Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Women Economic Empowerment Through Non Timber Forest Products in Gimbo District, South West Ethiopia

In many communities there are limited income-generating opportunities for women. Fortunately, NTFP activities are one of the few cash-generating opportunities for women in marginalized rural communities. Nevertheless, increasing pressure on forests and biodiversity has increased the pressure on rural women. We investigated the factors influencing the income that women drive from NTFPs collection. In addition, our research also investigated the contribution of NTFPs income for the total annual income of the women and for reducing income inequality in Gimbo District. Two kebeles were selected based on NTFPs availability, level of forest exploitation activities of the people and nearness to road. Data were collected from 120 selected women through structured interviews, focus group discussions, market assessments as well as field observation. Though NTFPs accounted for 53.76% of the annual income for women, its contribution is affected by different factors. A multiple linear regression model was used to identify factors that affect the income from NTFPs. Out of eight variables included in the regression, four variables such as non NTFPs (other) income, time spent in NTFPs collection, proximity to the forest and distance to market significantly affected the income women derive from NTFP activities. The contribution of NTFPs income in reducing income inequality was analyzed by using Gini Coefficient. Comparing the Gini index with and without NTFPs production (income), the income disparity lowered from 0.40 to 0.27 in the inclusion of NTFPs. Therefore, empowering women through NTFP activities can create significant opportunity for women in terms of income and in reducing income inequality. Thus, policy programs should due attention in improving alternative sources of income for women in the study area.
Productivity estimation in Halodule wrightii : comparison of leaf-clipping and leaf-marking techniques, and the importance of clip height

We compared estimates of Halodule wrightii leaf growth rates obtained from leaf-clip- ping and leaf-piercing methods in a south Texas lagoon. Leaf clipping underestimated leaf produc- tion from 15 to 37% in winter and 25 to 60% in summer relative to leaf piercing. The underestimation of leaf-clipping derived growth rates were corrected using a linear regression between leaf growth rates determined by leaf-clipping and leaf-piercing methods. To examine the effect of clip height on H. wrightii leaf growth rate estimation, leaves were clipped at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 cm above the sediment. Leaves clipped at 2 cm exhibited the fastest leaf growth rate (average = 3.66 mm d -1 ) while leaves clipped at 8 cm had the slowest rate (average = 2.30 mm d -1 ). Depressed leaf growth rates for 8 cm clip height were likely due to the slowing of growth rate with increasing leaf age. Reduced growth rate for the 0 cm clip height treatment may be attributable to removal of nearly all photosynthetic tis- sue and limited below-ground resources. In design of leaf-clipping studies, it is suggested that the selection of clip height and the period of growth after clipping be optimized for each season of a study.
On the performance of portfolio selection under increasing transaction costs: an analysis based on S&P100 stocks

Two crucial aspects to the problem of investment portfolio selection are the specification of the model for expected returns and its covariances, as well as the choice of the investment policy to be adopted. This dissertation empirically shows that these two aspects are intrinsically attached to the impact due to transaction costs. In order to do that, we implemented 11 different models of covariances to generate a set of 17 portfolio selection policies in a sample composed by the 50 most traded stocks of the S&P100 index from 01/2004 to 01/2014. The performance of those portfolios was evaluated based on different methods and considering the impact of alternative levels of proportional transaction costs. The results indicated that GARCH-type conditional covariances show superior results when compared to the ones obtained with static models only when the level of transaction cost is lower than 10 basis points. Besides, portfolio policies that ignore the covariance structure such as the ones proposed in Kirby &Ostdiek (2012) are more robust specially in scenarios with higher transaction costs. When instead we select the best performing policy each period through a dynamic model selection, we manage to increase the risk adjusted returns to transaction costs as high as 30 basis points.
Molecular Phylogenetic Relationships of North American Dermacentor Ticks Using Mitochondrial Gene Sequences

Dermacentor is a recently evolved genus of hard ticks (Family Ixodiae) that includes 36 known species worldwide. Despite the importance of Dermacentor species as vectors of human and animal disease, the systematics of the genus remain largely unresolved. This study focuses on phylogenetic relationships of the eight North American Nearctic Dermacentor species: D. albipictus, D. variabilis, D. occidentalis, D. halli, D. parumapertus, D. hunteri, and D. andersoni, and the recently re-established species D. kamshadalus, as well as two of the Neotropical Dermacentor species D. nitens and D. dissimilis (both formerly Anocentor). We sequenced portions of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, and the ribosomal 12S and 16S genes from the largest sampling of North American Dermacentor ticks analyzed to date. In all analyses, we found that North American Dermacentor ticks form a monophyletic lineage, and that all four species of one-host Dermacentor ticks also form a monophyletic lineage within the genus. The placement of the former Anocentor species, D. nitens and D. dissimilis in Dermacentor is also well supported. The winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus, has a complex structure in all analyses that warrants further study into the possibility of a species complex. Dermacentor kamshadalus, formerly a synonym of D. albipictus, shows the same complex structure under analysis of these three mitochondrial genes, and should also be further molecularly examined.
Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering SIMULATION OF THERMAL DECOMPOSITION OF MINERAL INSULATING OIL

Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) has been applied for decades as the main predictive maintenance technique for diagnosing incipient faults in power transformers since the decomposition of the mineral insulating oil (MIO) produces gases that remain dissolved in the liquid phase. Nevertheless, the most known diagnostic methods are based on findings of simplified thermodynamic and compositional models for the thermal decomposition of MIO, in addition to empirical data. The simulation results obtained from these models do not satisfactorily reproduce the empirical data. This paper proposes a flexible thermodynamic model enhanced with a kinetic approach and selects, among four compositional models, the one offering the best performance for the simulation of thermal decomposition of MIO. The simulation results obtained from the proposed model showed better adequacy to reported data than the results obtained from the classical models. The proposed models may be applied in the development of a phenomenologically-based diagnostic method.
THE SIZE AT MATURITY OF THE BROWN CRAB CALLINECTES BELLICOSUS (DECAPODA, PORTUNIDAE) IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA

This study describes the size (carapace width, CW) at maturity of Callinectes bellicosus (Stimpson, 1859) based on samples from a coastal lagoon in the southern Gulf of California. The study was conducted since knowledge of the species in particular and the genus in general on the Pacific coast is scarce or non-existent and size at maturity is a key biological parameter for fisheries management. The collection of statistics on the crab fishery began in 1982, but landings of crab from the fishery increased exponentially until 2003. Samples were collected at the mouth of the lagoon and in the inside lagoon. A total of 651 brown crabs, including 255 females and 396 males, were processed from both sites. The crabs from the coastal lagoon showed a marked segregation of the sexes. In all, 73% of the crabs from the inside lagoon were males, and 71% of the crabs from the mouth of the lagoon were females. Immature females were predominant (78% of all females) in the inside lagoon, whereas mature females were predominant (81% of all females) at the mouth of the lagoon. Segregation according to the size at maturity was observed. The size at maturity was greater in the inside lagoon (114.08 mm CW) than at the mouth of the lagoon (103.73 mm CW). The pooled size at maturity was 107.78 mm CW. This report presents the first information on segregation by sex and maturity stage in any Callinectes species from the Mexican Pacific coast. These findings are important not only for fisheries management but also for the general biological knowledge of Callinectes species. We concluded that this study offers an improved approach for evaluating fisheries management, at least for the species studied here.
The Impact of Bank Restructuring announcement on the banking Stock Prices

This study is an event study that aims to investigate how successful the banking reforms measures that has already been done by the Indonesian government in order to strengthen its banking system. There were two events to be investigated in this study, first (1) The banking reforms announcement on March 13, 1999 which consists of the closure of 38 private banks, the taken-over of 7 private banks, 9 private banks will be recapitalized, and let 73 private banks to continue their operation without joining the recapitalization program; second (2) on May 28, 1999 Minister of Finance issued government bonds amounted to Rp 103,831 trillion to complete the private banks’ recapitalization, and also issued the other government bonds to repay the obligations of frozen commercial banks’ and rural banks’ regarding its liquidity support, to Bank Indonesia amounted to Rp 53,779 trillion. These two events above, are expected to be good news or favorable information for investors on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX), and should be responded positively by investors which indicates significantly increases on banking stocks after the event dates. Thirteen samples of banking stocks which were listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) at the beginning of 1997 were used to investigate the reaction of banking stocks around the dates of these two events. By using the paired-samples mean difference test, we did not find significant differences between abnormal returns before and after the event dates. Furthermore, the cumulative abnormal return of banking stocks around the banking reforms announcement on March 13, 1999 and the issuance of government bonds announcement on May 28, 1999 were decreasing gradually until it reached the negative area. Trading Volume Activity (TVA) test, on the banking stock volume around the banking reforms announcement on March 13, 1999 has found that TVA of banking stocks after the event date was significantly greater than TVA of banking stocks before the event date. The result was not found on the issuance of government bonds event. In general, from these results, it can be concluded that the banking reforms measures done by the government was not successfully implemented from the market’s point of view. The abnormal return tests have been conducted, yet it is still found a significant abnormal return around both the banking reforms announcement on March 13, 1999 and the issuance of government bonds announcement on May 28, 1999. These findings did not support the semi-strong efficiency of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).
Pricing electricity derivatives on an hourly basis

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for pricing electricity derivatives on an hourly basis. We do not in contrast to most current approaches focus exclusively on spot models which primarily reflect empirical spot price dynamics, but also ensure a straightforward applicability to the valuation of electricity derivatives. We show that a model with a jump and a spike component can be calibrated to both the time-series of hourly spot prices and the cross-section of futures prices, once we allow for time-dependent jump and spike parameters. Furthermore, we illustrate the importance of derivative pricing in electricity markets and present some examples of options on futures and hourly spot-options, such as operating reserves and physical transmission rights.
Estimation By Simulation

A formal econometric treatment of the estimation of the parameters of a fully specified stochastic equilibrium model is proposed. The proposed method, estimation by simulation, is shown to have an asymptotic normal distribution under fairly general conditions; a goodness of fit test based on a chi-sguare statistic is also derived. Bong-Soo Lee Iowa State University Ames, lA 50011 . Beth Fisher Ingram 480 Uris Hall Cornell University Ithaca, irf 14853
Hydrodynamic simulations of rotating molecular jets

Molecular outflows and the jets which may drive them can be expected to display signatures associated with rotation if they are the channels through which angular momentum is extracted from material accreting on to protostars. Here, we determine some basic signatures of rapidly rotating flows through three-dimensional numerical simulations of hydrodynamic jets with molecular cooling and chemistry. We find that these rotating jets generate a broad advancing interface which is unstable and develops into a large swarm of small bow features. In comparison to precessing jets, there is no stagnation point along the axis. The greater the rotation rate, the greater the instability. On the other hand, velocity signatures are only significant close to the jet inlet since jet expansion rapidly reduces the rotation speed. We present predictions for atomic, H-2 and CO submillimetre images and spectroscopy including velocity channel maps and position-velocity diagrams. We also include simulated images corresponding to Spitzer IRAC band images and CO emission, relevant for APEX and eventual ALMA observations. We conclude that protostellar jets often show signs of slow precession but only a few sources display properties which could indicate jet rotation.
Magneto-optical trap for metastable helium at 389 nm

We have constructed a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for metastable triplet helium atoms utilizing the 2 {sup 3}S{sub 1}{yields}3 {sup 3}P{sub 2} line at 389 nm as the trapping and cooling transition. The far-red-detuned MOT (detuning {delta}=-41 MHz) typically contains few times 10{sup 7} atoms at a relatively high ({approx}10{sup 9} cm{sup -3}) density, which is a consequence of the large momentum transfer per photon at 389 nm and a small two-body loss rate coefficient (2x10{sup -10} cm{sup 3}/s<{beta}<1.0x10{sup -9} cm{sup 3}/s). The two-body loss rate is more than five times smaller than in a MOT on the commonly used 2 {sup 3}S{sub 1}{yields}2 {sup 3}P{sub 2} line at 1083 nm. Furthermore, laser cooling at 389 nm results in temperatures somewhat lower than those achieved using 1083 nm. The 389-nm MOT exhibits small losses due to two-photon ionization, which have been investigated as well.
Comparison of Bacterial Flora in Fish Mucus and Lake Water

Although commonly known for their ability to cause deadly infectious diseases, there are populations of bacteria (identified as normal flora) that symbiotically live on and amongst larger host organisms and positively impact survival of the host. In previous research, culturing methods suggest that freshwater fish (i.e. bluegill and northern pike) maintain a normal flora population and that this flora aids in protection and the health of the fish. Our study used Ion torrent PGM sequencing to identify a larger, more complete population of normal flora in 2 different lake samples from three different species of fish. Identifying and comparing the normal flora populations in the lakes and different fish species would provide us with an better understanding of a fish’s interactions with normal bacterial flora. Data presented here suggests that fish mucus specializes its flora as compared to the aquatic environment in which they live. The diversity of the aquatic samples is significantly higher as compared to all fish samples. Fish tend to harbor particular phyla including types of Proteobacteria. Upon comparison of mucus flora between crappie and bluegill (regardless of lake), data suggests significant differences in flora. Some of this difference may be accounted for in the aquatic environment from which they were sampled. However, even within a single aquatic environment, there are some significant differences between bacterial floras. This suggests that certain fish may specialize their flora even while in the same environment.
Proposed research on home ranges and resource use of the water monitor lizard, Varanus salvator

Throughout the world, population growth and conversion of land for human development increase the potential for areas of human and wildlife activity to overlap. Anthropogenic effects on animal behavior may have ecological consequences if response to human disturbance or dependence on anthropogenic food sources prevents wildlife from carrying out traditional ecological roles. The presence of large predatory species such as the water monitor lizard, Varanus salvator, in areas of human development may also result in conflict if animals become habituated to the presence of humans or begin to compete for resources. Understanding anthropogenic effects on V. salvator resource use and activity is a key to predicting behavior and informing conflict mitigation in systems where humans and V. salvator coexist. V. salvator home ranges and resource use will be investigated on Tinjil Island, Indonesia, where radiotelemetry will be used to track V. salvator individuals across areas of varying human presence in both wet a.
Effect of UV irradiation on free radicals in synthetic melanin and melanin biopolymer from Sepia officinalis – EPR examination

Abstract Free radicals in synthetic melanin and melanin from Sepia officinalis were studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The effect of time of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation on free radicals in these melanins was tested. The samples were exposed to UV during 15, 30, and 60 minutes. EPR spectra were measured with microwaves from an X-band (9.3 GHz) in the range of microwave power of 2.2–70 mW. The performed EPR examinations indicate that high concentrations (~1021–1022 spin/g) of o-semiquinone free radicals with g factors of 2.0039–2.0045 exist in all the tested samples. For nonirradiated samples, free radical concentration was higher in natural melanin than in synthetic melanin. UV irradiation caused the increase of free radical concentrations in synthetic melanin samples and this effect depends on the time of irradiation. The largest free radical formation in the both melanins was obtained for 60 min of UV irradiation. Free radical concentrations after the UV irradiation of melanins during 30 min were lower than during irradiation by 15 min, and probably this effect was the result of recombination of the radiatively formed free radicals. EPR lines of the tested samples broadened with increasing microwave power, so these lines were homogeneously broadened. The two types of melanins differed in the time of spin-lattice relaxation processes. Slower spin-lattice relaxation processes exist in melanin from Sepia officinalis than in synthetic melanin. UV irradiation did not change the time of spin-lattice relaxation processes in the tested melanins. The performed studies confirmed the usefulness of EPR spectroscopy in cosmetology and medicine.
Production and perception of French vowels by blind and sighted speakers

The influence of visual experience on speech production and perception was investigated through a study of French vowels. Twelve congenitally blind adults and twelve sighted adults, all native speakers of Canadian French, were selected. They served as subjects in a perceptual test and a production experiment. In the perceptual part of the study, five sets of five-formant vowels ranging from /i/ to /e/, /e/ to //, // to /a/, /y/ to /u/, and /i/ to /y/ were synthesized. Stimuli from the five continua were presented to each of the subjects in discrimination tasks (AXB design). The results show that blind subjects have higher peak discrimination scores in two continua out of five. In the production part of the study, the subjects had to produce ten repetitions of the vowels /i y u a/ in CVC syllables embedded in carrier sentences. The audio signal, lip movement, and tongue shapes were recorded using a digital camera and an ultrasound system. Despite similar acoustic differences, the rounded and unrounded vowels were less differentiated along the protrusion dimension for blind speakers than sighted speakers. It is suggested that this variability is related to a trade-off between lip protrusion and tongue position.
An assessment of positive organizational behavior in service sector of pakistan: role of organization based self-esteem and global self-esteem

This study is an attempt to investigate prevalence of positive organizational behavior in the organizations in the service sector of Pakistan. We tested effects of organization based self-esteem, role stressors (role conflict, role overload and role ambiguity), leader-member exchange and perceived organizational support on positive organizational behavior as well as mediation of organization-based-self-esteem in this regard. Moreover, moderation of global self-esteem was also estimated in relationship between organization based self-esteem and positive organizational behavior. Data from 250 respondents from three service sectors of Pakistan (bank, hotel and education) was collected through mail survey and using stratified random sampling technique. Data analysis on the usable 215 questionnaires was made by using hierarchical multiple regression. Significant direct and indirect results through mediation of organization based self-esteem were found only for leader-member exchange, perceived organizational support and role ambiguity. Nevertheless, global self-esteem was not found to moderate the relationship of organization base self-esteem and positive organizational behavior. Implications and future research recommendations are also given.
Multiresolution Analysis of the Relationship of Solar Activity, Global Temperatures, and Global Warming

Sunspot number is an important parameter for presenting the intensity of solar activity. Based on the sunspot number series, which has been replaced by a new improved version since 2015, we confirm that the sunspot number has significant variations at 11-year and 112-year periods. The sunspot number has also increased from 1700 to 2016 with 0.08 annual increments on the basis of wavelet analysis and least-square fitting. We further confirm that global temperatures are remarkable in 22-year and 64-year cycles. The result of wavelet transform coherence (WTC) analysis suggests that solar activity has a positive lag effect on global temperatures in the period band of 22 years with a 3-year lag. However, the linearly increasing global temperature has hampered WTC analysis since 1960. Aiming to solve this problem, we apply wavelet decomposition and cross correlation to determine whether the aforementioned lag effect in the period band of 22 years has a 2-year lag rather than a 3-year lag. We find that the 22-year magnetic field solar cycle plays a greater role in global climate change than the 11-year sunspot cycle. In addition, we notice that the solar activity is not a representation of the driving force of the upward trend of global temperature after the industrial age. The Granger causality test results demonstrate that the phenomenon of the global warming is caused by excessive CO2 emissions.