Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Long-term survival in soil of seed of the invasive herbaceous plant
Heracleum mantegazzianum

Seed persistence in soil is an important ecological trait enabling a species to survive at a particular site. How long the seed persists depends on its physical and physiological characteristics as well as on biotic and abiotic environmental conditions. In alien species, the ability to develop a persistent seed bank is associated with their ability to naturalize and become invasive. We carried out an experiment to find out how long the seeds of Heracleum mantegazzianum, one of the most invasive monocarpic species in Europe, are able to persist in soil and explore the effect of environmental conditions on seed depletion over a long period of time. The seeds were buried at 10 localities in different regions of the Czech Republic to cover a range of climatic, edaphic and geographic conditions. After seven years of burial, 0.1% of the seed of H. mantegazzianum, averaged across the localities, were viable, and none survived at five localities, at one of which the seed bank was completely depleted after five years and at one already after two years. The highest recorded survival at the end of the burial period was 0.5% of seed. In general, the average seed-bank survival was very low after five years and never exceeded 1%. We found a significant correlation between the percentage seed bank depletion and the content of total carbon and organic carbon; the effects of other soil characteristics, climatic and geographical factors were not significant. High percentages of seed persisted after the first year at localities with a low carbon content but the percentage depletion after seven years was slower at localities with a high carbon content. In addition, low carbon content and high seed survival after the first year was recorded at localities with nutrient poor soils. The course of seed bank depletion in H. mantegazzianum corresponds to its classification as short-term persistent. Therefore, monitoring well beyond the reported period of seed bank persistence is recommended after full eradication of this species from a site.
The Relationship between English Language Teacher Perfectionism, Efficacy, and Burnout

The present study attempted to investigate the relationship between English language teacher perfectionism, teacher burnout, and teacher efficacy. For the purpose of the study, 114 teachers in Tabadkan District, Mashhad, were chosen. Eighty-Three of the participants were female and thirty-one were male with different majors in English language. Three questionnaires, namely the Scale on English Language Teacher Perfectionism (SELTP), Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Teacher Efficacy Scale, were used to collect data on the variables under investigation. The data were analyzed using correlational statistics and t test procedure. The obtained results indicated that there was a high positive correlation between perfectionism, teacher burnout, and efficacy, that female teachers were more efficacious than male ones, and that the magnitude of correlation coefficients was higher for the male participants.
The history of organized screening programs

Cervical cancer screening has been one of the most impactful human interventions in medical history, saving the lives of countless thousands of women since the introduction of organized cytology screening programs. Today, we stand at a crossroads in the fight against cervical cancer, with several countries actively engaged in introducing primary human papillomavirus (HPV) testing and vaccination as more effective means of prevention. This chapter discusses the history of organized screening and how this led to HPV test methods to detect cervical cancer. We go on to examine the technologies used to screen for high-risk HPV types and how they affect clinical performance. We examine the evidence for primary HPV screening and review recent self-collection initiatives to reach underserved women, including the use of urine as novel sample type. In addition, we critically examine the evolution of HPV test methods and make the case for the use of extended genotyping as an improved risk stratification tool for guiding clinical management. Finally, we look to the future of cervical cancer screening and consider options for future management programs.
The Edibility , Distribution and Damage Indices of Oryctes Monocerosoliv . [ Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae ] An Edible Larva of the Oil Palms [ Elaise Guineensis ] and Associated Microorganisms . 1

The edibility of Oryctesmonoceros in the Niger Delta states was established along with its methods of preparation. Its distribution showed that it flourished on Oil Palms of the States where palms are grown. Its distribution covers the whole of Niger Delta Ecological zone, Eastern and Kogi States. The damage indices of the pest in Oil Palms were also established. A microbiological assessment was done on the adult of the Oil Palm weevil, Oryctesmonoceros and this revealed the presence of some bacterial and fungal species. Studies on the larvae and piths were also done to determine the presence of bacteria in the larva, pith and adult Beetle . The pith had the highest bacterial count followed by the Internal of the larva[larva Internal], adult beetle internal (int),larva external (ext) and adult beetle external (ext). The fungal count followed the same sequential order. Total bacterial and fungal counts of the chitin of the adult beetle were 1.3×10 7 cfu/ml and 1.0×10 6 cfu/ml respectively. Four genera of bacteria and mouldswere observed respectively. Bacterial isolates identified included Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Proteus, Acinetobacter and Micrococcus species while the fungal species included Penicillium,Mucor,Fusarium and Aspergillusspecies.The implication of Staphylococcus aureus to public health is of great significance. Photograph of the edible insect is presented.
Modal Analysis of Linear Mesoscale Convective System in Fujian Heavy Rainstorm

This paper uses the daily precipitation observation data and Doppler weather radar observation data from 2017 observatories and regional automatic stations in Fujian, China from 2009 to 2015. The characteristics of formation mode, organization mode, moving direction and duration of linear mesoscale convective system during non-typhoon continuous rainstorm in Fujian were analyzed. This paper gives the definition of linear mesoscale convective systems, trailing and parallel mesoscale convective systems. The above characteristics of the linear mesoscale convective system during the continuous heavy rain in Fujian differ greatly from the non-sustained heavy rain process: The linear mesoscale convective system in the continuous heavy rain in Fujian is mainly constructed later, and the trailing and parallel mesoscale convective system is conducive to the occurrence of continuous heavy rain in Fujian. The moving direction of the linear mesoscale convective system and convective monomer is mainly in the east direction, and the system duration is mostly 4 - 10 hours. The formation time of the monomer to form a linear convection time is mainly 1 - 3 hours, which is 2 hours earlier than the organization process of the general linear mesoscale convective system. The linear convective system formed to a dead time of an average of 5 hours, slightly longer than the general linear mesoscale convective system.
Analogue forecasting of New Zealand climate anomalies

An analogue forecast scheme is described for multifield prediction of monthly and seasonal New Zealand climate anomalies on the basis of the methodology of Livezey and Barnston ( 1988 ) for US seasonal temperatures. The method is applied to predicting terciles of temperature and precipitation for six regions of New Zealand. Empirical orthogonal function analysis is used to reduce sea surface temperature and sea‐level pressure predictors down to a set of five independent indices, which incorporate variations due to El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean sea temperatures and a wave 3 pattern in the Southern Hemisphere westerlies. A full bootstrap cross‐validation procedure is carried out, along with Monte Carlo tests, to assess the skill of the method on independent data and to determine the significance of the results. Significant skill is found for seasonal temperature forecasts for the summer and winter seasons; there is less success in predicting monthly temperatures or rainfall at either timescale. Considerable care is required to constrain the climate state vector, from which analogues are defined, and to constrain the search procedure itself, in order to produce results that are stable with respect to small parameter changes in the model. For the New Zealand region, 5 to 7 is found to be the optimum number of ‘closest analogues’, and the inclusion of anti‐analogues improves the predictions, at least in the seasonal case. Skill in predicting regional temperature and rainfall is shown to be related to a combination of skill in predicting sea‐level pressure patterns and to how strongly these patterns project onto temperature and rainfall anomalies. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society.
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Development under Trade Liberalisation: A Survey of Nigerian Experience

This study reviews the policies implemented by the Nigerian government over the years to assist the development of manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria following the implementation of Trade liberalisation policy in 1986. The aim of the liberalise trade policy was to encourage competition and improve efficiency in the use of local resources; yet most Nigerian SMEs still find it difficult to compete and merely struggle to survive the liberalised economic environment in Nigeria. The result of the study of a sample of 500 manufacturing SMEs operating in Lagos State reveals that despite the laudable policies, the effects are not felt by most manufacturing SMEs due to improper planning and the absence of favourable investment climate necessary for these policies to be effective.
The Effect of CEO Option Compensation on the Capital Structure: A Natural Experiment

Firms simultaneously choose both their capital and their executive compensation structure. Using the Internal Revenue Code 162(m) tax law as an exogenous shock to compensation structure in a natural experiment setting, I identify firm leverage changes as a result of chief executive officer (CEO) option compensation changes. The evidence provides strong support for debt agency theory. Firms appear to decrease leverage when CEOs are paid with more options and when CEO options become a higher percentage of future cash flows. The findings are robust to controlling for corporate governance and convertible debt.
Egg and Sperm Quality of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell) Broodstock Fed Differently Heated Soybean-based Diets

The effects of feeding Clarias gariepinus broodstock with differently heated soybean-based diets on the egg and sperm quality was investigated. Four hundred and eighty male and female C. gariepinus (182.02 ± 10g for females and 208.27 ± 5g for males) were distributed in groups into hapa nets. Iso-nitrogenous (31% crude protein) and iso-caloric diets (3.34kcal g ) prepared from raw soybean (D0) and soybean autoclaved for -1 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 minutes labeled D0, D5, D10 D15, D20, D25 and D30, were fed to the fish for 84 days. The fishmeal-based diet (DFM) served as control. The broodfish fed the fishmeal-based diet and diet D25 had significantly higher (p 0.05). This study showed that diet D25 was found to be the best substitute for fishmeal that provided adequate nutrients required for the formation of virile genital products.
Comparative Assessment of Clients Satisfaction with Doctors Services in Teaching and Mission Hospitals in South East Nigeria

Satisfaction is the evaluation of clients’ on service or products and how it fulfills their needs and expectations [1-3]. Satisfaction with healthcare services is defined as the extent to which the patients seeking treatment experience positive perception of the care provided by the nursing or medical staff [4-6]. Patient satisfaction is defined here in terms of patients’ evaluations of what they experienced during their healthcare. It therefore reflects the gap between the expected service and the experience of the service, from the client’s point of view. Patients’ experiences are their direct, personal observations of their healthcare. Patients’ expectations have been defined as the anticipation that given events are likely to occur during, or as an outcome of, healthcare. In this way, what people expect to receive from their healthcare, compared with what they received in practice, are strongly important in influencing patients’ evaluations of their care (‘satisfaction’) [7]. It is often argued that a superfluity of perceived healthcare over anticipated or expected leads to increased satisfaction and in reverse, that unfulfilled expectations lead to increased dissatisfaction [7-9]. Ideally, patients who are satisfied with the care provided by the healthcare staff, are more likely to utilize health services in future and comply with the prescribed medical treatment to completion [8,9]. For patients to be more satisfied with treatment there is need to provide high quality healthcare which is viewed as safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patientcentered [10].
The Role of Chronic Stress in Anxious Depression

Depression is a heterogeneous disease with many different subtypes. Patients with the anxious depression—a common subtype of major depression—are at an increased risk for treatment-resistance to standard antidepressants, with resultant increases in morbidity. However, the underlying pathophysiology of anxious depression remains unknown. Without such knowledge, the development of targeted treatments towards this specific depression subtype will likely remain elusive. One method by which research into the neurobiology of anxious depression may prove fruitful is with the research domain criteria (RDoC). RDoC provides a framework for investigation into the underlying pathophysiology of mental illness. By studying disorders in terms of RDoC constructs—such as the sustained threat construct of the negative valence system—new insights may be gained into neurobiological mechanisms of disease. These mechanisms may be useful for the development of novel antidepressants that are based on specific brain targets. Specifically, we review the impact that sustained threat—or chronic stress—has on the eventual development of depression (especially anxious depression) through pathological changes to molecules, cells, neurocircuitry, physiology, and behavior.
The demand for auditor services in wholly family-owned private firms: the moderating role of generation

Former audit demand studies generally consider wholly family-owned private firms as a homogeneous group of firms that incur minimal agency costs. Family firm literature, however, argues that these firms might incur significant agency costs as well and we therefore examine audit demand in this particular type of firm. As we examine private family firms from the USA, which have no audit requirement, we broaden the concept of audit demand to the demand for auditor services, which encompasses audits, reviews and compilations. Consistent with former audit demand studies, we hypothesise a negative association between management ownership and the demand for auditor services, but only for first-generation private family firms. We hypothesise that this relation turns positive for subsequent generation private family firms due to entrenching behaviour caused by weakened altruistic feelings between the family shareholders. Our results support this hypothesis, but only regarding the demand for reviews and compilations. Therefore, our findings suggest that reviews and compilations seem to be sufficient and more cost-effective in this specific context to mitigate shareholder–manager agency costs compared to more expensive audits. Moreover, results suggest that the level of shareholder–debtholder agency costs do seem to be a driver for the demand for audits.
Wind bubbles within H II regions around slowly moving stars

Interstellar bubbles around O stars are driven by a combination of the star's wind and ionizing radiation output. The wind contribution is uncertain because the boundary between the wind and interstellar medium is difficult to observe. Mid-infrared observations (e.g., of the H II region RCW 120) show arcs of dust emission around O stars, contained well within the H II region bubble. These arcs could indicate the edge of an asymmetric stellar wind bubble, distorted by density gradients and/or stellar motion. We present two-dimensional, radiation-hydrodynamics simulations investigating the evolution of wind bubbles and H II regions around massive stars moving through a dense (n=3000 cm^{-3}), uniform medium with velocities ranging from 4 to 16 km/s. The H II region morphology is strongly affected by stellar motion, as expected, but the wind bubble is also very aspherical from birth, even for the lowest space velocity considered. Wind bubbles do not fill their H II regions (we find filling factors of 10-20%), at least for a main sequence star with mass M~30 Msun. Furthermore, even for supersonic velocities the wind bow shock does not significantly trap the ionization front. X-ray emission from the wind bubble is soft, faint, and comes mainly from the turbulent mixing layer between the wind bubble and the H II region. The wind bubble radiates <1 per cent of its energy in X-rays; it loses most of its energy by turbulent mixing with cooler photoionized gas. Comparison of the simulations with the H II region RCW 120 shows that its dynamical age is <=0.4 Myr and that stellar motion <=4 km/s is allowed, implying that the ionizing source is unlikely to be a runaway star but more likely formed in situ. The region's youth, and apparent isolation from other O or B stars, makes it very interesting for studies of massive star formation and of initial mass functions.
Does corruption inhibit foreign direct investment?

Globalization creates new opportunities for firms to invest abroad and many economies are making active efforts to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in order to promote economic growth. Decisions to invest abroad depend on a complex set of factors, but the least corrupt countries may attract more foreign direct investment because they provide a more favorable climate for investors. In this paper we investigate the impact of corruption on FDI inflows in 73 countries, over the period 1998-2008. Our results suggest that countries where corruption is lower, the FDI inflows are greater, and so controlling corruption may be an important strategy for increase FDI inflows.
Impact of Initial Soil Moisture Anomalies on Subsequent Precipitation over North America in the Coupled Land–Atmosphere Model CAM3–CLM3

Abstract To investigate the impact of anomalous soil moisture conditions on subsequent precipitation over North America, a series of numerical experiments is performed using a modified version of the Community Atmosphere Model version 3 and the Community Land Model version 3 (CAM3–CLM3). First, the mechanisms underlying the impact of spring and summer soil moisture on subsequent precipitation are examined based on simulations starting on 1 April and 1 June, respectively. How the response of precipitation to initial soil moisture anomalies depends on the characteristics of such anomalies, including the timing, magnitude, spatial coverage, and vertical depth, is then investigated. There are five main findings. First, the impact of spring soil moisture anomalies is not evident until early summer although their impact on the large-scale circulation results in slight changes in precipitation during spring. Second, precipitation increases with initial soil moisture almost linearly within a certain range of soil.
Measuring “addiction” in Europe: The diffusion of the Addiction Severity Index, and its purposes and functions

This paper discusses what an instrument like the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) offers to various actors in the diverse addiction treatment systems of Europe and what the use of the ASI means and implies at the treatment system level. It is concluded that the adoption of the ASI can be linked to a number of factors, including the demands for cost‐efficiency, scientific legitimacy of addiction treatment, professionalization, internationalism, and unification of a diverse system. Furthermore, it considers the specific choices embedded in the structure and content of the ASI—how the use of the ASI structures the user's view of the situation and life‐trajectory of the individual client. Features such as the length of the interview, the time frames of the question, the exclusion of measures of dependence and alcohol‐/drug‐attributable problems and the inclusion of client's rating, are discussed. It is concluded that the opinions about the usefulness of the ASI in Europe vary. For the future of measurement of alcohol and drug problems in Europe, for system monitoring and international comparisons, shorter instruments seem to be the likely path forward. The article draws to a large extent on the papers presented at a conference, “Measuring ‘addiction’ in Europe: clinical, sociological, cultural and policy aspects of Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and other international instruments”, at Skarpö, Sweden, in January 2003.
Evaluation of the prognostic role of androgen receptor positivity in breast cancer

Aim: Estrogen Receptors (ER) and Progesterone Receptors (PR) are known to play a role in breast cancer as both predictive and prognostic markers. However, the influence of Androgen Receptors (AR), a member of the steroid receptor family, remains controversial. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between Androgen Receptors (AR) expression and the prognostic factors of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Pathologic specimens of 100 breast cancer patients were stained with an Androgen Receptors (AR) immunohistochemical stain, and the nuclear staining was positive. The intensity and distribution scores of the stainings were summed, and then the total score was calculated. A total score from 0-1 was accepted as negative, while an overall score of 2 and above was positive. The obtained data were evaluated with Chi-square and descriptive statistical methods. A survival analysis was carried out using a Kaplan-Meier test. Findings: The median age of patients was 53 years (range: 17-92 years). Androgen Receptor (AR) positivity was present in 66 (66%) of participants. There were statistically significant relationships between Androgen Receptor (AR) positivity and tumour type (p=0.012), grade (p 0.05). Conclusion: Androgen receptor may be a good prognostic factor because of its association with lowgrade breast cancer), estrogen receptor positivity, progesterone receptor positivity, and low Ki-67 Index values. However, this finding will need to be confirmed by large cohort studies.
In-fiber polarizer based on a 45-degree tilted fluoride fiber Bragg grating for mid-infrared fiber laser technology

We report the direct femtosecond laser inscription of a 45◦ tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) into fluoride fiber, creating an in-fiber mid-infrared polarizer. Utilizing a 16 mm long intracavity TFBG, we demonstrate a 2.862 μm Ho3+Pr3+:ZBLAN fiber laser with 21.6 dB output polarization extinction ratio (PER), up to 0.37 W output power and 31.3% slope efficiency. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate that the laser PER is a linear function of grating length. Our results show that fluoride TFBGs are a promising route to replace bulk polarizers in mid-IR laser cavities, paving the way to all-fiber mid-infrared laser systems. © 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement