Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
in Silico Microsatellite Development in Arum Lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica)

Microsatellites are an important class of molecular markers having wide application in genetic research. Development of microsatellites using conventional methods is laborious and expensive. Alternatively, in silicoapproach can be followed to detect simple sequence repeats (SSRs) from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) available in public biological databases. The in silico developed EST-SSRs have been found to be transferrable across species and genera. A study was undertaken to mine simple sequence repeats (SSRs) from the expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of arum lily, Zantedeschia aethiopica, belongs to the family Araceae. A total of 4283 ESTs of Zantedeschia aethiopica, downloaded from dbEST of NCBI, were pre-processed and subjected to clustering and assembly. In all, 1968 clusters (800 contigs and 1168 singletons) were obtained, resulting in 54 % reduction in ESTs. In addition, 1936 SSRs were obtained, which included 617 mono, 101 di-, 201 tri-, 80 tetra-, 23 penta- and 898 hexa-nucleotide repeats. The plant has an abundance of 0.70 SSRs/ kb. We designed 1091 primers for these SSRs. A few in silico designed SSR primers were tested for polymorphism in Anthurium, belonging to the Araceae family, resulting in 40% amplification success.
The role of learning in innovation: in-house versus externally contracted R&D experience

En este trabajo se analiza el papel del aprendizaje en el exito innovador de las empresas, tomando en consideracion la naturaleza heterogenea de las actividades innovadoras, y en particular, distinguiendo entre el aprendizaje que proviene de la realizacion interna de actividades de I+D y el aprendizaje que proviene de la contratacion externa de estas actividades. Para este trabajo se utiliza una muestra representativa de empresas manufactureras en Espana durante el periodo 1990-2006, y dentro del marco de una funcion de produccion de innovaciones, se estiman modelos ? count? con el fin de investigar la influencia que tiene en la obtencion de resultados innovadores la experiencia que proviene de la I+D realizada dentro de la empresa y de la contratada externamente. Nuestros resultados muestran que el aprendizaje tiene un papel importante en la obtencion de innovaciones de producto cuando las empresas organizan sus actividades de I+D internamente, y que la experiencia que proviene de la contratacion externa de actividades de I+D no influye sobre el numero de innovaciones de producto. This paper analyses the role of learning in firms? innovation success, taking into account the heterogeneous nature of innovation activities, and in particular, distinguishing between learning arising from the internal organization of R&D activities and learning from externally contracting these activities. We use a representative sample of Spanish manufacturing firms for the period 1990-2006, and within an innovation production function approach, we estimate count data models to investigate the influence of firms? in-house and externally contracted R&D experience in the achievement of innovative results. Our results show that learning is important in the achievement of product innovations when the firms organize R&D activities internally, and that experience from externally contracted R&D activities does not influence the number of product innovations.
The sustainability of small businesses in recessionary times : Evidence from the strategies of urban and rural small businesses in New Zealand

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to consider empirical evidence on the strategic behaviour of rural SMEs compared to urban SMEs in times of difficult economic conditions. The authors build the paper from a theoretical discussion that suggests that there will be distinctive differences in SMEs’ strategic behaviour across different settlement patterns, utilising resource‐based and opportunity‐based theoretical perspectives. This leads to three research questions which are concerned with three elements when comparing urban and rural SMEs; their characteristics, their performance and their strategic behaviours. The paper argues that the role and strategic behaviour of SMEs in the literature has been neglected.Design/methodology/approach – For this study, the paper is able to draw upon a data set of 1,411 SMEs from an annual survey of New Zealand's SMEs. This is a national survey of SMEs and the paper has analysed the data to draw out distinctive differences with firms located in different urban or rural loc.
An analysis of the diversification strategies of railway companies in Japan

In this paper, the diversification strategies of railway companies in Japan are analyzed by the method of Rumelt (1974). After reviewing previous studies and considering the application of our study, the analysis is conducted. A comparison of the results among companies reveals there is a striking difference between Japan Railways group (JR group) and private railway companies. JR group is diversifying its business, but it appears that the area they specialize in is railway business (main), or at least business with a strong connection with railways. Based on the data, an interregional comparison is conducted and the modal share and population are projected. From this comparison, it is found that the diversification strategy of each company is affected by the environment of each area in which the companies are located. The relationship between profitability and diversification is also considered, but it does not support the findings by Rumelt (1974) and other previous studies.
Political Budget Cycles: Evidence From Turkey

The theorical literature on “Political Business Cycles” presents important insights on the extent to which politicians attempt to manipulate government monetary and fiscal policies to influence electoral outcomes, in particular, with the aim of re-election. In recent years “Political Budget Cycles” is the one of the most important topics in Political Business Cycles literature. According to Political Budget Cycles Theory, some components of the government budget are influenced by the electoral cycle and consequently an increase in government spending or decrease in taxes in an election year, leading to larger fiscal deficit. This incumbent’s fiscal manipulation is a tool that governments possess to increase their changes for re-election. In this paper we investigate the presence of Political Budget Cycles using a data set of budget balance, total expenditure and total revenue over the period 1994–2012. Our findings suggest that incumbents in Turkey use fiscal policy to increase their popularity and win elections, therefore fiscal manipulation was rewarded rather than punished by Turkish voters. The meaning of this result is that Political Budget Cycles Theory is valid for Turkey between 1994 and 2012.
EFFECTS OF GAMMA IRRADIATION ON URONIC ACID SUGARS AS CELL WALL POLYSACCHARIDE MODEL SYSTEMS

EFFECTS OF GAMMA IRRADIATION ON URONIC ACID SUGARS AS CELL WALL POLYSACCHARIDE MODEL SYSTEMS. Irradiation is an alternative preservation method with can be utilized to extend the shelf-life of agricultural products by eliminating number of insects, and decreasing microbial growth effectively. Cell wall polysaccharides which mainly consist of pectic substances, hemicelluoses and cellulose play a major role on the immediate softening of irradiated fruits. Their degradation mechanism can be elucidates by studying their degradation products resulting from the irradiated cell wall or cell wall components. Isolated apple pectin and alginates as different commercial constituent uronic acids and sugars moities were first purified then irradiated in solid state by gamma irradiation at 15-30 kGy under two different humidities. The parameters observed were viscosity, β-elimination in the ester groups of pectin, and distribution of molecular weight. Irradiationwith the doses of 15-30 kGy could reduce the viscosity of pectin and alginates, while irradiation did not cause β-elimination in the ester group of pectin as confirmed by titration and ion exchange chromatography methods. The formation of 4,5-unsaturated uronosyl residues as a product of cleavage of the pectin backbone via β-elimination was not found in irradiated pectin as confirmed by thio barbiture acid (TBA) test. High Performance Size Exclusion Chromatography (HPSEC) analysis for the irradiated polysaccharide model systems revealed that the average number of molecular weight showed a decrease by increasing radiation dose. Storage condition in two different relative humidities affected significantly the degree of polymerization of pectin and alginates in solid state.
Wage Bargaining with On-the-Job Search: Theory and Evidence

Most applications of Nash bargaining over wages ignore between-employer competition for labor services and attribute all of the workers' rent to their bargaining power. In this paper, we write and estimate an equilibrium model with strategic wage bargaining and on-the-job search and use it to take another look at the determinants of wages in France. There are three essential determinants of wages in our model: productivity, competition between employers resulting from on-the-job search, and the workers' bargaining power. We find that between-firm competition matters a lot in the determination of wages, because it is quantitatively more important than wage bargaining a la Nash in raising wages above the workers' "reservation wages," defined as out-of-work income. In particular, we detect no significant bargaining power for intermediate- and low-skilled workers, and a modestly positive bargaining power for high-skilled workers.
Biology, geographical distribution, prevention and control of the enset root mealybug, Cataenococcus ensete (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae) in Ethiopia.

More than 15-million Ethiopians depend upon enset for their food, fibre, animal forage, construction materials and medicines. However, the sustainability of enset-based agriculture is threatened by a number of factors. The main biotic stresses are bacterial wilt, the enset root mealybug, nematodes, fungi and other vertebrate pests like mole-rats. Enset root mealybug, Cataenococcus ensete is a major pest of enset (Ensete ventricousm) in enset growing areas of southern Ethiopia. This paper reviews the recent body of work on integrated control measures for enset mealybug (Cataenococcus ensete). Its focus includes: biology and description of C. ensete; the pest’s behaviour within the enset plant; its geographical distribution; pest symptoms; mealybug dispersal methods and key means of mealybug management including prevention and cultural, biological and chemical control (including plant-extracts). The enset mealybug is difficult to control with insecticides, due to its cryptic nature, waxy-coat and life-style of forming dense colonies of multiple and overlapping generations. Besides, insecticides often prove too costly. This review should allow researchers and extension agents to make more informed choices regarding a more effective, integrated approach to control enset root mealybug. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Metal Grip Grating on Grounded Dielectric Slab and PEC/PMC Shielded Interconnect: Modal Relationships

─ This paper employs the spectral domain approach for full wave analysis of metal strip grating on grounded dielectric slab and microstrips shielded with either Perfect Electric Conductor (PEC) or Perfect Magnetic Conductor (PMC) walls. The modal relations between these structures are revealed by exploring their symmetries. It is derived analytically and validated numerically that all the even and odd modes of the latter two (when they are mirror symmetric) find their correspondence in the modes of metal strip grating on grounded dielectric slab when the phase shift between adjacent two unit cells is 0 or π. Extension to non-symmetric case is also made. Several factors, including frequency, grating period, slab thickness and strip width, are further investigated for their impacts on the effective permittivity of the dominant mode of PEC/PMC shielded microstrips. It is found that the PMC shielded microstrip generally has a larger wave number than the PEC shielded microstrip. Index Terms ─ Grounded dielectric slab, metal strip grating, perfect electric conductor, perfect magnetic conductor, periodic boundary condition, shielded microstrip.
Evaluation of a high plant protein test diet for juvenile cobia Rachycentron canadum in comparison to commercial diets

Cobia culture is hampered by a lack of feeding protocols and optimized diets. The present study was conducted to evaluate whether a plant based protein test diet (TD) containing low amounts of fishmeal (108 g kg -1 diet) would support growth in juvenile cobia at similar levels as two commonly used commercial diets available in Vietnam, CD1 and CD2. The TD diet contained 206 g kg -1 marine (fishmeal, krill meal and fish protein concentrate) and a blend of plant ingredient and added crystalline lysine and arginine to fulfill the predicted requirements. Cobia (9.3 ± 0.1 g initial body weight) were fed to satiation for four weeks and more than tripled their initial body weight for all treatments. No significant differences in weight gain (WG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), or, protein gain, were observed between cobia fed TD or CD2. However, cobia fed CD2 deposited more lipid than cobia fed TD diet. Cobia fed TD had better WG, FCR and protein gain than cobia fed CD1, while lipid gain was less in fish fed TD. No differences in plasma amino acid profiles of 24 h-unfed cobia were observed between cobia fed any of the three diets. In summary, the results show that juvenile cobia tolerate diets with low fishmeal content provided dietary amino acid profiles are balanced towards the anticipated requirements.
Impacts of aviation fuel sulfur content on climate and human health

Abstract. Aviation emissions impact both air quality and climate. Using a coupled tropospheric chemistry-aerosol microphysics model we investigate the effects of varying aviation fuel sulfur content (FSC) on premature mortality from long-term exposure to aviation-sourced PM2.5 (particulate matter with a dry diameter of Ultra-low sulfur jet fuel (ULSJ; FSC = 15 ppm) has been proposed as an option to reduce the adverse health impacts of aviation-induced PM2.5. We calculate that swapping the global aviation fleet to ULSJ fuel would reduce the global aviation-induced mortality rate by ∼ 620 [95 % CI: 230–1020] mortalities a−1 and increase REcomb by +7.0 mW m−2. We explore the impact of varying aviation FSC between 0 and 6000 ppm. Increasing FSC increases aviation-induced mortality, while enhancing climate cooling through increasing the aerosol cloud albedo effect (CAE). We explore the relationship between the injection altitude of aviation emissions and the resulting climate and air quality impacts. Compared to the standard aviation emissions distribution, releasing aviation emissions at the ground increases global aviation-induced mortality and produces a net warming effect, primarily through a reduced CAE. Aviation emissions injected at the surface are 5 times less effective at forming cloud condensation nuclei, reducing the aviation-induced CAE by a factor of 10. Applying high FSCs at aviation cruise altitudes combined with ULSJ fuel at lower altitudes results in reduced aviation-induced mortality and increased negative RE compared to the baseline aviation scenario.
Seasonal evolution of supraglacial lake volume from ASTER imagery

Abstract Water stored in and released from supraglacial lakes is an important factor when considering the seasonal and long-term evolution of the Greenland ice sheet. Here we use a radiative transfer model to estimate changes in the depth and volume of a supraglacial lake on the surface of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, between 2002 and 2005. When compared to estimates of the lake depth determined from airborne lidar observations, we estimate that the root-mean-square departure of the modelled lake depths was 0.3 m during cloud-free conditions. The maximum lake area, depth and volume were 3.4 km2, 9.6 ±1.0 m and (18.6±3.7)×106 m3, respectively. When sequenced according to the number of positive degree-days (PDDs) accumulated prior to each image, we observe that the lake volume evolves in three distinct phases. At the start of the melting season, the rate of filling is slow; after approximately 80 PDDs the rate of filling increases by a factor ∽3, and after approximately 125 PDDs the lake drains rapidly. We estimate that the lake drains at a minimum rate of (2.66±0.53)×106 m3 d–1 over a 6 day period.
ESSI NIEMI HYDROGELS FOR 3D CULTURE OF HUMAN CORNEAL CELLS AIMING FOR TISSUE ENGINEERED CORNEAL APPLICATION

ESSI NIEMI: Hydrogels for 3D Culture of Human Corneal Cells Aiming for Tissue Engineered Corneal Application Tampere University of Technology Master of Science Thesis, 74 pages, 13 Appendix pages June 2016 Master’s Degree Programme in Biotechnology Major: Tissue Engineering Examiners: Professor Minna Kellomäki, PhD Alexandra Mikhailova
Reducing ADHD Children's Management Problems in Out-of-Home Settings.

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated a procedure designed to help manage children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in out-of-home settings. Forty-four parents of children (ages 5-10) diagnosed with ADHD hyperactive-impulsive or combined types participated. Portions of the Barkley Home Situations Questionnaire were used to measure the degree of the children's management problems in out-of-home settings. The subjects were randomized into a treatment group in which parents receive instruction to implement a procedure for managing the children's behavior in out-of-home settings and a control group. The procedure consisted of setting clear and specific rules for the child, establishing positive and negative consequences for following the rules, reminding the child right before entering the situation, and administering the appropriate consequences afterwards. After a period of 1 to 2 weeks, the subjects were re-evaluated. T-tests revealed that at the onset of the study the children in both groups exhibited a similar level of management problems in out-of-home situations, but after the implementation of the procedure, the children in the treatment group exhibited significant . reduction in management problems in these settings compared with the children in the control group. (Author/CR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Reducing ADHD children's management problems in out-of-home settings. George M. Kapalka, Ph. D. Monmouth University (732) 263 5583 Center for Behavior Modification (732) 206 1616 Email: gkapalka@monmouth.edu Presented at American Psychological Association, August 23, 2002, Chicago, IL. 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
Competitive Strategies Employed By National Oil Corporation Of Kenya

A company without proper strategy is like a person without sight. A strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over a long term; which gives advantage for the organization through its configuration o f resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets to fulfill owners' expectation. The business strategy perspective argues that achieving competitive advantage hinges on pursing a coherent competitive strategy. Strategists aver that firms should have the inside to outside approach, whereby strategies are realigned towards making of goods and services that cultivate their own niche in the market and format structures that sustain those markets. Markets are points of exit for the firm’s products, and through measures like advertising and adoption o f appropriate strategy, new markets are opened. The research design was a case study o f the National Oil Corporation o f Kenya on competitive strategies adopted. The data collection tool was an interview guide. Content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative primary data which had been collected by conducting interviews and secondary information from the organization. The findings from the study were that the company uses low cost strategy, differentiation, focus and resource based strategy in order to compete with other oil marketers. The strategies enabled the company to minimize costs, outsource services, adopt strategies to increase market share, brand its service stations, quality offerings, marketing capabilities, technological leadership, efficient delivery system, focus on local market, ensuring market penetration and development and ensuring the company sources for resources in order to compete effectively with other companies.
Variety of Future-Orientation: The Case of G-19 Countries

In modern growth or development theory innovation is a crucial factor which pushes the dynamics of an economy and determines its success in the future. Out of innovations, created in the presence, the potentials for the future of a country are prepared, deciding how its economic fitness and competitiveness will emerge. So, future-orientation is in a natural way connected with innovativeness of a firm, a region or a country and shapes the strength and the specifics of the process of development. Our study is focusing on the group of G-19 countries with respect to their future-orientation shaped and characterized by innovation and the underlying processes of creating and distributing novelties. This group is an economic, financial and political forum which consists of 19 major economies, advanced and developing ones, allocated in Asia, Europe, Euro-Asia, North and South America, The Middle East and Oceania. If you add the European Union you get the G-20 group which is the main economic council of wealthy nations nowadays. The concept of future-orientation, defined by innovativeness, gets its analytical and empirical relevance when it is placed and investigated within a specific development model. Such a model determines the theoretical basis of the study and provides the necessary ingredients for an empirical application. In our study we will use "Comprehensive Neo-Schumpeterian Economics" (CNSE) as an analytical framework (Hanusch and Pyka, 2007a). This approach is based (a) on the principle of innovation as the main driving force and the engine of development coupled b) with the notion of future-orientation penetrating all spheres of socio-economic life in developed as well as in developing countries. Based on the concept of CNSE the central aim of our study is to gain new insights and findings concerning the variety of future-orientation of the G-19 countries. For that purpose we use an empirical indicator approach which (a) tries to bring the notion of future-orientation on a concrete basis by using indicators embedded in the framework of CNSE; (b) investigates patterns of similarities in the set of indicators; (c) shows how these patterns look like by applying cluster analysis; (d) draws some conclusions from the patterns concerning the status and variety of future-orientation in the group of G-19 countries.
A Novel Framework for Web Pages Classification

Abstr act. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for classifying web pages containing images and text. Valid images are first chosen by the FOrward CompArison of Relative Sizes Sorting(FOCARSS) algorithm, and each valid image is represented by the mid-level feature vector generated by the Bag-Of-Features model. Taking these feature vectors of valid images in a web page as instances of a bag, Multi-Instance Learning is utilized to conduct the image-based web pages classification. Regarding the text information, Bag-Of-Words model is used to conduct the text-based web pages classification. Subsequently, score-level fusion schemes are used to fuse these two kinds of heterogeneous information. Experimental results on a representative dataset demonstrate that our framework can definitely take full advantage of image and text information and improve final classification performances.