Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Do Dropouts Benefit from Training Programs? Korean Evidence Employing Methods for Continuous Treatments

Failure of participants to complete training programs is pervasive in existing active labor market programs both in developed and developing countries. The proportion of dropouts in prototypical programs ranges from 10 to 50 percent of all participants. From a policy perspective, it is of interest to know if dropouts benefit from the time they spend in training since these programs require considerable resources. We shed light on this issue by estimating the average employment effects of different lengths of exposure to a program by dropouts in a Korean job training program. To do this, we employ parametric and semiparametric methods to estimate effects from continuous treatments using the generalized propensity score, under the assumption that selection into different lengths of exposure is based on a rich set of observed covariates. We find that participants who drop out later – thereby having longer exposures – exhibit higher employment probabilities one year after receiving training, and that marginal effects of additional exposure to training are initially fairly small, but increase sharply past a certain threshold of exposure. One implication of these results is that this and similar programs could benefit from providing incentives for participants to stay longer in the program.
Development and Evaluation of a Mouse Neocortical Cells Neurodevelopment Assay to Assess the Effects of Pyrethroids

Pyrethroid insecticides have been used for more than 40 years and account for 25% of the global insecticide market. With increasing use of pyrethroids over recent years, human exposure to these chemicals is more likely. Because of the assumed harmless effects of their use, pyrethroids have grown to become the major class of pesticides for household, agricultural and public health applications worldwide. The acute toxicity of pyrethroids to adults has been welldocumented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as moderately toxic to mammals. However, there is little evidence regarding the potential toxicological effects of the chemicals on mammalian neurodevelopment. Recent publications suggest that pyrethroids inhibit neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells; however there is limited information available that has examined this phenomena on mammalian neurons. In the current study, we aim to develop a neurodevelopment assay that could be utilized to investigate the effects of pyrethroids on the development of neuronal cells from undifferentiated neocortical cells cultured from the embryonic Mus musculus brain. Throughout the 14 day culture, the differentiation of the mouse neocortical cells into neurons were monitored with fluorescent microscopy and measured via percent differentiated calculations. The results of this study revealed that neurite outgrowth begins at day eight of culture, and maximum differentiation of the cells into neurons occurred at day 14 of the culture, with a percent differentiation of 64.8%. It is predicted that future pyrethroid exposure of these differentiated cells will inhibit neuronal differentiation in correlation to this timeline, with maximum inhibition of differentiation occurring at the fourteenth day of growth for this particular culture timeline.
Seasonal Variations of Surface fCO2 and Sea-Air CO2 Fluxes in the Ulleung Basin of the East/Japan Sea

Temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, and surface CO2 fugacity (fCO2) were extensively investigated in the Ulleung Basin of the East/Japan Sea during four seasonal cruises. In spring, surface fCO2 showed large variations ranging from 260 to 356 μatm, which were considerably lower than the atmospheric CO2 levels. Surface fCO2 was highest (316 to 409 μatm) in summer. The central part of the study area was undersaturated with respect to atmospheric CO2, while the coastal and easternmost regions were oversaturated. In autumn, the entire study area was fairly undersaturated with respect to atmospheric CO2. In winter, surface fCO2 ranged from 303 to 371 μatm, similar to that in autumn, despite the much lower sea surface temperature. The seasonal variation in surface fCO2 could not be explained solely by seasonal changes in sea surface temperature and salinity. The vertical mixing, lateral transport, and sea-air CO2 exchange considerably influenced the seasonal variation in surface fCO2. The Ulleung Basin of the East/Japan Sea was a sink of atmospheric CO2 in spring, autumn, and winter, but a weak source of CO2 to the atmosphere in summer. The annual integrated sea-air CO2 flux in the Ulleung Basin of the East/ Japan Sea was -2.47 ± 1.26 mol m^(-2) yr^(-1), quite similar to a previous estimate (-2.2 mol m^(-2) yr^(-1)) in the south East/Japan Sea. This indicates that the Ulleung Basin of the East/Japan Sea acts as a strong sink of atmospheric CO2.
Germination of melon seeds under water and thermal stress

Seeds vigor can influence seed performance under stress conditions. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effect of water and thermal stress on germination and performance of melon seedlings, and to verify if germination under stress conditions is an efficient parameter to evaluate the vigor of these seeds. Four lots of ‘Golden Mine’ melon had their initial quality characterized by germination, first count, accelerated aging and seedling emergence tests. Germination under water stress was performed on a paper moistened with PEG 6000 solution at 0.06, -0.3, -0.6 and -0.9 MPa. The percentage and speed of germination, length and dry mass of the seedlings were evaluated. For the thermal stress experiment, cold test and germination at sub(15 oC) and supra-optimal (35 oC) temperatures were performed, as well as at the ideal temperature (25 oC). The germination of melon seeds under water stress induced by PEG 6000 at -0.3 and -0.6 MPa is an efficient method to detect differences in the physiological potential of lots of melon seeds, but these differences disappear under severe water stress (-0.9 MPa). Germination under sub-optimal temperatures also allows to identify differences in seeds performance and to classify them according to the vigor level.
Use of the anabolic steroid nandrolone decanoate associated to strength training in Wistar rats - doi: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v35i2.15513

Anabolic steroids have been constantly used among athletes and physically active individuals. Adverse effects of such use are reported in the literature. However, little is known about the effects of anabolic steroid use associated with strength training. Thus, this research aimed to identify possible morphophysiological alterations in Wistar rats treated with the anabolic steroid nandrolone decanoate and submitted to strength training. Twenty Wistar rats were divided in four groups: sedentary control (SC), sedentary hormone (SH), trained control (TC) and trained hormone (TH). After the experimental protocol period, animals were killed and body weight, adiposity, renal and hepatic injury markers, plasmatic lipid profile, glycemia, and insulinemia were determined. The experimental conditions strength training and nandrolone decanoate (isolated or associated) were positively correlated to a reduction on visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue. The association of strength training with nandrolone decanoate was the most effective condition to increase muscle mass. Heart and kidneys weights, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) concentration were also negatively modified. The data demonstrated effects of anabolic steroids in body composition, with better results when associated with strength training, but collateral effects were observed.
Relationships between deer mice and downed wood in managed forests of southern British Columbia

We examined the relationship between deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner)) and downed wood in a low-elevation Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forest and a high-elevation Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.)  subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt. ) forest in the south-central interior of British Columbia. We experimentally manipulated the volume of downed wood on clear-cut and forested sites and monitored the response of deer mice with a markrecapture study to assess population densities and survival and reproduction rates. Populations responded positively to harvesting at the low-elevation but not the high-elevation study area. At the low-elevation study area, the population dynamics of deer mice on clear-cut and forested treatments were not positively associated with patterns of vegetation cover or increasing downed-wood volumes. Instead, populations on clearcuts appeared to increase in response to an unknown factor associated with lower volumes. No rela.
Inter-Regional Spillovers and Urban-Rural Disparity in U.S. Employment Growth

A wide urban-rural disparity is observed in employment growth in the United States. For example, employment growth averaged 2.1 percent in urban counties during 1998-2007, compared with just 1 percent in rural counties. In this study, we examine the sources of U.S. employment growth using the county-level industry data. From an analytical labor-market model, we derive equilibrium employment growth as a function of growth in neighborhood characteristics and initial conditions such as accumulated of human capital, industrial structure and natural amenities. The equilibrium employment growth equation is then estimated using spatial econometric techniques, which account for spillovers from employment growth in neighboring counties. Specifically, a spatial lag model is estimated using U.S. county and industry data from 1998-2007. Results show positive growth spillovers from both urban and rural regions, but the former has relatively large impacts on regional employment growth. The statistical significance of the spatial-lag coefficient in most U.S. manufacturing and service industries suggests the presence of a strong spatial multiplier effect. Evaluating the contribution of alternative factors to employment growth, we find that initial accumulated human capital is the key determinant of regional employment growth. The decomposition of the urban-rural gap in employment growth shows spillovers from urban (rural) regions widen (narrow) the gap. The latter suggests that collaboration among rural regions in economic development can be effective in narrowing the urban-rural gap in employment growth.
From the Lab to the Field: A Review of Tax Experiments

Tax experiments have been gaining momentum in recent years, although this literature dates back several decades. With new developments in methods and data availability, tax experiments have gradually moved away from lab settings and towards the field. This movement from the lab to the field has happened against the background of the â€˜credibility revolutionâ€™ in applied economics, which has seen more rigorous methods applied to policy relevant questions, and of the availability to researchers of administrative data from tax returns. These developments have allowed significant advances in the experimental literature on tax compliance. This paper reviews this literature, giving particular attention to field experiments using administrative data, but putting them in the broader context of the compliance literature. A particular effort is made to take a global perspective, in a literature that is only recently seeing the emergence of evidence from Africa, Latin America and Asia.
PROTEIN NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF COWPEA AND NAVY BEAN RESIDUE FRACTIONS

Cereal-legume protein complementation has long been recommended as a suitable strategy for augmenting the protein quality of cereal and legume based foods. However, the use of the insoluble legume residue, following protein extraction for cereal-legume protein complementation has not been widely studied. In fact, legume residue is considered a waste by-product. The protein quality of cowpea residuewheat and navy bean residue-wheat diets was determined using in-vivo and in-vitro protein digestibility assays with an AIN-93G diet as control. The diets were fed to laboratory rats over 4 weeks. The in-vitro digestibility of the diets was assessed using the pH drop and pH stat enzymatic methods. The proximate composition, limiting amino acid profile and phytohemagglutinin activity were also determined. All six diets had lower levels of the sulphur amino acid requirements for rats as expected but had higher than the FAO/WHO recommended levels for pre-school children. The cowpea residue diets had higher levels of limiting amino acids than the navy bean residue diets. Phytohemagglutinin activity was only detectable in the raw cowpea and navy bean samples. All cowpea residue diets, the 30% and 70% navy bean residue diets and the control diet supported growth while the 100% navy bean residue diet resulted in weight loss. The in-vitro digestibility ranged from 77.82% - 84.54% and 66.51% - 79.59% for the cowpea residue and the navy bean residue diets, respectively. These ranges were lower than the control (98.1%) but correlated highly to those obtained using the in-vivo true protein digestibility method; 73.7% - 87.5% and 62.6% - 78.2%, respectively. These findings suggest that the cowpea residue diets had higher protein quality overall than the navy bean residue diets. In addition, it suggests that the 30:70 ratio of cowpea residue to wheat diet had the highest protein quality of all the 6 experimental diets. Legume residues after protein extraction could be recommended for human food if complemented with a cereal, particularly as it meets the amino acid pattern for preschool children. Finally, in-vitro assays can also be reliably used to assess the protein quality of foods. Keywords : protein quality, cowpea, navy bean African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development Vol. 9 (2) 2009: pp. 764-778
Simulated reconstruction of the remote dipole field using the kinetic Sunyaev Zel’dovich effect

The kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect, cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies induced by scattering from free electrons in bulk motion, is a primary target of future CMB experiments. Measurements of the kSZ effect have the potential to address fundamental questions about the structure and evolution of our Universe on the largest scales and at the earliest times. This potential is unlocked by combining measurements of small-scale CMB anisotropies with large-scale structure surveys, a technique known as kSZ tomography. Previous work established a quadratic estimator for the remote dipole field, the CMB dipole observed at different locations in the Universe. This previous work did not include gravitational lensing, redshift space distortions, or non-linear evolution of structure. In this paper, we investigate how well the remote dipole field can be reconstructed in the presence of such effects by using mock data from a suite of simulations. To properly model both large and small scales, we develop a novel box-in-box simulation pipeline, where small-scale information is obtained from N-body simulations, and large-scale information obtained by evolving fields using linear theory and adding the resulting corrections to the N-body particle data. This pipeline allows us to create properly correlated maps of the primary CMB including lensing, as well as the kSZ effect and density maps on the past light cone of an observer. Analyzing an ensemble of mocks, we find that the dipole field can be reconstructed with high fidelity over a range of angular scales and redshift bins, although there is evidence of excess power from nonlinear structure. We also analyze correlations with the primary CMB, investigating the ability of kSZ tomography to reconstruct the intrinsic CMB dipole. Our results constitute a proof-of-principle that kSZ tomography is a promising technique for future datasets.
Chaos , Solitons & Fractals Nonlinear Science , and Nonequilibrium and Complex Phenomena

We consider Vallis’ symmetric and asymmetric Lorenz models for El Niño—systems of autonomous ordinary differential equations in 3D—with the usual parameters and, in both cases, by using rigorous numerics, we locate topological horseshoes in iterates of Poincaré return maps. The computer-assisted proofs follow the standard Mischaikow–Mrozek–Zgliczynski approach. The novelty is a dimension reduction method, a direct exploitation of numerical Lorenz-like maps associated to the two components of the Poincaré section. 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Observations and implications of liquid-liquid phase separation at high relative humidities in secondary organic material produced by α-pinene ozonolysis without inorganic salts

Abstract. Particles consisting of secondary organic material (SOM) are abundant in the atmosphere. To predict the role of these particles in climate, visibility and atmospheric chemistry, information on particle phase state (i.e., single liquid, two liquids and solid) is needed. This paper focuses on the phase state of SOM particles free of inorganic salts produced by the ozonolysis of α-pinene. Phase transitions were investigated in the laboratory using optical microscopy and theoretically using a thermodynamic model at 290 K and for relative humidities ranging from
Cost‐Effective Targeting Soil and Water Conservation: A Case Study of Changting County in Southeast China

Soil erosion is by far the greatest cause of land degradation and other environmental and socio‐economic problems in China. Although various conservation methods are widely utilized to reduce soil erosion and to sustain agricultural production, the cost‐effectiveness and selection of these methods are less known. Using our survey and ecological data, this study evaluated four soil and water conservation methods in Changting County, Southeast China. The results show that the disparity of conservation costs is much larger than that of ecological benefits. Planting fruit trees is a kind of conservation through primarily economic development. Closing hillsides for afforestation is most cost‐effective, followed by forest fertilizing, and planting trees and grass. Our findings suggest that comparatively lower cost conservation methods, for example closing hillsides for afforestation, should be considered in priority if initial ecological conditions can meet the requirements of the method. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Impact of Self-Efficacy towards Training Motivation at Kolej Poly-Tech MARA Kuantan, Malaysia

This study aimed to examine the in-depth factors that improve employees’ motivation in training program. The critical variable was discussed on training motivation. Random sampling Method used to gather the data from 120 employees at a single point of Kolej Poly-Tech MARA Kuantan. Regression analysis was used for estimating the relationship among variables. The result shows that self-efficacy has a moderate relationship on training motivation. Since data are based on self-reports, common method bias may affect the relationship among the variables. The study only focuses at KPTM Kuantan that was not involved other branches. The paper contributes to both research and practice by providing support to the department heads and the management on ways to increase training motivation among employees. This paper consider few factors that enable to enhance training motivation at KPTM Kuantan.
Nutritional role of protists in the diet of first stage larvae of the Dungeness crab Cancer magister

Two naturally occurring dinoflagellates, the autotrophic Prorocentrum micans and the hcterotrophic Noctiluca scintilldns (non-bioluminescent), ,ind the green alga Dunaliella tertiolecta were tested as prey for the first zoeal stage of the brachyurdn crab C'ancer magister under controlled laboratol-y conditions. Each dinoflagellate was tested alone and In combination with a suboptimal application of the nauplius of the brine shrimp Artemla sp . , a diet of known value. When offered alone, both dinoflagellates delayed mortality as compared to an unfed control, but neither supported development to the second zoeal stage. When larvae were fed a cycle of 1 d of Artemia sp. nauplii, followed by 2 d of either dinoflagcllate, survival to zoeal stage 11 was significantly higher than for larvae fed 1 d of nauplii followed by 2 d unfed. Indeed, survival was equal to a control that had been fed nauplii cont~nuously, although thcre was a significant delay in time to molt. Larvae fed D. tertiolecta in combinatlon wlth nauplii sho\ved a rc,duction in survival ils comparerl to the suboptimal nauplius dlet alone and no difference in time to molt. All 3 protists were consumrd and thc 2 dinoflagcllates contnbuted nutritionally Given the susceptibility of newly hatched brachyuran larvae to starvation, their abillty to prey upon protlsts may be significant, especially for C. magister, a species that hatches in the Puget Sound (WA, USA) region in winter, a time of very low primary productivity. Crab larvae that can consume protistan prey may serve as a link between the rich carbon sources of the microbial food web and metazoans.
Degree of phosphorus saturation threshold for minimizing P losses by runoff in cropland soils of Southern Brazil

The objective of this work was to assess the risk of phosphorus losses by runoff through an index based on the degree of P saturation (DPS), in cropland soils of Southern Brazil. Sixty-five highly representative cropland soils from the region were evaluated. Three labile P forms were measured (Mehlich-1, Mehlich-3, and ammonium oxalate), and four P sorption indexes were tested (phosphorus single sorption point and Fe+Al determined with the three extractors). Water- extractable P (WEP) was used as an index of P susceptibility to losses by surface runoff. The DPS was determined from the ratio between labile P and each sorption index. DPS values obtained from the ratio between Mehlich-1 P and the single P sorption point ranged from 1 to 25%, whereas those from Mehlich-1 P and Fe+Al (ammonium oxalate) ranged from 1 to 55%. All DPS types were highly correlated with WEP. From a practical stand point, the DPS obtained with both P and Fe+Al extracted with Mehlich-1 can be used to estimate the risk of P losses by runoff in soils of Southern Brazil.
Detecting intruders: assessment of the anthropophilic ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the city of Abidjan and along access roads in Banco National Park (Côte d’Ivoire)

Remnant natural habitats within and surrounding urbanized areas are becoming increasingly important for maintaining local biodiversity. We used tuna bait to survey and assess ant community diversity in the ten municipalities of Abidjan city and its included natural habitat of Banco National Park. Although ant communities in urban environment differ generally from the ant fauna found in natural habitat (Banco National Park), we recorded the presence of 20 ant species shared by both habitats. We observed the occurrence of tramp ants and well-adapted urban ant species like Paratrechina longicornis and Tetramorium simillimum along the access roads of this national park. The findings of this study are important as they show the importance of Banco National Park in the conservation of biodiversity in urban areas but also the threat of invasion by anthropophilic species that may influence biodiversity within this park.