Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contour-feather moult of Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica baueri) in New Zealand and the northern hemisphere reveals multiple strategies by sex and breeding region

Abstract The extreme long-distance migration of Alaskan breeding Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica baueri) may present severe constraints on annual moult, and high individual variation in plumage and migration timing suggests that multiple strategies by sex and breeding region may exist. We used digital photography of free-living Bar-tailed Godwits to describe the timing and extent of pre-basic and pre-breeding contour-feather moults in New Zealand, and used plumage of breeding birds in Alaska to infer the proportion of moults occurring in Alaska and Asia. These data demonstrated that: (1) Godwits conducted overlapping pre-alternate and pre-supplemental moults; (2) pre-basic and pre-breeding moults were scheduled differently in relation to southbound and northbound migration respectively; (3) northern and southern Alaskan breeding Godwits of each sex were distinguishable by plumage differences throughout the non-breeding season; and (4) males and northern breeders achieved more extensive breeding plumage by spending longer in pre-breeding moult in New Zealand, rather than through faster moult rates or greater investment in moult during migratory stopover in Asia. The existence of a ventral pre-supplemental moult implies that contemporary selection for red breeding plumage overrides older selection for barred alternate plumage. Our use of individual-based data revealed a continuum of annual moult strategies within the population, which may reflect individual differences in any combination of sex, size, migration distance or breeding location. Even within the highly constrained annual cycle of extreme long-distance migrants, differential selection influences how individuals manage trade-offs among non-breeding activities such as moult, fuelling and migration.
EFFECT OF POST HARVEST TREATMENTS ON BLACK SPOTTING , INFESTATION AND ORGANOLEPTIC QUALITY OF AMRAPALI MANGO DURING AMBIENT STORAGE

This experiment was conducted during 2011-12 to study the effect of post harvest hot water treatment and wax coating on occurrence of black spotting and infestation of insects like fruit fly during storage of Amrapali mango fruits under ambient condition. Black spots on fruits skin during ripening and storage are mainly due to the infection of Anthracnose and Stemend rot are the major post harvest diseases of mango fruits. In the present experiment, fruits were harvested at green mature stage and treated with four post-harvest treatments viz. (T1Hot water treatment at 52 ± 2 0C for 5 minutes), (T2Wax coating of 6% wax emulsion), (T3Hot water treatment + Wax coating) and (T4water was taken as control). Treated fruits were packed in CFB boxes and stored under ambient condition. Observations were recorded at 3 days intervals during storage. Results revealed that the treatment of HWT + Wax coating was found to be best to minimize the black spotted and infested fruit per cent in mango during storage. Treated fruits retained the maximum fruits firmness and highest organoleptic score with acceptability upto 15 days, while 6 days in untreated fruits during the ambient storage. Treatments of HWT + Wax coating was also improved the shelf life of mango fruits up to 15 days with lowest PLW per cent against only 9 days was recorded in control.
Endogenous Overconfidence in Managerial Forecasts

We examine whether attribution bias leads managers who have experienced short-term forecasting success to become overconfident in their ability to forecast future earnings. Importantly, this form of overconfidence is endogenous and dynamic. We also examine the effect of this cognitive bias on the managerial credibility. Consistent with the existence of dynamic overconfidence, managers who have predicted earnings accurately in the previous four quarters are less accurate in their subsequent earnings predictions. These managers also display greater divergence from the analyst consensus and are more precise. Lastly, investors and analysts react less strongly to forecasts issued by overconfident managers.
THE ROLE OF PERCEIVED USEFULNESS AND PERCEIVED ENJOYMENT IN ASSESSING STUDENTS ’ INTENTION TO USE LMS USING 3-TUM

Today, e-learning is emerging as the new paradigm of modern education. Worldwide, the e-learning market has a growth rate of 35.6%, but failures still exist. Little is known about why many users stop their online learning after the initial experience. In order to understand the problem, this study examines undergraduate students’ responds to the use of e-learning. A questionnaire was used to collect data about the e-learning’s quality, and the students’ perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness and behavioral intention. The preliminary results from the study reveals two major findings. First, the 3-TUM model is suitable to understand students’ continuance intention in the context of e-learning. Secondly, perceived enjoyment was a bigger predictor to students’ continuance intention compared to perceived usefulness. Finally, conclusions, implications and future direction of study are also provided. Field of Research: E-learning, Behavioral Intention, 3-TUM, System Quality --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measuring business performance : a case study : research article

Most studies consider business performance to be a multidimensional construct. Four dimensions (namely, business growth, profitability, image and customer loyalty, and product service innovativeness) were hypothesised to validate a measure for business performance in the South African context. Using partial least squares, 22 responses from top executives of banks in South Africa were analysed to test the validity of the four dimensions of business performance. The results of the study suggest that the nonfinancial dimensions (namely, image and customer loyalty, and product service innovation) are not valid dimensions for measuring business performance, while the other two dimensions (namely, business growth and profitability) show a high degree of correlation. This indicates that business growth is aligned with profitability, that growth for profitability is a major concern, and that profitability still remains the key measure of business performance in the South African banking sector. Parameters such as customer loyalty and innovativeness are not regarded as important for business performance, although these could be pressing issues for banks. The paper also validates a questionnaire that can be used to measure business performance and reviews various methods for measuring business performance.
Phytochemical Screening , Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of Some Medicinal Plants Grown In Sylhet Region

Five medicinal plants such as Melastoma malabathricum, Mimosa pudica, Ricinus communis, Solanum torvum, Alocasia macrorrhiza were employed to investigate the presence of various phytochemicals using different biochemical tests, to determine total phenolic content based on Folin-Ciocaltaeus reagent method, total flavonoid contents using aluminium chloride colorimetric method, antioxidant potentiality according to DPPH assay and antibacterial efficacy by disc diffusion assay of the selected medicinal plants. The phytochemical screening exhibited that the extracts were enriched with the existence of alkaloid, steroids, phenols, terpenoids, flavonoids, saponin, quinones, coumarins etc. Presence of phytochemicals varied from plant to plant. Quantitative analysis of phenolics revealed that Melastoma malabathricum contained maximum phenolics compound counting 76.29 mg/g gallic acid equivalent (GAE) of dry leaves powder. Total flavonoids content was found to be highest in Ricinus communis extract amounting 23.23mg/g quercetin equivalent(QE) of dry leaves powder. Mimosa pudica and Melastoma malabathricum extract possessed the highest free radical scavenging activity against DPPH. IC50 values, obtained by DPPH activity, was very high in Heliotropium indicum (228.58μg/ml). In contrast, lowest value of IC50 was found in Mimosa pudica (32.46μg/ml) which was followed by Melastoma malabathricum (48.90 μg/ml) and Ricinus communis (54.84μg/ml). IC50 values were shown inversely proportional to the free radical scavenging activity. Furthermore, antibacterial activities of methanolic extracts of selected plant’s leaves were analyzed against five clinically significant organisms (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella sp, Staphylococcus aureus). Comparing six medicinal plants, the crude extract of Melastoma melabathricum and Solanum torvum exhibited potent antibacterial activity against all studied bacterial strains (11-16.75 mm zone of inhibition). Other four medicinal plant’s extracts showed antibacterial activity against different bacterial strains. To broaden this study, further in vivo models are essential for proving the effectiveness of leaves as candidate drug.
Influences on Rural and Urban Consumer Buying

Rural markets in India are big attraction these days. Marketers need to understand rural markets differently. A comparative study has been carried out to understand how rural and urban consumers buying behavior differ with respect to different types of influences on their buying behavior. The study was based on the sample of 411 (204 from urban and 207 from rural areas) households across the state selected on the basis of non-probability convenience sampling. Three durable goods from three different product categories Television (entertainment product), Refrigerator (home appliance), and an Automobile (two-wheeler, motorcycle and car/jeep) have been selected for study. Overall there are insignificant differences between rural and urban consumers for television and refrigerator. However there are considerable differences in case of automobiles.
Molecular Genetics of Stroke

S troke is the most common and debilitating neurological disease. It is a leading cause of death and disability both nationally and worldwide. The incidence of stroke in different countries varies from 47/100,000 to 300/100,000 and all available evidences indicated that the incidence of stroke has been on the rise. In Thailand, a study in 1994-1996 found that the prevalence of cerebrovascular disease in the population over 60 years of age was 11.2/1,000. Regarding the outcome, stroke contributed over 3 million deaths globally each year. This made stroke the 5 leading cause of death in people with 15-59 years of age and became the 2 leading cause of death in people older than 60 years old. The burden of stroke was enormous both socially and economically. Stroke is now the most common cause of major disability in the developed countries. Though there is no available data in Thailand, the burden was projected to be similar. For the above reasons, The National Research Council of Thailand ranked cerebrovascular disease as the nation’s forth priority for crucial medical problem that needs medical research attention. Stroke is defined as a neurological deficit of a cerebrovascular cause that persists beyond 24 hours or is interrupted by death within 24 hours. The disease is well known to be clinically and etiologically diverse. However, advancement in biomedical research in cerebrovascular disorders concluded that genetic factors play a role in stroke pathogenesis.
A Study is Proven that Transmission of Helicobacter pylori is Not Fecal-Oral Route in Children Living in A Rural Part of Turkey

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the seroposi tivities of Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori), Hepatitis E and Hepatitis A virus (HEV and HAV) infections in childhood and to investigate whether a common mode of transmission could be shar ed between these microorganisms. Material and Methods: A total of 301 children (151 male, 150 female) who were ranging from 1 to 16 years old wer e included. Subjects were separated into the three groups accor ding to age: Group 1 (1-5 years), Group 2 (6-10 years), and Grou p 3 (11-16 years). Blood samples were obtained from all patien ts for detection of immunoglobulin G antibody levels again st helicobacter pylori, hepatitis E and hepatitis A. Results: Overall seropositivity rates were found to be 19.6% (59/301), 11.6% (35/301) and 1.3% (4/301) for H. pylori, HAV and HEV, respectively. The seropositivity rates for H. pylori increased significantly with age. The HAV seropositivity rates in males was higher than females. Of the 301 cases, 8 cases were seropositive for both H. pylori and HAV infections. None of the children was seropositive for both HEV and H. pylori or HEV and HAV infections. Conclusion: We could not demonstrate a correlation between H. pylori and HAV seroprevalance rates with respect to incre asing age. Our study supports the theory against the feca l-oral transmission of H. pylori infections.
Investigations on Driver Unique Identification from Smartphone’s GPS Data Alone

Driver identification is an emerging area of interest in vehicle telematics, automobile control, and insurance. Recent body of works indicates that it may be possible to uniquely identify a driver using multiple dedicated sensors. In this paper, we present an approach for driver identification using smartphone GPS data alone. For our experiments, we collected data from 38 drivers for two months. We quantified the driver’s natural style by extracting a set of 137 statistical features from data generated for each completed trip. The analysis shows that, for the “driver identification” problem, an average accuracy of 82.3% is achieved for driver groups of 4-5 drivers. This is comparable to the state of the arts where mostly a multisensor approach has been taken. Further, it is shown that certain behavioral attributes like high driving skill impact identification accuracy. We observe that Random Forest classifier offers the best results. These results have great implications for various stakeholders since the proposed method can identify a driver based on his/her naturalistic driving style which is quantified in terms of statistical parameters extracted from only GPS data.
Marketing Adaptation / Standardization of SMEs ’ Marketing Mix Elements across borders

Nowadays, the globalization phenomena makes companies of every size think beyond domestic market. However, implement an international strategy that is efficient is not a simple task for firms. Indeed, companies have to respond to market specific context while they have different characteristics. In the literature, with regard to the adaptation/standardization of the marketing mix, most of the researches have built their theories upon the analysis of multinationals’ cases. Little attention has been paid on the cases of SMEs although in different topics of interest it has been seen that these two types of companies do not behave exactly the same ways. Therefore, this thesis aims to find the reasons affecting the SME’s decision of adapting/standardizing the marketing mix and how do they proceed to do so. A qualitative research has been done with one Belgian small-medium enterprise (Bruyere) that evolves in the chocolate industry and more precisely in the market of pralines. The data gathered, thanks to the interview of two managers of Bruyerre, are structured with the theoretical framework beforehand developed. The analysis and discussion section contrasts and compares the theoretical framework and the data gathered. The research brought specific and significant findings about the small-medium Belgian enterprise (Bruyerre). Beyond general factors affecting their decisions either to adapt or standardize the element of the marketing mix strategy across nations, in this case, we found that managers have to build strong relationships with their partners across nations, take into consideration the nature of their product when deciding the strategy of adaptation/standardization and be flexible for their
The effects of employee empowerment on achievement motivation and the contextual performance of employees

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of perceived employee empowerment on achievement motivation and performance of employees. For this purpose, the data gathered from employees of public and private banks operating in Ankara have been analyzed, applying statistical techniques and methods. The analysis of the research data has revealed that the perceived employee empowerment had a positive impact on the achievement motivation and contextual performance of employees. The research data has also indicated that employee empowerment is an important predictor variable to achievement motivation and contextual performance of employees. Key words: Empowerment, achievement motivation, contextual performance.
The Effectiveness of a Structured Teaching Program in the Prevention of Depression among the Elderly

Background: Life expectancy is a good indicator of socioeconomic development, and as an indicator of long-term survival, it can be considered a positive health indicator. The trends in life expectancy show that people are living longer; and they have a right to a long life in good health, rather than one with pain and disability. The need to provide quality mental health care for the elderly in home settings is a critical issue, as the aging population is growing rapidly and care is becoming a necessity for a higher proportion of the elderly. Aim: To assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching program on knowledge regarding the prevention of depression among the elderly Methods: A quasi-experimental research approach was adopted to assess the effectiveness of a structured teaching program on knowledge regarding the prevention of depression among the elderly in the selected village of Moga, Punjab, India. Sixty elderly individuals (>65 yrs old) were selected by a systematic random sampling technique; and a pre-test was arranged prior to the structured teaching program and a posttest afterward. The main limitation of this approach was the lack of a control group. Results: The knowledge in the majority of elderly individuals regarding the prevention of depression was average (45%) prior to taking part in the structured teaching program; however, their knowledge improved to 80% afterward. The difference between the mean pre- and post-test knowledge scores was highly significant (p<0.001); hence, the null hypothesis H0 was rejected and the research hypothesis H1 was accepted, indicating that the structured teaching program had an impact on the knowledge in the elderly regarding the prevention of depression. In the pre-test, the majority of elderly individuals (45%) obtained an average knowledge score, 30% obtained a below average knowledge score and 25% obtained a good knowledge score. In the post-test, the majority of the elderly (80%) obtained a good knowledge score and 20% obtained an average knowledge score. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant difference between pre- and post-test knowledge scores in the majority of variables, with the exception of gender and family type. Therefore, the elderly individuals should be given the necessary awareness in the prevention of depression.
On compact complex parallelisable solvmanifolds

This paper deals with compact complex solvmanifolds. Our main purpose is to generalize the theory on the divisor group of a complex torus to these manifolds. By a solvmanifold we mean a homogeneous space of solvable Lie group. Let G be a simply connected complex solvable Lie group and Γ be a lattice of G, that is, a discrete subgroup of G such that G/Γ is compact. The de Rham cohomology group and the Dolbeault cohomology group of a compact complex manifold G/Γ play an important role in studying the divisor group of a complex manifold G/Γ. The de Rham cohomology group of a compact solvmanifold G/Γ has been discussed by Matsushima [7], Nomizu [10] and Mostow [8]. Let M be a compact connected complex manifold and H% ,? (M) denote the Dolbeault cohomology group of M of type (p, q). Let g be a complex Lie algebra and / be the canonical complex structure of g. Then g=gθg~, where g±= \X<ΞQ\IX= itV^ΪX}. In section 2, we prove:
Quality of reanalysis data during stratospheric vortex weakening and intensification events

The quality of five reanalysis data (ERA, JRA‐25, NASA‐MERRA, NCEP/DOE and NCEP/NCAR) is evaluated for stratospheric vortex weakening (SVW) and intensification (SVI) events in the Northern Hemisphere winter. A case study is carried out for a record‐breaking SVW event in 2009 whose spatio‐temporal structure is well observed by the COSMIC GPS RO measurements. It is found that most reanalysis data captured this event reasonably well despite non‐negligible biases are observed at 10 hPa especially in the JRA‐25. Composite analysis further shows that the temporal structure of the SVW and SVI events, as measured by the Northern Annular Mode (NAM) index, is almost identical among the data sets. Remarkably good agreement is found not only in the onset but also in their downward propagation with time. These results indicate that reanalysis data are reliable for examining stratospheric extreme events and their impact on the troposphere in an intraseasonal time scale.
Enhanced Saccharification of Steam-Pretreated Rice Straw by Commercial Cellulases Supplemented with Xylanase

For successful commercialization of biomass to ethanol process, the techno- economic hurdles have to be overcome. Complete substrate utilization is the key for making economics favorable. Existing enzyme preparations do not give high saccharification efficiency, thus, a broader suite of hydrolases is required. Xylanase supplementation in enzyme cocktail is an important strategy to increase sugar yields. In our study, hyperxylanolytic Aspergillus awamori F18 was used to produce xylanase. A. awamori F18 expressed high levels of xylanase during Solid state fermentation of corncob and also, Carboxy Methyl Cellulase (CMCase), filter paper activity (FP lyase) and β-glucosidase (524.43, 43.95, 8.64 and 29.81 IU mg-1 proteins respectively). A 10.6-12.5 fold concentration of these activities was achieved by single-step acetone precipitation. Supplementing concentrated xylanase to Accellerase®1500 resulted in 69.5% enhancement in sugars released after 72 h of saccharification of steam-pretreated rice straw. HPLC analysis of hydrolysates showed higher glucose levels along with the presence of xylose and arabinose. There was a 12.4% increase in the amounts of glucose as well as total sugars released when xylanase was supplemented to commercial cellulase and β-glucosidase.
The effect of iron concentration on the growth rate of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

This study addresses how the growth rate of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is affected by the concentration of iron present in the growth medium. To investigate this effect, we grew cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under zero, half, standard and double iron concentrations defined relative to the standard concentration of iron used in their standard growth medium (46.2 µM). Exponential growth was observed under all conditions throughout the 23 day measurement period apart from under zero iron conditions, where the growth was observed to plateau at approximately day 10 resulting in significantly lower cell abundance on day 23 compared to the three iron treatments. No significant differences were observed between cells grown under the half and standard iron concentrations, suggesting half (23.1 µM) of the standard concentration of iron is sufficient to support growth over this time scale. Increased iron concentration was shown to be stimulatory to growth, with the cells grown under the double iron concentrations (92.4 µM) showing significantly higher cell abundance compared to the cells grown under half iron concentrations by day 16, and significantly higher cell abundance than the cells grown under standard iron concentrations by the end of the measurement period on day 23. This result supports our alternate hypothesis that the growth rate of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii will increase with respect to increasing iron concentration present in growth medium.