Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Speaking for the trees: a study of the relationship between discourse, power and organisational culture in competing constructions of nature

ABSTRACT In order to demonstrate the effects of competing constructions of nature by different interest groups, this article describes a dispute in Cape Town, South Africa, through the lens of cultural theory and Foucault’s notion of discourse linked to power. Controversy arose over the felling of a small plantation of non-indigenous pine trees, situated amidst indigenous “fynbos” vegetation in a suburban park. The matter was adjudicated in the Western Cape Division of the South African High Court, and subsequently in the Supreme Court of Appeal. The case turned on the meaning of public power and the affected community’s right to be heard. During argumentation the scientifically framed and institutionally supported discourse of the conservation entity was pitched against the symbolically oriented discourse of a community action group representing ramblers, joggers, horse riders, and dog walkers. The analysis focuses on how opposing arguments were shaped by perspectives of what nature, in the context of a suburban park, should look like and the purpose it should serve. The study shows how the dominant discourse of nature, rooted in the assumed supremacy of science and expert knowledge, was challenged by a multivalent and contextually moulded discourse of nature as amenity.
Bacilli as sources of agrobiotechnology: recent advances and future directions

ABSTRACT The group bacilli represent the Gram-positive ubiquitous spore-forming bacteria. Their diversity, versatility and the ability of producing diverse secondary metabolites including enzymes created enormous potential for applications in agriculture, biotechnology, environment and medicine. The bacilli are considered as one of the most studied groups of bacteria providing plant growth-promotion and biocontrol of multiple diseases reflecting their vital role in enhancing plants’ tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Some of the Bacillus species are available commercially as phytostimulants, biopesticides, and biofertilizers. Genetically engineered plants such as maize, cotton, brinjal with endotoxins producing genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has revolutionized agriculture. Many of these applications have been widely adopted in various fields as viable and environmentally friendly alternatives of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides. A better understanding of the biology, ecology, and mechanisms of action of the beneficial strains of bacilli are needed for the development of products to support green biotechnology in agriculture and industries. This report comprehensively reviewed the applications of bacilli in agriculture and industry and discussed their potentials for the development of new products of biotechnological implications. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Accountable for What? The Effect of Accountability Standard Specification on Decision-Making Behavior in the Public Sector

Abstract This study investigates how civil servants’ decision-making behavior is affected by what they are held accountable for. We look into the effects of specification of the accountability standard, and analyze the behavioral changes that might arise by holding civil servants accountable for the implementation of specific rules, as opposed to more loosely defined standards, or no predefined standards at all. Drawing on existing debates in public administration, as well as on theoretical accounts from social psychology, we develop two hypotheses outlining advantages and drawbacks of moving to either side of the accountability standard specification continuum. Specifically, we hypothesize a tradeoff between decision-making effort and decision impartiality. We perform our investigation using an online vignette and a classroom experiment. The results from the investigation do not offer clear support for our expectations. The hypothesis suggesting that accountability for general standards has positive effects on decision processes in terms of effort receives some tentative support, while the one linking specific standards to decision impartiality does not. We discuss possible reasons for this outcome, and draw recommendations for further research aiming to integrate psychological insights into public accountability research.
Young Adults’ Physical Distancing Behaviors During the Initial Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Adherence to Guidelines and Associations With Alcohol Use Behavior

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific and public health communities have become increasingly focused on understanding young adults’ physical distancing behaviors and the role that young adults have on viral potentiation and community spread. In the present study, we surveyed a group of 560 young adults (ages 22-28) from the greater Seattle area in April 2020, during statewide “shelter-in-place” recommendations, to examine young adults’ self-reported adherence to physical distancing guidelines. Self-report measures were used to identify strong adherers and poor adherers, which we then compared in terms of engagement in specific physical distancing behaviors and alcohol use behaviors pertaining to physical distancing adherence. We found that most young adults are classified as strong adherers, and that poor adherers reported more frequent violations of physical distancing guidelines including having friends over to their residence or going over to other residences. Poor adherers were also significantly more likely to engage in high-risk alcohol use behavior, such as heavy episodic drinking, compared to those young adults who were classified as strong adherers. Our results provide initial evidence that young adults who engage in high-risk drinking may be at greater risk for non-adherence to government recommended physical distancing guidelines. This deeper understanding of young adult behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic can better inform public health outreach to increase physical distancing adherence currently, as well as in preparation for future contagious health crises that may require societal-level adherence to behavioral guidelines.
Comparison of different technology for extracting flavonoids from onion skin

Different methods including alcohol reflux, ultrasonic and microwave for the extraction of flavonoids from onion skin with drying treatment were studied with the yield of flavonoids as evaluation index and the highest extraction rate was obtained when using microwave method. Orthogonal experiment was designed and optimal technique parameters were obtained. With the optimal extraction conditions, the extraction time of 150 s, microwave power of 240 W andethanol concentration of 60%, the withdrawal rate of flavonoids using microwave method can reach 6.138% which was greatly improved compared to using traditional alcohol reflux and ultrasonic method.
Broad red-emission of Sr3Y2Ge3O12:Eu2+ garnet phosphors under blue excitation for warm WLED applications

Eu2+ ions activated Sr3Y2Ge3O12 (SYGO) phosphors were synthesized by an efficient pechini-type sol–gel method. X-ray diffractometry, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, field-emission transmission electron microscopy, and spectrofluorometry measurements were performed to characterize the prepared phosphor samples after annealing under thermal CO reducing atmosphere. The phosphors showed nearly spherical-shaped morphology and their phase was identified to be cubic with the space group lad (230). Under 468 nm blue excitation, the SYGO:Eu2+ phosphors exhibited a broadband red emission at 612 nm due to the 4f65d1 → 4f7 electronic transition of Eu2+ ions. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) emission properties, PL decay profile and quantum yield were measured for the optimized SYGO:0.01 mol Eu2+ (SYGO:0.01Eu2+) red phosphor. Furthermore, a white light-emitting diode (WLED) device was also fabricated by blending the SYGO:0.01Eu2+ red phosphor with a commercially available Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ (YAG:Ce3+) yellow phosphor on a 452 nm blue LED chip under 30 mA forward-bias current. The fabricated YAG:Ce3+/SYGO:0.01Eu2+-based WLED device showed Commission International de I'eclairage chromaticity coordinates in the natural white region (0.3300, 0.3439) with good color rendering index and correlated color temperature of 85.81 and 5483 K, respectively. These results imply that the SYGO:0.01Eu2+ is a potential red phosphor to obtain the warm white light under blue excitations.
A theoretical model for predicting the behaviour of BTEX in the unsaturated zone and groundwater (Bahía Blanca, Argentina).

Gas stations are one of the most important sources of soil and groundwater contamination in urban areas around the world. In this work, a mathematical model was applied to assess the risk of the physical media contamination. The model is based on the chemical properties of fuels and site-specific hydrological properties. The group of hydrocarbons selected were the monoaromatic: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX). The mathematical model was used to evaluate the behaviour of each compound in each partitioning phase (dissolved, volatile, solid and non-aqueous liquid phase). Furthermore, mass flux of BTEX reaching groundwater was calculated according to steady flow under two different conditions: (1) considering only sorption and volatilization, and (2) adding biodegradation. In all cases, the total mass of BTEX leachate was greater when biodegradation was not considered. In areas with unsaturated zone thickness greater than two meters, sorption is the main process affecting BTEX transport. Otherwise, when water table is placed at shallower depths, contaminants are predominately dissolved. In all cases, the lowest proportion of BTEX were in the volatile phase. The model presented in this work proved to be an interesting tool to evaluate the behaviour of BTEX in soil and groundwater and its applicability being directly related to environmental and urban management of pollution from gas stations. The methodology applied in this work could be extrapolated to any site of the world with the same problematic. Particularly, the theoretical model allowed to defined zones with high and low risk of contamination in Bahia Blanca, Argentina.
A Global-Scale Investigation of Stochastic Similarities in Marginal Distribution and Dependence Structure of Key Hydrological-Cycle Processes

To seek stochastic analogies in key processes related to the hydrological cycle, an extended collection of several billions of data values from hundred thousands of worldwide stations is used in this work. The examined processes are the near-surface hourly temperature, dew point, relative humidity, sea level pressure, and atmospheric wind speed, as well as the hourly/daily streamflow and precipitation. Through the use of robust stochastic metrics such as the K-moments and a second-order climacogram (i.e., variance of the averaged process vs. scale), it is found that several stochastic similarities exist in both the marginal structure, in terms of the first four moments, and in the second-order dependence structure. Stochastic similarities are also detected among the examined processes, forming a specific hierarchy among their marginal and dependence structures, similar to the one in the hydrological cycle. Finally, similarities are also traced to the isotropic and nearly Gaussian turbulence, as analyzed through extensive lab recordings of grid turbulence and of turbulent buoyant jet along the axis, which resembles the turbulent shear and buoyant regime that dominates and drives the hydrological-cycle processes in the boundary layer. The results are found to be consistent with other studies in literature such as solar radiation, ocean waves, and evaporation, and they can be also justified by the principle of maximum entropy. Therefore, they allow for the development of a universal stochastic view of the hydrological-cycle under the Hurst–Kolmogorov dynamics, with marginal structures extending from nearly Gaussian to Pareto-type tail behavior, and with dependence structures exhibiting roughness (fractal) behavior at small scales, long-term persistence at large scales, and a transient behavior at intermediate scales.
Differences in foraging habitat result in contrasting fisheries interactions in two albatross populations

Albatrosses attend fishing boats to feed on fishing discards but are often at risk of accidental bycatch. To examine whether populations (same species) and sexes differ in their overlap with fisheries due to differences in habitat use, we combined the use of recently developed loggers equipped with GPS and boat radar detectors with Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Our study indicates that incubating wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans from Crozet and Kerguelen foraged in different habitats although the duration of trips was similar. Both female and male Kerguelen birds took advantage of the large and productive surrounding shelf, whereas Crozet birds used the small shelf around the islands to a lesser extent. In Crozet, there was segregation between males and females, the latter favouring deeper and warmer waters. The 2 strategies of habitat use led to different overlap and attraction to boats, with Kerguelen birds encountering and attending boats for longer and at closer proximity to the colony than Crozet birds. Crozet females encountered boats at greater distances from the colony than males. Because of their different habitat use and foraging outside exclusive economic zones (EEZ) and further from the colony, Crozet birds attended more non-declared boats (without AIS) than Kerguelen birds. Albatrosses were more attracted by fisheries than cargo vessels and were especially attracted by fishing discards that led them to attend vessels for longer periods for both sexes and populations. The differences found between populations and individuals in terms of habitat specialization and encounter rate of fisheries should be considered for future assessments of risk of bycatch.
Quantized control for a class of neural networks with adaptive event‐triggered scheme and complex cyber‐attacks

This article is concerned with the quantized control problem for neural networks with adaptive event‐triggered scheme (AETS) and complex cyber‐attacks. By fully considering the characteristics of cyber‐attacks, a mathematical model of complex cyber‐attacks, which consists of replay attacks, deception attacks, and denial‐of‐service (DoS) attacks, is firstly built for neural networks. For the sake of relieving the pressure under limited communication resources, an AETS and a quantization mechanism are employed in this article. By utilizing Lyapunov stability theory, adequate conditions ensuring the stability of neural networks are obtained. Moreover, the controller gain is derived by solving a set of linear matrix inequalities. At last, the usefulness of the proposed method is verified by a numerical example.
The Rate of Surplus Value in Brazil, 1996–2016

This paper estimates the Brazilian economy’s rate of surplus value as well as its underlying determinants, i.e., wage rate and labor productivity between 1996 and 2016. In addition, it builds a theoretical narrative of the Brazilian economy that integrates its political successions, highlighting the governments of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010), Dilma Rousseff (2011–August 2016), and the parliamentary coup d’état (December 2015–August 2016). The findings are presented based on the classical political economy tradition, which sees capital-labor struggle as a key, albeit nonexclusive, condition that frames the economic, political, and ideological disputes of society. JEL Classification: B51, E25, N16
Global Temperature Responses to Large Tropical Volcanic Eruptions in Paleo Data Assimilation Products and Climate Model Simulations Over the Last Millennium

Large volcanic eruptions are one of the dominant perturbations to global and regional atmospheric temperatures on timescales of years to decades. Discrepancies remain, however, in the estimated magnitude and persistence of the surface temperature cooling caused by volcanic eruptions, as characterized by paleoclimatic proxies and climate models. We investigate these discrepancies in the context of large tropical eruptions over the Last Millennium using two state‐of‐the‐art data assimilation products, the Paleo Hydrodynamics Data Assimilation product (PHYDA) and the Last Millennium Reanalysis (LMR), and simulations from the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Earth System Model‐Last Millennium Ensemble (NCAR CESM‐LME). We find that PHYDA and LMR estimate mean global and hemispheric cooling that is similar in magnitude and persistence once effects from eruptions occurring in short succession are removed. The estimates also compare well to Northern‐Hemisphere reconstructions based solely or partially on tree‐ring density, which have been proposed as the most accurate proxy estimates of surface cooling due to volcanism. All proxy‐based estimates also agree well with the magnitude of the mean cooling simulated by the CESM‐LME. Differences remain, however, in the spatial patterns of the temperature responses in the PHYDA, LMR, and the CESM‐LME. The duration of cooling anomalies also persists for several years longer in the PHYDA and LMR relative to the CESM‐LME. Our results demonstrate progress in resolving discrepancies between proxy‐ and model‐based estimates of temperature responses to volcanism, but also indicate these estimates must be further reconciled to better characterize the risks of future volcanic eruptions.
Proteomic Analysis of Virulence Profiles in Clinical Strains of Shigella flexneri in Manaus – Amazon State

Background: Shigella is a Gram-negative bacterium and belongs to Enterobacteriaceae family. These bacteria have been described as responsible for many diarrheic infections around the world and affects children as 5 years old. As a striking feature of these bacteria, we can say about the invasive capacity and the severe damage in the intestine of the host. Epidemiological studies conducted during 2007 to 2009 by our research group, Diagnosis and Control of Infectious Diseases of the Amazon - DCDIA, identified Shigella as the 4th most frequent bacterial pathogen in children with diarrhea treated in public hospitals in Manaus - AM. To understand the mechanisms of pathogenesis of these clinical strains, and to describe the mechanisms of cellular invasion, this study proposes the identification of the proteome of two isolates, through the mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography. The clinical strains were submitted to experimental conditions that mimic the epithelial cellular contact in the host, using the inductor Congo Red, in order to investigate which proteins are being produced by this pathogen. Results: The proteomic profile of Shigella strain 201 reveals 386 intracellular proteins cultivated in LB medium and 189 intracellular proteins cultivated using the Congo Red inductor. For the M90T strain, a total of 470 intracellular proteins were detected in LB medium and 383 intracellular proteins cultivated with Congo Red. The findings reveal that proteins exclusively induced by Congo Red in the clinical strain are related to virulence processes, such as IpaC and IpaD proteins, which have already been extensively investigated in the literature. Conclusions: However, new target proteins are pointed out, such as Hmp, YkfE, AepA, MobC, MetK, OsmY, LptA and LuxS which are classified as proteins predicted as pathogenic, based on our analyses. Although such proteins are involved in the virulence of enteric pathogens, their functions are still little explored or inexistent for the Shigella genus, mainly in the northern region of Brazil. We expected this work to reveal the mechanisms underlying the isolated clinical strains and elucidate new effectors and how they modulate the pathogenesis of these bacteria.
A Novel Fragment Recommendation Workflow using Direct and Indirect Transfer of SAR According to Integrated Similarities of Scaffold Motifs and SAR Trends: Application to Identifying Factor Xa Inhibitors

Here we report a new drug design workflow that facilitates the transfer of structure-activity relationships (SARs) and recommends alternative fragments from SAR databases. We first prepare two collections of matched molecular series (MMS) comprising a query set of compounds with their SARs and a set derived from reference SAR databases. The second step detects MMS from the reference SAR sources, which identifies profiles similar to a query MMS according to integrated similarities of scaffold shapes and SAR trends. The third step enumerates new compounds with improved activity profiles compared with a query compound computed using a collaborative filtering algorithm. Our workflow detected direct and latent relationships between a query MMS and those derived from the reference SAR sources. Retrospective application of this workflow to the identification of factor Xa inhibitors yielded recommendations with higher predictive accuracy than a conventional quantitative SAR technique. Moreover, potent S1 binding elements were identified using SAR knowledge independent of information about ligand-protein complexes.
Modelling workforce employability pipelines for organisational resilience

Large organisations use both internal and external methods to educate their workforce. Workforce approaches in Defence were usually of a closed nature, characterised by entry at recruitment and sequential and hierarchical rank progression. More recently, emerging technology and the associated pace of societal change has required Defence to recruit more laterally and to outsource more education, both ab initio and development. The growing complexity of workforce problems, therefore, challenges military educational decision making to increase its focus on organisational resilience. Modelling and Simulation (M&S) can take messy, ill-defined problems and build models for decision support and problem-solving. M&S is being explored in Defence workforce employability planning to deliver education that is more resilient to perturbations and can more confidently predict graduate demand for educational support partnering. However, the effective use of M&S can be compromised if it is not cognitively useful for the problem owner. A new transformational approach between the modeller and the managers of Defence educational workforce is proposed and illustrated by two conceptual case studies. The method uses the module-based translation between Business Process Model Notation (BPMN) design patterns and systems dynamics building blocks to reduce the problem owner’s reliance on specialist modellers. This approach increases the cognitive effectiveness of proposed workforce education solutions and the sharing and reuse of workforce M&S applications. Any large organisation with sufficient human resource and systems engineering support could adopt this new approach to model and simulate their workforce education and examine their resilience to fluctuations.
Processing Chinese relative clauses in context by Italian L3 learners

The present study investigates third language (L3) learners’ processing of Chinese subject and object relative clauses in a supportive context. Using a self-paced reading task, we tested native Italian L3 learners of Mandarin Chinese and native Chinese speakers. The results showed that the L3 learners read significantly more slowly than the native speakers in all the target regions. Also, in the head noun region, they read object relative clauses significantly more slowly compared to subject relative clauses, indicating a preference for the latter. By contrast, for the native speakers, no significant differences were observed between subject and object relative clauses in any of the target regions. The L3 learners’ performance offers support for the Structural Distance Hypothesis over the Dependency Locality Theory, and the contrast between the two populations indicates that context is at play in the processing of relative clauses.