Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structure of canopy and ground-dwelling arthropod communities in olive orchards is determined by the type of soil cover

The intensification of agriculture in olive groves, especially the modification or elimination of spontaneous vegetation, alters the relationships in arthropod communities and reduces their interactions and ecosystem services. This study was carried out in nine olive groves in which there was either a planted cover crop, spontaneous cover crop or bare ground. The interactions of ground-dwelling, canopy and flying arthropods in trophic webs were calculated for each olive grove soil management regime at the family level taking into consideration their different functional traits: feeding guilds, specific agricultural traits and trophic level. Olive groves with spontaneous cover had trophic webs with a higher number of plausible links between arthropod families and a more balanced distribution of specimens among trophic levels compared to those with planted cover and bare ground. There was a similar number of arthropod families consisting of both pests and their natural enemies in the planted cover regime, while olive groves with bare ground had simpler trophic webs. The complexity of plausible trophic links was greater in olive groves with spontaneous plant cover despite the similar values for family richness in the three-olive grove soil management regimes. Qualitative values (such as functional traits) were more diverse in agroecosystems with spontaneous plant cover in which there were more sources of food.
The impact of premature extrauterine exposure on infants' stimulus-evoked brain activity across multiple sensory systems

Prematurity can result in widespread neurodevelopmental impairment, with the impact of premature extrauterine exposure on brain function detectable in infancy. A range of neurodynamic and haemodynamic functional brain measures have previously been employed to study the neurodevelopmental impact of prematurity, with methodological and analytical heterogeneity across studies obscuring how multiple sensory systems are affected. Here, we outline a standardised template analysis approach to measure the evoked response magnitudes for visual, tactile, and noxious stimulation within individual infants (n=15) using EEG. By studying a cohort of very preterm infants longitudinally (n=10), we observe that the evoked response template magnitudes are significantly associated with age-related maturation. In a subsequent cross-sectional study, we observe significant differences in visual and tactile response template magnitudes between infants born in the very preterm and late preterm periods (n=10 and 8), age-matched at study. These findings demonstrate the significant impact of premature extrauterine exposure on brain function and suggest that prematurity can accelerate maturation of the visual and tactile sensory system in infants born very prematurely. This study highlights the value of using a standardised multi-modal evoked-activity analysis approach to assess premature neurodevelopment, and will likely complement resting-state EEG and behavioural assessments in the study of the functional impact of developmental care interventions.
Supercritical fluid extraction of rosemary and sage antioxidants

A newly developed process for isolation of antioxidative components from rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis) and sage (Salvia officinalis) with supercritical fluid as a solvent is presented. In the first stage of the process the essential oils are separated. Later at higher pressure the antioxidative components are extracted The efficiency of antioxidative extracts, isolated from rosemary and sage, is compared with synthetic antioxidants. Higher efficiency of natural antioxidants is presented.
Using Vis-NIR Spectroscopy for Monitoring Temporal Changes in Soil Organic Carbon

Abstract Monitoring the spatial and temporal changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) brought about by climate change and agricultural practices is challenging because existing SOC monitoring methods are very time and resource consuming. This study examined the use of visible near-infrared spectroscopy (Vis-NIR) as a speedy method to predict SOC and to monitor spatial and temporal changes in SOC compared with labor-intensive traditional laboratory (TL) measurements. For SOC prediction, topsoil (0–25 cm) and subsoil (25–50 cm) samples in the Danish soil spectral library for the years 1986 and 2009 were used. Empirical Bayesian Kriging was used to map SOC. The Vis-NIR predictions indicated that average topsoil and subsoil SOC had decreased slightly in Denmark from 1986 to 2009, and this was confirmed by TL measurements of SOC. In East Denmark, Vis-NIR predictions differed significantly from the measured SOC values. For subsoil samples, the ability of Vis-NIR to predict SOC levels varied. In West Jutland, Central Jutland, North Jutland, and Thy, Vis-NIR–predicted SOC levels did not differ from TL-measured levels, showing good predictive ability. For topsoil samples, the spatial pattern of change in TL-measured and predicted SOC was consistent during the 23-year study period, but there were significant discrepancies in the corresponding SOC change patterns for subsoil samples. To conclude, Vis-NIR is a promising method for monitoring spatial and temporal changes in SOC at the national scale, especially in the topsoil. Some difficulties can arise in low SOC subsoils, so more systematic work is needed to improve the method for practical applications.
National Trends in Utilization of Episiotomy and Factors Associated with High-Utilization Centers in the United States

Background: Restrictive use of episiotomy has been recommended given potential risks of routine use. However, recent trends in episiotomy utilization and disparities in its use have not been examined at the national level in the United States. The present study aimed to characterize trends in episiotomy use and examine factors associated with high utilization. Methods: The National Inpatient Sample database was queried to identify vaginal deliveries between 2005 and 2016. Patients were stratified based on ICD codes specifying episiotomy. Hospitals were classified as low, medium, and high utilization centers based on the annual number of episiotomies per delivery. Multivariable regressions were used to assess factors associated with episiotomy and high utilization centers. Results: Of 32,975,144 vaginal delivery related hospitaJ Women’s Health Dev 2021; 4 (3): 082-094 DOI: 10.26502/fjwhd.2644-28840063 Journal of Women’s Health and Development Volume 4 No 3 – September 2021 83 lizations, 12.9% underwent an episiotomy. Rates of episiotomy decreased from 19.5% in 2005 to 5.3% in 2016 (P<0.001). Episiotomy was associated with younger age (AOR= 0.96, P<0.001), lower Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (AOR= 0.79, P<0.001), Asian race (AOR= 1.81, P<0.001), private insurance (AOR= 1.32, P<0.001), highest income quartile (AOR= 1.15, P<0.001), as well as thirdand fourth-degree perineal lacerations (AOR= 2.10, P<0.001). High utilization centers were more likely to be urban, non-teaching institutions (AOR=3.54, P<0.001) with high-delivery volume (AOR=13.52, P<0.001) and large bed capacity (AOR=1.24, P<0.001). Conclusions: National rates of episiotomy decreased significantly between 2005 and 2016. Several sociodemographic and hospital-level factors were associated with variation in utilization. Further study of targeted interventions through educational programs and quality benchmarks are needed to better define when episiotomy should be used in obstetrics.
Mobility and economic activity around the world during the Covid-19 crisis

ABSTRACT This paper traces the relationship between quarterly estimates of economic activity and people’s mobility during the Covid-19 crisis in a sample of 53 economies. Over time, the estimates of elasticity of value added with respect to mobility have been declining, to below 0.2 at the start of 2021, attesting to the gradual adjustment of global economic activity to social distancing. Yet this adjustment appears to be modest, with economic recovery driven primarily by greater mobility. The study highlights the limit to the extent to which economic costs of restricted movement of people can be reduced, with implications for public policy. The estimated relationships can also be effectively applied to economic forecasting during periods of reduced mobility.
The Inﬂuence Premium of Monetary Status

The transmission of adaptively valuable behaviours requires individuals who are more likely to possess them to have greater inﬂuence over others’ actions. The conferment of high status to the ﬁttest is functional to this objective. We ask to what extent status recognition and the attribution of status privileges are hard wired in humans’ psychology, in a world in which status imperfectly signals underlying cognitive ability due to the accumulation and transmission of status sources. We ﬁnd that randomly assigned high status grants individuals greater inﬂuence over others’ actions than randomly assigned low status. This ﬁnding does not emerge however when the advisor’s status is linked to their cognitive ability.
Policy Mix During a Pandemic Crisis: A Review of the Debate on Monetary and Fiscal Responses and the Legacy for the Future

We review the debate on the monetary and fiscal policy measures that were adopted in response to the pandemic shock in advanced economies, as well as others that could be taken in the near future, once the health emergency is over. The pandemic is an exceptional global health shock, which has negatively affected the income, liquidity, and financial conditions of households and firms worldwide. Policy responses adopted in advanced economies in 2020—based on extraordinary large-scale, swift, targeted monetary and fiscal measures—were appropriate to sustain liquidity, income, and aggregate demand and, thus, helped to avert a devastating financial crisis. Once the health emergency is over, the legacies of the shock will be a recovery of uncertain strength and timing, a low interest rate environment, and high corporate and public debts. Support measures should be removed with caution. A cross-country coordinated policy mix based on (i) accommodative monetary policies (if consistent with central bank objectives), (ii) public investments and (iii) a gradual rebalancing of government accounts, could be effective in sustaining a strong global recovery and reduce private and public debt. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Macroprudential Policy Analysis via an Agent Based Model of the Real Estate Sector

In this paper, we extend and calibrate with Italian data the Agent-based model of the real estate sector described in Baptista et al., 2016. We design a novel calibration methodology that is built on a multivariate moment-based measure and a set of three search algorithms: a low discrepancy series, a machine learning surrogate and a genetic algorithm. The calibrated and validated model is then used to evaluate the effects of three hypothetical borrower-based macroprudential policies: an 80 per cent loan-to-value cap, a 30 per cent cap on the loan-service-to-income ratio and a combination of both policies. We find that, within our framework, these policy interventions tend to slow down the credit cycle and reduce the probability of defaults on mortgages. However, with respect to the Italian housing market, we only find very small effects over a five-year horizon on both property prices and mortgage defaults. This latter result is consistent with the view that the Italian household sector is financially sound. Finally, we find that restrictive policies lead to a shift in demand toward lower quality dwellings.
Information or Persuasion in the Mortgage Market: The Role of Brand Names

The role, informative or persuasive, of brand names in driving purchasing decisions is very much under debate. We exploit the rebranding of a mortgage lender to analyse households’ choice behaviour in response to brand popularity. Loan-level data on new mortgages suggest that (1) brand awareness reduces the equilibrium price of residential mortgage contracts and (2) the reduction mainly reflects consumers’ selection of cheaper products due to better information. Our calibrated model implies an overall gain equal to 6 per cent of the initial loan amount and a roughly 10 percentage point increase in the share of households that shift to cheaper lenders.
Empathy and Leadership : A Motivational Perspective

Some think that empathy makes for a good leader while others think that empathy gets in the way of effective leadership. To better understand this relationship, I test how people in imagined leadership positions choose to feel empathy for hypothetical employees. Transformational leaders, defined as charismatic leaders who stimulate employees intellectually and emotionally, tend to exhibit more empathy. Using a novel measure of empathic decision-making, I examine how transformational leadership relates to choices to engage in or avoid empathy when faced with hypothetical workplace violations. The results suggest no relationship between transformational leadership and empathy choice, however, there was a relationship between transformational leadership and helping preferences. As expected, cognitive costs associated with empathy were also associated with empathy avoidance, however, there was no relationship with transformational leadership and cognitive costs. The results of this study provide implications for the workplace regarding transformational leadership, prosocial behaviors, and empathy.
Numerical Investigation of Radiation Effects in Monolithic Catalytic Combustion Reactors

In modeling catalytic combustion in a monolithic catalytic converter, it is generally assumed that the gas within the individual monolith channels does not interfere with thermal radiation. To date, no quantitative study has been undertaken to validate this assumption. Past studies for carbon monoxide combustion also appear to indicate that the emissivity of the washcoat has little effect on the thermal radiation field. In order to investigate these two issues, methane-air combustion on platinum is modeled inside a single channel of a monolith using a detailed surface reaction mechanism comprised of 24 reactions between 19 species. Radiation transport is modeled using the Discrete Ordinates Method and a gray formulation. Planck-mean absorption coefficients of the gases, calculated from the HITEMP and HITRAN databases, are used to investigate participating medium effects. All calculations were performed using the commercial CFD code, CFD-ACE+, supplemented by user-subroutines for calculating the radiative properties of the gas mixture. Results show that the conversion percentages and temperature distributions are unaltered by the inclusion of participating medium radiation effects, verifying the commonly held belief, stated earlier. However, in strong contrast with carbon monoxide combustion, the emissivity of the washcoat was found to significantly affect flammability limits in the case of methane combustionthe flame being hotter and more stable for smaller values of emissivity.
PRODUCTION OF CITRIC ACID FROM SUGARCANE MOLASSES BY Aspergillus niger USING SUBMERGED FERMENTATION

Citric acid (CA) has a high demand due to its various uses in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, the natural supply of CA is minimal compared to its growing industrial demand. The increasing demand for CA can be fulfilled by using biotechnological processes. This study utilized liquid state bioconversion by Aspergillus niger for CA production using sugarcane molasses as the primary substrate. Sugarcane molasses which is agricultural waste consists of significant proportion of organic matters such as lipids and carbohydrates. This makes sugarcane molasses as a potential and alternative source of producing CA at a lower cost. In this study, statistical optimization was applied to improve CA production using submerged fermentation in shake flasks. Aspergillus niger was cultured in potato dextrose agar. Then, inoculum spores were introduced into the fermentation media for a specific duration according to the experimental design from Central Composite Design (CCD) tool under Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in Design Expert 6.0 software. Three parameters were chosen to be optimized at 32 0C i.e. agitation rate (160, 80, 200 rpm), substrate concentration (47, 60, 73%) and fermentation time (24, 72, 120 h). High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses were conducted to measure CA yield. The optimization study showed that the media incubated for 72 hours with a substrate concentration of 60% and an agitation speed of 180 rpm produced the highest CA yield (21.2 g/L). The analysis of variance (ANOVA) also showed that CCD quadratic model was significant with P-value < 0.0104 and R is 0.8964.
Experimental determination of siderite stability and application to Martian Meteorite ALH84001

Abstract The pressure-temperature equilibrium curve of the reaction siderite + hematite = magnetite + CO2 was determined in the range 5-12 kbar and 480-650 °C by piston-cylinder experiments, with NaCl as a pressure medium. Silver oxalate was used as a CO2 source and samples were buffered at hematitemagnetite oxygen fugacity. Reaction progress was monitored by extent of CO2 gas loss and by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The data define a univariant curve, which is described by P = -14.599 + 0.025T + 0.000027 T2 with P in kbar and T in °C. Calculations based on these data give ΔH0f (298K) siderite = -760.6 ± 0.9 kJ (kilojoules) from the oxides. The formation of siderite requires a specific range of ambient oxygen and carbon dioxide fugacities, dependent upon temperature and pressure. The stable assemblage of siderite and magnetite, at a given temperature and pressure, implies more restrictive ranges of oxygen and carbon dioxide fugacities, defined by reactions among siderite, magnetite, graphite, and hematite. Experimental and thermodynamic investigation of the Fe-C-O system indicates that the formation of magnetite along with Ca-Fe-Mg carbonate globules by inorganic processes is possible and may be relevant to Martian meteorite ALH84001. Decarbonation of the siderite component of the carbonate, either by a transient heating event or by a change in oxygen fugacity of a coexisting fluid, may have formed the observed grains, although this study does not address the size or morphology of magnetite grains formed by this mechanism.
The effects of corporate social responsibility and practices on the performance of SMEs in Vietnam

Corporate social responsibilities (CSR) have gained the attention of regulators and recent studies due to their comprehensive influence on the firm performance. Thus, the present study examines the impact of CSR practices such as social welfare, human rights and physical environment on SMEs performance in Vietnam. This research also investigates the mediating role of organizational support among the links of social welfare, human rights, the physical environment and SMEs performance in Vietnam. This study has followed the primary data collection methods such as survey questionnaires to collect the data from respondents and also executed the smart-PLS for analysis. The results indicated the social welfare, human rights and physical environment have a positive association with SMEs performance in Vietnam. The results also exposed that organizational support positively mediates among the links of social welfare, human rights, the physical environment and SMEs performance in Vietnam. This study guided the regulators while developing the regulations related to CSR and firm performance.
An Injectable Hybrid Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA)/Phenyl Isothiocyanate-Modified Gelatin (Gel-Phe) Bioadhesive for Oral/Dental Hemostasis Applications

Biomaterials are widely used for effectively controlling bleeding in oral/dental surgical procedures. Here, gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) was synthesized by grafting methacrylic anhydride on gelatin backbone, and phenyl isothiocyanate-modified gelatin (Gel-Phe) was synthesized by conjugating different gelatin/phenyl isothiocyanate molar ratios (G/P ratios) (i.e., 1:1, 1:5, 1:10, 1:15, 1:25, 1:50, 1:100, and 1:150) with gelatin polymer chains. Afterward, we combined GelMA and Gel-Phe as an injectable and photo-crosslinkable bioadhesive. This hybrid material system combines photo-crosslinking chemistry and supramolecular interactions for the design of bioadhesives exhibiting a highly porous structure, injectability, and regulable mechanical properties. By simply regulating the G/P ratio (1:1–1:15) and UV exposure times (15–60 s), it was possible to modulate the injectability and mechanical properties of the GelMA/Gel-Phe bioadhesive. Moreover, we demonstrated that the GelMA/Gel-Phe bioadhesive showed low cytotoxicity, a highly porous network, and the phenyl-isothiourea and amine residues on Gel-Phe and GelMA polymers with synergized hemostatic properties towards fast blood absorption and rapid clotting effect. An in vitro porcine skin bleeding and an in vitro dental bleeding model confirmed that the bioadhesive could be directly extruded into the bleeding site, rapidly photo-crosslinked, and reduced blood clotting time by 45%. Moreover, the in situ crosslinked bioadhesive could be easily removed from the bleeding site after clotting, avoiding secondary wound injury. Overall, this injectable GelMA/Gel-Phe bioadhesive stands as a promising hemostatic material in oral/dental surgical procedures.
Fractionated whole body gamma irradiation potentiate high fat diet- induced intestinal inflammation in Wistar rats

Background: In this work, a low-dose rate (100mGy/min of whole body gamma irradiation fractionated (0.5, 1, and 2Gy) was used to study the effects of cumulative doses on the expression of target genes implicated in the intestinal inflammatory process in high fat diet (HFD) wistar rats. Material and Methods: Total RNA was extracted and the expression of target genes was measured in the four intestinal segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon) of HFD Wistar rats. Results: Our in-vivo results in the four intestinal segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon) demonstrated that gamma irradiation exposure in HFD rats amplified the low-grade inflammatory state already induced by HFD. This phenomenon occurs through the induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines mainly the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) or via overexpression/increasing of anti-inflammatory response involved interleukin 10 (IL-10) and the growth factor β (TGFβ) overall the bowel segments. Results suggested that whole body gamma irradiation might have dual roles, first, engraving the inflammatory state already initiated by HFD, and second, an over expressed anti-inflammatory response via anti-inflammatory cytokines mainly IL-10 and TGFβ. Conclusion: The current study clearly demonstrated the important role of the gut in HFD rats during fractionated whole body irradiation (FWBGI) and indicated that TGFβ and IL-10 may be the target in whole body radiotherapy as a mechanism to recompense for the ‎imbalance between pro-inflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines.