Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vocabulary size and type goals in advanced EFL and ESL classrooms. A review of research on lexical threshold, lexical coverage, reading and listening comprehension

This paper examines how research on lexical threshold and lexical coverage relates to L2 proficiency in reading and listening comprehension, and how this in turn will impact what types of vocabulary should be taught in advanced ESL and EFL classrooms. The research reviewed contains estimations of how much English vocabulary L2 users need in order to do certain things in English, such as reading a novel, watching a movie or understanding everyday conversations. The results indicate that to reach lexical coverage of 98 percent, which is necessary to gain an adequate reading comprehension, a vocabulary size of 8,000-9,000 word families is needed, whereas around 5,000 word families may suffice if the expected level of comprehension is lowered to 95 percent lexical coverage. However, the lexical threshold is ultimately dependent on the expected level of comprehension. The vocabulary size needed to understand spoken English is considerably lower than that needed to understand written English. In order to attain the needed amount of vocabulary, it seems that the traditional vocabulary type teaching, focusing on high-frequency words and the Academic Word List, is no longer sufficient. Rather, more pedagogical focus should be placed on mid-frequency vocabulary, which has previously been overlooked. HT14-1160-001-LGEN1G
THE EFFECTS OF PLYOMETRIC VERSUS WHOLE BODY VIBRATION TRAINING ON LOWER EXTREMITY BIOMECHANICS

Plyometric training has been shown to have numerous benefits for athletes, including reduced risk of injury and increased motivation. The purpose of the present research was to examine the effects of plyometric versus whole body vibration training on lower extremity biomechanics in male non-athlete students. 30 PE students voluntarily participated in the research and were assigned to three groups: (1) plyometric, (2) vibration and (3) control. Biodex System was used to assess biomechanical factors. After testing for normality and equality of variances using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Levine's test, descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA and Scheffe's post hoc test were used for data analysis at the 0.05 significance level in SPSS. The results indicated that plyometric and the vibration exercises protocol improve biomechanical factors. However, plyometric exercises had a greater effect on almost all the variables. These exercises also reduce the risk of injury until peak performance without causing fatigue.
THE FEASIBILITY OF ALTERNATIVE INDEXES IN PASSIVE INVESTING ON THE EXAMPLE OF FINNISH

5 INTRODUCTION . 5 1. FUNDAMENTALS OF INDEXES AND PASSIVE INVESTING . 7 1.1 Importance of indices as investors’ tools and their role in passive investing . 7 1.2 Concept of Risk and Return . 13 1.3 Measuring portfolio performance . 16 1.4 Standard indices . 18 1.4.1 Price-weighted approach . 18 1.4.2 Market capitalization weighting method . 19 1.5 Different alternative index models . 20 1.5. 1 Heuristic Models . 21 1.5. 2 Optimization Models . 26 2. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON ALTERNATIVE INDEXES . 29 2.1 Previous empirical research on alternative indices . 29 2.2 Review of studies on fund performances . 32 3. METHODOLOGY AND DATA . 38 3.1 Description of the data . 38 3.2 Description of the methodology and models used . 40 4. EMPIRICAL RESULTS . 44 4.1 Results from backtesting . 45 4.2 Feasibility of alternative indices to passive investing . 53 CONCLUSION . 55 REFERENCES . 57 APPENDICES . 61 Appendix 1. Index bond weight example . 61 Appendix 2. Alternative indexes graph . 62 Appendix 3. Maximum diversification index . 63
In vitro shoot regeneration from preconditioned explants of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

The present study reports the successful shoot regeneration of preconditioned mature embryo and embryonic axis explants of chickpea cv. Gokce. Explants were preconditioned with 10 mgl benzylaminopurine (BA) for 7 days followed by culture on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 0.25, 0.50, 1.00 and 2.00 mg/l BA with or without 0.25 mg/l naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) supplemented with 4 mg/l activated charcoal and 1 mg/l polyvinylpyrrolidon (PVP). Shoot regeneration was recorded on all explants. Maximum number of (14.75) shoots per explants on mature embryo were recorded on MS medium containing 2.0 mg/l BA with 0.25 mg/l NAA. Whereas, 16.83 shoots per explants were recorded on MS medium containing 2.0 mg/l BA. Presence of NAA in the culture medium decreased the mean shoot length of both explants compared to medium devoid of 0.25 mg/l NAA. Regenerated shoots were rooted on MS medium containing 1.0 mg/l indole-butyric acid (IBA) after 4 weeks of culture. Rooted plantlets were transferred to pots for acclimatization under green house conditions.
Cluster galaxies in XMMU J2235-2557: galaxy population properties in most massive environments at z ∼1.4

We present a multi-wavelength study of galaxy populations in the core of the massive, X-ray luminous cluster XMMU J2235 at z=1.39, based on high quality VLT and HST photometry at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. We derive luminosity functions in the z, H, and Ks bands, approximately corresponding to restframe U, R and z band. These show a faint-end slope consistent with being flat, and a character istic magnitude Mclose to passive evolution predictions of Mof local massive clusters, with a formation redshift z> 2. The color-magnitude and color-mass diagrams show evidence of a tight red sequence (intrinsic scatter . 0: 08) of massive galaxies already in place, with overall old stellar populations and g enerally early-type morphology. Beside the red colors, these massive (> 6� 10 10 M�) galaxies typically show early-type spectral features, an d rest-frame far-UV emission consistent with very low star formation rates (SFR< 0: 2M�/yr). Star forming spectroscopic members, with SFR of up to� 100M�/yr, are all located at clustercentric distances &250kpc, with the central cluster region already appearing effectively quenched. Most part of the cluster galaxies more massive than 6� 10 10 Mwithin the studied area do not appear to host significant levels of st ar formation. The high-mass end galaxy populations in the core of this cluster appear to be in a very advanced evolutionary stage, not only in terms of formation of the stellar populations, but also of the asse mbly of the stellar mass. The high-mass end of the galaxy stellar mass function is essentially already in place. The stellar mass f raction estimated within r500 (�1%, Kroupa IMF) is already similar to that of local massive clusters. On the other hand, surface brightness distribution modeling of the massive red sequence galaxies may suggest that their size is often smaller than expected based on the local stellar mass vs size relation. An evolution of the stellar mass vs size relation m ight imply that, in spite of the overall early assembly of these sources , their evolution is not complete, and processes like minor ( and likely dry) merging might still shape the structural properties of thes e objects to resemble those of their local counterparts, wit hout substantially affecting their stellar mass or host stellar populations. None theless, a definite conclusion on the actual relevance of siz e evolution for the studied early-type sample is precluded by possible systematics and biases.
Opportunistic Replacement of a Single Part in the Presence of Several Monitored Parts

In a system with several stochastically failing parts and economies of scale in their maintenance, it may be advantageous to follow an "opportunistic" policy for maintenance. In opportunistic policies the action to be taken on a given part at a given time depends on the state of the other parts of the system. For the model considered in this paper, it is assumed that all parts of the system but one are inspected continuously (monitored) and that the remaining part cannot be inspected except when it is replaced. If the monitored parts have exponential distributions of time to failure, the optimal replacement policy for the remaining part has the following form: Let the non-monitored part be labeled 0 and let there be M monitored parts, labeled 1, . , M; then there are M + 1 numbers n 1 , . , n M , N, with 0 \leqq n i \leqq N \leqq \infty such that: (a) if Part i fails at a time when the age of Part 0 is between 0 and n i , replace Part i alone (i - 1, ., M); (b) if Part i fails at a time when the age of Part 0 is between n i and N, then replace Parts 0 and i together; (c) if Part 0 reaches age N at a time when all monitored parts are good, replace Part 0 alone. It is demonstrated that the parameter N is finite provided that the reliability of the non-monitored part approaches zero as the age of this part goes to infinity. These results are proved for several alternative criteria for evaluating replacement policies. Computation of the parameters of the optimal policy is also discussed. Applications of this policy are discussed in [Jorgenson, D. , J. J. McCall. 1962. Optimal Scheduling of Replacement and Inspection. The RAND Corporation, Memorandum RM-3098-PR, May. ].
The Production of English Coda Clusters by Aljouf Arabic Speakers

This study examines how Aljouf Arabic speakers deal with English coda clusters containing two consonants, which will help in addressing the modification strategies used by the participants to simplify clusters. In addition, the study aims to examine whether or not markedness—based on the sonority distance—has an effect on the participants’ pronunciation. Fifteen native speakers of the Aljouf Arabic dialect were asked to read a list of twenty-five nonwords that took into account the sonority distance between C1 and C2 in clusters. In general, the results showed that the participants tended to modify English coda clusters. They used two strategies to modify the clusters: epenthesis and deletion. Markedness based on sonority distance did not provide an explanation for participants' performance. Coda clusters in which the sonority distance is two were modified by all participants. On the other hand, some clusters in which the sonority distance is less than two were pronounced correctly by most of the participants. The clusters which were correctly pronounced by most of the participants include nasal- obstruent clusters and an obstruent-obstruent cluster.
NEW DESIGN OF THE FIVE-STROKE SI ENGINE

The paper describes design of the five-stroke engine developed in the Chair of Combustion Engines at Cracow University of Technology. The idea of five-stroke engine, in which the expansion ratio is significantly greater than the compression ratio has been presented by the Belgian engineer Gerhard Schmitz. The prototype of such an engine was made by Ilmor Engineering. Engine developers have released results of preliminary research, but there is no detailed information on the toxic exhaust emissions. For this reason, at Cracow University of Technology the research was undertaken to determine the impact of implementing the five-stroke cycle into the engine with spark ignition to reduce toxic emissions and increase total efficiency. To achieve this goal, the test engine was built, which is based on a concept similar to the idea of Gerhard Schmitz, with the difference that it has not been designed from the ground up, and it is based on an existing four-cylinder four-stroke engine. In comparison with the original solution, the engine built in Cracow has a completely different design of timing system, four valves per cylinder and petrol direct injection. This paper presents a detailed description of the engine design and the results of its preliminary research. The results of the tests of the five-stroke engine confirm an increase of specific torque and power (related to unit of engine displacement) and improve of total efficiency within a certain range of the engine map.
Allelic variants of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases: Constitutive and insecticide-mediated expression in a Malaysian strain of the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Cytochrome P450s (P450s) involved in insecticide resistance reduce the efficacy of insecticide-based vector control by rendering vector control ineffective. They are recorded in many species of vectors and have various constitutive and insecticide induction profiles. In this study, the isolation and prediction of the structure of a P450 from a strain of Aedes aegypti originating from Malaysia is reported. Quantitative mRNA expression of this gene and a previously reported P450, CYP4H28v2, in the developmental stages of the mosquito after exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of insecticides is also reported. The isolated P450, CYP4H31v2, is an allelic variant of CYP4H31 and contains several conserved motifs of P450s. The secondary structure of the protein is mostly made up of alpha helices and random coils. The tertiary structure was generated using homology modeling and was of good quality based on structure validation using protein structure assessment tools. CYP4H28v2 and CYP4H31v2 were differentially expressed in the developmental stages of the vector, with a significantly increased expression in adult males. The genes were significantly over-expressed in larvae exposed to deltamethrin and permethrin for 6 h. In the DDT-treated larvae, only CYP4H31v2 was significantly over-expressed after a 6 h exposure. Under-expression of the genes was predominant in larvae treated with the organophosphates malathion and temephos. Though the functions of these P450s are unknown, their response to induction by exposure to insecticides indicates the likely involvement of these genes in insecticide tolerance.
The Effect of Vermi Tea on the Growth Parameters of Spinacia oleracea L. (Spinach)

This research was carried out in the biological garden of the University of Lagos, Akoka Lagos, Nigeria. The aim of the research is to evaluate the response of Spinacia oleracea (spinach) to a liquid content (vermi tea) produced from the passage of non-chlorinated water, such as distilled water through a compost of epigeic earthworm species (vermicompost) and also physico-chemical analysis of the vermi tea using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS). Significant results were observed in nutrients such as nitrogen (N), potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and organic carbon at three different concentrations of vermi tea (430, 730 and 940 g/L). The results significantly revealed a positive response of S. oleracea to the vermi tea through increase in number of leaves, plant height and leaf area at increasing concentration (430, 730 and 940 g/L). This vermi tea can be utilized for the effective production of S. oleracea and it is therefore recommended for growing other vegetable plants as well.
Assessment of the peak tsunami amplitude associated with a large earthquake occurring along the southernmost Ryukyu subduction zone in the region of Taiwan

Abstract. The southernmost portion of the Ryukyu Trench near the island of Taiwan potentially generates tsunamigenic earthquakes with magnitudes from 7.5 to 8.7 through shallow rupture. The fault model for this potential region dips 10∘ northward with a rupture length of 120 km and a width of 70 km. An earthquake magnitude of Mw 8.15 is estimated by the fault geometry with an average slip of 8.25 m as a constraint on the earthquake scenario. Heterogeneous slip distributions over the rupture surface are generated by a stochastic slip model, which represents the decaying slip spectrum according to k−2 in the wave number domain. These synthetic slip distributions are consistent with the abovementioned identical seismic conditions. The results from tsunami simulations illustrate that the propagation of tsunami waves and the peak wave heights largely vary in response to the slip distribution. Changes in the wave phase are possible as the waves propagate, even under the same seismic conditions. The tsunami energy path not only follows the bathymetry but also depends on the slip distribution. The probabilistic distributions of the peak tsunami amplitude calculated by 100 different slip patterns from 30 recording stations reveal that the uncertainty decreases with increasing distance from the tsunami source. The highest wave amplitude for 30 recording points is 7.32 m at Hualien for 100 different slips. Compared with the stochastic-slip distributions, the uniform slip distribution will be highly underestimated, especially in the near field. In general, the uniform slip assumption only represents the average phenomenon and will consequently ignore the possibility of tsunami waves. These results indicate that considering the effects of heterogeneous slip distributions is necessary for assessing tsunami hazards to provide additional information about tsunami uncertainties and facilitate a more comprehensive estimation.
An assessment of selected organisational-based factors on the perceived success of agribusinesses: a corporate entrepreneurship perspective

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of selected organisational-based factors on the perceived success of agribusinesses in South Africa. Business success, for the purposes of this study, was measured by means of two dependent variables, namely Business development and improvement and Business growth. Structured questionnaires were administered to the managers of five of the largest and three smaller agribusinesses in South Africa. A total of 533 usable questionnaires were returned. The construct validity of the measuring instrument was assessed by means of a principal component exploratory factor analysis and by calculating Cronbachs’s alpha coeffi cients. The results show that the managers in the participating agribusinesses perceived the selected organisational-based factors of Strategic intent, Autonomy, Customer orientation and Rewards to have a positive influence on their Business development and improvement. A positive relationship was also found to exist between the selected organisational-based factors of Strategic intent and Customer orientation and the dependent variable Business growth in the participating businesses. Practical recommendations were also proposed to enhance and foster corporate entrepreneurship within these businesses. Key words: corporate entrepreneurship, agribusinesses, perceived success
Global Liquidity Determinants Across Emerging and Advanced Countries

The paper explores the concept of global liquidity and its determinants, focusing on the banking system in advanced and emerging markets. We explore the implications of the interaction between liquidity and its local, global and financial markets determinants. We also analyze the global liquidity channels, i.e. whether foreign banks play a significant role in the country’s financial system. The study focuses on the investigation of banks’ liquidity determinants in 42 countries (advanced and emerging/developing countries) over the 2000–2011 period. The results show the significance of the differences in global liquidity depending on the country’s level of development. We find support to the conjecture that globalization and global banks’ leverage may convey some useful information on global liquidity. We also present an important observation that banks’ lending in advanced countries is shielded from the monetary policy because of their ability to freely access alternative sources of funds.
Solitary waves in a Hall solar wind plasma

In the solar wind, the eect of the Hall current generated perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field can influence the plasma behaviour. In particular, the Hall current introduces wave dispersion which may compensate the nonlinear steepen- ing of waves. In the presence of viscosity, these eects lead to a slowly decaying KdV soliton. Here we investigate a solitary wave propagating obliquely to an ambient magnetic field. Our results show that the nonlinear slow magnetoacoustic wave, that arises from nonlinear steepening, propagates faster than the linear slow mode speed; by contrast, the nonlinear fast mag- netoacoustic wave propagates slower than the linear fast wave speed. We apply our calculations to the observed non-thermal Doppler broadening of the ion emission line, measured by the SoHO UVCS telescope in the acceleration region of the solar wind. The observed line broadening is recovered in our theory by the nonlinear slow magnetoacoustic waves; by contrast, fast magnetoacoustic produce too narrow broadening.
Is climate change causing increased rockfall frequency in Austria

Abstract. Potentially, increasing rockfall hazards triggered by climate change are a major concern expressed both in scientific and non-scientific media. An existing rockfall inventory for Austria including 252 events from ca. 1900 to 2010, mainly from non-permafrost areas, was analysed. The correlation of events with temperatures is very weak and no increase of rockfall frequency during warmer periods was observed. The peak of rockfall activity is in spring, whereas in recent decades a secondary summer maximum appeared in the records. A possible reason for this shift is reduced rockfall activity in spring due to warmer winters. We conclude that a premature warning of increasing rockfall hazard, especially below the permafrost limit, is not supported by the existing data.
Effect of Deficit Irrigation and Root-Zone Drying Irrigation Technique under Different Nitrogen Rates on Water Use Efficiency for Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.) in Semi-arid Conditions (I)

An investigation was carried out at the Technical Center of Potato and Artichoke CTPTA in the region of Saida, located in the lower valley of Medjerda river during the season of 2017. The objective was to evaluate the effects of deficit irrigation (DI) and the root-zone drying irrigation technique (PRD) under different nitrogen rates on total dry matter production (TDM), water consumption (WC) and water use efficiency of potato (Solanum Tuberosum L. VS. Spunta). Three water treatments (T1 = FI = 100% ETC, T2 = DI = 75% ETC and T3 = PRD50) and three nitrogen rates (F1 = N150: 150 kg N ha-1, F2 = N75: 75kg N ha-1, F3 = N0: 0kg N ha-1) were applied since the tuber initiation (55 days after planting) to maturity (100 days after planting). The results showed that the water regime affected negatively the total dry matter accumulation. A decline of 7 and 18.6% was registered in the two treatments T2 and T3 compared to the control T1. The WC decreased during water restriction respectively by 16; 33 and 29% for the T2 and T3 (PRD50 left) and T3 (PRD50 right) compared to T1. For the three nitrogen treatments (F1, F2 and F3) the water restriction has increased the WUE. The best values was recorded in the treatment T2 and then in the treatment T3 from where this increase compared to T1 was equal to (22.6% and 12.9%), (24.1% and 12, 4%) and (21.9% and 15.3%) respectively.