Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Illuminating hydrological processes at the soil‐vegetation‐atmosphere interface with water stable isotopes

Water stable isotopes (18O and 2H) are widely used as ideal tracers to track water through the soil and to separate evaporation from transpiration. Due to the technical developments in the last two decades, soil water stable isotope data have become easier to collect. Thus, the application of isotope methods in soils is growing rapidly. Studies that make use of soil water stable isotopes often have a multidisciplinary character since an interplay of processes that take place in the vadose zone has to be considered. In this review, we provide an overview of the hydrological processes that alter the soil water stable isotopic composition and present studies utilizing pore water stable isotopes. The processes that are discussed include the water input as precipitation or throughfall, the output as evaporation, transpiration, or recharge, and specific flow and transport processes. Based on the review and supported by additional data and modeling results, we pose a different view on the recently proposed two water world hypothesis. As an alternative to two distinct pools of soil water, where one pool is enriched in heavy isotopes and used by the vegetation and the other pool does not undergo isotopic fractionation and becomes recharge, the water gets successively mixed with newly introduced rainwater during the percolation process. This way, water initially isotopically enriched in the topsoil loses the fractionation signal with increasing infiltration depth, leading to unfractionated isotopic signals in the groundwater.
A case-control study: Exposure assessment of VOCs and formaldehyde for asthma in children

Based on the results of an ISAAC questionnaire, an asthma case group (33) and a control group (40) were selected in an elementary school in Seongbuk, Seoul. To determine the VOCs and formaldehyde levels of exposure, we performed personal, indoor, and outdoor sampling using passive samplers for 3 days. In comparing the results of the levels of VOCs and formaldehyde exposure between the case and control groups, it was shown that toluene and o-xylene were higher in the case group in personal sampling and the benzene concentration was higher in the case group in indoor measurements (p < 0.1). In outdoor measurements, benzene and methylcyclohexane were higher in the case group (p < 0.05). The VOCs concentration was the highest in the personal sampling. However, the concentration of formaldehyde was the highest in indoor sampling (p < 0.05). In the multiple logistic regression, after adjusting residential and socioeconomic factors, there was no signficant factors. In conclusion, it was shown that the childhood asthma case group was exposed to higher VOCs than the control group, and it was found by measurement methods that VOCs in personal sampling were higher than the values obtained in indoor and outdoor measurements, and the formaldehyde value was the highest in indoor measurements.
Effect of Weight Bearing and Non-Weight Bearing Aerobics Combined with Resistance Exercise on the Cardiopulmonary Functions of Nigerians with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Nigerians with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) often develop cardiopulmonary complications which necessitates prescription of therapeutic exercises. Progress monitoring post exercise prescription in the management cardiopulmonary complications is paramount. Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of weight bearing aerobics combined with resistance exercises (WBARE) and non-weight bearing aerobic combined with resistance exercises (NWBARE) on selected cardiopulmonary parameters of Nigerians with T2DM. It also assessed the changes in these parameters at specified duration in the intervention period. Method: A total of 60 subjects (36 females and 24 males) within the age range of 40-75years were consecutively recruited and randomly assigned into the 12 weeks supervised WBARE (20) or NWBARE (20) or a control group (20). Pre- and post-outcome measures which included cardiopulmonary parameters; resting arterial systolic and diastolic blood pressure (RASBP and RADBP), resting rate pressure product (RRPP), oxygen uptake (VO2max), forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) were assessed at baseline and at the end of 4th, 8th and 12th week. Glycosylated haemoglobin level (HbA1c) was assessed at baseline and at the end of 12th week. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Level of significant was set at p<0.05 Results: RASBP, RADBP, RRPP and HbA1c were significantly decreased in WBARE and NWBARE groups (p= < 0.05). VO2max and FEV1 were also significantly increased in both groups (p< 0.05). WBARE recorded significant improvement in FEV1 and FVC values than NWBARE group when compared with control (p<0.05). Significant improvement in RRPP, VO2max and FEV1 occurred as early as four weeks post intervention between the groups. Conclusion: WBARE and NWBARE improved cardiopulmonary functions in Nigerian adults with T2DM. WBARE may be more effective in the management of pulmonary functions. Assessment of patients post intervention should commence as early as four week.
Territories of Resistance: Agroecology as Alternative(s) to Development. A Case Study of (Re)peasantisation in the City of Cape Town, South Africa

Development, with its links to capitalism and Western conceptions of progress, is both impossible to achieve and restricts possibilities of other socially and ecologically just worlds. Neoliberal development has long been promoted in agriculture, leading to corporate concentration and is perpetuated under food security discourses. In South Africa, this maintains apartheid racial inequalities. Alternative discourses and practices have emerged in the form of agroecology and food sovereignty, which have been adopted by actors both internationally and in South Africa. Discourse is one form of power in society, which has material implications. The concept of territories, as socially constructed spaces mediated by power relations, is therefore one way to conceptualise the impact of discourses. In this study, therefore, I explore how agroecological territories can challenge development within Cape Town. I find that there are competing discourses relating to both agroecology and entrepreneurial agriculture, as well as liberal, Marxist and post-structuralist development. I show how all these discourses contribute to a process of (re)peasantisation to varying degrees. I then argue, (re)peasantisatoin challenges development in a number of ways, most radically with pride in being a small-scale farmer meaning otherness is articulated as a basis for alternative ways of knowing and doing.
Genetic diversity among crabgrass weed ecotypes (Digitaria spp.) occurring in field crops in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

High genetic diversity is one of the main characteristics that ensures the adaptability and competitiveness of weeds in agricultural crops; therefore, knowledge of such diversity may be useful for outlining weed control strategies both more effectively and with less impact on the environment. The aim of the study was to use amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) to evaluate the genetic similarity among ecotypes of crabgrass (Digitaria spp.) from areas cultivated with rice and soybeans from different agricultural regions of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. Samples were collected from crabgrass populations (Digitaria spp.) from February to March 2009, covering areas of rice and soybean production in 19 districts belonging to different regions of the RS. Three locations in each district were visited, and georeferences were determined at each of the three sampling points, resulting in 171 crabgrass accessions. Of the 171 ecotypes that were listed and classified by morphological traits, 34 were selected based on the geographic distribution criteria, and species diversity was assessed by AFLP. Genetic similarity among individuals was estimated using simple matching (SM) coefficients, and a dendrogram was constructed based on these data. The similarity among all ecotypes, including six different species, was 83%. When the species were analyzed separately, we found 86% similarity among the ecotypes of D. ciliaris and 89% among those of D. sanguinalis. Due to geographic distance, the lowest genetic similarity was found between the ecotypes D. tenata from Cachoeira do Sul and D. eriostachya from Itaqui. The ecotypes from upland areas were more similar than those from paddy fields. For D. ciliaris, the lowest genetic similarity was found between the ecotypes originating from Itaqui and Viamao. Higher genetic similarity of D. sanguinalis ecotypes was observed between Arroio Grande and Dom Pedrito. Knowledge of the genetic diversity of weed populations is essential for the management and control of weeds.
In Utero Exposure of Biochanin-A Alters Female Reproduction in Rat.

Biochanin-A (BCA) is an isoflavone chemically called as 4-methyl genistein. It is plant derived non-steroidal compound, possesses estrogen like biological Activity The present study focussed on the changes of Reproduction in female rats exposed to BCA during the perinatal period.Pregnant rats were intra peritoneally exposed to 25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg/kg body weight (wt.) on gestation days 12th, 14th, 16th and 18th. Rats were allowed to deliver pups and the BCA exposure was continued lactationally till weaning. Female pups were separated and fed with normal pellet for 80 days and then estrus cycle length was measured. SignificanAE increase in the duration of the estrus cycle was measured in rats exposed to BCA during the perinatal period. To assess the Reproductive performance of BCA exposed female progeny, mated with 90days old normal males. Observed increase in the Conception time and decrease in the number of implantations and also increase in pre and post implantations loss. To confirm the BC-A induced Reproductive Abnormalties in females computatinally docking studies was performed with aromatase and β estrogen receptor (β-ER) and in comparison with its substrates androstenedione and estradiol respectively along with BC-A and found strong competitive inhibition by BC-A with the substrates of aromatase and β-ER. It is very clear from the result that pre and post natal exposure of BCA suppresses the female reproduction in rats.
Wave operator for the system of the Dirac–Klein–Gordon equations

We prove the existence of the wave operator for the system of the massive Dirac–Klein–Gordon equations in three space dimensions x∈R3 where the masses m, M>0. We prove that for the small final data , (ϕ +1 , ϕ +2 )∈H2 + µ, 1 × H1 + µ, 1, with and , there exists a unique global solution for system (1) with the final state conditions Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimisation of computing and networking resources of a Hadoop cluster based on software defined network

in this paper, we discuss some challenges regarding the Hadoop framework. One of the main ones is the computing performance of Hadoop MapReduce jobs in terms of CPU, memory and hard disk I/O. The networking side of a Hadoop cluster is another challenge, especially for large scale clusters with many switch devices and computing nodes, such as a data centre network. The configurations of Hadoop MapReduce parameters can have a significant impact on the computing performance of a Hadoop cluster. All issues relating to Hadoop MapReduce parameter settings are addressed. Some significant parameters of Hadoop MapReduce are tuned using a novel intelligent technique based on both genetic programming and a genetic Algorithm, with aim of optimising the performance of a Hadoop MapReduce job. In the Hadoop framework, there are more than 150 configurations of parameters and hence, setting them manually is not difficult, but also time consuming. Consequently, the above-mentioned algorithms are used to search for the optimum values of parameter settings. Software Defined Network (SDN) is also employed to improve the networking performance of a Hadoop cluster, thus accelerating Hadoop jobs. Experiments have been carried out on two typical applications of Hadoop, including a Word Count Application and Tera Sort application, using 14 virtual machines in both a traditional network and an SDN. The results for the traditional network show that our proposed technique improves MapReduce jobs performance for 20 GB with the Word Count application by 69.63% and 30.31% when compared to the default and Gunther work, respectively. Whilst for the Tera Sort application, the performance of Hadoop MapReduce is improved by 73.39% and 55.93%, compared with the default and Gunther work, respectively. Moreover, the experimental results in an SDN environment showed the performance of a Hadoop MapReduce job is further improved due to the advantages of the intelligent and centralised management achieved using it. Another experiment has been conducted to evaluate the performance of Hadoop jobs using a large scale cluster in a data centre network, also based on SDN, with the results revealing that this exceeded the performance of a conventional network.
The Effects of Corporate Governance Attributes on Credit Ratings and Bond Yields

This study examines the empirical relations between the governance structure of public corporations in the United States and the credit ratings and pricing of their debt securities. We study an unbalanced panel of 775 unique firms from 2001 through 2007. Consistent with the existing literature, we find that the primary determinant of a firm’s credit rating is its financial condition. However, governance attributes relating to transparency, ownership structure, shareholder rights, board structure and executive compensation are significantly related to credit ratings as well, even after accounting for the financial condition of the firm. We also find that the presence of anti-takeover measures is associated with higher credit scores for firms with investment grade debt and lower for firms with speculative grade debt. Finally, our empirical results suggest that stable boards, defined as boards having attributes relating to tenure, liability indemnification and classified board structures, have higher credit ratings and lower bond spreads. We conjecture that boards with greater stability may be better positioned to take into consideration the longer term interests of the firm as a whole, thereby benefiting the firm’s bondholders.
Interacting with the Customers through New Technologies Having a better understanding of the user ' s experience

Nowadays, new technologies and information systems are important tools to carry out many different activities in daily life. The use of these new technologies is also a means for getting information on the users’ experience. This paper aims at giving a brief review of how users may participate in the development process of products and services, and how they communicate their needs and suggest their preferences through these new interactive tools. This is a preliminary study, which focuses on how companies may incorporate the concept of Co-design into their proposals, in order to add customer value. Our first findings show that, consciously or not, users are participating more in the development process. Thanks to the use of new technologies and tools, their involvement has increased and so have their expectations and their perception of feeling empowered. It is argued that a direct relation exists between the interaction of users and their experience of the products or services. Keywordsinteractivity; virtual prototypes; user experience; product development; user satisfaction.
Mean voting rule and strategical behavior: an experiment

This paper considers the problem of voting about the quantity of a public good. An experiment has been run in order to test the extent of the strategic bias that arises in the individual vote when the social choice rule is to select the mean of the quantities voted for; conflicting theoretical predictions are available in the literature on this purpose. The political implications of the mean rule and its e.ects upon e.ciency are also discussed. The role of voters' information is considered. A comparison is made with the working of the median rule.
An Optimal Weighting Method in Supervised Learning of Linguistic Model for Text Classification

This paper discusses a new weighting method for text analyzing from the view point of supervised learning. The term frequency and inverse term frequency measure (tf-idf measure) is famous weighting method for information retrieval, and this method can be used for text analyzing either. However, it is an experimental weighting method for information retrieval whose effectiveness is not clarified from the theoretical viewpoints. Therefore, other effective weighting measure may be obtained for document classification problems. In this study, we propose the optimal weighting method for document classification problems from the view point of supervised learning. The proposed measure is more suitable for the text classification problem as used training data than the tf-idf measure. The effectiveness of our proposal is clarified by simulation experiments for the text classification problems of newspaper article and the customer review which is posted on the web site.
Comparison of Three Temperatures for the Hatching Phase in the Artificial Incubation of Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa) Eggs

This study aimed at investigating the effects of three incubation temperatures during the hatching period on egg weight loss, hatchability, chick weight at hatching and length of the incubation period of red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) under artificial incubation. One hundred and fifty eggs obtained from a red-legged partridge game farm were randomly allocated to three batches of 50 eggs each. Eggs were incubated at 37.8oC during the first 20 days, and subsequently at 37.0, 37.4 or 37.8oC until hatching. Fertility was 74.7% and a good hatching performance was obtained, characterized by 85.7% hatchability, 9.1% egg weight loss after 20 days of incubation, 13.8±0.1 g chick weight at hatching, and 23.2±0.1 days incubation length. Hatchability, egg weight loss after 20 days of incubation, and length of the incubation period were not affected by incubation temperature during the hatching period. However, hatching synchrony improved when the incubation temperature was increased from 37.0 to 37.8°C (p<0.05). Thus, hatching distribution became very leptokurtic and very positively skewed with the increase in incubation temperature during the hatching phase. In conclusion, higher hatching synchrony can be achieved in A. rufa when setting temperatures within the range 37.0 to 37.8oC to incubate eggs during the hatching period. Consequently, incubation temperature management during the hatching phase may have a direct impact on hatching synchrony and hatchling management.
OF AN AGILE INCREMENTAL IMPLEMENTATION METHODOLOGY FOR ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS

This paper describes AI2M  Agile Incremental Implementation Methodology an incremental implementation methodology for enterprise systems. AI2M integrates ideas from agile software development with the incremental implementation methodology Results Driven Incrementalism (RDI). An AI2M iteration is focused on improving a pre-defined business goal in a fixed time, opposed to implementing a certain functional module of an application package of conventional incremental implementation methodologies. The procedure model of AI2M, its aspired advantages and current challenges are discussed. By combining two incremental methodologies from different application fields, AI2M aspires to offer a holistic enterprise system implementation approach. AI2M is currently under development. A tool for supporting AI2M will be developed in conjunction with a CRM system vendor.
Assessment Of Success In Learning Mathematics: Cross-Cultural Analysis

The article presents the results of a cross-cultural analysis of the correlation of various success indicators in learning mathematics – teacher assessments, computerized tests and the results of state examinations. The sample consisted of 304 high school students studying in Grade 11 of general education institutions in Russia and Kyrgyzstan with similar educational conditions. The Russian sample included 120 students (mean age = 17.4, SD = 0.4, 41.9% male); the Kyrgyz sample included 184 students (mean age = 17.1, SD = 0.5, 36.4% male). In the course of the cross-cultural analysis, both similarities and differences in the interrelationships between different indicators of success in learning mathematics at high school age were found. On both cross-cultural samples moderate significant associations among the indicators of success in learning mathematics confirm the hypothesis about the use of various cognitive, motivational and emotional resources in solving mathematical tasks of different types with and without time limit, in written or oral form. Cross-cultural differences are more closely related to the specific relationship between the results of the state examinations and other analyzed indicators of mathematical success. It was shown that on the Kyrgyz sample the results of the state examination are more associated with the computerized test, while on the Russian sample the results are more associated with the teacher's annual assessment. The results are interpreted in the context of the specifics of the national educational systems, in particular, related to the evaluation of success in learning the school disciplines. © 2017 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy. org.UK
Status of Insecticide Resistance of the Whitebacked Planthopper, Sogatella furcifera (Hemiptera: Delphacidae)

ABSTRACT Frequent outbreaks and widespread transmission of rice black-streaked dwarf virus by Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) have aggravated yield losses of rice in eastern China. The use of insecticides for suppression of the vector has been a fundamental approach to prevent epidemics of the virus disease. However, the status of insecticide resistance in S. furcifera has not been examined recently in China. In this study, dose responses of S. furcifera to buprofezin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, chlorpyrifos and pymetrozine were evaluated. Most populations in eastern China have developed moderate resistance to buprofezin (up to 25-fold). Approximately 32% of field populations exhibited moderate resistance to imidacloprid, while other field populations showed minor changes (7.6-fold) in their susceptibility to this insecticide. Low variation of susceptibility to thiamethoxam (<6-fold) was observed among field populations, and no obvious resistance to this product was observed. Obvious variation (10.2-fold) of susceptibility to chlorpyrifos existed in field populations of which 8% displayed moderate resistance, and 32% exhibited low level resistance. Most populations (72%) were susceptible to pymetrozine, and relatively low variation of susceptibility to it was detected among the field populations of S. furcifera. Frequent and extensive use of buprofezin had driven the rapid development of resistance, and buprofezin resistance is widespread in the field populations of S. furcifera in China. To prevent further development of the resistance, use of buprofezin should be limited and rotated with alternative insecticides with different modes of action.