Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential leafhopper vectors of phytoplasma in carrots

Phytoplasmas are insect-vectored pathogens that cause characteristic and destructive diseases in carrots and other vegetables. A phytoplasma disease was first observed in Israeli carrot fields in 1995. Analysis of infected carrots showed the presence of aster yellows and western-X phytoplasmas. In this study, commercial and experimental fields in the western Negev region of Israel were monitored for three years using yellow sticky traps and vacuum sampling. Potential vectors of leafhoppers and planthoppers were analysed by PCR for the presence of phytoplasma DNA. Infected plants were also assayed for phytoplasma DNA. Extracted phytoplasma DNA was subjected to RFLP analysis to determine groups to which the phytoplasmas belonged. It was determined that carrots and leafhoppers from the experimental station were infected with a phytoplasma belonging to the Elm Yellows (EY) group; this is the first report of EY infecting carrots. Based on our findings, the two most probable insect vectors are Circulifer haematoceps complex (Mulsant & Rey) and Neoaliturus fenestratus (Herrich-Schäffer). RésuméLes phytoplasmas sont des pathogènes transmis par des insectes vecteurs, responsables de maladies destructives et caractéristiques sur les carottes et d’autres légumes. Une maladie à phytoplasma a été observée pour la première fois en Israël en 1995 dans des champs de carottes. L’analyse des carottes infectées à révélé la présence des phytoplasmas aster jaunes et western-X. Dans cette étude, des parcelles expérimentales et commerciales situées dans la région Ouest du Negev en Israël ont été suivis pendant 3 ans en utilisant des pièges englués jaunes et des pièges à succion. Les vecteurs potentiels, des cicadelles et les jassides, ont été analysés par PCR afin de contrôler la présence du DNA de phytoplasma. Les plantes infectées ont également été contrôlées pour le DNA de phytoplasma. Le DNA extrait a été soumis à une analyse par RFLP afin de déterminer le groupe d’appartenance des phytoplasmas. On a ainsi pu déterminer que les carottes et les jassides de la station expérimentale étaient infectés par des phytoplasmas du groupe Elm Yellows (EY); Il s’agit du premier signalement de carottes infectées par des phytoplasmas du groupe EY. Sur la base de nos résultats, le complexe Circulifer haematoceps (Mulsant et Rey) et Neoaliturus fenestratus (Herrich-Schäffer) sont probablement les deux principaux vecteurs.
Hierarchy Theory, Selection, and SortingA phylogenetic perspective

he hierarchical structure of nature has seldom been prominently emphasized in evolutionary theory, although it has been recognized by a broad range of evolutionary biologists (e.g., Dobzhansky 1937, Eldredge 1985, Mayr 1963). Its marginal role may be partly due to what is perceived as a paucity of examples and to the difficulty in formulating tests to analyze hierarchical structure. In this article, we discuss how a phylogenetic perspective can be used as a technique to study the hierarchical structure of nature. We analyze how sorting and selection act at levels in addition to those of classic organismic natural selection. Various fields of biology have produced empirical and conceptual advances supporting the need to
Consumer Psyche and Positioning Strategies

The significance of positioning is firm in marketing but there is scant research, how positioning (strategies) alternatives are important or substitute each other, which positioning strategy overlap and how it measures effectively. Sometimes brand managers waste their energies and company resources to build an image of brand with simultaneous positioning strategies, whereas purpose can be achieved by applying the one of them. Quantitative mode of study is applied herein the research. Relative effectiveness of positioning strategies is measure by using multidimensional scale. The scale is based on four dimensions i.e., favorability, dissimilarity, uniqueness, and credibility. The associated items are seventeen with these four dimensions. Two print advertisements from cellular industry that are representing the given positioning strategies showed to the 100 consumers using purposive sampling technique. The statistical technique, ANCOVA is applied herein the study. The results show that the surrogate positioning strategy and feature positioning are identical in term of favorability and credibility. Other two dimensions named dissimilarity and uniqueness counter balance each other.
Interactive comment on “ The JGrass-NewAge system for forecasting and managing the hydrological budgets at the basin scale : the models of flow generation , propagation , and aggregation ” by G .

• We decided to change the basin to which the model was applied because, as suggested by reviewers, in the case of the Passer river basin, firstly, the time series of measured data is too short and, secondly, snow is the main component of the water budget in winter and spring-time. Therefore, we moved to the Little Washita river basin, located in Oklahoma (U.S.), where the USDA provides twoyear long time series of discharges and detailed hydro-meteorological quantities. Also, the water balance of this basin is not influenced by snow.
Brand Management in SMEs: Conceptualization of Differences and Research Agenda

Purpose : The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a holistic conceptualization of how and why brand management concepts differ in the context of SMEs, and to suggest a research agenda for further investigation. Methodology :The methodology is based on a qualitative approach focused on the perceptions and practices of brand management from the perspective of SMEs’ owners-managers and marketing executives, involving the analysis of ten site case studies of the Portuguese footwear industry SMEs through in-depth interviews, observations and related documents. Findings :The empirical results showed how SMEs’ owner-managers approach brands in a different way and develop their own processes of branding, which allow them, in a simplified but relatively efficient way, to collect some of the benefits associated to brand building. Essentially, the results revealed that there is a link between certain characteristics inherent to owner(s)-manager(s), the intensity of their entrepreneurial orientation, the brand management tactics and brand performance in the long run. Research limitations :Results need to be expanded and confirmed with other national and international SMEs from different economic sectors that are managing brands. Originality/value :The paper emphasizes the current lack of a consistent, systematic theoretical framework and, above all, one that has been validated by empirical research on brand management practiced in SMEs. A contribution is made to build an entrepreneurial paradigm and theory of brand management in such enterprises, and a set of six theoretical propositions with implications concerning theory and management, aiming at a further investigation, is suggested. Article Classification :Research paper Keywords : Brand management, Entrepreneurship, Small to medium-sized enterprises, SME branding, Research agenda
Mispricing of Corporate Actions: A Statistical Arbitrage Approach

This paper examines the impact of seasoned equity issues and repurchases on short-term stock performance in the U.S. and Canada. Long-term performance has been abundantly discussed in the literature, although consensus is lacking. Performing an event-studies approach (Ibbotson’s RATS methodology as well as a conventional asset pricing approach) reveals a static, statistically significant pattern in post-event returns for both issues and repurchases. These are supported by the Cumulative Abnormal Return estimates, which are significant across the board and of a level between 2 and 6 percent. The Calendar Time approach as suggested in Fama, 1998 also finds significantly positive abnormal returns. These results suggest a strong market inefficiency post corporate actions events. Applying this insight to a set of generalized trading rules for market-hedged short-term trades yields profitable results for almost all strategies. Issue strategies are more profitable than repurchase strategies and most strategies show low short-term risk metrics. None of the strategies pass the statistical arbitrage test devised in Hogan, Jarrow, Teo, and Warachka (2004).
Residual Effect of Organic Nutrient Management in Aromatic Rice on Growth & Productivity of Greengram .

The present study was taken up to investigate the effect of organic nutrient management on growth & economics of aromatic rice and its residual effect on greengram in rice-greengram cropping system. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with 12 treatments & three replications to study the organic nutrient management in aromatic rice during Kharif 2014 & 2015 seasons and its residual effect on greengram in Rabi 2014-15 & 2015-16 seasons under rice-greengram cropping system. The residual effect of nutrient management practices of rice significantly influenced the primary branches of greengram. Application of organic sources both as sole and combination produced significantly more no of number of branches in both the years as well as in pooled analysis over RDF and control. As per the pooled data analysis the highest number of nodules per plant was observed in T10 (50% RDN from VC+50% RDN from GLM) i.e. 21.2. As per the pooled data analysis the highest dry matter was observed in T10 i.e. 374 g/m 2 which was significantly differing from other treatments and lowest was observed in T1 Control (No fertilizer applied) i.e. 222.5 g/m 2 . Number of pods per plant was highest for the treatment T10 i.e. 17.5 which was significantly different from other treatments and lowest was observed in T1-Control (No fertilizer applied) i.e. 10. The number of seeds per pods was highest for the treatment T10 i.e. 11.5 which was significantly different from other treatments and lowest was observed in T1-Control (No fertilizer applied) i.e. 8.97.
ORIGIN OF THE DENSE CORE MASS FUNCTION IN CONTRACTING FILAMENTS

Mass functions of starless dense cores (CMFs) may arise from contraction and dispersal of core-forming filaments. In an illustrative model, a filament contracts radially by self-gravity, increasing the mass of its cores. During this contraction, FUV photoevaporation and ablation by shocks and winds disperse filament gas and limit core growth. The stopping times of core growth are described by a waiting-time distribution. The initial filament column density profile and the resulting CMF each match recent Herschel observations in detail. Then low-mass cores have short growth ages and arise from the innermost filament gas, while massive cores have long growth ages and draw from more extended filament gas. The model fits the initial density profile and CMF best for mean core density 2 × 104 cm−3 and filament dispersal timescale 0.5 Myr. Then the typical core mass, radius, mean column density, and contraction speed are respectively 0.8 solar masses, 0.06 pc, 6 × 1021 cm−2, and 0.07 km s−1, also in accord with observed values.
Can flexibility be constraining?

Five common options for workforce flexibility and their robustness under uncertain demand are investigated. In the first stage, a firm makes optimal staffing decisions according to estimated demand and a given workforce flexibility policy. In the second stage, it reallocates its workforce to react to demand shocks. Numerical results are presented that show that flexibility can lead a firm to staff with too little slack to be flexible to demand shocks, thus leading to higher total costs, i.e., staffing and inventory costs. The forms of flexibility that give robust benefits are identified and an analysis on how different forms of flexibility interact with each other is performed. [Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of IIE Transactions for the following supplemental resource: Appendix with additional tables of results. ]
Learning to Teach: A Descriptive Study of Student Language Teachers in Taiwan

Studies have shown that many training programs are relatively ineffective in preparing prospective teachers for classroom teaching. Such findings suggest that teacher training programs might require improvement and that prospective teachers should be more thoroughly assessed during the training period. This study examined the learning process of a group of EFL teachers during their practicum at elementary schools. Our findings indicate that prior language learning experience and peer student teachers play a critical role in this period. Overall, the results suggested that student teachers would benefit from greater integration between field experiences, practicum, and lecture courses, which would enable the students to link teaching theory and practice more effectively.
Fixed Points of Multivalued Contractive Mappings in Partial Metric Spaces

The aim of this paper is to present fixed point results of multivalued mappings in the framework of partial metric spaces. Some examples are presented to support the results proved herein. Our results generalize and extend various results in the existing literature. As an application of our main result, the existence and uniqueness of bounded solution of functional equations arising in dynamic programming are established.
Almost Perfect Reconstruction Filter Bank for Non-redundant, Approximately Shift-Invariant, Complex Wavelet Transforms

This paper presents a new filter bank design technique which leads to the shiftinvariant representation of signals. The proposed wavelet transform due to the specific power spectrum of its filters has oriented filters in higher dimensions. Unlike previous approaches, its filters do not have serious distributed bumps in the wrong side of the power spectrum and, simultaneously, they do not introduce any redundancy to the original signal. The proposed filter bank has linear phase filters and high vanishing moment property. The simulation results show promising properties of the proposed filter bank that can be exploited in different signal processing applications. AMS Subject Classification:
Meta-Analysis of Risk Factors for Development of Liver Cirrhosis in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) are main reasons for the development of liver cirrhosis (LC) on a worldwide scale. Chronic HBV infection is a main reason for the development of LC in high-risk areas, for example, China and Africa, whereas chronic HCV infection is a main reason in developed countries. In China, the harm of LC is serious, and 30 million of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients is the major source of LC and the one-year cumulative incidence rate of LC in CHB patients was 2.1% - 6%. The risk factors of the development of LC in CHB patients reported were controversial.
On the Mattila-Sjolin theorem for distance sets

We extend a result, due to Mattila and Sjolin, which says that if the Hausdorff dimension of a compact set $E \subset {\Bbb R}^d$, $d \ge 2$, is greater than $\frac{d+1}{2}$, then the distance set $\Delta(E)=\{|x-y|: x,y \in E \}$ contains an interval. We prove this result for distance sets $\Delta_B(E)=\{{||x-y||}_B: x,y \in E \}$, where ${|| \cdot ||}_B$ is the metric induced by the norm defined by a symmetric bounded convex body $B$ with a smooth boundary and everywhere non-vanishing Gaussian curvature. We also obtain some detailed estimates pertaining to the Radon-Nikodym derivative of the distance measure.
Metroethnicity, language, and the principle of Cool

Abstract Cultural essentialism and ethnic orthodoxy are out. In Japan, Metroethnicity is in. Cool rules. Metroethnicity is a reconstruction of ethnicity: a hybridized ‘‘street’’ ethnicity deployed by a cross-section of people with ethnic or mainstream backgrounds who are oriented towards cultural hybridity, cultural / ethnic tolerance and a multicultural lifestyle in friendships, music, the arts, eating and dress. Both Japanese and persons with minority background ‘‘play’’ with ethnicity (not necessarily their own) for aesthetic effect. Metroethnicity is skeptical of heroic ethnicity and bored with sentimentalism about ethnic language. It views such narrative as inevitable but logocentric. Metroethnicity hears the cry of minority rights but positions itself in a more distant and cooler place. This place involves cultural crossings, self-definition made up of borrowing and do-it-yourself, a sfumato of blurred ethnic ‘‘identities’’. The operating system is Metroethnicity. Its desktop cultural expression is Cool. The cultural effect examined here involves (ethnic) language as an off-the-shelf, take-it-or-leave it lifestyle accessory that conforms to aesthetic demands rather than ethnolinguistic duty. The criterion for language maintenance and allegiance for the metroethnic then shifts from loyalty to ethnic heritage and political duty to questions of lifestyle emancipation. Is it worthwhile? Is it interesting? Is it funky? Is it a cool thing to do and to have? Cool is the capacity to ignore or minimize the claims of ethnicity. Ethnicity will be deployed — later — for lifestyle purposes when it is deemed cool. Cool is not the same as fashion or popularity. Cool includes a perceived ability to see the flipside or alternative side of things; an ability that multicultural-perspective people or ethnic minorities are uniquely believed to possess. Cool is quirky, innovative and tolerant. Cool is an attitude and a hope. The historic struggle of Japan’s language minorities (Korean, Ainu, new migrant) may be giving way to a new metroethnic generation. Cool has a brittle cultural logic. It is a residual code that has turned itself into an emergent code. Its performative style is based upon and derives simultaneously from the symbols of both disaffiliation and association. Gone are the immutable ciphers of ethnic identity. Here comes Cool.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF STRATEGY-BASED READING INSTRUCTION ( SBRI ) ON IMPROVING STUDENTS ’ READING PROFICIENCY AND THEIR PERCEPTION TOWARD THE READING INSTRUCTION

The objective of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of Strategy-based Reading Instruction (SBRI) on improving Students’ Reading Proficiency. It also has a purpose to examine the students’ Perception toward the implementation of the Reading Instruction. The model of strategy-based instruction that can help students to read more effectively and become independent learners was suggested by Chamot (2008) namely Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA). There are five phases of the instructional sequence, namely Preparation, Presentation, Practice, Self-evaluation and Expansion. The study involved one class which consists of 28 students. The instruction was carried-out for 12 meetings with one meeting each week. There were two instruments for collecting the data namely: reading comprehension test and a questionnaire of students’ perception toward the instruction. The finding of the study shows that the students’ reading proficiency increases. The mean score of the experimental group is 66.46 as it is the good level, while the mean score of the control group is 61.4 as it is in the sufficient level. The inferential statistics shows that the t-test is 2.27 higher than the t-table 2.00 with the significant level 0.027 (< 0.05). The students found that Strategy-based Reading Instruction was helpful and practical for solving reading comprehension difficulty.
Linear and nonlinear spatio-temporal instability in laminar two-layer flows

The linear and nonlinear spatio-temporal stability of an interface separating two Newtonian fluids in pressure-driven channel flow at moderate Reynolds numbers is analysed both theoretically and numerically. A linear, Orr–Sommerfeld-type analysis shows that most of such systems are unstable. The transition to an absolutely unstable regime is investigated, and is shown to occur in an intermediate range of Reynolds numbers and ratios of the thicknesses of the two layers, for near-density matched fluids with a viscosity contrast. A critical Reynolds number is found for transition from convective to absolute instability of relatively thin films. Results obtained from direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of the Navier–Stokes equations for long channels using a diffuse-interface method elucidate that waves generated by random noise at the inlet show that, near the inlet, waves are formed and amplified strongly, leading to ligament formation. Successive waves coalesce with each other further downstream, resulting in longer larger-amplitude waves further downstream. In the linearly absolute regime, the characteristics of the spatially growing wave near the inlet agree with that of the saddle point as predicted by the linear theory. The transition point from a convective to an absolute regime predicted by linear theory is also in agreement with a sharp change in the value of a healing length obtained from the DNSs.
In Situ Raman Spectroscopy of Solution-Gated Graphene on Copper

We present a solution-gated in situ Raman spectroscopy approach, which enables the electrical characterization of graphene on a copper substrate without the need of a transfer process. The application of a voltage across the solution resulted in a shift of the Raman G-band without a significant shift of the 2D band. This observation allowed for the separation of the effects of strain and doping. Based on the G and 2D band shifts we show that we can manipulate the n-type carrier concentration of graphene directly on the copper substrate in a range from about 8× 10 cm−2 to about 1.5× 10 cm−2.
Sustainable Tourism Development and Environmental Management for Developing Countries

The rise of the concept of sustainable development in discussions and debates concerning development has been phenomenal since the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) issued Our Common Future in 1987, reinvigorated by the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). It offers a vision of complementarily between economic growth and environment as opposed to the view that more of one means less of the other. Sustainable development is understood here to imply sustainable human development because development is, to state the obvious and oft-repeated wisdom, about people and that human societies are ultimately dependent upon their natural environment. The fundamental reason why humankind today faces unacceptable and increasing levels of poverty, inequality, and environmental penury is that the past practices of development have transgressed both of these principles. In analytical terms, sustainable development thus invokes those issues surrounding human societies and their activities, which can ultimately be specified in terms of two kinds of relations – human-human and human-natural environment relations. The economy of the Developing Countries, aiming to pursue tourism, as a development strategy needs fast and efficient implementation of Environmental Management principles in order to achieve its desired growth potential. Land and other bio-physical resources are finite. Therefore, the only way to enhance economic growth is better innovations and efficient management of resources. The paper examines the present understanding of environmental management principles and its role in achieving sustainable tourism. It further aims to explain the environmental management to clarify the interrelationship between sustainable tourism and environmental management.