Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing the impacts of fiscal reforms on investment in village‐level irrigation infrastructure

This paper investigates investment trends into village‐level irrigation projects and assesses the impact of fiscal reforms including the tax‐for‐fee reform and the elimination of agricultural tax on irrigation investment. The China Water Institutions and Management Panel Survey data show that village leaders, water user associations, farmers, and upper level governments have all contributed to irrigation investment in villages throughout the study period between 1996 and 2007. Both descriptive and multivariate analyses suggest that changes brought by fiscal reforms have significantly reduced village collectives' capacity to fund irrigation infrastructure in villages. There was a significant drop in upper level government investment during the posttax‐for‐fee period (2002–2004 in the sample areas). Since 2005, upper level government has increased its investment to prereform levels and partly filled the public investment void in irrigation infrastructure. Fiscal reforms had the least impact on farmers' investment, which has been the most stable source of funding for village‐level irrigation projects.
The blue luminous events observed by ISUAL payload on board FORMOSAT‐2 satellite

We report the blue luminous events observed by the Imager of Sprite/Upper Atmospheric Lightning (ISUAL) payload on board the FORMOSAT‐2 satellite. The ISUAL 427.8 nm filtered Imager campaign was conducted near Australia in the summer of the Southern Hemisphere during February–March 2008. On 18 February 2008, the 427.8 nm filtered Imager recorded a series of blue luminous events. One blue starter and nine smaller blue starters were recorded in 2 min and 34 s in a localized region with the radius < 4 km over the cloud top. The average time interval between subsequent blue luminous events was ~ 17 s. The occurrence rate of blue luminous events was 3.5 events per minute, slightly lower than the occurrence rate of pixies (4.2 events per minute) but higher than the occurrence rate of gnomes and blue jets in the previous observations. The recorded first blue starter lasted up to 2–3 frame times (60–90 ms) and extended its altitude about 8 ± 0.3 km with a width of ~2–4 km over the cloud top. After the first blue starter, subsequent nine smaller blue starters had the decreased heights of ~2–4 km, and their optical duration was shorter and is down to 1 ms. But their major emissions were 2PN2 and 1NN2+, without lightning OI 777.4 nm emission. The ISUAL recorded blue smaller starters had the spatial average brightness of 130 kR for the 427.8 nm filtered Imager with exposure time (29 ms) and 1.2 MR for the spectrophotometer (337 nm). Using the spectrophotometer, the emission time of blue starters was 1 ms. It is estimated that the 1NN2+ emission was ~ 22 MR and the 2PN2 emission was ~ 132 MR. We can estimate the degree of ionization was 10−11–10−12 in these blue luminous events using the 427.8 nm filtered Imager measured 1NN2+ (0,1) emission.
Synergistic impact of invasive alien plants and the alien Argentine ant on local ant assemblages in the Western Cape

Alien trees, Pinus spp. and Eucalyptus spp. , affect ants negatively in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), a global biodiversity hotspot in South Africa. They reduce ant abundance and species richness, thus also changing ant assemblage structure. This is alarming, because almost 1300 species of plant species in the CFR are dispersed by certain indigenous ants, and thus there is concern for an indirect effect on indigenous plant assemblages. One of the most impacting ant species on seed dispersal is the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile (Mayr)), which discards seeds outside its nest, where they do not germinate. Ten sites, on Vergelegen Wine Estate, were selected to explore these effects of alien plants. These varied from invaded to non-invaded sites. Each site consisted of six sampling points, which in turn consisted of four pitfall traps left out for seven days, during December 2005, February 2006, May 2006 and September 2006. Forty species of ant were sampled, and various analyses used to illustrate the comparative effects of plant invasion. All analytical methods showed that invasive alien plants had a significant impact on the abundance and richness of the ant species assemblage, by creating a dense canopy cover that changed the abiotic environment of the epigaeic ants’ habitat. Furthermore, increased alien tree invasion correlated significantly with Argentine ant abundances. The Argentine ant displaced Pheidole capensis and Camponotus spp. , while it decreased the abundances of commonly-occurring indigenous ants, such as Lepisiota capensis and Plagiolepis spp. Displacement by the Argentine ant may be a result of indirect competition for food resources. The effects of invasive aliens are synergistic in that there is a cascade effects from initial plant invasions to subsequent animal invasion. ii Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Preliminary results of dryland taro spacing and fertilizer timing.

Five plant spacing treatments and four fertilizer timing treatments were applied to Chinese taro grown for 9 months on land previously cropped to edible ginger. From our preliminary interpretation of the results, a 1 x 3 or 1 x 4 plant spacing appears to be the most appropriate. There were no differences between the fertilizer timing treatments, indicating that total fertilizer requirements can be applied early in the growth cycle of taro. Pre-Plant Soil Analysis The pre-plant soil analyses for both the taro spacing and fertilizer timing experiments are listed below in Table 1. Both experiments were conducted in the same vicinity and therefore the soil nutrient profiles were expected to be very similar. Edible ginger was grown previously to the taro experiments and therefore levels of phosphorus and calcium were high. We considered the starting phosphorus and calcium levels to be adequate and therefore only with 695 lbs urea per acre and 630 lbs muriate of potash per acre were applied in both experiments. Table 1. Pre-plant Soil Analysis pH Pppm Kppm Cappm Mgppm Spacing Test 6.12 281.0 71.3 1,353.3 69.0 Timing Test 6.29 291.7 70.0 1,460.0 76.7 Taro Spacing This test was done to determine an appropriate spacing pattern or planting density for dryland taro. The planting date was August 1988 and Chinese taro was grown for 9 months before harvesting. The plant spacing treatments and averaged results are listed in Table 2. The average weight per plant (2.47 to 3.99 lb) and percent no. 1 corms (67 to 97 %) increased as plant density decreased. Conversely, yield per acre decreased (36,145 to 21,159 Ib) as plant density decreased. Table 2. Taro Plant Spacing and Yield of No.1 Corms Treatment 2 x 4 ft lx4ft 1 x 3 ft lxl x4 ft 0.5 x 4 ft Plants/Acre 5,445 10,890 14,520 17,424 21,780 Lb/Plant 3.99 3.01 2.57 2.55 2.47 Average: % No.1 Yield/Acre 97 21,159 87 28,159 76 28,488 71 31,812 67 36,145 The no.l taro corms were identified as corms which were greater than 1.25 lb and without any rot. Of the corms not identified as being no.l, most of them were not rotten but undersized. Figure 1 shows the average yield per acre for each treatment and Figure 2 shows the predicted yield per acre. Figure 3 shows the average weight per plant for each treatment and Figure 4 shows the predicted weight per plant. Both predicted yield and weight per plant had a straight line relationship to plant spacing.
Predictors of Perceived Susceptibility to Sport-Related Injury among Competitive Runners: The Role of Previous Experience, Neuroticism, and Passion for Running

Whether individuals take steps to protect themselves against sport-related injury may depend on their perceived susceptibility to injury (Williams-Avery & MacKinnon, 1996). However, little is known about the determinants of perceived susceptibility to sport-related injury. The purpose of the present study is to identify the relations of previous experiences with injury, neuroticism, and passion with perceived susceptibility to sport-related injury among competitive runners. One hundred and seventy competitive runners reported the number of injuries sustained during the last year and completed the neuroticism scale of the NEO-PIR and the Passion Scale. Separate regression analysis revealed that previous experiences with injury, neuroticism, and obsessive passion were significant positive predictors of perceived susceptibility, whereas harmonious passion was significantly and negatively related to perceived susceptibility. When considered simultaneously, previous experiences, neuroticism, and obsessive passion explained unique variance in perceived susceptibility to sport-related injury. This study revealed that perceived susceptibility to sport-related injury is dependent on several distinct variables. Thus, to be effective, injury preventive actions aimed at runners' behaviour modification need to take into account that runners' perceived susceptibility to sport has multiple predictors.
Gamer Girls: Navigating a Subculture of Gender Inequality

Abstract Purpose Video gaming, which remains culturally embedded in masculine ideals, is increasingly becoming a leisure activity for female consumers. Guided by social dominance theory, this paper examines how female gamers navigate the masculine-oriented gaming consumption context. Methodology/approach Eight avid female gamers (ages 20–29) participated in-depth interviews, following a phenomenological approach to better understand their lived experiences with video gaming. Data were analyzed using phenomenological procedures. Findings Findings reveal an undercurrent of gender-based consumer vulnerability, driven by stereotypical perceptions of “gamer girls” in the masculine-oriented gaming subculture. Further, the findings highlight the multilayered, multidimensional nature of gaming as a vulnerable consumption environment, at individual, marketplace, and cultural levels. Social implications The culturally embedded gamer girl stereotype provides a foundation upon which characteristics of consumer vulnerability flourish, including a culture of gender-based consumer harassment, systematic disempowerment in the marketplace, and conflicting actions and attitudes toward future cultural change. Originality/value This research suggests female gamers struggle to gain a foothold in gaming due to the socially and culturally constructed masculine dominance of the field. Our research study provides a stepping-stone for future scholars to explore gendered subcultures and begins to address the dynamic interplay of power, gender, technology, and the market.
Measuring the obesogenic environment of childhood obesity

Obesity prevalence has accelerated over the last two decades and is predicted to continue to rise, bringing with it increased morbidity and mortality as well as rising dramatically health care costs. Obesogenic environments are one of the explanations for the rising prevalence. Accordingly this thesis investigates the obesogenic environment factors, as well as obesogenic behaviour factors, associated with the increased prevalence of childhood obesity, using familiar geographical techniques in novel ways. These results were then applied to develop a targeted childhood obesity prevention policy for Leeds to reduce the risk of childhood obesity in different populations. In this ecological study body mass index in Leeds for children aged 3 to 13 years old was examined to measure variations in childhood obesity. Spatial microsimulation modelling was utilised to give synthetic individual estimates of obesogenic covariates (e. g. obesogenic environment variables such as socio-economic characteristics and perceived social capital; individuals' behavioural variables such as dietary variables and physical activity levels) at the micro level. Additionally two demographic indices based on the 2001 Census were employed. The relationship between childhood obesity and the obesogenic covariates were considered at the home and school level using a combination of spatial statistical techniques. Spatial microsimulation modelling was shown to be a robust method to estimate obesogenic covariates at the micro-level. In the design of a spatial microsimulation model using a deterministic re-weighting algorithm, the input variables must be strongly correlated with the output variables to be able to accurately simulate micro-area estimates. Also this thesis has highlighted that there is considerable advantage to analysing health data at a small scale, otherwise micro-level differences are simply "averaged" away and missed. As well as showing that individuals' behaviours are important in determining risk of childhood obesity, this study adds to the increasing evidence of the existence of "obesogenic environments": features of the local environment in Leeds may affect childhood obesity by changing health behaviours. There was significant variation in childhood obesity across Leeds, with "hot spots" in both deprived and affluent areas. Further, relationships between obesogenic covariates and childhood obesity were not uniform across Leeds, highlighting the need for tailored, multifaceted public health policies that are based on locally relevant evidence.
Numerical modeling of convective erosion and peridotite‐melt interaction in big mantle wedge: Implications for the destruction of the North China Craton

The deep subduction of the Pacific Plate underneath East Asia is thought to have played a key role in the destruction of the North China Craton (NCC). To test this hypothesis, this paper presents a new 2‐D model that includes an initial stable equilibrated craton, the formation of a big mantle wedge (BMW), and erosion by vigorous mantle convection. The model shows that subduction alone cannot thin the cold solid craton, but it can form a low‐viscosity BMW. The amount of convective erosion is directly proportional to viscosity within the BMW (η0bmw), and the rheological boundary layer thins linearly with decreasing log10(η0bmw), thereby contributing to an increase in heat flow at the lithospheric base. This model also differs from previous modeling in that the increase in heat flow decays linearly with t1/2, meaning that the overall thinning closely follows a natural log relationship over time. Nevertheless, convection alone can only cause a limited thinning due to a minor increase in basal heat flow. The lowering of melting temperature by peridotite‐melt interaction can accelerate thinning during the early stages of this convection. The two combined actions can thin the craton significantly over tens of Myr. This modeling, combined with magmatism and heat flow data, indicates that the NCC evolution has involved four distinct stages: modification in the Jurassic by Pacific Plate subduction and BMW formation, destruction during the Early Cretaceous under combined convective erosion and peridotite‐melt interaction, extension in the Late Cretaceous, and cooling since the late Cenozoic.
Major Criteria For Judging Disaster Planning And Managing Their Applicability In Developing Countries

This was prepared as a background paper for the International Seminar on the Quality of Life and Environmental Risks held in Rio di Janeiro, Brazil, October 10-11, 1996. It is a slightly revised version of Disaster Research Center Preliminary Paper # 199 which was the expanded written version of the oral remarks made at the 2nd National Congress of Universities on Civil Protection held at the University of Colima in Colima City, Mexico on June 27-29, 1994. Some of the material also appeared in earlier publications (Quarantelli 1988; 1991; 1992; 1993; 1994). There are plans in Brazil to publish this paper in Portuguese in 1999.
Relationship between upper tropospheric humidity and deep convection

Satellite measurements of upper tropospheric humidity (UTH) are used together with global cloud imagery to study the relationship between deep convection and moisture in the upper troposphere. Throughout the tropics, regions of cold cloud coincide with regions of enhanced UTH, in time-mean distributions, in daily synoptic maps, and even on the short scales that characterize individual convective systems. Cold-cloud fraction and UTH have very similar instantaneous structure. The horizontal correlation scales are narrow for both cloud fraction and UTH at 315 hPa and 215 hPa. The correlation scale of UTH expands at 146 hPa, signaling an increased role of horizontal transport. Ventilation of the upper troposphere by convection is also evidenced by thermal structure: Inside regions of deep convection the vertical separation of θ surfaces is expanded, stability being weakened by convective mixing inside a deep layer centered near 200 hPa. Supported by a cloud detrainment, convection humidifies the upper troposphere, elevating mixing ratio surfaces over their surroundings. The reverse is observed at subtropical latitudes, where air is anomalously dry. Jointly, these features characterize vertical transport by the Hadley and Walker circulations.
The complex mechanism of developing trust in pharmacy

Indicators of the success in pharmaceutical services at pharmacy can be seen from customer satisfaction which is influenced by trust in pharmacy. The existence of customer satisfaction realted to pharmaceutical services is potentially important in patient adherence to their health care. The aims of this study is to examine the relationship model of satisfaction and trust in pharmacy. This research is a quantitative study with a survey design using a cross-sectional approach. It was conducted in June 2023 on a sample of 252 customers of community pharmacies in Magelang, Indonesia. The sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling method. Data analysis using Partial Least Square Path Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results of hypothesis testing based on probability values (p<0.05) indicate that the infrastructure, medication information and trust in a pharmacist had an effect on customer satisfaction. Trust in pharmacies that are influenced by consumer satisfaction can influence consumers to trust pharmacists. Trust is a service component that is dynamic in line with consumer needs following market conditions and pharmacy competition. Therefore it must be considered.
A comparative drought assessment of Yarra RiverCatchment in Victoria, Australia

Management of water resources in river systems is becoming more challenging in recent times because of increased frequency and intensity of droughts. In this paper, adaptation of an Aggregated Drought Index (ADI) by considering significant components of the water cycle is presented. The ADI was evaluated for the Yarra River catchment in Victoria (Australia) as the case study. The Principal Component Analysis was used to comprehensively consider hydro-meteorological variables which describe the fluctuations in the hydrologic cycle. A comparative study was carried out on ADI with two other DIs which are widely used, namely Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) (considering only the rainfall deficiency and used in most parts in the world) and Surface Water Supply Index (SWSI) (considering several hydro-meteorological variables; these variables do not necessarily describe the whole hydrologic cycle). The results showed that ADI was able to detect historical droughts of 1967/68, 1972/73, 1982/83, and 1997/06 occurred in Victoria (Australia). The ADI showed smooth transitional characteristics where its time series fluctuates smoothly during the droughts, and from dry to wet spells and vice versa. The main advantage of ADI includes its assessment of droughts from the aggregate perspective of meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural water shortages. It was also found that the degree of prediction level of both SPI and SWSI was not reflected. The SPI showed rapid fluctuations over the whole period of analysis and even during the drought periods. It was difficult to completely identify historical droughts periods with the SPI. The SWSI was relatively more stable than SPI in detecting historical droughts. Comparative study of ADI with SPI and SWSI showed that historical droughts were detected more clearly with ADI, followed by SWSI and then SPI. Furthermore, ADI was more robust than both SPI and SWSI.
Shear wave automatic picking and splitting measurements at Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand

Automatic shear wave picking and shear wave splitting measurement tools (Multiple Filter Automatic Splitting Technique (MFAST)) are combined to build a near‐real time application for monitoring local stress around volcanoes. We use an adapted version of Diehl et al. (2009) on seismograms provided by the New Zealand GeoNet network and having an origin time and location based only on P picks. The best automatic picks are processed by MFAST, which computes the corresponding shear wave fast direction ϕ, and splitting delay time δt, interpreted, respectively, as the principal direction of stress underneath the station and the amount of anisotropy integrated along the wave raypath. We applied our system to 9 years of local earthquakes recorded at seven stations around Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand. Results are compared against MFAST measurements from manual S picks when available and show less than 10° difference for 90% of ϕ measurements and less than 0.05 s difference for 95% of δt measurements. Shear wave splitting from automatic S arrival times are slightly more consistent than those from manual arrival times. At some stations, two populations of delay times occur, which depend upon computed initial polarization. This may be caused in part by cycle skipping, an artifact usually associated with monochromatic signals. However, spatial consistency in the behavior suggests a physical cause as well, such as focal mechanisms varying with earthquake source location or a spatially varying near‐source anisotropic region. The numbers of events in each population group vary over time, possibly related to activity at Ruapehu volcano.
Filling of flexural moats around large volcanoes on Venus: Implications for volcano structure and global magmatic flux

The absence of topographic moats and concentric normal faulting around large volcanoes on Venus is attributed to filling of the annular flexural depression by lava flows from the central edifice. Large volcanoes on Venus are characterized by prominent, approximately conical edifices surrounded by relatively flat flow aprons. The surfaces of both of these constructional components consist dominantly of radially oriented flows. From analytic plate flexure models, we generate a synthetic stratigraphy for Venus volcanoes from which we calculate the volume of material filling the flexural moats to the level of the flow apron. The total volume of volcano-associated extrusive lavas, including moat fill, can be an order of magnitude greater than the volume of the edifice alone. Extended to all large volcanoes on Venus, this procedure yields estimates for magmatic flux on Venus comparable to the present terrestrial intraplate extrusive flux, but this scenario is nonetheless consistent with observations of areally limited resurfacing since the most recent global resurfacing event. The absence of flexure-related tectonic features around most large volcanoes, by the arguments advanced here, is attributable to masking by apron flows and low stresses in the apron moat fill. On Venus, a volcanic edifice and associated moat-filling material constitute a single structurally coherent unit. Large volcanoes on Venus thus appear to be structurally distinct from those on Earth and Mars.