Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BIOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SEEDS INFLUENCED BY THEIR POSITION IN DIFFERENT WHORLS OF SUNFLOWER HEAD-EFFECT OF STORAGE / CARACTERÍSTICAS FÍSICAS Y COMPOSICIÓN BIOQUÍMICA DE SEMILLAS INFLUENCIADAS POR SUS POSICIONES EN DIFERENTES CÍRCULOS FLORALES DEL CAPÍTULO DE GIRASOL -

SUMMARY The effect of storage on biochemical composition of seeds located in different whorls of sunflower head at maturity has been studied. The proportion of filled seeds, yield parameters such as weight of seeds, kernels and oil per whorl and dry weight of seeds and kernels decreased from the peripheral towards the central whorls. Dry matter, oil and starch contents decreased after 180 days of storage at room temperature. The content of total soluble sugars increased while that of reducing sugars decreased in peripheral whorls from first to ninth positions during storage for 180 days. The storage of seeds located in central whorls lowered the proportion of oleic acid with a corresponding increase in linoleic acid after 180 days. Thus, the seeds located in peripheral whorls were more productive and better for storage purposes than those in central whorls. RESUMEN Se estudió el efecto del almacenamiento sobre la composición bioquímica de semillas de girasol localizadas en diferentes círculos florales del capítulo a madurez. La proporción de granos llenas, parámetros del rendimiento como peso de grano, pepita y aceite y peso seco de granos y pepitas decrecieron de la periferia hacia los círculos florales del centro del capítulo. La materia seca y contenidos de almidón y aceite decrecieron después de los 180 días de almacenaje a temperatura ambiente. El contenido total de azúcares solubles se incrementó mientras que el contenido de azúcares reductores decreció en los círculos florales periféricos desde la posición primera a novena durante el almacenamiento por 180 días. El almacenamiento de semillas localizadas en los círculos florales centrales disminuyó la proporción de ácido oleico con el correspondiente incremento en ácido linoleico después de 180 días. Por lo tanto, las semillas localizadas en los círculos florales periféricos fueron más productivas y mejores para propósitos de almacenamiento que aquellas en los círculos florales centrales. RÉSUMÉ L’effet du stockage sur la composition biochimique des graines provenant de différentes spirales du capitule de tournesol à maturité a été étudié. La proportion de graines remplies, des composantes du rendement comme le poids de graines, d’amandes, et d’huile par spirale le poids sec des graines et des amandes décroît de la périphérie du capitule vers le centre. La matière sèche, la teneur en, huile et en amidon décroît après 180 jours de stockage à température ambiante. Le stockage des graines situées dans les spirales centrales a diminué la teneur en acide oléique avec une augmentation correspondante de la teneur en acide linoléique, après 180 jours. Ainsi, les graines situées dans les spirales périphériques ont été plus productives et plus adaptées au stockage que celles situées dans les spirales centrales.
Effects of flow oblique angle on three-dimensional steady streaming at low Keulegan-Carpenter number

This paper concerns the effects of flow oblique angle on steady streaming around a circular cylinder in oscillatory flow. Threedimensional (3D) direct numerical simulations are conducted at Keulegan-Carpenter (KC) number of 2 and frequency parameter (β) of 400. The oblique angle is defined as the angle between the incoming flow direction and the direction perpendicular to the cylinder axis. The calculated steady streaming field is studied by way of vorticity cores and streamlines. For the perpendicular incoming flow under the governing parameters specified, mutually interacting vortices along the cylinder span are observed when looking at instantaneous flow structures. The steady streaming results show well-defined vortices distribution as the three-dimensional instability is mostly smoothed out during the time-averaging. For an oblique incoming flow, the existence of an axial flow component changes the features of steady streaming observed for the perpendicular case. The vortical tubes are shortened and obliquely oriented, and the vorticity field near the cylinder surface suffers a decrease in strength. Both the instantaneous flow development and the timeaveraged steady streaming show that as the magnitude of the axial flow component increases, the resulted steady streaming field experiences a gradually reduction of three-dimensionality and eventually switches to two-dimensional.
Response to Recurrent Selection for Stover Feeding Value in Pearl Millet Variety ICMV 221

In the more arid regions in which it is grown, pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br. ] commonly serves as a source of both foodgrain for humans and dry fodder for their ruminant livestock. Unfortunately, the feeding value of crop residues (stover and chaff) from pearl millet that has been harvested for grain is not high. Widely-adapted pearl millet variety ICMV 221 (Witcombe et al. 1997) was chosen as a base population for two cycles of recurrent selection among full-sib progeny to assess opportunities for improving the stover nutritional quality of farmer-accepted open-pollinated cultivars. We report here initial results from the first cycle of selection.
Dynamic of the active fraction of organic matter in some meadow soils

The microbial biomass (MB) and light fraction (LF) of organic matter are often considered as active fraction of organic matter (AFOM) and as indices of soil fertility and microbial activity. This study was performed in order to assess the turnover of AFOM using long-term incubation (56 weeks) at25 °Cin 34 meadow soils with different physical and chemical properties such as soil texture, organic C and total N. The MB and LF were determined at 8 and 5 times during the incubation period using fumigation-extraction technique for MB and densimetric method for LF. The amount of MB-C and MB-N mineralized increased with time of incubation. At the beginning of incubation, the C and N content of soil MB represented respectively 0.76 to 3.7% of total organic C and 1.94 to 10.7% of total N. The C and N content of LF represented respectively 2.9 to 25.6% of total organic C and 1.7 to 17.5% of total N. At the end of incubation, the losses of MB-C and MB-N from soils reached respectively 71 and 82% of the initial amounts. The MB and LF dynamic were well described by a two-component first-order rate model. The amount of N in the labile MB and LF pools represented respectively 54% of total MB-N and 61% of total LF-N. The more stable MB and LF pools had higher half-life than labile pools. The results obtained indicated that the stable LF would be the precursor of soil humic compounds.
Temporal Evolution of Local Scour Depth around Side-by-side Piers

Due to geotechnical and economic considerations, bridge designs often lead to use complex piers or pier groups. The estimation of temporal evolution of scour around bridge pier is important for design of bridge foundation. This study focuses on temporal variation of scour depth around two side-by- side piers with various distances between piers. Based on experimental data, an equation was developed based on new definition of equivalent pier diameter in Kothyari et al. (2007) equation for estimating the time evolution of scour depth by taking into account the effect of space between the piers. The results show that good agreement exists between proposed equation and measured scour data. It is also revealed that by increasing the distance between piers, the equilibrium scour depth around side by side piers decreases and close to values of single pier and scour depth reached to the isolated pier when G/D=6.
Lipid profile of mice fed a high‐fat diet supplemented with a wax ester‐rich marine oil

Oil extracted from the marine copepod Calanus finmarchicus contains the long chain omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid and DHA in addition to stearidonic acid (18:4n-3). Unlike other marine lipids, the fatty acids in this oil are esterified with long chain fatty alcohols as wax esters. The aim of this study was to examine the fate of the wax esters in oil from C. finmarchicus when given as a 2% supplement in a high fat diet to C57BL/6J mice for 11 weeks. The study confirmed that feeding mice a high fat diet supplemented with a small amount of oil containing wax esters reduced the body weight gain. During digestion, wax esters were hydrolyzed and the fatty acids absorbed since the fatty acid composition of the adipose tissue and liver reflected the enrichment with the Calanus oil. The composition of the liver lipids demonstrated elongation and desaturation of the C18 omega-3 fatty acids from the feed and accumulation of longer chained omega-3 fatty acids. Elevated levels of FFA and FAOH in the feces suggest that the absorption process, not the hydrolysis, could be a rate limiting step in utilization of small amounts of wax esters included in high fat diets in mice. Practical applications: The limited amount of available fish oil has led to extensive search for alternative sources of long-chain PUFA. One suggestion is to harvest at lower trophic levels, like small crustaceans, which may be abundantly present in the oceans. In this investigation, we have studied the effects of including the astaxanthin-rich oil from the marine copepod C. finmarchicus in a high fat diet in mice. This oil is different from other marine oils since most of the fatty acids are esterified to long-chain fatty alcohols, not in TAG, and that stearidonic acid is the major omega-3 fatty acid present. The results provide knowledge and understanding of aspects related to digestion and possible physiological effects of including small amounts of marine wax esters in diets. The lipid class composition in the feces from mice fed a high fat diet or a high fat diet supplemented with a wax ester rich oil were similar except for the pronounced amount of fatty alcohols in feces of the latter.
Optimally Testing General Breaking Processes in Linear Time Series Models

There are a large number of tests for instability or breaks in coefficients in regression models designed for different possible departures from a stable regression. We make two contributions to this literature. First, we provide conditions under which optimal tests are asymptotically equivalent. Our conditions allow for models with many or relatively few breaks, clustered breaks, regularly occurring breaks or smooth transitions to changes in the regression coefficients. Thus we show nothing is gained asymptotically by knowing the exact breaking process. Second, we provide a statistic that is simple to compute, avoids any need for searching over high dimensions when there are many breaks, is valid for a wide range of data generating processes and has high power for many alternative
Presence in Executive Coaching Conversations – The C2 Model

Presence is considered by the practitioner community to be a key factor in coaching effectiveness and is recognised as an important coaching competence. Yet to date, there has been little formal research into this phenomenon in executive coaching. By adopting a constructivist stance, this qualitative study uses the methodology of conceptual encounter, combined with the novel extension of a focus group to map the structure and nature of presence in this context. Findings generated the “C2 Model”, which highlights the importance of client presence, emphasises a dynamic nature, and suggests a link to wellbeing and moments of insight. Conditions for presence were also reported and its utility was assessed. Overall, the study concludes that presence is a way of being that is an important factor in effective coaching and relevant to both client and coach.
EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF THE AZIMUTHAL HIGH FREQUENCY CUTOFF OF HIGH RESOLUTION SATELLITE RADAR IMAGES OF THE OCEAN

High resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the ocean could be used to improve maritime weather reporting and prediction by detecting small spatial and temporal wind features. In addition to modulation caused by the shape of ocean waves, SAR images are sensitive to nonlinear distortion due to Doppler effects induced by ocean wave motion. The largest effect of this distortion is a sharp spatial high frequency cutoff in the azimuthal direction. This article presents (1) a controlled experimental validation of the azimuthal cutoff and its effects on imagery, and (2) observations of gusts tens of meters across in high-resolution spaceborne SAR images. Various models of the azimuthal cutoff have been proposed and tested on low resolution platforms, but they have not been tested on high resolution, satellite-borne platforms. This article presents an experimental analysis of the azimuthal cutoff in high-resolution images, and shows that the azimuthal cutoff is not necessarily the dominant cause of azimuthal blurring. We show that wind speed appears to be a more important factor, so sometimes the blurring is much less than the azimuthal cutoff suggests. As evidence of this, we exhibit imagery showing subtle changes on the ocean surface due to upand down-welling solitons.
Forward Global Photometric Calibration of the Dark Energy Survey

Many scientific goals for the Dark Energy Survey (DES) require the calibration of optical/NIR broadband b = grizY photometry that is stable in time and uniform over the celestial sky to one percent or better. It is also necessary to limit to similar accuracy systematic uncertainty in the calibrated broadband magnitudes due to uncertainty in the spectrum of the source. Here we present a “Forward Global Calibration Method (FGCM)” for photometric calibration of the DES, and we present results of its application to the first three years of the survey (Y3A1). The FGCM combines data taken with auxiliary instrumentation at the observatory with data from the broadband survey imaging itself and models of the instrument and atmosphere to estimate the spatial and time dependences of the passbands of individual DES survey exposures. “Standard” passbands that are typical of the passbands encountered during the survey are chosen. The passband of any individual observation is combined with an estimate of the source spectral shape to yield a magnitude in the standard system. This “chromatic correction” to the standard system is necessary to achieve subpercent calibrations and in particular, to resolve ambiguity between the broadband brightness of a source and the shape of its SED. The FGCM achieves a reproducible and stable photometric calibration of standard magnitudes of stellar sources over the multiyear Y3A1 data sample with residual random calibration errors of per exposure. The accuracy of the calibration is uniform across the DES footprint to within . The systematic uncertainties of magnitudes in the standard system due to the spectra of sources are less than for main-sequence stars with .
Effect of phosphite loading on the mechanical and fire properties of palm-based polyurethane

Fire-retarding polyurethane (PU) composite was produced by adding 2,4-ditert-butylphenyl phosphite (FR) to palm-based monoester resin with loading percentage of 0, 2, 4, and 6 wt%. The Shore D hardness index increased marginally with increasing FR content. However, the impact and flexural strengths decreased with increasing FR loading attributed to the weak interfacial bonding between FR and PU matrix. The fire test indicated lowering of burning rate (from 5.30 mm .s -1 to 2.80 mm.s -1 ) as the loading percentage of FR increased. The combustion enthalpy of the composites also decreased with higher loading percentage of FR.
GPU-based contact-aware trajectory optimization using a smooth force model

We present a new formulation of trajectory optimization for articulated bodies. Our approach uses a fully differentiable dynamic model of the articulated body, and a smooth force model that approximates all kinds of internal/external forces as a smooth function of the articulated body's kinematic state. Our formulation is contact-aware and its complexity is not dependent on the contact positions or the number of contacts. Furthermore, we exploit the block-tridiagonal structure of the Hessian matrix and present a highly parallel Newton-type trajectory optimizer that maps well to GPU architectures. Moreover, we use a Markovian regularization term to overcome the local minima problems in the optimization formulation. We highlight the performance of our approach using a set of locomotion tasks performed by characters with 15 -- 35 DOFs. In practice, our GPU-based algorithm running on a NVIDIA TITAN-X GPU provides more than 30x speedup over a multi-core CPU-based implementation running on Intel Xeon E5-1620 CPU. In addition, we demonstrate applications of our method on various applications such as contact-rich motion planning, receding-horizon control, and motion graph construction.
Effect of the addition of seminal plasma, vitamin E and incubation time on post-thawed sperm viability in boar semen

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of seminal plasma (SP), vitamin E (VE), and incubation time on sperm viability of post-thawed boar semen. Thirty six ejaculates were used and allocated to four treatments: T1, semen + BTS (Belstville Thawing Solution) + 10% SP; T2, semen + BTS + 200I¼g/ml VE; T3, semen + BTS + 10% SP + 200I¼g/ml VE; T4, semen + BTS (control). Motility (MOT), intact acrosomes (IA), membrane integrity (MI) and mitochondrial activity (MA) were evaluated, at 0 and 30 min after thawing . A split plot design was used and the data analyzed using a mixed model analysis of variance. There was a significant effect of SP and VE on IA and MI (P 0.05). There was significant effect of incubation time on MOT (21.3 and 27.9%) and IA (46.0 and 36.0%), at 0 and 30 min post-thawing (P <0.05). It is concluded that the vitamin E, seminal plasma or the combination of both, affected the thawed sperm traits here studied. Incubation time increased motility and intact acrosome percentage but did not affect the membrane integrity and mitochondrial activity.
The Barker hypothesis con fi rmed : association of low birth weight with all-cause natural deaths in young adult life in a remote Australian Aboriginal community

Barker et al. proposed that low birth weight predisposes to higher death rates in adult life. We previously confirmed this fact in a cohort of young adults who were born in a remote Australian Aboriginal community between 1956 and 1985. We now present data in these same people with four more years of follow-up and a greater number of deaths. The fates of participants were documented from age 15 years until death, start of dialysis, or until the end of 2010 and causes of death were derived from clinic narratives and dialysis records. Rates of natural deaths were compared by birth cohorts and birth weight, and hazard ratios were calculated using Cox proportional hazards methods, by birth weight and adjusted for birth cohort and sex. Over follow-up of 19,661 person-years, 61 people died of natural causes between age 15 and the censor date. Low birth weights (<2.5 kg) were associated with higher rates of natural death, with HR (95% CI) 1.76 (1.1–2.9, P= 0.03), after adjustment for year of birth and sex. The effect was particularly prominent for deaths at <41 years of age, and with deaths from respiratory conditions/sepsis and unusual causes. A predisposing effect of low birth weight on adult deaths was confirmed. This phenomenon, occurring in the context of dramatically improved survivals of lower birth weight infants and children since the early 1960s, helps explain the current epidemic of chronic disease in Aboriginal people. Birth weights continue to improve, so excess deaths from this source should progressively be minimized.
Beta-arrestin-1 mediating protective effects of penehyclidine hydrochloride on changes of F-actin in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells

In acute lung injury (ALI) and sepsis, the integrity of the endothelial barrier, maintained by endothelial cytoskeleton of microvascular endothelial cells, is important to maintain normal microvascular function. In response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), F-actin (fibrous actin, F-actin), an essential component of the endothelial cytoskeleton, has been shown to be critical to maintaining the endothelial integrity. Herein, penehyclidine hydrochloride (PHC), an anticholinergic agent manufactured in China, was verified to inhibit p38 MAPK activation, reduce Hsp27 expression, and inhibit LPS-stimulated reorganization of F-actin and formation of stress fiber in this study. Besides, these roles of PHC in human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMVEC) were found to be accompanied with its upregulation of beta-arrestin-1. Furthermore, the silencing of beta-arrestin-1 with a shRNA-containing plasmid resulted in an antagonistic effect vs. PHC on the endothelial F-actin function of HPMVEC. In summary, beta-arrestin-1 plays an important role in mediating protective effect of PHC on changes of F-actin in LPS-stimulated HPMVEC.
The Cause of the Great Recession: What Caused the Downward Shift of the GDP Trend in the United States?

The trend of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States clearly shifted downward after the Great Recession of 2008. This shift indicates that the cause of the Great Recession was a change in a fundamental factor that had the potential to significantly affect the steady state. In this paper, I examine three possible causes for the shift: a change in technology, a change in preferences, and a sudden malfunctioning of the price mechanism. I conclude that an upward shift of the expected rate of time preference is the most likely cause of the Great Recession. In addition, I estimated the yearly expected rate of time preference of the United States and found that the expected rate of time preference shifted upwards by 1–2 percentage points when the Great Recession began. I also estimated the expected rate of time preference for Japan and found that the rate increased prior to the extended period of economic stagnation during the 1990s.
DESY 16-172 blank space Inflation from Nilpotent Kähler Corrections

We develop a new class of supergravity cosmological models where inflation is induced by terms in the Kähler potential which mix a nilpotent superfield S with a chiral sector Φ. As the new terms are non-(anti)holomorphic, and hence cannot be removed by a Kähler transformation, these models are intrinsically Kähler potential driven. Such terms could arise for example due to a backreaction of an anti-D3 brane on the string theory bulk geometry. We show that this mechanism is very general and allows for a unified description of inflation and dark energy, with controllable SUSY breaking at the vacuum. When the internal geometry of the bulk field is hyperbolic, we prove that small perturbative Kähler corrections naturally lead to α-attractor behaviour, with inflationary predictions in excellent agreement with the latest Planck data.
Developing predictive models for palaeoanthropological research: a preliminary discussion

This paper reports on our recent progress in developing an interdisciplinary method to model the spatio-temporal patterns of Neanderthals and modern humans in response to the climate changes. For this purpose, we organised a workshop and lectures in May 2012 to learn the theory, methods, and applications of archaeological predictive modelling. The intensive discussion led us to recognise that it is essential for supra-regional prediction of human niche distribution to evaluate how significantly each environmental variable contributes to the model. The subsequent experiments using MaxEnt, an ecological niche modeller, have provided ideas to improve the models by (1) refined radiocarbon dates of the sites, (2) super-resolved raster data of palaeoclimate, and (3) revised palaeovegetation zoning.