Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Abundance and Species Richness of Leafhoppers and Planthoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae and Delphacidae) in Brazilian Maize Crops

Abstract Insects in the Cicadellidae and Delphacidae families, common in grasses, are an important group of vectors of viruses and mollicutes, which cause diseases in several plant species. The goal of this study was to evaluate the abundance and species richness of Cicadellidae and Delphacidae and the presence of potential vectors of viruses and mollicutes in maize crops in Brazil. Insects were collected using sweep nets in maize crops in 48 counties of 8 states, distributed in 4 regions of Brazil in the yr 2005, 2006 and 2007, with a total of 198 samples. The collected material was screened, and the leafhoppers and planthoppers were identified at the species level. A total of 4233 Cicadellidae specimens, including 30 species, and 205 Delphacidae specimens, including 9 species, were collected. The most abundant species was Dalbulus maidis (Delong & Wolcott) representing 90.1% of leafhoppers and planthoppers. Abundance and species richness differences were observed between the northeast and center-south regions of Brazil. Eight species of leafhoppers and planthoppers were identified as vectors or potential vectors of viruses and mollicutes in maize, although some of these viruses are not reported in Brazil. Among these species, we identified the planthoppers, Caenodelphax teapae (Fowler), Peregrinus maidis Ashmed, Pyrophagus tigrinus Remes Lenicov & Varela and Toya propinqua (Fieber) are experimental vectors of Mal de Río Cuarto virus, which is a quarantine virus in Brazil. Two Cicadellidae species and 3 Delphacidae species were reported for the first time in Brazil.
‘Poverty, Equity and Growth in Developing and Transition Countries: Statistical Methods and Empirical Analysis’

This paper presents evidence of linkages across equity markets in the following transition economies: Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Czech Republic from beginning of January 2005 till the end of December 2014. We apply a multivariate asymmetric EGARCH model. Empirical results indicate significant return and volatility spillover effects during the full sample and the Russian Great Recession and Ukrainian crisis episodes. Over the full sample period, there is evidence of return co-movements, and strong volatility persistence. During the Russian Great Recession subsample, the ownreturn effects of the markets are stronger than the cross-market effects and their correlations have increased. Finally, the Ukrainian political crisis indicated no clear information producer, whereas, evidence of returns co-movement still exists. The markets in question are mainly partially integrated and the volatility transmission linkages across them are not that strong in crises periods, thus confirming previous literature on the particularities of emerging and frontier markets. According to the empirical finance literature, developed markets are interconnected. However, emerging markets are mainly affected by local shocks. The same applies to frontier markets. Based on the categorization of countries based on their financial market development: frontier markets are in embryonic stages of financial development (in this case, Ukraine), emerging markets are important financial markets, not fully modernized
Green Manufacturing and Operational Performance of a Firm : Case of Cement Manufacturing in Kenya

Green Manufacturing includes all practices connected with ecological concerns that constantly incorporate environmental manufacturing processes and products. Green Manufacturing considers decrease from the start or prevention, recycling and green product designs. It focuses on the greening production stage where pollutants are largely generated. The outcomes of these strategies would be no pollution, defects, downtime and zero inventories. The study sought to establish the relationship between green manufacturing practices and operational performance of a selected cement manufacturing company in Kenya. Secondary data on green manufacturing practices and operational performance was collected for a period of 4 years from 2011-2014. The results indicate a significant relationship between green manufacturing practices and operational performance. There is also compliance with the Kenya’s environmental management and co-ordination regulations for 1999 on the part of the cement manufacturing firm. The study emphasises the implementation of green manufacturing projects that would focus on eliminating or controlling all kinds of pollution in its conclusion.
Simulation of active Brownian particles in optical potentials

Optical forces can affect the motion of a Brownian particle. For example, optical tweezers use optical forces to trap a particle at a desirable position. Unlike passive Brownian particles, active Brownian particles, also known as microswimmers, propel themselves with directed motion and thus drive themselves out of equilibrium. Understanding their motion in a confined potential can provide insight into out-of-equilibrium phenomena associated with biological examples such as bacteria, as well as with artificial microswimmers. We discuss how to mathematically model their motion in an optical potential using a set of stochastic differential equations and how to numerically simulate it using the corresponding set of finite difference equations.
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation Backscatter for Passive Wireless Sensors

Backscatter RFID sensors are beneficial for sensing applications where small, low-maintenance and no-battery sensor’s nodes are needed. In this work two different approaches for battery free sensors are presented. The first approach is based on ASK backscatter modulation and a prototype is presented and measured. With this circuit it is shown that is possible to have a complete passive WSN by combining backscatter modulation with WPT. In order to increase the data rate of the sensors, a new approach based on QAM modulation was implemented. A backscatter modulator based in a wilkinson power divider was proposed which contains a delay in one of the design branch and two transistors acting as switches to generate M-QAM backscatter modulation. It is foreseen that the modulator is the basis for a truly passive WSN. Index Terms Wireless sensor network, backscatter communication, wireless power transfer, quadrature amplitude modulation, amplitude shift keying, internet of things.
Extensions to Complex Materials of the Fitzgerald Model for the Solution of Electromagnetic Problems

ABSTRACT Electromagnetic phenomena can be simulated by the dynamics of a mechanical system as long as the Hamiltonian of the electromagnetic and the mechanical systems coincide. In this paper we present a generalization of G.F. FitzGerald's pulleys and rubber-bands mechanical model for the interaction of electromagnetic waves with complex media. We show a direct analogy between the FitzGerald model and the electric vector potential formulation, at each stage of the extension of the original model: each mechanical observable has a unique correspondence in the vector potential formulation. This strict analogy allows further inductive developments of the mechanical model and extends the pedagogical importance of the original FitzGerald model. As a consequence very complex materials from the electromagnetic point of view, such as frequency dependent magneto dielectric materials are easily understood and implemented with simple modifications in the mechanical system. The condense node representation of the fie.
Estimating aboveground carbon density and its uncertainty in Borneo's structurally complex tropical forests using airborne laser scanning

Abstract. Borneo contains some of the world's most biodiverse and carbon-dense tropical forest, but this 750 000 km2 island has lost 62 % of its old-growth forests within the last 40 years. Efforts to protect and restore the remaining forests of Borneo hinge on recognizing the ecosystem services they provide, including their ability to store and sequester carbon. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is a remote sensing technology that allows forest structural properties to be captured in great detail across vast geographic areas. In recent years ALS has been integrated into statewide assessments of forest carbon in Neotropical and African regions, but not yet in Asia. For this to happen new regional models need to be developed for estimating carbon stocks from ALS in tropical Asia, as the forests of this region are structurally and compositionally distinct from those found elsewhere in the tropics. By combining ALS imagery with data from 173 permanent forest plots spanning the lowland rainforests of Sabah on the island of Borneo, we develop a simple yet general model for estimating forest carbon stocks using ALS-derived canopy height and canopy cover as input metrics. An advanced feature of this new model is the propagation of uncertainty in both ALS- and ground-based data, allowing uncertainty in hectare-scale estimates of carbon stocks to be quantified robustly. We show that the model effectively captures variation in aboveground carbon stocks across extreme disturbance gradients spanning tall dipterocarp forests and heavily logged regions and clearly outperforms existing ALS-based models calibrated for the tropics, as well as currently available satellite-derived products. Our model provides a simple, generalized and effective approach for mapping forest carbon stocks in Borneo and underpins ongoing efforts to safeguard and facilitate the restoration of its unique tropical forests.
Effects of Dietary Soybeans (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) on Growth and Body Composition of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus, Burchell) Fingerlings

The effect of feeding Clarias geriepinus fingerlings with diets supplemented with soybeans was studied for 56 days. Two of the soybeans were heat treated for 30 and 60 minutes, the third was toasted (for 10 minutes) and the fourth was raw soybean (control). Fish of an initial mean body weight of 2.36±0.67g were grown to a final mean body weight of 6.18±0.94g at a temperature of 25.0±1.23°C, pH 6.18±0.73 and dissolved oxygen 5.5±2.54g. The diets used additionally contained blood meal, cassava flour, red palm oil, vitamin/mineral premix and chromic oxide. Fish fed diets that were heat treated for 60 minutes had the highest percentage of weight gain, feed conversion ration, protein efficiency ratio, specific growth rate, apparent protein utilisation and digestibility. The fish carcass protein in all dietary treatments (diet1 = 58.59, diet2 = 58.63, diet3 = 57.98 and diet4 = 57.92) was higher than the initial carcass protein (56.75), thereby confirming the potential of incorporating soybeans in fish feed formulation.
Bäcklund transformations, Ward solitons, and unitons

The Ward equation, also called the modified 2 + 1 chiral model, is obtained by a dimension reduction and a gauge fixing from the self-dual Yang-Mills field equation on R. It has a Lax pair and is an integrable system. Ward constructed solitons whose extended solutions have distinct simple poles. He also used a limiting method to construct 2-solitons whose extended solutions have a double pole. Ioannidou and Zakrzewski, and Anand constructed more soliton solutions whose extended solutions have a double or triple pole. Some of the main results of this paper are: (i) We construct algebraic Backlund transformations (BTs) that generate new solutions of the Ward equation from a given one by an algebraic method. (ii) We use an order k limiting method and algebraic BTs to construct explicit Ward solitons, whose extended solutions have arbitrary poles and multiplicities. (iii) We prove that our construction gives all solitons of the Ward equation explicitly and the entries of Ward solitons must be rational functions in x, y and t. (iv) Since stationary Ward solitons are unitons, our method also gives an explicit construction of all k-unitons from finitely many rational maps from C to C.
Nurturing the young shoots of talent: using action research for exploration and theory building

This paper reports the outcomes of a set of action research projects carried out by teacher researchers in 14 local education authorities in England, working collaboratively with university tutors, over a period of three years. The common aim of all the projects was to explore practical ways of nurturing the gifts and talents of children aged four–seven years. The project was funded by the Department of Education and Skills in England as part of the government's gifted and talented programme. The project teachers felt that their understanding of issues relating to nurturing the gifts and talents of younger children was enhanced through their engagement in the project. It was possible to map the findings of the projects to the English government's National Quality Standards for gifted and talented education which include: (1) identification; (2) effective provision in the classroom; (3) enabling curriculum entitlement and choice; (4) assessment for learning; (5) engaging with community, families and beyond. The findings are also analysed within the framework of good practice in educating children in the first years of schooling. Participating practitioners felt that action research offered them a suitable methodology to explore the complexity of the topic of giftedness through cycles of planning, action and reflection and personal theory building.
Secondary Metabolite Compounds of Bee Pollen the Geniotrigona Incise Sakagami & Inoue. from Samarinda East Borneo

Secondary metabolites compounds of bee pollen a hive products Geniotrigona incise Sakagami& Inoue. has been investigated. Pollen samples extracted with ethanol by masseration method using a rotary evaporator. Ethanol obtained crude extract was fractionated by ethanol and ethyl acetate. Secondary metabolites of bee pollen with phytochemical analysis showed that the ethanol extract contains alkaloids and phenolic rough. The ethanol extract fraction containing alkaloids. Ethyl acetate extract fractions contain alkaloids and phenolic. In a test of an increase in mortality of larvae shrimp (Artemiasalina L.) and then processed using SAS Probit Analysis to determine the lethal concentration 50% (LC50). The results were obtained data shows that the most active fractions is extract ethanol with value is 249.6079 ppm. Test results of antioxidant activity by DPPH method using spectrophotometry showed that 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) is obtained in the crude extract was 104.84 ppm Ethanol, ethanol fraction value is 172.67 ppm, 75.99 ppm of ethyl acetate fraction and vitamin C is 10.79 ppm, this suggests that the most active fraction is ethyl acetate with Ic50 is 75.99 ppm.
Development Of Cvt Control System And Its Use For Fuel‐Efficient Operation Of Engine

Continuously variable transmission (CVT) provides an automobile with the ability to change the gear ratio continuously, which can then improve not only ride quality such as acceleration performance but also fuel‐efficiency. However, to take advantage of the ability, a control system that can precisely control the gear ratio is required. This paper proposes such a control system for a belt‐driven CVT system. For controller design, first the CVT system is modeled by analytical and experimental approaches. The resultant static and dynamic characteristics provide a nonlinear first‐order model with an uncertain time constant and time delay. The nonlinear steady‐state gain is adjusted to one by a gain‐scheduled pre‐compensator. Thereby the plant model becomes a linear first‐order lag system with a dead time. The next step is controller design using the plant model. To guarantee stability and control performance against the parameter variation and time delay, the μ‐synthesis, a robust control method, is employed for feedback control. In addition, a feedforward controller is incorporated into the feedback control system to obtain better output response. The feedforward controller is given by a combination of the inverse system of the plant and a reference model that gives desired output response. As a result, the control system becomes a two‐degree‐of‐freedom control system. To evaluate the performance of the control system and its effectiveness on the fuel‐efficiency, computer simulation and driving tests were conducted. The simulation and experiment results prove that the proposed control system can make the gear ratio track a reference output quickly and precisely in the presence of the uncertainties. The results also show that the control system improves fuel‐efficiency by changing the gear ratio so that the engine torque and its revolution speed can satisfy optimum‐efficiency operating condition.
Benefits of Immunomagnetic Separation for Epitope Identification in Clinically Important Protein Antigens: A Case Study Using Ovalbumin, Carbonic Anhydrase I and Tau Protein

Immunomagnetic separation (IMS) with specific antibody as affinity ligand immobilized on a magnetic carrier has several advantages in comparison with standard column separation procedures. Epitope mapping enabling identification and characterization of protein structures reactive with the antibody represents one possible application of IMS. We used epitope extraction technique based on the proteolytic digestion of the target protein followed by capturing of a specific peptide fragments by the antibody immobilized on the solid phase. Magnetic particles coated with antibody molecules were first incubated with the prepared mixture of peptides. After specific binding of peptide fragments comprising the epitope sequences, the beads were washed to remove non-epitope peptides. Captured epitope-peptides were then eluted in small volume of 0.05% TFA. Elution fractions were finally analyzed without any modification by mass spectrometry. In this work the results and experience gained in epitope mapping of three clinically important proteins (ovalbumin, carbonic anhydrase I and tau protein) are discussed.
Host fidelity of a symbiotic porcellanid crab: the importance of host characteristics

The social behaviour of symbiotic organisms is influenced by the density and distribution pattern of hosts. Herein we examined the host-use behaviour of the anemone-dwelling crabAllopetrolisthes spinifrons (Porcellanidae) in which adults usually live as solitary individuals on their hosts. Adults of this crab use two different sea anemone species, one intermediate-sized species that can be found at relatively high densities in the intertidal zone and another large one that occurs at significantly lower densities in the shallow subtidal zone along exposed rocky shores of the south-east Pacific. Mark–recapture experiments demonstrated that crabs in subtidal waters (low abundance of hosts) remained for long time periods on the same hosts while crabs in the intertidal environment (high abundance of hosts) frequently changed hosts. There were no differences in host fidelity between male and female crabs. In an immigration experiment in the intertidal zone, significantly more juveniles immigrated than had been present originally, indicating that host-use behaviour is age dependent. The sex ratio between resident and immigrated individuals did not change. In an additional experiment hosts were planted at two different densities (high and low) both in the shallow subtidal and the intertidal zone to test whether host fidelity of crabs depends on distance between hosts. At the subtidal site, about half the crabs remained on their sea anemones for 14 days while at the intertidal site most crabs disappeared within 1 day in both density treatments. At both sites crabs were seen changing hosts in high density treatments, but no such events could be witnessed at low densities of hosts. Although the results are not fully conclusive, they suggest that host movements are affected by host densities. This relationship may be mediated by host (anemone species, size, distance) and site-specific (predation pressure, exposure time) factors. In general, the present study indicates that host characteristics influence host fidelity of symbiotic organisms and thereby, their social behaviour.
Common Method Bias in Public Management Studies

ABSTRACT The questionnaire survey is one of the most commonly used methods of data collection in public management research. These surveys often provide the information used to measure both the independent and dependent variables in an analysis. However, this introduces the risk of common method bias—a serious methodological challenge that has not received much attention as a distinct topic in public management research. We discuss the challenge of common method bias in relation to public management studies and illustrate the problem using an analysis of intrinsic work motivation and sickness absence. Thereafter, we discuss solutions for reducing common method bias when it is not possible to use different methods.
Global average of air‐sea CO2 transfer velocity from QuikSCAT scatterometer wind speeds

[1] The absolute calibration of the relationship between air-sea CO 2 transfer velocity, , k, and wind speed, U, has been a topic of debate for some time, because k global average, (k), as deduced from Geochemical Ocean Sections Study oceanic 14 C inventory has differed from that deduced from experimental k-U relationships. Recently, new oceanic 14 C inventories and inversions have lead to a lower (k). In addition, new measurements performed at sea in high―wind speed conditions have led to new k-U relationship. Meanwhile, quality and sampling of satellite wind speeds has greatly improved. The QuikSCAT scatterometer has provided high-quality wind speeds for more than 7 years. This allows us to estimate the global distributions of k computed using k-U relationships and temperature-dependent Schmidt numbers from 1999 to 2006. Given the difficulty of measuring in situ wind speed very accurately, we performed a sensitivity study of the (k) uncertainty which results from QuikSCAT U uncertainties. New QuikSCAT-buoy U comparisons in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in the Southern Ocean confirm the excellent precision of QuikSCAT U (RMS difference of about 1 m s ―1 ), but it is possible that QuikSCAT overestimates wind speeds by 5%, leading to a possible overestimation of k derived with quadratic relationships by 10%. The (k) values obtained with two recent experimental k-U relationships are very close, between 15.9 and 17.9 cm h ―1 , and within the error bar of k average deduced from the new oceanic 14 C inventory.
Fast radio bursts: search sensitivities and completeness

In this paper we identify some sub-optimal performance in algorithms that search for Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), which can reduce the cosmological volume probed by over 20%, and result in missed discoveries and incorrect flux density and sky rate determinations. Re-calculating parameters for all of the FRBs discovered with the Parkes telescope (i.e. all of the reported FRBs bar one), we find some inconsistencies with previously determined values, e.g. FRB 010125 was approximately twice as bright as previously reported. We describe some incompleteness factors not previously considered which are important in determining accurate population statistics, e.g. accounting for fluence incompleteness the Thornton et al. all-sky rate can be re-phrased as ~2500 FRBs per sky per day above a 1.4-GHz fluence of ~2 Jy ms. Finally we make data for the FRBs easily available, along with software to analyse these.