Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization and comparison of three transgenic Artemisia annua varieties and wild-type variety in environmental release trial

Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene isolated from Artemsisia annua L. (Chinese wormwood) is an increasingly popular drug against malaria. In this study, three transgenic A. annua varieties with increased artemisinin content were evaluated in an environmental release trial. First, because there were risks concerning genetically modified plants, the 3 transgenic varieties were compared with that of wild-type plants in regard to agronomic traits, viability and expressed material. Second, stress tolerances (salt, drought and herbicide) were evaluated under experimental conditions. The results indicated significant differences between the 3 transgenic and wild-type plants in some agronomic traits (as in plant height, crown width, stem diameter, 1000-seeds weight), and no significant differences in leaf shape. Also, the viability (germination rate, transplant survival and seeds wintering ability) from both transgenic and control plants were similar. Moreover, it also was determined that the 3 transgenic and control plants had similar stress tolerances (salt tolerance, drought tolerance, herbicide tolerance). The expression of target genes in transgenic varieties was either enhanced or suppressed. Thus, the artemisinin content was increased in transgenic varieties as expected.
Double Exponential Jump Diffusion Model: An Empirical Assessment for the Turkish Stock Market

In continuous time option pricing and portfolio optimization problems generally Geometric Brownian Motion risky asset dynamic is used. However, normality of risky asset returns is not always supported by empirical studies. In empirical studies it is seen that asymmetric leptokurtic feature and the volatility smile are observed in emerging market asset returns. For this purpose, in this paper the applicability of Kou’s Double Exponential Jump Diffusion model to Istanbul Stock Exchange main index ISE100 is investigated. The results are compared with Geometric Brownian Motion price dynamic. It is seen that Kou’s model perform better to capture the leptokurtic property of returns. Key Words: Double Exponential Jump Diffusion Model, Geometric Brownian Motion, Empirical Characteristic Exponent
Theorising the Impact of Incentive Types on Organisational Performance in Anglo Cultures: A Reply to Drake, Haka and Ravenscroft (1999)

Experimental research suffers from biases introduced by experiment design choices, such as the choice of alternative incentive and reward structures. We propose that framing rewards in a broader typology when researchers make decision about which reward structures to use in an experiment will minimise the potential for a false choice bias. To highlight this problem we replicate Drake, Haka and Ravenscroft’s (1999) incentive structure experiment using a simpler, more theory driven design. Drake et al (1999) propose that organisational performance maybe be better if group compensation is given in preference to individualistic compensation, within the context of an information rich environment (using activity based costing). In particular, Drake et al (1999) apply an experimental research design to test that proposition using U.S. MBA students. Their results suggest that, ceteris paribus, given a group in preference to an individualistic incentive scheme, innovation, efficiency and profitability may improve. We argue that this conclusion is inconsistent with the incentive structure choices faced by managers, the societal values of the U.S., culture and agency theories in general. A possible explanation for Drake et al’s (1999) result is the use of a tournament incentive scheme as the basis for individual compensation. As such, we replicate the Drake et al (1999) experiment using Australian university students and an individual profit incentive scheme as the basis for individual compensation. Our results, in contrast to Drake et al. (1999), indicate that given an individual in preference to group incentive scheme, task performance improves in an information rich environment. This experiment highlights the false choice bias that reduces the generalizability of experimental research in general and highlights the value of propositions couched in a broader reward typology.
Ground-based astrometry with wide field imagers - V. Application to near-infrared detectors: HAWK-I@VLT/ESO

High-precision astrometry requires accurate point-spread function modeling and accurate geometric-distortion corrections. This paper demonstrates that it is possible to achieve both requirements with data collected at the high acuity wide-field K -band imager (HAWK-I), a wide-field imager installed at the Nasmyth focus of UT4/VLT ESO 8 m telescope. Our final astrometric precision reaches ~3 mas per coordinate for a well-exposed star in a single image with a systematic error less than 0.1 mas. We constructed calibrated astro-photometric catalogs and atlases of seven fields: the Baade’s window, NGC 6656, NGC 6121, NGC 6822, NGC 6388, NGC 104, and the James Webb Space Telescope calibration field (in the Large Magellanic Cloud). We make these catalogs and images electronically available to the community. Furthermore, as a demonstration of the efficacy of our approach, we combined archival material taken with the optical wide-field imager at the MPI/ESO 2.2 m with HAWK-I observations. We showed that we are able to achieve an excellent separation between cluster members and field objects for NGC 6656 and NGC 6121 with a time base-line of about 8 years. Using both HST and HAWK-I data, we also study the radial distribution of the SGB populations in NGC 6656 and conclude that the radial trend is flat within our uncertainty. We also provide membership probabilities for most of the stars in NGC 6656 and NGC 6121 catalogs and estimate membership for the published variable stars in these two fields.
Understanding magnetism in the Giles Complex, Musgrave Block, SA

Rocks from the Musgrave Block (Figure 1) are mainly composed of granulite facies quartzofeldspathic metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks, but also include a suite of layered mafic to ultramafic intrusions, known as the Giles Complex. The Giles Complex comprises peridotites, pyroxenites and gabbronorites, which collectively form one of the largest suites of this type on Earth. The geophysical characteristics of the Giles Complex are poorly known, but have received renewed interest since discovery of the NeboBabel Ni-Cu-PGE deposit, which sits 130 km west of the NW corner of the study area, in Western Australia.
KINETIC STUDY OF CADMIUM SORPTION FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS BY ALMOND PEEL AS A SORBENT MATERIAL

In the present work, the usefulness of almond peel as a sorbent material has been investigated for the removal of cadmium ions from s ynthetic aqueous solutions in batch conditions. Kinetics of cadmium sorption was measured. The influence of different experimental parameters such as: time con tact, initial concentration of cadmium, almond peel mass, particles size, agitatio n speed, temperature and the initial pH of solution, on this kinetics was studied. Excep t temperature which showed a restricted effect on the sorption kinetics, paramet ers studied such as: contact time, initial cadmium concentration, agitation speed and initial pH of solution play an important part in sorption phenomenon: the cadmium sorption increased as these parameters increased. Other parameters such as almo nd peel dose and particle sizes showed a reverse effect. Three simplified kinetic m odels including a first-order, pseudo second-order and second-order equations were selected to describe the experimental data of cadmium sorption kinetics. The results showed that the process follows a pseudo second ‐ order kinetics.
Rules of the Game and Rules Inside the Game: a Complex Framework of European Development Policies

Following the transaction-costs politics (TCP) approach (Dixit 1996), this paper tries to spell out the making of that development policy, as prevailing in the Objective 1 area in Europe from 1999, based on decentralization and multilevel governance, and essentially implied from the success of endogenous growth paradigm. The TCP approach allows for the explanation of both the genesis and evolution of a policy in real time, by considering (i) the policy-making as a set of general rules and of individual intervention actions, and (ii) this set in the same way of incomplete, flexible and dynamic contracts (Williamson 1985). In this theoretical context we reconsider the underlying innovative notion of decentralization, that consists in a devolution process of political power to local agents and their communities, by promoting local partnership rather than a mere administrative delegation of function from central to local level (Bardhan 1996). The outcome (success or failure) of this development policy approach is strictly connected either with new frame of governance rules or with their feasible "use": this means that a rules scheme would be not neutral with respect to objectives choices (Stiglitz 2001). In short, we refer to the agency model in order to explain either the enforcement process of rules or local implementation of specific development policies and measures. Finally the outcome policy will be not predetermined, but it will depend from how the agents (formal, informal, individual, groups, organisations) interact inside a community, that benefits by the set of development measures (complementarity) (Aoki 2001;Ray 2000).
An Adaptive UKF Based SLAM Method for Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

This work proposes an improved unscented Kalman filter (UKF)-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithm based on an adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) with a noise statistic estimator. The algorithm solves the issue that conventional UKF-SLAM algorithms have declining accuracy, with divergence occurring when the prior noise statistic is unknown and time-varying. The new SLAM algorithm performs an online estimation of the statistical parameters of unknown system noise by introducing a modified Sage-Husa noise statistic estimator. The algorithm also judges whether the filter is divergent and restrains potential filtering divergence using a covariance matching method. This approach reduces state estimation error, effectively improving navigation accuracy of the SLAM system. A line feature extraction is implemented through a Hough transform based on the ranging sonar model. Test results based on unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) sea trial data indicate that the proposed AUKF-SLAM algorithm is valid and feasible and provides better accuracy than the standard UKF-SLAM system.
Indexing adult obesity by waist-to-height and weight-to-height ratios

To date a vast evidence exists that the waist circumference to height ratio (WCHR) provides a better measure of obesity comparing to the body mass index (BMI). While weight and height are routinely obtained to calculate BMI, waist circumference, despite easily acquired, is often overlooked because the screening protocols, particularly for diabetes, demand BMI. This creates an obstacle for application of WCHR - a more definite measure than BMI for diagnostic of many linked to obesity metabolic disorders such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension. This article is intended to fill the gap in the literature by providing a conversion from BMI to WCHR for five adult age categories. A strong linearity between the measures is demonstrated and equivalent to BMI WCHR thresholds are provided to identify normality, overweight as well as obesity and other points. The analysis is based on the data from NHANES. Different forms of BMI are also discussed and a strong linearity between them is demonstrated. An obesity index based on simple weight to height ratio to match the standard levels is proposed. The equivalence between the proposed and existing obesity indices is tested on the original data with promising results.
The interaction between the stratosphere and the troposphere as revealed by singular vectors

Stratospheric singular vectors (S-SV's) have been calculated with one of the latest versions of the ECMWF model, for the months January and July 2004-2006. Basic properties as amplification, wavenumber spectra and preferred geographical position are studied. In January, the majority of these S-SV's amplify by growing on the background wind shear of the polar vortex. For July, the amplification of the S-SV's is mainly associated with the tropospheric summer jet, that extends above 100 hPa. The S-SV's are located lower (100 to 50 hPa) in the stratosphere than the January SV's and their amplification is less. We have also calculated S-SV's during the stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) of January 2006. The amplification factor of the S-SV's does not seem to be affected by the SSW. The breaking of the polar vortex is however clearly reflected in the preferred geographical location of the S-SV's. In addition to these 'pure' stratospheric SV's, perturbations have been calculated that initially are located in the stratosphere, but that are optimized to maximize the perturbation energy growth in the low troposphere (below 500 hPa) on a time scale of 48 and 120 hours. Basic properties of this type of SV's are studied. First results, for these Stratosphere-Troposphere SV's (ST-SV's), show that they mainly seem to rely on the tropospheric jet to maximize their amplification. From a non-modal point of view, small-scale structures with maximal amplitude around total wavenumber 10 seem to be important in the interaction between the stratosphere and troposphere.
Linking Flexible-Dynamic Team Structures through Distributed Leadership: A Qualitative Evaluation with Single Design Case Approach and Application of Roster Method

Fierce competition in every sector has forced companies to re-design their structures towards being more customer-focused, faster and more responsive. In this vein, there is rising dominance of flexible-dynamic team structures in organizations and these teams are, most of the times, self-managed. Among these team structures, leadership characteristics are not only observed in official team leaders but such characteristics are distributed among team members. The concept of "leading without leaders" has gained scholarly interest and in this paper, aim is to evaluate and combine constructs of distributed leadership and flexible-dynamic team structures within a single design case approach. Local division of a multinational company that operates in luxury cosmetics sector is selected. In-depth interviews were conducted at the company site, and flexible-dynamic team structures were examined in detail. As a second tool, Roster method is applied to see existence and strength of distributed leadership among different departments. Findings supported that organizational structure of this company has become more flexible-dynamic with distributed leadership characteristics seen across all departments. These findings were significant because our selected company entered into Turkey market twice and the second entry has been operationally successful. Arguments are offered regarding differences between two periods and further implications are suggested in relation to adoption of a new and more responsive company structure. Structural changes between two periods constituted the focal point of this research.
Chapter 2 Resonant Tunneling and Two ‐ dimensional Gate Transistors

In this chapter, a new type of field-effect transistors is considered with a gate and a channel on a basis of two-dimensional systems of carriers. The key point of the device is that the systems are different. In particular, they are formed in different quantum wells or valleys of the carriers spectrum. Due to this difference, the coherent tunneling is reduced and inelastic tunneling requires additional excitations with significant momentum and energy. This decreases the tunneling rate significantly. For example, the intervalley tunneling rate is less than intravalley that in 9 orders of magnitude in GaAs/AlAs heterostructures. The two-dimensional character also can decrease the tunnel probability in a wide voltage range. Influence of further miniaturization will be discussed for the new types of the transistors.
Measuring BGP AS Path Looping (BAPL) and Private AS Number Leaking (PANL)

As a path vector protocol, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) messages contain an entire Autonomous System (AS) path to each destination for breaking arbitrary long AS path loops. However, after observing the global routing data from RouteViews, we find that BGP AS Path Looping (BAPL) behavior does occur and in fact can lead to multi-AS forwarding loops in both IPv4 and IPv6. The number and ratio of BAPLs in IPv4 and IPv6 on a daily basis from August 1, 2011 to August 31, 2015 are analyzed. Moreover, the distribution of BAPLs among duration and loop length in IPv4 and IPv6 are also studied. Several possible explanations for BAPL are discussed in this paper. Private AS Number Leaking (PANL) has contributed to 0.20% of BAPLs in IPv4, and at least 1.76% of BAPLs in IPv4 were attributed to faulty configurations and malicious attacks. Valid explanations, including networks of multinational companies, preventing particular AS from accepting routes, also can lead to BAPLs. Motivated by the large number of PANLs that contribute to BAPLs, we also study the number and the ratio of PANLs per day in the 1492 days. The distribution of the private AS numbers in all of the PANLs is concentrated, and most of them are located in the source of the AS paths. The majority of BAPLs resulted from PANLs endure less than one day, and the number of BAPLs which are caused by two or more leaked private ASes are much larger than that of BAPLs which are caused by one leaked private AS. We explain for this phenomenon and give some advices for the operators of ASes.
Context Based Educational Java Applets Using Consumer Products

The popularity of the Java language for educational materials development continues to increase. Unfortunately, most of these developed tools are isolated Java applets that explain a single “textbook” educational concept. These disjoint Java applets, while sometimes providing excellent educational materials, lack the system level, top-down approach that is prevalent in engineering. In this paper, we present our work on developing Java applets, and web-based courseware materials, for microelectronics and photonics (lasers and optics) that incorporates this system-level top-down approach. Specifically, we will discuss the use of consumer products, such as barcode scanners and CD-ROM’s, as effective microelectronic and photonic systems learning modules. The implementation of this top-down consumer product approach requires that the developer understand the applications of these theoretical and educational materials. In this way, the developed web-based courseware provides excellent engineering educational value by providing instructors and students with a context for the specific topic. That is, the consumer product approach effectively provides a link from the study of microelectronics and photonics to real world applications. A user of the courseware enters at a high level view of an everyday real-world consumer product, selects components of that product to investigate, and can interact with the Java applets that describe the details of the operation of the selected component. Moreover, the developed web-based courseware allows the user to choose the level of educational materials that he or she wishes to study. In this way, these educational materials become accessible to users with educational backgrounds varying from high-school students, with limited science experiences, to the researchers in the fields of microelectronics and photonics. In this paper, the overall “big picture” implementation issues as well as the design of the applets embedded within this topdown consumer product approach are presented.
Northern Bobwhite Survival, Nest Success, and Habitat Use in Kentucky During the Breeding Season

Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations have experienced protracted declines over much of their range. There has been an annual decrease of 2.61% since the 1960s in Kentucky, an area representative of the Mid-South where there is a lack of data on basic population parameters. Much of the decline is attributed to prevailing land-use practices and associated habitat loss. We monitored northern bobwhite on a 515-ha farm in Oldham County, Kentucky to assess survival rates, nest success rates, and habitat use in the MidSouth. The farm consisted of row crops, cool-season pastures and hay (primarily tall fescue), fallow native warm-season grass fields, and woods. We captured birds using baited funnel traps and fitted them with harness radio transmitters and monitored them daily during April–August, 2009 and 2010. We radiomarked 88 birds (40 females, 48 males) and monitored 24 nests, 9 (37.5%) of which were successful, over the 2 years. Survival rates were 25.3 and 27.9% for 2009 and 2010, respectively, based on estimates from Program MARK. Home range size (54.0, range1⁄4 38.0–55.9 ha) did not differ by sex, age, or year (P .0.05). Quail favored food plots in both years and avoided developed areas. Citation: West, A. S. , P. Keyser, and J. J. Morgan. 2012. Northern bobwhite survival, nest success, and habitat use in Kentucky during the breeding season. Proceedings of the National Quail Symposium 7:217–222.
New insights on speech signal modeling in a Bayesian framework approach

Speech signal processing has always brought a lot of attention from the communication theory community. Speech communication, as the most natural way of communication between humans, is, indeed, a mature reserach topics with rich literature from even before the first digital hardware appeared to nowadays. The continously increasing telephony market brought special attention to the discipline during the 80's and 90's, specially in speech coding and speech enhancement, where the most significant contributions were made. More recently, due to the appearance of novel signal processing techniques, the standard methods are being questioned. Sparse representation of signals and compessed sensing made significant contributions to the discipline, through a better representation of signals and more eficient processing techniques. In this thesis, standard speech modeling techniques are revisited. Firstly, a representation of the speech signal through the line spectral frequencies (LSF) is presented, with a extended stability analysis. Moreover, a new Bayesian framework to time-varying linear prediction (TVLP) is shown, with the analysis of different methods. Finally, a theoretical basis for speech denoising is presented and analyzed. At the end of the thesis, the reader will have a broader view of the speech signal processing discipline with new insights that can improve the standard methodology.