Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A New Middle Cambrian Stem-Group Echinoderm from Spain: Palaeobiological Implications of a Highly Asymmetric Cinctan

A new exquisitely preserved stem group echinoderm (cinctan), Lignanicystis barriosensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Middle Cambrian of Los Barrios de Luna, North Spain. This displays a unique asymmetrical body plan with ventral projecting nodes that raised the lower surface above the substratum. There are four openings through the body wall: mouth, anus, atrium, and an aligned row of suturai pores of uncertain function. Unlike other cinctans, Lignanicystis has a strongly asymmetrical shape convergent with that of some cornute carpoids. Like cornutes, the test is also elevated above the substratum to allow water flow beneath the theca. In both cases this is probably an adaptation to life in higher water flow regimes.
Uses of Sibling Data in Educational and Psychological Research

Methods are explained, with empirical examples, for using sibling data on psychometric variables (1) as a covariate for statistically controlling family background in psychological and educational experiments, (2) as a means for testing the adequacy of age-standardized scores, (3) for testing the interval scale property of mental measurements, (4) for analyzing correlations into between- and within-family components and distinguishing intrinsic from extrinsic correlations between variables, and (5) for detecting cultural (i.e., between families) sources of variance in psychological tests.
Self-efficacy as an intervening variable between ethical work climate and decision making

Purpose: This paper aims to present and empirically evaluate a model proposing self-efficacy of employees to be an intervening variable between their perception of ethical climate (independent variable) and their decision making when faced with an ethical dilemma (dependent variable). Design/methodology/approach: 276 public sector human resource practitioners (HRPs) were presented with 15 scenarios. Each scenario contained an organisational directive or situation serving to compromise their capacity to deliver an ethical outcome. Participants’ responses consisted of a set of possible actions varying in the degree to which they would, or would not, comply with the directive. Findings: Results were consistent with the proposed model. Further, analysis found the data to fit poorly to an alternative model proposing ethical climate and self-efficacy to both act directly on decision making. In addition self-efficacy was found to explain a large proportion of the difference between (a) HRPs’ prediction of their own likely behaviour, and (b) the behaviour they judged to be ideal. Originality/value: This paper makes several contributions. First, it represents one of the few studies investigating both perception of ethical climate and self-efficacy. Second, it proposes and tests a possible pathway by which perception of ethical climate influences employee behaviour. Third, it examines the degree to which self-efficacy explains the ‘short-fall’ between an employee’s own proposed action, and the action the employee judges to be ideal.
School resources and student achievement: A study of primary schools in Zimbabwe

This study analyses the effects of school resources on student mathematics achievement in Zimbabwe using a 3-Level Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM). The major findings of the research are that a teacher trained in the relevant subject, class size, having a highly qualified school head and having a generally high resource endowment at school level improve student test scores. However, text book possession was seen as an insignificant predictor of student achievement. The implication of these findings is that resources owned by schools have an important effect on student test scores, suggesting that value and more attention should be given to what goes on in schools; as well as improving quality of human resources at school level. The study however has a limitation in that it does not fully explore all the probable school and class level determinants of student achievement due to data constraints. Key words: School resources, student achievement, mathematics, hierarchical linear modeling.
Leadership style: The X Generation and Baby Boomers compared in different cultural contexts

Purpose – Western researchers have concluded that generational groups of workers have different work characteristics and prefer different leadership styles. This paper investigates whether Western research applies equally to generational groups in Taiwan's workplaces, specifically in the higher education sector and manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 20 higher education institutions and 148 manufacturing SMEs in machinery manufacturing in Taipei were identified. After operational definitions for constructs were defined, a questionnaire was developed and administered. After data had been processed through editing, coding and tabulation, a statistical technique was selected where research expectation tests could be conducted. In order to test construct validity, factor analysis was also performed. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to test for any significant differences between the variables under investigation. Findings – The research shows that generational groups in manufacturing industry have different work characteristics and require different leadership styles, while there were no differences in work characteristics and preferred leadership style for generational groups in the education sector. Originality/value – The results of this research provide some direction for leaders and researchers. Leaders should recognise the different work characteristics between generational groups and apply leadership styles that will positively contribute to employee motivation.
Simulation of Nanoscale CMOS Master thesis

Device scaling is directly responsible for Moore’s law and has enabled remarkable improvements in CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) device performance. As device dimension shrinks, the channel resistance decreases, this in turn allows faster circuit operation. However, as the intrinsic device continues to improve, parasitic components such as the series resistance in the source/drain region start to limit device performance. Controlling these parasitic components, through proper design, are therefore essential. TCAD (Technology Computer Aided Design) can be an important tool that allows us to understand various design parameters on device performance. Furthermore, it allows the investigating of different internal quantities that are not available experimentally. This document presents the results of a thorough study of the scaling down the MOSFETs and its impact on the device performance. A major challenge is to maintain a good control of short channel effect in the low threshold voltage case. Moreover, highfield effects that are related to the increased electrical field in the channel owing to the reduction of the dimensions will be dominant for very small dimensions. The simulations are based on using a selected doping profile and oxide thickness according to channel length to cope with the variable specification of the ITRS Roadmap in order to improve the device performance. The simulated results of the devices design at the 25 nm channel length generation are considered to be the most promising candidate Simulation of Nanoscale CMOS ii for an excellent procedure in suppressing the short channel effects in the today’s technology. While the results and conclusions from this study are the main focus of this thesis, considerable attention is paid to the software that enabled the successful implementation of the study and processing of the simulation results.
Pathogenicity, vegetative compatibility and genetic diversity of Verticillium dahliae isolates from sugar beet

Abstract Verticillium wilt of sugar beet is a disease that has received very little attention, but which has been reported to reduce sugar quality. A survey of sugar beet fields with wilt symptoms was conducted in 2007 (5 roots from each of 40 fields) and 2008 (5 roots from each of 45 fields) in Idaho. Verticillium dahliae was isolated from all root samples. From a collection of 106 V. dahliae sugar beet isolates, all were of the MAT1-2 mating type. The vegetative compatibility grouping (VCG) was evaluated for 93 of these isolates and 95, 3, 1 and 1% were VCG 4A, VCG 2B, VCG 4B and non-compatible, respectively. All the VCG 4A isolates had the same mitochondrial haplotype based on sequencing of cox3 to nad6 and cox1 to rnl loci, while the VCG 2B isolates had two haplotypes. Pathogenicity tests on sugar beet cultivar ‘Monohikari’ revealed that the VCG 4A isolates produced more foliar symptoms (P < 0.0001) than VCG 1, 1A, 2A, 2B, 3 and 4B isolates, but none of the VCGs consistently reduced root and foliage weight. Since V. dahliae VCG 4A isolates have also been reported as a pathogen of potato in North America, rotating sugar beet fields with potato could be a concern.
Predictors of early antenatal care booking in government health facilities of Hossana town, Hadiya zone, South Ethiopia: unmatched case control study.

Background: Early entry to antenatal care is important for early detection and treatment of adverse pregnancy related outcomes. However, only 11% of Ethiopian women had an antenatal care visit before their fourth month of pregnancy, as recommended by world health organization. Hence, this study was aimed to assess predictors of early ante natal booking in government health facilities of Hossana town, Hadiya zone, South Ethiopia. Methods: Health facility based an unmatched case control study was conducted in government health facilities in Hossana town, from December, 1/2014-April, 30/2015 using interviewer guided questionnaire. Total sample size was 255 (85 cases and 170 controls) and taken from all government health facilities in case to control ratio 1:2 until the total sample of cases and controls obtained. Bivariate regression analysis was done and all explanatory variables associated with early ANC booking at p-value <0.25 were entered in to multivariable logistic regression analysis. Finally, p-value <0.05 was used to identify independent predictors of early antenatal booking. Results: Visiting antenatal care alone [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)=3.43(95% confidence interval (CI: 1.06, 11.09)], being employed in non-governmental organizations [AOR=6.82(95%CI: 1.56, 29.77)], venders [AOR=6.25(95%CI: 2.16, 18.06)], housewife [AOR= 3.3(95%CI: 1.09, 9.97)], perceived time of antenatal care initiation at < 4 months of pregnancy [AOR= 5.51(95%CI: 1.28, 23.67)], recognition of pregnancy at 1-2 months [AOR= 7.21(95%CI: 2.47, 21.08)] and perceived number of 4 and more antenatal care visit per pregnancy [AOR=3.53(95%CI: 1.22, 10.21)] were independent predictors of early antenatal care booking among pregnant women attending antenatal care unit in government health facilities of Hossana town. Conclusions and recommendations: Health service managers, health care providers, Medias and community at large should give emphasis for the predictors of early antenatal booking like number of antenatal care visit per pregnancy, early recognition of pregnancy and time of antenatal care initiation to improve early antenatal care booking and to enable women benefit from the services in Hossana town.
Enhancing School Connectedness in Japan: The Role of Homeroom Teachers in Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate

This article briefly reviews school connectedness research in Japan, focusing on the relationship between school bonding based on Hirschi’s (1969) theory and non-attendance or antisocial behavior at school among Japanese students. In addition, the article provides a case example illustrating the homeroom teacher’s role in enhancing children’s connectedness in elementary school. Since a national comprehensive guidance program does not exist in Japan, homeroom teachers are responsible for developing children’s skills, competences, values, and connectedness to school through everyday classroom activities and school events. The case example illustrates how homeroom teachers can enhance school connectedness and how a focus on classroom climate can improve teachers’ abilities to manage their classes effectively. Formal assessment instruments such as the Classroom Climate Inventory can assist teachers in this effort.
The Development of Childhood Risk-Taking: Parenting and Self-Regulation in Sociocultural Context

Maladaptive risk-taking (e.g., substance use, unsafe sex, reckless driving) is a public health epidemic that is nonrandomly distributed across groups by gender, race/ethnicity, and poverty level. Although studies have examined risk-taking in adolescence, few have identified pathways to childhood risk-taking. Drawing on a sample of 250 child-parent dyads (50% female; Mage=49.1 months; SD=2.9; 46% Hispanic, 18.4% Black, 11.2% White, .4% Asian, and 24% multicultural) in an ongoing longitudinal investigation, this study evaluated 1) associations between observations of positive parenting during the preschool period (i.e., high support, low hostility, and low intrusion) and risk-taking at age 10 using the laboratory-administered Balloon Analogue Risk Task for Youth (BART-Y), 2) associations between children’s behavior regulation and emotion regulation at age 6 and risk-taking at age 10, 3) indirect relations from positive parenting to risk-taking through behavior and/or emotion regulation, and 4) the invariance of the proposed mediation model by child gender, race/ethnicity, and poverty status. Positive parenting and behavior regulation were associated with higher levels of risk-taking, whereas emotion regulation was related to lower levels of risk-taking. Both behavior regulation and emotion regulation mediated the relation between positive parenting and risk-taking. However, invariance analyses revealed that the indirect path through emotion regulation was significant only among children of Hispanic descent and those who were not in poverty. Although most research has conceptualized risk-taking as maladaptive, these findings suggest that risk-taking may be adaptive in select contexts. The findings highlight the adaptive heterogeneity of childhood risk-taking, encourage further investigation of these processes during childhood, and suggest that prevention and intervention efforts should incorporate parenting and regulatory processes to promote adaptive risk-taking and reduce maladaptive risk-taking.
Structural stability of high entropy alloys under pressure and temperature

The stability of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) is a key issue before their selection for industrial applications. In this study, in-situ high-pressure and high-temperature synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction experiments have been performed on three typical HEAs Ni20Co20Fe20Mn20Cr20, Hf25Nb25Zr25Ti25, and Re25Ru25Co25Fe25 (at. %), having face-centered cubic (fcc), body-centered cubic (bcc), and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal structures, respectively, up to the pressure of ∼80 GPa and temperature of ∼1262 K. Under the extreme conditions of the pressure and temperature, all three studied HEAs remain stable up to the maximum pressure and temperatures achieved. For these three types of studied HEAs, the pressure-dependence of the volume can be well described with the third order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state. The bulk modulus and its pressure derivative are found to be 88.3 GPa and 4 for bcc-Hf25Nb25Zr25Ti25, 193.9 GPa and 5.9 for fcc-Ni20Co20Fe20Mn20Cr20, and 304.6 GPa and 3.8 for hcp-Re25Ru25Co25F.
A class of shape preserving 5-point n-ary approximating schemes

A new class of shape preserving relaxed 5-point n-ary approximating subdivision schemes is presented. Further, the conditions on the initial data assuring monotonicity, convexity and concavity preservation of the limit functions are derived. Furthermore, some significant properties of ternary and quaternary subdivision schemes have been elaborated such as continuity, Hölder exponent, polynomial generation, polynomial reproduction, approximation order, and support of basic limit function. Moreover the visual performance of schemes has also been demonstrated through several examples.
THE AGE, MASS, AND SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF STAR CLUSTERS IN M51

We present a new catalog of 3816 compact star clusters in the grand design spiral galaxy M51 based on observations taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. The age distribution of the clusters declines starting at very young ages, and can be represented by a power law, , with . No significant changes in the shape of the age distribution at different masses is observed. The mass function of the clusters younger than can also be described by a power law, , with . We compare these distributions with the predictions from various cluster disruption models, and find that they are consistent with models where clusters disrupt approximately independent of their initial mass, but not with models where lower mass clusters are disrupted earlier than their higher mass counterparts. We find that the half-light radii of clusters more massive than and with ages between 100 and 400 are larger by a factor of ≈3–4 than their counterparts that are younger than 107 years old, suggesting that the clusters physically expand during their early life.
The Effects of Fragmentation on Habitat Usage in Native Small Mammals

THE EFFECTS OF FRAGMENTATION ON HABITAT USAGE IN NATIVE SMALL MAMMALS Meredith Penthorn, M.S. George Mason University, 2014 Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at George Mason University Director: Thomas E. Lovejoy, Professor Habitat fragmentation removes original habitat and creates a matrix of new habitat with remnants of original habitat embedded within. Small mammals such as Peromyscus leucopus, Blarina brevicauda, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Zapus hudsonius, and Tamias striatus may not be able to cross the matrix habitat to access continuous forest habitat or other forest fragments if the amount of cover is insufficient, because the benefits of acquiring new resources do not justify the predation risk. A combination of sampling techniques, including live trapping, giving-up density (GUD) trials, plant surveys, and camera trapping were employed to assess the relative importance of habitat type (fragment, matrix, or continuous forest), vegetative composition and structure, demographic attributes, fragment size, and matrix distance in determining foraging behavior over two summers. Trapping and GUD indicate where animals are foraging, and GUD gives a more specific measure of the relative amount of time spent in each habitat. Predator and plant surveys and camera trapping illuminate possible drivers of this behavior. Results indicated that habitat type most strongly affected animals; most species displayed some aversion to foraging in the matrix as opposed to the fragments and forest (p<0.0001). Plant diversity was significantly different between fragment and matrix habitat (p<0.0001). Removing matrix structure further delineates fragment, forest, and matrix (p<0.0001). Year also had a strong effect, with significantly fewer captures and higher GUD’s in 2012 as opposed to 2013 (p<0.05). Fragment size and isolation did not have a significant effect on foraging behavior (p>0.1). These habitat attributes, along with the risk of predation, influenced the demographic profile of P. leucopus individuals that use fragment and matrix habitat. Results suggest that maintaining connectivity and structural complexity in fragmented habitats are most beneficial to small mammals.
Frequency of Dengue virus Infection among Febrile Patients of Lahore

BACKGROUND: Dengue virus infection is one of the major global public health problems. The infection usually occurs with clinical manifestations ranging from an asymptomatic or mild febrile illness as classical dengue fever to the potentially life-threatening illness, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. The objective of the current study was to observe the frequency and diagnosis of primary or secondary dengue viral infection among individuals in Lahore city, Pakistan. METHODS: Study subjects were identified for the presence of dengue diagnostic markers including NS1 antigen, IgM and IgG antibody. The dengue specific antigen NS1 was detected by immonochromatography, while dengue specific antibodies (IgM and IgG) were measured through ELISA. RESULTS: Total 98 (56%) out of 175 febrile cases were found infected by dengue virus. From total 98 confirmed dengue cases, NS1 antigen was detected in 59 (60.20%), IgM antibodies were present in 74 (75.51%) and IgG antibodies were detected in 40 (40.81%) individuals. Statistical analysis reveals correlation of NS1 antigen and IgM antibody among dengue patients with significant P-value (P < 0.01). Results indicated that 58 (59%) were infected by primary infection and 40 (41%) were infected by secondary infection. The most effected age group was 21-30 years (51.02%) and least effected age group was <10 years (3.06%). Males were observed higher in number 61 (62%) as compare to females 37 (38%). Overall, the frequency of dengue virus infections were 56% among undifferentiated febrile patients in Lahore city, Pakistan. CONCLUSION: Dengue is found endemic in city population with increased incidence in monsoon and post monsoon. Constant vigilance of patients and dengue vector control awareness programs among public and health care officials could support in combating dengue.
Kairomonal Effect of Host Body Washing on the Egg Parasitoid Trichogramma brasiliensis (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

Bioassay with hexane extracts of male and female whole body wash of host insects viz . , Earias vittella and Spodoptera litura with Trichogramma brasiliensis revealed their kairomonal activities. Whole body extracts of male and female moths were analysed separately by gas chromatography for determining their hydrocarbon profile, which showed the presence of straight chain saturated hydrocarbons ranging from C 8 to C 35 . The concentration of these hydrocarbons ranged from 0.02 µg/g to 2579 µg/g of insect extract. Both the host insects showed variation in number and concentration of these chemicals, which were responsible for influencing the parasitoid activity, parasitism and emergence. The foraging activity of the parasitoid as indicated by parasitoid activity index (PAI) was highest (12.00) in S. litura male body extract at concentration C 4 (1000 ppm) followed by (10.83) in E. vittella female body extract at C 5 (10,000 ppm) by T. brasiliensis . Maximum percentage parasitism of (45.55) and emergence (12.50) was observed at concentration C 4 in S. litura male body extract followed by E. vittella female body extract. Highest overall response was recorded in egg cards treated with whole body wash of male and female of S. litura and E. vittella , respectively, which may be attributed to the presence of more number of favourable saturated hydrocarbons viz . ; heneicosane, tricosane, pentacosane, hexacosane, octacosane, and nonacosane, as revealed by GC. These favourable hydrocarbons at appropriate concentration of body extract of E. vittella female and S. litura male could be used for enhancing parasitization by T. brasiliensis .
Next Generation Information Systems Architectures

Abstract : This effort concerns a new aerial ad-hoc networking paradigm, in which low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used to assist wireless communication among a set of stationary or mobile ground stations. This work focuses on the use of cost-effective Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) equipment. New networking protocols have been developed based on antenna engineering and interference-resilient medium access control (MAC) schemes. In addition, the project has gathered a substantial amount of measurement data from aerial field experiments to support future design activities such as throughput-optimizing flight-path design.