Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comprehension of non-conventional indirect requests: An event-related brain potential study

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were used to examine the realtime processing of non-conventional indirect requests and literal statement control stimuli in 20 healthy adults. Participants read short story scenarios ending in a 7-word target utterance that could be interpreted either literally, as a statement, or non-literally, as an indirect request, depending on the prior discourse contexts. For example, in a story about a couple in a restaurant, My soup is too cold to eat serves a literal statement about the temperature of the soup when said by a woman to her husband, but serves as an indirect request when the woman makes the same statement to her waiter. Differences in ERPs to literal statements and indirect requests emerged at the second and third words of target sentences, suggesting memory retrieval demands were greater for indirect requests. ERPs to the fifth word of target sentences also differed, as this was the point at which the exact nature of the request was evident to readers. Over-sentence ERPs revealed a low frequency positivity that was larger for indirect requests, suggesting that the construction of the situation model was easier for requests than for literal statements. Results support the claim that pragmatic cues have an early influence on sentence processing, and that prior models of figurative language processing, such as those derived from the Standard Pragmatic Model, are insufficient to describe indirect request processing. The data of the current study support a model in which the literal meaning of an utterance is understood in both conditions, but that when the utterance is meant as an indirect request, transient processing costs occur as language users exploit pragmatic cues such as discourse context, world-knowledge of social conventions, and speaker status.
Aircraft measurements of black carbon in the boundary layer over the North China Plain

Abstract. Black carbon aerosol (BC) is the principle absorber to modify the shortwave radiative balance between the lower atmosphere and the surface in polluted environment, which was in-situ characterized by aircraft measurements using a single particle soot photometer (DMT inc., SP2) throughout the boundary layer up to 3 km over the North China Plain around Beijing megacity. The flights were conducted in both hot season (late spring, Apr.–Jun. 2012, surface temperature > 20 °C, 10 flights) and cold season (winter, Dec. 2016, surface temperature The BCPBL in winter showed systematically larger core size (mass median diameter, MMD = 217 ± 4 nm) than in late spring (209 ± 7 nm), which may be due to a higher contribution from the residential emission sector in cold season. The high BC mass loadings were mostly associated with a high fraction of thick coatings (Fcoating), and the higher air moisture enhanced the coating content of BCPBL. These suggest the primary sources with a range of co-emitted species significantly contributed to the coatings of BC, and the secondary formation which could be enhanced by elevated RH also played important role. The BC after significant removal showed much lower Fcoating (~ 0.06) and smaller core size (MMD ~ 193 nm), implying that the coated and larger BC particle was preferentially removed. The scavenging efficiency of BC in the entrainment zone (EZ) showed positive correlation with the change of coatings between PBL and EZ for both seasons (Fcoating,PBL > Fcoating,EZ), however showed seasonally different behaviors in terms of core size (MMDPBL > MMDEZ in late spring, but the opposite in winter). These results provide the basis to evaluate the BC direct radiative forcing in the polluted planetary boundary layer over this region and also the indirect forcing of BC by interacting with low-level clouds.
Effects of L-carnitine in layer diets containing different fat sources and energy levels on hen performance and egg quality

The study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding diets containing two levels of metabolisable energy (normal or low) and three sources of fat (palm-, sunflower- or fish-oil) with or without L-carnitine (0 or 500 mg/kg diet) on the performance and egg quality parameters of Brown egg-type laying hens. The hens receiving the low energy diet had significantly higher body weights and feed intakes (FI) than the birds on the normal energy diet, but their feed conversion ratio (FCR) was poorer. L-carnitine in the diet containing sunflower oil (SO) increased FI significantly, resulting in a poorer FCR. However, the FI and FCR were higher when the fish oil (FO) was added to diets without L-carnitine compared to the other diets. The palm oil (PO) supplemented diet without L-carnitine significantly decreased the specific gravity of the eggs. L-carnitine inclusion into the diet containing PO significantly increased the Haugh unit and albumen index of the eggs, while the inclusion of FO in the low energy diet increased the Haugh unit and albumen index significantly. However, when PO was included these parameters decreased significantly. The addition of L-carnitine to the normal energy diet reduced the pH of the egg yolk, while it increased egg yolk pH when added to the low energy diet. The inclusion of FO in the low energy diet resulted in a significant increase in yolk pH. Albumen pH was significantly decreased by dietary L-carnitine supplementation, but increased when the diet low in energy contained FO, as well as the normal energy diet containing SO. The inclusion of FO to both the normal and low energy diets, except the low energy diet with L-carnitine, improved the breaking strength of the eggshells. Similarly, SO and PO inclusion to low energy diets with L-carnitine increased eggshell breaking strength. The supplementation of PO and L-carnitine to
The noise barrier and the large signal bias of the Lasso and other convex estimators

Convex estimators such as the Lasso, the matrix Lasso and the group Lasso have been studied extensively in the last two decades, demonstrating great success in both theory and practice. Two quantities are introduced, the noise barrier and the large scale bias, that provides insights on the performance of these convex regularized estimators. It is now well understood that the Lasso achieves fast prediction rates, provided that the correlations of the design satisfy some Restricted Eigenvalue or Compatibility condition, and provided that the tuning parameter is large enough. Using the two quantities introduced in the paper, we show that the compatibility condition on the design matrix is actually unavoidable to achieve fast prediction rates with the Lasso. The Lasso must incur a loss due to the correlations of the design matrix, measured in terms of the compatibility constant. This results holds for any design matrix, any active subset of covariates, and any tuning parameter. It is now well known that the Lasso enjoys a dimension reduction property: the prediction error is of order $\lambda\sqrt k$ where $k$ is the sparsity; even if the ambient dimension $p$ is much larger than $k$. Such results require that the tuning parameters is greater than some universal threshold. We characterize sharp phase transitions for the tuning parameter of the Lasso around a critical threshold dependent on $k$. If $\lambda$ is equal or larger than this critical threshold, the Lasso is minimax over $k$-sparse target vectors. If $\lambda$ is equal or smaller than critical threshold, the Lasso incurs a loss of order $\sigma\sqrt k$ --which corresponds to a model of size $k$-- even if the target vector has fewer than $k$ nonzero coefficients. Remarkably, the lower bounds obtained in the paper also apply to random, data-driven tuning parameters. The results extend to convex penalties beyond the Lasso.
Poverty Traps and Index Based Risk Transfer Products

A growing literature suggests that in low-income countries, households with few assets can be trapped in chronic poverty. This article reviews relevant threads of the poverty traps literature to motivate a description of the opportunities presented by innovative index-based risk transfer products. These products can be used to address some insurance and credit market failures that contribute to the persistence of poverty among households in low-income countries. Applications are considered at the micro, meso, and macro levels.
Career plans of Polish medical university students

1/ Chair and Department of Medicine and Environmental Epidemiology, Medical University of Silesia, Zabrze, Poland 2/ Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical University of Lodz, Poland 3/ Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland 4/ Chair and Department of Epidemiology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland 5/ Public Health and Social Medicine Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland 6/ Chair of Medical Sciences, Wroclaw University College of Physiotherapy, Wroclaw, Poland
STUDY HABITS AND INTERNET EFFICACY AS CORRELATES OF UNDERGRADUATES’ ATTITUDESTOWARDS READING

The dawn of 21 st century technological explosion ushered a decline in students’ attitude towards reading. This technological incident appears to have created high level of illiteracy, social-media addict, drop-out rate, academic failure and campus loafing among undergraduates in the Nigerian society. This motivated an investigation on the predictive influence of study habit and Internet efficacy on undergraduates’ attitude towards reading in Nigerian Universities. This study adopted descriptive survey research design of ex-post-facto type. A total of 198 (female = 101 and male = 97) respondents were randomly sampled. Two research questions and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that Internet-efficacy negatively correlated with attitude towards reading, while study habit positively correlated with attitude towards reading. The two variables accounted for 68.6% (Adj.R 2 = .686) variance in the prediction of attitude towards reading. The most potent variable that predicted attitude towards reading was study habit (β = .689, t= 9.214, P<0.01), followed by Internet efficacy (β = -.161, t = -2.153, P<0.05). This implies that high study habit predetermines high attitude towards reading among undergraduates. University students need to be engaged in advanced and critical-thinking projects that will make them study continuously so that they might develop a good reading attitude.
Impact of the wintertime North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the summertime atmospheric circulation

Using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis dataset and other observations, we show that the summer high‐latitude climate in the Northern Hemisphere is influenced by the NAO of the previous winter. We find this influence in the summertime surface air temperature, the geopotential height, the sea surface temperature (SST), sea‐ice/continental snow cover extent fields as well as in the zonal mean geopotential height and zonal wind fields. This summertime NAO signal is annular but its meridional scale is much smaller than the winter annular mode. Distinct summer anomalies are located at the nodal latitudes of the winter anomalies. We suggest that the sea‐ice, SST and snow cover anomalies provide the memory allowing the winter NAO to affect the summer climate.
Habitat choice of juvenile coastal cod The role of macroalgae habitats for juvenile coastal cod (Gadus morhua L.) in Porsangerfjorden and Ullsfjorden in Northern Norway

Habitat choice of small juvenile coastal cod (Gadus morhua L. 1758) was investigated in a field study in Porsangerfjorden and Ullsfjorden in Northern Norway. A towed video rig was used to record video along depth transects in the subtidal zone. Depth, algae cover and occurrence of 0group, 1-group and 2+ group cod was registered. Beach seine and angling was used to estimate relative abundances of cod and sample fish for length measurement and diet analysis. The occurrence of juvenile cod was significantly higher in areas with algae cover of 20% or more. In addition there seemed to be a depth preference for depths between 10-20 m. There was a difference in the degree of association to macroalgae between the various age groups of cod. The diet analysis showed variations in between the various age groups of cod. My findings suggest that macroalgae habitats play a vital role as nursing grounds for juvenile coastal cod by providing refuge from predators and lucrative feeding opportunities. There was observed an ontogenic shift in diet composition among juvenile coastal cod, which suggests that the role of macroalgae habitats is different for various age groups of juvnile cod. 0-group seemed more closely associated with the macroalgae than older individuals. Overgrazing of macroalgae by sea urchins may affect the survival of juvenile coastal cod by limiting the extent of nursing grounds. The recruiment of norwegian coastal cod north of 62°N is probably affected by the condition and extent of macroalgae habitats along the coast of Norway.
Sea ice microbial communities. VII. Changes in under-ice spectral irradiance during the development of Antarctic sea ice microalgal communities

Changes in spectral irrad~ance beneath annual sea ice were measured during the development of sea ice microalgal communities in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Five different light regimes were initially estabhshed by varying surface snow cover on 10 m X 10 m sea ice quadrats. The presence of ice algae in quadrats w t h 6 5 cm snow cover was indicated by a spectral shift with increased attenuation between 400 and 550 nm and at 671 nm, wavelengths absorbed by diatom pigments. Snow cover had a profound effect on both the rate of community development and community loss by ice ablation. A simple model of factors determining changes in ice algal biomass is described.
The ethical sensitivity of evaluators: A qualitative study using a vignette design

Evaluation occurs in a context fraught with ethical issues. Evaluators are regularly faced with ethical tensions that are likely to influence the quality of their work. By developing an analytical model that categorizes evaluators along an altruistic-corporatist axis, we sought to understand which factors influence the ethical sensitivity of evaluators. To this end, utilizing a qualitative research design using vignettes, we exposed a dozen Canadian evaluators to ethically problematic situations to examine their ability to identify the ethical issues within the scenarios. The ensuing results allowed us to conclude that an evaluator’s ethical sensitivity is partially explained by the altruistic or corporatist nature of that evaluator; it also depends on other factors such as knowledge of the prescriptive norms in ethical matters, experience conducting evaluations, and the milieu and the working conditions within which the evaluators operate.
Quaternary Tectonic Deformation, Holocene Paleoseismicity, and Modern Strain in the Unusually–Wide Coupled Zone of the Central Cascadia Margin, Washington and Oregon, USA, and British Columbia, Canada

Vertical deformation and horizontal strains are analyzed in the central Cascadia margin, or the Juan de Fuca plate segment of the Cascadia subduction, zone to establish the widths of the inter–plate strongly–coupled zone and the transition zone. Local variability of marine terrace elevations, corresponding to marine isotope stages 5a–5e (~80-130 ka), in the south and central Oregon coast (32±23 m–to–10.5±7.4 m mean sea level) and in the northern Oregon and Washington coasts (9.5±3.2 m–to–7.6±2.1 m), constrain the width of the strongly coupled zone (~100 km) from the deformation front or buried trench along the central Cascadia margin in Washington and Oregon. Late Holocene tidal marsh sites (number = 25) in Washington demonstrate three conditions of cyclic coseismic subsidence, representing the first and second zero-isobases ( 1.5 m abrupt sea level rise) for most rupture events during the last 2.6 ka. Together with paleosubsidence data from the Oregon coast the tidal wetland records in Washington show that the first and second zero–isobases, respectively, reach distances of ~100 and ~200 km from the deformation front in the central Cascadia subduction zone. Global positioning system (GPS) baselines show that across–margin crustal shortening (strain rate -5 × 10-8 to -1.5 × 10-6 a-1) is about one order of magnitude larger than along–margin shortening (strain rate -2 × 10-8 to -5 × 10-7 a-1) near the coast during the last several years. Significant negative strain or shortening in the upper–plate is measured to 200 km distance from the deformation front, thereby establishing an unusually wide coupled zone (~200 km) in the central Cascadia margin. The landward limits of the west coupled zone, central uncoupled zone, and east coupled zone, respectively, could account for long–term uplift of the Coast Ranges, the lack of uplift in the Puget and Willamette forearc valleys, and uplift of the western margin of the Cascade volcanic arc.
Effect of cyclophosphamide on liver in albino rats: a comparative dose dependent histomorphological study.

Cyclophosphamide is a commonly used anti cancer drug used in almost all regimens for treating a wide variety of carcinomas. It is a prodrug that gets activated in the liver subjecting the organ to a very high amount of the drug influx affecting its functions. The resulting hepatotoxic side effects of cyclophosphamide are dose-dependent as confirmed by studies based on enzymes levels. Recently, low dose cyclophosphamide regimen administered for prolonged periods is documented to be effective in controlling tumor growth and demonstrate a low overall toxicity profile with prolongation of survival. Therefore, the present study was conducted to compare and correlate histomorphological alterations in liver of adult Wistar albino rat induced by a bolus high dose and a divided low dose drug regime of cyclophosphamide administered intraperitoneally. The histomorphological analysis of liver from high dose experimental group demonstrated hepatocellular destruction associated with sinusoidal enlargement and inflammatory infiltration which was more extensive and widespread throughout the parenchyma. Whereas, these changes were observed to be absent or minimal in the low dose experimental group. In fact, the latter showed many binucleate cells and a number of basophilic nuclei containing mitotic figures marking a regenerative response. Hence, cyclophosphamide induces greater hepatodestructive changes at high doses but at low doses, it elicits a regenerative response. Since, prolonged anti cancer treatment with low dose cyclophoshamide has been proven to be efficacious, it is suggested that its dose regimen can be modified accordingly to provide maximum efficacy to the patients but with reduced concomitant toxicity.
Plant diseases in landrace varieties and hybrid maize cultivated using different technology levels

As diferentes caracteristicas edafoclimaticas do pais e as tecnicas empregadas no milho influenciam o aparecimento de doencas. Nesse trabalho avaliou-se a incidencia e a severidade de doencas em cultivares de milho cultivados em tres sistemas de manejo. Foram utilizadas duas variedades crioulas do Norte de Minas Gerais, um hibrido duplo e um hibrido simples. O delineamento foi em blocos ao acaso em faixas (quatro variedades e tres sistemas de manejo), com tres repeticoes. Para as avaliacoes, amostrou-se 10 plantas ao acaso em cada parcela. A incidencia foi determinada por meio do calculo da porcentagem de plantas com sintomas e para a severidade utilizou-se uma escala diagramatica que ordena os niveis dos sintomas de 0 a 5. Os resultados foram submetidos a analise de variância e as medias comparadas pelo teste de Scott-Knott a 5% de probabilidade. Foi possivel concluir que os niveis tecnologicos de manejo empregados no cultivo do milho interferem na incidencia e severidade da ferrugem polysora. A utilizacao mais intensa de tecnologia nessa cultura favorece o desenvolvimento dessa doenca nos genotipos analisados. As variedades crioulas Argentino e BR da Varzea e o hibrido duplo SHS 4080 possuem maior resistencia a ferrugem polysora do que o hibrido simples IAC 8333.
Isolation and molecular genetic characterization of a yeast strain able to degrade petroleum polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) belong to a class of toxic environmental pollutants and PAH exposure causes public health risks and raises environmental concerns. Identification of the key microorganisms that play a role in pollutant degradation processes is relevant to the development of optimal in situ bioremediation strategies. In the current study, three yeast strains were isolated from oilcontaminated soil by enrichment technique in mineral basal salts (MBS) medium supplemented with phenanthrene as a sole carbon source. Out of these, strain AH70 was selected for PAHs degradation, because of its fast growth on agar plate coated by PAHs as sole source of carbon and energy. The yeast was identified by molecular genetics technique based on sequence analysis of the variable D1/D2 domain of the large subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA. Subsequent 26S rRNA gene sequencing showed 100% base sequence homology and it was identified as Candida viswanathii. The degradation of PAHs by this yeast was confirmed by GC-MS analyses. The yeast was capable of degrading a mixture of low and high molecular weight PAHs and degradation efficiency was found as 89.76% for naphthalene, 77.21% for phenanthrene, 60.77% for pyrene and 55.53% for benzo(a)pyrene at the end of 10 days.