Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of a garbage dump by brown bears in Dillingham, Alaska

Abstract We studied brown bear (Ursus arctos) use of a garbage dump in Dillingham, Alaska, USA, in 1997 prior to an impending dump closure. During the summers of 1991–96, incidental observations of bears at the dump indicated 40–80 individuals fed there. Seventy brown bears used the dump from 19 May to 29 September 1997, including 25 adult males, 11 subadults (4 females, 7 males), 9 females with cubs (n = 19 cubs), and 6 adult females. Males and females constituted 63% (n = 32) and 37% (n = 19) of the adult population, respectively. Seventeen bears were predictable users and showed regular temporal patterns of use. The dump appeared important to these bears, and they could be adversely impacted by its closure. The total number of bears observed per night varied from 4 to 33. Peak use occurred on 1 July and 9 July and coincided with low availability of high quality natural foods, suggesting the dump was a supplemental food source to most bears. This indicated closure would probably have minimal effect to most bears because it was not used by a consistently high number of them throughout the season. Subadult use mainly occurred in June. Adult males predominated in July and August. Females with cubs predominated in September when use by other age classes was negligible. Subadults were the least and females with cubs were the most socially dominant bears, respectively. Garbage pile size was reduced and kept small throughout the summer to minimize bear use. Smaller pile sizes restricted the number of bears that fed on garbage. Management recommendations for improving the safety of bears and humans at dumps in other rural areas include electric fencing, tighter enforcement of government waste disposal regulations, more efficient dump designs, and restricted human access.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) Spectro-timing analysis of Cygnus X-1 during a fast state transition

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Americas Conference on Information Systems ( AMCIS ) December 2007 Exploration vs . Exploitation : An IT Dilemma ?

Information technology (IT) decisions in regards to the effective refinement, management and implementation of IT have been a long running challenge for many organizations. Firms have the option of following an IT exploitation or IT exploration strategy for answering their IT dilemma. This paper examines the tradeoff between IT resource refinement (exploitation) and discovery (exploration) of emerging technologies for firms while incorporating the turbulence in the environment. We know little as to what drives an organization to espouse an exploration or exploitation IT strategy when facing turbulent environments. We argue for a direct effect between IT exploration and exploitation based on organizational structures and on various outcomes: cost, speed, efficiency and competitive advantage mediated by environmental turbulence. The potential research findings may suggest that organizational exploration or exploitation IT strategies play a significant role in understanding the role of organizational outcomes in turbulent environments.
The Cowdria ruminantiurn groE operon

Centre for Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK A Cowdria ruminantiurn genomic DNA library was constructed in the expression vector AZAPII, and an immunoreactive clone, designated dCr9.4, was isolated by screening with serum from a C. mminantium-infected goat. Sequencing of the insert from this clone revealed two open reading frames, encoding peptides of 10462 and 58697 kDa respectively. Database searching indicated that the two genes were homologues of gm€S and gm€L, genes encoding a group of heat shock proteins involved in protein processing, export and assembly. Western blotting experiments showed that the recombinant GroEL protein was recognized by sera raised against four isolates of C. ruminantium which originate from South Africa, West Africa and the Caribbean, but not by antisera to the closely related Ehrlichia species (E. owina, E. [Cytoecetes] ondiri, E. bowis, E. phagocytophila) of African and European ruminants which can be expected to occur in similar geographical areas to C. ruminantium. This suggests that this protein may be useful in development of serodiagnostic tests for C. ruminantium infection which are not subject to cross-reactions with antibodies to Ehrlichia species. The cloning and expression of the GroE operon will also facilitate further study of the roles of the GroE proteins in the immune response to C. ruminantiurn.
Prebiotic evaluation of copra-derived mannooligosaccharides in white-leg shrimps.

β-Mannooligosaccharides, produced by partial enzymatic hydrolysis of copra pulp residues using recombinant A. niger β-mannanase, were evaluated for its potential use as a prebiotic feed supplement for L. vannamei culture. Results observed in a 30-day feeding trial showed that dietary supplementation of copra-derived MOS, with doses varying from 4 to 10 g kg-1 of dried feed, increased the number of intestinal Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in shrimps fed copra-MOS supplemented diets increased approximately from 150-300%. The number of intestinal presumptive Vibrio, Coliforms, Clostridia and Salmonella reduced to 39.6-54.1%, 56.9-65.9%, 71.8-86.1% and 100-100%, respectively. In addition, copra-MOS supplement in the feed led to an enhancement of the weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio and feed intake of shrimps (P<0.05). After a 7-day challenging test with Vibrio harveyi pathogen (~106 CFU mL-1) by immersion, the cumulative mortality of the shrimps fed with the diet supplemented 10 g kg-1 copra-MOS was 3.5%, that obviously decreased compared to the control shrimps (29.5% mortality). Taking advantage of its intestinal microflora modulation towards increasing probiotic-like bacteria and Vibriosis resistance, this cheap oligosaccharide will be valuable in various aquatic animal farming.
Increasing Access by Waiving Tuition: Evidence from Haiti

Despite recent gains in increasing access, an estimated 58 million children worldwide are still out of school. Abolishing school fees has increased enrollment rates in several countries where enrollments were low and fees were high. However, such policies may be less effective, or even have negative consequences, when supply-side responses are weak. This article evaluates the impacts of a tuition waiver program in Haiti, which provided public financing to nonpublic schools conditional on not charging tuition. We conclude that a school’s participation in the program results in more students enrolled, more staff, and slightly higher student-teacher ratios. The program also reduces grade repetition and the share of overage students. While the increase in students does not directly equate to a reduction in the number of children out of school, it does demonstrate strong demand from families for the program and a correspondingly strong supply response from the nonpublic sector.
The effect of cultural values on economic development: Theory, hypotheses, and some empirical tests

Theory: Cultural variables are incorporated into a baseline endogenous economic growth model. Hypotheses: Cultural attitudes toward achievement and thrift have a positive effect on economic growth. Cultural attitudes concerning postmaterialism have a negative effect on economic growth. Methods: Ordinary least squares regression is used to test economic and cultural models of growth on a cross section of 25 countries. The encompassing principle is used to resolve competing theoretical specifications and to generate a final parsimonious model. A variant of Leamer's Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA) is used to evaluate the sensitivity of parameter estimates. The conclusions are further supported by nonparametric methods including robust regression and bootstrap resampling. The data for the analysis are from the World Values Survey (1990) and from Levine and Renelt (1992). Results: An empirical model that incorporates both cultural and economic variables is superior to an explanation emphasizing one set of these variables. The final model is robust to: (1) alterations in the conditioning set of variables; (2) elimination of influential cases; and (3) variations in estimation procedures.
Ethanol Production from Hydrothermally-Treated Biomass from West Africa

Despite the abundance of diverse biomass resources in Africa, they have received little research and development focus. This study presents compositional analysis, sugar, and ethanol yields of hydrothermal pretreated (195 °C, 10 min) biomass from West Africa, including bamboo wood, rubber wood, elephant grass, Siam weed, and coconut husk, benchmarked against those of wheat straw. The elephant grass exhibited the highest glucose and ethanol yields at 57.8% and 65.1% of the theoretical maximums, respectively. The results show that the glucose yield of pretreated elephant grass was 3.5 times that of the untreated material, while the ethanol yield was nearly 2 times higher. Moreover, the sugar released by the elephant grass (30.8 g/100 g TS) was only slightly lower than by the wheat straw (33.1 g/100 g TS), while the ethanol yield (16.1 g/100 g TS) was higher than that of the straw (15.26 g/100 g TS). All other local biomass types studied exhibited sugar and ethanol yields below 33% and 35% of the theoretical maximum, respectively. Thus, elephant grass is a highly promising biomass source for ethanol production in Africa.
How to keep IT professionals? A multiple-constituency review of organizational retention factors

4 INTRODUCTION . 6 1. LITERATURE REVIEW . 8 1.1 Reviewing retention literature . 8 1.2 Theories to help explore our research question . 12 2. RESEARCH STRATEGY . 16 2.1 Literature data collection . 16 2.2 Literature analysis . 16 2.3 Literature sample description . 17 2.4 Interview data collection . 19 2.5 Interview analysis . 19 3. RESULTS . 24 3.1 Organizational factors . 25 3.2 Job characteristics . 27 3.3 Career advancement . 29 3.4 Financial compensation . 30 3.5 Personal development . 32 3.6 Recognition . 34 3.7 Job security . 34 3.8 Benefits . 35 3.9 Individual characteristics . 36 4. DISCUSSION . 41 4.1 General discussion . 41 4.2 Practical implications . 51 4.3 Strengths, limitations and future research . 53 5. CONCLUSION . 57 APPENDIX I: Journal overview of selected literature . 58 APPENDIX II: Frequency of mention of each retention factor . 59 APPENDIX III: Illustrative examples for retention (sub-)factor . 61 REFERENCES . 64
Spatial determinants of Japanese manufacturing firms in the Czech Republic

This study casts light upon the locational distribution of industrial activites of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) in the Czech Republic at the regional level from 1999 through 2004. In our study, McFadden's conditional logit model is applied to trace the dynamic effects of a series of factors on locational choices of Japanese MNCs. We found evidence that the locational choice of Japanese MNCs is positively affected by industrial agglomeration effects resulting from potential interactions across and within existing Japanese and foreign firms owing to mitigation of various transaction costs. In addition, the presence of well-developed infrastructure systems and high wage level determine the location choice of Japanese MNCs, while distance matters. The empirical evaluation also contends that spatial determinants of MNCs vary by nationality in the Czech Republic. It is evident that agglomeration externalities and distance emerge as critical driving factors for Japanese MNCs and Asian MNCs. On the other hand, it has been verified that fiscal and financial incentives tend to highly motivate German MNCs, while local demand conditions have a great impact on Anglo-American MNCs.
Decadal changes in global surface NO x emissions from multi-constituent satellite data assimilation

Abstract. Global surface emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) over a 10-year period (2005–2014) are estimated from an assimilation of multiple satellite data sets: tropospheric NO2 columns from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2), and Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY), O3 profiles from Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), CO profiles from Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT), and O3 and HNO3 profiles from Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) using an ensemble Kalman filter technique. Chemical concentrations of various species and emission sources of several precursors are simultaneously optimized. This is expected to improve the emission inversion because the emission estimates are influenced by biases in the modelled tropospheric chemistry, which can be partly corrected by also optimizing the concentrations. We present detailed distributions of the estimated emission distributions for all major regions, the diurnal and seasonal variability, and the evolution of these emissions over the 10-year period. The estimated regional total emissions show a strong positive trend over India (+29 % decade−1), China (+26 % decade−1), and the Middle East (+20 % decade−1), and a negative trend over the USA (−38 % decade−1), southern Africa (−8.2 % decade−1), and western Europe (−8.8 % decade−1). The negative trends in the USA and western Europe are larger during 2005–2010 relative to 2011–2014, whereas the trend in China becomes negative after 2011. The data assimilation also suggests a large uncertainty in anthropogenic and fire-related emission factors and an important underestimation of soil NOx sources in the emission inventories. Despite the large trends observed for individual regions, the global total emission is almost constant between 2005 (47.9 Tg N yr−1) and 2014 (47.5 Tg N yr−1).
THE LONG-TERM DYNAMICAL EVOLUTION OF DISK-FRAGMENTED MULTIPLE SYSTEMS IN THE SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD

The origin of very low-mass hydrogen-burning stars, brown dwarfs (BDs), and planetary-mass objects (PMOs) at the low-mass end of the initial mass function is not yet fully understood. Gravitational fragmentation of circumstellar disks provides a possible mechanism for the formation of such low-mass objects. The kinematic and binary properties of very low-mass objects formed through disk fragmentation at early times (<10 Myr) were discussed in our previous paper. In this paper we extend the analysis by following the long-term evolution of disk-fragmented systems up to an age of 10 Gyr, covering the ages of the stellar and substellar populations in the Galactic field. We find that the systems continue to decay, although the rates at which companions escape or collide with each other are substantially lower than during the first 10 Myr, and that dynamical evolution is limited beyond 1 Gyr. By t = 10 Gyr, about one third of the host stars are single, and more than half have only one companion left. Most of the other systems have two companions left that orbit their host star in widely separated orbits. A small fraction of companions have formed binaries that orbit the host star in a hierarchical triple configuration. The majority of such double-companion systems have internal orbits that are retrograde with respect to their orbits around their host stars. Our simulations allow a comparison between the predicted outcomes of disk fragmentation with the observed low-mass hydrogen-burning stars, BDs, and PMOs in the solar neighborhood. Imaging and radial velocity surveys for faint binary companions among nearby stars are necessary for verification or rejection of the formation mechanism proposed in this paper.
Enhancing iron oxidation efficiency by a native strain of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans via response surface methodology, and characterization of proteins involved in metal resistance by proteomic approach

The effects of different factors on growth and bio-oxidation efficiency of a native strain of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans have been evaluated by the utilization of response surface methodology, RSM. Medium pH and iron concentration were found to be the most significant factors while temperature and ammonia concentrations had the least weight within the ranges investigated. Optimum operational conditions for maximizing Fe2+ oxidation were found to be 31 oC, 7 g/Liron concentration, 4.5 g/Ltotal ammonium salt concentration and medium pH 1.85. Maximum recovery of 98% of Zinc is the main outcome of results as observed at 7 g/Lof Fe2+, under optimized experimental conditions. The response of a bacterial strain to metals toxicity also studied. The isolate showed good resistance to most of the toxic metals. The proteomics approach was used to identify the differentially expressed proteins under heavy metal stress. Four of the differentially expressed proteins were identified as major outer membrane protein of A. ferrooxidans, ribulose large bisphosphate carboxylase subunit, and holo synthase. Keywords: Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Bioleaching, Mass spectrometry
MITF Expression in Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma

The MITF protein has a central role in the differentiation and survival of melanocytes. The aim of the study was to investigate whether MITF can be employed as a prognostic marker in patients operated on for cutaneous malignant melanoma. A cohort study design, based on information collected from population-based registries, was employed. For included patients (n=264) tissue microarrays were stained with immunohistochemistry to study the protein expression of MITF in primary malignant melanoma tumors by estimating the fraction of positive tumor cells and the staining intensity. Most of the tumors (84%) expressed MITF in >25% of the tumor cells and for 87% of the tumors the staining intensity was strong. Tumors with cell fraction >75% had a better prognosis compared with those with <75% (HR 0.44, 95% CI: 0.20-1.0, P=0.05). Tumors with a strong staining intensity tended to have a better prognosis compared with the weaker staining ones (HR 0.59, 95% CI: 0.26 -1.36, P=0.22). When cell fraction and intensity were combined, a high-risk group dying of malignant melanoma was identified as those patients with 25- 75% of tumor cells staining with weak intensity (HR 2.9, 95% CI: 0.94-8.7, P=0.06) and those with <25% of tumor cells staining with strong intensity (HR 2.5, 95% CI: 1.1- 6.1, P=0.04). However, the majority of deaths occurred in the lower risk groups. In conclusion, a high-risk group for death in malignant melanoma was identified but MITF is not suitable as a prognostic marker due to the distribution of that particular expression in the population.
Epistemic Virtue, Appropriateness, and the Environmental Luck Problem

This paper analyzes the notion of epistemic virtue as used by virtue reliabilists. In particular, it discusses the dispositional nature of epistemic virtues in connection with metaphysical debates. It also discusses the relativization of epistemic virtues to external and internal conditions and implements a way of understanding the not much discussed notion of appropriateness. Finally, it explains how virtue reliabilists fail to exclude environmental luck and sketches a possible line of response.
Simultaneous spin-coating and solvent annealing: manipulating the active layer morphology to a power conversion efficiency of 9.6% in polymer solar cells

We developed a simultaneous spin-coating/solvent-annealing process and demonstrated morphology optimization for PTB7 based organic photovoltaics. This novel processing method enhances the edge-on crystalline content in thin films and induces the formation of weak PCBM aggregates. As a result, the efficiency of polymer solar cells increased from 9.2% to a certified high efficiency of 9.61%, owing to an enhanced short-circuit current (Jsc, 18.4 mA cm−2vs. 17. 5 mA cm−2) and an improved fill factor.
The Psychology of Retirement: A “Can’t Let Go” Syndrome

The retirement patterns of faculty are an issue of ongoing interest in higher education. Retirement, although not typically a crisis, is a unique transition in the life course. Beyond financial readiness, emotional and other psychological factors of retirement tend to weigh on faculty as they consider their own retirement. This article addresses two significant questions: First, how do faculty members feel when they decide to retire by choice? Second, what are the primary emotional challenges of their voluntary retirement? Focusing on the psychological adjustment to retirement instead of the financial aspects, this literature review seeks to achieve a better understanding of the psychological issues that faculty experience during their transition to retirement and the factors that affect their subsequent well-being. After all, the demands of an academic career are such that many will not have developed a variety of meaningful and satisfying pursuits outside academia sufficient to sustain them in retirement.
UNCANNY PROCESSING: MISMATCHES BETWEEN PROCESSING STYLE AND FEATURAL CUES TO HUMANITY CONTRIBUTE TO UNCANNY VALLEY EFFECTS

UNCANNY PROCESSING: MISMATCHES BETWEEN PROCESSING STYLE AND FEATURAL CUES TO HUMANITY CONTRIBUTE TO UNCANNY VALLEY EFFECTS by Steven Michael Almaraz The uncanny valley is the tendency for highly humanlike, but non-human agents (e.g., robots, animated characters, dolls) to be perceived as creepy or unsettling, relative to their less humanlike counterparts. Recent research has pointed to mismatching signals of humanity as a possible explanation for the uncanny valley. The current work aimed to extend this hypothesis by investigating whether conflicting signals of humanity from face processing styles and featural cues can trigger negative affect. To this end, participants viewed faces that were morphed on a continuum from full dolls to full humans and indicated the extent to which these faces are unsettling. Critically, on half of the trials, faces were inverted to disrupt configural face processing, a processing style that involves viewing faces as a single Gestalt and is a cue for humanity. When faces were highly humanlike, they were experienced as less creepy than less humanlike faces, but when such targets were inverted, processing and featural signals did not disagree with one another, and some of the feelings of unease were alleviated. UNCANNY PROCESSING: MISMATCHES BETWEEN PROCESSING STYLE AND FEATURAL CUES TO HUMANITY CONTRIBUTE TO UNCANNY VALLEY EFFECTS