Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coastal Erosion Along the Egyptian Delta

Since construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964, there has been concern that the Egyptian coastline along the Medlterranean Sea would suffer from increased erosion. The dam effectively stopped the supply of sediment carried by the River Nile to the Mediterranean and so left the coastline without a shore building capability. Through analysis of satellite images, the morphometry of the coastline along the Egyptian Medlterranean has been studied. Landsat Images acquired in 1973, 1978 and 1984 were compared wIth topographic maps from the 1930's and other historical references to the shoreline. Although coastal erosion is a serious problem along the Egyptian Mediterranean Coast, it is localized at specific areas. These areas have undergone slow to moderate erosion since the turn of this century as a result of natural decrease of the River Nile flow and as a result of increased number of structures across the Nile. In a post High Dam phase, these areas eroded at accelerated rates (3-5 times the rates before the Dam). However, a major part of the coastline seems to have survived and has not changed radically since construction of the High Dam.
Young Mothers Produce More Chromosomal Syndrome Babies in Mysore, South India

Abstract Chromosomal syndromes contribute significantly to reproductive failure, birth defects, mental retardation, delayed puberty, and hermaphrodites in humans. It has been estimated that at least 5% of all human conceptions are aneuploids, most of them resulting in pregnancy loss. The well-established factor to produce babies with chromosomal syndromes is advanced age of mothers. However, in India, more of young mothers give birth to babies with chromosomal syndromes. The present study has been attempted to investigate the possible causes. A total of 175 children with chromosomal aneuploidy and 300 controls were screened for cytogenetic investigation from major hospitals of Mysore city. Genetic register was established, pedigree was constructed and degree of consanguinity was studied for the cases where parental consanguinity was evident. Cytogenetic and statistical analysis were carried out using logistic regression. Logistic regression of case-control study of babies with chromosomal aneuploidy revealed that the odds ratio was significant for advanced father and maternal grandmother’s age when all the variables were used together. The effect of age of father and age of maternal grandmother were increased in odds by 16% and 46% per extra year respectively. Along with the established risk factors like advanced age of parents, maternal grandmother’s age is also the potential possible risk factor for the manifestation of babies with chromosomal aneuploidy in young mothers.
The Influence of Cognitive Dimensions on the Consumer-SME Relationship: A Sustainability-Oriented View

While companies are investing increasingly in sustainability measures, the effects of firms’ sustainability actions on consumer perceptions should not be taken for granted and deserve to be investigated. By adopting the interpretative lens of consumer culture theory, this paper defines a set of cognitive dimensions which can describe consumer perceptions of sustainability actions and the behaviors of small–medium enterprises (SMEs), with the aim of identifying the relationships between firms’ sustainability actions and the economic performance of SMEs. To this extent, the cognitive dimensions proposed by Green & Petre (1996) are re-elaborated to define a set of customer cognitive dimensions in the sustainability domain (resilience, wholeness, mapping, coding, and engagement). Thus, the relationships between SMEs’ sustainability actions and behaviors, the defined cognitive influencers and SME performance is empirically tested. In particular, a survey of a sample of 1137 customers of 175 Italian SMEs is analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The findings show that the adoption of certain sustainability actions influences consumer perceptions, which in turn impacts the economic performance of SMEs.
Return prediction in small capitalization companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

This report analyzes return prediction in small capitalization companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange over the period from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2015. Well-established fundamental company characteristics and additional small capitalization specific characteristics were regressed against the returns of 104 small capitalization companies. The results show contrary predictability than what is seen in prior studies, which focused on larger companies. The results highlight the difference in the nature of returns earned by small caps and provide insight into unique predictive characteristics that can be used by investors and analysts of small capitalization companies.
Relative dispersion in the subsurface North Atlantic

Pair statistics are calculated for subsurface floats in the North Atlantic. The relative diffusivity (the derivative of the mean square particle separation) is approximately constant at large scales in both eastern and western basins, though the implied scale of the energy-containing eddies is greater in the west. But the behavior at times soon after pair deployment is quite different in the two basins; in the west the diffusivity grows approximately as distance to the 4/3 power, consistent with an inverse turbulent cascade of energy (or possibly of mixing superimposed on a mean shear), but in the east the diffusivity grows more slowly, as for instance in simple stochastic systems. Exponential stretching, expected in an enstrophy cascade, is not resolved in any region; however, this may reflect only that the present pair separations are too large initially.
EFFECT OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS ON NUTRIENT CONTENT AND UPTAKE IN DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF AFRICAN MARIGOLD (TAGETES ERECTA L.)

The experiment on effects of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrition on African marigold was conducted to ascertain nutrient content and uptake by different varieties. The results revealed that NPK content and uptake of plant was significantly increased in proportion to the supply of their respective element (N at 200 and P at 150 kg ha-1) at all stages of growth except, K content was not influenced by different P rates. The content and uptake of nutrients was decreased with age of plant. The variety Pusa Narangi (V 3 ) uptake maximum amount of NPK at 90 DAT (full bloom stage) i.e. 72.24, 19.56 and 98.51 kg ha -1 , respectively by followed by Pusa Basanti (V 2 ). The highest phosphorus uptake was recorded with the treatment combination N3P3V3 (24.96 and 20.54 kg ha -1 at 90 DAT and final harvest stage) which was at par with N 3 P 3 V 2 and N 2 P 3 V 2 .
Seasonal Changes and Treatment Effects on Soil Inorganic Nutrients Following a Decade of Fertilizer Addition in a Lowland Tropical Forest Forest , Range & Wildland Soils

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 77:1357–1369 doi:10.2136/sssaj2012.0128 Received 13 Apr. 2012. *Corresponding author (TurnerBL@si.edu). © Soil Science Society of America, 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher. Seasonal Changes and Treatment Effects on Soil Inorganic Nutrients Following a Decade of Fertilizer Addition in a Lowland Tropical Forest Forest, Range & Wildland Soils
The accuracy of spread decomposition models in capturing informed trades: Evidence from the London Stock Exchange and behavioural implications

The purpose of this paper is to examine the empirical relationship between trades undertaken by informed agents (managers) and the proxies for informed trades computed by bid-ask spread decomposition models. ,An econometric application of spread decomposition models to data from the London Stock Exchange, with an examination of whether the model predictions are co-integrated with actual outcomes. ,The authors find overwhelming evidence of non-stationary behaviour between the actual and predicted informed trade prices. The findings suggest that there is a clear need for an alternative to extant spread decomposition models perhaps incorporating findings from behavioural finance. ,Given the importance of stock market liquidity and the extensive use of spread decomposition models in predicting informed trades, the authors believe that the research conducted in the paper is an important contribution to the market microstructure literature.
The impact of earnings on the transition to fatherhood

Previous research on socioeconomic determinants of male fertility has found a positive impact of educational attainment on first birth rate. Both higher earnings potential and more gender egalitarian attitudes are expected to make men with higher educational attainment more attractive as partners and thus more likely to have a first child. To distinguish the impact of earnings potential from the impact of attitudes and values, this study uses observed annual earnings as a proxy for earnings potential. Hazard regressions are estimated on highly accurate registry data, covering all Norwegian men born 1955-1988 who are at risk of having a first child in the period 1975-2009. Results show that the yearly first birth rate increases monotonously with earnings quintile. Being in the 5th earnings quintile more than doubles yearly first birth rate compared to being in the 1st earnings quintile. The estimates for educational attainment decrease substantially when observed annual earnings are included in the model, indicating that differentials in earnings potential at least partly explains the impact of educational attainment on first birth rates. The results indicate that the impact of earnings on first birth rate is stable throughout the observation period, despite fathers’ stronger involvement in child care and house work and women’s increasing labour force participation.
Performance of an improved manual cassava harvesting tool as influenced by planting position and cassava variety

Cassava has become an important food security crop in Ghana over the years and in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa; making it the single most important source of dietary energy. Harvesting, one of the serious bottlenecks in the cassava production value chain, has received little attention in terms of mechanisation. Earlier attempts at mechanising cassava harvesting have been challenged mainly by inappropriate method of planting, field topography and scale of cultivation. The objective of this study was to field evaluate the efficiency of an improved manual cassava harvesting tool under three different planting positions for four cassava varieties in terms of field capacity, level of drudgery and root tuber damage. Force requirement in uprooting different cassava varieties was also determined. The study was conducted at the research field of Crops Research Institute, Fumesua. Field capacity of improved manual harvesting tool ranged from 49.9 to 156 man-h/ha, root tuber breakage from 4.32 to 19.55% and harvesting energy consumption ranging from 470.34 to 773.72 W across cassava varieties and planting positions. Nkabom cassava variety was easiest in uprooting, irrespective of planting position while Sikabankye variety offered the best in terms of root tuber damage and drudgery. Again, it was faster harvesting vertically planted cassava though cassava planted slanted offered the least root tuber breakage and drudgery, regardless of cassava variety. Cassava uprooting force ranged from 86.8 to 143.3 kg, rooting depth from 22.39 to 26.86 cm and cassava yield per plant ranging from 5.84 to 13.14 kg. Further research to identify the relationship between uprooting force requirement and some cassava agronomic parameters is recommended. Key words: Cassava, field capacity, drudgery, planting position, tuber breakage, uprooting force.
Title Misaligned feeding impairs memories Permalink

Robust sleep/wake rhythms are important for health and cognitive function. Unfortunately, many people are living in an environment where their circadian system is challenged by inappropriate mealor work-times. Here we scheduled food access to the sleep time and examined the impact on learning and memory in mice. Under these conditions, we demonstrate that the molecular clock in the master pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), is unaltered while the molecular clock in the hippocampus is synchronized by the timing of food availability. This chronic circadian misalignment causes reduced hippocampal long term potentiation and total CREB expression. Importantly this mis-timed feeding resulted in dramatic deficits in hippocampaldependent learning and memory. Our findings suggest that the timing of meals have far-reaching effects on hippocampal physiology and learned behaviour. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.09460. 001
Ultrasound-assisted extraction of polyphenols from Thymus serpyllum and its antioxidant activity

The present study was designed to establish and optimize a method for extracting natural bioactive compounds from Thymus serpyllum which possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, antispasmotic and stimulant properties. Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) is a well-established method in the processing of plant material, particularly for extraction of bioactive substances such as polyphenols. The influential factors including extraction time (3, 7 and 10 minutes), solid:solvent ratio (1:10, 1:20 and 1:30) and particle size (0.3, 0.7 and 1.5 mm), have been studied to optimize the extraction process, while using 30% ethanol as an extraction medium and amplitude set to 65%. The yield of UAE was expressed via total phenol content and antioxidant activity of the obtained extracts. The optimum process paremeters were found to be: extraction time, 3 min; solid:solvent ratio, 1:30; particle size, 0.3 mm. Under these conditions, the yield of total polyphenols was raised up to 23.03 mg/L GA and the highest antioxidant activity was recorded (10.32 mmol/mg Trolox and IC50 3.00 mg/ml). [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 46010 i br. 46013]
The Environment in the Process of Differentiation of New Social Fractions in Depopulated Areas of Spain: Key environmental considerations in the way from big cities to extreme rural areas

The environmental factors present a strong relevance in the analysis of the rural areas in the western European countries and United States of America. An aspect with few studies in this research sphere is the relevance of the environmental dimension in the social change in rural areas and in the constitution of new social fractions. The present contribution study, in comparative and conceptual perspective, the environmental considerations in the constitution of new social fractions, associated with counterurbanization process.
MANIFEST instrument concept and related technologies

The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) has recently completed a feasibility study for a fiber-positioner facility proposed for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), called MANIFEST (the Many Instrument Fiber System). The MANIFEST instrument takes full advantage of the wide-field focal plane to efficiently feed other instruments. About 2000 individually deployable fiber units are envisaged, with a wide variety of aperture types (single-aperture, image- or pupil-slicing, IFU). MANIFEST allows (a) full use of the GMT's 20' field-of-view, (b) a multiplexed IFU capability, (c) greatly increased spectral resolution via image-slicing, (d) the possibility of OH-suppression in the near-infrared.
Gamelets Providing diegetic elements through injection into digital children's books

Tablets and smart phones using touch interfaces are becoming more and more common. New ideas and applications are brought to life every day, making daily use of computers more ubiquitous. With this new technology comes the possibility to read not only the news, but to read literature in new ways. The possibility with hypermedia means that narratives can be told using not only the text, but also with animation and interactable computer graphics and sound. In this thesis the idea of using gamelets are discussed. Gamelets are interactions and smaller games used within digital books in order to support the diegesis and add to the experience provided by a book. Several proof of concept prototypes was designed and implemented in order to analyze and create suggestions on what to consider when designing for an already existing narrative. These suggestions that can help utilize the modern technology in order to affect(or not affect) the existing narrative.
Cooperative governance and social performance of cooperative societies

Abstract The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between cooperative governance and non-financial performance of cooperative societies in Uganda. The study used cross-sectional design and data were collected from 293 cooperative societies in Uganda. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to develop measurement model and test statistical modeling. The findings revealed a significant and positive relationship between monitoring rights and social performance. Besides, there was also a significant and positive relationship between innovation and social performance. However, the relationship between ratification of management decisions and social performance, and policy compliance and social performance was not statistically significant. Overall, cooperative governance was a good predictor of social performance. The paper contributes to the literature by identifying predictors of social performance in cooperative societies from a developing country perspective.
Body size and host plant specialization: a relationship from a community of herbivorous insects on Ficus from Papua New Guinea

The relationships between body size and host specificity were studied in leaf-chewing and sap-sucking insect communities, including 792 species, feeding locally on 15 species of Ficus in a lowland rain forest in Papua New Guinea. A negative correlation between body size and host specificity, i.e., the tendency for large species to feed on numerous Ficus hosts and those smaller to have a more restricted host range, was found within both the sap-sucking and the leaf-chewing community. A more detailed analysis, which divided herbivorous species into three sap-sucking and four leaf-chewing guilds, revealed that the correlation between body size and host specificity was caused by differences in these traits between the guilds, while no such correlation was detected within any of the guilds. As the changes in feeding mode, defining various guilds, were unique evolutionary events, it is uncertain whether there is a functional relationship between feeding mode, body size and host specificity, or whether their correlation is only coincidental. It is suggested that, in the sap-sucking community at least, the positive body size versus host specificity correlation is a coincidental by-product of the causal relationship between the feeding mode and both the body size and host specificity. The causes of analogous patterns in a leaf-chewing community require further investigation. Methodological problems in the analysis of tropical insect communities, dominated by rare species, are discussed.
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha 308 G/A polymorphism and type 2 diabetes mellitus; a systematic review and meta-analysis

Context: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a multi-factorial disease with several genetic and environmental factors known to be associated with the disease. Tumor necrosis factoralpha (TNF-α) acts on fat cells associated with increased insulin resistance and obesity and its increase can be associated with the prevalence of T2DM. Previous studies on the relationship between 308 G/A polymorphism in TNF-α and T2DM were not conclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between 308 G/A polymorphism in TNF-α gene and T2DM using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evidence Acquisitions: In this systematic review we searched all published studies about the association between TNF 308 G/A polymorphism and T2DM through databases such as Scopus, Science direct, PubMed and Google scholar. A fixed or random effect model was used on the basis of heterogeneity. The heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 index. We used STATA software (version 11.2) for data analysis. Results: In 22 selected papers, the total number of T2DM and control subject was 8485 and 8615, respectively. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals(CI) for the GG genotype polymorphism 308 G/A in total, Asian populations and whites (Caucasian) were estimated as OR=0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-1.00), OR=0.96 (95% CI: 0.93 to 0.99) and OR=1.00 (95% CI: 0.97 to 1.40). The Publication Bias/or heterogeneity was observed in this study. Conclusions: The present investigation have shown that 308 G/A polymorphism GG and GA genotypes in TNF-α gene cannot be considered as predictors of T2DM (P<0.05).
Interactive comment on “ Temporal dynamics of hydrological threshold events ” by G . S . McGrath et al .

After reading the abstract of this paper the first time, I though this should be a really interesting paper. However, I have to admit, that I am now a bit disappointed with the paper after better understanding the details and assumptions behind this paper. In general, the paper is well written, the methods and results well structured and developed. As the other reviewers have already pointed out, the paper is quite technically dense, but even without understanding the mathematical details, the reader can still follow most of the results and derivations. However, there are some points that I think need to be addressed before the paper is published in HESS:
Sex-mediated herbivory by galling insects on Baccharis concinna (Asteraceae)

The interaction patterns between the dioecious shrub Baccharis concinna Barroso (Asteraceae) and its speciose galling insect community were studied in southeastern Brazil. Two hypotheses were tested in this study: "the differential reproduction and growth hypothesis" that predicts that male plants present fewer reproductive structures and are larger than female plants; and the 'sex-biased herbivory hypothesis' that predicts that male plants support a larger abundance of insect galls than female plants. Plants did not show sexual dimorphism in growth (= mean leaf number). However, male plants had longer shoots and a lower average number of inflorescences than female plants. These results corroborate the hypothesis that male plants grow more and reproduce less than female plants. No statistically significant difference was found in the number of galls between male and female plants, but a sex by environmental effect on gall number was detected. When each species of galling insect was individually analyzed per population of the host plant, the rates of attack varied between sex and population of the host plant, and they were highly variable among the species of galling insects. These results highlight the importance of the interaction between sex and environment in the community structure of galling insects and indicate that other variables besides host sex may influence the patterns of attack by galling herbivores.