Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
BREEDING & GENETICS Challenges and Perspectives on Improving Heat and Drought Stress Resilience in Cotton

Global climate change in the form of rising temperatures and increasingly variable rainfall patterns, along with heightened competition for scarce natural resources, potentially threatens the sustainability of cotton cropping systems. Thus, future cotton production is likely to occur under an increased prevalence of multiple abiotic stresses, including extreme and prolonged high temperatures and water deficits. Therefore, it is of increasing relevance that the combined effects of heat and drought stresses on cotton productivity are more comprehensively examined under field conditions. This article reviews the separate influences of heat and drought stress on cotton, outlines known effects of the combination of high temperature and water deficit on cotton and model plant species, discusses the genetic dissection of heat or drought stress tolerance traits in cotton, investigates the potential of field-based phenotyping methods for evaluating the response of cotton plants to heat and drought stresses, and, finally, offers perspectives on the development of stress-resilient cotton germplasm. Importantly, the integration of approaches from several disciplines is needed to allow cotton breeders to efficiently develop superior cultivars for optimal stress resilience in a farmer’s field.
AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH ON THE BUCKLING ANALYSIS OF CIRCULAR, SOLID AND ANNULAR FUNCTIONALLY GRADED THIN PLATESGRADED THIN

In this paper, the buckling analysis of circular, solid and annular functionally graded thin plates under uniform radial compression loads is studied. The material properties through the thickness are assumed to be power functions of the thickness. Moreover, the stability equations based on the classical plate theory (CPT), are derived by using the Hamilton ’s principle. The obtained coupled-PDEs are difficult to be used for evaluation of the buckling loads of annular plates with various boundary conditions. To resolve this difficulty, a coordinate transformation from the middle plane to a new position is done and as consequence the equations are decoupled. By using the forgoing equations, the buckling loads are determined. The procedure is done for both circular and annular FGM plates of various boundary conditions under uniform radial loads on the edges and the results are validated with one of references. Key Words: Buckling analysis; solid plate; annular plate; functionally graded materials. DOI: 10.3329/jme.v41i1. 5357 Journal of Mechanical Engineering , Vol. ME 41, No. 1, June 2010 7-14
Imposex Study on Thais tuberosa from Port and Non-Port Areas along the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Imposex was found to occur among Thais tuberosa snails collected from eight locations, consisting of port and non-port areas, along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. All (100%) female individuals of this species were found to have male sexual characteristics (imposex) at various stages. The highest discovered imposex level was Stage 5 with the Relative Penis Length Index (RPLI) of 56.35%; this was found in samples collected from Lumut Port (ALP; an area with high shipping and boating activities). On the other hand, samples collected from areas with lower maritime activities were observed to have moderate imposex stages (Stage 3 and Stage 2). Samples from an isolated area of NTP were recorded to have Stage 1 imposex. These results demonstrate the potential influence of maritime activities (a higher leachate of tributyltin (TBT)) on the degree of imposex in T. tuberose individuals.
The prevalence of depressive disorder among newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with co-morbid depression often experience increased morbidity and mortality. Studies in other South Asian countries have shown a high prevalence of depression in patients with newly diagnosed DM. Aims To study the prevalence of depression among newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus patients attending an outpatient clinic in Chilaw, Sri Lanka, and to study the association with socio demographic variables. Methods A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted at the medical clinic of Chilaw District General Hospital from March 2012 to November 2012, to study the prevalence of depression among a group of newly diagnosed patients with type 2 DM. All patients diagnosed with type 2 DM within the previous two months were interviewed by a specialist in psychiatry. The presence of depression was established according to ICD 10 criteria. Results The study population (n=186) consisted of 116 (62%) females and 70 (38%) males with a mean age of 51 years (range 27 to 80 years). Results showed that 13.4% (95% CI 8.5 – 18.3) had mild depression while 15.6% (95% CI 10.4 – 20.8) had moderate depression. There were no cases of severe depression. The proportion of females with depressive disorder was significantly higher than males. There were no significant association between the prevalence of depression and other socio demographic variables such as age, marital status, education, employment, income, ethnicity or religion. Conclusion This study shows that a quarter of the population of newly diagnosed patients with type 2 DM have depressive disorder. This finding highlights the importance of screening patients with DM for depressive disorder. SL J Psychiatry 2015; 6(2): 9-14
Non-linear evolution of large waves in deep water - The influence of directional spreading and spectral bandwidth

As large waves form in the open ocean their dynamics are mod- ified from classic linear dispersion by non-linear physics. In this study we use a numerical model to study the evolution of isolated wave-groups in deep water. We find that the non-linear changes are rather sensitive to the initial conditions, with small changes in parameters such as directional spreading giving significantly different results. In all cases, although as aforementioned in dif- fering degrees, we find changes to the shape of the extreme wave- group – the wave-groups contracting in the mean wave direction, expanding laterally to increase the width of the extreme crest, and with the largest wave moving to the front of the groups. We find that significant extra elevation of the wave-group only occurs for cases which are close to uni-directional.2
Latency as a region contrast

Methods for measuring latency contrasts are evaluated against a new method utilizing the Dynamic Time Warping algorithm. They are applied on simulated data, for different signal to noise ratios and two sizes of window (broad vs narrow). The results are subjected to statistical and ROC analysis. The analysis suggests that DTW performs better than the other methods, being less sensitive to noise as well as to placement and width of the window selected.
Unsteady Dynamics of Cloud Cavitating Flows around a Hydrofoil

The unsteady dynamics of cloud cavitating flow around a hydrofoil are investigated by joint experimental and numerical methods. Experiments are carried out in a rectangular test section of a cavitation tunnel. A high-speed video camera is used to visualize the unsteady flow structures. The visualized data are analyzed by using a home made soft ware. The drag and lift under the cavitation condition are measured. The spectral analysis for the measured date is conducted. The computations are conducted on the two-dimensional hydrofoil section, based on a single-fluid model of the cavitation: the liquid/vapor mixture is considered as a homogeneous fluid whose composition is regulated by mass transfer equation. The RNG
Response of Le Conte Pear Performance, Chlorophyll Content and Active Iron to Foliar Application of Different Iron Sources under the Newly Reclaimed Soil Conditions

The present study was conducted during 2013 and 2014 seasons on uniform in vigour thirteen year's old pear trees cv. Le Conte ( Pyrus communis , L.) budded on Pyrus communis rootstock grown in sandy soil in a private orchard located at El-Tall El-Kepeer, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt speaced4x4 m, under drip irrigation system. The target of the present study to spotlight on the beneficial effect foliar application of different iron sources (Fe-EDTA, Fe-EDDHA and Fe-mineral as form ferric sulphate "FeSO 4.7H 2O") on leaf chlorophyll concentrations, active iron, nutritional status of leaves and fruits, yield and fruit quality , as well as for controlling iron deficiency Chlorosis under the newly reclaimed soil conditions. Results showed that spraying all different iron sources were significantly very effective in increased macronutrients and micronutrients content in leaves, fruits and enhancing leaf content of chlorophyll and active iron compared with non-treated. Applications of different iron sources markedly produced higher fruit weight (g), number of fruits/tree, yield (kg)/tree and yield (ton) /fed. , of Le Conte pear trees. Moreover, results proved that there is a strong significant relationship between fruit nutrient contents and fruit quality and yield. Generally, the highest yield with best quality was obtained by Fe-EDTA and Fe-Mineral treatments are suggested it spraying two times to be a good recommendation for improved and enhanced yield and fruit quality under the newly reclaimed soil conditions.
Profitability of Momentum Stragegies in the International Equity Markets

Abstract This paper examines the profitability of momentum strategies implemented on international stock market indices. Our results indicate statiscally significant evidence of momentum profits. The momentum profits arise mainly from time-series predictability in stock market indices—very little profit comes from predictability in the currency markets. We also find higher profits for momentum portfolios implemented on markets with higher volume in the previous period, indicating that return continuation is stronger following an increase in trading volume. This result confirms the informational role of volume and its applicability in technical analysis.
Anaerobic treatment of municipal sanitary land ® ll leachates : the problem of refractory and toxic components

The wide use of municipal sanitary land®lls has drawn attention to the leaching ef ̄uent generated, this may be problematic to the site's environment, whether by in®ltration or other contaminating modes. Anaerobic digestion has been shown to be one of the most ef®cient systems with which to treat this type of ef ̄uent. This article reviews the techniques used by different authors for leachate characterization, speci®cally related to refractory and toxic components and their effect on anaerobic treatability. In addition, it covers the treatment of refractory organics, organic and inorganic toxic materials and the nutrient balance for adequate system operation. The main conclusions are that there is ample availability of methods by which to identify the different components present in leachates as well as for their toxicity assessment and that nutrients are in general available in suf®cient amounts. Treatability studies are presented which are shown to be of general value and can be used in a straightforward manner.
The Labor Impact of Minimum Wages: A Method for Estimating the Effect in Emerging Economies using Chilean Panel Data

We develop and use a statistical matching technique to construct a panel data set from the Chilean National Employment Survey; and then use this panel to test the short term impacts of minimum wage increases during the 1996-2005 period.We estimate wage increase effects for the treated group (people earning wages between ex ante an ex post minimum wages), the hours worked and the employment effects for this group. We also estimate the effect on the proba- bility of obtaining a job for a theoretical treated group of unemployed and inactive workers constructed by estimating their likely wage in the case that they found one. We then estimate the integral of these three effects (wage increase, wage loss and lower probability of obtaining a job). We find that minimum wage increases do have a significant impact on the wages of the treated group, hence the suspicion that they are somehow made irrelevant by informal practices in Chilean labor markets seems to be unfunded. We find that there is a significant negative effect on the probability of staying employed, a negative effect on hours worked and a signifi- cant negative effect on the probability of finding the job. We find that the integral of the three effects is positive and has statistical significance. We conclude that, in general, minimum wage increases in Chile during the aforementioned period have increased the real income of treated and potentially treated workers. However, we also find that there is a redistribution of income among these workers in favor of currently employed workers. We submit our results to several robustness checks including a variety of definitions of income and wages, a continuous changing control group, a “dif-in-dif” approach and a pressure and distance.approach. We conclude that, if anything, minimum wage increases have generated real income redistribution towards the treated workers as well as among them in Chile.
Analysis of changes in meat and meat products consumption in the Czech Republic in the past ten years

In the past ten years, meat and meat products consumption has changed dramatically. It has been caused by price and non-price factors. This article gives a brief recapitulation of the development of the consumption of meat and meat products and identifies the key factors which, in the past ten years, have had a major impact on this development. This article presents results of the secondary data analysis and the results of an inquiry into meat and meat products consumer behaviour carried out in the late 2004.
Developing and validating a hierarchical model of service quality of retail banks

Like other service institutes, developing and managing quality service is a challenging issue in retail banks. Recent studies established that retail banks' customer satisfaction can be managed with a total quality management approach. It is accepted by prior literature that service quality (SQ) is a multilevel and multidimensional construct; however, the SQ dimensions of retail banking are still considered one-dimensional. The purpose of this study is to develop theoretical conceptualisations and validate an SQ model for retail banks. A positivist epistemology using a mixed method research approach has been adopted for this study. A research model has been developed from the literature which was contextualised by a cross-country qualitative field study. The model is validated with partial least square-based structural equation modelling. The results of this study summarise that retail banks' SQ is a third-order reflective model where SQ can be explained by station, interaction, and outcome quality. Furthermore, these three dimensions reflect nine sub-dimensions in total. This paper focused on managing total quality issues of a retail bank through service quality tools. With the objective of acquiring total quality, bank managers and other management personnel may develop strategies and policies using the findings of this study.
Utilization of Services Related to Safe Motherhood among the Tribal Population of East Khasi Hills (Meghalaya): An Overview

Abstract In the present paper an attempt has been made to understand the utilization for safe motherhood, particularly, the antenatal care (ANC) among the Khasi Tribes of Meghalaya, India. From this study it was found that antenatal care situation is quite discouraging in this population in the district. Though more than eighty percent received their antenatal check up but most of them received their first antenatal check in the fifth month of their pregnancy. Further, various socio-economic and cultural factors are influencing the acceptance of antenatal care in this community.
Impact of Transformational Leadership over Employee Morale and Motivation

Leading a group is not a big deal. What it needs is just the desire to lead. From time immemorial when man was a forest dweller or a nomad to this day when he considers himself to be more civilized, more mature and more sophisticated, someone or the other had always been leading him. Some followers simply follow without questioning where as others don't follow you till such time all their questions are answered. Depending upon the kind of followers we can exercise different styles of leadership ranging from autocratic, democratic, leissez faire to Transformational Leadership. The Transformational Leaders motivate their followers to exceed performance expectations by transforming their attitude, beliefs and behavior. Through this paper an attempt has been made to study the impact of transformational leadership over employee morale and motivation if any. The study in hand is based on Primary data collected from Pune city (India), through a survey of 378 people. The secondary sources like books, journals, newspapers and articles published in the websites were also referred. Towards the end, the researcher found that there is a significant relationship between transformational leadership and employee's morale & motivation.
Development of Financial Markets in Central Europe: the Case of the CE4 Countries Prepared by Amat Adarov and Robert Tchaidze 1

Financial markets in the CE4 countries are still shallow compared to other advanced EU countries. While the government bond markets are comparable in size, measured by capitalization in percent of GDP, the private bond, private credit, and equity markets lag behind. Empirical analysis in this paper helps identify factors that explain this phenomenon. We find that the observed differences cannot be explained by macroeconomic variables only, but incorporating indicators of institutional development and external funding eliminates the gap in the case of the equity and private credit markets. However, for the private bond market a significant gap remains even after accounting for these factors.
A parametric study on large eddy simulations of turbulent premixed flames

A parametric study has been carried out on the use of large eddy simulations (LES) technique for the prediction of turbulent premixed flames. A flame surface density (FSD) model is used together with an algebraic closure to calculate the filtered reaction rate. This reaction rate needs to be appropriately modelled. One main objective of the present study is to evaluate and validate the model used against measured data obtained from laboratory scale experiments. In particular, the model performance is examined by varying controlling parameters such as ignition radius, model constant, filter width and test to grid filter ratio. Flame structure, speed and generated overpressure are used for model evaluations at different times following ignition. The experimental combustion chamber is 0.625 litres in volume with three built-in solid obstacles. The mixture used is a stoichiometric propane/air mixture with equivalence ratio 1.0. The results show sensitivity of the model to the specification of the initial ignition radius and grid resolution. However, the model is found to be less sensitive to the selected filter width.
A search mechanism based on ontology technology for students in elementary school

Searching information on the Web has become part of everyone's daily activity in the modern society. The Web brings much convenience into our lives; however, with the amount of information growing in a staggering speed, how to sieve out useful information and knowledge effectively has become an important skill. In order to obtain a better search result, one needs to know how to form appropriate key words and phrases for search engines. However, elementary school students don't have sufficient abilities of sub-cognition, and they often form a search string in a natural language which contains few keywords in a long sentence; therefore, the search results do not often satisfy their need. This study addresses this problem by introducing an agent to parse the search string, align synonyms, sift out keywords, and include hyponyms in the intended field. Knowledge in a specific learning unit is represented with Ontology technology and transformed into keywords and associated structure. This study also integrates Google API and establishes specific function characteristics to eliminate unrelated files to conduct the search. The result shows that the prototype system can provide pupils with more accurate results.
Timber Harvesting Does Not Increase Fire Risk and Severity in Wet Eucalypt Forests of Southern Australia

Lindenmayer et al. proposed that logging makes “some kinds of forests more prone to increased probability of ignition and increased fire severity. ” The proposition was developed most strongly in relation to the wet eucalypt forests of south‐eastern Australia. A key argument was that logging in wet forests results in drier forests that tend to be more fire‐prone, and this argument has gained prominence both in the literature and in policy debate. We find no support for that argument from considerations of eucalypt stand development, and from reanalysis of the only Australian study cited by Lindenmayer et al. In addition, there is no evidence from recent megafires in Victoria that younger regrowth (<10 years) burnt with greater severity than older forest (>70 years); furthermore, forests in reserves (with no logging) did not burn with less severity than multiple‐use forests (with some logging). The flammability of stands of different ages can be explained in terms of stand structure and fuel accumulation, rather than as a dichotomy of regrowth stands being highly flammable but mature and old‐growth stands not highly flammable. Lack of management of fire‐adapted ecosystems carries long‐term social, economic, and environmental consequences.
Risky Behaviours and Responsibility-Sensitive Fairness in a Non Life-Threatening Health Case: A European Study

Risky behaviours are found to substantially increase medical and social costs and mortality. In this paper, we document the extent to which a sample of European students (from Denmark, France, Italy and Sweden) consider that individuals should assume the financial burden of paying the costs of risky behaviour. Using an empirical social choice methodology, we test in a positive manner the acceptability of different ways of financing costs due to ill-health more or less associated with risky behaviour in accordance with a normative framework relating to responsibility-sensitive fairness. We particularly check the sensitivity of our sample to responsibility in a health context with questions that make it possible to clearly distinguish between risky behaviour under an individual’s control and circumstances beyond the individual’s control. The health conditions chosen in this study are not life-threatening, but the specific disease varies in different parts of the survey. We find that the majority of students approve of responsibility-sensitive fairness but that the specific health context, the type of risky behaviours involved, and the framing all matter as determinants of the choices made by the individuals of our sample in the financing of health care. We also find that students’ nationality has a small influence.