Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relation between turbidity and suspended material at different soils, scales and phosphorus levels

Losses of phosphorous (P) from agricultural soil may cause eutrophication of receiving water bodies. Beside surface runoff, leaching has recently been considered an important P transport pathway. P losses in runoff are associated with eroded clay particles where the highest P accumulation occurs. This study investigated the use of turbidity measurement as a surrogate method for suspended solids (SS), particulate P (PP) and total P (TP) concentration in leachate water. Water samples were collected at lysimeter, plot and field scale from the Uppsala lysimeter station and Lanna/Bornsjon experimental field, over a period between January and April 2011. Turbidity and SS were measured on samples from six soils with different soil properties from central and south of Sweden. Total P (TP), dissolved reactive P (DRP) and PP concentration of water samples were measured. Turbidity, SS, PP and TP values obtained were then studied considering the different scales. The highest values of turbidity and SS were found in a soil with a significant clay content (59%), the correlation between the two parameters returned a r2=0,67. A significant r-square value (0,57) was also found between turbidity and TP and PP in the same soil. Nevertheless soils with similar condition in clay content did not show the same correlation and behaviors suggesting that parameters and properties such as pH, organic matter content and internal soil structure strongly influence characteristics of leachate water. Furthermore, results from the comparison of scales shown that larger dataset on longer term would improve the quality of the study. Turbidity and total/particulate P did not seem to show a correlation at different P levels according with soil test P (phosphorus content in ammonium lactate extract [P-AL]), therefore water transport mechanisms and subsoil properties seem to influence the P leaching more than soil test P value in the topsoil. The result of this study suggest that turbidity might be used as a surrogate method to investigate P losses associated with SS at specific intervals, but relying on turbidity measurements without a detailed knowledge of topsoil and subsoil properties is nevertheless not possible.
Crop Diversification: A Potential Strategy To Mitigate Food Insecurity by Smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa

As of 2010, about 239 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) were projected to be undernourished. With this figure expected to rise, concerted efforts to boost food production at the realm of global challenges such as climate instability and decline of nonrenewable resources are imperative. Food production in SSA presently faces the unprecedented challenge of producing sufficient and healthy food for the surging human population, while seeking to conserve the environment and reduce the use of nonrenewable resources and energy. Although over the past half century conventional agriculture has generally improved agricultural production in many parts of the world, this has come at high economic and environmental costs since intensive agriculture relies heavily on off-farm inputs. Conventional agriculture is also dependent on the use of specific crop varieties or hybrids that have been bred specifically to exploit high-input conditions. Conversely, crop varieties used in high-input systems are not often adapted to low-input farming, a key element of many smallholder farming systems. The exploitation of crop genetic diversity as a strategy to increase food production by smallholders in SSA and elsewhere in the world has not been critically examined. This aspect may provide new insights to global food insecurity since crop diversification is a fundamental tool for improving yield stability and crop resilience under changing climatic conditions.
The Vibrational Structure of the OH Radical in Solid Argon: A Transfer- Matrix Path-Integral Approach

The vibrational structure of the hydroxyl radical in argon was investigated by transfer-matrix path-integral calculations. The results for the OH X 2 ground state in Ar indicate that the vibrational structure in the matrix is modified relative to the gas phase. However, only vibrational levels above v 12 are significantly perturbed. The changes of the higher vibrational energy levels can be explained by interactions between the OH radical and the Ar matrix. We predict that the position of the OH fundamental in argon matrix is 3540 cm 1 in good agreement with the experimental result (3548.2 cm 1 ). This value is red-shifted by 6c m 1 relative to the free radical (3546 cm 1 ). In contrast with previous results for Br2 in solid Ar, where a very large barrier related to confinement effects inhibits dissociation, the present study indicates that the OH radical can dissociate in the matrix. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 103: 610 - 616, 2005
The Clinical Presentations and Patterns of Management of Bowel Obstruction in Northern Saudi Arabia

Background: The prompt management of patients with bowel obstruction is essential and requires initial rapid diagnosis and therapeutic intervention. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to explore the clinical presentation and pattern of management of bowel obstruction in Northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology: About 92 files referring to patients presented with obstructive bowel conditions during the period from 2013 to 2017 were retrieved from department of surgery at King Khalid Hospital, Hail, Northern Saudi Arabia. Results: Most of cases of bowel obstruction were found in 2014, followed by 2013, 2016, 2015, and 2017 constituting 22, 20, 20, 15, and 15 cases, respectively. About 76, 52, 69, 58, 13, and 28 of the patients presented with pain, constipation, vomiting, abdominal distention, bowel sound and accompanied disease, respectively. Conclusion: Laparotomy was the most common methods of bowel obstruction management in Northern Saudi Arabia. Many patients with bowel obstruction symptoms can improve without surgical intervention.
Enhancing Student Performance in an Ecology Course

This paper outlines the results of a collaborative effort between members of staff in the Departments of Life Sciences and Language, Linguistics and Philosophy, which involved the implementation of Writing Across the Curriculum strategies in an Ecology course. The lecturer for this course had expressed concerns regarding the poor quality of the laboratory reports presented and weak essays submitted by students. In order to enhance students' understanding of the content to be included in the report, and to improve expression of thought in writing, we agreed to 'treat' a sample of students selected from two laboratory groups by giving each group the other's lab report to read and to subsequently carry out the experiments described. Additionally a select group of students engaged in the planning, writing and revising of responses to past exam essay questions. Results showed that final exam grades for the ‘treated’ group and the writing group were significantly higher than their ‘non treated’ and ‘non writing’ counterparts. Feedback from students was generally positive. Implications and limitations are discussed.
Speciation of Fe in silicate glasses and melts by in-situ XANES spectroscopy

Abstract In-situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Fe K-edge was used to characterize the local structural environment of Fe2+ and Fe3+ in silicate melts at high temperature (up to 1050 °C) in comparison to their quenched glassy analog at room temperature. Measurements were performed on binary alkali-silicate compositions and on haplogranitic compositions, which were doped with about 5 wt% Fe2O3. Changes in the structural environment of Fe were evaluated by analyzing both the pre-edge feature and the first maximum of the EXAFS of the spectra. In most cases, the spectra collected at high temperature differed from those of the quenched samples. At reducing conditions, the melts showed slightly higher amounts of low-coordinated Fe2+ than their glassy counterparts. This finding is consistent with results of earlier studies (e.g., Jackson et al. 1993), but the observed change in speciation is smaller than reported by these authors. At oxidizing conditions, glasses and melts displayed a more heterogeneous behavior. The spectra of alkali-silicate compositions indicate higher amounts of low-coordinated Fe3+ in the melt, whereas no significant difference between melt and glass was observed for Fe3+ in haplogranitic compositions, even if the latter are peralkaline. The amount of non-bridging O atoms in the glass/melt system appears to play an important role particularly for Fe3+. However, more complex relationships between Fe and other structural components, especially Al, are possible.
The Effect of Three Vocabulary Techniques on Iranian ESP Learners' Vocabulary Production

Abstract The present study aimed to examine the effect of three vocabulary techniques—glossing, dictionary use, and etymological analysis—on Iranian ESP learners' vocabulary production. Forty-five university students majoring in architecture at Azad University, Anzali branch, participated in this study. They were divided into three groups, and each group was randomly assigned to one kind of treatment condition (glossing group, dictionary group, and etymology group). The Michigan proficiency test was used to evaluate the language proficiency of ESP learners and to ensure the homogeneity of the learners. The three experimental groups received three tasks for three weeks. ESP learners took a vocabulary production test (VPT). A one-way between groups ANOVA was conducted to analyze the data. The results showed that dictionary use improved ESP learners' vocabulary production, and dictionary group outperformed the other two groups.The study concludes that dictionary use facilitates vocabulary production . Keywords: glossing; dictionary use; etymological analysis; vocabulary production
Michael M. Silaev-RICE-MS

New reaction scheme is suggested for the initiated nonbranched-chain addition of free radicals to the multiple bond of the molecular oxygen. The scheme includes the addition reaction of the peroxyl free radical to the oxygen molecule to form the tetraoxyl free radical. This reaction competes with chain propagation reactions through a reactive free radical. The chain evolution stage in this scheme involves a few of free radicals, one of which (tetraoxyl) is relatively low-reactive and inhibits the chain process by shortening of the kinetic chain length. Based on the proposed scheme rate equations (containing one to three parameters to be determined directly) are deduced using quasi-steady-state treatment. The kinetic description with use the obtained rate equations is applied to the γ-induced nonbranched-chain processes of the free-radical oxidation of liquid oxylene at 373 K and hydrogen dissolved in water containing different amounts of oxygen at 296 K. The ratios of rate constants of competing reactions and rate constants of addition reactions to the molecular oxygen are defined. In these processes the oxygen with the increase of its concentration begins to act as an oxidation autoingibitor (or an antioxidant), and the rate of peroxide formation as a function of the dissolved oxygen concentration has a maximum. From the energetic standpoint possible nonchain pathways of the free-radical oxidation of hydrogen and the routes of ozone decay via the reaction with the hydroxyl free radical in the upper atmosphere (including the addition yielding the hydrotetraoxyl free radical, which can be an intermediate in the sequence of conversions of biologically hazardous UV radiation energy) were examined. The energetics of the key radical-molecule gas-phase reactions is considered.
Operationalizing a Behavioral Finance Risk Model: A Theoretical and Empirical Framework

To keep up with the rather fast-growing interest in the discipline of Behavioral Finance and Economics caused in part by the new realities of the post-200S world, and the realities prevailing over three decades before and leading up to that year- there is a discernible need for the production of new generations of testable and yet more realistic models and theories as guides for financial and economic decision makers everywhere. The present work is one such attempt in that direction. This writing first improves upon a recently developed, and real-life-inspired, Behavioral Finance Risk Model (Yazdipour, 2011) and then offers a specific methodology for testing it.
Currency Returns, Intrinsic Value, and Institutional-Investor Flows

We decompose currency returns into (permanent) intrinsic-value shocks and (transitory) expected-return shocks. We explore interactions between these shocks, currency returns, and institutional-investor currency flows. Intrinsic-value shocks are: dwarfed by expected-return shocks (yet currency returns overreact to them); unrelated to flows (although expected-return shocks correlate with flows); and related positively to forecasted cumulated-interest differentials. These results suggest flows are related to short-term currency returns, while fundamentals better explain long-term returns and values. They also rationalize the long-observed poor performance of exchange-rate models: by ignoring the distinction between permanent and transitory exchange-rate changes, prior tests obscure the connection between currencies and fundamentals.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FIRM VALUATION IN EMERGING MARKETS: EVIDENCE FROM UAE LISTED COMPANIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

There has been previous empirical research on corporate governance and board of directors which focused on attempting to find a direct relationship between internal governance variables and firm valuation. It has however also been argued that there are differences in the nature, direction, magnitude and processes of operation of this relationship between developed and developing financial markets because of differences in their respective economic, social, regulatory framework and market behaviour . This study examines this relationship in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of the emerging markets in order to extend evidence further beyond the western developed capital markets into the Middle East. Does the prevalence of family-ownership in the UAE for example matter to the company valuation? What about the presence of institutional ownership or ownership concentration? And do the corporate communication and disclosure scores published by the UAE Institutional Investor in cooperation with Hawkamah, The Institute for Corporate Governance; have any relationship to corporate valuation? More specifically this study, using multiple regression analysis, examines the impact of firm level internal corporate governance indicators namely board structure, ownership structure, and transparency and disclosure governance practices on the valuation of listed companies in the UAE after controlling for company size, industry, leverage, and dividend payout using Tobin's Q, Price Earning Ratio (PER) and Price Book Value Ratio (PBVR) as surrogates for company valuation. The results show no significant relationship between internal corporate governance indicators and company valuation when using Tobin's Q and PBR as measures of company valuation. However they reveal statistically significant links between some of the internal corporate governance indicators on the one hand and company market valuation on the other when company valuation is measured by the price earnings ratio (PER) which is one of the most common and important stock market indicators for investors. These results suggest that the company valuation measures like the price earnings ratio which explicitly reflects the financial markets assessment of the firm investment and dividend policies lead to a better correlation with internal corporate governance indicators. Moreover, the regression results indicate that the frequency of board meetings, adoption of best transparency practices and the presence of private institutional investors such as sovereign wealth funds are the most significant internal corporate governance variables in accounting for differences in company market values in the UAE. The structural aspects of the board such as size and composition turned out not to be statistically significant in their impact on company valuation.
Towards a Methodology for the Differential Analysis in Human Locomotion: A Pilot Study on the Participation of Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that can range from relatively benign to somewhat disabling to devastating, as communication between the brain and other parts of the body is disrupted. Scientists have learned a great deal about MS in recent years; yet still, its cause remains elusive. This paper intends to investigate the hypothesis that gait dynamics have meaning and may be useful in providing insight into the neural control of locomotion. It further seeks to explore the mutual interactions and influences of MS functions on gait, and vice versa, in a quantitative and robust fashion. Ground reaction forces (GRFs), muscle activities, and segmental accelerations within a gait cycle were analyzed in this study. Patterns of the signals from six relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients were compared with the healthy subjects. This quantitative gait analysis aids to illuminate a better understanding of the mobility-related disease such as RRMS characteristics. An outcome of this study is a reproducible methodology for helping therapists make reliable and differentiable diagnosis, design a tailored therapeutic strategy, and comfortably evaluate the follow-ups on patient’s functional recovery.
The strength of El Niño and the spatial extent of tropical drought

During El Niño events, several spatially coherent, nearly synchronous droughts typically develop in teleconnected tropical land areas. These droughts, reflected in below‐average tropical mean land area precipitation, are frequently accompanied by multiple and wide ranging impacts. Here it is shown, based on precipitation observations for the past half‐century, that there is a remarkably robust relationship between El Niño strength and the spatial extent of drought in the global tropics. Not reported previously, drought covers more than twice the land area in strong versus weak El Niños and in many areas severe drought is shown to be more likely during El Niño than for all other times. The results provide insight into large‐scale tropical rainfall variability and have implications for future droughts under global warming scenarios.
Financial flexibility, corporate investment and performance: evidence from financial crises

This study examines the impact of financial flexibility on the investment and performance of East Asian firms over the period 1994–2009. We employ a sample of 1,068 firms and place particular emphasis on the periods of the Asian crisis (1997–1998) and the recent credit crisis (2007–2009). The results show that firms can attain financial flexibility, primarily through conservative leverage policies and less commonly by holding large cash balances. Financial flexibility appears to be an important determinant of investment and performance, mainly during the Asian 1997–1998 crisis. In particular, firms that are financially flexible prior to this crisis (1) have a greater ability to take investment opportunities, (2) rely much less on the availability of internal funds to invest, and (3) perform better than less flexible firms during the crisis. Our analysis covering the credit crisis period of 2007–2009 suggests that some of the advantages of flexible firms towards investing persist but are significantly less pronounced over that period. We also find that the value of financial flexibility is region/country specific, which may be explained by the fact that different regions/countries often adopt different macroeconomic policies and operate in diverse economic/legal environments.
The future (?) of effective protection

This paper aims at a comparative reading of some archaeological remains in the island of Sardinia, starting from a reflection on the UNESCO discipline, which introduces a hierarchy of cultural heritage based on the level of worthiness of protection and provides enhanced protection for the goods that are on its list. The main goal of the study is to investigate in parallel the application of this ‘selective appreciation’ on the actual context of the protection of the so-called ‘real cultural heritage’ (article 9 of the Italian Constitution). The study proceeds by comparing some important sites on the island having similar contextualization, but different strategies for protection: the Archaeological Park of Porto Torres, Su Nuraxi in Barumini, registered since 1997 in the World Heritage List of UNESCO, and the archaeological area of Neapolis (Oristano). From comparisons and analysis carried out in selected areas it was possible to focus attention on some critical aspects of the UNESCO rules and on contradictions between the operational guidelines and the objectives that the organization provides for the protection of property. In the wake of new reforms for the reorganization of the Ministry of Heritage, Culture and Tourism, the critical issues discussed in this paper appear even more evident in Sardinia. The idea of a ‘protection of the exceptional’ appears to reduce the opportunities of intervention, by isolating the evidence from its context and making the action of protection inadequate for the territory and for the same items contained therein.
University offer rates for candidates from different ethnic categories

Previous research suggested that candidates from some black and minority ethnic groups were less likely to receive an offer of a place from an ‘old’ university. These findings were disputed in a re-analysis carried out for HEFCE which found that only Pakistani candidates were significantly less likely to receive offers (from both ‘old’ and ‘new’ universities). In this paper we return to the question of ethnic differences in university offer rates, examining UCAS admissions data for 2008. We use a cross-classified multi-level modelling approach to predict the probability that applications from candidates from different ethnic groups will receive an offer. Controlling for variables seeking to capture the academic quality of applications we find significant differences between offer rates for different ethnic groups. Significantly lower offer rates remained for the main ethnic groups when social characteristics were also taken into account in the model (social class background, gender and school type). However, offer rates for candidates from mixed ethnic groups were not significantly different from those for white British candidates. Our analysis did not find evidence of differences in offer rates from higher and lower status institutions for black and minority ethnic candidates relative to white British applicants.