Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Agronomic performance of sugarcane cultivated under different amounts of sugarcane straw on the soil surface

Mechanized harvesting has become increasingly common in the sugarcane production system. The sugarcane straw removed by mechanical harvesting could be converted into ethanol or be used to generate electricity by burning the material. At the same time, it is important to determine the amount of biomass that could be removed from the soil surface without damage to the cane crop. The agronomic performance of sugarcane was evaluated by growing the variety RB92579 under different amounts of sugarcane straw on the soil surface, in the first and second years of cane crop growth. An experimental randomized block in a split-plot design was used with four replications. In the first year the plots received five amounts of straw (0.0, 4.5, 9.0, 13.5, and 18 Mg ha-1), and six assessments (60, 120, 180, 240, 300, and 360 days after planting) were made in the subplots. In the second year, the plots received the same amount of straw and four assessments (60, 120, 240, and 540 days after the regrowth) in the subplots. Biometric indexes, components of production, and crop yield were evaluated. The data were submitted to variance analysis and polynomial regression (p < 0.05). Increasing amounts of sugarcane straw deposited on the soil surface reduced the number and diameter of stalks at the beginning of crop establishment and the number of leaves for the first year. The maximum productivity of stalks was achieved by maintaining on the soil surface 9.6 Mg ha-1 of straw in the first year and 4.7 Mg ha-1 of straw in the second year of cane crop production.
Robust nested sliding mode integral control for anti-lock brake system

An integral nested Sliding Mode (SM) block control is proposed to control an Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) by employing integral SM and nested SM concepts. The control problem is to achieve reference tracking for the slip rate, in such a way that the friction between the tyre and the road surface is good enough to control the car. The closed-loop system is robust in the presence of matched and unmatched perturbations. To show the performance of the proposed control strategy, a simulation study is carried on, where results show good behaviour of the ABS under variations in the road friction.
Biomass production and grain yield of three sorghum lines differing in drought resistance

El objetivo de este estudio fue determinar la eficiencia en los criterios de clasificacion para sequia, reportados previamente en genotipos de sorgo para grano. Dos genotipos de sorgo [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] tolerantes (UAT-124 y UAT-152) y uno sus - ceptible (UAT-30) fueron sometidos a sequia bajo condiciones de invernadero cuando se encontraban en las etapas de iniciacion de la panoja, hoja bandera y floracion. Los resultados mostraron que el efecto de la sequia dependio de la etapa en la que ocurrio el estres durante el desarrollo. La biomasa de los tres genotipos de sorgo fue significativamente reducida por la sequia en la etapa de hoja bandera (48%), aunque la reduccion mas significativa ocurrio en el genotipo susceptible UAT-30 (71%). Los resultados mostraron que la acumu - lacion de biomasa para UAT-124 y UAT-30 coincidio fuertemente con la clasificacion previa para la tolerancia a la sequia, aunque esto no fue congruente para UAT-152. El estres por sequia redujo el ren - dimiento de grano significativamente en todos los genotipos, cuando este fue aplicado en la etapa de hoja bandera (24%) y floracion (28%), pero no en la iniciacion de la panoja. Los genotipos resistentes y el susceptible tuvieron la misma respuesta en terminos del rendimiento de grano, cuando el estres fue aplicado en cualquiera de las tres etapas fenologicas. Los resultados indicaron que la respuesta de los geno - tipos fue inconsistente con su clasificacion inicial. La identificacion de genotipos de sorgo en tolerantes y susceptibles se deberia hacer aplicando el estres hidrico en la etapa mas susceptible del desarrollo, la hoja bandera; y la seleccion debe estar basada en la biomasa, el rendimiento de grano y el area foliar
Pathogenicity of isolates of beauveria bassiana to the banana weevil

Bananas constitute a major staple food crop for millions of people in developing countries, providing energy as well as important vitamins and minerals. Its production in Kenya has been on the decline due to, among other factors, pests and disease of which the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus, is the most important. The aim of this study was to screen ten isolates of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana for pathogencity against C.sordidus. Twenty weevils were inoculated with the fungus by dipping them into a fungal suspension containing 1x108 conidia ml-1 for 11 seconds. The suspension was then drained out and pieces of banana corm introduced as food for the weevils. All the ten isolates of B. bassiana tested were found to be pathogenic to adult banana weevil causing mortalities of between 20-50% by 40 days post exposure. ICIPE 273 was the most pathogenic isolate killing 50% of adults, followed by M313 at 36% and M207 at 30%. Isolates KE300, M221, ICIPE 50, M573, M618, M470 and ICIPE 279 killed less than 30% of the weevils, ICIPE 279 was the least pathogenic isolate to the adult C. sordidus killing 6% of the inoculated weevils. The dead weevils were incubated in sterile moist filter papers in Petri dishes for two weeks and fungal mycelia was observed on the surface of the weevils starting from intersegmental junctions. Mortality caused by fungus was confirmed by microscopic examination. Since isolate ICIPE 273 has reasonable pathogenicity to C.sordidus and field/screenhouse studies are recommended to validate the findings.
Dealing with Change in Hong Kong Schools Using Strategic Thinking Skills.

This paper reports an investigation into the strategic thinking skills of school leaders in Hong Kong. By adapting the Strategic Thinking Questionnaire in the school context and based on data self-reported from 543 Hong Kong school leaders, three cognitive capabilities with strategic thinking were identified: reflection, systems thinking and reframing. The study determined that (a) the use of the strategic thinking could distinguish between more and less successful leaders, (b) school leaders’ understandings of system dynamics had significant effects leadership effectiveness, and (c) while systems thinking explained much of the variance in the success variable, there was a cumulative impact of the use of all three capabilities. These findings have implications for training, professional development, and selection of aspiring leaders.
ON THE RADIUS ANOMALY OF HOT JUPITERS: REEXAMINATION OF THE POSSIBILITY AND IMPACT OF LAYERED CONVECTION

Observations have revealed that a significant number of hot Jupiters have anomalously large radii. Layered convection induced by compositional inhomogeneity has been proposed to account for the radius anomaly of hot Jupiters. To reexamine the impact of the compositional inhomogeneity, we perform an evolutionary calculation by determining the convection regime at each evolutionary time step according to the criteria from linear analyses. It is shown that the impact is limited in the case of the monotonic gradient of heavy-element abundance. The layered convection is absent for the first 1 Gyr from the formation of hot Jupiters, and instead overturning convection develops. The superadiabaticity of the temperature gradient is limited by the neutrally stable state for the Ledoux stability criterion. The effect of the increased mass of heavy elements essentially compensates the effect of the delayed contraction on the planetary radius caused by compositional inhomogeneity. In addition, even in the case where the layered convection is artificially imposed, this mechanism requires extremely thin layers (∼101–103 cm) to account for the observed radius anomaly. The long-term stability of such thin layers remains to be studied. Therefore, if the criteria adopted in this paper are adequate, it might be difficult to explain the inflated radii of hot Jupiters by the monotonic gradient of heavy-element abundance alone.
LIMIT C*-ALGEBRAS ASSOCIATED WITH AN AUTOMORPHISM

We present and study $C^*$-algebras generated by "periodic weighted creation operators" on the Fock space associated with an automorphism $\alpha$ on a $C^*$-algebra $A$. These algebras can be viewed as generalized Bunce-Deddens algebras associated with the automorphism and can be written as a certain direct limit. We prove a crossed product presentation for such an algebra and find a necessary and sufficient condition for it to be simple. In the case where the automorphism is induced by an irrational rotation (on C(T)) we compute the K-theory groups and obtain a complete classification of these algebras.
Fear of Gender Favoritism and Vote Choice during the 2008 Presidential Primaries

It has long been suggested that gender stereotyping undercuts support for female candidates, yet a growing number of studies—including several analyses of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign—find limited evidence of such effects. By contrast, I find consistent evidence of voter gender bias using an alternative approach based on perceptions of group favoritism. Using new survey measures included on a nationally representative panel survey fielded during the 2008 US presidential primaries, I find that many citizens perceive female elected officials as likely to steer government resources toward women, a behavior that most evaluate negatively. Moreover, fear of gender favoritism predicts opposition to Clinton throughout the 2008 Democratic primary campaign, as well as in a hypothetical general election matchup with the Republican nominee.
The influence of soil water content on root density in young olive trees.

Minirhizotrons were used to observe, throughout the annual cycle, the root length density (RLD, cm cm -3 ) of fine roots in young olive trees (Olea europaea L., cv. Coratina) grown in irrigated and rainfed conditions. The trial was carried out in a semi-arid Mediterranean environment of Southern Italy. The root length density at different depths and distances from the trunk was examined during winter rest, flowering, and pit hardening. Results proved that RLD of irrigated trees was always higher than that shown by the non-irrigated ones, except at the end of July, when heavy rainfall wetted the soil surface layers stimulating root activity in the rainfed plants. Irrigated trees, differently from plants grown under rainfed conditions, showed a root density peak during the winter rest. Root growth pattern was also affected by the sink-source competition occurring throughout the annual season.
Multi-transitional observations of methanol in Comet Hale-Bopp (1995 O1)

We have observed 9 rotational lines of methanol in comet Hale-Bopp (1995 O1) using the 45-m radio telescope at Nobeyama Radio Observatory in the frequency range 36-104 GHz. The observed transitions have upper state rotational energy levels of Eu= 7-159 K. Assuming the Haser model for density distribution, we estimated the excitation temperature and the production rate to be Tex = 81 8Ka ndQ(CH3OH)= (1:2 0:1) 10 29 molecule s 1 , respectively. We also observed the HCN J = 1 0 line at 88 GHz to derive the HCN production rate. We compared the production rate of CH3OH with that of HCN and that of other molecules whose production rates have been determined previously. The abundance ratio Q(CH3OH)/Q(X) is estimated to be in the range 3-121, where X denotes HCN, HNC, H2CO, CS and CH3CN. When we com- pare these abundance ratios with those in interstellar clouds: the bipolar flow L1157 B1/B2, the star-forming region SgrB2(M) and the dark cloud TMC-1, they are close to the values in L1157 B1/B2 or in SgrB2(M). We found that the abundance ratio Q(CH3OH)/Q(H2O) was similar to solid methanol ratio relative to water ice in interstellar medium. These results support the hypothesis that cometary nuclei are formed from dust grains outside of the primordial solar nebula so that the grain composition of the nebula remains in cometary nuclei.
Biosecurity in Agriculture: An Economic Analysis of Coexistence of Professional and Hobby Production

One component of biosecurity is protection against invasive alien species, which are one of the most important threats worldwide to native biodiversity and economic profitability in various sectors, including agriculture. However, agricultural producers are not homogeneous. They may have different objectives and priorities, use different technologies, and occupy heterogeneous parcels of land. If the producers differ in terms of their attitude towards invasive pests and the damages they cause, there are probably external effects in the form of pest spread impacts and subsequent damages caused. We study such impacts in the case of two producer types: profit-seeking professional producers and utility-seeking hobby producers. We show that the hobby producer, having first set a breeding ground for the pest, under-invests in pest control. We also discuss potential policy instruments to correct this market failure and highlight the importance of considering different stakeholders and their heterogeneous incentives when designing policies to control invasive alien species.
SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS AND PLANT REGENERATION FROM AN ELITE TROPICAL MAIZE INBRED LINE

ABSTRACT – The improvement of tropical maize inbred lines by genetic transformation techniques remains a difficult task since not all genotypes are capable of regenerating efficiently in vitro. The objective of this study was to evaluate three different callus induction media, based on N6 or MS salts containing either 2,4-D (0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 30.0 mg .L-1) or Dicamba (0; 0.25; 0.5; 1.0; 2.0; 4.0 mg.l-1) in the production of embryogenic callus from immature zygotic embryos of the tropical maize inbred line L3. Callus maturation was tested in MS medium containing 60 g.L-1 sucrose and supplemented with different combinations of BAP (0; 0.1; 0.5; 1.0 mg.L-1), NAA (0; 1.0 mg.L-1) and CuSO4 (0; 1.25 mg.L-1). The L3 inbred line presented higher capacity for Type II callus formation on N6 medium content 10 mg.L-1 2,4-D. For the maturation of callus, absence of plant growth regulators and addition of CuSO4 allowed higher percentage of regeneration. The protocol developed presented 85% production of Type II embryogenic callus and 45% plant regeneration. Keywords: 2,4-D, dicamba, embryogenic callus, Zea mays. EMBRIOGENESE SOMATICA E REGENERACAO DE PLANTAS A PARTIR DE UMA LINHAGEM DE MILHO TROPICAL ELITE RESUMO – O melhoramento de linhagens de milho tropical atraves de tecnicas de transformacao genetica continua a ser uma tarefa dificil uma vez que nem todos os genotipos sao capazes de regenerar eficientemente in vitro. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar tres meios diferentes para a inducao de calos embriogenicos, baseados em N6 ou MS sais contendo 2,4-D (0; 2,5; 5,0; 10,0; 15,0; 30,0 mg.L-1) ou Dicamba (0; 0,25 ; 0,5; 1,0; 2,0; 4,0 mg.l-1) na producao de calos embriogenicos a partir de embrioes zigoticos imaturos da linhagem de milho tropical elite L3. A maturacao dos calos foi testada em meio MS com 60 g.L-1 de sacarose suplementado com diferentes combinacoes de BAP (0; 0,1; 0,5; 1,0 mg.L-1), ANA (0; 1,0 mg.L-1) e CuSO4 (0; 1,25 mg L-1). A linhagem L3 apresentou alta capacidade para producao de calos do Tipo II em meio N6 contendo 10 mg.L-1 de 2,4-D. Para a maturacao dos calos, ausencia de reguladores de crescimento vegetal e adicao de CuSO4 possibilitou maior porcentagem de regeneracao. O protocolo desenvolvido apresenta producao de 85% de calos embriogenicos do Tipo II e 45% de regeneracao de plantas. Palavras-chave: 2,4-D, dicamba, calos embriogenicos, Zea mays
A New Method of Wave Mapping with HF Radar

Study of wave height inversion with High-Frequency Surface Wave Radars (HFSWRs) has been going on for more than 40 years. Various wave inversion methods have been proposed, and HFSWRs have achieved great success in local wave measurements. However, the method of wave mapping is still under development, especially for the broad-beam HF radars. Existing methods of wave mapping are based on narrow-beam radar with beamforming. This paper introduces a way of wave height inversion, using the ratio of the second-harmonic peak (SHP) to the Bragg peak (RSB). A new wave mapping method is proposed, which can be used in both narrow and broad-beam radars, according to the way of wave inversion based on the RSB. In addition, radar wave measurements at the buoy position are compared with the in situ buoy, which show a good agreement. At last, the results of wave mapping on the two-hour timescale are given.
Facets of chemical bonding that enhance or encumber conceptual understanding

Chemical bonding is a vast subject, rich in abstract concepts and advanced and less-advanced explanatory models that the learner has to master. In this context, the teaching of chemical bonding at the secondary school level is extremely important, as it has the potential to increase or hinder students’ further understanding of bonding. In the absence of firm knowledge and effective mental models of chemical bonding, it almost impossible to achieve significant results in any chemical field or application. In this work, which combines the pure chemistry of bonding with didactical studies, I have used database searches, questionnaires, interviews, and textbook analyses to investigate some of the more important aspect of chemical bonding. In the field of pure Science, bond length data have been analysed to ascertain the differences in bond strength between neutral and charged ligands in coordination compounds. While the bond strengths differ, the difference is not sufficiently large for the bonds to be classified as different types. In the didactical field, the conceptual models of students in South Africa and Sweden and underlying causes for these mind-sets, have been investigated. The results show that the different curricula and points of emphasis foster different patterns of understanding of the topic. One finding is that 55%–60% of the students exposed to any of the curricula have a molecular view of a salt that can be traced to visual representations of single ions or formula units of a salt. Therefore, it is important to understand how, when, and which models to use, in order to help students build a more advanced understanding of chemical bonding.
Pattern of Otological Diseases in School Going Children of Kathmandu Valley Padrão de Doenças Otológicas em Crianças em Idade Escolar do Vale do Kathmandu

Das 1.245 criancas, 64,0% eram meninos e 36,0% meninas. As doencas otologicas mais comuns eram cerumen (60,6%), seguido de otite media cronica supurativa (5,7%) e otite media com efusao (3,7%). As OMCSs eram 85,9% de tipo tubotimpânico. Doencas otologicas gerais estavam presentes em 75,7% das criancas. Conclusao: Existe uma alta prevalencia de doencas otologicas em criancas em idade escolar do Vale de Kathmandu. Sera necessario orientacao na area da saude, melhoria do status socio-economico e instalacoes de saude para a reducao da prevalencia de doencas otologicas. Palavras-chave: doencas otologicas, criancas em idade escolar, Kathmandu.
Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity under Financial Constraints Case of Tunisia

Is investment cash flow sensitivity an adequate measure of a firm’s financial constraints? The answer to thisquestion is an unresolved puzzle. This paper theoretically and empirically examines investment cash flowsensitivity and its ability to measure a firm's financial constraints. The empirical study focuses on an unbalancedpanel of 88 Tunisian firms observed over the 1997 to 2007 period.
Fourier methods for quasi‐periodic oscillations

Quasi‐periodic oscillations and invariant tori play an important role in the study of forced or coupled oscillators. This paper presents two new numerical methods for the investigation of quasi‐periodic oscillations. Both algorithms can be regarded as generalizations of the averaging and the harmonic (spectral) balance methods. The algorithms are easy to implement and require only minimal a priori knowledge of the system. Most importantly, the methods do not depend on an a priori co‐ordinate transformation. The methods are applied to a number of illustrative examples from non‐linear electrical engineering and the results show that the methods are efficient and reliable. In addition, these examples show that the presented algorithms can also continue through regions of sub‐harmonic (phase‐locked) resonance even though they are designed only for the quasi‐periodic case. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Replies to comments by Referee #1

The effect of an aerosol loading on solar radiation and further on photosynthesis is a relevant question for estimating climate feedback mechanisms. This effect is quantified in the present study using ground-based measurements from five remote sites in boreal and hemiboreal (coniferous and mixed) forests of Eurasia. The diffuse fraction of global radiation associated with the direct effect of aerosols, that is excluding the effect of clouds, increases with an increasing aerosol loading. The increase in the diffuse fraction of global radiation from approximately 0.11 on the days characterized by low aerosol loading 5 up to 0.2 0.27 pertaining to relatively high aerosol loading leads to the increase in gross primary production (GPP) at all sites by 6-14%. The largest increase in GPP (relative to the days with low aerosol loading) is observed for two types of ecosystems: a coniferous forest at the high latitudes and a mixed forest at the middle latitudes. For the former ecosystem the change in GPP due to relatively large increase in the diffuse radiation is compensated by the moderate increase in the light use efficiency. For the latter ecosystem, the increase in diffuse radiation is smaller for the same aerosol loading, but the smaller change in GPP 10 due to this relationship between radiation and aerosol loading is compensated by the higher increase in the light use efficiency. The dependency of GPP on the diffuse fraction of solar radiation has a weakly pronounced maximum related to clouds.
"They have kidnapped our river": Dam removal conflicts in catalonia and their relation to ecosystem services perceptions

River restoration is essential to guarantee access to ecosystem services provided by free-flowing rivers. One mechanism to restore rivers is the decommissioning of run-of-the-river dams, but restoration can create opposition as anthropised landscapes form part of the environmental history and imaginary. To facilitate decision-making, actorsʼ perceptions on ecosystem services for and against dam removal should be considered. We analyse perceptions on ecosystem services at two levels of study in Catalonia (Spain): the Catalan context and two local cases of dam removal in the Ter River Basin. Local case studies illustrate that combining participatory mapping and interviews makes contrasting values conspicuous and contributes to conflict understanding. Additionally, we acknowledge a dichotomy of perceptions between locals and outsiders, and the relevance of cultural values, environmental aesthetics, and history for actorsʼ positioning. We propose the engagement of local stakeholders at the basin level through participatory approaches for the sake of understanding water conflicts, as decision making will rarely achieve social sustainability without local support.