Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analyzing the Inundation Pattern of the Poyang Lake Floodplain by Passive Microwave Data

The soil wetness condition is a useful indicator of inundation hazard in floodplains, such as the Poyang Lake floodplain. Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) passive microwave data were used to monitor water-saturated soil and open water areas of the Poyang Lake floodplain from 2001 to 2008, capturing the inundation patterns of this area in space and time. The polarization difference brightness temperature (PDBT) at 37 GHz is sensitive to the water extension even under dense vegetation. The zero-order radiative transfer model was simplified to retrieve the vertical–horizontal (V–H)-polarized effective emissivity difference from the PDBT at 37 GHz. Vegetation fractional area and vegetation transmission function were derived from NDVI to represent the vegetation attenuation. This effective emissivity difference has a quasi-linear relationship with the fractional area of water-saturated soil and standing water, no matter the frequency. Using the multifrequency-polarization surface emission (Qp) model and the Dobson model of the soil–water mixture, the two segments of this relationship were combined into a quasi-linear model. Comparing the retrieved water-saturated soil and standing water area of Poyang Lake with the lake area obtained from the MODIS and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image at higher spatial resolution, the calculations show a good fit with the MODIS and SAR data, with R2 = 0.7664 and relative RMSE = 17.74%. The cross-correlation analysis shows that the Poyang Lake extension fluctuates with a 5-day time lag with the upstream land area of water-saturated soil and standing water. Since the closure of the Three Gorges Dam, this relationship is more evident.
Involvement of Nitric Oxide in Iron Deficiency-enhanced Accumulation of Cadmium and Expression of OsIRT 1 in Rice

The effects of iron (Fe) deficiency on the uptake of cadmium (Cd) and expression of OsIRT1 in rice roots were examined. Roots of Fe-deficient seedlings had higher Cd accumulation than those of Fe-sufficient seedlings. Iron deficiency also enhanced the expression of OsIRT1 gene in rice roots. Endogenous nitric oxide (NO) was detected by the specific fluorescent probe 4-amino-5-methylamino-2’,7’difluorescein diacetate. Iron deficiency was effective in inducing NO fluorescence, which was blocked by the specific NO scavenger 2(carboxyphenyl)4,4,5,5tetramethylimidazoline -1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO). The scavenging of NO by cPTIO prevented Fe deficiency-enhanced uptake of Cd and expression of OsIRT1 was also observed. Results suggest that NO is required for Fe deficiency-induced Cd accumulation and OsIRT1 expression in rice roots.
Determinants of the Utilization of Healthcare Services among Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

The main asset of farmers is their labour and the utilization of healthcare services will help to improve their health and thus productivity. Some of the problems inhibiting proper utilization of healthcare services in Nigeria include non-availability, inaccessibility and high cost of medical care. The aim of this paper is to examine the determinants of the Utilization of Healthcare Services among farmers in Oyo State. A multistage random sampling technique was used to solicit responses from 140 farmers across two agro-ecological zones of Oyo State. The distance to healthcare services, the quality of treatment, cost of treatment, the availability of healthcare services, type of healthcare services and the method of financing healthcare services were found to significantly influence the utilization of healthcare services among farmers in Oyo State. The study therefore recommends that efforts should be made to provide accessible primary healthcare service centres such that the farmers do not have to walk long distances to access healthcare services. Also, improved healthcare facilities and competent medical personnel should be provided for the farmers at little or no cost so as to improve the utilization rate by farmers who cannot afford medical care.
Manufacturing of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators for Degradation Resistance

Manufacturing of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuator for Degradation Resistance Nicole M. Houser Masters of Applied Science Graduate Department of Aerospace Studies University of Toronto 2013 The performance and broader application of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators are restricted by the manufacturing methods currently employed. In the current work, two methodologies are proposed to build robust plasma actuators for active ow control; a protective silicone oil (PDMS) treatment for hand-cut and laid tape-based actuators and a microfabrication technique for glass-based devices. The microfabrication process, through which thin lm electrodes are precisely deposited onto plasma-resistant glass substrates, is presented in detail. The resulting glass-based devices are characterized with respect to electrical properties and output for various operating conditions. The longevity of microfabricated devices is compared against silicone-treated and untreated hand-made devices of comparable geometries over 60 hours of continuous operation. Both tungsten and copper electrodes are considered for microfabricated devices. Human health e ects are also considered in an electromagnetic eld study of the area surrounding a live plasma actuator for various operating conditions.
Study of overweight and obesity and its risk factors among adults in an adopted urban slum area of Government Medical College, Miraj

Background: Obesity and overweight are creating a global epidemic. In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight worldwide. Rapidly changing diets & lifestyles are fueling the global epidemic. Once being considered as a problem related to affluence, obesity is now growing fast in many developing countries. The burden of slum population & magnitude of their health problems are on the rise. Thus, the present study was planned to determine the prevalence of overweight & obesity and its risk factors in the urban slum area. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among adults aged 20 – 60 years. Persons willing to participate and who were residing more than 6 months in the study area were included. The sample of 320 was calculated with absolute error of 5%. Duration of study was from Feb 2014 to Dec 2014. Pretested Predesigned Proforma was constructed and Systematic random sampling method was used for data collection. Results: In this study, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 9.7% and 16.6% respectively. The study shows significant association between age, gender, occupation, family history of obesity, intake of calories and physical activity with overweight/obesity. Conclusions: The prevalence of obesity was more in females. Obesity can occur at any age and generally increases with age. The prevalence was more in adults who had family history of obesity. Low levels of physical activity are associated with higher prevalence. Thus, participation in household activities and regular physical exercise could help in lowering the prevalence.
Disturbances of Biological Soil Crust by fossorial birds increase plant diversity in a Peruvian desert

Abstract. The Lomas Formation are fog-dependent oases within the hyper arid band of the Peruvian coast. Biological soil crusts (BSC) form in the Lomas and interact with their fauna and flora. Here we asked if natural disturbances – biopedturbations – made by fossorial birds have an effect on seedlings emergence in the Lomas Formations in the National Reserve of Lachay in Lima, Peru. We analysed active and inactive avian biopedturbations, BSC and bare soil field samples for moisture content. Soil chemical properties were also analysed including organic matter, phosphorus, potassium, electrical conductivity (EC), pH and CaCO3 content, from BSC, the soil beneath the BSC and soil from biopedturbations. Furthermore, we looked into the seedbank and the field emergence of seedlings in plots with BSC and with active and inactive biopedturbations. The results revealed that active biopedturbations had the highest soil moisture content and BSC showed the lowest values. Moreover, organic matter and potassium content were significantly higher in the BSC than the soil beneath it and the bare soil. On the other hand, CaCO3 content and EC were higher in bare soil than the other treatments, and no significant differences were found in soil pH or phosphorus content between treatments. In the seedbank experiment, 13 herbaceous plant species were found; furthermore, biopedturbations had a higher diversity but lower abundance than the BSC. However, in the field observations biopedturbations had a higher diversity and abundance of seedlings than BSC and only 8 herbaceous species were found. The species Fuertesimalva peruviana (L.) Fryxell, Exodeconus prostratus (L'Her.) Raf. , Cryptantha granulosa I. M. Johnst. Solanum phyllanthum Cav. and Calandrinia alba (Ruiz & Pav.) D. C increase their abundance in some type of biopedturbations. Our results showed the positive effect on seed germination and diversity of vascular plants by the natural disturbances made by fossorial birds in a unique ecosystem of the Peruvian desert, and remarks the importance of spatial and temporal heterogeneity for ecosystem structure and functioning.
Income in French Empowerment Zones: A Panel Data Approach

Place-based policies are aimed at improving the economic situation of inhabitants of deprived urban neighborhoods, in particular by bringing jobs to these areas. Such a policy has been put in place in France starting in 1996, with the creation of 750 ZUS (`Zones Urbaines Sensibles'; Sensitive Urban Zones), part of which are further classified as ZRU (`Zones de Revitalisation Urbaines') and then ZFU (`Zones Franches Urbaines'). The ZFUs benefit from a higher level of intervention, in particular by receiving subsidies for job creations. Until now, the evaluation of this policy has focused on job creation. However, its impact on employment of the targeted population depends also on the characteristics of this population. In this paper, we evaluate the changes in the income distribution following the implementation of the ZFU policy. We employ a random growth model (Wooldridge 2002, 2005), aimed at controlling for the effect of unobservable time-varying characteristics of neighborhoods. Our results suggest that in ZFU2, the lower household incomes increased the year after the policy took place and did not change after. The Gini index decreased in treated zones in the whole period following the policy.
Impact of Non-Financial Services of Microfinance Banks (MFBs) on the Performance of Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria

The paper evaluated the impact of non-financial services of MFBs on the performance of women micro entrepreneurs in Kaduna state, Nigeria. The paper made use of a sample of 384 women entrepreneurs who had accessed microfinance facilities out of the 24 Microfinance Banks (MFBs) with in the period under study and who fit into the petty trader’s categorization by the Kaduna state Poverty Alleviation Unit in Nigeria. With the use of cross sectional survey design, the study collected and utilized primary quantitative data by use of structured questionnaires and analyzed by the use of ordered logit regression analysis. The study found training and network meetings to be the only non-financial services of MFBs that significantly influenced the performance of the women entrepreneurs. It was therefore concluded that the non-financial services offered by the MFBs have not impacted on the performance of the women traders, except in the aspect of training and network meetings. In line with these findings, the study recommended that the MFBs should be empowered by the government to provide entrepreneurship training from time to time to their clients and organize meetings that will pull people in the same line of business to enhance performance. Keywords : Microfinance Banks, non-financial services, performance, entrepreneurs, training, network meetings
Toe-bud clipping of juvenile small marsupials for ecological field research: No detectable negative effects on growth or survival

Toe clipping is widely used to permanently mark many species of small vertebrates including marsupials, particularly didelphids and dasyurids. Small marsupials are marked as juveniles, by removing the tip of developing toe buds. It has recently been shown that survival and/or recapture probability decreases with increasing number of toes clipped in frogs. Because of this and other animal welfare concerns, toe clipping of adult vertebrates is increasingly being discouraged. The short- and long-term effects of toe-bud clipping have not been evaluated in marsupials. We used an experiment to test if marking more toes results in slower growth or higher mortality in the brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii, Dasyuridae) in the short or long term. We found no harmful effects of toe-bud clipping. There were no infections associated with clipping, marking more toes did not reduce growth in young or adults, and did not affect survival of young in captivity, survival of independent animals in the wild, or recapture probability. Toe-bud clipping is done at an extremely immature stage, when the area cut is tiny and perception and memory of pain is unlikely to be a problem. We suggest that toe-bud clipping is a humane and benign method of permanently marking antechinuses, and probably also the young of other morphologically similar small marsupials.
Impact of chlorine dioxide as water acidifying agent on the performance, ileal microflora and intestinal histology in quails

Abstract. The present study was planned to investigate the effect of different levels of chlorine dioxide on the performance, gut microbiota and intestinal histology of quails. For this purpose, 300 day-old healthy quail chicks were randomly placed in 20 specially designed pens (15 birds/pen) with water troughs containing chlorine dioxide at the level of 0.00 (DW-0.00), 0.3 (DW-0.3), 0.4 (DW-0.4) and 0.5 ppm (DW-0.5) in replicated fashion (5 replicate/treatment) for 28 days. Weight gain, feed conversion ratio and dressing percentage increased significantly (P
Are Voters Better Represented?

Studies of political participation and representation often contend that elected officials respond more to the preferences of voters than those of nonvoters, but seldom test this claim. This is a critical assumption because if true, biases in who participates will lead to biased representation. Office holders might respond disproportionately to voters’ preferences because voters tend to select like-minded representatives, voters tend to communicate their preferences more, and only voters can reelect representatives. We find that voter preferences predict the aggregate roll-call behavior of Senators while nonvoter preferences do not. We also present evidence supporting the three explanations advanced to account for the preferential treatment of voters.
The Role of Macroeconomic Factors in Explaining the Cost of Capital: Evidence from a Group of Emerging Economies

This study analyzes the dynamic relationship between the cost of capital and macroeconomic factors for a group of emerging markets spanning the period 1996-2009 and using the GMM estimator methodology, suggested in Arellano and Bond (1991). The empirical findings indicate that these macroeconomic factors play a significant role in explaining the cost of capital in the emerging markets.
What is actually the warning label on the package of cigarettes

The year 1965 was very significant in the history of the tobacco industry. It was passed Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which obliged the tobacco corporations to set up the labels on the health warning on every packet of cigarettes intended for sale in the USA. To remind you, this was passed Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which obliged the tobacco corporations to set up the labels on the health warning on every packet of cigarettes intended for sale in the USA. This work examines the real effect of health warning label on the package of cigarettes. Why such a clear and unambiguous warning text has no influence on reducing the number of smokers. What is the secret of the controversial nature of this label? These are the main questions that this research is trying to resolve. The study involved 50 participants, aged 20 to 40 years, active cigarette smokers with dominant right hand. EEG recorded respecting the prescribed standard of electroencephalographic scanning.Research has shown to what extent the warning label does not affect the smokers to reduce the number of cigarettes but actually incentive the desire to smokers to light up a new cigarette. Conducted EEG monitoring just proved that the warning label is actually hidden message which smokers cannot resist, and this is a feature of the first-class subliminal message.
STATIC BALANCE OF PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES

This study aimed to compare static balance of students with severe intellectual disabilities (SID), visualimpairment (VI) and non-disabled (ND) persons 18-24 years of age. Eleven students with VI, nine with SIDand eleven ND students performed the One-Leg Stance balance test (10s). The Digital Balance Analyzer(DBA) platform was used to measure the Balance Index (range from 0 “excellent balance” to 10 “very poorbalance”). Subjects performed tests in open and closed eyes conditions. On right leg with open eyes resultsindicated statistically significant differences between both groups of students with disabilities and nondisabledstudents (p .05). In tests on both legs with closed eyes significant difference was in mean results for studentswith VI (p .05). The mainfinding of this study was that static balance scores were inferior in VI group than in SID and ND group.Finally, all participants demonstrated significantly better static balance skills on right leg than on left leg.
Bacterioplankton dynamics in the York River estuary: Primary influence of temperature and freshwater inputs

Bacterial community dynamics were investigated over seasonal and basin scales within the York River estuary, Virginia. Variables describing bacterioplankton dynamics were measured at 6 stations spanning the entire salinity gradient (0 to ca. 20 psu over 60 km). Samples were collected monthly from June 1996 through May 1997 and every other month from June 1997 through May 1998. Bacterial abundance and production were high throughout the estuary. Bacterial abundance ranged from 4.4 × 10 8 to 1.3 × 10 10 cells l -1 . Incorporation of 3 H-thymidine ranged from 10 to 863 pmol -1 h -1 while 3 H-leucine incorporation rates ranged from 25 to 1963 pmol l -1 h -1 . A strong rela- tionship between bacterial properties and temperature was found with clear seasonal trends. On a basin scale, bacterial properties were strongly related to changes in salinity, suggesting that fresh- water inputs and estuarine circulation controlled the distribution of bacterial abundance and activity in the river. Although there was a great deal of variability from month to month, 2 opposing trends were consistently found: bacterial abundance increased from freshwater to the mouth of the river, while incorporation rates decreased from freshwater to the mouth. These patterns imply a strong landward gradient in specific growth rates, and thus a close match between production and removal near the freshwater endmember and throughout the estuary.
The Demand for Mortgage Insurance

Many households hold a major part of their wealth in real estate and finance it with (recourse) mortgage debt. I examine the demand for mortgage insurance as a means to insure wealth risk. Using an extensive survey dataset, demand is found to increase in the level of risk exposure and to decrease with the height of the insurance premium. Moreover, I report that demand decreases by 11 to 13 percent if households are more overconfident. Overconfidence proxies are derived from selfassessed financial knowledge and precautionary savings behavior. These findings are robust against experience with homeownership, house price expectations, income volatility, degree of portfolio diversification, peer- and advisory effects, budget constraints and alternative adjustments for default risk. Strategies to increase adoption rates are discussed such as mandatory insurance, changing the standard option offered by the industry, and bundled offerings of insurance policies.
CHARACTERISATION OF BARRIER PROPERTIES OF WOVEN FABRICS FOR SURGICAL PROTECTIVE TEXTILES

Abstract The pore morphology of textile filter structures is important for numerous technical applications. It determines the functional properties of surgical textiles, such as the effective barrier function and wearing comfort. Surgical and protective textiles must fulfil both of these contradictory functions. To date, basic research has not been successful, either theoretically or experimentally, in describing the complex correlation between the 3D pore structure of woven textiles and their barrier properties while simultaneously remaining permeable. In an attempt to clarify this issue, high density multi-filament woven textiles were categorised according to their geometry, pore morphology, permeability and retention properties by virtual modelling of their 3D pore morphology. Differentiation was made between mesostructures (pores between the yarns) and microstructures (pores within the yarn itself). In this process it was possible to identify the influence of weaving parameters on the pore morphology and determine their resulting functional properties. Various new testing methods were developed and successfully implemented to characterise and evaluate the barrier properties. The experiments show that by selecting specific yarns and weave constructions, the permeability and woven structure can be positively influenced and adapted to fulfil a wide range of requirements. A major finding is that the permeability and retention properties of the weave can be independently controlled by choosing suitable machine parameters. Specifically, by varying the shed closing time a clear shift in the pore size distribution to smaller pore diameters can be achieved without altering the air permeability. A correlation between the construction and processing parameters and the 3D pore morphology of the woven textile was ascertained. The relation between the properties of a weave and the machine and construction parameters is extremely complex due to their interaction.
On conditional hazard function estimate for functional mixing data

This paper considers the problem of nonparametric estimation of the conditional hazard function for functional mixingdata. In particular, given a strictly stationary random variables Zi= (Xi, Yi)i∈N, we investigate a kernel estimate of the conditionalhazard function of univariate response variable Yigiven the functional variable Xi. The mean squared convergence rate is given and theasymptotic normality of the proposed estimator is proven