Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distinct Physiological Responses Underlie Defoliation Tolerance in African Lawn and Bunch Grasses

Premise of research. African grass communities are dominated by two distinct functional types: tall, caespitose bunch grasses and short, spreading lawn grasses. Functional type coexistence has been explained by differences in defoliation tolerance, because lawn grasses occur in intensively grazed areas while bunch grasses are less associated with heavy grazing. If different responses to tissue loss explain their distribution, expectations are that biomass production and leaf-level physiology will be negatively impacted in bunch relative to lawn grasses. Methodology. We tested the influence of defoliation on three lawn and three bunch grasses from Tanzania and South Africa by quantifying growth and measuring physiological response of these grasses to simulated herbivory in a glasshouse experiment. Specifically, we measured photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance, leaf dry matter content (LDMC), specific leaf area (SLA), leaf nitrogen, and leaf pigment concentrations in leaves of bunch and lawn grasses that were clipped or unclipped. Pivotal results. In contrast to our expectations, clipped lawn and bunch grasses did not differ in photosynthesis, leaf nitrogen, or biomass production, and both lawn and bunch grasses upregulated photosynthesis in response to clipping. However, defoliated bunch grasses had higher rates of stomatal conductance and transpiration compared with defoliated lawn grasses. Also, leaf carotenoid concentrations increased in response to clipping for both functional types but much more in bunch than in lawn grasses. An analysis of leaf-level physiological relationships with structural equation modeling showed that lawn and bunch grasses exert control over carbon gain in different ways. In bunch grasses, net carbon gain was associated with leaf-level structural properties (LDMC and SLA) that varied in response to defoliation, while in lawn grasses, increased carbon gain was the result of increased leaf [N] subsequent to defoliation. Conclusions. The varied responses of lawn and bunch grasses to defoliation appear to arise from their different investments in defense and carbon assimilation subsequent to defoliation. Bunch grasses invest relatively more in carotenoid production, likely as a mechanism to enhance regrowth and protect costly leaves from photodamage. Moreover, bunch grasses maintain efficient carbon assimilation by structural adjustments in leaves (decreasing LDMC subsequent to defoliation), while lawn grasses maintain efficient water use by increasing leaf [N] subsequent to defoliation. Thus, we conclude that a key difference between lawn and bunch grasses is not defoliation tolerance per se but physiological adaptations that constrain them to environments with different moisture availability subsequent to defoliation.
Does the Country of Origin of the Acquiring Firm Impact Performance

This paper evaluates how the post-acquisition performance of U.S. public firms depends on the geographic origin of the acquiring firm. The empirical analysis uses new data on a comprehensive sample of public U.S. firms acquired during 1979‐2006. To account for the possibility that performance dierences arise due to the selection of superior targets rather than the change in ownership, I use propensity score matching to create similar comparison groups of target firms prior to acquisitions. The analysis reveals three major findings. First, targets acquired by firms from industrial and developing countries increase profits by 10 and 6 percentage points, respectively, compared with firms acquired by a buyer from the United States. Second, U.S. targets acquired by firms from industrial countries exhibit higher profits than those acquired by firms from developing countries. Third, compared with domestic acquisitions, foreign industrial firm acquisitions of U.S. companies tend to increase their targets’ employment and sales. However, targets acquired by firms located in developing countries experience a decrease in both revenues and total number of employees. These findings suggest that target firms are subject to significantly dierent restructuring processes depending on the nationality of the acquiring firm. Whereas industrial country acquirers increase profits in their targets by increasing revenues, developing country acquirers are more likely to reduce the labor costs of target firms. This new evidence demonstrates how, by accounting for the acquirer’s country of origin, we can more accurately identify the size and channels of gains from mergers and acquisitions. Finally, the propensity score matching results are substantially dierent from those obtained when not controlling for selection, suggesting that causal inference based on studies that do not use appropriate comparison groups may yield misleading conclusions.
Climatic condition of Calabar as typified by some meteorological parameters

This study aims at analysing some meteorological data collected by the meteorological department of the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar between 1985 and 2003. The main objectives were to provide average figures and curves of Calabar climate, and to identify possible trends since 1985. Results show that seven out of nine parameters studied indicated marked seasonal variations. There is indeed a clear warming trend and most of the other parameters appear to have significant contribution to climatic change. Wind velocity and evaporation have also slightly decreased. Increase in population may have played an important role as the town has experience tremendous growth due to the renewed emphases on tourism, urbanization and business typified by the establishment of TINAPA business resort in Calabar, Nigeria
Effects of a Nutrition Education Intervention Designed based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) on Reducing the Consumption of Unhealthy Snacks in the Sixth Grade Primary School Girls

BackgroundMalnutrition can threaten mental and physical development of children while healthy nutrition can improve mental and physical status of children. To select the best foods, children need nutrition education. This study aimed to determine the effect of nutrition education on reducing the consumption of unhealthy snacks in female primary school students in Qom- Iran.Materials and MethodsThis interventional study was conducted on 88 students in intervention and control groups who were selected via multistage random sampling method. The data was collected using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire which was designed based on the health belief model (HBM). First four training sessions were held for the intervention group; two months later, data were collected again from both groups of students (intervention and control group). The collected data were analyzed by SPSS version 16.0 using descriptive statistics and independent and paired t-test.ResultsThe mean score of knowledge and performance of the intervention group, were 96.12 and 18.61 before the intervention which changed to 110.00 and 68.22 after the intervention. The results showed that before the intervention there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of mean scores of knowledge, and the constructs of the health belief model (P>0.05). After the intervention, the scores of all variables and the behavior of unhealthy snacks consumption were significantly increased in the intervention group (P<0.05). Conclusion This study showed that the nutrition education program (designed based on the HBM) was effective in reducing the consumption of unhealthy snacks as it increased the scores of the Health Belief Model constructs and decreased the score of perceived barriers.
Growth and Yield Response of Carrot (Daucus Carota L) to Different Green Manures and Plant Spacing

A field experiment was carried out to study the growth and yield response of carrot to different green manures and plant spacing at the College of Agriculture Education, University of Education, Winneba-Mampong Campus in 2015 and 2016. Four different soil amendments (10 t/ha Mucuna pruriens, Chromolaena odorata, Gliricidia sepium, 300Kg/ha NPK (15, 15, 15) and control) along with three spacing regimes (25 x 10cm, 25 x 15cm and 25 x 20cm) were employed in the investigation in Randomized Complete Block Design. The result revealed that the application of 10 t/ha Mucuna pruriens, Chromolaena odorata, Gliricidia sepium and 300Kg/ha NPK (15, 15, 15) improved the vegetative growth of carrot and translocated the assimilates into the final gross and marketable yield of the root compared to the control. Among the spacing regimes, 25 x 20cm produced the best vegetative growth. Application of 300kg/ha NPK was found suitable for maximum gross and marketable yields (28.73 t/ha and 27.23 t/ha, respectively) in 2015. In 2016, Mucuna pruriens, Chromolaena odorata, and Gliricidia sepium treatments produced gross and marketable yields similar to 300kg/ha NPK. With the spacing regime, 25 x 10cm produced maximum gross and marketable yield in both years. The combined treatment effect of 300kg /ha NPK and 10 t /ha of Mucuna pruriens at 25 x 10cm spacing resulted in the best performance in terms of gross and marketable yields. From the production as well as economic points of view a combination 10t/ha Mucuna pruriens at 25 x 10cm spacing may be suggested for maximizing carrot production in the study area. Keywords: Mucuna pruriens, Chromolaena odorata, Gliricidia sepium, green manure, plant spacing, vegetative growth, gross and marketable yields.
EFFECTS OF INDOMETACIN ON ALLOGENIC AND SYNGENIC PREGNANCY

Summary . Factors of making and keeping immunotolerance in pregnancy mainly affect immunocompetent cells byimmunosuppressive factors or moving of Th1/Th2 balance in favour of Th2 response. Errors made in making andkeeping immunotolerance in pregnancy can lead to clinic entities such as resorption of fetoplacental unit, miscarriageand reduced placental and fetal weight. Besides, production of sex steroids in the yellow body of gravidity and later inthe fetoplacental unit depends on the factors such as prostaglandins and cytokines. The significance of paternal andmaternal MHC (in)compatibility of rats for the number of embryos, percentage of embryos in resorption, placentaland fetal weight and the level of serum steroids were tested in our experiment. Specimens taken for this investigationwere syngene Sprague Doley (SD) and Wistar (W). The rats of SD and W lineage were treated by indometacin of 2.1-2.8 mg/kg daily by giving them drinking water in the period of 6-18 day of pregnancy. Stimulation of Th1 response byindometacin in allogenic pregnancy led to resorption of 56% embryos while the rate of resorption in the control groupof W rats was 12%. Syngene SD animals treated by indometacin did not show a significantly higher rate of embryos inresorption (8.14%) than the ones in the control group (5.13%) Acceleration of Th1 response by indometacin led toactivation of decidual CTL and NK cells as well as to intensified expression of MHC antigens on the cells oftrophoblast. In allogenic pregnancy this resulted in the increased resorption of embryos, while in SYNGENICpregnancy acceleration of Th1 response did not result in increased resorption of embryos. Besides, indometacin leadsto the significant fall of the level of serum progesterone and oestradiol notwithstanding the MHC compatibility ofpregnancy However, the level of serum progesterone in W rats treated by indometacin is significantly lower than inSD rats also treated by indometacin. This result shows the possibility of greater damage of trophoblast in MHCincompatible pregnancies under the influence of indometacin or greater activities of cytokine of Th1 group, whichinhibits synthesis of sex steroids
Role of contact line evaporation on the spreading of viscous droplet

The effect of relative humidity and viscosity on the spreading dynamics of water-glycerol mixtures was analyzed for a range of humidities from 20% to 80%. Droplets of identical volume were deposited on ultra-clean glass substrates. We demonstrated that, in addition to the competition between viscous forces, capillary forces, and disjoining pressure, droplet spreading was also affected by the evaporation that occurred at the triple line. We provide an updated Tanner’s spreading law, which was modified to take into account the evaporative contribution. The same mechanism can be applied to adjust any fluid to Tanner’s coefficient of 1/10.
Modeling the Structures and Electronic Properties of Uracil and Thymine in Gas Phase and Water

The molecular geometries and electronic properties of Uracil and Thymine are studied at the Restricted Hatree-Fock (RHF) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) levels of theory in gas phase and water. The optimized structures, dipole moments, total energies, charge transfer, quadrupole moments and other electronic properties of the two molecules were computed in gas and water. The two molecules showed higher polarity, stability and band gap in water. The average bond lengths of Thymine are greater than those of Uracil in gas. Thymine has significantly lower bond lengths than Uracil in solution. The average bond lengths of C-C and N-H are respectively the longest and shortest. Thymine molecule has lower total energies compared to Uracil at both levels of theory and in both media. The polarity of both molecules increases in solution. HOMO and LUMO energy values decrease slightly in solution for both molecules at both levels of theory. The Ionization Potential (IP) and Electron Affinity (EA) decreases for both molecules in solution. The chemical potential and electrophilicity of both molecules increase in solution. The chemical hardness of Uracil increases slightly in solution while that of Thymine decreases slightly in solution.
BENCH-SCALE, MULTIFILAMENT SPINNING CONDITIONS EFFECT ON THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF POLYACRYLONITRILE PRECURSOR FIBER

OF THESIS BENCH-SCALE, MULTIFILAMENT SPINNING CONDITIONS EFFECT ON THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF POLYACRYLONITRILE PRECURSOR FIBER Due to its unique characteristics, carbon fiber is one of the leading materials for light weight, high strength and stiffness applications in composite materials. The development of carbon fibers approaching theoretical strengths and stiffness is a continuing process which has led to improved mechanical and physical properties over the recent years. Improvements in carbon fiber properties are directly dependent on the quality of the precursor fiber. Research and development of PAN precursor fiber requires extensive experimentation to determine how processing conditions affect the structure and properties of the precursor fibers. Therefore, it is the goal of this thesis to analyze the results of varying coagulation rates on fiber shape, density and porosity, to determine the effect of cross-sectional shape, density, and fiber diameter on the tensile strength of the fiber, and to investigate the most effective method for the reduction of fiber diameter. Results indicate a low temperature, high solvent concentration coagulating bath leads to a rounder cross section with lower void content. Reduction in fiber diameter was found to increase tensile strength while increased molecular orientation experienced during high draw down ratios led to an increase in fiber modulus.
Distribution of Dengue Vectors during Pre- and Post-Monsoon Seasons in three districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Entomological surveys were carried out on the dengue vectors ( Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus ) during the pre- and post-monsoon seasons in 2013 from different breeding places in and around the residential areas of three Punjab districts, namely Lahore (217 m), Sheikhupura (214 m) and Faisalabad (184 m) located at different altitudes. Four vector indices (house index, container index, breteau index and premises index) were used to assess the breeding potential of vectors in each district. The house index ranged from 12 to 18 % during pre-monsoon while it was from 14 and 29% due to the post-monsoon season. The container index ranged from 11.40 to 13.17% for the pre-monsoon and from 11.22 to 30.39% for the post-monsoon. Breteau index varied from 11 and 69% during both seasons and the premises index ranged from 24.40 to 44.32%. Entomological survey also revealed that in both seasons, the highest breeding potentiality was recorded in Lahore followed by Sheikhupura and Faisalabad. The high vector indices of Aedes in these areas warrant intensification of vector surveillance activities along with habitat reduction and health education.
STRATEGIC DYNAMICS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE EFFECTIVENESS IN A FAMILY FIRM

This paper employs a case-study approach to address linkages between corporate governance and a firm‟s strategic dynamics. It investigates a family firm which moved from a state of crisis to a renewed growth and profitability stage to analyze how establishing appropriate governance practices may contribute to strategic renewal and value creation. Creating an effective system of corporate governance is a crucial task for all firms, requiring an appropriate balance between accountability and entrepreneurial dimensions to carry out the firm‟s strategies. Data reveal how corporate governance variations over time may help a family firm to move through its organizational life cycle, by creating an appropriate fit with the evolving strategic needs.
Inter-locality variation in breeding phenology and nesting habitat of the citril finch Carduelis citrinella in the Catalonian Pre-Pyrenees

SUMMARY. —Inter-locality variation in breeding phenology and nesting habitat of the citril finch Carduelis citrinella in the Catalonian Pre-Pyrenees. Aims: Considerable variations have been found amongst several citril finch sub-populations at Port del Comte mountain in the Catalonian Pre-Pyrenees in reproductive success, body mass, fat score, diet, survival rate and speed of moult due to different habitat quality and different slope exposition. In line with these studies, the aim of this study was to investigate variations in breeding phenology and nesting habitat between north-facing high quality areas (Vansa) and south-facing low quality areas (Bofia) as well as east-facing areas of intermediate quality (Port Comte / Sucre). Since the species habitat requirements have been little studied before, another aim of this study was the recording of some basic data on the phenology of this species and its nesting habitat in Spain. Location: The slopes of Port del Comte mountain (Catalonian Pre-Pyrenees). Results and Conclusions: As expected, variations were found in breeding phenology and nesting habitat. Birds on the moister and cooler north-and east-facing slopes (Vansa, Port Comte) started breeding earlier than did birds from the drier and sunnier south-facing slopes (Bofia). All nests at the slightly more elevated locality of Bofia were built in mountain pines Pinus mugo, while at the other two study sites a small proportion of the nests were also situated in scots pines Pinus sylvestris. Nests were built mainly in the top of the trees or in large side branches at a similar height above ground. At Bofia solitary trees were more often used instead of tree groups or forest than at the other sites. Furthermore, nests were situated at greater distance from each other and the proportion of subadult birds with breeding activity was higher at Bofia.
Mesoscale gravity wave variances from AMSU‐A radiances

A variance analysis technique is developed here to extract gravity wave (GW) induced temperature fluctuations from NOAA AMSU‐A (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐A) radiance measurements. By carefully removing the instrument/measurement noise, the algorithm can produce reliable GW variances with the minimum detectable value as small as 0.1 K2. Preliminary analyses with AMSU‐A data show GW variance maps in the stratosphere have very similar distributions to those found with the UARS MLS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite Microwave Limb Sounder). However, the AMSU‐A offers better horizontal and temporal resolution for observing regional GW variability, such as activity over sub‐Antarctic islands.
Gender Differences in Participation in and Motivations for Sexting: The Effects of Gender Role Attitudes, Masculinity, and Femininity

Sexting, the exchange of sexually explicit messages, images, and videos through mobile phones, has in recent years become an increasingly publicized and common occurrence in our technologically advanced society (Strassberg, Rullo, & Mackaronis, 2014). The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of gender, gender role attitudes, and self-perceptions of masculinity and femininity on participation in and motivations for sexting. Using a cross-sectional design, a self-administered questionnaire was given to 222 Butler students during the early part of the spring 2016 academic semester. This questionnaire included items regarding demographics, the activity of sexting, personal participation in sexting, self-perceptions of masculinity and femininity, and gender role attitudes. While there was no gender difference in the frequency of sending sext messages, study results showed a significant relationship between gender and pressures to sext. Females are more likely to feel constrained by social norms when it comes to sexual behavior, whereas males have more freedom in this area. In addition, those with egalitarian gender role attitudes are more likely to accept sexting as a form of intimacy, indicating this technology has been integrated into sexual relationships. Sexting, the exchange of sexually explicit messages, images, and videos through mobile phones, has in recent years become an increasingly common behavior and widely publicized issue in our society (Strassberg, Rullo, & Mackaronis, 2014). This relatively new form of sexual behavior has attracted considerable legal, public, and media attention, with the majority of research on the topic focusing on the participation of juveniles and those under 18. These studies concentrate on the prevalence of behaviors associated with sexting in teenagers and adolescents, as well as the relationship between sexting and cyberbullying (Conn, 2011). Another focus in the research literature is the legal consequences of sexting, including the laws and legislation sur-
Using Item Response Theory to Improve Measurement in Strategic Management Research: An Application to Corporate Social Responsibility

We introduce item response theory (IRT) to management and strategy research. IRT explicitly models firms’ and individuals’ observable actions in order to measure unobserved, latent characteristics. IRT models have helped researchers improve measures in numerous disciplines. To demonstrate their potential in strategic management, we show how the method improves upon a key measure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social performance (CSP), the KLD Index, by creating what we term D-SOCIAL-KLD scores, and associated estimates of their accuracy, from the underlying data. We show, for instance, that firms like Apple may not be as “good” as previously thought, while firms like Walmart may perform better than typically believed. We also show that the D-SOCIAL-KLD measure outperforms the KLD Index and factor analysis in predicting new CSR-related activity.