Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationships of Resistance to Fusarium Ear Rot and Fumonisin Contamination with Agronomic Performance of Maize

Resistance to Fusarium ear rot [caused by Fusarium verticillioides (Sacc.) Nirenberg (synonym F. moniliforme Sheldon) (teleomorph: Gibberella moniliformis) and F. proliferatum (Matsushima) Nirenberg (teleomorph: G. intermedia)] and fumonisin contamination is heritable and controlled by at least 11 gene regions in a maize (Zea mays L.) population created by backcrossing the highly resistant donor line, GE440, to the susceptible but commercially successful recurrent parent line, FR1064. The relationship between resistances to Fusarium ear rot and fumonisin contamination and agronomic performance has not been reported. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the relationship between disease resistance and agronomic utility in this population by measuring resistances to Fusarium ear rot and fumonisin contamination in BC 1 F 1:2 lines, and yield and agronomic performance in topcrosses of these lines. Fumonisin contamination was not correlated with yield, but two fumonisin quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapped to similar positions as yield QTL. Fusarium ear rot had a small positive correlation with topcross yield (r = 0.29), but QTL for the two traits mapped to distinct genomic positions. Similar results for other traits indicate that QTL can contribute in opposite directions to the overall genetic correlations between traits and that some trait correlations arise in the absence of detectable QTL effects on both traits. In general, no strong relationships were observed between disease resistance traits and agronomic traits, thus selection for increased resistance should not unduly affect agronomic performance.
Drone-Based External Calibration of a Fully Synchronized Ku-Band Heterodyne FMCW Radar

This paper discusses a novel drone-based external radar calibration technique, which utilizes a metal sphere hanging from a drone. The advantages of drone-based calibration are introduced and applied to a dual intermediate-frequency frequency-modulation continuous-wave (FMCW) radar system, which was developed to detect a low radar cross section (RCS) target like a drone with high sensitivity. The developed radar system operates in 150-MHz bandwidth with a frequency sweeping time of $500~\mu \text{m}$ at Ku-band frequencies. A 75- $\Omega $ coaxial cable was utilized in the radar system to physically separate the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) modules for better isolation. The physical separation with a coaxial cable helps in reducing Tx leakage signal effect, which is a critical concern of typical FMCW radar system, and also it helps the proposed radar system to have higher sensitivity. The designed radar system is a wired system that is fully synchronized with an internal reference clock generator. Offset frequency and other compensation factors were calculated for the calibration of the radar system using a big size metal sphere hanging from a drone. We observed that the theoretical calculations using the standard radar equation and the measurement results on calibration are in good agreement with each other. Furthermore, the RCS value of a small size drone is also investigated using the calibrated radar system. The RCS value estimated for the drone was about −22 dBsm.
Remittances for Financial Access: Lessons from Latin American Microfinance

type="main"> The potential of migrant remittances to foster access to financial services for low-income households has been largely unexplored. Comparing three Latin American countries – the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Mexico – this inter-disciplinary study links research on remittances and microfinance with multi-actor governance approaches. While the context of high remittance-dependence provides similar challenges in all cases, it finds remarkable variety both in the structure of the remittances market and the actors involved in microfinance and in the role governments play. It explains the diverging success of MFIs in remittance markets by pointing to the interplay of for-profit, non-profit and state actors embedded within the specific market structures of each country.
An Analysis of Synergies of IT-Applications and Knowledge Management Strategies with Regard to Organizational Change

Abstract : The increasing complexity of political, regulatory, and technological changes confronting many commercial as well as non-profit organizations has made radical organizational change and adaptation a central research issue. Along with these research issues a new awareness with regard to organization-internal existing knowledge and the necessity to exploit and manage this knowledge to the benefits of the organization has been arising as well. In an era of forth-coming new advanced information technologies on a nearly day-to-day basis and the increasing awareness and willingness to incorporate knowledge management strategies, organizational leaders and upper management have been craving increasingly for a beneficial combination of the latter with their efforts to implement changes successfully within their organizations. This thesis will analyze various organizational change strategies in order to provide a clearer understanding of the impact/influence of current IT-solutions exploiting existing knowledge within an organization to the benefits of successful organizational change efforts and strategies.
The Firm as an Entity: Management, Organization, Accounting

Why delve into accounting to understand the economic nature of the firm? A Coase's recent suggestion calls economic organization and accounting system at issue for understanding how the special economics of the firm supersedes price system in creating and allocating resources. But incomplete contracts economics has no clear theorizing of these functional modes of existence constituting the firm as a whole (constituents), surely in reason of its methodological contractualism. Starting from Coase, Shubik and Simon, instead, this paper aims at further developing this issue, exploring the accounting system, its nature and role in the special economics of the firm concerned with real dynamics and complexity. By means of the accounting system dealing with the business incomes to the firm, the economic and monetary process generated by the whole firm acquires autonomous but interdependent existence from external markets (both from factors or products markets). The accounting system constitutes thus the "veil" that allows this special process to exist. Not only the real dynamics, but also the separation between ownership, control and management (as early discussed by Berle and Littleton) asks for the entity view on the firm provided by dynamic accounting. Even to protect shareholders, this kind of accountability is required, far away from the irrevocably lost proprietary sovereignty. In this accounting-friendly transactional and institutional perspective, the firm entity functions and exists as a managed dynamic system characterized by different structures of production, institutional, organizational, or epistemic (related to the nature and role of institutions, internal organization, and knowledge in the firm). Accounting system becomes a constituent part of these structures and of the whole firm. This new perspective opens to an interdisciplinary approach linking Economics, Accounting, and Law by the shared, synthetic notion of the firm as an entity, which provides the "clue" for understanding the nature of the firm as a whole.
Sequence Analysis of the Staphylococcus aureus srrAB Loci Reveals that Truncation of srrA Affects Growth and Virulence Factor Expression

ABSTRACT The SrrAB system regulates metabolism and virulence factors in Staphylococcus aureus. We sequenced the srrAB loci of 21 isolates and performed a phylogenetic analysis. Vaginal and bovine isolates clustered together, while skin isolates were genetically diverse. Few nucleotide polymorphisms were observed, and most were synonymous. Two strains (N2 and N19) with N-terminal truncations in SrrA displayed defects in growth and abnormally upregulated virulence factor expression under low-oxygen conditions.
Environmentally dependent dust chemistry of a super Asian dust storm in March 2010: observation and simulation

Abstract. Near-surface and vertical in situ measurements of atmospheric particles were conducted in Shanghai during 19–23 March 2010 to explore the transport and chemical evolution of dust particles in a super dust storm. An air quality model with optimized physical dust emission scheme and newly implemented dust chemistry was utilized to study the impact of dust chemistry on regional air quality. Two discontinuous dust periods were observed with one traveling over northern China (DS1) and the other passing over the coastal regions of eastern China (DS2). Stronger mixing extents between dust and anthropogenic emissions were found in DS2, reflected by the higher SO 2 ∕ PM 10 and NO 2 ∕ PM 10 ratios as well as typical pollution elemental species such as As, Cd, Pb, and Zn. As a result, the concentrations of SO 4 2 - and NO 3 - and the ratio of Ca 2+ ∕ Ca were more elevated in DS2 than in DS1 but opposite for the [NH 4 + ] ∕ [SO 4 2 - + NO 3 - ] ratio, suggesting the heterogeneous reactions between calcites and acid gases were significantly promoted in DS2 due to the higher level of relative humidity and gaseous pollution precursors. Lidar observation showed a columnar effect on the vertical structure of particle optical properties in DS1 that dust dominantly accounted for ∼ 80–90 % of the total particle extinction from near the ground to ∼ 700 m. In contrast, the dust plumes in DS2 were restrained within lower altitudes while the extinction from spherical particles exhibited a maximum at a high altitude of ∼ 800 m. The model simulation reproduced relatively consistent results with observations that strong impacts of dust heterogeneous reactions on secondary aerosol formation occurred in areas where the anthropogenic emissions were intensive. Compared to the sulfate simulation, the nitrate formation on dust is suggested to be improved in the future modeling efforts.
Property-Based Testing of Abstract Machines: an Experience Report

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Property-Based Testing of Abstract Machines: an Experience Report Francesco Komauli, Alberto Momigliano
A new modular neutral point clamped converter with space vector modulation control

This papers proposes a new 5-level modular neutral point clamped (MNPC) converter for medium voltage (MV) and high power applications. The proposed converter can operate at voltages up to 13.8kV using available commercial power semiconductor switches without series connection of the switches. The MNPC topology offers fewer numbers of components compared to the exiting five-level converters and simplicity in manufacturing as it can utilize off-the-shelf 3-level converter modules. In order to control the proposed 5-level converter, space vector modulation (SVM) technique is employed. Performance of the converter is evaluated at steady-state and transient conditions and for different modulation indices and loads by simulation studies. It is shown that using the SVM strategy the capacitor voltages are maintained around nominal values under both steady-state and transients.
Medium-dose 308-nm excimer laser for the treatment of psoriasis.

BACKGROUND The excimer laser delivers targeted ultraviolet B 308-nm radiation. OBJECTIVE This investigation evaluated the efficacy of multiple, medium-dose excimer 308-nm laser treatments for psoriasis. METHODS Twenty volunteers with plaque psoriasis were enrolled. Six plaques received treatment 3 times per week for up to 8 weeks; another plaque served as a control. As in standard phototherapy, a flexible dose escalation scheme was implemented during the course of treatment. Modified Psoriasis Area and Severity Index scores were rendered throughout the study with follow-ups at 1, 2, 4, and 6 months. RESULTS Fifteen subjects completed the study without complications. The mean number of treatments to achieve >95% clearance was 10.6. The mean cumulative UV radiation dose was 6.1 J/cm(2), and the mean remission time was 3.5 months. CONCLUSION A thrice-weekly, medium-dose irradiation schedule with the 308-nm laser can effectively clear localized plaque-type psoriasis in fewer treatments with an overall lower cumulative dose, compared with standard phototherapy. This innovative UV device allows specific targeting of affected sites without needless exposure of unaffected skin.
Innovation, Growth, and Welfare-Improving Cycles

Abstract This paper establishes necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of stationary cycles in an economy comprising independent investing firms. The economy is not subject to aggregate uncertainty, investors have no direct complementarities, and all agents act independently. The cycle arises due to general equilibrium contemporaneous complementarities between investors devoting resources to innovation which yields temporary profits. With numerical examples we show that there are multiple cyclical equilibria that differ in the cycle length. Welfare and the long-run growth rate can be increased from an equilibrium where innovations occur rapidly to one with longer cycles; however, there exists a finite cycle length that maximizes welfare.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers: E32, L16, O31, O41.
Differentiability of the value function in stochastic models

Most of the recent contributions to intertemporal optimization models of consumption and capital accumulation aim at the development of a theory of intertemporal resource allocation under uncertainty. One of the standard tools for solving such models is Stochastic Dynamic Programming.A disadvantage of the application of this technique is that although solutions are shown to exist and are easily computable it has not been proved that, under standard assumptions, the policy function is differentiable or, equivalently, that the value function is twice differentiable.This feature is of particular interest in the qualitative analysis of optimal solutions.This paper shows that if the objective function is C, a-concave and stochastic shock s satisfy standard assumptions, then the value function is C.
How do I kill thee? Let me count the ways: p53 regulates PARP‐1 dependent necrosis

Understanding the impact of the p53 tumor suppressor pathway on the regulation of genome integrity, cancer development, and cancer treatment has intrigued scientists and clinicians for decades. It appears that the p53 pathway is a central node for nearly all cell stress responses, including: gene expression, DNA repair, cell cycle arrest, metabolic adjustments, apoptosis, and senescence. In the past decade, it has become increasingly clear that p53 function is directly regulated by poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase‐1 (PARP‐1), a nuclear enzyme involved in DNA repair signaling. Here, we will discuss the impact of PARP‐1 on p53 function, along with a recently described novel role for the reciprocal regulation of p53 regulated, PARP‐1 dependent necrosis following DNA damage.
Calibration of transparency risks: a note

The aim of this research is to give a simple framework to evaluate/quantize the "transparency" of a firm. We assume that the process of the firm value is only observable once in a while but is strongly correlated with the stock price which is observable and tradable. This hybrid type structure make the transparency "observable". The implication of the present study is that the depth of the shock to the market caused by the precise accounting information does reflect the degree of transparency. Furthermore, it can be quantized resorting to the calibration method.
Agile Supply Chain: competing in volatile markets

Abstract: Turbulent and volatile markets are becoming the norm as life-cycle shortens and global economic and competitive forces create additional uncertainty. Under uncertainty volatile competitive environment, supply chain are reaching the point where they need to be more agile-intelligent, fast in movement, flexible, and efficient customer responsive to changes, this paper suggests that the key to survival in these changed conditio ns is through agility- Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, especially, by the creation of efficient consumer responsive supply chain. A definition and the route are addres sed, meanwhile the paper discuss the approach that using agile supply chain to competitive in the volatile and turbulent markets. Key words: agile supply chain; information technology
The Party Politics of Territorial Reforms in Europe

This article develops a comprehensive and dynamic framework for analysing the party politics of territorial reforms in Europe (and beyond). The main focus is on explaining the strategy of political parties on the issue of territorial reform, by which is meant the position taken on, and the salience given to, the issue of how to allocate powers and resources across levels of government. The premise is that political parties can follow an electoral, ideological and territorial logic of action when deciding their strategy. The article distinguishes between the main drivers and argues that the choice of logic by political parties will be determined by the relative weight of strategic incentives, on the one hand, and ideological and organisational constraints, on the other. The framework also highlights the importance of contextual effects such as the polity’s institutional arrangements and the influence of time in the process of territorial restructuring, evident in the different moments of territorial reforms and the occurrence of feedback effects between them.
Special issue on ‘IHRM implications of the internationalization of Chinese banking and financial institutions’

Despite their latecomer status to international expansion, a significant amount of research has already been published into many aspects of Chinese firm internationalization (see Boisot & Meyer, 2008; Child & Rodrigues, 2005; Cui, Jiang, & Stening, 2011; Deng, 2012; Fan, Zhu, & Nyland, 2012; Schüler-Zhou & Schüller, 2009; Yang, Jiang, Kang, & Ke, 2009). Specifically, this includes their motives to internationalize, their entry mode choices and their performance in international markets. Although this research is extensive, it remains predominantly grounded in an analysis of China’s manufacturing firms. Studies of Chinese firms across different industry sectors, and their human resource management (HRM), remain limited (Cooke, 2014). Indeed firms from its service sectors, although at times featured as part of a broad database of firms for survey or multiple case study analysis, have rarely been the focus of individual studies in the management field, especially human resource management. This is significant as the growth in China’s outward foreign direct investment impacts on other sectors. The client-following strategy implies that a firm is part of an international network of exchange (Majkgård & Sharma, 1998; Nigh, Cho, & Krishnan, 1986: Weinstein, 1977). Client-following firms operate in a network in which their exchange partners operate internationally. These partners both help and pressure the other members in the network into going international. In common with this approach to service firm internationalization, Chinese banks and financial institutions internationalize with the aim of providing a financial support network for other Chinese businesses as they themselves expand into international markets. Internationalization within the financial services sector is a multifaceted phenomenon, associated with both market opportunities and challenges as banks align internal changes in operations and assets with an international strategy (Li, Qiu, & Wan, 2011; Sparrow, Farndale, & Scullion, 2013). Banking is a complex and dynamic sector that emphasizes effectiveness, efficiency and calculability with flexibility and speed (Newenham-Kahindi, 2011). Firms within this sector recognize that to succeed requires firm–client relationships to be developed and maintained. Specifically, banks and financial institutions provide services based on specialized information which relies on the skills, talent and knowledge of employees. As such, they need to expend a significant effort in attracting, developing and retaining talented managers and specialists. With increased global business competitiveness and technological growth, banks with international business orientations
Europe Recast: A History of European Union

1. Introduction. - 2. Finding a Way Forward. - 3. Europe of the Communities. - 4. Constructing the European Community. - 5. Setbacks and Struggles. - 6. Variable Weather. - 7. Transformation. - 8. Achieving European Union. - 9. The Triumphs and Tribulations of European Union. - 10. The Limits of European Union. - 11. Conclusion.
Control of Leaky-Mode Propagation and Radiation Properties in Hybrid Dielectric-Waveguide Printed-Circuit Technology: Experimental Results

Experimental results are presented to show how a planar circuit, printed on a laterally shielded dielectric waveguide, can induce and control the radiation from a leaky-mode. By studying the leaky-mode complex propagation constant, a desired radiation pattern can be synthesized, controlling the main radiation characteristics (pointing direction, beamwidth, sidelobes level) for a given frequency, This technique leads to very flexible and original leaky-wave antenna designs. The experiments show to be in very good agreement with the leaky-mode theory