Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A review of international biosecurity policy development in relation to movements of freshwater crayfish

Freshwater crayfish are frequently traded, both alive (for human consumption or for fisheries/aquaculture stocking) and as processed products (e.g. fresh or frozen, cooked or uncooked). As the experience in Europe with crayfish plague has shown, there can be significant risks of translocating pathogens with such trade. Such risks can be assessed in an import risk analysis process. This paper will concentrate on describing the principles of import risk analysis (IRA) with particular reference to freshwater crayfish.
Comparison of measurements and model calculations of stratospheric bromine monoxide

Ground-based zenith sky UV-visible measurements of stratospheric bromine monoxide (BrO) slant column densities are compared with simulations from the SLIMCAT three-dimensional chemical transport model. The observations have been obtained from a network of 11 sites, covering high and midlatitudes of both hemispheres. This data set gives for the first time a near-global picture of the distribution of stratospheric BrO from ground-based observations and is used to test our current understanding of stratospheric bromine chemistry. In order to allow a direct comparison between observations and model calculations, a radiative transfer model has been coupled to the chemical model to calculate simulated slant column densities. The model reproduces the observations in general very well. The absolute amount of the BrO slant columns is consistent with a total stratospheric bromine loading of 20 ± 4 ppt for the period 1998-2000, in agreement with previous estimates. The seasonal and latitudinal variations of BrO are well reproduced by the model. In particular, the good agreement between the observed and modeled diurnal variation provides strong evidence that the BrO-related bromine chemistry is correctly modeled. A discrepancy between observed and modeled BrO at high latitudes during events of chlorine activation can be resolved by increasing the rate constant for the reaction BrO + ClO → BrCl + O 2 to the upper limit of current recommendations. However, other possible causes of the discrepancy at high latitudes cannot be ruled out.
Kinematic GNSS estimation of zenith wet delay over a range of altitudes

AbstractAtmospheric water vapor estimates from static ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers are now operationally assimilated into numerical weather prediction models, either as total precipitable water vapor (PWV) or zenith total delay. To extend this concept, the estimation of water vapor using kinematic GNSS has been investigated for over a decade. Previous kinematic GNSS PWV studies suggest a 2–3-mm PWV measurement agreement with radiosondes, almost commensurate with static GNSS PWV measurement accuracy, but the only comprehensive experiments undertaken have been shipborne. As a first step toward extending sea level–based studies to airborne experiments that obtain atmospheric profiles, the authors considered the kinematic GNSS estimation of atmospheric water vapor along a repeatable trajectory spanning substantial topographic relief, namely, the Snowdon Mountain Railway, United Kingdom. The atmospheric water vapor was indirectly quantified through the GNSS estimation of zen.
Obtaining high purity silica from rice hulls

Many routes for extracting silica from rice hulls are based on direct calcining. These methods, though, often produce silica contaminated with inorganic impurities. This work presents the study of a strategy for obtaining silica from rice hulls with a purity level adequate for applications in electronics. The technique is based on two leaching steps, using respectively aqua regia and Piranha solutions, which extract the organic matrix and inorganic impurities. The material was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), particle size analysis by laser diffraction (LPSA) and thermal analysis.
The Nature of Inventive Activities : Evidence from a Data-Set of R&D Awards

This paper presents an exploratory study on the characteristics of inventive activities as captured on the basis of the analysis of a data-set of R&D awards. Our data source is the "R&D 100 Awards" competition organized by the journal Research and Development. Since 1963, the magazine (which at that time was called Industrial Research) has been awarding this prize to 100 most technologically significant new products available for sale or licensing in the year preceding the judgment. The jury is composed of university professors, industrial researchers and consultants with a certified level of competence in the specific areas they are called to asses. The main criteria for assessment are: i) technological significance (i.e., whether the product can be considered a major breakthrough), ii) competitive significance (i.e., how the product compares to rival solutions available on the market). Throughout the years, key breakthroughs inventions such as Polacolor film (1963), the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the halogen lamp (1974), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the printer (1986), the Kodak Photo CD (1991), the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), lab on a chip (1996), and HDTV (1998) have received the prize. We use these data to study the shifts in the distribution of innovative activities across countries, sectors and types of institutions and the changes in the sources of inventive activities over time. Our preliminary findings show: i) the emergence of a challenge to US technological leadership from other rival nations such as Japan and Germany, ii) the critical role of scientific instrumentation as a powerful source of technological breakthroughs, iii) a change in the institutional arrangements where innovative activities take place, from individual corporations, to partnerships increasingly involving public research organizations and universities, iv) a large chunk of inventive activities undertaken without patent protection.
Bargaining Power and Industry Dependence in Mergers

In contrast to the widely held belief that targets capture the lion's share of merger gains, I show that the average dollar gains to targets are only modestly more than the dollar gains to acquirers. To help explain the variation in merger outcomes, I present empirical evidence in support of a new hypothesis that a target's relative scarcity (proxied by its market power) and product market dependence (proxied by customer–supplier relations) help to explain its share of the total merger gains. These results provide new evidence for an unexplored role of product markets on bargaining outcomes in mergers.
Between 'Dear Diary' and Changing the World: Assessing Motivations and Impact of Bloggers in Bulgaria

This study provides for the first time an overview of Bulgaria's blogs as a new yet already established feature of media landscape in this Eastern Europ ean nation two decades after the fall of the communist regime. In addition to examining t he existi ng literature, the study uses in -depth interviews with bloggers to highlight pertinent characteristics of Bulgarian blogosphere. Bloggers' motivation and perceived impact are scrutinized, and examples are added to illustrate recently featured topics fr om their blogs. Contrary to expectations, Bulgarian blogs do not seem to have developed as a me re extension of online discussions but rather as an independent platform wi th new participants who defend fiercely their right to free speech. Since blogs have becom e an intrinsic part of the media landscape in this South-East European country, future directions of research are suggested.
Not So Heavy Metals: Black Hole Feedback Enriches the Circumgalactic Medium

We examine the effects of supermassive black hole (SMBH) feedback on the circumgalactic medium (CGM) using a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation (Romulus25) and a set of four zoom-in “genetically modified” Milky-Way–mass galaxies sampling different evolutionary paths. By tracing the distribution of metals in the CGM, we show that O vi is a sensitive indicator of SMBH feedback. First, we calculate the column densities of O vi in simulated Milky-Way–mass galaxies and compare them with observations from the COS-Halos Survey. Our simulations show column densities of O vi in the CGM consistent with those of COS-Halos star-forming and quenched galaxies. These results contrast with those from previous simulation studies which typically underproduce CGM column densities of O vi. We determine that a galaxy’s star formation history and assembly record have little effect on the amount of O vi in its CGM. Instead, column densities of O vi are closely tied to galaxy halo mass and BH growth history. The set of zoom-in, genetically modified Milky-Way–mass galaxies indicates that the SMBH drives highly metal-enriched material out into its host galaxy’s halo, which in turn elevates the column densities of O vi in the CGM.
Strongly Misaligned Triple System in SR 24 Revealed by ALMA

We report the detection of the 1.3 mm continuum and the molecular emission of the disks of the young triple system SR24 by analyzing ALMA (The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimter Array) subarcsecond archival observations. We estimate the mass of the disks (0.025 M☉ and 4 × 10−5 M⊕ for SR24S and SR24N, respectively) and the dynamical mass of the protostars (1.5 M☉ and 1.1 M☉). A kinematic model of the SR24S disk to fit its C18O (2-1) emission allows us to develop an observational method to determine the tilt of a rotating and accreting disk. We derive the size, inclination, position angle, and sense of rotation of each disk, finding that they are strongly misaligned ( ) and possibly rotate in opposite directions as seen from Earth, in projection. We compare the ALMA observations with 12CO SMA archival observations, which are more sensitive to extended structures. We find three extended structures and estimate their masses: a molecular bridge joining the disks of the system, a molecular gas reservoir associated with SR24N, and a gas streamer associated with SR24S. Finally, we discuss the possible origin of the misaligned SR24 system, concluding that a closer inspection of the northern gas reservoir is needed to better understand it.
Influence of condensation and latent heat release upon barotropic and baroclinic instabilities of vortices in a rotating shallow water f-plane model

Analysis of the influence of condensation and related latent heat release upon developing barotropic and baroclinic instabilities of large-scale low Rossby-number shielded vortices on the f-plane is performed within the moist-convective rotating shallow water model, in its barotropic (one-layer) and baroclinic (two-layer) versions. Numerical simulations with a high-resolution well-balanced finite-volume code, using a relaxation parameterisation for condensation, are made. Evolution of the instability in four different environments, with humidity (i) behaving as passive scalar, (ii) subject to condensation beyond a saturation threshold, (iii) subject to condensation and evaporation, with three different parameterisations of the latter, are inter-compared. The simulations are initialised with unstable modes determined from the detailed linear stability analysis in the “dry” version of the model. In a configuration corresponding to low-level mid-latitude atmospheric vortices, it is shown that the known scenario of evolution of barotropically unstable vortices, consisting in formation of a pair of dipoles (dipolar breakdown) is substantially modified by condensation and related moist convection, especially in the presence of surface evaporation. No enhancement of the instability due to precipitation was detected in this case. Cyclone-anticyclone asymmetry with respect to sensitivity to the moist effects is evidenced. It is shown that inertia-gravity wave emission during the vortex evolution is enhanced by the moist effects. In the baroclinic configuration corresponding to idealised cut-off lows in the atmosphere, it is shown that the azimuthal structure of the leading unstable mode is sensitive to the details of stratification. Scenarios of evolution are completely different for different azimuthal structures, one leading to dipolar breaking, and another to tripole formation. The effects of moisture considerably enhance the perturbations in the lower layer, especially in the tripole formation scenario.
CREDIT CARDS AND GLOBAL COGNITIVE FOCUS: THE ROLE OF TEMPORAL DISTANCE

Credit cards are increasingly pervasive in the lives of consumers. Recent research has established that interacting with credit cards produces a different cognitive mindset in comparison to interacting with cash. Buffardi & Campbell (2009) have shown that credit cards lead to a big picture, inclusive, or global cognitive focus; whereas, comparatively cash leads to a detail-oriented, exclusive, or local cognitive focus. The present research tests a potential mechanism underlying this cognitive shift – temporal distance. In two studies, it was determined whether a cognitive association exists between credit cards and distant time and whether this association is responsible for credit cards inciting global cognitive focus. First, implicit and explicit reports of the ease of association between credit cards and distant future time (and cash with near time) were examined. Second, global focus was assessed when the time until a credit card payment was manipulated to be in the near future rather than the distant future. Results showed that individuals have an implicit and explicit bias for pairing credit cards with distant future time. It was also found that reducing this pairing by assigning a near future payment to a credit card purchase eliminated the credit card – global focus effect. Implications of these findings for consumer psychology and consumer educational and debt prevention programs are
Fiscal Consolidations and Banking Stability

We empirically investigate the effects of fiscal policy on bank balance sheets, focusing on episodes of fiscal consolidation. To this aim, we employ a very rich data set of individual banks’ balance sheets, combined with a newly compiled data set on fiscal consolidations. We find that standard capital adequacy ratios such as the Tier-1 ratio tend to improve following episodes of fiscal consolidation. Our results suggest that this improvement results from a portfolio re-balancing from private to public debt securities which reduces the risk-weighted value of assets. In fact, if fiscal adjustment efforts are perceived as structural policy changes that improve the sustainability of public finances and, therefore, reduces credit risk, the banks’ demand for government securities increases relative to other assets.
Bayesian Reanalyses From Summary Statistics: A Guide for Academic Consumers

Across the social sciences, researchers have overwhelmingly used the classical statistical paradigm to draw conclusions from data, often focusing heavily on a single number: p. Recent years, however, have witnessed a surge of interest in an alternative statistical paradigm: Bayesian inference, in which probabilities are attached to parameters and models. We feel it is informative to provide statistical conclusions that go beyond a single number, and—regardless of one’s statistical preference—it can be prudent to report the results from both the classical and the Bayesian paradigms. In order to promote a more inclusive and insightful approach to statistical inference, we show how the Summary Stats module in the open-source software program JASP (https://jasp-stats.org) can provide comprehensive Bayesian reanalyses from just a few commonly reported summary statistics, such as t and N. These Bayesian reanalyses allow researchers—and also editors, reviewers, readers, and reporters—to (a) quantify evidence on a continuous scale using Bayes factors, (b) assess the robustness of that evidence to changes in the prior distribution, and (c) gauge which posterior parameter ranges are more credible than others by examining the posterior distribution of the effect size. The procedure is illustrated using Festinger and Carlsmith’s (1959) seminal study on cognitive dissonance.
Differences in microbial communities and performance between suspended and attached growth anaerobic membrane bioreactors treating synthetic municipal wastewater

Two lab-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs), one up-flow attached-growth (UA) and another continuously stirred (CSTR), were operated under mesophilic conditions (35 °C) while treating synthetic municipal wastewater (800 mg L−1 COD). Each reactor was attached to both polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyethersulfone (PES) microfiltration (MF) membranes in an external cross-flow configuration. Both reactors were started up and run under the same operating conditions for multiple steady-state experiments. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates were similar for both reactors (90–96%), but captured methane was found to be 11–18% higher for the CSTR than the UA reactor. Ion Torrent sequencing targeting 16S rRNA genes showed that several operational taxonomic units (OTUs) most closely related to fermentative bacteria (e.g., Microbacter margulisiae) were dominant in the suspended biomass of the CSTR, accounting for 30% of the microbial community. Conversely, methanogenic archaea (e.g., Methanosaeta) and syntrophic bacteria (e.g., Smithella propionica) were found in significantly higher relative abundances in the UA AnMBR as compared to the CSTR due to their affinity for surface attachment. Of the methanogens that were present in the CSTR sludge, hydrogenotrophic methanogens dominated (e.g., Methanobacterium). Measured EPS (both proteins and carbohydrates), which has been broadly linked to fouling, was determined to be consistently lower in the UA AnMBR membrane samples than in CSTR AnMBR membrane samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on HPLC profiles of soluble microbial products (SMPs) further demonstrated these differences between reactor types in replicate runs. The results of this study showed that reactor configuration can significantly impact the development of the microbial communities of AnMBRs that are responsible for both membrane and reactor performance.
A path analysis of promotion factors of mental health

The purpose of this study is to determine if the model proposed to explain the effect of coping responses in stress that could promote mental health, fit the population of the Iranian university students. This study used path analysis to examine the Goodness-of-fit of the mediating effect of coping responses on stress in promoting mental health among Iranian undergraduate students. Three hundred and twenty-six students took part in the study. A community survey was conducted and the students completed a set of measures that assessed stress level, Coping Responses and Mental Health. Findings from the study show that the fit indices for this model are excellent. The RMSEA was 0.06, and the GFI and AGFI were 0.92 and 0.93, respectively. Approach responses (r = 0.24) and avoidant responses (r = 0.28) were shown to have direct effect on Mental Health. All paths were significant at p < 0.05. Correlational results demonstrated that inter- intra personal stress had significant inverse relationship with approach responses and positive relationship with avoidance responses
English for Missionary Purpose : Perspectives from ESP Learners

Globalization has made the use of English critical for communication. To enhance English proficiency of trainees for worldwide propagation, a post-graduate missionary training center has integrated an English program into its curriculum. The current study aims to understand the trainees’ perception, motivation and engagement in learning English. The first part involves a survey of 81 trainees and follow-up interviews of 4 trainees takes a closer look at how trainees are motivated and engaged in learning English for specific purpose. The results reveal that trainees with different proficiency levels equally endorse the importance of English as communication vehicle, but differ in their integrative orientation and attitudes toward learning English. In addition, they recognize the importance of the social milieu and the value of practical usage of English in an evangelical context. As a result, the current study provides suggestions for the design of program curriculum and instruction of English for missionary purpose.
Do they read your research? An investigation of practitioners' use of IT outsourcing and cloud sourcing research

Significant concerns have been raised in the Information Systems (IS) field about a research-practice gap and the limited impact of IS research on the practice world. Theory-practice inconsistencies in the field of IT outsourcing (ITO) prompted the investigation of the use of academic-generated knowledge by ITO practitioners. We conducted interviews and a survey and found academic research is the least used source of decision-making knowledge among ITO practitioners. Practitioners preferred to seek advice from their peers, IT vendors and consultants. We identified two communities of users and nonusers of academic research in our sample of ITO practitioners, with non-users forming the majority. We found six factors that may influence the use of academic research by practitioners. Non-users of academic research held perceptions that academic research was not timely, required too much time to read, was far from the real world and that it was not a commonly used knowledge source for practitioners. In addition, they read academic research less frequently and did not perceive themselves as an audience for academic research.
Prosocial and Coercive Configurations of Resource Control in Early Adolescence: A Case for the Well-Adapted Machiavellian

Self- and other-reported characteristics of children who varied in their use of coercive (aggressive) and prosocial (cooperative) strategies of resource control were studied in a sample of over 1,700 children. Based on self-reported use of coercive and prosocial strategies of resource control, the children were categorized as bistrategic controllers (Machiavellians), coercive controllers, prosocial controllers, noncontrollers, or typicals. Self-reported positive characteristics (e.g., agreeableness), negative characteristics (e.g., hostility), and self-assessments (e.g., social self-concept) were measured as well as peer ratings of aggression and peer regard (e.g., likability, popularity) and teacher ratings of agreeableness, aggression, and social acceptance. As hypothesized, the subtypes differed across these variables in predictable ways. Specifically, Machiavellians (i.e., those using both strategies of resource control) emerged as possessing positive and negative characteristics and, despite their aggression, Machiavellians were socially central, liked by peers, socially skilled, and well adjusted. The utility of an evolutionary perspective to resource control and social competence is discussed as an additional model of aggression.