states of agents with time-varying velocities to reach second-order consensus under a fixed strongly connected and balanced network topology. The results are then extended to second-order consensus in multi-agent systems with switching topologies, where each possible communication topology is strongly connected and balanced. By virtue of the Lyapunov control approach, it is shown that consensus can be reached if the general algebraic connectivity and communication time duration are larger than their corresponding threshold values respectively. Finally, simulation examples are provided to verify the theoretical analysis and effectiveness of the new protocol.