Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro activity of plant extracts against some important plant pathogenic fungi of tomato

Indiscriminate use of synthetic pesticides has resulted in loss of access to niche markets due to presence of chemical residues in fresh vegetable produce. There is need for safe alternatives to synthetic pesticides in management of pests and diseases in horticultural production. The objective of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of plant extracts in suppressing growth of plant pathogenic fungi in vitro. Mature plant tissue samples were finely blended, extracted with 95% (v/v) ethanol and the extracts were concentrated by evaporation under vacuum at 60C to remove the ethanol. Antifungal activity of the extracts was tested by incorporating the extract into the culture media onto which fungal pathogens were then cultured. Sensitivity of the fungal pathogens was determined by measuring the pathogen colony radial growth of the treatments compared to controls. Extracts from different plants varied in activity, with turmeric extracts being the most active. Turmeric extracts inhibited fungal colony radial growth by 30 to 73 % while mint was the least active. Alternaria solani was the most susceptible pathogen while Pythium ultimum was the most sensitive to extracts from all the plants evaluated. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici was tolerant to most of the plant extracts tested. Sensitivity of all the pathogens tested was found to decrease with the age of the cultures. The study showed that plants extracts contain compounds that inhibit growth of plant pathogenic fungi. Such compounds could be exploited as biopesticides to manage plant diseases thereby reducing the chemical residues in horticultural production.
Investment Horizon of the Bond Investor Base and the Leverage of the Firm

We examine the effect of the investor horizon of institutional bondholders (e.g., mutual bond funds and insurance companies) on the leverage of the firm using a novel dataset. Our main finding is that the investment horizon of the firm’s bond investor base (measured as functions of (i) the average portfolio turnover of investors holding the firm’s bonds, or (ii) the prevalence of mutual funds among the firm’s bondholders as opposed to insurance companies) has a positive and significant effect on the leverage of the firm. The investment horizon of the firm’s bond investor base also has a positive and significant effect on the firm’s probability of issuing bonds, and a negative and significant effect on the firm’s probability of issuing equity and borrowing from banks. The results are robust to controlling for potential endogeneity of the investor-firm matching using geography-based instruments. Our results highlight the vulnerability of companies that depend on short-horizon mutual funds as primary bond investors.
Is Volunteering Rewarding in Itself? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

Volunteering constitutes one of the most important pro-social activities. Following Adam Smith, helping others is the way to higher individual well-being. This view contrasts with the selfish utility maximizer who avoids costs from helping others. The two rival views are studied empirically. We find robust evidence that volunteers are more satisfied with their life than non-volunteers. Causality is addressed taking advantage of a natural experiment: the collapse of East Germany and its infrastructure of volunteering. People who accidentally lost their opportunities for volunteering are compared to people who experienced no change in their volunteer status.
Limits of Arbitrage

We survey theoretical developments in the literature on the limits of arbitrage. This literature investigates how costs faced by arbitrageurs can prevent them from eliminating mispricings and providing liquidity to other investors. Research in this area is currently evolving into a broader agenda, emphasizing the role of financial institutions and agency frictions for asset prices. This research has the potential to explain so-called market anomalies and inform welfare and policy debates about asset markets. We begin with examples of demand shocks that generate mispricings, arguing that they can stem from behavioral or from institutional considerations. We next survey, and nest within a simple model, the following costs faced by arbitrageurs: (a) risk, both fundamental and nonfundamental; (b) short-selling costs; (c) leverage and margin constraints; and (d) constraints on equity capital. We finally discuss implications for welfare and policy and suggest directions for future research.
Beveridge Curve Shifts and Time-Varying Parameter Vars

We specify a simple search and matching model of the aggregate labor market allowing for productivity-driven changes in match efficiency. This mechanism leads to shifts in the Beveridge curve that are broadly consistent with the pattern observed in the United States. We simulate data from the fully nonlinear solution of the model and estimate a time-varying parameter vector-autoregressions (TVP-VAR) on the unemployment and vacancies series to assess whether the shifts in the underlying theoretical model are being picked up by the nonlinear time series model. The results suggest that the TVP-VAR attributes almost all of the shifts to changes in the volatility of the reduced-form shocks.
Acute Renal And Hepatic Toxicity Of Bromodichloromethane (BDCM) In F-344 Rats Following Oral Administration In Different Vehicles. By Patrick David Lilly (Under the direction of Dr. R.A. Pegram and Dr. A. Gold)

BDCM, a water disinfection byproduct, was administered by gavage at 0, 200, and 400 mg/kg in either corn oil or 10% Emulphor to 90dayold F-344 male rats. Urine was collected from 0-6, 6-12, 1224, 24-36, and 36-48 hours. Animals were killed at 24 or 48 hr, and serum collected. In the high dose groups for both vehicles after 48 hours, significant increases were observed in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), cholesterol and bile acids. At the apparent time of peak hepatotoxicity (48 hours), 400 mg BDCM/kg caused significantly greater elevations in AST, creatinine, and bile acids when administered in corn oil than in 10% Emulphor. Significant interactions between dose and vehicle of administration were noted for serum enzymes AST, ALK, and LDH, indicating that vehicle differences observed in BDCM hepatotoxicity may be dosedependent. At 200 mg/kg, the only significant response of a serum enzyme was a slight increase in LDH following aqueous administration of BDCM. In contrast to the virtual lack of effects on liver function enzymes at 200 mg/kg, urinary enzymes were dramatically elevated at the low dose in both vehicles. At 24 hours, BDCM increased urine ALT (33%), AST (390%), LDH (300%), and alkaline phosphatase (ALK) (230%) in the low dose corn oil group with respective increases of 75%, 590%, 540%, and 380% in the 10% Emulphor group. Significant vehicle differences were noted for urinary AST and total protein at the 200 mg/kg dose after 36 hours and glucose at the high dose level at 48 hours. Significant interactions between BDCM dose and dosing vehicle were observed for urinary AST, LDH, and total protein at 36 hours post-gavage and total protein at 24 hours, suggesting again that vehicle effects noted in BDCM nephrotoxicity may be dependent on dose. At 400 mg/kg, the time to peak nephrotoxicity appeared greater with corn oil than with the aqueous vehicle. These data suggest that BDCM is more acutely hepatotoxic when administered in corn oil than in an aqueous vehicle and further suggest that the kidney may be a more sensitive indicator of BDCM toxicity than the liver.
Disclosure of Social Responsibility, Proﬁtability to Improve the Company Value

Thisstudyaimstoexamineandanalyzetheeffectofsocialresponsibilitydisclosureand proﬁtabilityonﬁrmvalue. Disclosureofsocialresponsibilityismeasuredinaccordance with the concept of sustainability development in sustainability report which is based on the Global Reporting Initiative standard. Proﬁtability is measured using return on investment and company value is measured based on stock prices. The object of this research is state-owned banks that are listed on the stock exchange. The sample was chosen based on purposive sampling conducted during 5 years of observation, namely 2014-2018, and selected as many as 4 samples of state-owned banks with 20 observations. The type of data used in this study is secondary data with descriptive quantitative analysis method.Tests on research variables are carried out using multiple linear regression analysis by performing statistical tests of classical assumptions and hypothesistestingFandt.Theresultsofthestudyprovethatsimultaneouslycorporate social responsibility(CSR)and return on investment(ROI)haveapositiveandsigniﬁcant effect on stock prices with a large inﬂuence of 67.5%. Partially social responsibility disclosures do not have a signiﬁcant effect on stock prices but provide a positive direction of inﬂuence of 0.061. This shows that disclosure of social responsibility has a relationship in line with stock prices. While return on investment has a positive effect of 1.667 and is signiﬁcant for stock prices.The results of the study prove that simultaneously corporate social responsibility (CSR) and return on investment (ROI) have a positive and signiﬁcant effect on stock prices with a large inﬂuence of 67.5%. Partially social responsibility disclosures do not have a signiﬁcant effect on stock prices but provide a positive direction of inﬂuence of 0.061. This shows that disclosure of social responsibility has a relationship in line with stock prices. While return on investment has a positive effect of 1.667 and is signiﬁcant for stock prices.
Comparative study of the equatorial ionosphere over Jicamarca during recent two solar minima

It is a critical issue that whether or not the extremely deep solar minimum of solar cycle 23/24 brought serious influences on the Earth's space environment. In this study, we collected and manually scaled the ionograms recorded by a DPS ionosonde at Jicamarca (12.0 degrees S, 283.2 degrees E) to retrieve F layer parameters and electron density (N-e) profiles. A comparative study is performed to evaluate the equatorial ionosphere in solar minima of cycle 22/23 (1996-1997) and 23/24 (2008-2009). The seasonal median values of the critical frequency of F-2 layer (f(o)F(2)) were remarkably reduced in four seasons during the deep solar minimum, compared to those in 1996-1997. It is the first time to find that lower values prevail at most times in 2008-2009 in the F2 layer peak height (h(m)F(2)) and Chapman scale height (H-m). The bottomside profile thickness (B0) shows higher values in 2008-2009 than that in 1996-1997 at some daytime intervals, although it also becomes smaller during the rest times. Furthermore, the ionosphere in 2008-2009 is contracted strongly at altitudes above h(m)F(2) and more perceptible in the afternoon hours. The decrease in N-e is strongest in September equinox and weakest in June solstice. The ionospheric responses from solar minimum to minimum are mainly caused by the reduction in solar extreme ultraviolet intensity, and the contribution from dynamical processes competes and is variable. Analysis reveals that semiannual and longer-scale components are certainly reduced during the deep solar minimum, while shorter scale (e. g., 4 month) components may disrupt the decline picture at some times.
Nutrient concentrations in potato stem, petiole and leaflet in response to potassium fertilizer

Chemical composition of potato stem, petiole and leaflet were evaluated in response to the application of K fertilizer. Potassium was applied at six different rates (0, 60, 120, 240, 480 and 960 kg ha-1 of K2O), as K2SO4 and was placed in the furrow during planting. Two plants per plot were sampled 48 days after plant emergence to evaluate N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Cu, Mn and Zn concentrations in stems, petioles and leaflets of the youngest fully expanded leaf. It is recommended using potato petioles to evaluate the N, P, K, Ca, Mg and Cu status and using potato leaflet to evaluate the S, Mn and Zn status. The stem was not a good indicator of S nutritional status. Petiole N, P and Cu concentrations associated with the maximum tuber yield (30.5 t ha-1, with 353.4 kg ha-1 of K2O) were 25.9 g kg-1, 1.4 g kg-1 and 9.7 mg kg-1, respectively, while, the leaflet S, Mn and Zn concentrations associated with the maximum tuber yield were 4.0 g kg-1, 155.2 mg kg-1 and 59.4 mg kg-1, respectively. This information should be used to build data banks of adequate nutrient concentration at different portions of potato plant and like this, to aid the nutrient diagnosis in potato crops.
Comparative Study of Post-Marriage Nationality Of Women in Legal Systems of Different Countries

This study was conducted to show how two ELT textbooks accommodate gender in their contents and if there is any types of gender bias in the textbooks. The method of this study was descriptive qualitative method which was used to describe a phenomenon and its characteristics. The data was collected by using content analysis that was supported by descriptive quantitative data. The content analysis was conducted to analyze written text and photographs in the two EFL textbooks published by The Ministry of Education And Culture of the Republic of Indonesia and Erlangga publisher. The analysis was based on five categories, namely, visibility, firstness, masculine/feminine generic construction, occupation, and activities related to gender. The findings of study showed that gender biases still exist in both textbooks. The types of bias found were stereotyping, linguistic bias, imbalance and selectivity, cosmetic bias, and fragmentation and isolation. The latest types was only found in Pathway To English 1. The result of this study was expected to help the materials designer, author, teacher, and students to have a better understanding about gender representation of the book currently used in Lombok, and to be more aware of gender bias issues in ELT textbook.
Determinants of CEO Compensation before and after the Financial Crisis

This paper revisits the determinants of CEO compensation using recent data (covering 125 firms from 2003 to 2012). We focus in particular on how CEO pay changed after the 2008 financial crisis. Post-crisis, the composition of pay shifted away from cash toward equity. Furthermore, post-crisis pay is tied more closely to performance and less closely to factors (like firm size) that are more tenuously connected to shareholder value. We also investigate the impact of mergers and divestitures on CEO pay, overall and before and after the crisis. Finally, we consider the role that board composition plays in CEO compensation and find that CEOs take larger post-crisis pay cuts when they have more employees on their boards.
ATTENTION BASED CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETWORK FOR BUILDING EXTRACTION FROM VERY HIGH RESOLUTION REMOTE SENSING IMAGE

Abstract. Buildings are a major element in the formation of cities and are essential for urban mapping. The precise extraction of buildings from remote sensing data has become a significant topic and has received much attention in recent years. The recently developed convolutional neural networks have shown effective and superior performance to perform well on learning high-level and discriminative features in extracting buildings because of the outstanding feature learning and end-to-end pixel labelling abilities. However, it is difficult to use the features of different levels with a certain degree of importance that is appropriate to deep learning networks. To tackle this problem, a network based on U-Nets and the attention mechanism block was proposed. The network contains an encoder part and a decoder part and a spatial attention module. The special architecture presented in this article enhances the propagation of features and effectively utilizes the features at various levels to reduce errors. The other remarkable thing is that attention module blocks only lead to a minimal increase in model complexity. We effectively demonstrate an improvement of building extraction accuracy on challenging Potsdam and Vaihingen benchmark datasets. The results of this paper show that the proposed architecture improves building extraction in very high resolution remote sensing images compared to previous models.
Running Head: THEORY OF MIND AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD 1 Relations Between Theory of Mind and Executive Function in Middle Childhood: a Short- Term Longitudinal Study

Studies with preschool children have shown significant links between children’s executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM), but few studies have examined these associations in primary school children. In order to address this gap we designed a threewave cross-lagged longitudinal study in which we followed a group of 113 children (61 boys) across three time points from age 9.5 to 10.5 years (mean age at time 1 M = 112.3 months, SD = 4.18 months; mean age at Time 2 M = 118.3 months, SD = 4.15 months and mean age at Time 3 M = 124.7 months, SD = 4.06 months). At each time point we measured EF (working memory and inhibitory control), ToM and language. Our analyses showed (i) moderate rank-order stability of individual differences in both EF and ToM and (ii) growth in ToM task performance across time. Cross-lagged longitudinal analyses revealed an asymmetric developmental relation between ToM and working memory. Early working memory predicted later ToM but not vice versa. Our results suggest a specific role for working memory in the on-going development of ToM in middle childhood.
Model of Student Character Based on Character Building in Teaching Learning Process

The aim of this research is to offer a model for student character on the basis of character building in teaching learning process. The sample group with 450 students represented grades 4-6 from 5 elementary schools in Jakarta. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyse the data of this research. The findings confirmed that character building in teaching learning process encouraging student character was not supported. Preparation of teaching learning process, the core of teaching learning process, and the closing of teaching learning process supported character building in teaching learning process. The student love of learning and the student perseverance predicting student character were not supported in this research. The student prudence supported the student character. SEM measurement showed that the model promoted in this study is a fit model. This study gives a practical contribution by showing that character building in teaching learning process can improve the level of student noble characters by supplying a model for student character. Using this model, the students' positive characters can be improved to prevent student moral decline. This study can address the students’ positive attitudes through the model of study results.
A simple groundwater scheme in the TRIP river routing model: global off-line evaluation against GRACE terrestrial water storage estimates and observed river discharges

Groundwater is a non-negligible component of the global hydrological cycle, and its interaction with overlying unsaturated zones can influence water and energy fluxes between the land surface and the atmosphere. Despite its importance, groundwater is not yet represented in most climate models. In this paper, the simple groundwater scheme implemented in the Total Runoff Integrating Pathways (TRIP) river routing model is applied in off-line mode at global scale using a 0.5° model resolution. The simulated river discharges are evaluated against a large dataset of about 3500 gauging stations compiled from the Global Data Runoff Center (GRDC) and other sources, while the terrestrial water storage (TWS) variations derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission help to evaluate the simulated TWS. The forcing fields (surface runoff and deep drainage) come from an independent simulation of the Interactions between Soil-Biosphere-Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface model covering the period from 1950 to 2008. Results show that groundwater improves the efficiency scores for about 70% of the gauging stations and deteriorates them for 15%. The simulated TWS are also in better agreement with the GRACE estimates. These results are mainly explained by the lag introduced by the low-frequency variations of groundwater, which tend to shift and smooth the simulated river discharges and TWS. A sensitivity study on the global precipitation forcing used in ISBA to produce the forcing fields is also proposed. It shows that the groundwater scheme is not influenced by the uncertainties in precipitation data.
Effects of Spark Plasma Sintering on Binary Diffusion of Beta Phase Ti-Nb

Author(s): Middleton, Stoney | Advisor(s): Lavernia, Enrique J | Abstract: Interest in titanium for mass-scale applications has driven an exploration for rapid, cost-effective consolidation of titanium powders. The effects of electric current and pressure on binary diffusion in beta phase titanium niobium are studied to enhance understanding of Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS), an advanced powder consolidation technology. Binary diffusion couples were annealed in the SPS system, as well as a custom-fabricated load-free furnace, for one hour to elucidate the influences of pressure and current at 1000, 1100, and 1150 C. The results show Ti-Nb interdiffusion coefficient dependence on composition, temperature, current, and pressure. Compared to published results, the activation energy for low concentration Nb, 10-22 at%, has shown to be reduced in the SPS by an average 38kJ/mol at 15MPa and 70kJ/mol at 80MPa. The effect on activation energy of direct current without pressure, at a similar current density as the SPS, shows an average decrease of 105kJ/mol. The possible mechanisms for these changes are discussed, and concepts for subsequent studies are provided.
Age distribution and MHC2 alfa variation in arctic charr from Lake Thingvallavatn

Salvelinus alpinus, also referred as Arctic charr, is a freshwater salmonid that inhabits the circumpolar region. One of the most remarkable features associated with this species is the amazing variability in different aspects concerning their morphology, life history and behavior. Although four different morphs coexist in Lake Thingvallavatn Iceland (two limnetic and two benthic), this research has dealt with two of them: Planktivorous (PL) and small benthic (SB), limnetic and benthic respectively. Nonetheless, it will be mainly focused on PL morph, especially on the characterization of MHCIIα gene in this population. MHCIIα (Major histocompatibility complex II α chain) can be used as a marker of divergence between morphs due to the high rate of polymorphism it shows. In this case, we will focus on two alleles, named as allele A and allele B. Different frequencies of these two alleles are being observed within and between both, PL and SB populations. Samples used in this study come from Lake Thingvallavatn, and they belong to different years (2004, 2010 and 2011). To determine the age of the fish, otoliths were scored. Pictures were taken in order to differentiate between morphs according to phenotypic features described in other studies. DNA isolation, MHCIIα region amplification by PCR and DNA sequences were obtained. I wanted to test if the genotype distribution of allele A and B in PL population were related to age. Also, I tested for a correlation between the presence of allele B on PL population and the age. In conclusion, this study shows that allele A frequency differs between morphs (SB and PL). However, a negative (but not significant correlation) may exist between allele B frequency and age, which may suggests selection against this allele on PL populations.