Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of upstream forest on macroinvertebrate communities in pastoral landscapes

The conversion of native forest to agricultural land has been an on-going issue threatening the health of New Zealand’s freshwater systems. However, despite the fact that this has been occurring since early European settlement, our understanding of the mechanistic relationships between riparian vegetation and stream condition are poorly developed. This research investigated: (i) how forests affect downstream benthic macroinvertebrate communities in pasture and the environmental factors driving community change; (ii) how upstream forest size impacted the rate of change in downstream environmental drivers and associated macroinvertebrate community structure; and (iii) whether the addition of coarse particulate organic matter (a single potential driver of forest community structure) can reset community structure to that of a forested state. Physico-chemical conditions, basal energy resources, and macroinvertebrates were surveyed in several New Zealand headwater streams. At Mount Egmont National Park, 10-12 sites were surveyed across a longitudinal forest-pasture gradient in each of five streams flowing from continuous forest to dairy farmland. My results showed that forests can have marked effects downstream. From the forest edge, water temperatures increased consistently, with a rise of approximately 0.2oC per 100 m of downstream distance. By contrast, coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) decreased rapidly downstream of the forest, however, low levels of “forest-derived” CPOM were still present 300m downstream from the forest edge. These environmental changes drove significant shifts in macroinvertebrate community structure. Moreover, pasture communities were markedly different from those in forest, despite being only 100 m from the forest edge. In particular, total macroinvertebrate and EPT richness and densities decreased, and communities shifted from evenly distributed allochthonous-based communities to autochthonous-based communities, highly dominated by molluscs (e.g., Potamopyrgus spp.) Subsequent surveys of 6-8 sites across a longitudinal forest-pasture gradient in each of eleven streams flowing from forest fragments of different sizes into grazed pastures throughout the Canterbury region, indicated that stream temperature increased more rapidly downstream of smalland medium-sized fragments, than larger fragments. A Berger-Parker dominance index also indicated that macroinvertebrates responded principally to water temperature, with communities
The Impact of Uncertainty and Sunk Costs on Firm Dynamics and Industry Structure : Evidence from the U . S . Manufacturing Sector by

Motivated by relatively recent theoretical contributions on the role played by uncertainty, sunk costs and technological change in influencing entry, exit and industry structure, we conduct an empirical analysis covering 267 U.S. manufacturing industries over the period 1963-1992. The key findings are: (1) Greater uncertainty has an adverse impact on the number of small firms and establishments in an industry. This effect is most pronounced in the high sunk cost industries. The larger establishments are generally unscathed by greater uncertainty. Uncertainty and sunk costs increase concentration and affect firm (establishment) size distribution; and (2) Technological change reduces the number of establishments and firms in an industry. The reduction occurs primarily in the small size category. Apart from shedding light on the underlying theories, our findings on firm turnover and industry dynamics may have implications for research in several areas such as models of creative destruction, competition policy analysis, and the study of specific industries such as the electric industry which is characterized by a high degree of uncertainty and is undergoing transformation following deregulation. Further, if entry and exit can be viewed as the bigger picture reflecting economic activity in industries, our findings may provide insights into the factors affecting fluctuations in employment and investment. JEL: L11, D80, O30, G10, L40.
Assessment of intercropping indices, yield performance, and economics of Rajmah-based intercropping system under rainfed conditions in North Bank Plain Zone of Assam

: - A field experiment was conducted in the research field of the All India Coordinate Research project on Dryland Agriculture, Biswanath Chariali center, Biswanath College of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University during the rabi season of 2020-21 to assess intercropping indices, yield performance and economics of rajmah based intercropping system under the rainfed situation of North Bank Plain Zone of Assam. The competitive behavior of component crops in the different intercropping systems was determined in terms of land equivalent ratio (LER), relative crowding coefficient (RCC), aggressivity (A), and monetary advantage index (MAI). The results revealed that the plant height and number of primary branches per plant were recorded maximum in sole rajmah irrespective of all intercropping treatments. Rajmah + lentil (2:1) ratio of intercropping system have the highest aggressivity value (+1.19 & -1.19 respectively) followed by rajmah + linseed (2:1) ratio with aggressivity value of (+1.04 & -1.04) and the lowest was observed in rajmah + linseed (1:1) ratio (+0.04 and -0.04 respectively). The treatment rajmah + lentil (2:1) intercropping system was also found to be more economical and had the highest monetary advantages index (Rs. 6012.08/-). Among the intercropping treatments, the relative crowding coefficient was >1 in rajmah grown with linseed and lentil in both 1:1 ratio and 2:1 ratio indicating yield advantage. Rajmah intercropped with lentil under the 2:1 ratio recorded the highest land equivalent ratio (1.18) and rajmah equivalent yield (13.46 qha -1 ). Economic analysis of the intercropping system also resulted in the highest net return of Rs. 63,942.00 per ha and benefit: cost ratio of 2.93 under rajmah + lentil (2:1) ratio and the lowest was recorded under rajmah + toria (2:1) with a value of the net return of Rs.10,259.00 and B: C ratio of 1.31.
Sports Medicine International Open Are Published Studies on Ergogenic Aids in Sports Science Biased Towards Positive Results?

: We investigated the potential for publication bias in the field of sports science regarding studies on ergogenic aids and their effects on exercise performance. We found evidence to suggest that journals tend to prioritize studies with positive results (76%), while neglecting those with negative outcomes (2.7%). Worryingly, this could lead to a discrepancy between reported conclusions and actual study outcomes. We also identified inconsistencies between reported outcomes and actual performance variable outcomes. Taken together, these data highlight the need for future research to reduce bias and encourage the publication of studies with both positive and negative results to improve the reliability of scientific evidence in this field
Determination of University Students’ Situation in Undertaking Physical Activities and Factors Hindering Their Participation in Physical Activities

: The aim of this study was the determination of university students’ situation in undertaking physical activities and factors hindering their participation in physical activities. A total of 530 students, with an average age of 21. 77±2.73 consisting of 226 female (42.64%) and 304 male (57.96%) students have taken part in the study. As a result of our analysis, it has been determined that 240(45.28%) of the participants perform physical activities and 290(54.72%) of them do not. It has been discovered in the evaluation conducted that 36.28% of the 226 female participants do perform physical activities, while 63.72% of them do not, 51.97% of the 304 male participants do and 48.03% of them do not perform physical activities. Furthermore, it has also been noted that participation rates of the females who participate in physical activities are low at a statistical significance level (x =12.88, df=1, p<0.01). In this regard, it may be the thought that taking of all the necessary measures by all the 2 public institutions and organizations and the universities which are aimed at determining the participation rates and increasing participation of the university students in physical activities, may help to preserve and improve the physical, psychological health and social well-being of the students.
Hemangioma: MR Imaging Findings Spinal Intradural Extramedullary Capillary

Summary: Spinal intradural extramedullary capillary hemangiomas are extremely rare. We present the MR imaging and histologic ﬁndings in three patients with this abnormality. The three patients were men who had symptoms of either myelopathy (n (cid:53) 2) or radiculopathy (n (cid:53) 1). The tumors were well demarcated, 1.5–2.0 cm in diameter, and were located at the posterior or posterolateral portion of the thecal sac (one at the L1 level and the other two at the midthoracic level). On MR images, the tumor showed isoin-tensity relative to the spinal cord on T1-weighted images, hyperintensity on T2-weighted images, and strong homogeneous enhancement on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images in all three patients. In two patients, the dural tail sign was observed. Capillary hemangioma should be included in the differential diagnosis of a spinal intradural extramedullary tumor.
Latent Space Editing in Transformer-Based Flow Matching

This paper strives for image editing via generative models. Flow Matching is an emerging generative modeling technique that offers the advantage of simple and efficient training. Simultaneously, a new transformer-based U-ViT has recently been proposed to replace the commonly used UNet for better scalability and performance in generative modeling. Hence, Flow Matching with a transformer backbone offers the potential for scalable and high-quality generative modeling, but their latent structure and editing ability are as of yet unknown. Hence, we adopt this setting and explore how to edit images through latent space manipulation. We introduce an editing space, which we call u-space, that can be manipulated in a controllable, accumulative, and composable manner. Additionally, we propose a tailored sampling solution to enable sampling with the more efficient adaptive step-size ODE solvers. Lastly, we put forth a straightforward yet powerful method for achieving fine-grained and nuanced editing using text prompts. Our framework is simple and efficient, all while being highly effective at editing images while preserving the essence of the original content. Our code will be publicly available at https://taohu.me/lfm/
SEQUENCE LITHOFACIES PALEOGEOGRAPHY OF WESTERN ORDOS BASIN IN MAJIAGOU STAGE,ORDOVICIAN

Lower Ordovician strata in western Ordos Basin are mainly composed of huge-thick marine carbonate and evaporite,and can be divided into 12 third-order sequences,the Majiagou Formation,one of them,includes 8 third-order sequences.These sequences mostly belong to TypeⅡsequence and are mainly consisted of shelf margin system tract(SMST),intra-shelf lowstand system tract(ISLST),transgressive system tract(TST)and highstand system tract(HST). Mainly taking Osq7,Osq8,and Osq9 sequences in Majiagou Formation of Lower Ordovician as examples,system tract as mapping unit,sequence lithofacies paleogeographic maps of the early Ordovician Majiagou stage are mapped by adopting system tract compression method in western Ordos Basin.Characteristics and evolution of lithofacies paleogeography of the early Ordovician Majiagou stage are studied in western Ordos Basin.The SMST-ISLST are featured by the Central Paleouplift Zone becoming subaerial exposure and larger-scale paleo-land.The TST are characterized by the development of carbonate platform facies and the appearance of carbonate shelf,slope,and trench facies.The HST is typically featured by the enlarging of dolomite flat,accretion of carbonate platform and appearance of intra-platform shoals.Under the control of sea-level fluctuation and ancient tectonic framework which was consisted of the Central Paleouplift,Helangshan aulacogen,and others,the lithofacies paleogeographic framework of the early Ordovician Majiagou stage totally shows that successive distribution of trench,slope,shelf,platform/paleo-land,intra-shelf basin margin facies are orderly oriented in the direction from west to east in western Ordos Basin.
Measurement of eroded dentine tubule patency and roughness following novel dab-on or brushing

Objectives: To investigate the effect of dab-on or brushing of stannous-fluoride SnF2 or sodium-fluoride NaF dentifrice on eroded dentine tubule patency, surface and inter-tubular dentine roughness , using Confocal-Laser-Scanning-Microscopy
Metric Comparison Between Google Scholar And Research Gate For Engineering Academics

A researcher's reputation is influenced by the quantity and quality of his or her publications. A record of these publications is usually kept by an academic in a resume or on an online platform, such as LinkedIn, Google Scholar or Research Gate. The purpose of this article is to contrast the major metrics of Google Scholar with that of Research Gate of a number of engineering academics employed at a university of technology in South Africa, in order to determine any notable differences. A quantitative study is undertaken to gather the total number of citations, h-index values and Research Gate scores for engineering researchers present on both databases. Results indicate that Research Gate has the highest number of authors present from the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology at the Central University of Technology. However, Google Scholar records the highest number of citations for these authors. Only 31 out of the possible 86 academic staff members maintains a profile on both databases, where only 4 researchers have more than 500 citations. It is recommended that management mandate the presence of their academic staff on one of many available databases in this regard, thereby enhancing the visibility of the research done at the university and enabling an easier review of the achievements of staff for performance management purposes or for promotion.
Low Back Pain Performance in Individuals with Nonspecific Morphometry and Sensorimotor Associations between Measures of Structural

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To date, most structural brain imaging studies in individuals with nonspeciﬁc low back pain have evaluated volumetric changes. These alterations are particularly found in sensorimotor-related areas. Although it is suggested that speciﬁc measures, such as cortical surface area and cortical thickness, reﬂect different underlying neural architectures, the literature regarding these different measures in individuals with nonspeciﬁc low back pain is limited. Therefore, the current study was designed to investigate the association between the performance on a sensorimotor task, more speciﬁcally the sit-to-stand-to-sit task, and cortical surface area and cortical thickness in individuals with nonspeciﬁc low back pain and healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen individuals with nonspeciﬁc low back pain and 17 healthy controls were instructed to perform 5 consecutive sit-to-stand-to-sit movements as fast as possible. In addition, T1-weighted anatomic scans of the brain were acquired and analyzed with FreeSurfer. RESULTS: Compared with healthy controls, individuals with nonspeciﬁc low back pain needed signiﬁcantly more time to perform 5 sit-to-stand-to-sit movements ( P (cid:2) . 05). Brain morphometric analyses revealed that cortical thickness of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortical regions was increased in patients with nonspeciﬁc low back pain compared with controls. Furthermore, decreased cortical thickness of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex was associated with lower sit-to-stand-to-sit performance on an unstable support surface in individuals with nonspeciﬁc low back pain and healthy controls ( r (cid:3) (cid:4) 0.47, P (cid:2) . 007). In addition, a positive correlation was found between perceivedpainintensityandcorticalthicknessofthesuperiorfrontalgyrus( r (cid:3) 0.70, P (cid:2) . 002)andtheparsopercularisoftheinferiorventrolateral prefrontalcortex( r (cid:3) 0.67, P (cid:2) . 004). Hence,increasedcorticalthicknesswasassociatedwithincreasedlevelsofpainintensityinindividualswith nonspeciﬁc low back pain. No associations were found between cortical surface area and the pain characteristics in this group. CONCLUSIONS: The current study suggests that cortical thickness may contribute to different aspects of sit-to-stand-to-sit performance and perceived pain intensity in individuals with nonspeciﬁc low back pain.
Influence of Microfinance Banks on Enterprise Growth, Resource Acquisition and Capability Development of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria

icrofinance banks were setup by the Federal Government of Nigeria to M provide micro financial services to the economically active poor, micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) that need financial services to carry out and expand their business operations. The study investigated the influence of microfinance banks on enterprise growth, resource acquisition and capability development of micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the Nigerian context. The survey research design was used for the study. Four research questions and corresponding hypotheses were generated to guide the study. The participants for the study were 176 entrepreneurs who patronised Microfinance Banks for financial assistance in the Lagos Mainland, Apapa and Surulere Local Government Areas of Lagos State. They were selected through convenient sampling procedure. The data generated for the study was collected through the use of a questionnaire. The analysis of data collected was carried out with the use of both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result from the study showed that the influence of Microfinance banks on enterprise growth, resource acquisition and capability development of MSMEs is significant; however there is need to maintain this position as well to improve on it. The study therefore recommended that microfinance banks should make their financial services more accessible and available to MSMSEs and to intensify efforts at monitoring the use of the funds being given to maximise achievement in the three core areas covered in the study, namely: capability development, resource acquisition and enterprise growth.
Financial Risk Tolerant Attitude: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan

: The study aimed to investigate the phenomena of risk tolerant attitude in response to the stock index price changes along with the demographic variables. To explore this phenomena, data was collected from the investors, bankers and household individuals whereas daily and weekly closing KSE index prices were taken from stock exchange to study the impact of the change in prices on the risk tolerant attitudes. With the help of daily and weekly regression analysis, the study concluded that in Pakistan KSE stock index prices does not have influence on individual risk tolerant attitude due to a number of reasons including lack of awareness and financial knowhow among people, financial market being in the initial developmental phase in comparison to developed nations to name few. Furthermore, due to political and economic instability people prefer to invest in gold and tend to save in government saving schemes and hold fixed deposits accounts. The study also found that men and households with higher income are more risk tolerant as compared to women and those having lower household income respectively. Age, marital status, income and education level were not found to be significant predictors of risk tolerant attitudes.
Pre-trained DenseNet-121 with Multilayer Perceptron for Acoustic Event Classiﬁcation

—Acoustic event classiﬁcation aims to classify the acoustic event into the correct classes, which is beneﬁcial in surveillance, multimedia information retrieval, and smart cities. The main challenges of acoustic event classiﬁcation are insufﬁcient data to learn a good model and varying lengths of the acoustic input signal. In this paper, a deep learning architecture, namely: Pre-trained DenseNet-121 with Multilayer Perceptron is proposed in this work to classify the acoustic events into correct classes. To mitigate the data scarcity problem, two data augmentation techniques: time stretching and pitch shifting, are applied on training data to boost the number of training samples. Given the augmented acoustic signal, a frequency spectrogram technique is then employed to represent the acoustic event signal into a ﬁxed-size image representation. The output of the spectrogram images are enriched with the information of the acoustic signal such as energy levels over time domain, frequency changes, signal strength, and amplitude. Subsequently, a pre-trained DenseNet-121 model is adopted as a transfer learning technique to extract signiﬁcant features from the spectrogram image. In doing so, computation resources can be greatly reduced and improve the performance of the deep learning-based model. Three benchmark datasets: (1) Soundscapes1, (2) Soundscapes2, and (3) UrbanSound8K, are used to assess the performance of the proposed method. From the experimental results, the proposed Pre-trained DenseNet-121 with Multilayer Perceptron outperforms existing works on Soundscapes1, Soundscapes2, and UrbanSound8K datasets with the F1-scores of 80.7%, 87.3%, and 69.6%, respectively.
The Coastal-Inland Income Gap in China during the 1990 s : The Role of Geography and Policy

We investigate the enlarging coastal-inland income gap in China during the 1990s, using GMM estimation of a Solow growth model. Disaggregating capital investment by source: public, foreign and private: helps to disentangle the effect of policy from those of geography. The impact of public investment on growth is insignificant in our panel data for 29 provinces; that of foreign investment is significant; private investment is most influential. We also use the distance by railway of each province’s capital city to its nearest port city as a proxy for transportation costs, and find significant differences across regions. Distance has negative effects on economic development but its marginal impact effects become less as distance increases. The coastal-inland gap will grow in the foreseeable future, if inland areas are not able to benefit from an increase in private investment and infrastructure improvements (to reduce transport costs).