Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Genre-Based Investigation of Inter/Intra-Lingual Relationships between Persian and English Academic Writings: Common Underlying Proficiency Oriented

Although L2 writing has attracted salient attention and monopolized many studies in EFL contexts, there is still no full image of its complicated nature. Trying to play a supplementary role in achieving that image, this study aimed at finding whether Persian and English argumentative and descriptive academic writings were inter/intra-lingually associated and if genre played a role in provoking any differences in the means of total scores obtained from the essays. In so doing, 50 Iranian senior MA TEFL students at the intermediate level were asked to write down two argumentative and two descriptive essays in Persian and English. Each essay was assessed against IELTS task 2 writing band descriptors. Then, the data were analyzed through the Pearson product-moment correlation and paired-samples t-test. The results revealed there were significant positive correlations between the total scores obtained from Persian and English argumentative and descriptive essays. The findings supported the existence of a common underlying proficiency (Cummins, 1980), out of which L1 and L2 writing skills emerged. The results also illustrated there were significant differences between the means of some of the total scores. It was supposed these differences might be due to the possible genre-sensitive nature of common underlying proficiency.
Community Information Campaigns Improve Girls' Education: Evidence from an RCT in Zimbabwe

We examine the impact of a randomized Girls' Education Challenge project implemented in rural Zimbabwe. The multifaceted project initially provided information about girls' rights and education barriers to girls, caregivers, teachers, and other community members. Later, the project introduced a learn-to-read program and provided resources such as bicycles and books. The information campaign significantly improved mathematics performance and school enrolment in a short time frame. The subsequent provision of resources and curriculum changes corresponded to improvements in literacy but did not correspond to any additional improvements in mathematics and enrolment beyond what was observed following the information provision alone.
Inter-clutch egg size variation in kestrels Falco tinnunculus: seasonal decline under fluctuating food conditions

We examined inter-clutch egg size variation of Eurasian kestrels Falco tinnunculus in western Finland over a period of 12 years, during which their main prey, Microtus voles, fluctuated in three-year population cycles. Females that bred twice in the area had highly repeatable egg size, and the main part of the observed variation was likely to be due to among-female differences. Laying date also explained some variation in egg size, but compared to the variation between individuals its effect was small and varied among the phases of the vole cycle. During decrease phases and years with low vole abundance mean egg size of clutches declined with laying date, whereas during increase phases mean egg size remained stable within the season. Although egg size was not related to fledging success, we found that egg size may have value for the development of eggs as the probability of total hatching success of a clutch increased with increasing mean egg size.
Acute Effects of Gas Supersaturation on Juvenile Cultured White Seabass

Abstract White seabass Atractoscion nobilis reared at a production and research hatchery have been observed to occasionally suffer from ocular emphysemas. To identify a possible cause of these lesions, cultured juvenile white seabass were exposed to five gas saturation levels between 98% and 122% total gas pressure (TGP). Experiments were run for 96 h using fish weighing 3 and 22 g at water temperatures of 17.9 ± 0.3°C or 23.0 ± 0.3°C. Fish were observed every 8 h for symptoms of gas bubble disease. Throughout the trial, no fish died when exposed to 98, 102, or 109% TGP and only one fish died at 116% TGP. When fish were exposed to 122% TGP, however, mortality was 5 percentage points greater for both small and large fish in 23°C water than for those at 18°C and 20 percentage points greater for the large than for the small fish at both temperatures. The most prevalent and severe lesions were in large fish exposed at 23°C, followed by small fish exposed at 23°C, large fish exposed at 18°C, and small fish exp.
MOLECULAR APPROACHES TO MARINE MICROBIAL ECOLOGY AND THE MARINE NITROGEN CYCLE

▪ Abstract Microbes are recognized as important components of the Earth system, playing key roles in controlling the composition of the atmosphere and surface waters, forming the basis of the marine food web, and the cycling of chemicals in the ocean. A revolution in microbial ecology has occurred in the past 15–20 years with the advent of rapid methods for discovering and sequencing the genes of uncultivated microbes from natural environments. Initially based on sequences from the 16S rRNA gene, this revolution made it possible to identify microorganisms without first cultivating them, to discover and characterize the immense previously unsuspected diversity of the microbial world, and to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships among microbes. Subsequent focus on functional genes, those that encode enzymes that catalyze biogeochemical transformations, and current work on larger DNA fragments and entire genomes make it possible to link microbial diversity to ecosystem function. These approaches have yi.
ALLOMÉTRIE DE CROISSANCE CHEZ LE LAPIN (ORYCTOLAGUS CUNICULUS). V. — LE SQUELETTE

RÉSUMÉ Nous avons étudié pour une souche de lapins communs âgés de 9 à 182 jours la croissance relative, dans les deux sexes, du squelette et de ses régions et sous-régions. Nous mettons en évidence plusieurs types d’ajustements soit à une ou deux droites, soit curvilinéaires. Bien que les coefficients d’allométrie ne diffèrent pas toujours significativement entre eux on peut relever un ordre de précocité dans le développement des régions et sous-régions du squelette. On peut observer, pour l’ensemble du squelette, deux gradients (cranio-caudal et caudo- cranial) convergents au niveau dorso-lombaire. On note également, le long des membres, deux gradients (proximo-distal et disto-proximal) divergents à partir des carpes et des tarses. Le squelette, comme la plupart des autres tissus et organes, connaît une phase de remaniement caractérisée par des variations de la vitesse de croissance, vers l’âge de 6 semaines. Le développement du squelette est comparable dans les deux sexes.
THE BASKING BEHAVIOUR OF NEZARA VIRIDULA (L.) (PENTATOMIDAE: HEMIPTERA) ON SOYBEANS AND ITS IMPLICATION IN CONTROL

During investigations into the behaviour of Nezara viridula (L.) on soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) at Emerald, Queensland in 1976, up to 87% of adults and nymphs present in a crop moved to the surface of the canopy each morning and remained there for a period before returning into the crop. The observed number of adults and nymphs was poorly correlated with the climatic factors recorded (r2= 0.32 for time of day, temperature and humidity). This finding has implications with respect to pest population assessment and the optimum time of day for the application of contact insecticides for control.
Short-term responses of phenology, shoot growth and leaf traits of four alpine shrubs in a timberline ecotone to simulated global warming, Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China

The short-term effects of artificial warming on phenology, growth and leaf traits were investigated in four alpine shrubs using the open-top chamber (OTC) method in a timberline ecotone (3240 m a.s.l.) on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau. The OTC enhanced the mean air temperature by 2.9 degrees C throughout the growing season. In contrast, only a slight difference (0.4 degrees C) in the mean soil temperature was observed in the OTC compared with the control plots (CP). Spiraea mongolica, Potentilla fruticosa, Conicera hispida (deciduous shrubs) and Daphne retusa (evergreen shrub) showed earlier bud break, flowering and fruit coloring as well as longer flower longevity in the OTC than in the CP. All deciduous shrubs in the OTC had a longer leaf lifespan. Daphne retusa had higher leaf survival rates in the OTC. No significant differences in the total number of flowers and fruits were noticed for most species between the two treatments. Warming stimulated the shoot and leaf growth for most species. The specific leaf area tended to increase for many species in the OTC. However, the leaf nitrogen concentration tended to decrease in P. fruticosa and S. mongolica. The results obtained in the present study indicate that warming conditions can have strong impacts on alpine shrubs in a timberline ecotone.
Labor Voice in Corporate Governance: Evidence from Opportunistic Insider Trading

This study examines whether labor plays a role in corporate governance by deterring opportunistic insider behavior. Results suggest that firms with organized labor experience statistically significant declines in opportunistic insider trading activity and profitability. We show three economic mechanisms that explain labor's disciplinary effect on opportunistic insider trading behavior: employee welfare, activist union-affiliated institutional investors, and media and political support. Further analyses suggest that labor's corporate governance reduces the incidence of illegal insider trading, enhances firm productivity and performance, and lowers insider trades' return predictability.
Produktivitas Kerja Karyawan Ditinjau dari Motivasi, Disiplin Kerja dan Lingkungan pada PT. Iskandar Indah Printing Textile Surakarta

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh secara simultan motivasi, disiplin kerja dan lingkungan kerja terhadap produktivitas kerja karyawan PT. Iskandar Indah Printing Textile Surakarta, mengetahui pengaruh motivasi terhadap produktivitas kerja karyawan pada PT. Iskandar Indah Printing Textile Surakarta, mengetahui pengaruh disiplin kerja terhadap produktivitas kerja karyawan pada PT. Iskandar Indah Printing Textile Surakarta, mengetahui pengaruh lingkungan kerja terhadap produktivitas kerja karyawan PT. Iskandar Indah Printing Textile Surakarta. Populasi dalam penelitian ini 975 karyawan. Pengambilan sampel sebanyak 100 responden. Uji hipotesis menggunakan analisis regresi linier berganda. Secara simultan motivasi, disiplin kerja dan lingkungan kerja berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap produktivitas kerja karyawan PT. Iskandar Indah Printing Textile Surakarta dengan nilai Fhitung > Ftabel (27,102) > (2,70) dan nilai signifikansi 0,000 0,05. Variabel disiplin kerja (X2) berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap produktivitas kerja karyawan dengan thitung (8,830) > ttabel (1,984) dan nilai signifikansi 0,000 0,05. Kata kunci : motivasi, disiplin kerja, lingkungan kerja, dan produktivitas kerja
Conservation goals for the Cape mountain zebra Equus zebra zebra—security in numbers?

Abstract The target of the 2002 IUCN Action Plan for the Cape mountain zebra Equus zebra zebra was for a population of 2,500 animals. We assessed the validity of this goal by reviewing the conservation status of the subspecies and the prospects of achieving larger populations. All subpopulations were identified and data on each were collected by means of a questionnaire survey. The total extant Cape mountain zebra population was found to consist of at least 2,790 individuals in 52 subpopulations. The target number of 2,500 has therefore been exceeded and this success is largely attributable to the private sector, as there are at present double the number of privately owned subpopulations (35) compared to formally protected subpopulations (17) and the percentage of the population on privately owned land rose from 14% in 1998 to 32% in 2009. The security of the subspecies is still of concern, however, as the growing proportion of the metapopulation on private land is more vulnerable to threats associated with small populations and management actions. The total existing area available to the Cape mountain zebra is > 935,191 ha and it could potentially support a considerably larger population. We conclude that the IUCN target is substantially below the potential for recovery of the Cape mountain zebra and we recommend this target be revised in the light of these findings. More comprehensive conservation strategies to address current and potential future threats are also needed.
Digestibility of Amino Acids of Maize, Low Tannin Sorghum, Pearl Millet and Finger Millet in Caecectomized Roosters

The aim of the present study was to determine the apparent and true digestibilities of amino acids of maize, low tannin sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in adult caecectomized cockerels. Adult cockerels (n = 60), 25-weeks old, were used in this study of which 30 birds were caecectomized as per a standard method. The apparent digestibilities of amino acids of sorghum were not affected by caecectomy, but were higher for maize, finger millet and pearl millet in caecectomized cockerels. Caecectomy had no influence on the true digestibilities of amino acids of maize, but higher digestibilities were observed for most of the amino acids of sorghum and finger millet in caecectomized cockerels. Caecectomy lowered the true digestibility of cystine, threonine and serine of pearl millet. The apparent digestibilities of amino acids of maize, finger millet and pearl millet were underestimated in intact cockerels. The true digestibilities of most of the amino acids of sorghum and finger millet were underestimated, while those of cystine, threonine and serine of pearl millet were overestimated in intact cockerels. The findings suggest that the amino acid digestibility values of cereal grains determined using caecectomized cockerels might be appropriate and reliable for poultry diet formulations. Moreover, the digestibilities of amino acids of finger millet were inferior to other cereal grains, while those of pearl millet were comparable to maize and sorghum.
Gαs family G proteins activate IP3-Ca2+ signaling via Gβγ and transduce ventralizing signals in Xenopus

During early embryonic development, IP(3)-Ca(2+) signaling transduces ventral signaling at the time of dorsoventral axis formation. To identify molecules functioning upstream in this signal pathway, we examined effects of a panel of inhibitory antibodies against Galphaq/11, Galphas/olf, or Galphai/o/t/z. While all these antibodies showed direct inhibition of their targets, their effects on redirection of the ventral mesoderm to a dorsal fate varied. Anti-Galphas/olf antibody showed strong induction of dorsal fate, anti-Galphai/o/t/z antibody did so weakly, and anti-Galphaq/11 antibody was without effect. Injection of betaARK, a Gbetagamma inhibitor, mimicked the dorsalizing effect of anti-Galphas/olf antibody, whereas injection of adenylyl cyclase inhibitors at a concentration which inhibited Galphas-coupled cAMP increase did not do so. The activation of Galphas-coupled receptor gave rise to Ca(2+) transients. All these results suggest that activation of the Galphas-coupled receptor relays dorsoventral signal to Gbetagamma, which then stimulates PLCbeta and then the IP(3)-Ca(2+) system. This signaling pathway may play a crucial role in transducing ventral signals.
Exploring anti-corruption capabilities of e-procurement in construction project delivery in Nigeria

The use of electronic (e-­) procurement to support the execution of supply chain management activities in the different industrial sectors is permeating all regions of the world. However, in countries in sub-Saharan Africa where there is a significant level of corruption and unethical practices in the procurement process, there is a need for a better understanding of how e-Procurement can help to check the incidence of corrupt and unethical practices in construction project delivery. This study relied on a cross-sectional survey of 759 respondents, including architects, builders, engineers, estate/facilities managers, contractors, construction/project managers, quantity surveyors, supply chain managers and others to identify and analyse the anti-corruption capabilities of e-Procurement in construction project delivery in Nigeria. The results of the descriptive statistics, relative importance index and principal components analysis identified 18 anti-corruption capabilities in e-Procurement in construction project delivery with the three most important ones being the capability of e-Procurement to ensure good inventory management/record keeping; accountability by providing audit services trail and minimise direct human contacts during bidding. The key underlying dimensions of these capabilities include the advantage of e-Procurement over the traditional paper-based method; transparent bidding process and increase in competition in construction project delivery process. The findings of this study have implications, especially, on the use of e-Procurement to curb corruption in construction procurement activities.
I-Privacy Photo: Face Recognition and Filtering

The ever-increasing popularity of Online Social Networks (OSNs) sites for posting and sharing photos and videos has led to unprecedented concerns on privacy violation. The available Online social networking (OSNs) sites offer a limited degree of privacy protection solutions. Most of the solutions focus on conditional access control meaning, allowing users to control who can access the shared photos and videos. This research study attempts to address this issue and study the scenario when a user shares a photo and video containing individuals other than himself/herself (public-level photos and videos). For privacy-preserving, the proposed system intends to support an automated human face recognition and filtering for public-level photos and videos. Our proposed approach takes into account the content of a photo and makes use of face filtering as a strategy to increase privacy while still allowing users to share photos. First, the proposed system automatically identifies a person face frame from a digital image or video. Next, it compares the detected face features to each face vectors stored in the application database. After face recognition step completed, the proposed system filters all un-known persons in the image. Conventual Neural Network (CNN) has been used for face detection step, while deep learning facial embedding algorithms has been used for the recognition. Both have shown high accuracy results in addition to the capability of being executed in real-time. For face filtering, Gaussian algorithm has been used for face blurring as it has been considered a very fast real-time algorithm which allow the user to control the blurring degree. Based on the obtained results after testing the system using three different datasets, we can conclude that our system can detect and recognize the faces in photos and videos using the improved Conventual Neural Network (CNN) for face detection with 91.3% accuracy and K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) for the face recognition with 96.154% accuracy using I-Privacy dataset.
The Mystique of the Boutiques: The Wealth Effects of Boutique Banks in Mergers and Acquisitions

We provide the first comprehensive examination of the impact of the advisory services provided by boutique banks on acquirer returns in U.S. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As). We show that the autonomy and expertise of boutique banks help acquirers realize significant gains in informationally demanding deals. We find that boutique banks add value to acquirers of large private companies in the short-run. Acquirers of small private companies also benefit from boutique banks, but these wealth effects are only pronounced in the post-announcement period. We attribute the delayed market response to the limited activity of information-driven traders at the time of the announcement of small private deals. We also show that resourceful acquirers recognize the valuable services offered by boutique banks and are more likely to involve them in private target deals. Lastly, we present novel evidence that boutique banks contribute to wealth creation in small public target M&As that are economically consequential for the acquirer. This result emerges only after we address endogeneity concerns by controlling for the acquirer’s quality.
Updates on Normal Tension Glaucoma Management

Purpose: To review the recent publications and updates on the treatment of normal tension glaucoma (NTG). Design: Systematic review. Methods: Relevant publications were identified in Medline, Scopus, Embase and Cochrane using the keywords. Results were reviewed, tabulated and summarized. Results: The literature focuses on prostaglandin analogues as the first line of treatment in NTG. However, there are several reports on the use of beta blockers, α2 agonists and combination drugs. Fifteen papers reporting the outcome of surgical treatment of NTG met our inclusion criteria. There is an increasing trend toward the use of neuroprotective agents to stop the progressive glaucomatous damage in NTG. Five papers were identified reporting the role of neuroprotection in this type of glaucoma. Conclusion: The present review summarizes the treatment options for patients with NTG. Medical treatment remains the first choice. However, there are several surgical options that can be considered in refractory cases that require further intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction. Neuroprotection is an interesting field of research in NTG that might offer new hopes to overcome this debilitating condition in the future.
Linking form and function: towards an eco-hydromorphic approach to sustainable river restoration

1. River restoration is now widely undertaken and may be considered an increasingly important aspect of river management. Recent developments in European legislation (Habitats Directive and the Water Framework Directive) should give further impetus to river restoration across EU member states, as this legislation places greater emphasis on the processes that support river ecology. 2. Traditional river restoration approaches have been reach-focused and opportunistic, capitalizing on flood defence works and the cooperation of sympathetic landowners. 3. Furthermore, many schemes have been species- or habitat-driven and, thus, have sought to recreate channel forms believed to be favoured by particular species or associated with particular habitats. Such approaches have not always given due attention to the underlying geomorphological processes that create channel form and, consequently, the schemes have not been self-sustaining, requiring continued management input. 4. Consistent with the ethos of the Water Framework Directive, an eco-hydromorphic approach to river restoration is proposed here. This approach views spatial and temporal heterogeneity as fundamental characteristics of fluvial systems and advocates recreating a framework within which natural processes, such as sediment transport and nutrient dynamics, can occur. 5. Mesoscale habitat approaches are considered as one possible way to plan and achieve this framework, providing the potential to link the wide range of spatial and temporal scales that characterize river systems. 6. It is argued that river restoration will only be sustainable if it is undertaken within a process-driven and strategic framework with inputs from a wide range of specialists. Such an approach needs to be reviewed constantly in light of appraisal and monitoring of previous river restoration schemes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.