Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GROWTH AND YIELD RESPONSE OF WHEAT VARIETIES TO WATER STRESS AT BOOTING AND ANTHESIS STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Plants of 6 bread wheat varieties (Damani, Hashim-8, Gomal-8, DN-73, Zam-04 and Dera-98) were subjected to 2 treatments i.e., control treatment (100% field capacity) and stressed treatment (20 days water stress was given during booting stage and 20 days water stress after anthesis). The findings revealed highly significant differences among means of wheat varieties in all physiological and yield traits. Almost all varieties showed their best adaptation under stressed environment however Hashim-8 and Zam-04 behaved exclusively and indicated higher relative water content (RWC), mean productivity (MP), geometric mean productivity (GMP) and stress tolerance index (STI) whereas stress susceptibility index (SSI) and tolerance (TOL) was estimated at its lowest, as these traits are recognised beneficial drought tolerance indicators for selection of a stress tolerant variety. Similarly, total grain yield per plant, biological yield per plant and harvest index was also higher in the same wheat varieties that put them as good candidates for selection criteria in wheat breeding program for drought resistant.
Annual variation in the timing of breeding, pre-breeding foraging areas and corticosterone levels in an Arctic population of black-legged kittiwakes

Late breeding usually occurs during years of poor environmental conditions, but the proximate mechanisms underlying this phenological pattern have been poorly documented. Here, we combined the deployment of GPS devices (from 2008 to 2010) and the monitoring of breeding parameters and baseline corticosterone levels (from 2007 to 2011) during the pre-laying period to investigate the proximate regulation of breeding date in an Arctic population of black-legged kit- tiwake Rissa tridactyla. The timing of breeding varied considerably during the course of the study and late breeding was associated with reduced clutch size and low breeding success at the indi- vidual level. Foraging strategies differed considerably between males and females and among years. All but one of the females tracked using GPS during the pre-laying period foraged inside the fjord, whereas tracked males foraged both inside and outside the fjord, using the deep waters of the Greenland-Svalbard ridge. Trips lasted longer and were to greater distances in 2009, the year of late breeding, compared to 2008 and 2010, highlighting a food scarcity in 2009. Cortico- sterone levels differed among years, and were the lowest in 2010, the year of earliest breeding. Moreover, kittiwakes exhibiting higher corticosterone levels tended to undertake longer trips when foraging outside the fjord. Breeding decision and laying date were not related to corticoster- one levels at the individual level, but were positively influenced by body condition, suggesting that complex proximate mechanisms may affect timing of breeding in kittiwakes.
Climatic Effects and Total Factor Productivity in U.S. Dairy Farming: An Empirical Analysis of Northeastern and Midwestern Counties between 1974 and 2012

Climate change refers to changes in temperature and precipitation patterns as well as increases in the occurrence of extreme events. In recent years, climate change has gained increasing attention from production economists; however, its effects on productivity have been largely ignored in the literature. Our study aims to address these shortcomings by implementing a Total Factor Productivity (TFP) analysis and decomposing TFP into climatic effect, output-oriented technical efficiency, technological progress, and output-oriented scale efficiency indexes. Our study focuses primarily on climatic effects on TFP growth on dairy farming in two traditional US dairy regions. We use U.S. county level data from 1974 to 2012 in the Northeast (NE) and Midwest (MW) to estimate stochastic production frontier models, which provide the basis for measuring TFP and its components. We find that the coefficients for winter and summer temperatures are highly significant and exhibit a positive and negative relationship with output, respectively. In the Northeast, TFP growth is highest in Cayuga County, NY (3.2%), while in the Midwest, Sanilac County in MI exhibits the highest TFP growth (2.6%). Our results also show that on average, per year summer temperatures have a negative contribution to TFP growth per annum while winter
Feedlot performance of bulls and steers fed on three levels of concentrate in the diets

Current study evaluated the effect of different sexual groups and different concentrate levels in diets on animal performance, feed efficiency and carcass characteristics of bovines finished in feedlot. Ninety four bulls and 75 steers Puruna with average age 19 months at the beginning of the feedlot period were used. Animals were maintained in individual pens during 116 days and fed with a diet of corn silage and three concentrate levels (0.8, 1.1, and 1.4% of body weight). The concentrate was formulated with 25% soybean meal, 73% corn grain, 1.0% of a mineral mix and 1.0% limestone and adjusted at every 28 days. The interaction between sexual groups and concentrate levels was not significant for any of the studied variables. Bulls were more efficient than steers ones, with higher average daily gain (1.33 vs . 1.12 kg day -1 ), better feed conversion ratio (6.6 vs. 7.6 kg DM intake kg -1 gain), and higher carcass gain (86.6 vs. 69.2 kg). Increase in concentrate level in diet did not influence animal performance even though a higher DM was observed for animals fed on 1.4% (8.8 kg) and 1.1% (8.4 kg) levels of concentrate when compared with those fed on 0.8% level (7.7 kg).
ROE and Corporate Social Responsibility: Is There a Return On Ethics?

In light of the financial crisis of 2008, this study examines the return performance of U.S. companies that exhibit high ratings for ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The highly rated CSR firms are identified via Corporate Responsibility (CR) Magazine’s Best 100 Corporate Citizens list for 2010, known as one of the world’s top corporate responsibility ranking. We employ traditional event study methodology to assess the effects of the CSR news announcement. In our study, we find that the return performance of socially responsible firms exhibits similar time-series dynamics to that of a broad market portfolio comprising of all NYSE, Nasdaq, and AMEX stocks. While several CSR firms may provide exceptionally high returns, we find that on average, the socially responsible portfolio’s risk-return profile does not differ significantly from that of the broad-based market portfolio. While we document a rise in the cumulative abnormal return for the CSR portfolio prior to the news announcement, we find that the upward drift in asset prices disappears following the announcement date and after controlling for market-wide sources of risk. This study is one of the first investigations that focuses on the return performance of CSR firms in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008. Our results collectively provide evidence in support of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis and suggest that the CSR rankings announcement provided by Corporate Responsibility Magazine is indicative of good news for these firms.
Effects of the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process on global black carbon distribution

Abstract. We systematically investigate the effects of Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process (hereafter WBF) on black carbon (BC) scavenging efficiency, surface BCair, deposition flux, concentration in snow (BCsnow, ng g−1), and washout ratio using a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem). We differentiate riming- versus WBF-dominated in-cloud scavenging based on liquid water content (LWC) and temperature. Specifically, we implement an implied WBF parameterization using either temperature or ice mass fraction (IMF) in mixed-phase clouds based on field measurements. We find that at Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, and Abisko, Sweden, where WBF dominates in-cloud scavenging, including the WBF effect strongly reduces the discrepancies of simulated BC scavenging efficiency and washout ratio against observations (from a factor of 3 to 10 % and from a factor of 4–5 to a factor of 2). However, at Zeppelin, Norway, where riming dominates, simulation of BC scavenging efficiency, BCair, and washout ratio become worse (relative to observations) when WBF is included. There is thus an urgent need for extensive observations to distinguish and characterize riming- versus WBF-dominated aerosol scavenging in mixed-phase clouds and the associated BC scavenging efficiency. Our model results show that including the WBF effect lowers global BC scavenging efficiency, with a higher reduction at higher latitudes (8 % in the tropics and up to 76 % in the Arctic). The resulting annual mean BCair increases by up to 156 % at high altitudes and at northern high latitudes because of lower temperature and higher IMF. Overall, WBF halves the model–observation discrepancy (from −65 to −30 %) of BCair across North America, Europe, China and the Arctic. Globally WBF increases BC burden from 0.22 to 0.29–0.35 mg m−2 yr−1, which partially explains the gap between observed and previous model-simulated BC burdens over land. In addition, WBF significantly increases BC lifetime from 5.7 to ∼ 8 days. Additionally, WBF results in a significant redistribution of BC deposition in source and remote regions. Specifically, it lowers BC wet deposition (by 37–63 % at northern mid-latitudes and by 21–29 % in the Arctic), while it increases dry deposition (by 3–16 % at mid-latitudes and by 81–159 % in the Arctic). The resulting total BC deposition is lower at mid-latitudes (by 12–34 %) but higher in the Arctic (by 2–29 %). We find that WBF decreases BCsnow at mid-latitudes (by ∼ 15 %) but increases it in the Arctic (by 26 %) while improving model comparisons with observations. In addition, WBF dramatically reduces the model–observation discrepancy of washout ratios in winter (from a factor of 16 to 4). The remaining discrepancies in BCair, BCsnow and BC washout ratios suggest that in-cloud removal in mixed-phased clouds is likely still excessive over land.
Maned wolves retain moderate levels of genetic diversity and gene flow despite drastic habitat fragmentation

The maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus is the largest South American canid and categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. The major threat to conservation efforts is the drastic reduction of suitable habitat for the species. A large portion of its range has been converted into farm and ranch lands as well as urban areas. To better understand the impact that these anthropogenic activities are having over the remaining populations across their current distribution range, we evaluated patterns of genetic variability and differentiation between them. We also compared these results with those obtained from captive maned wolves in order to make proper ex situ recommendations. We cross-amplified 12 microsatellite loci in maned wolf samples collected throughout their range (from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia) and from captive stocks (from captive breeding centers and zoos in Brazil, Argentina and the USA). We found that wild populations retain moderate levels of genetic variability compared with other microsatellite studies on wild canids, and our structure analysis revealed 2 genetic clusters in wild samples, one of which included samples exclusively from Bolivia. This cluster could represent a different management unit with conservation priority. The captive stock population showed higher levels of genetic variability, with the ones from Brazil being the most genetically diverse stock. The USA stock showed strong genetic differences with all other groups. This is the first study to examine the patterns of genetic diversity of both wild and captive populations of maned wolves. These results should be incorporated into further population viability assessments and in the Maned Wolf Species Survival Plan.
Success factors of international sporting events in different regions of Europe.

Sport events always played an important role in human life from the ancient Olympics and marathon races to todayâ€™s modern Olympics, World and continental championships. In our days these remarkable sport events come to the fore because participants of the sporting world effectuate even more, greater and more varied ones. Furthermore, the competition for organisation between cities and countries is becoming more and more intense (Zeman 2005). The organisation of international sporting events is an extremely complicated and multiple task. The organising committee has to manage the duties and activities, to co-ordinate the participantsâ€™ work, to satisfy the needs of international sport association(s), sponsors and other stakeholders. Within the frame of the research we reveal the success factors of international sporting events in different segments of Europe, and in addition to this compare the event organization practices of analysed regions along the identified success factors. In this study we represent the results of a quantitative research, where organizers of World and European Championships â€“ organised between 2000 and 2008 in different European countries â€“ were asked and statistical analyses have been applied. According to our results beside the essential technical and task oriented areas the human aspects of organisation, the partnerships, coordination and communication are all-important factors. Especially in countries of East-Central Europe, where organisers have to pay more attention on selection, control of partners as well as on continuous communication with them in order to assure accurate performance in time.
On Measurement of Institutions in Trade, Growth, and Investment Studies

Economic thought about the importance of institutions for economic life has existed for more than a hundred years. It was started by the work of Veblen [112]2) from the Old Institutional Economics School3) and by studies of the German historical school. One of the most difficult and complex things in institutional analysis is the definition of institutions. As pointed out by Commons [21], it is broad and imprecise. New Institutional Economics, started from the famous study of Coase [18], tends to explain institutions in connection with a neoclassical theory. In the second part of the XXth century numerous studies have attempted to formulate definitions and understand the nature and role of institutions. The major contributions in this field belong to Coase, Williamson, North, Olson, and Greif4). However, the definition of institutions is still very broad. It extends from the abstract rules of the game [77, p. 361] to organizations for coordinating human behavior (e.g., [117, p. 38]). Summarizing theoretical findings, Matthews [72] emphasizes the importance of institutions but highlights the difficulties in incorporating them into economic theory due to their complexity. «But institutions ARE important! »[78]. Olson [81] argues that a huge difference between poor and rich countries cannot be explained only by factor endowments, natural resources, density of population, access to technology or quality of human capital. According to Olson [81], a great number of the
Do localization economies derive from human capital externalities?

One of the most robust findings emerging from studies of industrial agglomeration is the rise in productivity that tends to accompany it. What most studies have not addressed, however, is the potential role played by human capital externalities in driving this relationship. This paper seeks to do so using data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 US Census covering a collection of 77 (primarily) three-digit manufacturing industries across a sample of more than 200 metropolitan areas. The analysis generates two primary results. First, a variety of education- and experience-based measures of average human capital rise significantly as an industry’s employment in a metropolitan area increases. Hence, clusters of industry do tend to be characterized by larger stocks of human capital. However, second, even after accounting for the level of human capital in a worker’s own industry, the overall size of the industry remains strongly associated with wages. Such results cast some doubt on the notion that localization economies emanate from education- or experience-based knowledge spillovers.
Does Predator Go for Size Selection or Preferential Toxic-Nontoxic Species Under Limited Resource?

Problem statement: Selectivity is common in predator-prey interaction but the selection mechanism is still unexplored and a debatable issue in modern theoretical and experimental ecology for numerous species across the globe. In present i nvestigation we emphasized the hypothesis that the zooplankton is less inclined to opt the food based on size selectivity criteria than the preferential selectivity for the safe non-toxic food species. Approach: As a test bed we select one nontoxic phytoplankton ( Chaetocerous gracilis ), one toxic phytoplankton ( Microcystis aeruginosa ) and one zooplankton ( Artemia salina ). Initially the experiment is setup through the sm all batch cultures of Nontoxic (NTP) and toxic Phytoplankton (TPP). Both the strains of phytoplankton are collected from the deltaic region of river Subarnarekha (87°31"E a nd 21°37"N) and the isolation is done in the laboratory. Similarly batches of zooplankton (Brand : Red Top, USA) are also hatched and maintained at optimal conditions in the laboratory. We set off the experiments with the physical parameters viz. Photo period: 12: 12 L: D cycle, Temperature: 26-27 °C, Salinity: 10 ppt and pH of the medium 7.5. To evaluate our hypothesis in restricted environment w e have introduced the zooplankton in a 3 liter beaker with 75: 25 (TPP: NTP) food ratio. Biologica l activities (feeding) are monitored for each of th e species with regular recorded biomass count on each experimental day till the predator population goes to extinct. Results: The mean biomass profile of zooplankton remains more or less constant at the initial stage but a sharp decline trend has been ob served after the 4th day of the experiment. A simil ar trend has been observed for the mean biomass profil e of NTP leading the population toward extinction after 6th experimental day. The entire mean biomass profile trend of TPP can be interpreted as a convolution of three growth pulses viz., initially positive, followed by a negative and terminating wi th a positive growth. To evaluate the bias in the resu lt of experiment we have estimated the variance levels of sample biomasses for each of the experime ntal time points for each of the three species. Conclusion: The observed stable nature of the zooplankton biomass may be due to initial NTP uptakes but a sudden decline suggests that they are forced to feed on the TPP for survival. In absence of grazing pressure, TPP initially showed a mild posit ive growth but when the predator switch to TPP for food it shows a negative growth and finally due to rapid mortality of zooplankton and excretal nutrien t input the growth rate again kicks up. In summary we conclude that the zooplankter ( Artemia salina ) can discriminate toxic and nontoxic food species an d more inclined toward the non-toxic species if the resource available. But shortage of nontoxic specie s, force them to feed on toxic one, in spite of dra stic adverse effect on its survival.
Further Generalization of the Extended Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta Functions

Recently various extensions of Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta functions have been investigated. Here, we first introduce a further generalization of the extended Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta functions. Then we investigate certain interesting and (potentially) useful properties, systematically, of the generalization of the extended Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta functions, for example, various integral representations, Mellin transform, generating functions and extended fractional derivatives formulas associated with these extended generalized Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta functions. An application to probability distributions is further considered. Some interesting special cases of our main results are also pointed out.
Postmethod Pedagogy and Iranian EFL Teachers’ Understandings: Is a Promising Trend on the Way?

The profession of second language teaching has experienced fundamental fluctuations in both theory and practice. With its own proponents and opponents, the postmethod was considered as the practical and reasonable solution to the limitations of the confining concept of the method. The purpose of this qualitative study was to elicit nonnative EFL teachers’ viewpoints and perceptions regarding postmethod pedagogy. In fact, the researchers were interested to know about nonnative EFL teachers’ perceptions of postmethod condition regarding their own context and needs. Selected based on purposive sampling procedure, the participants of this study were 10 nonnative EFL teachers categorized into three groups based on their teaching experience. The participants took part in semi-structured interviews and they were asked a series of questions to elicit their perceptions and interpretations of postmethod. The results of the study revealed some rays of hope in some cases, though not promising in a full manner. In other words, although nonnative EFL teachers could not mention the postmethod principles explicitly, they showed a logical understanding of postmethod pedagogy tenets and its applications in their teaching practices and procedures. The results of this study can help teacher educators design more effective teacher education courses and in-service programs to enhance nonnative EFL teachers’ viewpoints and perceptions regarding postmethod pedagogy and its implications in language teaching and learning processes.