Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reconstructing lifetime nitrogen baselines and trophic position of Cynoscion acoupa from δ15N values of amino acids in otoliths

: Habitat connectivity and trophic shifts during the lifetime of an individual fish are important determinants of fish population growth and persistence, yet remain little understood for many species. We investigated whether insights into individual lifetime migration, trophic position (TP) and environ mental nitrogen dynamics could be achieved using compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis of oto lith proteinogenic amino acids (AAs). By comparing acoupa weakfish Cynoscion acoupa otoliths and muscle tissue from the monsoonal Amazon area in Pará with otoliths from semi-arid Rio Grande do Norte (RGN), Brazil, this study illustrates estuarine to coastal shelf habitat use and trophic ecology during juvenile and adult stage growth. Muscle tissue and otoliths gave comparable TPs for both life stages, while weighted mean δ 15 N values of all source AAs differed between tissues. These differences reflected large seasonal and spatial changes in nitrogen biogeochemical cycles and anthropogenic nitrogen influences from the Amazon River onto the coastal shelf of Pará. AA δ 15 N values of fish otoliths from the Pará region indicated changes in TP and sources of nitrogen between life stages, whereas analysis of fish otoliths from the RGN region indicated similarities in individual TP and sources of nitrogen through ontogeny. However, in both areas, individual adult TP ranged between 3 and 4, whereas juvenile TP remained around 2.8 to 3.0 in Pará and RGN, respectively. Since otoliths preserve a record of baseline δ 15 N values over the lifetime of individual fish it may be possible to infer migration and TP across pre historic ecosystems from AA isotopic analysis of an cient otoliths. In the juvenile stage Cynoscion acoupa individuals have similar trophic ecologies, while in the adult stage different feeding strategies are employed.
Prostephanus truncatus IN AFRICA: A REVIEW OF BIOLOGICAL TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES ON FUTURE PEST MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

The pest status of the Larger grain borer, Prostephanus truncatus (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), is higher in African countries than in Latin America, its region of origin. This pest reduces the storage period of maize grain and cassava chips in granaries of small scale farmers. This reduced storage period results from larval and adult feeding, with consequent shortening of the period these commodities are available for food and income generating sources. Depending on storage time, yield losses of up to 45 and 100% have been recorded for maize and cassava chips, respectively, in West Africa; while 62% yield losses have been reported in Mozambique. Since P. truncatus invaded Africa from approximately 1970, research mostly addressed its biology, ecology, dispersal and control methods. This review paper aims at evaluating P. truncatus pest status in Africa as a basis for designing pragmatic strategies for its control. Prostephanus truncatus pest status in Africa is high and the degree of infestation and damage vary between regions. The variation in pest status is due to climatic conditions, food sources, and degree of storage infra-structure development and efficacy of control methods. Prostephanus truncatus has established in 20 African countries. Its temporal and spatial dispersion is unpredictable and depends on ecological factors, maize and dry cassava trade routes, and availability of forest host plants. Development of sustainable integrated management strategies is a key to future successful management of this pest. Area-wide management strategies using the predator, Teretrius nigrescens , parasitoids, plant derived products and environmentally friendly insecticides is needed. Integrated management practices must be based on improved knowledge of P. truncatus population dynamics and its determining factors. Key Words : Integrated pest management, maize, Mozambique
Influence of some Alternative Nitrogen Sources and Regimes on Two Salad Cabbage Cultivars

Two-year trials were carried out on two salad cabbage cultivars (Glob Master (green white) and Ruby Perfection (red)) in new reclaimed sandy soil, to investigate the effect of three nitrogen fertilizer regimes (14, 17.5 and 21 g N/ m ) and three nitrogen sources (ammonium sulphates 2 "21.5% N', ammonium nitrate "33.5% N " and urea "46.5% N"), on vegetative growth, productivity, head quality parameters and nitrate accumulation. The results proved that cabbage heads of plants received ammonium sulphate treatments accumulated the lowest nitrate contents compared to the other nitrogen sources. The best results of productivity head weight were obtained with the medium levels of ammonium sulphate application with preference of the medium level as for low nitrate accumulation. Ammonium nitrate ranked the second nitrogen source, while urea was the latest one. The medium nitrogen fertilization level (17.5 g N/ m ) seemed to be the optimum regime for cabbage 2 under new reclaimed sandy soil condition.
From Cyrus to Abbas: staging Persia in Early Modern England

This thesis considers the different ways Persia was perceived in early modern England. Persia, understudied in recent scholarship, played an important role in the early modern English imagination, both as a classical civilization and as a counterweight to the Ottoman threat to Christendom. This classical heritage and anti-Ottomanism, when intersected with a Persian Muslim identity, resulted in a complex phenomenon. This thesis is an attempt to understand the various cross currents that constructed this complex image. Chapter One discusses English interest in classical Persian themes in the wake of Renaissance humanism. It focuses on three classical ‘Persian’ plays featuring Achaemenid Kings; Cambyses, Darius and Cyrus, and investigates how classical Persia became a focus of interest for Elizabethan playwrights. Chapter Two moves to the wars between the Ottomans and Safavids and how they fascinated many English writers of the time. Paying specific attention to Usumcasane in Marlowe’s Tambulaine plays, the chapter suggests the significance of Persian references in the play and offers a new interpretation of the notorious Qur’an burning scene. Chapter Three analyses John Thomas Minadoi’s Historie of Warres betweene the Turkes and the Persians and shows the significance of Christian knowledge of schism in Islam for Catholic-Protestant debates. Chapter Four concentrates on the representation of Persia in Romance texts from late Elizabethan England and shows that despite being hailed as an anti-Ottoman power, Persia’s anti-Christian Islamic identity, which was also suggested by Minadoi, becomes manifest in the alliance of ‘Sultan’ and ‘Sophy’ against the Crusaders. Chapter Five combines two crucial moments in Anglo-Persian encounters: Jenkinson’s trading mission and the ‘travailes” of the Sherley brothers. Through an analysis of the play The Travailes of the Three English Brothers, the argument of the chapter is that it represents the cumulative experience of Englishmen in Persia in the early modern period.
Some evidence of environmental reporting by Shari'ah compliant companies in Malaysia

Our study examines environmental disclosure practices of SharEcah approved companies. The study investigates the extent SharEcah approved companies report on the environment and compares this with non-SharEcah approved companies. We also examine four variables that may influence the level of environmental disclosure in SharEcah approved companies: size, number of Muslim directors, impact the activities of the company has on the environment (environmental sensitivity) and profitability of the company. Results provide some evidence that SharEcah approved companies have a higher level of environmental disclosure. Further, size and environmental sensitivity, unlike profitability, do not affect the level of environmental disclosure of SharEcah approved companies. These findings are inconsistent with the results of prior studies (Berthelot et al., 2003; Deegan and Gordon, 1996). The study makes an important contribution to the literature as there is a paucity of research which examines the influence of religion, in general, and Islam, in particular, on the extent of environmental disclosure.
Successor’s satisfaction on business succession process

Purpose of the article Post succession performance of family owned businesses has become ineffective. Literature specifies that inter-generational succession is the prime cause for succession failures. Due to this, current family owned businesses focus attention on finding alternative, profitable succession modes. The foremost purpose of this research was to compare performances of family and non-family successors. Methodology/methods The study comprises two stages: Exploratory study was used to develop the conceptual framework and hypotheses, and also formal study was used. Sample units were selected through simple random sampling. The data collection modes were a mail survey and in-depth discussions. Scientific aim of the study is to compare family member successors with unrelated manager successors based on the successors’ initial satisfaction with the business succession process. Findings According to study findings, not all successors are completely satisfied with the business succession process. Unrelated manager successors have higher satisfaction the family member successors, but neither group exceeds the moderate level. All successors recorded lower performance than the incumbent but unrelated manager successors had better results the family member successors in both indicators Conclusions If family members are not available or unprepared for business succession, unrelated manager successors are a viable alternative.
Prediction properties of optimum response surface designs

Prediction capability is considered an important issue in response surface methodology. Following the line of argument that a design should have several desirable properties we have extended an existing compound design criterion to include prediction properties. Prediction of responses and of differences in response are considered. Point and interval predictions are allowed for. Extensions of existing graphical tools for inspecting prediction performances of the designs in the whole region of experimentation are also introduced. The methods are illustrated with two examples.
OPTIMALITY CONDITIONS FOR NONLINEAR PROGRAMMING WITH GENERALIZED LOCALLY ARCWISE CONNECTED FUNCTIONS

ј = 1,. , n}. Throughout the paper, the following conventions for vectors in R n will be followed: x > y if and only if i x > i y , i =1, . , n, x ≥ y if and only if i x ≥ i y , i = 1,. , n, x ≥ y if and only if i x ≥ i y , i = 1,. , n, but x ≠ y . Throughout the paper, all definitions and theorems are numbered consecutively in a single numeration system in each section. Let 0 X ⊆ R n be a nonempty and compact subset of R n .
Nutritional Composition and Stabilization of Local Variety Rice Bran BRRI-28

Rice bran is a valuable by-product of the rice milling industry, a good natural source of many vital nutrients but has some limitations in food application. It is highly susceptible to rancidity caused by the inherent enzyme lipase and there is an unfounded fear that the rice bran may contain silica in an amount and make it unsuitable for human consumption. In the present investigation, cold treatment was used to extend the shelf life of local variety parboiled rice bran and was also directed to assess the nutritional composition and silica content. The rancidity in term of free fatty acid (FFA) was less increased 0.104 to 0.74 % (7 fold) in cold treated parboiled rice bran than untreated rice bran 0.104 to 2.90 % (28 fold) at the end of 3 months of storage period. The silica content was ranged from 0.34-0.71 % in different fractions of rice bran samples. The nutritional composition of the stabilized rice bran was analyzed that contained 6.54-9.48 % moisture, 7.24-10.63 % ash, 12.26-14.01% proteins, 23.53-27.86 % fats, 2.5-10.10 % fiber, 42.19-45.74 % carbohydrate and 456.54486. 00 Kcal/100g energy. The different fractions of rice bran contained 8 - 14 mg/100 g of Fe, 425 – 940 mg /100 g of Mg, 4.65 – 6.68 mg /100 g of Zn and 35 – 62 mg/ 100 g of Ca. The vitamin B1 (Thiamin), B3 (Niacin) and B6 (Pyridoxine) content ranged from 14 – 24, 275 – 430 and 25 – 42 ppm respectively in different fractions of rice bran. Results indicated that cold treatment might effectively improve the self life of rice bran that contained a good amount of vital nutrients for health benefit and is useful in many food applications such as food supplement and edible oil extraction.
Mangrove rhizosphere soils: a unique natural source of pravastatin-producing Penicillium microfungi

The pravastatin-producing potential of rhizosphere soil microorganisms from mangrove forests has not been investigated in detail. In this study, a total of 20 Penicillium isolates were tested for pravastatin production. Six strains were able to synthesize pravastatin directly. Among these, the isolate Penicillium sp. ESF19M was the most active pravastatin producer with a yield of 28.43 mg/L. Molecular identification of this strain showed the highest homology with Penicillium citrinum.
A century of innovation in the Dutch construction industry

In recent years, the number of publications on innovation in the construction industry has increased. Many of these documents address qualitative issues, e.g. policies for innovation and present case studies. A more quantitative approach is taken in this paper, which is the continuation of a previous study. It focuses on main types and sources of innovation in the construction industry, and includes an analysis of 55 years of publications in two leading Dutch professional journals. The results show a recent increase in innovation, with two‐thirds of innovations coming out of supplying industries. Construction companies contribute mainly in process innovations. Innovation in construction remains to be technology‐ rather than market‐driven. Regulations have a surprising impact, as over one‐third of all counted new innovations are related to new regulations.
Permeability and Thermodiffusion Effect in a Porous Cavity Filled with Hydrocarbon Fluid Mixtures

This paper investigates numerically the in- teraction between thermodiffusion and buoyancy driven convection in a laterally heated vertical porous cavity for different values of the permeability. The Firooz- abadi model is applied to several binary hydrocarbon mixtures: (i) a mixture of 1,2,3,4 tetrahydronaphtalene (THN) and dodecane (C12) with mass fraction of 50% for each component, (ii) 1,2,3,4 tetrahydronaphtalene and isobutylbenzene (IBB) with mass fraction of 50% for each component, and (iii) isobutylbenzene and do- decane with mass fraction of 50% for each component. The thermal and molecular diffusion coefficients, which are functions of the temperature and other properties of the mixture, are calculated at each point of the grid. Nu- merical results reveal that when the permeability is low the thermodiffusion effect is dominant in the composi- tion separation process. As the permeability increases the thermodiffusion effect and buoyancy-driven convec- tion combine their actions to enhance the composition separation process. As the permeability increases fur- ther the buoyancy-driven convection becomes dominant in thecavity and becomes detrimentalto separationin the cavity.
The emergence of primary strategies in evolving virtual-plant populations

A common practice by those searching for generalities in ecological systems has been to form species groups according to similarities in their suites of traits (termed a ‘strategy’). Field and theoretical studies have strongly suggested that resource availability and disturbance frequency have played primary selective roles in the evolution of species traits that has resulted in the existence of a predictable pattern of strategy variation within a resource–disturbance parameter space. We investigated whether this recognizable pattern (of strategy variation) would emerge if model plant populations evolved in environments contrasting in nitrogen availability and disturbance frequency alone. To address this, a mutable single plant model was developed that incorporated 29 mutable parameters controlling plant life history, physiological and morphological traits. Populations of these were ‘grown’ in a spatially explicit model environment that allowed mechanistic competition for light and nitrogen and long-term, multi-generational simulations. The strategies that evolved showed a pattern of variation that strongly conformed to plant strategy theory. Our model provides strong supporting evidence that resource availability and disturbance frequency can act as primary selective forces in plant evolution, resulting in the existence of predictable, environmentally correlated suites of traits. However, several plant traits did not evolve as predicted by field evidence and the reasons for this are discussed.
Mastitis in the dairy herd at Taman PertanianUniversiti Putra Malaysia

This study investigated mastitis in the dairy herd at Taman Pertanian Universiti Putra Malaysia (TPU). Questionnaire was used to describe the farm performance and management. Nineteen lactating cows and 150 quarters were tested by clinical examination, the California Mastitis Test (CMT) and bacteriological culture to estimate the incidence and prevalence of mastitis. Relationship between subclinical mastitis and some risk factors were evaluated. Prevalence of the aetiologic agents and their antibiotic sensitivities were also determined. Some management deficiencies were identified. No clinical mastitis observed. The incidence risk of subclinical mastitis based on CMT was 8 cases in 100 cows and 6 cases in 100 quarters, in a 2-week period. The period prevalence of subclinical mastitis by CMT was 68% (cows) and 48% (quarters), and from culture, 100% cows and 91% quarters. Staphylococcus hyicus (68%) was predominant followed by Staphylococcus aureus (32%). Prevalence of subclinical mastitis by CMT or culture was significantly associated with positive CMT, position of quarters, and stage of lactation. Antibiotics sensitivity and resistance of the isolates were identified. In conclusion, the prevalence of mastitis in the dairy herd at TPU was high. Hence, the results of this study would be useful for the prevention and control programme for mastitis in this herd.
The Cholinergic System in Relation to Osteoarthritis

The cholinergic system is of interest for the synovial tissue of joints and for arthritic processes, including in osteoarthritis (OA). One aspect is that stimulation via the vagal nerve leads to hampering of arthritic processes. Another is that there is evidence of local acetylcholine (ACh) production within the synovial tissue of human joints, including joints in OA and rheumatoid arthritis. There is furthermore a marked presence of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor AChRα7 (α7nAChR) in the synovial tissue. Influences on this receptor are known to have antiinflammatory and healing effects. Overall, the concept of a ”cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway” has emerged for various parts of the body. That includes the situation in arthritis. This means that released ACh can have anti-inflammatory effects, in parallel with other favourable effects including wound-healing effects, implying that increased ACh effects might be of value in situations with arthritis. However, focus should further be made on the fact that there is not only evidence of ACh production but also ACh degradation within the synovial tissue. This is related to expressions of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Of interest in this respect is that reductions of AChE activity via use of AChE inhibitor drugs are used in other situations (e.g. Alzheimer ́s disease). The aspects concerning ACh production/degradation in the synovial tissue, the fact that vagal stimulation decreases arthritic processes and the known presence of the potent AChRα7 receptor in synovial tissue should be further considered concerning arthritis in the future. That includes the situation in OA.
The Impact of Positive vs. Negative Evidence on the Learning of Simple Past Tense by Elementary EFL Learners

This study aimed at investigating the effect of positive and negative evidence on the learning of simple past tense by Iranian EFL elementary learners. To this aim, two intact classes with a total of 60 elementary learners were selected randomly out of different classes in one of the branches of Kish language institute in Tehran. Then, a Key English Test (KET) was run to ensure that the participants were homogeneous in terms of their language proficiency. Moreover, to ensure the learners' homogeneity in terms of their grammar knowledge of the English past tense, a grammar test was developed and administered to the learners in both groups. Then, the participants in one group were exposed to recast which is one of the manifestations of negative evidence in line with Nicholas, Light brown and Spada (2001). As for the positive evidence, the participants in the other group were exposed to a large number of texts including the correct use of past tense in line with Schmitt (2002). To do so, the instructor applied different techniques to pave the way for learners' exposure to the correct forms of the past tense as extensively as possible. The results of statistical analysis indicated that positive evidence led to enhancement in terms of learning the simple past while providing the learners with the negative evidence did not contribute to a significant impact on the learning of simple past by the participants. Moreover, it was also revealed that the positive evidence group outperformed the negative evidence group on the grammar posttest.
The Relationship between Multiple Intelligences and Types of Errors in L2 Writing

The present study was an attempt to seek whether there is a traceable significant relationship between eight various forms of multiple intelligences and types of errors (interlingual and intralingual) in writing. Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT) presented by Gardner (1983) consists of eight intelligences, namely Linguistic, Logical/mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Bodily/kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist. The participants of the study were 30 intermediate students (15 males and 15 females) majoring in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Islamic Azad University of Marivan, Kurdistan, Iran. To achieve the aims of the study, a 56-item MIT questionnaire was given to the participants followed by a writing composition. The result revealed that there was no significant relationship between the learners’ MIs and their types of errors except in Linguistic Intelligence (LI).
The Effect of Group Identity on Distributive Choice: Social Preference or Heuristic?

Group identity can influence significantly people’s attitudes toward monetary allocations. In this paper we reassess the representation of group identity using social preference models. First, we show that the influence of group identity varies unsystematically across different types of mini-dictator’s games and cannot be described using a well-behaved preference function. Second, we demonstrate that the effect is not robust to slightly increasing the complexity of the task, suggesting that group identity is a framing effect that can be easily displaced by alternative decision heuristics.