Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new approach to implementing computer-based decision support for sugarcane farmers and extension staff: the case of My Canesim.

SUGARCANE production regularly requires complex and quick decision-making under ever changing conditions. Adoption of computer-based decision support systems has been disappointing. This paper reviews a new approach to developing and implementing decision support for sugarcane production. The main features are (1) use of state-of-the-art technology, (2) limiting users exposure to system complexity, and (3) participation of users in system design and implementation. The My Canesim system consists of a sugarcane model, an on-line weather database and a communication network. The system uses basic field data, initially entered by the user via the Internet, to calculate the soil and crop status for each day of the growing season as the season progresses. The system was implemented on a pilot scale on two small-scale irrigation schemes in Pongola and Makhathini, South Africa. Farmers, extension staff and mill cane supply management contributed to the design of the web interface, the advice and the reports generated by the system. Irrigation advice and yield estimates are disseminated weekly to 39 farmers using cell phone text messages. Summaries for each scheme are faxed to three extension officers and to mill management. Reports containing detailed information such as estimated current and predicted future cane yield, sucrose content and soil water deficit can be downloaded from the website. The study revealed various inefficient irrigation practices that could be eliminated and showed that significant savings in irrigation water and costs could be achieved by following the advice. System reports served as a useful benchmark of field and crop status. These reports were used by extension staff as a basis for discussion during field visits and by mill management as an indicator of crops that are ready for harvesting. It is believed that a similar approach could be followed to support other aspects of crop production, e.g. fertiliser management and harvest scheduling. Introduction Successful modern day farming requires frequent and complex decision making to make the best of rapidly changing resource and market situations. Tactical and operational decisions in irrigation and fertiliser management, for example, require accurate and up to date information. There are many examples of computer decision support systems (DSS) developed to assist the farmer in this regard (Stephens and Middleton, 2002a). The rapid progression of communications technology (cellular communication and Internet) enables quick transfer of large amounts of data and information, further bolstering the potential usefulness of DSS. However, the general experience is that the adoption of these systems has been very disappointing due to various reasons, e.g. lack of end-user input into the development of DSS, no clear advantages of using DSS and lack
Dermatoepidemiology: A Household Survey Among Two Urban Areas In Basrah City, Iraq

Background: The studies on the frequency and distribution of skin diseases in Iraq use to be on a small scale and not comprehensive because these are either based on hospital attendance or only for specific diseases or specific group of population such as school or occupation. Objectives : The study represents an attempt to explore epidemiological issues related to skin disorders and to estimate the prevalence and distribution of skin diseases in two urban areas in Basrah city, southern area in Iraq . Patients and methods : A cross-sectional community based study was carried out among the population of two urban areas of low and high socioeconomic status in Basrah city, namely Al-Jamhoriah (area A) and Manawi-Basha (area B). The sample design adapted was multi-stage sampling technique Results :The number of houses was 1080 with total population of 3649 and 3017 inhabitants in area (A) and area (B )respectively The overall prevalence rate of skin disorders was 29.1 % in area (A) and 20.3% in area (B) with a significant difference between the two areas. High prevalence rates of skin disorders were among age groups (15<25 and 25<45) years old, and among housewives in both areas . The study showed that the leading causes ,when all forms of skin disorders were considered together in both areas , were as follow: The skin infections and infestation (bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic ) were constituted (23.9%)of all skin problems , followed by eczema / dermatitis (19.0%) and acne vulgaris (16.8%). Skin disorders among the population studied were classified according to international statistical classification of diseases (10-1CD) . Conclusions: Skin diseases are common in the community, affecting all age groups of both sexes, and Infectious and infestation diseases were the major problems especially in those of low socio-economic status.
DEVELOPMENT OF A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF SOURCES OF STRESS IN SPANISH SOCCER REFEREES

The aim of the present study was to elaborate a self-report questionnaire to identify Spanish soccer referees' sources of stress and to provide a tool for the detection of referees with high levels of stress. The Soccer Referee Stress Questionnaire was administered to a sample of 138 referees, and a principal component analysis with varimax rotation revealed a 5-factor solution that accounted for 65.7% of the variance. The fi- nal version of the test had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.88. The most important sources of stress were related to the referee's perceived competence and, to the referee-supervisor's rating of matches.
Where in the World is the Market? The Income Distribution Approach to Understanding Consumer Demand in Emerging Countries

Finding, measuring and capturing market opportunities in emerging countries are critical tasks for multinational con- sumer goods companies. Central to these tasks is the need to collect and analyze income distribution data within a globally coherent framework and to move beyond income metrics based on national averages. This article describes a new framework and dataset that achieves this goal and demonstrates how income distribution data, combined with consumer and marketing data, can be incorporated into simple demand models such as the Bass diffusion model or the Golder-Tellis affordability model to understand market dynamics. Our analytical effort is the first example of income distribution data being used to assess market opportunities in emerging countries. We find that demand models based on the number of people within various income brackets at national or local levels are superior to models based on average income. We further find that combining income distribution data with pricing, marketing spending, consumer behavior and distribution coverage data makes it possible to measure which factors drive demand at the brand level — even in hard-to-analyze countries.
Volunteer tourists' motivations for choosing homestay in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana

Volunteer tourists' motivations for choosing homestay accommodation have received little attention from researchers. The objective of this research was to explore the push and pull factors that account for volunteer tourists' choice of homestay in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Insights gained from this study will inure better understanding of volunteer tourists' behaviour to ensure appropriate service delivery by homestay providers. With the help of the "Push and Pull" motivation model by Dann (1977), the findings indicated two main push factors: socio-cultural immersion and economic value; and pull factors: environmental sensitiveness and community service and development. The study found that the most important push and pull factors as perceived by volunteers to Ghana are socio-cultural immersion and environmental sensitiveness. The study confirms the supporting role of homestay for volunteer tourists to Ghana. In the end, the implications of this study are discussed.
EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF IRRIGATION AND GROWING METHODS ON GROWTH, YIELD ANDWATER-USE EFFICIENCY OF TOMATO (LYCOPERSICON ESCULENTUM MILLER)

A two year field study was conducted during 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 on light textured soils of BCT- KVK Visakhapatnamdistrict to investigate the effect of different types of irrigation and growing methods on growth, yield, water-use efficiency and economics of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Miller). Drip + polythene mulch + trellising given maximum values for fruit yield (62.21 t/ha), plant height (91.22 cm), fruit weight (88.33 g), plant dry matter (49.32g) and less weed growth (6.12 gm-2) compared to drip + polythene mulch and drip alone. Highest water use efficiency (1.44) was observed in drip + polythene mulch + trellising followed by drip + polythene mulch (1.26). Use of black polyethylene mulch + drip + trellising recorded significantly highest net income (161134 Rs./ha). In case of surface irrigation, furrow + black polythene mulch + trellising recorded highest fruit yield (43.82 t/ha), fruit weight (83.33 g), plant height (83.32 cm) and plant dry matter (41.32 g) followed by furrow + black polythene mulch (35.23 t/ha, 75.62 g, 75.66 cm,36.34g). Less weed growth was observed with furrow + polythene mulch + trellising (30.23gM -2 ) and furrow + black polythene mulch (30.36 gM -2 ) when compared to control (62.76 gM -2 ). Highest net returns (102708 Rs./ha) and benefit cost ratio(2.41) recoded with furrow + black polythene mulch + trellising. Among all the treatments drip + black polythene mulch + trellising recorded highest values for all the parameters.
Granger Causality Effect of Macroeconomic Factors on Treasury Securities Yields in Kenya

Treasury securities are important financial instruments in any economy since their yields provide a benchmark interest rates for other securities. They are also key indicators of market expectations, risk perceptions and money conditions in an economy. Over the recent past years, Kenya has experienced unexpected great movements of the treasury securities yields which has presented a real risk to economic stability. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to determine the granger causality effect of macroeconomic factors on treasury securities yields in Kenya. The key macroeconomic factors considered in this research are inflation rate, monetary policy rate, Government debt and foreign exchange rate. This study finds that inflation rates significantly contribute more in explaining positive movements of short-term and medium-term treasury yields in Kenya. Similarly, monetary policy rates were found to have a significant, but relatively less, contribution in explaining negative movements of short-term and medium-term treasury yields in Kenya. Moreover, foreign exchange rates were significantly found to have more contribution in explaining positive movements of short-term treasury securities yields in Kenya. Finally, the study found that Kenyan government debt does not significantly contribute in explaining the movement of treasury security yields of all maturities in Kenya. Keywords: Treasury Securities, Inflation Rate, Monetary Policy Rate, Government Debt, Foreign Exchange Rate, Granger Causality
The SLUGGS survey: the mass distribution in early-type galaxies within five effective radii and beyond

We study mass distributions within and beyond 5 effective radii (Re) in 23 early-type galaxies from the SAGES Legacy Unifying Globulars and Galaxies Survey, using their globular cluster (GC) kinematic data. The data are obtained with Keck/DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph, and consist of line-of-sight velocities for 3500 GCs, measured with a high precision of 15 km s-1 per GC and extending out to 13 Re. We obtain the mass distribution in each galaxy using the tracer mass estimator of Watkins et al. and account for kinematic substructures, rotation of the GC systems and galaxy flattening in our mass estimates. The observed scatter between our mass estimates and results from the literature is less than 0.2 dex. The dark matter fraction within 5 Re (fDM) increases from 0.6 to 0.8 for low- and high-mass galaxies, respectively, with some intermediate-mass galaxies (M* 1011 M☉) having low fDM 0.3, which appears at odds with predictions from simple galaxy models. We show that these results are independent of the adopted orbital anisotropy, stellar mass-to-light (M/L) ratio, and the assumed slope of the gravitational potential. However, the low fDM in the 1011 M☉ galaxies agrees with the cosmological simulations of Wu et al. where the pristine dark matter distribution has been modified by baryons during the galaxy assembly process. We find hints that these M* 1011 M☉ galaxies with low fDM have very diffuse dark matter haloes, implying that they assembled late. Beyond 5 Re, the M/L gradients are steeper in the more massive galaxies and shallower in both low and intermediate mass galaxies.
Chapter 3 Stage-Specific and Cell Fate Markers

For the purposes of this chapter, neural stem cells (NSCs) will be defined as cells capable of proliferating in symmetric and asymmetric fashions and that ultimately give rise to the three major cell types in the CNS: neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Neural stem cells have the properties that they can be clonally and serially passaged (Reynolds and Weiss, 1992; Morshead et al., 1994; Gage et al., 1995). Neural stem cells are the subject of intense research and therapeutic interest. However, to date, NSC have been difficult to unambiguously identify in vitro or in vivo by their physical or molecular properties. There are several different ways to propagate NSC in vitro. This fact alone has lead to a great deal of variation amongst results obtained for different studies (Reynolds and Weiss, 1992; Stemple and Anderson, 1992; Reynolds and Weiss, 1993; Vescovi et al., 1993; Gage et al., 1995; Gritti et al., 1995; Reynolds and Weiss, 1996; Weiss et al., 1996). Initially, NSC were propagated as floating balls of cells, termed neurospheres in the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF; Reynolds and Weiss, 1992). Subsequently it has been shown that neurospheres can also be propagated in the presence of fibroblast growth factor, the most commonly used of which is basic FGF (FGF-2; Gritti et al., 1995; Kilpatrick and Bartlett, 1995; Ciccolini and Svendsen, 1998). Neurospheres can be grown from the brain at any developmental age beyond E8.5 in the mouse, although at these early stages NSC are responsive only to bFGF, while EGFresponsiveness comes later (Ciccolini and Svendsen, 1998). Numerous areas of the CNS have neurosphere-forming potential, from the olfactory bulb to the spinal cord, although the precise cells that give rise to neurospheres is not completely clear. Neural stem cells have been propagated in monolayer cultures. This was initially accomplished with cells from the adult hippocampus, but has also been performed for NSCs from the embryonic neocortex (Gage et al., 1995; Palmer et al., 1995; Johe et al., 1996; Sun et al., 2001). These monolayer cultures use
Conscious Acts of Creation: The Emergence of a New Physics

The experimental observations of Copernicus and Galileo eventually overcame, after great struggle, the prevailing and deeply entrenched science paradigm of their time. Over the subsequent centuries, what we now call classical mechanics gained ascendancy in the physics community and, by the 19 century was deeply entrenched as the prevailing physics paradigm of its time. By the last quarter of the 19 century, world leaders in the physics community were advising young students not to enter this field as “there are only a few t’s to cross and a few i’s to dot and then everything fundamental in physics would be known that could be known. ” And then a new doorway seemed to open in the universe and two new concepts, (1) the quantum and (2) relativity, were born to account for some troubling experimental observations of the time.
Effect of the Kharkhe Storage Dam on Vulnerability of Downstream Land and the Kharkhe Bondary

River boundaries, as defined by the state law, comprise the land along and surrounding riverbanks expected to be inundated or flooded during flood events of a 25-year return-period. Construction of large water structures such as dams across rivers may lead to considerable decrease in the flood discharge proportionate to structure size which will in turn result in lower flood probability. Assessment of the vulnerability of river boundary is of great importance due to their rich soil and easy access to irrigation water which makes such riverbank farms economically valuable especially in dry areas. The results of such assessment can be used in land use planning. For the purposes of the pres ent study, a reach of 190 km was selected along the banks of the Karkheh River downstream the Karkheh Storage Dam in southern Iran. Estimations were then made of river flood events prior to constructing the dam with return periods of 2 to 100 years and their corresponding post-construction values for the same periods. Values of flood inundation of the river banks were determined for flood events with different return periods. Using the values thus obtained, the vulnerability curve was plotted for various flood probabilities before and after constructing the dam. It was revealed that the construction of the dam had reduced the size of the river boundary due to full control of 2 to 25-year floods and, thus, saving the river banks from flood inundation. However, the same pattern was not observed for flood events with return periods above 50 years. Therefore, it is advised that the Karkheh riverbanks should be planned for land uses that can tolerate the risks of such long term flood events. Also, must not be considered for residential developments or for high- cost establishments.
A Graph theory algorithmic approach to data clustering and its Application

Clustering is the unproven classification of data items, into groups known as clusters. The clustering problem has been discussed in many area of research in many disciplines; this reflects its huge usefulness in the field of data analysis. However, clustering may be a difficult problem statistically, and the differences in assumptions in different disciplines made concepts and methodologies slow to occur. This paperpresentstaxonomy of clustering techniques, and recent advances in graphtheorytic approach. We also describe some important applications of clustering algorithms such as image segmentation, object recognition, and information retrieval.
Spatial variability and vitality of epigeous termite mounds in pastures of Mato Grosso Do Sul, Brazil

Ninhos epigeos sao frequentemente observados em areas de pastagem; no entanto, os processos que regulam as suas dinâmicas populacionais sao pouco conhecidos. Este estudo avaliou a distribuicao espacial por meio da geoestatistica e a vitalidade dos ninhos epigeos de termitas em areas de pastagens introduzidas. Esta pesquisa foi conduzida no bioma Cerrado no municipio de Rio Brilhante, no Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. Em duas areas de pastagem (Pasto 1 e Pastagem 2), ninhos epigeos foram georreferenciados; analisaram-se altura, circunferencia e vitalidade (habitado ou nao). A area ocupada pelos ninhos foi calculada, e as amostras de termitas foram coletadas para identificacao taxonomica. O padrao de distribuicao espacial dos ninhos foi analisado com procedimentos geoestatisticos. Em ambas as areas de pastagem, todos os ninhos epigeos foram construidos por uma mesma especie, Cornitermes cumulans. O numero medio de ninhos ha-1 foi de 68 no pasto 1 e 127 no pasto 2, o que representa 0,4 e 1 % de toda a area, respectivamente. A grande maioria dos ninhos estava ativa, 91 % no pasto 1 e 84 % no pasto 2. Os semivariogramas de altura e circunferencia dos ninhos em ambas as pastagens apresentou um “efeito pepita puro”, refletindo distribuicao espacial aleatoria e confirmando que a distribuicao dos ninhos epigeos de termitas em pastagens nao segue uma distribuicao-padrao.
EXISTENCE AND REGULARITY OF SOLUTIONS OF A PHASE FIELD MODEL FOR SOLIDIFICATION WITH CONVECTION OF PURE MATERIALS IN TWO DIMENSIONS

We study the existence and regularity of weak solutions of a phase field type model for pure material solidification in presence of natural convec- tion. We assume that the non-stationary solidification process occurs in a two dimensional bounded domain. The governing equations of the model are the phase field equation coupled with a nonlinear heat equation and a modified Navier-Stokes equation. These equations include buoyancy forces modelled by Boussinesq approximation and a Carman-Koseny term to model the flow in mushy regions. Since these modified Navier-Stokes equations only hold in the non-solid regions, which are not known a priori, we have a free boundary-value problem.
Dietary supplementation of mannanoligosaccharides to turkey hens on their growth performance and antioxidant status in the blood

The research focused on the effect of a prebiotic additive, mannanoligosaccharides (Bio-Mos), in the diet of turkey hens on their growth performance and measurements of pro-oxidation and antioxidation systems in their blood. The investigation was performed on 240 six-week-old turkey hens of the heavy Big-6 breed, randomly divided into two groups. Group I was the control group, whereas the birds in group II were fed the control diet with a 0.5% addition of Bio-Mos. Bio-Mos did not increase the concentration of lipid peroxidation products, peroxide H 2 O 2 and malone dialdehyde. However, it contributed to the increased concentration of some antioxidation parameters such as vitamin C, iron and zinc in the blood. Moreover, it led to an improved growth performance. The study suggested that mannanoligosaccharides can be used in practice as a dietary additive for turkeys, stimulating the mechanisms of the birds’ antioxidation defence and improving their growth performance. Keywords: Bio-Mos, prebiotic, effects of rearing, redox parameters
Modelling baryonic effects on galaxy cluster mass profiles

Gravitational lensing is a powerful probe of the mass distribution of galaxy clusters and cosmology. However, accurate measurements of the cluster mass profiles is limited by the still poorly understood cluster astrophysics. In this work, we present a physically motivated model of baryonic effects on the cluster mass profiles, which self-consistently takes into account the impact of baryons on the concentration as well as mass accretion histories of galaxy clusters. We calibrate this model using the Omega500 hydrodynamical cosmological simulations of galaxy clusters with varying baryonic physics. Our model will enable us to simultaneously constrain cluster mass, concentration, and cosmological parameters using stacked weak lensing measurements from upcoming optical cluster surveys.