Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improvement of Physical and Chemical Soil Quality of Oil Palm Plantation Through Integrated Farming System of Cattle and Oil Palm to Achieve Sustainable Agriculture

The objectives of the research were to compare the quality of physical and chemical characteristics of the soils in the oil palm plantations applied with integrated farming system of cattle and oil palm plantation (IFSCO) and without IFSCO (non-IFSCO), as well as to evaluate the economic benefits of IFSCO application. The research was conducted in two oil palm plantations, i.e. an oil palm plantation applied with IFSCO (5 ha) and an oil palm plantation without IFSCO application (non-IFSCO) (5 ha), located in the Karya Makmur Village, Penawar Aji Subdistrict, Tulang Bawang District, Lampung, Indonesia, in June until August 2016. The research was conducted using a survey and systematic sampling methods to collect soil samples, and data from 30 farmers who applied IFSCO and other 30 farmers who applied non-IFSCO. The results showed that the application of organic fertilizer in the IFSCO field resulted in higher level of exchangeable-K, -Ca, -Mg, and -Na, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and organic-C content of the soil;and better improvement on the physical soil quality, i.e. bulk density, porosity and soil moisture content; in comparison to that in the field without organic fertilizer application (non-IFSCO field). However, the application of IFSCO did not affect the pH, available-P, base saturation and total-N content of the soil. There was a difference in the texture class of the soils in the IFSCO field and non-IFSCO field. The result of texture analysis showed that the texture of the soil in the IFSCO field is “clay”, while the texture of the soil in the non-IFSCO field is “sandy clay loam”. Application of IFSCO can save the fertilizer cost by 66%, the feed cost by 50%, and can increase oil palm production and farmers' income by about 25%, so it is economically profitable. Thus, IFSCO can improve soil quality and provide economic benefits for the farmers, so the IFSCO obviously supports the implementation of sustainable agriculture.
Impulse of Dividend Payment Decision: Evidence from Pharmaceutical Industry in Bangladesh

The dividend is the reward of shareholders of an organization in exchange for time and risk. For maximizing shareholder’s wealth, optimum dividend payout ratio is essential. The prime objective of this paper is to identify impulse of dividend payment decision of listed pharmaceutical companies in Dhaka Stock Exchange of Bangladesh. Dividend payment decision is the dependent variable and profitability, firm’s size, financial leverage, growth, and agency costs are taken as explanatory variables in this study. Collected secondary data are analyzed by econometrics software Eviews 8 through least square method. Formulated multiple regression models show value of R-square (R2) is 0.604817. R-square (R2) value indicates explanatory variables explain 60.48% variation of the dependent variable. The study also reveals that profitability and agency cost positively influence the dividend payment decision and firm’s size, financial leverage, growth negatively impact on the dividend payment decision of selected pharmaceutical companies. Among explanatory variables, profitability is not statistically significant at 5% significant level whereas firm’s size, financial leverage, growth and agency cost are found statistically significant at 5% significant level. So this paper finds that listed pharmaceutical companies in Dhaka Stock Exchange must consider firm’s size, financial leverage, growth and agency cost in their dividend payment decision.
Liquidity Cycles and Make/Take Fees in Electronic Markets

We develop a model of trading in securities markets with two specialized sides: traders posting quotes ("market makers") and traders hitting quotes ("market takers"). Liquidity cycles emerge naturally, as the market moves from phases with high liquidity to phases with low liquidity. Traders monitor the market to seize profit opportunities. Complementarities in monitoring decisions generate multiplicity of equilibria: one with high liquidity and another with no liquidity. The trading rate depends on the allocation of the trading fee between each side and the maximal trading rate is typically achieved with asymmetric fees. The difference in the fee charged on market-makers and the fee charged on market-takers ("the make-take spread") increases in (i) the tick-size, (ii) the ratio of the size of the market-making side to the size of the market-taking side, and (iii) the ratio of monitoring costs for market-takers to monitoring costs for market-makers. The model yields several empirical implications regarding the trading rate, the duration between quotes and trades, the bid-ask spread, and the effect of algorithmic trading on these variables.
Reproductive dynamics of female spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) in South Carolina

We describe reproductive dynamics of female spotted sea-trout (Cynoscion nebulosus) in South Carolina (SC). Batch fecundity (BF), spawning frequency (SF), relative fecundity (RF), and annual fecundity (AF) for age classes 1−3 were estimated during the spawning seasons of 1998, 1999, and 2000. Based on histological evidence, spawning of spotted seatrout in SC was determined to take place from late April through early September. Size at first maturity was 248 mm total length (TL); 50% and 100% maturity occurred at 268 mm and 301 mm TL, respectively. Batch fecundity estimates from counts of oocytes in final maturation varied significantly among year classes. One-year-old spotted seatrout spawned an average of 145,452 oocytes per batch, whereas fish aged 2 and 3 had a mean BF of 291,123 and 529,976 oocytes, respectively. We determined monthly SF from the inverse of the proportion of ovaries with postovulatory follicles (POF) less than 24 hours old among mature and developing females. Overall, spotted seatrout spawned every 4.4 days, an average of 28 times during the season. A chronology of POF atresia for water temperature >25°C is presented. Length, weight (ovary-free), and age explained 67%, 65%, and 58% of the variability in BF, respectively. Neither RF (number of oocytes/g ovary-free weight) nor oocyte diameter varied significantly with age. However, RF was significantly greater and oocyte diameter was smaller at the end of the spawning season. Annual fecundity estimates were approximately 3.2, 9.5, and 17.6 million oocytes for each age class, respectively. Spotted seatrout ages 1−3 contributed an average of 29%, 39%, and 21% to the overall reproductive effort according to the relative abundance of each age class. Ages 4 and 5 contributed 7% and 4%, respectively, according to predicted AF values.
Title The genetic legacy of Lonesome George survives : Giant tortoises with Pinta Island ancestry identified in Galápagos Permalink

The death of Lonesome George, the last known purebred individual of Chelonoidis abingdoni native to Pinta Island, marked the extinction of one of 10 surviving giant tortoise species from the Galápagos Archipelago. Using a DNA reference dataset including historical C. abingdoni and >1600 living Volcano Wolf tortoise samples, a site on Isabela Island known to harbor hybrid tortoises, we discovered 17 individuals with ancestry in C. abingdoni. These animals belong to various hybrid categories, including possible first generation hybrids, and represent multiple, unrelated individuals. Their ages and relative abundance suggest that additional hybrids and conceivably purebred C. abingdoni individuals still occur on Volcano Wolf. Spatial analyses suggest locations where additional individuals with C. abingdoni ancestry are most likely to be recovered, consistent with historical records of human movement of tortoises. These results provide an opportunity for species recovery of Pinta Island tortoises using individuals with C. abingdoni ancestry. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
LONG-RUN RELATIONSHIPS AND DYNAMIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN HOUSING AND STOCK PRICES IN THAILAND

Economists recognise that macroeconomic and financial variables have an impact on housing prices. In this study, we focus on the relationship between housing prices and stock prices in Thailand using quarterly data from the first quarter (Q1) of 1995 till the last quarter (Q4) of 2006. The analysis is conducted within a multivariate setting that incorporates the Stock Exchange of Thailand Composite Index and housing prices, the real gross domestic product and the consumer price index. In this paper, the autoregressive distributive lags (ARDL) cointegration test is applied to examine the variables' long-run relationships. We then employ the ARDL, DOLS and ML approaches to estimate the long-run parameters and impulse response functions based on a vector autoregression (VAR) framework to explore their dynamic interactions. Our results indicate positive relationships between housing prices and the macroeconomic and financial variables chosen. As regards their dynamic interactions, we note significant responses of housing prices to shocks in the three variables.
In-sights into mobile learning: An exploration of mobile eye tracking methodology for learning in museums

Overview Mobile eye tracking provides insights into cognitive processing of visual information while a learner moves around. This chapter presents a case study in a small museum exhibition that was conducted to explore the suitability of mobile eye tracking for researching mobile learning. The study showed both potentials and limitations of mobile eye tracking methodology for research on mobile learning in general and in science exhibitions in particular: Mobile eye tracking provides rich, non-reactive data from the learner’s perspective which can be further analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Concerns were raised with respect to interrelations of object fixations and underlying cognitive processes. Limitations also include obtrusiveness, accuracy, selective sampling, ethical concerns, financial effort, and effort of data analysis. These limitations suggest that, to increase validity, eye tracking is best used in combination with other methods. Nonetheless, mobile eye tracking can be a powerful data collection method in research on mobile learning.
A new subspecies of Isoetes coromandelina from northern Australia

Isoetes coromandelina L. f. is recorded for the first time for Australia, where it is known only from the northern part. The Australian populations of this species differ from the Indian ones in their megaspore morphology and they are here segregated as a new subspecies, ssp. macrotuberculata. Various vegetative features of I. coromandelina are discussed.
Harnessing the green and blue : an investigation of ecosystem-based adaptation measures in four southern Swedish coastal municipalities

Climate change poses a current and ongoing threat to urban areas worldwide. Rising sea levels and the increased occurrence of heatwaves, heavy rainfall and related impacts due to erosion and landslides in particular are risks that are becoming increasingly urgent to address in the near future. Though Sweden is seen as a pioneer in sustainable city development, climate change adaptation is a relatively recent addition to the discourse, with previous focus primarily on mitigation and liveable cities. Where adaptation has been addressed at all, it has often been done by means of technical approaches and 'hard measures' using built structures and traditionally engineered ‘grey infrastructure’. The emerging approach of 'ecosystem-based adaptation', which uses ecological structures and the services they generate as part of an overall strategy to adapt to the impacts of climate change, is investigated with regard to its potential to contribute to adaptation and risk reduction strategies and measures in Sweden. This thesis identifies existing and potential measures under an ecosystem-based adaptation approach by means of literature review, analysis of planning documents, and key informant interviews in four coastal municipalities in southern Sweden. The measures identified are categorised and analysed for their potential to contribute to a more integrated climate change adaptation—disaster risk reduction approach, and social, economic, environmental and climate change mitigation co-benefits are identified for each measure. Finally, barriers and opportunities to the implementation of these measures are discussed. While the range of measures planned and implemented show that there is awareness within the municipalities of the underlying principles of an ecosystem-based adaptation approach, integration into climate adaptation planning documents is varied, and adaptation measures in general are still in their infancy. Planners mention a variety of implemented measures which do not in fact have climate change adaptation as their primary focus, showing the diversity of reasons for engagement in ecosystem-based approaches in these municipalities. While this diversity is positive, there are elements from theory could contribute to a more comprehensive ecosystem-based adaptation approach. Examples of these are evaluative techniques for adaptive and risk-reducing structures to make their adaptation services more transparent, including multi-criteria analysis. The integration of stakeholder perspectives and management is a further element which could be harnessed more effectively in this process.
Earnings Announcement Idiosyncratic Volatility and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns

We document a significant positive relation between earnings announcement idiosyncratic volatility and stock returns in the 10-day window before future earnings announcements. The average of risk-adjusted return differences between stocks with the highest earnings announcement idiosyncratic volatility and stocks with the lowest earnings announcement idiosyncratic volatility exceeds 100 basis points in the 10 days leading up to the earnings announcements. The pricing of earnings announcement idiosyncratic volatility is asymmetric where only idiosyncratic volatility based on positive stock returns is priced. This is consistent with the argument that investors have a preference for stocks with large payoffs during earnings announcements.
Analysis of nomofobic behaviors of adolescents regarding various factors

Although the developments in technology have made our lives and daily activities easier, it is believed that problematic and excessive use of technology could have some negative effects on people. One of these negative effects is the prevalence of nomophobia, which is considered as a new phobia in recent years. Nomophobia is defined as the fear and anxiety when an individual cannot access his or her mobile/smart phone or cannot have the chance to communicate online and offline via mobile devices. Nomophobic tendencies can change individuals’ daily habits. Negative emotions due to nomophobic tendencies like fear and anxiety especially in young people is thought to affect their school lives and academic achievements. The purpose of this research is to analyze the prevalence of nomophobia among high school students regarding various factors. The Nomophobia Scale (NMP-Q), which was used in this study, was developed by Yildirim and Correia (2015), and adapted into Turkish by Yildirim, Sumuer, Adnan and Yildirim (2015). The study group consists of 475 high school students attending six different schools situated in diverse socio-economic areas in Izmir and Edirne in 2015-2016 education year. The study was conducted in survey model and descriptive statistics. T-test for independent samples and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) techniques were used at the analysis stage. According to the findings, mean scores obtained from the scale demonstrated that the levels of nomophobic behaviors of high school students were above the average. Besides, female students have higher nomophobia levels compared to male students in terms of gender variable and a significant difference was found in terms of the duration of mobile internet usage. A significant difference could not be found in terms of the variables such as grade, parents’ education levels, and the duration of smartphone usage. Furthermore, the study has revealed that high school students use their smartphones and mobile internet largely for social networks, music, communication, photographs, education, research, games and videos.
Wildfires in northern Eurasia affect the budget of black carbon in the Arctic – a 12-year retrospective synopsis (2002–2013)

Abstract. In recent decades much attention has been given to the Arctic environment, where climate change is happening rapidly. Black carbon (BC) has been shown to be a major component of Arctic pollution that also affects the radiative balance. In the present study, we focused on how vegetation fires that occurred in northern Eurasia during the period of 2002–2013 influenced the budget of BC in the Arctic. For simulating the transport of fire emissions from northern Eurasia to the Arctic, we adopted BC fire emission estimates developed independently by GFED3 (Global Fire Emissions Database) and FEI-NE (Fire Emission Inventory – northern Eurasia). Both datasets were based on fire locations and burned areas detected by MODIS (Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instruments on NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Terra and Aqua satellites. Anthropogenic sources of BC were adopted from the MACCity (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate and megacity Zoom for the Environment) emission inventory. During the 12-year period, an average area of 250 000 km2 yr−1 was burned in northern Eurasia (FEI-NE) and the global emissions of BC ranged between 8.0 and 9.5 Tg yr−1 (FEI-NE+MACCity). For the BC emitted in the Northern Hemisphere (based on FEI-NE+MACCity), about 70 % originated from anthropogenic sources and the rest from biomass burning (BB). Using the FEI-NE+MACCity inventory, we found that 102 ± 29 kt yr−1 BC was deposited in the Arctic (defined here as the area north of 67° N) during the 12 years simulated, which was twice as much as when using the MACCity inventory (56 ± 8 kt yr−1). The annual mass of BC deposited in the Arctic from all sources (FEI-NE in northern Eurasia, MACCity elsewhere) is significantly higher by about 37 % in 2009 (78 vs. 57 kt yr−1) to 181 % in 2012 (153 vs. 54 kt yr−1), compared to the BC deposited using just the MACCity emission inventory. Deposition of BC in the Arctic from BB sources in the Northern Hemisphere thus represents 68 % of the BC deposited from all BC sources (the remaining being due to anthropogenic sources). Northern Eurasian vegetation fires (FEI-NE) contributed 85 % (79–91 %) to the BC deposited over the Arctic from all BB sources in the Northern Hemisphere. We estimate that about 46 % of the BC deposited over the Arctic from vegetation fires in northern Eurasia originated from Siberia, 6 % from Kazakhstan, 5 % from Europe, and about 1 % from Mongolia. The remaining 42 % originated from other areas in northern Eurasia. About 42 % of the BC released from northern Eurasian vegetation fires was deposited over the Arctic (annual average: 17 %) during spring and summer.
An Investigation of Factors that Influence the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students of Public Universities in Ghana

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which background characteristics, students’ attitudes to learning, and students’ use of social media influence academic performance among undergraduates in Ghana. It was hypothesized that previous performance, hours of study, family income, having a personal study schedule, attending lectures regularly, participating in class discussions, taking notes during lectures, use of alcohol, and use of social media, among other factors will influence a student’s grade point average (GPA). Questionnaires were distributed to 1,500 students across four universities, of which 626 completed questionnaires were returned (N = 626). Correlation analysis showed that only hours of study was strongly related to GPA (r = .1, p = .05). Independent-samples t tests showed that students who had personal study schedules, attended lectures regularly, participated in class, took notes, chatted on Facebook, did not use alcohol, regarded a higher GPA as important, and who lived Off-campus, respectively, had a higher mean GPA. The study has contributed to the literature on factors that affect undergraduate academic performance in Ghana by investigating the effect of several demographic and attitudinal factors on student GPA. The findings indicate that to enhance academic performance it is important to influence students’ attitudes and dispositions toward learning, including lecture attendance, participation in class, self-initiated or independent learning, use of social media, and abstinence from alcohol.
Phytochemical Analysis and Antibacterial Activity of Essential Oil Of Lavandula multifida L.

Essential oil from the aerial parts of Lavandula multifida L. (Lamiaceae), used in the Moroccan traditional medicine, was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 34 constituents, representing 95.25 % of the total oil were identified. The major components at the species level were Carvacrol (47.62%), ? - bisabolene (9.01%), and Dodecyl Acrylate (8.37%), Linalol (7.42%), Menthone (4.98%), ? - Caryophyllene (3.34%), ? - Pinene (3.21%). Antibacterial activity of this oil was tested against human pathogenic bacteria: gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria by the agar diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the oil were determined by the microdilution technique. The oil showed significant inhibitory activity against the bacteria, S. Aureus (14.330 ± 0.577 mm), B. subtilis (12.670± 0.577 mm), P. mirabilis (12± 1 mm), P. vulgaris (11.67± 0.577 mm), L. innocua (10.660 ± 0.577 mm), L. monocytogenes (8.667± 0.577 mm), E. coli CECT (9.667± 0.577 mm) and E. coli K12 (9.333 ± 0.577 mm). No inhibitory activity was observed against the bacterium Ps. aeruginosa.
Effects of Three Tillage Systems on Physical Properties of a Sandy Loam Soil

To evaluate the impact of tillage systems on soil environment, it is necessary to quantify the modifications to the soil structure. Three different techniques were compared: minimum tillage with discs harrow, medium tillage with discs plow and conventional deep tillage with mouldboard plowing. Tests were carried out over a sandy loam soil in the Higher Institute of Agronomy of ChottMeriem (Tunisia). Tillage was followed by a first resumption 10 days after and a second one 20 days after. The studied parameters were measured at initial state and after tillage over time. Soil structure was characterized by its resistance to penetration and bulk density. Crumbling index was also evaluated by the method of clods sieving. In soil tilled by conventional system, soil resistance and bulk density increased for a depth of 30 cm. In contrast, tillage with discs plow showed lower values of these parameters in both the surface layer (10 cm) and the plowing depth (20 cm). Minimum tillage system, showed the best values of soil resistance and bulk density than the other systems and a better improvement in soil crumbling index.