Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Movements between microhabitats depending on reproduction and life history in the sand-bubbler crab Scopimera globosa

Sand-bubbler crabs Scopmera qlobosa inhabit burrows in the upper tidal sand flat and form droves in the water-saturated area of the lower tidal flat. To elucidate the function of the movements between the microhabitats in this species, I investigated the change in population density, crab body size and reproductive conditions of both sexes within each microhabitat. Omgerous females were found in the burrow area while spent females (releasing zoea recently) were concentrated in the watersaturated area. Gonad weights of nonovigerous females in the burrow area were higher than those in the water-saturated area. Both male and female crabs in the water-saturated area, where diet quality (organic nitrogen content of the surface substratum) exceeded that m the burrow area, spent more time foraging and suffered less from interactions with neighbours than crabs in the burrow area In contrast, although both gonad and hepatopancreas weights of males decreased with tune in the early to mid reproductive season, there was no difference in male body condition between microhabitats. Few crabs moved between the microhabitats in the mid to late reproductive season, indicating that most crabs active in the water-saturated area during low tides did not return to the burrow area during high tides, differing from the movements of other ocypodid species. S. globosa have alternative mating behavlours, underground copulation (UC) and surface copulation (SC). UC, followed by omposition, was dominant in the burrow area, though both UC and SC were conducted there. In contrast, SC, not always followed by oviposition, was dominant in the water-saturated area. Females maximized their use of the microhabitats, 1.e. the burrow area for mating, oviposition and incubation and the watersaturated area for foragmg and partly for mating. The operational sex ratio was biased towards males in the burrow area and towards females in the water-saturated area, due to the fact that the last male to mate fertilizes most of the eggs extruded by a female. A high proportion of large (1.e. older) crabs of both sexes stayed in the burrow area during the reproductive season, whereas small (young) crabs spent most of their tune in the water-saturated area for growth. Thus, the crabs made suitable use of their time in different microhabitats under a life history strategy.
Modification of Adsorptive Properties of Bagasse Fly Ash for Uptaking Cadmium from Aqueous Solution

Novel low-cost adsorbents were developed from industrial bagasse fly ash (BFA) waste using facile chemical modification. The uptaking of cadmium from wastewater using pretreated BFA adsorbents was investigated. The influence of solution pH, contact time, initial metal concentration, adsorbent dosage, and temperature on the adsorption performance of Cd (II) onto natural and modified BFA adsorbents was examined by a batch method. Surface properties of developed BFA adsorbents were characterized by the pH PZC , C, H, N, and S elemental analysis and FTIR spectrum. Equilibrium data were analyzed using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Results indicated that the Langmuir isotherm fitted best. Chemical modification to BFA with HCl and HNO 3 resulted in enhancing sorption capacity of BFA for Cd (II) uptake from 19.8 to 47.6 and 25.1 mg/g and then decreasing to 11.9 mg/g upon pretreatment with EDTA, respectively. Kinetic studies showed that the cadmium sorption process followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic calculations point towards feasibility of an adsorption process with spontaneous and endothermic nature. Overall, it can be concluded that the modified BFA can be operated as an alternative material to more costly adsorbents used for cadmium (II) in wastewater treatment processes. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.erem. 64.2. 3576
Motor Task Performance under Visual and Auditory Feedback Post Stroke: A Randomised Crossover Trial

Background: Biofeedback tools have been used in stroke rehabilitation to improve motor performance. In a previous study, we tested a biofeedback system based on inertial motion trackers, coupled with a vibratory module. Limitations of vibratory feedback, combined with data showing efficacy of combining visual and auditory feedback, justified changing the biofeedback. Objective: Follow-up study to assess whether visual and auditory feedback could improve motor performance of patients after stroke. Methods: Randomised controlled study (NCT03032692) involving 30 patients. Participants were allocated to two groups; both performed one exercise with the affected upper-limb with and without biofeedback. Primary outcome was the number of correct movements, defined as those starting at the baseline and reaching the target joint angle, without violating movement or posture constraints. Results: The number of correct movements was higher in the sessions with feedback by an average of 13.2 movements/session (95% CI [5.9; 20.4]; P<0.01) and movement error probability was decreased from 1.3:1 to 7.7:1. Conclusions: This study corroborates published data on the benefits of visual and auditory feedback. This feedback appears superior to the vibratory feedback, allowing more information to be presented to the patient, increasing the focus in movement quality. Further investigation is needed to confirm clinical benefits.
Antioxidant potential, phenolic profile and nutrient composition of flesh and peels from Nigerian white and purple skinned sweet potato (Ipomea batatas L.)

Sweet potato is an important food crop in many part of the world that provides essential nutrients and also contains useful phytochemicals with chemopreventive potentials. Although sweet potato peels, which may contain some nutrients and phytochemicals are usually discarded before consumption of the tubers. Therefore, this present investigation seeks to compare the nutraceutical potentials of peels and flesh from white and purple skinned sweet potato. The evaluated antioxidant indices (DPPH radical scavenging capacity, ABTS radical scavenging capacity, reducing power, total phenol, total flavonoid and inhibitory action against lipid oxidation) were higher in peels of the studied potato compared to the flesh. The HPLC-DAD analysis revealed presence of some phenolic compounds (gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, caffeic acid derivative, ellagic acid, epicatechin, rutin, isoquercitrin, quercitrin), with higher level of each identified compounds in the peels. The result of the proximate indices (%) revealed a higher value of carbohydrate in the flesh and a higher value of fat, protein and ash in peels of the evaluated sweet potato. The result also showed a higher amount of some of the evaluated minerals (Zn, Fe, Cu, Ca, Mg, Mn) and amylose-amylopectin ratio (white skinned sweet potato: 11.94, purple skinned sweet potato: 13.67) in peels. The result of this investigation showed that that leaving the potato skin intact during processing will enhance the nutraceutical potentials which could be explored in the management of free radical mediated disorders.
Allozymic variability in the Iceland scallop Chlamys islandica: geographic variation and lack of growth-heterozygosity correlations

Populations of the Iceland scallop Chlamys islandca from the waters off Jan Mayen, Spitsbergen, Bear Island and northern Norway were inveshgated for allelic variation at 6 polymorphic gene loci. The 3 loci encoding for glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI), phosphoglucornutase (PGM) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) substantiated earlier findings of exceptionally high polyrnorphism at these loci in the Iceland scallop, higher than for many other pectinids. Loci encoding for malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and leucine-arninopeptidase (LAP) also exhibited higher polymorphism than is known for other pectinids. The high variability at an increasing number of enzyme coding loci for the subarctic/arctic species appears to contrast with predictions of negative correlations between environmental homogeneity and gene polymorphism. Allele frequencies at Mdh. Pgrn and Sod varied between populations over the geographical range surveyed, giving supportive evidence of at least partial geographic isolation between stocks. Data of the present study do not provide evidence that multiple-locus or single-locus heterozygosity affect longevity of C. islandica. Heterozygosity did not increase with age of the scallops, nor were positive growth-heterozygosity correlations demonstrated, either at singlelocus or multiple-locus heterozygosity. This contrasts with findings for several other bivalves, but is in accordance with observations for other pectinids.
A green
 Lewis
 development model

This paper develops an environmental extension of a Lewis dual economy model, in which the interaction between environmental quality and economic growth, in one of its several dimensions, is explicitly modeled to explore long-run effects of a pollution abatement rule in developing economies. The government requires the Modern sector to dedicate a fraction of its output to pollution abatement, with such profitability-reducing fraction being endogenous to the level of environmental quality. Meanwhile, the level of environmental quality positively affects labor productivity, profits and, therefore, savings, which has a positive impact on capital accumulation. It is shown that this pollution abatement requirement, by affecting profitability in the Modern sector both negatively and positively, makes for the emergence of an ecological development trap from which a developing dual economy, if left to the free play of its structural forces, never escapes. Fortunately, however, this economy can be released from such a trap not only through a standard Big Push, in the spirit of Rosenstein-Rodan, but also by means of what we call an Environmental Big Push.
Native speaker and nonnative speaker identities in repair practices of English conversation

Within the theoretical and methodological framework of Conversation Analysis, the present study explores the nature of the native speakers (NS) and nonnative speaker (NNS) identities in repair practices of English conversation. It has identified and analyzed in detail repair sequences in the data and has also conducted quantitative analyses in order to investigate the relationship between NS/NNS identities and repair practices. The results show that the categories of NS and NNS identities are social products that are invoked during and through the participants' ongoing interaction. First of all, the participants did not invariably make their NS/NNS identities relevant to their repair work; specifically, more than half of the repair practices were irrelevant to these identities. Secondly, when the participants' NS/NNS identities were made relevant to these identities. Secondly, when the participants' NS/NNS identities were made relevant to repair, both the NS and the NNS Participants initiated repair in order to solve interactional problems that had resulted from the NNS participants' insufficient linguistic abilities. The participants' orientation to their NS/NNS identities was frequently trigged by the NNS participants' repair-initiation while the NS participants invoked these linguistic identities only in a limited range of interactional environments. The findings of this study provide a further empirical basis for arguing the importance of an emic approach to NS-NNS interactions and the potential to learn new vocabulary through repair.
The silicon stable isotope distribution along the GEOVIDE section of the North Atlantic Ocean

Abstract. The stable isotope composition of dissolved silicon in seawater (δ 30 Si DSi ) was examined at 10 stations along the GEOVIDE section, spanning the North Atlantic Ocean (40° N–60° N) and Labrador Sea. Near-surface water δ 30 Si DSi could not be evaluated due to the very low dissolved silicon (DSi) concentrations ( 5 μM). However, variations in δ 30 Si DSi below 500 m were closely tied to the distribution of water masses. Higher δ 30 Si DSi values are associated with intermediate and deep water masses of northern Atlantic or Arctic Ocean origin, whilst lower δ 30 Si DSi values are associated with DSi-rich waters sourced ultimately from the Southern Ocean. Correspondingly, the lowest δ 30 Si DSi values were observed in the deep and abyssal eastern North Atlantic, where dense southern-sourced waters dominate. The extent to which the spreading of water masses influences the δ 30 Si DSi distribution is marked clearly by Labrador Sea Water (LSW), whose high δ 30 Si DSi signature is visible not only within its region of formation within the Labrador and Irminger Seas, but also throughout the mid-depth western and eastern North Atlantic Ocean. Both δ 30 Si DSi and hydrographic parameters document the circulation of LSW into the eastern North Atlantic, where it overlies southern-sourced Lower Deep Water. The GEOVIDE δ 30 Si DSi distribution thus provides a clear view of the direct interaction between subpolar/polar water masses of northern and southern origin, and allow examination of the extent to which these far-field signals influence the local δ 30 Si DSi distribution.
A Feminist Struggle? South African HIV Activism as Feminist Politics

This paper is a feminist reading of HIV activism in South Africa, of a social movement that does not describe itself as a women’s movement: it advocates both women’s and men’s, trans, hetero- and homosexual peoples’ rights for adequate health care and antiretroviral medication. Like many others, Chandra Talpade Mohanty suggests that today’s powerful feminism is found in anti-globalization movements that do not necessarily call themselves feminist. These critiques maintain that the theory, critique and activism of grass-root women across the globe, for example around anti-globalization, should also inform academic feminist discussions. This article studies discourses on HIV in Africa by contrasting the politics of the Treatment Action Campaign, a South African activist movement, with social science research literature on HIV in Africa. The contextual and political dimension of the illness is a central feature in activist discourses, a feature that can be described as inherently feminist. The representations of HIV/AIDS in Africa and the policies these imply are strikingly different in the activist and academic discourses. We argue that activists’ political orientation and the consequent antiindividualism are key dividing features that lead the activist and research discourses down divergent paths. In contrast, HIV research inhabits a de-politicized and individualizing tendency.
Bio Energy Entry Timing from a Resource Based View and Organizational Ecology Perspective

Recent changes in U.S. energy policy have prompted the growth of the bio energy market. The ability to quickly enter and respond to the opportunities of this market is critical to an agribusiness’ success. Understanding entry into this rapidly growing bio energy market, however, is not well understood. In drawing on management theories of the Resource Based View (RBV) and that of Organizational Ecology, this study develops a conceptual and dynamic programming model to explain the entry behaviors of different types of bio energy businesses. A contribution of this study is it demonstrates that bio energy entry decisions emphasize a basic trade-off involving gains from a commitment to specialized, and correspondingly higher cost assets, and gains from remaining flexible with lower levels of fixed and less specific assets. This commitment-flexibility trade-off not only underlies entry, but such a trade-off is argued to be influenced by the population and uncertain conditions of the market. Importantly our work also sheds light on the implicit risks of the ethanol industry, and in part explains how corn-based dry mills and cellulosic-ethanol conversion technologies may be ideal depending on the type of market conditions upon entry.
Complicating Practice with Success: Service-Learning Perspectives at a Research-Intensive University

Although extant research has demonstrated the benefits of servicelearning for students and the greater community, faculty involvement in service-learning at research-intensive universities remains a challenge. In order to critically explore faculty perceptions of service-learning and to challenge everyday understandings, this study utilizes politically attentive relational constructionism to analyze faculty focus groups. Findings constructed service-learning as facilitating student success, but constrained by self-defined practice. Based on this analysis, transformative possibilities around the perception, practice, and institutionalization of service-learning emerge. Combined, these findings extend research on service-learning by highlighting a research-intensive university as a unique context and proposing ways to overcome service-learning challenges. This study provides pragmatic suggestions for servicelearning and university administration such as the need for greater administrative support, university-wide buy-in, and the need to reflexively review faculty understanding–and practice–of service-learning.
Tone Management and Earnings Management. A UK evidence of abnormal tone in CEO letters and abnormal accruals

Thesis: Master Degree Project in Accounting, School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Graduate School, Spring 2015 Title: Tone Management and Earnings Management: A UK Evidence of Abnormal Tone in CEO Letters and Abnormal Accruals Authors: Sara Carlsson, Rania Lamti Supervisors: Jan Marton, Emmeli Runesson, Niuosha Samani Background and Problem Definition: The CEO letter is one significant narrative document through which senior management have opportunity to express beliefs and values to their shareholders. The CEO letter is unregulated in its nature and thereby subject to management opportunism through tone management. Tone management could further be used to manipulate the perception of the firm, which causes information asymmetry. Similar to the purpose of tone management, accruals could be opportunistically managed in order to manipulate users’ perceptions of firm fundamentals. Thus, managers could through CEO letters employ tone management to potentially hide earnings management, and thereby mislead users about firm fundamentals. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to test the possible association between tone management in CEO letters and earnings management, using data from 2013 including firms listed on the London Stock Exchange. Subsequently, the intention is to investigate if earnings management and tone management are substitutes or complements. The purpose is additionally to test the relation between tone management in CEO letters and financial performance Research Design and Methodology: The theoretical framework of this thesis is used to develop hypotheses, which subsequently guide the research forward. In the execution phase, a customized dictionary is developed to fit with the purpose of the thesis. The execution phase continues in correlation and multiple regression analysis. The outcome of the statistical tests contributes to fulfill the purpose. Empirical Results and Analysis: In accordance with previous literature, the empirical results reveal a positive association between tone in CEO letters and financial performance. Strengthening the purpose and the contribution of this thesis, empirical evidences reveal that abnormal tone in CEO letters and abnormal accruals are positively associated. Concluding Remarks: The tone in CEO letters is generally positive regardless of management discretion. Furthermore the tone in CEO letters can be derived from firm performance, firm size and annual stock return. Finally, the findings indicate that tone management and earnings management through the use of abnormal tone and abnormal accruals functions as complements and are thus not substitutes.
Optimal Loading of a Mw Susceptible Catalysed Dpf

Diesel engines have low fuel consumption and enough torque compared with equivalent gasoline engines. Diesel engines emitted less CO2 which is known well as the greenhouse gas, and a percentage of new diesel passenger car registrations is increasing in EU year by year. However, NOx and soot (particulate matter, PM) emitted by diesel engines are a source of pollution with impact on the environment and human health. Since the automobile regulations have been stricter, new technologies for diesel emissions abatement have been proposed, including the addition of fuel additives for diesel smoke reduction. A diesel particulate filter (DPF) is one of the most important technologies for the above strict PM regulations, consisting in alternately plugged parallel square channels, so that the exhaust gases are forced to flow through the porous inner walls: in this way the particles are collected on the surface and in the porosity of the channel walls, progressively blocking the pores. Since the pressure loss increases by the formation of a thick soot cake as the PM is accumulated, the DPF needs to be periodically regenerated by burning off the accumulated soot. In our previous works we showed that the simultaneous use of a microwave (MW) applicator and a specifically CuFe2O4 catalysed DPF, allows to reduce the temperature, the energy and the time required for the filter regeneration. Starting by these very promising results, the objectives of this work are to modify the active species formulation in order to simultaneously further reduce the PM oxidation temperature and keep low the pressure drop.
Numerical study of flow and heat transfer in differentially heated enclosures

Two-dimensional laminar natural convection is studied numerically for differentially heated air-filled rectangular enclosures with adiabatic side walls and aspect ratios of 1, 2, 4, and 8. The inclination angle of the enclosure was varied from 0° to 180°, and the effect of inclination on flow field and heat transfer was investigated over the range 10 3 Ra 10 6 . Correlations of average Nusselt number based on the present results are presented for horizontal and vertical cases. Large discrepancies were found among published results.
Antioxidative effects of stabilized and unstabilized defatted rice bran methanolic extracts on the stability of rice bran oil under accelerated conditions

The present research assessed the antioxidant activity against the synthetic 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical, and β-carotene-linoleic acid assay of the methanolic extracts of defatted rice bran from stabilized and unstabilized rice bran. The effects of the extracts (0.1 and 0.25% w/w) on the oxidative stability of refined-bleached rice bran oil were determined and compared with those of BHA (synthetic antioxidant). The study was carried out over a 168 hr period at 70°C and the progression of oxidation was measured by peroxide value, p-anisidine value, and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS). The relative % of residual α-tocopherol and γ-oryzanol of the rice bran oil containing methanolic extracts of stabilized and unstabilized defatted rice bran during storage at 70°C were studied.
Indigenous land rights systems in sub-Saharan Africa : a constraint on productivity?

This article uses cross-sectional evidence from Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda in 1987-88 to examine the question, Are indigenous land rights systems in sub-Saharan Africa a constraint on productivity? The evidence supports the hypothesis suggested by historical studies, that African indigenous land rights systems have spontaneously evolved from systems of communal control toward individual sized rights in response to increases in commercialization and population pressure. Cross-sectional data on the incidence of land improvements and on land yields provide little support for the view that limitations under indigenous law on the right to transfer land are a constraint on productivity. Copyright 1991 by Oxford University Press.