Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Farm heterogeneity and agricultural policy impacts on size dynamics: evidence from France

This article investigates the impact of agricultural policies on structural change in farming. Since not all farmers may behave alike, a non-stationary mixed-Markov chain modeling (M-MCM) approach is applied to capture unobserved heterogeneity in the transition process of farms. A multinomial logit specification is used for transition probabilities and the parameters are estimated by the maximum likelihood method and the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm. An empirical application to an unbalanced panel dataset from 2000 to 2013 shows that French farming mainly consists of a mixture of two farm types characterized by specific transition processes. The main finding is that the impact of farm subsidies from both pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) highly depends on the farm type. A comparison between the non-stationary M-MCM and a homogeneous non-stationary MCM shows that the latter model leads to either overestimation or underestimation of the impact of agricultural policy on change in farm size. This suggests that more attention should be paid to both observed and unobserved farm heterogeneity in assessing the impact of agricultural policy on structural change in farming.
Study of acid treatment effect of a natural red clay onto physico-chemical and adsorption properties

The aim of this work is the study of phenol adsorption in aqueous medium onto raw red clay (RRC) and treated red clay (TRC) from the Drâa–Tafilalet region. The treated clay was obtained by two attacks, the first with hydrogen peroxide and the second with hydrochloric acid. The two samples were characterized by various physico-chemical methods, namely fluorescence-X, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller technique. These methods indicate that the clay is mainly composed of silica, and alumina, for which chemical treatment is justified by the elimination of carbonate and the increase in a special surface area from 40.962 for RRC to 64.264 for TRC. Phenol adsorption tests showed that equilibrium was reached after 200 min of agitation for adsor-bents at different temperatures (30°C, 40°C, and 50°C), with maximum adsorption yields equal to 3.53 for RRC and 4.88 for TRC. The non-linear modeling indicates that the pseudo-second-order model describes the adsorption kinetics. In contrast, the corresponding adsorption isotherms follow the Langmuir and Redlich–Peterson models for the two adsorbents. This shows that the adsorption is done initially on the monolayer and then moved on to the multilayer. FTIR and XRD analysis of the adsorbents after adsorption show that the phenol was adsorbed and penetrated into the interlayer space, resulting in an expansion of the interlayer space.
The impact of management control on the performance of large distribution companies in Morocco

This study investigates the impact of management control on the managerial performance of large-scale retail companies in Morocco, addressing a research gap in the local literature. Despite the considerable growth of the Moroccan retail sector, there is limited research on management control practices within this context. The research focuses on the implementation and effects of management control systems in the Moroccan retail industry, specifically examining their contribution to enhancing managerial performance. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach drawing from management control, performance management, and the retail industry, the study centers on the case of Label'vie Group. Through empirical research, the aim is to elucidate how effective management control practices positively influence the managerial performance of Moroccan retail businesses. Anticipated findings are expected to offer valuable insights for scholars and industry professionals in the management control field, particularly in emerging economies like Morocco. Furthermore, this research addresses the literature gap in the Moroccan business landscape, highlighting the importance of understanding and implementing management control mechanisms in the dynamic realm of retail. The structured abstract aligns with the journal's requirements and provides a clear framework for readers to comprehend the purpose, methodology, expected findings, and practical implications of the study.
Changes in groundwater drought associated with anthropogenic warming

Abstract. Here we present the first empirical evidence for changes in groundwater drought associated with anthropogenic warming in the absence of long-term changes in precipitation. Analysing standardised indices of monthly groundwater levels, precipitation and temperature, using two unique groundwater level data sets from the Chalk aquifer, UK, for the period 1891 to 2015, we show that precipitation deficits are the main control on groundwater drought formation and propagation. However, long-term changes in groundwater drought are shown to be associated with anthropogenic warming over the study period. These include increases in the frequency and intensity of individual groundwater drought months, and increases in the frequency, magnitude and intensity of episodes of groundwater drought, as well as an increasing tendency for both longer episodes of groundwater drought and for an increase in droughts of less than 1 year in duration. We also identify a transition from a coincidence of episodes of groundwater drought with precipitation droughts at the end of the 19th century, to an increasing coincidence with both precipitation droughts and with hot periods in the early 21st century. In the absence of long-term changes in precipitation deficits, we infer that the changing nature of groundwater droughts is due to changes in evapotranspiration (ET) associated with anthropogenic warming. We note that although the water tables are relatively deep at the two study sites, a thick capillary fringe of at least 30 m in the Chalk means that ET should not be limited by precipitation at either site. ET may be supported by groundwater through major episodes of groundwater drought and, hence, long-term changes in ET associated with anthropogenic warming may drive long-term changes in groundwater drought phenomena in the Chalk aquifer. Given the extent of shallow groundwater globally, anthropogenic warming may widely effect changes to groundwater drought characteristics in temperate environments.
HERBAL LEAF CLASSIFICATION USING DEEP LEARNING MODEL EFFICIENTNETV2B0

Science regarding plants has experienced significant progress, especially in the study of medicinal plants. Medicinal plants have been used in medicine and are still an important component in the world of health today. Among the various parts of the plant, the leaves are also one that can be used as medicine. However, not many people can recognize these herbal leaves directly. This is because the herbal leaves at first glance look almost the same, so it is difficult to differentiate them. The aim of this research is to classify herbal leaf images by identifying the structural features of the leaf images. The dataset in this study uses 10 classes of leaf images, namely, starfruit, guava, lime, basil, aloe vera, jackfruit, pandan, papaya, celery, and betel, where each class uses 350 images with a total of 3500 images of data. The EfficientNetV2B0 model was chosen because it has a minimalist architecture but has high effectiveness. Based on the results of research using the EffiecientNetV2B0 model, the accuracy was 99.14% and the loss value was 1.95% using test data.
Rôle du paludisme dans l'efficience technique des producteurs de coton du nord de la Côte-d'Ivoire

L'objet de cet article est d'estimer le role du paludisme sur le developpement agricole, et plus precisement sur l'efficience technique dans la culture du coton dans la zone de savane de la region de Korhogo au nord de la Cote-d'lvoire. Le modele de frontiere de production stochastique a effets de l'efficience incorpores, propose par Battese et Coelli (1995), permet de tester l'hypothese selon laquelle les ecarts d'efficience entre les exploitants sont, entre autres facteurs, lies a une presence differenciee du paludisme au sein des exploitations familiales. ; Les donnees necessaires a l'analyse sont issues d'une serie d'enquetes conduites par les auteurs entre mars 1997 et fevrier 1998 aupres d'environ 700 exploitations familiales agricoles reparties dans trois systemes de production differemment exposes au risque palustre. Trois indicateurs d'infection palustre sont utilises et concernent la prevalence, dans la population active 499 parasites/pl de sang) est superieure ou egale a 25 %, sont moins efficientes, toutes choses egales par ailleurs, que les familles ou cette densite est plus faible ou nulle.
Risk-taking behavior by a cavity-nesting parrot breeding at northern Patagonia, Argentina

The increase in human population poses great challenges to birds inhabiting coastal areas, and studying their behavioral responses against these disturbances is an effective approach to understanding how tolerant species are. Our main goal was to describe the risk-taking behavior of breeding burrowing parrots (Cyanoliseus patagonus) against an approaching person. For this, we measured flight initiation distance (FID) and latency time of nesting burrowing parrots on a reproductive colony situated northwest of the San Matias Gulf, northern Argentine Patagonia. We also inquired how anthropic, environmental and ethological variables affected this behavior, and checked if the species´ reproductive success of the species varied against such disturbance. The mean FID estimated and the mean latency time were only affected by cloud coverage, and both increased with overcast conditions. burrowing parrots did not modify their FID throughout the breeding season, but returned to previous activities sooner as the breeding season progressed. The effect of our experimental disturbance did not affect the reproductive success of the species. Our results suggest that burrowing parrots show a tameness to the disturbance caused by a human approach, as reflected by their relatively short flight initiation distances, an effect also reported in other bird species inhabiting urban habitats.
Linking rock weathering, rockwall instability and rockfall supply on talus slopes in glaciated hanging valleys (Swiss Alps)

In high‐alpine valleys undergoing glacier retreat, the spatial distribution of talus slopes and their sediments have been frequently used as a proxy for rockfall activity. However, within this ‘sediment‐dominated’ research focus, the deglaciated source rockwalls are often portrayed in an oversimplified way. Here, we investigate 12 rockwall‐talus systems in three glaciated hanging valleys in the Swiss Alps and explore the role of source rockwalls on the spatial pattern of talus slopes and their paraglacial rockfall activity. Data from field‐based talus slope surveys, rockwall geotechnical studies, rock temperature monitoring, frost cracking modeling and GIS‐based topoclimatic analyses are evaluated by ergodic reasoning in a principal component analysis to identify patterns of rockwall‐talus systems with respect to their topoclimatic, rock mechanical and paraglacial controls. The results show that four main factors (frost cracking, permafrost probability, rockwall morphometry and mechanical preconditioning by rock mass strength and joint orientation) combine to dictate the paraglacial and spatial variability of sediment production, rockfall activity and block size. Our study demonstrates that more emphasis must be given to source rockwalls as their instability and weathering are directly linked to landform and material characteristics of talus deposits.
An Assessment of Temperature and Precipitation Change Projections in Muscat, Oman from Recent Global Climate Model Simulations

Oman is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the most significant of which are increased temperature, less and more erratic precipitation, see level rise (SLR) and desertification. The objective of this research is to investigate the potential variation of precipitation and temperature in Muscat, the capital city of Sultanate of Oman in future. We used the MIROC general circulation model (GCM) output (maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation) from the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 2.6, 4.5, 6.0 and 8.5 scenarios of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for assessing changes in climate in the period of 2080-2099 compared to the baseline period of 1986-2005. The spatial mismatch between GCM grid scale and local scale was resolved by applying the LARS stochastic Weather Generator (WG) model. The results obtained for 4 scenarios indicate a significant warming in future, which ranges from 0. 93ᴼC (minimum temperature by 1.1ᴼC and maximum temperature by 0.86ᴼC) for the lowest scenario, RCP 2.6, to 3. 1ᴼC (minimum temperature by 3.2ᴼC and maximum temperature by 3.0ᴼC) for the highest one, RCP 8.5, relative to baseline level. The differences in the precipitation projections between the scenarios are much greater compared to consistent warming depicted in temperatures. The results reveal -36.4% and -36.0% decreases in precipitation for the RCP 2.6 and RCP 4.5 scenarios, respectively, while, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5 scenarios predict increase in precipitation in a range from 9.6% to 12.5%, respectively during 2080-2099 compared to 1986-2005 period. These results need to be further improved by adopting more GCMs, which will provide potential changes in a consistent.
Effect of Sowing Date on Growth and Yield of Different Carrot Varieties (Daucus carota L.)

A study was conducted at Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, from October 2019 to March 2020 to evaluate the effect of sowing date on the growth and yield of four different carrots (Daucus carota L.) varieties. The experimental treatments were three different sowing dates (19th October, 13th November, and 8th December) and four varieties (New Kuroda, Nepa Dream, SK3, and Taki) which constituted 12 treatments. The experiment was set up using a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results revealed that sowing dates and varieties significantly influenced the growth and yield of carrots. But interaction effect was not significant. Maximum plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf length, leaf breadth, canopy diameter, root length (15.37 cm), root diameter (2.74 cm), and fresh root weight (133 g) were obtained with Nepa Dream variety. Similarly, the highest plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf breadth, canopy diameter, root diameter (3.27 cm), root length (16.23 cm), and fresh root weight (162.60 g) was obtained with first sowing (19th October) which might be due to favorable condition available during the growing condition and also early sowing possibly attributed to maximum photosynthesis with longer growth period than the later sowing. The combined effect of sowing date and varieties was significant with the number of leaves per plant, cortex diameter, and core-to-cortex ratio. So based on the results of the experiment, Nepa Dream sown on 19th October was economically better for the optimum yield and quality production in Chitwan, Nepal.
Implementation of a Frailty Care Bundle (FCB) Targeting Mobilisation, Nutrition and Cognitive Engagement to Reduce Hospital Associated Decline in Older Orthopaedic Trauma Patients: Pretest-Posttest Intervention Study

Abstract Objective: To implement and evaluate a Frailty Care Bundle (FCB) targeting mobilisation, nutrition, and cognition in older trauma patients to reduce hospital associated decline. Methods: We used a two group, pretest-posttest design. The FCB intervention was delivered on two orthopaedic wards and two rehabilitation wards, guided by behaviour change theory (COM-B) to implement changes in ward routines (patient mobility goals, nurse assisted mobilisation, mealtimes, communication). Primary outcomes were patient participants’ return to pre-trauma functional capability (modified Barthel Index - mBI) at 6-8 weeks post-hospital discharge and average hospital daily step-count. Statistical analysis compared pre versus post FCB group differences using ordinal regression and log-linear models. Results: We recruited 120 patients (pre n=60 and post n=60), and 74 (pre n=43, post n=36) were retained at follow-up. Median age was 78 years and 83% were female. There was a non-significant trend for higher mBI scores (improved function) in the post compared to pre FCB group (OR 2.29, 95% CI 0.98-5.36), associated with an average 11% increase in step-count. Conclusion: It was feasible, during the Covid-19 pandemic, for multidisciplinary teams to implement elements of the FCB. Clinical facilitation supported teams to prioritise fundamental care above competing demands, but sustainability requires ongoing attention. ISRCTN registry: ISRCTN15145850 (https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN15145850)
Indirect Estimation of Selected Measures of Fertility and Marital Fertility from Information on CWR (0-9): An Application to India /States /Districts

Fertility is one of the important components of population change, the other two being mortality and migration. When vital statistical data on number of births is readily available it is estimated directly using various direct measures of fertility such as the crude birth rate (CBR). When the information on number of births is not directly available, fertility is measured using the census information on child woman ratios (CWR) of various types. CWR has several limitations, but gained importance with the attempts made by Rele in 1963, and followed by several other researchers such as Hauer and his co-authors in 2013 deriving TFR from it. In the present study yet another attempt is made to use CWRs to derive not only TFR but also other summary indicators such as the TMFR. A set of simple mathematical formula have been used to estimate the fertility and marital fertility using the CWR of the ages 0-9. The 2011 census age-sex data of districts in India was used to derive a set of fertility estimates for total, rural and urban areas of all districts. Further, these estimates of 2011 have been compared with the estimates of 2011 earlier made by Guilmoto and Rajan to analyse the robustness of the estimates. Keywords : Fertility, Child Women Ratio, Indirect Estimation, Age-sex data, TFR, TMFR, India.
Fabrication of Multifunctional Hybrid Composites Using Fly Ash to Control Environmental Pollutants: A Review

Air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), as well as water pollutants including heavy metal, are harmful to human and environment. Effective control and reduction of their pollution is therefore an important topic for today’s scientists. Fly ash (FA) is a type of industrial waste that can cause multiple environmental problems if discharged into the air. On the other hand, because of its high porosity, large specific surface area, and other unique characteristics, the FA can also be used as a low-cost and high efficient adsorbent with some simple modifications. This paper reviews the effects of FA on treatment of the above air and water pollution based on our research experience over many years, including to the current status of global FA utilization, physicochemical properties, principle of adsorption, and the application direction of FA in the future. It focuses on the use of nanocomposite technology to fabricate functional FA fibrous membranes to adsorb VOCs from air, and treat heavy metal wastewater. This present review first describes the fabrication technology of FA nanocomposites and their mechanism of adsorption VOCs from air. Utilization of nanofiber technology to fabricate multi-functional FA emerging composite materials to mitigate air and water pollution has great potential in the future, especially use of pollutant material to control other pollutants.
Preparation and catalytic activities of porous clay heterostructures from aluminiumintercalated clays: effect of Al content

Abstract Porous clay heterostructures were prepared from Al-intercalated clays, and they allowed the insertion of Al into the framework of intercalated silica in porous clay heterostructures (PCHs). This method has led to tuneable Al contents within the resulting porous clay heterostructures. X-ray fluorescence confirmed the presence of Al in the intercalated precursors and their derivatives (porous clay heterostructure materials) in various environments, as indicated by 27Al magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance. The Al porous clay heterostructures exhibited specific surface areas that varied from 743 to 850 m2/g with total acid concentrations which varied from 0.969 to 1.420 mmol of protons/g of material, values which were deduced from the temperature desorption of cyclohexylamine. These acid sites were sufficiently strong to initiate the hydro-isomerization of n-heptane. The catalytic properties of the porous clay heterostructures depended on the Al contents and reached a maximum conversion rate of 50% and an isomer selectivity of 70% at a test reaction temperature of 350°C.
Evidence for post-depositional diffusional loss of hydrogen in quartz phenocryst fragments within ignimbrites

Abstract Ignimbrite-hosted quartz phenocryst fragments contain much lower hydroxyl defect concentration than quartz in igneous rocks. Pre-eruptive and post-depositional loss of hydrogen were hypothesized as the main processes for lowering the initial magmatic concentrations of hydroxyl defects. The aim of this study was to examine the hydroxyl defect concentration of quartz phenocryst fragments from various vertical positions above the base of pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits. It aims to record the vertical variations of hydroxyl defect concentrations to have an insight into potential post-depositional hydrogen loss of PDC deposits. Ignimbrite-hosted quartz phenocryst fragments were examined from two different ignimbrites in the Bükk Foreland Volcanic Area (North Hungary). Unpolarized micro-FTIR measurements on 23–35 unoriented crystal fragments from each sample were performed representing four different vertical positions of each site. Present results imply that hydroxyl defect concentrations show a pronounced decrease upward from the base of the deposits. The initial ~12 ppm hydroxyl defect concentration decreases to <3 ppm within <10 m from the base. Ignimbrites with contrasting degree of welding are characterized by different hydroxyl defect concentrations of quartz phenocryst fragments at the same height above the base. Thus, post-depositional dehydration is supposed to be the main factor causing the observed vertical decreasing trend. The modeling of post-depositional dehydration by considering typical ignimbrite emplacement temperatures (300–700 °C) and thicknesses (20–50 m) revealed that neither different cooling rates or different crystal diameters could cause the observed decrease in hydroxyl defect concentrations in ignimbrites. Other factors, such as contrasting pre-depositional thermal history, presence of melt- and fluid inclusion, and crack density of crystals could also play an important role in affecting the final hydroxyl defect concentrations.