Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Flora of Mount Menikion in North East Greece

KARAGIANNAKIDOU V. & KOKKINI S. 1987. The Flora of Mount Menikion in North East Greece. Phyton (Austria) 27 (2): 267-283, 2 figures. English with German summary. Mount Menikion is situated in the east of Serres city; its highest peak reaches 1963 m. A total of 552 taxa (species and subspecies) belonging to 69 families and 266 genera is listed. 339 of these taxa are reported for the first time to occur in the Menikion area. Some ecological data as well as remarks on vegetation are given.
Comparative study of the chemical composition and the antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities of Citrus aurantium essential oils extracted by conventional hydrodistillation and microwave-assisted hydrodistillation methods from Algeria

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, and antioxidant properties of essential oils obtained from the peels of Citrus aurantium and extracted with MAHD and HD. The various compounds detected include limonene and linalol. In this context, we used the methods of bovine serum albumin anti-denaturation to evaluate the anti-inflammatory property and glucose uptake by yeast cells to evaluate the antidiabeticone. The results of evaluating the antidiabetic and the anti-inflammatory activities indicate that the essential oil extracted by MAHD has greater efficiency compared to the essential oil extracted by HD. Besides, the antioxidant potential of the essential oil was evaluated using the DPPH free radical scavenging, reducing power, and β-carotene/linoleic acid tests. Results show that the essential oil extracted by HD presents a high antioxidant activity. Moreover, essential oil is a potential source of important bioactive compounds and of possible synergistic effects among its components. To support the phytochemical analysis, an attempt was made to identify some potential compounds from Citrus aurantium essential oils that can inhibit important drug targets like bovine serum albumin (BSA), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and tubulin using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation methods.
Discrimination of crown closure of forest ecosystems using different remotely sensed data: a case study of Kızılcasu planning unit

The objective of this study was to estimate crown closure using different satellite images, Landsat TM and QuickBird. As reference data, forest cover type map were used in the study, and two different methods were used to determine the crown closure. First, to classify crown closures from satellite images, a supervised classification method was used. Second, the linear mixture modeling (LMM) fuzzy classification method was used to determine the stand crown closure. Landsat TM and QuickBird data were used in this frame. The training dataset was derived from a fine spatial resolution land cover classification of QuickBird imagery. This classification was combined to estimate the percentage crown closure in Landsat TM spatial resolution. The research also focused on classifying and mapping the crown closure classes with the spatial analysis functions of geographical information systems (GIS). The results showed that the QuickBird image had the highest classification accuracies compared to the spatial analyses results of Landsat TM and fuzzy classification.
Development of the mirror-image sensitivity for different object categories—Evidence from the mirror costs of object images in children and adults

Object recognition relies on a multitude of factors, including size, orientation, and so on. Mirrored orientation, particularly due to children's mirror confusion in reading, holds special significance among various object orientations. Brain imaging studies suggest that the visual ventral and dorsal streams exhibit distinct orientation sensitivity across diverse object categories. Yet, it remains unclear whether mirror orientation sensitivity also varies among these categories during development at the behavioral level. Here, we explored the mirror sensitivity of children and adults across five distinct categories, which encompass tools that activate both the visual ventral stream for function information and the dorsal stream for manipulation information, and animals and faces that mainly activate the ventral stream. Two types of symbols, letters and Chinese characters, were also included. Mirror sensitivity was assessed through mirror costs—that is, the additional reaction time or error rate in the mirrored versus the same orientation condition when judging the identity of object pairs. The mirror costs in reaction times and error rates consistently revealed that children exhibited null mirror costs for tools, and the mirror costs for tools in adults were minimal, if any, and were smaller than those for letters and characters. The mirror costs reflected in absolute reaction time and error rate were similar across adults and children, but when the overall difference in reaction times was considered, adults showed a larger mirror cost than children. Overall, our investigation unveils categorical distinctions and development in mirror sensitivity of object recognition across the ventral and dorsal streams.
Sources of real exchange rate fluctuations in Egypt

PurposeThis paper aims to empirically investigate the sources of real exchange rate fluctuations in Egypt using structural vector autoregression (SVAR). The data covers the period between 1980 and 2016, where exchange regime has been changed more than once.Design/methodology/approachThis paper investigates the source of real exchange rate fluctuations for the period between 1980 and 2016 using the SVAR method. The SVAR method will incorporate real gross domestic product (GDP), real effective exchange rate (REER) and price level in a multidimensional equations system. However, impulse response function (IRF) and error variance decompositions (EVDC) will be generated by the system to have a behavioral insight of real exchange rate in response to economic shocks.FindingsThe IRF and EVDC results indicate a significant impact of demand shocks over the real exchange rate relative to supply shocks and monetary shocks in the period between 1980 and 2016. On the other hand, monetary shocks will have a negligible effect on the real exchange rate in the short run and converging to its previous level in the covering period of the study.Originality/valueIn the best of the authors' knowledge, the topic of the source of the real exchange rate fluctuations in Egypt has not been discussed in a wide range due to the lack of time series data. However, this study provides constructed data for REER for Egypt with the published method in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Furthermore, the study involves theoretical and econometric modeling to ensure the reliability of the economic results.
www.econstor.eu Zentrum für Europäische Integrationsforschung Center for European Integration Studies

The post-communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union introduced, at least initially, political and economic reforms simultaneously. This paper explores the consequences of simultaneous implementation of economic and political liberalization for economic growth. It is found that democracy indeed had a negative marginal effect on growth during early phases of transition (1990-93). Nevertheless, democracy reinforces progress in economic liberalization, which in turn has a strongly positive effect on growth. When accounting for this indirect effect, the overall effect of democracy on growth turns out overwhelmingly positive.
Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) Production from Sorghum Rhizosphere Bacteria in Ethiopia

: Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), a principal phytohormone, controls several crucial physiological processes of plants. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are naturally occurring soil bacteria that can improve plant growth through phytohormone (IAA) production. The application of herbicides and chemical fertilizers to overcome sorghum production constraints are markedly, but those chemicals have negative side effects. The current study was conducted with the objective of isolation of IAA produced sorghum rhizospheric bacteria and optimize for IAA production potential at different concentration of tryptophan and evaluation of IAA produced bacteria at greenhouse for sorghum growth performance potential. So that, in this study a total of 73 sorghum rhizobacteria were isolated from the rhizosphere of 12 sorghum genotype by cultivating using 3 soil samples from the northern part of Ethiopia. Isolated bacteria were tested for IAA production trait at different concentration of tryptophan. From the isolated 73 sorghum rhizospheric bacteria 18 isolates able to produced IAA at different concentration of tryptophan. The greatest IAA production was scored at 100 mg/L of tryptophan and the lowest production of IAA was scored at 150 mg/L of tryptophan. Accordingly, the selected 18(eighteen) potential bacteria were tested for greenhouse experiment using completely randomized design and all 18 isolates were significantly increased all the agronomic parameter as compared to the control such as plant shoot height, plant shoot fresh and dry weight, root length, root fresh and dry weight at p < 0.01 and P ≤ 0.001. Two isolates G 6 E 29 and G 4 E 19 had highest IAA production potential and significantly increased all the parameter but two isolates (G 12 E 19 and G 3 E 40 ) were statistically non-significant for root fresh weight compared to the control. The selected 18 potential isolates were grouped at Pseudomonas genera. Thus, the use of potential IAA produced and plant growth promoting sorghum rhizosphere bacteria to improve sorghum production and productivity in Ethiopia could be useful. However, further molecular identification and evaluation of the isolates exhibited multiple plant growth promoting traits on plant-microbe interaction for economic crop of Ethiopia is needed to uncover their efficacy as effective plant growth promoting rhizosphere bacteria. Therefore, this isolate could be a prospective candidate to be employed as biofertilizers.
Effect of "Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention Program" On Substance Craving and Acceptance of Aversive Experiences among Patients with Addiction

: Addiction is a chronic, relapsing condition characterized by waves of abuse, decreased use and abuse again. Relapse is a common problem among patients with substance abuse. It is more prominent among patients who have stronger cravings upon initiation of treatment. Mindfulness is “the awareness that emerges through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience”. Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention program (MBRP) is designed to enhance both specific and global intervention strategies and techniques to prevent relapse. MBRP shares the relapse prevention goals of decreasing contact and increasing coping with high-risk situations. It is useful for helping patients with addiction to cope with aversive experiences and drug craving without substance use. Aim of the study: To determine the effect of MBRP on substance craving and acceptance of aversive experiences among patients with addiction. Design: A quasi-experimental research design was used. Setting: The study was conducted at the inpatient rehabilitation unit for patients with addiction at El-Maamoura Hospital for Psychiatric Medicine in Alexandria. Subjects: The subjects comprised 44 patients with addiction in the first week of rehabilitation, free from psychiatric co-morbid diseases. Tools: The Penn Alcohol Craving Scale, Five Factors Mindfulness Questionnaire, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II and socio-demographic and clinical data structured interview schedule. Results: An evident statistically significant difference was detected between pre-implementation and post-implementation of the program regarding scores of Penn Alcohol Craving Scale, Five Factors Mindfulness Questionnaire and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire. Recommendations: Assessment of level of craving, mindfulness factors and acceptance is recommended in routine clinical assessment of patients with addiction and in planning rehabilitation programs. In-service training of nurses and health care professionals on MBRP program must be performed to help in practical applications and holistic health promotion for patients with addiction.
Original Research Article Phylogenetic and structure genetic of Rastrelliger sp in north Maluku Sea, Indonesia

Mackerel is a small pelagic fish that has potential value and can be found throughout Indonesian waters. It is feared that high exploration activities will have an impact on the population. Sampling was carried out at the fish landing port and fish auction place (Bacan, Morotai and Ternate). The sample was photographed and the 3 cm swimming fin was taken. The sample is then stored in a tube that has been filled with 96% ethanol solution. The next stage is the process of extraction, amplification, electrophoresis and DNA sequencing. Phylogenetic reconstruction of comparison of primary data (Bacan, Morotai and Ternate) and secondary data (Indian) clarified to form two different populations (clades). Amova population pairwaise (Fst) showed the genetic flow of R. kanagurta population in the waters of the north Maluku Sea (Bacan, Morotai and Ternate). On the other hand, genetic distance shows that populations (Bacan, Morotai and Ternate) were closely related and have strong genetic connectivity.
Assurances et gestion des risques Insurance and Risk Management Partially Funded Pension, Fertility and Endogenous Growth

Article abstract Within a framework of an overlapping generations endogenous growth model, this paper examines the effects of China’s partially funded public pension on fertility, economic growth and family old-age security. Chinese are assumed to satisfy for both having children and getting old-age material support from children. It is shown that raising the firm contribution rate reduces the rates of fertility and intergenerational transfer, and increases the economic growth rate. The individual contribution has no effect on the above rates. This paper also finds the proper firm contribution rate interval to promote economic growth, control population rationally and maintain some family old-age security.
The Victorian anti-vaccination discourse corpus (VicVaDis): construction and exploration

This article introduces and explores the 3.5-million-word Victorian Anti-Vaccination Discourse Corpus (VicVaDis). The corpus is intended to provide a (freely accessible) historical resource for the investigation of the earliest public concerns and arguments against vaccination in England, which revolved around compulsory vaccination against smallpox in the second half of the 19th century. It consists of 133 anti-vaccination pamphlets and publications gathered from 1854 to 1906, a span of 53 years that loosely coincides with the Victorian era (1837–1901). This timeframe was chosen to capture the period between the 1853 Vaccination Act, which made smallpox vaccination for babies compulsory, and the 1907 Act that effectively ended the mandatory nature of vaccination. After an overview of the historical background, this article describes the rationale, design and construction of the corpus, and then demonstrates how it can be exploited to investigate the main arguments against compulsory vaccination by means of widely accessible corpus linguistic tools. Where appropriate, parallels are drawn between Victorian and 21st-century vaccine-hesitant attitudes and arguments. Overall, this article demonstrates the potential of corpus analysis to add to our understanding of historical concerns about vaccination.
Relation between ﬁnancial advisory designations and FINRA misconduct FSR201714

Registered representatives have no general ﬁduciary duty. CFP, ChFC, and CFA designees have higher ethical duties and education requirements. Registrants’ criminal, regulatory, complaint, and other misconduct history is public. This study examines misconduct disclosures of undesignated versus designated Florida securities salespeople, and ﬁnds adverse disclosure materially decreases for designees; it incidentally ﬁnds misconduct increases with maleness, dual investment advisor/registered representative status, and life insurance sales licensure. This appears to be the ﬁrst such study of adverse disclosure association with ﬁnancial designations, adding to the emerging misconduct and advisors’ ethics literature. These ﬁndings offer important policy and consumer choice insight . © 2017 Academy of Financial Services. All rights reserved.
A Rule-Based Software Agent on Top of Personal Data Stores

As a response to centralised platforms hoarding user data on the web, Personal Data Stores (PDSs) are becoming more prominent. In this emerging space of decentralized PDS platforms, we see a growing need for automated agents to take over tasks that are normally handled by those data platforms. These intelligent agents already have their place in our daily lives, however, they are currently largely missing from the domain of Personal Data Stores. To address this need, we created a demonstrator software web agent that acts on the real world and personal data via condition–action rules. We applied this demonstrator to a smart home environment use case, where smart home appliances can be actuated and monitored via a personal data store. The generic architecture used by the implementation leads to maximal re-use of the agent, enabling multi-agent systems and researching more complex use cases.
Terrain analysis of skier-triggered avalanche starting zones

Terrain is one of the main factors contributing to avalanche formation and important for the assessment of avalanche risk. Terrain characteristics of small to medium human triggered ava- lanches have however been the subject of limited attention. This work focused on analyzing the terrain characteristics of human triggered avalanches and their starting zones. Photos and shapes of ava- lanches in Switzerland between 1999/2000 and 2009/2010 and a high-quality digital elevation models (ADS-DOM) were used for this study. It was possible to digitalize 142 starting zones and to analyse them at high resolution with the ADS-DOM. Geomorphometric methods were used to extract different terrain features (ridges, slope, aspect, roughness, exposure and curvature) from the DEM. Further- more a method was developed to estimate starting zones from a complete avalanche perimeter und to divide the starting zones automatically in different districts. The majority of the avalanches were released on planar or concave slopes and the roughness of the terrain corresponded a relatively constant debris covered surface. The slope angle often decreased from the crown to the Stauchwall.
Block-based compressive sensing in deep learning using AlexNet for vegetable classification

Vegetables can be distinguished according to differences in color, shape, and texture. The deep learning convolutional neural network (CNN) method is a technique that can be used to classify types of vegetables for various applications in agriculture. This study proposes a vegetable classification technique that uses the CNN AlexNet model and applies compressive sensing (CS) to reduce computing time and save storage space. In CS, discrete cosine transform (DCT) is applied for the sparsing process, Gaussian distribution for sampling, and orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) for reconstruction. Simulation results on 600 images for four types of vegetables showed a maximum test accuracy of 98% for the AlexNet method, while the combined block-based CS using the AlexNet method produced a maximum accuracy of 96.66% with a compression ratio of 2×. Our results indicated that AlexNet CNN architecture and block-based CS in AlexNet can classify vegetable images better than previous methods.
Two Peace Parks: Dalian World Peace Park and the International Peace Garden

Planners and designers are interested in projects that express spatial ideas and have meaning for the general population. The design of peace gardens and peace parks is one type of place where designers have opportunities to express ideas and connect with the public. We examined two peace related environments: the Dalian World Peace Park in China and the International Peace Garden on the border between the United States of America and Canada. Both parks attempt to symbolize peace in a conceptual manner. Both parks are located on sites of historical significance. Because of their somewhat remote locations, they can both suffer visitation problems. However their remote location also makes both parks unique and not as crowded as other parks.
Application of Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis to the Spatial Pattern of Inbound Tourism Increase in China

As an important part of Spatial Statistics,spatial autocorrelation analysis studies the degree to which objects or activities are similar to other objects or activities located nearby at a significance level, and is an efficient means to understand the spatial pattern based on the relation between objects and their neighbours.Using spatial autocorrelation techniques,the inbound tourism increase in the period of 1996-2004 in China is studied,and the results show that there is no significant global spatial autocorrelation in the data sets of the inbound tourism increase at province level and the patterns are random on the whole except the year of 1997;there are one or two significant LISAs every year,and the patterns in the subregions are clustered or dispersed respectively.The number of these patterns are changed during the period above,but from 2001,the number is two stably,namely a clustered one influenced markedly by Shanghai and a dispersed one governed by Guangdong province(α=0.05,two-tailed).
Polar lake microbiomes have distinct evolutionary histories

Toward the poles, life on land is increasingly dominated by microorganisms, yet the evolutionary origin of polar microbiomes remains poorly understood. Here, we use metabarcoding of Arctic, sub-Antarctic, and Antarctic lacustrine benthic microbial communities to test the hypothesis that high-latitude microbiomes are recruited from a globally dispersing species pool through environmental selection. We demonstrate that taxonomic overlap between the regions is limited within most phyla, even at higher-order taxonomic levels, with unique deep-branching phylogenetic clades being present in each region. We show that local and regional taxon richness and net diversification rate of regionally restricted taxa differ substantially between polar regions in both microeukaryotic and bacterial biota. This suggests that long-term evolutionary divergence resulting from low interhemispheric dispersal and diversification in isolation has been a prominent process shaping present-day polar lake microbiomes. Our findings illuminate the distinctive biogeography of polar lake ecosystems and underscore that conservation efforts should include their unique microbiota.
Localization of mechanical and electrical defects in dry-type transformers using an optimized acoustic imaging approach

This paper presents an acoustic imaging localization system designed to pinpoint common defects in dry-type transformers by analyzing the unique sounds they produce during operation. The system includes an optimized microphone array and an improved multiple signal classification algorithm. Sound signal characteristics of typical defects, such as foreign object intrusion, screw loosening, and partial discharge, are investigated. A 64-element, 8-arm spiral microphone array is designed using a particle swarm optimization algorithm. The multiple signal classification algorithm enhances acoustic imaging quality in field environments by transforming the input from time-domain to preprocessed frequency-domain signals. The power spectra of subarray and main array are combined, forming the optimization algorithm’s output. Experimental results demonstrate the system’s effectiveness and accuracy.