Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using physicochemicals variables and benthic macroinvertebrates for ecosystem health assessment of inland rivers of Togo

Zio River catchment drains many cities that it receives waste, domestic and industrial effluents and its waters used to supply drinking water from downstream to upstream. Some schools use it in school canteens without treatment. Meanwhile, no study on tools of water resources management is done in this basin and whole of Togo. To fill this gap, the environmental variables and benthic macroinvertebrates assemblages were investigated to assess ecological integrity of the Zio River and its tributaries that varied in disturbance from upstream to downstream. Macroinvertebrates were sampled during four campaigns from 42 sites selected to correspond with different human activities in the catchment. The AFNOR methods were used for physicochemical analysis. Multivariate analyses (PCA) were applied to characterize sites typology and FCA for similarity between sites or taxa. The result showed that physicochemical variables of downstream sites, with the lower level of dissolved oxygen (0.6mgO2/L) and high contents of ion NH4 (5.6mg/L), KMn (30.7mgO2/L) and high Conductivity (10670
Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Academic Performance among Business Students in Pakistan.

Emotional intelligence (EI) has been a popular topic in the field of organizational behaviour. Research shows that emotional intelligence successfully predicts job performance and leadership skills. Based on these reasons, this study attempts to evaluate the impact of emotional intelligence on academic performance of business students. It also aims to analyze if business schools contribute to the development of emotional intelligence in students. Data was collected from 325 business students studying in three business-related institutions. This study measures emotional intelligence by employing Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue SF) and academic performance through grade point average (GPA). Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to ascertain the effect of emotional intelligence on academic performance of business students. Findings suggested that the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance was weak. However, the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic performance improves considerably over the years. These results imply that the curriculum and evaluation system in our business schools needs to be designed adequately in order to reflect the emotional intelligence of our students, as emotional intelligence is a key capability for managerial success.
Question Answering Over Knowledge Graphs: Question Understanding Via Template Decomposition

The gap between unstructured natural language and structured data makes it challenging to build a system that supports using natural language to query large knowledge graphs. Many existing methods construct a structured query for the input question based on a syntactic parser. Once the input question is parsed incorrectly, a false structured query will be generated, which may result in false or incomplete answers. The problem gets worse especially for complex questions. In this paper, we propose a novel systematic method to understand natural language questions by using a large number of binary templates rather than semantic parsers. As sufficient templates are critical in the procedure, we present a low-cost approach that can build a huge number of templates automatically. To reduce the search space, we carefully devise an index to facilitate the online template decomposition. Moreover, we design effective strategies to perform the two-level disambiguations (i.e., entity-level ambiguity and structure-level ambiguity) by considering the query semantics. Extensive experiments over several benchmarks demonstrate that our proposed approach is effective as it significantly outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of both precision and recall.
Comparison of longitudinal treatment effects with facemask and chincup therapy followed by fixed orthodontic treatment on Class III malocclusion

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the longitudinal treatment effects of facemask with rapid maxillary expansion (FM/RME) and chincup (CC) therapy followed by fixed orthodontic treatment (FOT) in Class III malocclusion (CIII) patients. Methods: The samples consisted of twenty-one CIII patients who had similar skeletal and dental characteristics before FM/RME or CC therapy and good retention results (Class I molar/canine relationship and positive overbite/overjet) after FOT (Group 1, FM/RME, n = 11; Group 2, CC, n = 10). Lateral cephalograms were taken before (T0) and after FM/RME or CC therapy (T1), and after FOT and retention (T2). Skeletal and dental variables were measured. Mann-Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used for statistical analysis. Results: During T0-T1, FM/RME therapy induced forward movement of point A, and labioversion of the upper incisors. Both groups showed posterior repositioning of the mandible. FM/RME resulted in increase of the vertical dimension; however, CC caused an increase in articular angle and decrease in gonial angle. During T1-T2, both groups exhibited forward growth of point A. Group 1 showed forward growth and counterclockwise rotation of the mandible and increase of IMPA; however, Group 2, showed increase of ANS-Me/N-Me and decrease of overbite. Conclusions: The key factor for successful FM/RME and CC therapy and good retention results might be a harmonized forward growth of the maxilla that could keep pace with the growth and rotation of the mandible.
The Effects of Vertebral Axial Decompression On Sensory Nerve Dysfunction

Effective non-surgical decompression of the nerve root has not been available to this date. The vertebral axial decompression (VAX-D) therapeutic table has demonstrated an ability to significantly reduce intradiscal pressure to a negative 150mm Hg. , allowing for disc decompression. The purpose of this study was to determine if VAX-D therapy could externally decompress the nerve root. Patients with radiculopathy and abnormal sensory function determined by the Current Perception Threshold (CPT) Neurometer who had received VAX-D therapy were retrospectively studied. CPT readings on 22 peripheral nerves were taken before and after VAX-D therapy. Only patients with initial abnormal CPT readings, symptoms of sciatica, positive SLR, and positive imaging studies were reported on. The results after therapy were as follows: 14/22 nerves (64%) returned to normal function, 6/22 (27%) improved, 1/22 (4.5%) had no improvement and 1/22 (4.5%) showed deterioration. The average neurometer grade before therapy was 6.36 and after therapy 2.09 (a score of zero indicates normal function). Overall improvement was 67% (p<0.05). Theoretical considerations regarding the mechanism of action are expounded upon in this paper.
The Economics of Capital Allocation in Firms: Evidence from Internal Capital Markets

We analyze a unique survey dataset to examine the (micro)foundations of capital allocation in firms. Firms employ systems of interconnected measures to counteract agency problems, including layers of approval, divisional budgets, reporting requirements, and compensation schemes. When making funding decisions, top management relies heavily on top-level, nonfinancial information. However, substantial parts of the capital budget do not require top management approval as firms trade off the benefits and costs of decentralization. Even firms with active internal capital markets tilt capital allocation toward relatively even distributions. Within-firm agency problems may result in divisions' restricted access to internal capital.
Empirical Findings on Inflation Expectations in Brazil: a survey

This paper provides a collection of empirical findings and stylized facts about inflation expectations in Brazil. A set of 23 papers selected ad hoc from the literature is employed in order to provide a concise overview of several aspects of these expectations, such as disagreement, forecast bias, role of information, epidemiology, driving-forces of the inflation expectations’ formation process, and credibility of the monetary policy, among others. These findings form a practical guide about inflation expectations in Brazil, which might be useful for policymakers and academics interested in designing forward-looking policy rules as well as developing macroeconomic models for the Brazilian economy
Cross-corpus Native Language Identification via Statistical Embedding

In this paper, we approach the task of native language identification in a realistic cross-corpus scenario where a model is trained with available data and has to predict the native language from data of a different corpus. The motivation behind this study is to investigate native language identification in the Australian academic scenario where a majority of students come from China, Indonesia, and Arabic-speaking nations. We have proposed a statistical embedding representation reporting a significant improvement over common single-layer approaches of the state of the art, identifying Chinese, Arabic, and Indonesian in a cross-corpus scenario. The proposed approach was shown to be competitive even when the data is scarce and imbalanced.
Results on converse Lyapunov functions from class-KL estimates

We state results on converse Lyapunov functions for differential inclusions where a positive semidefinite function of the solutions satisfies a class-KL estimate in terms of time and a second positive semidefinite function of the initial condition. The main result is that a smooth converse Lyapunov function, i.e., one whose derivative along solutions can be used to establish the class-KL estimate, exists if and only if the class-KL estimate is robust, i.e., it holds for a larger, perturbed inclusion. It remains an open question whether all class-KL estimates are robust. One sufficient condition for robustness is that the original inclusion is locally Lipschitz. Another is that the two positive semidefinite functions agree and a backward completability condition holds. These special cases unify and generalize many existing results on converse Lyapunov theorems for differential equations and inclusions.
ESTIMATING CORN YIELD RESPONSE MODELS TO PREDICT IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Projections of the impacts of climate change on agriculture require flexible and accurate yield response models. Typically, estimated yield response models have used fixed calendar intervals to measure weather variables and omitted observations on solar radiation, an essential determinant of crop yield. A corn yield response model for Illinois crop reporting districts is estimated using field data. Weather variables are time to crop growth stages to allow use of the model if climate change shifts dates of the crop growing season. Solar radiation is included. Results show this model is superior to conventionally specified models in explaining yield variation in Illinois corn.
Defoliation Management Affects Productivity, Leaf/Stem Ratio, and Tiller Counts of ‘Performer’ Switchgrass

1467 Switchgrass is a C4 perennial warm-season grass, native to the Great Plains and broadly adapted throughout the United States (Hitchcock and Chase, 1950), with potential to be used for wildlife habitat, erosion control, forage production, and as a bioenergy feedstock (Keshwani and Cheng, 2009; Moore et al., 2004, Sanderson and Wolf, 1995). For forage–livestock systems, switchgrass can particularly help to fill the gap in forage availability during the transition period from coolto warm-season temperatures in the US transition region (Beaty and Powell, 1976; Parrish and Fike, 2005). In North Carolina specifically, switchgrass’ spring growth is not as severely damaged by late winter cold or late spring frost and it can be utilized by mid-April or early-May producing an average of 322 kg of beef gain ha–1 by 1 June, before ‘Coastal’ bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers] is ready to graze (Burns et al., 1984). Defoliation management determines presence and/or absence of the desired forage species affecting its productivity and persistence. Wide variation in switchgrass responses have been reported due to environment, management, and genotype (Fike et al., 2006; Lemus et al., 2002). In Mississippi, increasing defoliation frequency from one to six times per year for switchgrass cv. ‘Alamo’ clipped at 5-cm stubble height, consistently resulted in a linear decrease for annual DM yield, and at the end of 4 yr of defoliation the lowest DM yield were recorded when defoliation frequency occurred every 6 wk (Seepaul et al., 2014). A similar trend was reported by Sanderson et al. (1999) in Texas, where total seasonal yield of ‘Alamo’ switchgrass decreased by more than 50% when harvest frequency increased from one to four cuts per year with switchgrass defoliated at 15-cm stubble height. Beaty and Powell (1976) indicated that over-utilization of cv. ‘Pangburn’ switchgrass at the start of the growing season decreased the number of tillers and resulted in weed infestation. Using cv. ‘Pathfinder’ of switchgrass, Anderson et al. (1989) indicated that lengthy regrowth periods following severe defoliation, that allows apical meristems or leaf area, or both, to remain, are likely to enhance stand maintenance and plant vigor of switchgrass. However, the negative impact of frequent defoliation on productivity and persistence of switchgrass may be mitigated by higher stubble heights and may interact with cultivars. Clipping heights at 20-cm stubble or lower reduced grass stands for lowland switchgrass cultivars ‘Alamo’ and Defoliation Management Affects Productivity, Leaf/Stem Ratio, and Tiller Counts of ‘Performer’ Switchgrass
Tearing systems of nonlinear equations II . I A practical exact algorithm

The objective of optimal tearing is to maximize the number of variables eliminated by solving univariate equations. First, a simple algorithm is presented for automatically identifying feasible assignments: If an equation can be solved symbolically for one of its variables, and the solution is unique, explicit, and numerically stable, then, and only then, this equation-variable pair represents a feasible assignment. Tearing searches for the optimal elimination order over these numerically safe feasible assignments. We give a novel integer programming formulation of optimal tearing. Unfortunately, a high amount of permutation symmetry can cause performance problems; therefore, we developed a custom branch and bound algorithm. Based on the performance tests on the COCONUT Benchmark, we consider the proposed branch and bound algorithm practical (a) for the purposes of global optimization, and (b) in cases where systems with the same sparsity patterns are solved repeatedly and the time spent on tearing pays off.
Composition of fatty acids and tocopherols content in oilseeds of six wild selected plants from Kahuzi-Biega National Park/DR. Congo.

Objective: Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) in Democratic Republic of the Congo is packed with fantastic oilseed plants that need to be analysed in order to promote a sustainable exploitation for both commercial and food supply purposes. The study aimed to determine the content of Fatty acids (FAs) and Tocopherols in the oilseeds from Eckebergia capensis Sparrman (Meliaceae), Entada abyssinica Steud. ex A. Rich (Leguminosae), Macaranga kilimandscharica Pax Original Research Article Minzangi et al.; EJMP, 8(3): 157-166, 2015; Article no.EJMP. 2015.101 158 (Euphorbiaceae), Prunus africana (Rosaceae), Sesbania sesban L. (Fabaceae) and Telfairia pedata (Cucurbitaceae) using gas liquid chromatography and HPLC. Results: The respective oil yields for the six studied plants ranged from a minimum of 7.2% for S. sesban seeds to a maximum of 42.2% for P. africana seeds. Eighteen FAs were detected, of which, five saturated (SFAs), six monounsaturated (MUFAs) and seven polyunsaturated (PUFAs). The SFAs fraction was dominated by stearic acid varying from 5.95 % in M. kilimandscharica oil to 76.19% in P. africana oil. The content in PUFAs fraction represented by linoleic acid an omega-6 fatty acid varied from 3.19% in P. africana oil to 58.82% in S. sesban oil while alpha-linolenic acid an omega-3 accounted for 0.32% in P. africana oil to 5.88% in S. sesban oil. The MUFAs fraction represented by oleic acid an omega-9 fatty acid varied from 3.4% in P. africana oil to 41.77% in T. pedata oil. The highest content of tocopherols was 10.9 mg/100 g in S. sesban oil, followed by E. abyssinica (7.9 mg/100 g) and M. kilimandscharica oil (4.9 mg/100 g). Conclusion: The findings will help select the appropriate plant for specific desired FAs and
A taxonomic re-assessment of Colletotrichum acutatum , introducing C . fioriniae comb . et stat . nov . and C . simmondsii sp . nov

A comparative morphological and molecular analysis of the ITS and β-tubulin regions of 48 Australian isolates identified as Colletotrichum acutatum, with published descriptions and DNA sequence data from Australia and overseas, revealed three distinct groups. One group contained the holotype and two paratypes of C. acutatum, whereas a recently designated epitype was found to be non-conspecific with the holotype. Two new species, C. fioriniae comb. et stat. nov. and C. simmondsii sp. nov., are described and illustrated with the latter having as holotype the non-conspecific epitype of C. acutatum. These three taxa corresponded with phylogenetic groupings of C. acutatum previously reported by other authors.
3-D numerical simulations of earthquake ground motion in sedimentary basins: testing accuracy through stringent models

SUMMARY Differences between 3-D numerical predictions of earthquake ground motion in the Mygdonian basin near Thessaloniki, Greece, led us to define four canonical stringent models derived from the complex realistic 3-D model of the Mygdonian basin. Sediments atop an elastic bedrock are modelled in the 1D-sharp and 1D-smooth models using three homogeneous layers and smooth velocity distribution, respectively. The 2D-sharp and 2D-smooth models are extensions of the 1-D models to an asymmetric sedimentary valley. In all cases, 3-D wavefields include strongly dispersive surface waves in the sediments. We compared simulations by the Fourier pseudo-spectral method (FPSM), the Legendre spectral-element method (SEM) and two formulations of the finite-difference method (FDM-S and FDM-C) up to 4Hz. The accuracy of individual solutions and level of agreement between solutions vary with type of seismic waves and depend on the smoothness of the velocity model. The level of accuracy is high for the body waves in all solutions. However, it strongly depends on the discrete representation of the material interfaces (at which material parameters change discontinuously) for the surface waves in the sharp models. An improper discrete representation of the interfaces can cause inaccurate numerical modelling of surface waves. For all the numerical methods considered , except SEM with mesh of elements following the interfaces, a proper implementation of interfaces requires definition of an effective medium consistent with the interface boundary conditions. An orthorhombic effective medium is shown to significantly improve accuracy and preserve the computational efficiency of modelling. The conclusions drawn from the analysis of the results of the canonical cases greatly help to explain differences between numerical predictions of ground motion in realistic models of the Mygdonian basin. We recommend that any numerical method and code that is intended for numerical prediction of earthquake ground motion should be verified through stringent models that would make it possible to test the most important aspects of accuracy.
Government Affiliation and Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms in China

With thousands of co-existing and competing platforms, the Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market experienced both high growth and high failure rate. We hand collect unique data for these P2P platforms and investigate the differences in performance and survival for platforms with and without affiliations with state-owned enterprises (SOEs). P2P platforms with SOE affiliations have higher trading volumes, attract more investors, and offer lower interest rates. These platforms also have significantly better survivability than those without the SOE affiliations, especially during market downturns. These results can be helpful to investors and regulators, especially those from other emerging markets.
Assessing the effectiveness of multimedia in language learning software

In this paper, the effectiveness of a "CyberBuch," a multimedia program for reading authentic German texts, is assessed in three areas. First, based on user evaluation of the visual interface design, the usability of the program is assessed with particular regard to user reaction to the multimedia components of the program. Second, learner behavior while using the program is tracked, and the types of multimedia links chosen are tracked. Third, the effectiveness of the program for two levels of language learning is assessed: short-term recall of vocabulary items and overall reading comprehension. Based on answers to questionnaires, users felt overwhelmingly that seeing a photograph or movie helped reinforce learning, but that the tekt aad audio links were not as helpful. The user logs indicated that a greater proportion of picture and movie links were chosen than text links. The vocabulary tests show that vocabulary words were learned and recalled better when "defined" with picture or movie links than when only textual definitions were available. Eight figures and one table illustrate data. (Author/MAS) *********************************************************************** * * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** * * Assessing the Effectiveness of Multimedia in Language Learning Software U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Mice of Educationai Flesewch and improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 0 This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating ti 0 Minor changes nave been made to improve reploduction Ctus Itty POMIS Ot view or opinions stated in this document do nOt neCeSSIIrdy represent official OEFU position or policy er) Cr) eg 00 00 Cr)
Impact of Interbranch Correlation on Multichannel Spectrum Sensing With SC and SSC Diversity Combining Schemes

Multiantenna receivers are often deployed in cognitive radio systems for accurate spectrum sensing. However, correlation among signals received by multiple antennas in these receivers is often ignored which yields unrealistic results. In this paper, the effect of this correlation is accurately quantified by deriving analytical expressions for the average probability of detection. Alternative simpler expressions are also derived. These are done for selection combining (SC) and switch and stay combining (SSC) diversity techniques in dual arbitrarily correlated Nakagami-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m$</tex-math></inline-formula> fading channels. Then, it is repeated for triple exponentially and identically correlated Nakagami-<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m$</tex-math></inline-formula> fading channels with SC diversity technique. Analysis results show that the interbranch correlation impacts the detector performance significantly, especially in deep fading scenarios. Also, SC outperforms SSC as expected. However, the difference between them becomes very small in low fading and highly correlated scenarios, which indicates that the simpler SSC scheme can as well be deployed in such situations.