Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of stream characteristics and population size on downstream transport of freshwater mollusk environmental DNA

Many freshwater mussel species are highly endangered. Knowledge of their occurrence and distribution is a crucial prerequisite for their conservation. The use of environmental DNA (eDNA) is a relatively new approach and an effective tool to detect the presence of target species in freshwater environments. This study aimed to establish a molecular identification tool for eDNA for the endangered thick-shelled river mussel Unio crassus Philipsson in Retzius, 1788 and to analyze the relationships between mussel abundance, stream discharge, sampling distance, and freshwater mollusk DNA signal (detectability and DNA quantity) by using binary logistic and linear regression modeling. We additionally correlated turbidity and mollusk DNA detectability. We developed a species-specific eDNA detection system in silico and tested the efficiency and species specificity on water samples collected downstream of extant populations of different sizes (100–42,000 individuals) in Bavaria, Germany. This system allowed detection of very small U. crassus populations over long distances (>3 km) and excluded amplification of DNA from other potentially co-occurring species. Signal strength was most strongly associated with population size and distance of sampling point from mussel population. Additionally, a negative correlation with stream turbidity was evident. This species-specific tool may help in screening of streams for target species that are otherwise difficult to monitor.
Influence of Water-Repellent Admixtures on the Water-Resistance of Unstabilized and Stabilized Compressed Earth Blocks

The low durability of water action has been the main issue of earth construction since ancient times. In this way, sustainable solutions are needed to improve the earthen building materials water-resistance performance without significantly changing their appearance and eco-friendly nature. This study aims at characterizing the water-resistance of compressed earth blocks (CEB) produced with or without different types of colorless water-repellent admixtures. To this end, different types of unstabilized and 8% cement-stabilized CEB were protected with two post-surface treatments, namely a silane-siloxane based surface water-repellent (SWR) and a natural linseed oil (LO), as well as one olein based integral water-repellent (IWR). Unprotected reference CEB were also considered for comparison purposes. More sustainable CEB were produced with 20% replacement of earth by recycling waste building materials. The CEB were tested in terms of compressive and flexural strength, capillary water absorption, immersion absorption, water permeability, low-pressure water absorption, and water erosion resistance from drip and spray tests. The influence of the moisture content on the compressive strength was also analysed. The cement-stabilization and water-repellent treatments were able to overcome the non-water-resistant nature of unstabilized CEB. In general, the best performance was attained with SWR, followed by IWR. The LO was less effective in reducing the long-term absorption but was able to protect unstabilized CEB from light rainfall simulated conditions. Under severe water erosion, the surface treatments were less effective, but water penetration was reduced up to near 40%. The mechanical strength, total porosity, water permeability and immersion absorption were not significantly affected by water-repellent products. Moreover, the mechanical strength reduction of stabilized CEB after saturation was about 30%, regardless of the water-repellent treatment. The main contribution of water-repellent admixtures occurred in all properties involving capillary absorption.
Herbage nutritive value of binary- and multi-species swards relative to single-species swards in intensive silage systems

The nutritive value of sown binary- and multi-species grassland mixtures may differ from the values expected based on single-species swards of their constituent species. Field plots were established in a split-plot design to assess the nutritive value of binary- and multi-species mixtures compared to single-species swards of three grass species and red clover (RC) (Trifolium pratense L.) managed for intensive silage production. The nutritive value of grass–legume binary mixtures reflected the values of the constituent species grown on their own, and thus may be predicted from monoculture values. The relatively low digestibility (dry matter digestibility [DMD]) and crude protein (CP) content of the Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) sward compared to perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and timothy (Phleum pratense L.) suggests that it may have a limited role in binary- or multi-species swards. Herbage nutritive value in the multi-species swards (Mix 1: perennial ryegrass, timothy, RC and white clover [Trifolium repens L.]; Mix 2: perennial ryegrass, timothy, RC, ribwort plantain [Plantago lanceolata L.] and chicory [Cichorium intybus L.]) appeared to be influenced more by the presence of legumes than herbs. Compared to perennial ryegrass, the multi-species swards had a slower rate of DMD decline prior to Cut 1, but subsequently had lower DMD values at the mid-season harvests. Both multi-species mixtures exhibited DMD, water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) and CP values that would not have been predicted from their constituent species and thus need to be measured on herbage from field plots growing these mixtures.
Influence of Potassium Supply on Growth and Uptake of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium by Three Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Isolates In Vitro

Abstract Three ectomycorrhizal fungal isolates, Cenococcum geophilum SIV, a putative isolate of Pisolithus microcarpus and a Pisolithus sp. , were cultured in vitro without potassium (K) and with three levels of K supply (as K2SO4). Some growth stimulation by K was observed among the fungi. Potassium in the liquid medium led to increased concentrations of nitrogen (N) and K in the fungi compared to K-free controls, and to higher phosphorus (P) concentrations in Pisolithus sp. , but lower P in C. geophilum SIV. In a second experiment, the K influx rates of the fungi from external solutions followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, indicating that K influx was an active process. Mycorrhizal fungi showed quite small C min values for K influx, ranging from 2.12 to 5.39 μ mol L− 1, in relation to K concentrations in the external solution. Such low C min values might allow the external hyphae to extract K efficiently from K-deficient soils. Furthermore, the fungi had low K m values for K uptake (< 14.85 μ mol L− 1), indicating high affinities and efficiencies of K carriers. Both Pisolithus sp. and P. microcarpus exhibited similar C min and K m values but were different from C. geophilum SIV. Furthermore, I max values varied significantly among the fungi, ranging from 9.60 to 21.63 μ mol g− 1 DM h− 1, perhaps due to variation in the intracellular K concentrations in the ectomycorrhizal fungi.
Anchoring the social economy at the metropolitan scale: Findings from the Liverpool City Region

This article revisits debates on the contribution of the social economy to urban economic development, specifically focusing on the scale of the city region. It presents a novel tripartite definition – empirical, essentialist, holistic – as a useful frame for future research into urban social economies. Findings from an in-depth case study of the scale, scope and value of the Liverpool City Region’s social economy are presented through this framing. This research suggests that the social economy has the potential to build a workable alternative to neoliberal economic development if given sufficient tailored institutional support and if seen as a holistic integrated city-regional system, with anchor institutions and community anchor organisations playing key roles.
Review and scientific prospects of high-contrast optical stellar interferometry

High-contrast optical stellar interferometry generally refers to instruments able to detect circumstellar emission at least a few hundred times fainter than the host star at high-angular resolution (typically within a few λ/D). While such contrast levels have been enabled by classical modal-filtered interferometric instruments such as VLTI/PIONIER, CHARA/FLUOR, and CHARA/MIRC the development of instruments able to filter out the stellar light has significantly pushed this limit, either by nulling interferometry for on-axis observations (e.g., PFN, LBTI, GLINT) or by off-axis classical interferometry with VLTI/GRAVITY. Achieving such high contrast levels at small angular separation was made possible thanks to significant developments in technology (e.g., adaptive optics, integrated optics), data acquisition (e.g., fringe tracking, phase chopping), and data reduction techniques (e.g., nulling self-calibration). In this paper, we review the current status of high-contrast optical stellar interferometry and present its key scientific results. We then present ongoing activities to improve current ground-based interferometric facilities for high-contrast imaging (e.g., Hi-5/VIKING/BIFROST of the ASGARD instrument suite, GRAVITY+) and the scientific milestones that they would be able to achieve. Finally, we discuss the long-term future of high-contrast stellar interferometry and, in particular, ambitious science cases that would be enabled by space interferometry (e.g., LIFE, space-PFI) and large-scale ground-based projects (PFI).
Spatial variations in terrestrial net ecosystem productivity and its local indicators

Abstract. Multiple lines of evidence have demonstrated the persistence of global land carbon (C) sink during the past several decades. However, both annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) and its inter-annual variation (IAVNEP) keep varying over space. Thus, identifying local indicators for the spatially varying NEP and IAVNEP is critical for locating the major and sustainable C sinks on land. Here, based on daily NEP observations from FLUXNET sites and large-scale estimates from an atmospheric-inversion product, we found a robust logarithmic correlation between annual NEP and seasonal carbon uptake–release ratio (i.e. U ∕ R). The cross-site variation in mean annual NEP could be logarithmically indicated by U ∕ R, while the spatial distribution of IAVNEP was associated with the slope (i.e. β) of the logarithmic correlation between annual NEP and U ∕ R. Among biomes, for example, forests and croplands had the largest U ∕ R ratio (1.06 ± 0.83) and β (473 ± 112 g C m−2 yr−1), indicating the highest NEP and IAVNEP in forests and croplands, respectively. We further showed that these two simple indicators could directly infer the spatial variations in NEP and IAVNEP in global gridded NEP products. Overall, this study provides two simple local indicators for the intricate spatial variations in the strength and stability of land C sinks. These indicators could be helpful for locating the persistent terrestrial C sinks and provide valuable constraints for improving the simulation of land–atmospheric C exchanges.
The Local Government Efforts in Promoting the Development of Tourism Area of Pari Island, DKI Jakarta

As one of the countries that has rich natural potential, Indonesia is an archipelago country that has extraordinary natural potential. Therefore, to ensure maximum efforts from the implementation of these efforts, a regulation was formed whereby the Central Government authorizes the Regional Government to maximize its potential. the. The development of national tourism which is quite good in the last five years provides opportunities for each region that has the potential to further develop and maximize all the potential of its region. This then provides an opportunity for the government to build concrete steps in developing an area that originally had potential in the end. can be used to encourage the area to become a tourist area, where these conditions have an impact on the community in the area. The purpose of writing this article is to find out the efforts of the local government in building community welfare through the development of tourist areas on Pari Island. The method used in this writing is a qualitative descriptive type. Data collection techniques in the form of documentation study, observation and in-depth interviews. By taking informants using purposive sampling. The results obtained are that the government has made various efforts to develop the tourism area on Pari Island.
Photophysical characterization of dilute solutions and ordered thin films of alkyl-substituted polyfluorenes

Absorbance and fluorescence spectra of dilute solutions and thin films of polyfluorene rigid-rod polymers 1-3 bearing two hexyl, octyl, or dodecyl groups at the 9-position define the effect of polymer chain interactions on excited state relaxation. Film morphology is controlled by annealing of 250 nm thick films. Under these conditions, the degree of interchain interaction follows the degree of thermotropic liquid crystalline ordering which is, in turn, a function of the length of the attached alkyl substituents. Alkyl substituents also affect the solubility of these polymeric liquid crystals in organic solvents; low solubility favors strong ground state aggregation, as is evidenced by a red-shifted absorption band. In the annealed films, aggregate and excimer formation is evidenced by a broadening of the absorbance band, an increase in the intensity of the low energy emission, the appearance of new long-lived fluorescent species, and structure-dependent changes in observed fluorescence quantum yields.
Through their lenses: Arab students' environmental documentation and action

Abstract Using the empowering tool of PhotoVoice, this study invites a group of Palestinian-Israeli high-school students to document and report problems in their environment to an invited audience of influential figures from their community. In a context where the focus is on teaching linguistic skills and standards detached from students’ lives, students are engaged in literacy activities that are connected with environmental activism. What drives this research is the social responsibility to advance society through fostering environmental awareness and empowering minority students to become more involved and cognizant of their potential to be responsible citizens, leaders, and social change agents, especially with the numerous environmental problems prevalent in their area.
4E Cognition and the Spectrum of Aesthetic Experience

We review 4E (embodied, embedded, extended and enactive) approaches to the analysis of art and aesthetic experience. We argue that extended mind analyses that focus on tool use miss important aspects, and that it requires 4 or more E’s to address the broad spectrum of aesthetic experiences that correlate to the broad variety of artistic genres. We develop an enactive, affordance-based approach to understanding art and aesthetic experience. Considering both the potential and the limitations of any particular approach, we argue that there is no one unified set of principles that will make sense of all art everywhere.
Interest point detection from multi-beam light detection and ranging point cloud using unsupervised convolutional neural network

Interest point detection plays an important role in many computer vision applications. This work is motivated by the light detection and ranging odometry task in autonomous driving. Existing methods are not capable of detecting enough interest points in unstructured scenarios where there are little constructions or trees around, and correspondingly light detection and ranging odometry will fail to continuous localisation. An interest point detector is proposed for detecting interest points from multi-beam light detection and ranging point cloud using unsupervised convolutional neural network. The point cloud is projected into a two-dimensional structured data according to the scanning geometry. Then the convolutional neural network ﬁlters trained in an unsupervised manner are used to generate a local feature map with the two-dimensional structured data as input. Finally, interest points are obtained by extracting the grids that have signiﬁcant differences with their neighbour grids. Based on an odometry benchmark, the experiments show that the proposed interest point detector can capture more local details, which contributes to more than 16% error decrease in point cloud registration in highway scenes.
Job (In)Security and Workers’ Training Decisions: A Framing Approach

Context: In this study, we attempt to contribute to the scarce evidence about the relationship between perceived labour market insecurity and worker training investments. Drawing on existing research into framing in decision-making, we investigate whether framing the labour market as insecure increases the willingness of workers to invest in training. We also investigate whether this effect is larger when training contract terms are favourable, such as when training is done mostly in an employer’s time, or when no payback clause is included.Approach: Data are gathered through a vignette-study under a sample of senior Dutch students, with experimental manipulation of frames. Respondents are given a questionnaire in which they are asked to imagine themselves working for a fictitious firm (but presented to them as real). The security/insecurity frames are elicited by randomly stressing either the positive or negative side of a series of events related to the labour market position of people working in this firm. Respondents are then asked to respond to five vignettes, each of these a randomly generated combination of training contract terms. For each vignette, respondents are asked to state whether or not they would be willing to go along with the specified training program under the conditions outlined in that vignette. Data are analysed with multilevel logistic regression. Findings: The willingness to train is not invariably greater under an insecurity frame. Instead, we find a crucial interaction: the willingness to train is greater under an insecurity frame when training-contract terms are favourable (e.g when no payback clause is included), but smaller when training-contract terms are unfavourable. Since the positive and negative effects are approximately equal in size, in a balanced design such as ours they cancel each other out, resulting in a close to zero overall effect for the frame variable.Conclusion: Our results suggest that, when workers are aware of the insecurity in their situation, this only makes them more willing to follow training when the risk of losing their investment is low.
Close to the Heart or Close to the Home? Motivational Factors Influencing EFL Teaching as a Career Choice among Female Arab-Israeli Students

The purpose of this study is to examine Israeli-Arab pre-service teachers’ motivations for choosing English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching as their future profession. Data were gathered using the adapted Factors Influencing Teaching Choice (FIT-Choice) scale. Study participants (a cohort of N = 100) responded to a questionnaire of 38 motivational factors that had influenced them to choose English teaching as a future profession when entering education colleges. In addition, 20 of the participants took part in semi-structured interviews. Results revealed that the reasons Arab students become English teachers are based on a combination of intrinsic, extrinsic, and altruistic motivations. As all study participants were women, our results provide an initial indication of what draws Arab-Israeli women to the profession.
Strategies for the design of additively manufactured nanocomposite scaffolds for hard tissue regeneration

Additive manufacturing represents a powerful tool for the direct fabrication of lightweight and porous structures with tuneable properties. In this study, a fused deposition modelling/3D fibre deposition technique was considered for designing 3D nanocomposite scaffolds with specific architectures and tailored biological, mechanical, and mass transport properties. 3D poly(caprolactone) (PCL)/hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocomposite scaffolds were designed for bone tissue engineering. An optimisation design strategy for the additive manufacturing processes based on extrusion/injection methods was at first extended to the development of the PCL/HA scaffolds. Further insight into the effect of the process parameters on the mechanical properties and morphological features of the nanocomposite scaffolds was provided. The nanocomposite structures were analysed at different levels, and the possibility of designing 3D customised scaffolds for mandibular defect regeneration (i.e., symphysis and ramus) was also reported.
Electrochemical Mineralization of Ibuprofen on BDD Electrodes in an Electrochemical Flow Reactor: Numerical Optimization Approach

Statistical analysis was applied to optimize the electrochemical mineralization of ibuprofen with two boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes in a continuous electrochemical flow reactor under recirculation batch mode. A central composite rotatable (CCR) experimental design was used to analyze the effect of initial pH (2.95–13.04), current intensity (2.66–4.34 A), and volumetric flow rate (0.16–1.84 L/min) and further optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) to obtain the maximum mineralization efficiency and the minimum specific energy consumption. A 91.6% mineralization efficiency (EM) of ibuprofen with a specific energy consumption (EC) of 4.36 KW h/g TOC within 7 h of treatment was achieved using the optimized operating parameters (pH0 = 12.29, I = 3.26 A, and Q of 1 L/min). Experimental results of RSM were fitted via a third-degree polynomial regression equation having the performance index determination coefficients (R2) of 0.8658 and 0.8468 for the EM and EC, respectively. The reduced root-mean-square error (RMSE) was 0.1038 and 0.1918 for EM and EC, respectively. This indicates an efficient predictive performance to optimize the operating parameters of the electrochemical flow reactor with desirability of 0.9999993. Besides, it was concluded that the optimized conditions allow to achieve a high percentage of ibuprofen mineralization (91.6%) and a cost of 0.002 USD $/L. Therefore, the assessed process is efficient for wastewater remediation. ”
Examining the Economic Interaction between Liquidity and Firms’ Financial Performance: Evidence from the Ghana Stock Exchange

This study examined the economic interaction between liquidity and financial performance of manufacturing firms listed on Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Specifically, the study sought to examine the relationship between liquidity as measured by current ratio, quick ratio and cash ratio and firms’ financial performance as measured by return as assets, return on equity and return on capital employed and determine the interactive effects on share value of firms. Data extracted from the audited and published annual reports of twenty-one (21) firms for the period 2008 to 2019 was used for the study. The study used correlation analysis for relationship and ANCOVA modeling for interactive effects. The study found that there was a weak positive statistically significant relationship between return on assets and measures of liquidity; there was a weak positive statistically insignificant relationship between return on equity and measures of liquidity; there was a Original Research Article Baafi et al.; JEMT, 26(10): 34-46, 2020; Article no.JEMT. 63152 35 weak negative statistically insignificant relationship between return on capital employed and measures of liquidity. The study also found positive effects of liquidity and performance on share value. However, the magnitude of interactive effect of liquidity and firm’s performance was much higher that the single effects. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that authorities in listed manufacturing firms in Ghana should try and maintain an ideal level of liquidity that can meet their firms’ operational needs