Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Annual cycle of microalgal biomass in a South African temporarily-open estuary: nutrient versus light limitation

The vast majority (73%) of South African estuaries are temporarily-open systems. There is virtually no information available on their trophic functioning, particularly at the lower levels of the food web. A whole-year survey was carried out to investigate variations in the biomass of phyto- plankton and microphytobenthos in relation to major factors potentially controlling their dynamics in a subtropical temporarily-open estuary. Microphytobenthic chlorophyll a (chl a) concentrations ranged from 75 to 480 mg m -2 , while phytoplankton biomass varied between 0.09 and 8.6 mg chl a m -3 . Areal chl a concentrations in the sediment (microphytobenthos) were typically 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher than in the water column (phytoplankton). The vertical attenuation coefficient in the water, K d, varied between 0.94 and 28.9 m -1 . Dissolved inorganic nitrogen to phosphorus molar ratios (DIN:DIP) varied between 0.3 and 127. The results suggest that nutrients rather than light might have limited phytoplankton growth during the closed phase of the estuary, since K d values were lowest during this period. On the other hand, light rather than nutrients might have limited phytoplankton growth during the open phase, since nutrient concentrations in the water column were very low prior to the opening of the estuary at the mouth. The marked increase in phytoplank- ton biomass at the onset of the open phase further supports the hypothesis that phytoplankton cells might have been nutrient-limited during the closed phase. Resuspension by freshwater inflow may have also contributed to this increase. Microphytobenthic standing stock exhibited strong seasonal fluctuations, with the lowest values coinciding with the open phase. However, unlike phytoplankton, benthic microalgal biomass did not appear to be inhibited by either low nutrients or light availability.
Seaweeds as an alternative to chemical pesticides for the management of root diseases of sunflower and tomato

With the rising popularity of organic farming, due to adverse effect of chemicals, the seaweed fertilizer industry is growing rapidly worldwide. Seaweeds act as natural plant growth stimulator and enable the plants to withstand drought, disease or frost. Root diseases of tomato and sunflower caused by root rotting fungi, Fusarium spp. , Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina , and root knot nematode, Meloidogyne spp. , are the major constraints in tomato and sunflower production. In our studies, ethanol and water extracts of several seaweeds showed significant nematicidal activity against Meloidogyne javanica . In this study, effi cacy of three seaweeds Spatoglossum variabile , Melanothamnus afaqhusainii and Halimeda tuna was compared with a fungicide Topsin-M and a nematicide carbofuran both in screen house and under field condition. Seaweed and pesticides showed more or similar suppressive effect on root pathogens of tomato and sunflower by reducing fungal root infection and nematode’s galls on roots and nematode’s penetration in roots. However, mixed application of S. variabile with carbofuran caused maximum reduction in nematode’s penetration in roots and produced greater fresh shoot weight, root length and maximum yield of tomato under field condition. Seaweeds offer a non-chemical means of disease control, which would also protect our environment from the use of hazardous chemicals.
An Efficient Mesh Generation Method for Fractured Network System Based on Dynamic Grid Deformation

Meshing quality of the discrete model influences the accuracy, convergence, and efficiency of the solution for fractured network system in geological problem. However, modeling and meshing of such a fractured network system are usually tedious and difficult due to geometric complexity of the computational domain induced by existence and extension of fractures. The traditional meshing method to deal with fractures usually involves boundary recovery operation based on topological transformation, which relies on many complicated techniques and skills. This paper presents an alternative and efficient approach for meshing fractured network system. The method firstly presets points on fractures and then performs Delaunay triangulation to obtain preliminary mesh by point-by-point centroid insertion algorithm. Then the fractures are exactly recovered by local correction with revised dynamic grid deformation approach. Smoothing algorithm is finally applied to improve the quality of mesh. The proposed approach is efficient, easy to implement, and applicable to the cases of initial existing fractures and extension of fractures. The method is successfully applied to modeling of two- and three-dimensional discrete fractured network (DFN) system in geological problems to demonstrate its effectiveness and high efficiency.
Comparison of TRMM, MPEG and CFSR rainfall estimation with the ground observed data for the Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia

A. W. Worqlul, B. Maathuis, A. A. Adem, S. S. Demissie, S. Langan, and T. S. Steenhuis Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA University of Twente, Faculty ITC, Twente, the Netherlands Amhara Design and Supervision Works Enterprise, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia International Water Management Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Bahir Dar University, School of Civil and Water Resource Engineering, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia DRS Development & Research Solutions, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Monetary fundamentals and rupee-U.S.$ behaviour: an Indian evidence - pre and Post liberalization

The paper examines different forms of money demand functions and derives reduced for equations relating exchange rate with monetary and real fundamentals of two economies t currencies of which are being related. The paper tries to determine Indian Rupee-U.S. doll exchange rate for the period spanning 1971 to 2004. The study also analyses the mode separately for pre liberalization and post liberalization periods using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) in simple linear and partial adjustment frameworks. The empirical findings suppc the partial adjustment model for both the periods. But after liberalization, the naive stai form of the models has been found to perform better so far as the sign and significance oft parameters is concerned. Structural break is indicated in the exchange rate movements t breaking point being the year of liberalization -1991. The adverse sign of relative real output is because of externalization and supports grow theory of exchange rate which states that, with rise in growth rate, the income has depreciating, effect on currency. As a policy this can be matched with a choice of competitive technology which makes export of high value goods competitive so as to compensate for importisation of real output. The relative money supply and interest rate differential are significant determinants corresponding models, therefore, the study indicates that there should be monetary policy coordination between India and U.S. to stabilize the rupee-% exchange rate. The significance of inflation rate differential implies that domestically inflation rate targeting may be adopt in conjunction with other policies. Recent rise in rupee value is because of intense capital flow to stock market which has put pressure on rupee.
Net exchanges of CO2, CH4, and N2O between China's terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere and their contributions to global climate warming

China's terrestrial ecosystems have been recognized as an atmospheric CO(2) sink; however, it is uncertain whether this sink can alleviate global warming given the fluxes of CH(4) and N(2)O. In this study, we used a process-based ecosystem model driven by multiple environmental factors to examine the net warming potential resulting from net exchanges of CO(2), CH(4), and N(2)O between China's terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere during 1961-2005. In the past 45 years, China's terrestrial ecosystems were found to sequestrate CO(2) at a rate of 179.3 Tg C yr(-1) with a 95% confidence range of (62.0 Tg C yr(-1), 264.9 Tg C yr(-1)) while emitting CH(4) and N(2)O at rates of 8.3 Tg C yr(-1) with a 95% confidence range of (3.3 Tg C yr(-1), 12.4 Tg C yr(-1)) and 0.6 Tg N yr(-1) with a 95% confidence range of (0.2 Tg N yr(-1), 1.1 Tg N yr(-1)), respectively. When translated into global warming potential, it is highly possible that China's terrestrial ecosystems mitigated global climate warming at a rate of 96.9 Tg CO(2)eq yr(-1) (1 Tg = 10(12) g), substantially varying from a source of 766.8 Tg CO(2)eq yr(-1) in 1997 to a sink of 705.2 Tg CO(2)eq yr(-1) in 2002. The southeast and northeast of China slightly contributed to global climate warming; while the northwest, north, and southwest of China imposed cooling effects on the climate system. Paddy land, followed by natural wetland and dry cropland, was the largest contributor to national warming potential; forest, followed by woodland and grassland, played the most significant role in alleviating climate warming. Our simulated results indicate that CH(4) and N(2)O emissions offset approximately 84.8% of terrestrial CO(2) sink in China during 1961-2005. This study suggests that the relieving effects of China's terrestrial ecosystems on climate warming through sequestering CO(2) might be gradually offset by increasing N(2)O emission, in combination with CH(4) emission.
Manipulation of fire ant density, Solenopsis spp., for short-term reduction of Diatraea saccharalis larval densities in Brazil

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (Fabr.) is the main sugarcane pest in Brazil. In the State of Sao Paulo, the main active population control of D. saccharalis is by inundative releases of the exotic parasitoid, Cotesia flavipes (Cam.). However, the production of C. flavipes in sugar mills entails costs and few studies have evaluated the effects of native predators on sugarcane borer populations. Using a simple colony translocation method, we evaluated the effect of fire ants (Solenopsis spp.) on population densities of D. saccharalis and concurrently upon rates of parasitism by classical biological control agents in the Sao Joao sugar mill in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The translocation technique proved to be feasible and economically possible. Sugarcane borers were sampled in each of the 5 areas for each treatment in two 1.4 x 5.0 m (7 m²) points (sample size), by opening and visually examining all canes. The average numbers and its respective standard deviations (SD) for D. saccharalis population densities before and after colony translocations considering 0, 5, 10 and 15 colonies added per 0.5 ha were, 9.2 ± 5.9, 8.4 ± 3.4, 9.0 ± 6.9, 9.4 ± 8.1 and 3.2 ± 1.8, 2.8 ± 2.7, 2.6 ± 1.5, 3.8 ± 2.8, respectively. However, we detected no significant changes in sugarcane borer densities with respect to ant colony densities over a two-week period, none of which were greater than for no colony additions. No effects of colony translocations on parasitism rates of braconid and tachinid parasitoids on D. saccharalis were detected. Thus, although the translocation technique was economically feasible, no reductions of D. saccharalis densities were produced by colony additions, and may not be a viable alternative for D. saccharalis population reduction, especially at the low population levels which prevail in Brazil.
SHORT COMMUNICATION Vegetative compatibility group of Fusarium species associated with root and stem rot of Orchid

F. oxysporum, F. proliferatum and F. solani isolates were recovered from root and stem rot of orchid. The isolates were placed into vegetative compatibility group (VCG) based on pairing of complementary mutants. From complementation tests, all F. solani isolates did not form heterokaryons and was therefore heterokaryon self-incompatible. For both F.oxysporum and F. proliferatum isolates, four VCG were identified. The results suggest that variation exist among the F. oxysporum and F. proliferatum isolates from root and stem rot of orchid.
The Impact of Microfinance on Decision‐Making Agency: Evidence from South India

Evaluations of the effects of microfinance programmes on women's empowerment generate mixed results. While some are supportive of microfinance's ability to induce a process of economic, social and political empowerment, others are more sceptical and even point to a deterioration of women's overall well-being. Against this background, development scholars and practitioners have sought to distil some of the ingredients that might increase the likelihood of empowerment or at least reduce adverse effects. This article formally tests the impact of some of the suggested changes in programme features on one particular dimension of empowerment: decision-making agency. Using household survey data from South India, the author explores the importance of the borrower's gender and the lending technology for intra-household decision-making processes. It is shown that direct bank–borrower credit delivery does not challenge the existing decision-making patterns, regardless of whether men or women receive the credit. These findings change when credit is combined with financial and social group intermediation. Women's group membership seriously shifts overall decision-making patterns from norm-guided behaviour and male decision-making to more joint and female decision-making. Longer-term group membership and more intensive training and group meetings strengthen these patterns.
A field investigation of application of digital terrestrial photogrammetry to characterize geometric properties of discontinuities in open-pit slopes

In order to analyze the slope stability in open-pit mines, the structural parameters of rock mass such as persistence and spatial orientation of discontinuities are characterized through field surveys, which involve spending high costs and times as well as posing high risks of rock toppling and rock fall. In the present work, a new application of terrestrial digital photogrammetry is introduced for characterizing the rock mass structural parameters through preparing photogrammetry images from open-pit walls and building stereomodels. The data extracted from processing the stereo-model generations using photogrammetry images with different focal distances are highly consistent with the data collected through field surveys. However, it must be noted that the weather conditions, natural lighting angle, and applied observation scale may considerably affect the results obtained from stereomodel processing. Nevertheless, by taking into account the parameters such as time, cost, and full access to the required data, this new method can effectively be used in the estimation of rock mass structural parameters for analysis of steep slopes in open pits.
Valuing Mortality and Morbidity in the Context of Disaster Risks

Benefit-cost analyses of disaster risk reduction (DRR) projects are an important tool for evaluating the efficiency of such projects, and an important input into decision making. These analyses, however, often fail to monetize the benefits of reduced death and injury. The authors review the literature on valuing reduced death and injury, and suggest methods for calculating order-of-magnitude estimates of these benefits. Because few empirical estimates of the Value of a Statistical Life (VSL) are available for developing countries, methods for transferring estimates from high income to middle and low income countries are reviewed. The authors suggest using the range of values implied by an income elasticity of 1.0 and an elasticity of 1.5. With regard to injury valuation they discuss arguments for and against monetizing Quality Adjusted Life Years, and provide shortcuts to valuing injuries that may be used to assess their importance in DRR benefit-cost analyses.
Learning Characteristics of Field-Dependent Children Within an Analytical Concept-Based Curriculum

The purpose of this research was the examination of the field-dependent/independent cognitive style as it related to learning within a Logsdon-based movement curriculum. Subjects consisted of 104 children scoring in the 1st- (field independent) and 4th-quartile (field dependent) on the Children's Embedded Figures Test. Observation and interview data were collected by the two researchers over a 4-month period. Data were analyzed using constant comparison. Field-independent students' performance was consistent with teacher expectations during the majority of the classes observed. Field dependent students experienced difficulty focusing on lesson discussion, following directions, and working independently. The discussion focused on the role of structure and the influence of social relationships on learning behaviors of field-dependent children.
Conservatism and Fairness in Contemporary Politics: Unpacking the Psychological Underpinnings of Modern Racism∗

The study of intergroup attitudes is a central topic across the social sciences. While there is little doubt about the importance of intergroup attitudes in shaping behavior, both the psychological underpinnings of these attitudes and the tools used to measure them remain contentious. Modern racism scales, which are the most common way to measure anti-Black prejudice in political science, were created in response to a shift in the attitudes of white Americans toward African Americans, and reflect a mix of social conservatism and anti-Black affect. Using experiments, we offer evidence that modern racism scales measure attitudes toward any group, rather than African Americans alone. In the spirit of the original motivation behind modern racism scales, which were created to capture changing public opinion about race, we suggest this property of modern racism may reflect a change in how stereotypes about low workethic are applied across groups and that the target of resentment for white Americans, especially for political conservatives, has broadened beyond African Americans. Our results suggest that modern racism scales reflect a general set of attitudes about fairness and that new instruments may be needed to measure group-specific prejudice. ∗We thank R. Brian Law for suggesting this line of research. We also thank Jack Citrin, Stanley Feldman, Bernard Fraga, Paul Sniderman, Michael Tesler, and Nicholas Valentino for useful conversations. We thank participants at the Harvard Social Policy and Inequality Seminar and the Harvad Social Psychology Brown Bag Lunch for feedback. And we thanks Time-Sharing Experiments in Social Science for funding some of the data collection. A version of this paper was presented at the 2015 Midwest Political Science Annual Meeting and the 2017 NYU CESS Experiments Conference. †Department of Government, Harvard University; rcarney@g.harvard. edu ‡Department of Government, Harvard University; renos@gov.harvard. edu
The Rise of the Working Rich, Market Imperfections, and Income Inequality

This paper attempts to explain the recent substantial increase in income inequality, which is largely due to the explosion of the very top labor incomes (i.e., the rise of the working rich), in the rich countries especially the United States. This paper points to technological progress and (less importantly to) capital accumulation as the main cause of the (universal) increase in income inequality starting from the late 1970s; also, this paper points to the differences in the nature of demand as the main cause of the large cross-country differences. This paper will build a simple general equilibrium model to formalize this idea and to provide some new insights into the analysis of income inequality.
Cumulative processes related to event histories.

Costs or benefits which accumulate for individuals over time are of interest in many life history processes. Familiar examples include costs of health care for persons with chronic medical conditions, the payments to insured persons during periods of disability, and quality of life which is sometimes used in the evaluation of treatments in terminally ill patients. For convenience, here we use the term costs to refer to cost or other cumulative measures. Two important scenarios are (i) where costs are associated with the occurrence of certain events, so that total cost accumulates as a step function, and (ii) where individuals may move between various states over time, with cost accumulating at a constant rate determined by the state occupied. In both cases, there is frequently a random variable T that represents the duration of the process generating the costs. Here we consider estimation of the mean cumulative cost over a period of interest using methods based upon marginal features of the cost process and intensity based models. Robustness to adaptive censoring is discussed in the context of the multi-state methods. Data from a quality of life study of breast cancer patients are used to illustrate the methods. MSC: 62N01, 62N02, 62N05, 62P20
Phytophthora nicotianae is the predominant Phytophthora species in citrus nurseries in Egypt

Phytophthora root rot is considered to be the most destructive disease to citrus production in Egypt. Phytophthora species are generally present in citrus nurseries, where soil pots containing the survival propagules are considered responsible for their spread into new orchards. The goal of this study was to investigate the distribution and seasonal variation of Phytophthora species in soil and feeder roots in two Egyptian citrus nurseries, characterized by different management, and to identify Phytophthora species associated with root rot. Soil and root samples were collected at monthly intervals from Sour orange and Volkameriana lemon rootstocks during March-July period. The inoculum density of Phytophthora species, and the percentage of infected feeder roots, were estimated using the plate dilution method in conjunction with selective media. Phytophthora isolates were identified according to their morphological characteristics and on the basis of the ITS regions of the rDNA. Phytophthora nicotianae was the predominant isolated species, followed by P. citrophthora and P. palmivora . Phytophthora nicotianae was detected in both nurseries, while P. citrophthora and P. palmivora were recovered only in one nursery. Inoculum density of Phytophthora species fluctuated during spring and summer according to the environmental conditions, rootstock, and nursery management practices.