Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spectroscopic study of the elusive globular cluster ESO452-SC11 and its surroundings

Globular clusters (GCs) are amongst the oldest objects in the Galaxy and play a pivotal role in deciphering its early history. We present the first spectroscopic study of the GC ESO452-SC11 using the AAOmega spectrograph at medium resolution. Given the sparsity of this object and high degree of foreground contamination due to its location toward the bulge, few details are known for this cluster: there is no consensus of its age, metallicity, or its association with the disk or bulge. We identify 5 members based on radial velocity, metallicity, and position within the GC. Using spectral synthesis, accurate abundances of Fe and several $\alpha$-, Fe-peak, neutron-capture elements (Si,Ca,Ti,Cr,Co,Ni,Sr,Eu) were measured. Two of the 5 cluster candidates are likely non-members, as they have deviant Fe abundances and [$\alpha$/Fe] ratios. The mean radial velocity is 19$\pm$2 km s$^{-1}$ with a low dispersion of 2.8$\pm$3.4 km s$^{-1}$, in line with its low mass. The mean Fe-abundance from spectral fitting is $-0.88\pm0.03$, with a spread driven by observational errors. The $\alpha$-elements of the GC candidates are marginally lower than expected for the bulge at similar metallicities. As spectra of hundreds of stars were collected in a 2 degree field around ESO452-SC11, detailed abundances in the surrounding field were measured. Most non-members have higher [$\alpha$/Fe] ratios, typical of the nearby bulge population. Stars with measured Fe-peak abundances show a large scatter around Solar values, though with large uncertainties. Our study provides the first systematic measurement of Sr in a Galactic bulge GC. The Eu and Sr abundances of the GC candidates are consistent with a disk or bulge association. Our calculations place ESO452 on an elliptical orbit in the central 3 kpc of the bulge. We find no evidence of extratidal stars in our data. (Abridged)
Agronomic performance of transgenic and isogenic corn hybrids in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul

Theoretically, isogenic hybrids should not present any differences in their genetic makeup due to recombinant DNA technology. However, these materials may behave differently in relation to adaptability and stability. This study aimed at evaluating the agronomic performance of transgenic corn and their isogenic hybrids in two locations in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Three isogenic simple hybrids and two transgenic varieties of each hybrid were evaluated. The first and second corn crop of 2013/14 were simultaneously analyzed in Dourados and Caarapo, two locations in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, totaling four environments x season conditions that were evaluated. A randomized complete block design with three replicates per location was used, and the treatments were arranged in a 3 × 3 factorial design (three genetically modified and three conventional hybrids), with three replicates per site. Characteristics such as plant height, ear height, male flowers, female flowers, and grain yield were evaluated. The parameters adaptability and stability were estimated using the Eberhart and Russell model. In all environments, transgenic hybrids showed higher average grain yield. Considering the environments, AG 7000, a conventional isogenic hybrid, obtained the highest average grain yield. The most stable and productive hybrids were DKB 390 VT PRO and AG 7000 YG, both transgenic. All assessed hybrids exhibited greater average plant height, ear height, and grain yield in Caarapo during the second corn crop, demonstrating that the environment at that site and time was more favorable.
Strengthening of Hollow Square Sections under Compression Using FRP Composites

The feasibility study on carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) fabrics in axial strengthening of hollow square sections (HSS) was investigated in this paper. CFRP was used as strips form with other parameters such as the number of layers and spacing of strips. Experimental results revealed that the external bonding of normal modulus CFRP strips significantly enhanced the load carrying capacity and stiffness of the hollow sections and also reduced the axial shortening of columns by providing external confinement against the elastic deformation. The increase in the CFRP strips thickness effectively delayed the local buckling of the above members and led to the inward buckling rather than outward one. Finally, three-dimensional nonlinear finite element modeling of CFRP strengthened hollow square sectionswas created by using ANSYS 12.0 to validate the results and the numerical results such as failure modes and load deformation behaviour fairly agreed with the experimental results.
A Comparison of Pre-European Settlement and Present-Day Forests in Delta County, Michigan

General Land Office (GLO) survey records from 1841–1853 were compared with data collected in 1991–1992 from Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) plots to quantify changes in forest species composition in Delta County, northern Michigan. Northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.) was the most common species in 1841–1853 and 1991–1992. It made up 25% of the trees measured in the GLO survey and 27% of the trees measured in the FIA plots. Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. ), tamarack (Larix laricina (Du Roi) K. Koch), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton) were frequently recorded in pre-European settlement forests, but are much less common in present-day forests. They were replaced as abundant species in the contemporary landscape by aspen (Populus spp.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill. ). The changes observed in species composition most likely resulted from alteration in the type, frequency, and severity of disturbance. As this region became settled by people of European descent, logging, slash fires, and land clearing replaced wind and wildfire as the predominant disturbance regimes. These newer disturbances favored the establishment of early-successional species adapted to frequently disturbed conditions. Human influences also increased the white-tailed deer population, decreased the number of seed sources of some commercially valuable tree species, and suppressed forest fires, all of which contributed to changes in species composition.
The Discourse of Control: Disruption and Foucault in an Early Childhood Classroom

Disruption can be a result of a wide array of circumstances, but is commonly identified as a ‘control problem’ in early childhood classrooms. In this article, the author argues that the recognition of disruption as a ‘control problem’ is embedded in and governed by the social power and values entrenched in teaching discourses. Classroom practices draw strongly on the discourse of educational psychology and utilise its power and immanent knowledge to ‘discipline’ early childhood agents through classroom practices. These early childhood practitioners then become both an object and a subject of this knowledge. This article problematises particular discourses used in a metropolitan West Australian pre-primary classroom and aims to find alternative avenues to view disruption. To aid this search, the multiple meanings of ‘discipline’ in connection to behaviour management, learning and pedagogy are explored.
Does Poor Access to Rural Credit Constrain Smallholder Cash Crop Production Participation? Evidence from Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia

Agriculture sector continues to lead Ethiopia’s economy as modernizing the sector necessitates linking smallholder farmers with markets. Promoting cash crop production is one avenue of such strategies. However, constrained by a number of factors, smallholder farmers are not actively participating in such crops in many parts of the country such as in Wolaita Zone. This study was designed to empirically analyze the impact of credit constraints on smallholder’s cash crop production participation. Primary data was used and logit model was employed to analyze the issue. The study result indicates that, access to credit is one among the significant factors in influencing farmers’ decision to produce ginger in the study area. Improving rural credit access can be taken as an important strategy to promote increased and sustainable ginger production in the study area as one venue to improve smallholder market participation in the zone. Keywords : Cash Crop, Access to credit, Ginger, Smallholder Commercialization, Wolaita Zone.
Effect of 12 weeks aerobic exercise on coronary heart diseases' markers of inflammation in middle-aged women

Introduction: This study aims at analyzing the effect of 12 weeks physical exercise (30 minutes for three days a week: 70-85% of the maximum heart rate) on variations of inflammation markers in middle-aged women's Coronary Heart diseases (CHDs). Methods: In this study a total of 40 subjects including 40-55 years old women were selected purposively and were divided into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group members were asked to follow a certain physical exercise program including 12 weeks physical exercise (30 minutes, three days a week with 70-85% of maximum heart rate using a treadmill); whereas subjects in the control group were asked to follow their normal lifestyle and do not change their activities and food habits. Levels of factors that can affect coronary heart risks including fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), and white blood cells (WBCs) were measured before and after exercises. Independent and paired t-tests were used to analyze data. Results: The results of this study indicated a significant decrease in fibrinogen, CRP, and WBC levels after 12 weeks physical exercise in the experimental group (P≤0.05); whereas no significant change was seen in the control group (P>0.05). Conclusion: Regarding the results of this study we can conclude that performing physical exercise (30 minutes, three days a week with 70-85% of maximum heart rate) can play an effective role in reducing risk factors of coronary heart disease (CHD) and hence in preventing coronary heart disease in 40-55 years old women with the similar properties of patients examined in this study.
The long-term administration of a clinoptilolite-supplemented feed to layers and its effect on performance, haematological parameters and metabolic profile

selected layers (Bovans Goldline hybrid) aged 19 weeks with an average weight of 1 (P ≤ 0.01), and MCHC ( P ≤ 0.05), which were elevated in the experimental group, and in the leukocyte count (P ≤ 0.05), which was lower in the experimental group, as compared with the control. However, the values found varied within physiological ranges.
Impacts of calcium and phosphorus concentration, their ratio, and phytase supplementation level on growth performance, foot pad lesions, and hock burn of broiler chickens

Abstract Concerns about the environment, nutrition, and farm profits all point to the increasing importance of the phosphorus (P) content of a diet. Animals must now be fed near their P requirements. However, it is very difficult to know the exact P requirements of broilers. The objective of this study was to provide efficacy data of a 6-phytase for use in broilers at different Ca levels and Ca/P ratios. Broilers were randomly assigned to 6 treatments, each with 6 replicates. The treatments comprised diets differing in Ca and P level: 1) normal Ca and total normal phosphorus (Pt) level, 2) normal Ca and low Pt level, 3) low Ca and Pt level, and differing in phytase level (no, normal or high phytase supplementation). During the entire study, lowest BW was obtained when broilers were given the imbalanced (normal Ca and low Pt level) diet with low phytase supplementation. Among the balanced dietary treatments no significant effects on performance were observed. A higher Ca/Pt ratio decreased feed intake, whereas addition of phytase increased feed intake. For the starter period, the most favorable feed conversion was obtained when broilers were fed the imbalanced diet with a high dosage of phytase or the low Ca, low Pt diet supplemented with phytase. For the grower and finisher period, broilers with the highest weight gain had the highest feed intake resulting in comparable feed conversions between treatments. Litter quality was not affected by dietary treatments but prevalence of foot pad lesions and hock burn was significantly influenced by treatments. The highest percentage of both was seen when broilers were given the imbalanced diets. The overall results of this study emphasises the relevance of the Ca/P ratio in modern broiler feeding and P studies. It can be concluded from this study that dietary Ca and P concentrations can be reduced by 20% if done in a balanced way. If done in combination with phytase supplementation, performance results improve even more.
Aesthetics of diaspora: Contemporary minstrels in Turkish Berlin

The process of identity formation of the Turkish hip-hop youth in Berlin is a constant negotiation between past and future, 'roots' and 'routes', local and global, home and diaspora. German-Turkish youth in general are socially conscious and critical of the increasing discrimination, segregation, exclusion and racism in society. These new syncretic forms of expressive minority youth cultures expose a social movement of urban youth that already has a distinct political ideology. Some of the Turkish rappers in Berlin take a significant position within these new social movements as the spokespeople (contemporary minstrels and/or storytellers) of their communities. These rap groups have eventually played a vital role in developing an anti-racist struggle by communicating information, organising the collective consciousness and testing out, deploying, or amplifying the forms of subjectivity within the Turkish diaspora. Accordingly, this article attempts to explore the forms of expressive culture which the Berlin-Turkish hip-hop youths have constructed as a reaction to the structural outsiderism and exclusion, and demonstrates their construction of a double diasporic cultural identity.
76 Performance Comparison of New ( Dendrimer , Nanoproduct ) and Conventional Water , Oil and Stain Repellents

*Erciyes University Department of Textile Engineering, Kayseri/Turkey Abstract In this study, novel water, oil and stain repellent chemicals such as polymeric dendrimer containing fluorocarbon, nano sized fluorocarbon polymer, nano-silica acid and conventional agents such as paraffin emulsion containing zirconium salt and conventional FC (micro emulsion) compound were applied to cotton fabrics. After treatments, the water, oil and stain repellency, air permeability and water vapour permeability of all the fabrics treated were tested, and the effect of the chemical concentration, performance and washing resistance of all the chemicals were compared. In general, the water, oil and stain repellency results showed that new chemicals such as polymeric dendrimer containing FC and FC nanomolecules had better results than conventional ones in terms of performance and washing resistance. The performance of all the chemicals increased with a rise in chemical concentration. The air and water vapour permeability of all the fabrics treated were not negatively affected. FTIR analyses of the fabrics treated were also carried out.
Effects of mentoring and feedback on the cognitive task performance of Nigerian undergraduate students

This study examines whether the strategies of mentoring and feedback enhanced the cognitive task performance of students in a university faculty. The sex of the respondents was a significant control variable, suggesting that it is an important factor to be considered. The findings reveal that type of mentoring (formal and informal) as well as feedback (positive, negative, no-feedback) results in comparable levels of cognitive task performance. Also, the results reveal a significant interaction effect of mentoring and feedback on cognitive task performance, laying a foundation for the theory that feedback and mentoring interface. The practical implications of findings are discussed.
Adsorption of Phenol and Chromium (VI) Pollutants in Wastewater using Exfoliated Graphite

Phenol and Cr(VI) are two of the most common organic and heavy metal-based pollutants found in industrial effluents. Both pollutants pose considerable health risks if left untreated. Activated carbon adsorption is generally used for the physical removal of these types of pollutants during wastewater treatment. This work investigates the use of thermally exfoliated graphite as an alternative adsorbent material for the removal of phenol and Cr(VI) in wastewater. The well-developed surface pore structure and high adsorption capacities reported in literature make this material an ideal candidate for investigation. The effectiveness of the exfoliation process was characterised using x-ray diffraction whilst the particle morphology, surface structure and adsorption surface area were determined using scanning electron microscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area measurements. Upon expansion, the particle morphology of expandable graphite changed from flakes to worm-like, accordion structures. This change was accompanied by an increase in BET surface area from 2.4 to 22.4 g/m2. Batch experiments using simulated wastewater revealed that expandable graphite had negligible adsorption affinity towards both pollutants. However, exfoliated graphite had adsorption capacities of 0.73 mg/g and 0.55 mg/g for Cr(VI) and phenol. The equilibrium adsorption isotherms for both pollutants were best described by the Langmuir adsorption model and had adsorption constants of 0.84 and 0.32 L/mg for the two pollutants. The adsorption capacities obtained were much lower than those reported for the same pollutants when using activated carbon as an adsorbent. This is most likely due to the high BET surface areas recorded for activated carbon. Additional modification of the exfoliated graphite is required before satisfactory adsorption capacities can be achieved for large-scale wastewater treatment applications.
Power-law frequency distribution of H/V spectral ratio of seismic signals: Evidence for a critical crust

We analyse records from several seismic stations in Central Italy (including some with multiple recording sites) for the statistical properties of spectra of both noise and earthquake signals. The main result is that the power-law scaling of most of the spectral H/V ratio statistical distributions leads to a so-called heavy tail. This is interpreted as a statistical distribution with a fractal dimension of about 2, which is almost certainly caused by a porous percolating medium beneath the stations due to some universal property of the crustal rocks crossed by the elastic waves propagation suggesting that the uppermost crust is in a critical state.
INVITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIOXIDANT, ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTICANCER ACTIVITIES AND CHARACTERISATION OF BRASSICA OLERACEA. VAR. BORTRYTIS. L SYNTHESIZED SILVER NANOPARTICLES

Objective: Vegetable mediated synthesis of nanoparticles is a green chemistry approach that links Nanotechnology and Biotechnology. The present study is focussed on the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using aqueous fresh Cauliflower floret extract and to investigate the free radical scavenging potential, antimicrobial activity of the nanoparticles against different human pathogens and its cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Methods: It was found that aqueous silver ions when treated with aqueous extract of fresh Cauliflower floret are reduced in solution there by leading to the formation of silver nanoparticles under optimum conditions at pH 6. The formation of silver nanoparticles was indicated by the colour change from colourless to reddish brown. Biosynthesized nanoparticles was characterised using several techniques, viz- UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR, XRD, TEM, SEM and EDAX analysis. The free radical scavenging potential was measured by DPPH assay, antimicrobial activity against four microorganisms was tested using disc diffusion method and cytotoxcity of the nanoparticles was determined against MCF-7 cell line at different concentrations by MTT assay. Results: Water soluble antioxidant constituents present in the Cauliflower floret extract were mainly responsible for the reduction of silver ions to nanosized Ag particles. UV-Vis spectral analysis showed silver Surface Plasmon Resonance band at 425nm. The presence of active proteins and phenolic groups present in the biomass before and after reduction was identified by FT-IR. The presence of elemental silver was characterised by EDS. The crystalline morphology and size of the nanoparticles were determined by TEM, SEM, and X-ray diffraction studies which showed the average size of the nanoparticles in the range 40 –50nm, as well as revealed their FCC structure. The biologically synthesized nanoparticles efficiently inhibited pathogenic organisms such as Klebsiella Pneumonia, Staphylococcus Saprophyticus and E. Coli. The biosynthesized nanoparticles might serve as a potent antioxidant as revealed by DPPH assay. Further these nanoparticles efficiently showed reduced viability and increased cytotoxicity on MCF-7 breast cancer cell line in a dose dependent manner. Conclusion: The present investigation revealed that the fresh aqueous Cauliflower floret extract are capable of producing silver nanoparticles extra cellularly through green synthesis and the reduction process was proved to be good, competent, convenient, easy to handle and considered ecofriendly as an alternative route to physical and chemical methods. The biosynthesized nanoparticles are quite stable in aqueous solution for a month without any sign of precipitation.
First-mover Advantage Revisited: A Systematic Review and Directions for Future Research

The relationship between order of entry and firm performance has gained increased attention in the last two decades. Despite the surge in empirical research, the order of entry effect still has many unaddressed issues. To fill the gap, we conduct a systematic literature review. We systematically selected 119 empirical papers, and shortlisted 20 papers matching our selection criteria. We find that (1) the effect of Firstmover advantage (FMA) differs depending on the performance measure, especially when market share is used as a dependent variable; (2) FMA does exist but depends on internal firm resources and the external environment.
Superconducting properties of indium-doped topological crystalline insulator SnTe

We report on the superconducting properties of indium-doped SnTe. SnTe has recently been explored as a topological crystalline insulator. Single crystals of Sn0.5In0. 5Te have been synthesized by a modified Bridgman method. Resistivity measurement performed in the range 1.6–300 K shows a metallic normal state with onset of superconducting transition at . Bulk superconductivity has also been confirmed by DC magnetization, AC susceptibility and rf penetration depth measurements. Zero-temperature upper critical field, lower critical field, coherence length, and penetration depth are estimated to be 1.6 T, 1 mT, 143.5 Å and 853 nm, respectively. The temperature dependence of the low-temperature penetration depth indicates S-wave fully gapped characteristics with BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer) gap . Hall and Seebeck coefficient measurements confirm the dominance of hole conduction with possible phonon-drag effects around . Resistive transition studied under applied magnetic field shows thermally activated flux flow behaviour.