Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deposit Protection in a Paternalistic State: The Russian Case

This paper places the institution of bank deposit protection in the context of government paternalism. I apply the theories of deposit insurance, merit goods, patronized goods, government paternalism, and institutional change to the analysis of the Russian case. I rely on statistical data from Central Bank of Russia, Deposit Insurance Agency, and Rosstat. The findings are five-fold: (1) There is similarity between theoretical justification for government paternalism and intervention in household savings and the humanitarian sphere; (2) Deposit protection fits well the Russian institutional setup, due to its paternalistic nature; (3) The public choice-driven purpose of government intervention in household savings may change in the process. Patronage of small savers becomes camouflage for protection of private banks; (4) Deposit guarantee redistributes wealth from the public sector to the private one; (5) Deposit guarantee hinders the evolution of market discipline and responsibility while fostering opportunistic behavior patterns among depositors and banks. The research implication of the paper is that, in the absence of strict eligibility criteria for merit goods, one can identify goods and services that probably do not belong there but sneak into that category by means of a manipulated public choice and thus get similar treatment with traditional humanitarian sectors. The policy implication is that the authorities might wish to tackle opportunistic behavior at source, i.e. by amending the parameters of the deposit insurance scheme.
Forest dynamics and carbon storage under climate change in a subtropical mountainous region in central China

Climate change has been observed to signi ﬁ cantly in ﬂ uence forest growth, community composition, and species distribution ranges. These in ﬂ uences in turn will impose continuous impacts on forest production and carbon (C) storage potential. Forests in the subtropical China that are experiencing rapid regeneration and recovery may suffer multiple threats in the face of future climate change. Understanding how climate change may affect forest C sequestration and species dynamics over time will help formulate better management strategies for maintaining forest productivity and biodiversity. Here, we used a forest landscape model (LANDIS-II) to evaluate the long-term effects of current business-as-usual (BAU) management and climate projections (current, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 climate scenarios; IPCC representative concentration pathways [RCPs] scenarios) on above- and belowground forest C storage and tree species dynamics in the Sangzhi County in the subtropical China. Our simulations showed a fast-growing period of forest total C in the ﬁ rst 70 yr, regardless of climate regime. Moderate climate change (RCP4.5 climate scenario) increased soil organic carbon (SOC) (12%) and detrital C (16%) but reduced live C (5%), contributing to a slight augment of 3% in forest C storage compared to the control climate, while severe climate change (RCP8.5 climate scenario) decreased SOC (16%), detrital C (27%), and live C (12%), resulting in a dramatic reduction of 14% in forest C storage, primarily because severe warming-induced water stress restrained species establishment and regeneration in temperature-sensitive areas like the lower elevations. Meanwhile, nature reserves in the higher elevations could act as “ safe islands ” by providing suitable conditions for most tree species, but the logging ban caused higher canopy closure, which in turn inhibit the growth and establishment of shade-intolerant species. The results also highlighted the positive responses of native “ warm species ” to climate warming and suggest that using them to replace some conventional coniferous plantation tree species would better mitigate the future climate change. Poor performance of the current BAU management in maintaining forest productivity and diversity suggests that new climate-adapted management strategies should be designed accordingly.
On-farm reproductive performance of the West African Dwarf goat at Ganawuri in the sub-humid zone of Nigeria.

Thirty-two herds of West African Dwarf goats raised under village conditions and which grazed stylosanthes (Stylosanthes hamata cv. Verano) or natural pasture in the wet season were monitored for 30 months to determine herd productivity. Average litter size was 1.67 ± 0.082, kidding interval 250 ± 12.0 days, and age at first kidding 471 ± 18.0 days. Birth weight was significantly affected (P < 0.05) by parity, year and season of birth, and birth type (P < 0.01). Weaning weight at 150 days of age was affected by year of birth (P < 0.01), parity (P < 0.01), and sex (P < 0.05). Growth rates decreased with age and were significantly affected (P < 0.01) by season. Litter size was significantly affected (P < 0.05) by parity. The cumulative mortality to one year of age was 14.5% and accounted for about 50% of all disposals. It was significantly affected (P < 0.01) by season and was very low for kids born in the dry season. Postpartum weight was significantly affected by parity (P < 0.001), season of birth, and birth type (P < 0.01). The results suggested that a strategic health intervention would be beneficial; peste des petits ruminants (PPR) immunization markedly reduced mortality and increased animal productivity index.
The Power of Linear Recurrent Neural Networks.

Recurrent neural networks are a powerful means to cope with time series. We show how a type of linearly activated recurrent neural networks, which we call predictive neural networks, can approximate any time-dependent function f(t) given by a number of function values. The approximation can effectively be learned by simply solving a linear equation system; no backpropagation or similar methods are needed. Furthermore, the network size can be reduced by taking only most relevant components. Thus, in contrast to others, our approach not only learns network weights but also the network architecture. The networks have interesting properties: They end up in ellipse trajectories in the long run and allow the prediction of further values and compact representations of functions. We demonstrate this by several experiments, among them multiple superimposed oscillators (MSO), robotic soccer, and predicting stock prices. Predictive neural networks outperform the previous state-of-the-art for the MSO task with a minimal number of units.
Response of Zooplankton Indices to Anthropogenic Pressure in the Catchment of Field Ponds

As methods for assessing the environmental conditions in ponds are still not well developed, I studied zooplankton to identify a response of community indices to abiotic, biotic, and habitat type in two types of ponds differing in the level of human stress. Ponds of low human alterations (LowHI) harbored generally richer communities and a higher share littoral zooplankton, whose occurrence was associated with higher water transparency and complex macrophyte habitat, particularly the presence of hornworts and charoids. In high human-impact ponds (HighHI) planktonic communities prevailed. Their distribution was mainly related to the open water area and fish presence. Anthropogenic disturbance was also reflected in the frequency of rare species, which were associated with LowHI ponds. Higher diversity of zooplankton increased the chance for rare species to occur. Despite the fact that the majority of rare species are littoral-associated, they had no prevalence towards a certain ecological type of plants, which suggests that any kind of plant cover, even macrophytes typical for eutrophic waters (e.g., Ceratophyllum demersum) will create a valuable habitat for conservation purposes. Thus, it is postulated that a complex and dense cover of submerged macrophytes ought to be maintained in order to improve the ecological value of small water bodies.
Cytochrome c oxidase acts as a primary photoacceptor in cell cultures subjected to visible and near IR laser irradiation

Low-power laser radiation of visible and near IR spectral ranges is widely used in clinical practice to treat wounds and ulcers of various etiologies. However, there are only a few works devoted to photobiological studies of the effect of light of these spectral ranges on the metabolism of nonphotosynthesizing cells. Our results suggested that the light absorbance by certain chromophores of cytochrome c oxidase alters the extent of oxidation of these chromophores, i.e., affects the rate (and, probably, the mechanism) of electron transfer within the molecule. Based on previous results and the data obtained, we suggest that these reactions are related to the molecular mechanism of the low-power laser therapy at the level of a single cell. 15 refs., 1 fig.
Evaluation of the chemical composition of gas- and particle-phase products of aromatic oxidation

Abstract. Aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are key anthropogenic pollutants emitted to the atmosphere and are important for both ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation in urban areas. Recent studies have indicated that aromatic hydrocarbons may follow previously unknown oxidation chemistry pathways, including autoxidation that can lead to the formation of highly oxidised products. In this study we evaluate the gas- and particle-phase ions measured by online mass spectrometry during the hydroxyl radical oxidation of substituted C9-aromatic isomers (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, propylbenzene and isopropylbenzene) and a substituted polyaromatic hydrocarbon (1-methylnaphthalene) under low- and medium-NOx conditions. A time-of-flight chemical ionisation mass spectrometer (ToF-CIMS) with iodide–anion ionisation was used with a filter inlet for gases and aerosols (FIGAERO) for the detection of products in the particle phase, while a Vocus proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer (Vocus-PTR-MS) was used for the detection of products in the gas phase. The signal of product ions observed in the mass spectra were compared for the different precursors and experimental conditions. The majority of mass spectral product signal in both the gas and particle phases comes from ions which are common to all precursors, though signal distributions are distinct for different VOCs. Gas- and particle-phase composition are distinct from one another. Ions corresponding to products contained in the near-explicit gas phase Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM version 3.3.1) are utilised as a benchmark of current scientific understanding, and a comparison of these with observations shows that the MCM is missing a range of highly oxidised products from its mechanism. In the particle phase, the bulk of the product signal from all precursors comes from ring scission ions, a large proportion of which are more oxidised than previously reported and have undergone further oxidation to form highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs). Under the perturbation of OH oxidation with increased NOx, the contribution of HOM-ion signals to the particle-phase signal remains elevated for more substituted aromatic precursors. Up to 43 % of product signal comes from ring-retaining ions including HOMs; this is most important for the more substituted aromatics. Unique products are a minor component in these systems, and many of the dominant ions have ion formulae concurrent with other systems, highlighting the challenges in utilising marker ions for SOA.
Rasch Model Extensions for Enhanced Formative Assessments in MOOCs

ABSTRACT Formative assessments are an important component of massive open online courses (MOOCs), online courses with open access and unlimited student participation. Accurate conclusions on students’ proficiency via formative, however, face several challenges: (a) students are typically allowed to make several attempts; and (b) student performance might be affected by other variables, such as interest. Thus, neglecting the effects of attempts and interest in proficiency evaluation might result in biased conclusions. In this study, we try to solve this limitation and propose two extensions of the common psychometric model, the Rasch model, by including the effects of attempts and interest. We illustrate these extensions using real MOOC data and evaluate them using cross-validation. We found that (a) the effects of attempts and interest on the performance are positive on average but both vary among students; (b) a part of the variance in proficiency parameters is due to variation between students in the effect of interest; and (c) the overall accuracy of prediction of student’s item responses using the extensions is 4.3% higher than using the Rasch model.
First record of the Indo-Pacific gastropod Melibe fimbriata in the Adriatic Sea

The specimens of Melibe fimbriata were found during October 2001 in Stari Grad Bay (Island of Hvar, Croatia) in Cymodocea nodosa and Posidonia oceanica beds on sandy and sandy–muddy bottoms at depths of 2 to 15 m. Presently, this is the northernmost record of this lessepsian immigrant in the Mediterranean basin.
Vagus nerve stimulation paired with tones for tinnitus suppression: Effects on voice and hearing

In individuals with chronic tinnitus, our interest was to determine whether daily low‐level electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve paired with tones (paired‐VNSt) for tinnitus suppression had any adverse effects on motor‐speech production and physiological acoustics of sustained vowels. Similarly, we were also interested in evaluating for changes in pure‐tone thresholds, word‐recognition performance, and minimum‐masking levels. Both voice and hearing functions were measured repeatedly over a period of 1 year.
Amplitude Enhancement of Flow-Induced Vibration for Energy Harnessing

In this paper, flow-induced vibrations of bluff bodies with four different cross-sectional geometries (circle, square, triangle and semi-circle) arranged both in single and tandem (gap ratio equals to 3 and 5) configurations are investigated in a wind tunnel. It is found that triangular and square cylinders have the higher amplitude than that of the semi-circular and the circular cylinders in the single configuration. When two cylinders are arranged in tandem, the circular cylinders have the highest amplitude among all tested cylinders. Furthermore, the semi-circular cylinder shows that its vibrating amplitude increases with the reduced velocity in the tandem system due to the galloping effect.
The use of Delft3D to simulate the deposition of cohesive and non-cohesive sediments in irrigation systems

Sediment deposition threatens the performance of many irrigation systems. Because of the high impact on irrigation performance and crop production, many studies have been done on how to deal with sediment deposition. In this research, the Delft3D model, originally developed for hydro-morphologic modelling of rivers and estuaries, was adapted for the use in irrigation systems simulations and applied to different case studies. This research addresses two shortcomings of previous studies of sediments in irrigation systems. Firstly, while previous studies primarily used 1D models, this research uses a 2D/3D model. The use of 2D/3D models in irrigation systems is significant because the non-uniform flow around structures such as offtakes, weirs and gates, leads to asymmetric sedimentation patterns that are missed by 1D simulations. Secondly, whereas previous studies mostly considered non-cohesive sediments, this research simulates cohesive, non-cohesive and a mix of both sediment types. This is important for irrigation systems that draw water from natural rivers that carry a mix of cohesive and non-cohesive sediments. The findings of this research are important for irrigation system maintenance and gate operation. It is also essential for the development of canal operating plans that meet crop water requirements and at the same time minimizes sediment deposition by alternating gates.
Exploring the roles and mechanisms of CDC18 in the cell cycle of fission yeast.

The replication factor Cdc18 (Cdc6 in other organisms) is required to initiate DNA replication and the S phase checkpoint, which restrains mitosis until replication is faithfully completed. In this thesis I have investigated these roles within the cell cycle of the single-celled eukaryote Schizosaccharomyces pombe (fission yeast), and in addition I have identified putative new roles for this replication factor. The Cdc18 ATPase loads the MCM complex, a putative DNA helicase, onto chromatin in late mitosis and early G1 phases in preparation for DNA replication. I have shown that the association of Cdc18 with chromatin does not require ATP binding, whilst ATP binding is necessary to initiate an S phase checkpoint signal. ATP binding and hydrolysis are required for MCM loading activity and hence DNA replication. I also present evidence indicating that Cdc18 can restrain mitosis from G1 in the absence of DNA replication, perhaps as part of a complex with the replication factors Cdtl and the ORC complex. From my work it appears that Cdc18 is required during S phase for at least two further roles. Firstly, Cdc18 is needed to maintain the S phase checkpoint when DNA replication is affected by perturbations that are likely to involve stalled forks or DNA damage. Secondly, Cdc18 may be required in an unperturbed S phase to prepare cells for entry into or progression through mitosis. This latter role is unlikely to involve DNA metabolism, and may instead be related to chromosome preparation or dynamics.
Sorting the News: How Ranking by Popularity Polarizes Our Politics

ABSTRACT Most people receive political news from social media platforms. Unlike traditional media, these platforms algorithmically determine the order in which news is presented, in part relying on an article’s popularity (i.e. number of likes, shares, and comments) to determine its ranking. To what extent does sorting the news by popularity influence people’s attitudes toward politics? With two large, nationally representative samples of adults and a novel experimental design, we find that ranking news articles by their popularity has consequential effects that vary depending on the partisan composition of the group upon which the rankings are based. Overall, algorithmic sorting exacerbates the tendency to “like” news that conform to the dominant viewpoint of the reference group. For example, when the group is ideologically like-minded, the in-party bias in “liking” creates a self-perpetuating cycle, where attitudinally congruent articles remain at the top of the feed. When the reference group is rather composed of out-party members, politically incongruent items rise to the top. While this helps to expose readers to new information, they also become disengaged from reading and sharing political news. Overall, our study holds important implications for how using social media as an outlet for political information can influence – and even polarize – our political preferences.
Chromosome counts of Tragopogon L. (Asteraceae) from Turkey

In the present study, mitotic chromosome numbers of 18 Tragopogon taxa from Turkey, including five endemic species, were counted. The plant material originates from 30 populations. The chromosome numbers of T. albinervis (2n = 12), T. dshimilensis (2n = 12), T. oligolepis (2n = 12), T. porrifolius subsp. abbreviatus (2n = 12) and T. subacaulis (2n = 12) are reported for the first time. The chromosome numbers are published for the first time from Turkish accessions, except for T. coloratus, T. latifolius var. latifolius, T. reticulatus, and T. porrifolius subsp. longirostris. Of the studied plants 13 taxa proved to be diploid (2n = 12) and five taxa tetraploid (2n = 24). The chromosome numbers obtained from the present study are consistent with previous reports.
Pharmacological evaluation of antidiabetic effect of ethyl acetate extract of Teucrium stocksianum Boiss in alloxan-induced diabetic rabbits.

Teucrium stocksianum Boiss has been used for the treatment of diabetes in folklore. Present study was designed to evaluate the effect of ethyl acetate extract of Teucrium stocksianum on blood glucose level in alloxan induced diabetic rabbits. The ethyl acetate extract produced significant (P<0.001) decrease in blood glucose level, ALT, AST, ALP, triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL, VLDL levels and T.C/HDL cholesterol ratio in diabetic treated rabbits as compared to diabetic control whereas, the HDL levels of diabetic treated rabbits were significantly (P<0.001) increased. It is concluded that ethyl acetate extract of Teucrium stocksianum possesses hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic and hepatoprotective effects in alloxanized rabbits which strengthens its traditional use in diabetes.
Predicting the Water-Conducting Fracture Zone (WCFZ) Height Using an MPGA-SVR Approach

Mine water that inrushes from coal-roof strata has always posed a substantial threat to mining activities every year. Therefore, an accurate prediction of the water-conducting fracture zone (WCFZ) height in the mining overburden strata is of great significance for the prevention and control of mine water accidents. The support vector regression (SVR) is proposed to predict the height of the WCFZ based on the mining depth, hard rock proportional coefficient, mining thickness and length of the working face. Simultaneously, the multi-population genetic algorithm (MPGA) is employed to search for the optimal SVR parameters. The MPGA-SVR model is trained and tested with a total of 69 collected data samples, and it is also applied to a field test. The accuracy and stability of the model were measured by the mean squared error and correlation coefficients. The obtained results show that the MPGA-SVR model achieves a higher accuracy and stability than the traditional empirical formula and genetic algorithm (GA)-SVR model. In terms of the process for optimizing the SVR parameters, the MPGA can find the optimal parameters more quickly and accurately, and it can effectively overcome the problem of premature and slow convergence of the genetic algorithm (GA). The proposed model improves the prediction accuracy and stability, which will help to avoid accidents caused by the inrush of water inrush in mining overburden strata and protect the ecological environment of the mining area.
Use of Short‐Range Forecasts to Evaluate Fast Physics Processes Relevant for Climate Sensitivity

The configuration of the Met Office Unified Model being submitted to CMIP6 has a high climate sensitivity. Previous studies have suggested that the impact of model changes on initial tendencies in numerical weather prediction (NWP) should be used to guide their suitability for inclusion in climate models. In this study we assess, using NWP experiments, the atmospheric model changes which lead to the increased climate sensitivity in the CMIP6 configuration, namely, the replacement of the aerosol scheme with GLOMAP‐mode and the introduction of a scheme for representing the turbulent production of liquid water within mixed‐phase cloud. Overall, the changes included in this latest configuration were found to improve the initial tendencies of the model state variables over the first 6 hr of the forecast, this timescale being before significant dynamical feedbacks are likely to occur. The reduced model drift through the forecast appears to be the result of increased cloud liquid water, leading to enhanced radiative cooling from cloud top and contributing to a stronger shortwave cloud radiative effect. These changes improve the 5‐day forecast in traditional metrics used for numerical weather prediction. This study was conducted after the model was frozen and the climate sensitivity of the model determined; hence, it provides an independent test of the model changes contributing to the higher climate sensitivity. The results, along with the large body process‐orientated evaluation conducted during the model development process, provide reassurance that these changes are improving the physical processes simulated by the model.