Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic diversity among Fusarium graminearum and F. culmorum isolates based on ISSR markers

To characterize the isolates of F. graminearum and F. culmorum fungi from Turkey and Iran, we performed ISSR analysis with 18 non-anchored and 23 anchored (including ten novel) primers. Amplification product sizes were 0.2-3.5 kb. In total, 405 bands were scored, 24 of which (5.92%) were polymorphic. The similarities among F. graminearum isolates were calculated as 62.3-99%, and among F. culmorum as 65.7-94.3%. Moderate genetic variation at intra- and inter-specific levels was determined, and the average intraspecific genetic diversity values were 80.65% for F. graminearum, and 80% for F. culmorum. Cluster analysis separated the isolates into two main clades. Group I consisted of F. culmorum isolates from Turkey that produced DON mycotoxin. Group II contained all F. graminearum isolates that were deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV) chemotypes from Turkey and Iran. Both groups I and II were divided into two subgroups including their divisions. Phenons in group II included isolates distributed in the same geographic region. ISSR markers clustered isolates within a definite order according to their species. Isolates from the same agro-ecological locations were also kept together in subdivisions. The novel ISSR markers developed for the first time in this study contribute to differentiating between Fusarium isolates according to their species and geographic regions.
NORTHERN DIMENSION OF RAIL BALTICA

Transport markets have confronted various changes during the previous decades. As branch positive issue is that volumes have increased steadily, but on the other hand, for society this has placed great pressure to reduce environmental emissions and other costs (like infrastructure and its maintenance). In the near future strict emission regulations will change nature of transport, and this will mostly influence sea and road transport. However, rail transport (along with inland water transport) has been highlighted as an option to facilitate the situation. Main objective of this research was to unfold Finnish and Estonian private sectors’ viewpoints towards Rail Baltica transport corridor, which is planned to intersect the Eastern Baltic Sea Region. In order to understand the overall standpoints in Northern part of Rail Baltica, the development process of Russian railway market was briefly examined. Based on the results Rail Baltica transport corridor is seen as important and attractive transport corridor. Both Finnish and Estonian private actors stress that in order to assure the sufficient freight and passenger flows, the corridor should be connected to Russia. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.em. 17.1. 2289
Magic-Mirror-Spiral: Looking into the Role of 'Design Ideal' in Interaction Design Research Projects

There is an ongoing discourse arguing for Interaction Design Research to contribute to theory-about-interaction on one hand, and advancement of particular situation on the other. While there is an acknowledgement of the dialectic relation between theory and situation, however, pointers to embrace the dialectic during a research practice are missing. In order to embrace this dialectic, in this article we suggest the formulation of a Design Ideal as the interface between theoretical concept and situation. We support our suggestion by a retrospection of our ongoing exploration of MagicMirrorSpiral, explicating the relation between theory, concept, design ideal, design artefact, and situation. We propose this formulation of ‘design-ideal-as-part-of-the-compositional-whole’ as a step towards an Interaction Design Research process that embraces the ‘theory-situation’ dialectic, and aims to contribute to, both, theorizing and advancement of situation.
Misspecification tests based on quantile residuals

Summary We develop quantile residual-based misspecification tests and apply them to non-linear time series models for which conventional residuals are unsuited. We formulate a general framework and use it to obtain computationally simple tests aimed at detecting autocorrelation, conditional heteroscedasticity and non-normality in quantile residuals. These tests are generalizations of similar previous tests based on conventional residuals and the Lagrange Multiplier principle. According to simulations on mixture models our tests are reasonable in size and more powerful than alternatives in the literature. An empirical example on interest rate data illustrates the usefulness of these methods.
Food Habit of Rana (Pelophylax) kl. esculenta Females in a New Recorded E-System Population from a Forested Habitat in North-Western Romania

This is the first record of a green frog Rana (Pelophylax) kl. esculenta population from the E-system in the north-western part of Romania. From April to July 2005 we analysed the trophic spectrum of 84 Rana kl. esculenta females, extracting and identifying a total number of 801 prey items. Beside animal preys, plant materials and remains of shed skin were identified in the stomach contents. We did not find any Rana kl. esculenta individuals with empty stomachs. The importance of different animal prey categories varied in certain periods of the study. In the stomach contents collected in July we identified 2 adult amphibians. The analysed Rana kl. esculenta individuals forage mainly on land. The abundance of aquatic preys was higher only at the first sampling event.
Exploiting Prosody for Automatic Syntactic Phrase Boundary Detection in Speech

The relation between syntax and prosody is evident, even if the prosodic structure cannot be directly mapped to the syntactic one and vice versa. Syntax-to-prosody mapping is widely used in text-tospeech applications, but prosody-to-syntax mapping is mostly missing from automatic speech recognition/understanding systems. This paper presents an experiment towards filling this gap and evaluating whether a HMM-based automatic prosodic segmentation tool can be used to support the reconstruction of the syntactic structure directly from speech. Results show that up to 85% of syntactic clause boundaries and up to about 70% of embedded syntactic phrase boundaries could be identified based on the detection of phonological phrases. Recall rates do not depend further on syntactic layering, in other words, whether the phrase is multiply embedded or not. Clause boundaries can be well assigned to intonational phrase level in read speech and can be well separated from lower level syntactic phrases based on the type of the aligned phonological phrase(s). These findings can be exploited in speech understanding systems, allowing for the recovery of the skeleton of the syntactic structure, based purely on the speech signal.
WIND TURBINES IN TOURISM LANDSCAPES Czech Experience Bohumil Frantál

This study proposes to assess and empirically verify possible negative effects from the construction of wind turbines on the landscape image and tourism potential of affected areas, using the example of two comparative recreational localities in the Czech Republic: one with the construction of a wind farm planned and the other with an already existing farm. The empirical research consisted of two mutually linked parts: a questionnaire survey and focused, semi-structured interviews. Emphasis was placed on the subjective perception of the phenomenon by tourists and local business representatives from the sphere of tourism. The analysis focuses also on the social-geographical factors that shape tourists attitudes to the wind energy development dilemma.
Cutting through Content Clutter: How Speech and Image Acts Drive Consumer Sharing of Social Media Brand Messages

Consumer-to-consumer brand message sharing is pivotal for effective social media marketing. Even as companies join social media conversations and generate millions of brand messages, it remains unclear what, how, and when brand messages stand out and prompt sharing by consumers. With a conceptual extension of speech act theory, this study offers a granular assessment of brands’ message intentions (i.e., assertive, expressive, or directive) and the effects on consumer sharing. A text mining study of more than two years of Facebook posts and Twitter tweets by well-known consumer brands empirically demonstrates the impacts of distinct message intentions on consumers’ message sharing. Specifically, the use of rhetorical styles (alliteration and repetitions) and cross-message compositions enhance consumer message sharing. As a further extension, an image-based study demonstrates that the presence of visuals, or so-called image acts, increases the ability to account for message sharing. The findings explicate brand message sharing by consumers and thus offer guidance to content managers for developing more effective conversational strategies in social media marketing.
Characterization of subsurface polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at the Deepwater Horizon site

Here, we report the initial observations of distributions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in subsurface waters near the Deepwater Horizon oil well site (also referred to as the Macondo, Mississippi Canyon Block 252 or MC252 well). Profiles of in situ fluorescence and beam attenuation conducted during 9‐16 May 2010 were characterized by distinct peaks at depths greater than 1000 m, with highest intensities close to the wellhead and decreasing intensities with increasing distance from the wellhead. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analyses of water samples coinciding with the deep fluorescence and beam attenuation anomalies confirmed the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) at concentrations reaching 189 μg L−1 (ppb). Subsurface exposure to PAH at levels considered to be toxic to marine organisms would have occurred in discrete depth layers between 1000 and 1400 m in the region southwest of the wellhead site and extending at least as far as 13 km.
The Challenges of Supply Chain in the Gold Mining Sector of Obuasi Municipality of Ghana

Gold mining industry represents an important source of socio-economic development in most economies. Ghana has had its fair share of the benefits the mining sector brings by way of direct revenue generation and job creation. In spite of this significant contribution from gold mining, the sector appears to be facing various forms of challenges. This study aims at assessing the supply chain challenges facing the gold mining operations in Obuasi and its environs in the Ashanti region of Ghana. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods with case study strategy was used in the study. Primary data was collected from field survey through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observation. The data was analysed using quantitative and qualitative approaches. The major supply chain challenges found to be facing the mining sector in Obuasi include supply of low quality products, unreliable or variable lead times, non-availability of local firms of international standard, fluctuation in Gold prices on the international market, high transportation cost and violence and sporadic attack from the communities. It is recommended that the mining firms should involve their key and strategic suppliers in product designs and development of specifications. Also, improving upon information sharing and building trust and transparency and developing the capacities of their key suppliers to improve the performances of the entire supply chain could also deal with delays and quality related supplies. Finally the Ministry of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and other institutions should collaborate with the mining firms to deal with issues of environmental pollution and matters of perceived inadequate compensation to community members whose farm lands get destroyed by the mining activities to address any unhealthy conflicts between the mining firms and the communities.
Processing and validation of JEFF3.1 library in ACE format at 10 different temperatures

In July 2006 the NEA/Data Bank made available upon request the JEFF-3.1 library in ACE format (NEA-1768 ZZ-MCJEFF3.1NEA). This library contains continuous energy neutron cross-section data files for use in the Monte Carlo program MCNP. The nuclides processed are all the evaluations of the General Purpose Library and Thermal Scattering JEFF-3.1 Library, including the important light nuclei, structural materials, fission products, control rod materials and burnable poisons, all major and minor actinides. This library was generated with the NJOY-99.90 nuclear data processing system plus some specific updates required for correct processing. The library has undergone strict Q&A procedures. All inputs used for processing JEFF3.1 with NJOY99.90 and the documented derived version are provided. The validations made, using benchmark experiments for criticality (ICSBEP) and shielding (SINBAD) are documented in the report.
Buoyancy-driven Thermal and Flow Characteristics in Gaps between Two Glasses of Multi-framed Window

In building industry, both the beauty of the building facades and cost-effectiveness of the building are critical to occupants. The occupants long for the building that is more beautiful as well as comfort with low cost. For the beautiful facade, the more glasses are used and sometimes, the building covered with glasses. However, no glasses can prevent the heat energy flows out completely. Under the circumstance, to prevent the energy leakage through the window glass, multiple-framed windows are employed in architectural engineering in Korea. The gap between glasses is inevitable and the buoyancy-driven air flow in the gap between window glasses is one critical key for the heat transfer through the window. A numerical program for the air flow in the gap is developed considering gravity (buoyancy-driven momentum). Both the energy based on the temperature and the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations by using Boussinesq assumption are employed. A finite volume method based on the second-order accuracy is used to discretize, and a SIMPLE algorithm is employed to solve the pressure field instead of a decoupled continuity equation. The numerical validations are performed, and the reliability of the method is assessed. The characteristics of heat transfer and flow in three gaps are closely investigated with the developed code.
RAPID AND ROBUST in vitro REGENERATION IN WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) USING SORBITOL

Two local wheat cultivars were evaluated for their callus induction and regeneration response on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of sorbitol, (control, 10, 20, 30 g/l). Callus induction and regeneration variabilities were observed among the two tested cultivars. Giza 164 cultivar surpassed Sids 1, where Giza 164 scored 8.08 regenerated shoots/callus, while Sids 1 scored 5.49. Regarding sorbitol concentration, highest regeneration record (9.85) as number of regenerated shoots per callus was obtained at 20 g/l sorbitol, while the lowest (3.03) was recorded at 30 g/1. In both cultivars, plant regeneration was increased gradually by increasing the sorbitol concentration from zero to 20 g/l, whereas at 30 g/l regeneration in both tested cultivars decreased. Establishment of a fast, efficient and reliable in vitro regeneration system is critical step for efficient genetic transformation in wheat. Herein we report that sorbitol addition to callus and regeneration medium enhanced effectively and rapidly regeneration process in wheat cultivars under this study.
The nature and impacts of environmental spillovers on housing prices: A spatial hedonic analysis

This paper investigates the spatial dimension of the environmental effects. We use recent advances in spatial econometrics to show that hedonic equations produce estimates to be differently interpreted as implicit prices according to spatial models. In particularly, the implicit price of housing attribute combines a feedback effect and a propagation effect and may be interpreted in terms of local or global spillovers. We drive an empirical study in the estuary of the Loire, a rural and urban area well occupied by various natural areas and more artificialized ones. We study various spatial interaction patterns to test the robustness of our estimates and we find that spatial dependencies based on inverse distance and small neighborhoods provide stable estimations. It is consistent too with realistic spatial interaction patterns for household behaviors: information on closer housings is more reliable and comparison areas are in fact limited by the research process. As expected, positive impacts are concentrated on traditional attributes like the proximity to the ocean frontage and quiet places. On the contrary, the presence of various natural wet amenities is negatively valued because of the impression of housing density associated to flood risk. If urban places are more valued by households, it's rather because rural location are less desired than because of urban intrinsic attributes.
Vulnerability and Natural Disasters in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Kyrgyz Republic

This paper analyses vulnerability in Fiji, the Kyrgyz republic, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. In incorporating measures of vulnerability there is no major departure from the perspective of MDG 1 Analyses of vulnerability, like that in the present paper, emphasize the fact that the debates around poverty-growth elasticities are premised on the assumption of a state of world without any risks and uncertainties. In the real world in which the poor actually live they are subject to risks - both general and idiosyncratic - which affect their welfare. Thus poverty should not be viewed in static terms but within a framework that allows for changing states of the world. Nor should the possibility of reaching MDG1 be viewed simply as a matter of extrapolating from existing poverty levels using such computed growth poverty elasticities. Such a strategy runs the risk of becoming a statistical artefact with little relevance to the welfare of the poor. This paper begins by briefly surveying the empirical literature on vulnerability. It makes a distinction between vulnerability measures based on household level data and measures based on aggregate data. Since household level data are not available for these countries this paper provides measures of vulnerability and quantifies certainty equivalent consumption growth for these countries over the recent past. It then projects from computed growth rates of consumption and their corresponding certainty equivalent magnitudes to understand some implications of such vulnerability for reaching the poverty related MDG (MDG1). It is discovered that certainty equivalent consumption growth is much lower than average real per capita consumption growth indeed, in some cases, it is negative. This performance is linked to the incidence of aggregate shocks in these economies - particularly in the 1990s. Based on these trends it is concluded that real consumption per capita by 2015 would be lower in all four countries than what is required to attain MDG1.
Groupwise Distance Learning Algorithm for User Recommendation Systems

The dissertation study focuses on addressing some challenges in user-to-user recommendation area. As results, a new algorithm, Group-wise Distance Learning (GDL), is proposed in this study as a backbone to build user recommendation systems with an approximate personalization effect. By analyzing the established connections among users, the recommendation system empowered by GDL can induce users’ social preference. Instead of learning individual user’s social preference separately, GDL is designed to adopt an efficient strategy by clustering users into a number of groups. Users are grouped together in accordance with their similar social preference, which is extracted by GDL and encoded as feature-wise weights. Thanks for the approximate personalization with learned group-wise social preference, a GDL-empowered user recommendation system could help users more effectively expand their social networking. With the assistance of this new user recommendation system, a social network is expected to evolve faster and more connected in a collective manner. The performance of a user recommendation system empowered by GDL was compared with the recommendation system empowered by Nearest Neighbours (NN) in a series of simulation experiments. The simulation experiment was designed to mimic the evolution of a social network fueled by the interactions between users and the recommendation system. According to simulation experiment results based on two distinct synthetic data sets, the proposed GDL-empowered user recommendation system outperformed NN-empowered counterparts. Because of the cold-start issue, we recommend building a hybrid user recommendation system of these two methods. For a new user with zero user connections,
Toward understanding household preference for consumption characteristics of millet varieties: a case study from western Niger

In this study, we evaluate the preference of consumers in Niger for different tuwo or couscous characteristics using a random utility-based choice experiment, ordered probit analysis, and tree-based partitioning. Data were collected through a structured survey administered at four sites. Preferences are estimated for three products (couscous, fermented tuwo, and nonfermented tuwo) made from five pearl millet cutivars. We provide relative valuation for different traits by type of product. Results show that product taste, color, and textural attributes are important, especially for tuwo and couscous. Probit and partitioning results show that taste and color are the first attributes that consumers use to distinguish more preferred millet food products from less preferred millet food products. This should provide some direction for millet breeding programs and food processing of millet.
The Practice of Seismic Management in Mines—How to Love your Seismic Monitoring System

seismicity at Mt Charlotte mine. Knowledge gained by linking seismic monitoring to seismic management has allowed the mine to survive. Seismic events possess elements of both fractal and chaotic behaviour. This gives valid basis firstly to collect seismic data, and secondly to expect that seismicity can be managed by tweaking mine designs. Engineers must collect and analyse both seismic event data and the detailed history of stope performance. This is a joint effort between computers doing the black box work, and engineers doing the value-adding. Suitable computer software and work schedules are vital in the busy mine office scenario. Examples of turning data into expertise are described, via studies of the validity of the links between seismicity and Mt Charlotte’s expanded 21 empirical seismic design rules. A Self Organising Map study of the 21-Rules is in progress. Some unusual yet important parallels between mine seismicity and Gothic Cathedral constructions of the 13th and 14th centuries, weather forecasting, hurricanes, and AFL football, are explored. The benefits reaped from the mine seismic monitoring system, and items that could have been done better, are described. Since none of this progress would be possible without seismic monitoring, the author can conclude “I love my Seismic Monitoring System. ” The Practice of Seismic Management in Mines— How to Love your Seismic Monitoring System
Reverse Shock Emission from Short GRBs

We investigate the expected radio emission from the reverse shock of short GRBs, using the fitted afterglow parameters. In light of recent results suggesting that in some cases the radio afterglow is due to emission from the reverse shock, we examine the extent to which this component is detectable for short GRBs. In some GRBs, the standard synchrotron shock model predicts detectable radio emission from the reverse shock when none was seen. Many physical parameters play a role in these estimates, and our results highlight the need to explore the fundamental processes involved in GRB particle acceleration and emission more deeply. However, with a more rapid follow-up, we can test our standard model of GRBs, which predicts an early, radio bright reverse shock in many cases.