Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ecological risk and the exploitation of herbivorous reef fish across Micronesia

Nominally herbivorous fish play a variety of functional roles that are important in maintaining coral reef resilience, yet are major targets of spear fisheries in Micronesia. Although protection is afforded to iconic species in some areas, impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem are poorly understood. The goal of this study was to locate the major potential ecological threats from the fishery by integrating catch data with species-specific metrics of ecological importance and vulnerability to fishing. Region-wide and country-specific grounds for ecological concern were identified. The heavy exploitation of Naso unicornis was the most serious regional concern — not only was it the most vulnerable species involved in the fishery, but it plays a low-redundancy functional role (i.e. macroalgal browsing) in the ecosystem. The parrotfishes Cetoscarus bicolor, Scarus rubroviolaceus and Chlorurus microrhinos were also implicated in ecological risks (most noticeable in Palau), and the large proportion of immature catch aggravated the concerns found in Pohnpei. An interview-based assessment of species desirability among fishers highlighted the challenges managers may meet locally in diverting attention away from heavily harvested spe- cies. Opportunities to alleviate the ecological risks posed by a significant sector of the Micronesian fisheries were identified. Inducing changes in fishers' targeting behaviour towards opportunis - tically-caught species may prove feasible in most countries, and if enacted, may reduce fishing pressure in low-redundancy functional roles. The effectiveness of the policy options supported by the present approach in sustaining reef function and resilience has yet to be assessed. However, we anticipate that informing fishers about the implications of their selectivity may achieve tangible progress in conservation of the species. Therefore, policies which moderate catch rates of highly desirable species, as well as efforts to promote more conscious targeting behaviours, may complement the benefits of the existing networks of marine protected areas.
IT governance mechanisms in managing IT business value

Most organizations in all sectors of industry, commerce and government are fundamentally dependent on their information systems (IS) and would quickly cease to function should the technology (preferably information technology - IT) that underpins their activities ever come to halt [15]. The development and governance of proper IT infrastructure may have enormous implications for the operation, structure and strategy of organizations. IT and IS may contribute towards efficiency, productivity and competitiveness improvements of both inter-organizational and intra-organizational systems [1]. The business value derived from IT investments only emerges through business changes and innovations, whether they are product/service innovation, new business models, or process change. In this paper a newly concept of IT Governance and its mechanisms are explained in further details. IT Governance is the process for controlling an organization's IT resources, including information and communication systems and technology [8]. According to the IT Governance Institute [10], IT governance can be seen as a structure of relationships and processes to direct and control the enterprise use of IT to achieve the enterprise's goals by adding value while balancing risk vs. return over IT and its processes. While IT management is mainly focused on the daily effective and efficient supply of IT services and IT operations, IT governance is much broader concept which focuses on performing and transforming IT to meet present and future demands of business and the business' customers. IT Governance may be implemented using its key mechanisms such as business/IT strategic alignment, value creation and delivery, risk management (value preservation), resource management and performance measurement. In this paper key analytical IT Governance mechanisms such as information system audit and IT risk management are explained in further details.
Studying conserved regions of tufm gene between common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and pea (Pisum sativum)

As a new science, genomics explores the sequencing of genomes in specific organisms. One type of genomics is comparative genomics which can be regarded as a valuable tool for develop molecular resources for crops and identify major genes in plants. Increasingly, the accessibility of sequence data for genomes of multiple species allows us to compute their evolutionary pathway on a genome-wide basis. This in turn allows a better understanding of the homologous relationships between genes. The present study has made an attempt to identify and compare conserved areas for tufm gene in common bean (Goli and AND1007), chickpea (Bivanij and ILC482) and pea (Flagman and native Gorgan) genomes using STS markers. Evaluation of protected areas in these plants showed that the differences between cultivars the tufm gene have emerged. For this purpose after amplification and observation of polymorphism, the isolated fragments of each sample were sequenced. The NCBI database and DNAStar software provided valuable information on the genomes of the crops including the conserved areas. The highest and lowest similarity was belonging to Bivanij and ILC-482, and Flagman and Goli, respectively. ILC-482 and Flagman has highest difference, and ILC-482 and Bivanij has lowest difference among all cultivars. This could be as the result of the mutations in evolution process. Except for chickpea, it was also revealed that intraspecies sequences are far greater than interspecies.
ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst

Facing strong competitiveness and increasing stagnation in alpine tourism, innovative marketing strategies are becoming more important than ever. This abstract presents the case of an alpine destination striving for a successful turn-over through collaborative marketing campaigns. These marketing activities are not only built on top of an innovative technological platform, but are paired with building knowledge of the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) and the service providers as well as a change process in order to enhance cooperation between the different actors. The conceptual framework derived from the case study approach offers new insights for the implementation of collaborative online marketing activities in an alpine destination. On this basis, key success factors and preconditions for the effective management of the collaborative marketing approach are discussed from theoretical and practical perspectives.
Introduction a novel approach for power system load-frequency control

In this paper a novel approach design for load-frequency control (LFC) of power systems is proposed. In this approach, artificial neural network (ANN) trained with the real-time recurrent learning (RTRL) algorithm is used to control power systems. This algorithm works on real time. So it is the best algorithm for training the ANN controller in comparison with other neural network algorithms for LFC of power systems. The superiority of the proposed method over conventional integral controller is verified from simulations and comparisons. The proposed controller provides faster responses with lower overshoots. With this controller, steady state error of frequencies and interchanges of tie-lines are maintained in desired values.
Assessment of the influence of attitude and benefit-risk perceptions on yield variability among smallholder peri-urban commercial kale farmers in Wangige, Kenya

Declining soil fertility largely explains the gap between actual and potential yield among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates the relationship between yield variability in smallholder commercial kale (Brasica oleracea) production in Kenya and farmers’ attitudes for integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) as well as the relationship to a domain-specific risk-benefit preference scale. Data was collected from 125 peri-urban commercial kale farmers through personal interviews conducted by trained enumerators using a pre-tested questionnaire. Results of ordinary least squares regression indicate that farmers with strong attitudes in favour of ISFM experience decreased variability in yields. A significant negative relationship was observed between farmers expectation of benefits associated with soil fertility management technologies and yield variability. Farmers’ risk perception associated with the use of nonconventional soil fertility management practices, particularly the use of human faecal manure, increase variability in yields. However, risk perception associated with the use of conventional soil fertility management practices including application of animal manure, chemical fertilizers, crop rotation and use of crop residues significantly reduce yield variability. Individual farmers base their choice of ISFM practices on their assessment of both risks and benefits. It is argued, therefore, that in order to scale-up adoption of ISFM, policy should focus on increasing farmers’ access to information on the benefits associated with the practices while improving farmers’ perceptions of the risks associated with the use of non-conventional technologies such as human faecal manure by addressing farmers’ health concerns.
Exploring the Benefits of a Coach Development Process... on the Coach

This paper examines the extent to which a coach development programme benefits the coach beyond the boundaries of their coaching interventions. Much coaching research focuses on the impact of coaching on the coachee and the organisation; this small research project considers the impact on the coach. Alumni from a higher education coach development programme were invited to share their perspectives on their post programme coaching and organisational experiences via focus groups. Our findings suggest that a learning process that encourages self-awareness, reflexive conversations and opportunities to reflect and consider one’s coaching identity, enable coaches to apply their learning across a range of organisational scenarios, beyond their role as an internal coach. Organisational coaches report greater levels of confidence in their generic leadership roles and being perceived differently by others in their organisations, as a result of the coach development process. This study will be of interest to HRD practitioners considering an investment in developing internal coaches and to those involved in designing and delivering coach development programmes as the importance of teaching beyond coaching models and theory is demonstrated from this study. It may also help inform potential coach trainees considering embarking on a coach development programme, as the benefits can permeate all aspects of organisational performance.
Exploiting synergies between service discovery and routing in wireless multihop networks

Services like SIP or DNS are crucial to many applications in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs). However, most known service discovery mechanisms cannot be used in MANETs directly since they rely on centralized components. Previous research has pointed out that coupling service discovery with a MANET routing protocol may greatly enhance the efficiency and the performance of the discovery process. In this paper, we present the architecture and implementation of a distributed service discovery (DSD) framework that piggybacks service discovery information to routing layer messages without modifying the routing protocol itself. The architecture is generic; it operates on abstract services and can be used to implement any kind of service discovery mechanisms in a distributed manner. Furthermore, the DSD framework encapsulates all the routing specific functions within a single module that can be exchanged depending on the routing protocol used. In the paper we describe the architecture and evaluate the performance of the system. Finally we demonstrate the usability of the DSD system by turning an out-of-the-box SIP proxy and user agent into a fully distributed SIP service, logically located on top of the DSD system.
A Substation-Oriented Approach to Optimal Phasor Measurement Units Placement

State Estimation (SE) is the basis of a variety of advanced applications used in most modern power systems. An SE problem formed with enough phasor measurement units (PMUs) data is simply a linear weighted least squares problem requiring no iterations. Thus, designing a minimum- cost placement of PMUs that guarantees observability of a power system becomes a worthy challenge. This paper proposes an equivalent integer linear programming method for substation-oriented optimal PMU placement (SOOPP). The proposed method uses an exhaustive search to determine a globally optimal solution representing the best PMU placement for that particular power system. To obtain a more comprehensive model, contingencies and the limitation of the number of PMU measurement channels are considered and embodied in the model as changes to the original constraints and as additional constraints. The proposed method is examined for applicability using the IEEE 14-bus, 118- bus and 300-bus test systems. The comparison between SOOPP results and results obtained by other methods reveals the excellence of SOOPP. Furthermore, practical large-scale power systems are also successfully analyzed using SOOPP.
Evaluation of communication techniques used by HIV specialty providers caring for patients with low health literacy in an outpatient HIV clinical setting

According to the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, nine out of ten adults lack the literacy skills necessary to manage their health. Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely than white adults to have below-basic health literacy. This demographic is also highly representative of the current HIV epidemic in the United States. Studies suggest that health care providers may need additional training in communicating with individuals with low health literacy in order to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities. This performance improvement project evaluated the integration of a health literacy-screening tool into an HIV outpatient clinic and evaluated the outcome of a workshop designed to enhance HIV specialty providers’ communication skills when working with persons with low health literacy.
TESTING MODELS FOR THE SHALLOW DECAY PHASE OF GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOWS WITH POLARIZATION OBSERVATIONS

The X-ray afterglows of almost one-half of gamma-ray bursts have been discovered by the Swift satellite to have a shallow decay phase of which the origin remains mysterious. Two main models have been proposed to explain this phase: relativistic wind bubbles (RWBs) and structured ejecta, which could originate from millisecond magnetars and rapidly rotating black holes, respectively. Based on these models, we investigate polarization evolution in the shallow decay phase of X-ray and optical afterglows. We find that in the RWB model, a significant bump of the polarization degree evolution curve appears during the shallow decay phase of both optical and X-ray afterglows, while the polarization position angle abruptly changes its direction by 90°. In the structured ejecta model, however, the polarization degree does not evolve significantly during the shallow decay phase of afterglows whether the magnetic field configuration in the ejecta is random or globally large-scale. Therefore, we conclude that these two models for the shallow decay phase and relevant central engines would be testable with future polarization observations.
Computational models of Alzheimer's disease - Scholarpedia

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative aging disorder affecting millions of individual worldwide. AD is associated with memory decline as well as impairment in language and executive function. These symptoms become more severe with disease progression. It is estimated that 25–35% of the population over the age of 85 years old have Alzheimer disease. The number of patients with AD is expected to rise in the near future as people are now living longer.
Biochemical parameters of wild felids (Panthera leo and Panthera tigris altaica) kept in captivity

A maioria das populacoes de felinos selvagens e considerada ameacada ou em extincao devido a caca indiscriminada e a reducao de seu habitat natural causada pelo homem. Devido ao numero limitado de animais, essas especies sao vulneraveis as doencas e endogamia, alem das alteracoes metabolicas e comportamentais relacionadas a mudanca das condicoes naturais, habitat e alimentacao e, ainda, a condicao de cativeiro. Ha poucos relatos na literatura sobre a bioquimica serica em leoes e tigres. Este estudo apresenta os parâmetros bioquimicos de 23 leoes de cativeiro (Panthera leo) e 10 tigres siberianos de cativeiro (Panthera tigris altaica) do Fundacao Parque Zoologico de Sao Paulo. Ureia; creatinina; AST; ALT; ALP; GGT; bilirrubinas totais, diretos e indiretos; proteina total; albumina; CK; lactato desidrogenase; os niveis de triglicerides, de colesterol e de glicose sericas foram determinados; e tambem os eletrolitos calcio, fosforo, cloro, sodio e potassio. Nao foram encontradas diferencas de parâmetros bioquimicos relacionados ao sexo de Panthera leo, mas para Panthera tigris altaica foram observados valores mais elevados de albumina em machos. Os valores obtidos neste estudo podem ser usados como referencia para os individuos em cativeiro de Panthera leo e Panthera tigris altaica.
Relationship between Financial Leverage and Firm Growth in the Oil and Gas Industry: Evidence from OPEC

Recent theories of firm dynamics emphasize on the role of financial variables as determinants of firm growth. Most of the technical literature shows that there is a positive relationship between financial leverage and firm growth. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether such relationship exists among oil and gas companies within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Data were collected from the selected members of the OPEC. The collected data was then analyzed using the Arellano and Bond (1991) GMM method and Sargan test. The results showed a significant and positive relationship between financial leverage and firm growth which is in line with the technical literature. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by examining a specific and important sector within several different countries. It shows the current theory is not affected by industry or country.
Fiscal disciplining effect of central bank opacity: Stackelberg versus Nash equilibrium

In a Stackelberg equilibrium, central bank opacity has a fiscal disciplining effect in the sense that it induces the government to reduce taxes and public expenditures, leading hence to lower inflation and output distortions. This effect could disappear or be dominated by the direct effect of opacity when the fiscal and monetary authorities play a Nash game.
Automated Writing Evaluation in an EFL Setting: Lessons from China.

CTB/McGrawHill, USA Changhua.rich@act.org This paper reports a series of research studies on the use of automated writing evaluation (awe) in secondary and university settings in China. The secondary school study featured the use of awe in six intact classes of 268 senior high school students for one academic year. The university study group comprised 460 students from five universities across the country. The teaching experiment included the introduction of an awe tool, Writing Roadmap, to the English as a Foreign Language classroom and offering support to the teachers. A mixed-methods approach in the form of quasiexperimental research design, questionnaires, interviews and journals were undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of the teaching experiment. In this paper, we summarize the results of these studies in relationship to implementation, teacher and student attitudes, effects on writing and revision processes, and impact on writing test score outcomes. We also discuss the key factors affecting the successful integration of this technology in the classroom.
Some Proper Methods for Optimization in Robotics

 Abstract—Optimization in Robotics are applied to find the best solution for increasing the 3D space precision, reduce the vibrations, choose the optimal applied base point of the robots to minimize the time of application, finding constructive or functional parameters that ensure reduced energy consumption, reduce the vibration and increase the stability of the movement, choose the optimal variation of the moments in all joints, finally to optimize the dynamic behavior. In the work was developed one proper algorithm to obtain, iteratively the extreme performances to the 3D space trajectory without vibration in the desirable field of the Fourier spectrum. The research show how can be increased the accuracy of the internal coordinate by solving the inverse kinematics with proper method with the goal to touch the extreme precision better than 0.001mm.
Exploring the Potential of a Mobile Messaging Application for Self-Initiated Language Learning

With the rapid expansion of deploying mobile instant messaging applications such as Telegram for the purpose of language learning, it is quite apparent that language research in this regard is lagging behind the trend. This study addressed the matter by exploring how language learners utilize a Telegram group for the purpose of language learning. In this regard, the activities of a Telegram language learning group with 74 active members was observed and recorded for a week. To capture the patterns of utilization of the group, a thematic analysis was conducted on the compiled corpus of approximately 45000 words gathered by recording the messages posted by the group’s members. The analysis indicated that the themes of utilization of the Telegram language learning group were discussing content-based topics, seeking and sharing resources, recommending conversation opportunities, sharing learning strategies, and giving corrective feedback on each other’s language. The findings of this research illustrated the potential of mobile messaging applications for creating opportunities for self-initiated and collaborative language learning.