Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Direct and indirect effects of above- and below-ground insect herbivory on plant density and performance of Tripleurospermum perforatum during early plant succession

The effects of above- and below-ground insect herbivory on scentless chamomile, Tripleurospermum perforatum (MWrat) Wagenitz, were evaluated in a natural plant community by manipulative field experiments in 1988 and 1990. Foliar and soil insecticides were applied singly and in combination during the early colonisation of bare ground. The effects on plant density and performance were assessed and related to the occurrence of damage and of insect herbivores. The efficacy of the insecticide treatment was evidenced by a reduction in visible damage and in the number of stems and flower heads infested. A number of insect species were found by dissection of stems and flower heads. The density of plants and their cover abundance (a reflection of the number of stems) were increased by a reduction in herbivory above or below ground, while plants in the combined insecticide treatment were taller and thinner. There was no significant interaction between the effects of the two insecticides. The study highlights the importance of separating direct effects of herbivore reduction in a given plant species from indirect effects resulting from the modification of the competitive balance between plant species.
The Influence of Malaysia’s Digital Economy on Students’ Entrepreneurial Characteristics and Entrepreneurship as Career Choices

: The revolution of information and communications technology (ICT) has resulted in an emerging digital economy in all countries. Since the importance of entrepreneurship to the growth of Malaysia’s economy has been growing, it give rise to the importance of entrepreneurship as career choices among the young generation. Hence, the current study seek to identify the relationship between the digital economy in Malaysia towards the entrepreneurial characteristics of the university students and entrepreneurship as career choices among them. A type of structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used in this study called Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). From the results, when the four dimensions of digital economy aggregated into a single measure, it is proven that its effect into entrepreneurship characteristics is significant. However, out of the four dimensions of the digital economy in Malaysia, only social and cultural environment dimension and consumer and business adoption dimension are significantly affecting the entrepreneurial characteristics of the university students. The result also revealed that the entrepreneurial characteristics of the university students have no significant effect into entrepreneurship as career choices among them. Even though the students are possessing the entrepreneurial traits, they do not choose to become an entrepreneur in future.
Methylation-mediated LINC00261 suppresses pancreatic cancer progression by epigenetically inhibiting c-Myc transcription

Background: Due to the limitations of strategies for its early diagnosis and treatment, pancreatic cancer (PC) remains a substantial human health threat. We previously discovered a methylation-mediated lncRNA, LINC00261, which is downregulated in PC tissues. However, the underlying role of LINC00261 in PC remains largely unknown. Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR and in situ hybridization were performed to evaluate the expression levels of LINC00261 in PC, adjacent nontumor and normal pancreas tissues. The clinical significance of LINC00261 was assessed in multicenter PC samples. The functions of LINC00261 in PC were investigated by gain- and loss-of-function assays in vitro and in vivo. Potential downstream pathways and mechanisms were explored via RNA sequencing and bioinformatic analyses. RNA immunoprecipitation and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were used to validate the underlying mechanisms. Pyrosequencing and targeted demethylation of the LINC00261 promoter were performed to explore the upstream epigenetic mechanisms and therapeutic potential. Results: LINC00261 was significantly downregulated in PC tissues, and its expression was positively associated with the prognosis of PC patients. Phenotypic studies indicated that LINC00261 overexpression significantly suppressed PC cell proliferation, migration and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. c-Myc was identified as a downstream target of LINC00261. LINC00261 repressed c-Myc transcription by physically interacting and binding with the bromo domain of p300/CBP, preventing the recruitment of p300/CBP to the promoter region of c-Myc and decreasing the H3K27Ac level. Moreover, the methylation level of the LINC00261 promoter was high in PC tissues and was correlated with poor prognosis. Targeted demethylation of the LINC00261 promoter inhibited PC progression both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that methylation-mediated LINC00261 suppresses PC progression by epigenetically repressing c-Myc expression. These findings expand the therapeutic potential of LINC00261, possibly providing evidence to support the development of epigenetic drugs or therapeutic strategies. This research adds further insights into the etiology of PC and indicates that LINC00261 may be a prognostic and therapeutic target in PC.
PBL effects on engineering education in junior high school robotics practice

The practice of "meaningful learning" has become an inseparable part of the educational discourse. As a result, many schools have adopted the Project Based Learning approach (PBL), which represents different teaching methods. The PBL approach also changes the position of the teacher as a source of knowledge as well as teacher-student relationship. The integration of project-based learning (PBL) and its implementation in the teaching of the robotics profession in junior high schools, have created a new reality in which teachers who use project-based learning for teaching robotics come from diverse professional backgrounds, and in many cases, they are selected by the principle of the school. Therefore, we examine the teaching experience of teachers, who manage a project in a field of knowledge that is not their expertise. This study examined teachers' perceptions of their experience in teaching using the PBL approach. The study data was collected using structured questionnaires, which also included open-ended questions. These questionnaires were answered by teachers from different fields of knowledge: social studies, sciences and engineering. Each questionnaire included attitudes relating to the PBL teaching experience and the contribution of the PBL approach to both teachers and students. The findings show a high level of general satisfaction among the teachers and a sense of self-efficacy in teaching PBL. The findings additionally indicate that class tutors perceived the ecological contribution more than professional teachers, and professional teachers in the fields of human studies and sciences perceived it is more significant than engineering teachers. The following discussion presents the implications of teaching using the PBL approach as a pedagogical approach that indicates a change in the traditional role of teachers. Key-Words: Project Based Learning (PBL), Project Based Teaching, Robotics, Meaningful Teaching
Rockfish recruitment and trophic dynamics on the west coast of Vancouver Island : fishing, ocean climate, and sea otters

Fundamental questions in marine ecology concern processes that underlie the replenishment of marine populations and the cascading effects of large marine predators. My dissertation describes three studies in which I investigated the recruitment and trophic dynamics of nearshore Pacific rockfishes in the context of these two themes. In the first study, my collaborators and I investigated spatial variation in rockfish recruitment success in the context of the effectiveness of Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs). We show that although rockfish recruitment is highly variable throughout nearshore seascapes, spatial patterns of recruitment success are generally consistent from year to year. We identify characteristics of locations that contribute to spatially recruitment patterns, including fetch, distance to open coast, tidal velocity, and sea surface temperature. Because most high-value areas with respect to rockfish recruitment fall outside of the RCA considered in this study, we propose that this protected area may be vulnerable to reduced long-term effectiveness. Next, I investigated how interannual variation in the timing and magnitude of coastal upwelling affects the recruitment success of two groups of nearshore rockfishes. I used otolith microstructure analyses to compare birth and settlement dates, pelagic durations, and growth rates of rockfishes in years of contrasting recruitment success and upwelling dynamics. I found that although growth rates of both rockfish groups responded positively to ocean temperature, the highest recruitment success I observed over a six-year period corresponded to strong and prolonged upwelling that favored onshore transportation of pelagic larvae, but not pre-settlement growth and survival. In the final study, I examined how the indirect effects of sea otters on kelp forest habitat size and productivity affect rockfish recruitment dynamics and post-settlement trophic dynamics. I tested the effects of sea otters on kelp forest size, and concomitant effects on rockfish recruitment success. I used stable isotopes and otolith microstructure analyses to compare rockfish trophic position and kelp-derived carbon content, and their relative effects on juvenile growth rates, between regions with and without sea otters. I show that kelp forests are larger in the presence of sea otters and associated with higher rockfish recruitment; however, higher kelp productivity does not translate to rockfishes having higher kelp-derived carbon contents. Instead, in the presence of sea otters, adult rockfishes had higher mean trophic levels, indicating that these populations consume higher proportions of relatively high trophic level prey, i.e. fish. These studies contribute broadly to understanding marine population dynamics, and hold important implications for predicting responses of species and ecosystems to marine protected areas, climate change, and the indirect effects of predator loss and reintroduction.
A leopard never changes its spots Explaining Greek pension reform

The paper examines the major pension reform initiat ives undertaken in Greece during the 1990s and in 2002 in an attempt to draw conclus ions about the future evolution and prospects of the Greek pension system. Drawing on the new institutionalist approach and path dependence theory, it is argued t hat even in cases where change occurs this is “bounded” change; however, even smal l incremental steps can have implications on the patterns of distribution of res ources and risks and ultimately the
Small Farm Commercialisation in Africa: A Guide to Issues and Policies

Many small farmers in rural Africa use fewer inputs of improved seed, fertiliser, crop chemicals than expected, given the returns in higher yields to their use. Sometimes the cause is that farmers cannot afford the inputs, since they have little cash and cannot get seasonal credit. The transactions costs between smallholders and banks, it seems, are too high: banks are reluctant to lend to them since they know too little about the competence and character of the farmers.
Fermionic Characters and Arbitrary Highest-Weight Integrable ŝl r + 1-Modules

This paper contains the generalization of the Feigin-Stoyanovsky construction to all integrable ŝlr+1-modules.We give formulas for the q-characters of any highestweight integrable module of ŝlr+1 as a linear combination of the fermionic q-characters of the fusion products of a special set of integrable modules. The coefficients in the sum are the entries of the inverse matrix of generalized Kostka polynomials in q−1. We prove the conjecture of Feigin and Loktev regarding the q-multiplicities of irreducible modules in the graded tensor product of rectangular highest weight-modules in the case of slr+1. We also give the fermionic formulas for the q-characters of the (non-level-restricted) fusion products of rectangular highest-weight integrable ŝlr+1-modules.
The Relation of the Spartinetum glabrae Near Beaufort, North Carolina, to Certain Edaphic Factors

The origin of the tidal marshes and the development of their vegetative cover have received the attention of several American investigators. Shaler (1885) and Knight (1934) ascribed the origin of marginal marshes that are protected from the direct action of waves by bars or by their location along the borders of estuaries to the silting up of quiet bodies of water to a little above the low-tide level. Such deposition permits the invasion and ecesis of the salt marsh grasses. The first marsh grass to colonize an aggraded substratum along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts is usually Spartina glabra alternifora2, occuring in nearly pure stand. Conard (1935) named this association the Spartinetum glabrae, a more precise designation than the "sedge association", or Spartinetum of Ganong (1903). This association has been recognized or described floristically from Nova Scotia, southward along the Atlantic coast, to North Carolina (Kearney 1900-1901, Ganong 1903, Davis 1910, Shreve et al. 1910, Harshberger 1909-1916, Johnson and York 1915, Nichols 1920, Wells 1928, Knight 1934, Conard 1935, Chapman 1940). It is known in the Gulf Coast region from the work of Penfound and O'Neil (1934) and Penfound and Hathaway (1938).
Mathematical Aspects in Meteorological Processing of Infrared Spectral Measurements from the GOES Sounder. Part II: Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Continuity of Spectral Measurements from the GOES-8 Sounder

The spatial and temporal continuity of the infrared measurements from the Geostationary Operational En- vironmental Satellite (GOES)-8 sounder data are investigated, and an experimental processing approach is presented. Spatial ﬁltering and cloud detection are performed in a joint algorithm: the preparation of the data for sounding analysis starts with spatial smoothing, followed by cloud detection, followed by averaging the clear-sky (cloud free) subsamples. Analysis of the sounder images reveals the presence of coherent noise on large spatial scales in some of the spectral bands. Analysis of a temporal sequence of spatially smoothed sounder images reveals regions of unphysical hourly change likely induced by instrument noise. A nonlinear temporal–spatial ﬁltering algorithm is presented and tested that improves the noise ﬁltering for the sounder spectral measurements and the thermodynamical spatial and temporal consistency of the sounding retrievals in the troposphere.
Chemical Composition and Digestibility of Major Feed Resources in Mixed Farming System of Southern Ethiopia

Submitted: Sep 2, 2013; Accepted: Nov 1, 2013; Published: Nov 12, 2013 Abstract: This study was conducted to identify and document nutritive values of major feed resources in southern Ethiopia. A total of 58 feed samples (13 grasses, 17 crop residues, 18 indigenous browses and 10 root and horticultural crops) were collected using a total of 90 household participants and 96 key informants for vernacular name identification. The samples were analyzed in triplicates for ash, crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and in-vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). The results indicated that the mean CP contents of natural pasture (NP), crop residues (CR), indigenous browses (IB) and root and horticultural (FF) crops were 8.38%, 5.77%, 16.40% and 15.53%, respectively, while the corresponding values for IVDMD were 57.20%, 46.05%, 61.16% and 65.69%. The NDF values of NP, CR, IB and FF were 60.86%, 75.97%, 33.01% and 38.98%, respectively, whereas the corresponding ADF values were 40.71%, 45.16%, 28.87% and 27.83%. The CP values were positively correlated with IVDMD (r=0.492) while negatively correlated with NDF (r=0.69) and (r=0.62) ADF. The results indicated that fodder tree leaves and root and horticultural crops have considerable potential for strategic supplementation of poor quality roughages. Further studies in animal trials have to be warranted to substantiate their supplementary value and level of inclusion in animal diet.
Optimal Dynamic Capital Requirements and Implementable Capital Buffer Rules

We build a quantitatively relevant macroeconomic model with endogenous risk-taking. In our model, deposit insurance and limited liability can lead banks to make risky loans that are socially inefficient. This excessive risk-taking can be triggered by aggregate or sectoral shocks that reduce the return on safer loans. Excessive risk-taking can be avoided by raising bank capital requirements, but unnecessarily tight requirements lower welfare by limiting liquidity producing bank deposits. Consequently, optimal capital requirements are dynamic (or state contingent). We provide examples in which a Ramsey planner would raise capital requirements: (1) during a downturn caused by a TFP shock; (2) during an expansion caused by an investment-specific shock; and (3) during an increase in market volatility that has little effect on the business cycle. In practice, the economy is driven by a constellation of shocks, and the Ramsey policy is probably beyond the policymaker's ken; so, we also consider implementable policy rules. Some rules can mimic the optimal policy rather well but are not robust to all the calibrations we consider. Basel III guidance calls for increasing capital requirements when the credit to GDP ratio rises, and relaxing them when it falls; this rule does not perform well. In fact, slightly elevated static capital requirements generally do about as well as any implementable rule.
Synergistic effects of climate change and agricultural land use on mammals

Although climate change and the expansion of agriculture are two of the primary threats to global biodiversity, they are usually considered independently. Here, I show that climate change and agricultural expansion interact synergistically in their impacts on mammals across mega-biodiverse Southeast Asia. Rising temperatures do not directly reduce niche availability for most species but do trigger a major altitudinal expansion in the cultivation zone for oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), a cold-intolerant crop tree that is currently restricted to tropical lowlands. The resulting replacement of native forests would reduce mammal ranges by 47–67% by 2070, given a low- or high-carbon-emissions trajectory, respectively. This reduction is 3–4 times the magnitude of that predicted from land-use change without considering climatic effects. The synergistic interaction between climate change and land-use change greatly outweighs the impact on biodiversity of either factor alone or their additive combination.
The Actuarial Aging of Italian Veterans of World War I born between 1889 and 1900 and A Comparison to the Cohorts Born during the Years Immediately Following

This paper develops a comparative analysis of the results provided by two different approaches: the “human actuarial senescence”, and the demographic approach about mortality in old age in order to see how much living conditions in young age influence the survival in the last years of life. In particular, a case will be examined which had already been recorded, though not with regard to Italy. It concerns specifically the cohorts born between 1889 and 1900; where the men involved took part directly in World War I (1915-1918), while the women and the rest of the population experienced the harsh conditions of life at home. As evolutionary theories predict that ageing will evolve according to the pattern of externally imposed hazards to survival, the Gompertz model has beenchosen because it takes into account the legacy of living conditions in youth and adult ages.
Thermodynamic model of comet 29P/SW brightness changing

We analyze the thermodynamic model of changes in comet brightness focusing on the exceptional case which is comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann (hereafter 29P/SW). This object demonstrates quasi-regular flares that occur in a short period of time; most often it lasts about a dozen hours. The analysis of observational data shows that the average number of comet outbursts for 29P/SW is 7.3 per year. This is the only known comet with such a number of outbursts per year, which demonstrates its uniqueness. In the proposed approach to analyze the outburst of comet 29P/SW, we took into account the complex structure of particles which are in its coma and assumed that they are composed of water ice, dust and organic matter. The paper explains how this diversity affects the more efficient scattering of incident sunlight during the outburst of comet 29P/SW.
Effectiveness of Orphenadrine & Paracetamol Combination (Searle Generic) in Myalgia with Anti-Pyretic Benefit in General Pakistani Practice (Nub-Effect): An Observational Study

Objective: This study was conducted across 17 sites in nine major cities of Pakistan, to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of orphenadrine/paracetamol combination (Nuberol) in managing the viral symptoms like myalgia and fever among the local population. Study design: In this observational, prospective, multicenter study, 300 patients with known prescreened viral infections having myalgia and fever were recruited. While patients with hypersensitivity to the formulation, contra-indication and pregnant, or breastfeeding women were excluded. Interventions: The safety evaluation was done as per prescribing information for Nuberol. Myalgia was assessed through the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), fever was monitored by recording temperature on 24 hourly monitoring chart and safety evaluation started on day 1 of the treatment. As per physician discretion, the treatment therapy was planned (5-10 days) with 2 follow-up visits, screening (visit 1), and after 6-10 days of treatment (visit 2). Results: Of 300 recruited patients, 168 (56%) were males and 132 (44%) were females with a mean age of 36.79 ± 13.65 (S.D). According to the results, flu was the most prevalent viral infections 244 (81.3%), among the study sample followed by Chikungunya 36 (12%) and 9 (3%) patients with dengue. The pain intensity and fever were decreased using the therapeutic combination, on visit 1, 203 (67%) patients had mild-moderate pain (VAS, 3-6) and 12 (4%) patients reported severe pain (VAS, 7-8). Upon the follow-up visit (visit 2after 5-10 days treatment), 239 (80%) patients were having no pain, whereas 59 (19%) patients reported mild pain (VAS, 1-2). While the fever was subsided in almost 297(99.6%) patients in 4-6 hours by visit 2. Conclusion: The combination of Orphenadrine/Paracetamol (Nuberol) showed effective and safe in the symptomatic management of myalgia and fever in viral conditions among Pakistani population.
Patterns in Invoicing Currency in Global Trade

This paper presents the most comprehensive and up-to-date panel data set of invoicing currencies in global trade. It provides data on the shares of exports and imports invoiced in US dollars, euros, and other currencies for more than 100 countries since 1990. The evidence from these data confirms findings from earlier research regarding the globally dominant role of the US dollar in invoicing – despite the comparatively smaller role of the US in global trade – and the overall stability of invoicing currency patterns. The evidence also points to several novel facts. First, both the US dollar and the euro have been increasingly used for invoicing even as the share of global trade accounted for by the US and the euro area has declined. Second, the euro is used as a vehicle currency in parts of Africa, and some European countries have seen significant shifts toward euro invoicing. Third, as suggested by the dominant currency paradigm, countries invoicing more in US dollars (euros) tend to experience greater US dollar (euro) exchange rate pass-through to their import prices; also, their trade volumes are more sensitive to fluctuations in these exchange rates.