Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PII: S0168-1923(02)00101-6

Allocation of C to belowground plant structures is one of the most important, yet least well quantified fluxes of C in terrestrial ecosystems. In a literature review of mature forests worldwide, Raich and Nadelhoffer (1989) suggested that total belowground carbon allocation (TBCA) could be estimated from the difference between annual rates of soil respiration and aboveground litterfall. Here we analyze new measurements of soil respiration and litterfall, including data from the Ameriflux network. Our results generally agree with Raich and Nadelhoffer’s previous work. A regression analysis of data from mature forests produced the following relationship: annual soil respiration = 287+ 2.80× annual litterfall. This regression slope indicates that, on average, soil respiration is roughly three times ab oveground litterfall-C, which further implies that TBCA is roughly twice annual ab oveground litterfall-C. These inferences are based on the uncertain assumption of soil C stocks being at steady state. Nevertheless, changes in soil C would have to be very large to modify the conclusion that TBCA is generally much larger than litterfall. Among only mature temperate hardwood forests, however, the correlation between litterfall and soil respiration was poor, and the correlation among years for a single site was also poor. Therefore, the regression cannot be relied upon to provide accurate estimates of soil respiration or TBCA for individual sites. Moreover, interannual variation in TBCA, short-term changes in C stocks, or different temporal scales controlling leaf litter production and soil respiration may cause important deviations from the global average. The regression slope for data from young forests is steeper, possibly indicating proportionally greater TBCA, but the steady-state assumption is more problematic for young forests. This method ∗ Corresponding author. Tel. : +1-508-540-9700; fax: +1-508-540-9700. E-mail address: edavidson@whrc.org (E.A. Davidson). 1 Present address: School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbour, MI 48109-1115, USA. 0168-1923/02/$ – see front matter © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0168-1923(02)00101-6 40 E.A. Davidson et al. / Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 113 (2002) 39–51 for estimating TBCA may be most appropriate where interannual variation is averaged over several years of observations and where a near-steady-state assumption of soil, litter, and root C stocks is least problematic. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
The changing landscape of firm financing in Europe, the United States and Japan

We re-examine the structure of the financial sector, with a focus on firm financing, household assets and the structure of the banking sector of the 28 EU member countries, Japan and the United States. Our analysis is based on an extended panel dataset of 25 indicators over the period 1995-2016. This paper is an update and extension of a previous study by Bijlsma en Zwart (2013). Using principal components analysis as in Bijlsma and Zwart (2013), we classify the EU-28 countries into different groups according to their financing patterns in 2015. We find four groups of EU countries, namely market-based countries, bank-based countries, Eastern European countries and outliers countries with disproportionally large financial sectors in relation to their country size. Our classification is consistent with that of Bijlsma and Zwart (2013) for 2006, suggesting a strong persistence of financial structures in Europe over time. We then discuss the development of a wide range of financial indicators before and after the 2007/8 global financial crisis. We observe a considerable decline in bank credit to non-financial firms, especially in bank-based and Eastern European countries. Furthermore, we see a shift in the capital market away from equity financing towards bond financing, especially in market-based EU countries and the US. The growth of alternative forms of financing is rapid. However, their size remains relatively small as a percentage of GDP. For the Netherlands, we observe a moderate increase in market financing and strong growth of alternative forms of financing such as factoring. Our research provides a useful comparative tool of the financial sector across Europe for policy makers.
Poster: Static Malware Modeling and Detection using Topic Models

Malware detection has been a problem for security researchers for a very long time. Signatures are very widely used, but they have inherent limitations when it comes to detecting new malware since signatures use sequences of instructions to detect malware. In this poster, we present a method to look at the underlying topic structure of binaries and classify files as malicious or benign based on its structure. Keywords—Malware detection, Topic models
Prostate Cancer Risk in Relation to Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF)-I and IGF-Binding Protein-3: A Nested Case-Control Study in Large Scale Cohort Study in Japan (JACC Study)

High levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I are reported to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. On the other hand, the insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) may decrease the risk. We therefore investigated the influence of serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 on prostate cancer risk in a casecontrol study nested within a large-scale cohort in Japan (the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study). Information on lifestyles and sera of the subjects were collected in 1988-90. Serum IGF-I, IGF-II and IGFBP-3 were measured in sera stored at -80°C by immuno-radiometric assay. In 13,508 male subjects of the cohort who donated sera, 40 cases and 120 controls (1:3 matched with age and survey area) were identified. Ages of the cases ranged from 59 to 79 years, with a mean of 69.8. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for the highest and middle tertiles compared with the lowest in controls using a conditional logistic model. Nonadjusted ORs for the highest tertiles were 0.99 (95% CI, 0.34-2.91) for IGF-I (trend-P = 0.60), 1.91 (95% CI, 0.68-5.38) for IGFBP-3 (trend-P = 0.23), 1.73 (95% CI, 0.69–3.47) for IGF-II (trend-P = 0.23), and 0.67 (95% CI, 0.26-1.76) for the IGF-I/IGBP-3 ratio (trend-P = 0.83). Serum levels of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-3, or IGF-I/IGFBP3 ratio were thus not thought to be associated with risk of prostate cancer.
The effect of similar surface features on students’ understanding of the interaction of charges with electric and magnetic fields

The literature in student problem-solving abilities in PER has pointed out that novices tend to focus on the surface features of a problem, instead of the underlying principles. In Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) courses, students can confuse the concepts of electric and magnetic fields, which are often represented in problems with similar surface features. It is important to compare the students’ performance on these type of problems to evaluate their understanding of these topics. With this aim, we conducted a study to explore students’ performance in E&M open-ended problems presented with similar surface features. We applied two versions of a questionnaire, one with electricity and one with magnetism problems, to 322 introductory E&M students. In this study, we present some results focusing on a comparison between students’ understanding of electric and magnetic fields in questions regarding electric charges in uniform fields, both at rest and in motion.
Health Expenditure Distribution and Life Expectancy in Nigeria

Improvement in health service delivery is a necessity condition for the enhancement in Human Capital Development and high level of life expectancy. However, this is very hard to achieve especially in developing countries. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between life expectancy and Government Expenditure in Nigeria between 1980 and 2015. The data for the study were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria and Bureau of Statistics Annual Reports. Vector Autoregressive Distributive Model (VAR) was used as estimation technique. Results from forecast Error Variance Decomposition showed that the highest shocks to the life expectancy were accounted for by the share of government expenditure. The second in rank was the number of physicians and carbon dioxide also contributed immensely to low life expectancy in Nigeria. From the results, the contribution of real growth rate of income was indirect and marginal. Other variables such as Death and Birth rate did not contribute significantly to the life expectancy in Nigeria during the study period. Based on these findings, it is recommended that for life expectancy to increase in Nigeria, the share of government expenditure on health should increase and that plantation of grasses and trees should be encouraged to reduce the effect of carbon dioxide.
Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Farmer Workers in Outpatient Physiotherapy Department: An Epidemiological Study

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) involve inflammatory and degenerative diseases that lead to pain and functional damage in all age groups. The agricultural profession is painful with many natural hazards/risks and stressful factors that either predispose or cause injuries to the musculoskeletal system. The aim of this current study is to determine the prevalence of the musculoskeletal burden on farmers who sought physical therapies, in a public, general hospital of Northern Greece. An epidemiological study was conducted during the period January 2008 – December 2014, through a retrospective study of the patients’ records. The distribution of the MSDs was carried out according to Nordic Body Map. 1,020 patients’ files were studied. The agricultural farmers held the highest percentage (58.8%) of the total population. Female farmers occupy the highest percentage of MSDs in the knee joint (30.26%), while men in the shoulders (41.0%). The results of the survey highlighted the increased emergence of MSDs in agricultural workers. Educating farmers and using improved farming equipment can help prevent musculoskeletal risks and improve musculoskeletal health.
Evaluation of the impacts of community noise pollution in Okobo Local Government Area, Nigeria

Community noise creates negative impacts both on humans and on structures. As a result of the strong biased factor in the sensitivity of noise, physical measurements of noise give only partial interpretation of the real problem. Public view is one of the most dependable indices of the problem. This paper therefore presents the evaluation of the impacts of community noise pollution in Okobo Local Government Area, Nigeria. From the results of physical measurement, some major locations in the Local Government Area were chosen as interview centres. Sources of noise such as aircrafts, tricycles/motor cycles, cars, churches, children, animals, workshops/factories, lorries, compact disk sellers, traders and ships/engine boats, power generator and night clubs were presented to the interviewees. The interviewees were then asked to tick the type(s) of noise they were exposed to and to indicate how the noise type(s) affect them. The data obtained were analysed by using Percentage Analysis Method (PAM). The results reveal that noise has negative effects on the people of the area. The results also indicate there are many sources of noise in the area. KeywordsCommunity noise, evaluation, , impacts, Okobo Local Government Area, pollution. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Date of Submission: 27-12-2019 Date of Acceptance: 11-01-2020 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The geography of political ideologies in Switzerland

In this paper, partisan-sorting forces and income-sorting processes are hypothesized to be interrelated phenomena leading to the clustering of people having similar levels of income and political ideologies. This paper determines the predominant political ideology of each Swiss municipality and examines whether there is any spatial concentration of political ideologies. The contribution of this research is that it proposes a new way to capture social interactions, based on the geographical concentration of political ideologies, and it shows that these concentrations are correlated with income and income inequality. JEL classification: O18, O43, P48, R1
A note on subject choice at age 14 and socio-economic inequality in access to university

2 Non-technical summary . 3 Introduction . 4 Background . 4 Data and descriptives . 6 Method . 9 Results . 10 Conclusions. 12 References . 14
INTERNAL MARKETING AND SERVICE EMPATHY ON JOB ATTITUDES Internal Marketing and Service Empathy Impact on Customer-Contact Employees’ Attitudinal Outcomes: The Case of a Public Higher Education Institution INTERNAL MARKETING AND SERVICE EMPATHY ON JOB ATTITUDES

Higher education institutions, particularly in the case of public universities, face the challenge of creating more value in an environment of increasing requirements and limitations. In order to better reach their organizational goals, they should hire, stimulate, and retain motivated and customer-conscious contact employees. This article merges marketing and human resource management by studying the impact of internal marketing initiatives and service empathy on employees’ job attitudinal outcomes. Survey data of 94 customer-contact employees in a public higher education institution were analyzed using partial least squares path modeling. The results demonstrate the relationship between customer-contact employees’ service empathy, institutional internal marketing initiatives and employees’ job attitudinal outcomes. We discuss the implications for theory, practice, limitations and future research.
A New Method for Indoor-outdoor Image Classification Using Color Correlated Temperature

In this paper a new method for indoor-outdoor image classification is presented; where the concept of Color Correlated Temperature is used to extract distinguishing features between the two classes. In this process, using Hue color component, each image is segmented into different color channels and color correlated temperature is calculated for each channel. These values are then incorporated to build the image feature vector. Besides color temperature values, the feature vector also holds information about the color formation of the image. In the classification phase, KNN classifier is used to classify images as indoor or outdoor. Two different datasets are used for test purposes; a collection of images gathered from the internet and a second dataset built by frame extraction from different video sequences from one video capturing device. High classification rate, compared to other state of the art methods shows the ability of the proposed method for indoor-outdoor image classification.
INVESTIGATION INTO PHARMACOKINETIC PROPERTIES OF ACTIVE ALKALOID IBOGAINE AND ITS METABOLITE NORIBOGAINE

The interest in alkaloid ibogaine found in African plant Tabernanthe iboga Baill. has been persisting for several decades. Behavioral, neuroendocrine and neurochemical effects of ibogaine and its active metabolite ñ noribogaine ñ were examined, however there are limited pharmacokinetic data in literature and existing data is conflicting. We determined pharmacokinetic parameters of ibogaine and noribogaine not only in plasma, but in organs (heart, liver, spleen, brain, kidney and muscle) of mice after ibogaine and noribogaine intragastrical administration too, because there are no pharmacokinetic studies of internal organs. Circulating plasma levels of ibogaine and noribogaine peaked immediately at 30 min after ibogaine administration, whereas level of noribogaine after noribogaine administration increased slowly to plateau at 4 h. Shorter half-life (T1/2) and smaller volume of distribution (Vd) of ibogaine show the faster elimination from plasma, compared with noribogaine. Largest Vd value in plasma calculated for noribogaine after noribogaine administration. Our results demonstrate that noribogaine reaches higher concentration in brain after ibogaine intragastrical administration. Higher concentration and total systemic exposure (AUCtot) of noribogaine in brain could be more efficacious alternative to ibogaine as a medication for the treatment of various types of addiction. High values of AUCtot in heart samples may determine the long elimination from this organ and can lead to cardiovascular abnormalities. Our findings also raise the hypothesis that ibogaine is metabolized not only in the liver, but also in kidney and brain too.
Experiential learning through industrial placement in hospitality education: The meat in the sandwich

The element of training is taken into account seriously by universities providing tourism education degrees, hence the development of “sandwich” undergraduate courses that incorporate a period of industrial placement aiming at the blending of theory with practical experience through experiential learning. The survey presented here was conducted in Greece and is objective was to evaluate the outcome of the supervised work experience by examining the views of undergraduate tourism and hospitality management students who completed their industrial placement period. Data were obtained through personal interviews and were of both qualitative and quantitative nature. The tentative results of the research, as described in this exploratory study, indicate some areas for concern and allows for conclusions to be drawn in relation to further improving and enhancing experiential learning.
Extremely drug-resistant Salmonella in broiler production chain in Egypt

Background and objectives: Antibiotic resistance of Salmonella isolated from poultry is an emerging threat for public consumers. A cross-sectional study was conducted for investigating prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella in broiler production chain in Egypt. Materials and Methods: Environmental samples and broiler carcasses in 30 premises were examined for detection of Salmonella. Antibiotic resistance of the isolates was conducted phenotypically by disk diffusion and genetically by detection of tetA, aacC and qepA genes. Results: Salmonella was detected in 30% of the investigated premises; broiler farms (20%), abattoirs (40%) and poulterers’ shops (40%). Highest percentages of Salmonella detection were recorded in litter and water (13.3% per each) in broiler farm environment and spleen in broiler carcasses (26.7%). S. Kentucky was the most common serovar (40%) and S. Uganda (13.3%) was reported for the first time in chicken in Egypt. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was reported in 86.7% of Salmonella isolates. Highest resistances were for tetracyclines (86.7%), ampicillin (86.7%), ciprofloxacin (60%) and cefotaxime (53.3%). Six Salmonella isolates, S. Kentucky (1), S. Reubeuss (2), S. Tamilnada (1) and S. Untypable (2), were extremely drug resistant (XDR) isolates that showed concomitant resistance for ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime. The tetA, aacC and qepA genes were detected in 50%, 30% and 30% of Salmonella isolates, respectively. However, discrepancies were observed between phenotypic and genetic antibiotic resistance. Conclusions: As far as we know, this is the first report of XDR-Salmonella in broiler production chain in Egypt, which may pose an immense risk for public health and broiler industry. [Walid Elmonir, Abdelhalim M. Hegazy, Wael F. El-Tras and Asmaa Shohiep. Extremely drug-resistant Salmonella in broiler production chain in Egypt. Life Sci J 2017;14(9):81-87]. ISSN: 1097-8135 (Print) / ISSN: 2372-613X (Online). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 7. doi:10.7537/marslsj140917.07.
Board 5: Construction Engineering Division: Tailoring Construction Man- agement Instruction to the Emerging Adult Learner

Dr. Austin has over 30 years of heavy construction, engineering and facility experience in industrial, transportation and building projects across the full range of project delivery systems. His industry experience is multi-faceted with a strong background in civil engineering and construction management on both domestic and international projects. Having served in responsible charge of projects nationwide, he possesses professional engineering licenses in several states. During his professional tenure he has received awards for construction innovation, superior project performances and one of the projects, a rebuild of a university campus, received industry recognition a project of the year. Dr. Austin earned his Bachelors and Masters in Civil Engineering from the University of Connecticut and University of Texas. He recently earned his Doctorate in Construction Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology where his research focus was on accelerated project deliveries (i.e., faster, more predictable fast-track construction). His publications include a selection of industry articles on concrete technology, project management, safety and quality management. His academic research and writings have been on concrete repairs, structural plastics and flash track project management were funded by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Construction Industry Institute. Dr. Austin’s teaching and research interests cross the spectrum of the construction management, with a current focus on project management, construction equipment, planning and scheduling and research and teaching methodologies.
The Frenchay activities index (FAI) measurement on the glaucoma patients with visual field defects

Purpose: To evaluate the various health-related quality of life of patients with glaucoma which may decrease vision and visual field sensitivity and finally result in disability. Methods: 50 chronic glaucoma patients (28 female; mean age: 57.3± 14.6 years old) under control for years were asked to complete questionnaires about daily activities from the Frenchay activities index (FAI) which may present the health-related quality of life and measure the degree of diminution of physical and psychologic level in clinics. Moreover, some descriptive results were also recorded from the glaucoma patients’ complaints. In FAI, we further added 3 items including outing, banking and sports which is called FAI-18 and assess the activities of glaucoma patients in detail. Results: Three factors about FAI were identified – domestic chores, leisure and work, outdoor. In the answers, 0 to 3 may present the numbers or frequencies in special days. Finally we calculate the numbers of 18 items which may present the engagements of various activities and further hint us the problems which bother their daily life of quality. Therefore, the results could supply the nurses and occupational therapist how to care the associated glaucoma patients with visual loss or visual fields defect. In FAI-18, we found that reading, local shocking, paid work, taking car/bus, social activity, outings, banking and sports may impact on the patients with chronic glaucoma (the mean data < 0.55). Moreover, we found that 76 % glaucoma patients had the depressive mood. Conclusion: Glaucoma would result in blindness or loss of stereopsis and the life quality of an individual’s general well-being and their ability would be affected. In our study, glaucoma should influence not only the life qualify, various daily activities but also depressive mood. Therefore, the patients with glaucoma need the strong support from medical team including doctors, nurses, and even occupation therapists. [Hsieh-Ting Liu, Chi-Ting Horng, Jing-Hui Wu, Yin-Hung Liu, Syue-Chin Lien, Lu-Yu Wu. The Frenchay activities index (FAI) measurement on the glaucoma patients with visual field defects. Life Sci J 2017;14(9):120-129]. ISSN: 1097-8135 (Print) / ISSN: 2372-613X (Online). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 12. doi:10.7537/marslsj140917.12.