Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biodiversity and community structure of the mega-epibenthos in the Magellan region (South America)

Epibenthic communites have been investigated at 55 stations in the Magellan region by underwater photogra-phy at water depths between 15 and 430m. Five species assemblages were identified of which the two shallow and the two deep ones in the channel system differed considerably in abundance, number of taxa, diversity and species composition. The dominant systematic group of the shallow assemblages were ascidians. In one of these assemblages decapod crustaceans, in the other mainly sessile suspension feeders e.g. sponges, anthozoans and bryozoans were the characteristic taxa. In the deeper assemblages echinoderms were most abundant. The fifth assemblage, consisting of several offshore stations south of the eastern entrance of the Beagle, was more similar to the shallow stations in the channel system in terms of dominant life forms. Various hypotheses were confirmed or rejected: The benthos at the deeper stations in the channel system was not more homogeneous than at the shallow stations. At both the channel and the offshore stations filter feeders were most dominant whereas at the bottom of the channels deposit feeders were more abundant. Differences between the wide Straits of Magellan and the narrow and steep Beagle Channel were not very distinct. The benthic assemblages inside the channel system did not differ considerably from the assemblage outside the channel system with the exception of the stations close to the continental slope of the Atlantic. Differences due to Pacific or Atlantic influences were not recognisable. The biological patterns could best be explained by the environmental parameters water depth, occurrence of soft sediment and biogenic debris.
Post-traumatic stress disorder and treatment

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have been estimated to affect about 8 to 9% of the world population. Research has shown that PTSD occurs in 25% of persons who have been exposed to a traumatic stressor. It has occurred in 35-92% of those who have experienced rape, 65% of those who have endured a nonsexual assault, and 30% of Vietnam veterans. In 1980, the definition of PTSD was created and counsellors were at a loss of how to treat this disorder. Presently, treatment for this disorder is still being developed. This paper conducts a literature review on therapies for PTSD and available studies of their effectiveness. Most psychotherapies for PTSD focus on the reprocessing of traumatic memory, through cognitive or exposure strategies. These treatments include various cognitive behavioural therapies such as exposure therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), psychoanalytic, as well as multimodal combinations of therapies. Research has shown that some of these interventions have produced favourable results in providing relief of symptoms to victims of PTSD. The current discussion found that therapies such as cognitive and exposure have been successful in decreasing symptoms of PTSD; certain therapies were found to be more successful than others with clients who suffered from specific trauma-inducing events.
A Pragmatist Approach to Causality in Ethnography1

Drawing on early pragmatist theorizing, the authors propose three interrelated methodological activities for the construction of robust causal claims in ethnographic research. First, Charles S. Peirce’s semiotic approach offers ethnographers a useful foundation for a mechanism-based approach to causality by tracing iterations of meaning-making-in-action. Second, taking advantage of the structure of Peirce’s semiotics ethnographers can examine three forms of observed variation to distinguish regularly occurring causal sequences and temporally and spatially remote causal processes. Third, the authors emphasize that the standards to evaluate causal arguments—their plausibility and assessments of explanatory fit—are always made in relation to challenges provided within a disciplinary community of inquiry. The use-value of the pragmatic approach to causality is demonstrated with an explanation of the different reactions of parents and clinicians to positive newborn screening results.
Experimental study of attenuation and dispersion over a broad frequency range: 2. The universal scaling of polycrystalline materials

attenuation QE1 were measured accurately over a broad frequency range (10 −4 ≤ f (Hz) ≤ 2.15) and at low strain amplitude (10 −5 –10 −6 ). Creep experiments were performed with the same apparatus to measure the steady state viscosity. Anelasticity and viscosity were measured at high homologous temperatures (T =2 2 –48°C; T/Tm = 0.61–0.67) and various grain sizes (3–22 mm), the growth of which was controlled by annealing. Using the measured viscosities h and the unrelaxed modulus EU determined from ultrasonic experiments, the frequency of the entire data set was normalized by the Maxwell frequency fM = EU/h, resulting in E and Q −1 master curves. The Q −1 data from previous studies on olivine‐dominated samples also collapse onto the same curve when scaled by fM,, demonstrating the universality of anelasticity for polycrystalline materials. The similitude by the Maxwell frequency scaling indicates that the dominant mechanism for the anelasticity observed in this study and in previous studies is diffusionally accommodated grain boundary sliding. A generalized formulation for this similitude is provided to extrapolate the experimental data to velocity and attenuation of seismic shear waves.
Activity dependence of solar supergranular fractal dimension

We study the complexity of supergranular cells using the intensity patterns obtained at the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory during the solar maximum. Our data consist of visually identified supergranular cells, from which a fractal dimension D for supergranulation is obtained according to the relation P ∝ A D/2 , where A is the area and P the perimeter of the supergranular cells. We find a fractal dimension of about 1.12 for active region cells and about 1.25 for quiet region cells, a difference that could be attributed to the inhibiting effect of the magnetic field.
STABILITY IN LINEAR NEUTRAL LEVIN-NOHEL INTEGRO-DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

In this paper we use the contraction mapping theorem to obtain asymptotic stability results about the zero solution for the following linear neutral Levin-Nohel integro-differential equation x(t) + ∫ t t−τ(t) a(t, s)x(s)ds+ c(t)x(t− τ(t)) = 0. An asymptotic stability theorem with a necessary and sufficient condition is proved. In addition, the case of the equation with several delays is studied. The results obtained here extend the work of Dung [14]. In the end we provide an example to illustrate our claim. AMS Subject Classification: 34K20, 34K30, 34k40
The Economic Cost of Climate Change and the Benefits from Investments in Adaptation Options for Sri Lankan Coconut Value Chains

Agriculture in low latitude countries such as Sri Lanka is already operating at the maximum temperature limits for crop growth and face increased production risk from expected climate change. Sri Lanka is a developing country with limited economic and technological capacity to develop adaptation strategies; hence more vulnerable to climate change than developed countries. Coconut (Cocos nucifera L) is a rain fed perennial crop important in Sri Lankan culture, food consumption and the economy. It is the second most important food in the Sri Lankan diet after rice. Several studies have examined the impact of climate change on Sri Lankan agriculture, but none were conducted to simulate the impact of future climate change and future adaptation strategies on coconut production, or to calculate the economic welfare effects for different stakeholders in the coconut value chain. In this paper we report the development of an economic model of the coconut value chain that allows prediction of welfare impacts, and a quantitative representation of coconut yield that allows the impact of changing climatic conditions on yield. The average outcome of 16 climate models was used to generate future climatic conditions, with two future climatic scenarios for 2020, 2030 and 2050 considered for three production regions. The most important yield estimate was a yield decline of more than 10 percent in the wet zone with the expected increase of maximum temperature. Without extra adaptation measures this is predicted to result in a loss to the industry of 4,795 Rs.Million annually by 2020, which is nearly 4.7 percent of the total value of the industry at equilibrium. The negative impact of climate change has the potential to be reduced with the implementation of additional adaptation practices. However, the cost effectiveness of these practices needs to be considered in comparing the practices. Wider adoption of fertilizer application at specific times and moisture conservation practices are estimated to be economically beneficial.
Enriched cultivation of three wild strains of Lentinus tigrinus (Bull.) Fr.using agricultural wastes

Lentinus tigrinus, a wood-decaying species of macrofungi, is utilized as food by the indigenous Aeta tribes from Botolan, Zambales. In this study, the cultivation of this wild edible species using enriched media is reported. Results showed that mycelia grew best on coconut watergelatin medium. Unmilled rice seeds, corn grits seeds, and sorghum seeds were all suitable materials as spawning media for mycelial mass production. The best substrate formulation for the growth of L. tigrinus (ZB12MF03 and ZB12MF06) were 8+2 rice straw-sawdust enriched with 25g rice bran or 50g rice grits. One strain, L. tigrinus ZB12MF05, grew best on 8+2 rice straw-sawdust formulation enriched with 75g rice grits. This is the first report of enriched cultivation of L. tigrinus in the Philippines using agricultural wastes.
Association Mapping of Malting Quality Quantitative Trait Loci in Winter Barley: Positive Signals from Small Germplasm Arrays

Malting quality comprises one of the most economically relevant set of traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). It is a complex phenotype, expensive and difficult to measure, that would benefit from a marker‐assisted selection strategy. Malting quality is a target of the U.S. Barley Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) and development of winter habit malting barley varieties is a key objective of the U.S. barley research community. The objective of this work was to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for malting quality traits in a winter breeding program that is a component of the U.S. Barley CAP. We studied the association between five malting quality traits and 3072 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the barley oligonucleotide pool assay (BOPA) 1 and 2, assayed in advanced inbred lines from the Oregon State University (OSU) breeding program from three germplasm arrays (CAP I, CAP II, and CAP III). After comparing 16 models we selected a structured association model with posterior probabilities inferred from software STRUCTURE (QK) approach to use on all germplasm arrays. Most of the marker‐trait associations are germplasm‐ and environment‐specific and close to previously mapped genes and QTL relevant for malt and beer quality. We found alleles fixed by random genetic drift, novel unmasked alleles, and genetic‐background interaction. In a relatively small population size study we provide strong evidence for detecting true QTL.
Preliminary Phytochemical and Pharmacological Screenings of Plumbago indica L. and Alpinia conchigera Griff.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the phytochemical constituents, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, thrombolytic and CNS modulatory activities of the methanol, chloroform and n-hexane extracts of Plumbago indica L. and Alpinia conchigera Griff. The plants are used in the treatment of inflammations and fever in traditional systems of medicine in Bangladesh. Qualitative tests revealed that the crude extracts of the plants contain reducing sugars, steroids, alkaloids and flavonoids. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by means of protein denaturation and membrane stabilization assay. The methanol extract of P. indica and A. conchigera demonstrated inhibition of protein denaturation by 34.55 and 29.55% while their n-hexane soluble extract exhibited 46.87 and 37.21% inhibition of lysis of erythrocyte membrane, respectively which were considerable as compared to the standard drug acetyl salicylic acid. The methanol extract of P. indica and A. conchigera prominently reduced Brewer’s yeast-induced pyrexia which were close to the standard drug, paracetamol. A considerable thrombolytic activity was exhibited by the chloroform soluble extract of A. conchigera (48.27%) compared to the reference drug, streptokinase (72.13%) in red blood cell clot lysis test. The chloroform soluble materials of P. indica extract demonstrated noticeable reduction of CNS depression activity (63.52 % inhibition of locomotion), compared to reference drug diazepam (80.69 %) in open field experiment. The study justifies the medicinal applications of P. indica and A. conchigera in traditional systems and reveals the bioactivity of the plants which could be suitable for isolation and identification of the bioactive compounds.Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 17(1): 73-79, 2018 (June)
Improved Corporate Governance: Market Reaction and Liquidity Implications

We study the market price reaction and liquidity impact that firms experience when they are incorporated into the differentiated corporate governance listing segments of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange. The Brazilian market is of special interest since it allows us to analyze the effect of improved governance while keeping the market microstructure unchanged. The market price reaction is positive and significant when a firm announces its decision to commit to greater transparency and minority shareholder protection. We also find that shares with voting rights experience a stronger price reaction than non-voting shares.
Improving the Measurement of the Relationship between Opportunities and Income: Evidence from Longitudinal Data from Chile

type="main"> The relationship between exogenous circumstances faced in early childhood (opportunities) and earnings has been increasingly studied in the past decade. In this article we assess the sensitivity of this relationship to different income measures. Typically the empirical evidence is based on short-term income measures that suffer from variability and measurement error. Using longitudinal data from Chile, we find that when four- and seven-year earnings are used, the relationship between inequality of opportunity and income inequality is significantly higher than that obtained with yearly measures. Monte Carlo simulations with several data-generating processes confirm this result. This supports policies targeted to reduce long-term income inequality via providing equal opportunity to individuals at early stages in life.
Design‐based science and student learning

Design-Based Science (DBS) is a pedagogy in which the goal of designing an artifact contextualizes all curricular activities. Design is viewed as a vehicle through which scientific knowledge and real-world problem-solving skills can be constructed. Following Anderson and Hogan's (1999) call to document the design of new science pedagogies, this goal of this article is twofold: (a) to describe DBS, and (b) to evaluate whether significant science knowledge was constructed during consecutive enactments of three DBS units. In this study, 92 students participated in the consecutive enactments of three different DBS units. The development of their scientific knowledge was assessed through posters and models constructed during the curricular enactments and by identical pre- and post-instruction written tests. The posttests showed considerable gains compared with the pretests, while the models and posters show application of this newly constructed knowledge in solving a design problem. These positive results support efforts being made to restructure school science around inquiry-based curricula in general and design-based curricula in particular. 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 1081-1110, 2004
Multi-century tree-ring based reconstruction of the Neuquén River streamflow, northern Patagonia, Argentina

In most cases, gauged river flow records in southern South America extend for only a few decades, hampering the detection of long-term, decadal to centennial-scale cycles and trends. Long streamflow series can be reconstructed from tree-ring records, offering the opportunity of extending the limited hydrological instrumental data to several centuries. In northern Patagonia, Argentina, the Neuquen River has great importance for local and national socio-economic activities such as hydroelectric power generation, agriculture and tourism. In this study, new and updated tree-ring chronologies from Araucaria araucana and Austrocedrus chilensis are used to reconstruct the October–June mean streamflow for the Neuquen River and place the period of gauged flows (1903–2009), in a long-term, multi-century context. The reconstruction covers the period 1346–2000 AD and was developed from a network of 43 tree-ring chronologies, grouped in composite series, using a nested principal component regression approach. Analyses of the frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts and pluvial events indicate that the 20th century contains some of the driest and wettest annual to decadal-scale events in the last 654 yr, but longer and more severe events were recorded in previous centuries. Blackman-Tukey and singular spectral analyses identified quasiperiodic oscillations from 3.5 to 17.5 yr. A dominant 6.8-yr cycle explains ca. 23.6% of the total variance in the Neuquen River streamflow reconstruction. Correlation analyses showed that discharges of the Neuquen River are related to variations in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM), a measure of air mass exchanges between middle and high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. This association is consistent with previous studies that indicate a strong correlation between rainfall in northern Patagonia and SAM variations.
DETECTION OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION MANIPULATION BY AN ENSEMBLE-BASED MECHANISM

Complicated financial information manipulation, involving heightened offender knowledge of transactional procedures, can be damaging to the reputa- tions of corporations and the auditors, as well as cause serious turbulence in finan- cial markets. Unfortunately, most incidents of financial information manipulation involve higher level managers who are truly knowledgeable and comprehend the limitations of standard auditing procedures. Thus, there is an urgent need for ad- ditional detection mechanisms to prevent financial information manipulation. To address this problem, the author proposes an ensemble-based mechanism (EM) con- sisting of feature selection and extraction ensemble and extreme learning machine (ELM). The model not only counters the redundancy-removing problem, but also gives direction to auditors who need to allocate limited audit resources to abnor- mal client relationships during the auditing procedure and protect the CPA firms' reputation. The experimental results demonstrate that the model is a promising al- ternative for detecting financial information manipulation, and one that can ensure both the confidence of investors and the stability of financial markets.
Undocumented migrants' life situations: An exploratory analysis of quality of life and living conditions in a sample of undocumented migrants living in Norway.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To gather insight in conditions important to an understanding of undocumented migrants' life situations and more specifically to explore undocumented migrants' quality of life and how we can understand the various domains of quality of life related to demographics, living conditions, migration history and inflicted burden. BACKGROUND Undocumented migrants suffer from economic hardship and acculturative stress, limited psychological and social support and at the same time restricted access to health care and social welfare. DESIGN An exploratory mixed methods design using primarily quantitative data with a qualitative component was implemented. METHODS Sociodemographic data on 90 undocumented migrants were collected, and self-report questionnaires on quality of life and psychological distress were completed, supplemented by qualitative data obtained through interviews and additional qualitative questions. The STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies was used for reporting this study. RESULTS Quality of life in our group of undocumented migrants was poor. Leaving their home country because of war or persecution, hunger, having experienced abuse, homelessness and higher age were statistically significantly associated with poorer quality of life. Having membership in a local association and having a partner were statistically significantly associated with better quality of life. Qualitative data indicate that marginal living conditions, fear of death and suffering and conditions associated with dependency were the main components comprising the burden to our respondents, reflecting their precarious juridical status as undocumented migrants. CONCLUSION Our respondents' poor quality of life was related to the complex interplay between possible exposures to traumatic experiences before and during flight and post-migration traumatisation in relation to our respondents' experiences of economic, social and acculturative hardship in Norway. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Responses called for to improve undocumented migrants' quality of life and eliminate barriers to their health care appeal more to nurses as a professional group and to those in positions of authority than each individual nurse on duty.
Effect of Simulation on Students’ Achievement in Senior Secondary School Chemistry in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria.

The study investigated the effect of simulation on students’ achievement in senior secondary school chemistry in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The design of the study was quasi-experimental with specifically the pre-test and post-test. The sample of the study consisted of 159 senior secondary school I students (80 males and 79 females) randomly selected from two schools out of the secondary schools in Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The experimental group comprised of 39 males and 39 females (78 students) while the control had 41 males and 40 females (81 student). Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The achievement test in simulation (ATIS) was used to collect data on the student achievement. Means and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the t-test was used to test the hypotheses a 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that simulation increased students’ achievement in chemistry more than the conventional method. There was no significant different in the achievement of male and female students on the chemistry concepts. Based on the results it was recommended that chemistry teachers should be re-trained on the use of simulation in teaching while the government and stake holders in Education should sponsor the purchase of simulators to be used in teaching chemistry in schools. Key words: simulation, education, students’ achievement, chemistry, science and technology, National Policy on Education, gender, experimental and control groups.
IMPROVING FOUNDATIONAL MATH SKILLS IN STUDENTS WITH AUTISM USING VIRTUAL INSTRUCTION

ii Signatures . iii Dedication . iv Acknowledgements . v List of Tables . xii List of Figure. xiii Executive Summary . 1 Chapter 1 . 3 Introduction of the Problem of Practice . 3 Review of Literature . 4 Students with ASD . 5 Math Expectations in Students with ASD . 7 Math Skills Deficits . 9 Instructional Techniques . 12 Traditional Instructional Techniques . 12 Virtual Approaches to Teaching Mathematics to Students with ASD . 13 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework . 16 Learning Environment. 18 Motivation . 21 Student Focus . 23