Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Defoliation and ENSO effects on vital rates of an understorey tropical rain forest palm

1 Rain forest understorey plants suffer leaf area losses due to natural causes or when leaves are harvested as non‐timber forest products. The negative effects of defoliation on plant fitness can be exacerbated during periods with strong water shortage and high temperatures, typical during ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) years in Mexico and Central America. At present, the isolated and combined demographic effects of ENSO events and repeated defoliation on tropical rain forest plants are poorly understood. 2 We studied the consequences of repeated defoliation and an ENSO event on vital rates (mortality, growth, and reproduction) of the dioecious understorey palm Chamaedorea elegans. From March 1997 to March 2000 (including the 1998 ENSO year), we subjected 814 mature individuals to one of five defoliation treatments (0–100% of newly produced leaves were removed twice a year), recording mortality, growth (leaf production) and reproduction (inflorescence and seed production) every 6 months. 3 Increasing defoliation strongly reduced reproduction but had smaller effects on growth and mortality. Among non‐defoliated palms, the probability of mortality increased with light availability, likely due to drought stress during the dry season, but this was not the case for the defoliated plants, probably because leaf area removal lowered transpiration and increased the root mass‐to‐leaf area ratio. During the ENSO year, growth and inflorescence production were stimulated, but survivorship and seed production diminished significantly, independent of defoliation level. 4 Synthesis. Variation in light availability and the occurrence of severe droughts can strongly affect demographic behaviour of understorey plants such as C. elegans, significantly influencing the effects of defoliation. Thus, strong episodic disturbance events (such as ENSO, insect outbreaks, strong storms, fires and landslides) should be taken into account to adequately understand the mechanisms that determine the population dynamics of forest plants and the potential for sustainable utilization of non‐timber forest products.
Cloud phase detection in winter stratiform clouds using Polarimetric Doppler Radar

The purpose of this study is to examine the radar signatures of two ground-based polarimetric radars, one Sband and one X-band, under winter storm conditions. A data set of coordinated ground radar and aircraft observations was collected during the Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS) conducted in 1999/2000. Reflectivity values exhibit a strong relationship to the predominant phase and water content in the cloud system. ZDR and kDP contain valuable information for distinguishing mixed phase from glaciated conditions. In general, X-band kDP ’s are superior to S-band for these winter conditions. Insights into the results were obtained by examining the microphysical properties of the clouds as deduced from the in-situ aircraft measurements.
Wave propagation in an inhomogeneous cross‐anisotropic medium

Analytical solutions for wave velocities and wave vectors are yielded for a continuously inhomogeneous cross‐anisotropic medium, in which Young's moduli (E, E′) and shear modulus (G′) varied exponentially as depth increased. However, for the rest moduli in cross‐anisotropic materials, ν and ν′ remained constant regardless of depth. We assume that cross‐anisotropy planes are parallel to the horizontal surface. The generalized Hooke's law, strain–displacement relationships, and equilibrium equations are integrated to constitute governing equations. In these equations, displacement components are fundamental variables and, hence, the solutions of three quasi‐wave velocities, VP, VSV, and VSH, and the wave vectors, \documentclass{article}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage[mathscr]{euscript}\footskip=0pc\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\mathop{\mathop{l}\limits^{\rightharpoonup}}\nolimits_{P}$\end{document} \documentclass{article}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage[mathscr]{euscript}\footskip=0pc\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\mathop{\mathop{l}\limits^{\rightharpoonup}}\nolimits_{\mathit{SV}}$\end{document}, and \documentclass{article}\usepackage{amssymb}\usepackage{amsbsy}\usepackage[mathscr]{euscript}\footskip=0pc\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$\mathop{\mathop{l}\limits^{\rightharpoonup}}\nolimits_{{\mathit{SH}}}$\end{document}, can be generated for the inhomogeneous cross‐anisotropic media. The proposed solutions and those obtained by Daley and Hron, and Levin correlate well with each other when the inhomogeneity parameter, k, is 0. Additionally, parametric study results indicate that the magnitudes and directions of wave velocity are markedly affected by (1) the inhomogeneous parameter, k; (2) the type and degree of geomaterial anisotropy (E/E′, G′/E′, and ν/ν′); and (3) the phase angle, θ. Consequently, one must consider the influence of inhomogeneous characteristic when investigating the behaviors of wave propagation in a cross‐anisotropic medium. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Poetry in the «Song of Songs»: A Literary Analysis

This ground-breaking study explores the structure and literary figures in the biblical Hebrew poetry of the Song of Songs. These figures include simile, metaphor, paronomasia, parallelism, sensory cluster, fertility language - flowers, spices, and plants as well as animals and images of wealth - and many other literary devices, delineated but not limited to how they also appear in classical literature as defined by Aristotle, Quintilian, and others. This biblical poetry is also compared to the Greek poetry of Sappho and Egyptian love poetry as well as to the Ramayana and the Kamasutra. The Song of Songs is discreetly yet firmly interpreted as erotic literature.
Labour market regimes and unemployment in OECD countries

Until now there exists no consensus view on the determinants of unemployment. Whereas some empirical papers find that mainly labour market institutions explain unemployment, others argue that this correlation is not robust. One explanation for these contradictory results is that labour market institutions affect unemployment in varying labour market regimes differently. Due to institutional complementarities and a trade-off between external and internal flexibility, certain labour market institutions show different impacts on unemployment depending on the general institutional arrangement. Support for this is found when testing for the impact of labour market institutions on unemployment in different labour market regimes with panel data for 20 OECD countries in the period 1982 to 2003. While external labour market flexibility shows the expected impact on unemployment in some countries, this is not the case in corporatist countries, which are characterised by high internal flexibility and good labour relations. Taking account of the regime is therefore crucial for successful labour market policy. Additionally, high real interest rates and restrictive monetary and fiscal policy in downturns are found to increase unemployment, suggesting that policy makers should react actively to economic downturns.
T47D cells arrested at G2M and Hyperploidy Formation Induced by a Curcumin's Analogue PGV-1

Pentagamavunon-1 (PGV-1) is a curcumin analogue, which is more stable in organic solution and more rigid in its chemical structure than curcumin. As a curcumin analogue, PGV-1 was considered to have anticancer activities. This research was conducted to study the effect of PGV-1 on the cycle progression of T47D cells. Cytotoxic effects of PGV-1 on T47D cells were determined using MTT assay, and the the effect on cell cycle progression was carried out using flowcytometry. Western blot analysis was used to analyze protein expression corresponding to cell cycle progression. The result showed that at the concentration of 2.5 µM PGV-1 inhibited cell cycle progression through G2/M arrest and induced of cells hyperploidy formation. The hyperploidy formation induced by PGV-1 was related to the increase of cdc-2 expression. PGV-1 2.5 µM elevated the level of p21 CIP/KIP through p53- independent manner. Apoptosis was also induced by PGV-1 at early phase of treatment indicated by PARP cleavage due to activation of caspase-3/7 after 12 h treatment. The results above suggest that PGV-1 inhibits the growth of T47D cells targeted on microtubules.
Quantum Gravity Experiments: No Magnetic Effects

A quantum gravity experiment was reported in Cahill, Progress in Physics 2015, v.11(4), 317-320, with the data confirming the generalisation of the Schrodinger equation to include the interaction of the wave function with dynamical space. Dynamical space, via this interaction process, raises and lowers the energy of the electron wave function, which is detected by observing consequent variations in the electron quantum barrier tunnelling rate in reverse-biased Zener diodes. This process has previously been reported and enabled the measurement of the speed of the dynamical space flow, which is consistent with numerous other detection experiments. However Vrba, Progress in Physics, 2015, v.11(4), 330, has suggested the various experimental results may have been caused by magnetic field effects, but without any experimental evidence. Here we show experimentally that there is no such magnetic field effect in the Zener Diode Dynamical Space Quantum Detectors.
DEVELOPING STUDENT VOCABULARY WORKSHEET BY USING AFFIXES

This paper aims at describing the stages of developing vocabulary worksheet by using affixes by adopting the process of the same development research of Wutsqo. The stages of vocabulary worksheet development involved the needs analysis, the making of the vocabulary worksheet, the validation process by the reviewer, the make up of the first design based on the feedback by the reviewer, and the try out. the object of this study was the students of Grammar for English Teacher class of the academic year 2014/2015. The instruments of this study were pre-test as the initial needs analysis of the students capability of vocabulary stock that they had. The second instrument was the previous research data that was conducted by the researchers to identify how necessary to develop an effective vocabulary learning. The third instrument were three two of questionaires. The first one was for the reviewer to validate the first design of the worksheet and to ask for the feedback, and the second one was for the students in order to identify their personal impression towards the worksheet. The results of this study are; 1) Based on the assessment validator can be concluded that the aspect of validity has met the criteria development vocabualry student worksheet to learn the material additive that has been prepared to have a very good quality, 2) Based on the recommendation of experts and providers of materials, practicality aspect has fulfilled the minimum criteria with certain notes on 21st century learning, 3) The results of the pre-test and post-test student learning augmentation material by using SVW has met the minimum criteria of improvement.
Adaptation of microbial communities in soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, leading to the transformation of more highly chlorinated congeners in biofilm communities

A site polluted for many years with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) was used to elucidate the metabolic adaptation of microbial communities to these xenobiotics. Soil samples taken along a gradient of PCB-pollution at this site were used to grow biofilm communities on PCB oil. The biofilm communities originating from the non-polluted soil formed rather uniform and thin bacterial layers on PCB oil, while the biofilms originating from contaminated soil samples formed agglomerated structures on the PCB droplets. Biofilm communities were very diverse but those from highly polluted soil were dominated by Burkholderia species, a genus known for degrading several PCBs. All biofilm communities could transform low to medium chlorinated PCB congeners but a strong increase in the rate and degree of PCB transformation in communities from heavily polluted soil was observed. Notably, pentachlorinated congeners were transformed only by biofilms derived from the highly polluted soil but at the same time the content of trichlorinated congeners did not decrease. It is assumed that biofilms from the highly contaminated soil reductively dechlorinated PCB, converting pentachlorinated congeners to trichlorinated congeners in the spherical biofilm aggregates by diffusing to the surface of the aggregates, where aerobic transformation took place.
The Determinants of the Recent Interregional Migration Flows in Italy: A Panel Data Analysis

This study investigates the determinants of interregional migration flows in Italy in the light of the upsurge occurred in 1996, after two decades of decreasing internal migration rates. The fixed‐effect vector decomposition estimator (FEVD) is applied to a gravity model using bilateral migration flows for the period 1996–2005. It is shown that the FEVD improves the estimates with respect to the traditional panel data estimators. The GDP per capita and the unemployment rate appear to be the key determinants whose changes push migrants out from their regions and direct them to “better off” destinations. Migrants leaving the regions in the Center‐North respond differently to the push and pull forces compared to southern migrants. The dynamic model provides evidence for the presence of social networks, which in this analysis take place for each pair of regions.
The conceptual framework of the effect of money attitude and the moderating role of credit card on compulsive buying behavior

Money attitudes can be classified into two; positive attitude and negative attitude, depending on how the individual manages the money during purchasing. People with positive money attitude used their money rationally with a sense of retention time and price sensitivity when spending their money. Those with positive attitude also has low tendency to become a compulsive buyer and less tendency to be involved with financial problem compared to those with negative attitude. Thus, those with positive money attitudes will be more prudent when shopping and in control in managing their financial resources.
An Alternative Method of Identification of a Failed Engine in Twin-Engine Propeller Aircraft

Previous research has revealed that wrong identification of a failed engine during flight is not an uncommon event in an aircraft cockpit. A number of fatal accidents in the past, including the recent TransAsia Flight 235 accident, resulted from engine misidentification. Most accidents of this type happened on takeoff when pilot workload was at its highest level. This thesis consists of two research studies. For Research Study 1, a survey was created to gather opinions of airline pilots who operate twin-engine turboprop aircraft. Twenty-nine percent of respondents to the survey agreed with the statement that there could be a better method of identification of a failed engine. Thirty-four percent of respondents who provided suggestions for improvement of a current method recommended adding a visual indicator of some kind. Research Study 2 was designed on the assumption that the current method of identification of a failed engine, called “dead leg – dead engine,” was not efficient enough, and an alternative method was introduced and tested. The alternative method was based on a visual sensory channel and it involved the use of a failed engine indicator called Engine Status Panel. Method: To test the proposed training method, 50 student pilots from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who had not obtained multi-engine rating (MEL) were sampled and assigned to two groups – either the Traditional or the Alternative method. Participants performed three takeoffs in a flight training device, and an engine failure was simulated during each takeoff. Participant accuracy of identification and response time to an engine failure were measured and compared across takeoffs and between groups. Results: Participants in the Alternative Group were able to identify a failed engine significantly faster than the participants in the Traditional Group. Additionally, Participants in the Alternative Group reported being generally less confused in regard to which engine was failing and more confident that their identification was correct. For further development of the matter, it is recommended to measure the effectiveness of the alternative method among pilots who are rated for multi-engine aircraft operations. Implementation of a visual indicator similar or identical to the Engine Status Panel in twin-engine general aviation aircraft may improve pilot response to identification of a failed engine.
Effect of Employee Motivation on Employee Performance

Purpose: The study empirically analyzes the moderating role of government support policy on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, technology orientation and performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in northeast Nigeria. &Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper adopts quantitative survey method using structured questionnaires, data was collected from 240 SME owner-managers in northeast Nigeria. The data collected was analyzed using Partial Least Squares PLS-SEM. &Findings: The findings of the study indicates a significant positive relationship between EO, TO and Performance of SMEs. Additionally, the outcomes of the study authenticate that government support policy moderates the relationship between EO, TO and performance of SMEs in Nigeria.Implications/Originality/Value: The study have practical implication for government, policy makers, regulators, SMEs owner-managers and other stakeholders to recognize government support as it affects SMEs performance. The study further add to the frontier of knowledge on the importance of GSPs in strengthen the relationship between the variables and SMEs performance. This is the first study that focuses on testing the moderating role of government support policy on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, technology orientation and SMEs performance in Nigeria.
Priorities for long-term care resource allocation in England: Actual
 allocation versus the views of Directors of Service and older
 citizens

Context:Decisions about resource allocation in long-term care are a perennial issue. The basis for deciding between different needs in prioritising allocation is contested. In England, this debate has crystallised with the advent of selfdirected support, where individuals’ expressed preferences drive resources. Objectives: To compare perceptions of the priority given to needs for resource allocation in long-term care of older people by two stakeholder groups, compared with actual resource allocation. Methods: Survey data, eliciting perspectives of senior service managers and older citizens, were used to rank the perceived importance of eight needs-related outcomes. Actual resource allocation from 17 local authorities was also modelled against these outcomes. A variable importance metric was used to rank the importance of these outcomes in determining actual resource allocation. Findings from each data collection were compared. Findings: Differences in prioritisation of needs emerged between stakeholders compared with actual allocation. Older citizens and actual allocation prioritised basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs). Directors’ rankings were more distinct, still prioritising basic ADLs, but ranking psychological well-being higher and instrumental ADLs lower. Limitations: The model of actual allocation could not account for political and bureaucratic factors influencing resource allocation, nor the complexity of certain needs that might incur greater resources. Implications: Discretion continues to influence resource allocation, which remains a contested area. Directors must account for overall spend and other extrinsic factors to maintain sustainability, whereas older citizens prioritise instrumental ADLs, despite these being considered lower priority in eligibility decisions. Overall, ADLs remain important drivers of allocation.
Nitrogen uptake by size-fractionated phytoplankton populations in the southern Benguela upwelling system

Uptake of 15N-labelled ammonium, nitrate and urea by picoplankton (< 1 pm), nanoplankton (< 10 pm) and the whole phytoplankton community was investigated in oceanic, shelf and inshore waters in the southern Benguela upwelling system during December 1983. Picoplankton and nanoplankton chlorophyll a accounted for 2 to 49 % and 13 to 99 % respectively, of the whole community chlorophyll a. Picoplankton were relatively more active in oceanic as opposed to coastal waters. Nitrogen uptake by picoplankton was 27 % of that by the intact phytoplankton community in oceanic waters compared to ca 10 % for the coastal regions. Similarly, turnover rates of particulate nitrogen in the < 1 pm size class were faster in oceanic than shelf or inshore waters. Relative preference indices showed a consistent preference for ammonium, to a lesser extent for urea, compared to nitrate by all 3 size classes. Nevertheless, nitrate was quantitatively the most important nitrogen source for the nutrition of the intact community over the shelf, supplying 71 % of the total nitrogen assimilated. The proportion of nitrate assimilated was directly related to algal size class at the shelf and inshore stations with picoplankton and nanoplankton production being based largely on regenerated nitrogen (ammonium and urea). In oceanic waters, production in all size classes was supported principally be regenerated nitrogen. Results are discussed with reference to the effect of qualitative and quantitative aspects of nitrogen availability on phytoplankton community structure.
LOGGING IMPACTS ON LIANA REGENERATION AND DIVERSITY IN BELIZE

1 University of Belize Environmental Research Institute, Price Center Road, Belmopan City, Belize. 2 Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, Mile 1 San Antonio Road, Punta Gorda Town, Belize. 3 Yalbac Ranch and Cattle Corporation, Mile 1⁄2 Iguana Creek Road, Spanish Lookout, Belize. 4The Forestland Group, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA 5 Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32641, USA
US Economic Sanctions Against China: A Cultural Explanation of Sanction Effectiveness

Abstract:Recent patterns suggest that states are using economic sanctions more frequently. However, sanctions fail to achieve intended political or economic goals most of the time. To account for this anomaly, I introduce a culture-based explanation. The rationale is that sanction effectiveness cannot be solely judged by norms and standards of sender countries. Target countries' cultural norms play an important role in explaining sanction effectiveness. Using cases of US economic sanctions against China, I show that the norms and beliefs of target countries play an important role in defining sanction effectiveness. The implication of the study is that senders of economic sanctions must take cultural responses and sensitivity of targets into serious consideration in order to deploy credible and successful economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool.