Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Demographic drivers of collapse in an island population of Tree Swallows

ABSTRACT Diagnosing causes of population declines requires an understanding of the contributions of demographic vital rates to interannual variability and long-term changes in population size. At Kent Island, New Brunswick, Canada, an isolated population of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) collapsed between 1987 and 2010, providing a unique opportunity to reconstruct how demographic rates drive population dynamics. We fit an integrated population model to 24 yr of population count, reproductive success, and capture–recapture data to generate annual estimates of productivity, juvenile and adult survival, immigration, and the finite rate of population change (λ). The Kent Island population declined from 202 to 12 breeding adults over 24 yr, with a geometric mean decline of 11.6% per year. Annual apparent survival of adults averaged 56% across sexes, whereas annual survival and recruitment of juveniles never exceeded 6%. Transient life table response experiments revealed that variation in male and female immigration rates were the major contributors to both overall and interannual variation in λ, followed by female and male adult survival. Local recruitment and reproductive rates had little effect on variation in λ. Given broad-scale regional declines in Tree Swallows, our study shows how declines of isolated populations can be driven by reductions in immigration, especially when coupled with variation in adult survival and low local recruitment.
Genetic Variability, Correlation, Path Coefficient and Stability Analysis for Yield and its Attributing Traits in Summer Green Gram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek] Accessions

Green gram [Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek], 2n=22 is an important wide-spreading herbaceous, annual, self-pollinated pulse crop in India and occupies third important pulse crop after Chickpea and Pigeon pea. India is the largest producer and consumer of green gram accounting for about 65 per cent of the world’s acreage sharing 54 per cent of the world’s production (Singh and Singh, 2011). It is rich in quality proteins, minerals, vitamins and often preferred to other pulses due to its better digestibility and less flatulence problem owing to a lower content of raffinose, stachyose and verbascose (Poehlman, 1991).
Impact of Export of Travel Services on Current Account Balance and Growth in Mediterranean Countries

Observing the expanding and high share of export of travel services in both GDP and total export of services in Mediterranean countries, we focus our research on travel service export in twelve countries from 1998 to 2018. We investigated both short-term and long-term significance of export of travel services for GDP growth in Mediterranean countries using the VAR and VECM model and the fixed-effects panel OLS model. In our analysis of significance of export of travel services on current account balance, we applied an accounting approach. Our application of the fixed-effects OLS model on the panel data with GDP growth rate as the dependent variable has shown that, in the short run, export of travel services has a positive impact on GDP growth. In the long run, Granger causality based on block exogeneity Wald tests evidenced that export of travel services has a positive impact on GDP growth, but only at the 10% significance level. Following the accounting approach in our analysis of impact of export of travel services on overall current account balance, we evidenced a strong relevance of export of travel services in achieving current account balance equilibrium.
Purposes of Using Informal Social Learning Spaces by Students: A Case Study of Business School in Sri Lanka

Business Schools are more than mere collections of classrooms and offices, rather destinations for studying, collaboration, group discussions, and they contribute to developing a sense of community among students and faculty. The literature illustrates almost zero essences on how managerial decision-making about space concerns affect students or faculty. In fact, it is been noted o reflect their understanding of the purpose of physical spaces mostly in its outward form which then interpreted by observers following their socially constructed decoding. The main objective of this study is to examine for what purposes students are using informal Social Learning Spaces. This is a qualitative case study based on a Business School in Sri Lanka. The data were gathered through focus group interviews and observations held at three different purpose-built informal social learning spaces at the selected Business School and analyzed using the thematic framework. In this exploration, the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and judgments of students are brought into the discussion. The findings revealed that students use social learning spaces for their studying, leisure, and networking purposes. Therefore, by providing Original Research Article Amarathunge and Madhuwanthi; AJESS, 9(1): 34-45, 2020; Article no.AJESS. 57966 35 informal social learning spaces for students to engage themselves in educational activities can make an influence on higher learning outcomes in academic, personal, and social aspects of their life.
The Influence of Service Quality, Price Perception, and Store Atmosphere On Repurchase Intention (Case Study at The Teras Atas Cafe Surabaya)

Repurchase intention is very influential in developing a business. Many factors affect repurchase intention, including service quality, perception price, and store atmosphere. The purpose of this study was to determine how the influence of service quality, perception price, and store atmosphere both simultaneously and partially effect on repurchase intention. The data was collected using a questionnaire. The research method uses as many random samples of 281 people. The analysis method using SPSS 18. The results of this study indicate that the independent variables simultaneously influence the dependent variable. This research evidenced from the significance value of 0.000 or less than 0.05 and the Fcalculation = 194.777 while the Ftable obtained 2.66 and this meaning that Fcalculation > Ftable. But in partial variable, service quality is not significant into repurchase intention as in the results of testing showing tcalculation = 0.961 < ttable = 1.968 with significance 0.337 > 0.05.
ARBUSCULAR MYCORRHIZAL SPORE DENSITY AND ROOT INFECTION IN SOME WEEDS OF ASTERACEAE

The rhizospheric soil containing roots samples of two plants of the same family were collected from the three different locations of Tehsil Charsadda to find out the spore density, spore dominancy, relative abundance, evenness of the spore and the root infections. Three types of spores were found during the study i.e. Glomus (43.64%), Sclerocystis (29.55%) and Acaulospora (26.81%) of the total spores in both Parthenium hysterophorus L. and Conyza canadensis L. The spore density ranges from 75 to 93 spores per 100gm. The root colonization ranged from 15.12% to 34.48% in both plants. The highest spore density was recorded in P. hysterophorus while lowest in C. canadensis. Glomus formed highest community about 48.24% and 38.98% in both P. hysterophorus and C. canadensis respectively. The values of relative abundance, specie evenness Sampson index of dominancy and spore density revealed that the community is formed by the Glomus spores followed by Sclerocystis and Acaulospora. In case of root colonization, the most frequent infection was internal hyphal infection followed by the vesicular infection and external hyphal infection
Intra-banking competition in Ecuador: new evidence using panel data approach

PurposeBanks are institutions that inject money in the economy and help to boost it when there are problems in some markets, especially in productive sectors. In this way, analysing the competition in this sector is an important tool for policymakers as non-competitive behaviour could affect the financial system and economy. The purpose of this paper is to measure the degree of competition in the Ecuadorian private banking sector divided by size, from 2000 to 2015, using panel data collected by the official regulator institution.Design/methodology/approachThe authors applied the model proposed by Panzar and Rosse (1987) and itsH-statistic using a reduced price and revenue equation estimated by pooled ordinary least squares, fixed effects, random effects, feasible generalised fixed effects and panel correction standard errors (PCSE). FindingsThe authors show that given the presence of some problems in data such as heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation, the most appropriate technique is PCSE. The authors also found robust evidence supporting that large banks compete in a monopolistic market, small and medium-sized banks operate in monopolistic competition, and Ecuadorian small, medium-sized and large banks stay in long-run equilibrium.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the actual literature of competition degree in two ways. First, different from traditional papers, we do not control by size; so, we divided the analysis by size, because in Ecuador and also in many developing countries, bank’s competition is different for each group of size because the levels of liquidity, risk and other indicators are different from one group to another. Second, we show the robustness of the results using a scaled and unscaled equation, using many controls and using five methods to contrast the competition degree.
The Effect of Market Performance, Corporate Governance and Examination of Corporate Taxes with Tax Amnesty as Moderators

The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the effect of market performance, corporate governance, tax audits toward corporate tax, and the role of the tax amnesty in moderating the relationship between market performance, corporate governance, and tax audits toward corporate tax. The unit of analysis is a public company (corporate taxpayers), with a purposive sampling sample of manufacturing industry companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and meeting the sampling criteria of 52 companies in the 2014-2017 period.The results of the study are that market performance is not proven to have a positive effect on corporate tax, this shows that the higher market performance as measured by Tobin’s Q does not have an impact on corporate tax increases; Corporate governance is not proven to have a positive effect on corporate tax, this shows that the higher corporate governance does not automatically raise corporate taxes; Tax audits have a positive impact on corporate taxes, this indicates that the higher the examination of taxes carried out, the corporation tax will increase; Tax amnesty has not been proven to strengthen the positive influence of market performance, corporate governance and tax audits of corporate taxes. For the sensitivity model with ETR, none of the proposed hypotheses has been proven. Original Research Article Faisal et al.; JEMT, 26(4): 13-20, 2020; Article no.JEMT. 57862 14
Genetic diversity of maize genotypes with variable resistance to Striga asiatica based on SSR markers

Genetic diversity among breeding populations is key in plant breeding programs. This study aimed to determine the extent of genetic diversity among 37 diverse maize genotypes using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The maize genotypes were selected based on their variable resistance to Striga asiatica. Maize genotypes were fingerprinted using 18 polymorphic SSR markers. Marker and population diversity parameters were computed. A total of 191 alleles were detected and the number of effective alleles varied from 2 to 21 per locus with a mean of 11. The polymorphic information content (PIC) of the SSR markers varied from 0.59 to 0.96, with a mean of 0.80. Significant differences were observed among populations, individuals and within individuals. Within and among individual variances accounted for 85% and 13% of the total gene diversity. The genotypes were grouped into three main genetic clusters, which were not influenced by genotype origin. Mean genetic distance (0.43) and low geneflow (0.18) were observed among the populations. High mean genetic identity (0.65) was recorded, indicating potential genetic ‘bottleneck’ among the selected germplasm. The following open pollinated varieties; Border King, Colorado, CIMMYT’s ZM OPVs, Mac Pearl, Shesha, Nel Choice, Natal 8Lines, Nel Choice QPM, Hickory King, Kep Select, Obatanpa and the Striga resistant synthetic variety DSTRYSYN15 were selected from different clusters for breeding.
Going Beyond Mathematics Anxiety in Primary and Middle School Students: The Role of Ego‐Resiliency in Mathematics

Previous research examined the influence of math anxiety (MA) on performance in mathematics, but few studies compared the contribution of MA to other forms of anxiety, such as test and general anxiety (GA). Unlike MA, ego‐resiliency promotes the management of challenges, and has been positively associated with mathematics performance. In this study, we investigated the specific influence of MA, test‐ and GA, and ego‐resiliency on mathematics performance after controlling for intelligence. Children from grades 5 to 8 (N = 274) were assessed with self‐report tools measuring MA, test and GA, and ego‐resiliency, and completed intelligence and mathematical tasks. The results of structural equation models showed that MA had a main negative effect on mathematics performance, over and above the effect of test‐ and GA. Ego‐resiliency had a positive effect on mathematics performance, and was negatively associated with GA. Our findings are discussed in terms of the implications for intervention programs to reduce anxiety and sustain ego‐resiliency.
TTTS-STgan: Stacked Generative Adversarial Networks for TTTS Fetal Surgery Planning Based on 3D Ultrasound

Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) is characterized by an unbalanced blood transfer through placental abnormal vascular connections. Prenatal ultrasound (US) is the imaging technique to monitor monochorionic pregnancies and diagnose TTTS. Fetoscopic laser photocoagulation is an elective treatment to coagulate placental communications between both twins. To locate the anomalous connections ahead of surgery, preoperative planning is crucial. In this context, we propose a novel multi-task stacked generative adversarial framework to jointly learn synthetic fetal US generation, multi-class segmentation of the placenta, its inner acoustic shadows and peripheral vasculature, and placenta shadowing removal. Specifically, the designed architecture is able to learn anatomical relationships and global US image characteristics. In addition, we also extract for the first time the umbilical cord insertion on the placenta surface from 3D HD-flow US images. The database consisted of 70 US volumes including singleton, mono- and dichorionic twins at 17-37 gestational weeks. Our experiments show that 71.8% of the synthesized US slices were categorized as realistic by clinicians, and that the multi-class segmentation achieved Dice scores of 0.82 ± 0.13, 0.71 ± 0.09, and 0.72 ± 0.09, for placenta, acoustic shadows, and vasculature, respectively. Moreover, fetal surgeons classified 70.2% of our completed placenta shadows as satisfactory texture reconstructions. The umbilical cord was successfully detected on 85.45% of the volumes. The framework developed could be implemented in a TTTS fetal surgery planning software to improve the intrauterine scene understanding and facilitate the location of the optimum fetoscope entry point.
Language diaries in the study of language use and language choice: the case of Flemish Sign Language and Scottish Gaelic

Abstract This article discusses the rationale for using language diaries as a method to evaluate language use and language choice in multilingual contexts, as well as the benefits and limitations of this approach vis-à-vis other research methods. This is illustrated using examples from two contexts: Flemish Sign Language/Dutch bilinguals in Flanders and Gaelic/English bilinguals in the Western Isles of Scotland. In both cases, the language diaries were part of a larger mixed-method study which aimed to evaluate language use and language choice in contexts in which the majority language is in almost all instances the unmarked choice. Language diaries provide a new perspective on individual language practices as they allow for an evaluation of contextualised examples of language use and give insight into the factors that drive language and modality choice, and language ideologies. Language diaries give participants ownership over the information shared with the researcher and provide access to a number of different domains. Despite being based on self-reported practices, their situated nature demonstrates how language use can change through personal circumstances. This in turn contributes to a greater understanding of the use of Flemish Sign Language and Gaelic in the wider sociolinguistic contexts in which these languages exist.
The Effect of Price on Firm Reputation

Although a business’s reputation can affect its pricing, prices can also affect its reputation. To explore the effect of prices on reputation, we investigate daily data on menu prices and online ratings from a large rating and ordering platform. We find that a price increase of 1% leads to a decrease of 3%–5% in the average rating. Consistent with this, the overall distribution of ratings for cheaper restaurants is similar to that of more expensive restaurants. Finally, these effects do not seem to be driven by consumer retaliation against price changes but by changes in absolute price levels. This paper was accepted by Duncan Simester, marketing.
Environmental Factors Affecting Mother in the Maternity Ward (Case Study: Four Hospitals in Golestan Province)

Designing the maternity ward of hospitals is crucial due to the special conditions of mothers before, during, and after birth. Numerous environmental factors affect mothers, and it calls for an evidence-based design of these spaces. Although many investigations have drawn their attention to the issue, there is a paucity of research in terms of the significance of the birth environment factors. Therefore, the specific question of the research is that to what extent each of these factors is significant? In order to answer this question, the researchers devised a questionnaire based on which the most prominent variables could be ascertained. The questionnaire contained four main domains, including fear cascade, facilities, aesthetics and support, and the researchers distributed them among mothers in four hospitals in Golestan province, Iran. Six influential spaces affecting mothers, including communication space, hospitalization room, nursing station, neonatal room, operation room and external space, were investigated in this regard. Using the descriptive-analytical method and SPSS software, the research hypotheses were tested, and the Friedman test was employed to rank the domains and their variables. The findings demonstrated the significance of the aesthetic domain and such variables as the nursing station, natural light in corridors, and view to the doctor room. The study offered fresh insights into the design of a peaceful maternity ward.
The complete chloroplast genome of Mazus pumilus (Mazaceae)

Abstract Mazus pumilus (N. L. Burman) Steenis is the representative species of Mazus mainly distributed in China. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of M. pumilus. The genome was 153,149 bp in length with 106 genes comprising 79 protein-coding genes, 23 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. The overall GC content of M. pumilus chloroplast genome was is 37.8%. ML phylogenomic analysis suggested that M. pumilus forms a monophyletic group with Lancea which shows a close relationship with the clade of Phrymaceae, Paulowniaceae, and Orobanchaceae.
The physics of fault friction: insights from experiments on simulated gouges at low shearing velocities

Abstract. The strength properties of fault rocks at shearing rates spanning the transition from crystal–plastic flow to frictional slip play a central role in determining the distribution of crustal stress, strain, and seismicity in tectonically active regions. We review experimental and microphysical modelling work, which is aimed at elucidating the processes that control the transition from pervasive ductile flow of fault rock to rate-and-state-dependent frictional (RSF) slip and to runaway rupture, carried out at Utrecht University in the past 2 decades or so. We address shear experiments on simulated gouges composed of calcite, halite–phyllosilicate mixtures, and phyllosilicate–quartz mixtures performed under laboratory conditions spanning the brittle–ductile transition. With increasing shear rate (or decreasing temperature), the results consistently show transitions from (1) stable velocity-strengthening (v-strengthening) behaviour, to potentially unstable v-weakening behaviour, and (2) back to v strengthening. Sample microstructures show that the first transition seen at low shear rates and/or high temperatures represents a switch from pervasive, fully ductile deformation to frictional sliding involving dilatant granular flow in localized shear bands where intergranular slip is incompletely accommodated by creep of individual mineral grains. A recent microphysical model, which treats fault rock deformation as controlled by competition between rate-sensitive (diffusional or crystal–plastic) deformation of individual grains and rate-insensitive sliding interactions between grains (granular flow), predicts both transitions well. Unlike classical RSF approaches, this model quantitatively reproduces a wide range of (transient) frictional behaviours using input parameters with direct physical meaning, with the latest progress focusing on incorporation of dynamic weakening processes characterizing co-seismic fault rupture. When implemented in numerical codes for crustal fault slip, the model offers a single unified framework for understanding slip patch nucleation and growth to critical (seismogenic) dimensions, as well as for simulating the entire seismic cycle.
Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction: status quo

Emphysema is associated with irreversible loss of lung compliance leading to gas trapping and hyperinflation. Surgical lung volume reduction has proven to improve lung function, exercise capacity, cardiac health and survival in patients with advanced emphysema; however, this procedure is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) has emerged as an alternative approach for these patients. In this article, we review the different techniques used for the purpose of this procedure, its advantages and disadvantages. In addition, we discuss in length valve therapy and the studies that led to its recent FDA approval. Finally, we provide thought-provoking challenges that may be topics for further future investigation to enhance the efficacy and benefit of this technique.
Exploring junior high school EFL teachers’ training needs of assessment literacy

Abstract The training of teachers is one of the most critical factors in improving the quality of teaching and assessment in the classroom. EFL teachers need to be literate in language assessment; this can be achieved through training. A total of 147 Junior High School EFL teachers was surveyed to identify their training needs in assessmen. Semi-structured interviews with 10 randomly selected teachers were also conducted, and analysed using thematic analysis. The study identified three competencies that teachers expected to gain from assessment literacy training: the ability to select tests for use, ability to develop tests’ specification, and ability to develop test tasks and items. More importantly, the study results suggest that teachers need ongoing practical training in a range of topics with different priorities. These findings offer guidance for planning effective teacher training and the design of modules based on teachers’ needs.