Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The development from kinetic coefficients of a predictive model for the growth of Eichhornia crassipes in the field. II. Testing and refining the model under field conditions

Kinetic cocfficicnts derived for Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms under culture conditions of N and P limitation were used in the Monod model to identify the limiting nutrient and to predict specific growth rates under conditions of varying water nutrient concentration and air temperature. Predicted data were validated by comparison with specific growth rates measured for plants growing in loosely and densely crowded populations at two field sites. The use of culture-derived maximum specific growth rates (Umax) in the model resulted in maccurate predictions of plant growth rates in loosely and densely crowdcd field populations. The use of field-derived Umax values in the model, however, resulted in adequate predictions of plant growth rates in loosely crowded field populations. The incorporation of radiant flux density (diffuse component of the radiant flux) and relative humidity into the model considerably improved its accuracy of prediction. In all cases, specific growth rates were more accurately predicted from the limiting total N or total P concentrations, than from other N or P fractions, in the water.
The Development of a Scale to Determine General Competency for Primary School Teachers in Turkey: A Validity and Reliability Study

AbstractTeachers who are responsible for educating individuals in such an important stage must have the attitudes and behaviours required by the profession. Qualified teachers will lead to better-behaved, trained, and qualified students. The skill of creating a qualified teaching-learning process is directly related to teachers’ competencies and knowledge. The aim of this study is to determine at what level teachers working in Turkey have general teacher competencies. The population of this research consists of 450 primary school teachers working in the central district in Ankara during the 2013 - 2014 academic year. During development of this scale, exploratory factor analysis, two half reliability analyses, item-total correlation, Cronbach’s alpha, and confirmatory factor analysis were used. Consequently, it is possible to say that this scale, with 60 items and five factors, is a reliable and valid scale to investigate primary school teachers’ competencies.
Infection, colonization and growth-promoting effects of tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) by the endophytic bacterium Herbaspirillum sp. WT00C

The endophytic Herbaspirillum sp. WT00C, isolated from tea plant, seems to have a potential ability to promote tea-plant rooting and budding due to its capability of producing indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), ammonia and siderophores. Thus, the present study was aimed to verify whether this bacterium could be used for tea cultivation as an environment-friendly bioaccelerator. To evaluate its potential use in promoting tea-plant rooting and bud growth, Herbaspirillum sp. WT00C was characterized using several methods. Observation by bacterial infection found that the bacterium only went into plants via plant vulnus when irrigation, sprinkling and traumatic infection were applied. Whatever irrigation, sprinkling or traumatic infection was applied, all tea plant, vegetables, rice and wheat tested in this study did not show any growth inhibition or disease symptom. Observation by bacterial count test also found that the bacterium colonized only in tea plant, but not in vegetables, rice or wheat. To test the effect of Herbaspirillum sp.WT00C on tea-cutting rooting and budding, tea cuttings were soaked with the diluted bacterial culture. Observation at 280 day postinoculation found that the tea-seedling rate approached to 100%, and average newborn shoot length and lateral root number of tea seedlings increased 88% compared to control groups. In addition, the bacterium was found only in those tea cuttings treated with the bacterium, but not in their newborn shoots and leaves. Inoculating the bacterium to the upper incision of tea twigs in the field also enhanced the growth of newborn shoots. Our studies demonstrated that Herbaspirillum sp.WT00C was a tea-specific endophyte with the ability to stimulate the lateral root formation and bud growth of tea cuttings, and paved the way for its application in propagation of tea cuttage as a novel bioaccelerator.
Mixed layer depth over the global ocean: An examination of profile data and a profile-based climatology

[1] A new 2° resolution global climatology of the mixed layer depth (MLD) based on individual profiles is constructed. Previous global climatologies have been based on temperature or density-gridded climatologies. The criterion selected is a threshold value of temperature or density from a near-surface value at 10 m depth (ΔT = 0.2°C or Δσθ = 0.03 kg m−3). A validation of the temperature criterion on moored time series data shows that the method is successful at following the base of the mixed layer. In particular, the first spring restratification is better captured than with a more commonly used larger criteria. In addition, we show that for a given 0.2°C criterion, the MLD estimated from averaged profiles results in a shallow bias of 25% compared to the MLD estimated from individual profiles. A new global seasonal estimation of barrier layer thickness is also provided. An interesting result is the prevalence in mid- and high-latitude winter hemispheres of vertically density-compensated layers, creating an isopycnal but not mixed layer. Consequently, we propose an optimal estimate of MLD based on both temperature and density data. An independent validation of the maximum annual MLD with oxygen data shows that this oxygen estimate may be biased in regions of Ekman pumping or strong biological activity. Significant differences are shown compared to previous climatologies. The timing of the seasonal cycle of the mixed layer is shifted earlier in the year, and the maximum MLD captures finer structures and is shallower. These results are discussed in light of the different approaches and the choice of criterion.
Species Diversity and Environmental Relationships of Marine Macrobenthic in Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat, West Coast of India

Research work is focused on the taxonomic composition of macrobenthic in three marine water Shelf (Vadinar Shelf, Okha Shelf and Kandla Shelf) Gulf of Kutch Costal water during November 2011 to December 2012. In present investigation 39 species of macrobenthic were to the different groups i.e., Polychaetes, Crustaceans, Nematodes, Mollusca. Observation study period in the Shelf Vadinar, the macrobenthic was composed of nine taxa of Polychaetes, three taxa of Nematodes, three taxa of Crustaceans and three taxa of Mollusca a, while in Kandla Shelf ten taxa of Polychaetes, six taxa of Nematodes, three taxa of Crustaceans, three taxa of Mollusca and in Vadinar Shelf thirteen taxa of Polychaetes, nine taxa of Nematodes, three taxa of Crustaceans and three taxa of Mollusca, were encountered respectively. Comparison of the obtained results with those of earlier investigations occurred during November 2011 to December 2012 showed that changes have occurred in the interval. The total macrobenthic composition is significantly changed in all the three water bodies. Comparison of diversity and density in three Shelf was studied with diversity indices.
Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells for Tissue Engineering Approaches: Current Challenges and Perspectives

Human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) currently represent a viable source of mes- enchymal -like stem cells, with similar properties and differentiation potential to bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) but with a different and more accessible source—the adipose tissue. hASCs are able to produce almost all of the factors that contribute to normal wound healing, and therefore, they are preferred for all types of tissue engineering (TE) and regenerative medical applications. This chapter will review hASCs regeneration potential and the most modern approaches in TE for bone, cartilage and adipose tissue regeneration using hASCs. Furthermore, an overview of novel and original hASCs-scaffold constructs studied in our group completes an up-to-date presen - tation of hASCs multiple uses. Additionally, this chapter will highlight the relevance of ultimate advances in regenerative medicine and the need for this evolution to increase the quality of life in patients with tissue defects. on poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid seeded with hASCs transfected with a plasmid vector expressing Sox5, Sox6 and Sox9 genes. A culture medium supplemented with insulin-transferrin-selenium (ITS), dexamethasone, ascorbate-2-phosphate, proline and sodium pyruvate was used. Results indicated the presence of DNA coding for chondrogenesis inducers of Sox9, Sox5 and Sox6, showing a positive influence on the rate of cell differentiation.
The effects of mass media on corruption in South Africa: A MTAR-TEC persepctive

This study becomes the first to examine cointegration and causal effects between mass media and corruption in South Africa for interpolated quarterly data of the corruption perception index and the world press freedom index conducted between the period of 2002 and 2014. The method of empirical investigation is the momentum threshold autoregressive (MTAR) model with a corresponding threshold error correction (TEC) component. Our empirical results reveal a negative long-run cointegration relationship between the two variables with causality running from corruption to the press freedom index. These findings explain why increased mass media has not resulted in a decline in corruption levels and rather suggests that a direct decline in levels of corruption would induce an increase in the freedom of mass media communication.
ARMA AND ARIMA APPROACHES TO THE UNIT ROOT ANALYSIS OF MACRO ECONOMIC VARIABLES

The extended Nelson-Plosser data on the historical US macro-economic time series is re-analyzed from the view of the Dickey-Fuller type auto-regressive (AR) unit root test as well as from the view of the recently developed moving average (MA) unit root test (Hatanaka and Koto, 1995). The analysis included all MA errors but not breaks in the deterministic trend. An example of the test proposed by Hatanaka and Koto is illustrated when a time series is doubted as to whether it is a stationary ARMA about trend or a non-stationary ARIMA about drift. Search for the best ARMA regressions always includes an MA error term since long lags in the AR process often cause over-differencing phenomena. The adjusted likelihood ratio test is used for arriving at the best ARMA regression. Search for the best ARIMA regressions is carried out in a similar way as that applied for selecting the best ARMA regression. The MA unit root test is calculated for the best ARIMA regression. The AR and MA unit root tests associated with the best ARMA and the best ARIMA regressions, respectively, are compared with each other in order to classify the series into ARMA or ARIMA process as done previously by Hatanaka and Koto. Various lag lengths are examined and overall judgments are drawn.
Study Of Micromixing in a Stirred Tank Using a Rushton Turbine: Comparison of Feed Positions and Other Mixing Devices

The consecutive-competing iodide-iodate reaction scheme has been used to study micromixing phenomena in a baffled vessel of 0.29 m diameter agitated by a Rushton turbine. It has been confirmed that, by using successive injections, this reaction scheme is very efficient for such a study. Four agitator speeds giving mean specific energy dissipation rates, e T from ∼0.2 to ∼1.2 W/kg have been used, with sub-surface feeding at one of four points. For a given speed, addition at each of these four points gave different local values of e T , ranging from less than e T very close to the top of the liquid to much greater close to the impeller. The point closest to the impeller was chosen to be such that feeding was estimated to be at the point of maximum e T . For the maximum speed, the segregation index, as a measure of the amount of waste product, was ∼20% with feed at the top of the liquid (as preferred industrially because of its convenience). This waste was reduced to ∼5% by feeding at the point of maximum e T close to the impeller. A comparison was also made with results reported in the literature using the same reaction for two new devices developed for improved micromixing. By feeding at the carefully chosen position close to the impeller, the results with the Rushton turbine were as good as or better than with the special devices even at the comparatively low e T of ∼1.2 W/kg. It was estimated that the maximum local specific energy dissipation rate was ∼70 times the mean, in reasonable agreement with a very recent study where the same pair of reactions and LDV were both used.
Projected changes in Australian fire regimes during the 21st century and consequences for ecosystems

Climate projections show Australia becoming significantly warmer during the 21st century, while precipitation decreases over much of the continent. Such changes are generally considered to increase wildfire risk. Nevertheless, using a process-based model of vegetation dynamics and vegetation–fire interactions, we show that while burnt area increases in southern and central Australia, it decreases in northern Australia. Overall the projected increase in fire by the end of the 21st century is small (0.7–1.3% of land area equivalent to 12–24% of current burnt area, depending on the climate scenario). The direct effects of increasing CO2 on vegetation productivity and water-use efficiency influence simulated fire regimes: CO2 effects tend to increase burnt area in arid regions, but increase vegetation density and reduce burnt area in forested regions. Increases in fire promotes a shift to more fire-adapted trees in wooded areas and their encroachment into grasslands, with an overall increase in forested area of 3.9–11.9% of land area by the end of the century. The decrease in fire in northern Australia leads to an increase in tree cover (ca 20%) and an expansion of tropical forest. Thus, although the overall change in burnt area is small it has noticeable consequences for vegetation patterns across the continent.
Knowledge sharing: from atomic to parametrised context and shallow to deep models

Key to achieving more effective machine intelligence is the capability to generalise knowledge across different contexts. In this thesis, we develop a new and very general perspective on knowledge sharing that unifies and generalises many existing methodologies, while being practically effective, simple to implement, and opening up new problem settings. Knowledge sharing across tasks and domains has conventionally been studied disparately. We first introduce the concept of a semantic descriptor and a flexible neural network approach to knowledge sharing that together unify multi-task/multi-domain learning, and encompass various classic and recent multi-domain learning (MDL) and multi-task learning (MTL) algorithms as special cases. We next generalise this framework from single-output to multi-output problems and from shallow to deep models. To achieve this, we establish the equivalence between classic tensor decomposition methods, and specific neural network architectures. This makes it possible to implement our framework within modern deep learning stacks. We present both explicit low-rank, and trace norm regularisation solutions. From a practical perspective, we also explore a new problem setting of zero-shot domain adaptation (ZSDA) where a model can be calibrated solely based on some abstract information of a new domain, e.g., some metadata like the capture device of photos, without collecting or labelling the data.
An Approach for Detecting Higher Level Clone in Software System and Behavior Identification with Code Refactorability Detection in Software

: A code clones are comparative or indistinguishable parts of code in a solitary source record or different source documents. With the presentation of Cloning in programming frameworks is known to make issues amid programming upkeep period of programming life cycle handle. To distinguish comparable code part, called straightforward clones. Repeating examples of basic clones regularly shows huge picture of more elevated amount similitudes, called complex clones. The proposed paper focuses on discover more mind boggling sorts of code similitudes. The oddity of approach incorporates the plan of the mind boggling clone idea and the utilization of information mining strategies to identify more elevated amount code likenesses in programming.
Workforce Incentives at IT companies : the Google’s Case

Organizations may have much to gain in attracting and retaining IT professionals than can help to reduce costs and improve the productivity of the business. That is even more crucial for IT companies that rely upon talented IT professionals to add value in their core business processes and not just to support them. Thus we need to better understand what motivates and keeps satisfied an IT workforce. As a successful IT company, Google may be a good example to look at adequate incentive policies for IT professionals. Using a netnographic approach, this study examined a blog discussion with the participation of past and present Google employees. The collected data was analyzed under a total rewards model, a framework from WorldatWork to encompass a diversity of topics in building a reward strategy. One of those topics,
Ocean Vessel Trajectory Estimation and Prediction Based on Extended Kalman Filter

The accurate estimation and prediction of the trajectories of maneuvering vessels in ocean navigation are important tools to improve maritime safety and security. Therefore, many conventional ocean navigation systems and Vessel Traffic Management & Reporting Services are equipped with Radar facilities for this purpose. However, the accuracy of the predictions of maneuvering trajectories of vessels depends mainly on the goodness of estimation of vessel position, velocity and acceleration. Hence, this study presents a maneuvering ocean vessel model based on a curvilinear motion model with the measurements based on a linear position model for the same purpose. Furthermore, the system states and measurements models associated with a white Gaussian noise are also assumed. The Extended Kalman Filter is proposed as an adaptive filter algorithm for the estimation of position, velocity and acceleration that are used for prediction of maneuvering ocean vessel trajectory. Finally, the proposed models are implemented and successful computational results are obtained with respect to prediction of maneuvering trajectories of vessels in ocean navigation in this study. KeywordsTrajectory estimation; Trajectory prediction; Target tracking; Extended Kalman Filter; Curvilinear motion model.
MULTI-RIBBON PROFILE MONITOR USING CARBON GRAPHITE FOIL FOR J-PARC

We developed a secondary-electron-emission type beam profile monitor with a thin graphite ribbon target having a thickness of 1.6–2.0 μm. It clearly measured high-intensity beams up to 1 × 10 13 ppb at a beam energy of 3 GeV with good linearity of the electron-emission yield. The energy deposition in this intense case was fairly small, 5.1 × 10 -3 J/bunch/foil. The monitors were installed at injection beam transport (3-50 BT) for main ring (MR) primarily to measure the injection beam profiles by a single pass. A standard-size target has 32channel ribbons 1.5–3 mm wide, with a length of 200 mm or more. The charge signal produced on the target was transmitted via a 34-channel coaxial cable assembly 400 m long to a signal processor without amplification. This paper describes the characteristics of the graphite, the target fabrication, and the results of beam measurements.
Nodulation Capacity of Argentinean Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr) Cultivars Inoculated with Commercial Strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the nodulation potential of 31 Argentinean soybean commercial cultivars. Those with the highest nodulation capacity response developed twice the amount of nodules than the low nodulating ones, which is the variation contained in soybean genotypes. Furthermore, this was not due to bacterial promiscuity, since the response was independent of the bradyrhizobia strain inoculated. The ability of cultivars to develop a larger number and biomass of nodules was unrelated with the maturity group they belong to and also was not a response to quorum sensing effects. Our results suggest that breeding programs can be aimed at improving the nodulation capacity of soybean and that cultivars from different maturity groups can be a source of nodulation QTLs.
MICROARRAY ANA LYTICAL SYSTEMS – AN OVERVIEW

The evolution of modern biology, that recently entered the genome era, requires faster and cheaper analytical systems. Techniques as microlithography, micromachining, laser induced fluorescence detection, microfluidics contributed to the development of the DNA microarray technology, having as result complex analytical systems able to perform hybridization of nucleic acids in an array format on small bidimensional surfaces, and also to process huge quantities of information. The most significant achievements worldwide obtained are presented illustrating the state of the art in this domain. In order to automate the fluidic process involved in the DNA hybridization three micromachining techniques, slightly differing from each other have been approached by the authors team. Reservoirs with volumes ranging from 1nl to 2 μl in different materials have been obtained by means of reactive ion etching of polyimide, anisotropic etching of sili con respectively an optimised wet etching of borosili cate glass as well as a low temperature bonding of borosili cate glass on sili con nitride. One obtained device has been tested in a Laser Induced Fluorescence detection set-up.
Measuring the 'Real' Cost of Children: A Net Wealth Approach

Estimates of the cost of raising children in Australia are typically based on the additional expenditure incurred by parents compared to non-parents, and generate estimates in the vicinity of $10,000 per year per child, and much more if child-care costs are included. This paper questions the basis upon which children are considered to be a 'cost'. The fact that people switch expenditure from other goods and services to child-related goods and services does not mean that their utility declines. Based on a utility maximising framework, an alternative and intuitively appealing method of estimating the cost of children is proposed: if children are a 'cost' then couples who have children should end up with lower net wealth than comparable couples without children or with fewer children. Data from the Household, Income and labour Dynamics in Australia survey, which included special wealth modules in 2002 and 2006, are used to model married couples' wealth in 2002 and change in wealth between 2002 and 2006 conditional upon the number children living with them. Even though this 'net wealth' approach accounts for lower labour force participation and earnings of those with children (notably mothers), which is ignored in the expenditure based methods, the estimates suggest that children 'cost' at most $1,300 per annum, and may even lead to an increase in net wealth. The estimates do have significant social policy implications, but apply only to married couples and are not applicable for setting guidelines for maintenance payments in the case of separated parents.